#surprise surprise it took less than a day

[satxnsupreme666]

Risk this heart of mine: Agatha Harkness x fem!reader x Rio Vidal

Masterlist

Requested by: @midnight-lestrange

Summary:  You are Agatha´s girlfriend, and you have been with her for over 10 years, you are also the one who freed Agatha from Wanda´s spell after almost three years, Agatha decided to stay in Westview to work on regaining her magic, but what happens when a teenager breaks into your house looking for Agatha, asking her to take him to the witches´ road, Agatha fearing for your safety and caring about you, is not sure if she wants to go and take you as well to the witches´ road, but as always you managed to convince her to do what you wanted.

You have been feeling sick for the past few weeks, making Agatha feel worried sick about you for not knowing what is going on with you, what you didn´t know, was that you were pregnant with Agatha´s child, and none of you knew about this, until Rio arrives and is the first one to notice this about you.

Rio who has been visiting you for the past years only leaving flowers to you never staying to talk visits Agatha again, and instead of talking thing out, they fight as always, but this time Rio decided to come fight with Agatha because she thought the blue-eyed witch had let you go, after knowing you were still with her and realizing you were pregnant, Rio, who cannot tell you nor Agatha the reason as to why you have been feeling sick over the past weeks, decides to go with you to the witches´ road, to try and keep you safe from whatever the road would make them face.

What happens when the truth is revealed to Agatha? How is Agatha going to react knowing that her girlfriend is pregnant and on the witches´ road?

Warnings: Angst, unknown pregnancy, angst, I think that´s it.

Word count: 29k+

Author’s notes: Hello, so, this was requested a while ago by the amazing mind of the creative @midnight-lestrange, I have always loved her requests because she has such an amazing imagination and writing her requests is always a joy, thank you for requesting, by the way I always have loved your amazing ideas! Sorry that this took me too long to finish, you know I had some bad days, things happened, then I got a temporary job just to keep my mind busy, and now I finally was able to finish writing this, also, I am sorry that my stories keep getting longer, I will try to write a little bit less next time, also I decided to add a small prompt someone sent regarding Agatha putting some of her own cologne on reader´s neck because I thought it would be a nice addition to this story as well.

In this story Rio is in love with reader and Agath knows it, since Rio is the only one who is aware of you being pregnant, she worries a lot for you.

Another thing I want to say about this story is, that in this one, the road will be real and not something Billy created.

I hope all of you enjoy this!

Taglist: @italianaidiota @midnight-lestrange @eliscannotdance

Agatha had been taking a shower when you heard the noises coming from the other room, and confused, you went to see what was going on, opening slowly the door of the room and turning the lights on, you saw a surprised teen with half of his body in the room trying to get unstuck.

“Do you need help?” You had asked him with a chuckle and the boy in front of you just stayed there completely frozen not knowing what to do or say.

You couldn’t help but laugh and seeing that the boy in front of you was not going to move or do something else, you walked slowly towards him, and stretched your hand out for him to take, he looked at your hand and then at your face, unsure of what to do but you gave him a soft smile and he slowly started to stretch his hand out to take yours.

You helped him to get him inside the room and he started to look around the place nervously, after some seconds of you analyzing him and seeing that he didn’t seem to be more than 16 years old or even less he uncovered his face and he gave you an awkward smile.

“I am sorry, I thought someone else lived here” His voice was timid as if he was ashamed and you got curious for whom he had been looking for.

“Who did you think lived here?” You asked him gently and pointed at a chair so he could sit there, he sat in the char and you sat as well in front of him in the single bed to look at him properly.

“I was told Agatha Harkness lived here” He said without taking his eyes off the floor, and you raised your eyebrow.

What did this boy want from Agatha, your girlfriend? You didn’t want to scare him off so you started to think properly how to ask the next questions.

“Agatha Harkness? One of the most powerful witches? Why are you looking for her?” You asked him in a soft voice trying to get as much information as you could before making sure how you had to act.

“I know it may seem as something dumb, and many people say it doesn’t even exist to where I need her to take me to, but I really was waiting for her to be here, someone told me she was under some kind of spell and I came here to break that spell, I really need her help” Interesting, you thought, and if you were right, he seemed to be talking about the witches’ road, the teen didn’t seem to be a threat and he sounded sincere, you would have sensed if he had been threat, but this boy didn’t seem to actual want to harm you or her.

“So, you needed a personal object from hers to break the spell, right?” You asked him and he lifted his head hastily to look at you with his mouth open in surprise.

“I know the spell, it is sweet that you want to break her spell, but you’re about six months late” The dark-haired boy frowned and you laughed.

“You are lucky I was the one who caught you, Agatha would have tied you first and then ask the questions” He opened his eyes widely and you laughed again.

“You are funny, maybe I can convince Agatha to keep you, she is taking a shower, do you want to go to the kitchen? I can offer you tea, coffee” You stopped talking to think a little bit more of what you could offer him.

“We also have water if you prefer” You remembered the way hours ago he had walked with you to the kitchen and shyly took the cup of tea you were offering to him, he seemed to be curious and to you it seemed he also had a lot of questions so you decided to encourage him to ask you whatever was on his mind.

“I know you have a lot of question so, now it’s your opportunity to make them” You smiled at him to show him you were sincere, he took a sip of the tea and then put it back on the plate.

He cleared his throat and prepared himself mentally to ask every question he had.

“How do you know Agatha Harkness? How is she not under Wanda Maximoff’s spell? Why are you here on her house?” He asked everything so fast you had to make sure not to forget his questions.

“I have known her for many years now, I released her from the spell she was under and I live here with her” You squinted your eyes and laughed slightly, you heard the steps coming to the kitchen and smiled, Agatha had already finished her shower.

“Honey, where are you?” Agatha asked out loud and entered the kitchen, she already had the purple pajamas you had given to her on, and had a hand in her hair, brushing it to the side, her still slightly wet hair, she was too focused on trying to get her hair in place that she didn’t notice the teen sitting on the other side of the table, his expression completely priceless.

Agatha came to you and pressed her hand in your waist, hugging you she left a soft kiss on your forehead.

“I thought you were already in bed doll” She commented while she pulled you closer to her, you happily rested your head on her chest while she caressed your waist lovingly.

The teen had his mouth open, out of all the things he could have thought and waited, this was not what he was waiting for.

“We have a guest” You said to her and lifted your face to look at her, she froze for a second and then after making sure her hair was completely in place she hastily turned to look where you were looking.

She saw the awkward teen sitting on the chair, sipping his tea for too long, and she squinted her eyes, the teen nervously started to shake a little, and then Agatha looked at you again with a smile on her face.

“Do you want some tea? I can prepare it for you” You said and started to stand up, but Agatha gently placed her hand on your shoulder to stop you from standing completely.

“It’s fine doll, you can finish your tea I will make mine alright?” You nodded and Agatha leant to kiss your lips, she started to deepen the kiss and playfully you pushed her away, not wanting for the kid to witness the scene, Agatha winked at you and walked towards the stove to pour herself some tea.

“So, who is this teenager, who seems to have arrived at…” She quickly turned her face to look at the clock on the wall, it read 10:45 and then looked at the teen to shook her head, disapprovingly.

“At 10:45, shouldn’t you be in bed by now?” Agatha asked raising her eyebrow and still shaking her head, trying to make the teen feel guilty for appearing at this hour.

“I am sorry, I thought you were, I mean, I thought no one else was here, I thought no one could caught me if I entered through the window…“ The teen started to stutter and you closed your eyes, you knew Agatha would get angry at his last sentence.

He kept talking saying he didn´t want to intrude and that he really wasn´t thinking properly, but the way Agatha stopped doing what she was doing with the cup, and placed it slowly on the counter, showing that Agatha was analyzing what he was saying, your girlfriend slowly turned herself around and walked idly until she was next to the talking teenager, you saw the way he slowly backed his body up, or at least he tried since he was still sitting, he was about to say something else, when out of nowhere Agatha kicked the teen out of the chair you quickly stood up to see if he had hurt himself but he seemed fine, so you decided to sit back and let Agatha handle the situation, and smile a little.

“Oh my god, what was that for?” The teen asked out loud grabbing his shoulder and Agatha rolled her eyes, she moved the chair out of the way, and kneeled down to grab the teen by his shirt.

“You broke into my house! And you are expecting to be received with open arms and gentleness?” The teen frowned and stuttered because he didn´t know what to do or say.

Agatha was still tense, because even if she knew you also had powers and you were able to protect yourself if something happened, she still feared that someone could actually hurt you and she would not be able to do something, someone entered to your house and she was not even able to sense it like before! So, of course she felt scared and angry for not having her powers and being able to protect you.

“I- I already said I´m sorry, and I was not going to hurt you, I didn´t even know there was someone else living here! I wanted to release you from the spell you supposedly were under!” Agatha furrowed her eyebrows again and looked at him straight into his eyes, trying to see if he was lying but she did not find any type of deception in his voice, he sounded sincere but decided to have an eye on him, she pursed her lips and released him from her grip.

“How did you know I was here? And how did you know I was under a spell, but most important, why were you looking for me?” Agatha sounded serious, and you decided not to interrupt her, you wanted for her to handle this the way she knew, so you only stayed the in the chair, sipping your tea and listening to the two of them talk.

“I did my research, a man told me about you, about the Wanda Maximoff incident, he told me that it was told you were under a spell, I swear I don´t know how he knew about it, and I was looking for you because I want to go to the witches´ road” You stopped drinking your tea at the mention of the witches´ road, it was just a myth right?

“The road doesn’t exist” Agatha said to him, and finally, stood up to get her cup of tea, after she prepared her tea, she went to sit next to you, she pulled the chair next to yours and placed it closer to you, you gave her a smile, when Agatha saw you were smiling at her she felt herself relaxing a little.

“You and I need to talk doll” She said gently almost whispering and you nodded, she may had been smiling but you still could see the worry in her eyes, she took the sit next to yours and you leaned into her body, resting your heat against her shoulder.

“You can sit down again, you know?” You said with a smile, loud enough for the teenager to hear who was still on the floor, some noises were heard and the teen slowly rose from the floor to sit back on the chair.

“What’s your name?” Agatha asked again after a couple of minutes of silence but what surprised her was that she was not able to hear what he had said and a symbol appeared over his mouth.

Agatha turned to look at you, realizing you were to looking at your almost empty cup and noticing you hadn´t seen the symbol appearing on the teenager´s mouth, you hadn´t seen what happened, but there was no doubt that the boy had a sigil on him.

“Interesting” Your girlfriend commented while eyeing the boy in front of you, she had so many questions but decided not to ask anything.

“We can keep talking in the morning, we have a spare room-“ You were going to offer him to stay in the other room but Agatha interrupted you and talked directly to the teen.

“You are sleeping on the floor” Chuckling slightly you looked back at Agatha who was drinking from her tea slowly and nonchalantly, rolling your eyes playfully at her you went to look back at the dark-haired boy who had his eyes wide open and you shook your head, you mouthed to him a quiet “Don´t worry” and he visibly relaxed.

The three of you just stayed there not saying anything else and waited until all of you finished your respective cups of tea, after that, you made sure to take the teenager back to the  bedroom where he had first entered through the window, Agatha kept saying he had to sleep on the floor and use his own jacket to cover himself but you only laughed at Agatha’s comments, you told her not to worry and kissed her after you told her she could go back to your shared bedroom to get ready for bed and to wait there for you, she nodded and pressed her hands on your waist to give you a quick hug before walking towards your bedroom, you entered to the room in which the boy would be staying the night and you found him standing in the middle of the room looking awkwardly at the ceiling.

“I told you, you were lucky I was the one who found you when you were trying to break in” He tried to laugh but the sound that came from him was more of a whine.

“You can sleep in that bed, and use the same covers, this room has never been used and everything is clean so you don’t have to worry, alright?” He nodded slowly and you looked back at him, he seemed familiar but you were not sure why.

“So, you’re a witch too, right?” The boy asked you suddenly and you nodded, he seemed to think deeply and you just shrugged your shoulders, you needed to go back to Agatha to talk to her about what had happened and what you would do.

“I’ll let you rest, please, don’t try something dumb, Agatha will notice and I’m afraid I will not interfere, alright?” He nodded quickly and you left the room, laughing a little.

Opening the door of your bedroom you saw Agatha standing in the middle of the room, she had her hand on her face and seemed to be deep in thought, not wanting to interrupt her thoughts you decided to go and sit on your bed, after a couple of minutes of watching her making faces and brushing her hair, she finally looked at you and smiled at you.

“So, are we going to take him to the witches’ road?” You were really curious, there were many stories that said the road was real but there were also a lot of stories that said the road was a lie, Agatha had never actually told you anything related to the witches’ road and you had never asked, so you were really curious about it.

Agatha visibly tensed, the way she suddenly straightened herself and pursed her lips showed you she was not sure, you just kept looking at her with a curious expression and Agatha suddenly knelt in front of you, putting her hands on your knees and brushing them gently.

“The road is a death wish” Her baby blue eyes stared right into your eyes, her expression completely serious, it was strange to see her this serious.

“So, it’s real?” You placed your hand on one of her hands that was brushing your knee and started to caress the back of her hand, Agatha nodded and tried to smile.

“It is, but just a few have been able to get to the end, many witches died on the road” If it was true, then it was true that at the end the ones that finished it got what they wanted right?

“You can get your powers back” She realized where this conversation was going and decided to stop you right there.

“No, the road is dangerous, too cruel, too harsh, it is never known what awaits in the road, we are not going, I-“ She stopped for a moment taking a  deep breath before speaking again.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you, just look at what happened tonight! I didn’t sense someone had broken in, what if it had been someone worse! Someone who could’ve wanted to hurt me? I wouldn’t even have been able to protect you” Agatha felt useless, without her magic she was not able to make sure you were safe, her worst fear was losing you, and she hated the fact that being powerless meant not being able to keep you safe, you saw the way she was so tense and you didn´t want to make her feel more worried, so you decided to leave the talk for tomorrow, right now you just wanted to lay down with Agatha and let her hold you, you still would have the chance to talk about the road with her, so you decided not to mention again the road for tonight.

｡ ˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

“What was that?” The teen asked you suddenly when you heard a loud crash on the first floor of the house, you quickly got up from the chair, out of the bedroom and headed downstairs to look where the sound had come from.

And what you saw surprised you, there was another woman pressing Agatha against the wall, you were about to use your powers to push away the woman who was covered completely in black, but something about her seemed familiar, and as you sensed no threat you decided not to use your magic and try to talk things out.

You had started to walk slowly towards them and the laugh that came from the taller woman made you remember who she was.

Agatha hadn’t tell you completely what had happened exactly between Rio and her, and you never tried to push her into telling you everything, but the first time you had met her had been years ago and it had been in a very similar situation as this one, they had been fighting until you arrived to stop them from hurting the other.

You panicked when you saw the knife in Agatha’s throat but you tried to keep calm, trying to think of how to approach them, in order not to make things worse.

“Hey, I don’t know what’s going on, but can you please put the knife down?” You asked out lout while walking slowly towards the two of them with your hands in the air in order to show the woman in black that you meant no threat, you tried to keep your voice steady, but it was hard seeing a trickle of blood in Agatha’s chest.

The two women hastily turned their heads to look at you, Agatha felt a wave of fear taking over her whole body, afraid that her former lover could do something to you to get back at her, so the next thing she did was done out of pure impulse.

Agatha grabbed the other woman by her neck with her left hand and with the right one she grabbed the hand that was holding the knife to put it as far as she could, up in the air, the brown-eyed woman grabbed Agatha’s neck, which left the two of them in the same position, grabbing the other’s neck and with two hands up in the air.

“Can we please take a moment to breathe and stop wanting to hurt each other?” You asked them slowly and made sure you were only a few centimeters away from them.

Agatha and the brown-eyed woman looked at you and then, slowly, they looked at each other, straight in their eyes.

They stayed like that four a couple of minutes, Agatha chuckling from time to time with disdain and sometimes rolling her eyes, the other woman laughed softly and tended to squint her eyes a little, it was as if they were having a conversation inside their minds, as if they were communicating telepathically and you tilted your head to the side, watching them carefully, after some more minutes of what it seemed that they were discussing things in their minds, they finally nodded at the same time, carefully loosening the grasp they had on the other.

Agatha started to brush some strands of hair to the side to make sure they were not on her face and licked her lips a little after turning herself to face you, the brown-eyed woman cleared her throat and started to move her head to the side a few times until it cracked a little, she sighed in relief and turned herself around to face you as well.

“Can I trust you not to try to hurt each other?” You asked them with a soft tone in your voice while raising an eyebrow.

The two of them started to look around the place, looking at the wall, the ceiling, Agatha flipped her hair a little, and brought her hand to her face to scratch her jaw slightly, while the brown-eyed woman flipped her knife in her hand a few times, and the two of them answered at the same time.

“Yeah, whatever” Agatha replied before pursing her lips not wanting to look at you.

“Sure” The brown-eyed woman replied while she took her knife back into a small pocket that she had on her waist, then she lifted her hands up in the air to show you she was not holding anything else in her hands.

“Thank you, now, can you tell me what’s going on and why everything here is completely destroyed?”  You asked them and walked towards the living room in which everything was all over the place.

Everything was upside down, you could only shook your head in disappointment, sighing you walked towards the small broken pot that had dirt and a small yellow flower with almost no petals, taking it carefully in your hands with some dirt you made sure to bring the flower to its original state, after some seconds of pressing your hand over the dying flower it finally came back with its bright color.

“Next time you want to fight, make sure to do it outside, please” Carefully you took the broken pot and in only some seconds using your powers the pot was good as new and you placed the small flower inside of it putting in back near the window.

“Sorry” The two women said at the same time causing to look at each other and they proceeded to roll their eyes.

“I thought you had already sorted things out last time this happened” Rio couldn’t stand the way your voice sounded so disappointed and Agatha felt a little bit ashamed, she hadn’t been waiting for something like this to happen, and of course she had not been waiting for her former lover to appear.

You kneeled on the floor to take a small flower that was completely crushed by pieces of glass and you couldn’t help but feel suddenly so sad, you were not sure why, but suddenly the wave of sadness took over you, the flower on the floor completely dead and crushed by the heavier material on it, it made you want to cry, you tried to take the flowers in your hands and due to now doing it carefully a sharp piece cut your skin making you hiss in pain, you stood up so abruptly that when you turned around to face the two women again, you felt suddenly dizzy, and unconsciously tried to hold onto something.

Agatha and Rio quickly noticed the way your body had suddenly reacted and without thinking too much, the two of them walked quickly closer to you, to make sure you were not going to fall.

Rio quickly took your right hand which had been the one who had the cut made by the sharp glass and with her other hand she made sure to grab you by your lower back, in a way to help you become steady.

Rio quickly started to examine your wound, taking closer your wounded and bleeding hand to her eyes, making sure you didn’t have any more pieces of glass inside.

Agatha was quick to place both of her hands in your waist and her grip became stronger to help you balance yourself, she did not even mind that also Rio had gotten closer to you to make sure you were fine, the blue-eyed witch was not going to comment anything about it, but it was sweet that Rio had gotten just as worried as she got, she did not understand why the sudden paleness and the dizziness as well as the sickness you had been feeling for the past weeks, she would have loved to help you to make sure what was going on with you, but without her powers, she was not even able to help you with that.

After a couple seconds when Rio made sure you did not have anything else in your hand such as another small piece of glass she carefully caressed the back of your hand, her soft touch made your heart skip a beat, you remembered getting to have such long talks when she first had come looking for Agatha, thinking the blue-eyed was on her own, but just as it happened the night before that the teen had thought the same, she was surprised to be face to face with you, the way Rio had always been so careful around you, making sure not to annoy you nor to make you uncomfortable, if you were near Agatha and Rio it was sure they would at least try not to fight or hurt each other, Rio´s sad eyes always made your heart ache, you had wanted to help the two of them to talk as well, you were not sure what had happened centuries ago, since Agatha always avoid the topic, never wanting to get into details, the only thing you knew was that many, many centuries ago, the two of them had shared their lives, they had loved each other, and you were sure, the love for each other was still there, the way they tended to look at each other when they thought the other was not looking, you were not dumb, and the first time Rio had been around you, you noticed so many different things about the two of them that they didn´t realized you observed them, Rio always had that sad look in her eyes, it hurt you to see her that way, even if she was a cosmic being, Death herself, you couldn´t fathom what was the cause of her sadness, but one thing you were sure, was that Agatha was the cause of that sadness Rio was carrying with her.

Agatha had mastered the craft of hiding her feelings, what she truly was feeling when it came to cases like this, she didn´t like to be seem as vulnerable by other people, it was different with you, with you she left her strong façade behind, she showed you the real her, her real feelings, she didn´t care if you saw her sad, scared or even angry, with you everything felt good, she felt safe showing her emotions, she trusted in you the same way you trusted in her, but when it came to Rio and what had happened, she always avoided the subject, quickly changing the conversation to something else, and you didn´t want to push things, you didn´t want her to feel pressure, so you never insisted more, but you could see the grief her eyes reflected whenever her and Rio´s past was touched, only knowing the more superficial things about them, but never getting to know the actual deepness and full story they shared, so, even if you had wanted them to talk and sort things out, and help them to get to talk, you knew it was not going to be possible, if neither of them actually talked about what had happened whey they fought, there was no way they were going to let you know.

During the past years you had been with Agatha, you were sure there was always something, or more like, someone watching you from afar, always in the depths of the shadows and darkness that came with it, you were not going to say it out loud to Rio, that you knew she visited you from time to time, at first, you had thought she only came to see Agatha, and you were fine with that, even when you knew they shared a history, you didn´t feel any type of threat, and you always felt safe when she was around, but Rio never stayed, she always maintained her distance, only watching from afar, and when she realized you had noticed her, she always left, never saying anything, not even a goodbye.

When you first felt a presence years ago, weeks after you had met her for the first time, Agatha and her fighting just as you had found them now, weeks after that incident you noticed the intense presence of something near you, and when you finally spotted where the presence was, it had been in your back garden, it had been late at night, around 8:00 pm, it had been raining for the whole day and Agatha was on your shared bedroom reading a book, but the feeling that something was there made you want to look all around the house to know what was that feeling you had, just when you were about to turn the lights on of the kitchen, the feeling that you were being watched grew stronger and unconsciously you turned your head to look at the window that pointed at the backyard, deciding to walk closer to the window, you squinted your eyes, and the silhouette of a woman started to become more visible, the crown on the head was so familiar that you couldn’t help but smile at the silhouette, slowly you brought your hand close to your chest, and waved at the barely visible woman who´s silhouette blended with the darkness of the night.

Waving your hand to greet her, you thought she was going to come inside, but she only waved at you as well, and that was when you finally saw her face, she had part of her face covered with a black piece of cloth, leaving her eyes to be only visible, her big brown eyes staring at you, you were about to move your hand to invite her inside, but before you could have done that, she disappeared, leaving you there in the middle of the night feeling curious, deciding to sleep, you went to Agatha, who had asked you why you were smiling but you only shrugged.

The next morning when you woke up, something told you to go back to the backyard where the woman covered in black had been standing, so, going back to your garden, you saw a single red rose fully grown exactly on the same spot where Rio had been the night before, it was the most beautiful red rose you had seen, the red color so vibrant, that it made your heart skip a beat, feeling your face getting warm, you decided to take such good care of the flower, you were not sure why Rio had left it there, but over the past years she had been visiting you constantly, never staying for too long, and never talking to you, always leaving a trail of flowers behind her, and you had made sure that every flower she had given to you was taken care of.

You felt something warm in your hand that made you come back to the present, looking back at your hand that was being held by Rio, you saw that the wound was not there anymore, the aching feeling had disappeared and the thick liquid of scarlet color has stopped from coming out of your palm, Rio then caressed again your hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

“Thank you” You whispered to her, Agatha and Rio were so close to you that they heard your soft voice, Rio nodded and you turned your head a little to look at her face, her brown eyes  staring right into yours, making you feel as if she was staring straight into your soul, she smiled to you and nodded slowly, looking briefly at your lips, only for a second, you had not noticed if you had been looking or more like, analyzing her expression, it had been so quickly that it made you think she had looked at your lips by mistake.

But how wrong you were, Rio enjoyed feeling you so close to her, getting to feel your warm body was enough for her, even if she wanted more, for her this was enough.

You remembered the mess that was around you, and also Agatha being as well so close to you made you remember what had happened first, turning your head a little to the side to look at Agatha you saw the way she was smiling at you, her baby blue eyes still held the same worry she had been feeling for you for the past weeks, but her loving stare was there, taking her left hand to your face she brushed a strand of hair that was on your face and gently put it behind your ear.

“Thank you” You said again, this time to your girlfriend, she always knew how to make you feel better, always knowing what to do or what to say, the way she always knew how to reassure you were going to be alright made you feel loved and warm on the inside.

Rio knew exactly what was going on, why you felt dizzy, she had noticed a change in you, the way another life was growing inside of you, but she knew she couldn´t say anything, it was not something she had to let you know, it was not something she had to let you or Agatha knew, the two of you had to realize it on your own, she was not allowed to announce things like that, and the way her heart ache for that and so many more things, she wasn´t even sure if she would be able to let you know even if she was allowed.

Agatha had of course seen the way Rio had been so gentle with you, making sure not to hurt you more, and even healing the wound on your hand, Agatha felt guilty, because of their fight, everything in your  house, or at least in the living room was broken, shattered and even all over the place, and because of their actions, you had gotten hurt, it had not been a really bad wound, but Agatha hated to see you hurt, it didn´t matter if it was small, she still worried awfully, and the way Rio had made sure the wound was completely healed, made Agatha felt grateful, it had been the same thing she would have done if she had her powers, making sure you were alright was her priority, and it looked that to Rio, the priority was the same.

“Oh my god! What happened?” The teen suddenly appeared running down the stairs, seeing how everything in the living room was completely ruined and even the furniture was all over the place, or at least, the remnants of the furniture, it was as if a hurricane had happened inside the house!

And when he saw Agatha and another woman holding you, the way you looked pale, he got even more scared, without thinking twice, he came running towards the three of you, when he got closer to you, he was about to take your hands in his, he brought his hands to yours but seeing the way the two women where fiercely grabbing both of your hands and didn´t seem that they were going to let go of your hands he just placed his hands on his chest, still alarmed about the state you were in.

“Are you alright Miss… Miss Harkness?” The teen had no idea how to call you, would it be disrespectful to call you only by your name? He hadn´t thought twice, so he only assumed your last name was the same as Agatha, but now he was not so sure.

You laughed at the way the teen had called you, Agatha felt her face getting warmer, blushing even, and Rio couldn´t help but laugh as well.

“I am fine, don´t worry, it was just, I felt dizzy suddenly, maybe I have to go lay down for a while” You said and started to separate from the two women, Agatha pursed her lips, not wanting to let you go.

“I can take you to the bedroom” Agatha quickly said to you, but you didn´t think it was that bad, you would be able to go to your room, a little bit scared if the dizziness hit you again, but you decided to come up with something for the two women to have a conversation, the two of them alone.

“No, it is fine, he can help me to get to our bedroom, please?” You looked back at the teenager in front of you, whose face still held worry all over his features, he quickly nodded and rose his hands to help you walk.

“You two destroyed everything here, I expect you to fix this mess, and please don´t hurt each other, that´s the only thing I ask from you, don´t fight please” You said to them with a pleading tone, to which they couldn´t say no to you, Agatha and Rio quickly nodded, agreeing not to get into another fight, you smiled at them and started to walk with the teen next to you, his hands up in the air close to you, just to make sure he would be able to catch you if you fell.

“When I come back here, I want to see everything in order, alright? And again, I will know if you start fighting, I will send Mr.Scratchy to keep an eye on you, so you better not fight”

You finished saying that and turned yourself to keep walking towards you bedroom, leaving the two women alone, they did not dare to look at each other, so they just stood there looking at you making sure you were fine, still afraid that you could fall, they stared at you climbing up the stairs, the teen behind you ready to do whatever he could.

After a couple of minutes, they heard the door getting closed and the teen came quickly running down the stairs towards them.

“I will make sure she is fine, I will ask her if she needs anything, I´ll leave you two now” He gave them an awkward smile and heard the footsteps of the teenagers disappearing again.

｡ ˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

“I am not dumb Rio, I know you have been the one leaving her flowers whenever you can” Agatha said to the taller woman, and Rio only smirked, Rio had powers and would be able to use her powers to put everything back in place, but decided to take a seat on the only cushion who seemed not have been destroyed, waiting for Agatha to finish doing the cleaning.

“I know you have been aware, but if it had annoyed you, you could have told me to stop” Rio only shrugged her shoulders, it had not been a crime to gift you one of the things you loved.

“Whenever she sees a new flower left there for her, she always gets the biggest smile, how can I compete right now, when I don´t even have powers?” Agatha couldn´t help but feel a little bit jealous and frustrated, she couldn´t get you anything out of thin air, without her powers she felt so useless.

“I am not looking for a competition, we both know her heart belongs to you” The way Rio was saying that, her voice becoming a whisper and her gaze going to the floor, it was clear the brown-eyed woman felt hopeless longing a one-sided love, Rio felt her heart break more and more, how could it be, her first love didn´t reciprocate her feelings, blaming for what had happened, never getting the chance to explain herself more, and now, centuries later, the woman who was with her former lover, you, a woman whose eyes shone with so much happiness whenever she was doing something she enjoyed, whose laugh sounded so sweet and with such a harmony that Rio wouldn´t mind listening to all the time, she couldn´t believe she had fallen for you, the woman who was in a relationship with her former lover, who hated her, how could her dark heart belong to two people who were so out of reach from her?

Agatha saw the way the woman in front of her was looking at the floor, a cosmic being like her, mourning over love, mourning the love she thought would never had, deep down, Agatha would have liked to go and hug her, explain to her how things had gotten so bad, talk to her and reassure her that whatever she was thinking was not right, but being so prideful was impeding her to speak with her heart on her sleeve, even after everything that had happened between the two of them, she still felt the need to try and cheer her up, seeing her so sad always made her heart ache.

Agatha was also not blind, she was aware of how you would react whenever Rio was near, she knew you too well for her to know that you also felt a spark for the brown-eyed woman who was seated right now in front of her, she should have been feeling jealous, being irrational about the fact that Rio made you feel something, but the truth was that, it didn´t bother her, of course only with Rio was the fact that she did not feel annoyed, because if she saw a different woman flirting with you, whoever it was, that other woman would completely be ten meters rotting underground.

“Her heart is split in two” The blue eyed-woman said in a whisper, and Rio hastily lifted her head to look at Agatha, a spark of hope suddenly was visible in her brown eyes, Agatha cleared her throat and decided to look to her right.

“I mean, the bigger part of her heart and love belongs to me, of course, I would even dare to say that her love is divided into 80 percent, no, 85 percent loving me, and maybe the other, what is it? 15 percent maybe, and just maybe is what she feels for you, not love, don´t get me wrong, maybe she is just fond of you” Agatha finished saying while she flipped her hair and turn around to get a glass of water from the kitchen.

Rio chuckled, she knew Agatha so awfully well, she knew when Agatha was lying, when she was saying the truth, and she was sure that when it came to you, she would never dare to lie, you were so important to her, she treasured you with her whole heart, that even the thought of doing something to hurt you destroyed Agatha completely, and due to what Agatha had just said, Rio felt her heart skipping a beat, the sadness had gone away, and a spark of hope had been implanted inside her heart.

“Can you now help me to get this back to how it was?” Rio just remained there, where she was sitting, a smile on her face, if she was honest, she had thought that maybe at one point you and Agatha would separate, and when she came back to fight Agatha again, she thought you were not there anymore, the thought had made her heart ache, but when she saw Agatha had been the one that had opened the door, she instantly felt her blood boil again, she had not felt you at first, Rio had not sensed you, and part of her felt disappointed, she felt angry because it had been a while since she had come see you or Agatha, she had been busy with so many things, her job was not an easy one but it was what she had to do, so when she arrived at this house on this town, and she did not fell you, her anger came back with such a force that was even unknown to her, angry because not sensing you meant you were not there anymore, which also meant Agatha and you had ended things, which to her meant that Agatha had been the one to push you away and leave you, because it only made sense that Agatha would ruin something good with you, the best woman she had also met, but after listening to your voice again, the anger suddenly disappeared, leaving a sense of relief, but the first moment her eyes landed on you again, she noticed the way you had changed, the way you were carrying another life, and maybe that had to do with her not being able to sense you, there was not any other answer.

“I want to keep her safe” Rio suddenly said, Agatha turned herself around to look at her, raising her eyebrow, until the blue-eyed woman realized that Rio was talking about you.

“I want to do the same, to keep her safe is my priority” Agatha replied to her with a serious tone.

“And yet you are taking her with you on the road” The way Rio sounded upset made Agatha feel guilty, she knew that taking you to the road was a risk, she would be putting your life in danger, but how would she be able to deny to you something you wanted, she knew you were strong enough to face whatever you would encounter, you broke the spell she was in! The one the Scarlet witch had put her under, you were strong and powerful, yet Agatha still feared something may happen to you.

“She is strong, she is really powerful, she was the one who released me from the Scarlet Witch´s spell” Rio nodded, taking in the information, she was aware of your powers being strong, but the new life growing inside you was what made her feel even more worried.

Rio however, knew everything about you, the way you had survived so many years without a coven, a coven-less witch you had been called, powerful magic, even other witches were scared of you, and yet, you didn´t need a coven to survive nor to teach you anything.

But Rio knowing the truth about what was going on with you, if going to the Witches´ road was a death wish, a great risk of losing life, high chances of not making it to the end, now with another life growing inside of you, she was conflicted, she couldn’t tell you or Agatha what was going on, she would be breaking the rules, she had once broken the rules for Agatha and still, Agatha did not realize what she had done for her, blaming her, she did not want for the same to happen with you.

“Let me go with you, she doesn´t have to be part of the coven you need, she can be… “a tourist” If you will, only visiting, but not being part of the coven, it would grant her not to have any trials, right? She wouldn´t have to encounter nor fight against anything” Rio said out loud, if she had to take your place, she would do it, everything to keep you safe, and now more than ever, you needed to be taken care of, Rio also knew you were too stubborn, so if Agatha didn´t allow you to go, you would find a way to break into the Witches´ road, which only would be more dangerous to you, so the only way to grant you would be safe, would be to keep you close, but not making you part of the coven.

Agatha stood there, looking at the brown-eyed woman, she actually had a point, that way your life would not be put at risk, they would only make sure you were safe, you would be a bystander, not taking actual part, and that way, they would grant you would make it to the end, with them, safe and alive.

“The Salem seven are not going to know where you are” Rio said again, she knew she had threatened Agatha to alert the entities and let them know where Agatha was, but now that she knew you were still with her, she would never forgive herself if something actually happened to you, Rio looked back at Agatha who was also looking at her, looking at her in a way she had not done in a long time.

“I am doing this for her, not for you” Rio said with her eyebrows furrowed, her jaw clenched and took a deep breath.

“Thank you” The blue-eyed woman replied, feeling grateful that Rio cared so much about you to even offer this.

“We have to call a truce, after all, you are coming with us down the road” Agatha said with an honest smile, the thing that they had in common right now, was to make sure you were safe and would make it alive, if they needed to do something else to protect you, they would do it.

Rio nodded slowly, agreeing with what the blue-eyed witch had said, protecting you was their goal, they could try and make sure their hatred for the other, would be pushed aside, she knew it was wrong not to let you know or Agatha about the life that was now growing inside of you, and she was sure Agatha would be surprised when she realizes she was the mother as well of the life that you were currently carrying, but still she felt guilty for not being able to let you know, she knew the rules, things like those were not allowed for her to announce, never knowing what could happen, she still was not even sure what could happen or if everything was going to be alright, but she vowed to herself, that you would be protected, she would make sure to keep you safe along with Agatha and that was what the two of them were going to do.

｡˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

You were sure only around 20 minutes have passed and you really hoped that Agatha and Rio had already finished cleaning the mess they did.

“Are you feeling better?” The boy next to you who was sat in the chair next to your bed asked worriedly, you had been laying on your bed for the past 20 minutes, with your eyes closed, the teen had helped you to get to your room and had ran way only to come back with the same velocity he had left only to let you know he would stay in that same room to make sure you were alright, and then he had said “Sorry for intruding in your house and for forcing myself to be here right now with you, but I really want to make sure you are fine”, you had only laughed and nodded at him accepting he would stay there with you, you opened your eyes to look at him, he had his eyebrows furrowed and was looking at you expectantly.

“I´m feeling better, thank you, I should go and see what Agatha and Rio are up to, leaving them alone for so much time is never good, and they have not made any noise, so I should better go see what is going on” You said to him and were about to stand up but the teen quickly stood up from the chair and lifted his hands up in the air, in a way to tell you to stop moving.

“No, I told Agatha I was going to make sure you were fine, I can go and see what is going on and come back running again to let you know” He said while also he moved towards the door and opened it.

“I will come back to inform you what is going on, please don´t stand up” He smiled at you widely and nodded before leaving the room and closing the door, you could hear his footsteps running through the hallway and then hearing him running as fast as he could downstairs.

When he quickly arrived to the first floor, he got surprised to see that the mess that had been before had completely disappeared, the were not pieces of shattered glass, the furniture seemed to be brand new, placed where the old cushions, couches and the glass table had been before, everything seemed to be in place, and there was no trace of the mess that was before.

Agatha was sitting in one of the couches, she seemed to be deep in thought, her hand on her chin and staring directly to one of the walls, the other woman who he remembered you had called her Rio, was caressing some of the plants that were placed near one of the windows, he could not remember if you had that many plants inside your house before, were they new or not?

Everything seemed to be back in order and the two women were not fighting so he decided he had enough information to go back to you and tell you what he had seen, nodding and happy with the information he had gotten, he decided to go back to your room, but before he could turn himself around to run back upstairs he heard Agatha calling him.

“Hey teen, what are you doing here? Shouldn´t you be checking on Mrs. Harkness?” Agatha smirked and started to stand up from the couch to go to your room.

The teen visibly tensed, his shoulders stiffened and cleared his throat.

“She wanted to come and see what you two were doing since everything was quiet, but I told her I could come and see and go back to her” He just stood there not daring to move, the older witch narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips slightly, slowly walking closer to him, he felt as If Agatha was analyzing him, trying to see something he didn´t know.

“I will tell her myself everything is fine, you stay here” She ended saying to him and walked past him to go downstairs to check on you.

The dark-haired boy just stood there in the middle of the living room not knowing what to do and he saw when Rio turned herself around to look at him, she tilted her eyes and just stared at him, her deadly stare made him feel unnerved, Rio smirked and suddenly she bit in the air, the sound of her teeth biting in the air making him jump in fear not knowing why.

She slowly went to take a seat on the small couch, the smirk never leaving her face.

“So, Mrs. Harkness?” She asked, looking at him straight in the eyes.

“Yes, I mean, yes?” He wasn´t even sure what he was answering, and Rio laughed again.

Meanwhile, Agatha had already arrived at your shared room, she slowly opened the door and entered trying not to make as much noise as she could, she noticed you still were laying on your bed with your eyes closed, and her face changed to an expression completely full of worry, she couldn´t stand the feeling in the pit of her stomach, the fear of not knowing what to do or what you even had.

“How are you feeling doll?” The blue-eyed witch asked you while she knelt down on the floor, next to you, placing her hand on your shoulder and caressing it slowly.

“I´m feeling better, don´t worry, I was just feeling sleepy, I think I relaxed too much” Chuckling a little bit you opened your eyes and proceeded to move to sit on your bed, Agatha quickly understood what you were trying to do, so she being the loving girlfriend she had always been, stood up and took your hand in hers, her free hand went to your lower back to help you sit on the bed.

“I know you are worried, but I can assure you there is nothing wrong, you don´t have to worry this much” You looked at her, with a smile on your face, your hand never leaving hers, you gave it a soft squeeze to reassure her everything was fine.

Agatha tried not to purse her lips again, she couldn´t help but worry about you, she had no idea why you suddenly felt dizzy out of nowhere or why in the mornings you suddenly felt like throwing up, she wanted to know what was going on with you, she even tried to talk to you about going to an actual doctor to see what you had, but you only told her you had maybe caught a bug or something and just waved the thought off, Agatha pressed her free hand against your forehead and then placed her hand on your cheek, you leaned against her touch, enjoying the warm feeling, you could see the way Agatha´s lips pursed, meaning she was thinking too much, and before she could say something else you decided to speak.

“Hey, were you not supposed to start gathering the coven for our trip to the witches´ road?” Agatha knew exactly what you were trying to do, you were trying to change the subject, you were even batting your eyelashes, knowing very well that was something Agatha loved, so she decided not to bring up again the subject about seeing a doctor.

“Yes, we are supposed to do that, but we still have time, that teenager can wait, but I am thinking if it would be better, not to go, you are clearly not well and-“  You didn’t like where she was going.

“Please Agatha, you already told him we were going to go, and I am not that bad, please, you already agreed on letting me go with you” You pouted and even if Agatha found your pouting to be cute, she still worried about you and everything that could go wrong.

She really didn´t want you to go, if something happened to you she would always blame herself, she was not sure what she would do if she lost you, your beautiful eyes were looking at her, she still couldn´t believe how lucky she was for having you, she would never let you go, how could someone so sweet, caring and beautiful as you be with her? She had wondered the same thing so many times, always feeling deep down that you would realize how awful she was, that some day you would realize that she was not worthy of you, but all these times when she was at her lowest and she felt deep hatred for herself, you were always there, always reassuring her that you loved her and that you would never let her, not matter what, so she really couldn´t lose you, the love she felt for you was immense, she sometimes could not even describe the feeling she got when you looked at her with so much love.

Even when Rio had agreed on going to the road to help her look after you, she still felt scared, she knew the feelings the other woman had for you, so she also knew Rio would not let anything happen to you, and even after that, she still felt scared.

You were the best thing that had happened to her since she had lost everything, she had been alone for so much time, wandering and just killing other witches, killing them because she had nothing else to do, she had nothing left, she was alone, not having anyone to hold to, since that day in the woods she had not just buried her feelings and heart with the most important little person she had ever had, since that day, she had vowed to herself not to care about anyone else, not to even look at anyone else, she couldn´t, after losing two people she had loved so much, she thought she would never be able to love again, she thought she would not be capable of loving someone again, and she did not even want to, the mere thought of caring for someone else had even made her feel disgusted, she would even had wrinkled her nose in aversion when it came to the word “love”, so she had just spent her centuries getting to study and increase her knowledge about her magic, increasing her power with each witch she murdered, only caring about power and nothing else, until she met you years ago.

The way you had made sure to stay by her side, making sure she was fine, every little loving action you had had with her, it made her open her heart slowly to you, she knew she was in too deep the first time she saw you and she had felt her heart skip a beat, since the moment she had felt the way her face got warmer when you first got closer to her, she knew, what she had vowed to herself years ago, she would not be able to keep that promise, not anymore, and she had been grateful, thanks to you, she had found the love she thought she would never feel again.

A soft knock on the door interrupted her thoughts and made you look from her to the door, then you looked back at her with a confused look on your face and Agatha only shrugged her shoulders.

The door started to open slowly without anyone entering, until you heard the teenager clearing his throat.

“Is it safe to look?” He asked out lout behind the door and you laughed.

“No, we are naked and-“ You quickly patted playfully Agatha´s shoulder and laughed looking at the way she was smirking.

“Come on in, it´s fine, it´s safe to look” You said to him and he still seemed to doubt, he did not enter but slowly opened the door a little bit more, he only peeked his head in a slow motion until he saw the two of you there, holding hands, he visibly sighed and proceeded to enter just a little bit, not wanting to intrude.

“Sorry, uhm, Rio sent me to tell you that we have to get going if we want to find the coven we need” He said without looking at Agatha, he seemed to be a little bit scared of her, and you only laughed, Agatha wasn´t scary.

Agatha looked at you and rolled her eyes, she quietly started to mimic what the teen had said and you just laughed, the teen looked at you confused, not understanding what was so funny.

“It´s fine, thank you for letting us know, also, I don´t think I asked your name” You suddenly remembered, because you couldn´t even remember if you had already asked him or if he had told you, the next thing that happened made you gasp in shock, when he tried to tell you his name, a sigil appeared on his mouth, not letting you hear his name or who he was, Agatha sighed and turned her head to look at you, it was clearly someone had put a sigil on the teenager, not knowing what to do or say you only looked at Agatha surprised not knowing what to do.

“We will leave in a few minutes; can you go back to wait on the living room again?” Agatha said to him and the teenager seemed to be thinking if he should leave or not, being alone with Rio scared him more than being alone with Agatha, the blue- eyed witch raised her eyebrow an looked at him expectantly, he got the message and quickly left closing the door behind him.

“Did you see that?” You asked Agatha, still surprised, she nodded and sighed again.

“Someone put a sigil on that boy, the question is why?” You were surprised, you had heard of sigils but never once in your life had met someone who had it or someone who had casted a sigil.

“Do you think that is one of the reasons why he wants to go to the road?” Agatha didn’t have an answer for that, because even if they asked him what was the reason or the reasons, the sigil would prevent you from knowing.

“I´m not sure, it could be, but without us actually knowing who he is, we can´t know for sure, we don´t even know if he is dangerous” Agatha said to you in a whisper her mouth set in a hard line.

She had a point, you couldn´t deny that, but you had always relied on your intuition, if you felt there could be danger, it meant there was a threat, but if you actually didn´t feel any type of threat coming from someone you would always made sure to trust your instincts, it had happened with Agatha, even after everyone claimed she was witch-killer, a bad person, a monster, you had not listened to any of that, you didn´t consider her a threat and your gut agreed with you.

“You know I have always been good at reading people and their intentions, and I don´t feel any type of threat or danger coming from him, we don´t know what is going on with him, what if he actually needs help? If I had felt he could be dangerous I would have got rid of him, and you know it” You tried to reason with your girlfriend and even if she had wanted to tell you how wrong you were, she couldn´t because you were right.

 “See? You know I´m right” The way you were smiling at her made her feel so lucky, she was lucky for having you, she was lucky because you loved her.

“You know how much I hate when I´m wrong, but this time, you´re right doll” Agatha started put her left hand on your face and caressed the skin on your cheek in a gentle way, she then put her face closer to yours and gave you a soft kiss on the lips, she loved the sensation of your lips against hers.

“Listen, since I agreed on you coming with us, you will have to wait here until we go look for the witches we need, alright? I know you would like to come with us, but it is only going to take a couple of hours and it would make me feel better if you stay here, at home, please?” The way she sounded so gentle, letting you know what would make her feel better, she was letting you see her vulnerable state and you would never take for granted what she felt or wanted, she was right, you would have loved to go with them to get to know the witches that would be part of the coven, but if that made Agatha feel better you would do it.

“Alright, I will wait here for you” You smiled at her and nodded, she felt happy you had listened to her, it made her feel a little bit more relieved.

“Alright doll, I don´t want to keep you waiting too much in here, so we will make sure to finish this as fast as possible, alright?” Her blue eyes looked at you with so much love, she had the most beautiful eyes you had ever seen, she gave you another soft kiss on your lips and hugged you carefully, you pressed your head against her chest, after a minute of hugging you, you felt her moving away slowly.

“Stay here, please? I can´t believe what I´m about to say, but, if you need anything, I´ll make sure Rio stays here with you, alright? I don´t want you to stay here all by yourself baby” She sighed and closed her eyes for a second,  she felt distressed at the thought of letting you alone, and the other person who she knew cared for you just like her, was Rio, and even if she would not say it out loud, she trusted in her to make sure you were fine while she was not there with you, you nodded and gave her a smile, you didn´t think it was necessary to have constant supervision, but if it made her feel better you would accept it, and you also didn´t mind sharing a little bit more of time with the brown-eyed woman.

“I will let her know, I will try not to take too much time, alright?” She hugged you again and you let her engulf you in her arms, feeling her so close was always such a delight.

“I love you” You said to her while you hid your face in her chest, she separated from you a little bit and leaned to press a kiss to your forehead.

“I love you too darling, please, don´t go downstairs alone, I will let that teenager know we have to leave, alright?” She saw you nodding and smiled again, you were so pretty, feeling her body getting away from you slowly made you want to pout but you stopped, not wanting to make Agatha think something else or get her worried, you only loved the way her body felt against yours.

She walked to the door and opened it, but before she could leave the room, she turned around to look at you again.

“I love you, please take care doll, I will be back in a few hours” She then winked at you and left the room, leaving you with a warm and nice feeling inside of you, since you didn´t have anything else to do, and were not allowed to go downstairs alone, you decided it would be nice to take a nap.

Agatha on the other side of the room closed the door, and sighed deeply, she still was not sure if this was a good idea, but she had already promised you all of you would go to the road, the unsettling feeling was not leaving her, and that made her stomach twist in fear.

Walking down the stairs she saw that the teenager was standing here in the middle of the room, he seemed to be looking at the plants that Rio had placed when the two of them were cleaning, when the blue-eyed woman had asked her why she had put more and new plants the brown-eyed woman had simply said that it was a gift for you, Agatha didn´t question her anymore, she also knew how much you loved plants and flowers so it had been a nice gesture from the woman covered in black.

“Alright pack up your things, we are leaving right now to search more witches” Agatha said to the boy when she was close enough for him to hear what she had said, he quickly nodded and ran upstairs as fast as he could, he needed to get his little backpack and his phone that he had left on the room you had kindly let him sleep on.

When Agatha made sure the teen had left the two of them completely alone, she walked closer to Rio who was still sitting on the same couch, Agatha took the seat in front of her and looked at her with a serious expression on her face.

“I need you to stay here with her, I trust you to make sure she will be alright, during these hours I will not be here, just make sure she doesn´t try to come downstairs alone, she has been having these episodes where she feels dizzy and I don´t want her to fall” The way Agatha´s voice was full of worry made Rio feel guilty, she was aware why you were feeling like this, but she couldn´t say what was going on, the guilt was eating her alive.

“You can count on me with that, I will stay here with her” Agatha looked straight into Rio´s eyes, there was a part of her that didn’t trust or didn´t want to trust completely in this woman, and she was trying to see or find any type of deception in her eyes, but she didn´t find anything, the woman in front of her was sincere, so Agatha only nodded and stood up to walk to the door and open it.

“You better take care of her while I´m not here, if you are going to be stuck with us for a while, you need to start showing you really care about her, don´t mess this up please” Agatha said with a straight face and got out of the house, to wait for the teen outside, Rio took a deep breath stood up, ready to go downstairs, the last phrase Agatha had said made her flinch.

 The teen then came back running and looked everywhere around the room with his eyebrows furrowed, confused as to where Agatha was, Rio just shook her head and pointed at the opened door, he quickly gave her a smile and ran towards the door, after he closed it, Rio went to take the small pot in the window that had a single red carnation in the middle, sighing again she decided to go knock on your door with the flower in her hands, she didn´t know why she still felt a little bit nervous, even knowing what Agatha had already told her.

You were waiting on your bed for the sleep to arrive, until you heard two soft knocks on your door, you had already heard the engine of a car leaving outside your house, and the way this person was knocking on your door was different to the way Agatha usually knocked, Agatha used to knock three times, the teen you realized knocked more than three times and in a rush, and this person, who you assumed was Ri, had knocked only two times and had waited a few seconds after knocking the second time.

“You can come in” You said out loud for her to hear and sat up in your bed, the door slowly opened and Rio entered with a shy smile on her face, when you noticed the flower she was carrying on her hands, you smiled widely, Rio saw the smile that formed on your face and couldn´t help but give you a big smile as well.

 The brown-eyed woman inquired while looking at you with a sheepish smile on her face, her big brown eyes shining with the light of the sun that came through the window, your heart warmed at her question.

“I´m feeling better, thank you Rio” She nodded and walked closer to you, you patted the chair next to your bed to show her she could sit there, she bit her lip and took the seat next to her.

“This is for you, I left more flowers for you downstairs, since the old ones you know got destroyed” Rio lowered her head not wanting to meet your eyes, she didn´t want to see the same disappointed look you had before, when you saw her and Agatha fighting, the pot with the flower was resting in her lap, she felt truly sorry and hoped for you to forgive her.

“Hey, it´s fine, I just, I don´t want you to hurt each other, I don´t care about the things that got broken, I just don´t like seeing you two fight” Rio slowly lifted her head to look at you and the way you saw a hint of sadness flashed over her face made you smile sadly, you still didn´t know what had happened between them to the point that it seemed they hated each other so much.

“Thank you for leaving flowers for me whenever you came, I am glad you are here today, you always left without actually saying something” Your hand came to your face to brush a strand of hair and put it behind your ear, you saw the way Rio´s smile grew wider and she handed you the flower she was holding, when her hands came closer to you, you stretched your hands out to her to take the flower in your hands, for a second your hands touched hers and you had sworn you felt a spark of electricity there.

“This is for you, my lady” Your face suddenly started to feel warmer, and you gladly accepted the flower, placing it in your lap and caressing the delicate petals of the vibrant red flower.

“Thank you, I love every flower you give to me, I always take care of them, I promise to make sure this has enough water and enough time in the sun, it´s beautiful” You commented while looking at her, Rio´s face lit up, and her eyes seemed to get brighter.

“Sorry for the mess we made and…” She stopped talking and seemed to think what she was going to say next.

“And sorry for appearing like this, out of nowhere, I didn´t want to cause any problems, it was not my intention to destroy almost everything” Rio scrunched up her face remembering the state they had left the entire room downstairs in, and you chuckled, for a second you saw the way her hand was about to stretch out to you, but she placed it back, you noticed how she hesitated to actually touch you, and it was something that Agatha had done as well years ago when you were starting to know her, the way Agatha had hesitated as well many times to get closer to you or to touch you, so you decided to encourage her and show her she didn´t have to hesitate.

Stretching your hand out and putting it in the air, you saw the way Rio´s eyes grew wide.

“It´s fine, you can give me your hand” Rio slowly gave you her hand and you took it in yours, she gave it a squeeze and loved the feeling of finally feeling you this close to her, she had yearned for years to be able to touch you somehow, and you being the one to initiate the contact made her beam with happiness, a happiness she had not felt in centuries.

You wanted to reassure her, to let her know that her presence would always be welcome.

“You don´t have to feel sorry, please, never feel sorry for appearing here, I would never mind, I would have loved for you to stay more all these times in the past, I would have loved to have a chat with you, and I, even if I don´t know why Agatha and you hate each other so much, please have in mind that I still don´t want any of you to get hurt, I would love for you to talk things out, but whatever happened in the past, I can sense it still haunts you and her, I don’t even know if what had happened can be fixed” The way your voice sounded so sincere and so caring almost made her cry, but she didn´t want you to see her cry, she didn´t want you to think she was weak, you were right, what had happened still haunted her, the guilt Agatha had made her felt for something she had tried to even stop from happening, the way Agatha didn´t understand that she had done everything in her hands to give her more time, but Agatha didn´t see any of that, Agatha didn´t see the hurt and pain she was also feeling, only focusing on her grief and pain, never realizing that she felt the same way Agatha felt, for centuries she had been completely heartbroken and with time, these feeling shaped into anger, anger because Agatha had been so selfish to only focus on her own pain, Rio had stopped looking at you, her eyes staring at the floor.

“What happened cannot be fixed, we have hurt each other so much, for many centuries, we left the pain and anger took over us, blaming and accusing the other one, there is no way for us to fix what has been broken”  You would have loved to comfort the grieving woman, her sad eyes made your heart ache, you would have loved to make her feel better, but you weren´t not sure how.

“Can I hug you?” The words came out of your mouth, you hoped for Rio to accept, she slowly lifted her face to look again at you, her eyes shining again with what seemed to be happiness, and she nodded slowly, placing the pot with the flower on your nightstand and with her hand still in yours, you stood from the bed and dragged her gently to make her stand from the chair she had been sitting.

Rio grinned and her eyes squinted a little, looking at you with curiosity, laughing a little you pushed her a little bit closer to you and she quickly pulled you closer to her, you were surprised by the strength she had suddenly showed but quickly recovered, her arms passed over your waist, pressing you closer to her, and out of instinct you passed your arms around her neck, resting your head on her chest, listening carefully to her beating heart.

Rio placed her chin on top of your head, in such a gentle way not wanting to hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable, feeling your body so close to hers filled her with happiness, she had wished for this since a long time ago, the way your body fitted against her made her heart skip a beat, a feeling she had not felt since centuries ago, it overwhelmed her a little, filling her completely with so much joy, and again, she felt like crying, Rio pressed a soft kiss on the top of your head, her right hand started to caress your back slowly, making you feel relaxed, she wanted to let you know everything that had happened between Agatha and her, she wanted to be honest and sincere, she wanted to let you know about the life growing inside of you, but again she knew she couldn´t, it was not her place, a single tear rolled down her face and you felt the way she tried to pull you impossibly closer to her, and you let her, you let her hug you as much as she wanted, trying to ease the pain the brown-eyed woman carried with her.

“If I could, I would take all the pain you have in your heart away” You words resonated in her head, if only you knew you had been helping her all these time, when she saw you taking care of the flowers she had given to you, when you smiled, even if it was not directed at her but at Agatha, she still felt joyful to see you were happy, she had not felt the courage to make sure to stay by someone´s side since a long time ago, she wanted to make things right, she did not want to be away from you again, so she would have to prove to you and to Agatha if needed that she was worthy of you.

“Agatha and I, we, we talked about you” Her words made you feel curious, so you lifted your head to look properly at her.

“What did you two talk about me?” Your voice sounded playful and Rio started to smile, it was impossible not to smile when you were looking at her that way.

“About the way the two of us feel about you, about the way I feel about you” Your heart started to beat faster, you had your theories about Rio and why she left flowers, certain flowers through all these years, you knew the meaning behind the flowers she had given you in the past, but always tried to push that feeling aside, the red carnation she had given you meant admiration, affection and was a symbol of passion, it was an amazing flower to give to someone whom you tried to show the romantic feelings you had for them, or the first flower she had given to you all these years ago, the single red rose that was associated with love and symbolized passion, strong emotions such as love and admiration.

“I know Agatha knows about my feelings as well, then, right?” You asked and Rio nodded, remembering the way Agatha had told her about your heart being split in two, and her heart started to beat faster.

“She is not mad then?” You asked shyly and Rio separated from you a little to have a proper look at you and see the way your eyes started at ther.

“She is not, but we still have to talk, the three of us have to talk about this” Listening to Rio´s soft voice made you feel better, taking away the guilt you felt deep down about the way you felt for the two women.

“I hope we get to talk soon, just the three of us” Rio hoped the same, but she was not sure when the three of you would get the chance to have a proper talk, and Agatha and Rio´s priority was to keep you safe no matter what, so even if they didn´t have the chance to talk about it right now or soon, they would make sure first to protect you from everything, Rio gave you another smile and you rested your head again against her chest, the brown- eyed woman loved how you felt being this close to her.

“I don´t know how long they will take, but would you like to do something? I can show you the house, show you the books I have, I can give you a tour through the garden, or we can stay here, just holding each other and lay down on the bed?” Rio loved the idea of doing things with you, she had never had the chance to do anything with you next to her, she had never had the chance to be this close to you, but now, you were there, letting her hold you, and even if she had wanted to do more things with you, she didn´t want to stop the amazing feeling of having you this close to her, she wanted to enjoy as much as she could being like this with you, holding you and inhaling your sweet scent.

“Can we stay a little bit longer like this, and then lay down for a while?” You nodded, agreeing to what she had said, your smile growing wider and you face getting warmer, Rio had never felt this happy in centuries, and she loved it completely.

You stayed with her, letting her hold you, and feeling her hands caress your waist gently, enjoying the quietness of the room, and only listening to your beating harts, the proof that what the two of you felt was reciprocated, genuine and sincere, no matter what Rio would make sure you were going to be fine, and she knew Agatha would do the same.

｡˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

The sound of a car stopping outside your house made you slowly open your eyes, the dim light was comfortable enough for you to open them without any trouble, the bed was cozy enough and the person next to you held you tightly and gently, her warm making you feel comforted and protected, her presence was lovely, giving you a sense of security.

“It seems that they just came back” Rio´s voice next to you was soft, one of her hands around your shoulders and your head resting on her chest, she loved having you like this, you nodded and closed your eyes for a second before taking a deep breath, you were not sure how much time had passed, because being this close to Rio made the time seem as if it had passed so quickly.

“I really hope you also get to talk about what happened, I know maybe it doesn´t concern me, but I really don´t like seeing the two of you fighting, I know she doesn´t like to talk about how she feels, I know it´s really hard for her, but I can see the pain in her eyes whenever she hears your name” Rio would have loved to tell you what had happened, why the two of them in her mind and Agatha´s mind could never get along again, but she decided not to say anything, the pain burning in her chest with the warmth of a thousand of fires, she knew Agatha needed to tell you, how things had happened, again, it was not her place to start telling you the story that had been haunting her and Agatha as well.

“One of these days, everything will make sense to you, right now, you should go check on Agatha and make sure she doesn´t murder that poor boy” You opened your eyes so quickly because she was right, the boy had left with Agatha a couple of hours ago and he had passed all these hours next to her, you didn´t know if Agatha had already had enough of the teen, before you could quickly stand up from the bed, you heard the door opening slowly, and you knew instantly it was Agatha.

So you decided to wait for her, Rio who also noticed Agatha was the one who was on the other side smirked just a little bit, waiting for the other woman to enter to the room, Rio still had her arm around your shoulder and the two of you were laying on the bed, relaxed and in a comfortable position.

When Agatha opened the door fully, she entered and looked at you, the first moment her eyes landed on you her gaze softened, you could see her shoulders being a little tense, she had had some quite stressful hours, she was not used to pass so much time with someone so younger, except for you, of course, but it was totally different, the teen made so many questions, and talked so much, she felt on edge.

You noticed this and quickly understood what she was feeling, you sensed her mood so you worried, before Rio or Agatha could foresee what you were going to do, you quickly stood up from the bed, in a hasty way that when the two women realized you had almost jumped out of bed to go check on the blue-eyed witch, their eyes opened wide in panic.

Agatha caught you in her arms as quickly as she could, afraid you could lose your balance and fall, so her strong grip holding you tightly against her and her eyebrows furrowed trying to understand how fast you had gotten up from bed.

“Doll, be careful, you have to be careful please” Agatha commented looking at you straight into your eyes, fear still visible in her face, you didn´t listen to her you wanted to make sure she was fine.

“How are you? You seem tense” Taking her face in your hands you started to cares her jaw softly, Agatha felt herself melting at your touch, for a moment she forgot the stressful sensation and heaviness Inside her mind, she closed her eyes for a second enjoying the feeling of your soft hands on her face.

“I am better now that I´m here with you” You couldn´t help but smile at her words.

“Always a charmer, I love you so much, you got me worried, you look tired” The way Agatha sighed confirmed what you were sensing.

“I just need to take a shower” Rio realized she needed to get out of the room and wait for the two of you downstairs, so she stood up from the bed and started to walk with confidence towards the door, when Agatha opened her eyes again she saw the brown-eyed woman smirking and rolled her eyes a little but still, even apart from the slight annoyance she felt, she also was thankful for actually staying here with you, so the blue-eyed woman quickly stared at her and nodded at Rio, in a way to show she was thanking her for being here with you, the brown-eyed woman realized what she meant with that and she nodded back at her, acknowledging what she wanted to say, the two of them smiled at each other and Rio stopped close to the two of you, looking at you.

“Be careful mi amor, please” Rio said to you and Agatha rolled her eyes playfully at Rio´s pet name for you but didn´t comment anything, you smiled at her and nodded.

“Thank you for staying here with me” You replied to the woman covered in black and she only chuckled.

“I will see the two of you later downstairs, don´t make us wait too long” The woman walked past you and disappear in the hallway, you only laughed and Agatha rolled her eyes again playfully.

“Do you want me to help you relax a little?”  You inquired looking at her while batting your eyelashes and she chuckled, she really loved the idea so she nodded, agreeing to let you take care of her, she leaned to give you a soft kiss and you gladly accepted it, feeling her soft lips.

“What did you and Rio do during these hours?” Agatha had separated from you to take off her hat and place it on the bed, and you saw the way her eyes squinted a little.

“We talked for a while and then we just rested on the bed, the time passed quickly but I still missed you” You came closer to her and sat on the bed in front of her, her eyes pursed a little and she sighed, she knew she had already had a short talk with Rio about you, and even if she didn´t mind the other woman passing time with you, she still couldn´t take off her mind what had happened centuries ago, Agatha didn´t like to think about awful things happening to you, but if it happened, if something happened, would Rio do the same she had done in the past? She really didn´t want to think about that, so she shook her head and decided to relax with you, before going to the actual road, her eye caught her perfume on the vanity of the room, and an idea crossed her mind, she would make sure to do what she had in mind after the shower she so much needed.

｡˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

“Hey, so, when do we start?” You asked Agatha when you reached her basement, it looked like you had arrived a little bit late since the other witches seem to be already placed in the middle of the basement forming a circle, Agatha had been looking for something in one of the shelves near to the wall and Rio was waiting for her centimeters away from the blue-eyed witch.

Agatha quickly turned herself around, confusion all over her face, what were you doing there? She had already told you to wait with the teenager upstairs, wait for her to come let you know it was time to leave, she was going to go for you.

“Doll, didn´t I tell you to wait upstairs with the teenager?” She asked while quickly walking over to you, and you furrowed your eyebrows, she had told you that, but you had thought that it was only to wait for her until everything was gathered and then you thought you had to come looking for them to join them to open the door.

Agatha hoped that you didn´t put up much of a fight, she didn´t want you there because if you took part on opening the door with them that would make you instantly part of the coven, and she knew that your life would be put in danger, if she remembered the rules of the road, being a member of the coven, would mean you would have to face a trial, a trial who no one had any idea of what could be about, what dark illusions could be shown, or how the road could mess with your mind, they were not even sure what type of trials and dangers the road would make them face, and she didn´t want for any of that to be thrown at you, she had agreed that you went with them, but she hadn´t agreed on you being part of the coven to face the cruelties of the road, and she was not about to risk your life more, she saw the way you nodded and how your beautiful eyes were looking at her with curiosity, so she had to think of something in order to make you wait for her upstairs, where you would be safe, at least by now.

“Well, baby, remember the song? Water, earth and air?” She asked you with a loving smile on her face and you nodded.

“Well here we already have every element around us, in order for us to open the door, it is strictly necessary that a certain number of the elements stay here to chant the sacred song and open the door, that´s what I told you to wait with the teenager, he also needs to be upstairs because here we have to be the ones to make sure this opens correctly, alright?” She hated herself for lying to you, she hated not telling you the truth, but if that meant she could keep you extra safe through some lies, then she would do it, no matter what, her priority was to make sure you were safe.

You seemed to understand because the way you smiled to her and nodded again in understanding made her heart feel warm, but at the same time it pained her to see how much you trusted in her, she hated lying to you, but she was not sure if you would have agreed on going back upstairs if she had told you the truth.

“Alright, I will wait for you upstairs, I will se if the boy wants to play some card games, I already placed Señor Scratchy in his safe place, I put enough water and food, so he will be fine, I will be waiting for you” You replied back to her and gave her a quick peck on her lips, Agatha unconsciously closed her eyes when she felt your lips on hers and a big smile formed on her face, before you could leave she quickly pressed her hands on your waist and pulled you closer to her body, the happiness you were feeling was immense, and you let her hold you against her.

“I love you so much, I won´t let anything happen to you” Her words made you feel so much love, the way her voice sounded so sincere, you knew she would do everything she could to protect you, you trusted in her, and you nodded, she had always been such a protective girlfriend.

“I know, I will also make sure nothing happens to you, we are going to protect each other, alright?” She smiled against you and chuckled, you were the best, slowly you separated from her and gave her one more smile, before you could turn yourself to leave, you turned around to look at the other witches who were looking at the two of you with smiles on their faces, they still couldn´t believe that Agatha Harkness, the witch that so many people other witches feared and some other hated, had found someone as sweet as you to love her, not listening to the things that were said about her, the myths, bad tales and scary legends told about the mysterious witch, and the way Agatha seemed to get soft when you were near her, made them believe that maybe, even after all, the fearsome woman had a heart after all.

You smiled at them and waved your hand to greet them again, with your eyes bright full of happiness, it was hard not to smile at you, you had such a pretty smile and had a contagious laugh that made them smile at you as well, such a kind soul, offering happiness wherever you went.

Rio who had moved to the corner, watching you with a grin on her face, felt her heart skipping a beat, she had vowed to herself to protect you, and was happy to see how Agatha had handled the situation, that was the thing with her former lover, Agatha always knew how to handle things, how to make sure things always played in her favor, but she knew now, that this time, she was doing it not to gain something for her, Rio knew whatever she had said to you, was to keep you safe, and she knew that feeling very well, she knew she had made some mistakes in the past, but some of them had been only her doing her job, she wanted to keep you safe, and she only hoped that when the truth would be revealed, she hoped that you would understand her reasons, she only wished that you would let her explain why she hadn´t said anything, just as Agatha wanted, Rio wanted to protect you as well.

All of the witches saw the way you left happily and closed the door of the basement with a soft thud, Agatha sighed deeply and when she turned herself to look at the witches, she noticed the way they were looking at her.

“Shall we?” Rio came from her spot in the corner and placed herself where Alice, had made a space for her to enter, she placed herself next to Agatha and Alice, and even though Agatha pursed her lips slightly, this time, she found how surprising it had been, that she hadn´t felt any type of annoyance at Rio´s proximity, Rio decided not to say anything at the lack of sarcasm or witty comments about how close she was next to her, and when the time came for all the witches to hold hands, Agatha didn´t hesitate to grab Rio´s hand in hers, part of their minds tried to think that it was because of the truce they had agreed on having in order to make sure you would be fine.

｡˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

“Can I ask you something?” You heard the dark-haired boy asking, the two of you were sitting on the couch while the other witches were looking for a clue in the perfect elegant house, you had wanted to help but Agatha, Rio and the coven had told you it was not necessary, so they sent you to sit with the teen.

“Yeah, sure, what is it?” You smiled at him and nodded.

“Why do you and Agatha smell the same?” You didn’t understand his question so you frowned.

“What do you mean? We smell the same?” Your face had a confused expression, you were not understanding his question, did you have a smell?

“Yes, I mean, the perfume, it seems like the two of you use the same perfume, at first, I couldn’t quite place my finger in what it was, when Agatha grabbed me by my shirt yesterday, I smelled her perfume, kind of a hint of vanilla? Lavender? I don’t know, and you just smell the same, it’s nice, maybe you can tell me what is the name of the perfume? It really has those sweet floral hints you know?”

He said while he looked at the small table in front of you, he seemed to be deep in thought, and you felt your face getting warmer just as the seconds passed.

And the reason why the two of you had the scent of the same perfume, it had been due to Agatha spraying some of her own cologne on your neck, “So everyone knew you belonged to her” just s she had said, and you couldn’t help but let your mind wander back to this morning.

“I can’t believe we actually have a coven!” You had commented excitedly to her, Agatha didn’t seem to be really happy, the way she sighed and looked at you through the mirror on your vanity while she made sure the collar of her blouse looked good, you saw the way your girlfriend was having a hard time accommodating her own blouse, so you decided to help her a little.

“Here, let me help you” Pressing your hands on the collar of her blouse you made sure it was perfectly accommodated and with not wrinkles, you patted gently her chest and smiled at her.

“There you go, all nice and neat” Agatha smiled widely at you and put her hands on your waist, for a moment you gasped in surprise but ended up laughing when you felt the way Agatha pulled you closer to her.

“I love you so much doll, I can’t believe you convinced me to let you go with us” The way her eyes still showed the fear she felt due to not knowing what could happen and the constant reminder that she was powerless, the way the fear of not being able to protect you if something happened was eating her alive.

“Hey, it’s fine, we will be alright, I am going to be alright, you don’t have to worry about nothing, I have magic as well, remember? I released you from the spell the scarlet witch had put you on” Agatha smiled softly, you were right you had been powerful enough to release her from the Scarlet Witch’s spell, she still was fascinated by that, you had already explained to her that you had tried to release her several times before it actually worked, but in the end you had done it, you were right, she was sure about you being powerful enough to take care of yourself, but still, she was scared, scared of something actually happening to you.

“I know, I know you are powerful, remember when we met? I could feel the strong magic coming from you, you don’t need to say incantations to use your powers, I just… I want to make sure nothing happens to you, I want to protect you, my job is to protect you, not the other way around doll” Agatha finished saying with a loving smile on her face, her hand left hand on your face, caressing slowly your cheek with her fingers.

“But you always protect me, even without powers, I know you will find a way to do it, please, let me go with you, I will make sure to stay near you, please” Agatha couldn’t help but feel her heart beating faster, you looked so cute when you begged, and she always find hard to say “no” to you.

“Fine, but you will stay close to me, not wandering off, alright?” The way your smile grew wider did not pass unnoticed to your girlfriend who laughed out loud noticing your excitement.

“I promise not to wander off and stay close to you the whole time, thank you” Passing your arms around her shoulders to hug her tightly she couldn’t help but close her eyes and pressed her hands in your waist, with the same strength you were hugging her, she loved feeling you so close to her.

“We have to hurry then, we don’t know if the women you went to look for the coven are going to arrive sooner” You sounded so excited that it warmed her heart, once you separated from her you went to the mirror to take a look at you, just to make sure you looked decent.

Agatha watched you brushing your hair with your hand making sure not even a single strand of hair was out of place, she always loved the way you would brush your hair in the mornings after you got out of the shower.

“You always look beautiful, there’s only one more thing that´s left to apply” You stopped what you were doing and turned yourself to look at her, confused as to what she was referring.

You only stood there with your head tilted to the side and then the older witch laughed, she walked towards you and passed her hands around your waist again, you thought she wanted to hug you one more time but then you felt the way she leant a little bit more and her hands were searching for something behind you on the vanity, before you had the chance she separated from you a little and placed her left hand again on your neck, caressing gently.

Closing your eyes, enjoying the feeling, Agatha started to brush with her fingertips your jaw and you leant into her touch, after some seconds you felt a few drops of what it felt to be water, and then the sweet scent of Agatha´s perfume was surrounding you.

“You are going to meet some new people now that we agreed you are coming with me, and everyone needs to know you belong to me, isn´t it right?” You smiled with your eyes still closed, and chuckled, the way Agatha´s voice sounded so raspy and had started to whisper close to your ears, it made your heart beat faster.

“Don´t be shy, answer me doll” The hand that Agatha had on your jaw grasped you a little bit harder but without hurting you, she still knew Rio would be coming with you, and even if they had already talked a little about you and your feelings, Agatha couldn´t help but be possessive of you.

“You´re right Agatha, people need to know I belong to you, only you” Agatha licked her lips unconsciously and sighed deeply, her grip on your neck loosening just a little.

“Good girl” The older witch said to you with a raspy voice. -

“Uhm, did I say something funny?” The teen´s voice brought you back to the present.

“No, not at all, why?” You asked him a little bit confused not understanding his question.

“I asked you why you and Agatha smelled the same and then you started to smile” The teen said looking a little bit worried wondering if he had said something stupid.

“Oh yeah, no, no, sorry, I just I remembered something nice, to answer your question, we, uh, we keep some of our clothes together in the same drawer, I think that´s why we have the same perfume, you know, the scents tend to get mixed” You said with your face completely red, the teen squinting his eyes, looking at you with a curious look.

“Oh, well, it smells great” He said after a minute and smiled widely.

｡ ˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

“Oh my god, that smell, I used to love the scent of wet dirt but now, I don´t even know why I can´t stand it” You said to Jenn when she grabbed a handful of it on her hands, Alice nodding agreeing with her on how it was a pleasant smell, you had also found the smell to be pleasant weeks ago, waiting for the rain to actually fall all over town and wait for the rain then to go away to go check on your beloved garden, the smell always bringing a sense of comfort to you, until some weeks ago.

“It is almost as if you were pregnant” Jenn said jokingly while chuckling a little, and you stopped dead in your tracks, your eyes opened widely and looking at the ground. It had been intended to only be a joke, a simple funny joke, but suddenly everything started to make sense, you put two and two together.

Some weeks ago, you had woken up around 6:00 in the morning, feeling a little bit thirsty, Agatha had still been asleep on the other side of bed when the sudden wave of nausea had hit you, it had happened the same thing whenever you woke up, feeling dizzy and even starting to feel disgusted at certain smells you liked or tolerated before, but you had thought and said to yourself that it had been due to maybe catching a bug or a slight cold, but everything seemed to make sense now.

Agatha was talking to the teen a couple of meters behind you, she was listening with so much attention at something the boy was saying, Jenn had walked a few centimeters more and didn´t notice you had stopped walking, Alice was next to her walking and smiling softly, while Rio had stopped next to you and Lilia had stopped as well, with a worried look on her face.

Rio looked at your stomach for a minute and the way her eyes were wide open made you feel worried for a second, she seemed tensed, the way her shoulders stiffened and didn’t dare to move, after a minute she dropped her gaze to the floor, not daring to look at you in the face.

“Is it true?” You asked her, while looking at her, your voice had come up almost in a whisper and trembling a little.

Rio took a deep breath, she felt guilty for not telling you or Agatha the life that was growing inside you, but it was not her place to say it, she was not the one who needed to let you know, and still, she felt guilty because you were here, walking the witches’ road, you had no idea, maybe if you had known, maybe you would haven´t agreed on going with them but right now, but the what ifs didn´t matter.

She looked back at you, straight into your eyes, and she nodded slightly, not daring to say something else, the guilt eating her from the inside, and the worry more present than ever, she started to feel scared of your reaction, and how you would take this new information.

“But how? How is it possible?” You asked suddenly, panic taking all over you, your heart started to beat faster and Rio and Lilia noticed it right away, Rio quickly came closer to you and placed her hands on your face, brushing slightly your hair, in a way to help you calm yourself.

“Hey, it´s alright, it´s fine, don´t worry, alright? Agatha and I are going to make sure nothing happens to you, please baby, take deep breaths” Her soft voice was recomforting and it helped you to feel grounded, right now it was not the time to panic, you needed to think straight, and you also needed to think how you would tell Agatha, how were you going to even explain that you were pregnant? How were you going to explain that if you didn´t even know how it had happened?

Lilia who was next to you sensed the fear in your mood, the way you seemed you were about to faint terrified her so she had come next to you to hold your hand and keep you steady, her heart filled with fear at the thought of you being pregnant and being on the road.

“Oh, sweet girl” Was the first thing Lila could say, her furrowed eyebrows and hand covering her mouth in shock.

Rio kept brushing your hair softly, her soft hands pressing from time to time your skin, which made you lean into her touch, Agatha who was only meters away from all of you noticed how Rio and Lilia were holding you and she started to walk faster to get to you, alarms started to sound in her head, and her heart started to beat faster, afraid that something had happened to you.

“What happened doll? Are you hurt?” Agatha quickly started to check on you looking for wounds all over you, she then placed her hands on your face and started to examine as well your features, you had your eyes closed and she thought you were about to faint, she hold you closer to her and looked at Rio whose eyes were full of worry.

“We should help her sit down” Lilia said nodding and pointed to a place where there was a tree trunk in the middle of it, Rio and Agatha nodded and gently started to push you towards the trunk tree, the two of them helped you to sit down and Agatha sat in knelt down  in front of you on the ground, taking your hands in her, Rio came to knelt down as well next to her, her hands on your knees, stroking them gently.

The other witches were looking at the three of you with worried faces, they would have wanted to go and help, Alice was about to go and walk closer to you to see If she could help you somehow, ask if there was something she could do but Lilia stopped her, knowing the three of you needed space to talk.

Things had already been going fine over the past two trials, with the poisoned wine and Alice getting to break her generational curse, things have been fine at least for now, no one had been harmed, no one was hurt, and Lilia hoped for things to keep going this way.

You thought about just blurting out to Agatha what was going on, but you were scared of her reaction, you didn’t even know how it had happened! Magic could be the only answer and even though your gut told you that was how it had happened, still you doubted to say it out loud, to acknowledge that there was a life growing inside of you.

Rio wasn´t sure how would Agatha react, she wasn’t even sure what could happen or what she would do when she realized you were pregnant with her child, Rio knew Agatha loved you deeply, but she also knew that the blue-eyed woman had never let you know about Nicky, being something that still affected Agatha so much, not knowing how the blue-eyed witch would take the news, would she understand? Would she be taken aback? Rio didn´t know for sure how would the woman next to her would take the new information, and she worried, not only for Agatha but for you as well, she knew that right now you were in such a fragile state, and whatever happened if it was slightly bad could affect you deeply, and Rio didn´t want for your emotional state to get worse.

You knew you had to say something, anything to stop the two women in front of you from worrying so much, but how could you when even yourself were panicking awfully? It was now or never you thought, just when you were going to let Agatha know that you were pregnant, the first thing you noticed when you opened your eyes, was the strange cabin behind Agatha and Rio, it was only some meters away from you, and you knew the road wanted for the next trial to take place now.

Agatha noticed you were looking behind her so she hastily looked at the same direction you were staring at, Rio proceeded to do the same, and Agatha´s heart filled with pain and sorrow when she also noticed the blood moon up in the sky, the next trial was hers, and seeing your face contorting in terror and fear when the curse had actually attacked her made her think that the best would be for you to stay out of the next trial, everything had been going fine, and she hoped that during this trial of hers everything still would be the same, but, what if thing went south? What if she was shown something awful? What if you saw how much a monster she was, so turning herself around to look at you, she decided to let you know what was going to happen next.

“You are going to stay here with the teen, here at least we know the road is safe, the trials are only counting for five of us, I am not really sure if rules apply to her” Agatha pointed with her head at Rio before continue talking.

“But it would be better if she doesn´t go and break the rules, this time I am asking you not to break the rules, I hope you listen to me for once” Agatha´s voice was filled with something you hadn´t heard before, was sounded like resentment or bitterness and Rio´s shoulders tensed, you supposed they were referring to whatever it had happened, but you, being a little bit too stubborn as Agatha would sometimes say, you quickly shook your head, you were not going to leave her alone or the witches, how could she even ask for that? Weren´t you supposed to be all together?

Agatha realized you were about to contradict her but her expression became hard and her lips were pressed in a thin line, she was visibly on edge, she knew she had told you that you would be close to her at all times, but seen that you had been about to come next to her to help her when the curse had attacked her, she didn´t want for you to risk your life if something happened to her, so she needed to change the rules for you.

“No, you heard me, I know the rules, I know what is the best for you, right now you are not in a good state, at least not physically, you almost fainted! Can´t you see I am trying to protect you? We are trying to make sure you are safe, why can´t you listen just for once?” Her voice had broken completely, tears had already started to fall down her face, and it hurt you to see her that way, so broken, feeling so stressed over you, maybe, if you had listened to her, if you had stayed at your house, maybe Agatha wouldn´t have been feeling this way right now, but it was too late to actually think about the what ifs, you didn´t want to cause her to be more stressed, so maybe, it was not even the time as well to let her know why you had been feeling sick for the past weeks, that would only add for her to feel more worried than ever, and you wanted her to keep her head cool so she would keep on being the best leader she was, so you only nodded, and Agatha visibly relaxed.

“I will stay here, I will not move from here, but please be safe alright? I will be waiting for you here, I will be waiting for you to come back, alright?” Agatha sighed and a smile formed on her face, she nodded again and pressed a soft kiss on your lips.

“Thank you doll, I will come back here with you” You girlfriend whispered softly to you and then she looked back at Rio who couldn´t help but feel guilty and Agatha did something she wouldn´t do ever again, she pressed her hand on Rio´s shoulder and then looked back at you again.

“We will come back to you” Rio smiled widely and nodded at Agatha´s words, she knew they would have a long talk when they came here next to you.

Agatha stood up and called the teenager to come over, he nodded quickly and ran towards the three of you, when he was standing next to you, he looked at Agatha waiting for her to talk.

“Listen boy, I know you are hiding something, and I know you can take care of you, we will have a talk later as well later, but right now, I have to ask you to please stay here with her, I don´t want her to be alone” The boy was surprised to see her so vulnerable, he hadn´t seen her this way, and he knew she was being sincere,  Agatha´s eyes showed so much emotions, fear was the most visible, it was clear she feared for you, she was scared of losing you and if he was honest he didn´t want that anything happened to you as well, and he was sure that any of the other witches of the new coven wanted for that to happen as well, all of them cared for you deeply and he was sure every witch here would do something in order to protect you.

He nodded and looked at Agatha with a serious expression on his face, however, their plan hadn´t go according to what they had wished.

You had seen them entering to the cabin, all of them, the teen had taken the seat next to you, the two of you had seen the other witches closed the door behind them, not even a minute had passed, or that was what you thought, that when you closed your eyes for a second and you opened them again, you were inside the cabin the teen was shocked as much as you and when you heard Agatha´s voice yelling your name, you knew things were going to get complicated.

“I told you to stay outside!” The witches were looking at you, they had turned around to look at you, Agatha was in what it seemed to be some stairs, Rio was at the front with a knife in her hand and another person was in the front. Someone you had never seen before, white hair and with a strange aura all over herself, the boy and you didn´t even have time to say you had in fact waited outside but the next minute you were inside with all of them!

“Let the girl and the baby inside of her with me, and I shall not harm anyone, you will be free to go” Agatha froze in her spot, her hands up in the air as she had tried to brush her hair out of her face after the ghost of her mother had tossed her the in the stairs, her mind freezing as well, for a second she didn´t understand, until Rio placed herself in front of the ghost of her mother.

“You can´t do that, she is not part of this, there are rules, and I will not let you take her” That was the moment when Agatha realized Evanora was talking about you, without realizing she walked down the stairs slowly until she reached the end of them where Evanora was floating, her lip almost quivering, the unsettling feeling growing stronger in her stomach.

“You don´t know what you are talking about” Was the first thing Agatha could say to the paler woman, getting a loud cackle from her.

“I don´t have time for this” Said the ghost and what happened next happened so fast you didn´t even have time to process exactly what was going in front of you, only catching glimpses, the ghost entering into Agatha´s body, Agatha starting to run towards you with such a strength that seemed inhuman, Rio trying to hold her, stopping her from taking a step forward to you, Agatha tossing Rio to the other side of the room, Jennifer and the teenager trying to keep her in place, Lilia had ran towards you to place herself in front of you, too shocked to even know what to do, how could they even fight a possessed witch, how were they supposed to fight a ghost? And the next thing you saw was Alice placing herself in front of you and Lilia, throwing strands of her power to Agatha, expulsing the ghost from your girlfriend´s body, Rio running to place herself next to Agatha to stop her from absorbing all of Alice´s powers, and then Alice falling to the floor, grunting but still alive, it felt as if everything had just happened in a matter of seconds, watching everything unfolding in front of you.

When the door opened, Agatha´s blue eyes stared at you, her eyes filled with tears, her expression unreadable, her hand on her mouth, covering it completely, her hair completely disheveled, but her eyes were always so easy to read, her blue eyes were looking at you with worry, showing how scared she was, how terrified she was feeling, and she did what she was used to when she didn´t know how to deal with her feelings and with the cruel world, she ran towards the opened door, getting out of the cabin as fast as possible, you had wanted to check on everyone, make sure Alice was fine, make sure Rio was not hurt, ask how Lilia felt and check if Jenn and the teenager were alright, but as you had sensed the complete wrecked state Agatha was in, you decided to go after her, no listening to the voices from behind calling out for you.

The first thing you saw after getting out of the cabin was how the scenery had changed completely, from the forest and the path being covered completely in leaves that had fallen from their trees, the sky that seemed to be dark as if you were late at night, the blood moon was nowhere to bee seen, the weather seemed to have changed completely, from the cold sensation that made your toes long for a pair of warming socks, to a different sensation in the air that it was even hard to describe, the light made the place look as if it you were in the middle of an abandoned forest that seemed to have ben burnt in some places, the trees didn´t have leaves and after squinting for a couple of minutes trying to locate Agatha you saw her walking some meters away, so you ran, you ran as fast as you could to reach her, and when she heard you calling out her name she abruptly stopped, but she didn´t dare to turn around to face you.

The fear and her awful thoughts had taken over her completely, she didn´t feel ready to face you, not yet, she needed time, time to process what had just happened, what she had just heard, trying to do something you did what you had done so many times, you took her by her arm, softly trying to make her to turn around to face you, but you felt the way her body stiffened, how her shoulders tensed, and the way she almost flinched, you heart broke when you felt her reaction, she had never rejected any type of contact, never before, until now.

“Agatha I´m-“ Before you could continue what you were about to say, what you had just learned today, what you had realized and Rio had confirmed, you heard a sob coming from her, and then her broken voice talked to you.

“I know, I know sweetheart, I just, I need time, please” She said without even looking at you, without facing you, and you were not sure what was hurting you more, the fact that she didn´t want to look at you, or if she didn´t let you address what was going on, so, with tears in your eyes you took your hand away from her arm and the moment Agatha felt you had let go of her arm, she started to walk faster, where to? You didn´t know, but you were sure she wanted to be alone, so for the first time in years you let her get away from you, alone, giving her the time to be alone, with her thoughts and her feelings, she hadn´t given you the chance to explain yourself or to talk with you, she just decided to leave, and it was breaking your heart, you felt the hot tears falling from your eyes, staining your shirt, feeling ashamed, not knowing why, you aggressively wiped the tears off your eyes with your sleeve, not caring if it left your face red and irritated.

Before you could do something else, Agatha suddenly turned herself around and walked back to you, as fast as she could, when she reached where you were, in a quick movement she pressed a quick yet soft kiss on your forehead, she didn´t  even give you time to do something because just as she pressed the soft kiss on your skin she turned herself around hastily and started to walk away without saying anything, you were not sure where she was going or if she was going to be safe alone there in woods of the road, but you knew she wanted to be alone, and you did not even know what to do, the only thing you thought you would be able to do was just to stand there, on the same spot she had left you in, not even knowing what to do, your mind completely blank, unable to form a coherent thought, your mind was a complete mess, what were you supposed to do now? Or at least, what were you supposed to think?

Hot tears were falling down your face, it seemed impossible to stop them from coming out of your eyes, the pain in your heart felt as if it was getting stronger and stronger with each passing second, for a moment everything seemed to go in a slow motion, the sensation of you getting out of your body, your hands feeling suddenly numb, and that was when you realized you had started to panic.

“Hey, come here, don´t worry, everything is going to be fine” Feeling Rio´s arms around you, engulfing you completely in a warm hug, her hands caressing slowly your back and you let her hold you, it helped you to stay a little bit calm, it helped you to bring you back to where you were, her warmth making you feel secure, safe, and you wanted her to hold you forever, that was when you realized you needed Rio as much as you needed Agatha, and the mere thought of Agatha made you cry harder, Rio´s heart was aching for you, she had seen the way Agatha had quickly left the place, but she knew the reason why Agatha had reacted that way, Rio knew the immense pain that Agatha had been carrying alone for so many centuries, the suffering Agatha had been having inside her since she lost Nicky, you still didn´t know what had happened to the blue-eyed witch, the reason why Rio and Agatha had separated ways for centuries, how much the loss of their beloved boy had affected the two of them, how much it had affected Agatha, to the point that the blue-eyed witch had seemed to shut everyone off, until you.

Rio let you cry more and more on her chest, giving you as much comfort as she could, trying to help you ease the pain, why did it hurt so much? Because you didn´t know what Agatha was thinking? Or because it seemed to trouble Agatha knowing you were pregnant? Was she mad? Was she disgusted? Could she be disgusted? What if she didn´t want children? You hadn´t had the chance to talk about having children during all these years you had shared, you in fact, hadn´t even think about having kids, it was not something you had not stopped to think about it thoroughly, let alone, having the chance to discuss it with Agatha, the love of your life as you had told her so many times, but you were terrified, you were not sure why Agatha had reacted that way, and it only made your anxiety grow incredibly fast.

“She is going to leave me” Was the only thing you were able to say to Rio between sobs, the mere thought of Agatha leaving you made your heart ache more, you were not sure if she would be able to do that, would she start treating you like she treated others? Would she stop caring about you? It terrified you and the thoughts were only making you cry harder, it hurt Rio to see you in such a vulnerable state, to see you so hurt, but she also knew that when Agatha didn´t know what to do or what to feel, she would just leave, that was how she coped, the way she had learned all over the years to cope with hard feelings, with unknown feelings or things, and this had taken Agatha by surprised, so Rio could understand why the blue-eyed witch had decided to leave, but you didn´t, and that was the reason that was causing you so much distress, not knowing what Agatha would do or why she  had acted the way she did.

“She is not going to leave you, alright? She is just, she is afraid, she just needs a little bit of time to take in everything that just happened, alright?” She said to you in a whisper, tightening her hold on you, her firm voice made you feel comforted, the way she sounded so sure about Agatha´s feelings made you feel a little bit less anxious, she was the one who knew Agatha a lot more than you, you were sure about that, and listening to these words coming out of Rio, helped you ease the pain, a little.

Nodding against Rio´s chest, and after a couple more minutes of letting her hold you close to her, the sobs coming from you started to lessen and the tiredness started to take over you, Rio sensed the change in your mood, how your shoulders started to relax a little, your body didn´t seem to be so tense against her, she saw the witches behind the two of you, their sad expressions in their faces, she knew all of them cared for you, and how could they now? You were just so sweet and caring towards everyone, and she was sure they would make sure you were fine, even if she didn´t want to leave you, she knew she also needed to go look for Agatha and talk to her, Rio knew she could trust in the witches to take care of you while she went to look for Agatha.

“Can you stay with here and have an eye on her, please” The voice echoing in the minds of the witches behind the two of you made them lift ther heads to look at the brown-eyed witch holding you in her arms, and all of them nodded, they would stay there with you, take care of you while Rio went away.

Lilia who was the one who took a step forward, walked towards the two of you, she slowly pressed her hands on your shoulders, caressing them slowly and you felt Rio gently separating from you.

“You are going to be fine, don´t worry please, I will come back with Agatha, I just need to talk to her, alright?” The way Rio talked to you in such a soft tone made you want to cry again, she was being so gentle and you only wanted her to hold you, but you nodded, not wanting to be more of a burden, so you separated from her, her hands slowly slipping away from you, giving you one last squeeze to your hands, Lilia was quick to take your hands in hers, taking your right one into hers and her left hand was placed on your back, giving you a slight and gentle push to make you walk towards the nearest tree trunk in the middle of the road, you were still trying hard to stop crying completely, you were not sobbing anymore, but still you felt the need to cry, and it made you feel a little bit ashamed, it made you feel guilty.

Lila turned her head a little, just enough to look back at Rio for a second, and when Lilia nodded back at her, in a way to reassure they were going to stay with you until they came back, Rio gave her a smile and nodded back at the Sicilian witch, taking it as her cue to leave, she turned herself around to start walking to where Agatha ad left minutes ago,  she was not sure how things would go, or if Agatha would let her talk, but she hoped the blue-eyed witch would let her, they needed to talk, to face what had happened.

After some minutes of walking through the path covered in leaves, she saw the silhouette of her former lover, Rio sighed deeply, they needed to talk for once and all about what happened, that would be the only way to get back to you and figure how things would work out from now on.

｡ ˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

Lilia was holding you, she had taken the seat next to you, your head resting on her shoulder and her arm over your shoulders, letting you stay close to her, she even caressed your arm up and down, soothing you, making sure you felt safe, it was helping you, the tears had stopped coming, but the sadness was still there, so many questions on your mind, not knowing what would happen now, Lilia was worried, you were so quiet, it was as if the light that was around you had started to become dim, and with each passing minute of not knowing where Agatha and Rio were, that light would become duller, to the point in which only darkness would take all over you completely.

The other witches were around you as well, Jennifer was next to Lilia, watching you with a worried expression on her face, Alice was next to you on the tree trunk as well, her hands in her pockets but with her eyebrows furrowed, she didn´t know what to say to try and make you feel better, she knew that what had happened was a touchy subject for you, and she was afraid she could make things worse, or even make you cry again, Alice was happy at least that you had seemed to stop crying, but you still had that lost look on your face, just staring at the floor, your head on Lilia´s shoulder and completely quiet, not even moving, she looked at the teenager who was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed, looking at the ground, he didn´t know what t say, because just as Alice, he didn´t want to make things worse for you.

“What if Agatha doesn´t come back?” You suddenly asked out loud, feeling your heart shrinking at the thought of Rio coming back without Agatha, coming back to announce that Agatha had decided to finish the road alone and that simple thought made your heart ache in so much pain.

Lilia sighed deeply and separated a little from you, you only kept looking at the leaves on the ground and Lilia gently placed her hand on your chin to lift your face to make you look at her.

“Oh sweet girl, your mind is playing awful tricks to you, I understand the deep pain you are feeling right now, but trust me when I say, that witch, is completely in love with you, she is so smitten by you, trust me when I say, we have heard so much about her, we have got to see the way she just doesn´t care about anyone else, and we have never seen acting so caring about someone else, I can see the bond you two have, and I can assure you, that woman would not leave you, she would not let you finish this road alone, just as you right now, the hurt you feel right now, I can see Agatha carries her own burdens, something she has to come to terms, I know she only needs a little bit of time, and I know Rio is going to help her with that, she just needs a little bit of guidance, you will see” Lilia´s eyes were so bright, she transmitted you a peace you so much needed now, her words, just as Rio´s were making you feel at ease, her presence also made you feel relaxed and safe, and deep down, you felt her words were right, but even if she was right, the pain in your heart was still there.

“She´s right, if someone would have told me someone had tamed Agatha, I would have not believed it! But you have her wrapped around your finger, she makes everything to keep you safe” Jennifer said with a small smile, she had never thought a woman like Agatha would be so whipped, she was sure that whatever had happened to Agatha, or the reason why she had suddenly left, she would sorted it out with the help of Rio, and the two would come back, she was sure about that.

“You should have seen Agatha when I broke into their home, she was ready to fight me and tie me, she even pushed me out of the chair” The dark haired boy said with a slight chuckle, Agatha had been so wary of him because she didn´t want anything to happen to you, his comment made you smile a little, remembering how worried she had been about you.

“Oh my god! You broke into their house?” Alice asked him with her eyes wide, now she needed to know the full story.

“Yes, I mean, I told her I was sorry, but, now that I think, it was not the smartest idea” He commented while nodding slowly, it had been definitely not the best idea he had come up with.

“I am lucky she was the one who found me, because Agatha would have thrown me out of the window for sure” For the first time in what seemed like hours, you finally laughed, the heaviness in your heart leaving slowly, and the witches couldn´t help but smile as well, feeling a little bit relieved that you were coming back slowly.

“Yes, she would have done that” You said while lifting your face to look at him, Lilia smiled as well, seeing you laughing, even if it was just a little made her heart feel warm and her grip around you tightened a little, in a gentle way that it made you want to thank her for not letting you go and keep holding you, so you looked back at her to give her one big smile.

“Thank you” You said to her while looking straight into her eyes, and Lilia felt her eyes getting a little bit glossy, before she could say something to you, you turned your face to look at all of the witches sitting around you.

“Thank you, for being here with me” Your heart felt warm, the heaviness was almost completely gone, Alice, Jennifer and the dark-haired boy gave you a watery smile.

“You don´t have to thank us for anything sweet girl, we are a coven, we are not going to leave anyone behind, and certainly not you, we are going to make sure you are fine, and we are going to make it to the end, alright? No matter what” Lilia´s words made you feel face, her words gave you the security you needed to feel at the moment, you nodded and smiled at her again, you felt your eyes getting glossy again, but this time, it was not because you were hurt or in pain, it was because your heart filled with warmth and love, you had never had a coven, you had been a coven-less witch, being on your own until you met Agatha, but having this, a coven, and being told you were part of them, it made you feel happiness, a sense of belonging you had never felt, and you felt grateful for that.

｡ ˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

Rio and Agatha were walking slowly next to each other, their steps being careful, trying not to make too much noise while stepping on the leaves scattered all over the ground, Agatha was feeling nervous, afraid, remembering your beautiful face full of pain, your eyes filled with tears, tears that she had made to fall from your beautiful eyes, she was feeling guilty, she got scared and she just needed time to think, to get her feelings and thought back in place, she hadn´t mean to hurt you on purpose, and she didn´t know if you were still crying, but one things she was sure of, she would make sure not to make you cry again because of her own fear, you didn´t deserve to be in pain because of her.

Agatha knew that what Rio had told her was right, she needed to come to terms with her own feelings, with her past in order not to affect you, in order not to hurt you, she needed to let you know the truth, even if it was too painful to even say Nicky´s name out loud, but she knew she needed to tell you everything.

When they got closer to the group of witches gathered around the tree trunk, they saw Lilia holding you close to her, a slight smile on your face, while listening to what the boy sitting on the ground was saying, Alice was talking as well and you seemed content being surrounded by all of them, Agatha could see how kind they were trying to be with you, how careful they were trying to act around you not to hurt you more, and she knew, Agatha knew, she would need to thank them for that, for treating with so much kindness and making you feel alright, for taking care of you while she had just left, while she had decided to fly away while you were in a vulnerable state, all of the witches were trying to cheer you up, Jennifer was listening attentively to what the dark-haired boy and Alice were telling, but just as Lilia, she would from time to time take a glance at you to make sure you were feeling fine, looking for any trace of discomfort while Lilia would caress slowly your arm up and down.

“She really likes being with them” Rio said suddenly while also looking at you from afar, Rio´s heart was feeling warm, she knew they witches would be able to take care of you while the two of them were not there with you, the blue-eyed witch knew she had to start being a little bit, just a little bit friendlier to them, just maybe she would thank them for being with you.

The closest they got to all of you, Agatha felt her heart bit faster with each step forward they took, the nervousness taking all over her, not wanting to see you cry again because of her, she didn´t have time to think what she would say to you, or how she would say sorry because, before she could actually come up with something, the two of them were already in front of the group, the witches´ laughter and words started to decrease slowly until there was only quietness surrounding all of you.

 Rio waited for Agatha to talk to you first, she knew Agatha needed to take the first step, you still felt a little bit wounded for having being left alone by Agatha, so you just started at the ground, not daring to look at the two witches who were standing in front of all of you.

Agatha cleared her throat and after some seconds that seemed to be so long like hours passing, she finally got the courage to talk directly at you, she stretched her hand out for you showing you that you could take her hand.

“Can we please talk, doll?” The pet name made your face get warm, she definitely knew that you always loved to be called like that by her, and even if you still were hurt, you couldn´t say no to her, so you just nodded and Lilia encouraged you slightly giving you a gently push to stand up and take Agatha´s hand, you took the soft hand that the blue-eyed witch was offering to you, and Agatha felt her heart skipping a beat, the nervousness started to dissipate, and a little bit of confidence started to invade her body, Rio placed her hand on your waist and the two witches that had come for you looked at the group of witches sitting on the tree trunk and at the boy as well who was still on the ground, the two of them nodded at the witches letting them know they were grateful to have been there for you, and all of the witches gave them a smile, they knew that after the three of you talked, they would be able to continue walking down the road and finish it, they felt all of them would make it to the end, and now, their goal as well, was to help you make it to the end and make sure nothing happened to you or the baby who was growing inside of you.

The group saw Agatha and Rio guiding you slowly towards they had disappeared before, sighing deeply they knew that once the three of you came back, you would have a smile on your face as well as Rio and Agatha.

“Do you think Agatha would let us gift them clothes for the baby?” The teen suddenly asked out loud and the witches started to think about his question.

“I don´t know, you would have to ask her, you are the one who she seems to like a little bit more than all of us” Alice said to him with a curious look on her face.

“What do you mean? She was going to let me sleep on the floor because I broke into her house, if someone could ask her without having consequences of being made fun of, would be Lilia for sure” Alice, the teenager and Jennifer turned their face to look at the Sicilian witch who had her left eyebrow raised, she seemed to be deep in thought and after some seconds she nodded agreeing to what the teen had said.

“Maybe we could ask her when we get out of here first” All of them nodded and the teen couldn´t hide his excitement, he was sure all of you would make it to the end, and then, he would be able ask you so many questions he had in his mind, right now, they only needed to wait for you to continue.

Meanwhile, Agatha and Rio took you to the same place where Rio had found the blue-eyed witch in the middle of the misty forest on the road, Agatha´s hand was still holding yours, and caressing the back of your hand from time to time, while she turned her face to look at your expression, you hadn´t lifted your eyes from the ground and the guilt it was eating her from the inside, Rio never let go of your waist, she tried to be as close as possible to you, until Agatha suddenly stopped and turned herself around to look at you properly.

“Doll, I am so sorry, I-, I shouldn´t have left like that, I made you cry, I made you feel distressed, I am so sorry, please, I didn´t want to make you cry” Agatha had started to cry, the tears were falling down her eyes, her beautiful baby blue eyes were covered in hot tears and it made your heart hurt, it was so rare to see her cry, she never cried and it only made you feel the need to hold her tightly and wipe the tears off her face, so with your right hand you brought your fingers to gently wiped the tears off her face and Agatha´s heart melted at the gesture, she placed her left hand on yours and brought it to her lips to press a soft kiss to the back of your hand.

“Please forgive me for making you cry, I was scared, I am still scared, I had so many emotions in me, so many thoughts that made me walk away from you, that made me leave you there, and I feel so bad for what I did, I shouldn´t have left you standing there, I was scared, I am still terrified, because I don´t want to lose you… I don´t want to lose you or the baby, I am so scared doll” Agatha´s words made you cry again, her words hitting you hard, and listening to her talk about the life growing inside of you, the baby inside of you, it melted your heart, her words filled you with happiness and so much love, so you hugged her, you passed your arms around her shoulders and she instinctively placed her hands on your waist, pulling you impossibly closer to her.

“I don´t want to lose you, you are the one that I love the most, and it makes me happy to know that we created another life, but there is something I have not told you, and it is the reason of why I am so scared, I want to be honest and tell you everything” Her voice so close to your ear and the way she sounded so serious made you realize that it was something really important, you just nodded against her and separated from her to look at her with your eyebrows furrowed, Agatha thought how sweet you looked with that serious expression on your face, she took a deep breath and looked at Rio to nod at her to let her know she could come near the two of you.

Rio came behind you and slowly took your right hand in hers, while Agatha took your left hand, they guided you to a spot in the ground, where the leaves seem to be greener, Agatha quickly took her coat off and placed it on the ground, only to guide you to sit on it, which only made your face become red because of her gesture, while Rio playfully shook her head, the two of them sat in front of you and each one of them took one of your hands.

You saw the way Agatha´s shoulders tensed for a second before she took a deep breath, Rio looked at her with a sad expression on her face, her brown-eyes full of concern, so you just waited until Agatha felt ready to tell you what she wanted to say, giving her a squeeze to her hand to encourage her and help her feel alright.

“Centuries ago, when I killed my coven, I wandered off, studying and gaining knowledge, stealing power from other witches, and then, I met her” Agatha stopped talking and turned her face to the side to look at Rio, who suddenly just stared at the ground, not wanting to look at Agatha.

“We, we fell in love, I knew who she was, I had seen her from time to time when she arrived to take the souls of those whom I have killed, but we fell for the other, we started to saw each other from time to time, she would appear out of nowhere in the forest, but as the time passed more and more, we started to see each other more and more, then, just like you, I got pregnant” You gasped in shock at what she had said, and Agatha chuckled a little bit, her breathing becoming faster, her hands started to tremble slightly and your hold in her hand became stronger.

“Nicholas was his name” Agatha´s voice had become shaky, the tears started to fall down her face more and more, and even if you had wanted to hold her or say something to her, you knew you needed to let her finish.

“He was the sweetest boy, calling me mom, following me all the time around, going behind Rio and following her when she needed to go, she would always take him by his tiny hand and bring him back to me telling him he needed to stay with me until she came back” You turned to Rio to look at her, her sad look, still staring at the ground, not daring to look at you or at Agatha, crying silently on her spot, you gave a squeeze to her hand to try and comfort her somehow.

“I knew he was supposed to have been taken away since he hadn´t even been born, but Rio granted us time, she gave us time, she gave me time with Nicky, the three of us, we were so happy, a family, time running I knew, with each passing year I knew our time would come to an end, I knew he was sick, I couldn´t heal him, no one could, and I knew our time with him would come to an end sooner or later, but I tried to be with him as much as possible I tried, I did everything I could, until his time came” Agatha couldn´t keep herself together anymore, her free hand was covering her mouth, tears streaming down her face, her eyes closed and Rio was crying as well, so silently you were afraid she would choke on her own tears for not allowing herself to cry properly, you wanted to comfort the two of them, you knew and you were sure that it had been too hard for Rio to take her son with her, that was the reason of her pain, of the sorrow and pain that she carried with her, and knowing the reason behind Agatha and her separating ways, broke your heart apart, why had life been so cruel to them? You would have loved to tell the two of them that you understood, but actually you had no idea how you would react if something like that happened to you, with any one of the two of them, how would you take it? Would you even be able to stand something like that?

“That is why I am so scared, I don´t want to lose you, or the baby we are just expecting,  I don´t want to pass through that again, I know I shouldn´t have brought you here with us, but we are here now, and I want to make sure you are safe, but without my powers I am so useless, I will not be able to protect you from anything” Agatha´s voice sounded so broken, and for the first time you didn´t know how to comfort her, Rio pressed her hand on Agatha´s shoulder and you looked at the brown-eyed woman, your could feel the pain coming out of her, and god, how much you wished you could just take the pain away from the two of them.

“I will make sure nothing happens to her, this time, things will be different, nothing will happen to you, or to her, and I can assure you, the baby will be just fine” Her beautiful voice filled your heart with warmth, she was assuring Agatha nothing would happen to you, her brown eyes wandering from Agatha to you, and you only smiled at her, Agatha quickly lifted her head to look at Rio, giving her a big smile, making you and Rio smile back at her, you knew, they still had to talk, and the three of you needed to talk more, regarding how this relationship would develop, but you knew, you would have more time when you get out of the road, in Agatha´s house, you knew, you would be talking about the three of you when all of you make it safe out of the road.

“Thank you for letting me know about this, I can only imagine the pain and sorrow you have been carrying alone for so many centuries and I know I won´t be able to take it all away, even if I want to, I know I won´t be able to take all the pain away, but I want to be there with you, with the two of you, I want to be there for the two of you” The way Rio and Agatha were looking at you with gentle smiles on their faces, the brightness in their eyes let you know they liked the idea, Agatha´s heart started to feel the heaviness and sorrow becoming a little bit more manageable, after telling you what she had been hiding for centuries, what she had been hiding for years from you, she could feel a heaviness going slowly away from her shoulders, she was sure with you, knowing this and having you by her side she would be able to keep on carry on, to start a new phase in her life, along with Rio as well.

Rio could feel the sadness in her heart slowly decreasing, she and Agatha knew Nicky would always be a part of their hearts and they would never be able to forget him, but the memory of the beloved Nicky had started to become less painful, she knew that with time and with your help the two of them would be able to talk about Nicky and remember him without feeling that immense amount of pain, and they would be able to remember him with the love they had for him and the love the two of them used to share, it would be a long path for the two of them, to come to terms with their past and with each other, but Rio knew, that with you there, with your help, with your kind smile and caring nature, they would be able to do it, in the end, they wanted the same thing, and it was to keep on loving you.

You threw yourself to them, passing your arms around their shoulders, taking them by surprise, but after some seconds of taking you in ther arms, they quickly pressed ther hands on your body, Agatha and Rio´s hands touched when they hugged you as well, but they didn´t mind, for the first time in so many centuries, they felt comfortable enough to be touching the other again, thanks to you, they knew they would be able to be in peace, to get to talk to each other again without fighting, but first, they needed to get you safe to the end and take you back home, they knew they still have a lot to talk, the two of them and also they would have so many talks with you as well, but they would do it later, after getting out of this place, right now, they wanted to enjoy the feeling of you being on their arms, having you close to them, and they were not going to let you go, they were not going to risk losing you.

After some more hugs and sweet words from them to you, you realized it was time to go back to your coven, to continue walking to make it to the end alive, with the two of them, the woman whose brown eyes seemed to be so sad all the time, and the woman with the blue piercing eyes who always was so confident and always knew what to say, you were for sure lucky to have the two of them, and one more thing, was that you finally had your coven, finally you felt like you could have a family, and it made your heart fill with happiness.

“We have to go back to our coven” You said to Agatha and Rio, a smile grew instantly on their faces and nodded at the same time.

“Our coven” Repeated Agatha, it felt nice, Agatha thought, to have a coven after so many centuries, and she felt happy that you also got to be part of it, without you her coven would be incomplete, Agatha then looked at Rio who was looking at you with such a loving expression on her face, she was sure that Rio´s love for you was as intense as her own love for you, and knowing that, made her realize that you would always have as much love from the two of them as you needed, she knew that the three of you would come to build something beautiful, between Rio and her, the missing piece was you, you were the only one who could make them stop fighting and work together, she knew Rio loved you deeply and she didn´t mind, her heart suddenly skipped a beat when she saw Rio´s eye slight up when you smiled at the brown-eyed woman, and this time, the feeling didn´t scare her at all.

The three of you started to walk back to where you had left your coven, Agatha was holding you by your waist, holding you close to her, while Rio was holding your hand, bringing it to her lips, leaving small kisses to the back of your hand.

Lilia was the first to notice you walking back to them, the three of you seemed to be more relaxed, your shoulders were not tense anymore, and your mood could be sensed from where you were walking, she sensed contentment, the same feeling Agatha and Rio were exuding, the three of you had smiles on your faces, and a strong bond could be sensed as well, she knew that from now on, no one would be able to separate you, and it made Lilia´s heart filled with contentment, that was how love seem like.

The witches saw you getting closer to them, and a smile plastered on their faces, they still knew that they needed to finish the road, and the fear of the left trials was still there, not knowing what the trials would make them face, but they knew and they were sure, that all of you would make it to the end, safe and sound.

｡˚ ︶︶✩︶︶ ₊ ˚ ︶︶✩

“We are back” The teen, or now that you knew his name, and knew who he was, Billy said out loud, after the last door had finally opened and the bright light had almost left them blind, all of you managed to get out of the last trial safe and sound, after all of your eyes got used to the light of the sunny landscape in front of you, you were surprised, seeing Agatha´s backyard again was something you had not been waiting, but it only meant one thing, you had gotten out of the road, safe, all of you had made it back! All of your coven had made it out of the road, all of you were safe!

“It looks like we finished the road, no one was left behind” Billy said again with a smile on his face, Agatha had one of her hands on your waist, holding you tightly while Rio had her arm around your shoulder, her hold around you being gentle and caring, the two of them were at your sides, and you enjoyed feeling them this close to you, you were sure this would be how things were going to be from now on, and you loved it.

You still couldn´t believe how all of you managed to get out of the road, the whole coven was made it out safe, Lilia had been able to get control of her powers, she felt in control, because she was in control, you still were surprised how Jennifer had got her magic back, complimenting her about the nice pink that her powers were, the same tone of her pink dress, which made her give you a big smile, she felt like a complete new woman, you knew Billy was going to stuck for a while asking so many questions to Agatha, but you also knew he had the goal of finding his brother, and he would do it without problems you knew it very well, being the son of the Scarlet Witch made him too powerful, but he was still a teen, he needed to control his emotions as well, and you knew he would be able to do it.

Alice had broken her generational curse, she felt so much better without that weight on her shoulders, she had a different view of life, she felt like she could do anything she wanted, she felt free for once in her life, she felt powerful, and she knew, she would do anything she wanted from now on, not having to worry about things going south.

Your beloved blue-eyed witch had got her powers back, she felt complete again, having her “purple” back made her feel powerful again, and having got you out of the road safe and sound made her feel a lot better, having you close to her was the best feeling, and the baby you two were expecting, that also made her feel excited, the fear and overwhelming feeling of being on the road where anything could go wrong had gone away, finally she felt as if she could think clearly, as if she could feel a lot more, she could feel peace, her heart was not covered in fear, the sorrow of he first son Nicky and the pain would always be there within her, but she knew that with you and Rio, she would be able to learn how to cope with it, she knew this was her gift, this was the life she had wanted, it was her chance to have a family of her own and she would make sure this time it would last longer, a lot more, she would make sure to be with you all the time, and she knew Rio felt the same when it came to you.

You still were curious about what Agatha and Rio talked about when the two of them disappeared, but whatever they had talked, it had helped Agatha a lot, and you were grateful with Rio, you were not sure what type of conversation they had, but it seemed that it had helped the two to of them, and it made you happy knowing that Agatha and Rio finally seemed to be comfortable being near each other.

You saw Billy going to the middle of the backyard and he went to lay down on it, Alice, Jennifer and Lilia went towards him, the three witches were looking at the sky, they seemed happy, relaxed that they had got from the road what they were missing, and you were beaming with joy that all of you had made it out alive, they were your family, all of them your coven, you could now start a new chapter in your life, with Rio and Agatha by your side you were sure you would be able to have everything you always wanted, and the life growing inside of you also made you feel excited, You were sure Rio and Agatha would be amazing mothers, and even if you were a little bit scared, you were sure that whatever would come regarding the baby, Agatha and Rio would be there for you to make sure you were fine.

“We´re fine” You commented out loud, just for Agatha and Rio to hear, and they nodded with a smile on their faces, Agatha´s right hand was still on your waist, giving you a soft squeeze, while Rio had her arm around your shoulders, caressing your arm up and down with soothing movements, the two of them felt happy, genuinely happy, Rio could tell that the sadness that she had been carrying with her started to become more manageable, and she was happy she would get to be part of your life as well with Agatha, she wouldn´t miss this chance, she was not going to let you go, yes, the road had been messy, scary, terrifying, but in the end, it seemed that it had given her what she had wished for, as well as Agatha, now, Rio and Agatha would get a second chance to form a family again, to get to experience everything again, Nicky´s memory would always be with them, but they also knew they couldn´t let the pain consume them again, not with you by their sides, and Agatha and Rio knew that you would be there for them, when the darkest thoughts would take completely over them, they were sure that with your light, caring nature and love, you would be able to get them back to you, because that what they needed and wanted, was to be with you, and they would make sure that nothing would happen to you, ever, this time, they would make sure not to commit the same past mistakes, they had two lives to care for from now on, and they would make sure that everything would work completely fine.

That was what Agatha and Rio needed, their own little family, their own space, for sure, they still needed to talk more, about what happened, about how things would develop from now on, but the love they have for you was enough to make them feel they would be able to sort everything from now on, and they loved the way you smiled at the witches talking between them on Agatha´s backyard, they knew it would be amazing people around you and the baby, Agatha would make sure to have an eye on them, just to make sure she was keeping you safe, in the end, the road had given them what they needed, to all of them, a coven, a family, and you couldn´t be more excited to see how things would go from now on, you felt so lucky for having two amazing women loving you with so much intensity, and a whole new coven, a whole family to take care of you and to look after each other.

[corvidaequeer]

There's not really a point to this. I'm not saying Arcane is bad or you shouldn't watch it or you shouldn't like Jayce or jayvik... I'm just feeling annoyed at the way they took Jayce's character in the second season for a lot of reasons & I want to rant about it.

Starting with the whole scene of Jayce & Mel talking by comatose Viktor. Jayce says "never again" to making hextech weapons & Mel promises to protect his & Victor's dream. Then, 30 seconds later, Jayce makes Caitlyn more hextech weapons anyway! His wishy-washy promise wasn't surprising, just annoying that he'd make the same mistake AGAIN (Then a third time to defend Piltover from Ambessa's attack).

-

Later, in seeing the whole story, we know that Viktor sent Jayce back to teach himself some life lesson. So why was Jayce's first reaction to kill Salo & blow a hole in Viktor's chest?? Shouldn't he have tried to reach Viktor in a less murdery way first? Try to reason with him & teach him said life lesson? It just doesn't make sense.

-

After Jayce gets back to Piltover, he has this sudden resentment & distrust towards Mel. Where did that come from? Why does Jayce suddenly think Mel is an enemy?

Jayce starts accusing Mel of selecting who she protected. What would she have to gain from that? Even if Mel DID know she had powers, why would Jayce think she would willfully let the council & Viktor die? Why would he think her so cruel?

Then there's the "investments" line. Firstly, it was Alora that called Jayce an investment. Mel just said, "Indeed." Secondly, Who the fuck told him that happened anyway??

Then Jayce claims Mel was "using" them? Yes, she wanted Jayce & Viktor as allies & directed them in her favor, but thats really not "using" them. She saw a good opportunity to make some change & took it like anyone else would. The rest of the council used him for their own benefit far more than Mel did. But more importantly, Mel CARED about Jayce & Viktor. She cared about their dreams & helped them to achieve it! She was the one who supported them from the start. She was trying to get the council NOT to make hextech weapons. She wanted to protect their dream, but she's still somehow "using" Jayce & Viktor to get hextech?! Jayce is the one who keeps making hextech weapons without anyone pressuring him to do so! So what was the narrative point of having Jayce take his regrets out on Mel? What function did it serve?

That whole scene was just-

Mel: Hey, I need some emotional support from this traumatic thing that just happened to me

Jayce: Fuck you, Mel! You should have saved everyone. Also, how dare you have unconditionally supported Viktor & I & our research!!

The anger towards her just comes out of nowhere & has no evidence to back it up & it annoys me. Also, it just feels out of character, even with the more edgy way they portrayed Jayce in act 2 & 3. So, just, why?

-

Then there's "my partner died in this room." Jayce saw Viktor in the future, as himself, not the machine herald. He spoke with him & promised to fix things. So clearly, Viktor's humanity wasn't dead, so why even say that? What was the point?

-

Then there's Jayce's little speech. There are so many things with this.

Jayce, who had up to this point, chose violence, is suddenly all soft again & just NOW trying to reach Victor. Where was that in the last few days?? Would he not have done this first instead of blasting a hole in him?

"You always wanted to cure what you thought were weaknesses" No, bitch, he wanted to help people in poverty & didn't want to fucking die!! What are you even talking about!? Viktor was insecure ONE TIME about being up on stage, so why is Jayce diminishing Viktor's ENTIRE MOTIVATION to him being insecure about being disabled??

Then, in the same line of thinking, there's Jayce saying Viktor's disability & illness (his "imperfections") make him beautiful & he admires Viktor for that??! Cut the inspiration porn trope! Are we not passed that?!

Lastly, Jayce is supposed to show Viktor some life lesson of all that being left is "dreamless solitude" & "there is no prize to perfection" but Jayce doesn't even say any of that?? He just shows Viktor saying it. How is that something only Jayce can do?

Sure, I love the idea of Cosmic Destiny Partners. It's a great idea & a somewhat happy ending for these two. I get it, I do. But the whole path leading up to it & its execution was poor, confusing, & frankly ableist.

-

In general, Jayce just felt inconsistent.

Yeah, in season 1, Jayce has a track record for flip-flopping on his morals & ideals. His character arc is that of someone being easily swayed. He makes a lot of mistakes & then corrects himself by swinging in the complete opposite direction, only to make more mistakes. It's his character flaw.

Then season 2, he becomes more resolute in the promise he mentions. You think, oh, this makes sense. He finally grew a backbone & is standing his ground. Apparently, choosing violence as his footing, but still. He keeps this aggressive demeanor up for the rest of season 2. But then suddenly, right at the last second, he turns around & says the softest & sappiest shit in the whole show?? The fluffy confession of adoration & partnership just comes out of nowhere! If you're taking Jayce in an aggressive direction, then do so. Don't come in swinging with this totally different person.

Overall, it just feels like Jayce is there for shock value & relationship drama instead of being an actual character with solid motivations & and a steady narrative.

[corralinesage]

Learning you by heart (1/?)

Natasha Romanoff/ Reader Christmas romance <33

Summary: You lock eyes with a stranger in the audience of an opera, her troubled appearance piquing your interests immediately, the thought of her sticking around to haunt your mind that demands answers for her predicament. Turns out that there might be more to her than you could have ever imagined.

Rating: General audiences

A/N: Let me know what you think!

Chapter 1: Columbus Avenue

Your body was cold, your armpits clearly sticky with sweat. You felt like you couldn’t quite breathe deeply enough despite the amount of breathing exercises and vocal warm ups you had already done. You fiddled with the fabric of your costume, playing with the pearls embedded into the corset of your gown. You had already gone through it many times that week, hell, you had already been on stage that day, yet it somehow didn’t stop being as nerve racking as it had been the first time. You stood behind the curtains, eyeing the brightly lit stage apprehensively, going over lyrics in your head almost obsessively, slowly starting to whisper them to yourself to make sure your mouth was capable of moving how you wished it to. The low tenor of your coworker’s voice bellowed across the stage as he held the final note ceremoniously until his lungs would no longer allow him to continue. You took one final inhale before taking steady steps onto the stage, the strobe lights nearly enough to blind you despite how used to it you were by then. You got into character, taking one more deep breath before beginning to sing.

You knew the piece by heart, it flowed out of you on its own, requiring little to no conscious effort from you, just like it had during rehearsals and the opening night. Your body moved with the music as you acted out the lyrics you were singing, the gorgeous red gown you were wearing dragging slightly behind you. The song was a dramatic monologue. You sang to the audience, telling them your version of the events that had taken place just a few minutes prior. You could tell from your tone that you were nervous. You could tell it from the way your voice threatened to slip into vibrato when it wasn’t needed. You struggled to get a proper grip on controlling your voice. You didn’t quite know why, but you felt on edge, worn out, and unsteady. You couldn’t see the audience, their ominous dark figures seeming undeniably unresponsive to your display of emotion. You looked at them with your wide eyes, the higher notes demanding a kind of concentration that wouldn’t allow you to think about anything else. You scanned the audience, deciding to make the mass of people less intimidating by choosing an individual to focus on. You had found it to be helpful when stage fright caught you by surprise, your gaze moving down from the higher levels of the theater to the front.

There was a woman there, a woman roughly your age, her grim exterior forcing your attention on her. She looked pained, the gaze of her light eyes weighed down by something that you couldn’t decipher. Your heart suddenly beat a little louder in your chest, from the strain of the high notes or the demeanor of that woman, you couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, you couldn’t stop it, nor could you tear your eyes off her. She had red hair, messy and unkempt, which stood out to you in the mass of nobility who usually dominated the crowds. She looked like she had dirt on her face, maybe even blood, but you weren’t sure if it was simply her hair curling against her cheek. She wore black clothes, almost like a uniform. She could have passed as a security guard, almost, had her uniform not resembled one of a dystopian warrior. You briefly noted the elderly couple beside her dressed in a dress and a sharp suit, their demeanors exuding high status. She didn’t fit in.

Suddenly her eyes met yours, the intensity of her gaze nearly making you choke on your own breath. She looked unwell, tears pooling in her eyes, eyelids red rimmed and raw. Her lips were pink and swollen. She was in distress and very obviously so. You felt the sudden need to help her somehow, yet all you could do was keep singing. You held her gaze, all your energy going on keeping your voice steady. You felt the way your eyes suddenly filled with tears. It happened sometimes when you were truly in character and able to channel the pain that you were communicating to the viewers, but this wasn’t that. You felt helpless, completely captivated by her grim gaze, your powerful voice and the orchestra filling the otherwise silent theater. She wasn’t okay. She was hurt, the look in her eyes longing, pained, troubled. You couldn’t explain it. You didn’t understand.

Your tears spilled over, the final long notes demanding every ounce of focus from you, yet you couldn’t tear your eyes off the red-headed woman. Your body ached, your heart throbbing ruthlessly. She kept looking at you, eyes staring at the other without a single interruption. You allowed your arm to rise up slightly as if to give your lungs more room to produce the desired notes, your other hand finding your stomach to remind yourself to keep your core tight to avoid slipping into your head voice. The final note resonated everywhere around you, on the stage, in the audience, in your head, rising into a crescendo before reaching its end. There was a brief silence, the lights turning off and breaking your eye-contact with the mysterious woman, before booming applause erupted in the audience, filling in the silence to the fullest extent. The lights came back on, the people in the front rows standing up to show their appreciation for you and the rest of the cast that walked onto the stage to receive their praise. You looked frantically around for the red-headed woman, your eyes blurry from tears, head fuzzy from whatever you had just experienced. You couldn’t see her.

“Holy shit, Y/N”, Beatrice whispered discreetly as she came to stand beside you, gently turning you to fully face the audience as you clasped hands. You looked at your cast member, unable to really say a word. “Way to end the show.” Her tone was filled with positive astonishment, so you decided to take her statement as a compliment, hoping that your performance had been up to standard because in all honesty, the only thing you remembered from it was those pained eyes that you had now lost into the crowd. You forced a smile on your face, focusing back on the applauding audience to bow for them.

“Girl, are you okay?” Beatrice asked you once you had managed to get backstage and escape the eyes of the audience. The show was finally over.

“Yeah, why are you asking?” Your hands came to your ear to remove your earrings as you both finally reached the dressing rooms, followed by a few more cast members. You looked at the Christmas decorations that were littered in the already chaotic room filled with makeup and clothing, walking to your designated vanity.

“I don’t know. You seem off.” She let out a slight chuckle. “You really sold me with that final scene.” You gave her an amused smile.

“I’m fine. Just got a little carried away maybe.”

“It was phenomenal”, she sighed, almost as if enamored by you and your talent. She was a few years younger than you and played a much smaller part in the opera, but she was nonetheless your favorite person in the cast. She knew when and how to be quiet. She knew how to give you your space, which you appreciated greatly.

“Thank you. I guess I was feeling it a little more today”, you chuckled. “You did really well yourself.” Beatrice was practically glowing.

“Thank you.” She had a childish glint in her eyes and an intense blush on her face. You knew she admired you greatly. “Care for a cupcake?” She approached your chair with a plastic container of peppermint cupcakes in her arms, offering you the selection.

“Who are these from?” You looked at the packaging for a card of some sorts, the room slowly filling with the rest of your cast members, some chattering enthusiastically, others clearly looking forward to withdrawing socially.

“On the house. It’s a little holiday treat. They brought it over right before the show.”

“Don’t mind if I do”, you hummed, picking one out of the box for yourself. You were starving. Beatrice grabbed one for herself, sitting down beside you as you began to debrief the success of the night. You tried your best to remain present for her as you ate the cupcakes, removing your false eyelashes, jewelry, and hairpins as you talked, but you could barely keep your thoughts in check. The image of that woman returning to the forefront of your mind time and time again. Was she okay? What had happened to her? You stayed in the dressing room for hours, the rest of the people filing out to go recharge themselves for the shows of the following day, but you and Beatrice were in no rush. The lights got turned off aside from the ones on your vanity, gentle Christmas music sounding from the radio that somebody had left on by accident. It sat on a table across the room beside a box of leftover Christmas ornaments. The atmosphere was comforting, so much so that you didn’t even notice the time pass as you munched on the cupcakes that you and Beatrice might have hogged for yourselves.

Even hours later, when you had gone to a very late dinner with Beatrice, you found your mind plagued by the woman’s grim eyes and distraught face. You parted ways with Beatrice around midnight, which made your predicament even worse because she was no longer there to distract you and your compulsive mind. Who was the woman and why had she made such an impact on you? You tossed and turned in bed, unable to wipe the woman’s face from your mind, unable to shake the creeping sense of… something. You couldn’t tell what it was, but it didn’t even matter because regardless of what it had been it was clearly there to stay. You slept poorly, your dreams an odd jumble of stress from the shows you had coming your way paired with the woman and her mysterious presence.

All in all, you were able to recognize how ridiculous of you it was to fixate on such an insignificant detail in the crowd, especially a few shows later when you had caught yourself scanning the audience as if she would have attended the show twice in the span of a few weeks, let alone even the same year. It was more than likely that she would never come see that same performance again. You caught yourself staring intently into the dark crowd time and time again with the woman on the very forefront of your mind. Every time you opened your mouth and began to sing on the stage during the weeks leading up to December, a ghost of that feeling of the opening week would linger in your body. You had never been so captivated by a gaze. You had never witnessed such intensity in anyone’s eyes. You tried to look back on the most meaningful people in your life, your mother, your siblings, your best friend and roommate, your ex who you had thought to be the love of your life yet came up short. You even considered the people who had looked at you with hatred in their eyes, but it couldn’t compare to the red-headed woman.

You quickly became frustrated with the idea of her. What right did she have to look at you with such intensity, with such reverence, with such agony? Who was she to plague your mind so ruthlessly and consistently? You stared daggers ahead of you as you once again waited for your turn behind the curtains to bring the show to its finish. You fiddled with your gown until you realized you were about to rip off the pearls from anger, so you left them alone, focusing your frustration on your cuticles and bottom lip instead. You watched your coworker, Daniel, belt out his last note which functioned as a cue for you to get into character. You took a deep breath, counted to five in your head, like you often did, and headed onto the stage.

You slipped into character with familiar ease, waltzing across the stage in an emotion filled frenzy as your lips formed each of the rapidly sung words, allowing yourself to get fully immersed into your role to escape the thoughts that dominated your mind, thoughts that had been dominating your mind for most of November. You directed your rage at the audience, communicating your character’s frustration through not only the tone of your voice but your expressions and gestures. And then you nearly slipped right out of your character when your eyes found an unexpected figure a few rows off from her designated seat in the audience. You had sworn to yourself that you would stop obsessively checking the seat she had once occupied, yet the habit proved to be harder to shake than you had expected to. However, all of a sudden none of that mattered.

She was there. It had to be her. Either that or you were seeing hallucinations. Had you not been met with such an intense wave of dejavú that her gaze inflicted upon you, you could have disregarded her as someone who merely shared a resemblance with the red-headed woman, but you knew you weren’t mistaken. Your voice nearly faltered, your body stilling for a fraction of a second. It was just enough for the woman to be able to tell that your reaction was her doing. You felt like you couldn’t breathe, but that simply wasn’t an option for you when you were singing. You needed air, filling your lungs in a spastic inhale before continuing to sing, your eyes glued on the woman and her now much more serene features. She looked more put together than the first time. She looked more like she belonged in the audience, her clothing allowing her to blend in.

You felt dizzy, your eyes remaining intently on her so that you would not have the chance to lose her again. She had beautiful features, even more beautiful than you remembered. Her intense eyes held your gaze just the same, a gentle smile pushing up the corners of her mouth. You felt a pull to her, a pure sense of childish curiosity that couldn’t be explained. Holding her gaze, singing to her, felt safe, yet at the same time you felt like falling apart, like you had forgotten to put on your dress before walking onto the stage. There was something in those eyes, something that couldn’t be explained. You felt your eyes fill with tears. You didn’t know why. Once again, it wasn’t part of the act. Her smile widened, your tears spilling over. You couldn’t control it, the anger of your character fading into defeat, into helpless silence as your final note reverberated around you, bouncing from the walls of the theater.

The lights went off, panic rising to your chest. You were going to lose her again. You could barely breathe as you waited patiently for the lights to turn back on, the rest of the cast joining you on stage. You saw the woman stand up among the other people in the audience, your eyes nailed on her as the applause roared into life. You felt your hands being grabbed from either side for the bow that your cast did after every show, but all you could focus on was making sure that she didn’t have the chance to escape. The lights above the seating area turned on, illuminating the crowd better, your brows drawing into a horrified frown when you saw the woman give you a fond smile before dropping her clapping hands and turning to the side to leave the row of seats. You didn’t even realize that you immediately let go of the hands that held your own, rushing off the stage without giving it so much as a single thought. Your heels clicked against the floor as you ran behind the curtains, hurrying out of the backstage area. You nearly stumbled over your feet, but you didn’t let it hinder you, rushing down the hallways to the entrance of the Metropolitan Opera House. There were some people lounging around but since your show happened to be the last one of the night, most of the people in the building were still clapping in the theater.

You looked around frantically, scanning for even a lock of red hair among the people, your feet already carrying you toward the exit. She couldn’t have gone far. You saw that one of the front glass doors slid shut, a lone figure heading for the street. You had no idea what your intention was, why you needed to see her face again, to see more of her, nor did you stop to ponder the matter. You ran after her, pushing the glass door open, your bare arms greeted by an icy gust of wind. It was snowing outside, the large snowflakes floating down from the sky in the darkness of the night, clinging to your hair and dress, melting on your warm skin. Your heels sank into the pillowy layer of snow with each step you took. There were Christmas lights and streetlamps around you, the glistening, fresh snow illuminating your surroundings. For just a moment you felt your heart stop at the magical sight. First snow.

After recovering from your sudden experience of pure awe, you started to look around at the people on the plaza that was in front of the opera house. You scanned them frantically from head to toe in search of your mysterious woman before spotting her walking along the lit-up Lincoln Center fountain toward Broadway. You picked up your speed, your arms gathering your gorgeous gown up and out of the way after nearly falling face down in the snow on your slippery heels, but you managed to keep yourself upright somehow.

“Hey!” You didn’t know why you shouted, a few heads turning your way immediately, but none of them belonged to the person you were after. “Hey!” You wished you would have had something to call her, something specific that would attract her attention. You were getting closer to her, only a dozen feet between you when she glanced back at the sound of your footsteps. Her eyes widened in shock, but she didn’t stop, discreetly picking up her speed.

Fuck, what were you doing? Why were you coming after her? Natasha’s chest squeezed with anxiety. You weren’t supposed to- She wasn’t ready, she felt exposed. She rushed forward in the powdery snow, trying her best not to look like she was indeed running away from you. How could she be such a fool, such a wuss? She should have been able to face you just fine. You were no one. She was no one. It would have meant nothing; two strangers meeting. Except none of that was true. You were everything and meeting you would mean everything. Natasha came to the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Broadway, crossing the former street to Dante Park. She glanced back once more to see you drown momentarily into a small group of people passing by which gave her the perfect opportunity to change direction and continue to Columbus Avenue down south.

You slowed down, noting that the traffic was abnormally slow for the night as you crossed the street, trying to relocate the woman again, but with significantly less enthusiasm. You were shivering, trembling from the cold, your sudden frenzy starting to fizzle out. What were you after? You were harassing some innocent stranger without any proper justification. You yourself didn’t even know what you were after and you could no longer even see her auburn curls as you reached a large, abstract clock statue that stood in the middle of the strip of walkway between the two roads, always as hideous as ever.

The snow-covered branches of the trees of Dante Park gave Natasha enough coverage to blend into the rest of the pedestrians lounging on the street. Ten seconds later she had completely lost you. She had no doubt that you would give up on your search when the two of you shared no connection. She could have easily kept going and carried on with her night, but she couldn’t. Her heart ached so violently that she could no longer take another step. She looked at the row of snow-covered benches on her left, briefly contemplating if she should sit down for a moment. The pain was immense. It was brutal. She looked back toward the crossroad where she had last seen you, spotting you by the large, ugly clock. You brushed your hands over your bare arms, shivering very visibly. You looked around, taking a few blind, aimless steps toward her direction, but you clearly had no intention to continue your chase.

You were so close to her, Natasha’s heart beating out of rhythm as she watched you briefly glance her way again, prompting her to step behind a street map post to avoid being caught. What a loser she was. There was no point in trying. She should simply leave you alone. That’s how things were meant to go, that was your designated path. She didn’t belong there, she didn’t belong in your life. She waited for a moment to be on the safe side before peeking her head from behind the post, needing one more look at you before she would be ready to let you go. Her heart jolted. You were closer, walking her way as you rubbed your hands together violently in an attempt to warm yourself up. You and your lacking clothing received a few appalled looks from bystanders, but you paid them no attention, your focus moving back to the opera house. You brought your hands up to your mouth, huffing a warm breath over them despite how little it did to stave away the cold.

You stepped off the sidewalk to cross the street, slightly off where the crosswalk had been marked, too busy warming yourself up to look around. Every cell in Natasha’s body stung in fear when she saw the way your gown glistened under a pair of headlights that appeared from nowhere, the driver taking advantage of the unusual lack of traffic by going slightly over the speed limit. Natasha didn’t waste a single breath, charging right at you without a second thought or even half a consideration for her own safety. All she could see was a car that was seconds away from running you over, and all she could think about was not letting it happen. Her body collided roughly with your own as she pushed you off the street and out of the car’s way just as the driver hit the breaks. You didn’t scream, you didn’t let out a single sound. You couldn’t. Natasha heard shocked gasps and a few horrified shouts from the sidewalk, but they disappeared into oblivion as she looked at you lying beneath her in the powdery snow.

Your eyes were wide, staring up at Natasha in pure terror as you lay on your back, your icy hands gripping her waist over her wool coat. You couldn’t process what had even happened, but you could feel her hand beneath your head, protecting it from the roughness of the collision with snowy asphalt, her hips and thighs pinning you down to the ground. You felt the way your chest rose and fell rapidly, your corset making the process of breathing feel even more laborious, your head spinning alongside the world around you. All you could do was stare up at what you had just now discovered to be green eyes. The streetlights illuminated her red hair, giving it a gentle glow, snowflakes clinging to her curls as more snow came down from the sky. Her cheeks were a soft pink from the cold, the tip of her nose matching the color, plump lips an even deeper shade of rose. You couldn’t feel any pain, the coldness of your body preventing you from feeling anything at its full intensity, yet you felt like you could feel her.

“Are you okay, dorogaya (darling)?” A hint of inappropriately possessive worry bled into her tone as she uttered the words, the endearment slipping out by pure accident, reminding her to take some mental distance from you despite your very intimate position. You continued to stare up at her, your lips parting but nothing came out. You nodded your head, but it came off as more of a tremor.

“Y-yeah. I’m- I’m-” Your teeth started clattering. You were freezing out of your mind.

“Are- are you okay?” The voice belonged to a panicked boy on the driver’s seat. Natasha glanced back at the scene behind her, noticing that the car had done a full one-eighty on the snow and ice when hitting the brakes, a few cars piling at the scene, waiting to get past, some drivers exiting their cars to see if an ambulance was needed. Natasha could tell the boy was young and clearly an inexperienced driver, anger flashing within her, hot and ruthless.

“You could’ve killed her”, she said in a voice icier than the snow pressed up against your skin as she moved carefully off you, barely sparing the boy a single glance before her attention was back on you. She knelt in the snow, her helping hands pulling you slowly to sit upright. You looked at her, you looked at him, you looked at the car, the snowflakes above you. It all felt so surreal.

“Are you hurt? I’m so sorry. Oh my god, I’m so fucked.” He was seconds away from crying, his whiny tone getting on Natasha’s nerves. She turned to him again, her stoic face conveying every bit of disdain that she felt toward him.

“Get lost.” The boy was clearly taken aback by her hostility, but he didn’t seem to be the type to defy authority, his hand fumbling for the car key. “And learn how to fucking drive.” He nodded his head, some bystanders watching the scene unfold, a few coming closer to ask if you needed help, but they were quickly convinced that you had made it through without a single scrape. Or well, not exactly. Natasha brushed the melted snow off your bare arms and shoulders, taking notice of the irritated skin there. Parts of it had been peeled raw by the rough collision with the ground, but they were barely enough to be considered wounds.

“Thank you”, you blurted out suddenly after she had helped you back on your feet.

“You’re welcome”, she smiled softly, a hint of something, something that was driving you insane, behind that expression, her hand coming up to your face to brush aside some of your hair. You looked at her, observed her carefully, unsure of what to say to her or how to voice why you had come after her in the first place. You felt like you needed to explain yourself to her, but you didn’t have the words for such a feat. “Turn around.” You followed her instructions, feeling like your brain was a bit behind from the current moment. “You’ve got…” She brushed her hand down the back of your dress, saving whatever she could from your gorgeous apparel. “A bit of snow.” Your arms curled against your body automatically as you continued to shiver like a leaf in the wind, your lower lip trembling, teeth chattering. “Here.” You turned to look at her. She had removed her dark brown coat and was offering it for you to wear. It looked warm and comfortable, the effect amplified by the fur neckline of the coat. You shook your head immediately, noting that she was only wearing a thin, satin blouse beneath it.

“No, you’ll freeze”, you protested weakly, but Natasha simply shook her head.

“I’ll be okay. Besides, you’re practically already frozen. I’ve still got a few minutes.” You tried to chuckle at her joke, but you were far too cold to produce such sounds. She wrapped the coat tightly around you, making sure it fit you snuggly to stave off the cold.

“Thank you”, you mumbled, feeling a pleasant but weak heat bloom on your cheeks from her considerate act.

“Keep it. It looks good on you.” Natasha brushed her hand over your shoulder as if admiring the fit on you. It brought her comfort and serenity to know that you would own a piece of her.

“W-what?”

“I have to go, and you probably should too.” There it was again, that look, that look in her eyes. You felt a visceral reaction in your body for being looked at that way. You felt unbearable disappointment even if you didn’t expect a complete stranger to want to hang out with you for longer than necessary. She had only acted out of basic human decency. She noted the hesitant look on your face. “It’s okay, detka (baby), you can keep it.” It was only fair that she would get to slip in one more endearment before leaving. You couldn’t really react to her words, still trying to process the fact that you had just gone through a near death experience. “Look both ways when crossing the street. Please, for my sake and my sanity.”

“I will.” Natasha started backing away, a bitter smile on her lips.

“Wait.” You felt hurt, abandoned, but you didn’t understand why. “What’s your name?” She pursed her lips, wiping the smile off her face as she looked away as if contemplating whether your question was worth answering or not.

“Natasha.” You smiled. “Yours?” She already knew the answer.

“Y/N.”

“I’ve always loved that name. It suits you”, she hummed softly.

“Thank you and thank you for saving my life. I owe you everything.” She shook her head in mild amusement as if you didn’t quite know what her words entailed.

“You owe me nothing.” She took a few more steps back. “Take care of yourself, Y/N.” She gave you one last smile before turning around and walking away, hopefully heading somewhere away from the cold. You stared after her, feeling distraught by the intimacy of the way she has said your name, an odd shiver going down your spine. You hugged the coat tighter around you, watching her disappear into the city covered by a blanket of snow.

[harmonyrae]

Devil in the Mirror: Part 2

Synopsis: Part two of my AU fic about Abysswalker inspired assassin Rafayel. His one night stand is his next target. He’s already signed the contract, but she’s captured his attention - and maybe his affection. He surprises himself when he invites her to be his date to his art exhibit. He is great at thinking on his feet, but his lack of self-control could be his undoing. (Written in Rafayel's POV)

Warnings: Mentions of violence & death & very explicit sexual descriptions. 18+ MDNI

Word Count: 6.9k

Rolling over, your hand falls to the mattress, when you don’t feel her your eyes snap open. Sitting up straight in bed you glance around the room. The wave of anxiety settles when you hear the sound of the shower. You spot her clothes piled on the desk. You swing your legs off the bed and stretch, your breath catches as you notice just how sore you are. Yeah, that definitely wasn’t just because of the absolutely insane sex - oh how you wish it was. 

The man you “dealt with” yesterday was huge. Double your size and a total beefcake. Probably spent more time in the gym in one day than you spent in a whole year. But in the end, you’re faster and years of practice with your blade meant the final slash across his throat was precise. But he got some good hits in and you’re sure the bruising was worse. Would it be more noticeable in the daylight? 

You slowly make your way across the room to the desk. Your fingers gently sweep across the fabric of her dress. Memories of the club flash through your mind. Her hips swaying against you, her hands threading through your hair, her pulse racing as you kissed her neck. Your peripherals catch your reflection in the mirror above the desk. 

Fuck.

Those were not the bruises you were expecting… Sure, the giant bruise across your rib cage was dark and tender, but you could explain it away easily. Took a tumble off your ladder while finishing your latest painting. But how the fuck are you supposed to explain the small bruises across your neck and chest? The press would have a field day…

Ding

Your phone chirps from its place next to the bed. You trudge back, grab the phone and fall back onto the plush blanket. You hold the phone above your face and swipe to unlock. A new message from Thomas. 

Thomas: Started a new file for your new project. Should I bring it to your place or hand it off tonight?

“Oh fuck…!” 

Your nose burns as you rub it. The panic you had suppressed from last night had resurfaced catching you off guard, causing you to drop your phone, right onto your face. For fucks sake… Your next target was literally in the next room. Your target, who was beautiful, bold, enticing… Who rocked your world less than 12 hours ago and slept beside you. Who you were desperately trying to stop imaging standing, hot and dripping, in that shower. God, you want to join her. Feel her hands on you again. Your hands holding her hips, pulling her to you, your lips on hers. NO. STOP. She’s your fucking target. You should go in there and finish the job.

No, no, no… Who knows who she came to the club with last night. You remember another girl, with short brown hair, dancing with her. Did they notice you and her on the dance floor? Did they notice her leaving with you? Did she text her friends or family this morning while you were still asleep? Too many risks. It wouldn’t be hard to link her death back to you. No, it wasn’t a good idea to do this now. And do you want to? What the fuck? That should NOT be a factor. But it is and the more you deny it the more your stomach twists into a knot.

You hear the water shut off. Shit. What do you do? What is the plan? Like you ever really make plans for these things. But this is different. Why is it different? It just is. So what do you…

While you’re thinking, well more like panicking, she exits the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. She notices you sitting up on the bed and smiles. God, she’s radiant. Stop complimenting her. Well, complimenting her in your head. Just stop it. 

“Good morning, beautiful.” 

Really? You’re pathetic… Why did you say that? Now she’s blushing and walking over. In a towel, she’s in a towel. Your thin sweatpants are proving to be very revealing, your cock throbbing at the thought of her dropping that towel.

She cups your face with her hands, placing a gentle kiss to your forehead. You can feel the heat rising to your cheeks. Can she feel it? Can she see it? Oh, she 100% can. Her eyes fall, trailing their way down your torso and - oh shit - she lets out a breathy giggle as she notices how hard you’ve gotten. Her smile widens and she leans down to kiss you fully. Her lips are just as soft as last night. She smells like heaven, you can tell she used the hotel soap but her fragrance is so much stronger. Delicate and breezy. Fucking hypnotic. 

Your hands find themselves on her hips, pulling her closer. She smiles against your lips and pulls back slightly. You can feel yourself pouting - real mature, she’ll love that. She giggles and swipes her finger across your bottom lip that’s pushed out. Wait, does she? 

“Usually, I would have left by now. To avoid that uncomfortable morning-after small talk. But… I didn’t really want to.” She says in a hesitant voice.

“I’m glad you didn’t leave.” Are you now? Really?!

“Me too.” 

You pull her back to you trying to continue the kiss, even though you know it’s a bad idea. It’s like you can’t stop yourself. You start trailing kisses down her chest, but she pulls back, stopping you in your tracks.

“But I do have to go. I have a meeting in an hour.”

“A meeting?” At the Hunters Association, most likely. 

“At the Hunters Association. Oh, I don’t think I mentioned my job before. I’m a hunter.”

“Ohhhhh wow!” Thank god, she bought that.

“Yeah, I have to do a debrief before my leave.”

“Your leave?”

“I… It’s mandatory after I got injured a few days ago. A huge Wanderer showed up at the park and I was the only hunter around and there were kids. People were getting hurt, so I… ugh… I jumped in and ended up in the hospital again.”

“Again?!”

“Well, I was on desk duty and not supposed to involve myself in any fights… My new injuries made my previous ones worse. I had to have a minor surgery. So now, my boss is making me take a mandatory leave and turn in my weapons so…”

“Wait, you’re telling me you just had surgery…”

She hesitates and avoids meeting your eye.

“Well, it was like… two days ago…”

“Are you serious?! And last night… You were at a club? Drinking? Dancing? And then we… Fuck! I could have hurt you?!” 

The panic in your voice is too intense, why are you panicking? She is a grown woman capable of making her own choices. However questionable those choices might be...

“I’m fine. Seriously, when I say it was minor, the doctors literally told my boss I could go back to work pretty much right away. But she’s still pushing for the leave. It’s more a punishment than a recovery. You didn’t hurt me. Well, you did, but in a good way.” Her smile turns dangerous and there you go blushing again.

“You are a handful aren’t you?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

She tugs at her towel, letting it drop down her waist and over your hands which are still on her hips. Her breasts sit perfectly in front of your face. You spot the various bruises you left, mostly surrounding her nipples. As you move your hands to let the towel drop to the floor, you see her lower stomach and inner thighs are also covered with your love bites. Her hands trace over the bruises she left on your collarbone. She shifts her legs and straddles your lap, her bare pussy sitting directly on your barely covered, painfully hard, cock. She gasps softly when she feels the rough stitches over the wound on your chest. 

“When did this happen? Wait… Did you stitch this yourself?”

You take her hand away from the wound and hold it tenderly, placing a kiss on her knuckles. 

“It happened the other day. It wasn’t serious so I handled it myself.”

“And you were upset with me… Wait, are you a doctor?”

“No, not a doctor. Stitches look pretty good for a non-doctor? Pretty impressive, yeah?”

You were avoiding her question of how for as long as you possibly could. Her eyes narrow and she pushes you back onto the mattress before moving to straddle your torso. Feeling her grind against your stomach, you could feel how wet she was, and it wasn’t from the shower. Fuuuuck.

“You didn’t answer my question. How did it happen?” Her hands drift down your arms and take hold of your hands.

“So, I’m an artist. I make my own paint. Sometimes finding the ingredients I need can get… risky.”

She squints her eyes, considering your story. Her hands close in around your wrists as she pulls them to her waist.

“Risky, huh? So what happened?” 

“I uhh… I was diving to find some coral. I needed a particular shade of red for a - ahh hah…”

She had slowly lifted your hands to her breasts and your self-control was at an all time low. You already sounded extremely suspicious. What if she felt the cut on your head? Would she buy the diving story a second time? She moves your hands up and down, giving her the friction she desired. She dropped her hands away when you started kneading her breasts on your own, letting her head fall back. Your thumbs moving up to roll over her peaked nipples.

“I thought you said you had a meeting…” You almost didn’t recognize your own voice. What was she doing to you?

“You’re right, I should go then…” 

She smirks down at you as she shifts slightly, moving to get up. You sit up and reach your arms around her waist, pulling her down on top of you. Her chest flush against yours, you could feel her heartbeat. You crash your mouth into hers. She kisses you back with equal intensity. One of her hands makes its way down your torso, the other still, braced against your chest. Her hand begins rubbing over your cock through your sweatpants. This is such a bad idea. You should… Your thoughts come to a screeching halt as a moan escapes your throat.

“Too much?” 

She had reached her hand down into your pants and was cupping your balls. The squeeze she had given them had taken you by surprise - you really are getting lost in your thoughts... She felt so good, her body melting into yours.

“No… no, I just didn’t expect it. It felt good - kinda…”

“Kinda?”

“You’re not afraid to be a little rough, are you?” She smirks before taking your bottom lip between her teeth, giving it a tug before letting go. Well that answered your question. 

Ding

Your phone chimed. It’s got to be Thomas. Shit, what time is it? The exhibit…

“Sorry cutie, that would be my manager.”

She releases your balls and you whine. You. Whine. What are you, twelve? But she was literally bringing you to the brink so fast you didn’t want her to stop so suddenly. She smiles and leans down to place a kiss to your forehead before standing up and grabbing her towel to wrap around her once more. 

You sit up and pick up your phone. Sure enough, a message from Thomas. 

Thomas: Exhibit is in 2 hours. Please tell me you are getting ready…

Thomas really needs a vacation. That would also mean he wouldn't schedule interviews or exhibits for a while. Okay, mental note, plan a mandatory vacation for Thomas as soon as this mess of a job is done.

Me: Stop worrying, I’ll be there.

You toss your phone to the bed and look up to see she was fully dressed again. There goes your chance at a round two. Thanks, Thomas. You stand and approach her, she’s carefully touching up her lipstick and trying to smooth out her messy curls in the mirror next to the desk. You wrap your arms around her waist and look at her in the mirror. She smiles as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You have to get to work?” 

“An art exhibit. I have a new collection on display today. Starts in a few hours” Before you had even a minute to process your next words they were spilling out of your mouth. “Would you be interested in joining me?”

“Are you asking me out?”

You were losing your nerve. Good, you shouldn’t be asking her to join you anyways.

“I am.”

Rafayel, you are truly the worst.

“As in, you want me to check out your art or…”

Yes, just a guest. Just check it out. Not a date.

“As my date.”

For fucks sake…

“I don’t really want this to be a one night stand.” You continue. “You’re gorgeous, funny, bold and sexy as fuck…”

“I’d love to be your date.” She answers quickly.

You see your goofy ass smile in the mirror, you try to hide behind her head. She laughs before turning around. She places a kiss on your cheek. She grabs her purse off the desk and pulls out her phone.

“I’ll call you after my meeting?” She hands her phone to you and you put in your number.

“And I’ll pick you up. Do you need a ride there?”

“No, I’ve already texted Tara to pick me up. I guess I will see you later?”

“Yes you will.” 

— —

You spend the next 2 hours gathering your things and getting back to your house to shower and get ready for the exhibit. Fuck, this is going to be a nightmare. You’re going out, on a date, with your target. How the hell are you going to get yourself out of this one? Do you want to? 

As you mull over your current situation, you stand in your closet and look through your designer suits. Maybe the blue one with a crisp white dress shirt? Low key, casual, nothing fancy. Could give the impression this date is more casual and certainly won’t lead to anything serious. Or maybe the red suit with a black dress shirt? Or the black suit with a lavender dress shirt? You have never thought about what to wear to an exhibit before, usually grabbing the first suit you see and slapping on a smile for a few hours to make Thomas happy. 

Buttoning the lavender dress shirt proves to be challenging with your hand shaking so much. No shot you’re nervous. Well, the contract you signed agreeing to kill this woman did say if you failed to accomplish this mission the consequences would be… well actually, they didn’t specify. They just said “you don’t want to know” trying to be menacing assholes. Honestly, you kind of want to know at this point. She did give you the best head of your life and she’s funny and cute and… 

Ding

Your phone chirps bringing you back to your very complicated reality. Placing your golden sea turtle cuff links on the dresser you pick up the phone to see a message from her. She’s ready. Are you?

— —

Settling into your dark blue McLaren, you do a quick quality check to make sure the interior is pristine. You haven’t driven this car in a while, but it certainly makes a statement. So why not? The cream interior is spotless and it smells like vanilla. Thomas definitely took it to get detailed recently. That little shit used it without asking again. Maybe you can use that against him to get out of this event early. 

Pulling up to the address she gave, you spot her on her phone pacing along the sidewalk. Blood rushes straight to your cock. Oh fuck… The black high-waisted skirt falls just above her knees, a loose black blazer hangs off her shoulders and the pop of red from a lace bustier tucked into her skirt props her tits up so perfectly. And of course she’s wearing the same heels from last night. You can’t stop yourself from remembering how she kicked them off before tugging her dress down to fall to the floor. Oh, she sees you and is waving. Pull it together, for the love of god. 

You hop out to open the passenger door and hold her hand as she ducks her head to get in. You damn near run back to the driver side so you can sit beside her. As you close the door, she giggles and you turn to face her.

“You look really good in a suit. Damn.” There’s a hint of blush creeping up to her cheeks. 

“Are you saying I look bad in everything else?”

“No! You look good in everything I didn’t… you’re such a tease how dare you!” She swats at your arm laughing along with you. “But honestly, I think you look best in nothing at all.” 

Oh. Great. Just what the press want to see you arrive with - an erection. You feel her hand lightly graze your thigh. You look over at her with a smirk. 

“Oh and I’m the tease?”

She giggles and removes her hand, but you grab it and place it back on your thigh. She gives you a gentle squeeze and settles back in her seat to watch the city blur as you speed to the gallery. Your hand stays over hers, relishing in her warmth. 

Pulling up to the gallery, photographers surround your car. Security works to usher them away so you can get out. Once there is a path, you give her hand a squeeze before hopping out to open her door. Helping her out of the car, she keeps her head down as the flashes strobe around you. You wrap your arm around her, protecting her from the photographers pushing closer. Once inside the gallery she looks up at you with wide eyes. 

“They knew it was you immediately! They really wanted to talk to you out there.”

“Yeah, they memorized all my cars… And the only people I talk to are the reporters inside and I don’t even want to talk to them.”

“Why not?” You sigh in response.

“I don’t like talking about my art. I want my art to speak for itself. Everybody interprets a piece differently, I don’t want to tell people what they should see.” 

“Well I certainly look forward to telling you what I see in your art.”

“I can’t wait.” She smiles up at you, damn her smile is breathtaking. 

Her hand clings to your arm as you take a turn around the gallery. You politely greet patrons and listen to her analysis of your work. You scan the room for Thomas. Eventually you spot him, his eyes go wide when he spots the woman on your arm. You wink at him, but he stares daggers directly into your soul. You approach him with a shit eating grin. You aren’t sure why he is so mad, but he’s just too fun to mess with at this point. 

“Rafayel! Right on time, wow, that’s so unlike you.”

“I’m always right on time Thomas. Nothing really starts until I arrive.”

“Right. Right. And hello miss, who might you be?”

Now he is staring daggers at your date. The primal urge to wrap your hands around his throat takes you by surprise. This is literally your first date with this woman - besides your night with her at the club and in your hotel room. It just makes you angry. That’s all you know. You wrap your arm around her shoulder, your smile tense.

“This is Y/N. She’s my date tonight.” 

Thomas chokes on air. He coughs for a minute before regaining his composure. 

“I apologize, ahem, hello Y/N it is a pleasure to meet you. I just didn’t expect Rafayel to bring a date tonight. He usually attends exhibits alone.”

“Well, I’m glad he’s branching out. It’s nice to meet you Thomas.”

“Might I have a word with Rafayel for a brief moment? I have to prepare him for a few interviews.” 

“Of course. I’m going to find the bar and grab a drink.”

“I’ll find you as soon as I’m done.” She winks at you before turning to stride towards the bar. You watch her walk away, her ass swaying. She knows what she’s doing, you just know it. 

“Fuck!” Thomas hits you over the back of the head. The sting of the slap against the stitches makes your vision blur momentarily. “Thomas, I have stitches you dickhead.” 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. But what the fuck are you doing? You know who that is right?”

Thomas lowers his voice to a whisper as he pulls you over to an empty corner. His face is shrouded in shadow, but you can tell he is beyond pissed.

“Yes, I know who she is. I met her at the club last night and we might have… uhh…”

“You might have what?”

“I might have… okay, before you sent me the details I might have met her at the club and then we may have gone back to my hotel room and…”

“Please stop. You did not fuck. You did not. Oh for fucks sake, Rafayel!”

“I know! I know it's complicated, but I have a plan.” 

“Oh, you have a plan?”

“Yes!”

You did not, in fact, have a plan.

“Just trust me.”

He should not trust you. 

“I’ll do the interviews and be out of here in a blink and focus on the job.” You couldn’t focus on anything but getting back to your place with her and getting a repeat of last night.

“Fine. Lucy and Kenneth want to interview you and let the photographers get a few shots of you. But I beg of you, don’t get any pictures with her that look, too friendly. It’d be front page news tomorrow.”

You decide not to tell him they’d already photographed the both of you when you arrived. She had kept her head down and the security surrounded you, they hadn’t gotten a clear shot. It’ll be fine. 

“I got you. Don’t even worry about it. Oh and next time you want to borrow my car… ask.” 

Thomas’ face turns bright red. He nods and runs a hand through his hair before scurrying away to talk to a group of businessmen surrounding one of your latest works. Probably looking to purchase and hang up in their stuffy office. You’d rather go broke than let your art suffer in such a place. 

You turn towards the bar and spot your gorgeous date sipping a martini, chatting with a woman in a navy suit. She looks like… oh no. Not McCarthy. You damn near sprint over to stop the conversation before McCarthy can pull any salacious details regarding your connection with the mystery woman everyone saw you arrive with. 

“Oh that’s fascinating! Rafayel seems like someone who wouldn’t need a muse if I’m honest.”

Shit.

“I’ve been reporting on Rafayel’s career since the very beginning. I’ve seen him go through many muses. I am so looking forward to seeing what he has in store with your… influence.” 

Your instincts to drag her to a secluded building and end her miserable little life… The moment you see the sparkle fade from your beautiful dates eyes, your mind shifts into overdrive. You step closer and wrap your arm around her waist pulling her close to your side.

“McCarthy. So good to see you. How’s the divorce going? Must be a nightmare with the defamation lawsuit my lawyers launched against your agency.”

McCarthy’s face falls and her nostrils flare as you air out her dirty laundry. If she’s going to be a bitch, you have no problem being a bitch as well. You’re not going to let her ruin this… whatever “this” is.

“Ah, yes, it’s uhm… difficult, but I have no doubt the lawsuit will be dropped. My sources are always airtight, Mr. Rafayel.” Oh she is really trying your patience. 

“Airtight? Hmm… a thieving gallery janitor, an abusive valet, a housekeeper who set up secret cameras in my house on behalf of - oh right - yourself and your agency. I think you might need to look up the definition of airtight, Madison.”

McCarthy’s brows knit together. She sucks in a breath and bows her head. 

“I believe my colleague just arrived. I do hope you both enjoy the evening.”

She turns on her heel and leaves in a hurry. You stifle a laugh at how red her face became after calling out her bullshit. But the cutie on your arm shifts uncomfortably next to you and all the joy of ruining McCarthy’s night vanishes. Turning to face her, you see her cheeks flushed and her restless fingers twisting the martini glass in her hands. 

“Sorry about that cutie. McCarthy is a pariah. She had to start her own news agency since no one would hire her with her dirty investigation tactics.”

“Yeah…”

“What are you thinking? Come on, I see those wheels turning.”

“Just because she uses dirty tactics doesn’t mean her intel is false.”

This is not the conversation you wanted to be having tonight. Sure, you’ve had a few slut phases and the term “muse” was widely used by the media when referencing your… escapades. But this girl… she’s not a muse. She’s the air in your lungs. She makes colors brighter and the sun warmer. What is above a muse? Whatever that is, she’s that. But you have to be honest with her now. She could just go home and look you up on the internet. And that would make everything worse.

“She’s not wrong, I’ve had my fair share of muses. But before you start thinking you’re just another one - you’re not.”

“You have to admit, that’s what I’d expect you to say.”

“You got me there. But I mean it. You approached me last night, remember? You took me by surprise, I couldn’t… I didn’t even… I…” 

“You’re cute when you stutter.”

You let out a loud laugh and pull her closer to you, her hand reaching up to rest against your chest.

“You make it hard for me to think straight. It’s why I like being around you, I can’t get lost in my thoughts when you’re around.”

She shifts her leg to press against your cock - half hard from earlier and growing harder as she rubs her thigh against you. She is playing a dangerous game.

“It’s not the only thing that gets hard around me, huh?” Oh she really likes to tease… damn it. That is your specialty and she is beating you at your own game. 

You lean in close and let your lips graze her ear. She shivers as your breath hits her skin.

“Have you seen yourself? You drive me crazy.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” She leans back and bats those dark lashes at you. 

“Please do.” 

She reaches her arms around your neck and pulls you close. Her chest pressing against you so you can feel her nipples hard against the thin fabric of her top. Yeah, you’re not going to be the one to kill her, she’s going to kill you at this rate. You feel her hot breath against your ear as she speaks..

“I’ve been wet for you since we got here.” 

You don’t even hesitate before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the offices at the back of the gallery. Digging into your pocket you find your phone and open the gallery management app. She giggles as she jogs along behind you trying to keep up with your pace. You press your phone to the panel on the door and slide the bar on your phone to unlock. You swing the door open and pull her into the dark hallway, closing the door with your foot and relocking it on your phone. You find the nearest office and pull her inside.

And just like that, your lips are on hers again. Your pounding heartbeat steadies, the closer she is the calmer you feel. Her hands run all over you, your chest, your neck, your hair. She pushes your jacket off of your shoulders as you pull her skirt up over her hips. You pull back and start trailing kisses down her jaw, settling yourself into her neck nipping and sucking until her breathing is ragged. 

She tugs at the buttons of your shirt and slides her hands in to caress your chest. God her hands against your skin feel like fire. You shrug off your shirt before returning your hands to her back, tugging at the clasps of the bustier. They unclasp easily and you pull back to watch it fall away, her breasts bouncing as they’re released from the structured top. You toss the top to the floor before leaning forward and capturing one of her nipples in your mouth. She lets out a moan as her head falls back. 

You tuck your hands under her ass and release her nipple from your mouth with a loud pop. You lift her and she wraps her legs around you. She wasn’t lying, you can feel her wetness against your stomach as you carry her to the desk. 

You don’t even bother to look for the nameplate on the desk before shoving the folders to the side and settling her ass on the cool wooden surface. Your fingers hook on her lace panties and you tug them forward. You both gasp when you hear a ripping sound. You look down and see the fabric is torn in half. She slaps you on your shoulder.

“I liked those!” Her voice is raspy and full of need. Her hands quickly wrap around the back of your neck, almost forgetting her torn undergarments. 

“I’ll buy you a new pair in every color. At least now, it’s one less thing to remove later.”

“Later?” She giggles against you as you resume kissing her neck, slowly moving down to her chest. Your hands digging into her hips.

“I plan to make you cum until you lose your voice from screaming my name. This is just a preview.” 

You reclaim her nipple in your mouth and gently tug at the sensitive bud with your teeth. She groans loudly and shifts her hips forward, desperate for more. You oblige, of course. You run your finger over her entrance and whimper against her skin - she’s so damn wet. You pull back and press your forehead to hers, flashing a devious smile at her before sinking your middle finger into her needy pussy. 

She brings her hands to the back of your head and pulls you to her. She kisses you hard between breaths. You feel your cock throb as she kisses you. Her tongue presses against your lips, but you’re enjoying these moments of teasing. Your finger plunges deeper, earning you a low grunt and shiver. You press your ring finger inside of her, dragging the pads of your fingers against her slick walls.

It seems she isn’t going to let you be the only tease. She bites your lower lip and drags it out as she leans back. You taste the faintest bit of blood on your tongue and make a sound you didn’t even know you could make. You hate how it sounds like a growl, she probably thinks you sound like an animal. As quickly as you think she hated it, you were proven wrong since she is squeezing the living fuck out of your fingers.

As you remove your fingers, she breaks the kiss to whine at the sudden emptiness. She looks down, expecting you to pull your cock out, but instead, you lower to your knees. Her eyes widen and you chuckle as you catch her eye. Your hands slowly caress her calves until you reach her ankles, you lift them swiftly and toss her legs over your shoulders. She gasps and shifts her hips pushing her pussy closer to your face. God she smells divine.

You press your mouth against her, allowing your nose to split her open before dragging your tongue from her entrance to her clit. You suckle her clit slowly as you unbuckle your pants and push them down over your hips to stroke your aching cock. With one hand on your cock, you move your other hand up over her thigh to thumb her clit. 

You shift your mouth away from her clit as your thumb takes over. You turn your head side to side to sink your mouth as deeply inside her as you possibly can. You press your tongue into her entrance, savoring just how sweet she is. She writhes against your mouth as you continue to swirl and push your tongue deeper. You feel her pussy squeeze your tongue and you can’t hold back a moan. The vibrations must have sent her over the edge because she’s gripping your hair and trying (and failing) to stifle her shouts of pleasure. 

“Rafayel... fuck I’m coming ahh- I’m oh my god…”

Her voice is low, she can barely breathe, and it completely unravels you. As if there was a countdown, both of you are coming. All you can hear are the filthy sounds coming from your mouth, the slurping, the moans, you aren’t even thinking about the mess you’re making under the desk. 

When you finally pull back and look up to her, her cheeks are flushed and her chest heaving. She looks down at you and clasps a hand over her mouth to muffle a giggle as she looks to the floor below you. You follow her gaze and see the mess you made. Whoever uses this office is going to lose their shit tomorrow…. 

“It’s always a good sign when it’s messy.”

“Is it now?” 

She smiles as you rise to your feet and tuck yourself back inside your pants. She reaches for you and you settle your hands on the outside of her thighs. She slowly traces her fingers over your abs, chest and down your arms. Your breath catches when her hands return to your shoulders and trial up to your face, tugging your chin upwards to look at her.

“As much as I like seeing this side of you, I’m really glad you invited me today. Seeing your art, you’re incredibly talented.”

“I’ve never enjoyed these events, that is until today. How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Make me feel on fire and completely calm at the same time?” 

“I was going to ask you the same question…”

Your heart skips a beat. She locks her fingers behind your neck. She gently pulls you into a kiss. Not a heated, passionate kiss, but a gentle kiss. Her soft lips press against yours, her tongue tracing your bottom lip slowly. She doesn’t tease like earlier, she’s sweet and slow. You don’t deny her this time. She slips her tongue between your lips and she sighs softly as she tastes herself on your tongue.

Knock knock

You pull back and she gasps, quickly wrapping an arm over her breasts as she glances over her shoulder at the door. You quickly scoop her top off the floor and toss it to her. She wraps it around her backwards and reconnects the clasps before shifting it around and pulling the cups up over her chest. Just as you finish buttoning your shirt another knock sounds at the door. 

Knock knock knock

You stride across the office thrusting your arms through the sleeves of your jacket. You glance over and see the gorgeous woman beside you straightening her skirt. She gives you a soft smile and nods. You know the desk will hide the mess you made and there’s nothing else to signify anything unsavory happened. You take half a second to wonder who else at the event had access to the private offices. Maybe Thomas? Is he looking for you?

You swing open the office door and are blinded by a flash. You blink rapidly as your eyes readjust. You hear a gasp behind you and as your pupils return to a normal size, you understand the reaction. Your stomach drops in an instant.

“How interesting… Seems I was right after all.”

McCarthy stands in the doorway, a camera in one hand and her other on her hip. By the shit eating grin on her face, she must think she has something worthwhile to print. You chuckle under your breath and stare at her.

“McCarthy, if you’re not careful, I could easily add stalking to that lawsuit.”

“I have a key. And I’ve used this office before. But I will admit, I’ve never used it like you two just did.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about McCarthy, but if you don’t-” She cuts you off.

“A photo is worth a thousand words, Rafayel. And a photo of a famous playboy artist, his… muse… and her torn panties on the floor of an office is surely worth several thousand.” 

You hold your breath as you look over your shoulder. Sure enough, the torn panties you tossed aside are on full display. By the time you turn back around, McCarthy is gone. You stumble out into the hallway, jogging to the end and back looking for any sign of her or where she could have gone. Your chest starts hurting and you realize you haven’t taken a deep breath in several minutes. You gasp for air and run a hand through your hair. Thomas asked you for one thing.

“I’m sorry…” Her voice is barely above a whisper. 

When you turn to look at her, you see her wrapping her blazer around her torso. You hadn’t realized she’d slipped it on. It’s like she’s using it to hide. You walk right up to her and hold her face in your hands. 

“No no no. Stop. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“If I hadn’t been teasing you, we wouldn’t have even come in here and-”

“McCarthy is the lowest of the low. I’ll call her to see what I need to do so she won’t publish the photo. I’ll even get the fucker who gave her a key fired for good measure. It’ll be okay. You have nothing to apologize for and I don’t want you to think you’re responsible for any of this bullshit.”

“I know you have interviews to do before we leave. But you probably shouldn’t go out there with lipstick on your neck.”

She licks her thumb and gently wipes away the lipstick stain. You smile and lean in to kiss her forehead. You let go of her hips and cross the room to where the discarded panties lay. You stoop down and pick them up, swiftly placing them in your pocket.

“Are you keeping them as a souvenir?”

“What if I was?”

“That’d be pretty hot.”

“What would be pretty hot?” 

Thomas’ voice startles both of you. You glare at him over her shoulder, but as soon as you meet his eyes you know you’re on borrowed time. He’s angry. No, not angry. He’s homicidal. You’ve never seen him look like this. It’s kind of impressive, if not terrifying. 

“Thomas, I’m glad you’re here. Have you seen McCarthy?” 

You approach the door, casually slipping your arm back around her and pulling her into a reassuring embrace. Keep her calm. Defuse the bomb that is Thomas. Bribe McCarthy. Talk to the journalists. Get this woman home to fuck until neither of you can walk. Easy.

“Oh, I’ve seen her. And boy, does she work fucking fast.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rafayel, I asked you for one thing. Just one. And now, I have an absolute shit storm to deal with.”

“Thomas, what are you talking about?”

“Check your phone.”

You pull out your phone just as her phone rings. 

“I have to take this, one sec.” She steps further into the office to take the call.

Unlocking your phone you see a never-ending list of notifications. Social media, texts from friends and other artists, multiple missed calls from Thomas and a call from an unknown number. As you sift through the notifs you finally see what they’re in relation to. Your knees nearly give out. You look up at Thomas, eyes wide.

“What… I… how…”

“You never pay attention to my updates and now it is biting us both in the ass.”

You look over your shoulder and your eyes lock onto hers. The horror in her eyes tells you she already knows. Her eyes glisten with tears and your anger is about to take over. When this is sorted, McCarthy is dead.

“You told me…”

“I told you McCarthy has moved to instant news. As soon as she got that damn photo she was already uploading it. Now the world knows about your little sexipade and her name is trending with the hashtag Rafayel’s girlfriend.”

“Fuck.”

Tag List (comment if you wanna be added!): @crystalrainforest @libriomancer

I wasn't sure I would write another part to this, but I am low key glad I did. More to come I hope!

[glader13]

Saudade pt. 4

Bi-Han x Reader

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

You took a deep breath, standing in front of your former home, the Lin Kuei Temple. Your mind was set aflame by your fiancé’s words of knowing when love was real, what it felt like. His words confirmed what you felt, what you knew deep inside, and that revelation drove you here. That, and a desire to know if he still feels the same, if he thinks that this is real. And if he says yes, then what? Will you elope, or stay? You waited in front of the doors, which loomed over you, hesitant to walk into the place that you used to call home. You smiled awkwardly at the servants and other warriors who nearly stopped in their tracks when they saw you, eyes wide with closed mouths. You wanted to hide in a shell knowing that you’ll be the topic of conversation for the next few days.

“Y/N!” You turned around at Kuai Liang’s voice, seeing him and Tómas run up the stairs. You smiled as they both engulfed you in a hug, nearly knocking you over. They walked you inside, taking you to the kitchen area.

As you followed them through the halls, you caught the eye of more servants who embarrassedly looked away when you made eye contact. You looked at the pictures of past grandmasters, as Kuai Liang told you about Tsung, more or less than what Bi-Han had already told you. Over the tea, you learned that Kuai Liang was planning the next steps in his relationship with Harumi, causing him to smile largely as he spoke of marriage. You smiled, though you felt something drop at the word marriage, or maybe at the fact that you feel no shame in seeking the heart of another. Tómas asked why you were here, and his smile grew, along with his brother’s, when you said Bi-Han.

“He just got done with training, he’s in his room,” Kuai Liang smiled, “I’m sure you still remember where that is.”

You felt your face heat up, as you tried to laugh off their smiling faces, before telling them thank you. Before you completely walked out, Kuai Liang stopped you again, “Thank you, he changes so much when you’re here. You make him better.”

You make him better, the words bounced around your head as you walked down the halls of the temple, surprised that you were tiptoeing around the halls that would have been your home. Then perhaps you wouldn’t be tiptoeing, but running through them, chasing children. You felt your mood drop thinking of when you and Bi-Han would walk together in the gardens. During the walk, you would talk his ears off about children, and he would listen smiling softly with a light blush. Only talking to mention that they will be strong and that they’ll be lucky to have you as their mother. But that conversation seem like it happened hundreds of years ago when he loved you. You took out the ring that he had proposed to you with, a sad smile gracing your face as you traced it over. Despite the anger that you felt because he watched you leave, you couldn’t rid yourself of the ring, of your lingering and persistent love for him. What will you say, what can you say that will convince him that you are genuine in your feelings? Then what will you do, the only right answer will be to leave your fiancé, and will you be brave enough to do that?

You paused outside of his room, straining your ears to see if he was in there. You steadied your breath, opening the door to his room. You were thankful for the quiet and that you were alone, or at least you thought. You rounded the corner of the room to see him sitting on the side of the bed, facing the window. He only wore a towel that covered his lower half, his hair not in its usual bun. You stood there not knowing where to go. All the words you wanted to say were gone.

“Come here,” his voice was deep, the words sounding more like a command than a suggestion.

You walked, taking a spot next to him. You kept your eyes on the window, focusing on the many walkways of the gardens, not wanting to meet his icy, yet beautiful eyes. This is the first time that you have seen him since you came back from your trip, and this moment has been something that you have privately prayed for and now you can’t even look him in the eyes. You noticed how his leg was slightly resting against yours, his fingers constantly moving, as if not sure what to do with themselves. He’s nervous, the thought made your heart skip a beat. You felt Bi-Han’s eyes look you down, as he was unable to ask the one question that hung in the air. You’re back at square one, and he’s back into being a statue.

“I missed you,” his voice rumbled through your chest, causing something in it to stir, “I’ve waited for you to come home, and now I have no words.”

“Home?” You whispered.

“Yes,” his voice was quiet, “It always has been your home.”

You smiled at his words as he turned his face away from you, a light blush visible. You felt yourself become bolder or more relaxed as you leaned against him, surprise washed over you when he moved his arm, so you could fully lean into him. In the quiet, the two of you stared out the window, into the gardens of the temple, the setting sun casting everything into a golden shade. Your eyes found one of the courtyards of the temple, the largest one that is usually meant for ceremonies. You could tell that his eyes were focused there too, his hand resting on your leg. Kuai Liang and Harumi will be wedded there, you were supposed to be wedded there. But you’ll have to settle for secret moments like this.

“But,” you began, looking at his hand, “You haven’t treated it as such since you became Grandmaster.”

Instead of smiling, he frowned. You began to feel overly cautious of yourself, the way you were leaning on him, and how his hand rested on your leg. You began to move his hand away, but he held it, rubbing circles with his thumb as he sighed, “And that has … ruined things, especially with you. With us,” his words stunned you, as he laced his fingers with yours, “I do not like to be a slave to the past, there’s nothing to gain from it, but I’ve been haunted by a regret ever since I’ve climbed into your window seeking help.”

You nodded, instantly knowing what he was talking about. The fight that caused you to leave him. He was caught up in being grandmaster and not Bi-Han, turning into a wall and shutting you out. The two of you broke up slowly, a total breakdown. The days when the two of you would spend hours together with tangled legs slowly left, as if someone was being choked with the light slowly draining from their eyes. Painful and torturously slow. The only time he acknowledged you, and looked pleased with you was when he was in bed. The feeling of love when you looked at him disappeared, and your heart became stagnated. It ached to look at him, to kiss him. You wanted to laugh like the two of you used to, you wanted your old Bi-Han back.

“Why?” You hated how your voice wavered, “Why did you watch me leave? Bi-Han, I loved you. I … I still do. If you would have put up some type of fight, I would’ve stayed. But you just watched me go.”

You looked down at your hand, seeing how firmly, how desperately it held his. A tear drop fell on your hand as you finally engaged in the hurt of your farewell. You pushed the conversation and him out of your mind as soon as you left, thinking that you would heal and even forget about him. But, the heart holds memories. Bi-Han lifted your face, cleaning the fallen tears.

“I tried to hate you, to be angry, but I couldn’t,” you dug into your pocket, pulling out your ring, “I couldn’t stop loving you.”

He got up from next to you, digging into a drawer. He held out a necklace with a ring, his wedding ring. You were speechless again, you could have sworn that he would have gotten rid of it. He sat next to you again, placing it in your hand. You turned it over, not believing what you were holding. He rested his hand over yours, kissing your tears. At least he thought of you, after all this time.

“I’ve seen what weakness can do,” he began, “It destroyed my father and now my clan. I didn’t want to become him, as the next grandmaster, I couldn’t become him. I took on the responsibilities after his death, and out of fear of being weak, I only concerned myself with my duty and role as grandmaster.”

“I grieved privately while creating a wall between my brothers and me, between you and me. I was scared of becoming vulnerable because that can be used against me,” he explained as you listened, “I thought that having attachments would make me less of a grandmaster and just be another burden. I gave you a reason to leave so that you can love someone who would have the capacity to love you. Someone who’s … kind.”

“I just knew as I watched you leave that you took all of my love,” he leaned his head into your space, “That all of my love was yours to keep, it was never mine, my love.”

“I kept it safe,” you say, leaning your head against his, “Your love, it’s all right here,” you place his hand on your heart, “It never left.”

You looked into his eyes, never knowing anything more beautiful than its dark hue. It was intoxicating, turning off your sense of will. “I want to make things right,” he whispered, “Before we go to war.”

“Then, hold me,” you say, “Don’t ever let me go again. Keep me, Bi-Han.”

“You’re the only one I’ve ever kept,” he breathes.

The distance between the two of you disappears, finally giving in to your hearts. You felt your body weaken because of his lips and tongue, as he kissed you as if he’ll never have you again. It was fierce, the way he held your body against his, unknowing that you were already morphing into him. Bi-Han was the only thing that you could focus on. You felt his heartbeat underneath your fingers as he moved you from his side to his lap. Your lips parted even more for him as he wanted more of you, humming in satisfaction. You didn’t need air, because his kiss felt like oxygen itself. He felt cold, like a blizzard swirling over your skin, addicting. When you two did manage to separate, you were happy that he was holding you. Dark eyes illuminated by candlelight stared into you, the prettiest blush on his face. You moved hair out of his face, as he smiled. A physical fatality was what you felt when he first made love to you, expertly making you his with each kiss and of his name.

Saying things that you’ll never tell, repeating his name as if he was a god. Your breath was stuck in your throat as he marked your neck, suckling your skin. His large hands were warm, pressing into your back, keeping you from getting away from him. You ran his fingers through his raven hair, slightly pulling it to bring his lips back to yours. Passionate, sloppy, caused by a desperate desire to reconnect with someone who you love. Teeth to teeth, tongue to tongue, you were the air in each other’s lungs. Here he was again, giving your body another physical fatality. Your body was covered in marks by the time he was over you, ravaged by a love that you thought was once lost. Your body reacted effortlessly to his as if never forgetting whose love it was meant for. His breath tickled your lips and skin, and his eyes never left yours, the dark hue shifting in the fading orange light. You placed your finger on his lips, which he kissed, you bit the inside of your cheek, before saying, “I want this to be real.”

You felt his lips against your ear, biting your earlobe, “I want to be yours.”

“Is this real?” You asked, holding his face.

He took one of your hands, kissing your wrist, “Only if you want it to be.”

-

He kissed your forehead, pulling you closer to him. You smiled, giving him a quick kiss. A knock on the door caused Bi-Han to groan before he got up, you didn’t hear their hushed voices, the only indication that he was there was the occasional sigh that came from him. He came back, announcing with a roll of his eyes, that he’s needed for battle preparations. He walked past you to his bathing room, returning with a small towel. You reached out for it, but he moved it away as he told you to let him take care of you. In the peacefulness of the quiet, mixed with an old habit, it was easy to forget about your fiancé, the trip to the countryside. If you could hide here, you would. If you weren’t stuck in your head, if you weren’t still hurting, you’d ask him to elope. You would allow him back in your life if you trusted him. But, you don’t know if he’ll leave you, so you’ll settle. Settle for the nights in your room, settle for the brief moments of intimate connections, and you’ll settle for his ghost.

But, you confessed to him, your mouth betraying you by asking him if this was real, and his answer, “Only if you want it to be”, simultaneously confusing your heart and filling it with joy. He left it up to you, which makes your dilemma nonetheless harder. Yet, as he held you in his arms, as you wore one of his robes, your desire was stronger than your needs. Bi-Han was simply disarming. Lulled by his presence, you fell asleep. You woke up alone, though the blanket was pulled over you as if you were tucked in. The ombré orange of the room told you that it was getting late, as you walked towards his window pulling his robe tighter. It was serene, looking over the gardens. You felt as if you were washed in sunlight, but still somehow feeling cold. You then realized that you weren’t washed in sunlight, but Bi-Han was, all you were doing was just borrowing his heat. You hoped that it would burn away the coldness of shame, that his love, would purify you.

His robe felt wrong on your skin as if it was causing it to erupt in hives. The looseness of it made the cold slip in easily, and the room felt smaller than before. You sat on the edge of Bi-Han’s bed, head in your hands. What type of person, what type of wife, are you? You felt sick, not being able to withstand being in your skin. Tears wet your face and palms as you decided on what to do, which was nothing. You’ll have to bury it, keep it from your fiancé and even yourself, you’ll have to bury Bi-Han. You quickly got dressed, leaving his room and the temple in a rush. As you left, you didn’t see the small note on his table that said to meet him in the gardens.

At your estate, you left your window shut, in an attempt to purge yourself of your actions. You can’t see him again, it’s the right thing to do. You played with fire, inviting him into your room and bed, going a step further with him moments ago. You played with fire, felt it caress your skin and lips, and now, you got burned.

Bi-Han paced in the garden, ignoring his brothers’ looks of amusement when he told them to prepare the rest of the battle plans as he left. She should be up, he thought looking in the direction of his room. He looked away, using the time alone to better prepare his apology to you, and ask for a second chance. He knows it’s crazy, and the timing couldn’t have been any worse, but he loves you, stubbornly, persistently, still. He blames himself for realizing it too late when you can’t have him. I love you, those sweet words that you whispered to him kept fueling his desire to atone for what he did. He continued to walk around the garden, randomly looking at flowers, and rubbing the petals between his fingers. He frowned, growing uneasy about your absence. He took off some flowers, before walking back to his room. He knocked on the door before he peeked into his room. He called your name, before fully opening the door and seeing that his room was empty.

The only sign that you were there was the messed up sheets, his robe sprawled in his bed. He sat on the edge of his bed, wondering what he should do next. He and you both should’ve known better, he should’ve stopped pushing the boundary, but when he’s with you, reality ceases to exist. Nothing else matters. He sees you constantly, but now he wants to hold you. He wants to make things right, but he’ll only do it if you allow it.

-

The engagement party was at Madam Bo’s, and unlike Bi-Han, your fiancé didn’t propose to you, but you didn’t mind, you’re the least deserving of his kindness. You felt like you were in a trance, out of your body and watching yourself. Watching yourself laugh with friends and family to be the perfect actress. Pulling him into kisses, being glued to his side, your eyes hid everything, while your mind was continuously slipping. You weren’t at your engagement party, at least mentally. In your head, you were in Bi-Han’s bed, in your head, he was everything that you need.

“Do you feel,” your friend looked around, trying to choose her words carefully, “Weird? To be in this situation again?”

Her words snapped you back as you sheepishly smiled. You saw your fiancé across the crowded room, and through the guests, his eyes found yours. He smiled, blowing you a kiss, and you wanted to hide despite blowing one back.

“It does,” you slowly said, your eyes drifting to the entrance, “But it feels good, he’s everything that I need.”

“Need?” Another one laughed, “Not want, or love? Don’t tell me that you’re thinking of him.”

Your eyes shifted to your hands as they collectively sighed. You played with the cup in front of you, watching the drink distort your face. They repeated the same things that they told you when Bi-Han called off the engagement: he’s a dick, he’s too mean to love anybody, he doesn’t deserve you. Then why? Why do you keep thinking of him, when he doesn’t care for you? They’ll never understand, you thought dejectedly. You looked outside, feeling like a weight was pressed onto your shoulders. You thought that you escaped the past when you left Bi-Han, but it was all a facade. You never escaped him, or your past. You were fighting a war against it, and you finally succumbed to it. Funnily enough, you never stopped looking for him, for trying to seek his voice. In every man that you have seen, you always looked for Bi-Han. It has always been him and you.

You excused yourself, walking out onto the balcony of the restaurant. You leaned on the railing, tracing the old wood with your fingers. It was on a night like this when the two of you stumbled onto that balcony, drunk and giggling, at another party before the two of you were anything. You remember how close his face was, how your eyes always drifted to his lips. As you closed your eyes, you imagined him there: his voice dropping low so only you could hear him, how he always made it a habit to touch you. Whether that be by standing close enough to where your shoulders are touching, or with his hands, holding yours or keeping one around your waist. You sighed, wishing that he was there, holding you close.

“It’s cold out here, isn’t it?” You turned at Bi-Han’s voice.

“What are you doing here?” You whispered as he walked up to you, taking you in his arms.

“I wanted to see you,” he whispered, rubbing small circles on your back, as he leaned into you.

You moved your face away, “Why are you here?”

There was a frown on his face, before it disappeared again, “I need to talk to you.”

“About what,” you were becoming antsy, anyone could walk out, “Bi-Han, you can’t be here.”

“I … I know,” he says, “But please, I want to talk about us.”

“What do you want to say?” You asked, not knowing if you wanted to know.

“You told me that what you were feeling was real,” he said, “Every time that I have touched you, slept next to you, it has hurt me. I am reminded of what I did to you, and how I hurt you. But these past weeks made me realize that I ache only for you.”

You were quiet, eyes stinging from tears that were threatening to fall. Why now, why does he want to confess when you can’t be his? A love that you desperately wanted, and now, you are forced to let it go.

“I never should have let you go,” he said, his voice on the edge of desperation, “But ever since you left, I have not been myself. I feel more alone than ever,” he quietly chuckled, “I feel that I’m losing my mind, and the only remedy has been the nights in your room.”

“I just need to know,” he took a step towards you, “Can we do this together again, properly? You’re the only one that can bring me to my knees,” the smallest smile appeared on his face, “This isn’t the way I've planned this, any of this isn’t planned, but I love you.”

“Bi-Han,” you couldn’t talk, let alone think. You needed to be left alone, you needed to stop this from getting any further. The ring on your finger reminded you, the sound of the guests from inside the restaurant reminded you to stop this all, to stop his words. But you didn’t stop him. His words were refreshing, speaking directly to your heart. He spoke words that you so desperately wanted to hear, that you’ve been dreaming about. He took your silence as another reason to approach you, this time taking you in his arms. For being the cautious and purposeful man that he usually is, it was gone at this moment. He didn’t care that the balcony doors could open at any time, he didn’t care that anyone, including the man who you were now engaged to, could walk out at any time.

He rested his head against yours, you closed your eyes, and your lips were tickled by the easy breathing coming from him, he was so close, you could imagine his lips on yours once again, disarming you completely, crashing over you as the ocean does to the shore. The world seemed to have dimmed, the only focus was Bi-Han. His eyes were mirrors, reflecting your gaze of yearning, of wanting something to be real. He kissed you tenderly, his lips tasting your tears, before falling to your lips. You kissed him back, feeling too weak, totally trapped in him. You didn’t want his lips to leave yours, you thought that you could stay here forever, his lips were the gateway to another world, taking everything from you and then placing it out of reach. His arms were a paradise of safety, holding you close when you did not have the strength to do so.

He pulled out his ring, placing it in your hand. “Keep it,” his voice was breathless still from the kiss, “Give it to me when you think that I am ready, that I am deserving of your love.”

You heard your name from inside the restaurant, causing you to stiffen in his arms. But you didn’t let him go, you couldn’t. He gave you one last small kiss, before letting you go at the right moment. Your fiancé’s eyes immediately locked in on Bi-Han the moment he stepped outside. Your fiancé stepped in between you and Bi-Han, causing Bi-Han to raise his eyebrows in amusement, at least he’s putting himself in front of you.

“You must be Bi-Han,” your fiancé’s voice was cool, “I’ve heard a lot about you,” his words caused Bi-Han’s mind to spark with curiosity. But your fiancé didn’t elaborate, turning back to you and asking if you were alright.

“Yes,” you smiled, “We were just catching up, he congratulated me on the engagement.”

Bi-Han smiled at your fiancé, though to him, it felt like he was pulling teeth. Bi-Han forced his eyes to remain on the faces in front of him, and not your fiancé’s hand on your waist. How his lips grazed your skin in the same time places that he did moments ago. He wondered what would happen if he decided to open his mouth and tell your fiancé that his marriage would end before it even began.

“I apologize for taking her away from the celebration,” Bi-Han said with a smile, “I was apologizing for not having a gift. I will bring one of course. But,” he took your hand, and kissed the back of it, “Congratulations.”

“Thank you Bi-Han,” you smiled, “I hope to see you soon.”

He smiled, “I hope to as well.”

A/N: Hey everyone, just one more part after this 🫣🫣

[lavendarr00]

ADAIA "ROOK" THORNE | GREY WARDEN | SLAYER

Adaia (ah-die-ya) is my Grey Warden and my youngest Rook at 21 years old. She's special to me because she's actually the secret child of my HOF and Alistair. (I had to do it haha) My Tabris HOF and Alistair fell in love during DAO and spilt when he became king but they maintained their secret love affair resulting in Adaia. She has a serious/stoic personality, romances Davrin, and is closest with Harding & Lucanis.

Ramblings about Adaia under the fold (some end game datv spoilers) 😊

Tabris went to be with Leliana in the chantry while she was pregnant and gave birth there. Tabris couldn't return with Alistair's child and her duty to the Wardens and Ferelden lead to her leaving Adaia with the Chantry for adoption. She named Adaia after her mother. The only other people that know about Adaia's parentage are Alistair, Zevran & Morrigan (though I feel like Solas somehow finds out). Alistair has never met Adaia but got to see her once with the help of Leliana while visiting Orlais (Tabris gave him permission). Adaia does not know who her parents really are. Leliana naturally keeps tabs on her and in the rare opportunity she gets in contact with Tabris she shares what Adaia's been up to and what she's like. Morrigan does not reveal her parentage when they meet in Veilguard but a knowing smile would flit across her face when interacting with and observing her.

Details about her origin aside, Adaia's personality is more serious/stoic like her mother but her dad is Alistair so... yeah she has her moments 😆 Her upbringing was more or less uneventful but that pushed her to seek a higher purpose in life as a teen which eventually lead her to joining the Wardens. In truth, the decision to join the order was impulsive and she often regrets joining but at the end of day is dedicated to fighting the blight and saving lives. She struggles with feeling like she needs to be useful to be of value and can have a temper. She takes life too seriously which makes rolling with the punches hard for her. She gives surprisingly good advice and shows a lot of grace to those she cares about but will never give herself that same grace. Not very self aware in that area.

In Veilgaurd, she romances Davrin & her bestie is Lucanis so just like her mother she falls in love wither her fellow Warden and is best friends with an Antivan Crow 😆 She's also close with Harding since they are both from the South and are "salt of the earth" type folks. She, Harding, and Varric quickly became like a little family while hunting Solas. Adaia takes Varric's death especially hard. He really was a mentor to her and got a lot of comfort and reassurance from him. His "it will all work out" like mentality was something she needed especially after being basically kicked out of the Wardens. She's mature of course, but still young and learned a lot from Varric. To his surprise, Varric came to really appreciate and cherish the role he took in Adaia's life even though it was brief.

Post Veilguard, Adaia & Davrin work with the remaining Wardens to research what of the blight is left and how recent events have effected it (and go visit the griffons of course). We learn from the Inquisitor that the south has basically been wiped off the map from the double blight but of course we don't have specifics. No clue what Bioware has in store for Rook post Veilguard so I'm going to write my own thing until then haha

My HC: Alistair is alive, got married, and has a child (young - no older than 10) so Adaia is free of the potential responsibility of the crown. My HOF was not idle during the double blight. She survives but gets serious injuries meaning she can no longer fight. Before the double blight she was researching the calling so she decides to take that back up again and travels to the Anderfels where the remaining wardens are based. She and Adaia meet. Adaia has no idea of her connection to her but Tabris knows right away. She keeps that to herself as she and Adaia get to know each other. Both are heroes that have ended blights so they had a lot to talk about. Tabris helped Adaia out a lot actually with processing lingering regrets and grief from events in Veilguard (Harding's death especially). And Tabris got to spend time with her daughter for the first time since Adaia was only months old. It was very healing for both of them. After some time Tabris gets the courage to tell Adaia who she is. She doesn't expect Adaia to believe her and if anything expects anger from her. Adaia doesn't take it well but not entirely bad either. Mostly shocked and speechless and needed some space to think about it. But within the week Adaia & Tabris are connected to the hip. Davrin thinks Adaia's parentage is hilarious. Of course Rook would be the daughter of the legendary Hero of Fereldan & King Alistair! It explains so much 😆

And that's Adaia! 🤍

[always-andromeda]

𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞…

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 ⟡ Joel Miller x Tess Servopoulos

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 ⟡ 700

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 ⟡ Joel mourns a life he wishes he could've had.

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 ⟡ I've had this one stuck in my drafts for a long while. I've been adding to it little by little whenever I've felt sad enough. It's a tiny drabble and I don't feel super confident in it. But I'm trying to ease back into writing. Forgive me for not posting in a while. Life has been a little busy. But please accept my offering of some sad, angsty shit lmao.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 ⟡ pure, unadulterated angst. mentions of Ellie. nothing else I can think of!!

He tries not to think about it. About what she’d think – what she’d say – seeing him now. Hair longer than she ever got the chance to see; long enough that she could run her fingers through the silver streaked strands. When he finds himself alone on a quiet night he can sometimes feel it. Her lithe digits caressing the nape of his neck in a way that she never could outside the safety of their four walls.

Back then, everyone knew just who he answered to. Joel Miller was her attack dog through and through. All Tess had to do was point and unclip the leash and he was off. It was an effective arrangement. He used to have an anchor point; a shelter to be reeled back into when he strayed too far. It was a shelter that went up in flames along with Tess. And Jackson is all uncharted, all marked by unfamiliar touches that aren’t hers.

Some part of him always knew it went far deeper than a business arrangement. It was pure luck that staying with Tess was beneficial in both a practical sense and a…less practical sense. Of course he’d always been reluctant to question the less practical parts of their relationship.

Maybe that’s why he does now; when she’s no longer around to pick it apart herself.

He finds Tess in the oddest things. Ellie’s jokes, for one. He knows that Tess would’ve gotten a kick out of them. She would’ve rolled her eyes before remarking, “That was terrible.” All while harboring the slightest grin. Sometimes it’s the image in his head of her eyes glimmering that makes him crack a smile of his own.

It seemed a cruel joke that the world had taken Tess and bestowed the teenager upon him in the same breath. But it made sense. After all, it was the same world that took Sarah and then gave him Tess to begin with. Some days he doesn’t question the trade off. There’s no use. Tess wouldn’t have wanted him to question her sacrifice that way. Other days it is much more difficult to listen to the more practical version of her. Some days…he strays.

She would’ve loved the food. It wasn’t like Bill’s gourmet lunches. But those QZ rations had nothing on the food from the greenhouse. She would’ve loved the fruit. When summer came around he remembered the way she’d woken up from a dream one night. She’d dreamt she was a kid. She was at a farm her parents used to take her to in the summers. She got to bite into the deep crimson flesh of a plum. The juice had only just begun to run down her chin when she’d woken up. Her voice was soft and barely audible over the rumble of FEDRA trucks rolling by their apartment. She said it was just something stupid. To him it was something sacred. He couldn’t explain to Ellie why he’d gone quiet when he saw a basket of plums in the cafeteria. And he wasn’t surprised when his tasted sour.

Even his house felt occupied. Her figure floated in door frames as he cooked and cleaned and did whatever menial task he needed to. Hip cocked and lips curled into a smirk as she teased him over how much he traded for coffee beans. He would’ve said something humorous in response, he’s sure of it. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. She was always far too clever for him. She’d state as much as he poured her a fresh cup of coffee.

It always takes him a second to come back to his reality. There’s no second mug to fill, no second plate at the dinner table, no second pair of boots by the door, no one to share a bed or bathroom with. It’s always empty save for him and his cruel imagination.

How could she haunt a place she’d never been? Maybe that didn’t even matter. Maybe what they’d shared over those difficult years went beyond a time or place. Whether he liked it or not, she was there. But not in the ways that mattered most. Not in the ways Joel wished she was.

[xochitai]

finally finished a 2 year old wip: lotor as thrandul

[discoreptile]

Beasties of Greenhollow soundtrack! Some tracks on this are from older projects like elphame but all of them have been reworked in some way. Most of them are entirely new. Enjoy!

[skrunksthatwunk]

not rascal's deadbeat owner coming around when im not home and telling my roommate she's taking him for a week (our break is 4 weeks or so, implying he's gonna be back here even though That's Her Cat Not Ours) and then just picking up the new toys i bought for him and taking them with her without even asking. hey. hi. those are mine

[victorluvsalice]

Okay, with all the pictures and shells and fish and whatnot sorted, it was back to regular gameplay -- just in time to see Kelly sampling the fish platter I'd had to leave on the counter because I couldn't get it to drag into the fridge right away. XD I quickly got it away from her while I directed Victor to say hi to Shadow (who was very happy to see him again), Alice to grab the eggs out of the coop (two hatchable and one regular -- really gotta clear out all those roosters), and Smiler --

To start decorating the place! Or, well, to FINISH decorating it, more accurately, as I'd spent a little time dragging all their various Spookfest decorations, along with the two pumpkin carving stations, out of the attic while getting their pictures and souvenirs sorted. Some fun purple icicle lights for the eaves and black-and-white ghost banners on the fences completed the look --

As did Alice starting her pumpkin! Because a) you gotta have jack-o-lanterns for Spookfest and b) in my personal experience, the best way to complete the "Spooky Spirit" tradition is to carve a pumpkin -- interacting with ghosts and occult Sims is kind of iffy at best to get it to fire. *shakehead* Oh Sims 4... I naturally had her carve up a kitty pumpkin, on a pale orange pumpkin -- and she did so well that it turned out to be a masterpiece! :) Alice is just good at The Arts, what can I say.

And right after that, the first trick-or-treater showed up at the house! Smiler at the time was busy in the greenhouse brewing up a soothing skin balm potion (and getting their Herbalism skill up to level 6), while Victor was busy bathing Shadow (and then magicking away the resultant puddles), so it fell on Alice to give the visiting teen a trick or a treat. I had her quickly change into a costume, picking "space ranger" more or less at random, and give the kid some candy. Because she's a nice lady at heart, even if her "Loner" trait means she actually ignores the "Trick Or Treat" tradition herself. I then sent her inside to paint while Smiler started on their jack-o-lantern (a white one with a big grin on it, natch) and I sent Victor down to begin his (an orange one with an owl design, because I hadn't seen that one yet) --

And then, upon seeing the pets both downstairs, I went "hang on -- doesn't Kelly have a taco outfit? I should dress her up in that for Halloween! And Shadow as -- oh, wait, all she has is her little sweater and bow-tie...looks like we're popping into CAS for a second to get her a costume too!"

And so I did, choosing one of the "super-llama" outfits for her (in yellow and black, because you know that Smiler picked this out XD). Alice put Shadow and Kelly into their Halloween costumes, played a little bit of laser pointer with Kelly, then headed into the studio to do a playful painting, while Victor and Smiler got back to work on their pumpkins (going into CAS had knocked them out of their actions, and Smiler in particular had to start over because the game wouldn't let me resume their previous pumpkin, meh). So that was Alice and the pets all dressed up for the holiday...

[coridallasmultipass]

.

[readwritealldayallnight]

(part of the Wife at First Sight series)

In Ghost’s eyes, the first time you smiled up at him was the moment you became his and his alone.

So what if everyone apart from you knew it?

Didn’t make it any less of a fact, as far as he was concerned.

Still though, he wanted to learn more about just who his pretty little wife was, including anything that might make letting you know about your marriage a little easier. And so like the good soldier he is, he goes about it as though it were a reconnaissance mission.

He asks you how you take your coffees and teas, holding his breath as he watches you take the first sip of whichever drink he’s made you that day, pride swelling in his chest when you tell him it’s perfect, even better than when you make it.

The first time he’d done so, your eyes widened in surprise when he put his large, gloved hands over yours where they were wrapped around the mug, leaning forward and bringing the rim to his lips where he took a sip for himself, eyes locked with yours. You were unsure of what to think or say, but he apparently decided for you that this was okay, returning the warm drink to your mouth where he encouraged you to take another sip.

You figured that it was alright, he did make the tea for you after all, right?

You even laughed when he started only serving you in a mug with ‘Mrs.’ printed across the side, certain that it hadn’t been in any of the common room’s cupboards before.

He eyes the book peeking out of your bag one morning as you tuck it away, purchasing his own copy the very same day, curious to know what you like reading. You’re pleasantly surprised, if not a tad confused, when you find the next two books in the trilogy sat atop your desk soon after, a small note written in chicken scratch lain on top reads ‘To : Wife’. He’ll make a point of commenting on the novel if he sees you holding it, slipping in tid bits of information to impress you show he’s read it as well, likes the same things you like.

He’ll joke about how the food on the dining hall is always subpar, trying to casually find out what you like eating, subtly pulling out his phone and typing anything new into his notes app where he’s been keeping track of all your likes and dislikes. He just wants to get things right with you, be good for you, prove he can be the husband you need. You’re already perfect in his eyes, his sweet little soulmate who just doesn’t know it yet.

Though this was the first military base you’d ever worked on, you couldn’t recall anyone having ever warned you about the way Lieutenants apparently like to haze the new hires, never mind the fact that everyone else was apparently in on it.

No one bats an eye when you go to take the empty seat next to him in a briefing, and he wraps his strong arms around you to instead plop you down onto his muscular thighs, carrying on with the task at hand as though this is perfectly normal and professional. Even the Captain hardly glances at the interaction, so you figure it’s okay, some strange form of team bonding?

Not a soul comments on the way the Lieutenant insists on being the one to cut up your food and feed you bites during meals in the dining hall, pretending as though they don’t hear him telling you about how “my wife works hard enough, don’t need to be liftin’ a finger wit’ me around, love.”

They know to move out of the way if you’re approaching a closed door, knowing if the Lieutenant is anywhere near, he’ll be rushing to open the door for you before you can even attempt to do it yourself.

Even Soap has stopped complaining aloud and only rolls his eyes when Ghost drops anything and everything he’s doing- whether it’s spotting the Sergeant in the gym, being out on a morning run, hell even being in the middle of a shower- to send you a good morning text at six o clock on the dot. Every. Single. Morning.

No, you never exactly anticipated this sort of a running gag from a hardened military base, but you’re not exactly complaining either.

Not when you find your heart fluttering every time your fake work husband dotes on you like he really would marry you at the drop of a hat.

Besides, it’s all just playful, innocent fun, right?

Especially when everyone begins to apparently forget your name and instead refers to you only as Mrs Riley.

And when the Captain tells you that your requested time off for a honeymoon has been approved, something which you definitely don’t remember requesting, well that’s all just fun too, right?

[flamestar126]

Dentist/teeth venting lol

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Smithsonian Magazine:

For the first time in 112 years, Chinook salmon are swimming freely in the Klamath Basin in Oregon.

On October 16, biologists with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) spotted the fish above the former site of the J.C. Boyle Dam in the Upper Klamath River. The dam was one of four that had blocked the salmon’s migration between the Klamath Basin and the Pacific Ocean. Each of those dams was recently deconstructed in the largest dam removal project in United States history, which has restored the river to its natural, free-flowing state.

At first, biologists wondered if they had really sighted a salmon. “We saw a large fish the day before rise to surface in the Klamath river, but we only saw a dorsal fin,” says Mark Hereford, leader of ODFW’s Klamath Fisheries Reintroduction Project, in a statement. “I thought, was that a salmon, or maybe it was a very large rainbow trout?”

But when the team returned on October 16 and 17, they were able to confirm the fall-run Chinook—making them the first to spot the species in the region since 1912.

The return of the salmon comes less than two months after the end of the dam removals in California and Oregon, an effort that took decades of advocacy by the surrounding tribes—including the Yurok, Karuk, Shasta, Klamath and Hoopa Valley, among others—whose people have deep ties to the Chinook salmon.

Ron Reed, a Karuk tribe member and traditional fisherman, participated in the campaigns for dam removal, advocating that the river’s restoration would help salmon recover. He isn’t surprised the fish have returned so quickly to their ancestral waters, he tells the Los Angeles Times’ Ian James.

“The fact that the fish are going up above the dams now, to the most prolific spawning and rearing habitat in North America, it definitely shines a very bright light on the future,” Reed tells the Los Angeles Times. “Because with those dams in place, we were looking at extinction. We were looking at dead fish.”

In one poignant case, tens of thousands of Chinook salmon died off in the span of days in 2002, as the water quality in the dammed Klamath River deteriorated from the lack of flow. The dams, built between the early 1900s and 1962, also contributed to algae blooms and diseases, and they blocked the salmon’s annual migration.

[briefinquiries]

Tyler Owens x Reader: Where You Belong

Prompt: you're caught in the middle of a tornado, tyler's there in the aftermath.

Word count: 6k

Warnings: angst, blood mention

A/N: surprise surprise, & not what i usually write, but twisters has recently been consuming my entire life. so here's an angsty lil imagine of hurt reader being comforted by the wrangler himself.

You made it about fifteen minutes down the road before you realized that you’d forgotten your phone… Again. 

After patting down your pockets and digging through your tote bag the best you could without crashing the car– you straightened yourself in the driver’s seat and sighed defeatedly. 

Stupid, you thought. Although you weren’t really that surprised by your mistake. You’d never been particularly attached to your phone, and this certainly wasn’t the first time you’d left it behind. 

But you’d been trying to be more mindful about remembering it. And just like that, Tyler’s voice popped into your head– no doubt scolding you for your carelessness. ‘What if something happened and I had to get a hold of ya?’ 

Thanks to another wild storm system brewing all over the midwest, Tyler was out chasing again today. And although you’d checked in on him earlier in the day, you knew there was always the possibility that things changed. Storms shifted– gained power, sometimes his team (although rarely) got things wrong. A pang of guilt spread through your chest at the thought– what if something happened to him out there and he needed to reach you? 

You could turn back and get your phone, of course. But you were already so close to town. And all you needed was a bottle of shampoo and a birthday cake for Tyler. You could be in and out of Lawton in less than half an hour if you were quick– home before he even knew you’d left your phone behind again.

What could really go wrong?

…

“Talk to me, Dani– what do you see?” Tyler asked into the walkie. They’d been tracking a handful of storms for the past few hours– Tyler watching the clouds, and Dani studying the radar. Right now, there were two that had peaked his interest– One was formulating south, the other to the northeast. 

“The storm south has higher wind speeds, but I think it’ll fade if it shifts. The other one has a weaker wind shear, but higher pressure. Either one has the chance to form or go, so I say trust your gut,” they answered.  

Tyler shifted his grip on the steering wheel, studying the dark, circling motion in the distance. 

“What’re you thinkin’, T?” Boone asked, camera trained on Tyler. 

He sunk his teeth into his bottom lip– trying to focus.

“Less moisture, less potential for an updraft, but way higher winds if we go south. Northeast though… she’s already got the motion and momentum, she just needs the winds to shift...” 

Boone stayed quiet– he knew that when Tyler talked out loud, it was generally rhetorical. 

Tyler took his eyes off the sky to study the world around him for a moment. 

“No pressure, T,” Dani said through the walkie. 

“Yeah,” Lilly chimed in. “We just spent all damn day chasing these things–”

“South,” he said suddenly. “I say let’s chase south.”

…

Less than thirty minutes later, Tyler was standing in the middle of a wheat field with his hands on his hips and a frown on his face. 

The storm had fizzled with the shifting winds, leaving them with nothing but a few scattered showers that mixed in with the sweat already pooling on his skin. 

“S’alright, T,” Boone said encouragingly with a shrug. He clapped him on the back. “We can’t catch ‘em all.”

Tyler sighed before joining Dani where they sat on the edge of the truck, scanning for other potential storms in the area. 

“What’s that there?” Tyler asked, pointing to what appeared to be a storm system heading west. 

Dani frowned. “What the hell… I think that’s the storm from earlier– the one moving northeast.”

“So it shifted?” 

“Shifted?” Boone said, lowering his camera for a moment to glance towards Tyler. “Where to? Can we make it in time?”

Tyler frowned, studying the movement. 

“That’s strange,” Dani mumbled under their breath. With a few clicks, they expanded the screen, showing a wider radius.

“What’s strange?” Boone asked.

Ignoring him, Tyler scanned the system, trying to trace the path without actually calculating it. “You don’t think–” 

Dani glanced his way. “Holy shit–”

“Hello?” Boone said. “Y’all gonna share with the rest of the class?” 

“I think she’s headin’ for Lawton,” Dani finally whispered. 

And although he’d been thinking it, all the color drained from his face when it was actually spoken out loud.

“Lawton?” Dexter asked, voice laced with concern. 

“Oh shit-” Lilly whispered.  

Lawton was the closest city to where the two of you lived– if it hit there, thousands of people could be in danger. And if it shifted again, even the slightest bit– it could head right for your small town instead.  

Despite the humidity, everything inside of Tyler went cold as he imagined you at home– puttering around the garden, blissfully unaware of what might be coming. 

“Will you uh, pass me– pass me my phone, Boone?” Tyler stammered, standing up from the truck bed. 

Boone reached into the backpack scattered near his feet and handed over Tyler’s cell phone, placing it in his outstretched hand. Tyler muttered a quick thank you before walking a few strides away as he pulled up your contact information.  

The call rang five times before making it to voicemail– your sweet voice asking him to leave a message and you’d get back to him. 

“Hey, baby– it’s me. Call me back as soon as you can. Alright, love ya.”

He clicked the phone off before immediately trying again. 

“C’mon,” he muttered as the line continued to ring. “C’mon, baby, c’mon,” he hummed nervously, kicking the grass with his boots when he heard your voicemail. “Hey– me again. Listen, I’m not trying to scare ya, but there might be a storm comin’ and I just wanna make sure you’re safe. Give me a call please.”

He paced back towards the group, sending you a quick text just for good measure as he did. 

“Alright, what’s the plan here?” Dexter asked. 

But Tyler wasn’t paying much attention as he obsessively dialed you for a third time. 

“What’s wrong, T?” Boone wondered. 

Without looking up from his phone, Tyler exhaled a frustrated breath. “She’s never got her damn phone on her– that’s what’s wrong.” The second he heard your voicemail for a fourth time, he chucked his phone towards his bag. “Damnit!” 

Boone swallowed thickly. “I’m sure she’s fine–”

Tyler hung his head. After a moment, he nodded, although he wasn’t entirely convinced that would remain the case if he didn’t get in touch with you fast. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to breathe– 

You were fine, he told himself. You were home, you’d hear the alerts if they were necessary, you knew to get into the basement. 

Tyler took a long, steadying breath. “Dani, what’s the speed of this thing?” 

“Uh, it’s moving– thirty-five miles per hour directly west. I think she’s gaining speed, though.”

“Alright, she’s fast,” Tyler remarked. “We have to be faster. Let’s head home, ladies and gents, we can take cover at my place once I know everyone’s safe.”

“You got it, T,” Lilly said. 

“Stay safe everyone,” Dani replied as they all dispersed to their respective vehicles. 

Tyler and Boone climbed back into the truck, tires screeching as they sped west towards Lawton, and home towards you. 

…

You were inside the bakery on Lowell Street– Tyler’s favorite place for any and all pastries, when you heard the thunder. 

Although thunder in Oklahoma wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence, it was enough to make you turn your attention outside, just to see what kind of storm you might be up against on the drive home. 

“It’s gettin’ dark out there,” Gloria, the owner, said. She glanced at you over the counter and blew a strand of graying hair out of her face. 

You nodded in agreement, jumping slightly when another crack of thunder rang through the air. “Sounds like it’s getting closer,” you noticed. 

“I still can’t believe that boyfriend of yours goes out of his way to chase these storms. And his friends, too.”

You scoffed. “Yeah, me either. Bunch of adrenaline junkies.”

“Not me,” Gloria smirked. “We get enough chaos in this life, I don’t need to be chasin’ it.”

You returned her smile, recognizing that you might have more in common with the sixty-something year old baker in town than you did your own boyfriend. But you supposed that your differences were what drew you to Tyler. He was brave and thrilling and so alive. Although what he did scared the absolute shit out of you, there was nothing better than watching him exude excitement and just pure joy after he got home from a particularly powerful storm. 

“Was he and his crew trackin’ anything out here?” Gloria asked, using the tube of blue icing to write the birthday message you’d requested on top of Tyler’s cake. 

“Not here,” you replied. “He was south of OKC last I checked in.”

Which, you realized, had been far longer than you anticipated thanks to not having your phone. You mentally kicked yourself again for leaving it behind. If you’d brought it with you, you could have just given him a call now. Because unless he was smack dab in the middle of a goddamn tornado, he always answered your calls. Just a few reassurances from him could’ve calmed your fears about the storm brewing outside– told you that it was just a thunderstorm passing through. 

Not every thunderstorm means a tornado, he had said, you didn’t even know how many times by now. And each time allowed you to relax a little. Because unlike your boyfriend, you didn’t enjoy weather in quite the same way. In fact, after an EF4 had ripped through your home when you were just a child, you did your best to stay as far from tornadoes as Oklahoma allowed. 

“I’m sure it’s just thunder,” you began. 

But before you could finish your sentence, you heard the sudden pitter patter of hail beginning outside. Gloria lowered the icing tube while you took another step closer to the window to peer out. 

Dark, gloomy clouds swirled through the sky. 

That was when you heard the sirens. Loud and clear, they echoed through your ears in a terrifying, grim warning. 

…

As the storm tracked faster and faster the closer they got, Tyler’s first stop was your shared home just outside of Lawton. 

He didn’t even bother turning the truck off before he was hurling himself across the lawn, towards the front door. But before he even looked inside, his stomach dropped when he noticed your SUV wasn’t parked in its typical spot. 

Regardless, he practically ripped open the front door before running into the house, calling your name loudly into each room he searched, hoping that maybe you’d lent your car to your mom again– or magically parked it in the garage that was stuffed full of his gear. 

But it was no use– you weren’t there. 

He knew that for good as soon as he flung open the door to your shared bedroom. The bed was neatly made, pillows arranged perfectly– and your phone sitting on the nightstand table, plugged in and clearly far away from you. 

“Damnit!” he yelled, kicking the door frame frustratedly. Chest rising and falling rapidly, Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think. Frustration and anger brewed inside of him, but he knew that underneath all of that was fear– for you and your safety. All he wanted was to have you in his sights again– although preferably wrapped up in his embrace, the only spot he could ensure you were safe... Where you belonged.

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. Tyler made his way across the room and picked your phone up from the nightstand. Your background– a picture of you and him taken during your trip to Texas last year, lit up the screen. Accompanying it were the slew of notifications you’d missed– the first was the severe weather alert, the next few were all the missed calls from him. But at the very bottom of your screen was a reminder notification– one that allowed him to finally exhale the breath he’d been holding since he burst into the house. 

Get Tyler a bday cake. 

Sliding your phone into his back pocket, he raced back down the stairs to find Boone standing on the front lawn. 

“She’s in town,” he said, rushing towards his truck. 

Boone followed close behind. “How do you know?”

“If nothing else,” Tyler said, climbing into his truck, “she follows her schedule.”

…

“Gloria, you gotta listen to me–” you pleaded, hurrying around the counter to grab her hand. “If the sirens are goin’ off, it means we don’t have much time. Does the bakery have a basement, or– or a shelter?”

Gloria’s watery eyes met yours. Your heart sank the moment she shook her head dreadfully. 

“Okay,” you said shakily, trying not to panic. What would Tyler do? You looked around the bakery– with its old walls and sagging roof, you knew it wasn’t safe to stay here. 

“Gloria, we gotta go,” you said urgently. “We gotta find somewhere safe to be.”

With that, you tugged her towards the exit. 

As soon as you were outside, you felt the fierce wind whip your face, along with a few staggering pieces of hail. There was debris– leaves and sticks flying around in every which way, making it hard to see past what was right in front of you. 

Although you were trying to be vigilant, you didn’t even see the scrap of metal fly by your face.  “Shit!” you exclaimed, feeling it graze your cheek. Ripped skin was quickly followed by the feeling of warm blood trickling across your skin. 

“Are you alright?” Gloria asked, grabbing your arm. 

You used your free hand to press against your cheek before nodding. “We gotta get out of here,” you said. 

But just as you turned to try and gauge your surroundings, hoping to come up with a shred of a plan, you froze at what was looming in the distance. 

Winds whipped rapidly, the sky boomed, and a dark, wide funnel had formed– it’s tip already touching down on the ground. And it was coming straight for you. 

“Gloria, we gotta go–” you cried. “Now!” 

…

Tyler drove as fast as he could– foot nearly pressed down on the ground. He drove like his life depended on it. Because yours did– 

The truth was– he’d never given much thought to losing you. He was generally too preoccupied with wondering what you’d do if you lost him. He was the one putting himself in danger all the time, he was the one forcing his way in the middle of these storms. 

He didn’t know what he’d do without you– except be a shell of who he was now. 

“Holy shit–” he heard Boone say from the passenger seat. 

Tyler refocused his attention ahead, his eyes widening the second he saw what Boone was fixated on. 

It was hard to miss the giant, fucking tornado barreling right for Lawton’s array of buildings. 

“We’re too late–” Tyler croaked. “We’re too fucking late–”

“She’s smart,” Boone assured Tyler. “She knows where to go and what to do.”

Tyler’s knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He pressed his foot down on the accelerator and drove faster. 

…

In retrospect, the laundromat probably wasn’t the best place for you to be. But there were few windows and the back room was lined with secure piping, all which jetted deeply into the ground, creating a solid anchoring point. 

There were a few other people huddled in the same room, already low on the ground and clutching onto one another. 

“Hold on to that!” you cried, practically pushing Gloria towards the corner of the room. She wound her frail arms around the piping before crouching down. You were right beside her, arms locked tightly on the piping as you felt the building start to shake. 

The storm outside was deafening. Winds whistled and boomed. You were pretty sure the woman beside you was screaming– but you couldn’t hear her above the noise of everything else. You tried to be brave– the way you knew Tyler would be if he were here. 

Once, about three years ago, an EF3 hit his parent’s ranch while the two of you were staying there for a long weekend. You remembered the way he stayed so calm, so collected through it all. After ushering everyone into the storm shelter, he wrapped his strong arms around you, anchoring you to him. The ranch didn’t shake like this though… And even though you’d been scared that night, it paled in comparison to what you felt now. 

This building was weak– the structure was unsound. You had no idea how close the tornado actually was, but you knew this thing wasn’t going to stay put. It was just a matter of if the pipes went deep enough into the ground and if you could hold on to them. Because you didn’t have Tyler holding on for you this time. 

You hoped he was somewhere safe– maybe tracking the storm that was about to kill you from a reasonable distance. 

“Everything’s going to be okay,” you told Gloria, sweaty palms making your grip slip. “Just hold on–” 

The building began to shake harder– the very foundation rocking beneath you. Shortly after, pieces of the roof began tearing off, exposing the thunderous storm raging above. 

“I don’t–” Gloria cried. “I don’t think I can hold on!”

You tried loosening your own grip– hoping you could wrap your arms around her like Tyler had done for you before, or do something to help. But then you heard another ear splitting roar, and suddenly, the entire roof was being ripped off from the building. There was nothing you could do. You weren’t strong enough– 

“Hold on!” you screamed, tucking your head into your elbow and squeezing your eyes shut. “Just a little longer!” 

But as the words left your lips, even you didn’t believe them. 

…

By the time they finally reached town, the tornado had already moved on. 

Part of the reason why Tyler loved tornados so much was their power and speed. In his eyes– it was nothing short of an act of God to see what damage a simple funnel of wind could do in just a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds. 

Until he was faced with the inevitable tragedy of it all. 

Because it was one thing to see trees uprooted, or tractors rolled over. It was another to see an entire town had succumbed to a pile of debris– vehicles thrown this way and that– metal and siding and bricks scattered over every inch of the flat land– To know that people, his friends, his neighbors, you could be buried underneath piles of rubble– bodies broken and bleeding and hurt if they were lucky enough to be alive at all.

Tyler brought his truck to a screeching halt, not even hesitating before he was ripping off his seatbelt and hurling himself out of his seat. The second his boots hit the mud, he screamed your name as loud as he could. 

Eyes whipping around, he tried to process the scene before him. But it was hard to gauge where anything used to be– there was practically nothing left. 

“Tyler!” he heard someone scream in the distance. Head whipping to the side, he saw Lilly, waving her arms frantically. 

For a moment, Tyler let himself get his hopes up. He raced across the distance between them as fast as he could, despite all the obstacles in his way. But when he finally reached her, he was devastated to see that you weren’t there at all. Instead, Lilly was staring at a vehicle, flipped over and crunched like it’d been hit head-on by an 18-wheeler. 

And although it was damaged beyond repair, Tyler recognized it as yours immediately. 

He felt his chest tighten. “Christ–” he stammered, unable to fight back the tears burning behind his eyes. He ran his hand through his hair before hunching over, hoping the motion would allow him to finally catch his breath.

“Oh God,” he panted. “God, no– please, no–”

“She might not have been in it,” Lilly said quickly. 

But Tyler barely heard her. He was too fixated on the pounding in his ears–  

A wave of hopelessness washed over him, flooding his insides. He was too late– he couldn’t save you– he was too fucking late. 

“We’re gonna find her, T,” Boone’s voice was suddenly peaking through the fog. 

“Yeah, we won’t stop until we do,” Dani added. 

Tyler forced himself to take a few, steadying breaths. When he could, he straightened his back and glanced around. 

His whole team hadn’t given up on you. 

Neither could he. 

…

When you finally gained the courage to open your eyes, you were met by a fierce brightness. You coughed– lungs heaving as you struggled to breathe. 

“Gloria?” you tried to speak. “Are you okay?” 

You were met by an eerie silence– the calm after the storm. Blinking harshly a few times, you tried to gather up enough strength to sit up. But as soon as you did, you had a chance to look around… And boy, do you wish you hadn’t. 

There was nothing left– the entire town was gone… destroyed, buried in rubble and debris. 

“Gloria?” you called, groaning as you pushed the thick layer of roofing off from your legs. You grimaced once you saw the deep gash down the side of your thigh, oozing blood. 

Breath shuddering, you continued to scan the area– trying to wrack your brain for what the hell you were supposed to do next. The second you moved to turn your head, you winced, vision blurring. Slowly, you grazed along your forehead with your fingertips. When you pulled them away, you grimaced to see them coated in crimson liquid. 

You stared at it for far too long– unsure what else to do. You were hurt– probably worse than it felt, too if adrenaline had anything to say about it. You didn’t know if you could walk on your leg, or if you’d pass out the second you tried to stand up. 

You felt hopeless– completely and utterly alone. 

Until you faintly heard the sound of your name being called in the distance. 

It was enough to make you snap out of your trance, head whipping around to see Boone throwing aside a piece of siding. He called out a second time before turning and locking eyes with you from across the way. 

“Boone,” you said under your breath, like you couldn’t quite believe he was real. Because if Boone was here– calling out for you, that meant Tyler couldn’t be far behind. 

Boone yelled your name again before turning. “I found her!” he screamed, waving his arms. “Over here!” 

You fought back the guilt you felt for still not finding Gloria and moved to stand on shaky legs. 

“I’ll come back for you,” you promised her. 

Wobbly and weak, you limped towards him, trying your best not to fall in the cracks and crevices beneath the debris. You looked down, intending to watch your step, but instead you caught a glimpse of your leg and all the blood now coating your entire thigh and calf. Just the sight of it made you lose your balance. 

“Shit,” you gasped, as you landed harshly on the ground. You looked back up and saw Boone heading your way– only fifty yards or so from you. But then– right behind Boone, was a sight that made everything else melt away. 

“Tyler,” you exhaled, like it was a prayer tumbling from your lips. 

His long legs moved fast– practically running despite everything in his way. 

He’d make it to you– he’d get you. But if you got up and kept moving… he’d get there sooner. So, with whatever you had left inside of you, you pushed yourself up. Ignoring the pounding in your head and the throbbing in your leg, you limped forward. 

“Tyler,” you said again– not loud enough for anyone else to hear. It was like you just needed a reminder that really was right there. “Tyler–” this time, when his name tumbled from your lips, it came out as a sob– every emotion inside of you bubbling to the surface of your skin. Tears slipped down your cheeks, your vision blurred. 

He was so close now– you could hear the rubble shift as he stepped on it. 

He called your name… and God, if his voice wasn’t the sweetest sound you’d ever heard. 

“Tyler–” you cried again, throat choked from dust and tears. 

And then, just like that, his body was colliding with yours. Arms winding tightly around your shoulders, a familiar scent enveloping you, he cradled the back of your head with his hand, anchoring you to his chest. You wrapped your arms around his middle, face buried in his button down shirt. 

“Oh, God,” he whispered above you, lips grazing the side of your head. “I got you,” he said. 

You opened your mouth to speak, but no words came out– only a guttural, uncontrollable sob that made him hold you tighter. 

“I got you, baby. I got you,” he whispered into your hair. 

“Tyler–” was all you managed to choke out. 

His thumb trailed up and down your hair, matted with mud and your own blood. “I’m here. I’m right here. I got you.” 

He held you tight, steadying your shaky frame. It was like he was the one thing keeping you from completely falling apart. Which was why your body almost recoiled when he finally pulled away. You needed him wrapped around you like that forever. 

You tried to resist, to pull him back, but you didn’t even have the energy for that. All you could do was stand there weakly while his wild, concerned eyes scanned the length of you. 

“I’m fine–” you tried to say. 

But he shook his head instantly. “You’re not fine. You’re hurt, we gotta get you out of here. Get an ambulance!” he yelled to Boone, who was lingering nearby, looking like he didn’t quite know how to help. Boone nodded instantly before hurrying off. 

“Tyler–” 

“Okay, I see the leg– what else?” he asked. “What else hurts?”

“My head,” you whimpered. “And my ribs–” you admitted, although you hadn’t quite managed to look at those yet. “But Tyler–” 

Before you could finish, Tyler’s hand gripped the hem of your tank top, pulling it up slightly. You winced as the fabric brushed over your ribs. But when Tyler pressed a hand on the bare skin, you almost screamed out in pain. “Sorry,” he said gently. “I gotta look though, baby. I gotta check it.”

You nodded, fingers squeezing the fabric of his shirt as he did. The pain was excruciating– enough to make your already-dizzy head start to spin. 

“I think they’re broken– at least a couple. Can’t say for certain.”

“Tyler,” you tried to repeat, tears still streaming steadily down your face. 

“It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay,” he said once he saw the shift on your face. 

“It’s Gloria,” you finally spit out. “She’s out here somewhere, Tyler. We have to find her–”

Tyler’s gaze softened at your words. He pulled his eyes away from you long enough to quickly scan the scene. 

“Did you see her? Or know where she went?”

You shook your head, more tears spilling down your cheeks. “No–” you cried. “No, I don’t know where she went. Tyler, I have to find her–”

“Easy,” he soothed, winding an arm around your middle so that he could brace the majority of your weight. “You’ve lost a lot of blood. We gotta get you checked out.”

“I can’t leave her–” you protested. 

“Listen to me,” he said, voice gentle but stern. “You bleeding out on a pile of rubble isn’t going to help her, okay? Let me get you somewhere safe, Boone and Dexter can search for Gloria, alright?” 

After a moment, you nodded solemnly. “You promise?”

“I promise, baby. Now c’mon.”

Before you could protest, you felt Tyler’s arm swoop around the backs of your legs, while the other supported your back. In an instant, your feet are lifted off from the ground. You didn’t have the energy to do anything but lay your head against his chest. 

“There we go,” he soothed. “I got you.”

His thumb trailed along your back gently as he began navigating the pile of rubble around you. 

You felt safe nestled against him– and for the first time since you’d emerged from the rubble, you felt safe enough to allow your eyes to fall shut. 

“Hey, stay awake now, okay? We’re just a short walk to the ambulances– keep lookin’ at me.”

You tried– honestly you did. You opened them up, despite everything inside of you that screamed to close them. And then you fought like hell to keep them trained on Tyler– to study the lining of his jaw and the tan shade of his skin. But Tyler’s embrace was so warm, and his voice was just so soft. And you were so, so tired. There was nothing you could do when they fell shut again. 

Tyler pleaded for you, but unconsciousness got there first. 

… 

Even after the doctors assured him you’d be okay– that it was just exhaustion and blood loss from the trauma you’d endured keeping you out for so long, he couldn’t settle down. 

You looked so goddamn frail– so broken in that hospital bed. He couldn’t stand it. 

It was nearly ten at night before the rest of his team packed up to head back home, making him promise to call them as soon as you woke up. 

“We can stay if you want,” Lilly offered. There was no hint of sarcasm or malice in her tone. She was being genuine. Which was how Tyler knew he must have been an absolute mess. 

“That’s alright,” he croaked, speaking for the first time in nearly an hour. Even he could hear the pain in his voice. 

Boone clapped him on the shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Love you, man.”

“Call us if you need anything,” Dani said. 

Tyler nodded, promised he would. But the only thing he needed was for you to wake up. 

…

His watch read midnight when you finally stirred. 

Tyler was sitting in a chair, pulled all the way up to your bedside, and was clutching your hand with both of his. He had his forehead resting against the hospital bed, but the second he felt movement, he shot up quickly, all the exhaustion fading instantly. 

Your face contorted into a frown as you squeezed your eyes shut once, twice, three times before they fluttered open. 

Scooting forward in his chair, he studied you as you glanced around– clearly trying to take in your surroundings and place where you were. The second you started to shift– like you were sitting up in bed in a panic, he squeezed your hand. 

“Hey, you’re okay,” he said. “You’re in the hospital. You’re okay.”

Your head turned towards him, confusion and fear plastered all over your cut up, bruised face. Just the sight made his chest ache. 

“You’re safe.”

You fell back against the pillow and nodded slowly. 

“Tyler–” you began shakily, he could already hear the sob lodged in your throat. “I– I’m…”

“You’re okay, baby,” he assured you. 

“No– I’m- I’m so sorry–”

He froze, brow furrowing in confusion. “Hey, what’s this? Stop- you got nothing to be sorry for, baby.” 

“I didn’t have my phone. I didn’t hear the alert until it was too late. It was stupid– I just–” your face crumpled as you struggled to find words. “You always tell me not to forget it and I forgot it.”

“It’s okay,” he soothed. “Don’t worry about that.”

“I just– I wanted to get you a birthday cake– I should have gotten it sooner, but I forgot– and…” your voice continued to crack and break with each breath you took. “I know you don’t love birthdays, but I love your birthday–” Tyler leaned forward in his seat, releasing your hand so that he could cup your cheek. He brushed a loose strand of hair from your face before his fingers traced your jawline delicately. 

“I think your cake got destroyed.”

He couldn’t help the soft smirk that spread across his face. “I’d say that’s probably a fair assumption.”

“I’m sorry–”

“Hey,” he soothed. “Fuck birthday cakes– I didn’t want one anyway. I was thinkin’ we could get a nice pie this year. What do ya think? Blueberry? Peach cobbler?”

“But Gloria made it–” 

Suddenly, your face fell and you were back to sitting up eagerly. “Oh my God, Tyler. Gloria– she–”

“She’s safe,” Tyler interjected quickly. “Thanks to you. Boone found her not far from where you wound up, clutching to some pipes. She had a few scratches, but that was it. She said the pipes were your idea.”

A rush of pride flowed through him as he beamed at you. His girl– getting people to safety in the middle of a tornado, despite how scared you must have been. 

Your watery eyes met his, lip quivering as you tried to speak. “Tyler– I didn’t think…” he could hear the tears in your throat before you even let them out. “I didn’t think we were going to make it. God, I don’t know how we made it.”

Your voice broke on the last word, a sob escaping your lips as you doubled over. Instantly, Tyler was out of his chair and sliding into the tiny, hospital bed beside you carefully avoiding your cracked ribs and stitched up thigh. 

Without even hesitating, you curled into his side, fingers grasping as his shirt like your life depended on it. 

“Shh,” he soothed, hand rubbing up and down your arm. “You did make it. You and Gloria both. You made it because you thought on your feet– I’m so proud of you,” he hummed, pressing his lips to the side of your head. 

He had no idea if you believed him or not– no idea if his words were sinking in at all. You clutched his shirt and cried against his chest– frame shaking with each breath you took. Tyler felt so helpless in that moment. All he could do was whisper reassuring comments and words of affirmation in your ear and hold you tightly against him. 

After a while, your breathing started to return to normal. Your grip on his shirt loosened as you let out a sigh. “You came to get me,” you said quietly, voice sounding so tired– like it was moments away from drifting off. 

Tyler pressed his lips to your hair, eyes squeezing shut. “I’ll always come to get you,” he promised. 

You nodded. “I know.” 

Tyler ran his hand up and down your arm a few more times soothingly. “The laundry mat was a good idea– especially with the pipes,” he murmured into your hair. 

With what little energy you had left, you pulled away from him to glance up. With a raised eyebrow, you asked. “Does that mean I can be a tornado wrangler now?” 

He smirked playfully. “That depends, do you want to be?”

You bit your lip, like you were really thinking about it. After a moment, you scrunched your nose up. “And face one of those things nearly everyday? Not a chance.”

Tyler smiled, pulling you gently against his chest– right where you belonged. “There’s my girl,” he said lovingly.