#sorry for coffin tag but you guys should play this i promise

[hiraya-art]

Wanted to draw this scene. Something is terribly wrong with this guy, I love him

This is a PSA to play No-Good Noelle btw, especially if you liked TCOAAL

[spiderking-of-queens]

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Hideout

Summary: You get an invitation to see Corroded Coffin at the Hideout, but the night doesn’t exactly go according to plan. (Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader/Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader, 6.7k words)

Warnings: Underage drinking (don’t do it kids!!!), brief mention of puking, swearing, ANGST

Tags: @blackbirddaredevil23 @princesseddie @dessxoxsworld

(if you asked to be added to my taglist for this series and it’s not notifying you, I’m sorry! it’s very possible that I could be doing something wrong but I have no idea what lol 😭 let me know!) 

A/N: Happy Halloween! Sorry this isn’t a Halloween chapter, but it does take place on Friday the 13th, so… close enough? Lmao

(PS - did I shamelessly wear my hellfire club tee today? Yes. Yes I did.)

Masterlist

September 13th, 1985

That Friday, you finally made good on your promise to join Hellfire, and afterwards you told the kids to go ahead and wait in the car while you helped Eddie pack up for the night.

“You didn’t have to do that,” He said, taking the dice out of your hands to put them away. When his fingers brushed yours, you unintentionally drew back in shock, then cleared your throat to pretend you hadn’t.

“Uh, I know. I just figured I’d make myself useful somehow, since I’ve just been loitering around this whole time.”

He laughed at you, shaking his head in amusement.

“You can join in, you know. Maybe one of the freshmen could help you get started. Or, ya know… I always could, too.”

“I appreciate that. But to be honest… I really don’t think I’m smart enough to wrap my head around all of this.”

He scrunched his nose up at you in surprise, tilting his head a little.

“You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m dead serious. I don’t know how you guys store all of this information in your brains. It’s impressive, honestly. But I really love watching you all play. I’d imagine it’s how people who like sports feel when they watch a game.”

“I wouldn’t know,” He chuckled. “But if that’s what you’d prefer to do, I’m cool with it. Maybe we could use a spectator section. Boost moral.”

“Yeah, they’re gonna need it since you keep coming for their lives.”

“Oh, if you think it’s brutal now, just wait. It’s about to get much worse.”

“Can’t wait,” You said with a devious smirk as you took one of his boxes out of his hands without asking. You knew that if you had, he would have just refused your help again. He smiled gratefully at you as you turned to leave the room, then you walked beside him out to his van where Jeff was waiting for him. 

“Hey, man, I’m sorry to ask, but my ride fell through. Would you mind giving me a lift home?”

“Sure, no problem,” He said as he opened up the back doors of his van to put his things in. 

“Awesome, thanks,” Jeff replied, then his eyes drifted over to you when Eddie took the other box out of your hands. “Hey, Y/N,” He added with a polite nod.

“Hey, Jeff. Good call tonight, choosing to cast foresight to warn Mordenkainen about the Cult of Vecna.” 

He seemed slightly taken aback by this, and Eddie turned to look at you, too, after closing the van doors.

“Oh, thanks. You gonna join in next time?”

Eddie scoffed and crossed his arms, shaking his head at you.

“Nope, she said she’s too dumb to play,” He mocked you.

You smacked his arm playfully in protest.

“I didn’t say that! I just… don’t want to drag you guys down. I wouldn’t know what I’m doing half the time.”

“Maybe Eddie could give you private lessons,” Jeff teased, making your cheeks turn red. Eddie shot him a look. 

“Alright, we should probably go,” He said, quickly changing the subject as he tried to back away to the driver’s side of the van. “Are you gonna need a ride to The Hideout tonight, too, Jeff?”

“Most likely. That okay?”

“Why not,” He muttered through clenched teeth, then turned to you. “Guess I’m designated babysitter, too.”

You would have laughed at his attempt at an inside joke with you, but when he brought up The Hideout it shook a memory loose in your head. 

“Wait, isn’t that where your band plays?” You asked, eyebrow raised. 

“Uh, yeah. That’s right,” He said, stopping his attempted escape and taking a step back towards you. He was once again surprised that you had remembered something he’d mentioned to you.

“Are you in it, too, Jeff?”

“Yep. I play rhythm guitar, Freak plays bass, Gareth is on drums, and Eddie’s on lead guitar and vocals.”

Vocals? He sang, too? Your heart skipped a beat at the thought.

“That’s so cool. I didn’t realize you were all in it. I hope I get to see you guys play sometime.”

“Then you should come tonight,” Jeff offered with a knowing smile, ignoring the glare Eddie was sending his way that was begging him to stop. 

“Really? Thanks. I’d love to.”

Eddie turned his head back towards you, his eyes wide with shock that you had agreed so easily. 

“You would?” He asked, and Jeff gave him a look like he was an idiot for being surprised. 

“Yeah,” You shrugged. “If that’s okay with you.”

“Y-yeah,” He stammered. “Of course. We go on at eleven.”

Shit. You were slightly worried your parents would call the cops on you for having their car out that late, but it was too late to back out now. 

“Okay. I think I can make that work.”

Eddie just continued to stare at you in surprise, and Jeff was looking between the two of you with an amused smile on his face. Then the three of you jumped when you heard a car horn from across the parking lot. You looked over to see Dustin leaning into the driver’s seat of your car, his hand laying on your horn. You rolled your eyes and turned back to give Eddie and Jeff an apologetic look.

“Sorry, guys. I guess that’s my cue. A babysitter’s job is never done, right Eddie?”

He nodded, his lips spread into a wide smirk. Jeff scoffed.

“You know I’m only two years younger than you, right?” He protested. 

Eddie reached out to pinch his cheek mockingly, and Jeff swatted his hand away with a scornful glare. Eddie just giggled at himself like a little kid. 

“Alright, I’m getting in the car,” Jeff muttered as he walked past you to the passenger side of the van. “See you tonight, Y/N?”

“Yeah, see you later!” You agreed, then he got in and shut the door, leaving you and Eddie alone again.

“You sure you don’t mind me coming tonight?” You asked him. 

“Not at all. But I am surprised you want to, to be honest. I think I vaguely remember asking you to come a few years back, and you didn’t seem very into it. If I’m recalling that correctly.”

His tone was light, but you could tell there was genuine confusion behind it.

“That’s not true! I wanted to go, I was just terrified. Still am, if I’m being honest.”

“Terrified? Of what?”

“It’d be quicker if I told you what I wasn’t afraid of,” You snorted. 

“Okay, well… whatever it is… I promise I’ll look out for you. Deal?”

You smiled at him, even though you knew the biggest thing you were scared of was making yourself look like an idiot in front of him, and that was something he couldn’t save you from.

Dustin honked your horn impatiently again, this time leaning on it for a solid thirty seconds, refusing to let up even when you waved your arms at him to stop.

“Alright! Jesus, I’m coming!” You yelled when the noise finally ceased, then started making your way to your car. Eddie chuckled at you.

“So, I’ll see you tonight? At eleven?” He called after you.

“I’ll see you then!” You spun around to call back, then skipped off excitedly to your car. You couldn’t help yourself.

It required a little bit of encouraging self-talk to get yourself to commit to actually going later that night, but after changing your outfit multiple times, doing your best to sneak out of your house without alerting your parents, and sitting in the parking lot of The Hideout for twenty minutes, you finally made it. When you walked in, you only had to stand in the doorway for a few awkward moments before Eddie met your eye-line from the small stage across the room. As soon as he recognized you, a wide grin appeared on his face and he paused setting up to hop down and make his way over to you. He stopped a few feet away from you, his arms outstretched as he looked you up and down. Then he crossed them over his chest and took a few bashful steps closer to you.

“Holy shit. Are you actually here or am I hallucinating?”

“I told you I’d be here, didn’t I?” You giggled.

“Yeah, but… I’ve heard that before,” He muttered with a smirk. You scoffed indignantly in response. 

“Hey! That was one time!”

“Yeah, yeah. Alright. I’m sorry. I’m just glad you’re here.”

“Me too. I can’t wait to see you guys play.”

“Well, forewarning… we’re not the best.”

“I seriously doubt that. But if we’re really being honest here, I should tell you that I’m not the biggest fan of heavy metal music, so I probably won’t be able to tell either way.”

He squeezed his eyes shut and pretended to stab himself in the heart, then started to fall backwards before you grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him back up.

“I’m sorry!” You squealed. “Please don’t hate me.”

“Hate you? Never. Just heartbroken.”

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to convert me, then.”

His lips turned up in a devious smile when you said this. 

“I’ll take that challenge. It’s probably not gonna happen here tonight, but I already know which records I wanna play for you.”

Your heart fluttered. You wondered if he actually meant it, or if he was just being nice. Either way, you really liked the sound of it. 

“Yo, Eddie! Sound check!” Jeff called from the stage, and you waved politely back at him as Eddie tried to brush him off. 

“Better go,” You said with a laugh. “I don’t wanna get you in trouble.”

“Yeah, alright,” He agreed reluctantly, beginning to back away from you. “Make yourself comfortable. The owner is cool, and he pretty much only pays us in free booze, so feel free to get yourself something to drink while you wait. Just put it on my tab.”

You almost declined his offer, but you were so nervous that a beer was actually sounding pretty good to you. 

“Thanks. I’ll be over at the bar, then. Break a leg.”

He gave you a shy smile and an awkward salute before sauntering back to the stage. You got your beer and chose a table near the back so you could disappear. You hoped Eddie wouldn’t mind. 

When they started playing, there weren’t many people paying attention. Just a few drunks at the bar bobbing their heads and a small group of people around your age hanging out at a table close to the stage. 

Whether you liked heavy metal or not, you couldn’t deny that they were great. You knew that he was just being modest when he kept trying to convince you that they weren’t any good, but you didn’t expect them to be this good. Especially Eddie. You could tell how passionate he was about playing music, and the raspy tone in his voice as he sang was incredibly compelling. You rested your head in your hand and watched, absentmindedly drinking your beer. You weren’t even listening to the music anymore, just following Eddie as he moved around the stage. The way he bit his lip and poked his tongue out as he concentrated on playing the right chords. His arm muscles tightening as he played. The way his hair moved. The complete and utter joy on his face, same as when he was playing D&D with his friends. It was all incredibly attractive.

You were so busy focusing on him that you hadn’t realized how fast you chugged your beer until you felt the buzz behind your eyes. 

Shit. You were already tipsy. And it only took one drink.

After they were done playing their set, you watched as Eddie spoke to his bandmates, debating whether you should wait for him to find you or go up to him yourself. Thankfully he met your eyes again from across the room so you didn’t have to decide, and held up a finger to tell you to stay put. Then he hopped off the stage towards the bar before making his way over to you with two more beers in his hand. He threw himself down in the seat across from you and slid one of them towards you. You knew you shouldn’t start another one since you had already been adequately affected by the first one, but you appreciated the gesture and didn’t want to be rude. You thanked him with a shy smile and he nodded back at you, then you stared down at the tabletop before he leaned closer to you to try to capture your attention again. 

“So… what did you think? Have you been converted yet?” He joked. 

“Pretty close, I’d say. You guys were really good. Seriously. You’re so talented.”

“Aw, shucks. You’re too kind.”

He smirked and sat back in his chair again, pausing your conversation to lift the collar of his tee shirt up to his forehead and wipe the beads of sweat left over from his performance away. You tried not to stare at the small bit of his torso that appeared when he did it, or to focus too hard on the fact that his dewy skin was glistening kind of sort of beautifully in the dim lights of the bar. When he lowered his shirt again, you blinked and took a quick swig of your drink, doing your best to pretend like nothing had happened. You nearly choked but played it off like you were just clearing your throat before you spoke up again.

“How do you do even do that?” You croaked as you failed to hold back one more cough. If he noticed, he didn’t give you any indication he had. He just raised an eyebrow at you in confusion. 

“Do what? Play guitar? Well, step one was having no friends as a kid, and step two was doing nothing else besides practicing it for, like… ten years straight.”

“No,” you giggled. “Not the guitar playing. Although, that is extremely impressive in and of itself. But, no, I meant… performing in front of people. Where do get the confidence to do that?”

“Shit, I don’t know. Where do you get the confidence to show your art?”

“That’s…not the same thing,” You scoffed.

“Isn’t it?”

“No. I do all of the hard work in private.”

“Yeah, but… sharing it with people sure takes a hell of a lot of courage,” He mumbled, raising his eyebrows at you as he took a sip of his beer. 

You tilted your head at him impatiently.

“You’re deflecting.”

“I’m not,” He chuckled. “I swear. Look, I honestly don’t know how I do it. It took a lot of work to get over how initially terrifying it was, I guess. I wasn’t always this totally badass heavy metal rockstar, you know.”

“Oh really? I assumed you came straight out of the womb like that. The hair, the tattoos and all. Guitar in hand.”

“I wish. But nope. It was a long and painfully awkward road to get here, unfortunately.”

You rested your chin on top of your clasped hands, preparing for a story. 

“Do tell,” You said, fluttering your eyelids at him, and he grinned at your interest. 

“Well… I was a scared shitless little kid who got bullied constantly, and then I met Jeff and he liked all of the same weird stuff as me. And after that we met Gareth and Freak and decided we all wanted to be professional rockstars at the ripe old age of… twelve. So we started Corroded Coffin. The first time we played in public was actually for the Hawkins Middle School talent show, and we were… awful. Terrible. I’d only been playing for, like, a year and we made absolute asses of ourselves.”

You pictured a little version of Eddie trying to play to a crowd for the first time, and it was hopelessly cute.

“Ouch,” You giggled. “How’d you guys bounce back from that?”

“I don’t know. For some reason we just stuck with it. Spent all of our time in Gareth’s garage practicing until we got better, and then one day we just decided to go for it for real. We harassed the owner until he let us play for him, and then he liked us enough to let us perform here. That’s pretty much it, I guess. More or less. Honestly, I think we just had too much fun together to quit.”

“That’s really nice. I’m sorry you had a rough start, but I’m glad you found the things you love so young. And your people.”

He tried to hide a shy smile by pausing to drink, but you still caught it. 

“Yeah. Well, what about you?” He asked, deflecting again. “Art’s your thing. Have you found your people?”

You really didn’t think art was your thing anymore considering you hadn’t actually made anything since before graduation. Maybe getting caught up in world-ending events was your thing now. That seemed more appropriate considering recent circumstances. But you brushed over these thoughts to answer his question. 

“I… think so. Kind of? We didn’t really find each other, we were more… thrust together, I guess? It’s not really the same. I love them, I would do anything for them, but we didn’t exactly choose each other, you know? We don’t actually have too much in common.”

“Oh, you don’t have a lot in common with a bunch of fourteen-year-old boys? Never would have expected that,” He replied sarcastically with a smirk.

“Actually, sadly enough, they’re the ones I have the most in common with. It’s the friends my age I have trouble understanding sometimes.”

“How come?”

Because Nancy would’ve rather spent time with Jonathan or working on the school paper, Robin was so smart and her thoughts moved so quickly that most of the time it exhausted you trying to keep up with her, and Steve couldn’t seem to make up his mind about whether he wanted to be your friend or…more than that? 

“I don’t know. Maybe I just haven’t fully grown up yet,” You said instead. That was also true. He snorted at you. 

“You are preaching to the choir, here. Look at me, I’m almost twenty and still in high school. I spend half of my Friday nights playing D&D with a bunch of freshmen. Clearly, I haven’t done a lot of growing up.”

“That’s not true. But believe me, I get the appeal of D&D. Really, I do. Up until recently, I spent most of my time daydreaming about a world that was pretty much exactly like some of the storylines in your campaign, actually. Full of fantasy, full of adventure, and quests, and… fighting monsters.”

You trailed off after this and took a long drink, hoping to god that he didn’t realize the hesitation in your voice and ask you to elaborate further. You had also conveniently left out the fact that you daydreamed a lot about romance all throughout high school. Specifically with him. 

“And now?” He asked, tilting his head curiously. You set the bottle back down on the table and began peeling at the label anxiously as you thought up an answer. 

“And now… be careful what you wish for, I guess,” You mumbled with a sad chuckle. You weren’t sure what else to say. It was a heavy question. A lot had changed since the last time you had spent any time daydreaming in your room. Life had become much crazier than anything you could have ever dreamt up. 

You didn’t know what you wanted your ideal life to be anymore, other than the fact that you were pretty certain you still wanted Eddie to be part of it. Clearly, there were some things you were still trying to work out. 

You also really didn’t know why you felt the need to even share any of that about yourself. There was just something about him that made you want to spill your guts out. You hated it and loved it at the same time. The alcohol certainly wasn’t helping you either. 

He squinted at you, trying to figure out what you really meant before someone called out to him from across the bar. He turned to see for a moment before looking back at you apologetically, and you waved a hand at him. 

“It’s okay. Go. I’m gonna wait here.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. No worries. Your fan club needs you,” You teased. 

“Ha ha. Right. Just… hold that thought. I’ll be right back, I promise.”

He got up and walked away and you let your cheek fall hard against your hand as you took another very long drink of your beer. You couldn’t help watching him from across the room, and you noticed one of the people he was speaking to getting particularly cozy with him. She put a hand on his shoulder, throwing her head back in laughter at something he had said. As soon as her face came into focus, you realized who it was. It was Jo. Pretty, nice, perfect Jo. Of course she would be there. With all the excitement about seeing Eddie again and finally being able to hang out alone with him, you’d forgotten all about her. And now there she was, wrapping her arm around him. A cruel reminder that you weren’t, in fact, in your dream world, and that there was a very real possibility that Eddie already belonged to somebody else. 

You suddenly felt like you were an intruder in his world. Like you weren’t meant to be there that night. What were you doing? This wasn’t you. You didn’t go to metal concerts at shitty dive bars and get drunk. You’d never even stayed out past eleven before.

You weren’t really sure what this was anymore, or what you were doing. You had spent all of high school dreaming about being with Eddie, just getting the chance to spend any time with him at all, and now it was actually happening. And it just felt… strange. Your fantasizing was always misleading you. All of that time building it up in your head had ruined it. He wasn’t just a daydream anymore, he was a real person. And he was across the room with another girl. It felt like you just didn’t fit. 

You finished your beer quickly and got up to get a couple more. You waited for a little while longer, watching as Jo continued to touch him flirtatiously before the jealousy finally got the best of you and you escaped the bar to sit outside. 

You leaned against the brick wall and looked up at the clear night sky. It was another pretty night. It made you think about Steve again. It made you miss your friends. It made you feel really fucking lonely. Maybe you didn’t have much in common with them, but they had always been there for you without fail. Until, of course, you had to go and mess things up with Steve. You wished you could take that night back more than anything. Now everything was ruined. You weren’t sure how long you were left alone with your rambling thoughts before Eddie joined you.

“Hey, what are you doing out here by yourself?”

He took off his leather jacket and placed it over your shoulders. You didn’t answer him or bother turning away from the sky.

“I’m… sorry I took so long,” He offered, probably picking up on your distress. “I tried to get away, but those assholes like to talk."

You saw him tilt his head to try to get a better look at your face out of the corner of your eye.

“You…okay?” He asked tentatively.

“You’re so good. You know that right?” You responded, completely ignoring his question. He squinted at you quizzically.

“I… thanks? Are you… drunk? How much have you had to drink?”

You held up four fingers and he couldn’t resist laughing at you a little bit. 

“Wow. Somebody’s a lightweight. That’s actually really impressive.”

“Yep. I am. You know why? Because I don’t do this. I don’t drink, I don’t go to bars to watch metal bands. I’m not like you, Eddie. We’re so different. I’m not brave, or confident. I’m soooo… hopeless. You deserve somebody good like you. Somebody that knows exactly what they want and isn’t a ticking time bomb.”

“What are you talking about? Hey, look at me for a second.”

He turned his body towards you, inching so closely to you that his knees were touching yours. You lowered your head to look at him like he had asked, blinking as your eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden movement of your head. It felt like your brain was lagging. You felt dizzy, and not just because Eddie was sitting so closely to you. 

“You are absolutely insane if you think that I’m somehow better than you. You need to know how completely fascinating I think you are. You’re, like, the coolest girl I’ve ever met. You’re the brave one.”

“Bullshit.”

“No, not bullshit.”

“Yes, bullshit.”

“Well… I think you’re wrong.”

You let out a weary string of laughs and he stared at you with his brows furrowed. 

“What’s so funny?”

“If you even knew the half of it… I don’t think you’d think I’m very brave. You probably wouldn’t even like me at all.”

You laughed again, but his shoulders slumped with worry. 

“Y/N… what’s going on? What happened to you this summer? What monsters have you been fighting?”

You weren’t sure if it was a combination of remembering the events of the summer and him interrogating you or just your four beers finally getting to you, but before you could even think about a response to his questions, you leaned away from him and promptly vomited onto the sidewalk.

“Whoa, whoa, shit. Are you okay?” He asked, not even wasting a second before he was holding your hair back for you. After the nausea passed, you straightened yourself and wiped your mouth before turning to look up at him. 

“Can you please pretend that didn’t just happen?” You groaned. 

He just gave you a pitying look that made your stomach churn again, and put a comforting hand on your back to hold you steady. 

“Seriously, are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m just a lightweight, like you said. My pride, however… may never recover. I should probably call it a night.”

“Okay, let me take you home.”

This was sweet, but the thought of getting in a car with him made you feel green again. Partly because you would be trapped in a small space with him and forced to talk, and partly because you knew how recklessly he drove.

“It’s okay. I don’t want you to abandon your friends. Plus, you’ve been drinking, too. I’ll just call somebody to come get me.”

He raised an eyebrow at you.

“Y/N… it’s really fine…”

“Eddie,” You interrupted him more harshly than you intended. “Seriously. I’m just going to call someone.”

You were just exhausted, pissed at yourself for looking like an idiot, and still slightly upset about Jo flirting with him. But you could tell by the wounded look on Eddie’s face that he had taken your chilly tone to heart. 

“Okay. If that’s what you want. Can I at least give you change for the payphone?”

You nodded and thanked him, then let him walk with you to the phone. He leaned up against the wall nearby with his arms crossed, trying his best to give you some distance and privacy. 

It was well past midnight at that point, and you honestly weren’t sure who to call. Your parents certainly weren’t an option, Joyce had enough to deal with already, Nancy didn’t have her own phone line so her parents would have most likely picked up, and Robin didn’t even have a driver’s license. That really only left you with one option. 

You dialed the number to Steve’s house, praying that his parents had left him home alone for another one of their weekend getaways. It took a while before anyone answered, but you breathed a sigh of relief when someone finally did and it was Steve’s impatient voice on the other end. 

“Hello?” 

“Steve? This is… Y/N.”

Eddie turned his head when he heard you say Steve’s name. 

“Y/N? What’s going on? Are you okay? It’s almost one in the morning.”

“I’m okay. I just… look, I’m really sorry to ask, but would you be able to pick me up at The Hideout?”

There was a brief pause. You snuck a peek at Eddie, who was still at attention.

“I’ll be there in ten,” Steve replied without any follow-up questions, then hung up before you could even say thank you. You placed the phone back on the hook and Eddie took a hesitant step towards you.

“Is he coming?”

You nodded, and he seemed disappointed by this.

“Can I wait with you until he gets here?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

You sat on the sidewalk together again in silence for what felt like forever. You tried to give his jacket back to him but he put up his hands to stop you.

“Keep it. You can bring it back to me when you pick up the boys next week.”

“Thanks,” You smiled meekly. The nights were finally beginning to get a crisp, autumnal bite to them, and you were grateful for the extra warmth. Plus, it smelled like him. 

“Are you feeling any better?” He asked.

“A little.”

“Good. That’s… good,” He said awkwardly, rubbing his palms over his pant legs nervously.

You wanted to say something to reassure him that the disaster the night had turned into wasn’t his fault, that you were just a wreck around him, but the words caught in your throat. Then he spoke up again before you could.

“Can I say something really quick before you go? You don’t even have to listen, but I think it has to be said.”

You nodded reluctantly, and he sucked in a breath.

“Look, I have no idea what’s been going on with you this past year and you don’t ever need to tell me. And I don’t wanna assume anything or project my own shit, so feel free to tell me to fuck off at any time, but whatever it is or was… I can tell it’s taken you a lot of strength to get through it. And I really don’t know why you don’t see that because it’s been very obvious to me, even from a distance. Maybe it’s just gonna take you some more time to figure things out. To get used to living with it, whatever it is. And you will, I know you will. I think you’re closer than you think you are. And maybe it feels like it right now, but it’s not going to hurt you forever. Because you are strong, and you are brave, and you’re never going to be able to convince me otherwise. You’re never going to be able to… make me not like you. Whatever happens. I think that after all this time, you should at least know that’s true.”

The longer he spoke, the quicker your breathing became as you fought to hold back tears. Even from the outside, even without knowing a single thing about the Upside Down or what you’d been through, it was like he could still see you. You’d never felt so understood in your entire life. It shocked the shit out of you, but now you realized that for once your gut instincts hadn’t mislead you. There was a reason why you were so drawn to Eddie all of these years. And the way he was looking at you… it was beginning to make your stomach churn for very different reasons. You stared at him, speechless, and he opened his mouth to speak again. 

“I also just want to say… I’m really sorry…”

Before he could finish, a pair of headlights diverted your attention. When Steve parked and got out of the car, slamming his door behind him, you and Eddie stood up in unison. 

“You ready to go?” He called out to you.

You turned to Eddie.

“Thank you, for saying all of that. I’m really sorry about tonight. I’ll see you next Friday, okay?”

He nodded and smiled as you walked away and Steve opened and closed the car door for you.

“Hey, man. Thanks for coming to get her. I’m sorry about this.” You heard Eddie say to Steve through the open window on the driver’s side of the car. 

Steve walked over to him and tried to speak quietly enough that you couldn’t hear, but you did.

“I don’t know what you did to her or why she needed me to come get her, but if you hurt her in any way, I swear to god, man, you better watch your back.”

You could tell Eddie was taken aback by this and wanted to defend himself, but all he did was cross his arms and say, “Understood.”

Steve backed away and got into the car, still glaring at Eddie. You stared at him in shock. Eddie just stood frozen as you drove away.

“Steve? What the fuck was that?”

“What?” He spat, his eyes still on the road.

“Was threatening him really necessary?!”

“I don’t know, you tell me. What did that asshole do to you?”

“Do to me? Steve, he didn’t do anything! I just drank too much and got sick. I was embarrassed!”

“You what?” He stared at you, completely surprised by this. “This is so not like you, Y/N,” He muttered. “What is going on with you?”

You glared at him, mouth gaping open.

“Oh my god. Now you care about what’s going on with me. Wow, thanks for that.”

“What are you talking about?! You’re the one who completely shut me out and then called me in the middle of the night to come pick you up!”

You knew he was right, but you couldn’t stand to admit it. You were too nauseous and exhausted to fight. You squeezed your eyes shut and pinched the bridge of your nose in an attempt to stop yourself from exploding, but you couldn’t take it anymore. 

“Alright, you know what, fuck this. Pull over,” You demanded.

“Excuse me?”

“PULL OVER,” You bellowed, loud enough that it made Steve jump.

“Jesus, alright!” He yelled back.

The car barely stopped before you opened the door and got out, slamming it behind you.

“Hey!” Steve called after you as you stomped down the road. “What the hell are you doing?!”

He got out and chased after you, putting a hand on your shoulder to stop you. You spun around and smacked it away.

“I’m sorry, Steve!” You began to scream, and he immediately drew back in shock. “I’m so sorry that I was so fucking humiliated by the fact that I nearly vomited on Eddie Munson’s shoes that I would have rather sat in a car with my friend that I made out with and haven’t spoken to since because I was absolutely mortified. The choices weren’t great, but I did my absolute best with what I had, and maybe it wasn’t the correct one but fuck me if I wasn’t gonna sit there and make myself look like an asshole for one more minute. Because he wasn’t the one who ruined the night, Steve. He didn’t do anything. He was perfect. I was a fucking mess, and my brain ruined everything the way it always does. The way it ruined our friendship, and blew up all of my plans, and possessed me to get drunk tonight, and keeps telling me to push Eddie as far away as possible. You wanna know what’s going on with me, Steve? Well, so do I! Because I certainly didn’t plan for any of this! So, I hope you’ll forgive me for losing my fucking mind, because clearly I’m not equipped to deal with any of it. We did just watch somebody die by mind flayer this summer, after all. Or have you forgotten already? Because I definitely haven’t! And the best part about it is, I can’t tell anybody about it, especially Eddie. So, yeah. Fuck me I guess. I’ll just slowly rot from the inside out trying to hold all of this in. No problem. I’m cool.”

You finally stopped your rant, panting, as Steve stared back at you in stunned silence. Then you abruptly plopped yourself into the grass and curled up your legs, hiding your head in your arms. After a minute or so, you heard the crunch of Steve’s sneakers coming toward you, and felt him sit down beside you. He didn’t say anything. He just waited. You turned your head away from him, still resting it on top of your knees, and began to cry quietly. 

“How do you even know this isn’t who I am, Steve?” You sniffled. “How could you know? I don’t even know anymore. I thought that figuring out all this shit about Hawkins and the Upside Down would put things into perspective, you know? Give me some kind of bullshit purpose. Make everything else seem smaller. But then Billy died and what happened between us happened and now everything is…too much. Too loud. And I’m so…I’m so lost. What am I supposed to do with the rest of my life now? How am I supposed to just go on pretending like none of it happened? How do you do it? I feel like I’m losing my goddamn mind.”

You continued to cry quietly, and eventually felt Steve put a hand on your shoulder. Then he stood up, and you looked up at him through your tears to see him holding out his hand. You just stared up at him, confused. 

“Come on. Just let me take you home.”

You thought about walking the rest of the way instead, but after realizing you definitely weren’t in a good state of mind to do that, you reluctantly took his hand and let him pull you off of the ground. You watched him as he opened the passenger-side door and waited for you to get in, then walked over slowly and got in, eyeing him suspiciously the whole time. 

You didn’t speak the entire way to your house. It wasn’t until you began unbuckling your seatbelt to get out of his car that he felt compelled to turn and talk to you.

“Y/N, you’re not the only one freaking out, okay? I need you to know that. We’ve just all gotten really good at hiding it.”

You stared back at him for a moment, trying and failing to read him, then shook your head wearily.

“And that’s exactly the problem,” You said with a definitive shrug as you reached for the door handle. “Good night, Steve. Thanks for the ride.”

You were so sick of pushing everything down. You tried to do it, but obviously it wasn’t something you could handle anymore. That was very clear from your humiliating outburst, which Steve had barely even bothered to react to. 

How did he keep everything so tightly wound inside himself? He was so completely shut down that it stressed you out to be anywhere near him. It was actually kind of terrifying. 

Maybe it was your fault. Maybe what happened between the two of you had permanently put an end to the closeness you once shared. But you couldn’t take any of it back, so there was nothing else you could do or say. Maybe the only thing to do now was move on. 

You walked to your front door and shut it quickly behind you, this time stopping yourself from acting on the urge to turn around and watch Steve as he drove away. 

[sharktoothedboys]

Lips Of An Angel, Part 2

Here it is guys!! Part two!! Thank you for being patient with me!! and because you asked nicely I tagging @marshmallow12435 because you wanted to know when I posted!! So here goes! Enjoy everyone!! 

====================================================

Shot ran until he thought his lungs might give out, he was hoping he would catch up to you before you even made it to Katsuki’s, if that was where you were even headed? No he couldn’t think like that, He was going to find you there. 

There is was, just up ahead, Katsuki’s home, The lights were on, that’s a good sign right? It was almost 2am! Surely that had to mean you were there. He reached the door and began to hammer on it, Frantic, but he didn’t care, He needed to explain, or at least try to. 

A very disgruntled Bakugo finally answered the door. 

“She doesn’t wanna see you, Asshole.” He snapped a soon as he opened the door. 

Shoto was trying to catch his breath on the blondes porch.

“I don’t care what you tell me she said, i need to speak to her.” He managed to get out between breaths.

He tried to push his way past the explosive hero, but to no avail, Bakugo stopped him. 

“I said she doesn’t wanna see you.” He said eerily calm.

They angrily stared each other down at the front door, Bakugos grip on Shotos arm tightened, small crackles could be heard and the temperature in the room began to noticeably drop as the two heroes continued their stare down. 

“Katsuki...” Your feeble voice came from behind the mountain of a man, “Its ok, i’ll handle it.”

Shoto looked behind Bakugo, his eyes widened in shock and sadness as he took in your dishevelled hair, red eyes and puffy cheeks, he had caused all this hurt, you let out a sniffle and he thinks he feels his heart break, This was all his fault. He snatches his arm away from Bakugos grip and quickly makes his way over to you, reaching for your hands, only to visibly wince when you retreat them from his reach, not letting him hold your hands in his. 

“Say what you came to say, and leave.” You said, as you stared at you hands, picking at the loose skin around your nails, a habit of yours. “I already know all the important parts, so don’t try and play the victim here”

“No please, YN. I am not here to try and talk my way out of anything, what i have done is awful” He says sadly, “But please here me out.”

Bakugo interrupts. “I’ll be in the kitchen, YN if you need me to kick this guys ass, just shout.” He makes to leave, but not without harshly bumping in to Shotos shoulder first. Making you smirk a little. Petty, but you didn’t care. 

“Thanks Suki.” You mutter, eyes still glued to your hands, still yet to look Shoto in the eye. 

Shoto guides you to the sofa and sits down besides you, feeling the pain when you shuffle away from him being to close. 

“I love you...” He begins but is quickly cut off. 

“Don’t, Just don’t give me that bullshit, I don’t need you to lie to my face as well as behind my back, stop trying to make yourself feel better about doing something shitty. I don’t need your pity and your excuses, If that’s all you have to say then leave.”

“I can’t lie to you anymore, because I truly do love you, Please believe me.”

“WHY SHOULD I?!” You yell, forcing yourself to your feet to pace around, “Give me one good fucking reason as to why I should believe a god damn word that comes out your mouth! You have apparently done nothing but lie to me from the start! Everything you have ever said to me has been a lie, EVERYTHING!” 

“NO Y/N!! I never lied to you, everything i ever said was true, every compliment, every i love you, everything was true, just please let me explain.”

“And what? I am meant to be grateful now?” You spit back. 

“No, just please...” 

you looked down at his desperate facial expression, you could see it in his eyes, sincerity, maybe you should just let him explain himself properly.”

“You have 5 minutes.” You huffed as you sank back down in to the sofa. 

“Thank you.” He said, then silence engulfed the two of you, Where did he even begin? 

“4 minutes left.” You stated.

“Right” He sighed deeply, “Well as you probably gathered from the phonecall, there has been...”

“No shit Sherlock” You snapped, you were beyond sad now, Shoto turning up and taking his sweet time had just made you mad, in fact it made you furious. He blinked back at your bluntness, he wasn’t used to you not being patient with him or swearing so much, he was taken aback. You had never snapped at him before. “Just get on with it Todoroki or I swear.”

That was it, hearing his family name slip from your lips instead of the usual Shoto made him snap, tears threatening to pour down his pink cheeks.

“Don’t you fucking dare.” You snapped when you saw the tears.  “You have absolutely no right to cry in front of me right now.”

“I can’t help it, hearing you call me by my surname feels like the final nail in the coffin.”

“If you don’t get on with it we’ll both be in coffins.” You muttered, “Now just tell me what you wanna say.”

“There has always been someone else that has also had my heart.” He said, wiping the tears away, “She shrouded my mind and for a while she was all i could think about, even after we met, I just couldn’t seem to get her off my mind, But the closer we got, the more she faded away, eventually I found myself barely thinking of her, and smiling around you a lot more. Just as a I found myself fully falling for you, she clawed her way back in to my life, and it was like she had never left, like I was under some kind of spell for her. I couldn’t bring myself to hurt you, I really was falling hard for you, But I also kept finding myself in her embrace, I am sorry for what I have done, truly, because after tonight’s phone call, I saw you were gone and I just instantly knew, I felt it in my bones that you were the one I needed in my life, the one i wanted and desired the most. The panic that washed over me at the thought of you not being in my life, Imagining not waking up to you every morning, No more loving kisses, no more breakfasts together before going off to work, no more evening cuddles while a forgotten movie played in the background, I couldn’t not have you in my life, and i promise to spend the rest of my life making it up to you, If you could just find it in your heart to give me one last chance, Just come home with me and forget any of this ever happened, to please, just forgive me and let me hold you again.”

A few tears rolled down your cheeks as you cupped his face with your hands, he automatically leaned in to your touch, he looked in to your eyes and gave you a small smile, which you returned, and he closed his eyes in contentment....

“Is that it?” You sighed

His eyes snapped open as you let go of his face, staring straight in to your stoic eyes that gave nothing away. Emotionless.

“Di you really think something like that pathetic little speech was going to get me to come home and welcome you back with open arms, when our whole relationship was built on a rebound that you didn’t even get over? You want me to just up and forgive you after 3 years of deceit? You think its gonna be all sunshine and rainbows? No, I don’t trust you and you want to follow you home like a loyal puppy and play happy families and pretend like none of this happened!!”

You stop to catch your breath, standing and running your hands through your hair, A speechless Shoto sat staring at you as you continued with your rant.”

“What? Nothing to say? Did you not prepare for the possibility I wasn’t going to return to you, what like I am so lucky in life to be with the great Shoto Todoroki? Well, as it turns out, I am shit outta luck! And so are you!! Tough luck Todoroki! TOUGH FUCKING LUCK! This isn’t some sappy RomCom where you say a few nice things about me and I come running back to you, I’m not some pathetic lonely woman who thinks she will never find love again, who thinks she has nothing else in her life worth living for because some asshole cheated on her, I am not someone who has no other options because some lying cheating scumbag bastard strung her along for 3 years, NO! Not me, I have a life still to live, and I don’t need you in it. But I do want an answer, so give me one. Who is she?” 

He stared open mouthed at your heavily breathing frame, Should he tell you? Would you kill her? What does he do now? Just as he was about to open his mouth the door opened and he suddenly didn’t have to say anything, In walked Camie, Bakugo’s long time girlfriend, and from the shock on her face and the look on Shoto’s as he stared at her presence, It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. 

“Sh... Todoroki... YLN.. what...what are you guys doing here so late?” She asked, a lump in her throat as she did.

You looked from her to Shoto, and you knew. 

“It’s you...” You said, “Its been you all along..”

Camie just stands there like a dear in the headlights, her gaze flitting from you to Shoto, begging him with her eyes for an ounce of backup. 

“ I....” Tears began to pour freely down her face. 

“KATSUKI!!!” You screamed.

“NO! PLEASE!” She lunges towards you, grabbing your arm.

“What? and just let my best friend continue his life with an unfaithful whore?”

You yelled at her as Bakugo shot in from the kitchen, just in time to witness you thro Camie from your grasp on to the ground.

“Woah!!” He yelled, heading for Camie, but you stopped him, “ What the hell is going on here?”

“It’s her” you said calmly looking down at the girl, who was now her knees, crying at your feet. “It’s her who has been fucking Todoroki for almost my entire relationship with him!”

Bakugo just stared down at her, eyes wide, His gaze turned to Shoto, who was sat on the couch, his face in his hands as his shoulders shook from silently crying. Bakugo saw red. His head lowered, his teeth grinding together, His Palms crackling loudly around his balled up fists, He was about to step forward until he felt your hand on his shoulder. 

“They are not worth it, either of them.” 

He calmed down slightly at your words and touch and looked you in the eye, you smiled and he returned the smile. 

“Just one question,” He stated boldly, looking down at Camie, “Di you ever love me? Or did you just choose me to get closer to this bastard?” 

She looked up at him, her silence speaking volumes, That was all he needed.

“Get the fuck out, both of you.” He fumed

“But where am I meant to go?”

“Do it look like i give a shit about where you go, end up in a ditch for all I care, why don’t you go to lover boys house with him, Whore.”

“She is no longer welcome at my place.” Shoto said as he stood up heading for the door, not without giving you one last apologetic smile.

“Katsuki, please.” Camie begged holding on to the hem of his shirt from he place still on the floor. 

“NO! You don’t get to call me that anymore, Now I aid, get out.”

He bent down grabbing her by the collar of her coat and literally throwing her out the door, Shot still stared at you sadly as the door was slammed in both thier faces. He had really fucked up, and he knew deep down there was nothing he do to fix it. 

He stared longingly at the door, until Camie tried to grab his hand, that he snatched away. 

“Don’t touch me, this is all your fault, I was just getting over you! I had found someone I could love, who I DID love, why did you haver to come back and ruin everything for me!? I am going home, don’t follow me.”

He storms off leaving her in the street alone to sort out her own situation, He was done with her, he wouldn’t let her ruin his life again. 

Back in Bakugo’s house you slumped down on the sofa, your head on your hands, tears wanting to fall but you not quite letting them. 

“He isn’t worth it.” Bakugo said in a calm voice, a hand around your back, drawing small circles along the small of it to calm you down. You look at him smiling and padding your eyes with your hands to stop the tears, “ You know I am right.” He smiles down at you.

“Yeah, you’re always right. Aren’t you?” You giggle back at him.

“You know it, sweetheart.” He laughs, “Now come one we should get some shut eye, we are both on patrol tomorrow. You can stay here as long as you need to.”

“Shit, Patrol. My hero uniform and everything is all at that hom... Todorokis place.”

“Don’t worry, make me a list and ill swing by in the morning for your uniform, you have bought the essentials right?” 

You nod at him

“Right well I’ll get you some fresh sheets for the guest room, lets sleep.”

You yawned and followed him to the guest room and he got you the fresh sheets he promised and bid you a goodnight as he went to his room. 

The next morning, Bakugo was true to his word and went to Shoto’s house to collect your hero uniform and a few other things as specified in the list he asked you to write for him. He arrived, ringing the doorbell and waiting for an answer. He eventually opened the door, he looked like shit. 

“Bakugo.” He seethed

“Asshole.” Bakugo replied.

After they exchanged their greetings, Bakugo made his way inside, explaning you had sent him for the bits you needed. 

“Is she okay?” Shoto asked sheepishly.

“You don’t get to know that.” Bakugo spat back as a reply.

“Come on Bakugo, at least let me know she is okay?”

“You threw away the right you had to know anything about her or her life.”

Shoto stared down at the blonde as he packed a few of your belongings into the bag he bought with him. 

“Oh my god...” Shoto realized. “ You’re still in love with her aren’t you?”

“Always was, always will be.” Bakugo replied without missing a beat, he smiled up at the dual haired man, “ Your loss will be my gain.”

He zipped up the bag and stood besides Shoto. Shoto’s left side began to ignite a little out of jealousy and rage. 

“Go ahead IcyHot, do your worst, I’ll just go home and have YN patch me up while i tell her what a monster you are.”

With that said, his flames extinguished, He didn’t want you to think he was a monster, even though it is what he deserved.

“Just treat her better than I ever did.” Shot said quietly.

“That won’t be difficult.”

That stung.

Bakugo stepped past Shoto, leaving him behind with just his thoughts and memories. 

He made it back to his house, he entered only to be hit with the smell of bacon and eggs, a smile creeped on to his face, he could get used to this domestic life bullshit, coming home to a cooked meal everyday sounded great. He decided there and then that he wasn’t going to waste another second of his life with out you. He walked in to the kitchen gaining you attention.

“Hey Kats....” You were cut off by his lips slamming down on to yours, You were still for a few seconds while you figured out what ws happening, and then you melted in to his embrace as you returned the kiss, you felt his smile on your lips as the kiss deepened. 

He begrudgingly broke the contact.

“You have no idea how long I have wanted to do that.” He whispered against your lips that were still very close to his own, his arms tightening around your waist.

“Then show me, Suki.” You said as you returned you lips to his and kissed him with all the passion you had. 

You were sure he has the lips of an Angel

===================================================

@marshmallow12435

There we go guys!! Part 2!!! I absolutely LOVED writing this story, so I hope you all enjoy it too. It deffo my new fave! Please like and follow I would be eternally grateful!! 

[formerprincess]

A tale written with fangs and claws || Chapter 60

Chapters: 60/? Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken, Corey Bryant/Mason Hewitt Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken, Mason Hewitt, Corey Bryant, Nolan (Teen Wolf) Additional Tags: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Dunbar Pack, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Werewolf Theo Raeken, Alpha Theo Raeken, Canon-Typical Violence, Smut, Mates, Liam and Theo are mates, Top Theo Raeken, Bottom Theo Raeken, Top Liam, Bottom Liam Dunbar Series: Part 1 of Morning Dew Pack

Liam meets with Luka again and learns a bit more about the other werewolf pack. The friendship is blossoming.

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

"Thank you for dropping me off." Liam climbed out of the passenger seat of Savannah's car and closed the passenger door behind him. "Don't forget to text me!" The blonde yelled through the open window before she reversed her car. Liam waved at her and watched her drive away before he finally made his way to the front door of his house. Luka, Savannah, Maddie, and he had sat together in the bar and talked for a while until they all had to disperse in different directions. Maddie and Luka had matters to attend to in regards to business and coven, Savannah had plans with her friends later on but offered to drop Liam off. He had gladly accepted her offer since it saved him from riding the bus during summer. Would Theo or someone else had come to get Liam? Absolutely but his Betas were not his chauffeurs.

Liam unlocked the door now and stepped into the house. He heard the tv running, the bass of Mike's music coming from downstairs. As always, it filled Liam with the undeniable feeling of home and happiness. Here he belonged. He hung his keys up and walked further into the house. Theo and Mason lounged on the opposite ends of the couch; Theo with a book in his hand and Mason with his notebook. Corey sat in front of the couch table and solved a puzzle. Tim sat in one of the chairs and watched tv. "Hey, you're back." Mason checked his watch. "Way later than I expected you to be. So it was good?" The others stopped what they were doing and turned to Liam. Tim even muted the series he had been watching. "Mixed, I would say." Liam kissed Theo and then sat next to his mate. Theo licked his lips. "Have you've been drinking lemon shots?" "I'm concerned how you got that from just one kiss", Liam remarked. Then he decided to answer Mason's question. "First of, those Alphas really think they're something else. Something I'm not. I don't have enough millions in my bank account to ever have them accept me." "That bad? I'm sorry." Corey grimaced. His parents were like that as well and he despised them for it. "Most of them, yeah. But I met three people who are very cool. First of, Mase, were cheetahs and vampire are a thing." Mason squeaked and pushed his notebook out of the way. "Tell me everything!" "The hotel had such old Hollywood glam style. Not my chic but whatever. First I met Savannah. She's the cheetah. Alpha of a very small pack here in Seattle. Outgoing, very direct, and honest. She talked to me before I even entered the meeting room. Was her first time too. We kind of stuck together. Then we met Meadow, the vampire. She has been to meetings before but she does not like the Alphas. She has a human best friend and told me he also has some notes about the supernatural community. I invited the two of them here cause I thought you and him could maybe check your notes, combine them so to speak. He surely will have things you don't have and vice versa, Mason and Corey." "Great idea." Corey helped Mason with the Bestiary and he would also profit from meeting Asher. If Asher wanted to follow the invitation. Maddie had said it would not be a problem but Liam would wait for clarification from Asher himself. "You said you met three people. Who's the third?" Theo asked. "Luka. He's the only other cool werewolf I met. Also older than us but his pack is from around. They're more modern and open-minded. Like ours is." "Sounds good. All in all, it seemed as if the meeting wasn't for nothing." Mason smiled. "And vampires. Wait! How was she there? Can she walk in the sun? Did the other Alphas wrangle her into the hotel? Is she traveling in a coffin? Did she try to drink your blood? What was she like??" "Jesus, Mason." Corey shook his head. But Liam gladly answered every question his Emissary had. "I'll stay in contact with them", he finally ended and his mate, as well as Consultant and Emissary, voiced their agreement. "Liam?" Tim said shyly. "Didn't you put up a rule of not having strangers come to the house? When you said you invited the vampire and her friend here, are you not breaking your own rule?"

Shit. Oh shit.

Liam had completely forgotten about that rule. Yes, he had told his Betas not to bring strangers into their new home. And here he was breaking his very own rule. Great, Dunbar! "No...I mean...yeah, I did....But...." Tim got up to leave the room. "I mean, you're the Alpha and therefore it's your decision. You can do whatever you want. I just remembered the rule." He gave an insecure shrug and then left the room in the direction of his room. Liam huffed. "You forgot you had put the rule in place, right?" Theo guessed. "Yep." Liam closed his eyes for a moment and scolded himself mentally. Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! "I mean, you are the Alpha. We can still follow the rules but what you do is up to you", Corey suggested softly. Liam's eyes snapped open. "No!" He said sharply. "We're not running a pack like that! If rules are in place, we all have to follow them. Including me. Especially me." "Then you have to decide what to do with that situation. You could always meet with Meadow and her friend somewhere else", Mason suggested. "No. The rule made sense back then but not it's not feasible anymore. And I will tell Tim that."

The young Alpha got up from the couch and marched downstairs to his Beta's room. He knocked, waited a few moments, then opened the door. Liam peeked into the room. "Hey. Have a minute?" Tim had sat on his desk and now spun around in his chair, a mixture of shock and surprise written on his face. But then he caught himself and nodded. Liam walked in and closed the door behind him. "You can sit on the bed if you want." Tim pointed at said furniture piece and Liam sat down on the edge. He rubbed his palms over his thighs. "You're right. I set this rule and I completely and utterly forgot about it. Had you not said anything, it would have left my mind forever. I am sorry about that." "It's okay. As I said, you're the Alpha. You make the rules, you sure can break the rules." Tim tried his best to give off the impression it was really okay. But Liam was stubborn. "It's not okay", he stated calmly. "When I set the rule, it seemed reasonable to me and came from a place of being worried about everyone and our home. I wanted to be absolutely sure nothing could get to us. That was weeks ago. I should have kept it in mind and change it again after Ever cast the spell and we were more secure. I didn't. I fucked up and I am sorry about that." Tim opened his mouth to protest but Liam was faster: "I am grateful for you guys calling me out. Tim, you're my friend, my family, my Beta. You and the others absolutely should call me out when I do something wrong. I'm not perfect and I will make these mistakes. But only with this echo from you, I can improve and become a better leader. I'm not mad at you and you don't have to be afraid to speak up. This rule was okay back then but now is not anymore. Therefore I cut it. Gone! Just like that! thank you for bringing this up. I mean it. But what will never happen is that I set rules for you and then don't follow them myself. This is not the type of leader I wanna be. Okay?" Tim gnawed on his lip. "I would not care so much but this is the first house I am not judged and ridiculed in. I can be myself and I want to protect it as much as I can", he confessed. "So do I, Timmy", Liam promised him. "I would never let anyone in here I might consider not fully trustworthy." Tim considered. "So you trust Meadow and her friend?" "I do, yeah." Liam nodded. "Do you consider them good allies for the pack?" The twenty-year-old had to laugh. "My brain's not wired like that." Liam played with his hands. "Theo is good at that, Mason too. But I don't think strategically. On the lacrosse field, yeah, that's my jam, but not when it comes to people. I meet a person and I either like or dislike them. Maybe I trust too easy and maybe I will make a fool out of myself but then I have to take responsibility for it. I can't, I don't want to meet someone and be like Your name is what? Oh, you will be a splendid ally to my pack. This is not me and I will probably never get there. Hence why I keep Theo around", he joked at the end. Tim chuckled but then sighed. "I know what you mean. I'm not like that either. It would feel...I don't know...like..." They both thought about it. "Like using someone", they both finally said at the same time and this time they both laugh. "Mike is good at it too. To easily find out how people can be useful to him upon meeting them." "Maybe it's a survival tactic", Liam put out a theory. "How can you help me in my current situation to get a better stand and survive. Would explain why Theo is so good at it. He and Mike both needed to survive in a world that didn't want them." Tim raised his shoulders. "My survival tactic is not being seen or heard. Not draw any attention." "Well, I hope you don't feel like that anymore in the house or around the pack in general." Liam sounded like a father, he realized that himself. But wasn't an Alpha supposed to be a father sometimes? Tim shook his head. "Not always. But it's hard to unlearn what I learned for nineteen years. You know, you guys are great! You make me feel welcome! Don't think anybody else, please!"

He moved his hands around and knocked over a small can filled with brushes of all kinds. They clattered to the floor. Liam knelt and helped him pick them up again. "Didn't know you were painting, Timmy. Those are many brushes." His Beta turned a concerning shade of red and stuttered. "I...No...Not...Irgs. I don't paint! Pictures! I don't paint pictures!" "Then what do you paint?" Liam had never seen Tim being creative with brushes in any shape or form. From how his friend acted, one would think he was doing forbidden things with those brushes. "You don't have to tell me, of course. I'm just curious." You could basically see Tim's thought process on his face. Denial, fear, nervousness, fear again, shame. Finally, he pointed to the other side of the room. There was a large board with something tiny on it. Curiosity got the better of Liam and he stepped closer. Tiny little figurines were placed all over the board, along with trees, and various other little things. There was even a tiny truck looking amazingly similar to Theo's truck. And there was a car looking like Liam's. Wait a second. "Are those figurines of the pack?" Tim rushed next to Liam. "I can stop with that if you think it's weird. It's just, I like making those little scenes and take inspiration from real life." He gently pushed a tiny figurine in a blue jersey. A tiny Liam in lacrosse gear, Liam realized. "You've got to be kidding me! This is awesome! Can I touch it?" Liam was in awe. Tim blushed furiously but then gently placed lacrosse Liam on Liam's palm. The young Alpha turned the figurine to inspect it from all sides. For such a small thing, the details were incredibly detailed. "I make the figurines from a special clay and then I paint them. I hope you don't think it's weird. I am sorry if you do. I'm not a creep, I promise!" Tim almost stumbled over his words in his haste to get them out. "You make them? This is incredible, Tim! Why did you never show us this? That's not creepy or weird, this is fucking amazing! You're crazy talented." Liam could not stop praising the guy. And Tim beamed under the praise. Once he realized Liam did not find anything weird about that and actually loved it, he preened. "Does anybody in the pack know you're doing this?" "Mike knows." Tim smiled shyly. "But I made him swear he wouldn't tell a soul. Made him swear on something important to him." "Uh uh. What did he swear on?" Now Tim blushed again. "Our friendship." "Aw." Those two were cute and deserved each other. Mike because he needed a calm anchor in his life, Tim because he needed someone to speak up when he couldn't himself. "But seriously, Timmy, those are cool. I'm not going to say anything but if you ever want to share with the rest, I can already assure you, they will be as amazed as I was. It's a really cool hobby. I imagine it takes a lot of time?" "Oh, it does. But I like to modulate all the figurines and then paint them. It's calm work and I can think while doing it." Tim began chatting about his hobby. Now that Liam knew it seemed like a dam had burst and he could share it with the Alpha. Liam willingly listened.

****** "I'm glad you could clear the air with Tim." Theo pulled the covers back and crawled in bed. Liam was already under the covers and had scrolled through his phone but now put the device away to concentrate on the talk with his mate. "I'm glad too. It is important to me to get those kinds of replies so I can reflect on myself. I'm not doing everything right. But I'm working on it." "You're doing a lot of things already right. The things you're not doing right, well they partly make you Liam. Not perfect but human and very loveable." "How were you ever the chimera of death?" Liam teased and Theo smacked him with his pillow. Liam laughed. "I am trying here to compliment you and you do not appreciate it? You should be ashamed of yourself!" Theo wailed. Liam laughed louder. "Naw, you will survive that one, big boy. You know I love you." To prove it, he pressed his mate down on the mattress and kissed him passionately. Theo laughed into the kiss but returned it soon enough. "I know you love me", he mumbled after they parted. "And I love you, Lee." Liam was proud to hear that and he smirked. His phone chimed and he let go of Theo to grab it. "It's from Luka. He's asking if I want to meet up sometime next week. Cool." Liam already typed an answer. "You really like the three, right?" Theo mused. Liam looked up from his phone screen. Theo was watching him with questioning eyes but there was no sign of jealousy as he had shown with Scott in the beginning. He sighed. "I do. It's strange. They're all older than me and yet they never acted like they had to explain the world to me. Never a patronizing word, never telling me I'm still so young. I was just Liam and from the get-go, I was part of this little gang. I didn't have to prove myself to them. Because it felt like I had already proved myself prior to meeting them and they didn't even care. It was nice. I wasn't...." "You weren't the fourteen-year-old?" Theo asked amusedly and yet with compassion. "Yeah", Liam confirmed. "I wasn't even Liam the twenty-year-old. I was just...Liam." He fell silent for a few beats. "Doesn't mean I will leave you guys behind. You're my family." "Nobody's thinking that!" Theo furrowed his brows. "If we did, we would be bad friends and family members. We all are individuals outside of this pack and we all will make friendships without the pack being involved. If not, we would be one lousy pack. What we are is, happy you found people appreciating you and liking you for who you are." He reached out and pushed Liam's chin up so the couple looked at each other. "Liam, you have so many things going on for you. Your age shouldn't be one of the first things to notice." It was still strange to hear those things with such sincerity and Liam swallowed dryly. "What's the first thing?" He asked softly. Theo smiled lovingly. "Your good heart. And your eyes. Not because of their color - even though it's a beautiful color - but because they shine with such honesty and happiness." They stared at each other, Liam lost for words. He found his voice only after moments passed. "Were you always that poetic?" "You bring out the best in me", the ex-chimera replied and then kissed Liam deeply.

****** "Not to be pessimistic or something but would it not have been better to plant the flowers after the heatwave?" Liam stood in the open front door and watched Brett watering their plants. Nope", the tall werewolf replied and carried on with his task. "Because?" "Because I wanted to do it now", Brett simply answered. He gave Liam a cheeky grin. "That's reason enough." "Why would I ever doubt that?" Liam remarked teasingly. "Careful before I water you. You could use some growing", Brett teased back. The next moment, he was distracted by the red convertible oldtimer rolling into their driveway. The car was highly polished, not one speck of dirt to be seen, and it was sparkling in the sun. "Holy crap, that is awesome." Brett didn't even realize he was watering the ground instead of the plants, too busy staring at the car. It stopped in front of the entrance and Luka in the driver seat smirked. "Hi." "Hi." Liam laughed. "Nice car." "It's the pack car when one of us wants to go for a nice ride. Holden, a pack member, resto moded it but he lends it to everyone. Thought it's a nice day, why not take it?" He took off his sunglasses and seemed quite proud of his Beta's skills. Liam had no interest in cars but it was a pretty one and why not? He had no objections to driving around in this. Mike and Theo came out of the house. "Dude, that car is sick!" Mike jumped down the stairs and rounded it. Luka preened. "I'll forward it to Holden." Theo was also circling the car, as amazed by it as Mike and Brett were. Liam could only shake his head. Who knew those guys were such car freaks? "Luka, that one over there is Brett and that guy there is Mike. And that is Theo." "Nice to meet you." Theo was the only one to actually shake Luka's hand, the other two simply waved and then continued to fawn over the car. "Nice to meet you too", Luka replied. "You're Liam's boyfriend, right?" "I am", Theo proudly confirmed. "Bring him back in one piece." "I swear on my life", Luka promised in a playful serious tone. Liam grunted. "I can hear you guys! Theo, maybe I won't bring Luka back in one piece. How about that?" "As long as you bring the car back in one piece!" Mike cut in and made them all laugh. "Okay, now that some of my Betas embarrassed me in front of you, I'll get my sunglasses and we can go", Liam called out to the older Alpha and ran into the house and upstairs.

It took him a little while to find his sunglasses (he really needed to try and be tidier) but when he found them under some papers, Liam let out a triumphant cry and ran back downstairs. His Betas were involved in a conversation with Luka (surprisingly not about cars) which Liam now interrupted. "I'm ready." "Great. Hop in." Liam opened the passenger door and marveled at how smooth this was going. He somehow expected the door to get stuck because of age. But this car looked and felt like a brand new one. "See you guys later. Don't burn the house down", he joked. "Yes, dad!" All three Betas chimed in unison. Theo smirked and came to the passenger side to give Liam a quick kiss. "Have fun", he mumbled and Liam nodded. "Bye, guys. See you next time!" Luka called out before he started the car and soon they rolled down the driveway.

"You're one of the few people in this car to use the seatbelt immediately", he informed Liam when he turned into the street. The young Alpha looked down. "I do this in every car. My mother drilled this into me from a young age. I could not drive in a car without buckling up." "My mom was like that too. She always said just because were werewolves didn't mean we had to challenge fate. And she got mad if she saw one of us without a seatbelt on. Not just her own kids but basically everyone. There is a story where she refused to drive another Alpha's wife to the airport because the lady refused to put hers on. It's said they sat in the car for forty minutes until my dad went looking for them." Liam started laughing. "That's dedication. It's that the temper you were talking about?" Now Luka laughed. "My mom was stubborn. I'm too. And my sister is as well. Fun times during puberty, I can tell you. Good thing my dad was good at finding middle ground." "Your parents seemed like an amazing couple. Their personalities really matched with each other, from what I already heard." He wanted to know more about his new friend. And Liam wanted to share things about himself as well. He believed Savannah was right, this could become great friendships. "They were the perfect match even though their personalities were as different as they can be. But they balanced each other out. They were incredible Alphas for our pack." "You say Alphas. Were both real Alphas? Or just an Alpha couple?" Luka stopped at a crosswalk and let some pedestrians pass. "Technically, if you base it on red eyes and stamina, my father was the Alpha. My mother was a Beta but no one would have dared to treat her like one. Or like she was just dad's wife and mate. The way she cared for her pack, the way she made decisions, the way she spoke, she was an Alpha. There is so much more to an Alpha than red eyes. It's all about behavior and the relationship to the pack members." "I don't base it on the red eyes. Theo, he's also a Beta, but we call him Second Alpha. He takes over if I can't. We're the Alpha couple. Why should the color of somebody's eyes define their role?" Luka agreed with Liam's point of view. "There are some packs without an Alpha with red eyes. One Beta is in charge and guides them." "I didn't know that, that's awesome. But wouldn't that be an Alpha by conquest in the long run?" "Depends on how serious the pack takes it. Not all packs are focused on Alpha and Betas, some are more lenient. There are so many kinds of packs. Not just different species but different versions. There are also many Alpha Omegas around." "Alphas without a pack? So wolves with the Alpha spark." "Yeah." "Huh." Liam had never considered that. To him, Omegas had always been those wolves. With normal wolf powers. What were normal wolf powers? Betas? Liam guessed so. He never bothered to really make a distinction or think about what exactly Omegas were. "I kind of don't know a lot about the supernatural. I know how to fight and about several evil beings but all those connections between weres, species, what other magical beings are there, rituals, I know nothing about." Luka didn't take it badly. "At what age were you bitten?" "Fourteen." "You're twenty now. Which means I'm twelve years older than you. Trust and believe me when I tell you I didn't know that much more when I was your age. Plus I have the unfair advantage of being born in a werewolf family." He smiled impishly. Liam grinned. Yet he still insisted on his opinion. "I still think the first few years as a werewolf did not prepare me for that."

Thus he found himself telling Luka everything, from how Scott bit him to the hyenas. It was somewhat therapeutic to talk about all this with another wolf without knowing him beforehand. He didn't need to find periphrases for things, could tell it how it happened and didn't need to sugarcoat the events. He also could be as open as possible without having to worry about insulting some old friends. It had been the same with Byron.

He talked until they parked in the parking lot of the restaurant they had picked to grab something to eat. Liam didn't know the place but according to Luka it had delicious food and you could sit outside under trees so it would not be too hot. "See? That's the reason why teenagers shouldn't become Alphas", Luka said matter of factly and killed the engine. "I don't mean this condescendingly but it is what it is. Maybe if Scott had been a born werewolf it would have been different but I understand why this was all complicated. And why you didn't learn about the supernatural community. You had enough other problems to take care of." "I just wished I could have learned more. Maybe being an Alpha would be easier then", Liam mumbled. "Nah." Luka denied. "Becoming an Alpha does not mean you suddenly get access to this knowledge. It's not like a hatch opens and it's flowing into your brain. You have to make mistakes to find your footing as an Alpha." He unbuckled his seatbelt. "I was prepared to become an Alpha after my father's death for years. It could have become anybody in the pack but since I'm the oldest it was kind of expected for me to take over afterward. But it's not possible to really prepare someone for the weight we shoulder as Alphas. For the magnitude of responsibility settling in. It's something we just feel. And every Alpha has to find their own way to cope with that." Liam frowned. "How do I know I'm doing the right thing then?" Luka gave him a brotherly nudge. "I'd say you're on a good way already. When the first Alpha came to town, your Betas followed you into a potentially deadly fight. They were willing to die by your side. That's a type of loyalty you cannot buy or blackmail. It's loyalty coming from the soul and the heart. And it's only happening because an Alpha made the right decision for those Betas. You're young, Liam, one of the youngest Alphas I've ever met but you marched into the Alpha meeting without a care in the world. Do you think any of those Alphas would have done that at the age of twenty? From my point of view, you're doing absolutely great. Don't focus so much on being perfect and rather follow your heart and gut and you're set. You will be fine." It felt good to hear that. Byron told him that often enough but now a second experienced werewolf told Liam the same thing. He felt flattered. Those men saw him as equal, not just as a teenager. Saw eye-to-eye with him and respected him the same way he respected them. Enough to give Liam a soaring feeling in his chest. "Thanks." He clapped Luka's shoulder. "No come on, I'm hungry."

They exited the car and walked to the restaurant entrance. The hostess greeted them with a friendly smile and an even friendlier one when she got the first good glance at Luka. Liam was friends with Brett so this was not new to him. He was flabbergasted still. "How do you do that?" He had to inquire once they sat outside on their table and the hostess left to get menus for them. "Do what?" Luka acted innocently but his grin and the sparkle in his eyes betrayed him. The hostess came back and made a show to slowly put the menus on the table. She didn't pay Liam any mind and that was fine, he was mated, instead just gave Luka a coy smile. "Don't hesitate to ask me in case you need anything." "Will do. Thank you", he repaid her with a charming smile of his own and she left in a slow, seductive motion. On top of the menus, she left a little note with digits behind. "You barely talked to her and still got her number. Brett managed to pull this off as well. How? Not that I will ever need to try since I have Theo but how the fuck do you pull that off?" Liam could not find any satisfying explanation. Luka had gazed back at the hostess but now his head snapped back. "Luck, I guess. And charm, maybe." "Maybe, uh uh." Liam snickered. Luka had a certain boyish charm about him and that made him attractive. Not taking life too seriously, giving everything an easier vibe. Liam also understood the hostess because the deep green t-shirt Luka was wearing brought out his eyes nicely and accentuated his fit body perfectly. "I like sex. What can I say? Everywhere. No matter what country I am." Luka was not embarrassed to share this. "Have you always been like this?" "Frankly? Yeah. I always liked to flirt and when I was old enough to actually become sexually active, I saw no harm in there. I don't play. That's how my parents raised me. My mother always said: Go and have fun with whoever you want to have fun. But don't break hearts if you don't have to. Be upfront. If it's just sex, say it. Saves you and other people heartbreak. I always followed that. Yes, I had relationships but most of the time I have been single and had one-night-stands. Or several night stands. Whatever. The minute I'm interested in someone or in a relationship, I'm faithful. I can't stand cheaters." "That's the right answer. Sex is nice, with the right person even better, but I don't like players. Nice to hear someone having values."

Liam took a look inside the menu. Right on cue, a waiter appeared. "Hello gentlemen, I'm your server for today. Would you care for a drink?" The Alphas looked at each other. "Just water is fine for me", Liam decided. It was hot, despite the trees providing shade, and he would become thirsty, he knew himself. "Water is good", Luka decided himself and the waiter went to fetch their drinks. "You said no matter what country you are in. Are you traveling a lot?" Liam had picked up on that. "For work yeah." "What are you doing for a living?" "I deal in car parts for either oldtimer or pimped-out cars. Like the convertible. Holden is the mechanic, we work together. He screws the cars together, I contract the clients and the manufacturers. We have business all over the world since some of the parts are very rare. So I traveled a lot. For periods of time, I wasn't home for months. I never had my own apartment because it made no sense to pay for something I used. Tried it once and after weeks my landlord called and said he just wanted to check if I was still alive since I never came around. So I moved out again and if I stayed home, I stayed with the Alphas." "And that was okay? For you to be gone so long?" "My parents ket an open door policy. If something important came up, they called us home but aside from that, we were free to leave as long as we wanted. We knew we could always return to the pack house. No matter how late, even in the middle of the night, we were always welcome. We all made use of that rule over the years."

The waiter brought their drinks and took their order. When he left the two alone again, Liam raised his glass. "Good idea to meet up again", he praised. "Well, Savannah said it right, it's the beginning of wonderful friendships. So of course." Luka smiled and they clinked their glasses together. Liam took a sip. Perfect, cool water, he never drank anything better. He put his glass down again and savored the sip. "Uhm, I never got the chance to ask. How many Betas do you have? We're only talking about me." "I don't mind. You're good at telling a story and explaining things. Somebody ever told you that?" Luka had put his glass down as well. Liam made an incredulous face. "No. What would they? I'm kind of dumb." It had slipped out faster than Liam could have stopped it. Luka's frown was almost instantly. "What asshole told you that?" "No one. Life experience, if you will. I'm not the brightest." "You don't have to be a genius but you really don't appear dumb, Liam. Don't believe it when people tell you that. They're just haters." It had the same vibe as a worried older brother giving a stern talking to his younger sibling and Liam chuckled. He was a big brother but not a little brother and yeah he called Scott his brother sometimes but that was different. Maybe because Scott was only two years older than Liam himself. They came from the same walk of life, small town, maybe that was also a factor? Liam could not really put his finger on it but it hit differently with Luka. "Okay", he said to end this topic. "I will remember this talk." "Good", Luka looked stern but then he smiled. "To get back to the question, seven Betas. A few less than you have." He leaned back in his chair. "There is my younger sister Delaney. Younger by three years. An absolute firecracker. If she gets angry, if you piss her off, she will cuss at you and rant for hours if you let her. Especially in the background of a phone conversation. Very entertaining, if I'm being honest." Luka laughed. But the love for his sister was evident in his words. "Then there is Simon. He is...was dad's best friend. They've been to school and college together and he acted like some sort of advisor for the pack. Helped with international deals and connections. He's my godfather and like a second dad. I'm happy I still have him after I lost dad. It doesn't bear contemplating if he would have been also gone..." Luka trailed off. Liam managed a compassionate smile. "I am sorry for your loss. Losing somebody we love is never easy." He touched his collar bone where the Lion King tattoo was hidden under his shirt. Luka appreciated the sentiment. He continued his list on a lighter note. "With Simon came Holden, his son. Holden's just a few months younger than I am, we grew up together." "Holden's mom is not part of the pack?" "No. She never wanted to get married or have kids. Yet she married Simon and got pregnant with Holden. Weeks after his birth she handed Simon the infant and announced: I don't want to be a wife or a mother. Here's the child, I'll leave your life for good. He does not have to search for me, I want nothing to do with any of you. My lawyer will send you the documents where I signed my rights away and the divorce papers. Got her suitcase and left. From that moment on, mom and dad gave a hand to Simon. Holt and I basically grew up like brothers. He annoys Delaney the same way I do." Liam giggled. "Are younger siblings not something fun? I have a younger brother. He's ten but living at the lake." "Aw, they're so cute at that age. And then they start stating their own opinions and become brats." It was obvious Luka didn't mean a thing he said about his sister. They both began to laugh. "Holden's a great guy but he can be a hothead. Impulsive and very brash. Those are not his finest moments and we have to hold him back. But he's fiercely protective of the pack. Would do anything for us. Another one of my Betas is Sandro. Alessandro. My second in command. We met during freshmen orientation in college and clicked almost instantly. Have been inseparable ever since. When I brought him home the first time, mom looked at dad and said: Look, it's Luka in another body. Our parents often joked how they could each take the wrong son home and nobody would notice cause we're so similar. It's eerie. "

Their food came out and they interrupted their talk to thank the waiter and dig in before Luka resumed talking. "Sandro was human when we met but after a while, he noticed my family was hiding something. He confronted me and after consulting with my Alphas I came clean to him. Thank god cause when he was twenty-five, he go involved with a lone Alpha and said Alpha got a bit too excited in bed. Right before a full moon. Sandro showed up at our doorstep, bloodied and already on the verge of transforming. Dad took one look at him and dragged him to the basement where we keep a cage for those things.  I stayed with him the whole night and after that, it was more or less clear he would become part of the pack. Sandro helped me a lot after my parents' death. He took charge when I couldn't do it and held the pack together. That's why he became my second in command, just like Theo is for you." Luka drank from his water. "We have two other women in the pack. Bryn and Lynn. Laugh if you want, their rhyming names are a running joke in our pack. Bryn I know for almost her whole life. How fit are you in werewolf genetics?" Liam snorted. "That a thing? I'd give it a solid zero." "To keep it simple: The werewolf gene is dominant most of the time. Werewolf parents will have werewolf children. Even if only one parent is a wolf, the child likely will be one as well. The chances are even higher by born wolves rather than bitten ones. But if you have several generations of werewolves mixing with humans there is a slight possibility to have a human child even as werewolf parents. In Bryn's family case it was the opposite. There had been some wolves here and there, some of them had been in contact with my father's pack, but for generations, there were only humans. Until Bryn was born. Boom. Human parents with a werewolf baby." "You're kidding me!" Liam was amazed at how crazy nature could get. "Absolutely not. But her family knew about werewolves and so they knew the name of my father's pack. They grabbed their daughter and moved closer to us, showed up at our door, and kindly asked my parents to help them. To make having yet another child running around somewhat plausible, we started calling Bryn Delany's and my second cousin. We kept this til this day and mostly refer to her as our cousin. Lynn, on the other hand, was bitten after a night of clubbing and then left to die. Mom found her somewhere in the ditch and brought her home. We were not sure she would survive but that girl is tough as nails. Don't underestimate her." "She reminds me of Sadie. One should never underestimate Sadie as well. She will kick your ass and probably gnaw on your bones without ruining her makeup." "Somehow that description also fits Maddie and Savannah", Luka realized. Liam had to agree with that. "Anyway, you said you had seven Betas. One's missing." "The latest addition to the pack before my parents died. Will. He's Sandro's cousin, full-blood-related this time. They have been close while growing up and he visited one time. This family is good at picking up things and he got curious. We never got to explain to him everything cause a hostile pack attacked and he was wounded badly. Dad turned him in an attempt to save his life. It worked and Will moved to live with us. Funny enough, he and Holden clicked almost as instantly as Sandro and I did. They just balance each other a bit better. Hopefully. One's a hothead, the other is too cocky for his own good sometimes. I think the day these two linked, Simon's world kinda ended. He had several gray hairs more after that day. Lynn once kept a tally which one had to get bailed out of jail more often..." Luka tilted his head. "Huh, wondered what happened to that. I think I was the third place..." Liam smirked and Luka gave him an innocent smile. "I mean, we are all law-abiding citizens and never do anything wrong. We stick together and love each other, as a family should." "So do we. My pack and I. They're my family and I don't want to miss anyone of them." "Tell you what, Liam, why don't you and you pack visit us? We could have a BBQ party. Next Friday, is that good?" "That's a great idea. I'll check with the pack and text you."

__________________________________________________

When I started this story, I imagined how many chapters this might will have and thought sixty was a good number. Now we are at chapter 60 and this story is far from over. I can't believe that. It's absolutely amazing and I want to thank every single one of my readers for the support. You all are amazing! Thank you!!!

In regards to this chapter, I like the friendship between Luka and Liam. They both are on the same wavelength and get each other. And it was fun working out Luka's Betas. In the next chapter, both packs will fully meet each other. I am excited.

[fics-not-tragedies]

Reckless Serenade [1]

After 84 years I finally managed to produce first part of this 7-part request submitted by @cyberpvnkss​​. Once again I’m really sorry it took me that long, but life’s a lil bitch sometimes. I hope this was worth the wait! Also the title of this tiny series is inspired by this song.

STORY SUMMARY: When her father passed away she started to feel lonely once again, even her mother and sister couldn’t help her with filling the hole the death of her father left in her heart and soul. So she mourns him her own way - by throwing herself into endless loop of going out and partying really hard every night. But only until she meets Santino - a man who used to work with her father that makes her feel wanted again.

Words: 3041; Warnings: smoking and drinking, nothing explicit yet; Summary: It’s another Friday night when you find yourself in the club you’ve spend most of your time after your father died. After few drinks in you meet the owner and then he starts his game of seducing you, but you’re not an easy bird to catch.

Readers tag list:

@spookier-than-u; @oreofenyloetyloamina; @derangedcupcake; @geostarr; @catsmieow; @wickedlangdon; @bodhi-black; @bugalouie; @onebatch--twobatch​; @fandom-lover-4​; @mikaneonox​; @drunkonyellow​; @spadesandaces2342​; @harrisongslimited​; @hhighkey​; @lunilate​; @i-cant-remember-my-old-login​; @sgt-morgan​; @coloursunlimited​; @childrenofthegun​; @weminiaturestrawberry​; @silverlambcaptain​; @scarletmoon83​; @howtoruin-someones-perfect-day​; @krazycags01​; @charlottebonnie​; @moonlit-raven-haven​; @girl-at-the-verge​; @boopdedoop​; @jardani-jovonovich-bitch​; @ladyreapermc​; @wifeofdarklordsworld​; @mysticfluffyness​; @zombiepandajfish​; @kollover24​; @greenmanalishi​; @jinchanyeolstolemysoul​; @marytvirgin​;

The floodlights hit you, flew past you through the thick air of the club, the bass of the speakers so heavy it thudded in your chest, controlling your heartbeat and you ran your fingers through your hair, brushing the sweaty strands back from your face as you danced, throwing one arm up into the air and stopping, moving slowly, almost in slow motion with everyone as the build up to the drop came creeping on, tensing the whole crowd, slowing the dancing until the beat dropped and the adrenaline took over, your body moving naturally to the music.

You’d told yourself that you’d leave after one more song, the lights would turn on soon anyway and despite the rush you felt now, you were exhausted, had worked all week and had just come to relieve some of the built up tension, relax and let go but you also desperately needed sleep.

As you reveled in the last song, you felt someone too close to you, for about the millionth time. But as you turned and looked over your shoulder, you saw a guy you hadn’t seen before, tinted sunglasses, dark blue collared shirt with a bandana around his neck covering what would’ve been visible of his chest otherwise. Despite the shades, you could see his eyes fixated on you, wandering from your face down your body as you didn’t stop swaying your hips, less space between the two of you as you lifted your arms again.

He wasn’t uncomfortably close but close enough for you to give him a gesture to move along by turning away again, but you knew he was still behind you, his head and his hips swaying to the song that was supposed to be the final to your catharsis of tonight. But he had something else in mind, smirked when you looked at him again through your lashes, licking your lips and he moved closer, your bodies still not quite touching, but you were still almost dancing against him now and one of his hands hovered just above your hip, not quite as if he was going touch you but ready to do so in the case that it would become an appropriate thing to do but right now, just blocking your way to keep his little game going.

There was something about him, a certain vibe that no one had given you before, he was clearly interested, confident about it and not shy to show you but at the same time had something somewhat respectful, wasn’t putting his hands on you or needed a cheesy line, his eyes did all the talking, he didn’t need to tell you he liked your tight jeans or your eyes or how you moved, his eyes said it all, eyeing, eating you up with the look behind those glasses. And he still didn’t move away, clearly wanting to play.

So you turned around fully, stepping closer to him and smirking when he slowly took off his shades, licking his lips. The light hit his face for just a moment, his big brown eyes resting on yours and you reached out for the glass in his hand which he gave up easily, taking a sip as you held his gaze, seeing him move closer and you licked your lips before you handed it back, the strong liquor burning down your throat as you kept a straight face, eyes locked with his.

He bit his bottom lip, the look in his eyes so intense that it added to the thrill you already felt from the music, no one looking at you having had quite the effect on you that his gaze did. You were still moving in tune with the beat absolutely naturally, somewhat in control of yourself until he leaned in, his breath tickling your neck and sending shivers down your spine, his voice surprisingly deep, waking a deep desire in the pit of your stomach.

“Let me take you out of here.”

You laughed, but the sound was muffled by the music. Leaning in you breathed into his ear, “Not tonight.” He was surprised, the puzzled look on his face, the raised eyebrow, the confident smirk now swept away from his face, all shown that it wasn’t the answer he expected to get from you. So instead of saying anything else you just patted his shoulder and walked off the dancefloor heading over to the bar.

Sitting on the bar stool you waved over to Jameson who was busy serving drinks to some other people and he just gave you a silent nod, meaning that you’d have to wait for your turn.

There was a sudden fuss going around in the background, some people were leaving the place in a hurry, some other were badly hiding the exchange of their whispers. Then the whole club was swarmed with broad men dressed in similar suits, their eyes carefully scanning the room for potential threat.

“The boss is here” Jameson finally approached you, placing three shot glasses in front of you and filled them with liquor.

The first one went swiftly, but as you took another one, you sighed loudly, wondering if maybe you should have stayed home. But then again, getting drunk… wasn’t that what you were supposed to do after another bad break up?

Yes. Yes, it was. But it had been a while. And if you were honest with yourself, you weren’t having one shot of vodka after another, because you couldn’t get over your break up. It was more the feeling of loneliness that had settled in now, you’d been alone for a while and you had thought you’d be comfortable with it and of course, it had its upsides. There was no one that you had to pay attention to but yourself, no compromises.

But you liked doing that, you liked taking care of somebody, working together and giving and receiving support. So what you were really upset about and five shots in over was the fact that you were alone and that you didn’t want to be. And most of all, the fear that it’d stay that way.

It wasn’t the kind of loneliness that come to you when you have no one left here on Earth. You had a loving mother and a pair of siblings, but after your father passed away every other day after that moment was just simply bleak. No one really knew how much you’ve missed him. You were the youngest, his little princess as he always called you. But he was gone now and there wasn’t any man nor any amount of liquor that could fill in the massive rupture that was now located in the spot of your chest, the one where your heart was previously in. They didn’t let you see him, there was no open coffin, no time to hold his hand for the last time or playfully stroke your fingers through his beard like you always did when you two spent time together. All you got was the urn with his ashes and his death certificate.

You ran your fingers through your hair before hopping off the bar stool, instantly feeling unstable on your feet. Wasn’t it always that way? You didn’t think you were that drunk, but as soon as you weren’t sitting anymore, your balance would betray you.

Wobbling to the bathroom, you tried to hold on wherever you could, embarrassing yourself a few times when you stumbled into the back of someone’s chair or bumped accidentally against somebody’s arm. You cursed yourself under your breath for allowing yourself to get carried away, finally making it to the bathroom.

As expected, there were two or three women already waiting for their turn and you sighed, leaning back against the door frame, holding the door open carefully. One of the women coming out of the stalls gave you a worried look and probably wondered if you were by yourself.

Yes, you were by yourself. But you had been here by yourself multiple times, be it on a night like this, or after friends had already gone home. The bartender knew you enough to recognize you and some of the other regulars also looked familiar.

Once you were done and came out of the stall once it finally was your turn, you washed your hands and also sprayed some cold water into your face to freshen up. There was no make up you could wash away and your bare face was completely on display. But at least your waterproof mascara kept its promise. The music was much quieter now, it almost seemed like they’ve installed an orchestra somewhere around the LED beams.

You stumbled, but managed to not draw any attention to yourself and sat back down, ordering some whisky. Jameson gave you a worried look and you just sighed.

“I don’t want another lecture. Not from you. Not tonight” you mumbled to him, leaning over the bar, running your hand through your hair again and again, “I have enough of them when I come home, trust me…”

“Alright” he said, placing an empty glass in front of you with a thud, “But it’s your last one” Jameson stated matter-of-factly before filling the whole glass with whisky.

“You’ve said that four shots earlier…” wiggling out your cigarette case from your narrow handbag you took out one from the three that were left inside and put it between your lips. Jameson placed a clean ashtray next to your drink and before you even could reach inside your bag to fish out a lighter, a suit clad arm reached out from you holding out a lit Zippo.

“Listen to your bartender” the man whose arm it was spoke, “He’s a really good one” when your cigarette was lit he closed the lighter with a click you turned to the side, so you could have a better look at him.

The dark curls on the sides of his head were freshly shaven, the top part now tamed with a tad bit of gel. His whole face was smiling at you, his blue eyes lit, beaming at you, the gentle creases around his nose visible, the corners of his mouth curled upwards, “Perhaps I should give him a raise” the man spoke again, raising his own glass towards Jameson and you could pick up the hint of an accent that lingered on few words here and there. He was still smiling and there wasn’t any force on Earth that could’ve stopped you from mimicking the gesture, your own lips, still partially covered in red lipstick, curled up in a smile.

When his eyes fell back on you his smile grew even wider, “What do you think about that, bella?” He asked you, leaning closer, before he fished out his own pack of cigarettes and placed one between his lips lighting it straight away, “Do you think our beloved Jameson deserve a raise?” The man blew the smoke away from your face, pinching the cigarette between his fingers few times. Jameson just sighed and moved to the new customers on your right side.

“Of course he does” you took a drag from your cig and leaned your head on your opened hand, “Jameson is the best one I’ve ever had the chance of meeting” you added quickly taking your glass in the left hand and exhaling the smoke to the side.

“So we’ve made a decision - he gets a raise” the man stated before bumping his glass against yours playfully, “I guess you know what you’re saying, bella, I’ve noticed that you’ve become our regular.”

“Our?” You raised your eyebrow at him taking another drag from your cigarette.

“You don’t know who I am, do you, bella?” He wet his lips before mimicking your action.

“Should I?” You questioned him, taking a big gulp from your drink and he let out a little laugh, “All I can tell now that you’re a very handsome man, who likes fancy suits, has a bad habit of smoking and is apparently an Italian, mister…?”

“Santino” he replied, quickly scooping up your hand that let go of the glass into his own and pressed a soft kiss to the top of your hand.

“And a gentleman” you added with a playful smirk on your face.

“And the owner of this place. And few other ones in this city.”

“So, you’re a businessman?” Santino let go of your hand, so you could took another sip of your drink.

“If you put it this way… yes, I am, bella.”

“Why do you keep calling me the name of a Disney princess?”

He laughed again, “It means ‘beautiful’ in Italian.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” You questioned his words.

“I do” his fingers brushed against your hand that was now flicking the cigarette into the ashtray.

“Gosh, you must be more drunk than I am…” you rolled your eyes causing him to let out a little huff.

“I know beauty when I see it, trust me on that” Santino winked at you and you felt the blush that crept onto your chest. You stubbed out the cigarette into the ashtray and he gently took your hand in his, “What would you say about late dinner?” He asked, stubbing out his own cigarette, before he enveloped your hand in both his hands.

“I don’t go to dinners with strangers” you responded, moving your hand away from his grip, “Even with the handsome ones.”

“Look at all of my guards in here… you’d be safe around me, bella, I can guarantee.”

“Not if you are the dangerous one” you pointed with your finger toward his chest and he gently grasped your wrist, “men like you are the lethal weapon, with all the wit and all the money… you could have anything and anyone…”

“Perhaps I am the lethal weapon, bella, but I’m also the conservatore, the… curator of beauty. And I simply like to be around beautiful things and beautiful women.”

“Then you should find one.”

“Oh, bella…” Santino lifted your hand up to his face, his nose brushing against your skin as he smelled the faded scent of your perfume, “You act like you don’t own any mirrors.”

“I own a few. And I-I know how to use them…” your lips trembled when he gracefully kissed the inside of your wrist, his lips lingering there for more than they should.

“What perfume do you use, amore?” He asked you and you rolled your lower lip between your teeth when he looked up at you, the sultry stare almost undressing.

“The brand is called Bulgari… my dad always brought me a bottle from his business trips.”

“Italian profumo…” he smelled your wrist again, “That’s why it smell so familiar. It suits you more than well, bella. You’d look stunning in nothing but this scent.”

Santino toyed with your wrist again, his gentle touches, the movements of his fingers releasing a spark of excitement that ran up and down your spine caused a sudden shiver. You could feel your heart thudding against your rib cage and breathing somehow got harder, so you decided to cover your sudden excitement with another sip taken from your glass.

“You’re pulse runs like a wild levriero…” he stated like it was more than obvious and he wasn’t surprised by the fact that his presence had such an impact on you. Covering your alcohol induced embarrassment behind a giggle you let go of your glass and moved your hand to his that laid on top of the bar, the movement not going unnoticed by his guards as they moved closer to you two in a rush, but he waved them off with a nod of his head.

You carefully tucked his watch down, trying not to scratch it with your nails since it looked more expensive than your entire house, and you pressed your index and middle finger to the inside of his wrist.

“Seems like your pulse wants to catch up with mine…” breathing out you slowly lifted his hand, so you could examine it up close just like he did with yours, “What perfume are you using?” You asked him, leaning in to smell his wrist, but there wasn’t any scent on his skin there.

“You’d have to smell my neck, bella” he rasped, lifting your hand to his face and you tapped your fingers against his jaw.

“I doubt it’s wise in this current… position” you caressed his hand with yours, while fingers of the other one danced on his cheek, “I don’t want to be tasered by your broad guys.”

“Many things we do aren’t wise, yet we still commit to them. Come, bella” he gestured you to got up from the bar stool, while his hand let go of yours that rested against your cheek and moved to loosen up the tie along with the first button of his white shirt.

“Do you let everyone smell your perfume that easily?” You asked, sliding yourself off the seat, hesitant to move closer to him. Santino laughed, his arm looping around your waist gently pulling you closer, as you clutch onto his wrist.

“No, only the special women, like you.”

You stumbled towards him, but his arm around you was there to give you balance. When you were close enough you just rested your hands on his chest, looking up into the pair of piercing eyes that was scanning your every movement, every little gesture.

“What makes you think that I’m special? It’s much easier to get a call girl than try to seduce a random woman at a club you own.”

“I’m well aware that in the twenty first century the art of seducing someone is long forgotten, yet I never was a fan of brothels.”

“And I am not a whore” you leaned in to mumble into his ear, before grabbing your purse and simply walking away from him.

“That was not my point!” Santino shouted after you, so you stopped and turned around, so you could look at him.

“It seemed like it was. Make your intentions clearer the next time.”

“Will there be a next time, bella?” He took a sip from his glass.

“See for yourself tomorrow, Santino.”

[msjr0119]

Why me?

Chapter 15

Riley is forced out of Cordonia unknowingly to her friends, and moves back to New York.

She is later faced with her past from Cordonia and is hiding a few new secrets. With the help from her New York friends and friends from Cordonia will she escape her current situation and find her happy ever after?

Tags- @annekebbphotography @burnsoslow @pedudley @bbrandy2002 @butindeed @captain-kingliamsqueen @kingliam2019 @insideamirage @carabeth @drakewalker04 @choiceslover-24-7 @duchessemersynwalker @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @ladyangel70 @drakesensworld @bascmve01

******

Present time- New York City

4 weeks after the ball...

“Miss Brooks, thank you for coming here today, my name is Dr Jones. I wanted to discuss the results of your blood tests, from a week ago. You collapsed 4 weeks ago in Cordonia, the Doctors at the hospital assumed it was due to stress and possible low iron. You’ve been in Florida for the week or so, and had a test there, these recent tests have confirmed that you are in fact pregnant.”

“I’m... what? I haven’t had any symptoms! I’ve had my period... I haven’t had any recent sexual contact... I’ve not been sick or anything... this must be a mistake.”

“Miss Brooks, not everyone has symptoms. Every woman is different, every pregnancy differs. And it won’t have been your period, some women experience bleeding during the first trimester, it’s usually due to hormonal changes. I’d like to send you for an ultrasound as soon as possible so we know how far into the pregnancy you are...”

Riley and Lola walked out of the doctors surgery, Riley staying silent- still in shock. This has to be a mistake she thought, as she had none of the usual pregnancy symptoms- the only two people she had slept with in the last few months were Nate and Drake. The baby was a Walker, she didn’t use protection with Drake but she did with Nate.

“Lola, there has to be a mistake. I can’t be pregnant.... I’ve not been looking after my body these last few weeks... what if the baby isn’t healthy... if I’d have known this weeks ago it would have been different... I don’t know if I can have the baby?”

“Riley, you won’t be alone. You’ve been avoiding everyone who wants to support you. I know it’s a shock. You’ve had a rough time these last few months, but you’re strong. You are going to be a brilliant mom. You’re going back to Cordonia later today, you need to talk to your baby daddy!”

******

4 weeks ago - The night of the ball.

Leo and Liam escorted Riley to the hospital with Bastien- she had come around shortly after arriving. It had been a long few hours of tests, to try and explain the reason for Riley fainting unexpectedly. The doctors assumed it was due to possible stress and low iron. At the beginning of the night she was stressed with the unexpected visit from Tariq but they had cleared the air. Liam had told Riley to rest once they got back to the palace- she knew she needed to but she just wanted Drake to be with her. Why was Liam and Leo with her and not Drake? The thought kept crawling through her mind. They entered the palace, and all of Riley’s friends waited anxiously to see how she was.

“Blossom, you’re okay! We’ve all been worried about you.”

Max handed Riley her clutch bag, which they had left in the ballroom after the rush of getting her immediate medical attention - her health was their main priority.

“Thanks Max. I’m fine. Just low iron and stress apparently.... where’s Drake?”

Riley opened her bag whilst asking this question, checking her phone. Suddenly she burst into tears in front of everyone.

Brooks, I’ve....been thinking....a lot tonight. I can’t be with you anymore. The last couple of days.... were just passion and need. You left me when I needed you and I don’t think I’ll forgive you for that. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t question me on my decision. I don’t love you and I don’t think I ever did.

“In fact don’t anyone answer that question! How could he do this to me?”

Riley stormed off to her room, everyone looking with puzzled expressions. Olivia, Hana and Maxwell followed her. When they arrived in her room, Riley was frantically packing her possessions.

“Ri, please don’t runaway again. What’s happened?”

Riley handed Hana her phone, the three friends furious with Drake.

“I’m going to kill him! Riley you don’t need to run though- you have all of us. Do you want me to stab him with my stiletto? Because I’ve wanted to do it ever since we were kids but never had an excuse to.”

Wiping her tears, Riley smiled slightly. Olivia always knew how to make her laugh.

“Liv, it’s fine. I... I ... just need to go home for a bit. Can you guys help me get out of here?”

*****

4 weeks ago- The afternoon after the ball.

The afternoon after the ball, everyone was “mourning” Riley leaving again. They needed a plan to get her back- Liam had thought now she and Drake had reunited and Tariq’s statement cleared their names, it was the perfect opportunity to ask her to become a Duchess. When Olivia had informed him the previous night, that she had returned to New York for some space, his thoughts were stuck at a dead end. Even if Riley and Drakes relationship didn’t work, he had faith in Riley to be a successful Duchess with the amount of spirit she showed during the social season. Before the scandal the Cordonian people and press loved her, and will love her again.

Hi Ri, just making sure you’re okay and arrived safely? Please say you’ll come back when you’re ready? X

Hi Liam, yeah I’m fine- as well as I could be, Daniel and Lola picked us up from the airport. I just need some space for a bit. I hope you understand. I’ll be back soon- I promise x

Take as much time as you need. We all miss you. But don’t take too long :) x

Thank you for all your support Li. Talk soon x

“So I text before Riley, she���s safe. She’s with Daniel, Lola and Beth. Leo is returning to New York today- so she will have four friends with her.”

“Oh no, has Riley runaway again? Why do you all bother caring about someone who runs away all the time?”

“Shut your mouth Maddy before I shut it for you!”

“Why should I shut up Duchess Olivia? You hated her when she first came here? She can’t keep her man so runs, he must have realised that he belongs to Kiara... didn’t they tell you?”

“TELL US WHAT?” Liam roared at his former fiancée. He knew what she was like, and her mind games she played with people.

Just at that moment Drake stumbled through the door, still feeling intoxicated.

“Why are you all staring at me? I didn’t drink that much I swear! Has anyone seen Brooks? I went to bed with her, but she’s not there now.”

Olivia got in his face, her eyes narrowed, staring into his eyes. Irate that her friend had runaway again.

“Oo really Drake? You went to bed with Riley? As far as I remember, the only bed she stayed in was a hospital bed! And that was because Leo carried her to an ambulance.. if it wasn’t for the royal brothers the only bed she could have been laying in could have been a coffin! So do tell us again how she was in your bed?”

“What are you going on about Olivia? Where is she?!”

In unison everyone shouted at Drake, all angry at him.

“NEW YORK!”

Madeleine was loving the atmosphere- the chaos that she and Kiara has caused. She didn’t feel sorry for Drake losing the battle against the rest of the court- she was a cold hearted bitch. Just then, she saw the other half of her double act walk through the door.

“Oo Kiara, nice to see you honey! Have you heard? Lady Riley has returned to New York.”

“Madeline will you just spit out what you’re wanting to tell us all?”

Liam was feeling exasperated, finally losing the will the live with Madeline’s comments. He was starting to feel suspicious, regarding the events of last night.

“Kiara and Drake, last night.... it wasn’t Riley in his bed. It was Kiara, wasn’t it Ki? They both had a sexy selfie together and Drake told her he loved her... show them Kiara...”

Drake was feeling more confused than ever. He would never tell Kiara he loved her- why had she recorded this? Why had she taken a selfie of them? He was furious with Kiara. Where as Olivia was furious with Madeline, Kiara and Drake. She had a slight feeling deep down that Drake probably wasn’t responsible for this. But he was responsible for keeping Riley here and he couldn’t even do that- the whole situation is what made Olivia even more irritated.

Olivia punched Madeline wiping the smirk off her face before turning to Kiara and Drake...

“And you two better stay out of my way before I do something I regret. Drake... if you did love Riley you have a funny way of showing it!”

Everybody stormed out of the now silent room , leaving Liam, Leo and Drake in the room.

“Li, I don’t know what’s going off? I love Riley. What happened to her? I need to see her.”

“No chance are you seeing her! She collapsed and I caught her, carried her to Bastien, we waited for an ambulance, we waited at the hospital with her. Where was you Walker? Li, I have a flight to catch. I’ll update you when I get in New York.”

Liam said goodbye to his brother, Beth had caught a flight with Riley late last night. He couldn’t work out why Drake was so confused about last nights events. How can you confuse who you go to bed with? Something wasn’t right- could this have something to do with his father? Or was it revenge from just Madeline for the second failed engagement. Drake sat on the floor, his hands in his head- Liam believed Drake loved Riley and wouldn’t hurt her.

“Drake, you need to read the your phones text thread with her. I need to know if you sent it? If you don’t know, I don’t know how I can help you. But something is suspicious. If you love Riley, don’t reach out. We are doing this my way!”

[justfangstvdto]

Open Coffin | Chapter 20: “Crossing A Line”

Pairing: Kol x SalvatoreSister!Reader

Warnings:  (this is all over the place emotion-wise you guys) lots of fluff, a little bit of angst, teeny tiny bit steamy, questionable coping mechanism,  swearing (but that´s a given), canon &timeline divergence

Word count: 3478

Tags & Author Note at the bottom. Feedback is welcomed and appreciated.

Open Coffin Masterlist

Your name: submit What is this?

The forest surrounding the burned ruins is dipped in darkness.  The only guidance you have is the orange flames on the top of the gently rising hill, and Kol´s hand that's holding yours firm in his grasp.

You emerge on the top of the hill next to Kol and Klaus and Elijah right in front of you. The flickering flames of torches fitted as a circle hide Esther and Finn behind the magic boundary.

“That's lovely. We're stuck out here, while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb.” Kol scoffs, glaring daggers at his oldest brother  “How pathetic you are, Finn.”

“Be quiet, Kol.” Esther scolds him “Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine.”

Says the witch who wants to kill her own flesh and blood.

“Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity.” Elijah weighs in as he steps closer to the circle

“My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago.”

“Enough,” Klaus says, the tone in his voice angry, scared and annoyed at once. “ All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to Hell.”

“For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you.” She looks at each of them briefly before moving on to the next “Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time.”

“I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous.” You step forward, right to the edge of the circle. The magic barrier radiating its warmth to the pores of your skin.

“Oh dear.” Kol chuckles. He knew you wouldn't be able to keep quiet. Not that he would ever demand such a thing.

You step forward, right to the edge of the circle. The magic barrier radiates its warmth over the pores of your skin “How dare you decide who lives and who dies? You might be the creator of our species, but you’re certainly not the judge of life and death.”

“That is what a vampire does, is it not? Be the judge of life and death?”Finn scoffs. The word vampire never sounded so atrocious.

Must be a great feeling to hate oneself so much, the only way out is to eliminate the own species. You almost feel sympathetic. Almost.

“Perhaps, but the world is full of monsters. Not all of them have fangs or claws. If you punish us, what about all the others out there?”

“Us?” Esther laughs “Even with your greatest enemy present you consider yourself equal to them?”

“We are the same species after all.” You look over to your companions, stopping at Klaus who looks over when he feels your eyes on him “Well almost.”

“How refreshingly loyal. But doomed nonetheless.” Esther replies.

“Doomed maybe. Question is for who.”

Esther's seems to be perplexed by your threat hiding behind the words you´ve just spoken. But a moment later her eyes widen with horror as the magic she and the Bennetts share severs. 

“No sisters, don't abandon me!” Esther screams and Finn rushes to his mother's side

Finally, something played out according to plan..

While Kol, alongside Klaus, check the surrounding area to find Esther or Finn, you and Elijah are on your way back to meet up with Stefan and Damon.

“That went better than expected.” You breathe out in relief  “Now we just need to find something to break the link.”

“Y/N I.. “ Elijah stops midway, “I want to thank you. You chose to stand with us despite the grievances we have caused you.”

“There really wasn't much of a choice.”

Elijah nods. If someone understands that, it's him.

In the distance, Kol emerges on the slight hill, Klaus right behind him blabbering something that Kol doesn't seem to pay attention to.  

“I must ask you, and I vow to never ask again.” Elijah begins, eying his younger brothers “Do I have to be concerned about Kol´s intentions regarding Niklaus?”

He looks at you after speaking this question that seems to lie so heavy on his heart. There is absolutely no doubt that lying right in Elijah´s face is nothing one should ever dare, but in this case, it is a better alternative than revealing your true intentions.  

“No.” You reply, looking directly into his expecting eyes. 

But I said nothing of my own.

“I'll take you by your word then,”Elijah replies, not sure if he can or want to believe you.

“Mother and Finn are gone.” Klaus informs as he and Kol rejoin.

Near the parking space, Stefan and Damon emerge from the other side of the hill, Damon´s ice cold, and resentful stare

“I'll be right back.” You announce. Kol opens his mouth to protest, he doesn't want you anywhere near Damon at the moment, but he swallows his worry.

“I see you took care of it.” You cross your arms in front of your chest without realizing it, building up some kind of separation between you and them.

“Are you gonna shoot me again to say thanks?” Damon spats.

You press the top of your tongue against the top row if your teeth, exhaling loudly through your nostrils. He seems to actually mean what he's saying. Great.

“You attacked us, not the other way around, don´t forget that.”

“Fine, but don't pretend like you wouldn't have killed me if Stefan had not come along.” His voice layered with such distaste it's almost unrecognizable

“Damon-” Stefan warns him, growing tired of the constant bickering.

“Just admit it.”

“Wait, you actually think I would be capable of killing you?” You ask him, the anticipation of possible answers he could give rising the pressure in your blood.

“Yes.”

The quickness of his knocks the air out of your lungs. Your own brother believes you would be vicious enough to kill him.

Have you fallen so far?

“Then our relationship is worse than I thought.” You barely get the words out, the gut-wrenching sensation of the guilt spreading through your body so sickening you feel like throwing up.

“Y/N..” Stefan begins. He knows that the words that came out of Damon´s mouth cut you deep. And they did. It hurt.

God, it hurt.

Without uttering another word and hands nailed to a fist,  you turn on your heels, walking away without even having the desire to look back.

Your heart beats hard against your ribs, the intoxicating and familiar rush of anger pulsating in your veins. You need to put as much distance between this place as possible, or you might actually turn into the beast your brother paints you as.

“Let's go.” You say as you walk past Kol, who returned to his usual murderous look that should have annihilated Damon by now.  

“Leaving so soon?” Klaus asks as you pass him “And here I thought-”

“I don't give a shit what you thought, Klaus.” You cut him off “We´re leaving.”

Klaus arches an eyebrow at your words, sharing an amused look with Elijah next to him.

“Y/N I understand your desire for peace,” Elijah intercepts “However, an additional problem has arisen. Rebekah discovered-”

“I don't want to hear it.” You interrupt him “The last weeks I’ve done nothing but run from one catastrophe into the next and I’m done. We’re taking an off day. “ You look at Kol and he nods immediately, agreeing to your plan “Call Mae if you need help.”

“You heard her, brothers.” Kol wraps his arm around your shoulders and the two of you walk away, heading for a  set car that's sitting on the side of the road.

Hot-wiring the car turned out to be less of a problem then you thought. It has been a while since you´ve had the necessity for said skill. One of Mae´s inner confidantes, Shank, taught you a few ticks back in the day, and it seems you still got the knowledge. Who knew it would come in handy again?

Somewhere between the classic rock blurting out of the speakers and the coming and going of the rain, your anger bled out into nothing but sorrow. It's similar to a fountain pen that's scraping the barrel of its ink and only the fading color stains the paper, resembling nothing of its previous glory.

“Are you alright?” Kol's asks from the driver's seat, his fingers tapping along the rock song on the radio.

Silence.

“Y/N.”   

Silence   

A feeling of agitated anxiety spikes through his whole body. You have done nothing but stare out of the window, looking at passing cars, every street sign whenever the headlights illuminated it and every tree that´is flying by, all in an attempt to avoid looking in his direction.  

Had he done something wrong?

“Darling?.” He hesitantly brushes his hand over your knee and you flinch at his touch.

“Sorry, what?”

“What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?” Kol forces a smile, getting more and more worried by the second. Who or whatever caused you to suddenly become so full of sorrow will pay a heavy price, that he knows for sure.

“If just been thinking about…..”

Everything and nothing at once.

“Did you know that my brothers and I made something similar to an oath like your family did? It was right after we turned, we promised to face whatever´s coming together. And now, I just… I think I just now realized that it's just another promise I can't seem to keep.”

“They don't deserve- “He digs his fingernails into the steering wheels fabric. Anger, rage, fury, it always came easiest.“They were the ones who abandoned you, Y/N. You are not to blame for the reaction they forced.”

“But did they really force it? I´ve been doing nothing but point fingers at villain after villain, but maybe I need to point it towards a mirror next time.” You press your lips together as the last words escape. You didn't mean to say that out loud.

“I´m just so.. torn I guess.” You backpaddle “ I don't know if I should be running from them and never return, or hold on to that hope that somewhere down the road, we´ll finally feel like a family again.”

You words struck something inside Kol´s mind, something so hidden and buried under decades of dust he almost jumped in his seat.

He too, feels this way, despite what pain his family caused him. Would he ever admit that out loud? No. But the teeny tiniest part of him believes it's true.

It fills him all the more with content that you´ll always be there by his side, even if he one days decides to reconcile with his family. There's no doubt in his mind, and he loves you all the more for it.  So of course, he gladly returns the favor.

“However you decide, I will be by your side. Always.” His hand joins the one on your lap and you immediately interlace your fingers with his, as if you´re holding on for dear life.

In many ways you are.

“And I will be by yours. Forever.”

He feels like he's floating on the highest of clouds. He was never part of his families oath, “Always and Forever” always excluded him, but this, hearing these words from you is better than anything his family could offer him.

Forever……. how heavenly.

“Let's just keep driving and never turn back.” You speak through the momentary silence  “Somewhere where no one knows us. Just the two of us.”

“Are you sure?”

“No. But right now I just want to pretend that we could just run away. Even just for a little while. “

He knows as much as you do that running away won't be a possibility, at least not while there's still some threat hanging upon his family. But for a fleeting moment, everything seems possible, so he closes his hand around yours and drives along the nameless road, with a plan you don´t have or even want to waste time thinking about.

Miles after miles you stop at a somewhat shabby Motel to refuel on the nearby gas station

The red digits on the clock on the side table read a few minutes after midnight as you open the squeaky door of the Motel room. You don't really need it, but the thought of pressing pause on the world to feel the comforting support of a mattress rather than a car seat seems like the right call.

“Well, this isn't quite as bad as I expected,” Kol says, and kicks the door closed with the back of his shoe. He walks over to the window and tucks curtains covering the window and brushes them aside.

There's a bar on the other side of the road, the neon sign flickering every few seconds or so. Next to it, there's an abandoned motorcycle leaning against a dirt wall and a run-down gas station, with a half-collapsed roof that looks like it's caving in any minute now.

The sound of something solid crashing against wood grabs his attention and he turns around, startled by the noise. You´re sitting on the table in the middle of the room, deep in thought, tipping you daylight ring on the edge.

“Hey.” He covers your hand with his own, your agitation slipping away ever so slightly.

“I'm sorry, I just-”  

“I know.” He smiles sympathetically,“ What you need is a distraction. Come on.”

You grab his hand with hesitance,  follow him out of the door. You round the building and cross the road only to heading through a swing door with a broken set of glass on the top.

The bar smells like old leather and booze and a very questionable stench you don't even want to begin to imagine where it originated.

“Wow, this place is disgusting.” You say, your eyes roaming over the thrown together interior “I love it. But I don't know how-”

“First, we drink. Then we dance. And then…” He gestures over to a very intoxicated pair of men “we eat.”

Heavy rain is pattering down on the streets. The neon lights reflecting in the puddle of water stir and blur as your rushed footsteps hurry over them, a second pair of feet following right after.

You fumble for the motel key in your pocket while Kol places kisses on your skin. But they are not just ordinary kisses, no, they are promises.

I will never leave you again. I promise

He leaves another pair behind your ear, whispering sweet nothings before moving on to your exposed shoulder, alternating between kissing and nibbling at your skin.

It's you and me against the world.  I promise.

Once the door opens, you hurry inside, closing the door with such force the numbers on the outside falling out of their hinges. You waste no time, pressing Kol against the door, leaving your own promises against his skin.

I will love you forever. I promise

Kol gently tucks at your chin, and you lift your head, gazing breathlessly into his eyes that are filled with nothing but love… and desire.

As if pulled by a magnet, your lips collide with his, hungry desperate for his touch, more intoxicated by each other than the alcohol or the blood you consumed.

His hand trails down your arm to your waist, pushing up the fabric of your shirt to grip at your skin before pushing off the wall, only leaving your lips to pull his own shirt over his head, guiding you backwards until you hit the edge of the bed.

And then there´s just kissing and biting, scratching and moving - as easy as the wind but as powerful as the storm rolling over the town itself.

The sun burns yellow against Kol´s skin as his eyes flutter open halfway, eyes dilating due to the rays of sunlight peeking through the shutters.

He reaches over, to pull you back into him, but his fingers grasping nothing but the empty bed sheets. With eyes snapping open, he sits up, sheer panic running his blood could, just inches beneath his skin.

The bed is empty.  

Panic panic panic

His eyes bounce from one item to the next, from the spot where your clothes landed that is now empty, up to the table that is empty too. It is then when his sleep-fogged brain registers the open door, leading out to the small balcony opposite of the windows.  

He slips into his pants and heads for the door, instantly relaxing at the sight of you

“There you are.” Kol cautiously wraps his arms around your waist and nudges you against his bare chest, resting the side of his face against yours “Hm, the storm has cleared.”

“Yeah, it has.”

Usually, there is a calm before the storm, but for you, in this moment, it's the calm after the storm. While a storm, depending on its severity can cause destruction, your internal storm has left you with nothing but clarity.

You tried to ignore the line in front you ever since you came back to Mystic Falls, a line to leave the past behind and to focus what's in front of you, rather than what has already come to pass. And that includes Stefan and Damon.

If they choose to pursue their own happiness, then why waste time trying to reconcile what is already lost? On your own no less? To get where you want to be, means crossing said line.

So you cross it. From here on out, there´s only going forward. No going back.

And it feels euphoric.

“I'm sorry for being such a downer yesterday.” You turn in his arms, facing him “But you know you make me happy, right? So fucking happy.”

“You make me so, uh, fucking happy too.”

“That's all I want and need. Just you and me. Fuck everyone else.”

“Screw ´em.” Kol agrees in his version of an American accent.

“That was...the worst accent I have ever heard.” You laugh at his attempt and Kol can't help but let his eyes fan over the curve of your mouth and the little laughter lines around your eyes. He missed hearing you laugh.

“And your laugh is the most beautiful thing I ever heard.” He says, tracing his thumb over your cheek with care, before pulling you into a kiss, the sunlight creating a vibrant outline around your connected bodies.

You are so entranced by the sheer bliss you're experiencing, you don't even hear the sound of a new message arriving in your phone.  

Mae: Up for a trip to the Mile High City? Got another Gilbert to use for our gain.Call me for details.

Looks like you get to press pause for a little while longer….

A/N: I wrote the first draft to this on my road trip by hand. Probably why it's all over the place emotion wise. But I felt like there had to be some kind of emotional response to everything that happened in the past chapter.    

And this was also just an excuse to get as much Kol and reader time as possible. They deserve one day without impending doom hanging upon them, right?

That being said, what did you think? Where there parts you especially liked or disliked? Was there anything I should explore more? Did my more poetic approach work, or was it too much? Let me know!!

Open Coffin tags : (let me know if you want to be added or removed)

@shadyladyperfection @thegoddessofvampire @newurleans @originalbish98 @acourtofhopeanddreams @bonniebird @imnoaingeal @onlygodcanjudgeme-sh @vaniileiinkeks  @relmi-llorrac @piercethepottorff @maliae14  @5-seconds-of-animals @the-geeky-engineer   @rock-n-magick @flymeawayworld @givemesomehybrid @mikealsonlover @nuteller28 @fandoms-fandoms-everywhere99 @drkplum @fandooomqueenforyou @free-the-fangirl @clockworkballerina @twisted1ginger @superwholocksociopath474   @pacifyprincessxo @mustachio1616 @thealyana @sandyclaws @unicorntrooper @buckysummers @sanity-is-overratedxp @akshi8278 @lunna-star-8 @graysonmalfoy @woodworthti666 @elenavaldez02 @lilulo-12 @selmasemlan @thelostallycat @characterobsessed @cococola-cocaine @crazyinternetgirl @tvdplusriverdale  @-thatgirloverthere-   @alwxadria345 @trymexo @mizzezm @willieshakesqueer @spunky-89 @putyourherohaironstefan @xxdragonagequeenxx @thegingerthatwaited @shootingstarsaretearsofheaven @hinata7346 @controloffandoms

Crossed outs are not taggable anymore.

[tom-hollands-eyelash]

My Boy (Tom Holland X reader) part 1

A/n: This story is based off of the 1991 movie “My Girl”. If you want to be tagged please shoot me an ask or reblog this. It makes it easier for me.

Summary: You live in a funeral home and your only friend is Tom Holland, a boy across the street from you. Everyone in the neighborhood find you odd. Everyone except for Tom that is. You both promised each other that you’d never leave the other, what happens if one of you unintentionally break that promise?

Word count: 1,054

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

***

‘“Dad I’m dying.” You said to the very tall man with the receding hairline sitting next to me.

“That’s nice sweetheart, pass the remote please?” He asked, his eyes never leaving the T.V that was in front of him. When he didn’t feel the remote land in his hand he looked over to be greeted with a look of complete shock. “What?” he asked confused. You left him like that to go outside on the pourable. You were greeted with a gaggle of boys your age waiting to see a dead body in the funeral home where you live.

They’ve heard and seen all the caskets empty and full leaving and entering your house. It freaked out all the girls in the neighborhood, (which caused them never to play with you) but it intrigued all the boys wanting to see an old dead body. You escorted them into my home and took them to the viewing parlor your dad used for wakes. You led them to a closed ivory coffin. “Are you guys ready?” You asked placing your hands on the lid readying to lift it. There was an echo of ‘Yeah’ ‘come on’ and ‘do it’. When you lifted the lid off the coffin, it was empty. The boys demanded their money back saying how you were full of shit. “I was afraid this would happen.” You said ignoring the boys demands.

You look down at the group to see their confused yet intrigued faces. You went on and explained how sometimes the bodies your family got weren’t always fully dead and how they would get up in the middle of the night and walk around the house. And as if it was on que, your dad walked by looking worn out. (When he worked to hard he was basically dead) when the group saw him in that state, they all ran away screaming and tripping over each other to get out of the house. Everyone except your very good friend Tom Holland.

“Y/N, why are you always trying to scare people all the time?” Tom asked you during a game of war on the steps of your porch.

“Why do you care? You going all yellow belly on me all of a sudden?”

“No! It’s just people think your weird for doing it, if they don’t already.”

“So?” You asked placing a king of hearts down.

“Doesn’t that bother you?” He asked handing you the two cards indicating you won, you just shrugged at the question and took the cards “Like at all?”

You shrugged again, “should I care?”

“No I guess not. He said as three girls passed your house.

“Ew look at Y/N and her boyfriend Tom!” The girl in the plain white T-shirt, red plaid tied around her frayed denim shorts, and a pair of fake timbs on her feet said.

“Look Z! He already gave her a promise ring!” The little girl in a black tank top underneath a whight laced no sleeve cardigan, light blue denim shorts, and brown sandals said.

“Shut up Laura!” You said standing up on the steps you were sitting on. “And besides is a mood ring you idiots!” You yelled back, but they just ignored you and starting to sing.

“Y/N and Tommy. Sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then come Tommy in a baby carriage.” They sang as they walked away.

“Why does everyone think we’re dating?!” You asked slamming an ace of hearts down. Tom just shrugged taking the cards since he won that round. “I mean we’re only 10 and a half! And I already know who I’m going to end up marrying!” You said that last part proudly.

“I don’t know maybe it’s because we’re always together?” He said, but came out as more of a question. “And who are you going to end up marrying?” He asked placing another card down.

“Peter Parker!” You said with a proud smile on your face. Tom just laughed when you said that.

“Hey what’s so funny!?” You asked hands on your hips.

“It’s just, Peter Parker isn’t even a real person he said in between laughs.

“Y/N it’s time for dinner!” Your dad called from behind the screen door.

“Awww!” You said turning around to meet his eyes. “Can Tom come over for dinner?” You asked hopeful.

“Not tonight, sorry sweetie.” He said sucking air in between his teeth. “Come on, say goodbye to Tom.”

“Can I walk him to his house?” You asked.

“Nope.” Your dad said popping the ‘p’.

“But why!” You whined.

“The last time I let you walk him to his house, one look at Tessa I didn’t see you again for weeks!” He joked.

“It wasn’t weeks daddy!” You said placing your hands on your hips.

“Fine, but it did feel like weeks.”

“Bye Tommy.” You said walking him to his bike.

“Bye Y/N/N.” Tom said swinging one leg over to straddle his bike. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He smiled.

“I don’t see why you bike to my house, when you’re house is just across the street!” You yelled as he crossed the street.

“Its called excersise! You should try it sometime!” He yells back in between his laughs.”

“Dork!”

“Jerk!”’

Unbeknownst to you, he was lying about the real reason. He hated exercise with a burning passion, but he did like you. A lot, more than he probably should.

And little did either one of you know, that with that 'good bye' you both were one 'see ya later' closer to the last one.

“Hey sweetheart are you okay?” You felt a hand on your shoulder. You felt a hand on your shoulder.

“Yeah.” You turn to meet soft brown eyes. “I just-just miss him.” You feel the sting of tears trying to escape your eyes and you felt your throat starting to close as you look down at the tombstone below.

“I know love. I know.” The owner of the brown eyes put their arms around you and pulled you into a tight hug. Your head found the crook of their neck and began sobbing. “Shh I know, I miss him too.” They said raking their fingers through your hair. “Go ahead darlin’. You can cry as long you need to.”

“I wish I told him I loved him while I had the chance.” You said in between sobs.

Part 2

PERMANENT TAGLIST:

@morgannope @itsmyfuneralokay @ladysergeantbarnes @fandomsfavorite @andreuskystuff @thot-meatball @huffleshufflebitch @what-thefrick-frack @spider-mendes @bosslibrarian123 @smexylemony @embrace-themagic

[banditthewriter]

Running Away part 1

Literally my first story like this. Convoluted timeline ahead. Hopefully more to come. Just can't pass up writing Billy Russo.

This basically takes place sometime after we know Billy is bad? You’ll see what I mean. 

Billy Russo x Reader

*****

Rain splattered against the small window in the corner as you moved around your small basement apartment. You were supposed to have met your friends at the bar ten minutes ago but could not find your phone. It wasn’t on the counter or the coffee table.

“If only I could call it to find it,” you griped while you checked your blankets again.

Your television played softly in the background but you ignored it as you sat on the edge of your bed and tried to remember the last place you had the phone.

“I came in from work and put my stuff on the coffee table. Then I came over here to change to go out.” You grumbled as you once again walked over to the coffee table to rifle through your purse.

Maybe you hadn’t brought it home? Except you remembered checking the time as you got off the subway. Damn.

Something from the television caught your attention and you turned around to face it fully. A familiar face filled half of the screen, the words “assumed armed and dangerous” in bold print underneath it.

Billy Russo. You hadn’t seen or heard anything about him in probably six months. He had gone to your brother’s funeral, gave you a ride home after the service, and then went back to ignoring your presence.

He had served with your brother Adam in the military at some point. They may not have been best friends, but the bond forged by serving together was pretty strong.

What happened, you wondered as you turned the volume up on the tv again. Suspect in murders, attempted murders, the murder of federal agents?

“Damn Billy,” you whispered as they flicked through the pending charges.

You knew he had that security firm because he had almost employed your brother before his accident. For a short time you had seen a lot of Billy out on the town while you tried to keep Adam sober and safe. Somehow or other Billy would end up in the same places as you and your older brother and more often than not, take Adam off your hands for the night.

From what you remembered, Billy was vain and sarcastic and probably more intelligent than a lot of people gave him credit for. Most people saw a pretty face and the flashy cars and expensive suits and thought that that’s all there was to him.

A memory came rushing back to you, the last time you saw Billy before Adam had died. The two of you were in the park, Adam sober and happy for the first time in a while. Billy had been out for a run and literally ran into you.

It wasn’t the first time you had admitted to yourself that Billy was attractive. He had gripped your arms to keep you from falling and even though it was silly, you felt your heart speed up.

“Didn’t see you there Y/N. Hey Adam.”

The two military men grasped hands and Billy looked back at you before he once again turned fully towards Adam.

“You give any thought to my proposition Adam?” asked Billy in a soft voice. Adam had shrugged and readjusted his sunglasses.

“I don’t see how I could fit in at Anvil, Billy. Plus you know how I feel about charity.”

Billy shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, longer on top. “Not charity Adam, I just know your strengths. Anvil could use a guy like you.”

Adam sighed but before he could say anything else, Billy turned to you and gestured at your brother.

“Will you tell him Y/N? He listens to you.”

The smile he shot you was disarming but you had been around him just enough not to be taken aback by it just then.

“Hey, I’ve tried. I even told him that if he took the job, I’d stop calling him short.”

Adam grumbled, his height something that always bothered him. Billy laughed and turned back to Adam with an exaggerated shake of his head.

“I can’t persuade you with money and training and the chance to get your hands back in the dirt so your genius sister thinks to bribe you with no more short jokes? Why didn’t I think of that?”

The rest of the conversation had gone quickly, with Adam promising to go by Anvil soon to talk over a potential job. Billy had smiled at you and pretended to tip a hat as he went off on his run. Halfway back to Adam’s apartment, he had touched your wrist and you stopped on the sidewalk.

“You get why I’m not jumping at the chance, right Y/N?”

You shrugged your shoulders because honestly, you didn’t get it. It was a lot like the work he did in the military with the added bonus of a really good check. When you voiced this to him, Adam had sighed and shook his head.

“Billy’s a great guy but he courts danger. I just worry that if I joined with him, I would be in more danger than I would have been still serving in Iraq.”

Later, Adam had sent a text to say that he was going to take the job and would talk to you soon. A few days later you had gotten a call from a hospital and you found yourself sitting in a plastic chair with your brother’s personal items in your lap.

You vaguely remember someone touching your shoulder and handing you some coffee at some point. It had been such a shock, such a trauma, that you blacked out most of the next week until the funeral.

It was the last time you had seen Billy. He had stood behind you while they lowered Adam into the ground. Members of their old company threw some dirt onto the coffin but you refused. You couldn’t remember if Billy had done it or not. What you did remember, very clearly, was the one thing that made this whole “armed and dangerous” thing seem crazy.

You had taken a step forward to say goodbye to your brother and your knees had given in. Before you could hit the ground, Billy was there to grab you.

“Come on Y/N, let me get you home. Please,”

His whispered request had you nodding and somehow you were in his car giving him directions to your apartment. He walked you to your door and as you were about to slip in, you he lightly touched your elbow.

“I’m sorry about your loss. He was a great guy.”

You clutched your hand to your chest, the metal of your brother’s dog tags biting into the flesh of your palm.

“He made it through war just to be killed by some asshole driver. It’s not fair.”

Billy nodded and reached up to brush a strand of hair out of your face. You blinked at him and watched as his dark eyes roamed your face.

“I don’t want to be cliched, but bad things happen to good people. Everyone dies, some that don’t deserve it. At some point, you’ll realize you haven’t thought about the pain anymore. It’ll come that you won’t hurt anymore.”

You laughed, a watery sound as you felt tears in your eyes. With a shake of your head, fingers tight around the dog tags, you started to close the door.

“I’m ready for it to stop hurting now.”

You had shut the door, mumbling thank you as you did, and hadn’t seen Billy since. He had sent a text once or twice to check on you, but your lack of response had kept him at bay. It hurt too much to have Billy around, a constant reminder of your brother. And part of you felt like it might be some sort of betrayal to your brother to move on, to have a crush on someone he served with.

The news flicked to commercial which brought you out of your reminiscing. You sighed and once more started to look for your phone. What happened with Billy should not matter to you since you haven’t even seen him in months.Obviously your brother had been right about Billy being dangerous.

There was a knock on your door before you could move beyond that thought. Probably one of your friends wanting to know why you weren’t at the bar yet. You grabbed your wallet and moved to open the door.

As you pulled the door open, you felt your blood freeze in you veins.

“Hello Y/N,” breathed Billy calmly, a bag over his shoulder and a gun tucked into his waistband. He raised an eyebrow and the side of his mouth twitched up in a smirk. “Can I come in?”

Part Two

[writingkeepsmewhole]

Beautiful Remains

This is part 4 of A Team. Emily wakes up in a strange only to find that his is on a bus and has been kidnapped. This is a wave of crap shoved in this chapter. 

Andy Biersack x OC

Warnings: Language I think that’s it :P

Let me know if you want to be tagged please :)

I woke up in a very dark, yet warm place. I tried to sit up but my head hit something hard. Good thing I didn't sit up quickly. 'Why do I feel like I'm in a coffin?' I thought almost laughing at my weird thoughts. 'Okay I'm breathing fine so I must have air at lest. I'm dreaming. Emily your dreaming.' I started telling myself over and over. I tried to get my mind off of the small space I was in. I rolled over to try to fined a way out. But instead I felt myself falling. I closed my eyes waiting for myself to wake up but instead I felt the sharp stinging pain of hitting a hard floor. I sat up to see I was in a small hallway. What I fell out of was a bunk. There was six of them. Three on each wall. Four of the bunk curtains were opened, one was closed and the one that was half way opened was the one I fell out of. It was the top bunk on the right wall. It was on the right wall if you were facing the way I was facing. I was facing a door that was slightly opened. I turned my head to see what looked to be a living room? I stood up and started to walk to it. I stopped at a door that was on the right hand side. It was opened and it was a bathroom. I walked into it and closed and locked the door behind me. It was a small bathroom. It had just enough room for the shower, toilet, a small counter with a sink and enough space to stand to open the door. I was shocked to see a note sticking to the mirror. I pulled it off to read:

Emily If your reading this, then that means I'm not back yet. I had to go do a show. When it gets over I have to do a interview, but after that I promise I will be back by three. Sammi and Ella said you can use some of there clothes till we get you some. There staying with us till tours over. All there stuff is in the back room. The bunk you woke up in is yours if you want it, but your free to sleep on the couch if you want. There is a back stage pass on the kitchen counter make sure you get it. You can be back stage for all the bands that are playing. You can ether come find me at the main stage if its not past two. So get dressed and have fun. Andy ps. Sorry I was not here when you woke up. And please don't get mad at me but as I'm sure you can tell I put your necklace back on. I smiled at that still messy yet pretty hand writing. I laid down the note and walked out of the bed room. I walked down the little hallway to the door. I opened it to see a full size bed to the right pushed up to the wall. There was a couch across from me and what looked to be a table that could fold into the wall to the left of me. On the table was what looked to be a make up bag. I opened it to see I was right. I have never seen so much make up in my life. I was shocked. I could not help the smile that came to my face. It took me a moment or two but I finely found the closet. Everything folds up in this room it seems. I soon found everything and got what I needed. I walked back to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I walked back to the room and was soon dressed in ( polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=102754523 ). I walked down the hallway and stopped when I got to the living room. There was a black couch all along the left wall with fold out tables at each end. They folded out from the walls. There was smaller couch on the other side. It was not as long. There was what I'm guessing to be the front door a the right end of it. There was a small kitchen with a counter, sink, bar, etc. Everything you would need but I think a stove. I seen what I'm guessing was the back stage pass sitting on the counter. I picked it up and put it around my neck. I walked out the door to be blinded by the bright sun light. I blocked my face from the sun till my eyes got used to the bright light. There was more busses like the one I just came out of. All had different names on them. I didn't bother reading any of them and started walking to the sound of mixing songs together. I stopped and turned around to see the name wrote on the bus. Black Veil Brides. 'Why I'm I not the lest bit shocked by that?' I asked myself as I started walking again. I soon found myself in a crowed of teenagers all dressed slightly alike. You could still see the differentness between them though. I smiled but I was jumping up and down inside my head. I was at Warped Tour. I have not been here since the last time I came with Andy. This place was my home in a way. I was snapped out of my day dream when someone ran into me. "I'm sorry." We both said at the same time, making us both laugh. "No I'm sorry I was the dumb ass standing still in the middle of a crowded at Warped Tour." I said smiling at the girl. She looked to be around 5'0 feet since she stood around four or five inches shorter then me. She had bright green eyes, rainbow hair that was teased to make it stick out in random places. She had black eye shadow around her eyes. But that's not what had me looking at her face longer then I should do. Coming off the corner of her lip she had drew on with eyeliner stiches. On the other side was just a line. Under one eye was what looked like tear drops on the other was flames. Across her neck was one line going down the middle and three stripes coming off the sides. "What? Do I have something on my face?" She asked touching her face. She must have done it softly since she didn't mess up her make up. "Yeah. not trying to be rude. But why is your make up so random?" "Its not make up its war paint! And if you have ever seen Black Veil Brides you clearly would understand. But I guess you haven't. You just don't understand on what you missing out on! Don't make fun of people you don't even know!" She yelled at me and walked off quickly. "Alright then." I asked mostly to myself and started to walk to the right not really knowing where I was going. "Don't worry about her. She did the same thing to me. Well kind of. She said I only like the band for the lead singer. When I was the one that showed her the band. She is just in a bad mood because Andy didn't come to the sighing today." A girl that looked just like the one I was just talking to but she had different hair and make up. He hair was in teased up pig tails. I don't know how but they looked really cute. I never seen anyone with pig tails that didn't make them look like a little kid. Her make up was white that faded to blue then got darker as it reached the end of her eye, making the ends black. "Andy's the lead singer by the way." She said smiling. "Yea I know who Andy is. I know who Black Veil Brides are I just have never met any of them, but Andy. I have never seen them play live or a music video. I just listen to them for the first time last night. So I didn't get the whole make up thing." I said and started chewing on the inside of my cheek. "If you just heard them last night then how do you know Andy?" 'Crap! I just woke up and I already got in a mess. I cant tell her I really know Andy. She make be a crazy person and try to hurt Andy or me. She don't seem crazy though.' I thought making up my mind quickly "I was on YouTube last night and just kind of ran into there songs. The video had a pic on it so I just guessed that was the lead singer." "But you just said you met Andy...." "Did I? No I meant I would like to meet Andy. Anyways I got to go get me something to drink this heat is killing me. It was nice talking to you." I said smiling then quickly walking away before she could say anything. I started walking back to where I think the busses where. I was getting more lost by the minute till I heard a laugh I knew all to well. I quickly started to follow the sound. I found the busses again. I walked to the right one and walked into it. I was shocked to see a man with a camera filming Andy and some blond guy in a blue shirt talking. Of course all eyes was on me. I was just happen the guy kept the camera on Andy and the blond guy. "Another on of Ashley's friends?" The blond guy asked winking "No this Emily, an old friend of mine. Emily do you mind I'm kinda busy." "I'm not in the mood for you Biersack. First you kidnap me then you just leave me lost at Warped Tour. And then one of your crazy fans tried to kill me because I didn't know what kind of warpaint you wore. What they hell is that anyway?" "Oh so you kidnap people now, huh Andy?" The blond asked poking Andy with is elbow. "No I don't." Andy said laughing lightly "She wanted me to take her away." He said lifting one eyebrow making a shiver run down my spine. 'No Emily. Not this again! I thought I got over this when I was 17.' I thought chewing on my lip. I sat down on the couch behind the camera guy not felling mad anymore. Not really understanding why I was so mad in the first place. I did yell at him for leaving me. I should be happen he is even be nice to me at all. I should be happen he took me with him this time. I mean he has a life now he didn't need me to come back in it. I most likely just messed up the rest of his tour. I'm sure he is very busy and here I am yelling at him for not being here when I woke up. What's wrong with me? How could I be a dick head like that. I mean how could he save me if he could not even find me. I moved a year after he left. Even if he did come back he would not have guessed I moved to New York. I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. I didn't want to be found, that's why I left. I lost faith in him coming back for me. I just gave in to the voices in my head. I just gave up.... They must have been talking about something different and forgot I was there since they seemed like they didn't think I would talk again. But I did. "How's your cheek?" I asked with out thinking. "Who's cheek?" The blond asked. "She means mine Bryan." Andy said laughing "Well would you like to share what happened?" "I slapped him. As hard as I could I might add." I said softly and started to chew on my cheek again. "Well why don't you come over here and let the good people see you. Then you can tell us all about it." Bryan said smiling at me. He seemed to know I was thinking hard about something and I think he was trying to help me forget about even if it was for a little while. "No I could not but in you guys talking more then I already have. Besides everyone one wants to see Andy not some girl they never even knew was alive till just now." I said laughing softly "Come on you can tell us how you know Andy I'm sure they will like that." "Fine." I said getting up and moving to sit beside Andy. "So would you like to tell us who you are?" "Hey I'm Emily." I said smiling and giving a little wave to the camera. "So how do you know Andy?" Bryan asked putting the microphone closer to my face. "We knew each other as teenagers." "No need to be shy. You can say anything you want. So did you know that Andy wanted to be in a band." "Yes. I didn't know if he ever made it though. I moved to New York a year after he left and got a job. I never had a phone as a teen so its not like I could call him or anything like that." I said shrugging. "That's kind of sad. On a lighter note, do you have anything to tell us about when Andy was a kid?" "Yes I have lodes but he has worse things on me so I father not share. I can tell you that he was always getting me to do bad things." I said laughing "I did not. I was like a big brother to you. I think I did a good job at being your friend." Andy said laying his hand on his heart, acting like he was hurt. "I don't know Andy you seem a little crazy sometimes I think I believe Emily on this one." Bryan said "Haha I win!" I said giggling "I think I need prove. How was I always teaching you to do bad things?" Andy said "You gave me my first cigarette, you gave me my first beer, you talked me into getting my first tattoo and piercings. Do you think that was a good idea?" "At the time yes. But then again you wanted to do all those things." "I did not. Well the tattoo and piercings yea but I only smoked because you would not stop bugging me and I only tried the beer to see what it taste like." I said stinking my tongue out at him. I heard Bryan laugh, making me look at him and try to stop acting like a kid. "So what piercings and tattoo did you get?" "Something that you wont get most likely. The piercings I till all have and they were my tongue, my first and second holes on my ear and the tattoo well, like I said you wont get." "I think he will get it Em." Andy said smiling. It must have been my face that answered the question how or why because he quickly answered me. "Because I put the song on my first album."

"Oh..." I said standing up. "So its a song then? I thought you said you didn't know any of Andy's song?" Bryan said "I did say that but I didn't know what he put that song out so how could I have know." I said walking back to the bunks. "Where is she going?" I heard Bryan asked Andy. I didn't bother with listening to what he said back to him. I walked into the back room and changed into a black tank top. I walked back out to here Andy and Bryan laughing. I walked behind the camera guy and sat beside Andy again. "Well welcome back Emily. Care to tell us why you changed?" Bryan asked "To show you my tattoo?" I asked/said since I though that's what he wanted me to do but now I was not so sure. "Oh awesome! So what and where is it?" I moved on the couch so both Bryan and the camera could see my right side. I lifted my shirt to show just under my boobs were the words Beautiful Remains. The were wrote jagged yet pretty letters. I put my shirt down after I was sure they got a good look at it. "So why Beautiful Remains? Is that the only tattoo you have?" "Beautiful Remains because that's something I rather not share. Yeah I only have the one." I said starting to chew on my cheek again. "Alright then so is there any other songs you knew by Black Veil Brides that you didn't know was by them?" "Yeah I really loved there cover of Rebel Yell. I didn't know he sung it though. My friend showed it to me and I never bothered to worry about who was singing or playing it." I said shrugging. "Awesome. So Andy your been writing on the new album any songs you can give us I sneak peek on. Maybe like sing a line or to?" Bryan said holding the microphone out to him. "You know we never do nothing like that on your show. I just eat your paper and run from bees." Andy said laughing. "Do I want to know?" I asked laughing softly "Mostly not but I can show you the videos later if you want." Andy said "Okay I feel like I have the chance to get in on Andy's life before he was in a band. So Emily is he any different?" "Well he seems to eat paper now. Then again I could see him doing that. He has more tattoos and has gotten taller. I don't know what to say really. I have not been around him much so far so I don't know if he is different yet." I said shrugging. "So how long have you been around him so far then? Oh and the big question how did you guys get back talking again and how did you get to be on tour with him?" "Well she would not stop asking so I just had to say yes." Andy said laughing "Shut up!" I said smacking his chest playfully Oddly enough I didn't feel weird about being around him again. In a way I felt sad for being so mean to him before and yet here he is cracking jokes like I never hit him. Like we have said not one word to each other since he left till now. He didn't kidnap me. If I was still home now I would have no house to go to, on the run from a crazy guy and having to work longer to stay alive. No he may be a few years later then what I thought but he still saved me. "I didn't beg him. I told you he kidnap me." I said smiling "How could you kidnap her Andy?" "Well it just seemed like a good idea at the time. I seen her walking down the street and once I knew it was her I kidnap her." Andy said shrugging, making all of us laugh "Well at lest she don't seem to mind it. Oh I almost forgot Emily if you were a pornstar what would your name be?" I could not help but laugh. If only he knew. Well I not a pornstar but I'm close. Not that I want him to know. "Umm... that's kind of hard. I don't really think about stuff like that. Maybe something bad ass like Rouge or something like that." I said shrugging "Awesome I like it." "Thanks." "So Andy there are some people on twitter saying that you have a child is there any truth to that?" "No. See what happen was we were all acting stupid on night and half of us were drunk. Ashley dared me to tell Juliet I was having a baby on twitter. I did and a month later here we are. Some people are really stupid. I mean one I cant have a baby and two if I could why would I want to that just don't sound fun. Its just people trying to start something I guess. It just bothers me that they keep calling Juliet a slut and stuff like that." Andy said sighing "Not really there most likely trying to get you to realize there, there. They just want to be a part of your life even if its something as small as bothering you on twitter." I said playing with one of my bracelets. "Wow." Bryan said "Wow what? Why are you saying wow?" "Well that's the first time I ever seen Andy slightly mad." "He is not mad he just gets bother with people saying stuff to Juliet it seems. I'm taking that, that's his girlfriend." "Oh so you didn't know that are boy Andy here was taken?" "No I didn't but why dose it matter? Even if he was not were just friends so I would not try anything with him." "So you and Andy are like best friend huh?" "I think so? At lest that's how we used to me. I hope Juliet don't mind me coming back into his life. We are really just friends and the worst we have ever done is hugged each other." I lied. I doubt his girlfriend would want to know we used to sleep in the same bed almost every night, or that I was in love with Andy till I was 17. What if she hates me? He will most likely hate me. I mean as soon as she finds out about the stuff that Andy has done for me she will think I'm trying to steal him from her. But maybe she is nice. She might be really nice to me. We could be best friends. Do I want to be best friends with Andy's girlfriend? Do I want to meet her at all? What if she makes Andy hate me? No I cant let that happen. Andy is the only one that I could ever talk to. I don't want to lose him as a friend though. Maybe I should leave so I don't mess up his life. Yes I should leave. But when? Tonight? I don't know what if I'm worrying about nothing? If I just keep my mouth shut and stay out of every ones way like I used to everything will be fine. Right? It has to be. "Well I think that's all the time we have so why don't we end it with a funny face." Bryan said sticking his tongue out and crossing his eyes. I didn't get a chance to make one since he made me start laughing. "Well that was fun guys." Bryan said after the camera was off. "Yes it was very much. Thank you for letting me sit in with you guys. Sorry if I messed everything up." I said trying not to look as bad as I felt yet still looking like I really was sorry. "Its no big deal. It keeps the video different from the rest." Bryan said "Well if you say so." I said smiling. "I'm going to change again. It was nice meet you Bryan." I said hugging him lightly then quickly walking back to the back room. I closed the door and took off my shirt. I put the one I had on before along with the jacket on as quick as I could then touched up my make up and hair. My hair was fine and I just need to add a little bit of eyeliner other then that everything was fine. I was putting everything back when there was a knock at the door. "One moment." I said as nicely as I could. "Hey Em, its Andy I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat" "Sure." I said opening the door. "Sweet. Hey do you care if the rest of the band comes?" Andy said running his hand threw his hair. "Nope. I need to make them like me right. I mean I am going to be staying with you guess so I need to make sure they know I'm not going to be smacking you all the time." I said laughing slightly. "Yeah that might be smart." "I'm really sorry about that you know. I should not have done that. I should have just told you who I was. I mean how could you have know it was me and I moved its not life you could have found me. I said look down "hey its no big deal. You had a reason to be mad. I understand. Just promise to wait till you have another good reason to do it again okay?" Andy said hugging me. I hugged him back the top of my head just reached his shoulders. "Still short I see." Andy said laughing. I heard and felt it since he was still hugging me. "No you just to fucking tall. I'm not short I'm fun sized." I said moving my head so my chin rested on his chest, so I could stick my tongue out at him. "What are you proving by doing that? Not a fucking thing. Your just drying out your tongue." Andy said letting me go. "I am not. I'm just wetting the air." I said stinking my tongue again and running around Andy. Well trying at lest. He just moved in my way , since we were in a small bus hall way I really didn't have anywhere to go. Andy looked down at me lifting one eyebrow. I glared back. We quickly started busting out laughing. "Okay you win. Can we go eat now, I'm hungry." I lied. I don't really eat anymore. I only eat enough to keep me from passing out on stage so no one ask questions. Not that they would. Alexis never seemed to realized I didn't eat. Its not that I hated the taste of things I just had to keep the right body for my job. So I don't get hungry anymore. At lest I'm not fat. If I don't have the right body I don't get tips as much as they other girls. I need well needed now. I needed those tips to stay alive. "Alright lets go." Andy said turning around and walking down the hall. I followed behind him. Down the hall and out the door. We started walking to what I guessing the parking lot. When we got there I seen four guys and three girls standing there. 'Man I really they hope they like me. I want them to like me if I'm going to have to live with them I could always leave though. That's still something I could do.' I told myself trying to clam down. "Hey guys this is Emily." Andy said when we got to them.

Part 1 Part 2

[vmheadquarters]

What Goes Around...(part 24)

This is PART 24 of a story that is being told in segments by twenty-six different authors, campfire-style. Each author will take over the story with no prior planning and then pass it on after putting their own spin on it! Expect the unexpected! :)  You can check our vmhq campfire tale tag for all of the previous installments or read the story as it develops on AO3. — Part 24 is written by @mysilverylining 

[Part 23]

Screeeeeeeech.

The high-pitched cry comes from somewhere in the near distance, and despite Weevil's thick leather jacket, a full-body shiver runs through him. He can't identify what species of animal made the sound, but he's confident it's nothing he wants to run into in the dark. 

What's taking so long, anyway? At least thirty minutes have passed since Mr. Mars disappeared into the mansion, promising he'd text once it was safe to follow.

His cell rests in his pocket, right next to his hand. He would've felt it if it buzzed. Nevertheless, he checks it again. Just to be sure.

Nothing. There's plenty of battery life left, and his signal strength...Oh. Well that explains it. 

The animal shrieks again, closer now, and hair lifts on the back of his neck. Crossing himself, he scans his immediate surroundings, detecting no movement in the fading light.

 He doesn't know what – if anything – is going on inside that house, but he'd rather take his chances with bad guys than end up as an hors d'euvre for some rabid animal. And anyway, who's to say Mr. Mars hasn't tried texting him for backup? The more he considers it, the more he's convinced he's needed inside that house. But, just to be safe, maybe he shouldn't burst through the front door.

 Weevil puts his bike in neutral and silently rolls it around the side of the house. He parks next to an ornate garden patio, climbs off, and creeps to the French doors.

 On the other side of the glass, an immense wooden table dominates the center of a fancy dining room. A large rounded doorway, looks into what appears to be a formal library. Shadows bounce against the wall indicating multiple parties within. The question is, who?

 A series of slamming car doors jolts him from his thoughts. Ignitions start, and he spins around just as two vehicles speed away down the long curving driveway. He's not familiar with the truck, but he'd recognize the driver's big old head anywhere. Echolls. The passenger could be Veronica, but he's not positive. Keith Mars follows in his own car, an unidentified man riding shotgun, and someone else in the back seat.

 Well shit. Now what? Should he hop back on the bike and catch up?

 Movement inside the house catches his eye. Raised voices. Somebody leans against the doorframe, fiddling with their watchband.

 He'll decide whether to join Veronica's caravan later. After he's shaken an explanation out of Mr. Rolex.

 It takes thirty seconds to pick the lock. Oh yeah! Still haven't lost my touch. He slips inside, closing the doors silently behind him. Creeping up behind the unidentified man, Weevil grabs him by the wrist, pushing forward while twisting it up behind his back. "You have thirty seconds to explain what's going on with the Mars family."

 Up close, the guy is tall, tanned, with shaggy blond hair and... Oh hell. He releases his grip, and Casablancas whirls around, belligerent. "What the hell, Weevil? Did somebody order a pool cleaning? Because it's not a good time right now. Come back next week."

 "Ha ha." Weevil speaks, monotone. "You've been milking that lame joke for how long?"

 While Dick scowls and rubs at his wrist, Weevil examines the other two occupants (maybe three, if that blanket-covered lump on the couch is what he thinks it is).

 To his right, a slender man with a familiar face sits, stiff and sullen, in a leather club chair.

Tilting his head, Weevil points a thumb at the guy. "Is that my high school History teacher?"

 "Maybe?" Dick shrugs. "I know he taught something at Neptune High, but then he got shitcanned for boning a student."

 "Boning a student?" At first glance, the sequined blonde on the other chair resembles Veronica, but even seated, she has half a foot of height on V. She speaks, harsh and judgmental. "That student was Susan Knight, and you weren't good enough to lick her boots."

 "Fine!" Casablancas holds up both hands, defensively. "So, he made loooove to her, or whatever."

 She lifts her lip in a sneer. "You're as repulsive as that pedophile."

 Weevil squints, mentally peeling back the thick false lashes, heavy makeup - and blonde wig (if he's guessing correctly).

 "Ruby Jackson." Lips stretching into a wide grin, he crosses the room and bumps her fist. "How the hell are you doing?"

 "Could be better, Weevil." She sweeps a hand out, indicating Casablancas and Rooks. "And it's Ruby Jetson now. Just fits my brand better."

 He can't argue that.

 Casablancas stares back and forth between them. "How do you know Logan's stalker?"

 "Who, Ruby?  We go way back." At least three names ago.

 “Weevil came to my rescue in high school when a couple asshole 09ers were bullying me. Playing keep away with my glasses and backpack."

 Dick chuckles. "Ha! I used to do stuff like that in high school."

 They both stare at him until the nostalgic grin slips off his face. "Oh." He drops his eyes, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. I guess."

 Dismissing him, Weevil gestures to Ruby's 'look'. "So, what's with the VMars impersonation?"

 "Maybe I just wanted to find out if blondes do have more fun?"

 "Obviously she's trying to lure Logan into her bed." Casablancas volunteers. "She's as much as admitted it."

 Weevil runs a hand over his face, and blows out a breath. "If you’d like to write some goodbye letters, I'll be sure to get them to your loved ones, after Veronica murders you."

 Ruby's nose crinkles, offended. "For your information, I can hold my own against Veronica Mars. In fact, I've been one step ahead of her all along."

 Doubtful. As much as he likes Ruby, she lacks V's killer instinct. "Speaking of Veronica...Does somebody want to explain what's going on? Why did Mr. Mars request backup and then leave without talking to me? Why did they just tear out of here like a bat out of hell? And who the hell is that dead body on the couch?"

 "Wow." A muffled voice speaks from under the blanket. "That's just harsh, man."

 Weevil crosses the room, and throws back the cover. "Fennel?"

Wallace's eyelids flutter, pained by the overhead lighting, and his rib cage heaves with labored breaths. His complexion is...well...alarming. It's as if he's been dip-dyed in a giant vat of neon pink highlighter ink, tinting his flesh, and staining his teeth and eyeballs. In fact, some kind of gooey pink residue clings to him even now, like the skin on the top of his abuela's Jell-O.

 Alarm bells go off in Weevil's brain. "What the fuck happened to you?"

 Fennel moans, speaks in a pained voice. "Should I start at the beginning, or just skip to the part where Einstein here ran me down with his truck?" He gestures to Casablancas.

 "Yeah, I'm totally sorry for that, dude. My bad."

 Weevil turns his glare on Dick. "Why the hell isn't he in the hospital? He could have cracked ribs. Punctured lungs."

 Casablancas shrugs. "Got me, man. Veronica took off out of here to track down an antidote for him. She didn't mention anything about hospitals. Just told us to watch him and keep him alive."

 Ruby adds. "We couldn't have done anything anyway. We're stuck without a vehicle, there's no cell reception, and the phone lines were cut."

 Damn! All he has is his bike, and Wallace is in no shape to hold on. "What did you mean by antidote?"

 Casablancas looks at him like he's an idiot. "Umm...antidotos? You know, they cure poison and viruses and stuff."

 Weevil sighs, and counts backwards from five. "I meant, what's wrong with Fennel? Other than the results of your vehicular homicide attempt."

 "Ohhhh" Dick nods, getting it now. "The antidote is for that sludge stuff that was being piped into his coffin."

 "Oh, give me a fucking break." Weevil spins around. "Coffins? Sludge? What the hell is this? A Toxic Avenger reboot?"

 Rooks crosses his legs, pulling his lower pant leg tight enough to reveal a bulge. He’s sullen and silent, in the same room, but not with the others. And from the look of those bruises, has already run afoul of Echolls. All of it together indicates that he’s probably shady.  If not? Well, he can always apologize later.  

 Weevil turns back to the others, casual and at ease.  He counts to three, turns, and dives on the man. Before Mr. Rooks even knows what hit him, Weevil’s confiscated the pistol.

 "Great job checking him for an ankle holster, guys." Holding it by its barrel, he passes it over to Ruby, who tucks it down the front of her jeans like a TV gangster.

 Casablancas rolls his eyes. "Um...we've been a little occupied running for our lives. God, you're judgmental."

 "Running from who?"

 "Him." Dick points at Wallace.

 "You ran for your life from Wallace Fennel?" Weevil snorts. "What did you think he would do? Make a three-pointer on your face?"

 "How many times do I have to tell you?" Wallace groans. "I wasn't chasing you. I was trying to escape."

"Maybe you were when I hit you, but what about all the other times? You've been chasing us all day, with your super speed, and stuff."

 "WHAT other times?" Fennel seems clearly baffled.

 "Hold on." Weevil puts up a hand. "I want to hear the whole story, but first can somebody have the decency to clean this guy off? If that residue is toxic enough to require an antidote, he shouldn't be left wearing it." He points to Rooks. "You. Make yourself useful and help out your fellow educator."

 The man speaks for the first time. "And get that stuff all over me?"

 "Call it karma for Susan Knight." Ruby sneers. "And Carrie Bishop, too. She would still be alive if you hadn't traumatized Susan."

 "I didn't traumatize Susan. She loved me, and I...cared for her."

 Weevil holds up a hand, halting Ruby's imminent tirade. "I'm sure you have a lot to say, and he's clearly scum of the earth. But arguing right now won't help Fennel."

 Dick speaks up. "If we let him leave this room, how do we know he won't dump Wally somewhere and take off?"

 "Wallace." The blanket mumbles.

 "I don't know." Weevil touches his chin, pretending to ponder. "What stopped him from taking off before I showed up? You weren't even watching him, he had a weapon, and if I wanted to get away badly enough, Dick Casablancas wouldn't be much of a deterrent."

 Ruby seems to think this over for a second, but isn't convinced. She pulls the gun, and aims. "Let's go pervert."

 "Go ahead. Shoot me." Rooks lifts his pointy, belligerent chin. "The only way to get him to the bathroom would be to carry him, and if I get that substance all over me, I'll die anyway."

 With a feral snarl, Ruby leaves the room, returning thirty-seconds later with a wheelchair. "Lift him onto this."

 "Where'd you get that?" Weevil asks.

 "It was in the sister's room." She points in a vaguely Northeast direction.

 "No way! That Lydia chick making Ronnie jump through hoops is a gimp?"

 Ruby whirls on Dick. "Don't even speak to me if you're going to use ablest slurs." 

 From the way Dick's forehead scrunches, Weevil guesses he'll be checking the dictionary later.

 She continues. "It was the other sister's room. The little one. The one Sean Friedrich is holding as leverage over Jeff and Lydia."

 Wait. What? Weevil feels a migraine coming. "That sniveling twerp, Sean Freidrich is involved in this, too?"

 "To the teeth."

 "Her name is Katie." Rooks is staring at the wheelchair, skin tight around his eyes, and wearing an expression of pure nausea. "She's twelve years old."

 Oh fuck. Not a kid. That sticky-fingered freak better hope Weevil doesn't find him first. You never mess with kids.

 "Well?" Ruby waves the gun, to get Rook's attention.

 He sighs, and stands, pulls his sleeves over his hands and gingerly transfers a moaning Wallace into the chair. They leave the room, Ruby muttering, "I dare you to try something, Pedo. Go ahead. I'll shoot your nuts off."

 Weevil stares out the window, while Casablancas rolls a thick doobie on a priceless antique game table.

 It's full dark now, the only light coming from the solar powered garden stakes lining the front bed. He tries his phone again, but still can't get a signal.

 Hopefully Veronica and Echolls are having some luck, but antidote or not, Wallace needs to be in a hospital. He's barely holding on.

 Then again, if he's been exposed to a toxin, maybe they should get him to the CDC. It's in Atlanta, if he remembers his Walking Dead canon, but maybe there's a local chapter. He'd look it up on his phone, but...

 At the sound of squabbling and squeaking wheels, he shakes his head, refocusing on the here and now.

 Wallace appears marginally better when they return. He's clean, at the very least, with white bandages taped and wrapped haphazardly. They've managed to round up some fresh clothing for him, and a cap to shade his eyes. The jeans are about a mile too long, but it's not like he's going to be tap dancing.

 Weevil pinches the bridge of his nose. "Feeling any better?"

 "I still feel like I've been hit by a truck." Wallace slants angry eyes at Casablancas. "But I suppose not sticking to myself and everything around me is an improvement."

 Grabbing a side chair, Weevil drags it over to Wallace and sits at eye level. "Tell me what happened to you."

 "Most of it I don't remember." Wallace gives a helpless shrug. "They got me when I came here looking for…a friend. Lydia seemed nice enough. She invited me in, offered me refreshments, and pretended not to know anything.  I think she must have drugged my tea or something.  Next thing I know, I’m in a damn coffin, covered in some kind of gel or plasma, with a breathing tube shoved down my throat.”  He shudders, and Weevil can't really blame him.

 So, the nice white lady invites a black guy inside. Coffins, and toxic sludge, and drugged tea. Forget the Toxic Avenger, this is starting to look more like the Get Out Sequel, “Get the FUCK Out.”

 “Hey,” Weevil begins, choosing his words carefully. “I’ve been meaning to ask you.  Remember that redhead that was with me the first time we met? At that diner?”  

 Wallace’s scowls. “Have you been sniffing glue? The first time we met, you and your gang ambushed me in the parking lot, stripped me naked, and duct taped me to a flagpole.”  

 “Sorry.” Weevil exhales. “Had to be sure.”  

 Wallace stares at him, brow crinkled in confusion, and then rolls his eyes. “Yeah, I saw that movie too, and I would remind you that it’s fiction, and therefore, impossible, but I’ve seen – and done – some things today. And I’m not sure I can tell the difference anymore either, so…?”

 Weevil guides him back to the explanation. "So, Veronica was okay with you coming here without backup?"

 "I don't need to clear every decision with Veronica, you know."

 "Considering what happened to you, maybe you should." Dick licks his rolling paper and glances up. "I'm just sayin'"

 Interesting. So, Fennel purposely kept Veronica out of the loop. Why would he do that? Unless... Weevil leans forward. "Who's the friend?"

 Wallace’s face forms that obstinate expression he remembers from high school. "I can't tell you."

 "Like hell, you can't."

 "No man. I promised. I swore I wouldn't say a word." Wallace rolls his shoulders and then winces. "Man. My ribs are killing me. Maybe I should take some Ibuprofen."

 "Nice try, Fennel." Weevil shakes his head. "Who did you come here to help? And why didn't you want Veronica to know about it?"

 Surprisingly, it's Ruby who answers. "His name is Piznambia."

 Dick perks up. "Piznarksi? From Hearst?"

 "That's what I said."

 "Damn." Dick chuckles. "Last time I saw that dude, he was getting his face smashed-in at our high school reunion. I have pictures."

 "I know." Ruby pins Casablancas with a stare. "Why do you think he volunteered?"

 Dick's brow furrows, confused. "To get beaten up?"

 Ruby sighs. "No. He signed up to be a test subject for an experimental drug. A drug developed for the express purpose of creating super soldiers. Super-fast and super-strong, super-soldiers."

 Something in Weevil's peripheral vision catches his attention, and he turns back to the window. "Um...guys?"

 "Piznarski?" Dick snorts in derision. "I'll believe it when I see it. Super-tool is the best he can hope for."

 "He spent a lot more time under that goo than this guy did." She waves a hand at Wallace. "And you saw how fast he could run."

 "Guys!" Weevil raises his voice, and they all turn to him. "Don't look now, but Piz is coming this way, and I think you made him angry."

 Despite the darkness, the skin not covered by the figure’s shredded tee-shirt and tighty-whities glows with a pink, phosphorescent light.

 "Holy shit!" Dick whispers.

The whites of Piz' eyes are the same neon hue as his skin, and his lips are pulled back in a rictus grin. "RONNNKA! RONNNKA! 'SMEE PIZ!"

 "What language is that?" Ruby asks.

 Weevil can't take his eyes off the monster. "He's calling for Veronica."

 A variety of bright, colorful flowers spill artistically from a two-foot terra-cotta planter. Piz bends down, picks it up, and holds it out in offering like a hostess bouquet. "COME OUT RONNNKA! WANNA TALK TO YOU." The planter cracks in his grip and breaks into a dozen pieces, contents tumbling to the ground. He looks down, confused, and then back to the window.

 "Fuck. My. Life." Weevil crosses himself. "We need to get the hell out of here. He's going to bust in, and I don't want to be here when he realizes Veronica's not around."

 "How?" Dick asks. "We have no cars and no phones."

 "I know what to do. Follow me." Ruby crosses to the far side of the room, out of sight from the picture window.

 Dick watches her, forehead wrinkled in thought. "Wait a second. You haven't limped in an hour. What happened to 'I can't walk. My ankle’s broken.'?"

 Ruby glances back over her shoulder, rolls her eyes. "Logan's not here to carry me. Guess I'm on my own." She tugs on an antique brass wall sconce, and a wide section of bookcase swings open, revealing a darkened tunnel of some kind.

 Dick gasps. "No. Freaking. Way. Where does it lead?"

 The flashlight on Ruby's cell illuminates only a few feet. "Catacombs. They run under the entire property." She turns to Weevil. "Think you could roll your bike through here?"

 Weevil rubs the back of his head. "I think so. Can we get it back up?"

 "Yeah. There are ramps at each end."

 "How do you know all this?" Dick asks. "Jeff and Lydia give you a map?"

 "They don't even know the tunnels exist." Ruby turns a sad glance to Wallace - no, the wheelchair he's sitting in. "Katie discovered them. Gave me the underground tour before Sean took her away."

 From outside. "RONNNKA! TALK TO MEEE. MISS YOU!"

 Dick hooks a thumb at the window. "What about Pepto Pizmal out there? If he figures out the house is empty, he might search the property for us."

 "For the first time in your life, you may be right," Weevil says. "We need somebody to stay behind and play decoy long enough for us to get a head start." 

 All eyes turn to Rooks. He lifts both hands, shaking his head adamantly. "Nope. I won't do it. You leave me behind with that...thing...I'm out of here. I'd rather take my chances running."

 Weevil turns to Ruby. "Know where we can find some rope?"

 "You can't leave me here defenseless!" Rooks shrieks. "That's murder!"

 He's not wrong.  "Fine." Weevil sighs, out of patience. "That leaves Ruby or Dick. Wallace needs to be hospitalized, and I need to take him."

 "Not me." Ruby crosses her arms over her chest. "You'll need me to guide you, if you don't want to get lost."

 Four sets of eyes turn to Dick.

 "No. No way." When nobody budges, he whines, "Come on, guys! How the hell am I supposed to convince him I'm Veronica."

 A wide smile stretches across Ruby's face. She plucks off her golden blonde wig, placing it on Dick's head, and adjusting it until it covers all of his own hair. "Wow. You're kinda pretty."

 Despite his predicament, Casablancas smiles, enjoying the flattery.

 "For a douche," Ruby continues.

 His smile drops.

 Weevil rolls his bike in from the patio, choosing not to fret about parquet flooring. Leaving it next to the tunnel, he makes a quick loop of the manor, locking exterior doors and reinforcing them by stuffing chairs under the knobs.

 The monster formerly known as Piz is still howling when he rejoins the others. Ruby returns seconds later with a handful of flashlights, and a machete. She's changed her clothing and now wears tight khaki pants, tall brown boots and an olive-green tank top under a Veronica-style leather jacket. The gun is still tucked into her pants, and her long dark hair falls in a braid down her back.

 Weevil keeps his laugh on the inside. If role-playing helps her find her confidence, who is he to judge? At least she didn't go with hot pants and thigh holsters.

 Straddling his bike, he puts it in neutral and turns on the headlight. "Ready to get this show on the road?"

 "As ready as I'll ever be." Without a backwards glance, Ruby clicks on her flashlight and steps through the opening. Rooks follows, pushing Wallace in the wheelchair.

 Dick stands next to the tilted wall sconce, bewigged and trying valiantly to conceal his fear.

 Shit. Hell has officially frozen over if he's feeling sympathy for this asshole.

 Weevil gives him a manly nod. "I've never liked you, Casablancas."

 Dick bites his fist, the image of contained devastation. "Somehow, my heart will go on."

 "But..." Weevil continues. "I don't want you to die. At the very least, it would hurt people I care about."

 "Is that violins I hear?" Dick cups his ear. "It's like we're almost...friends."

 "Don't get ahead of yourself." Weevil chuckles. "Anyway, stay visible from the window. Once Piz wanders off, wait a few minutes and follow us." He aims his flashlight inside the tunnel. “There’s sand on the tunnel floor, so you should be able to follow the track of my bike.  If Piz gets inside the house..." He pauses. "Hey Ruby, come here."

 She returns from the tunnel. "What's up?"

 "We need to give Dick that gun."

 "Are you crazy? We can't give him our only weapon."

 "What do you call that machete?" Weevil raises an eyebrow. She still looks resistant, so he puts a hand on her arm, appealing to her emotions. "He's taking a huge risk to keep us safe. We can't leave him defenseless."

 "UGH! Why do you have to make sense?" Roughly yanking the gun from her waistband, she hands it butt first to Dick. She returns to the tunnel, muttering, "The idiot will probably shoot his own foot off, but what do I care?"

 Wallace gathers enough energy to make threats. “He’s still my friend, man. Don’t you dare kill him, unless it’s absolutely necessary.”  

 Dick’s eyes lift to the ceiling. “Yeah. Sure. We’ll just toast marshmallows together, and sing “Come Buy Ya.”

 Weevil snickers. Idiot. "Best of luck, my man." He hands his flashlight to Dick, pushes off and rolls his bike down the ramp. The secret door closes behind him, leaving only his headlight, and three small flashlights to guide the way.

So, this is it. Alone with the freak.

 The bookshelf swings closed with a loud creeeaaak, sounding much like the final nail in Dick's coffin. Not a nail being hammered, obvi, but maybe one being stressed. Like if the coffin was wood, and he was inside doing a lot of wiggling or something.

 Wonder if Wally did a lot of wiggling in his coffin before he got freed?

 A wet motorcycle track runs from the patio entrance straight to the secret door, like a neon sign saying 'they went this-a-way'. He grabs a towel from the nearest bathroom, and using his foot, wipes it out. Kind of. He's not trying to win any housekeeping awards, or anything.

"RONNKA! RONNKA!"

Dick shudders. If he's going to be forced to stick around listening to the world's pinkest Stanley Kowalski, he's going to need a bit of...herbal relief. Luckily, he’s already anticipated this.

Bringing flame to the end of his joint, he inhales deeply, holding the smoke until his ears start to ring. Little by little his rigid muscles relax.

Piz still stands outside the window, staring in at him. Dick's skin crawls, but he forces a smile and gives him a little finger-wave.

Damn, why can't Logan be here? He wouldn't stand around waiting to be hulk-smashed. He'd head out there and take a shovel to the fucker's head. Of course, he'd probably end up hospitalized, but at least everyone else would get away.

Wait...am I the Logan tonight? Smiling, despite his predicament, he takes a seat in the club chair next to the window - still warm from Ruby's fine ass.

It's almost miraculous, the way she'd transformed from a simpering, clingy, hot-mess when Logan was here, to a competent, bitchy, take-no-prisoners, hot-mess, the moment he was gone. Something about her utter disdain for him, well...it's disturbing how much that turns him on.

He’d bang her. Probably. It’s not like Mac will ever give him the time of day, so why not?

He fluffs the long blonde wig over his shoulders. If only he had some props or something. A fan, maybe.

 Bugs Bunny would flutter a fan when he was hiding in plain sight as a woman. Sometimes he’d do the Knitting-Granny thing, or the bonneted Southern Belle, or chick with the fruit-basket hat.

 And you can never forget blonde, Viking-Braids Bugs. That was kinda hot. Huh. My man, Bugs, REALLY enjoyed going drag.

 "RONNKA." The Piz thing howls. "LOVE YOU!"

 Despite the danger, Dick can't help but snicker. Raising his voice to a feminine pitch, he shouts back. "I LOVE LOGAN! NOT YOU!"

 "RONNNKA! I FIGHTS GOOD NOW, TOO!"

 Dick calls back. "BUT YOU STILL CAN'T FUCK WORTH A DAMN!"

 Piz lets out a roaring shriek and runs straight at the window.

 Oh shit! Why did I do that again?

 Dick backs away - all the way, until he bumps into the bookcase. The glass picture window shatters into a million pieces, and he pulls the gun from his pants, holding it straight out in front of him.

 Piz-zilla stands among the debris, barefoot and unaffected. His eyes lock on Dick, and his head tilts, confuse. "Ronnka?"

 He stalks closer, ignoring the gun and leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind him.

 Something hot and wet runs down Dick's leg, and in desperation, he rips the wig off his head, holds it out in front of him, and waves it like a white flag.

 He squeezes his eyes closed and waits.  Piz doesn’t attack, nor does he retreat.  He waits there, breathing like a bad porn star and smelling like wet dog.

 When he can’t take the suspense another second, Dick cracks an eyelid.  

 Piz is staring at the wig, horrified. "Wha you do to Ronka?"

 "No! I didn't fucking scalp her. It's a wig. See?" He turns it inside-out, displaying the woven cap section. "Not Veronica. Ronnie left an hour ago."

 "Ronka here. Saw her."

 "No man. That was me! Look!" Dick demonstrates, putting the wig on and pulling it off, repeating the gesture several times. "I'm Veronica. Not Veronica. Veronica. Not Veronica. See what I mean?"

 "Not Veronica." The Pizmonster repeats.

 "Not Veronica," Dick confirms. "She left an hour ago. With Logan."

 "LOOOGAN!" Piz roars!

 Dick cringes. Way to poke the beast, genius.

 Piz spins away, howling, "LOOOGAN! LET RONKA GO!  SHE LOVE MEEEE NOW."

 "Yeah. Logan stole yo girl!" Dick gently shoves Piz into motion. "Go get 'em, big guy."

 He waits until Piz is out of sight. Not daring to open the secret passage – the creaking hinges might draw him back – Dick hides instead in the coat closet to the left of the front door. He hears crashes and bangs as Piz stalks from room to room, screaming for Ronnie and Logan.

 Minutes pass, and the noise stops. Dick bites his lip at the sound of crunching glass outside his hiding space. He lifts the gun, swearing that this time, he'll shoot the fucker.

 Piz reaches for the exterior door instead, ripping it from its hinges with a loud, creaking crash. He heads out into the night, resuming his call for Veronica.

 It takes Dick several minutes to escape the closet with the debris in the way. He's forced, to sit, press his back to the wall, and shove with his feet until the door opens far enough for him to squeeze out.

 With one last look through the broken window – nothing pink, nor glowing in sight – Dick exits into the catacombs.

 Darkness closes around him, thick and silent, and this has to be what solitary confinement feels like.

 He flicks on his flashlight, but the beam is weak. If he doesn't catch up before the batteries die, he's going to be trapped down here in the dark.

 One wrong turn, and he could be lost down here forever. Would the others even search for him? Weevil has every reason to hate him, Fennel thinks he's trash, and Ruby would just use his passing as an excuse to console Logan.

 He trains the small circle of light on the motorcycle track, and moves with purpose. To combat his fear and loneliness, he lights his second joint, and tries connecting all the pieces he's learned or overheard since making the mistake of driving to this property.

 Jeff and Lydia VanVino - or whatever - traded their failing Cabernet production for vats full of pink level-up potion. There has to be a shitload of cash in that, provided nobody catches wind of the results.

 Lydia allied herself with that cockroach, Sean Friedrich, who's some kind of Fitzpatrick henchman now. Jeff, apparently, grew a conscience, and decided to work with Veronica. And her San Diego cop buddies. Separately. Whether that was before or after Friedrich kidnapped his little sister remains to be seen.

 Piz signed up for the Captain America makeover treatment, but ended up trading most of his IQ points for the ability to smash property and a permanent case of rosacea.

 Ruby’s in it because she wants to bang Logan. Piz wants to bang Veronica. Dick wants to bang someone. Anyone. It's been a while.

 "And Mr. Rooks shot at Ruby because...why? She's annoying? She can identify him? He's a bitter prick?"

 There's too many bad guys. Too many coincidences. Hell, even Beaver would consider this plan convoluted, and he engineered the whole...well...you know.

"We have to be missing something. They don’t call them the Fighting Fitzpatricks for nothing. There’s already a dozen of them, backbiting and jockeying for position. So…an army of braindead, pink, super-soldiers would just make things worse, right?”

 A tunnel branches off to the right, but Dick ignores it, as Weevil's tire track continues straight ahead.

That is, until he hears the moaning. Not moaning-moaning, really. Nobody's bumping uglies or anything, and he's not being haunted by the Ghost of Pizmas Past. It's more like…somebody with a mouth full of...something, is really trying to get his attention.

 He should probably check it out. On the other hand, his flashlight is growing dimmer by the minute, and with Logan and Mac across town with Ronnie, there's a zero percent chance the it's anyone he gives a shit about.

 A minute later, his curiosity gets the better of him. What if Ruby or Rooks, (or both), turned against Wallace and Weevil, stole the motorcycle, and left them behind? He doesn't much like those guys, but they're Ronnie's people, and he's Logan's, so they're almost like his in-laws.

 And anyway, this is going to make a helluva bar story someday – if they survive the night – and he'd be embarrassed to admit he got out alive without ever discovering the identity of the moaner.

 Dammit. He retraces his steps, and turns at the 'Y', dragging his foot to make a new path.

 The new branch curves sharply to the right, circling back toward the main tunnel, and dead-ending in a sort of cul-de-sac. Stacked crates line the wall, with shipping labels so old, the writing has all but worn off. Leaning against one of them, bound and gagged, sits...Ugh.

 "This is what curiosity gets you." Dick rips duct tape from Sean Friedrich's, noting the pinkish bald spot in the dude's 'stache with some satisfaction. "Funny meeting you, here."

 Sean spits a wad of white cloth from his mouth, pushing it with his tongue when it sticks to his lip. "Dick Casablancas. Last person I would've expected. I was afraid you didn't hear me."

 "I wish I hadn't." Hooking hands under Sean's arms, Dick helps him up to his feet.

 "Thanks. Hurry up, and untie me."

 "Yeah. Not happening." The nearest crate has been pried open at some point, and Dick pushes aside its lid, shining his flashlight on the contents. He lifts one of the remaining nine bottles of wine, blowing off the dust. He can't read the label - not enough light, so he tucks it under the arm holding his flashlight. "Let's go, before we run out of light."

 "Help me out, man! My wrists are numb."

 "Sucks to be you." Dick shoves him toward the tunnel. "Get it through your head, we're not on the same team."

 "We could be," Sean glances over his shoulder, preparing to start negotiations. "I can make it worth your while."

 Dick chuckles. "That shit doesn't work on me. I'm already rich."

 Sean persists. "What if I could offer you something better than money?"

 "Like what?"

 "I can make you a god." Sean says, without an ounce of irony.

 Dick plays along. "A god? What do you mean?"

 "I can make you invincible. Strong like Hercules. Fast like Hermes. Powerful like Zeus." Apparently, Friedrich has gone off the deep end, and thinks he's some kind of Bond villain now.

 "Smart like a box of bricks?" Back at the main tunnel, Dick nudges Sean to the right. "Pink like Victoria's Real Secret?"

 Sean sighs. "That was a... mistake. Lydia made a miscalculation in the formula. All the others were successes. Let me make you a success."

 "You're talking to the wrong guy. I surf, I get baked, and play video games. What do I need with strength or speed?"

 "Fine!" Sean snaps. "You don't care about money or power. What do you give a shit about? I'll get it for you."

 "Well, there's family. Logan Echolls, for instance. Remember him?" Dick shoves at Sean's back, causing him to stumble for a few steps. "You should. You turned his girlfriend into an addict, fucked her behind his back, and then soiled her memory before she was cold in her grave."

 "Hey! If it wasn't me, it would have been some other guy with good drugs. She came on to me, and anyway, I told Logan I was sorry."

 "So, to make it up to him, you turned Piznarski into a heat-seeking missile intent on bumping him off and stealing his current girlfriend?"

 "We humored the guy. So, what?" Sean's voice drips with condescension. "Do you think we're stupid enough to want Veronica Mars up in our business? She has a habit of ruining everything."

 "So, you were just—” Dick's flashlight goes out, plunging them into blackness. "SHIT!"

 Sean takes the opportunity to run, his footsteps shuffling in double-time.

 "Stop, you idiot. I have a gun."

 “Good luck aiming, sucker!” Sean calls back.  

 The flashlight hits the ground with an echoing clatter, as Dick pulls his cell from his pocket, and thumbs on the flashlight icon.

 Ahead, Sean stumbles and trips, unable to catch himself with his hands tied behind his back. "Arghhh"

 "Serves you right, sucker." Once again, Dick helps him up off the ground.

 A film of dirt covers Sean's face, shirt and jeans. He spits out blood and one of his front teeth. "I had to try, before I just let you deliver me straight to Logan."

 Logan? Considering the disgust and anger on Weevil's face after learning about the missing little girl, Logan shouldn't be Sean's main concern.

 "What's your deal with Logan, anyway?" Dick experimentally tucks his cell in the chest pocket of his shirt, relieved when it's tall enough for the light to show over the top. "It's starting to look like you have a grudge or something."

"Why would I have a grudge against Logan?" Sean asks, but he sounds belligerent and totally fake.

 "Whatever, man." Hands freed up, Dick relights his joint, inhaling deeply.

 "What's that smell?" Sean stops and turns around. "Are you smoking a fatty?"

 "What if I am?"

 "Let me hit that."

 Dick blows smoke into the douche's face. "Nope."

 Sean sighs like the bitch that he is, and resumes walking. "When did you become such an asshole."

 "When wasn't I an asshole? Do you even know me?" Just to fuck with him, Dick aims each of his exhales at the back of Sean's head.

 Rounding a bend in the tunnel, pinpricks of light come into view. Finally!

 Cupping one hand around his mouth, Dick shouts. "HELLLOOOOOOO."

 Silence follows. He's about to try again, when Weevil's voice calls out. "CASABLANCAS?"

 "YEAH, IT'S ME."

 Weevil doesn't answer, but the lights stop receding, growing bigger and brighter as they approach.

 "Piznarski give up and go away?" Weevil asks, when they're within spitting distance.

 "Yeah. After he busted the window and rampaged through the house, he took off to look for Veronica outside."

 A flashlight beam swings in their direction, forcing Dick to squint and shield his eyes.

 "Ugh. Why the hell would you bring him with you?" Ruby asks.

At the sound of her voice, Sean lets out a furious snarl and hurtles forward into the blackness in-between. "You double-crossing bitch!"

 "Did you really think I was going to let you hurt Logan?" She laughs, cruel and cutting. "You're lucky I stopped at tying you up."

 "Lucky you conked me over the head and left me there for oomph--" Sean's voice cuts off.

 Dick closes the remaining distance to the small - but glorious - circle of light. As he joins the group, Ruby greets him by plucking the joint from his hand, and lifting it to her lips. To her left, Wallace slumps in his wheelchair, eyelids at half-mast, as if fighting against unconsciousness.

 Weevil has Sean pinned to the wall, a forearm pressed to his windpipe. He leans in close enough to tongue Sean's ear drum – what's up with this dude and his homoerotic posturing? – speaks in a menacing whisper. "Whatever my friend Ruby did to you is going to feel like a picnic by the time I'm done with you."

 "What the hell?" Sean squirms and struggles. Tries to head butt, but misses by several inches. "What did I do to you?"

 "Me? Nothing. But you took a disabled little girl away from her family, and I have a BIG problem with that."

Mr. Rooks closes-in from Sean's other side, almost comical in his attempt to look intimidating. As if Weevil needs backup from him.

 Ruby seems to be thinking the same thing. She rolls her eyes and hands the joint back to Dick, now sticky, and tasting of Dr. Pepper flavored lip gloss.

 "I'll give her back." Sean speaks slowly, as if trying to regulate his seething contempt. "She's useless to me now, anyway, thanks to that idiot, Jeff."

 Weevil casts an appraising glance at Wallace, and sighs. "We'd better get a move on. This guy needs a doctor." Pulling out a pocket knife, he cuts Sean's remaining bindings and releases him.

 Sean rolls his shoulders, and rotates his wrists back and forth. He only manages to take two steps away from the wall before Rook swings, planting a fist in his face. He stumbles backwards, hitting the wall and clunking his head.

 Weevil side-eyes their old teacher. "You done, tough guy?"

 "Yeah." Rooks whimpers and clutches his fist, as if surprised by the pain. "That was for Katie."

 "Obviously." Weevil swings his leg over his motorcycle and pushes up the kickstand. "Let's move." He kicks off the ground, rolling the bike forward.

 Dick and Ruby fall in behind, with Sean circling around to walk on Dick's left side. He wiggles his jaw, and spits a second front tooth into his open palm.

 Dick snorts. "I hope Team Bad Guy has a good dental plan."

 Sean isn't amused. He eyes each of them like they're vipers capable of striking at any moment.

 Rooks - pushing Wallace's wheelchair - brings up the rear.

 They walk in silence at first, the only sound being the squeaking of wheels and sizzle of paper, as Dick and Ruby pass the joint back and forth.

 Cross-tunnels appear more regularly. Most, they pass by. Twice, Ruby instructs them to turn.

 "Just out of curiosity..." Sean begins. "Has anybody considered the possibility of Ruby getting us thoroughly lost, and then slipping away when we're not paying attention?"

 "That's a great idea," she answers. "Now let me just split Weevil and Wallace from the pack for a totally unrelated conversation..."

 Dick bumps her shoulder. "Not a lot of loyalty on Team Bad Guy, huh?"

 "I'm not on their team."

 Wallace speaks up. "Well then, whose team are you on?"

 "Good question," Weevil says. "How did you end up with these guys?"

 "Team Logan, obviously.  Should I start from the beginning?"

 Obviously.

 "Yeah. Sure."

 "I was at the 09er Club, just minding my own business one day—"

 Sean scoffs. "You were our waitress, and you illegally recorded our conversation."

 She shrugs, shoulder brushing against Dick's arm. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. That Piznambia guy was having lunch with Sean, Lydia, and Jeff, sniveling about Veronica Mars, and how she always rejected him for Alpha Males. Logan Echolls, specifically. Actually...hold on." She retrieves her cell and flicks her fingers over the screen. "Luckily, I saved a local copy of the recording." 

 From the speakers, comes Sean's prissy, over-annunciated voice. "Logan Echolls is an unevolved Neanderthal. Listen Stosh, you've seen the outcomes of our test subjects. They make Captain America look weak and puny. Once you've completed your treatments, you'll redefine alpha male."

 A woman speaks in a high-pitched voice. Lydia, presumably. "You can throw Logan around like a ragdoll, if you so choose."

 Piznarski giggles. "I choose. I very much choose. My occipital bone—"

Lydia interrupts with a bored sigh. "Yeah. We've heard the story already. Go ahead, kill him. Do whatever you want to him, as long as it can't blow back on us."

The recording ends, and Ruby resumes her story. "I cornered Lydia in the bathroom and played the tape for her."

"You blackmailed her?" Weevil asks.

"No. I told her I wanted in. I'd even help Piznolio get Veronica, but in return, I wanted Logan for myself, and if any harm came to him at all - even a scratch - the recording would go public."

"Do you realize how creepy that is?" Wallace asks. "Logan hasn't given up on Veronica since high school.  You honestly thought you could lure him away with a cheap wig and an elaborate scheme? Better people have tried."

 "Obviously, not." Ruby sighs, exasperated. "But I'm a great actress. It's not hard to convince people I'm looney and harmless."

 "For the record, you totally convinced me." Dick says. "So, you joined Team Bad Guy as a double-agent, or something?"

 Sean speaks, his voice venomous. "That's exactly what she did. I warned them not to trust the bitch, that she was sabotaging everything, but Lydia and Jeff thought I was paranoid. 'Ruby's harmless,' they said. 'We can use her as bait,' they said. I should've trusted my instincts."

"I don't trust her, either," Wallace says. "She says all this now, but why didn't she call the police? Why didn't she bring in Veronica?"

"I intended to at first, but then...I couldn't."

"He has a point," Dick says. "And what about today? You've had ample opportunity to tell the truth. You could've given us a heads-up on what we were walking into instead of simpering and whining and clinging to Logan. Hell, even that Jeff dude leveled with us."

"I couldn't okay? And Jeff doesn’t know it yet, but he probably won’t survive the day.”

"Talk to us, Ruby." Weevil halts his bike, and turns his head, speaks softly. "Why are you holding back?"

"The eyelashes, Weevil? That's not fair." She sighs. "I'm not holding back, now. I held back earlier today – and for the past few weeks – because Veronica Mars is working with the mastermind. Or at least I presume he's the mastermind, he could be reporting to others."

Wallace makes a derisive snort. "Veronica would never work with Fitzpatrick. He's everything she stands against in the world." 

"Liam Fitzpatrick is not the mastermind. He provides volunteers for a share of the cut."

"And where does he get these volunteers?" Weevil asks.

"You can find them in any bar. Pathetic losers, crying in their beers over being friendzoned, or having sand kicked in their faces, or whatever. He gets them drunk, whispers promises about how everything will be different after their treatments, and reels them in. An army of 'Nice Guys'" 

"Oh hell." Wallace makes a choked sound. "This is my fault! Piz was staying at my place during his visit from New York. Something came up at work on the second night, and I had to cancel plans to meet him for drinks. Fitzpatrick must've gotten to him then." 

"No, it's not your fault." Ruby turns around, and lays a hand on his shoulder, ducking to look into his creepy pink eyes. "For every one volunteer, there were ten who walked away. Ten who opted out of quick-fix revenge or power or dominance or whatever. Piz stuck around because he was bitter and jealous, and delusional. And that says a lot coming from the me."

Dick is still working through the logic in his head. "So Fitzpatrick is out as the mastermind. It can't be Sean, because Ronnie wouldn't work with him. She is working with Jeff, but he seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, so...not the boss. It's not me or Logan, obviously. That leaves...oh God. Not Mac!" 

Now, we’ll NEVER get to second base.

"The hacker? Why would you even go there?" Ruby groans, slowing her voice to a condescending drawl. "Since I have to spell things out...the mastermind is Wei Breitski. How was that not your logical conclusion?"

"Detective Wei Breitski?" Wallace demands. "The same guy who left the winery with Veronica, Logan and Keith to go find my antidote?" 

"That's the one. He thought he was being sneaky, meeting Sean and Lydia in secret, but Ruby Jetson sees everything. These catacombs don't only run under the house."

Sean groans.  “I told her I heard footsteps in the walls.  ‘It’s an old house, Sean’. ‘It’s Great Uncle Percy’s ghost, Sean’.  When will anyone ever listen to me?”

"What's the connection between a cop and hot pink, chemically-engineered, super soldiers?" Weevil asks. 

"Technically, only Piznabbit turned pink. And Wallace, I suppose. Lydia had this great plan to speed up production, or something. It didn't work, obviously. As for the connection? I'm not positive, but they whispered about some kind of West coast private army or mercenaries." 

"Okay, that's super fucked-up, and I'm admittedly, damn lucky to have escaped that fate," Wallace interrupts, "But I'm still stuck on part where Veronica thinks she can trust Wei, and you let her walk into danger."

"How was I supposed to warn her? He was always there, pretending to be innocent in that stupid bowler hat. I had to play dumb as long as he was around."  

Rooks speaks up. "You should have played dumber. Wei's the one who forced me to find you and shoot you."

Ruby spins around to attack, but Rooks shifts the wheelchair, using it a shield. "Hey! You already payed me back.  You knocked me unconscious, remember?"

"Maybe I'm in the mood for a replay." She stalks to the right.

He compensates with the wheelchair. "He didn't give me a choice, okay?"

"Stop it!" Wallace hits the manual brake lever, locking the wheelchair in place, and scowls at Ruby until she hangs her head in shame and slinks away. He waits until they're moving again to address Mr. Rooks. "That's what I don't understand. Despite your gross and highly illegal predilection for underaged girls, you were a damn good teacher, and really seemed to care about your students. How could you have fallen so low that you would attempt murder and consort with those evil bastards?" 

"Isn't it obvious?" Weevil asks.

"Not really," Dick answers. "I'd like to know the answer to that as well." 

When Rooks doesn't volunteer an explanation, Weevil sighs. "Katie VanVliet, the missing little girl, is his daughter." 

Wallace shakes his head. "Shouldn't his daughter be almost grown by now? The math doesn't work out."

"My daughter Olivia, will turn eighteen in a few months." 

"Oh. My. God." Ruby gasps. Tone reverent, she continues, "No wonder I felt an instant connection to Katie. It's like...I was meant to befriend her."

Dick scratches his head. "What am I missing." 

Wallace fills him in. "I’m gathering that the Van Vliet family must have adopted Susan Knight's daughter with Rooks, and our friend Sean here, along with Detective Wei, kidnapped her to keep Rooks and Jeff in line."

"Took you long enough." Weevil says, pushing his motorcycle into motion again. 

Dick turns to Sean. "That's harsh. Even for you."

Sean exhibits zero guilt or shame, merely gives him a 'what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it-sucka' smirk. 

Something switches inside Dick, and, what the hell? Other than Wallace, he's the only one who hasn't taken a turn at this douchebag. Rearing back, he demonstrates how a real head butt gets done.

The sickening crunch of Sean's nose is worth the blinding flash of pain behind Dick's eyes. Totally worth it.

With that out of his system, Dick helps Sean up off the ground. "Any more teeth?"

"Fuck you." Sean's upper lip moves as his tongue takes inventory. "You missed, asshole."

"Bummer."

"Couple more minutes," Ruby says. "We're almost to the barn."

"Finally." Weevil exhales. "We should try to figure out what comes next."

"So, talk," Dick says.

Weevil glares over his shoulder. "The problem is, we have two people needing saving, and I'm only one person. As nauseating as I find the idea of anybody else touching my baby, I have to put Wallace's survival ahead of that, so..." He swallows and points to Dick and Ruby. "Do either of you have any experience riding a motorcycle?"

Dick shakes his head. "Not really, man. Only four-wheelers."

"I've only ridden as a passenger," Ruby says.

"Dammit." Weevil hangs his head in frustration. He breathes audibly for a second, and then straightens. "Listen. I've known both of you forever, and you've both spent your lives convincing people to underestimate you. Whether out of strategy..." he addresses Ruby, then swings his eyes to Dick. "...or laziness. I don't care. This is the moment for you to step up."

"Hold that thought." Dick lifts a finger, and pulls out his phone. "Imma find you some motivational speech background music."

Weevil slaps him on the back of his head. "Stop fucking around. Somebody needs to force Sean's cooperation long enough to rescue that kid. Since I can't be in two places at once, it's up to you two."

"And me." Rooks says. "I'd do anything to help Katie."

"Imagine if you'd tried something earlier, instead of...I don't know...attempted murder?"

"This is it," Ruby says, as they come to an upward-leading ramp. She toggles a switch and a door swings open, revealing giant metal vats.

They all file through the opening, into the strangest barn Dick has ever seen. Not that he's spent a lot of time in barns or anything, but...is that a coffin?  Wallace’s coffin?

Weevil parks the bike, and crouches down in front of Wallace. "Okay, Fennel. This is it. We're gonna get you on that bike, and I'm gonna need you to hold on like your life depends upon it, okay?"

"No." Wallace swallows and shakes his head. Tears fill his strange pink eyes. "I don't think I can hold on. I'm scared."

Weevil lifts his eyes to the sky as if praying. "I don't know what else to do. I could leave by myself, drive far enough to get a cell signal and then call an ambulance, but how much time would it take to get here? And can you afford to wait?"

"I have an idea!" Ruby disappears around one of the giant vats, returning with a silver, donut shaped item. 

Five minutes later, Dick returns the pocket knife to Weevil. "Why does this feel so familiar?"

"This is WRONG!" Wallace moans, cheek pressed to Weevil's back. "All KINDS of wrong!"

"You think I like it?" Weevil snaps. "I'm all for poetic justice and everything, but not at the expense of my favorite leather jacket."

"Can you two stop with the bickering?" Ruby stands with both hands on her hips. "Just be grateful that you're safe and it would take a hurricane to knock Wallace off that bike."

It's not an exaggeration. There has to be fifty layers of duct tape, binding Wallace to Weevil.

They'd stood on either side of the bike passing the roll back and forth. Dick to Ruby in front. Ruby to Dick in back. Front. Back. Front. Back. It might take hours to get the smell of tape off his hands.  

They move as a group to the small door in the southeast corner. Ruby opens it, and turns back. "There's a service road right behind those trees. Follow it for--"

"RONNNKKKKA? THERE YOU ARE!"

She slams the door and bolts it. "Now what?"

"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck." Weevil mutters. He lets out a sobbing laugh, and lifts an eyebrow. "Well...it worked once before?"

"Huh-uh!  No! Nope!" Dick shakes his head. "Negative.  I've already pissed my pants once today. It's somebody else's turn."

"Don't look at me." Sean crosses his arms. "I'm the only one who can take you to Katie."

Mr. Rooks – who was tasked with holding Ruby's leather jacket while they were duct-taping – straightens up and slips his arms through the slightly too-short sleeves, flexing where it's too tight along the upper back. He marches over to Dick, snatches the blonde wig, and drops it haphazardly onto his own head, not bothering to adjust the fit.

Well that’s embarrassing. Would it have killed somebody to remind me I was still wearing that? 

“It’s been fun getting…reacquainted.”  Rooks unbolts the barn door and, with a sad wave to the group, runs out into the night, shouting out in girl-voice, "Here I am, Baby! Come and get me!"

"Well damn." Weevil shakes his head. "Didn't think he had it in him." He waits until they're out of sight, kick starts his bike, and pulls away, looking back over his shoulder once.

"And then there were three," Dick says. Because it sounds kind of ominous.  To Ruby, he asks, “Wanna make out?”  

“Ewww.” She scrunches her nose with disgust, but there’s a gleam in her eye that makes him think it’s all for show.  

He grins.  I’ve got your number. "In that case, let's go rescue that kid."

"Let's not." Sean fakes a yawn and stretches. "You're all assholes, and I think I've changed my mind."

Oh, hell no! 

Dick draws from his waistband, and pulls back the safety. "What was that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of my gun." He pauses for dramatic effect, and slips on his sunglasses, while the opening theme for CSI-Miami plays in his head.

Want to find out what happens next? Check back next Saturday for the next installment written by…  @nicemom93.  Tag, you’re it! Make sure to submit your segment to vmheadquarters@yahoo.com by Wednesday, October 11th. 

[elizaxspears]

The Dawn

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE GAME ESPECIALLY THE ENDING

This is my first FFXV work, so I'm sorry if something's a bit OOC. I've played the game way too much, but I'm still learning how to write them myself.

Having waited for years, 10 to be exact, only to have their King back for a night then gone again to have the dawn, it was bittersweet; perhaps more bitter then sweet. Yet there was something tugging in his chest that told him, no matter how he, how they, felt, this was their happy ending

He couldn’t see what their King looked like, of course, but Prompto described everything to him. Everything. He didn’t leave a single thing detail. He appreciated it, he honestly did. Perhaps his eyes didn’t work anymore, but his mind still did. Imagination may not have been his strongest suit, but memory served him well, combining the old and new.

The funeral they had for the King was a private ceremony. They would have a proper memorial service for the public, but they had wanted just a little more time to themselves before having to share their memory of the Prince now King with the rest of the world. Prompto again described everything he could right down to the detailing of the King’s coffin.

Now, as he sat alone staring up at the night sky, he found himself contemplating just what life would be like without Noctis, without the promise of his return. At least during those dark years, they had known Noct would come back. Now, there was no such hope. “Iggy’s thinkin’ again.”

Prompto’s voice sounded suddenly, though it still didn’t deter him from looking up at the sky. “Afraid so.”

“About what?”

“The future.”

Prompto huffed though there was a smile to it. “Can I sit?”

“There’s nothing saying you can’t”

“Just askin’.”

He felt the warmth of the blonde next to him, a feeling he realized he’d missed during the years they’d grown apart. Prompto had been there for him so many times when he’d first lost his vision. “Have I ever thanked you?”

“Huh?”

“Thanked you, for what you did for me.” he waited but Prompto didn’t reply. “After Altissa.” he clarified.

“Oh!” there was a shrug. “I mean, not really? But like, it’s cool. I kinda thought I was botherin’ you.”

Ignis finally lowered his head, closing his only open eye. “I was more bothered by my lack of hindsight. I should never gotten this wound in the first place.”

“…was that a pun?”

“Must you ask?”

“Yeah, guess not.” the blonde playfully nudged his shoulder. “So, what about the future are you thinkin’ about?”

“Noct.”

Prompto fell silent again. When he spoke next there was obvious pain in his voice. “He’s not comin’ back this time.”

“No, he will not.”

“You think he’s watching us?”

“I don’t see why he wouldn’t be. Him, his father, Lady Lunafreya. They all could be watching us.”

“Yeah…”

“You two act like we’re never gonna see any of them again.” Another voice he couldn’t mistake, just like Prompto’s. Gladio’s presence was suddenly on the opposite side of him. Heavy and warm. “It’s gonna take a long time, but we’ll see ‘em again.”

“Noct better be as old as us when we get there.” Prompto said. “I don’t wanna be some eighty year old man with by best friend still stuck at thirty.”

“I’m sure we won’t have any of those concerns by the time we’ve finished our duty to Noct here.” Ignis sighed. “We still have much to do. Lucis won’t rebuild itself.”

“It won’t lead itself either.” Gladio added.

Prompto groaned, leaning his full weight on Ignis’ side. “I don’t wanna think about all this political stuff right now.”

“That’s Iggy’s territory.” Gladio's hand rested heavy on his shoulder. “You sure you’re up for all that?”

“Of course. In case you’ve forgotten, I was meant to be a royal advisor.”

“Yeah. Sorry you’re never gonna be put to use.”

“Nor will you.”

“At least you guys had positions to lose. I was just the pleb that tagged along.”

Ignis finally unfolded his hands from his lap, reaching one over to place on Prompto’s head that was still resting on his shoulder. “You did so much for Noct, Prompto and you’ve done so much for us as well. You were more then just a friend Noct met in school.”

“Iggy’s right blondie. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Ignis took a deep breath, feeling Prompto relax further on him. He didn’t mind. The weight was nice. “Thank you, by the way. I don’t think I ever properly said it until now.”

“No problem Igster.” Though Ignis couldn’t see it, he could feel the smile on the blonde’s lips. “You think we’re gonna make Noct proud?”

“Why wouldn’t we?”

“I dunno…just don’t wanna mess this up.”

“We’ll only let his royal pain in the ass down if we drift apart again.” Gladio said, his large hand moving from Ignis’ shoulder to take his other hand. “Right now, let’s swear we won’t separate again. We’re to be there for each other like we were when Noct was here.”

“I swear.” Ignis said, squeezing Gladio’s hand.

“I swear.” Prompto repeated, his hand dropping over Ignis’ and Gladio’s, squeezing them both. They remained silent for so long Ignis lost track of time but they never parted. If anything, they inched closer to him, physically promising they would not drift apart. “Hey look!” Prompto called out.

Ignis took a moment to figure out what Prompto was suddenly so excited about, but subtly, he could detect just that touch of light. Had they sat out here all night? “Heh. Looks like Noct’s comin’ to say good morning to us for once.” Gladio had a smirk in his voice.

There was a subtle shake in his motion, only his brothers could tell as they touched him, but he reached up to remove his visor that guarded his eyes from the light. His one eye opened and he greeted Noct to the best of his ability. “Good morning, your highness.”

“Hey buddy…” Prompto choked out. He lifted their entwined hands, audibly swallowing the lump in his throat. “Look Noct. We’re keeping our promise to you and we made a new one to us. We’re never leaving each others side again. We’re gonna…we’re gonna walk tall, together.”

Ignis felt a prickle at the corner of his eye, a tear slipping over his cheek before he was the one to yank Prompto into a tight embrace, pressing the blonde’s head to his chest, letting Prompto sob and around him, he felt Gladio cradle him, resting his bearded chin on top Ignis’ head. The sun continued to rise as they remained together, the beams reaching across Lucis. The dawn had come.