#supernatural os

[eevvvaa]

Oh Sister, Do You Feel My Pain ?

Summary : After weeks free of hunts and monsters, Dean is starting to be bored to death. So when his brother told him about Adriana Baker’s death, he jumped on the occasion, ready to discover Sacred Heart, Minnesota and the mourning sister there, Metra.

Characters : Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Metra Baker (OC), Marcus (OC), Zoey Martin (OC)

Words : 16 776

Warning : Death, angst, a little bit of fluff and language.

A/N : This is my slightly late participation to @avanatural​‘s 1000 followers celebration (I promise, I will be on time for the next one 🙈). Congratulations my friend !! 🥳1000 is an incredible amount of followers and I’m so happy for you, you deserve all the followers in the world because you’re an amazing writer and deserve all the love and visibility ! Be proud of yourself ! 💕

My prompt was :  “Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?” and my song was Poison by Alice Cooper (the lyrics used are in italic). I loved the edition you decided to do and it was a real challenge for me ! I hope you’ll like it ! 😘💕

Dividers by the talented @firefly-graphics​

Masterlist

“Ugh, please tell me you’ve got something.” Dean complained as he walked into the magnificent library of their Bunker, two beers in his hands : one for him and the other for his brother.

Sam chuckled at the sight of his older brother slumping onto a chair in front of him and letting a long, dramatic sigh of annoyance out. The older hunter was bored, impatient of going back on a case after almost two weeks of radio silence from the monsters, no call from Jody or even Garth for help, not even Castiel needed help on the Heaven situation he was facing. It was as though monsters had stopped killing people just to annoy him : it was working.

Putting the bottles on the table, Dean pushed one towards Sam and the tall man grabbed it, placing it next to his laptop without bringing it to his lips for a sip. Dean, on the other hand, took a large gulp while putting his cleaned boots on the wooden table. He had been so bored lately that he had even taken the time to clean his shoes from all the dried dirt and blood on them. Sam on the other hand had spent hours sitting in the library, relentlessly trying to find a case worth their time, the desire to go save people and hunt things growing in him as quietness from the monsters increased.

Luckily for the green-eyed hunter, his focused and sleepless brother may have found a possible case for them.

“Well, it may be not a case bu-” Sam started, straightening as he began to explain to his brother but Dean quickly interrupted him.

“Oh it will be.” He declared, eager to jump on the first case available. Sam let a soft scoff out before clearing his throat and continuing, hoping that his brother wouldn’t interrupt him again. He hated when he did.

“As I was saying, it may not be a case per se but a woman, Adriana Baker, was found dead in her apartment. According to the police report, she was ‘chocked to death and had her eyes and tongue removed’. She was living with her younger sister, Metra, she was the one finding her body.” Sam explained and seemed to have picked the older man’s attention as he straightened, attentively listening to what his brother had to say. “So, either it was a brutal homicide…” Sam continued, raising his eyes from the screen to look at his brother.

“Or it’s a case for us.” Dean finished his sentence and Sam nodded, letting him know that it was what he was thinking.

“Yeah.” Sam breathed out, resting his back against the chair again and bringing his beer bottle to his lips.

“Where did you say it happened again?” Dean asked and the taller hunter held himself back from replying that he actually hadn’t mentioned the town where the girl was killed. Once the urge of correcting his brother was gone, Sam answered his question.

“Sacred heart, Minnesota.”

“Well.” Dean started, putting his feet back on the floor. “Minnesota it is.” He declared, rising up from the chair and heading to his room to pack his bag.

Sam looked one last time at the police record before closing his laptop and imitating his brother’s action, going to his own bedroom to get his belongings.

“He shouldn’t have written ‘removed’ those eyes were like completely turned into dust.” Dean declared, playing with the button of the jacket of his suit and slightly enjoying the light wind of June as he walked to the Impala and away from the police station.

Walking next to his brother, Sam slightly nodded, thinking about the body they had just examined. Indeed, Adriana’s eyes hadn’t been cut off, no blood remained on her empty orbits, contrary to her tongue that had been brutally ripped off and had left her mouth full of blood.

Once they reached the car, the brothers leaned against the vehicle, watching each other from each side of the car.

“Do you think it could be a rogue angel or something?” Sam asked, doubting his own theory. Dean shrugged at the question before shaking his head, disagreeing with the idea.

“Nah, they weren’t properly burnt, they looked more…” The older hunter started, looking for a way to describe what had happened to the poor woman’s eyes.

“Disintegrated?” Sam tried even though he was pretty sure it was the right word to characterize what they had seen. Dean snapped his fingers and pointed at him, showing him that it was indeed what had probably happened. Sam let a little smile reach his lips, happy to be right.

Entering the black car, the two brothers took their respective places, Dean not turning the engine on yet, playing with the keys a little.

“So, what are we going with? A witch?” Dean asked, raising his eyebrows, and Sam took a second to think about it. It could be. They were no signs of actual struggles, not even traces of hands or cord strangling her. It was as though she had just choked on air, her throat tightening on their own and preventing her from inhaling oxygen. A hex bag could do that, just like it could make her eyes turn into dust. The only thing out of place was the tongue. The brutality used to remove it required a person, a spell couldn’t do that, someone had had to rip it off, not even cutting it out.

“Maybe. We should go talk to the sister, maybe she saw or heard something she didn’t want to mention to the police. I’ll take a look around the house, see if there is any hex bag around.” Sam told his brother who immediately nodded and turned on the engine, driving away from the police station and to the victim’s place.

The ride to Adriana’s house was short, the town being a small one, everyone and everything was close to one another. So even though her home was on the other side of the town, the brothers arrived in thirteen minutes. It was true that the older Winchester had a tendency to exceed the speed limits but even if he had respected them, they wouldn’t have taken more than twenty to get there.

Parking in front of the small, white house, Dean took his fake badge out of his internal pocket and checked it, making sure he was going to say the right name when he would introduce himself. Turning off the car, he put back the badge in his jacket as his brother was already looking at the front door, taking a second to analyse the front of the house and the flowers and grass in the alley to it. He frowned for a second when he noticed the dead flowers, as though they were completely dehydrated when they were supposed to be flourishing. The grass was a tern yellow, leaning towards brown, when it was supposed to be a bright green. It had rained in the area and even if it was early summer, nature wasn’t supposed to be dead or burnt yet.

“Dean?” Sam called, making his brother turn his head towards him.

“Yeah?” The older man raised his eyebrows in questioning and looked at his brother whose face was turned towards the house. Dean wondered why he had called him until Sam pointed to the dying nature with his head.

“Look at the flowers.” Sam simply said and Dean narrowed his green eyes, observing the desiccated blossoms. When he realized they were abnormally dead, the hunter raised his eyebrows and hummed.

“Well, that’s weird. Last time we saw that, it was with the crazy witch-couple, remember? The dead flowers in front of the husband’s statue?” Dean said and his little brother nodded, remembering this case too.

“Yeah. Maybe we are dealing with a witch, then.” Sam said, glancing at his big brother who was now staring at the house.

“Let’s find out.” Dean exclaimed, wiggling a single time his eyebrows and exiting his beloved car, closing the driver’s door behind him.

Sam and Dean headed to the quiet house in front of them, no neighbors outside of the houses nearby, silence surrounding them except for the light breeze of fresh, warm air landing on their faces and making Sam’s hair float a little. With a few large steps, the two tall men reached the front door, Dean raised his hand and knocked on it, waiting a few seconds until a medium-sized woman opened the door. A bit of curiosity and carefulness in her deep brown orbs, she eyed the hunters, wondering who those men were and what they were doing at her house.

“Hi, I’m Agent Buxton, this is Agent Dunaway, FBI.” Dean introduced his brother and he, showing their badges to the brown-haired girl in front of them, some reddish highlights in them. “We wanted to ask you a few questions about your sister and what happened.” He continued, refocusing on the reason for their visits instead of the beautiful woman in front of him.

“Oh.” She quietly said, a sadness veiling her brown eyes at the simple mention of her sister throwing her back in grief.

“May we come in?” Sam asked, trying to be as polite and as empathetic to establish some kind of trusting link with the witness.

“Sure.” She nodded and moved away, opening the door so the fake FBI agents could enter her home. They offered her a quick smile and got in the house.

Taking a few steps ahead of them, the brothers looked around, spotting a few pictures of the sisters in frames resting on a chest of drawers in the hall and on the walls. Turning their heads, they saw a tidy library in the living room on their left, an open book resting on the couch. In front of them was a stair leading to the bedrooms and restroom. Everything was quiet and neat, the brothers didn’t know it but Metra had spent hours cleaning and tidying everything in the house to focus her mind on anything else but the death of her sister.

“I was making coffee, would you like some?” Metra offered and Dean quickly nodded, appreciating the offer.

“With pleasure.” He answered and the woman led them to the kitchen on the right. Placing herself behind the counter where the coffee maker was, she put herself on her tiptoes and took three cups in a closet behind her. Then, turning around, she placed them on the counter and filled them with hot coffee, handing two of them to the agents on the other side of it.

“Thanks.” The older one said while Sam simply smiled in appreciation, taking the cup without bringing it to his lips.

“Please, take a seat.” The brown-haired woman gestured to the table behind them, following her own advice and sitting on one of the chairs. The brothers followed her lead and sat at the table too, observing the woman focused on the steam leaving her cup of coffee.

“Miss Baker, we’re sorry for your loss.” Sam started and she nodded, closing her eyes in pain and sorrow.

“Thank you…” She whispered as an answer and Dean offered her a compassionate smile when he heard her slightly broken voice.

“Miss Baker,” Dean started and she raised her head, her brown eyes finding his green ones, a piece of her hair falling from behind her ear.

“Please, call me Metra.” She asked and he nodded, letting a little smile reach his lips before refocusing on his question.

“Metra. Did you witness any strange behavior in your sister on the day she died?” He asked, feeling sorry for the woman in front of him as she winced.

Dean didn’t know any other way to ask this, even after years of hunting, confronting the witnesses to the recent deaths of their loved ones wasn't something easy to do. But once the pain of the words slightly passed, Metra took a breath and shook her head at him, ready to answer.

“Excuse me.” She tried to say, lightly sniffing as the tears slowly started to stop.

“Hum, no, no. She was normal, smiling and joyful. She was always so joyful…” She whispered the end of her sentence, some tears reaching her sad eyes. She tried to keep the tears at bay as long as possible but the more the minutes passed, the harder it was to keep her emotions hidden.

Letting a hiccup of grief escape, she quickly brought her hand to her mouth, trying to cover the sounds.

Looking to his right, Dean spotted a box of tissues next to his brother and with a movement of his head, he made Sam understand to give him one. The tall man grabbed a tissue and handed it to his brother who quickly took it and offered it to the mourning woman.

“Here.” Dean caught her attention and she rapidly accepted it, welcoming his warm smile.

“Thank you.” She said, using the tissue and taking a deep breath to regain her composure.

“Did your sister have any enemies? Has she been in conflict with someone recently?” Sam took over the interrogations, hoping that the woman could give them any kind of hints on who could have done this to Adriana.

Shrugging, Metra wrapped her hands around the warm cup of coffee.

“Hum, no, not really.” She started, shaking her head before stopping herself. “Well… she was always a bit in competition with Zoey. Actually, Zoey was the one wanting to compete with my sister. She’s always been jealous of her but Adriana never really thought too much about it, she wasn’t one to bother arguing over a better grade or boys.” Metra explained, a little lost in thoughts as she recalled the many arguments Zoey had tried to have with her sister. She envied her sister’s success so much that she would rather get into a fight with her than try to achieve something on her own.

“And Zoey is…” Dean started, not finishing his sentence so she could explain to them who Zoey was.

“Oh, she is a girl in town. Adriana and her went to the same school. It’s a small town, everyone knows each other here.” She explained and the boys nodded.

“Did Zoey’s jealousy ever lead to an actual confrontation? Maybe in the last few days?” Sam tried and Metra’s eyes quickly looked to the right, searching in her mind and suddenly remembering something, she nodded.

“Miss Baker, can I take a look in your sister’s room? This is where you found her, right?” He asked even if he knew for sure that it was. He had read the police report enough time to even be aware of the position she was found in, the pictures of her dead body printed in his brain.

“Yeah, three days ago, Adriana came back upset from work. She said something about a girl having to put an end to all this childishness. She didn’t say much or her name but now that I think about it, it’s possible that she was talking about Zoey.” Metra explained and the brothers nodded, both of them making a mental note to talk to this Zoey later.

Clearing his throat, Sam brought the attention back to him and slightly pushed his chair, ready to get up.

Metra’s eyebrows furrowed for a second at the request.

“Hum, I’m sorry to ask you this but, why? The police already searched her room and took most of her stuff.” The woman asked and Sam rapidly, quicker than a second, clenched his jaws.

He never liked when witnessed and victims questioned his or his brother’s actions. It was already bad enough that they were impersonating federal agents, so he always tried as much as he could to avoid questioning of this type. But he also understood those people not wanting to go through another interrogation, another police research.

Offering her a light smile, Sam answered her query.

“I know, but I just wanna take a look around. See if I can find something they’ve missed. It's a routine procedure.” He explained and she nodded. They were the professionals after all. Who was she to question their methods?

“Sure. Hum, it’s upstairs. First door on your left. Do you mind if I don’t…” She didn’t know how to finish her sentence. It had been difficult for her to even pass in front of her sister’s door for the past few days, she had even considered staying in a motel room for a few days, so she didn’t feel like escorting the agent to her sister’s crime scene.

Sam understood what she meant and quickly nodded, raising a calm hand, a gesture to let her know to stay seated.

“Of course.” He declared before leaving the kitchen, not without sending a quick glance to his brother who was going to stay and keep company with their host, using this time to ask her more questions.

Walking upstairs, Sam observed the house, looking at the pictures on the walls. Each one of them contained the two sisters, sometimes what looked like their friends joined them in their poses and one time, what could be a boyfriend was kissing Adriana’s cheek. He made a note to ask Metra about who he was. If it was a witch, everyone could be a suspect. But for now, he wasn’t even sure that it was this kind of supernatural being.

Turning on the left, Sam opened the first door and found himself in a large room. Not much furniture was in the victim’s bedroom, a bed, a desk, a large wardrobe and an old stereo system. Taking a few steps inside and closing the door behind him, he took a quick look at the equipment and thought to himself that better and newer ones existed now, but it wasn’t the reason why he was there.

So, he started to examine the room, looking for anything the police hadn’t noticed, something that could prove it was their kind of thing, any clue on what monster they were dealing with.

Walking to the window, the hunter checked the edge of it to see if sulfur remained on it, the idea of a demon killing the poor girl not leaving his mind. But nothing was there, not even a scratch which showed no breaking and entering. Even if the police report had said so, he wanted to check by himself. Then, Sam looked at her desk, not many notebooks remained on it and after quickly browsing through them, he put them back on it, turning to the wardrobe. Pushing some dresses and blouses on hangers aside, he decided to take a look in her drawers. Not that he was going to find pleasure in it like his brother could have, but because this place – along with under her mattress – could be a nice one to hide a hex bag. And, pushing his hand between socks, he felt something harder, familiar, that he quickly grabbed and got out of the drawer. A little purple bundle with a pentagram embroidered on it appeared in his palm as he opened his fingers.

Letting a little proud sound out at the discovery, Sam opened the hex bag and took a tiny cat bone out of it. Removing a piece made it safer for him to carry it without fearing a curse to be put on him too. Then putting the now disarmed hex bag in his pocket, he walked back to the stairs, ready to join his brother.

Once he reached the kitchen again, Sam saw his brother holding the girl’s hand, his eyes empathetic, trying to show comfort. Sam couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the scene, his big brother had shown kindness and brought comfort to witnesses and victims before, and many of them had thanked him in a way he deeply enjoyed. He knew that his brother was sincere in his reassuring words but Dean would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy women giving him a thank-you-my-hero kiss.

Entering the kitchen, Sam slightly cleared his throat and Dean straightened, his hand leaving Metra’s. Turning around, the older Winchester communicated with his eyes to his brother who let him know that he had found something. Dean gave him an almost imperceptible nod and turned back to Metra.

“Thank you for your time, we’ll get back to you if we find anything.” Dean declared, a small smile on his face.

Metra nodded and rose from her chair, ready to accompany the agents to the door. Sam was the first one to walk to it and Dean stayed by Metra’s side, waiting for the perfect moment to talk to her one last time.

Opening the door to them, Sam exited the house and Dean turned towards her, his right hand searching his suit pocket and pulling a card out of it. He handed it to the woman and she lightly frowned.

“You’re welcome.” The older brother answered with a smile and turned around when she started to close the door.

“Here. If you remember anything, whether you think it’s important or not, or if you need anything, call us.” He declared and Metra gave him a tight smile, taking the card in her hands and observing it for a moment. When she raised her head to look at them again, Dean was offering her a bright white smile.

“Thank you, Agent.” She answered, putting the card in her back pocket.

Going down the stairs together, Sam rolled his eyes again in annoyance at his brother’s flirtation on the job and walked to the car. Placing his arms on top of the Impala, Sam started to talk as Dean walked around the black car to reach the driver side.

“I think we’re dealing with a witch.” He declared, searching his suit-pants pocket and pulling the hex bag out of it, throwing it to his brother who caught it in flight.

Observing the little object for a second, Dean nodded, leaning against his car.

“So, you think this Zoey girl is going all Hocus Pocus at night?” Dean asked his brother who shrugged, giving him a silent ‘maybe’.

“Alright, let’s go talk to her then.” He declared, opening the driver’s door and already starting the engine as his brother joined him.

Stepping out of Zoey Martin’s house, the brothers were still a bit suspicious but unsure of her being a supernatural creature. Only one thing was sure: she was just a bitch.

They had walked into her home with the suspicion of her being a witch. The nature around her house, parched from two blocks around, had been interpreted as a side-effect of her black magic. But when they had arrived at her place, they had seen her desperately trying to water her withered roses to bring them back to life. A witch would have used magic to do that or not even cared about her flowers being dead.

This first impression made them doubt.

But it didn’t stop the Winchester from looking for anything witchy in her house or behavior and after arguing with her about them having the right – a right they clearly didn’t have – to ask her questions, they finally got into her house. Her suspicions about the hunters and her lack of cooperation on this fake investigation at first, both annoyed them and made it more difficult for them to look for any clues on her nature or the crime she had potentially committed. But eventually, Dean turned on his ‘famous’ charm and she fell right into this fly-trap, touching her hair as he told her how important her statement was going to be for them – for him. This distraction allowed Sam to sneak around her house, looking for anything suspicious that could tell them she was behind all this. But all the younger brother found was some pictures of herself hanging on the walls, dozens of different nail polishes and shoes. This girl was way too concerned about her self-image to be killing kittens with her bare hands or opening her wrist to cast spells with her own blood.

But, even if the way she behaved lowered the suspicions about her, the way Zoey was talking about Adriana made them twitch. Even if, maybe, she hadn’t killed the poor girl, she clearly wasn’t sorry about her death either. As she had so kindly declared, ‘this girl was always in the way, it was only a matter of time before someone did what everyone was thinking’. And after making her understand that it wasn’t a heated argument that happened but an actual murder, Zoey had shrugged, telling the brothers that no matter what had happened, it wasn’t any of her concern.

It was at that very moment that Sam was too annoyed with her to stay on that couch anymore and pretended to need to use her bathroom. A request she had nodded to, too lost in the green eyes of the hunter by her side. And when they explained they had to leave, Zoey asked for a number to call them if she ever thought about anything and Dean politely told her that it wouldn’t be necessary, leaving her on the porch while Sam let out a chuckle on the way to the car.

Inside the Impala, Dean sighed loudly in annoyance and frustration and Sam raised his eyebrows, joining his brother about this feeling.

“So, anything even a little bit witchy?” Dean asked, hopeful about having a positive answer from his brother but when Sam immediately shook his head, he sighed again.

“Nope, only girly things. I don’t think she killed her but considering how much she actually revealed about Adriana without caring, maybe someone used her for information or something.” Sam supposed, already thinking about new suspects and answers to their case.

Dean shrugged for a moment, considering his brother's theory and nodded.

“Metra, huh?” A little, mocking smile on the face, he teased his brother.

“Yeah, maybe. Metra said that her sister’s boyfriend was a bit distant lately. Maybe he got tired of her, was wondering about a way to end things with her and decided that murder was a good way to end a relationship. And lovely Zoey over there was willing to bitch about her all day long.” Dean interpreted, earning a little snort from his brother at his sudden theory.

It could be a possibility and at the beginning of a case, they were willing to listen to any theories. So, face-shrugged for a short second, not disapproving but not completely agreeing either. And turning to his brother, his eyebrows slightly raised.

“Shut up.” Dean only answered, turning on the engine and driving to their motel.

“So what do you think, the boyfriend is a witch and put a killing spell on her girl?” Dean asked his brother, pulling his jacket off and throwing it on the nearest bed.

Sam shrugged, his rolled up sleeves arms resting on his laptop. The killer-boyfriend theory wasn’t unbelievable but the police had interrogated him and his alibi had been confirmed. And even though if he was actually a witch he could use his ability in his favor, something was off with this theory. And therefore, Sam wanted to have more than one lead on this case.

“I don’t know, the police questioned and his alibi seems to fit. But something is bothering me about this murder.” Sam started, narrowing his eyes in reflection.

“Maybe the fact that it’s a murder?” Dean declared, crouching down in front of the mini bar to grab a beer for him and his brother. Sam rolled his eyes at his brother’s comment and continued in his thinking.

“We noticed the dying nature in front of Adriana's place, which makes sense with her being the victim but Zoey’s roses were withered too. So either she’s the next victim or something else is going on in this town. I don’t know if you noticed but the whole town isn’t as flowery as it should be for this time of the year.” Sam explained while Dean took place in front of him, resting his Oxford shoes on the table.

“Well, unlike you I don’t really pay attention to the daisies in a town, Sammy.” Dean mocked his brother, causing him to roll his eyes in annoyance.

“Be serious for a second, I’m telling you something is wrong in this town.” Sam pushed, starting to be irritated by his brother’s behavior and lack of interest in this case.

“I am. And I’m telling you this is a freaking witch. You found a hex bag, remember?” Dean replied, slightly raising his palms towards the sky. He didn’t get why his brother was looking for another lead when the one they had hadn’t even been fully explored. This case was supposed to be easy, they confronted the witch, AKA the ex-boyfriend, killed the guy and saved the girl, hopefully Metra. Dean was starting to be pretty fond of the brown-haired girl and he hoped that once they had solved the case, he could be the one to announce the great news to her.

“Yes, but I’m telling you something is of-” Sam started to argue with his brother but Dean’s phone suddenly rang, interrupting him. Dean raised a hand, making him understand to shut up and Sam clenched his jaw at the way he was completely ignoring him and what he was saying, preferring to answer his call.

The older man straightened, putting his feet on the floor and answered his phone.

“Hello?” He started, slightly frowning as he wondered who was calling him. But soon, a voice he recognized talked on the other side of the phone.

“Agent Buxton? I think someone is in my house.” Metra quickly said, fear and worry in her voice. Dean immediately straightened, his attention fully focused on the girl that was talking to him.

“Alright, lock yourself in your bedroom or your bathroom, any room with a window you can escape by. We’re on our way.” Dean instructed her and Sam stared at his brother, trying to understand who he was talking to but before he could even ask, Dean got up and reached for his jacket, quickly putting it on.

“Please, hurry… I’m scared…” Metra whispered on the other side of the phone and Dean’s heart broke for a second, hating when people were scared and he couldn’t immediately protect and reassure them.

“Listen to me, I’m on my way, okay? Lock yourself and if you think you can leave your house without danger, do it. You’re gonna be okay.” He stated, seriousness making his voice a little deeper than usual.

“Okay… Please, hurry up…” The girl quietly said and the call ended.

Turning to his brother, Sam was already staring at him, putting his own jacket back on.

“Metra’s in danger, someone broke into her house.” Dean quickly explained, grabbing his gun on the table and heading to the motel room’s door, his little brother behind him.

The brothers hurried to the black Impala and the second the doors were closed, Dean started the engine, speeding out of the parking lot of the motel and towards Metra’s place. Concentrated and serious, Dean quickly drove to her house while Sam searched the duffel bag on his lap. After a few seconds, he pulled a wooden box out of it and opened it, taking the bullets in his hands and started to load his and his brother’s gun.

“Witch killing bullets.” Sam informed his brother who only nodded, approving his choice and stepped on the gas.

Soon, the brothers arrived at the victim’s house and jumped out of the car, running to the slightly opened front door. Dean was the first one to carefully enter the house, looking around him for any signs of the girl who had called him or the intruder. But, his gun raised before him, he didn’t see anyone and when he felt his brother behind him, he slightly turned his head to look at him, jutting his chin towards the kitchen and letting him know he would look around the living room. But as he was about to enter the room on his left, a scream echoed upstairs and the older brother rushed to the floor without even thinking.

Sam followed him, ready to shoot at any danger appearing while Dean tracked the sound and turned right when Metra screamed more loudly. His heartbeat fastened as he ran to the girl’s bedroom and when he entered the room, slamming the door wide open, he raised his gun ready to aim and shoot at the supernatural creature hurting the poor girl. But the hunter froze when he saw no one around except Metra, pressed against a wall, wrapped in a glowing white mist preventing her from moving and, soon, from breathing. For a second, Dean didn’t know what to do, unable to shoot at the fog surrounding her without hurting Metra.

It was easier when the threat was concrete, physical. If you could touch it, you could kill it.

Metra gasped for air, trying to free herself and her throat, desperately trying to have the oxygen filling her lungs. And when she opened her eyes, her brown orbs met the green ones of the hunter and he regained control of his own body when he saw the fear in her eyes. Slightly turning his head, he saw Sam behind him, focused on the trap girl too and looking for a way to free her.

“Sam, hex bag!” Dean shouted and turned towards the girl again. “Hold on, Metra, we’re gonna free you!” He declared, not leaving a hint of doubt in his strong voice.

Quickly, the brothers searched the woman’s room, Sam opened the drawers of her desk while Dean cut the pillows, trying to find where the magical object could be. Then, ripping open the mattress, a little, purple bundle fell on the floor. The hunter immediately grabbed it, searching his pocket for his lighter and set the magical object on fire. Purple flames burned the hex bag and the mist disappeared, freeing Metra and making her fall on the floor. Dean rushed to her, kneeling in front of her and placing a reassuring hand on her arm.

Taking some big and deep breaths, Metra raised her head, her eyes full of confusion and fear asking for answers on what had just happened to her. Dean moved his hand up and down her arm, trying to give her some comfort and turned his head towards his brother.

Another person they had to give the talk to.

After a short explanation on the supernatural threat she had just faced and who they actually were, Sam and Dean convinced Metra to come with them to their motel room, assuring her that it was the best way to keep her safe. And, trying to wrap her mind around this whole supernatural world and creatures, she packed a bag and followed them to the black car.

Once in the motel, Sam sat down behind his computer and searched for anything that could help them in this case while his brother tried to answer the poor woman’s questions. Resting her head between her hands, Metra’s heart pounded in her chest, her eyes focused on the brown carpet of the motel room.

“So, it was a witch. A witch killed my sister.” Metra declared, trying to get used to the creature behind her sister’s murder.

Dean sighed, placing a warm and reassuring hand on her knees.

“We think so. The hex bag I burned? Sam found one in your sister’s room as well. We think someone who wanted to harm her put it there. You said that she had some arguments with her boyfriend recently, right?” Dean asked even though he already knew the answer. He only needed confirmation to go to his place and make sure he didn’t hurt anyone anymore.

“You think Marcus did this to her?” Metra raised her head, her eyes wide opened in shock. Dean only shrugged.

Adriana and her boyfriend had been in a relationship for years and they were only facing disagreements for the past few months but nothing that could ever make them think about murdering the loved one.

“But why me? I mean, why try to kill me, too?” She asked, the more she was thinking about this whole story the more confused she was becoming.

The idea that Marcus had killed her own sister, that he had used magic to do so and that she could have been his next victim: all of this was so confusing and crazy. The many new and unbelievable information were starting to hurt her head and making her wish she was only having a nightmare.

A long and very real nightmare.

“We don’t know. But the bad guys don’t usually stop at one killing, sometimes it’s easier to get rid of the entire family too. No witnesses.” Dean gave her an explanation and Metra’s heart dropped into her stomach.

When Dean saw her face fall, he clenched his jaws, silently hoping he hadn’t phrased it that way. And as he raised his head to look at his little brother, he could see in Sam’s eyes that maybe it wasn’t the best to have said this but again, there wasn’t any good way to tell someone they could be on the list of a murderous witch.

Metra’s breath started to get stuck in her throat, her heart beating loudly in her ears as she was slowly starting to take everything that had happened to her and her sister in. Feeling dizzy without even having touched the beer the older Winchester had offered her when they had arrived, Metra tried to get up. Dean’s hand fell off of her knee and he rose with her, careful on how she was holding up, paying close attention to her body and any hint of her passing out on him. It wouldn’t have been the first someone fainted in front of them after hearing about what bumped into the night. But he really hoped that she wouldn’t be one of them.

But, slightly putting her weight on Dean’s arm as she stood up, she looked at the bathroom’s door on her right.

“I… I need to go to the bathroom.” She declared, her voice not louder than a whisper.

“Sure.” Dean answered her with a weak smile and let her arm go as she started walking to the bathroom.

The hunter clenched his jaws when she closed the door behind her and quickly turned to his brother, hoping that Sam had found anything that could help them in this case. The address of this Marcus guy would be awesome for example. So, walking to his brother, Dean sat down at the table Sam was working at. Crossing his hands on the furniture, he bent his back to be closer to his brother, ready to listen to any info the tall man could have found out.

“Sam! An address maybe?” Dean pushed and Sam clenched his jaws, staring at him. His brother was cutting off even his thoughts.

“Tell me you’ve got something, anything.” Dean immediately asked and Sam straightened, ready to let his brother know what he had discovered.

While Dean was trying to comfort Metra and make her understand what their real job was, Sam had opened the hex bag in the sisters’ rooms; trying to find a clue on who had cursed them. The basic ingredients for a hex bag were there : like some black cat bones, herbs and withered flowers, some fur too. But as he had inspected the ingredients, he had noticed a twig of some kind of cereal and-

Letting a deep and loud sigh of annoyance and frustration, the younger brother tapped his fingers on his laptop and got Marcus’ location in a few seconds.

“501 Hazel Street.” Sam declared reluctantly and Dean jumped on his feet, grabbing his gun and checking that it was still loaded with witch-killing bullets.

“Dean, I think we should talk about this first. Maybe this isn’t the only lead. Maybe this isn’t a lead at all.” Sam tried to explain to his brother that what he had found in the hex bag could be more than just a witch. But Dean was stubborn when he wanted to and, turning to his brother, he offered him a big, fake smile.

“Well, let’s check if it is one.” He stated, putting his gun in his jeans and walked to the bathroom.

Knocking on it, he discreetly put his ear on the door to catch any unusual sound coming from the other side.

“Metra? We’re going to go to Marcus’, okay? You can stay here while we’re gone, we won’t be long.” Dean explained against the wooden door and as Sam let a surprised sound behind him as the tall hunter would have liked to know that she was staying here before he told her, Metra opened the door, almost cutting Dean off in his sentence and making him take a step back.

“I’m coming with you.” She declared, her eyes red and puffy from her obvious crying in the bathroom.

Dean shook his head, immediately disagreeing with this idea. Metra coming with them meant more danger for her and Dean thought that she had been through enough already.

“No, it’s safer if you stay at the motel.” Dean stated, ready to turn around and leave so he wouldn’t have to argue with her for too long.

“Isn’t the safer place with you?” She started and Dean slightly pouted, revealing the dimples at the corners of his lips. He hated when people used this. “Besides, if Marcus really is the one who killed Adriana I wanna see him. I wanna ask him why…” Metra continued, lowering her gaze for a second as she mentioned her sister’s death.

Dean sighed, clenching his jaws as he thought about what she meant and if he had been in her place, there was no way in hell that he would have stayed in that motel room. But it didn’t mean that he had to be happy with her joining them.

“Alright.” Dean sighed, clenching his jaws. “You can come with us but you stay in the car and I’ll call you when it’s safe for you to see him. That’s my condition.” The older hunter explained and the woman nodded. At least she wasn’t going to stay alone in this motel room, waiting for them to come back with the news of her sister’s murderer killed. At least, this way, she could have a chance to have an explanation of it all.

“Okay.” Metra simply answered and Dean nodded, turning to Sam who was giving him many disapproving looks he decided to ignore.

“Well, let’s go.” Dean declared, putting his jacket off and brushing past his irritated brother who had no other choice but to follow him.

“Alright, let’s do this.” Dean said, checking his gun one last time before turning around in the Impala, looking at Metra in the backseat.

“So, you stay here and I’ll come and get you when it’s good.” The older man repeated and Metra nodded again, knowing that it was the smartest thing to listen to him. If Marcus had really tried to kill her too, it was safer for her to stay hidden until he couldn’t hurt her anymore.

“Good. Let’s go.” Dean told his little brother who quickly got out of the car after glancing at the girl behind him.

Watching his big brother heading to the small house in front of them, Sam quickly started to follow him so he wouldn’t do anything stupid like burst the door open and threaten a potentially innocent man. But before he could make his brother slow down and think, Dean was kicking the door, bursting into the house and pointing his gun at the man laying on his comfortable sofa.

“Don’t move!” Dean shouted and Marcus shrieks, curling on his couch in fear.

“Wha- what is going on?” The man asked in a high and shaky voice, making Dean frown for a second. It wasn’t the reaction he was expecting but witches could try to fool them with fake behavior. So, Dean continued to aim at the man in front of him, his gaze dark and threatening, ready to shoot if Marcus did a move he didn’t like.

“Dean! Stop!” Sam yelled behind him, rushing into the living room and witnessing the terrified man.

Dean quickly glanced at his brother before turning his attention back to Marcus, his jaws clenched and his eyes focused.

“What?” The older man asked in a grave and loud voice while Sam walked to him, hands raised in a calming gesture.

“It’s not him. The flowers in front of his house, they’re withered.” Sam explained, hoping that his explanation would make sense.

The vegetation surrounding Marcus’ home was dead, just like the Baker sisters’ and Zoey’s. Marcus wasn’t the killer, for all it was, he could be the next victim. Dean knew what his brother meant by that but it didn’t mean he had to agree with him. So, keeping his arms straight and steady in front of him, still holding his gun, Dean shrugged.

“So? He could be the one making them die. We thought that about Zoey, too.” He declared and the threatened man’s eyes widened.

“Did something happen to Zoey, too?” Marcus asked in a trembling voice.

“Shut up!” The green-eyed hunter quickly shouted and Marcus stopped talking, sinking a bit more into his sofa in fear.

“Dean, look at him, he’s terrified! It’s not him!” Sam tried to talk some sense into his brother who was slowly starting to listen to him.

He didn’t like to be wrong and threaten the wrong guy, but Dean had to admit that Marcus seemed more scared than dangerous. If he was the witch, he would have put a spell on them by now, sending them flying across the room or turning their intestines in knots. But the whole time Dean had aimed at him, Marcus had only curled up on his couch, trying to get as far away from his gun as possible, asking what was happening, fear written all over his face.

So, sighing, Dean lowered his gun and Marcus started to breathe again.

“If you didn’t kill Adriana, what’s your deal with Zoey? Why bitch about your girlfriend to her?” Dean asked the panicked man whose eyebrows rose in incomprehension, wondering who those men were in his living room.

And when he took too much time to answer, Dean raised his voice again.

“Answer!”

“W-we started going out together f-for a few weeks. I was trying to break up with Adri, I swear, but before I could explain everything, sh-she got killed.” Marcus blurted out, stuttering through his sentence. Dean rolled his eyes at the answer and put his gun back in his jeans.

“So, not a murderer, just a shitty boyfriend.” He judged and Marcus let out a quiet sob, hiding his head in his hands, making Dean sigh and look away.

“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry, please, don’t kill me…” Marcus begged and Dean pouted in discomfort.

Looking around him, he found a box of tissues and grabbed them, handing Marcus the box in a sigh.

“Here.” Marcus took a tissue and blew his nose. “I’m not gonna kill you, alright? Just… next time, break up with the girl before looking elsewhere.” Dean told the poor man who quickly nodded, fully understanding the lesson.

“Alright, let’s go.” The older brother declared, turning around and away from Marcus and meeting the disapproving gaze of his little brother.

Dean knew that he had screwed up, he shouldn’t have threatened the half-innocent man but it was stronger than him, he wanted to solve this case. He needed to solve this case. But Sam wanted the same thing as him and the younger hunter wasn’t threatening people before he was sure they were actually the person they were looking for.

Feeling the guilt of scaring the poor guy, Dean headed to the front door, wanting to leave as fast as possible. Marcus didn’t deserve this, he hadn’t been the boyfriend of the year for sure, but Dean knew that his method hadn’t been right. He couldn’t just walk into a house, threaten the people there only to walk away when he realized he had been mistaken. And he knew that his little brother was going to remind him this once they would be alone. Dean already apprehended this inevitable moment.

“Hum… we’re really sorry, Marcus. We made a mistake.” Sam politely smiled, trying to calm down the scared man in front of him and making him understand that they were working on Adriana’s case but had been misled.

After making up a few white lies and making sure that Marcus wasn’t going to be traumatized for life or file a complaint against them, Sam left the house, leaving the man on his couch, still in shock. Watching his brother walking to the black car, Sam caught up with Dean before he could reach the Impala.

“What the hell, Dean? You can’t just threaten people like that!” Sam lectured his brother who sighed, knowing full well the mistake he had made.

“I thought he was the bad guy, okay? And he kinda was.” Dean tried to justify himself but Sam rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disapproval. No matter what his brother was going to find to legitimize what he had done, it wouldn’t make it right. The stab first and ask questions later method had been out of question for a while now and Sam didn’t intend to come back to it soon.

“Dean, you can’t just burst into people’s houses like that and leave them in shock. What’s gotten into you?” Sam asked, his eyebrows in a frown, trying to understand the meaning under his brother’s behavior.

But, taking a breath to ease the tension between them, Sam took a step towards his brother.

“I just wanna solve this case before more people get hurt.” Dean declared, stopping in front of the Impala and turning to Sam.

The tall man could see that Dean was serious, that solving this case was something he deeply wanted to do. And Sam also knew that, the ‘more people’ his brother was talking about was Metra. Sam didn’t quite understand the sudden care for the girl, she was witnessed and a victim but they didn’t know her at all and as much as Dean would hate that he thought so, if Marcus wasn’t the killer, everyone could be a suspect.

“I know. And I wanna solve this case too, trust me. But let’s do it right and not just threaten every person we come across, right?” Sam told him, slightly raising his eyebrows to make Dean understand that he was serious. The green-eyed man let a frustrated breath out, looking away for a second, hating when his brother was right.

“Right.” Dean declared, his way to say he was sorry and was agreeing with his brother.

“Is everything okay?” A voice joined the brothers’ conversation and Dean turned around, his eyes founding the brown ones of Metra.

His face softened a little when he looked at her, standing behind her opened door and he took a step towards her.

“Yeah. Marcus wasn’t the one behind your sister’s murder.” Dean explained and Metra’s mouth slightly opened in a ‘o’, raising her eyebrows at the information.

“So, what do we do, now?” She asked, looking from one brother to the other, wanting to know how they could solve her sister’s case. Dean searched the beautiful girl’s face and her eyes seemed clouded in a certain sadness, the elucidation of this tragedy slowly slipping away from her grasp. Dean’s heart tightened at view and he took another step to her, showing his support.

“We go back to the motel and we continue working the case until we find out who it is.” The hunter declared, confidence and seriousness in his voice. Metra nodded, trying to give him a small smile and when he turned to his brother, Sam was nodding too, approving of this simple but much more reasonable plan.

Dean walked to the driver’s door and sat down behind the wheels. Turning on the engine, he drove back to their motel. They still had a lot of work to do.

Back to their motel room, Sam and Dean changed their clothes, deciding that the fake-fbi suits had been enough and wanting to go back to their own self. Metra had been quiet through the whole ride and even now, sitting on Dean’s bed. The woman was tired, wanting to know the long and the short of what had happened to her sister.

Lost in her thoughts, the brown-haired girl was looking mindlessly at the floor, the events of the past few days running through her head, watching her sister’s corpse over and over, her own near death experience joining the party. Raising his head from his father’s journal, trying to see if John had ever come across something like this during his years of hunting, Dean looked at Metra. Frowning at her resting her head on her hands and staring at nothing, he turned to her.

“You’re okay there, Sweetheart?” The nickname slipped from his lips but Metra didn’t seem to mind, as she only looked at him.

Shrugging at first, the woman shook her head soon after, lowering her gaze.

“No, not really. I feel… drained and… dirty. Could I borrow your bathroom and maybe take a shower, please?” Metra asked, unsure of how her request would be taken. They were already kind enough to let her stay with them and maybe she was going to push their boundaries with her ask. But, on the contrary, Dean nodded, not seeing the problem in her demand.

“Sure. Do you need clean clothes or something?” He asked, not knowing what he would have given her if she had said yes. But fortunately for him, she shook her head, getting up from the bed.

“No, no, I just need to wash myself after… everything. Thank you.” She explained and gave the hunter a smile that Dean returned.

Metra walked to the bathroom and Sam glanced at her when she passed by him, silently observing her enter their bathroom for the second time. When he turned his head again, Dean was staring at the closed door and Sam narrowed his eyes. Feeling his brother’s eyes on him, Dean looked at Sam, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

“What?” He asked in his deep voice and Sam simply looked at him, analyzing.

“Nothing.”

“Yeah.” Dean closed the conversation and browsed through his father’s journal that he knew by heart, fully knowing that he wouldn’t find anything in it.

Sam went back to his opened laptop in front of him when the water began to flow in the bathroom, reading on a website about witchcraft what the herbs in the hex bag could refer to and bringing his attention back to the twig he had noticed earlier. And, taking it between his fingers, he quickly recognized it as wheat. It wasn’t common to find this cereal in a hex bag and it caught the younger brother’s attention. And, after recognizing the wheat, Sam paid more attention to the withered flowers next to it. And even though he wasn’t an expert in blossoms, he couldn’t help but want to find out what those flowers actually were and after some targeted research on the topic, Sam discovered that those dried petals were those of hydrangea, colchium and hemlock.

Frowning, he decided to do detailed research on those flowers, wanting to discover the meaning behind them, convinced that it could help them in the case. And, once he had gathered the information he was looking for, he let out a surprised snort, leaning against the back of his chair.

“So, get this.” Sam started, making his brother look away from the pages of the journal, having his full attention. When Sam started a sentence like this, it meant that the solution was on the way.

“I noticed some strange ingredients in the hex bag I found in Adriana’s room so I did some research.” Sam started to explain and Dean smirked a little, secretly impressed when his little brother noticed things like those when he would only see herbs and bones. Sam continued.

“Okay Edward Scissorhands, where does that leave us?” Dean asked, turning his palms towards the sky in perplexity.

“First, there is a twig of wheat” Sam took the small branch in his fingers and showed it to his brother, illustrating his words. “Then, there were some dead petals too and I found out that they are hydrangea, colchium, hemlock and poppy.” Sam explained, turning his laptop towards his brother so he could see by himself the flowers he was talking about.

Glancing at the pictures of the flowers then at his brother, Dean raised his eyebrows, not getting what he was supposed to understand from looking at some daisies.

Sam groaned a little and took his laptop back before continuing to explain where he was getting.

“The wheat is a symbol of the cultivation of the fields, harvests. The hydrangea is a flower that grows in the garden until the end of summer, they allude to deep emotions towards the one surrounding us, especially our family. As for the colchium and hemlock, they are symbols of jealousy, dying love and poison and betrayal.” Sam explained and Dean’s eyebrows furrowed the more his brother talked.

“Okay.” Dean simply said but Sam knew it was an invitation to go on. And he did.

“I think that, those flowers weren’t randomly chosen. I think all of this is connected. The symbols of family, betrayal, jealousy and dying love.” Sam said and Dean was now really into his brother’s tale, joining him in the analysis and trying to connect the dots with him.

“Okay, but what about the wheat? What’s the link between farms and a poor girl dead?” Dean wondered and Sam slightly shook his head, leaning closer to his brother.

“Not between farms, but between fields and cultivation.” Sam corrected his brother who raised his eyebrows, trying to understand what his point was. “I don’t think we’re dealing with a witch here, Dean. I think we’re dealing with a god.” Sam declared and Dean’s eyes widened.

The idea of facing a god in this small, lost-in-the-middle-of-nowhere town wasn’t something that had reached Dean’s mind. Less alone when all the clues were pointing to a witch. So, frowning, Dean tucked his chin before interrupting his brother.

“God? What god? What about the hex bag? Gods don’t need those. We’re clearly dealing with a witch, here, Sam.” Dean argued and Sam understood why his brother was saying that.

It was true that gods had no use for hex bags and that they usually despite working with witches or other supernatural beings, but it wouldn’t have been the first god who would mix identities with someone else to achieve their aims. After all, Loki and Gabriel had shared identities for centuries. So, to Sam, it wouldn’t be absurd if Adriana’s death had been caused by a god who was trying to hide it as witchcraft. And he needed to make Dean see his point of view on the situation.

“Listen, everything makes sense if you think about it. The dying nature all over town, the twig of wheat and the poppy in the hex bag. This is not a witch but a god.” Sam continued and Dean raised his hands, showing his lack of understanding.

“What god?” He asked, slowly starting to get irritated by not understanding.

“Persephone? And what makes you think it’s her?” Dean asked and Sam was happy to explain his thoughts to him and how he had come to this conclusion.

“Persephone.” Sam stated and Dean stopped, narrowing his eyes.

The name wasn’t unknown to the older brother but he didn’t really understand how it could be more Persephone or any other god than a vengeful witch. And why would they bother covering up their murder as if a witch had done it? Dean wasn’t fully against the possibility of a god doing all this, but he needed to understand why his brother thought so.

“Well, you know the myth of Persephone, right?” Sam started and Dean made a face his little brother knew too well.

“Of course.” He lied and Sam couldn’t help but have a slight smile on his lips, always finding it a little funny when he tried to act like he knew something when he didn’t.

“Well, as you know, Persephone had been kidnapped by Hades who wanted to make her his queen in Hell. Her mother, Demeter, declared that the Earth would starve until she found her daughter and after going to Zeus, they came to an arrangement: Persephone would spend eight months on Earth with her mother and four in Hell with her Hades. That’s why nature is almost missing or dead during winter, the four months Persephone are in Hell.” Sam explained the myth and Dean nodded, taking in the information his brother was giving him.

“Alright, but we’re in June, so your story doesn’t make sense.” Dean declared and the younger hunter quickly nodded, agreeing with him.

“Exactly, we’re in June, the vegetation is supposed to grow and be alive, but it’s not the case here. And in the hex bag, I found the wheat which is connected to the fields and farming, the fertility of the soils. And the poppy is Persephone’s symbol. It’s all connected.” Sam’s voice raised in excitement as he explained how the fact that the dying nature in the whole town showed it was related to Persephone’s myth.

“But what about the other flowers you found in there?” Dean asked, jutting his chin towards the opened hex bag on the table.

“I don’t know about that yet, but, Dean, I’m sure that this is not a witch. I’m convinced that we’re dealing with Persephone or at least her myth. I don’t know why now or the reason behind all this but I know it’s related. Trust me.” Sam told his big brother who stared at him for a moment, listening to what he was saying and started to slowly see his point.

“Okay, okay. Let’s say it’s her. Who and where is she?” Dean asked. If he agreed with his brother and worked on the assumption that it was never a witch in the first place, they needed to find out why all of this was happening here and now, why Adriana was killed and more importantly, how they would kill this goddess.

At his question, Sam’s eyes fell on the bathroom’s door, his suspicion towards the supposed victim growing the more he thought about it, the more he looked into this case. Dean turned his head and looked at the wooden door too and when he understood what his brother meant, he looked at the tall man again, furrowing his eyebrows and shaking his head.

“No.” Dean stated, refusing the idea of Metra being the one behind all this.

“Dean, we don’t know anything about her. How can you know that she’s not manipulating you into thinking that she’s a victim? How can you be sure that she isn’t the one who killed Adriana in the first place?” Sam argued, not understanding why his brother was so sure that she was innocent.

“No, this isn’t her. Her sister was a victim of this damn goddess if you want, but Metra almost died too. She discovered the corpse of her sister, has been attacked herself and almost choked to death and you’re telling me that she’s the one behind all this?” Dean declared, his voice raising a little, highly refusing that the brown-haired girl could be the bad guy they had to get rid off.

“There wasn’t anyone in the house when we came, no forced entry either. I checked. I’m not completely saying that it is her but you can’t prove to me that she isn’t the reason why we’re here, either.” Sam pointed out and Dean clenched his jaws, crossing his arms before himself in a defensive gesture. Sam knew at this moment that his brother wouldn’t listen to reason anymore.

“No. I can’t believe that she’s behind all this. Did you see how terrified she was when we rescued her? How she's mourning her sister? And how all the supernatural talk made her dizzy? Come on, Sam, she’s innocent.” Dean argued, trying to win over his brother and disculpate the poor girl. Dean had been touched by the young woman, relating all too well to the pain of losing their only sibling. Everyone reacted all they could in front of such a loss and while Dean was trying to comfort and bring some peace in some way to Metra, Sam had eyed her, not feeling her pain like Dean had. The younger brother had some reservations towards her, not connecting with her like Dean.

“Or she’s a really good actress.” Sam declared, showing Dean that he still wasn’t convinced about her innocence and Dean glared at him, not liking at all his accusations.

“Okay, stop it. It’s not her.” Dean stated, putting an end to the argument, not wanting to hear any of this anymore.

Sam sighed.

The younger brother knew at this very moment that no matter what he was going to say, Dean wouldn’t agree with the possibility that Metra wasn’t as innocent as she tried to appear. But after all, Sam could be wrong and he could be accusing an honest and harmless girl who had only witnessed her sister murder. But something told him it wasn’t the case, something told him that Metra knew more than she wanted to reveal. Sam hadn’t fallen under the brown-haired girl’s spell, unlike his brother.

“So, how do we kill it?” Dean asked, his voice still a bit defensive from the previous argument and Sam focused on his brother again.

“How do we kill what?” Metra’s voice interrupted, making Sam turn his head towards the young woman.

Dean raised his head and looked at her too, her wet hair falling on her shoulders, her arms wrapped around herself to keep her warmth. Looking at her, Dean couldn’t understand how his brother could think that she could be the monster they had to gank, especially when she looked so vulnerable, so lost.

“The goddess. We think that it’s not a witch but a goddess. Do you know the myth of Persephone?” Dean asked and didn’t look at his brother who glared at him for revealing what they were truly after when his main suspect was in the room.

Metra’s eyes widened and she walked to Dean’s bed, sitting on it and looking at the brothers in front of her.

“Wait, gods exist too?” She asked, surprise written all over her face. When she thought that this world was only filled with supernatural creatures like vampires or werewolves, she was told that the religious beings existed too.

What didn’t they face?

Dean nodded and Metra took a deep breath, taking the new information in and trying not to break down again. It wasn’t their job to comfort her, their duty was to get rid of the monster terrorizing this town. Once she felt like her emotions were under control, she remembered Dean’s question and nodded.

“Yes, I know this myth. I’ve taken some mythology classes in college and we talked about this myth who created the seasons.” Metra told the Winchesters and they nodded, agreeing with the story. “Wait, you guys think that it’s Persephone? She’s the one behind all this? She killed my sister? Why?” The woman asked, thousands of questions appearing in her mind.

Dean turned towards her a bit more, raising his hand her way to try and stop her many questions. Questions he didn’t have an answer to.

“We don’t know.” He started and the girl’s brown eyes met Dean’s green ones. “We think that she’s the one causing all this but we don’t know why or why she killed your sister. But it doesn’t matter, we’re gonna find a way to kill her and will get rid of her. She won’t hurt anyone else again.” Dean assured and she nodded, believing him and his promise to put an end to all of this. She wanted this too.

“And how do you plan on doing that?” She asked, wondering how humans could actually kill a god.

“That’s what we’re working on.” Dean answered, looking at his brother who immediately started to tap away at his laptop keyboard, already doing researches to distinguish between the true and the false and on how to kill the monster behind all this.

“Alright, I think I’ve got it.” Sam broke the silence in the motel room, making Dean and Metra raise their heads from the mythology books they were both reading.

“Feel free to share with the class, Sammy.” Dean replied, causing Sam to roll his eyes at the comment and nickname but also made Metra chuckle. The older brother couldn’t help but appreciate the short sound, the glimpse of her lightly smiling making him half-grin.

“Well, I’ve found out how to summon her and from everything I’ve read, it seems like a stake made of cypress covered in poppies through her heart would work.” Sam explained, already making researches on where he could find the tree.

“I told you that the poppies would have a part to play in this.” Metra declared with a smile, excited to be right and Sam slightly rolled his eyes, hating to admit that she had indeed told him so.

Dean saw his brother’s light pout and couldn’t help but smirk. No matter who it was, if someone was right before Sam was, Dean was happy to see this little frustrated and almost upset face on his little brother. So, he smiled, earning a dark look from his little brother, silently telling him to not make any comment on this. For once, Dean listened and didn’t tease his brother. He would do it later.

“Okay, so I get the poppies link with this Persephone bitch, but what about the Cypress? Why not the usual oak stake?” Dean asked and Sam was about to answer his brother’s relevant question but Metra was quicker and replied first.

“In the Greek and Roman mythology, the Cypress is a tree linked to hell, so it would make sense with the myth. Look, they talk about it here.” She said, standing up from the bed and walking to Dean with the book in her hands. Once she was standing next to him, she pointed to a page with her finger and Dean leaned closer to her to read the paragraph she was showing him while Sam discreetly tried to read behind her shoulder, wanting to see it by himself.

After reading the part where they mention this tree, Sam approved her explanation and the woman smiled, happy to be able to help the brothers in their researches. And as much as it was costing him to admit it, Sam had to recognized that Metra had been helpful on the researches. She had went to the nearest library with Dean and had picked up the most accurate and detailed books about mythology there but also the books she had studied in her classes, trying to gather as many information as she could to help them on this case. Maybe what motivated her was the idea of being able to found her sister’s killer and get revenge, or maybe she had felt useless for the past few days and now that someone was actually doing something to help on her sister’s case she wanted to participate. No matter the reason, the tall hunter had to admit that she had been useful on getting information about mythology. And, considering she was founding with them a way to kill Persephone, Sam was slowly starting to doubt his suspicions about her. If she had been Persephone, she wouldn’t have helped them find a way to kill her, she would have get rid of them for getting to close to the truth.

“Alright, so, you prepare everything we need for the summoning, I’ll get you the stake and flower.” Dean told his brother, standing up and putting his jacket on, ready to go and find everything they needed to kill this goddess.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked and Metra turned around, facing him.

“Most of what we need are in the trunk, so, I can go with you. We get the stake and poppies and summon her right away. The quicker we do it, the more we prevent her from causing other deaths.” Sam declared, standing up too and walked to his bed to grab his jacket too, getting ready to leave the motel and put an end to this case.

Metra got up in her turn and was ready to take her coat when Dean’s voice stopped her in her movement.

“I’m coming with you too.” She simply answered, ready to face the monster that had killed her sister. But the older man had a different take on it and immediately shook his head at her sentence.

“No way. You’re staying here, we’re gonna take care of this god.” He declared, his voice deep and serious, not leaving place to argument.

Metra’s shoulders lowered at the idea of staying behind while they dealt with the supernatural being, she wanted to see the person that had killed Adriana, she needed to see it dead with her own eyes, needing to make sure that it wouldn’t hurt anyone else again, not even herself. And Metra didn’t understand why she couldn’t come with them, after all she had helped on finding what could kill this so called god and had even been allowed to go with them when they had faced Marcus when they thought he was the witch.

And she decided to remind him of those fact.

“Why? I proved you that I could be useful, didn’t I? And you let me come with you when you went to Marcus’, why would it change now?” She asked, trying to understand why this sudden change of position on the topic.

Adjusting his jacket on, Dean walked closer to her in an attempt to make himself more heard and understand. He needed her to see his point even though he knew that, no matter what she was gonna say, she still wasn’t coming with them.

“We thought Marcus was a witch and witches are pretty easy to kill, witch-killing bullets in the heart or brain and the case it settled. And we could talk with him but gods are a whole other deals. They aren’t a milk run, okay? This is way more dangerous. We don’t know how powerful she’ll be, her powers or if the stake is gonna end her. And even if you want answers, you don’t talk with gods. So, no. You’re not coming.” Dean declared, his green eyes focused and piercing through her pupils. She could see that he was deadly serious about this and to say that she wasn’t scared by the whole god thing would have been a lie, but she still hoped to have answers to the questions she had.

“Dean…” She started in an attempt to making him hear her out but he didn’t even let her finish her sentence, already running out of time and fearing the goddess striking again.

“No. This is way too dangerous. She already hurt you once and it won’t happen again, not on my watch. So you stay here where you’re safe.” He told her, putting an end to the discussion and Metra sighed, understanding that she had lost this fight but deeply hoping that they would be able to kill this monster, to avenge her sister and maybe even have some answers she profoundly needed.

After parking the Impala in front of a disused factory they found to summon the goddess, Sam and Dean got out of the car and walked to the trunk, opening it to take with them everything they needed to put an end to this case.

Sam grabbed a bowl, the blood of lamb, some herbs and his notebook where he had the written the summoning while Dean took the sharp stake of cypress covered in dust of poppies and his gun. Just in case. Grabbing a flashlight each as the night had started to fall on the quiet city, the hunters moved in sync towards the building in front of them.

The disused factory was at the exit of the town, away from civilization and anyone who would ask questions about their doing there in the middle of the night.

Pushing the sliding door open, Dean lighted the abandoned main room. Glancing at his brother, he entered the place and started to inspect premises, looking for anyone hidden in there, some children looking for an adrenaline shot in the abandon place of their town or even a lost and homeless person who had taken as a shelter the disused building. But the more he looked around the less he found, quickly coming to the conclusion that they were completely alone.

While his brother made sure they weren’t going to be disturbed by anyone, Sam prepared everything he needed to summon the goddess. After lighting many candles to have a better view of the room, the dozens of little flames dancing and creating some shadows around the tall hunter, Sam drew a sigil on the floor that would supposedly trap the goddess and make her powerless. Once it was ready, Sam placed the bowl full of blood in the middle of it, placed the herbs inside and stood up holding his notebook.

The red-head woman, dressed in a fluid and cream dress, looked around herself, trying to understand where she had traveled to and who were those humans before her.

Once he was ready for the summoning, Dean came back and made him understand with a silent look that the place was empty. With the confirmation of being alone, Sam started to recite the summoning in Latin, putting the right intonation to be sure to not make any mistake and get the goddess there on the first try. Dean didn’t understand what his brother was saying but it didn’t matter, Sam had proved more than once that he was the expert on those type of things so he only waited, looking around to make sure no one was coming and when Sam reached the end of his summoning, he lit the matches he had in his pocket and threw them in the bowl.

A bright and wide blue flame appeared in front of them, a warm wind crashed on their faces, making them take a step back and cover their eyes to be able to see. For a second, Sam feared that the candles all over the room were going to go out but they magically didn’t and once the breeze of flowery scent stopped blowing, the hunters lowered their arms, revealing a beautiful woman standing in the middle of the painted sigil.

“Who are you? What am I doing in this place?” She asked Sam and Dean who were already glaring at her, ready to attack and end her life.

“Don’t try this with us! We’re the one asking the questions. Why did you kill Adriana Baker?” Dean shouted, aiming his gun at her and the woman took a step back at his aggressiveness, her eyes widening.

“I don’t understand. Who is this Adriana?” Persephone asked, looking around her and studying her surroundings. Looking at her feet, she saw some lines drawn under her and when she tried to walked away from the menacing men, she couldn’t, trapped in what seemed to be an invisible cage.

“Don’t move, bitch! And this all innocent act, it won’t work with us.” Dean told the goddess who frowned at him, shocked by his vulgarity and more and more confused by his words. But Dean didn’t buy it, seeing right through her and her attempt to act like she didn’t know why she was being trapped and threatened.

“Oh but it already worked, Handsome.” A voice echoed behind the hunters and Dean froze when he recognized the person it belonged to. His blood ran cold and before he could turn around and see the person with his own eyes, Persephone spoke up, her eyes big and round in surprise and shock.

“Demetra?” The goddess asked, her voice high with confusion and what Dean thought was the victim of this story stepped out of the darkness.

“Hello, sister. Long time no see.” Metra said, the kindness in her voice long gone and the mourning expression on her face now replaced by a smirk splitting her lips.

Dean’s heart skipped a bit when he realized he had been fooled by the beauty and acting of the woman he had defended to his brother. Dean Winchester had been deceived before, on other cases and by other monsters but something deep inside him was always a bit leery about them. But this time, it hadn’t been the case, this time he had completely bitten the story of the poor woman who had lost her sister and had been attacked herself by the horrible monster when the horrible monster was herself. The idea of being taken for a ride and look like a damn fool enraged him, every ounce of compassion and sympathy towards her completely gone, he quickly turned around and immediately aimed his gun towards her chest ready to shoot and ease his nerves.

“Nah-ah.” Metra let out, sending the brother flying across the room with the back of her hand and pinning them against a wall, making them lost their guns in the process.

“You bitch! You were behind all this! To think that I almost shot a guy because I thought he had attacked you! And Adriana? What did the poor girl do to you?” Dean yelled, furious, his blood boiling under his skin while he struggled to free himself from the invisible grip on him.

“I told you she was the one making all this!” Sam said to his brother, the frustration of being right but not having been listening to irritating him too. It wasn’t the first time Dean had listened to himself when Sam was the one being right and had put forward his arguments to prove him so. But Dean had done whatever he wanted and here they were, unable to move and kill the evil in front of them.

“Enough talking, you two.” Metra declared and made the brothers shut their mouths with a movement of her hand.

Incapable of opening their mouths no matter how much they tried and wanted to, Sam and Dean looked at each other. Sam glared at his brother, silently arguing with him and letting him know how pissed at him he was for not believing him when he should have and Dean rolled his eyes, saving the lecture for another time. Dean turned his head and glared at the fake victim on front of him, his green eyes dark with anger.

“Adriana was a mean to an end. I needed something to make you boys come to this town and apparently, a death in odd circumstances brings hunters quickly.” Metra declared, looking at the brothers dark looks. She understood their rage and hate towards her and, honestly, couldn’t blame them for it but she had done what she had to do to find her own peace.

“And once you were here, you so kindly delivered me how to kill the beloved Persephone and even handed her over to me on a silver platter. And for this, I have to thank you.” Metra said, offering a genuine smile Dean wanted to rip off.

“Metra, what is this all about?” Persephone asked, trying to understand what was going on, trying to understand why she was here and what her sister meant.

“You. All of this is about you and how you stole what was mine millennial ago!” Metra yelled and Persephone flinched at her accusation, her thin features showing her stunned expression.

“You had everything. You were loved by gods and humans, you were beautiful and idolized by everyone.” Metra started, walking closer to her sister who took a step back. “I envied you, I envied your greatness, your reputation, your light. I was jealous of you, of all this love you received and when I caught his eyes, you couldn’t handle it, could you? You couldn’t handle the idea that I could have something you hadn’t, that I could receive someone’s love that you wouldn’t have.” The goddess accused and Persephone’s face started to fall, her delicate and kind features softening in realization.

“That’s what you think happened? He kidnapped me, held me captive and only agreed to free me when Mother threatened to starve the earth. And I’m allowed to walk this planet only a certain part of time! Is that what you really envy? A life of captivity, alternating between hell and earth?” Persephone argued, slowing raising her voice at her sister’s words. She had to defend herself, she couldn’t stay there and letting herself being insulted like this by her own sister.

Metra let a dark laugh out at her tale, not believing her in the slightest. She knew the myth around her sister, how she had been stolen by Hades himself or how no one had ever talked about her, the older sister trapped in her younger sibling’s shadow. But Metra knew better than those ridiculous stories the humans had decided to create, and she knew what kind of being her sister truly was.

“Please, don’t act like I don’t know you, Perse. You couldn’t handle the thought of not having all the attention to yourself and tricked him into falling for you. You had all the love but you couldn’t have his and this, this it what truly drove you mad.” Metra stated, glaring at her trapped sister.

The goddess of hell straightened, the fear and surprise on her face completely disappearing. Taking a step towards her sister, Persephone grinned, the way she held herself completely changing as she raised her head high on her neck, showing to Metra that she wasn’t intimidated by her in the slightest. Locking eyes with Metra, Persephone felt her blood boiling in her veins.

“All the love? She named you after herself and you say I’ve had all the love?” Persephone voice’s started to raise, her own bitterness and anger rising as she talked.

“Oh, so, because you were mad at Mommy, you punished me? You beef wasn’t with me, yet you decided to make me pay. Your lips are venomous poison and you chose to put them on him. Of all the people, him!” Metra shouted and Persephone’s eyes darkened as she took another step towards her.

“I was prettier, smarter, admired by them all, I did everything she wished for, bent over backwards to make her happy and you did nothing but couldn’t do anything wrong in her eyes.” Persephone growled and Metra smiled at her sister’s face that started to reddened as anger reached her.

“Yet, she left no stone unturned to get you back.” Metra declared, her hate growing the more she remembered how her mother had completely forgotten about her once Persephone had gone missing when she would have gone so willingly in hell and in his arms.

Persephone let a chuckle out that soon turned into a dark laugh, echoing in the whole factory. A sinister smile spread Persephone’s thin lips as she enjoyed the thought of her despicable mother threatening Zeus himself to free her, completely leaving her sister behind and finally turning all of her motherly attention to herself.

“Well… maybe I hate her just as much a I hate you.” Persephone declared making Metra clench her jaws at her words. “You were nothing Metra and still are nothing. No one knows who you are, Mother did everything in her power to get me back and Hades? He can’t get enough of me.” She added and Metra silently walked to the older hunter.

If one look could kill, Metra would have dropped dead the second she met Dean’s eyes, the hunter glared at her with all the hate he could have while his little brother carefully listened to the argument before him, connecting the dots and understanding what all of this was really about.

“Allow me.” Metra whispered to the older brother as she knelt before him and took the weapon that would kill Persephone.

Standing up, she offered him a smile and Dean turned his hand into a fist, hating how she had played him. Then, she walked back to her sister who hadn’t stopped laughing and unleashing all the hate she had towards her family, how she was delighted by her sister’s suffering. Discreetly, she lowered herself and scratched the painted sigil on the floor, freeing Persephone without her even knowing. Standing in front of the talking goddess, Metra smiled, gripping the stake in her right hand and hiding it behind her back.

“Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?” Metra interrupted the goddess of the kingdom of the dead who immediately glared at her.

“How dare you speak to me this way?” Persephone growled and Metra’s smile widened, enjoying her sister’s anger.

“Come on, sis’. Show me what you’ve got.” Metra provoked her and Persephone’s eyes looked at the floor, noticing the broken seal in front of her.

Without wasting a second, Persephone rushed towards the brown-haired woman and attacked her, grabbing her coat and tackling her to the ground in a scream of rage. The women fell on the floor and Metra let out a satisfied chuckle to see her sister so enraged and loosing control this way. Persephone tried to strangle her but Metra dodged her, rolling them together so she would be have the control over her again. Persephone tried to hit her but Metra was faster and caught her sister’s fist before it could reach her jaw, smirking above her.

“My pain was your thrill, Perse. Now yours will be mine.” Metra declared and created a mist around her sister, stepping away from her and moving her in the air, holding her and preventing her from moving.

As the goddess tried to free herself, Metra grinned, enjoying and contemplating her struggling sister. Metra tightened her fists and the invisible force narrowed around Persephone, making her cry out in pain.

“I wanna hurt you just to make you scream!” Metra shouted above her sister’s cries of pain as the mist suffocated her, crushing her lungs and making her stomach bleed.

The goddess savored every seconds of the sweet melody made by her sister’s screams. Her high voice filled with pain and agony made the goddess close her eyes and smile at the beautiful sound reaching her ears. If one day someone had told her she would finally kill her, told her that she would finally get her revenge, she would have called them crazy. But now they would be the ones calling her crazy to assassinate Hades’ wife. But Metra didn’t think twice and grabbed the cypress stake, holding the weapon tightly in her hand.

“Say ‘hi’ to your husband for me.” Metra told her with a wicked smirk, raising her arm as Persephone’s eyes widened, realizing her incoming fate.

Before she could say anything, Metra pierced her heart with the stake, making the goddess of the dead scream in pain, her cries echoing through the whole building. A strange flowery scent filled the room as the screeches faded and Persephone fell on the floor, lifeless.

Staring at her sister’s corpse, Metra smiled, letting a satisfied sound out. Finally. She had put an end to it all, she had avenged herself, she could start again with a clean slate, she could finally have some peace. Appreciating the scent of withered flowers, Metra knelt down next to her lifeless sister, pushing some pieces of her hair away from her face.

“You should have left him to me, little sis’. I would have had gladly let you have all Mom’s love.” The goddess declared, letting a little snort out before pulling the weapon out of her sister’s chest, observing it.

“Well, seems like you boys were right. It did kill Persephone.” The woman said, standing up and turning around towards the hunters with a smile.

When she looked at them again, the goddess only saw the dark looks the brothers were giving her. She couldn’t blame them, she had betrayed them after all and from the look of it, it wasn’t something they were planning to let her get away with. But unfortunately for them, she would be long gone before they could move again.

Sam and Dean clenched their jaws as she walked to them, playing with the stake in her hand before resting the end of it against the older brother’s chest. Dean glared at her, hating her very touch. He wanted to move, to grab her and stab her with this very stake just to see if it would hurt her. But he couldn’t even move his arm a little, trapped in his body and against the concrete wall. So the hunter did the only thing he could and glared at her, clenching his jaws until it hurt, showing her how much he hated her, how much he despised her and how much he wanted to hurt her.

At the dirty look the hunters were giving her, Metra decided to allow them to talk again, thinking that they had been restrained for long enough, forced to witness her beautiful work. So, with a light movement of her hand, she freed their mouths.

“You fucking bitch!” Dean shouted, a vein appearing on the side of his neck when he yelled while Sam gasped for air.

The goddess raised her eyebrows at the insult, tucking her chin and taking a step back while pointing the weapon at him.

“Wow, language.” She told him off, furrowing her eyebrows at the green-eyed man. “You were way more polite when you thought I was a poor, innocent victim.” Metra complained with a mocking smile and Dean wished he could grab this stake and drive it into her heart.

“Yeah, well, I have less sympathy for gods who kill innocent humans just because they got a beef with their sister over a stupid guy.” Dean vociferated, his eyes shooting daggers, still trying to free himself from the invisible grip around him.

At his words, Metra’s smile fell and she glared at him back. Taking a few steps towards him to press the sharp edge of the stake against Dean’s chest again, making the hunter grit his teeth at the feeling. Sam watched the scene, his eyes widening in fear of the goddess hurting his brother.

“Don’t!” Sam yelled, struggling against the invisible force, trying to make the goddess stop her actions before she did something irreversible. But Metra didn’t even give him a look, completely ignoring the scared hunter on her right, focusing on the one in front of her.

“Be careful on how you talk about him, human.” Metra warned, her voice low and threatening.

Dean didn’t let it appear, his face remaining focused and grave, but he was scared. His heart fastened in his chest, his blood running cold for a moment at the menacing brown eyes of the goddess, fearing for a second that he had pushed her too far and that he was going to face the consequences of his words. He had faced powerful monsters before and he had been scared but no matter what was happening inside him, he wasn’t going to show it to them. But the goddess didn’t burst his heart, the point of the weapon slightly piercing his skin was the only pain she inflicted him.

“Ah, yes, Adriana… that was very unfortunate.” She said with a smile, thinking about the girl she had chosen to bring the Winchesters in this town. It was true that Adriana had nothing to do with it, she was only a mean to an end, a very tragic end.

“I’m gonna kill you.” Dean swore, shooting daggers with his eyes. The hunter couldn’t stand her expression, hating the way she didn’t seem to care even a little about the death of the girl. She had sacrificed a human and this couldn’t be left alone, she couldn’t get away with it.

But at the genuine and serious threat, Metra grinned, biting her bottom lip. The goddess couldn’t help but love the sound of his menace, after all, she was starting to be pretty found of him.

“You’ve got a good heart, Dean. I was touched by the way you cared about my safety and pain, it had been centuries since anyone showed me such sympathy. But I have to admit, your threats are doing a whole new thing to me.” She declared, eyeing him up and down and winking at him. Dean rolled his eyes before looking away, annoyed by her inappropriate flirting.

“As for you, Sam,” she brought her attention to the younger brother who was already staring at her, “you almost saw right through me and I have to tell you that, it almost worried me for a second. You’re a smart man and I admire your distrust.” She declared and the hunter clenched his jaws, hating the way she was mocking them.

Then, stepping back and away from them, Metra took a deep breath, admiring the view of the immobilized hunters before her. She took a moment to study them both, the strength and courage that emanated from them, the way they didn’t show fear and didn’t look impressed when they perfectly knew she could end them both with a snap of her fingers. But she wasn’t going to, it was unnecessary and who knows who they might help her eliminate next time.

“I have to tell you boys, it was my first time working with hunters and I wasn’t disappointed. And I would like to thank you for helping me accomplish this.” She said, turning towards Persephone’s body laying on the floor. Letting a contemplating sigh out, she smiled.

Then, she turned back to Sam and Dean and raised the stake in her hand before kneeling down and put it on the ground. The brothers frowned at her action, wondering why she was leaving the weapon on the floor and when she stood up again, she answered her silent question.

“Well, I’ll leave you this here. Who knows, maybe you’ll need it again someday.” She shrugged, crossing her arms and taking a few more steps back. “I hope you don’t mind if I give myself a little head start. As much as a part of me would love to, may we not cross paths again. I’m afraid we won’t like the outcome.” She declared with a smile and before the brothers could say anything, she winked at them and disappeared before their eyes.

The brothers fell on the ground in a grunt, the invisible force Metra was controlling disappearing with her. Finally able to move as they pleased, the hunters turned to each others, making sure the other was alright before standing up. Sam hurried to Persephone, checking her pulse but quickly confirming her death. The tall man raised his head and saw his brother crouching down, picking up the weapon from the floor. Watching the blood on the edge of it, he tightened his grip around the stake.

They had lost this battle, they had let the goddess escape but it would have been a first if they stayed down and let the bad guy run away. This didn’t happen, not on their watch. Looking at the goddess’ dead body on the floor, Dean promised himself that he would find Metra again and kill her, and when he met his brother’s eyes, he knew Sam thought the same thing as him.

No one double-crossed the Winchesters and this goddess was going to learn this.

I hope you liked it ! Let me know if you did !  

Forever Taglist : @emilielbls @avanatural @awkward-and-indecisive  @roonyxx​ @waynes-multiverse @akshi8278 @snowlovespie @ghostofjoharvelle  

[sastielsmanuscript-draft]

same meme, different fonts

[norever]

somewhere in a bad dream

[selfship-confession-box]

Guys I may be getting this cass plushy and iam so excited because cas is literally one of my oldest f/os and he is literally my favorite character

my love for him and Sam has been reignited since iam certainly rewatching spn

Like look at the dork I need to yeat him at the wall and give him little demon kisses :>

-phen 228

.

[electromignion]

Paradise City (AO3 - OS)

Link to the fic

Fandom: Supernatural

Pairing: Dean Winchester/Crowley

Characters: Dean Winchester, Crowley, Baby

Rating: General Audience

Words: 1,587

Synopsis: Dean Winchester does a karaoke alone in his car. Little does he know that changing slightly the lyrics of Paradise City from “the girls are pretty” to “the boys are pretty” will change his relationship with Crowley.

Tags: Coming Out, Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Comfort, Trans Dean Winchester, Trans Male Character, FTM Dean Winchester, Drowley, Crowlean - Freeform, Pansexual Crowley (Supernatural), Love, Love Confessions, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Song: Paradise City (Guns N' Roses), Karaoke, Driving, Crowley (Supernatural) Loves Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester loves Crowley (Supernatural), Supportive Crowley (Supernatural), Anxious Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester Has A Panic Attack, Crowley (Supernatural) comforts Dean Winchester, Partners to Lovers, Mild Language, Tiny bit of transphobia (in the past) mentioned

[nerdie-faerie]

Very funny to think at the same time the supernaturals of New Orleans are bickering about who should be in charge and how to get more power, the Mystic Falls lot are fighting against the literal unravelling of all magic in the world

[jake-and-amy-are-married]

11 14 20 for the ask game! 😈

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

insert _don't quote the old magic to me_ gif here. I was here when the stevetony vs stucky ugly fighting was happening lolololol. I was sent death threats, and violence threats, so it was SUPER FUN! I mean - you know, fun in a very sad way. Thankfully I never took any of it seriously - so most of the words I've filtered are anti-tony stark sentiments - I would say about 20/25 sentences?

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

This is a true thing that really annoys me a lot - making the men into ken dolls - for example, they finally paired sam up with an AWESOME BADASS deaf actress and there was like no buzz? around them?! I've noticed that the subtle not so subtle misogyny is fandom across and fandom wide lol. Men with even good opposite sex pairs are usually made into ken dolls with that other dude in the show. Not that I say we shouldn't write MLM stories, but I think we should address it fandom wide.

22. part of canon you found tedious or boring - which fandom is this? I'll try to be more specific then?

[ruthnovak]

I’m so sorry, Ru. But l’m author. I can…

This is my character. And l love her so much. You see

[dimacle0d]

A little bit about my character

[livingfandomly]

John Winchester popping in and out of the show like a damn ghost himself.

[posebox-guide]

"Overlay Scrapyard" Pose Box by Sparklesim

Self > Head > Look behind you > 45° Right

Self > Head > Look behind you > 90° Right

Self > Head > Look behind you > 135° Right

Self > Head > Look behind you > 180° Right

This pose is an overlay.

[geekpopnews]

Supernatural poderá ganhar 16º temporada

É isso mesmo que você leu! Os irmãos Winchester podem estar voltando para uma nova produção de Supernatural! A série, que acompanha Sam e Dean Winchester na luta contra inimigos sinistros, tem sido assunto de novos burburinhos em torno de um possível revival. Vem entender! Supernatural é uma franquia que já contabiliza cerca de 327 episódios, 15 temporadas e milhares de fãs, o que não é pra…

[buttergumz]

AAAAAaaa im going crazy,,, pls add me to the taglist?? if its still open<333 hehe

taglist | playlist

summary: Everything seemed to fall into place for Y/N. She had a loving boyfriend, her dream job, and the bestest friend in the universe. She never thought her life was missing something until she was introduced to Seo Changbin, the town's newest tattoo artist who happens to be harboring an unimaginable secret.

pairing: tattoo artist!Changbin × good girl!Reader

genres/themes: angst, fluff, smut, 18+ (minors dni. I mean it. go away), slow burn, “forbidden” love, strangers to lovers, supernatural au, tattoo artist!Changbin, werewolf!Changbin, established boyfriend!Joshua

warnings: adult dialogue, alcohol consumption, Joshua being an asshat

permanent taglist: @yoonguurt @wonderfulshinee @candidupped @dejavernon @violagoth @tigermoonbiss @katsukis1wife @luvsooby

stray kids taglist: @cixrosie @hoeforcheol @beomgyusbabygirl @lovestayskzxx @flowerboykun @smhlino @cutiespaghetti @peterparkoure

series taglist: @snow-pegasus @brownieracha @hobi-is-golden @avyskai @i-say-choco-you-say-ice-cream @biribarabiribbaem @mchslut @spicxbnny @hgema @likeaboss-duh @oiminho @slut-for-dabi @ughyeka @honey-lemon-goose @skidsflowers @fixation-dump @meadowyin @sleeplessdawn @bristidutta @changbinnss @racha-enthusiast @phobia0922 @sanjoongie @nattisbored @kimseungminsprincess @chrollosforehead @typicalcuriosities @tai-loves-skz @labyrinthonmymind @spookyauthorspopmusictrash

Red strikethrough means I cannot tag you. Check your visibility settings.

And if you change your url, YOU are responsible for telling me.

a/n: It's finally here! I have been looking forward to this series for a while. I really hope it's as well received and that you all love it. I will warn you all that it's a slow burn fic and I do mean slow burn. Something to note is that Y/N never cheats on her boyfriend. I want to make that known now. Cheating is not included in this series. A couple things before we get started:

A huge thank you to my wife, Sky☁️, for this entire story idea. Without her late night thoughts and ramblings as well as her constant hype and support, this series wouldn’t even exist.

Also a massive thank you and huge shout out to @icybluehosh for her professional input on all things tattoos. You are a saint, my love and I thank you so much!

To everyone else, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy this series and what I have in store for these characters!

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𝗰𝗵 𝟬𝟭 - 𝗮 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿

wc: 16.5 (she's wordy and I'm not sorry lol)

masterlist || next »»

The faint sound of soft jazz played overhead, occasionally drowned out by the sounds of forks and knives clinking gently against ceramic plates. The air filled with the smell of coffee, muffins and other baked goods, making you wish you'd gotten something to eat.

Coming to this cafe had been your boyfriend’s idea, not yours, but you found yourself enchanted with the small, cozy atmosphere. The light, almost white, wood of the floor and tabletops contrasted against the black painted brick walls of the small space.

Huge rectangular windows dominated the storefront, allowing in as much natural light as possible. The pale wood was accompanied by black painted metal in the legs of the tables and in the chairs and the few bar stools that stood under the white granite countertop.

There were a few potted plants behind the bar and in the corners giving a little life and color to the otherwise nearly monochromatic palette. You glanced down at the mug in front of you. A simple vanilla latte had been your order when you accompanied Joshua up to the counter.

The sprinkling of cinnamon that lay on top of the steamed milk foam couldn't mask the aroma of the coffee that invited you in to take a sip. Although you didn’t want to mess up the foam design, the moment you took a sip, sighing in contentment as the sweet vanilla bean flavor hit your tongue, you knew you’d made the right call.

You heard a chuckle and glanced up across the table, eyes settling on your boyfriend as he smiled at you, having just taken a sip of his own coffee, an iced americano, his go to as of late.

You couldn’t understand why he loved such a bitter drink. You remembered trying it weeks ago and gagged. It was just too strong and bitter for you. You liked cream and sugar in your coffee.

You liked things that tasted sweet. Joshua said sweetness reminded him of you, which is why he asked for an extra two pumps of the liquid sugar in his drink earlier.

“What?” You asked softly, setting your mug on the table. Joshua shook his head, his smile widening ever so slightly as he set his own cup down. “Nothing,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders but the smile remained. “Are you taking the mickey out of me?” You asked. Joshua laughed and shook his head. “That was awfully British of you,” he said and it was your turn to laugh.

“You’ve been watching too many of those BBC shows again, haven’t you?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow. You shook your head. “No, I’ve just been rewatching Doctor Who,” you admitted, looking away and out the window next to you.

The street outside was bustling with people, most of them enjoying the pleasant end of summer weather. Sejong was a smaller town near Daejeon and it was the town you happened to call home.

The quaint small town atmosphere greeted you the moment you pulled onto the main street. The smell of pine and fresh mountain air greeted many travelers who picked this town as their vacation spot, and for good reason.

The town offered a wide variety of activities, from mountain climbing to camping and hiking. It was also close to a lake that was popular with tourists and residents alike.

A hot spring was rumored to be in the area, though you'd never set sights on it, and you'd lived in Sejong all your life, explored much of the forests, and seen many things under the sun and moon alike.

But no hot springs.

You used to enjoy summers in Sejong, especially when you were younger. Spending all day with your friends, going to the lake and relaxing on the shore by the swim beach. You had spent many summers of your youth at the lake, both at the swim beach and exploring the lake's edges with your friends.

Seungcheol and Joshua always led the adventures with you, your best friend Lilah, and Jeonghan trailing behind. Sometimes Wonwoo would join you but most of his summers were spent interning at his father’s publishing company.

When your friend group wasn’t at the lake, you could be found at each other’s houses, or for you and Lilah, you could be found at what the two of you called your ‘secret place.’ It was a small clearing in the woods near the edge of town that was full of wildflowers during the spring and summer months. You’d meet up during the day and sometimes just the two of you at night. It was a pact that only you girls would meet there and that no boys were allowed.

You had so many fond memories of summer you weren’t sure when you started dreading the hotter months of the year. Maybe it was a subconscious thing once you became an adult.

When you’re a kid, summer is a time for breaks from school. Time for friends, staying up late, and partying. When you became an adult, summer didn’t stop the daily grind. You still had work to do. It made you appreciate your parents more the older you became.

“Y/N?” You heard Joshua speak, pulling you out of your thoughts and turning your attention to him once more. “You alright, babe?” He asked, brows knitting g together in concern. You nodded, giving him a smile. “Yeah, just thinking,” you said, picking up your mug and taking another deeper sip of the hot coffee.

Though it was technically summer, you were glad it was ending, and autumn was beginning to settle in. The mornings were cooler, the days were getting shorter, and the nights were getting longer. The leaves barely started to change color, but you already caught little glimpses of yellow, orange, red, and brown amongst the green.

“What are you thinking about?” Joshua asked, and you turned back to look at him. “Just the past,” you said with a shrug, resting your hands on the table before you, fingers wrapping around the warm mug. Joshua shifted in his seat, leaning forward and resting his elbow on the table. “What about it?” He asked softly, resting his chin in his hand.

“Just how much easier things used to be. No worries, no bills, no rent, no traumas.”

Joshua’s expression changed, a frown settling on his face before he reached out to take one of your hands softly in his. He rubbed the back of your hand with his thumb, studying your expression before he spoke. “You know it wasn’t your fault,” he said suddenly.

You glanced up at him, eyes meeting his gaze. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” he added. A small smile formed on your face. “I know,” you replied, voice barely above a whisper.

The tender moment was interrupted by your phone buzzing on the table top. You didn’t want to answer it, almost glaring at it for ruining your precious time with your boyfriend. He glanced at the screen, picked up the device, and turned it towards you. Your eyes read the name that flashed across the screen as the phone continued to buzz in his hand. You sighed and pulled your hands away to take the device from him.

You slid the lock to answer and held the phone to your ear. “Hey, Lilah,” you greeted your best friend. On the other side, you could hear her breathing heavily and the sound of objects being moved quickly. “Y/N!” She gasped. “Ohmigosh, I’m glad you answered!” You looked up at Joshua who was looking out the window, his expression unreadable.

It was no secret Joshua wasn’t fond of your best friend. More than once, he’d said he thought she was a bad influence on you which you didn’t understand because Lilah has never once pressured you to do anything you would consider bad. Sure, she was covered in tattoos and piercings, but to you, that didn’t change the fact that she was still your best friend underneath all the ink and metal.

Lilah was the loud, outgoing, energetic one between you. You'd met in primary school when she offered to share her brand new crayons with you and declared you her new best friend.

In middle school, the two of you met and befriended Wonwoo and with him came the others. Joshua, Seungcheol, and Jeonghan were a year older than Wonwoo but still as close with him as they were with one another.

“I’M FREAKING OUT Y/N,” Lilah nearly shouted. You cringed, pulling the phone from your ear slightly.

“Calm down,” you said into the receiver, noticing Joshua glance at you out of the corner of his eye.

He’d never understand why you still associated with Lilah. Especially after what happened between her and Jeonghan. To Joshua, you were too good for Lilah. When she started covering herself in tattoos and getting facial piercings, Joshua knew she’d gone off the deep end and he feared she would take you with her.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, looking away from your boyfriend. “I need you here. Please Y/N it’s an emergency,” Lilah said, voice sounding panicked. You nodded, despite the fact Lilah couldn’t see you. “Okay, calm down, Li. I’ll be right over,” you added, glancing up at Joshua, who glanced back at you as you spoke. Lilah thanked you profusely over the phone until you hung up. You looked up at Joshua, a grimace on your face.

“I know,” he said, giving you a small smile. “Lilah emergency,” he added. You sighed, nodding and turning to grab your bag. “I’m so sorry, Josh,” you said as you got up, Joshua following. You quickly drank the rest of your latte, not wanting it to go to waste. Joshua chuckled as you set the mug back down and turned to him.

He pulled you into a tight hug, resting his head against yours. “Be careful,” he said softly in your ear. You nodded, hugging him back. “I will,” you answered, pulling back and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. You tried to pull away, but Joshua wouldn’t let you. “I’m gonna need a bit more than that,” he said softly, hand moving to cup your cheek and pull your lips back to his. You giggled, the sound muffled by his lips.

The way he kissed you always left you breathless and wanting more. That was how Joshua always was. He always left you wanting more. “Josh,” you murmured against his lips. “We’re in a coffee shop.”

Joshua hummed and pulled away. “Okay,” he sighed. “Fine.” He pressed one more kiss to your lips before letting go of you. “Text me when you’re done with Lilah,” he said, moving aside so you could walk past him. “I will,” you said, giving him one last smile before walking towards the door and onto the sidewalk.

The walk to Lilah’s wasn’t long as she didn’t live far from the city center. The two of you had almost moved in together but thought better of it as you lived somewhat different lifestyles. You had a day job, whereas Lilah was a night owl, becoming most active once the sun went down and the moon came out.

You, on the other hand, were a day person. You preferred the sunlight to the moonlight. You were a lot like Joshua in that respect. He preferred the daytime over the nighttime. He felt that there was more to do during the day.

Unlike Joshua, you didn’t see anything bad about the nighttime. Sure, you preferred the sun over the moon, but you couldn’t deny there was a certain beauty to the silvery glow of the moon that contrasted with the golden one of the sun. They were opposites, but then again, so were you and Lilah.

Lilah was your moon, and you, her sun.

You found yourself outside her building after a brisk walk and climbed the steps to the front door, punching in the code and pulling open the door. Lilah had given you the code to her building ages ago. She said for emergencies, of course. You had also given her your code, again, for emergencies.

Climbing the steps up to her floor, you wondered what could be so important this late in the afternoon that she had interrupted the already small amount of free time you got with your boyfriend.

Of course, Lilah didn’t know you were with Joshua.

It was more of an impromptu thing, meeting at the cafe. The same one he’d taken you on your very first date. Your order hadn’t changed since then, but Joshua’s had changed a handful of times in the last two years.

Standing before Lilah’s door, you brought your hand up and gave the wood three sharp knocks. Behind the door, you heard a commotion as heavy footsteps made their way to the door. A smile spread over your face as Lilah threw open the door. Her panicked expression morphed into a smile as her eyes landed on you. “Oh, thank god!” She said, reaching out to grab your arm and pull you into her apartment.

Lilah’s apartment was small, a studio with a partition wall separating the living area from her bed. The walls were a very pale lilac gray with white crown molding and baseboards.

There were two large windows in the living room area, allowing larger amounts of natural lighting in. The view from her apartment was the main downtown square. During the day, it was a somewhat boring sight, the buildings, the people, even the square, but at night, everything came to life according to Lilah.

Her kitchen was small but big enough for her. A pair of folding doors off the kitchen opened to a pantry where her washer and dryer sat. The furniture in the living room was mostly gray and black, matching Lilah’s personality perfectly. The light walls were adorned with numerous posters of bands and movies.

Several framed paintings also hung on the walls, a few of them being Lilah’s own art, but one small canvas that hung on the wall separating her bedroom was one you had done.

A small floral piece you remembered from a wine and paint party your mother had hosted. Lilah and her mother had attended, and you weren’t too pleased with your painting, so you opted to toss it when your mother wasn’t looking, but Lilah took it instead and hung it proudly next to hers.

The normally very tidy apartment was in a state of disarray, as if a tiny tornado had wreaked havoc.

As Lilah led you into her bedroom area, you were convinced the tiny tornado was in fact your best friend. Clothes were thrown all over the place, littering the floor and the bed. Shoes had also been tossed carelessly around the room and you looked around, shaking your head.

“What is going on?” You asked, turning to look at your best friend.

“There’s a party tonight. Chris invited me. You remember Chris, right?”

You, in fact, did not remember Chris. Since Lilah and her boyfriend, Seungcheol, broke up, Lilah had seen a variety of different men. Testing the waters, she called it. You shook your head again.

“I don’t think I do,” you admitted, moving to sit on her bed, pushing some of the clothing aside. Lilah groaned. “Yes you do,” she answered. “He’s the really cute one with the naturally curly hair. Dimples, pointed chin, chiseled jawline,” Lilah prattled on as she searched through her clothes.

“You just described like half the guys you’ve introduced me to,” you joked, watching her. Lilah clicked her tongue in disapproval. “He’s the Australian one!” she added quickly and then it dawned on you.

'A-ha.' Come to think of it, you did remember Chris.

Lilah was right, he was really cute. His accent is what really sealed the deal for Lilah. The moment he opened his mouth, she was smitten. You could remember almost seeing hearts in her eyes as she watched him speak. He’d been there with some of his own friends whose names you couldn’t remember.

You knew the other reason Lilah liked Chris so much was that he was covered in tattoos. Not full sleeves, but you knew that the work on his arms cost at least several hundred.

Tattoos weren’t cheap, and despite trying to convince Joshua of that, he still thought people with tattoos were unemployed and lazy. It irked you to no end because you knew how expensive it was. You’d accompanied Lilah to more than one tattoo and piercing appointment and nearly died upon hearing the cost.

“Oh, that one,” you said, rolling your eyes playfully.

Lilah nodded furtively, holding up a black cropped shirt. “Yes, that one!” Lilah sighed dreamily, tossing the shirt in her hands aside and picking up a black and white striped shirt.

“He texted me earlier and invited me to a party at the old Firestation. You know the one. Station 6,” she explained as she continued to dig through her clothes. This you also did remember.

Station 6 was the old fire station that was sold after a new, more updated building was constructed. The old station was snatched up by some developer intent on turning it into apartments but found the floor plan weird so he resold it for much cheaper, and a younger team bought it and converted it into a nightclub.

“Apparently Minho told him after Ari told him about it and Minho has been trying to get with Ari for like three months now,” Lilah said as she held up a cute black short sleeve top with an off the shoulder neckline.

“I’m going to pretend I understood what you just said,” you said, holding in a laugh. You knew Chris. The other names were foreign to you, or at least you couldn't picture any faces. Lilah did laugh, instead continuing to dig through the piles of clothes on her floor.

"Just help me, please?!"

You looked around the bed where you sat and grabbed the first thing that caught your eye. It was black, like the majority of Lilah's wardrobe, so it was worth a shot. Whatever it took to satisfy your best friend so you could try and get back to your boyfriend.

“Well, why don’t you wear this?” You asked, holding up the article you'd grabbed off the bed. It was a black leather bodycon dress with a lace up bust.

Lilah looked up and studied the dress from her spot on the floor. “I wore that last time I saw Chris,” she said, shaking her head. “I need something else. I really wanna get Chris’ attention,” she added.

"Something to get his attention," you murmured as you looked around before your eyes settled on a flash of red. Leaning over, you snatched it and held it up. “Hey, what about this?” You asked, smiling as you held it up for her to inspect.

It was a red halter dress. There were three cutouts held together with three chain links extending just past the navel. The back was cut to about the mid back. Lilah sat up and walked forward on her knees. She took it from your hands and inspected it. You glanced around and grabbed a tangled mess of black elastic. “And this?” You asked, holding it up.

Lilah looked up at your hands and smiled. She grabbed the mess and got up, running to her bathroom to change. You got up and started searching through her shoes and pulled out a pair of peep toe mesh booties with lace up front and stiletto heels.

You knew Lilah well enough that if you hadn’t chosen a pair of stilettos, she would have been offended. You stood back up, turning to meet her at the bathroom door.

“So… how does it look? How did I do?” You asked through the door. “I gotta give it to you,” Lilah started, before pulling open the door to show you the outfit.

“For someone who wears exclusively pastels, you sure know how to pick out the sexiest outfits,” she said, adjusting one of the straps of the black harness bra.

She noticed the heels in your hand and smiled gleefully. You handed them to her, smirking as she looked them over. “I’m serious,” she added, stepping out of the bathroom and walking over to her bedroom area, where she began picking up her clothes. You helped, putting things back on the hangers and handing them to her.

“Now,” Lilah said, turning to look at you, a wide grin on her face. “We need to pick an outfit for you,” she added.

You shook your head. “Oh no,” you replied.

“I’m not going, Li,” you said, shaking your head. Lilah pouted and moved to kneel on the carpet beside where you sat on the bed.

“Come on, Y/N! Please!!” She begged. You shook your head.

“No, Li. You interrupted my time with Joshua when I wanted to spend more time with him,” you responded. Lilah stuck out her tongue.

“Please, Y/N? You’ll see him on Sunday, won’t you?” She stated, giving you her best puppy dog eyes.

She was right. You would see Josh on Sunday at church with your families. You only attended to keep up appearances, not because you actually believed.

Realizing she wouldn’t let this go until you gave in to her pleas, you groaned and fell back onto the bed in defeat. “Fine!” You grumbled. Lilah let out an excited squeak.

“I’ve got the perfect outfit for you!”

She got to her feet and rushed to her closet while you sat up quickly, mind racing with images of what she might possibly pick out for you. It was pretty obvious you and Lilah had very different tastes and styles when it came to clothing.

You shook your head furiously. “Oh, no. Uh-uh, Lilah!” You blurted out. “I’ll just run home and change,” you added, getting to your feet. “Nonsense,” Lilah said as she dug into the back of her closet.

“I keep a few dresses in here for occasions like this,” Lilah added as she pulled out a dress. She turned and held it up. It was a baby pink bodycon dress, with a ruffle trim around the top. The short puff sleeves also had ruffles around the cuffs, and the bust had a lace up that fell to the navel. The back was somewhat modest with a zipper.

You eyed it; mildly surprised Lilah had even an ounce of pink in her wardrobe that wasn't neon or hot pink. She held the dress out for you to take but you paused, glancing up from the dress to your best friend. "Come on, please, Y/N?" she whined.

You studied her expression before finally sighing in defeat. "You aren't going to let me leave unless I say yes, are you?" You asked, narrowing your eyes when she giggled mischievously.

"Fine! Fine," you said, taking the dress. "I'll be your wing woman tonight." Lilah danced excitedly, thanking you profusely as she moved to dig through her shoes and quickly pulled out a pair you’d borrowed more than once: white satin pumps with stiletto heels and a silver filigree design on the back.

As she handed them to you, and you took them as you shot her a look. “You were planning this the whole time, weren’t you?” You asked. Lilah ushered you to the bathroom and closed the door behind you. Sighing, you quickly slipped off your shoes, setting them on the closed toilet lid before undressing.

You pulled the dress on, zipping it up with some difficulty. It was a little snug but still fit. Shaking your head and gathering your clothes, you emerged from the bathroom and found Lilah waiting in the kitchen for you.

She smiled widely as you set your folded clothes on the counter and you tried to ignore the look on her face as you pulled out your phone, wallet, and lipgloss from your purse. “You look so hot!” Lilah said excitedly. “Oh stop,” you hissed, heat rising to your cheeks.

“You want to wear one of the other dresses?” Lilah asked, and you quickly shook your head. “No,” you answered. “This is fine,” you added, grabbing your compact mirror and reapplying your lipgloss. Lilah had quickly done her makeup while you were in the bathroom.

She'd gone with a blood red lipstick and dark smokey black eye makeup. “We should head out,” Lilah said, checking her phone. “Do you have a small bag?” You asked Lilah, who nodded and disappeared into her room. When she returned, she was holding a small silver clutch and handed it to you.

Opening the tiny purse, you slipped your things into it, adding Lilah’s phone and lipstick when she handed them to you. “Okay,” Lilah said, combing through her hair with her fingers. “Let’s go.” You slipped on your best friend's heels and followed her to the door.

Outside, the sun had started to set, falling below the treeline. The two of you walked, chatting animatedly, when your phone buzzed in the purse. You fished it out and saw a text from Joshua.

Joshy: everything okay?

You: yeah. Lilah just being usual Lilah

Joshy: dramatic? That’s so like her lol so you staying with her or would you like to meet up and pick up where we left off?

You paused, stopping in your tracks as Lilah chatted animatedly. She didn’t notice you’d stopped for a few moments. “Y/N?” She asked. “Everything okay?” You looked up at her, meeting her concerned gaze. “Yeah, let me just answer this text real quick,” you replied, looking back down at your phone and typing a response.

You: I’m gonna stay with Lilah. Girls night. Sorry babe

Joshy: it’s alright baby. Will I see you soon?”

You: of course. We’ll see each other on Sunday,

Joshy: at church?

You: and after, if you’d like (;

Joshy: Sunday suddenly can’t come fast enough

You giggled, slipping your phone into the purse and joining Lilah, linking arms with her as you walked.

“I think that’s the last box,” Jeongguk said, setting the box he was carrying down on the kitchen counter. Changbin looked up from his phone and back down, sending the text he was currently typing and pocketed his phone.

“Which one is that one?” He asked as he walked over to where his friend stood. “Uhh, kitchen shit,” Jeongguk said, tilting his head to the side to read the hastily scribbled words written in black Sharpie.

Changbin snorted and pushed his friend, who merely chuckled.

“I still can’t believe we’re actually here,” Jeongguk added as he moved to lean over the kitchen island. “Beats sleeping on the road and in shitty roadside inns,” he continued, giving Changbin a pointed look.

“Would you rather sleep in a shitty roadside inn or camp by the side of the road again?” Changbin asked, recalling the first and last time he went camping with Jeongguk. ‘Never again,’ he had told himself the following morning.

“Yeah, no. I’m never sharing a tent with you again,” Jeongguk laughed as Changbin joined him. “Hey, it makes for one hell of a story,” the younger man said with a shrug.

Jeongguk rolled his eyes. “Ah yes, I’ll be sure to regale all the hot babes with tales of how i thought I got bit in the ass by a snake, but it was actually a rock under the base of the tent I happened to roll onto in my sleep,” he said, a goofy grin on his face as Changbin burst into laughter.

“In your defense, it was like three in the morning, and I’m sure it felt exactly like a snake bite in your sleep,” Changbin retorted, making Jeongguk offer him a very rude hand gesture. “I’m just glad things worked out when they did,” Jeongguk finally said softly. “Who knows what would have happened if we didn’t get into this place before the end of the month.”

The smile on Changbin’s face fell slowly. Jeongguk was right. They were cutting it close, but he was lucky to even find this place to begin with. He would have to thank Sungjin again for the heads up.

Changbin felt his phone buzz in his pocket and took it out, heart beating quickly until he saw the notification was from Chris. He visibly relaxed, his muscles no longer tensing, something Jeongguk took notice of immediately.

He waited until Changbin finished texting before he spoke.

“When are you gonna stop doing that?”Jeongguk asked softly. He didn’t mean it harshly. It’s not like he found it annoying. More like it was concerning how his friend tensed up any time his phone went off.

“Huh?” Changbin asked as he slipped his phone back into the pocket of his black cargo pants. “Doing what?” Jeongguk could tell Changbin was trying to feign ignorance but he wasn’t having it.

“You really think she’ll be able to find you? All the way out here?” Jeongguk asked, watching how Changbin winced slightly when he mentioned… her. Albeit not by name. Still, any mention of her was enough to send Changbin on edge.

“You know she hates small towns like this,” Jeongguk continued. “I mean, hell, she didn’t even want to visit Daejeon when we came out for a tattoo convention three years ago!” Changbin knew his friend had a point.

“It’s been what? Almost a year since you’ve seen or heard from her, right?” Jeongguk asked, watching Changbin as he nodded. “Give or take, yeah,” he confirmed. Jeongguk nodded this time. “It’s time to let it go, man. You’re safe. There’s no way she’ll find you out here.”

Changbin exhaled slowly. Jeongguk was right. Changbin knew there was no way anyone from his past would find him out here. It was far from the city. Far from the life he’d lived before. The only thing he brought with him were his problems and one of the few people he could really depend on.

His phone buzzed again and he pulled it out. Chris sure was talkative today.

Chris was the new piercer he’d just hired a couple of months ago when the shop was still being renovated. Chris and Minho had come in, the former being all smiles as he walked in, a certain bounce in his step, while his friend was much more cynical and witty.

[two months ago]

Changbin stood up, admiring his handiwork as he checked the wall for white spots. He’d just finished painting the accent wall near the front of the shop while Jeongguk was working on the large tiger decal he’d started three days ago. Changbin turned to look at his friend’s work.

“Holy shit, dude,” Changbin said as his eyes took in the details and color. Jeongguk was resting on a ladder as if it were the most comfortable place to be, an artist's palette in his hand as he worked on the tiger’s face.

He looked down with a huge grin, one the girls he’d dated in the past said reminded them of a bunny rabbit. Changbin didn’t see what they saw, but that was probably because those girls were trying to woo his best friend, and he was not.

“Looks a lot better than yesterday, huh?” Jeongguk asked as he set the palette on the small tray holder of the ladder and climbed down, hopping past the last few steps and meeting Changbin in the middle of the room to look up at the tiger.

“Yeah, he has teeth now,” Changbin joked. “Doesn’t look like some weird gaping maw.” Jeongguk playfully swung at Changbin with a chuckle. “Fuck you, man,” he laughed as Changbin easily dodged him.

The two were continuing to playfully box at one another until the bell at the front door rang as the door opened.

Changbin turned as two men entered the shop. Both of them were taller than he was but still shorter than Jeongguk. One had dark brown, curly hair tucked under a black plain baseball cap. He wore a simple black tee shirt and grey sweats with black trainers.

He had partial sleeves, all in black ink, decorating his arms as well as a couple on the side of his neck. He also sported a silver barbel on his left eyebrow, a black ring in his septum and a single nose piercing.

The other man, the taller of the two, had longer just as dark brown hair and wore a dark gray shirt with ripped blue jeans and black high top shoes. He had full sleeves in partial color and a single vertical labret piercing.

“Hey,” Jeongguk said, stepping forward. “Sorry guys, we’re not open and still working in here.” The taller of the two raised an eyebrow as the shorter man smiled, dimples appearing on either side of his face.

“You’re hiring, right?” He asked, holding out the flyers Changbin had put up the week before. Changbin looked back up at the man. “Uh, yeah. What kind of experience do you have?” He asked.

He watched as both men pulled out their phones. The taller one showed him an Instagram full of his work. “Do you both do tattoos?” Changbin asked. The shorter one shook his head.

“Minho does tattoos. I’m still learning, but I do piercings,” he answered. Changbin nodded, watching as the shorter man showed him the piercings he’s done.

“You have your licenses and certifications,” Jeongguk asked as he looked over the two men’s Instagram portfolios. Both nodded, providing the necessary documents. Jeongguk looked over the two license and papers before he handed them back and tapped Changbin on the shoulder, nodding towards the front desk.

“Give us just a second,” Changbin said to the men and turned to follow Jeongguk.

“What do you think?” His friend asked, arms crossed over his chest. Changbin glanced over where the two men stood, looking around and inspecting Jeongguk’s tiger wall art. “This is really good,” the shorter man said, smiling at the tiger . “Your work?” He asked, directing the question at Jeongguk, who nodded.

“It’s really good, man.”

Jeongguk turned his attention back to Changbin after thanking the man.

“Well?”

Changbin looked at the two men, giving them the once-over. It was apparent they both knew what they were doing but he needed confirmation. “Let’s give them a test.” Jeongguk nodded and stepped forward.

“What are your names again?” He asked.

“Minho,” the taller man answered.

“This excitable short puppy is Chan,” he added, gesturing to his friend.

“Uh no. Chris,” the shorter man answered.

“Chan is my birth name. I prefer Chris.”

“Okay, Minho,” Jeongguk answered, nodding towards Minho.

“Chris,” he nodded towards the shorter man. “We’re gonna give you both a test.” Minho said nothing but Chris chuckled.

“Okay, but I didn’t study,” he joked.

Minho rolled his eyes.

“Ignore him and his dumb jokes,” he said softly. Changbin let out a low laugh.

“Jeongguk, take Minho to your station,” he instructed before turning to Chris.

“You come with me.”

Chris followed Changbin to his station. “Are there any piercings you aren’t comfortable performing?” Changbin asked as he dug through a box, pulling out a few supplies. He pulled a rolling tray over to him with the toe of his boot.

Chris shook his head. “I’ve done almost everything. Dermals, tongues, nipples, hell, I’ve even done a few genital piercings,” he answered as Changbin set up the tray. Changbin looked up with a raised eyebrow.

“You’re a braver man than me,” he murmured with a smirk.

“I don’t want anyone’s junk in my face.”

Chris shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me,” he said with a grin. “And the smell doesn’t bother you?” Changbin asked as he moved the tray over to his chair. Chris shook his head. “Nah. I always wear a mask and I get it done as soon as possible so I don’t have to smell anything.”

Changbin snorted as he sat on the chair. “Alright. I’ve set you up to do—” he started, but Chris interrupted him. “Nipple? Not gonna lie, I figured you’d already have them done,” he said with a sly grin.

Changbin untucked his shirt and pulled it off. “I just never got around to it. It’s hard to pierce yourself, and Kook doesn’t do piercings,” he said as he set his shirt aside.

Chris seemingly entered his professional mode. His cheerful demeanor didn’t drop as he washed his hands quickly, returning to put on the gloves.

“Kook?” Chris asked as he got to work. “Which side?” He asked, pointing at Changbin’s chest. “Doesn’t matter to me,” Changbin answered. “Right side is fine.” Chris started prepping the area, wiping it with an alcohol pad.

“Kook is my partner,” Changbin finally responded to Chris’ earlier question.

“Oh, business partner or…?” He trailed off. Changbin chuckled as Chris prepared the needle.

“Business. He’s a great guy and my best friend but I’m very much into women,” Changbin answered as Chris laughed with him.

“Hey, no judgment here,” Chris said, preparing the barbel before grabbing the small forceps. “How well do you handle pain?” Chris asked as he carefully clamped the forceps on Changbin’s right nipple.

“I’m covered in tattoos,” Changbin answered with an amused tone. “I’d say pretty well,” he added as Chris picked up the needle.

“You’d think people who are covered in tattoos handle pain well but Minho is the biggest baby in existence,” Chris whispered as he leaned in closer to see what he was doing.

“I heard that.” A voice called from across the hall, making Changbin and Chris both chuckle. “Deep breath in,” Chris instructed. Changbin breathed in. “And out,” Chris said and as Changbin exhaled, he felt the slight sting of the needle.

“You didn’t even wince,” Chris noted as he pulled the barbel through and carefully secured the screw ball on the end before wiping the area one last time.

Changbin picked up his shirt. While Chris cleaned up the used items and removed his gloves, Changbin pulled his shirt back on.

“So, do I get the job?” Chris asked as Changbin moved the tray aside and set the rest of the stuff to be cleaned.

“How are you with painting?” Changbin asked as he tucked his shirt back into his pants. “Uh, I’m no Picasso, but I’ve painted rooms before,” Chris said with a shrug. “And Minho?” Changbin asked as they walked towards the doorway.

“He’s the artist. Much better than me,” Chris answered, following Changbin into the room where Jeongguk’s station was. They turned and watched while Minho worked. Jeongguk had pulled his shirt off and was sitting facing away from Minho while the younger man drew a small flash tattoo.

It wasn’t anything intricate or fancy. The lines were clean, and his hand very steady. “You better not be drawing a dick,” Jeongguk said jokingly. Minho snorted but continued to work.

“Nah,” he replied, stopping for a second to wipe some ink and blood from Jeongguk’s skin, a smirk forming as his response formed in his head.

“It's a butt.”

In reality, it was a small sheet style ghost with a little balloon that read ‘dead inside.’

Changbin held back a laugh as a grin spread across his face. The style was cute and cartoonish, but the sad ghost eyes and the balloon really set it apart. “I know it’s supposed to be a flash tattoo, but you should totally fill that in red,” Changbin said as he leaned over, pointing at the balloon.

“Great,” Jeongguk said sarcastically. “I got a red ass on my back.”

His response had the other three men bursting into laughter.

When he finished, Minho cleaned up while Jeongguk managed to get a glimpse in the mirror. “Hey, that’s pretty neat. I like the balloon,” he said as he looked over his shoulder at the little ghost.

“I almost did the ghost with a ski mask and gun,” Minho answered as he finished cleaning up and washed his hands. “That would have been a good one, too,” Jeongguk replied, pulling his shirt on.

“So,” Chris asked again with a smile on his face. Changbin and Jeongguk exchanged glances. Jeongguk nodded at his friend, and Changbin turned back to the two.

“You’re hired.”

[present day]

The ringing of Changbin’s phone brought him back to the present, pulling him out of his memories. The caller ID told him it was Chris. He answered it, holding the device up to his ear. “Hey,” he answered.

“Alright, I know you said not to call you without asking first, but there’s this club. Minho and I are going. You remember Ari?” Chris said into the receiver.

Changbin did remember Ari. She was the blonde girl that often came to the shop to see Minho. He also remembered the way Minho looked at Ari whenever she was around. It was a fondness he’d never seen in the two months he’d known the man.

“Yeah, I remember Ari,” Changbin answered, ignoring the way Jeongguk looked up, listening in to his side of the conversation. Jeongguk mouthed at Changbin, trying to figure out what was going on, but Changbin waved him off.

“Well, her friend Hana has been in the shop lately, and she’s got an eye for you. She wants to meet you. So the task to invite you to come out with us has fallen to me. Would you kindly grace us with your presence, boss?” Chris explained, ending in an ask. “We would greatly enjoy your company.”

Changbin snorted. If Chris had asked this in front of him, he’d playfully push or swipe at him. “Yeah, I guess I can make an appearance,” Changbin answered.

“Great! What about Jeongguk? Is he free?”

Changbin told Chris to hold on, putting the call on mute before speaking to Jeongguk. “Chris and Minho are inviting us to come out to a club with them. Apparently one of Ari’s friends wants to meet me,” he explained.

Jeongguk bobbed his head from side to side before nodding. “Yeah, sure.”

Changbin unmuted the call and brought the phone to his ear with a smile.

“Yeah. We’re in.”

You’d never been to the old fire station. The brick exterior hadn’t been touched, even leaving up the old Station 6 sign. Heavy bass sounded from inside the building, muffled by the bricks. You followed Lilah to the door and squeezed your way in. Most of the original structure had been untouched.

The entry hallway was crowded with people moving to and from the dance floor, which was the old fire truck bay. You followed Lilah into the old garage and stood to the side while she looked around, no doubt looking for Chris. You instead took the time to look around at the decor.

The brick inside had been painted black, and there was now a second balcony above the dance floor. The floor where people danced was a step down with a raised DJ booth in the far corner from where you stood. The bar was packed, every seat taken. The tables against the railing separating the dance floor were standing only.

The bar stools and the standing tables matched round black tops with black steel legs. The bar top was black quartz and shiny, catching the lights from above as they swirled and painted the dance floor and patrons in a shower of rainbow and neon lights.

“I see them!” Lilah said to you, leaning in to speak in your ear so you could hear her over the booming music. You nodded, showing that you understood. Lilah took your hand and led you past the bar, following the flow of the crowd until she managed to squeeze into a small booth in the far corner.

She sat down, pulling you gently with her, your butt landing on the cushioned bench next to her. You recognized the man next to her. It was Chris. He turned to look at her as she tapped a finger against his tattooed forearm. His shocked expression morphed into a huge grin, and he greeted her warmly and hugged her.

“You remember my best friend, Y/N?” Lilah asked, gesturing to you, and your attention was drawn from the old garage doors that had been left intact, but no doubt the wiring cut so they couldn’t be opened. Chris gave you a pleasant smile. “It’s nice to see you, Y/N,” he said, leaning forward to shake your hand. “Didn’t expect to see you here,” he added, reaching towards the table to grab his drink.

You shrugged your shoulders. “I didn’t know I’d be coming until about twenty minutes ago,” you replied, nudging Lilah, who gave you a sheepish smile. “I can’t come out without my best friend!” She said with an exaggerated shrug.

You rolled your eyes and turned your attention away as Lilah started to chat with Chris. Sitting in the same corner booth were some faces you recognized but couldn’t put their names to their faces. Your eyes landed on someone you’d never seen before. He looked to be about your age, with short black hair with bangs that fell into his eyes. His attention was focused on the girl sitting next to him.

He wore a black fitted button down with the sleeves rolled up, exposing his heavily tattooed forearms. You noticed the way the fabric of his shirt stretched every time he moved. This guy looked like he was born in a gym. You found yourself unable to look away from him.

He smiled, no doubt at something the girl next to him had whispered in his ear. He shook his head and leaned forward, grabbing his drink and taking a sip. He nestled back against the cushion, arm resting on top of the cushion behind the girl.

She was clearly enjoying the attention he was giving her. Your eyes wandered, taking in the tight black jeans and black leather combat boots. The man leaned forward to look at the guy sitting on the other side of the girl. He was equally as tattooed as the first with an eyebrow and lip piercing.

He had shorter brown hair, styled back to show off his forehead. He turned to look at his friend. You could see his mouth moving, not hearing what was being said. The second man, the brunet, nodded before turning back to the girl with purple hair he had been talking to.

The first man stood up and held out his hand to the girl, which she took it excitedly, letting him pull her up, the brunet man following with the purple haired woman.

You looked away quickly as the four walked past, no doubt heading for the dance floor. As you turned to look at Lilah your eye caught another man staring at you. You recognized him as one of Chris’ friends.

You were sure Lilah had mentioned his name before. Min-Soo? Min-young? Minho? You knew it started with Min. He was looking at you, a curious expression on his face. When your eyes met his, he raised an eyebrow and a smirk slowly started to form on his lips. You tapped Lilah quickly, catching her attention.

“I’m gonna go get something to drink,” you said over the music. Lilah held up her finger, telling you to wait a moment. She turned back to Chris to explain where the two of you were going. He offered to come with and Lilah took him up on his offer.

You soon found yourself squished between Lilah and one of the patrons sitting on a stool at the bar. You apologized to the woman but she just smiled and turned back to her friend.

“What are you drinking?” Chris asked Lilah. She glanced at the back of the bar as a bartender came by.

“Whiskey,” she replied. “Neat.”

Chris turned to the bartender to order two whiskies, both neat before he turned to look past Lilah at you.

“What would you like, Y/N?” He asked. Your head snapped to look at him. “Oh, uh…” you trailed off, glancing at the bar before speaking quickly. “Whiskey sour is fine,” you answered.

Chris nodded, turning to the bartender to add your drink to his tab. The bartender nodded, getting to work on your drinks. You turned around to look over the crowd of people on the dance floor, and somehow, your eyes found him again. His attention was on the girl he’d been sitting with, hands on her waist as they danced closely.

Feeling as if you were intruding, you turned away. A moment later, you felt the girl on the stool next to you slip away, leaving the spot vacant but only for a second.

“I’m surprised to see you here, Goody-Two Shoes,” a low but seductive voice said in your ear.

You turned to see the Min-something guy from before. You rolled your eyes as Lilah reached across to smack his arm. “Don’t call her that, Minho!” she said, frowning. His smile widened as he waited for the bartender.

“Enjoying the show?” He asked, and you turned to give him a confused look. He nodded over his shoulder.

“The way you were eyeing him so hard, I’m surprised someone like you would even be interested,” Minho said, voice low enough that only you could hear him. You looked away.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you answered. He scoffed. “I’m not blind, sweetheart,” he said patronizingly.

“I saw you checking him out earlier. What? Is your pompous asshole boyfriend not doing it for you anymore?”

You felt the heat rising from the pit of your stomach. Before you could answer him, your drink was set in front of you. You thanked Chris, who gave you a warm smile before you turned to look at Minho, a smirk still plastered all over his face.

Taking a sip of your drink gave you enough courage to bite back. “I suggest you get your eyes checked, Min-ho,” you said, adding emphasis to the last syllable of his name before Lilah dragged you away from the bar and back to the booth.

Back on the cushioned seat, you sat nestled next to Lilah as she spoke animatedly with Chris and the girl Minho had been sitting with earlier. You didn’t join in the conversation though you did listen in.

“Good eye, Ari,” Chris said, his eyes on Changbin and Hana as they danced on the dance floor. “She’s really cute. Totally looks like his type,” he added as Minho returned, sliding into the booth and cozying up next to the blonde who smiled.

“I knew the moment we walked into the shop, she’d fall for him,” Ari answered, lifting her glass to take a sip. “They do look really good together,” she added. Chris smiled, playfully rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, pat yourself on the back,” he said with a chuckle. Ari smiled again. “Thank you. I think I will,” she said, reaching over her shoulder to lightly pat herself on the back, making Chris and Lilah both laugh.

Minho set his glass down and turned to lean into Ari, whispering in her ear. She nodded and followed as Minho stood up. “We’ll be right back,” she said as she took Minho’s hand and followed as he gently pulled her along.

You watched as they walked past, having zoned out of the conversation halfway through. You felt pressure on your shoulder and turned your head to see Lilah resting her chin on your shoulder. She gave you a smile which you returned.

“You okay?” Lilah asked as a slower song started to play over the speakers. You nodded. “I’m okay,” you answered. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Chris down the rest of his drink before he placed a hand on Lilah’s shoulder.

She sat up and turned as he leaned in to whisper in her ear. She nodded before turning to you. “We’re gonna go dance,” she announced. You nodded wordlessly, taking a sip of your drink. “You should come with us,” Lilah added, looking at you with a peculiar expression. You shook your head.

“You came here for him,” you whispered as Chris stood up.

“I’m your wing woman, remember? Go dance with him. Sweep him off his feet,” you said softly, offering your best friend a reassuring smile.

Lilah nodded and leaned in, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “We’ll be right back,” Chris said over the music. You shook your head.

“Take your time,” you half yelled.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you added. Chris smiled and nodded to your drink.

“If you finish that, go get another and put it on my tab. It’s under Bang,” he said as Lilah got to her feet. You nodded as they squeezed past you but made a mental note not to do that . You felt bad if anyone bought you things.

You already had so much. You didn’t need anyone buying you things when you could buy them yourself. You continued to sip on your drink, pulling your phone out to see if you had any text.

Other than Wonwoo telling you he was expecting a package soon, there were no notifications, and it was radio silence from Joshua, leaving you to wonder what he was up to. ‘He’s probably reading a book or catching up on that anime,’ you told yourself with a smile. ‘My goofy weeb boyfriend.’

Once you’d finished your drink, you decided to get another and got up, heading over to the bar, squeezing between two tall men where a very pretty female bartender with baby pink hair smiled at you.

“Hi, hun,” she greeted you, leaning in to hear your order. You got the same whiskey sour and opened your borrowed purse to pull out some cash to pay.

“Let me,” a voice said, and you looked up to see a strange man beside you smiling down at you. He was quite handsome, and tall, with medium brown hair and very prominent dimples.

“I’m Dae-hyun,” he added as the bartender made your drink, eyeing the man suspiciously. “Y/N,” you said politely. “And thank you, but I've got this,” you added, pulling some notes out of your wallet.

“How else am I supposed to get your attention, though?” Dae-hyun asked. “Come on. Let me buy you one drink,” he pressed, but you shook your head. “No, thank you. Really, I appreciate it, but I can buy my own drinks.”

You turned to pay the bartender as she set your drink down, not missing the way Dae-hyun’s eyes scanned your body, a smirk on his lips. “Hey, you gonna buy a drink or just oggle my patrons?” She barked, making the man jump and grimace.

You turned and watched as the man slunk away and turned back to pay the bartender. She pushed the drink towards you and waved her hand. “It’s on the house, honey,” she said with a wink.

You thanked her, putting the bills instead in the tip jar and thanked her again before leaving the bar and returning to the corner booth that still sat empty save for the server cleaning up the empty glasses.

You thanked her as she walked by and returned to your seat, fishing your phone out again, trying to pass the time.

You could have left the moment Chris asked Lilah to dance with him. Your mission had been completed as Lilah’s wing woman, but you sat on the black cushion, sipping on your free drink.

As you scrolled through your Instagram feed, loud giggles announced the arrival of part of the group, and you glanced up to see the blonde girl, Ari, and Minho return.

“You’re still here?” Minho asked as he plopped down next to Ari, eyeing you suspiciously. “You can leave, you know.” Ari lightly slapped his arm. “Don’t be mean,” she said sternly. “If Y/N wants to stay here, she can,” she added, smiling warmly. Her kindness surprised you but you smiled back.

Minho leaned forward to grab his glass and grumbled something you couldn’t hear but Ari slapped his arm again. “Be nice!” She hissed as you turned your attention away as more footsteps approached.

It was the man from before and the girl he’d gone to dance with. You looked away as they sat down, feeling the guy’s eyes on you. You glanced back and met his gaze. This was the first time he’d acknowledged your presence.

You barely got a good look at his face before his attention turned to the girl next to him and you felt like you could breathe, your cheeks growing warm. You decided to chalk that up to the alcohol coursing through your system as Lilah and Chris finally returned.

“Is it just me or is it hot?” Lilah asked as she took her glass from Chris, thanking him before taking a sip. The girl whose name you did know nodded. “It’s really hot,” she replied, looking at the man beside her.

Her eyes moved past him to you and she gave you a blank stare, glancing you over as if she’d just noticed you existed before she turned away when Ari called her name. “Hana, do you want to go back out there? Minho won’t go with me!” Ari pouted. Hana shook her head at Minho and got up.

“I’ll dance with you,” Hana said, reaching out to take Ari’s hand and the pair squeezed past the rest of the group and headed onto the dance floor again. You looked away from them to find the black-haired man looking at you again.

His gaze didn’t feel scrutinizing or patronizing in any way. It was more like he was trying to figure you out simply by looking at you. You turned your gaze away but felt his eyes on you. Lilah and Chris were chatting animatedly next to you about his new job.

“Yeah, I just walked in and showed him what I’ve done. Then I had to perform an actual piercing,” Chris explained as Lilah hung onto every word. “Like, you had to pierce him?” She asked, jaw dropping when Chris nodded.

You glanced down at your now empty drink, trying to decide if you should get another. ‘Ah, fuck it,’ you told yourself as you set the empty one down and announced to your best friend you were getting another.

Lilah whipped around, gently grabbing your hand and stopped you before you could get up.

“Are you sure you can handle another drink, Y/N?” She asked, eyes studying your face, her expression full of concern.

“Oh, come on, Lilah. She’s a big girl,” Minho said as he slid into his seat next to Ari, who had returned with Hana before Hana pulled the man she’d been with up and onto the dance floor again. Minho was giving you a smirk but like Lilah, Ari had a look of concern. You weren’t sure why.

You narrowed your eyes at Minho, wanting to snap back but Lilah gave your hand a gentle squeeze. “Ignore him, Y/N,” she said, turning your attention back to her.

“You know your tolerance better than anyone,” she added. You looked at your two empty glasses on the table and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll just go to the bathroom,” you answered before getting to your feet and adjusting the hem of your dress.

“Do you want me to come with you?” Lilah asked but you shook your head, giving her a smile. “I’ll be fine, Li,” you said before turning and walking away from the booth.

You made your way out of the garage and towards the bathroom, only to bump into someone. The force at which they ran into you almost knocked you over. “Whoa! Sorry,” said a familiar voice as two hands steadied you.

You looked up into the face of one of Joshua’s best friends.

“Hey, Cheol!” You said excitedly, sharing a hug with him. He smiled brightly at you. “I didn’t know you were going to be here!” He said, looking around. “You didn’t come with Josh, did you?” He asked.

You shook your head. “Uh, no, I came with… Lilah,” you said, voice dropping as you said your best friend’s name. Seungcheol acted as if hearing his ex-girlfriend’s name didn’t bother him but you knew better. As far as you and Joshua knew, Seungcheol was still heartbroken over Lilah and Jeonghan’s drunken hookup.

It had been only a few months ago at a lake house party. Seungcheol, unfortunately, had work responsibilities so he couldn't attend. You'd gone with Joshua to appease "the party gods" as Lilah put it.

Halfway through, Lilah was much more drunk than you'd seen in a long time and Joshua offered to take both of you home. You went with him to get your jackets and when you returned to where you'd left Lilah, she was nowhere to be found and no one knew where she'd gone. You tried looking for her but Joshua said to let her be.

You felt like you should have looked harder.

The next morning Lilah showed up at your door, hungover and crying. She told you she waited for when you and Joshua went to get your jackets and during the time you were gone, she'd run into Jeonghan, who was also quite plastered himself.

One minute they were chatting, the next, they were stumbling into an empty room, and when she woke up the next morning, she realized they'd had sex. She was an absolute mess, beating herself up about how to break the news to Seungcheol.

When she finally did, she didn't ask for his forgiveness though he was ready to give it freely. She didn't cry, she didn't beg, she simply apologized and ended things, telling Seungcheol that there was no fixing this. What she'd done couldn't be undone or taken back.

According to Joshua, Seungcheol was heartbroken. He'd lost the love of his life and a best friend in one swoop. He didn't handle the betrayal he felt towards Jeonghan well and ended up giving Jeonghan a black eye. Joshua had felt conflicted about the whole thing, wanting to be there for Seungcheol but not knowing who was at fault .

You knew that Lilah and Jeonghan messed up but Lilah was your friend. Seungcheol was Joshua’s friend before he was yours. So you'd distanced yourself out of respect not only for Lilah but for Seungcheol as well, not sure if he'd even want to see you.

Judging by his response upon seeing you now, you knew he didn't hold you accountable . He was his usual cheerful self.

“Oh?” He asked, lifting his glass to his lips to take a sip. You nodded, unsure how to recover from the awkward silence between you. “You don’t have a drink?” He asked, noticing your empty hands. You shook your head.

“I just finished a second. I’m on my way to the bathroom,” you replied, gesturing towards the hall that led to the bathrooms. “Want me to get you one?” Seungcheol asked. You shook your head. “No, that’s okay,” you answered but Seungcheol cut you off. “Speak of the devil,” he said, a smile forming on his face.

You turned to look at who Seungcheol was looking at and your heart nearly dropped into your stomach.

Joshua was walking over, a smile on his own face, until he caught sight of you. His smile faltered for a moment before he turned his attention to Seungcheol. “We were just talking about you!” Seungcheol said, greeting his friend. Joshua looked from his friend to you. “Were you now?” He asked, to which Seungcheol nodded.

“I thought she came with you,” Seungcheol admitted. “No. She didn’t,” Joshua said, his eyes not leaving yours. “Well, I’ve got to use the restroom,” you said quickly. “It was nice catching up with you, Cheollie,” you said, giving him a smile before walking away to head for the bathroom.

Joshua muttered something to Seungcheol before following you, grabbing your arm a little too hard and turning you to face him. “Sorry,” he muttered, noticing how you winced in his grip. “I thought you were having a girls night,” he said, his voice back to normal volume since the music was now muffled as you were no longer in the same room.

“I am. I came here with Lilah,” you answered, eyes darting to the side where you saw another familiar face. “I thought you meant you were staying in,” he said, drawing your attention again.

“You know, a girl's night, like, movies and pizza or something,” he added. You shook your head. “No, Lilah wanted to come see Chris, and I said I’d come with her,” you replied. "Be her wing woman of sorts," you added with a laugh.

Joshua’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Who the hell is Chris?” He demanded, sounding suddenly angry that you were talking about another man. 'Oh boy, here we go.'

You didn’t like the tone of his voice.

“Chris is one of Lilah’s friends ,” you stated. Joshua crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t like it,” he said quickly. “Don’t like what?” You asked, also not liking the direction this conversation was going.

He was stalling you, and you really had to pee. “I don’t like the idea of you and Lilah alone with some strange man,” he countered. You rolled your eyes. “He’s not some strange man, Josh,” you retorted.

“He’s her friend and he happens to be a very nice man,” you added. Joshua scoffed, now his turn to roll his eyes.

“Nice people don’t hang around these places, Y/N,” he replied, and you had to give him a deadpan blank stare.

“Are you saying you aren’t a nice person?” You asked, making him realize his contradiction. He was getting frustrated with you. He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes screwed shut as he breathed slowly. “You know what I meant."

You saw his eyes flicker from you to something behind you for a moment before turning his attention back to you. “So then I’m not a nice person?” You inquired, trying to get him to admit he was making bullshit up. Joshua rolled his eyes again. He was over this.

“You know damn well what I meant, Y/F/N Y/L/N,” he stated, clearly annoyed with the banter you were giving him.

“Oh-ho-ho,” said a voice as the owner slid up beside you and draped an arm around your shoulders. “Busting out the government names are we now, Joshua Hong?”

You glanced up to see Minho, a smirk on his face. Joshua glared at the younger man. You could see that the simple action of putting his arm around your shoulders nearly set him off.

Joshua didn’t like it when other men looked at, let alone touched you. He was about to grab Minho by the collar when you shook Minho's arm off your shoulder.

“What are you doing here, Minho?” You asked, looking at him. He tore his gaze from Joshua’s, giving you an uncharacteristically warm smile. “Lilah was wondering what was taking you so long,” he said before looking back up at Joshua.

“I volunteered to come retrieve you,” he added, linking his arm with yours if only to set Joshua off further. You pulled your arm from his.

“Well, I still haven’t been to the bathroom,” you admitted.

"Well, why did you say so?" Minho asked, gesturing for you to hurry. “I’ll wait here. I promised Lilah I’d retrieve you and retrieve you I shall,” he added, causing you to roll your eyes before excusing yourself and hurrying down the crowded hallway.

Minho looked back at Joshua as you disappeared, his smile falling quickly. “Who the hell do you think you are?” Joshua asked, gritting his teeth. Minho was not easily intimidated, especially not by men like Joshua Hong.

“No,” Minho said, taking a step forward and prodding Joshua in the chest with his finger. “Who do you think you are?” Joshua was taken aback. “What?” He asked incredulously.

“I saw that,” Minho stated. “The way you grabbed her like that. What makes you think you can act that way?” Minho demanded, his voice low so only Joshua could hear him. “She’s my girlfriend, Lee. I don’t think it’s any of your concern—” Joshua started but he was cut off by Minho once again, who jabbed him in the chest with his finger.

“She may be your girlfriend,” he repeated. “But that doesn't make her your property,” he added. “You don’t get to grab her and throw her around like some kind of rag doll." Joshua opened his mouth to retort but was cut off once again by Minho's external monologue.

"You know, I've always wondered where those bruises come from,” he added. Joshua’s eyes widened. Minho could see he'd hit a nerve. "It all makes sense now."

“How dare you accuse me of abusing Y/N,” he snarled. A hand came between the two. “Gentlemen,” a voice said. Joshua looked down and noticed a much shorter man with black hair pushing him and Minho apart.

“This is a public space,” he added, glancing from Minho to Joshua.. “Let’s not cause a scene.”

“Who the hell are you?” Joshua asked, albeit very rudely.

“Changbin,” the raven haired man replied. “Seo Changbin,” he added, holding out his hand for Joshua to shake. Joshua looked down at the man’s tattoo covered hand and chose to ignore the gesture, instead looking at Minho and narrowing his eyes.

“Stay out of my relationship, Lee Minho,” he spat angrily before turning and walking back to meet up with Seungcheol and their friends, leaving the two men standing there. Changbin looked at his older friend.

“Okay,” Changbin said, jerking his thumb behind him in the direction Joshua had gone. “Who the fuck was that?” He asked. Minho held out his hand in a grand gesture. “Joshua Hong,” he replied.

“Sejong’s very own pompous asshole boyfriend,” he added, causing the younger man to snort and roll his eyes. “Wait… boyfriend?” Changbin asked, suddenly confused.

“Who’s his girlfriend?”

In the women’s restroom, you opened the stall door having finished your business and approached the sink, washing your hands quickly as you glanced up at your reflection in the water-stained mirror. Your makeup seemed fine despite the fact you had been crying just a few minutes ago.

You hoped no one would notice.

Your eyes caught sight of a red mark on your arm and glanced down at the spot where Joshua had grabbed you. “Shit,” you whispered, moving to dry your hands and inspect the mark.

If Lilah didn’t notice the makeup, she was bound to notice this. According to Lilah, Seungcheol had done the same thing a few times, grabbed her by the arm much harder than he intended to.

‘He must be really mad, if he grabbed me this hard,’ you thought as you finished drying your hands. You quickly rid yourself of that bullshit thought and shook your head quickly. ‘No,’ you told yourself.

‘It doesn’t matter how mad he is. Nothing gives him the right to grab me like that.’

Giving yourself the once over one last time with a quick nod to your reflection, you pulled open the door and stepped out into the hall. As you wound your way through the crowd of people, you were knocked backwards into someone and turned to apologize profusely.

The guy turned, and you saw it was the guy from the booth. The one Minho had caught you staring at. “Sorry,” you muttered.

“Someone knocked me over.” The man looked over and noticed several much taller guys crowded nearby before his eyes returned to you and nodded.

“You alright?” He asked, taking you by surprise. ‘Why is he asking me if I’m okay when I’m the one who bumped into him?’ You wondered but decided against asking him that very thing. “I’m okay,” you answered with a nod.

The smile that formed on his face almost took your breath away. “Then no harm done,” he said softly, turning back to the girl leaning against the wall that he’d been previously kissing. You turned away as they went back at it.

‘Awkward.’

As you headed out of the hall, you saw Minho standing in the same place you’d left him. He was looking over the crowd, clearly agitated but you couldn’t discern what had him scowling like that.

‘He… actually waited?’

Minho must have sensed someone was watching him and turned to find you standing a few steps behind him, watching him with a peculiar expression. Perhaps you hadn’t expected him to actually wait for you.

After witnessing your encounter with Joshua, he wasn’t going to leave you to walk alone when that asshat was still in the building, probably waiting for you to appear so he could swoop in and do more pompous asshole boyfriend shit.

Minho’s expression softened as you approached him. You glanced around only after realizing Joshua wasn’t anywhere in sight. You wondered what Minho could have said or done to get Joshua to leave but thought better than to ask.

“Where did Josh go?” You asked as soon as you were within earshot. Minho shrugged his shoulders. “Why do you care?” he answered. You glared at him. “‘Cause he’s my boyfriend,” you retorted, your words failing and expression softening as he offered his arm for you to take.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” You asked suspiciously, taking his arm all the same. “Don’t get used to it,” Minho said as he led you back to the booth, stopping at the bar to get another drink. “What are you drinking?” He asked. You shook your head. “I shouldn’t have another,” you admitted.

Minho dramatically rolled his eyes with an equally exaggerated sigh.

“It’s not every day I’m offering to buy you a drink so pick something,” he urged, waving his hand. “Fine, a Singapore sling,” you answered. Minho gave you a once over before his lips spread into a wide and slightly mischievous grin.

“Oh, I think I’m gonna like this new you,” he said before turning to tell the bartender, leaving you to silent combust as heat spread across your face.

‘What does that mean? The new me?’

Once the drinks were made, Minho led you back to the booth. You thanked him again and sat next to Lilah.

“There you are!” She said, throwing her arms around you. “I was getting worried!” You patted her on the head, chuckling as you looked up to see Minho leaning across Ari’s lap to speak to Chris.

You noticed the urgency at which he spoke and that his eyes flickered to you and back. Chris asked him something you couldn’t hear, and Minho nodded quickly before speaking again.

Whatever their conversation was about ended as soon as Lilah pulled away from you. “Ooh, what’s this?” Lilah asked upon noticing your new drink, clearly not remembering that she suggested you not get another.

Not giving you a chance to answer, she took it from you and took a sip. Her face scrunched up as she swallowed, handing your glass back to you before she gagged. “What the fuck is that?” She asked as you rolled your eyes.

“A Singapore sling,” you answered, raising the glass to take a sip. “Well it’s disgusting,” Lilah answered. Minho snorted, but it seemed only you heard him. “It’s not that bad, Li,” you answered softly.

“Yeah, we can’t all have the taste buds of a child,” Minho quipped. Lilah and Chris both turned to look at him. “You? Sticking up for Y/N?” Chris asked, looking shocked but amused while Lilah looked just plain shocked.

Minho snorted again in laughter. He held up his drink in a silent cheers, directed towards you. “More likely than you think,” Minho said to his friend before sending a wink in your direction. Your cheeks burned in embarrassment as he took a drink and both Lilah and Chris exchanged glances as you took a sip of your drink.

“What happened when I sent you to check on her?” Lilah asked, turning to look at Minho again as he lowered his glass. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” Chris looked mildly amused and surprised at the direction the conversation had turned.

“What does that mean?” Lilah asked as you glanced over to the dance floor, trying to ignore the conversation unfolding next to you. An RnB song with heavy bass had started playing, so only couples were on the floor now.

“Y/N,” Lilah said, drawing your attention away from the dance floor. “Huh?”

“What exactly happened that took you so long that I had to send Minho to fetch you?” Lilah asked. Your stomach dropped. ‘Shit.’ You tried to feign a smile and lighthearted expression but could see Minho looking at you from behind Lilah. The scowl you had seen earlier before meeting back up with him was back.

“Oh, uh, I ran into Cheol,” you answered softly, looking down to pick at the hem of your, well actually Lilah’s, dress.

“Oh,” Lilah replied, her curious expression dropping and a blank look crossing her face.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Cheol,” Minho said softly, nodding along. “Oh, and Josh,” he added with venom in his voice. You glanced up to see he was looking out at the crowd with a sour expression.

Lilah laughed at the look on Minho’s face. “You look like he pissed in your cornflakes,” Chris said, nudging his friend with a laugh.

“What did he do to you?” Lilah asked, noticing his sour expression wasn’t going away.

Minho shook his head. “Not me,” he replied, eyes moving towards you.

He wondered what it was about Joshua that you loved so much that you shook your head as subtly as possible, clearly not wanting him to bring up what he’d witnessed. Something he’d sent guys to the ER for. Something he would gladly do to Joshua, given the chance.

It was then Minho realized Lilah was still waiting for him to speak. “Then who?” She asked. Minho inhaled and exhaled deeply before shaking his head, forcing a smile.

“Nothing,” he replied. “He’s just a prick.” He raised his glass to his lips and downed the rest of his drink.

‘A dead fucking prick if I catch him doing that again.’

You silently thanked him for not bringing it up as Lilah rolled her eyes.

“Oh, don’t be mean for no reason, Minho,” she said before turning to look at the dance floor. “I have my reasons,” Minho muttered, but Lilah didn’t seem to hear him as he stared into the bottom of his now empty cup.

A new song started playing, something more upbeat but still with a lot of bass. Lilah smiled, bouncing excitedly in her seat. “Y/N, you wanna dance?” she asked, looking at you with a smile. You looked up, eyes wide. “Uh… I don’t know Lilah,” you said softly.

But of course, she didn’t listen. Lilah never listened.

Instead, she took your drink from your hands and set it in front of Chris turning to face him. “Can you watch these for us, please?” She asked, bringing her hands together almost as if in prayer.

When Chris nodded, a fond smile on his face, Lilah thanked him and squealed with delight. “We’ll be right back,” she said before standing up and grabbing your hand. “Come on,” she said, pulling you out of the booth and towards the steps despite your blatant protests.

Once on the dance floor, nestled in the crowd, you finally let loose and danced with your best friend. She always knew how to cheer you up. One song turned into another, and soon, you were dancing to a third song. Lilah always brought out the best in you. She always knew how to have fun, no matter the circumstances.

You were holding her hand and dancing, swaying to the music when you felt two hands on your hips. You turned quickly and found yourself face to face with none other than Joshua.

“Miss me?” Your boyfriend asked softly, smiling when your surprised expression morphed into relief that it was him and not some creep.

“You weren’t there when I got back from the restroom,” you replied, pouting slightly.

'Oh god. Is that what alcohol did to you?'

You felt his hand cup your cheek and you leaned into his touch, your body following his lead.

“Sorry, baby,” he said, leaning in to whisper in your ear. “I had to take care of something,” he added. You pulled back, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him away a little. “Wait. No. I’m still mad at you,” you added, looking at him with a serious expression.

Joshua’s free hand came up to caress your other cheek. “I’m so sorry, Y/N,” he said, eyes flitting back and forth between yours. “Truly. I didn’t mean it.”

“Yeah, well, it really hurt,” you continued. He pulled you closer, closing the distance between your bodies. “I know, baby. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he replied.

Lilah moved to your side and looked between the two of you. “What do you mean you hurt her?” She asked, voice suddenly full of anger. “It was an accident,” Joshua said, turning to look at your best friend. “I didn’t mean to grab her so hard,” he added, gesturing to the red spot on your arm.

Upon seeing it, Lilah’s expression twisted into a scowl, and she reached between the two of you. “Hands off,” she snapped, trying to pull you away from Joshua and interject herself between the two of you.

“Lilah,” you started, but she cut you off. “No,” she said, pointing at you. “He doesn’t get to grab you so hard that he leaves a mark,” she said, nearly shouting the last part at Joshua, who glanced around nervously at the people around you.

A crowd was starting to form. “He doesn’t get to do that and then get off Scot free,” Lilah said angrily. “Lilah,” Joshua said, drawing her attention. “I know you mean well, but please stay out of my relationship with Y/N,” he continued.

“No,” Lilah snapped back. Joshua’s expression shifted from shock to anger. ‘Fuck,’ you mentally cursed. ‘This is not good.’

“Cheol pulled the exact same shit with me,” she spat, standing between you and Joshua. It had been a long time since you’d seen Lilah this angry, and you knew the alcohol wasn’t helping any.

“He’d grab me so hard that I’d bruise, and then he’d apologize, saying he’d never do it again,” Lilah continued as Joshua tried to interrupt. “I’ve seen plenty of bruises on Y/N’s arms to know the signs,” she argued.

You glanced around and noticed Minho and Chris had gotten up. The black-haired newcomer had also gotten up and was watching the scene from the railing. Minho tapped him on the shoulder and nodded. The newcomer stood up straight and followed.

‘Shit.’ You turned back to Lilah.

“Come on,” you said, trying to pull her away from Joshua. “Let’s not do this here.”

“Just because your relationship failed does not mean you need to involve yourself in mine,” Joshua snapped back angrily. “Oh, shut the fuck up, Joshua Hong. You think you’re so high and mighty,” Lilah spat back. You rushed between your best friend and boyfriend, using your body to block them from each other.

“Lilah, don’t do this here,” you pleaded, gently pushing your friend back and trying to break up the escalating fight before anyone got in trouble or seriously hurt. It was not above Lilah to start a physical fight when she was drunk and upset.

“No!” She shouted. “I’m so sick of this shit! He’s just like Cheol! He thinks he’s so goddamn untouch—!”

“Lilah,” Chris said, his hands gently grabbing her around the waist. “I think you promised that you and Y/N would go get pancakes with us,” he said in her ear. “We should go do that,” he added.

Minho, who now stood between you and Lilah, chimed in. “Yeah,” he added. “I think pancakes sound good right now, don’t you, Y/N?” Upon hearing your name, you glanced at him, confusion was written on your face.

As far as you could remember, neither you nor Lilah promised to get pancakes with them. Minho gave you a very pointed look. ‘Oh!’ You understood quickly and played along.

“They’re right,” you said, looking at Lilah. “We did promise”

Joshua stepped forward, moving to grab your hand, but a hand shot out, grabbing Joshua’s wrist. You glanced at the person standing on the other side of you. The man with the black hair and tattoos.

The same one you couldn’t help but stare at earlier and was knocked into outside the bathrooms.

“A promise is a promise,” he said, fixing Joshua with a calm stare. Joshua pulled from his grip. “Don’t touch me,” he snapped. The man held his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat. “My apologies. I just don’t like seeing guys mistreat their partners,” he said, making Joshua round on him furiously.

“Excuse me?” Joshua asked, fixing the man with a bewildered stare.

“Who the fuck are you to accuse me-?” The man cut him off.

“Not accusing,” he said simply. “I’m just saying what I saw.”

Joshua scoffed and chose to ignore what the dark-haired man said. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Y/N,” you heard your boyfriend call your name, attention turning to focus on him as he spoke. “Come on,” he continued. “I’ll walk you home.” You hesitated. ‘Should I really go with him? He’s pretty upset…’

You must have taken too long for his liking because Joshua called your name again. The tone of his voice didn’t sit right with you, so you shook your head. “I think you should take time to cool down,” you finally answered.

‘Fucking finally,’ Minho thought as he looked up from your face to Joshua’s. He had to say he was impressed with your defiance when all he’s ever heard is how obedient you usually were. Could it be the alcohol? Or had you finally had enough of Joshua’s shit?

“Don’t worry mate,” Chris said, the Aussie in him jumping out. “We’ll make sure she gets home safely,” he added, arms around Lilah as he kept her from lashing out at Joshua.

If Joshua was angry before, it was nothing compared to how pissed he was now.

“As if I'd trust any of you,” Joshua said with a scoff.

“I’d trust us more than I’d trust you right now,” Minho said with a shrug. Joshua glared at him, his anger building. The smug grin on Minho’s face wasn’t helping to quell his fury.

Before Joshua could answer, you spoke up, your voice broke through his concentration. “I’ll let you know when I get home,” you promised, no doubt hoping it would be enough of a solution, but Joshua shook his head.

“No,” he protested. “But I really want to get pancakes,” you continued.

“Then I’ll take you to get some,” Joshua replied, taking a step forward. You shook your head. “Another time,” you heard Minho say as he rested his arm over your shoulders. “Don’t worry, Joshy. She’ll be fine with us,” he added.

Joshua’s fist clenched tightly at how too cozy Minho looked with his arm around your shoulders. He’d punched men for lesser things.

“No,” he refused again. “Y/N,” he said, looking from Minho to you. “Come here, now.”

Now it was both you and Minho who didn’t like his tone.

“She’s not some dog you can command,” Minho spat, taking a step forward, but the dark-haired man stopped him. You decided to speak up.

“I’ll see you on Sunday, babe,” you said, reminding him that even if you went to eat pancakes with Lilah’s friends, he was still your man.

He glared at Minho. “If you try anything,” he warned. Minho rolled his eyes. “As if,” he said with a snort. “Don’t worry, Hong. Your precious little princess is safe with us,” Minho added. Chris began leading Lilah away from the group and towards the exit.

Minho’s arm over your shoulders pulled you back, and he wordlessly guided you away from Joshua and towards the exit as well. You glanced back at your boyfriend, and you could see he was more than upset.

He was outright furious.

The air outside the building was cooler than when you entered, and it felt nice after being in a crowded club with such an intense and heated situation. You walked silently beside Minho as you followed Chris and Lilah.

“Wait, are we actually getting pancakes or was that a cover?” You finally asked. “I mean,” Minho started.

“I wouldn’t say no to breakfast right now. There’s that 24 hour place by our apartment,” he added, looking towards Chris.

Chris had stopped walking and was still supporting Lilah’s weight. She was very intoxicated, the drinks she’d consumed finally catching up to her. The almost-fight and her anger probably didn’t help. Knowing her, you felt she would barely make it home before passing out.

“I’d love some breakfast too, but I think this one might be a little too far gone to make it there,” Chris said, nodding at Lilah, who was currently humming, eyes shut as she swayed to music only she could hear. You took a step forward.

“I’ll take her home,” you offered, moving to help support Lilah. “You sure?” Chris asked, looking at you as you took Lilah’s arm and pulled it over your shoulders, your arm going around her waist.

“Yeah. If you guys wanna go get breakfast, I can take her home,” you replied.

“What about you?” The dark-haired man said suddenly, prompting you to turn and look at him. All eyes were on him.

“What about me?” You asked.

“I think what Changbin means,” Minho started, eyes looking at the dark-haired man. ‘So his name is Changbin.’

“Is how will you get home?” Minho continued, turning his gaze to look at you. Shrugging, you looked back at him. “I’ll just walk,” you replied. “My place isn’t that far from Lilah’s.”

“And if your boyfriend is waiting for you at your place?” Changbin suddenly asked. Your eyes fell on him again, confused but also surprised. ‘Why is he being so… protective?’

“Then I’ll just—” you started but Minho cut you off. “I’ll walk you home.” Your gaze fell on him, now properly shocked. ‘Who is this? ‘Cause it’s definitely not the Minho I know.’

“Then I’ll take Lilah home,” Chris said, taking Lilah from you. “That way, you get home much faster,” he added. “But what about your breakfast?” You asked, eyebrow arching. “Eh, we can always get it some other time,” Chris said, shaking his head.

“I’d feel a lot better if I knew you got home safe,” he continued, starting to lead Lilah in the direction of her apartment.

“Wait,” you said quickly, running after them, pulling your things from Lilah’s bag and handing it to Chris. “I almost forgot I had her stuff,” you admitted. Chris took the bag and thanked you.

“We’ll get breakfast another time, I promise!” He called as he continued to walk, leaving you, Minho, and Changbin alone on the sidewalk.

Changbin looked down, checking his watch. “I gotta go,” he said quietly. “I promised Hana I’d be back to pick her up,” he added. Minho nodded before gesturing him off.

“Go ahead, tell Ari I’m sorry,” he said. Changbin nodded.

“I’ll explain everything,” he replied as he walked backwards a few steps. “I’ll walk Y/N home,” Minho said to which you shook your head in protest.

“I’m fine, really,” you replied.

“I can walk myself home.”

Minho rolled his eyes and waved Changbin off before walking towards you, gently grabbing your arm and turning you in the opposite direction.

“Where do you live?” He asked as you walked together. “Just a couple blocks west of Lilah’s apartment,” you replied. Minho nodded, pulling you along.

“Let’s get going then,” he added.

You glanced back as Changbin walked in the opposite direction, back towards the club and disappeared around the corner but not before throwing one final look your way with an expression you couldn’t read.

You and Minho were left in the empty street alone, walking down the sidewalk toward your apartment. Silence fell between you as you walked and you wondered if you should say anything to break the tension.

This was the third time he’d gone out of his way to do something nice for you and you felt you should at least acknowledge that so he didn’t try and use it against you later.

“Thank you,” you finally said softly, not noticing the way Minho looked at you. “For what?” He asked after a beat of silence.

You took a deep breath. “For back at the club. You didn’t have to intervene, you know,” you continued. “Joshua is always like that. He doesn’t pay attention to his own strength.” Minho scoffed. “I’m probably just as strong as him and I’ve never once grabbed anyone hard enough to bruise them, Y/N,” he continued.

“That’s not normal,” he added. “And you shouldn’t have to put up with it.”

You glanced up at him. “It’s not that big of a deal,” you muttered. Minho stopped, pulling a hand from his pocket to grab your arm carefully.

“Stop making excuses for him, Y/N. I told you before he’s a pompous asshole and I’m not taking it back.” You glanced down to where his hand was still on your upper arm. It was a right contrast from the way Joshua had grabbed you earlier.

“If someone loves you, and I mean truly loves you, they don’t hurt you like that,” he continued, his hand dropping from your arm. You said nothing, only nodding slowly. When he realized you weren’t going to speak, Minho let out a sigh shoving his hand back into his pockets.

“Come on,” he said quietly, nodding his head in the direction of your apartment and continuing down the road. You followed behind him, not even noticing how he glanced back at you, a small fond smile on his face.

‘If she wasn’t so up Hong’s ass… maybe then.’ He shook the thought from his head as you struggled to keep up with his long strides. It was almost cute. ‘In another lifetime,’ Minho thought as he glanced skyward briefly.

You must have regretted not bringing a jacket now that the sun had gone down and the temperature had dropped. As you brought your hand up and rubbed your arm, quickly following Minho down the street, he stopped and sighed. ‘Why does she have to be so helpless?’ He wondered, unzipping and removing his jacket.

“Here,” he called out, holding his jacket towards you.

You glanced from him to the jacket and back.

“Just take it before I change my mind,” he continued. You took it carefully from him and pulled it on. “Thanks,” you muttered, zipping it up. Minho said nothing, only humming in response as the two of you continued down the street, silence falling over you once more.

The moon had begun to rise over the tops of the trees, casting a silvery light over everything.

You glanced up, eyes taking in the few stars you could see in the inky midnight blue sky. You were so preoccupied with looking at the stars that you ran into Minho’s body, colliding with him and a loud ‘oof’ leaving your lungs. Minho chuckled, looking at you as he stood still. “You know,” he said softly, turning to face you fully.

“You really should watch where you’re going,” he continued, a smirk starting to appear. You rolled your eyes, thankful for the dark which concealed the way your cheeks burned.

“It’s not like I was expecting you to just stop like that,” you murmured.

“What were you looking at, anyway?” Minho asked, ignoring your words to look towards the sky.

“The stars,” you answered simply, glancing from his face to the shimmering white dots in the blackness of the night sky. Minho’s eyes fell to your face as you stared skyward.

“The stars?” He asked, the smirk on his face growing. You nodded. “The further from the downtown area we get,” you explained softly.

“The brighter they shine.” Minho’s gaze softened slightly as he watched you.

“Alright Galileo,” he sighed loudly, making you tear your eyes from the stars.

“I said I’d walk you home but if I had known it was going to take three hundred years, I never would have offered,” he groaned teasingly, turning to start down the sidewalk before glancing back at you, the mischievous grin back on his face. You hurried after him, following his path down the sidewalk.

Before long, your building came into sight as the two of you headed to the door. Upon reaching the steps, you turned and removed Minho’s jacket and handed it back to him.

“Thank you for letting me use it,” you said as you held it out for him to take. He gave you a rare warm smile as he took it. “I’d never hear the end of it if I’d let you freeze,” you heard him say as he pulled his jacket back on. “Hey, at least it’s warm,” he mused.

“Thank you again for this,” you continued, ignoring his remarks. “You really didn’t have to walk me home, but I appreciate the gesture all the same,” you added. Minho gave you another rare smile. “Meh, don’t get used to it, princess,” he countered. “I don’t exactly like you,” he reminded you.

“But I absolutely loathe Joshua Hong.”

You rolled your eyes. Whatever beef the two of them had was none of your business so you didn’t care about what he thought of your boyfriend. “Goodnight Minho,” you replied as you turned to head up the small staircase to your front door and unlocked it with your keycard, giving Minho a tiny wave before letting the door shut slowly behind you.

Once upstairs and inside the safety of your apartment, you started to undress, sliding out of your, well Lilah’s, dress and letting it fall to the floor.

You moved into your bedroom area and grabbed a clean sleep shirt, pulling it on over your head and letting the material fall to your hips before moving to climb into your oversized queen bed, practically diving under the covers and pulling them up to your chin.

Your eyes slid shut before you even had time to register your exhaustion and soon the room was filled with the sounds of your snores as you drifted deeper into slumber.

[tmprmntl]

open to anyone. / diah's tending the bar, maybe your muse is a regular or a newcomer? coworker perhaps? (reply is open to any connection but romantic ones.) writer & muse please be over 18. also note, diah is an archangel (but she's unaware of that) so please only reply if your muse is from a supernatural universe.

there it was again. that high pitched noise piercing through her head. it started off quiet, she hoped that it would stay that way; let her continue her shift at least. alas, it only got louder. not wanting to seem rude, diah tried with all her strength to listen to the person in front of her. but with the combination of the ringing and her stomach whirling round as if she were falling in mid-air, it was impossible.

"i —" she tried, an empty chuckle following. try again. "i am... so sorry, what er... what did you say?"

[patrycarro]

TS3 - Scarlet Club (No CC)

ENG:

The Scarlet is an exclusive club that opens its doors only to the most powerful and wealthy creatures in town. Its relaxed and intimate atmosphere makes it the perfect place to build connections, forge new alliances, plot wicked schemes to eliminate your enemies, and celebrate with sophisticated cocktails when those plans succeed.

I built this club for a warlock in my supernatural gameplay, which is why there’s a small apartment and an office on the top floor. If none of your Sims are going to own this lot, I recommend locking both doors to prevent other Sims from interacting with objects in those rooms, like the computer or TV, so they’ll stay mostly on the other two floors.

Features:

Lot type: Community, exclusive lounge

Lot size: 40x40

Furnished lot value: 330.091 §

Unfurnished lot value: 152.220 §

Packs used in this build: EP01, EP02, EP03, EP05, EP06, EP07, EP09

Requirements:

Misukisu's exoticDancersStage Mod Updated by Arsil. It’s not strictly necessary, but I recommend it because it helps set the mood and is quite fun to use—though I should warn you that you’ll need to configure it manually. For those of you playing the game in Spanish, don’t forget that you can download the translation for this mod and many others for free on my Patreon.

Terms and conditions:

DO NOT claim my creations as your own.

If you want to use any of my builds in your custom world, you are allowed to do so, BUT make sure to credit me as the original creator.

DO NOT re-upload my content under any circumstances; share it with your friends using my own links.

If you experience any issues, let me know and I’ll try to fix it as soon as possible.

Download it here. 🤍

SPA:

El Scarlet es un club de lo más exclusivo, cuyas puertas solo se abren a las criaturas más poderosas y ricas de la ciudad. Su relajado e íntimo ambiente resulta ideal para establecer vínculos, hacer nuevos aliados, tramar malvados planes para deshacerse de los enemigos y brindar con sofisticados cócteles cuando estes salen bien.

Construí este club para un brujo de mi partida sobrenatural; por ese motivo hay un pequeño apartamento y un despacho en la última planta. Si ninguno de vuestros Sims va a poseer este solar, os recomiendo que bloqueéis ambas puertas para que el resto de Sims no interactúen con los objetos de esas estancias, como el ordenador o la televisión, y así se mantengan mayormente en las otras dos plantas.

Características:

Tipo de solar: Comunitario, salón bar exclusivo

Tamaño del solar: 40x40

Valor del solar amueblado: 330.091 §

Valor del solar sin amueblar: 152.220 §

Packs utilizados en esta construcción: EP01, EP02, EP03, EP05, EP06, EP07, EP09

Requisitos:

Misukisu's exoticDancersStage Mod Updated de Arsil. No es estrictamente necesario, pero lo recomiendo porque ayuda a crear ambiente y es bastante divertido, aunque os advierto que tendréis que configurarlo manualmente. Y para aquellos que tengáis el juego en español, os recuerdo que podéis descargar la tradución de este mod y muchos otros en mi Patreon de forma gratuita.

Términos y condiciones:

NO proclames mis creaciones como tuyas.

Si quieres usar alguna de mis construcciones en tu mundo personalizado, tienes permitido hacerlo, PERO deja claro que yo soy su creadora original.

NO resubas mi contenido bajo ninguna excepción; compártelo con tus conocidos usando mis propios enlaces.

Si experimentas algún problema, házmelo saber e intentaré solucionarlo lo antes posible.

Descárgalo aquí. 🤍