#the chapters are like little short stories

[rika-mmendmethings]

Against Blood & Water l Sylus

Chapter 4

Ch 3 | Chapter 5 next Wednesday

Summary: Seventeen years ago, your life had taken a turn for the worse when your newborn twins were separated from you by a cruel twist of fate. The same fate had led you to the N109 Zone, to your children who were all grown up now. Reconciliation with your boys would've been slightly easier had they somehow not acquired a father figure over the years who wasn't letting them go anytime soon.

Warning(s): Subject to change as we progress further into the story. For this chapter: mentions of guns, stalking and drugs/drug dealings, first meeting with the devil himself

Word count: 2.9k

Playlist coming soon.

Notes: A long chapter as a compensation for lost time ;) Did you notice the parallels between Elysium's menu in the last chapter and this chapter? This story is for the Sylus girlies' who consider Luke and Kieran their babies. A little information on the timeline: in this story, the reader is 35 with Luke and Kieran being 17. Sylus never felt like 28 to me, so he's a hot-ass 39-year-old man (bear with me). The timeline is a bit confusing, I know, but soon it'll be cleared, too. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me, and I'll try my best to give you a proper answer without revealing too much. Let me know if you wish to be added to the tag list for this series. ♥

Tag list: @babyx91 @pillarofsnow @beyond-the-stars-fairy @yuki-sama6 @sylviewrites @idiashusband @sadmonke @monophobix @lunarvolley @stxrrielle @fries11 @gremlinartstudio @lillycore @novthirty @animegamerfox @cathedralofaudra @nm4565natty @69-gojos-wife-69 @eolivy @namjoons-toenails @silverianni @nezuswritingdesk @beaconsxd @justpassingdontworry @ruyaya @browneyedgirl22 @rafayelridesfisheatsfish @sneakysnakeysstuff @midiplier @colonelcalebs-pipsqueak @dana-nite @lazeriii @into-deepspace @nommingonfood @eden-axe @verysleepylittleguy @lunia-likes-pomegranet @do-clouds-smoke-weed @sowntears @batgirliee @slovesyouuu @blythered @rievendell @larailorelei @owodi @eden-axe @some-gurl-idk @sarah22447 @belles-reads @kanjiharitama @astvriisk

You cursed inwardly at the absence of a peephole as you pressed yourself flat against the door. Gun raised in your dominant hand, you reached for the doorknob with the other, turning it with excruciating care. Then, without further hesitation, you yanked the door open, heedless of the risk — after all, you were armed. That should be enough.

Standing before you was a short, elderly man, adjusting his glasses as he squinted at a crumpled sheet of paper. At the sound of the door opening, he looked up and scratched his head. “Is this apartment number 404?” he asked, entirely unfazed by the weapon in your hand. Perhaps he was just another product of life in the N109 Zone, where paranoia and firearms were part of the décor.

You felt your heart trying to recover from the brink of cardiac arrest — all for this?

“This building only has three floors, mister,” you deadpanned, rubbing your temples in mild irritation.

He chuckled gleefully, apparently amused by his own mistake. “Oh, dear gods! My bad, young lady. Enjoy your evening,” he said with a carefree wave.

You forced a polite smile and shut the door before he’d even turned away. Shaking your head in disbelief, you set your gun down on the table and wandered back into the dimly lit living room. Collapsing onto the couch, you picked up the mechanical bird that had been silently observing you. Its eyes remained vacant, yet the long-range tracker beneath its talon blinked persistently in red.

You tried to scratch the tracker off to no avail. Frustrated, you fetched a fork and prepared to pry it out manually — but were halted mid-movement by the bird’s sudden, piercing cries of distress.

You sighed, rolling your eyes as you set the crow down beside you, your gaze drifting absently into the distance. You could feel the bird’s curious eyes fixed on you, and with a shrug, you turned your attention back to it.

“What?” you muttered. “Your creator probably embedded ten more trackers somewhere inside you. It's not like I’ll be able to find them all before my location gets compromised, so I’ll leave you be, birdie.”

The mechanical crow tilted its head and gave a subtle nod, as though it comprehended your reasoning — and agreed. It then began preening its artificial feathers with a calm efficiency that almost made you forget it was just a machine.

You studied it for a while, unable to suppress a flicker of admiration for the intricate craftsmanship. On impulse, you scooped the crow back into your hands, turning it over to inspect the fine detailing etched into its metallic body, ignoring the irritable caws it let out in protest. It fluttered in a futile attempt to escape, but its damaged wing kept it grounded.

A pang of guilt shot through you.

With a sigh, you stood and retrieved a pair of pliers. Holding them up, you addressed the bird, “I’ll try to fix your bent wing, if you’re willing.”

You were offering it the chance to back away — to refuse the aid of your untrained hands. But your lips curled faintly when the crow hopped forward, climbing onto your lap and settling with its wings spread out in quiet submission.

Carefully, you worked on its mangled wing, using the pliers to straighten the deformed metal feathers — casualties of the bullet that had nearly torn the wing off. When you were done, you gently set it down and gave it space.

With hesitant beats of its wings, the crow lifted into the air, wobbly and a bit unsteady, yes — but it was flying again. You watched with a quiet sense of pride, half-expecting it to head straight for the nearest exit.

Instead, it circled once, then landed beside your hand, staring up at you.

You raised a brow, amusement flickering in your eyes. “What? Not planning to report back to your master?” you teased, stroking a finger gently down its smooth, cold head. “Or maybe you’re sticking around to spy a little longer — just in case I spill something useful?”

The bird offered no response, no artificial chirps or movements. It simply settled beside you, tucking its wings neatly beneath its frame.

You exhaled, raking a hand through your hair as sleep overtook your senses, your body succumbing to the land of dreams.

The next morning, you woke with a well-devised plan already playing out in your mind as you freshened up for the day. It was simple, really: you'd visit a run-down bar named ‘Gemini’ where a man named Herald was waiting. He had promised to provide insider information on the drug lord’s upcoming deal locations — for a modest bribe, of course.

You were just about to head out when a familiar pair of glowing red eyes blinked up at you mid-popsicle bite. With a resigned sigh, you realized you couldn't risk leaving your most valuable lead unattended in the apartment.

You rummaged through the storeroom, still cluttered with leftover construction materials, until you unearthed an old rope. Returning to the living room, you grabbed the mechanical crow in one swift motion, ignoring its caws of protest. You secured the rope around its head and beneath its wings, fashioning a makeshift leash. A quick tug on your end confirmed it was neither too tight nor too loose — just enough to keep it in check.

The bird glared at you with unmistakable indignation, its metal feathers puffed out in defiance as it hopped into your path. You shot it a sharp look and warned coldly, “Get in my way again, and I’ll stomp on you so hard, even your synthetic feathers won’t know which direction to fall in.”

The mechanical crow appeared to understand the threat — albeit reluctantly — and, still a bit pissed, settled by your side as you locked the door behind you.

You made your way down the streets to the bar, the mechanical crow hopping ahead of you. You almost felt as if you were taking your pet crow for a walk — almost. Considering the bird was more of a hostage than a companion, and the aged rope barely qualified as a leash, the comparison felt far from accurate.

You made it to the club with a side-eye or two on the streets and searched for the burly man as soon as you entered. The interior was only sparsely crowded, making it easy to spot your contact. You took a seat across from Herald, carefully concealing your mechanical stalker beneath the table, its leash (rope?) still securely gripped in your left hand.

You handed over the promised payment, listening intently as Herald detailed the timing of the shifts between dealing locations. In a few moments, he passed you a hastily drawn map of the N109 Zone, the dealing routes marked with crude arrows and highlighted dots. You tucked the map into the pocket of your blazer as he left, and then made your way to the terrace of the ten-story building, a half-finished vegetable skewer in one hand and the rope (leash?) of your little stalker in the other.

Standing on the terrace, you gripped the cool metal railing, your fingers curled around it for balance. Your feet were perched on the narrow concrete lip running along the base of the railing, just elevated enough to allow you to lean forward slightly. The height gave you a better vantage of the ground below, though you found your mind wandering to the thought of what it would be like if you fell. You took a big bite of the vegetable around the skewer, concluding that you’d live but the injuries you’d face would be fatal. 

As you absentmindedly took another bite from the skewer, your gaze flicked toward the bar below. A customer had just entered, and you couldn't help but notice that the doors weren’t the traditional wooden kind. Instead, two tall, sturdy mirrors stood in place, perfectly aligned, each reflecting the other. The corners of the mirrors were adorned with delicate silver filigree, now chipped but still beautiful.

Twin mirrors facing each other…hm.

You took the final bite of your skewer, a strange sense of familiarity tugging at the edge of your thoughts. You couldn’t place it — but before you could dwell on it further, the mechanical crow began flapping its wings in a frenzy, thrashing and twisting as if desperate to escape the rope looped around its neck.

Startled, you tossed the skewer aside and hastily dusted off your hand, tightening your grip on the rope. But it was too late. With one final violent jerk, the bird slipped free, its tarnished wings catching the dim light as it soared to the adjacent railing and disappeared into the shadows.

Left with no other choice, you drew your gun from the holster beneath your blazer and aimed at the faint glint of crimson in the darkness. You muttered a curse under your breath — damn the N109 Zone and its perpetual gloom, even at eleven in the morning. You couldn’t risk letting that bird escape. You shifted your aim slightly, targeting the wing, intent on mangling the metal just enough to ground it.

You pulled the trigger.

But the recoil caught you off guard. A sharp, startled scream tore from your throat as the force knocked you off balance. Your feet slipped from the narrow ledge, and in one fluid, horrifying motion, your body tipped over the railing. You plummeted, arms flailing, the wind shrieking past your ears as terror clawed its way up your spine. Ten stories down. This was your end.

Then — everything stopped.

A thick, red-black mist coiled around your body, engulfing you. In an instant, it yanked you upward back to the terrace. Before you could make sense of it, you were back — kneeling on the terrace floor, your chest heaving. You wiped the sweat from your brow with a trembling hand, blinking rapidly to clear your vision.

You saw a shadow on the ground moving towards you and you whipped your head up. The first thing you saw was your stalker bird perched obediently on his shoulders making everything inside you still. His voice, when he spoke, was deep and measured, with a touch of amused disdain.

“Someone really ought to revoke your pistol permit, sweetie.”

Right at that moment, you saw a small bullet hole right in the center of his forehead and minimal blood splattered on his face. Your hand flew to your mouth not out of the knowledge of the fact that you had shot him when you were meaning to shoot the bird, but out of the realization that he was alive and walking around as if he owned the place — that the bullet hadn’t killed him, as if death had chosen to skip him entirely.

You rose slowly to your feet, gripping the gun tightly as you sized him up. The mechanical crow perched dutifully on his shoulder was all the confirmation you needed — this was the man who had sent it to track your every move. Your stalker. And yet, paradoxically, this same man had just saved your life. Then again, you wouldn’t have ended up in that kind of situation if his little invention hadn’t startled you in the first place.

You watched with thinly veiled curiosity as he dragged a finger across his forehead, the bullet hole sealing itself as though it had never existed. Calmly, he retrieved a small black handkerchief from the pocket of his blazer and methodically wiped the blood from his face.

“How is this even possible? How are you still standing—just who the hell are you?” you asked, finally finding your voice.

“A friend, sweetie,” he replied smoothly, returning the handkerchief to its place. Were your ears failing you or did you actually hear ‘fiend’ instead of ‘friend’? 

You chose not to voice your inner conflict. Instead, you crossed your arms and scoffed. “Friends don’t usually set their creepy little spy inventions to their so-called friends’ backs.”

He hummed in agreement, a low, velvety sound that matched the glint of amusement in his crimson eyes. They regarded you not with malice, but with the kind of knowing mirth that suggested he was three moves ahead — and quite enjoying it.

“I suppose I owe you an apology,” he began, voice smooth as silk. “Though, in my defense, necessity has a way of making choices for us.”

He stepped closer, the click of his boots against the floor deliberate. Then, with a slight tilt of his head, he offered a name like it was a game piece laid on the board:

“I’m Sylus. Leader of Onychinus.”

The name landed like a stone in your stomach. You straightened instinctively, mind racing — Onychinus. That was who employed your children.

As if unfazed by your reaction, he produced a coin from his pocket and began flipping it lazily between his fingers, each spin catching the dim light. His tone remained conversational, almost indulgent.

“Onychinus has, regrettably, found itself under the radar of Linkon’s Crime Department. A tedious affair, really. The recent... activity spike within the faction hasn’t helped. Naturally, I’ve been searching for someone competent enough to handle a few inconvenient legal entanglements. Imagine my surprise when I learned that one of Linkon’s finest legal minds was wandering around the N109 Zone.”

He gave a subtle nod to the mechanical crow perched on his shoulder.

“So yes,” he said, lips curling into a smirk, “I sent Mephisto to keep an eye on you. Strictly for your… safety, of course. The N109 isn’t exactly a welcoming place for an outsider like you.” He paused, tilting his head slightly, that smirk deepening. “And, well… turns out that decision paid off quite nicely, didn’t it?”

You swallowed the sarcastic “no thanks” on the tip of your tongue and crossed your arms instead, tapping your foot with restrained annoyance, forced to keep your demeanor since you didn’t have knowledge of the extent of his powers.

“So what now?” you asked, voice edged. “Am I expected to sell my soul just because you showed up at the right time?”

His smile turned cryptic, as if he knew something you didn’t. “Something along those lines.”

You narrowed your eyes, about to respond, when he smoothly cut in.

“All I ask is that you lend me your legal expertise. Temporarily. Help me navigate a few… complexities. I’d say that’s a fair trade for pulling you back from death’s doorstep, wouldn’t you?”

If your department found out you were even considering this offer, they’d have your resignation letter written before you could blink. But then again, it wasn’t like your hands were clean. You’d tampered with major criminal cases before, manipulating outcomes with your probability evol — all while claiming not to be an evolver when you first joined the judiciary.

"What exactly do I stand to gain in return?" You jutted your chin toward him with defiance, finally easing your gun back into the holster beneath your blazer.

"You’re a shark," he commented, the corner of his mouth curling into the faintest hint of a grin.

"You should see me when there's blood in the water," you shot back coolly, your lips pressed into a firm line.

Sylus didn’t hesitate. "Protection in the N109 Zone. Especially when you're forced to wade through the mess that brought you here in the first place. Housing at my estate and most needs taken care of. No one will know you're working for me, and your position in Linkon’s judicial branch will remain untouched. Your expenses will be handled. You'll have regular access to Mephisto, Luke, and Kieran."

He let that last part hang, crimson eyes observing your reaction.

Your breath hitched as you heard him mention the names of your twins. That alone was enough reason for you to work for him. You’d see them again. Every day, even. You could rebuild something real, something fragile that had almost been lost eighteen years ago. Thank goodness that the little semblance of pride in you prevented you from bursting into happy tears right at that very moment. 

You cleared your throat, eyes flickering to a distant point as if searching for a reason not to give in.

"Alright," you murmured, gaze steady now. "I'll work with Onychinus—for the time being."

Sylus leaned back in his seat, exuding a quiet satisfaction. "Excellent." He extended a hand, his voice like velvet over steel. "Welcome to Onychinus."

You took his hand in a firm shake. His grip was tightened for a fraction of a second and you could’ve sworn you saw some kind of hostility in his gaze before it was gone.

"Why don’t you gather your belongings from your apartment?" he suggested. "We’ll head to the estate once you’re ready. I’ll drive."

You gave it a moment’s thought, then nodded. He gestured for you to lead the way, ever the gentleman with a predator’s patience.

Once your footsteps had faded and the terrace fell silent, Mephisto, perched nearby, cocked his head and let out a low, inquisitive caw. His gaze remained locked on the door you had passed through, the space where you'd stood, almost as if he were waiting for you to reappear. 

After a long pause, Sylus finally spoke, his voice a whisper that still managed to echo with dark resonance. "They say to keep your friends close..." He let the words dangle, his lips curling ever so slightly. "...but it’s your enemies you should keep closer… Close enough to feel the pulse of their fear, yet distant enough that they never see your blade until it’s too late."

He turned to follow you, Mephisto perching back on his shoulder.

Author's exclusive cuts episode 1:-

In Latin, "Gemini" means "twins." Gemini is a bar which was sponsored by Sylus himself, a year after he officially met Luke and Kieran. Most of the ornaments and even the architecture of the place allude to the general theme which is 'twins'. Additionally, the menu of the bar is everything that the twins' like. The bar is "run-down" as a result of the twins antics overtime.

Check out my other works if you liked this ♥

[alovesreading]

Constant Repeat | Part 19

Summary: Having worked at Focus Creeps for a year, Ella knows that as a production assistant and part of the crew, there’s one important rule: don’t interact with the talent unless it’s needed. But once she meets Arctic Monkeys, and the recording of the music videos for their upcoming fourth studio album starts, the band seem to become her exception. Not only because they treat her more like a friend than just someone else they’re working with but when Alex continuously makes her blush with his flirting, so enthralled by her that he forgets he’s got a girlfriend, Ella finds herself growing closer to him. As videos are filmed, wrapped and edited, the friendship lines become blurry. Situations unfold, secrets are told and others are kept under lock and key, but how long can Alex and Ella endure being stuck in each other’s minds on constant repeat.

Word Count: 28k

Story Warnings: Throughout this series there will be suggestive talk, jealousy, cheating, alcohol and drug use, angst, smut.

A/N: You lot deserve a medal, perhaps a couple awards for all your patience. Thank you for sticking by, being so supportive and willing to wait for me. So much had happened in the past year, I just turned a year older, I got a new car, and I'm graduating tomorrow; lots of exciting things and I'm so incredibly grateful for it all. I just wished I could have some more time to write/read, but I'm trying to manage it a little better and it might be working. I just finished this chapter, it's not been properly proofread but I hope that it's good and not filled with awful grammar and orthographical mistakes. I truly hope you enjoy despite it being relatively short, I really poured all of me to bring you another chapter as soon as I could, fighting all my writer slumps in the process. I hope I was successful, anyway, have fun reading! xx

Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 |

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

There was never a moment when Alex wasn’t on the phone to Ella while the band was away on tour after they got together. In the tour bus, before boarding a plane, in the greenroom before and after a show. It was a miracle to even get Alex to put down his phone for soundcheck and, more often than not, it was because Breana would be the one to record videos to send Ella or FaceTiming the director herself so Alex could concentrate on what he was supposed to do. 

It was honestly kind of disturbing to see Alex using his phone so often. The lads had definitely been teasing him over and over for not being able to leave Ella alone—to that, Alex always rolled his eyes and actually refuted them by saying he did leave her alone when she was working and couldn’t use her phone on set. 

“Melt,” Matt would say followed by a mocking snort when Alex would pout at his phone screen when Ella couldn’t pick up the phone or hadn’t answered one of his texts yet.

But it was days like those when Ella couldn’t stay on her phone for most of the day due to work that she would sneak into a bathroom and send Alex pictures that she had hidden away in her phone just for him. 

One of the first ones he got was when she had been shooting an advert and managed to sneak away from her responsibilities during her very short lunch break. She had sent him a mirror selfie just wearing one of the lacy little things she had gotten for herself when she went shopping with Katie.

Alex, who was slowly sipping his beer while lazily sitting on the corner of the lounge, choked when he got the notification of her text and opened it to a very explicit photo of her. 

His eyes went wide and he couldn’t stop coughing. He locked his phone fairly quickly when seeing everyone’s attention on him, but the picture was burned into his retinas and he needed to leave the room—his jeans started feeling too constricted.

“You alright mate?” someone asked.

The singer didn’t even have the mind to focus on who was speaking to him, he just nodded his head as he tried to calm down. Once he got his breath back, he added, “Yes, erm…” 

His trailing off was met with silence since everyone wanted an explanation for his sudden coughing fit. Nosy bunch the lot of them really. 

“Yeah, fine,” Alex clarified, and without leaving room for their curiosity to continue growing, he jumped off his seat and left the room with a quick, “Excuse me.”

He ran to his bunk so quickly, almost smashing his head open when he hastily climbed into his bed and closed the curtain. Unlocking his phone and getting to see the picture again left him breathless.

Ella was sitting on the floor of her room right in front of her massive mirror, burgundy lingerie set on. He had been instantly caught by the look of her tits almost spilling out of the see-through lace bra she had on, just now he was noticing that she was using the hand she wasn’t holding her phone with to shove aside her underwear and had a finger teasing her entrance. 

You’re cruel, he texted back as he fumbled to undo his belt with one hand. I’m so tempted to buy you a ticket and have you in this bunk with me right now xxxxx

Alex was teasing himself over his boxers when Ella’s response came through, Made a mess already? That’s quicker than I expected ;) xxx

Squeezing himself one last time, he shoved down the fabric of his boxers and let his cock spring out. He was already leaking at the tip, all he could think about was burying himself in her, replacing her finger in that picture and teasing her with his cock until she was drooling and begging for it. 

He groaned as he ran his thumb over his slick tip, wishing it was her arousal getting his dick all wet instead.

Not yet darling, but it won’t be soon before that. Wish I could make a mess of you instead xxxx 

Ella giggled inside the lonely bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror and noticing her flushed cheeks, the color going down her neck. She shifted in her spot when feeling a tingle run down her spine and settling between her legs. Fuck, she wished he could make a mess of her too—she missed the feeling of him pounding into her and the warmth of his cum mixed with hers dripping out of her cunt.

She swallowed a moan as she replied, Wish you could make a mess all over me xxx

Alex groaned as he pictured his cum on her pretty face, tongue licking away the remnants of him on her swollen pink lips. Inside his mind flashed the fantasies of him cumming over her stomach, imagining Ella running her fingers over the mess and sucking on them to taste every last drop of him—the singer picked up the pace of his fist around his cock when he pictured himself licking it all up for her and spitting it all in her mouth, how she’d swallow gladly and pull him in for a hungry kiss. 

It never took long for Alex to cum all over himself—or in a condom, if he wasn’t rushing enough to roll one down his length before getting himself off to the sight of her. And after the first time she complained about him not sharing proof of just how badly she affected him, Alex made sure to send her something back. 

Ella drove back home with the biggest smirk on her face every time, knowing that she had a treat from him when she got back to hers. After a long day of work, there was nothing better than moaning his name as she used one of her toys while seeing pictures or a video of him getting himself off to the thought of her. 

No one really said anything, because they all knew how badly it was to be away from their partners while on tour, but there were times when Alex and Ella were just too obnoxious for the lads to not taunt them about it. 

Like the one time Alex felt careless enough to remain in his bunk when Ella called him late one night, her voice wavering and her breath staggering in a clear sign that it was one of those days she was way too needy and had to hear his voice while touching herself. 

His jeans becoming too tight as his cock grew heavy when she’d whine and whimper on the other side of the line, her thoughts incoherently leaving her mouth as she fucked herself with a toy that just didn’t feel as good as his cock did but was enough to satiate her need for him.

Alex’s whispers weren’t quiet enough, and the silent gasps he’d let out were too abrupt in the silence of the night to wake his mates and their wives up. 

Ella’s fantasies ran loose as she came closer and closer to her climax, she painted the picture in detail as she continued gliding the dildo in and out of her dripping cunt, “I want you to bend me over the bathroom sink, and pound me from behind so hard I get bruises on my hips, baby. Want you to fucking spank me and pull my hair so I can see you through the mirror, and you can see me fucking drooling because your cock feels so fucking good inside me.”

“F-fuck, baby.” Alex groaned a bit too loudly, “Gonna be squeezing me so fucking tight with that sweet cunt of yours. And you’re gonna cum all over me, yeah? Gonna drench my cock, darling?”

Ella moaned louder in response and picked up her pace as she felt herself about to fall over the edge, “Yes–fuck! Yes, Alex!”

“Go on darling, give it all to me.” 

His voice dropped an octave as he quickened his pace and he started thrusting upwards to fuck his own fist. He bit his lip not to moan out loud, holding his breath when Ella’s loud mewls and moans of his name came through the phone, cumming inside the condom he’d managed to put on.

Ella’s labored breaths matched his and it was all they heard as they came down from their highs. The crackling of the signal reminded them of the distance between them and, suddenly, the sweet remnants of release were exchanged by the longing of being skin to skin, missing how it felt to relish in how well they fit together body and soul in the aftermath of an orgasm.  

“I miss you, sweetness,” Ella mumbled sadly, “Want you right here with me.”

“Me too, darling,” Alex sighed heavily, “I hate being away from you for so long. Will make it up to you, I promise.”

“Yeah?” Ella replied, a cheeky smile growing on her face as she went to tease him, “How will you make it up to me, baby?”

“Anything you ask for, darling. A thousand movies in Los Feliz, the moon and the stars, to worship you until my jaw aches and locks.” He heard her breath hitching, “Whatever you ask for, darling. It’s yours.”

She groaned loudly, “I fucking love you.”

He giggled like a fool, “I love you more.”

“Impossible,” she replied easily with his usual one-liner.

Alex snorted but before he could reply, someone shouted from another bunk, “Go to sleep you filthy fuckers, I’m tired.” 

The silence was loud afterwards but Ella laughed loudly after a few seconds, calling Alex out for not going to the other bunk area or the back lounge like he usually did, “You just stayed in there with everyone else?”

“You kind of didn’t give me a choice, darling. I couldn’t think straight the second I picked up and heard you saying my name like that.”

Ella snorted, “Glad to know just how badly I affect you.”

Alex sighed, a loopy smile on his face as he clarified, “Oh darling, you’ve ruined me you know that.” 

“Have I?” Ella countered, as if she didn’t know.

“Horrendously so.” Alex mumbled, “Ruined forever, baby.”

Ella bit her lip before going to reply, but again, someone else interrupted their conversation, “We just wanna sleep. You’re gonna see each other on the 6th. Just– please stop it, you soppy twats.”

Alex sighed in annoyance while Ella giggled. Even if he wanted to continue, he knew he’d just have to go to bed because he was sure now everyone in the bunks were awake and awaiting him to shut the fuck up. 

So he sighed again before joking loudly so the nosy bunch would stop complaining, “Sorry darling, they’re just fucking jealous.”

A choir of insults and profanities was heard, making Ella laugh again. Alex joined in her giggling before actually bidding her farewell, “Love you, darling. See you soon, yeah?”

Ella sighed contentedly hearing those words from him. She’d never get tired of hearing them nor saying them back. Biting her lip, she replied, “Love you. Sweet dreams, my love.”

“Sweet dreams baby,” he said back before she ended the call. 

When Alex went to discard the condom in the bathroom, he had gotten another round of abuse from everyone else. The bullying didn’t relent for days and, every day as Alex pouted when he FaceTimed Ella, she threatened to be even worse if they didn’t leave her man alone. 

That only triggered more bullying, but it was funny enough to hear them all creatively picking on Alex, and seeing how his cheeks would tint pink when they’d imitate the noises he made or the things he said to her on the phone.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll make them pay when y’all get over here,” Ella promised one day after the teasing went on and on. 

On the morning of the 6th of August, Ella arrived at the venue of the concert they were having in San Diego. When she saw Alex looking hot as fuck, waiting by the tour bus beside Bre and Matt with a sweet smile on his face, she felt like even the constant FaceTime calls and texts hadn’t made up for all the time apart. 

The second Alex locked eyes with Ella, as she got out of the car that he had booked to drive her down to San Diego, he started walking towards her. But she beat him to it, for she ran straight towards him, jumping into his arms eagerly. 

The thud of her suitcase being taken off the boot of the car and placed on the pavement was lost in the background as Alex’s hands came to hold her up. Ella was so lost in the fact that she could finally card her fingers through his yet-to-be-gelled hair that she didn’t hear the driver asking where he could put her case. If she had properly heard, she would’ve said it didn’t matter, because it truly didn’t.

The only thing that mattered was that she could finally pounce on Alex’s lips with need, feel his tongue licking into her mouth and hear his breath hitch as she pulled on his hair. His fingers dug harder into the clothed flesh of her ass and she could already feel arousal pooling between her legs from his touch.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly when she pulled back, but before she could continue, he went in for another kiss. 

She squealed and giggled into it, squirming in his hold and forcing him to set her down on the floor. But even as she pulled back because her giggles wouldn’t let her keep kissing him, he continued dropping pecks all over her face. The two of them completely forgetting the crowd around them, Matt was the one to tell the driver to please leave Ella’s case by the door of the tour bus.

“Missed you–” Alex mumbled in between his loving attack, “–so much.”

Both her hands cupped his face, stopping him. Just so she could stare at him, take in those gorgeous brown eyes she was obsessed with, the strands of hair falling over his forehead. 

Being apart for over a month felt like a crime, but it did make seeing each other again so incredibly sweet. She almost wanted to melt into the floor all because of the flood of feelings rushing through her. Her chest hurt from the amount of love coursing through her veins.

And Alex felt just the same, he was almost vibrating with every feeling rumbling inside of him, like an earthquake that just wouldn’t stop.

His arm wrapped around her waist to bring her impossibly closer and kissed her again. But this kiss was cut short since Matt and Breana, who were done being tortured by the PDA, finally approached them and the model called out from behind Alex, “Okay, my turn now!”

Ella laughed loudly as she pulled back and left Alex’s arms to hug Bre tightly. They swayed in their place, cooing at each other, making both lads smile as they watched the sweet reunion. 

Alex clocked on the driver leaving Ella’s case by the door and thanked him just as Matt managed to get his own bear hug from Ella. However, it wasn’t long before Ella was back beside Alex, intertwining their fingers and kissing him quickly just once more before they started moving towards the van that was waiting for them. 

Matt and Bre led the way while Ella and Alex followed a few meters behind, wanting to have the other to themselves for a tiny bit longer before the day properly started. 

When they stopped by the van, and Matt was approached by the driver, Ella took the chance to throw her arms around Alex’s neck and run her fingers up and down the back of his head. That had Alex rolling his eyes in pleasure at the feeling of her nails scratching his scalp lightly. 

She bit her bottom lip at the sight of him—the black Chelsea boots and the black jeans paired with a light blue wash button up, which was half buttoned and showing his chest and that gold chain that made her thoughts go feral, “You look so good.”

Alex raised a brow and a smirk broke on his face, “Do I?”

“Yeah,” Ella nodded, “Fit as fuck.”

The singer couldn’t help but giggle at his girlfriend’s choice of words, leaning in to kiss her as a thank you for the compliment. 

When he pulled back, he made sure to make a show of looking her up and down, letting every dirty thought he was having of her show in his darkening eyes, “You look fit as fuck too, darling.”

She didn’t believe him for a second because, even though he’d had someone pick her up and drive her two hours down to San Diego instead of letting her drive herself, she still felt a little rough from the trip. And she was just wearing a pair of jeans and a vest top with a leather jacket over it, her black motorcycle boots matching it, she didn’t feel hot at all at the minute—much less this early in the morning.

“You’re just being nice,” Ella rolled her eyes as she said. 

Alex shook his head and leaned in until his lips brushed the shell of her ear and he could whisper, “Darling, you look so fucking hot I wanna take you right here, right now.”

Her cheeks were burning bright red when he pulled back to look right in her eyes, her mouth slightly parted and her breaths became heavy. 

After clearing her throat, she called him out in a whisper, “Sweetness, you can’t just say that when we’re meant to go somewhere else.”

“Shall we try my bunk quickly?” Alex quipped with a cheeky smirk.

She flicked at his chest and giggled, heat rushing up her neck and cheeks again, “Stop it.” 

The reason she wanted him to stop was because she would say yes in a heartbeat if he really suggested it, and it wouldn’t be ideal for anyone else but the two of them.

Thankfully, Matt saved her decency by turning around and telling them they had to get on the van and get going. Ella couldn’t help the little squeak that left her mouth when she started walking towards the vehicle and thought about how she’d be hearing them live again so soon. 

Alex gave her a puzzled yet amused look when he sat beside her on the second row and she was very honest about it for she shrugged and admitted, “I’ve been dying to hear you sing in person again, sweetness.”

With a smug expression on his face, he teasingly asked, “Have you?”

But she couldn’t be anything but honest about it, “Been playing you in the car every day but it just isn’t the same.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, smirking, and called her out, “Obsessed.”

Ella had the brightest smile on her face while she let her hand come over where his hand was resting on her thigh. She nodded, “I really am.”

Alex felt loopy already. Drunk on all of her. He just needed those eyes on him, her touch all over him, to hear her sweet voice, to be enveloped by her scent, to feel her lips on his. So he turned slightly and kissed her again, a kiss that said I love you and I need you and only you.

By the look on her face when he pulled back after they lost their breath, Alex could say he had successfully relayed the message. 

Yet, just in case, he promised, “I’ll serenade you,” so he could use another of his favorite languages to tell her everything he felt for her. 

The drive over to the studio was barely 40 minutes long, which was relatively quickly considering they got stuck in quite a bit of traffic. 

When they got to the place and they walked in, the large crowd of fans and the radio station crew were instantly captivated by the sight of Alex and Matt walking into the room. Breana and Ella slipped to the back of the room where no one noticed them as everyone was too busy following the band members’ trail up to the little stage that had been set up.

Ella smiled like a fool when the lads took a seat on the tall stools right behind microphone stands in the middle of the stage and waved at the people gathered in front of them. Alex offered everyone a quiet greeting that everyone echoed back with enthusiasm. 

The room was charged with anticipation and it rumbled inside Ella’s chest as someone brought in Alex’s acoustic guitar and handed it to him so he could tune it and get comfortable with it. 

Just as Alex was tuning the guitar and teased a few strums of it to get himself ready, someone handed Matt a pair of shakers and a tambourine. The drummer looked at his best mate and nodded, and right then, the show started.

The setlist started with ‘Snap Out of It’, which was a nice first song since the energy in the room charged with even more excitement. Ella couldn’t help the string of giggles that left her when Alex looked her way and winked as he sang. 

‘Do I Wanna Know?’ had been next and it had everyone in the room whooping, whistling and hollering by the end of the song, which made Alex smile shyly to himself and get a little flustered at the response from the crowd. 

By the time ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?’ started, it felt like the whole building had quieted down so everyone, even those outside, could hear how amazing the song sounded with an acoustic guitar, Alex’s rich voice and Matt’s flawless falsetto on the background vocals.

After that, they played ‘No. 1 Party Anthem’ which made Ella and Breana hug each other and sway together to the music. Ella felt like she was levitating hearing Alex singing, her brain flooding with the memories of the first time he ever sang a few of those lines and how that song came to be. She choked up a bit when thinking back to how long ago that felt like and how far they had come since then. 

Her emotional state only became worse when they ended their set with ‘I Wanna Be Yours’. Knowing that he had wanted to make that poem into a song for her to get the hint made her chest swell with tenderness. 

She was a bit sad though, about the fact that she wasn’t allowed to take pictures with her own camera because she was honestly dying to capture the moment through her own lenses, however all she could do was try her best to engrave it all in her mind. 

It wouldn’t be hard to when, by the end of the song, Alex looked right at her and winked. She blushed hard, the heat going from her cheeks down to her neck, but she still blew him a kiss. 

Ella felt like her chest was about to burst with pride and adoration, she wanted to run up to him and place kisses all over his face.  

When the little acoustic set was over, the lads took a few pictures with the radio crew and made sure to thank everyone for having them and for coming to see them. A few people mentioned that they’d be coming to the show later and Alex made sure to promise them a good show and assured them he was eager to see them all there. 

Ella felt a bit selfish when she felt an immense sense of relief right when Alex finally intertwined their fingers together as they walked out. But she cut herself some slack: after being away from him for so long, having him ten meters away for an hour without being able to be stuck by his side felt like torture. 

She made sure to steal a quick kiss before they got inside the van to head back to the venue where Jamie and Nick were waiting for them to come back so that they could have breakfast and then soundcheck. 

Getting back to the venue was quicker without the traffic, and it was a relief when Ella could finally walk up into the bus and settle on the lounge, cuddling Alex lazily. But what the director hadn’t been expecting was to get so emotional when seeing Jamie and Nick walk out into the lounge to greet her after being gone for so long.

Bless both Nick and Jamie, they made sure to give Ella extra long and tight hugs to make up for the time apart and for the fact that Kelly and Katie weren’t touring with them anymore. But Kelly was due at any moment and Katie had stayed back in the UK with her not only for work but to keep her company.

Enjoying the show without them was certainly a bit bittersweet, but Ella and Bre recorded multiple clips and made sure to send them afterwards. 

Throughout the gig Ella couldn’t fight the butterflies fluttering away and rumbling in her stomach, her heartbeat in sync with the beat of every song Alex was singing. The setlist seemed to have been chosen with her in mind, the enamored glances and cheeky winks the singer sent her way during every song nodded to her being right. 

After finally being able to call Alex her boyfriend and say I love you as many times as she wanted, every song hit a bit different. Especially those he had written with heavy and silent longing rushing through his veins. It was like the fog had dissipated and every combination of words made so much more sense. 

It was probably why, the second the encore was over and the lads officially walked off the stage, Ella ran off to trap Alex in a tight hug. They shared a passionate kiss before the crew walked in on stage to pick everything up, the curious and teasing glances not bothering the couple one bit. 

When they got to the greenroom, Alex and Ella were basically glued together, only letting go of each other when Alex went to take a quick shower before they boarded the bus and left for LA. 

With how tired everyone was, they skipped staying in the lounge and all went to their respective bunks. Ella’s heart multiplied in size inside her chest when Alex guided her to his, a broad hand on her lower back. The warmth that spread through her suddenly dissipated her exhaustion, having Alex coming in the bunk after her and feeling his body press up against her kickstarted her whole being. 

The drive up to Los Angeles was meant to be about two hours long so they were due in the city of Angels in the middle of the night. And, realistically, Ella and Alex would just have to wait a bit longer to have each other all to themselves; but with being so close together after such a long time apart, it became an impossible task to keep their hands to themselves.

It had started with short kisses in between whispers of I missed you and random but brief things to catch each other up with, until the whispers died down and the kisses deepened and all that could be heard in the quiet of the night was the faint smacking of their lips and the soft gasps at fingers digging on skin and pulling on hair.

It became worse when they shifted impossibly closer together and one of Alex’s legs found itself slotted in between Ella’s. His hand clutched onto her hip and encouraged her to press flush against his thigh as they kissed, and soon the kisses became sloppy when Ella started rolling her hips on his leg. 

Delicious friction got a soft moan out of her, a sound that Alex would encourage and only aim to raise in volume any other time but in the still silence of the night inside the bus, Alex had to pull back and break the kiss to remind Ella, “We need to be quiet.”

Ella swallowed harshly, slowing down her hips but not stopping entirely—she couldn’t even if she tried. She bit her bottom lip as her face contorted in pleasure and took a shallow breath to be able to promise, “We’ll be.”

Those words were the greenlight for them to shift gears and continue giving into their need for each other. 

Alex held her tighter and guided each roll of her hips on his thigh, his mouth agape and his eyes never leaving the sight of her face as it crumbled out of pleasure and how desperate Ella was to chase her high by using him.

She was struggling to keep quiet so she hid her face on the crook of his neck, heavy breaths fanning his sensitive skin and the silent gasps falling right in his ear. 

He needed more. So much more.

Alex was completely driven by the need to make her fall apart for him when he let his hand wander from her hip down the front of her sweatpants, deftly dipping inside to touch her where she was aching for him. 

Just one barely-there touch to her clit had Ella moaning in a whisper, “I– oh fuck.”

She was fucking drenched and Alex couldn’t help but groan softly, “So wet for me already.”

“Al…” Ella begged quietly when his fingers started tracing slow circles on her clit.

“Yeah?” Alex teased, increasing his speed and when Ella let out a broken whimper, he asked, “Feels good?”

Her hips started rolling again, greedily chasing more, as she nodded and mewled in his ear, “Mhm, so good.”

Alex could feel his cock getting heavy and straining his joggers, he wanted nothing more but to bury himself deep inside her but the situation wasn’t going to allow it so he would settle for the next best thing.

His fingers left her clit and slowly traveled down her folds, relishing in her wetness and just how responsive Ella was to him. He couldn’t help but bring his hand up to his mouth and licking his fingers clean. It was the greatest effort of his life not to let out a guttural moan at the taste of her, somehow sweeter than ever after so long without being able to have her. 

Ella shuddered at the filthy sight, left so weak from desperation and need that when Alex dipped his hand back down her underwear and slipped two fingers right inside her, a broken moan left her lips before she could even think of biting her lip to stay silent.

“Shhh, baby…” He reminded her but he really wasn’t helping at all when he slowly dragged his fingers out of her only to plunge them back in and have her gasp as he continued, “You need to be quiet.”

Ella pressed her lips together, her walls clenching his fingers tightly as she apologized in a weak whisper, “Sorry– Shitttt.”

He smirked hearing her struggle to keep quiet because of him curling his fingers inside her and starting to quicken his pace. The corners of his mouth only tugged even more when he felt how she was holding her breath as he continued to pick up his pace, and in the dead of the night they could even hear the sounds of her drenched cunt taking his fingers.

Alex pushed himself off the bunk mattress and hovered over Ella when her hips started moving again, following Alex’s pattern and meeting him in the middle as she started fucking herself on his fingers. 

But as she did that, her moans started slipping past her lips louder and louder and the only solution Alex could think of just made for the scene to become even filthier. 

With his other hand, he pushed two fingers into Ella’s mouth hoping that sucking on them would quiet her down. A smirk broke on his face when her lips wrapped around his digits without prompting and her tongue started swirling beneath them, “Yeah suck on them,” he encouraged. Images of her sucking him off flooded his brain and when she started slightly bobbing her head on them, the words just came naturally from him, “Good girl.”

It was such a great effort for Alex not to bust in his pants, but with how easy his fingers glided in and out of Ella’s cunt, how she clenched around his fingers and how good she looked as she fucked herself on them, the singer was doing his best to hold up even if he knew he would have to find his release in her hand later.

Ella sucked harder on his fingers when he curled the one inside her and hit just the spot, a muffled whine came from her and he swore he felt a bead of precum leaking from his tip just from hearing that sound come from her.

“Right there?” Alex asked, doing it again and trying to get the same response.

This time, Ella was even more eager as she mewled a louder, “Mhm!” in response. Alex’s quick shush was only half hearted.

Yet, Ella started shaking her head and then pulled her mouth off his fingers and stopped moving her hips even though her body screamed at her to keep going, because she was so close, her orgasm was looming on her. But even though Alex’s fingers filled her up so much better than her own, Ella wanted more. 

She needed more.

Alex fully pulled his fingers out of her and placed a comforting hand on her hip as he whispered a sweet, “What’s wrong?”

“I just–” Ella whispered back frustratedly, wanting to whine at the loss of him, her brows furrowing as she tried to say what she wanted even if it didn’t feel like it was possible to do then. “I don’t–” she tried again, this time fiddling with her fingers before she started being a bit clearer,  “Maybe we could, erm…”

But her words died into silence and he was left wondering for too many seconds. Alex let his body come to rest over hers and pushed his hips into hers, earning a gasp out of her at how hard he was and how good he felt rolling against her core.

“Say it,” he demanded against her mouth.

She was breathless, the only word leaving her mouth being, “I…”

Alex nudged the tip of his nose against hers and huffed, “Darling.” He had no idea what she wanted but he needed her to tell him, all he wanted was to make anything she asked for was given to her, and he would do anything if she’d just say it.

But Alex still choked when she finally got the courage to admit, “I want you inside me.”

He pondered on it for a split second before saying, “We won’t be quiet.” 

Despite the fact that there was nothing more that he wanted to do with her right then and there, he knew that they wouldn’t be able to keep quiet at all.

She brought her hands up to his face, brushing his hair back and off his sweaty forehead, “Well we don’t necessarily need to fuck do we?” She blushed as she indulged in the idea of something she’d been dreaming of doing with him, something she just needed then, “Just want you inside me. I’ve missed you baby.”

“Fuck me,” Alex mumbled before hiding his face in her neck, there he pressed a few kisses before softly biting the side of her neck and making her gasp. The ache between her legs only became worse when he licked up the side of her neck until he reached her ear and there he whispered, “Anything and everything you want, darling.”

Alex pushed off her as far as he could so that they could both shed off their sweats and underwear, a mess of limbs and haphazardly shoved down clothing that ended up being kicked off to the corner of the bunk. 

It was all a blur until the moment where Alex hovered closer to her, leaning in until their breaths mixed and they were gasping into each other’s mouths as Alex started dragging the tip of his cock up and down her slick cunt.

She let out a pathetic quiet cry at the teasing, and he listened to her silent instruction by finally lining himself up and slowly filling her up.

“Fuck… You’re feel so–” Alex moaned as he continued pushing into her, feeling the way her mouth opened wider with the stretch of his cock finally filling her up after so long. He wouldn’t be able to last with her wrapped that tightly around him, “ Ella…”

Her eyes rolled back when he bottomed out, “I know– Fuckkkk.” Her brain melted inside her skull, all that she could think about was how she could feel every ridge and vein, how well she was being stretched out by him, how she was burning up just from being like this with him again, “I missed you so much. Fucking missed your cock buried in me so much.”

Alex took deep breaths to calm his erratic heartbeat before he stated, “We can just stay like this yeah?”

“Mhm,” Ella hummed brainlessly, fully fucked out already, “Please.”

Alex’s heart was still doing somersaults inside his chest, but he recognized the feeling just came from how complete he felt at the moment. Saying, “I love you,” in that moment tasted just as sweet as her on his tongue.

And Ella saying, “I love you,” back only made his brain become even hazier. 

It was that feeling of being finally complete when they were like this that allowed for their eyes to start closing out of bliss. About thirty minutes passed with them like that, full of the other, but when there was that lingering trace of an orgasm, Ella couldn’t help but squirm around just a little. 

At first, it was alright, she was adjusting her position until she ended up almost laying on top of Alex. She sighed out in pleasure at the angle for which she finally settled, but her body reacted on its own, and when Alex felt her clenching around him, he couldn’t help but let out a noise of his own.

“Ella, shit,” the singer groaned, as quietly as he could muster but the depth of his tone reverberated inside the bunk. A shiver ran down Ella’s spine, making her squirm once more. Alex threw his head back, swallowing a moan and choking out, “You’re killing me, darling.”

A broken sob in frustration caught in Ella’s throat as she tried her best not to move again, “M’sorry, I just–” She tried to explain, but she couldn’t without disturbing the quiet of the night. So she lifted herself off Alex’s chest, just a little so she could become more comfortable, but when she shuffled forward a little, Alex’s hips worked on their own and he thrusted up into her. 

Ella’s arms wobbled like jelly, she crashed down on his chest just in time for her mouth to press against his chest, right over his erratic heart, muffling the loud moan she let out, “Oh fuckkk.”

Alex’s face scrunched up in pleasure at the friction, his whole body coming up alive with lust. But he did his best to control every atom of his being, stilling his traitorous hips to check on Ella, “Darling?”

Inside Ella’s head was a debate. It really couldn’t be considered one, when her need for him was winning over logic. Through the desperation to have all of him, she struggled to ask, “We can be quiet, right?”

“We can.” Alex nodded, gulping harshly when she moved to look up at him. Innocent charade as she batted her lashes at him. He brushed some of her hair back, admiring every bit of her beauty under the pale moonlight before saying, “I’ll just use a condom so we don’t make a mess.”

The last sense of logic left in him. She just made a mess of him, left him a fool and he had never been this content at recognizing his lack of sanity. 

Her pretty lips turned into a pout as she nodded, “Please. Please baby.”

A hand wrapped around her neck and pulled her right to his mouth. The kiss was desperate, lustful; her fingers dug into his shoulders, nails dragging up until she reached his hair and she pulled on it, bringing her impossibly closer to her. 

Alex reached a hand into the pocket of his bunk, finding a condom blindly as he continued to kiss Ella. But when the cracking of the foil reached Ella’s ears, she did not waste time to pull away and slowly get off him so that they could finally have the other how they’d been dying to for weeks. 

Ella bit her bottom lip to quiet down the soft cry that left her at the loss of him filling her up. She felt so incomplete that the few seconds it took him to rip the foil, and roll the condom down his length, felt infinite. 

Alex’s vein protuded on his neck as he held his breath when he held himself in his hand, “I won’t last darling. Come here.” 

A hand on her hip, he guided her back down. A hiss leaving him when he rubbed the tip of his cock up and down her slick folds. But as much as he would love to have her ride him, he needed to show her just how much he had missed her, how he was willing to be at her mercy after being apart for so long.

In a swift move, he pushed himself off the mattress and pushed her softly down on it. Ella let herself rest on the bedsheets with a sigh, eyes twinkling at the sight of him hovering over her. Hair falling over his forehead, heavy breath hitting her cheek, his eyes drinking her in and falling down to where they would soon connect. 

Silence was loud, charged with anticipation when he lined himself up and started to slowly push in. Staring at the other, eye to eye as their mouths went slack, silent gasps leaving the both of them. Her eyes rolled back and her teeth sank into her bottom lip when he bottomed out, his face hidden in the crook of her neck and his heavy breath tickling her sensitive skin there. 

Ella clutched tightly onto him, nails leaving crescent marks and scratches down his back. She felt the flex of his muscles with every thrust, her breath left her in a gasp with every drag and push. Sweat coated their skin, trying to be quiet adding to the effort of it all. They weren’t doing a good job at it, not when they moaned softly into each other’s mouths, not with the way they looked into each other’s eyes as their pleasure built and built. 

His fingers dug harder on her hips, bruises probably would show in the next few days, a reminder of his desperate need to hold her close and tight now that he had her. Bruises the shape of his fingers, a self-made puzzle only for Alex to put together forevermore. 

The pain of his hold only brought a smile to her face, one that was only broken by the steady looming of her orgasm. 

The lack of space in the bunk only meant they were pressed flush against each other, her peaked nipples rubbing on his chest with every thrust. And since the bunks were not reliable to not make sounds with abrupt movement, every thrust was slow and deliberate. 

She could feel him hitting that spot over and over again, her walls clenching hard around him as she struggled more and more to keep quiet. Tears brimmed at the edges of her eyes, the pleasure and their closeness only heightening each feeling and emotion. 

The tips of their noses brushed with every movement, shuddering breaths mixing together. Alex brought one of his hands up to her wrist, so that he could entwine their fingers and rest their joint hands on the mattress right by her head.

Ella felt her heart exploding in her chest. She barely managed to say in a broken whisper, “I love you.”

Alex’s hips faltered at the sound of that, his heart skipping a beat and his limbs going wobbly at those three words. His entire being felt like it was on fire when he reciprocated with devotion, “Love you– fuck.” He let his face fall on her chest, kissing up the side of her neck and squeezing her hand a bit tighter as he whispered in her ear, “M’so close.”

“Me too baby,” Ella mumbled back, her thighs starting to shake beside Alex’s hips as she started to move to meet him in the middle. Her voice wavered as she pleaded, “Don’t stop.”

It was then that the last bit of thread that held his logic together snapped, her wishes the only thing in his mind. His hips started going faster, the slap of their sweaty skin piercing the quiet around them, their gasps not silent anymore. A lustful, unrestrained harmony that they no longer cared if it reached the ears of their friends around. 

Trying his best to keep his rhythm, Alex moaned very not quietly, “Ella. Fffuc– darling,” before he bit her collarbone, trying to silence himself as he felt his orgasm hitting him abruptly.

His stuttering thrusts and the way he moaned into her skin sent Ella over the edge, “Mmm, Alex, baby.” 

Her legs shook as her orgasm washed over her like a treacherous tide, his name the only thing she knew other than the white heat rushing through her and making her toes curl. 

With the last of their strength they rode their orgasms out, Ella still spasming around him as he slowed down and his hips came to a complete stop. He didn’t take long to lift himself off her and get the condom off him, cock twitching at the sight of her glistening cunt. The most glorious aftermath, he wished he had the space to clean her up with his tongue, have the place all to themselves so he could hear her scream his name as she came on his tongue over and over again. 

After tying the condom and throwing it inside a little garbage bag inside the bunk, Alex sighed in content when he finally came to lay down right beside Ella. He helped her pull her sweats back on, and he did just the same, lifting the bedsheets afterwards to finally go to bed. 

It took them fifteen minutes of whispered conversation, stolen soft kisses, and gentle touches on each other’s skin for their eyes to grow heavy. But just when Alex was getting comfortable and nuzzling his face in the crook of her neck, Ella’s phone screen lit up with a message notification.

It made the inside of the bunk so unbelievably bright that she could not ignore the text. 

(07/08/2014 01:29) Why haven’t you gone to the bathroom yet? That’s how you get a fucking UTI, missy.

Mortified was an understatement. Alex, the absolute menace, only chuckled in her ear when Ella showed him the text. The glow of her phone highlighted the blood that had rushed up to her cheeks, tinting them that bright pink he adored to see. 

Alex dropped a string of kisses on her cheek as Ella replied to her best friend. 

(07/08/2014 01:30) Oh for fucks sake, you’re awake Bre?

(07/08/2014 01:30) Yeah. You’re loud even when you’re quiet.

(07/08/2014 01:30) Sorry xxxxx

(07/08/2014 01:31) It’s okay, my love. I wouldn’t wait either if it’s been over a month apart. But please go to the bathroom now.

(07/08/2014 01:31) Don’t you think a week of cranberry juice is better than a walk of shame?

(07/08/2014 01:31) Go to the bathroom, you silly bitch.

(07/08/2014 01:32) Hahahaha okay mom! Goodnight and sorry again. Love you xxxx

(07/08/2014 01:32) Love you too, night night xxxx

Alex groaned as Ella picked herself up and off the bunk bed and went off to the bathroom, his clinginess taking him with her. Ella laughed quietly as he stayed outside the tiny little tour bus bathroom, and she shook her head when he squished inside to throw away the condom as she washed her hands. 

In retrospect, that was not the smartest decision. Leaving the evidence to their lack of patience certainly made their friends more eager to take the piss out of them the next morning. 

“You’re fucking filthy,” Nick said with a face of disgust, “Right above me, as well. I hate you.”

Ella felt slightly bad for the snort of laughter that got out of her, the bassist only shaking his head in disappointment at her amusement.

“If it helps, I’m deeply sorry about that little detail,” Ella said as she hugged him from behind.

Breana raised an eyebrow at her best friend, “Not sorry about everything else? Disrupting our sleep perhaps?”

Letting Nick go, Ella blushed a little as a smirk managed to break on her face, “Not at all.” 

Jamie cackled, elbowing a blushing but proud-inside Alex. The guitarist crossed his arms as he continued with the bashing of his friends, “You could’ve just waited until this morning and had a proper bed over at Alex’s or yours.”

Alex was the one to reply that time, “Patience is not my thing.”

“And we all had to pay for that,” sighed Matt, in an exaggerated manner that made Ella smack the back of his head.

“You’re one to talk,” the director quipped, knowing damn well he and Breana were the reason for many times the lads had to go to bed with headphones, or get hotel rooms that didn’t share walls with them.

Matt opened his mouth to bite back but the sound of tires on pavement had the group whipping their heads around to see the arrival of the cabs that were taking them to their respective places. 

Alex and Ella were going to Alex’s house, while Breana and Matt were going to theirs, and Jamie and Nick were going to a hotel.

The last two had declined the offer to stay at Alex’s after the previous night, knowing a worst fate would await them over at the singer’s house. The same could be expected if they were to go to Matt and Bre’s, so they decided to book hotel rooms in a posh hotel close to the venue. 

With quick hugs and ‘see you later’s, everyone left in their respective cabs.

It certainly had been a wise choice for Nick and Jamie to not come along with Ella and Alex, for the second the couple stepped through the door of Alex’s house, he lifted Ella off the ground and took her straight to his room.

Alex’s kisses dazed her enough for it to feel like she blinked and they were undressed, his fingers trailing down her body to start teasing those noises out of her that he so badly wanted to get drunk on. But Ella managed to snap back into consciousness and ask for them to shower before they could get on with it.

The shower started out normally, they were seemingly rushing to get out of it just at the prospect of what was waiting for them back in the bedroom. That all changed when Alex started shampooing Ella’s hair and a loud moan slipped past her lips.

Feverish kisses under the shower rain ensued after he haphazardly rinsed her hair, as well as wandering hands, and soon Ella ended up kneeling in front of Alex stealing moans and gasps out of him as she pleasured him with that mouth of hers.

Alex was so drunk on pleasure, eyes rolling back into his head, brain melting into a puddle inside his skull. Yet, he had enough of a mind to drag his hips back when he felt himself close, because he needed to cum inside her properly.

He had missed seeing his cum dripping out of her, and wanted nothing more than to stuff it back inside her with his fingers.

So he pulled her back up to her feet, and kissed her desperately and hard until they ran out of breath and then he wasted no time pressing her back against the wall to start the worship of her body.

It was his mouth first, one of her legs thrown over his shoulder and a hand fisting his wet hair. Every time she looked down as her mouth opened agape and moans left her in honey-trickled strings, she found those brown eyes staring at her while his tongue lapped at her like he was starved.

He had to hold her tightly when she came, her legs shaking so much she started to slip down the wall.

After he cleaned every last drop of her, holding tightly onto her trembling thighs and trying to memorize the sound of her whimpers, Alex’s deft fingers undid her next. 

Her chest was heaving, and despite the water still spraying over them, she felt like she was dripping with sweat as if molten lava ran through her veins with every drag and curl of his fingers inside her. 

This time he left her hanging right off the edge of her climax, leaving her teary eyed and begging for him. 

Alex was on his feet and teasing her dripping cunt with his cock in a second, Ella threw her head back in a loud groan at the feeling of him pushing inside her again. It was heavenly, and she really did not know how she was meant to survive without him filling her up this deliciously every day when he was away. 

In between sloppy kisses and Alex’s relentless hips, they both came together. Moans and groans filling the air, louder than the pitter-patter of the water hitting the tiles of the shower. Fingers digging harshly on skin, nails scraping and marking each other, fingers tangled in hair and pulling it. 

Their rhythms faltered as they rode out their highs, their minds gone for a good few minutes until they came back into their dazed minds. 

“I love you,” Alex whispered against her lips, his heart beating out of his chest with the amount of adoration he felt for her. 

Ella smiled, loopily, “Love you too.” 

When Alex pulled back, slowly as he hissed and Ella whimpered, he watched as his cum started dripping out of her. Fingers caught the string of white and rubbed it up and down her folds to mix both of their aftermath together, Ella watched while she held her breath, her mouth watering at the thought of tasting the both of them together. 

Leaning towards the side of her neck, his lips brushed her sensitive skin up until he got to her ear, there he bit and pulled on her lobe before whispering, “Not a drop goes to waste.” 

Her fingers clutched tightly onto his arm when he pushed his fingers back inside her, his cum going back in with them. She moaned at the intrusion, her oversensitive cunt clenching around his fingers as she shivered in pleasure. 

Her mind was reeling, all conscious thought out of the window, so she couldn’t fight the thought that escaped her mouth, “Can I have a taste?”

Barely a whisper because she was holding her breath, but Alex looked up so quickly, eyes looking for hers. His cock twitched at her request. Who was he to deny her?

Pulling his fingers back, he brought his fingers up to her mouth, and his own fell agape watching as her swollen wet lips wrapped around his fingers and her eyes rolled back into her skull at the taste. 

The loud moan she let out the second the taste touched her tongue was so addictive that Alex pulled his fingers out of her mouth and dipped them back inside her to let her indulge again in the taste. 

If she continued making those noises, they wouldn’t make it to the show that night. He couldn’t care less about canceling it, having Ella for the rest of the day was the only thing he really wanted. 

When Ella let go off his fingers with a pop after the second taste, Alex pounced on her lips with need. He couldn’t find an explanation as to why when it came to Ella, he just couldn’t get enough. He could never entirely satiate his need for her, so he turned off the shower and guided her back out to bed. 

The sheets ended up drenched since they didn’t care to dry themselves out before continuing what they’d started in the shower, and they didn’t care to stop pleasuring each other one way or another until they were interrupted by a call from the band’s tour manager.

Alex could barely speak back to Steven during the brief call because Ella wouldn’t stop rolling her hips as she rode him. His voice cracked multiple times, and all she could do was smirk watching his cheeks tinting bright pink and holding his breath. 

“You’re cruel,” he accused after ending the call and tossing his phone to the other side of the bed. 

Ella leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, adjusting her weight on her knees to start riding him properly again, “You think?”

She pouted at him in faux innocence and he shook his head in response, “Really cru– shittt.”

Her smirk was wide on her face, watching him crumble as she started bouncing on his cock. It wasn’t long before he came inside her again, the view of her tits bouncing right in front of his face, the sound of their skin slapping as it met and Ella’s sweet moans and whimpers, Alex was done for.

The fact that they hadn’t had a proper rest was obvious when they got to the venue and met everyone in the greenroom. It was a mixture of Ella yawning every other minute and the lovebites peeking through the open collar of Alex’s shirt. Another round of shit talking and piss taking happened at the arrival of the couple, which was only met by a giggly Ella and a possessive Alex.

Ella kind of wanted the teasing to continue because she loved feeling Alex’s hands all over her as he chatted back to every comment everyone made about them. Her giggles were bubbly and they made Alex smile brightly every time, he couldn’t keep his facade of seriousness when her chest rumbled against his with laughter at every joke at their expense. 

The energy in the greenroom was incredible and it translated into a fucking incredible show. Ella was once again mind blown by the lads’ abilities to put on shows like that, shows that got people screaming and singing along loudly, dancing and jumping around, she even saw a mosh pit from the side of the stage and she was baffled. 

The pride that filled her chest didn’t leave her for the entirety of the night, and it showed in the hugs she gave the whole band, the kisses she peppered all over Alex’s face at random, the whispered compliments in Alex’s ear. 

“You’re fucking incredible, you know that right?”

The brush of her lips against the shell of his ear had Alex humming in content, but his curiosity piqued, “Hmmm, what are you trying to get darling?”

Ella pulled back and scoffed softly, “What? Nothing! I’m just trying to tell my boyfriend that he is amazing!”

“You’re too cute,” he said before stealing a sweet kiss. Once he pulled back, his eyes, glimmering with devotion, took in how beautiful she looked and couldn’t help but add, “You’re unreal.”

Of course Ella took it as him complimenting her back, so she shook her head with a little giggle before adding, “No, I mean it. I love hearing you sing, it’s my favorite thing.” 

Cockily he let himself relax on the settee they were occupying, bringing his arm to rest over her shoulders with a smoothness that dripped in his voice as he said, “What else?”

The snort Ella let out broke the smug look on his face, a bright grin tugging at the corners of his mouth when she scrunched her nose up at him as she leaned in and whispered, “I’ll indulge you just this once because the show was insane.” 

He raised his brows, “Right.”

“Stop,” she squealed as she brought her hand up to cover his face and playfully pushed him away. Her own body betrayed her when she hid her reddening face in the crook of his neck and mumbled against his skin, “Okay, I can’t do it anymore, you’re making me blush.” 

“No, don’t hide!” Alex managed in between chuckles. The noise made her giggle along, her body vibrating with love and the need to just never leave his side. 

One of his hands went up to her neck, fingers clutching her tightly enough for her to gasp as he pulled her out of her hiding place, “C’mere.”

Leaning in until their noses bumped together and their lips brushed, he whispered against her mouth, “I fucking love you.” 

Heat rushed up Ella’s neck and cheeks, she felt like a high school girl with an embarrassing crush every time he uttered those words. “Love you more,” she whispered back to him.

That smirk that drove her mad broke on his face, and she already knew what he was going to say before he actually did. 

“Impossible.”

Ella rolled her eyes playfully and hit his chest softly, pushing him away enough for his hand to drop from around her neck. But before Ella could joke about him ruining the moment, Alex grabbed the hand she had shoved him with and intertwined their fingers. In a blink of an eye, he pressed their joint hands against his erratic heart and with his other hand, he cupped her jaw to pull her into a kiss that made her heartbeats stutter. 

Breana had to swallow a coo at her friends, her heart melting in her chest when finally being able to see them carefree and loving each other; no more miscommunication, just being obsessed with each other like they had quietly been for so long. 

Despite them all teasing the couple and making jokes at their expense, they were all incredibly happy to finally see them together. It just made so much sense, it was something that had taken far too long to happen. And it was the best thing to see Alex always smiling, his energy through the roof every night, his laughter a little louder, his smiles bigger. 

“We love you two but I would like to sleep and not have my ceiling creak tonight, alright?” Nick warned as he got into his bunk when they all finally went from extending their night on the tour bus lounge to getting ready for bed as they drove up to San Francisco. 

Ella snorted, “No promises.”

“Eleanor,” Nick said with a stern look on his face that Ella cackled about.

When her laughter stopped, she sighed and rolled her eyes, “You lot are no fun. Goodnight.”

But the truth was that she was just kidding. When the realization that they were driving up to Outside Lands hit her as they got back on the tour bus, nostalgia overcame her and all the memories of the years that had passed flooded her mind. 

And it seems like nostalgia was playing a number on Alex too because after they got comfortable in bed, he asked, “Remember our first Outside Lands?” 

Her finger stopped tracing circles on the skin of his chest when she did the math on how long it had been. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly in shock, “God… That was three years ago, wasn’t it?” 

Alex hummed, rubbing his thumb on the skin of her lower back, “Almost. We were on the 13th then, so we’re playing 5 days earlier this time around.”

Ella couldn’t help but half sit up and look at him in further shock at his memory, “How– You remember the exact day?”

The singer snickered watching the surprise written on her face, he smirked as he started, “Hard to forget when it was the first time I saw you in cowboy boots.”

Ella laughed at the cheeky wink he gave her, going back to cuddling him as she replied, “You’re funny, sweetness.”

“You looked so good that day,” Alex added, letting his hand wander down from her waist to her ass to cup it and squeeze it as he confessed, “I still remember wanting to kiss you when you put my jacket on during the Black Keys’ set.”

“Careful, people might think you’ve fancied me a while,” the director joked as she tried downplaying how flustered his admission and touch were making her. 

Alex shrugged and then turned his head to the side to look down and into her eyes, “They wouldn’t be wrong.” 

His gaze fell on her lips and Ella was too weak when it came to him to fight the urge to kiss him. The slotting of their lips together and the brush of his tongue against hers were her favorite things, she couldn’t deny herself from indulging in the pleasure of his kisses. All of them, the hot and needy, the desperate and impatient, the sweet and loving, the hurried but unmissable. 

“And now we’re here,” Ella concluded when they pulled back.

A loopy smile broke on his face when he nodded, “We’re right here.”

He squeezed her ass again and she squeaked, making him giggle. That reminded her of how much of a menace he and the guys had turned out to be that first Outside Lands. 

Pointing an accusatory finger at him, she recalled, “You lot got me very tipsy that day! I was technically working, but y’all have always been trying to get me in trouble.”

Alex brough a hand to his chest, his mouth opening in offense at the accusation. He was quick to counter the claims, “Matt was trying, I was the one giving you water, remember?”

Clarity hit her when she remembered Alex being the logical one, she had to give it to him, “Hmm, yeah that is right.” Ella shook her head and sighed, “Bloody Matt.”

Alex smiled when Matt was mentioned and he remembered another great thing that happened during the weekend of their first Outside Lands, “And a day after that we all met Bre.”

Ella froze and looked up at him, mouth agape in shock yet again. This time though, her lips pursed into a pout quite quickly as her eyes got teary, “I’m actually going to cry.”

Alex saw the tears brimming her eyes and he cooed, “Darling…”

She sniffled, blinking rapidly to avoid tears falling, “It’s just– I’m feeling really nostalgic.”

“Yeah, me too. But no tears, alright?” Alex spoke softly, brushing her hair back and then letting his hand fall down her face to cup her cheek and rub it softly.

Ella nodded, taking a breath and kissing the palm of Alex’s hand before she recalled a thing which had had her mind reeling that weekend three years ago, “Remember flirting with me at the bar after we wrapped up recording Suck it and See?”

Alex blushed, the cringey lines he had drunkenly used on Ella coming to the forefront of his mind, “Perhaps.”

“You and those shitty pick up lines,” Ella shook her head, “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

Alex took the chance of that turn around, smugly looking down at her and raising his brows and impulsing her to continue with a suave, “Oh yeah?”

Ella rolled her eyes as she admitted, “It’s embarrassing how you had me blushing and giggling with those awful one-liners.”

The singer chuckled with her, but quickly and seriously asked, “They’ve gotten better though, no?”

Ella snorted and shook her head no, because they had not gotten better at all. But he took that to slight offense, exaggerating it by gasping loudly and pressing a hand to his chest.

“I’m wounded.”

Sighing and rolling her eyes, she let him have a bit of consolation but not without a dig at him, “Okay they might have gotten a bit better, but you remain a drama queen.”

A scoff left him, “Double murder now.”

Ella gaped at him and pointed out, “See? Drama que-”

But he interrupted with a mumbled, “Shut up,” before he grabbed her face and pressed their lips together. 

Ella moaned softly into the kiss, the possessiveness of his hold as his fingers dug on her cheeks had her wanting to climb on his lap and ride him while he handled her however he pleased. But she had promised herself that she would behave herself, and she would. 

When they pulled back, she stared at him for a few seconds and took him in all over again, as if it was the first time. She let a pathetic little enamored sigh out before thinking out loud, “I can’t believe it’s only been 3 years since we met.”

Alex intertwined their fingers and kissed her back of her hand softly, “Feels way longer, doesn't it?”

With a hum, Ella agreed. Suddenly the image of him in the studio came back to her in full force, his shaggy hair, that shy smile, and his incredibly thick northern accent. She smiled at him now, who would’ve thought back then that they would end up like this. 

“You know, I miss your old shaggy hair,” she confessed to him in a whisper, “The one you had for the Brick by Brick video.”

His brows furrowed, “You don’t like this hair?”

“I love it,” Ella was quick to reply, brushing her fingers through it and biting her bottom lip when his eyes fluttered shut at the touch. She couldn’t help but mumble, “You’re hot,” before kissing him again, a pleasure she couldn’t deny herself. Yet, she arrived at the same initial comment, “But I miss your old hair.”

“Why?” He questioned. It wasn’t like he hated that hair but he thought this haircut suited him better. However, if she was the one to ask him to grow his hair, he definitely could.

She shrugged, “I dunno, it was cute.” 

Alex tried not to chuckle, it was obvious that wasn’t what she actually thought of it, “Cute?”

She sighed, knowing he wouldn’t stop until she said what she actually had in mind, “I thought it looked very pullable…”

His eyes darkened and he wasted no time to lean in, their lips brushing as he whispered into her mouth, “Filthy, filthy girl.”

His mouth came on hers hot and hard, stealing the oxygen from her lungs in a split of a second. They licked into each other’s mouth, drunk on their taste and the feeling of their bodies pressed together. The desperation seeped through their pores as their hands started roaming, grabbing, pulling, scratching. 

Alex groaned when he pushed his hips forwards, his cock, already growing heavy in his joggers, pressing against her thigh. 

Ella had to be the one responsible then. Pulling back, she reminded her boyfriend, “For their own sake, we need to be considerate tonight.”

Out of breath, he pointed out the bottom line of her words, “Just tonight?”

She sighed in defeat when she realized, “And tomorrow night I guess.”

But Alex had a solution and he said it quickly, a statement like it was written on stone already, “We’re sneaking in here tomorrow when everyone’s busy enjoying the festival.”

She frowned, “I’m not missing Kacey Musgraves.”

Alex couldn’t hold back a bright smile. She would always get her way. He nodded, “After her set.”

“Deal,” Ella muttered before putting her hand out for them to shake on it. Alex smiled even bigger when he shook her hand and she added, “Same thing Sunday?”

“Well, do you wanna see anyone?”

She took a few seconds to think about the lineup and the schedule before giving her brief answer, “Just Haim, I think.”

More than pleased, Alex whispered, “We got all day then, darling.”

Ella winked and concluded, “It’s a date.”

And a damn good but exhausting date those two days at Outside Lands turned out to be. 

They all got to sleep in while their crew unloaded their set gear, getting everything ready on the Twin Peaks stage before the festival started at noon. When the band, Ella, and Breana decided to finally get up and go to the festival, the place was filled with people and good music. 

They all enjoyed themselves, drinking and eating around, dancing and smoking. It felt like Ella and Alex were carrying a shared ticking clock that made them so incredibly eager for the Kacey Musgraves set that their friends found it odd when the couple left before she fully got off stage. 

The excuse had been that Ella forgot to get extra film rolls and she had already ran out of the one on her Minolta from all the pictures she had been taking. However, when the two of them got to the bus, they had left a trail of clothes down the hall to the back lounge where they finally and freely made all the noise they wanted as they enjoyed some alone time. 

Much needed really, with all the space and the freedom of an empty bus, after having had to hold back the night before, and with the anticipation building up all day. The both of them were spent after an hour of teasing and edging, admiring every inch of each other’s body. 

They rushed back to meet with the group once they felt they looked decent enough to conceal their rendezvous, finding everyone getting more tipsy in the artists’ tent by the stage they were performing soon. 

A bit of a questioning ensued, but nothing that a round of shots grabbed by Alex couldn’t cut short. The drinks flowed and so did the conversation, in no time the lads were chugging the last of their drinks to go on stage, while Ella and Breana escaped out to the VIP section of the crowd where they had decided to enjoy the show from. 

Pride filled the girls’ chests when the crowd got incredibly loud and absolutely crazy the second that band stepped foot on stage. The feeling had the two of them singing a little louder, dancing more carelessly. 

When Arabella started, Ella felt a different kind of elation. And everyone could see it, she was practically fucking glowing as she sang and danced, the sway of her hips and her arms up on the air captivated Alex’s gaze.

He was so distracted by her, especially when the bridge started and she stared straight at him while she sang along, that he fully forgot he was meant to grab his guitar for the guitar solo at the end. 

It took him a few seconds to realize his mistake, but when he turned and hurried to get his guitar, Ella let out a chesty laugh. Her cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so hard by the end of the song, and they would continue to ache throughout the whole show for she could not keep the grin off her face. 

The celebration of such an incredible show elongated until around 3 in the morning since they managed to bring a few bottles back to the bus. Drunk on vodka and rum—a horrible combination that they would all regret the next day—, they all went to sleep and the snores were heard inside the bus until they all rose from their bunks well after noon. 

A hungover Ella barely made it to the Haim set, dragging a heavily hungover Breana, and Alex who was in a better state than both of the girls. At least the good music had been great in lifting their spirits up and by the time they all met back on the tour bus to go back to the festival, everyone felt way better. 

They were leaving earlier that day because the band’s flight to Canada left in the early night, Ella’s flight back to LA had been booked that night too, so they only had a few hours left to enjoy the festival. 

Alex and Ella took the first chance of distraction to escape their friends and go on with their planned escapade to the bus, one which ended with them loving each other slowly but deliberately, enjoying the last moments of quiet and calm, and of each other’s company before they had to be apart for a fortnight. 

This time, they didn’t even bother to go back and find their friends again. They stayed in the bus, taking their time in picking up the mess they had left, indulging in more sweet touches and stolen kisses after they had gone back to resting in Alex’s bunk. 

They only moved when everyone got back and it was time to get their things ready before leaving for the airport. As Ella helped Alex put some things back in his case, she truly wished that, in the future, whenever they had to pack their stuff up it was because they were going somewhere together, not saying goodbye. 

When they got to the airport, the fact that they all were taking flights was at least a consolation because Ella and Alex could be glued together through security and while waiting. Since Ella’s flight left an hour later than the lads and Bre’s flight, she could freely stay with them at their gate without worrying about missing her flight. 

As a group decision, they went to McDonald’s first and got some food to have while they waited for boarding to start. The chatter was never-ending with them all, always laughing and finding new things about each other, picking up old stories and creating new inside jokes. This time, the joke that had been revealed for the first time to Ella were the plane slippers that Alex always used when at the airport lounges and inside the plane. 

“Sweetness, really?” Ella laughed when Alex pulled the white slippers out and exchanged them with his loafers. 

Alex smiled like a little kid, blushing when hearing his mates starting to take the piss out of him and letting Ella know he always did that. 

“They’re quite comfortable,” he mumbled, slightly embarrassed. 

The commentary from everyone else was making her laughter uncontrollable, but she couldn’t stop herself from kiss him because she found him so fucking adorable for it, despite how equally hilarious it was. 

After a few minutes, everyone calmed down, and as the sun set and the lounge got fuller, the group was caught up by their exhaustion. One by one they started falling asleep, the chatter around serving as a white noise that dulled their senses until they succumbed to slumber. 

Ella had been chatting to Alex, their volume going down progressively as they got closer, until they ended up as cuddled as they could be on their side-by-side chairs. Ella’s legs were thrown over his lap, her head rested on his shoulder and Alex rested his head on top of hers, his hands clutching her thighs in place. 

They were at peace, enjoying the last minutes of their company. Nothing bothered them until they woke up due to the voice calling for boarding through the speakers. It would be first class first and so the band and Breana had to stand up and get in the line as soon as possible. 

Alex wanted to take his sweet time and so he took advantage of the fact that the first class line had gotten long and so there was no need to rush just yet. He stretched in his seat just like Ella was doing, making sure nothing had fallen out of his pockets soon after and just making sure he had his bag beside him. 

He turned to stare at Ella as she brushed her hair with her fingers, checking her plane ticket for her gate number and boarding time. When she had repeated the gate number enough times in her head to memorize it, she put the ticket back in her bag, and met Alex’s gaze. 

“Rock en Seine in two weeks, darling,” Alex reminded her with that deep voice he usually had every morning when he woke up.

Ella felt herself melting in her seat when hearing him like that. She leaned in and stole a chaste kiss before smiling brightly at the prospect of getting to be in Paris with him so soon, “Can’t wait.”

“I’m flying you out,” Alex reminded her, and she nodded because she knew how long of an argument it had been when he invited her but didn’t allow her to pay her own ticket. But he shocked the air out of her lungs when he added, “Private plane.”

Ella glared at him, “Alexander.”

He looked at her super confused, and as if he hadn’t said the most outrageous thing, he innocently asked, “What?”

“Absolutely not,” Ella sternly decided, “A first class ticket is as far as I will go, not a fucking private plane.”

Alex pouted, resting a hand on her upper thigh and squeezing as if to distract her, “But you can be comf–”

She interrupted before he could even finish that statement, “A seat that reclines into a bed, a champagne glass as a welcome and better food than a damn sandwich and a granola bar is the greatest thing I can think of, so first class is the only thing I will accept.”

He didn’t know how else to convince her, not when she seemed so set on her decision already. But he just had to confirm that by asking, “You sure?”

Ella saw the way his face had fallen, and so she let a smile shine on her face for him to realize that it wasn’t something that was bothering her. She cupped his face and pecked his lips before confirming, “Yes, my love! You’re taking me to fucking France for the first time in my life, even if I went on a dingy little boat I would be sure.” 

Out of everything that she thought Alex could say, she wasn’t expecting him to hear her and then reply with, “We’ll go on a cruise next then.”

A blank expression took over her face, her voice humorless as she said, “Alex.”

He quipped back with, “Ella,” in the same tone, struggling to keep his giggles at bay.

The director rolled her eyes and put an end to the matter before he could get any more ideas, “Just get me the first class ticket, I don’t want more than that.”

“Okay, darling. I’ll send you the confirmation email when we’re in Canada.”

With a nod the chat ended, but that meant that Alex was going so, after they stood up from their seats, they leaned in and met in the middle for a slow but bittersweet goodbye kiss. One that they tried to elongate as long as they could, trying to push their human boundaries and fight against their natural need for oxygen just so that they could enjoy a few more seconds of their lips together. 

When they pulled back, Ella wasn’t fighting the urge to steal a peck from him, but then Alex did the same, and that turned into an endless cycle of stolen chaste kisses that broke smiles on their faces. 

It was so unbelievably cute until the lads started calling Alex over, and the singer fully ignored them, deciding to indulge in one last proper kiss with his girlfriend. 

Yet, when Ella pulled back to let him go, Alex followed her lips, stealing kiss after kiss. 

“Swee–” Ella tried saying but she was interrupted by his lips on hers, “Bab–” Smack. “Lo–” Smack.

Exasperated because she could see over his shoulder that all of first class had gone in and the band had scanned their tickets, just waiting on Alex to come through, Ella took a big step back and pointed at the door to have him look at the state of the no-longer-there line, “Alex, you’re making them wait!”

He mumbled a curse under his breath, asking himself how the fuck had the line moved that quickly. But it didn’t matter, not when he felt the need to steal one last peck before grabbing his bag and turning around to dash to the door, yelling “Love you!” over his shoulder and waving her goodbye.

Ella laughed as she watched him strangely jog his way up to the door in those horrid slippers, her heart exploding in her chest seeing him just exist. It wasn’t embarrassing at all for the whole airport to hear as she yelled back a loud, “Love you!” 

She watched as he scanned his ticket and passport with a big smile on his face. Even from afar, she could see the adoration that filled his brown eyes when he turned around and waved her goodbye. 

A few more steps and he’d be gone. Ella’s heart then squeezed and wilted in her chest. But she fought the urge to cry by blowing him a kiss. A kiss that he made a show to catch in the air, like he always did, only this time he smashed it against his lips and successfully had Ella giggling like a foolishly drunk-in-love girl. 

The silly, enamored smile stayed plastered on her face even through the terrifying experience that was take-off.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Ella had always liked the idea of travelling, though the feeling of a plane taking off always kept her from actually doing it, but buying a new plane ticket always had her giddy. Most of the places she had gone had been inside the States though, not really being brave enough to face the long hours flights outside the country. That was exactly why she had taken so long to process that she was flying to France of all places.

Seeing all the airport signs in French, the thick accents, and quick conversations surrounding her, had her in awe. 

She sort of wished she had taken French instead of Spanish in high school, even though that came in handy when living in Los Angeles. She wished she could say more than ‘hello, my name is’ and ‘thank you’ in French. Plus, she knew she was butchering the pronunciation simply from the mocking faces of those she had spoken to at the airport.

That is exactly why she found herself so turned on when Alex spoke some French to the driver that took him to the airport to pick her up. 

She squirmed in her seat as he named different places they drove by, and of course he noticed; he had noticed from the very moment he told the driver they were ready to go. Alex knew now exactly what the way she bit her bottom lip meant, how her eyes darkened when her mind was plagued with filthy thoughts. 

He kissed her slowly and deliberately any chance he got, it must have been something in the French air—or simply the fact that not seeing her for two weeks had actually managed to drive him mad.

It was clear by then that he was utterly fucked. There was no chance he could ever go on tour without her now, and finding out if he was actually capable of withstanding the distance wasn’t something he was willing to do.

But he would figure that out soon enough. He just wanted to enjoy that very moment with Ella, drink in the wonder in her eyes and how clingy she was after the time apart. Alex wasn’t any better, clutching her thighs as they lay atop of his own, rubbing small circles over her denim-clad legs while he scrolled on his phone to play some music in the earphones they were sharing.

Ella had never really asked how much French her boyfriend knew, but hearing him sing in a foreign language under his breath had her amazed. Really she had no clue if he was doing a good job or not, but it was hard to hide how enamoured she was. 

That was until he made her cackle uncontrollably as he sang a song called “Les Cactus” a little louder than he had done the others. Apparently it was his favourite, and it showed in the enthusiasm he had as he made a fool of himself in the car.

Seeing French streets and the countryside as they drove to the festival had taken over most of her experience in the car. Alex made sure to tell her all the facts he knew about the country, along with a little lesson of some phrases in French for her to use. Of course, he added a promise to bring her back, give her the proper experience of a city that he had grown very fond of throughout the years. 

Ella was feeling spoiled already, after the most comfortable flight she had ever been on, being picked up by Alex and getting an infinite amount of cuddles and kisses on their way to Rock en Seine. Yet, Alex told her that he had a little surprise waiting for her when they got to the bus. 

It left her mind as soon as she saw the guys and Breana around the lounge having a late breakfast, so she gasped loudly when she pulled back from hugging Nick and stumbled into her boyfriend who was holding a box in his hands. 

Plain white and with a little red bow, she thought how cute he must have looked putting it together. She kissed that boyish smile off his lips first, a small thank you falling from her lips before taking the box from him with her mind full of intrigue.

He watched expectantly as she sat down at the edge of the lounge settee and carefully undid the bow, stopping before opening the box to ask, “Sweetness, what is it?”

Alex just smiled like a fool, he knew she was gonna like it but he needed to see her reaction already, “Just open it and you’ll know, darling.”

Looking around at the rest of their friends, she was met with soft smiles from everyone. Matt’s, however, did falter as he rolled his eyes when Ella lingered for a bit instead of opening the gift.

“Christ, you’re killing me, Eleanor. Open the bloody box,” the drummer said. He had no idea when his best mate had gotten whatever was inside, and he was intrigued as well.

Ella only chuckled before finally opening the box, and she squealed excitedly when she was met with a cute polaroid camera that she had been thinking of buying for ages. 

As she jumped off her seat to hug and kiss her boyfriend, Matt reached for the box to see what it was and he couldn’t help but smile when he realised then why Alex had been so adamant on knowing all about polaroid cameras a few weeks before.

The lads knew all about the inquiries the singer had made to Matt, so they smirked knowingly and made sure to relay the information to the girls. 

“He’s whipped,” Jamie said with a hint of a smirk in his voice, the smack of Ella’s lips all over Alex’s face softly in the background.

But they all knew that fact already, and it was pretty obvious just how much Ella matched the sentiment as they all finally went out to enjoy the festival.

Picture after picture was taken and printed by the brand new Polaroid camera that Ella was loving with every bit of her. Every chance she got, she stole another kiss off Alex’s lips, one that Alex knew meant thank you for they came after every picture she would take.

Ella was so incredibly happy she had a new camera to play with while she was over, enjoying a bit of their tour together and could capture the most candid shots and them becoming tangible instantly. By the time the lads had wrapped up their set at Rock en Seine, drove to the airport, and got on their flight back to the UK, Ella had probably around fifty pictures in her bag.

Getting to go to France to see her boyfriend perform had been such a privilege to her, something she would have never imagined would happen to her; but when they took off and were headed back to England, she was filled with another level of excitement since it meant she was finally gonna see them perform at Reading and Leeds Fest.

Reading and Leeds had been something she was looking forward to since Alex told her they would be headlining that year, before they were even together. He had spoken about the festival the same way she would do Bonnaroo, and she had been dying to see them playing it. 

The lineup was incredible as well, so Ella was just buzzing with energy the second they landed on British soil. 

It was hard to hide, and Alex’s cheeks hurt from smiling so big at Ella’s childish enthusiasm while en route to Reading.

Not only was she excited to see her boyfriend and best friends absolutely kill their set, but she was also excited to meet with some friends she hadn’t seen in so long, like Pale Waves and The 1975. 

It was a shame she wasn’t going to see the Manc boys because they were playing the opposite Festival the days the Monkeys were on so they wouldn’t be able to enjoy R&L together, but she was going to be able to see Pale Waves open for the Monkeys both times so that was great news to her.

Ella was really excited to see Alice and catch up with her, since it had been a while since she had last spoken to her. However, she wasn’t expecting to find out what she did while hanging out together in the Monkeys trailer.

It all started with both bands meeting around the Artist’s Tent, getting some drinks together at the bar and chatting for a while. 

At first, everything was alright, laughter was heard all around the group, conversation flowing with ease. They had been interrupted here and there by some fans, but nothing that had thrown them or the group’s dynamic off. However, about half an hour later, the amount of people coming up to the lads to ask for pictures and to chat with them started rising to the point they felt suffocated. So the Monkeys decided it would be good to take the group to their trailer for a bit of peace.

About an hour passed and Oscar, Zara, and Connor excused themselves to go meet with some other friends that had just arrived at the festival. And a few minutes after Alice's bandmates had left, Katie and a very pregnant Kelly took their husbands to a set they were eager to watch.

Ella had been so caught up with her conversation with Breana and Alice that she didn’t even think of coming along with them. 

Matt had gotten a call about twenty minutes later, and he excused himself to go meet whoever had phoned him, dragging Breana with him. With the door closing behind the drummer and the model, the trailer only housed Ella, Alice, and Alex.

It was an interesting group of people, sure, but Ella wouldn’t have thought anything of it if it wasn’t for the fact that it felt like the air shifted a little. It was like Alex had grown a little stiff, and Alice was a little nervous. 

Ella knew about Alex’s aversion for Alice, but after having Pale Waves as openers for so long, the director felt the dynamic that was palpable in the air was a little odd. She would give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking about how it had almost been a year since the two bands had toured together.

However, it was weirder to see the confident Alice she has always known shift in her place a little, stumbling over her words from time to time when Ella was chatting with her.

And there was this look Ella noticed the two shared. She didn’t know whether to be worried or not, because it felt like they were hiding something. It was as if they were wordlessly trying to figure something out that only the two of them knew. 

Testing the waters, Ella started inching towards her suspicions. It wasn’t weird that she would ask about Alice’s romantic prospects, but it was odd that she wouldn’t joke along with her when Ella took the piss a bit when suggesting Alice could be their third now that Alex was officially with her. 

Not a single ‘leave him, I’ll treat you better,’ that she could have expected, not even a ‘bet he doesn’t make you cum like I do,’ that Ella knew Alice was capable of cheekily saying. And Alex choking on his beer and loudly coughing was another sign, as if he was trying to distract Ella.

So it wasn’t a surprise when the minutes passed, and the director was fed up with it. 

She cut straight to the point with a blunt inquiry, “You two have fucked, haven’t you?”

Ella smirked as she watched Alice’s pale skin turn bright red, the color going all the way up to the tips of her ears, and her gaze avoiding Ella’s entirely. When Ella turned to Alex, he was just as red, if not more, and he couldn’t hold his girlfriend’s gaze at all either. Just a pair of deer caught in headlights.

Ella gasped at the discovery. “When?” she asked, with a chuckle that left her involuntarily. She was so shocked, but there was a bitter feeling simmering in the bottom of her stomach.

Silence was all she was met with, and that had Ella fearing the worst. 

“Oh, c’mon. I’m just curious!” She faked being calm, a wide smile on her face that was very fake but none of them were looking at her anymore to notice. Ella couldn’t stop herself as she questioned, “When was it? Where?”

Alex and Alice sighed, knowing they couldn’t get away with it anymore. But the simultaneous sigh was the only thing they unknowingly had managed to agree upon, because they both shot themselves in the foot when giving different answers. 

“The tour bus,” came from Alice. While Alex had said, “A hotel in Vegas.”

“Oh,” was the only thing to fall from Ella’s lips when hearing their answers. Both of them now staring at the director, their eyes screaming honesty. Ella knew their answers meant it had happened back when the bands were touring together, which meant around November of the previous year, but that didn’t make it sting any less.

She was clearly jealous, she could easily point that out. But she found solace in the fact that it had happened way before she and Alex got together. 

The effort it took her to do the quick math in her head had distracted her slightly from the valuable information they had given her. But when she came back to it, her jaw dropped at the realization, “So… twice?”

It was hilarious to Ella hearing Alex let out a quick, “Fuck,” under his breath. He felt caught and guilty, very guilty.

Ella laughed out loud, how could she not? She had to find the humor in the situation so she didn’t drive herself crazy at this new wave of information. “It’s okay, love. Trust me, I get it.” She winked at Alice when saying that. Alice shifted in her place, she had no idea how to react to what was happening, much less when Ella added as she looked at her, “But I’m now sad you’ve fucked him as many times as you’ve fucked me.”

At her pout, Alice easily shook her head, reassuring the director with a genuine, “You’re still my favorite.”

Alex shook his head at that. Ella caught the movement with the corner of her eye and let her hand fall on his thigh. 

Rubbing his clothed leg up and down slowly, she said, “Oh don’t feel bad, sweets. At least now you know you won’t have to listen through the wall,” she dropped that bomb on him like it was nothing. Alex was already speechless with her saying that, how had she found out? He had no clue. 

But he had much less to say when Ella smirked at him, a hint of cynicism laced through her words, and added, “You can watch.”

Alex let the silence linger for a bit, looking at Ella straight in her eyes to find a hint of humor, but there wasn’t any. He scoffed as an answer, yet that wasn’t enough for Ella. She needed to push his buttons further.

She leant in, slowly closing the distance between her and the singer, her hand slowly creeping further up into dangerous territory. He wanted to squirm in his place, finding his girlfriend’s clearly jealous behavior incredibly hot. 

Ella’s voice fell to a whisper, but with the silence in the trailer, Alice managed to clearly listen as she told Alex, “Maybe if you behave I can let you participate. How’s that sound, hm?”

Alice was a little taken aback, unsure if Ella was being serious or not. Her tone saying one thing, but her body language saying another. The question left her without even thinking about it first, “You’re seriously considering it?”

“‘Course I am,” Ella answered, beaming at her. She would be honest when saying that, because she knew that would make for a fun night. She almost wanted to lock the trailer’s door and play out every scene that was flooding her mind with the both of them right then and there. 

“Thanks for letting me know that, by the way. It just makes it easier now,” Ella winked at Alice. “I’ll definitely be hitting you up with the details soon, baby.”

Alice was still stunned, not really knowing what to reply to that. Ella stopped her train of thought entirely when she grabbed Alex’s hand and stood up from her seat. The singer followed her actions, just as dumbfounded as Alice, not resisting whatever his girlfriend was planning on doing then.

“Now if you’ll excuse us, baby, I need Alex to come with me. Gotta get something from the bus.”

If Alex wasn’t too confused over Ella’s reaction, he would have easily realized that her excuse to leave was absolutely bullshit. The same excuse they had been using every time they had escaped their friends to go for a quick shag behind their backs. However, all he could think of was how deep in trouble he was now for keeping that information to himself.

They were walking for a while, Alex still lost in his thoughts but his strides matching Ella’s pace. He was conscious enough to notice they had gone past the tour bus area, though. But before he could mention it, Ella stopped in her tracks and faced him with a stern look on her face. 

She walked towards him, and he could only walk a step backwards before his back was pressed flush against the trunk of a tree. 

Ella smirked, invading his space. She leant forward, noses almost touching as she slowly questioned him, “So… Were you gonna keep that dirty little secret all to yourself then?”

Alex scrambled to apologize, “M’sorry darling, I–”

But she laughed. A hearty laugh that made her throw her head back. He was mortified, not knowing if she was angry or if she was okay with it. It was harder to figure out what she was thinking when he felt her hands fall on his chest, slowly making their way down to his hips as she said, “Alex. It’s okay. We weren’t even together then, why are you apologizing?”

He had no clue what to say. On one hand, he was relieved she knew that it had been ages ago; but on the other hand, he had no clue if it still angered her that he hadn’t told her.

She hummed, cocking her head, as if agreeing with his silence. And then Alex felt her pulling him impossibly closer by his belt buckle, “But I think you blushed a little too much back there, and I think you need reminding of who’s the only one who can make you feel good.”

His head was spinning. The past fifteen minutes had been an absolute roller coaster of emotions and thoughts, but now? His brain melted entirely. All he could mutter was a choked, “Fuck…” as she started kissing up his neck.

A trail of wet kisses was left by her as she made it up to the shell of his ear, which she bit softly before whispering, “What is it, baby? Need anything?”

Alex was putty in her hands already, the words falling from his lips with ease, “You. Need you.”

He felt the smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth against his skin. His eyes slowly peeled open when he felt her leave the crook of his neck, only to find her facing him again. She pressed a long peck on his mouth, humming before pulling back and stating, “You’re lucky I wanna get my knees dirty for you.” 

Alex’s breath hitched in his throat as she made her way down by quickly kissing down his neck and clothed chest until she was kneeling right in front of him. He was lucky his girlfriend had purposely pressed him against a tree, for he could have easily lost his footing when she lifted his shirt and licked a strip up his lower stomach before undoing his belt.

She worked with deft fingers, pulling his jeans and boxers down just enough for his hardening cock to be freed. 

Her mouth watered at the sight, and it was impossible to hold back from giving his tip a kitten lick. She hummed in content when tasting him again, before looking up at him through her lashes to say, “You look so pretty when you cum and I want you to fuck my mouth, okay? I wanna gag around your cock and swallow everything you give me.”

Alex threw his head back, cock twitching at that dirty little mouth of hers. The same one that started working on him in a split second. 

“Shit, baby,” he hissed when she fully sank her mouth down his length until she gagged. He thrusted forward involuntarily, making her choke. 

Her eyes watered, coughing a little as she came off him, taking a deep breath before adding, “And I want you to fucking scream my name. Let everyone in this place know who’s making you come undone, yeah?”

Her hand worked him up while she spoke, but it wasn’t the same as her warm mouth so he agreed in no time. A splutter of, “Yeah, yes. Yes.”

“Good boy,” she praised before letting her mouth envelope him all over again. 

Alex had no idea if it was her filthy talk, the way she was gagging on him from time to time, or if it was the thrill of possibly being caught that made his pleasure increase tenfold; what he knew is that he was a mess of whimpers and moans. Those sounds would have embarrassed him any other time, if it wasn’t for the fact that when he looked down, he could see her looking up at him as his cock disappeared time and time again in that beautiful mouth of hers.

“Oh–fuckkk, Ella,” his voice breaking as his hips started moving with her. He was so fucking close, his hand came to cradle her head, fingers tangling in her hair to hold her in place.

But she pulled back, her fingers wrapped around the base of him and continued working him up as she took a deep breath to say, “Louder baby, I know you can do better than that.”

Without wasting another second, she went back in. Her hand came down to play with his balls, fondling them and making him see stars. It was impossible for him not to grow louder, “Ella! Fuck!” 

His fingers clutched harder on her hair, and she hummed at the pain of him pulling on it without restraint. The reverberation of her moans made it feel so much better, he was forgetting to breathe. He gasped for air to be able to tell her, “M’gonna cum darlin–shit.”

She pulled back again but to encourage him. She was ruining her own underwear just from hearing him and watching how he crumbled down for her. “Fuck my mouth babe,” she encouraged, hand still wrapped around him. She sucked the tip of his cock, getting a taste of his precum and moaned, “I want you to stuff my throat.”

Alex was gone, he had no clue how he was meant to behave as a normal human being after this, “Oh my— Fuck.” His mind went blank once she started sucking him off again, this time taking him to the back of her throat every time. His hold on her hair was unwavering, and his thrusts grew more eager. He watched as he fucked her mouth, tears spilling down the corners of her eyes, smudged mascara staining her face. 

“Fucking hell, Ella.” He cussed in awe, “You’re a fucking dream.” His jaw fell as she made a mess of him. Her drool mixed with his precum and fell down her chin to her neck. Alex couldn’t stop himself from complimenting her, “So fucking beautiful gagging around my cock.”

He wished he could take a picture of her like this. Immortalize the moment, or just be able to have palpable proof that he wasn’t in fact dreaming. How had he managed to get this lucky? The words left him without having to even think about it, “Love you.” And they were as true as the tree he was leaning against, and the mud sticking to Ella’s bare knees, the chirping of the birds around them, the far-away festival noises that surrounded them. 

Though the sound of his cock invading her wet mouth was louder. His mind was reeling from how she overtook every single one of his senses. “Ah fuckkkk— Love you so fucking much.”

Alex could feel himself about to fall over the edge, an invisible grasp so close to his orgasm. His stirred up thoughts fell from his mouth in a load of gibberish, “Ell— Love you! Oh– fffuckk Ella!” 

Ella knew what was going to happen, and it was so incredibly satisfying to feel him twitching as he came, spilling his cum inside her mouth and painting her throat white. The noises he made drove her crazy and she had to clench her thighs hard, moaning in response to how vocal he was being. 

She worked him through it with her mouth, enjoying looking up at him through her lashes to witness his face crumble in overstimulation. A bit of cum spilling down the corner of her mouth once he finally pulled out of her. Alex tilted her head back, clutch still tight in her hair, and asked, “Let me see, darling.”

Ella opened her mouth, sticking her tongue out slightly for him to see his cum filling her mouth. He let go of her hair, hand coming down to cup her face, thumb wiping the bit of cum that had spilled out of her mouth and rubbing it on her bottom lip. He sucked in a breath before closing her mouth by pushing up on her chin and ordering her to, “Swallow.” 

She did so under his awaiting gaze, and noticed the way his pupils dilated impossibly more. Alex wrapped his hand around her throat, grip tightening and only making her smile wider as he pulled her up until she was fully standing in front of him. He pressed his lips against hers furiously, tasting himself on her tongue making him groan loudly. 

The kiss was bruising, marking their territory on each other, unwilling to pull back until their lungs burnt from lack of oxygen. They were heaving when they broke the kiss, and he pressed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes before saying, “I don’t think you understand how much I fucking love you.”

Of course Ella knew what she had just done, and she was happy that it got her the results she wanted. She pulled back and smirked brightly at him, so incredibly smug. Her voice sounded a little coarse, but no one could take away the sass in her tone as she replied, “Oh no, I think I do.”

“There's no one like you,” Alex promised, a love-sick puppy he was, “There’ll never be.”

The director grew even more smug at that, quipping back with a confident, “Yeah, you did say I have ruined you for everyone else.”

He hummed, giving her an elongated peck before confirming, “In the most incredible way.”

“Good to know,” she joked with a giggle, kissing him again for good measure. She looked down at her mud-caked knees and sighed, “Now, I actually gotta go to the bus and clean myself up.” She didn’t even want to look at how ruined her makeup was.

However, Alex didn’t take that literally. He followed after her and hugged her from behind, his mouth coming right to her ear to whisper, “Wanna go to my bunk?” in a seducing attempt.

The sun had almost disappeared on the horizon as they had gotten busy, so she pointed out while the sky darkened with each passing second,  “Don’t you have a set in less than two hours?”

He was dropping kisses on the side of her neck as they clumsily walked back to the bus, “Plenty of time.”

Her eyes fluttered closed for a second, “Sweetness…”

His teeth grazed her sensitive skin and he felt her shudder in his arms, “They won’t miss me.”

She laughed, stopping for a second to turn around in his grasp and look him in the eye to point out, “You forget you’re THE Alex Turner.”

He rolled his eyes, playing himself down, “Another boring ol’ bloke.”

“Oh you’re being humble now?” She jokingly asked, bringing her hand up to his forehead to continue her teasing, “Have you gotten a fever?”

He snorted, and told her, “Shut up.”

Only for her to give him whiplash as she replied, “Maybe if you’re good I can ride you out there tonight.” 

His eyes went wide and she cackled, “Don’t look at me like that. Think you quite enjoyed the fact that we could get caught, didn’t you?”

He stayed quiet for a bit, until she poked his side and he gave in with a shy, “Perhaps,” that made her smile.

“Filthy boy.” 

Though Ella would’ve loved to turn his back to the earth and show him his place by riding him and reminding him just how perfectly they fit together, the festival took up their time and they couldn’t find an appropriate moment to disappear like they had done earlier.

Reading and Leeds had been incredible though. Ella found herself having the most amazing time there with all her friends,finally understanding the magic of the festival that her boyfriend held so close to his heart. 

They had endless pictures to remember the weekend by, thankfully. And Ella had gone Instagram official with Alex to the entire world after Katie posted a picture of Ella on Alex’s shoulders in the crowd. 

She had been nervous at first, struggling to find the courage in her to see the comments after that stupid article that sent her spiraling back in June. But when she had gone through them as she cuddled Alex, she had found more love from fans than any negativity, and it had her so relieved.

Alex dropped a kiss atop of her head, “Told you no one can just not love you as soon as they meet you.”

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Usually Ella really hated Mondays, just like anybody else, really. But the Monday after Reading and Leeds weekend sounded very promising as soon as Florence had vaguely proposed a gathering at her and Matty’s flat to celebrate.

Flo had mentioned drinks, music, and all their friends in one place. What else could Ella ask for? 

Ella had been buzzing with energy as she got ready, stealing kisses here and there from Alex’s lips, humming and singing along to the music she was playing as she chose what to wear and how to do her hair. 

It was the last few days she had over in England before going back home, so she was making sure to enjoy every second she had left with her friends being all walking distance from her. 

She had even surprised Alex when she dashed to knock on Alice’s door and invite her over to Flo’s so that she could introduce her to everyone there. Little did she know, the singer was well acquainted with everyone. But she would find out soon enough. 

“Hey beautiful,” greeted George as soon as Ella stepped into his arms to say hello.

She hummed in the embrace, George holding her a little tighter by the waist when noticing Alex’s intense stare on his every move. Ella was none-the-wiser as she pulled back and gleefully asked the drummer, “How are you? I haven’t seen you in ages.”

Of course George would want to make Alex squirm a little, so he made sure to put a little more suave into his voice to cheekily reply, “Alright now that I see you again.”

Nick, who had been the one to open the door for the lovebirds, walked past to get another beer just in time to hear George flirting with Ella, so he warned with humour dampening his words, “Back off mate, Turner will kick your teeth in.”

George let a cheeky smile tug at the corners of his mouth, turning to the singer to nonchalantly say, “Oh, I heard.” He had heard just enough about it to know that they made a great pair, and he could see it now, the way the joy shone on their faces when they walked in holding hands. It wasn’t hard for the drummer to sincerely add, “Congratulations, yous make a lovely couple.”

That made Ella coo loudly, wrapping her arms around George’s waist in a quick hug as she accepted the compliment, “Awh, thank you G.”

Alex nodded his head slightly, a winning smile on his face before patting the drummer’s shoulder and matching his girlfriend’s sentiment, “Ta, mate.”

The drummer squeezed Ella for a second before she let go, but couldn’t let the pair go before joking with Alex, “You alright? Bet she’s wearing you off.”

Alex caught the innuendo straight away, the reminder that George and Ella had shagged before making him curl his fingers into fists, but a smirk cracking on his face as he remembered he got Ella in the end, not the drummer. 

Proudly, he nodded and confirmed, “Nothing I will ever complain about.”

“Hmm, isn’t that right.” George replied, turning to Ella and looking her right in the eye as he added, “She does make it enjoyable to lose hours of sleep.”

Ella gasped and slapped his arm, before telling him to “Shush.”

George let out a loud cackle at her reaction, and watched as she grabbed Alex’s hand and dragged him further into the flat so that they could finish saying hello to everyone there.

It was impossible for her cheeks not to hurt while they were at the Healy’s place. Seeing all their friends in one place, sharing drinks, drowning the music playing through the speakers with chatter and laughter; simply just existing all together—it brought a massive smile to Ella’s face that she just couldn’t wipe off.

The drinks she had been nursing had started to translate into a nice buzz inside her. Her head felt lighter and laughter flowed out of her with ease. She kept clinging to her boyfriend when she sat right beside him in a loveseat in the living room, but she also found herself looking for physical contact with everyone. Subconsciously, she was making sure she hugged all her friends enough to not regret not doing it when she went back to LA alone.

That meant Alex was on edge when George would pull her in conversation, and his arm would confidently wrap around Ella’s waist while she clutched onto his arms, giving him all the attention in the world when the drummer spoke. 

There had been a moment, Matty had turned the speakers’ volume up as one of his favorite tunes came on, but that meant Ella struggled to have George listen to what she was saying. Alex’s heart dropped to his ass when he saw Ella wrapping an arm behind the drummer’s neck and pulled him in. The singer feared the worst, his blood running cold instantly, but there was a slight wave of relief when her mouth moved right next to his ear, instead of the drummer’s lips.

When Ella came back to the loveseat he was occupying, Alex sat her down on his lap, wrapping his arm around her waist. He happily accepted the kiss Ella gave him, elongating it as much as he could and silently hoping that George was watching.

Alex was jealous, and he would admit it. He had hope that, by then, George had caught the sign and he would turn it down a notch when it came to Ella. 

But Alex had been hopeful far too soon, for there was a knock at the door, and when Florence opened it, Alice walked right into the flat grabbing Ella’s attention instantly. 

“Hi Allie,” Ella said as she hugged the singer by the waist.

Alice smiled and dropped a kiss on Ella’s cheek, “Hey baby. Missed you.”

Ella giggled as she pulled back, “I know, those twenty four hours were unbearable.” Last they had seen each other had been the day before, when they said goodbye to each other as the bands finally left Leeds Fest and went back to London.

“Thanks for inviting me, by the way,” Alice said earnestly, she could see many familiar faces that she had missed, “It’s good to finally see old friends again.”

“Old friends?” Ella was slightly confused. She had been ready to go around introducing Alice to the Manc boys. “You know the 1975 guys?”

“Sure do,” Alice smirked as she reminisced, “Some better than others.” 

Ella understood the innuendo straight away, and her brain started working overtime to figure out who she could mean. Only the answer fell right onto her lap when none other than George walked up to them and a confident smile appeared on Alice’s face as she greeted him like they had history, “Well hello there, George Daniel. Long time no see.”

“Alice Gillespie,” the drummer replied with a sultry voice. If Ella wasn’t so shocked, she would have shivered at his tone. And the director’s jaw would only fall more when he went to hug Alice and noted, “It’s been a while since I’ve had you in my arms.”

Alice let out a hum of satisfaction, one so similar to the sounds Ella knew the singer made while in bed, “Oh I’ve missed the feeling.”

The tension that surrounded them was so heavy, Ella’s words came out of her in a hurry, “Wait– You two…?” 

Alice nodded, smirking at Ella’s surprised face, “Yeah. Ages ago, when we were just introducing our names in the music scene.”

“She’s grown,” George said, taking a step back to make a show of looking Alice up and down, “In all aspects of the word.”

“You too George,” Alice bit her bottom lip when noticing the way his arms flexed and tightened the fabric of his shirt, “I might just cling to these muscly arms all night if you let me.”

Ella knew the look on each other’s face, and her face went bright red as she knew they were undressing each other with their eyes. She felt like she was intruding in an intimate moment, but her body was going against her reason for she wanted to stay and watch if they let her. Fuck, her mind was flooded with dirty thoughts already, her skin heating as if molten lava was coursing through her veins at the thought of Alice and George together.

“Y’alright, Ella?” George’s voice got her out of her trance.

“Yeah, yes,” Ella replied, shaking her head, “I’m just a bit in shock.”

“You’re cute, baby,” Alice snorted, watching the way her flush reaching down her neck and up to the tips of her ears, “Your every filthy thought is written all over your face. S’a pity you’re taken now.”

Ella felt like a deer caught in headlights, her mouth opened and closed as she worked out an excuse in her head but nothing worked. Alice giggled loudly, dropping a quick kiss on her cheek before grabbing her hand in plans to get to the bar so they could get some drinks.

“We’ll see you around Georgie. Don’t get lost, I quite enjoy the view,” Alice winked at the drummer, and he smiled big and bright at her. 

He had missed her cheekiness a lot, a buzz of excitement brewing inside him. Winking back at her, he promised, “Won’t stray too far then, gorgeous.”

After some shots, Alice and Ella went around the party chatting with everyone, until Ella went back to Alex who had just welcomed Miles into the flat. Ella had fully forgotten about Alice and George’s situation until Miles mentioned how they looked like they were gonna take up the guest room at any second and just enjoy each other for days.

They looked fit together, and Ella had been first hand witness of the suffocating tension that enveloped those two. From then on, Ella would admit she had been a bit distracted watching them from afar, wondering what it was that they were whispering to each other, in awe of how they orbited back towards each other as time passed.

George and Alice had noticed her wandering gaze, and they had reached a moment in which they silently agreed they would give into Ella’s curiosity and let her be in the middle of the sandwich. 

Teases, the both of them were, for they were smooth with it and Ella was naive to their silent plan. They would individually come up to her, almost like taking turns, only for the other to join them and aim the flirting at each other. If Ella had pearls adorning her neck, she would’ve most likely been clutching them as Alice and George taunted the other; maybe even recalling aloud the times the two had shared before, leaving Ella jaw dropped and incredibly flustered.

Alex had been so relieved when Alice and George kept each other busy and left Ella alone to mingle around. And though he had wanted to smack the back of Miles’ head for bringing Ella’s attention back to the pair, he was glad they had stayed away from his girlfriend. 

The last he had seen of Ella, Bre had taken her away from him to catch up with Katie and Kelly, who had just had a doctor’s appointment that morning and had gotten some  great news about the baby. She was almost 34 weeks, and they were all expecting the baby’s arrival quite soon. Ella was quite gutted she was leaving before Kelly’s due date, but she was so happy that in no time, they would all have their little baby Monkey to spoil.

Alex had been chatting with Ross and Matt for a while in the kitchen. They had been nursing their drinks and getting refills as they stood right next to the selection of alcohol available to everyone, best seats in the house really, plus the music was not as loud there so the conversation flowed easily. 

However, when he came back out to the living room, he saw Katie, Bre, and Kelly chatting all alone, Ella seemingly gone from that group of people. He looked around the room, confused for he could not find her. He walked further down, decided to go to the bathroom and knock on the door, and then he saw her in the corner of the room with George and Alice.

He hadn’t noticed he was standing in the middle of the room, the grip on his beer bottle tightening, jaw clenching. Florence had noticed straight away, she had been watching the trio in the corner of the room very attentively for the past ten minutes, and then Alex walked into the scene. 

Flo couldn’t help but excuse herself and walk up to her best friend to take the piss out of him for a bit. 

She smirked as she walked up to him, coming to stand right in front of him to block his view, “You’re blowing steam out of your ears, Shakespeare. Pipe down.”

His eyes didn’t move from where Ella stood, but his view was slightly blocked by Flo’s smirking face. His jaw tensed when he watched Alice playing with Ella’s hair as they talked, “Tell them to back off and I will.”

Flo rolled her eyes, turning around to watch the show the singer was fuming over, “Oh please. They’re doing all that just to rile Ella up, she’s been bright red since she learned Alice and George used to be fuck buddies back in the day.”

That got Alex to drop his gaze from them and direct it at Florence, “They did?” 

She hummed in confirmation, but she couldn’t let the opportunity pass to torment Alex some more, “And if I don’t recall incorrectly, I reckon that was Ella’s dream threesome.”

Alex rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, “I hate you, Florence. I sincerely do.”

“No you fucking don’t,” Flo mocked him with laughter, “Stop staring at them like a twat, go get your girl.”

Alex frowned, looking at Florence and using a stern tone to say, “She’s quite distracted by them. Even with me next to her.”

“Well, we all are, mate,” Flo replied with a roll of her eyes, “Those two look hot as fuck together. They did back then, but they look even hotter now. And I heard all the stories back then. They are filthy and I think Ella can tell.” It would have been a shame if she didn’t bring up Ella’s adventures the last time she was in the UK, “After all, she’s got them both multiple times before.”

Alex closed his eyes, letting his head drop and sighed almost like in pain. When he looked up at his best friend again, she could see the desperation in his eyes, “Angel. You are not helping. At all.”

“Sorry. It’s just funny seeing you all riled up,” Flo couldn’t help but laugh at him for a bit. She found his determent hilarious when Ella was already his entirely and loudly for everyone to know. The artist shook her head at him, taking the bottle from his hands, essentially dismissing him early from the gathering and giving her the blessing to leave, “Go get her and show her a good time. Might be able to wipe both their names off her head if you just play your cards well enough.”

When Alex looked at the trio again, Alice was leaning in too close for his liking. He set off instantly, and Florence had managed to move out of his way fast enough so he didn’t barge into her. 

“Mind if I steal her for a second?” He attempted a smile at George and Alice as he interrupted them, but he only managed a crooked grin that didn’t seem genuine at all.

Ella looked up at him for a quick second, a soft smile on her face, entirely ignorant to the jealousy that coursed through him which was only fueling his need to take her back home and fuck her dumb until the only thing she could remember was his name.

Alice nodding and George saying, “All yours,” brought a bright smile to Alex’s face.

He interlocked his fingers with Ella’s and took her with him. He wasn’t walking fast at all, for his Irish goodbye to not be noticed, but he muttered under his breath at her, “We’re leaving.”

Her brows furrowed, but she didn’t stop walking next to him, “It has barely been four hours.”

He wouldn’t give her an answer, just repeated, “We’re leaving.”

But she noticed the way his jaw clenched, and realised the silent hostility in his eyes when he had approached Alice, George, and herself then, the pieces coming together to complete the puzzle. 

Instead of finding it annoying, she found it adorable, “Awh, are you jealous?”

He turned to her when they reached the flat’s door, his eyes hard and his words stern, “Keep running that pretty little mouth and you’ll find out.”

“Don’t tempt me with a good time,” she joked, and the smirk she gave him made him want to push her against the door and take her right there and then. 

He groaned, opening the door and grabbing her by the waist to lead her out first, “Smartarse.”

There was no way he could endure walking back home then, he needed to get home as soon as possible so they took the first cab they saw outside. Ella’s mind was reeling, she was intrigued by what had set him off, but also excited by what awaited her once they crossed the threshold of Alex’s flat.

Turns out, she was promised some teasing and far too many orgasms. Her clothes had been shed as soon as Alex closed the door behind him. In between sloppy kisses, his hands worked to get her out of everything that covered her. 

His mouth distracted her as he kissed down her neck, never once stopping his walking until her back bumped into the settee. Her mouth fell open when Alex bit her neck, the pain morphing into pleasure, eyes rolling back into her skull when his tongue swiped over the damage. 

His hands groped at her tits, kneading harshly, while his mouth looked for her lips again. He swallowed every moan as he pinched her nipples, her legs wrapping around his waist and trembling with the overflow of sensations. 

One of his hands wrapped around her neck, choking her in the way he knew she liked. His other hand traveled down her body, until he could swipe his fingers up her cunt. She was already drenched for him, he groaned into her mouth. 

Alex pulled back harshly, strings of spit connecting their lips. Ella looked for his mouth again but he grabbed her by the waist and turned her around. With one hand on her back, the other still holding her tight by her waist, he bent her over the settee and he fell to his knees for her.

He kissed up the backs of her thighs, gasps falling from Ella’s lips as he sucked bruises into her sensitive skin. Alex repeated his process on her other thigh, until he got to her ass and bit into the soft flesh there. 

“Fuck! Alex!” She had never been one for biting, but her knees kept buckling every time his teeth would sink into her, and now she was growing obsessed with the feeling.

He hummed at the sound of his name falling from her lips, but he needed more. He had to hear Ella screaming his name for everyone to hear. 

Alex guided her feet further apart, so he could spread her open and comfortably find his home between her legs. His tongue came over her clit, circling it and then sucking mercilessly. Ella gripped onto the cushions, moaning loudly when he shook his head and hummed, the vibrations driving her crazy. 

He lapped at her with hunger. Her sopping hole puckered with every tease of his tongue, but he wouldn’t pay it no attention, not even when Ella pleaded, “Baby, your fingers, please. I need you.” 

But Alex wouldn’t relent. Not when he wanted her at his mercy. 

He kept on sucking and lapping at her clit, flicking it with the tip of his tongue. Ella was a mess of cries and moans, her legs growing weaker by the second. Since she was bent over and her head was down, all the blood rushing through her head made every sensation increase tenfold, so it wasn’t a surprise that her orgasm was approaching her rapidly. 

Despite them being freshly together, Alex knew her cues like the back of his hand, so he could tell that she was about to cum. And when her thoughts started leaving her without restraint, begging for him not to stop, saying over and over how much she loved his tongue on her, Alex stopped.

Ella cried loudly, “No! Bab– What are you doing? I was so close!”

Alex stood up, pressing his hips flush against her bare cunt so that she could feel how hard he was in his jeans. She moaned at the feeling, trying to roll her hips against him to look for friction but he tutted, “Stop that or you won’t cum at all tonight.”

Another cry left her again, but he ignored it. Instead, he leaned over her, grabbing a fistful of her hair and pulling on it harshly so that he could whisper in her ear, “We’re going to our room and I’m gonna show you how to behave.”

A whimper fell from her lips, she was dizzy from her stolen orgasm, the pent up pleasure that was begging to be released, the pain from her hair being pulled like that, and just how turned on she was by him taking control. 

Once they got to the room, he hovered over her and rewarded her with some kisses. But she was being greedy, wanting to keep his mouth on hers when he had other plans. So Alex kept tutting at her, having to flip her over again and ordering her to stay right where she was as he took his shirt and jeans off. 

She looked over her shoulder, staying in place but hungrily watching Alex shedding off his clothes. Her mouth watered at the sight of his hard cock straining his black boxers, she almost wanted to ask if she could suck him off first, but before she could even open her mouth, he came over her using one of his legs to push hers apart and admire his effect on her.

“So needy,” he deemed her, pressing a kiss on her shoulder. “Asking for my fingers like that. Maybe if you behaved I could give you what you want.” His proposal was followed by his fingers dragging up and down her folds, gathering her slick and bringing his fingers up to her mouth.

“Are you gonna do what I tell you?” 

Ella’s voice was a squeak, “Yes. Yes, I will.” 

That satisfied him. Nodding, he brushed his fingers against her lips, “Suck.”

Her lips wrapped around his slick-covered fingers, and without breaking eye contact she took them in all the way down to the knuckle. Her tongue worked to lap at it all as her head bobbed slightly. Alex watched her with his jaw clenched, heavy breaths leaving through his nose; Ella could feel him heavy in his boxers and throbbing for her. 

She pulled back once she was done, offering him a sweet and innocent smile that drove him to push his hard on against her, “Good girl,” he praised before bringing his fingers back down and finally filling her up.

“Oh, Alexxx,” she cried into the pillow her head was resting on, fingers clutching onto the duvet, “That feels so fucking good.”

He hummed, watching his fingers glide in and out of her with ease. He started curling them, and she trembled when he hit that spot that drove her crazy over and over again. 

“Shit! Right there, baby!” Her hips started moving, though they were constricted with his weight over her. But she was trying, and when Alex added a third finger, all Ella could think about was chasing her orgasm. 

Her toes curled and her walls clenched around Alex’s fingers the more he increased his speed. The sound of his fingers invading her wet cunt drowned her ears, and her senses were on overdrive from the combination of it all. His heavy breaths hit her hack in tickles, goosebumps breaking all over her skin as she felt herself nearing over the edge.

“Alex, please,” she begged. “I’m so close, baby, please let me cummmm.”

The ache he was feeling from how hard he was clouded his thoughts, that and the sight of it all. So he gave into her wishes, just with one condition, “You can cum, but only if you cum on my cock right after this, darling.”

She nodded enthusiastically, “Yes! Yes! I’ll drench your cock, baby, just keep– Fuck! Don’t stop!” 

Just the thought of having her wrapped around him pushed him to get that orgasm out of her, so he sped up, and Ella went right over the edge with a guttural moan that ripped through her throat almost as intensely as her orgasm shook her. 

Alex fingered her through it, until she whimpered, “No more, please.”

But she had forgotten what she had agreed to, and before she knew it, Alex flipped her over again so she was on her front, getting off the bed to shed off his boxers quickly and laying over her once more. 

Ella’s jaw dropped when she felt him brushing the tip of his cock up and down her cunt. Her legs shook as she was overstimulated, and her brain melted in her skull when he lined up and pushed in slowly inside her. 

Her nails dug into his back, a loud moan out in the air harmonizing with Alex’s deep groan as her walls squeezed Alex tightly. He had no idea how he was meant to last if she was this tight. 

He dragged his hips back slowly, coming back in faster and harder, setting an agonizing pace that had Ella holding onto him for dear life and almost sure that she was gonna squirt all over him any second. She had no time to recover from her past orgasm, so she felt like she was going to explode at any second. Her skin felt on fire, every cell of her body vibrating so much she could just combust. 

And with Alex nipping and biting at her skin, the slow drag out and hard push into her, Ella only had so little left in her before she came again. 

Alex seemed to have been in the same boat, with him having been so hard while he teased her, and with how she was squeezing him, the drag of her nails on his skin, and the delicious sounds of her moans and whimpers, Alex picked up the pace and soon the bed was creaking with every thrust. 

“Alex! Alex! Fuckkkkk—,” she cried aloud, her core tightened and she felt like she was losing control over her body entirely.

Panting, Alex tried to keep up his pace the best he could, while approving her cries for him, “That’s it, darling. The only name I want falling from your lips.” One of his hands came down, pressing atop her mound, wanting nothing more than for her to drench him and the sheets. 

A loud gasp left her when the pressure of his hand appeared, her body no longer fighting her, and she squirted all over him with a yell, “Shit! Alexxxx!”

He looked down at the show, everything was wet and slick, and she was spasming around him with every thrust. He grunted as he felt himself about to fall over the edge, that was when she brought her hands to his hair and pulled on it harshly to bring his gaze up to her face and say, “Cum inside me, Alex, please.”

Her swollen lips were glistening with spit, her face shining with sweat, and her hair all disheveled. She was a fucking work of art, just a look at her in this state and those words falling from her lips sent him right over the edge. 

His hips stuttered, as he came hard and her walls milked every drop of his cum. He ended up slumping right over her, hiding his face in the crook of his neck while they both gathered their bearings. 

The feeling of their erratic hearts, the fall and rise of their chests, Ella drawing circles on his back, Alex leaving feather-like kisses on her neck, it all had their eyes fluttering close. That was until Alex lifted his head up and caught the sight of Ella’s new polaroid resting atop of the nightstand. 

He had hated how much the sight of George’s face had reminded him of those pictures he and Ella had taken back then. And he wanted to erase any trace of that memory from his own mind but also Ella’s.

He pulled out and stood up quickly, leaving Ella pouting in bed while she watched where he was going. 

When she watched him grab the camera, she frowned in confusion, “Sweetness, what are you doing?”

Alex turned the camera on and checked the amount of film it had left just like Ella had taught him, he smiled seeing that there were 7 frames left for him to use. She looked stunning there, all worn out and flushed. Alex brought the camera up to his eye, ready to press the shutter, but he had to ask first, “I want to take you like this with me on tour, can I?”

Heat rushed up to her face, cheeks tinting red, but she smiled entirely pleased by his words, “‘Course you can.”

He walked up to her, getting back on the bed and watching her adjust herself for him. She rested more upright on the pillows, brushing her unruly hair and biting her bottom lip for him. He brought the camera to his eye again, watching her through the lens and pressing the shutter. 

Without even waiting for the picture to reveal itself, he tossed it to the side and continued to take some more. She brought her hands up to her tits for the next one, pinching her nipples, face contorting in pleasure that he captured just in time. He was gonna have such a good time looking back at them while on tour, he had to lean in and kiss her before continuing. 

It was then that Ella got friskier, opening her legs up and having completely forgotten that he had just cum inside her, his cum dripping out of her glistening cunt. 

“Shit, we made a mess,” not only was the mix of them dripping onto the duvet, it was also drenched from her squirt. 

Her fingers came down to her dripping hole, and as she was gathering some of it on the tips of her fingers, Alex pressed the shutter. 

Ella smirked, looking up at him and tutting, “You’re filthy.” 

“Push it back inside you, darling. Let me take a picture of that.”

Since she had promised she would be good and listen to him, Ella did just that. 

“Fucking hell,” Alex cursed under his breath, the shutter going off coming right after his gruff voice.

Ella got carried away fucking their cum inside her, legs trembling slightly as she was still so sensitive. Alex could only watch with his mouth open agape, throat going dry when she proceeded to pull her fingers out, and look at him directly in the eye before sucking them clean. 

He was so entranced by the view, that he forgot to take the picture, so she joked, “Want me to do that again so you can take the picture or would you rather just keep it in your memory?”

Alex snapped out of his thoughts, swallowing loudly before nodding, “Please indulge me, darling.”

So she went back in, whimpering softly as she pushed two fingers back inside her and fucking herself for a few seconds. She drew her fingers back and brought them up to her mouth, wrapping her lips around them and sucking eagerly. 

The shutter went off again, Alex felt himself twitching at the moans she let out at the taste. It made him crave it so he gently rested the camera next to him, so he could take some more pictures in case he managed to multitask, and hovered over her again. 

Slowly, he leant in until his lips brushed hers, “Let me taste us.”

Ella stuck her tongue out for him, letting him lick at it but it wasn’t long before he sucked it. He groaned, pushing his hips forward, and pulled back for a deep breath before pouncing on her lips. 

She moaned at the force of the kiss, her pebbled nipples rubbing on his chest, making her shiver in pleasure. His hold on her waist was tight, and he kept it there while he made his way down her body, leaving hot and messy kisses in his wake. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Ella asked, her body unable to not shake with every brush of his lips closer and closer to her sensitive cunt.

He smiled up at her, mischievous and devilish, “Loving on you.” A soft kiss on her clit had her legs clamping close around his head. 

Alex laughed, using his hands to open her wide for him, pinning the thighs to the bed, but she trembled, as his breath fanned against her core, “Baby, I can’t.” 

“Yes you can.” It wasn’t an encouragement, but an affirmation. If she didn’t remember that she was at his mercy now, then his words would remind her, “You’ll take it.” 

She whimpered again when he flicked at her clit with his pointed tongue, pulling back to say, “I’m not moving. This is my favorite place.” He let his tongue run flat up her folds, drinking her in, “My favorite taste.” 

With a tight grip, he fought her instinct to close her legs again, “And I’m not moving until my jaw aches and locks, remember?” She remembered then, those promises through the phone that had pushed her towards the edge when she was lonely and craving his touch. 

He nosed at one of her thighs, bringing her back out from her head, “I want you to drench my face this time, so be a good girl and take it darling, yes?”

Ella could only nod, thinking that bearing the overstimulation would be far better than dealing with the need of him when he’s away from her. But what she didn’t account for was how eager he was to make her cum. 

By the first orgasm, she felt entirely spent. Her body was shaking, and she had no idea how he had the strength to hold her legs open like he was because she had lost absolutely all control over her body.

Alex used his fingers and mouth next, not letting her ride her previous orgasm and just building up from it. Ella was being incredibly loud then, louder than she had ever been, but she wasn’t in her right mind to even be embarrassed by it. 

He fucking adored how vocal she was being though, and he only grew more and more eager to get more and more out of her. With his fingers curling the right way, hitting that spongy spot inside her that had her seeing stars, Ella came once more. He pulled his fingers back, rubbing at her clit with quick circles that elicited the loudest calls of his name, ending with Ella drenching his face just like he had asked for. 

His plan was to keep going but Ella had tears streaming down her face, exhaustion weighing her down, and overstimulation making her mind go haywire. 

The ghostly touch of his tongue on her clit again made her loudly sob, her hands came down to his hair, clutching it and pulling him off her, and her broken voice managing a pathetic, “Can’t– Love, I can’t.” A sob racked through her, “No more, please.”

Alex’s mood entirely shifted, cooing at her as he crawled back up to lay next to her. He brushed her hair back and wiped the tears from her cheeks, “It’s okay, darling. I’ve got you, yeah?”

She nodded, tears still spilling for her eyes, chin wobbling as she tried to gather herself again. 

“Let’s clean up, yeah?”

The aftercare was lovely, with Alex running a warm bath for her that he joined once he was done changing the sheets and putting the old ones to wash. He washed her hair and massaged her scalp, then carefully soaping her skin and rinsing her off the suds. Ella was limp against him, and Alex could see that sleep was grasping her tighter in its clutches, but before she could fully surrender to it, he helped her out of the tub and dry herself up.

He brushed her hair and dried both his and her hair quickly before carrying her back to bed. There was no point in putting their pyjamas on, they could cuddle under the sheets and be just as cosy so that’s what he did. 

Ella woke up a little when they got under the covers, turning to look at Alex and run her fingers over his face. But what they hadn’t noticed with them being hidden away in his ensuite, was that the next door neighbor would be a little busy that night too.

Living next to her for far too long, Alex immediately recognized Alice’s moans. And Ella did too, after having elicited so many out of her with her tongue and fingers. 

Alex turned to Ella with wide eyes, clearly hearing a male’s voice with Alice, “Oh wow.”

Ella shushed him, trying to figure out who it was. The noises were slightly muffled, but when they got louder, you could hear them clearly, and that’s when Ella realized it was Alice and George on the other side of the wall. 

She couldn’t help but tease her boyfriend first though, “Bet you had the best jerk off session when Alice and I shagged. You’ve got some nice acoustics through the wall.”

Alex rolled his eyes, “Shut up,” pinching her waist and making her jump.

She giggled, “You’re not denying it though.”

The singer opted for staying silent and cuddling closer to her, he closed his eyes to try and fall asleep but it seemed like the night was still very young for the people on the flat nextdoor. 

About ten more minutes passed, of them moaning at the same rate, no signs of any of them having cum yet and that had Ella gasping again, “Fucking hell, they’ve got stamina.”

That got a snort out of Alex, who opened his eyes to tell her, “Stop snooping and go to sleep.”

He watched as she indulged in his wishes, and so he followed. Alex was doing a great job of ignoring the noises for a while, but there was a particular moment when George groaned incredibly loud at the same time as Alice moaned in a high pitch that could not be ignored. 

What Alex hadn’t been expecting was to feel Ella clenching her thighs which were wrapped around one of his legs. He opened his eyes just to find her wide awake and with her face all flushed, “You’re insatiable.”

“You are hearing the same as I am, tell me they don’t sound hot as fuck,” Ella defended herself quickly, but then she realized what she had said and scowled. She didn’t want to know if he found Alice’s moans hot when he had shagged her, “Actually, don’t answer.”

Alex scoffed at her words, “You’ve shagged both of them. If someone should be jealous, it’s me.” The worst part was that he could feel her against him, fighting the urge to roll her hips to rub her clit on his thigh, “You’re over here getting all wet over hearing them through the wall.”

She pouted, “Well then, maybe we should just go knock on the door.”

Decisively, Alex replied with a roll of his eyes, “We are not being part of a foursome.”

“But–,” she tried to reason but he didn’t let her.

“Eleanor Hayes,” he started and finished. She knew he meant that was it when he properly used her legal name. She felt scolded.

Against all odds, they heard the moans pick up again, making Ella let out a little cry of frustration. Ella was half joking by then, enjoying seeing Alex so aggravated by Alice and George’s history with her. But she wouldn’t change having Alex for the world, her heart did backflips in her chest every time she woke up next to him, whenever she felt his hold on her, every time she heard him call her darling; just existing with him made her heart leap in her chest. 

And she was glad that her boyfriend shared the sentiment, “You are all mine now. Don’t expect me to want to share you with anyone else.” Alex’s eyes darkened as he reminded her, but it was Ella who attacked his lips with a hungry kiss. 

She was exhausted, but she felt the need for him brewing in her lower belly. She sighed when she pulled back, deciding to satiate that hunger in the morning. 

But she was annoyed that Alex was listening to sounds that could make him reminisce, “We’re switching your bed to the other side of the room tomorrow.” She scoffed at the stupidity of her boyfriend, all this time complaining about hearing Alice through the wall when that could be easily solved, “Can’t believe you’ve never thought of doing that, you idiot.” 

When Alice moaned particularly loudly, and she felt Alex tense under her, Ella decided, “And I’m buying you earplugs.”

Alex grabbed a handful of Ella’s ass smirking against her mouth and letting her know, “I love it when you’re jealous,” before stealing another lustful kiss from her lips.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

Time was truly cruel. Careless with how the distance would spread the heartache all the way to the ends of their limbs like venom coursing through their veins. It was in a blink of an eye that they had ended up with just a singular full day together, the hours they had on their side had all slipped like water through their fingers.

After having such an eventful Monday, they had decided to spend the day at Alex’s apartment in London. Cuddling all day and ordering takeout was the best plan they had, relishing in the quiet and the comfort of each other’s hold. 

They wouldn’t even regret having spent the day like that, because it had been a day of just existing with the other. Laughing, eating, sleeping, fucking, hugging, talking about everything and anything, tenderly loving each other in the little things. 

Wednesday was a different story. Alex had woken up a little earlier than the day before and kissed her before leaving bed. In her hazy mind, still riddled with sleep, Ella had managed to make out Alex speaking with someone on the phone. 

She had thought she was dreaming for a second, until he walked back into the room and came to lie on top of her. She hummed in satisfaction at the feeling of his weight resting over her, something she just loved to be submitted to now. 

But before she could think much about what he would do next, he nosed at the skin of her neck and spoke in that deliciously deep morning voice of his, “Darling, they want us to go on a meeting at Domino later today.”

Her brows furrowed, eyes still closed but confusion took over her entire expression. She groaned, before questioning, “Domino? Your record label?”

Alex almost cooed at her groggy voice, smiling like a fool when she brought her hands to her face to childishly rub her eyes as she yawned. He dropped a kiss on her chest, feeling the soft beating of her heart beneath his lips. 

“Yes, baby. They want to chat with you, actually.”

If Ella had been more awake, she would have noticed that Alex wore a knowing look on his face. And if she had pushed hard enough, she would have found out what that was all about before even having to go to Domino headquarters all the way in Wandsworth.

On the way there, she was racking her brain trying to figure out why on earth her boyfriend’s label would even want to chat with her about. Was it the documentary? It couldn’t be, because that one had already been handed over to them, all set for release.

Alex squeezing her hand kept trying to get her out her head, but it was pointless. She’d had breakfast quietly next to him before getting ready, which she also did quietly. 

She was so lost in her head that she hadn't even thought of asking her boyfriend if he knew anything. Alex was silently grateful for that—he just knew that he would have ruined the surprise if she were to question him about it.

And he truly would have regretted it, because the shock on Ella’s face was priceless after she and Ben—who was on the big screen of a conference room through Skype—were proposed to go on the South American tour with the Monkeys.

“South America?! Us?!”

Alex had chuckled at the sheer disbelief on Ella’s face and voice, as if she didn’t understand how well they had done with the AM documentary to the point that Domino wanted more content, this time while on the road.

The singer saw Ella pinching herself before grabbing the pen someone was holding out for her. He rubbed right over the red spot she had left behind as the ink sealed the deal between Ben, Ella, and Domino.

“We shall see how this one goes,” they had told her and Ben. “If we manage valuable content to elongate AM’s release and marketing campaign, we shall be looking at a longer contract with you two in the near future. Perhaps for the next projects we have with the Monkeys.”

A jaw dropped Ella had turned to Alex at the sound of all that, utterly shocked at what was happening.

Once Ben had faxed his own signed contract, hands had been shook and promises of further information had been made. Ella was still buzzing with adrenaline as she and Alex walked out into the London streets hand in hand.

“You know what this means right?” Ella mysteriously started saying as they walked.

“Mile high club,” Alex replied quickly, making his girlfriend erupt in a loud string of cackles.

She shook her head no, trying to breathe a little before saying, “Won’t be getting rid of me now, sweetness,” with the biggest smile on her face. 

God did Alex love the sound of that. Her smile was contagious, spreading onto his face, but his toothy grin only got bigger when she added, “Though I wouldn’t be opposed to your idea at all.”

Surreal. That was how they would describe this domino effect that was turning their lives around in the best way. It meant that on that Wednesday, they wouldn’t only be celebrating the fact that they had already been dating for two months, but this new opportunity for her that kept her close to him.

After Ella left England, the Monkeys only had one more week of tour before a glorious almost two month break, one that Alex and Ella were incredibly excited about. They had so much time in their hands then, promised solely for them to enjoy each other. 

And after that break, the band would only be on tour by themselves for another week before Ella was now due to join them for their South American leg of tour.

A bottle of champagne was popped open during dinner in celebration, Ella squealing as she watched the bubbles overflowing from the bottle; an erupting mess atop of a table on a fancy restaurant Alex had taken her to. Alex had acquired a new background picture for his phone as he captured her smile in a picture before leaving the place.

Ella looked so beautiful under the moonlight, red lipstick on, her hair cascading down her back in soft waves that he had watched her carefully do. He had taken his sweet time loving her that night, hands carefully roaming her body to learn every crease and curve, as if he needed to draw her blindfolded anytime soon. He made sure to memorise every change in her expression as he did everything he knew to help her come undone, every noise she made replaying on a beautifully maddening loop in his head.

Melancholy had creeped in the next morning, when they saw the clock and realized they only had a few hours before leaving for the airport. Los Angeles called Ella’s name louder and louder, across oceans, while she tried to steal some more time with Alex. 

It was not much, but it would have to be enough. Enough for the next week before they could have each other back, their sweet traditions, and rid themselves of the burden distance was. 

They packed their last things at the same time, since Alex and the band’s flight was leaving about an hour or two after Ella’s. It was Alex’s turn now to watch her go; he would be a massive liar if he said his heart didn’t break as he watched her scan her ticket and start walking toward the bridge. 

His slipper-clad feet took a step, in his head a debate whether he should just dash it and make it behind the desk to give her one last kiss. But she stopped at the threshold of the bridge, a smile on her face riddled with sorrow, teary eyes, wobbly chin as she waved back.

He knew he would cause a ruckus if he were to do what was going through his head, so he did the next best thing. Blew her a kiss that was already hanging off his lips, her name written all over it. 

She made a show of catching it, a giggle escaping her as she smashed it on her lips. His chest rumbled with joy, a chuckle coming from him when feeling so oddly complete even when saying goodbye. 

Finally, she turned around and disappeared behind the open door to the bridge. And he hadn’t noticed he had been holding back tears until he tasted the salty trail reach the corner of his mouth. 

Love consumed him entirely, a rabble of butterflies swarming his stomach and tickling his insides to the point of silent giggles. He had lost it entirely, all the logic and sense left in him, but how could he not? And how could he not enjoy it? 

Everyone could see it, and he wore it loud and proud. Alex was an utter and complete fool for her. A mad man entirely drunk in love.

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧

A/N: Once again, I wanted to thank you all for still reading. I'm eager to hear your thoughts. I missed you all loads and I hope you know that. After this one, we just have one more chapter and the epilogue left, and then we will have to say goodbye to Ella and Alex. I'm a bit depressed about it but I will definitely be putting out some extras eventually. You know, the typical cheesy stuff like them getting engaged, married, starting a family, all the good stuff. But let me not get ahead of myself, and let's enjoy the end of this ride. Take care you lot, I shall see you soon!

Taglist: @imagine-that-100 @kennedy-brooke @faveficz @indierockgirrl @ladydraculasthings @moonvr @unwantedlovergirl @eaglestar31 @nikisfwn @funniestpersoninnyc @andrearroe @justacaliforniandreamer @alexturnersgf69 @yourorganiccigarette @chickenxdrum

[hellothereobiwankenobi]

retribution | chapter one

⟢ summary: A group of hunters stumbles across Jackson.

⟢ tags: graphic descriptions of violence/torture, death/murder depicted, jackson! joel, noncanon complaint, angst, found family dynamic, no beta reader we die like men

⟢ pairing: joel miller x afab!reader (descriptions scars from surviving in a post apocalyptic world)

⟢ wc: 3.5k

⟢ authors notes: I hope you all enjoy the first installment of this horror inspired fic. I’m love to read stories with dark themes, but I’ve never written one. So, this will be a learning experience for all of us.

⠂⠁⠈⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂

A loud crack echoes off the dilapidated walls of the abandoned cabin as fist meets flesh. A middle-aged man sits bound to a metal folding chair in the center of the small den, his hands tied behind his back with a black extension cord. A large purple bruise develops on his left cheekbone as his eye swells closed. In between each strike, he futilely struggles at his restraints.

A handsome younger man stands before him, one hand gripping the older's hair, forcing his head upright. His other hand recoils back after making contact with the other man's face—a pair of reflective brass knuckles wrapped around the tanned fingers of his right hand.

The sound of a fire crackling mixes with both men's heavy breathing. A teenage girl sits on the stone hearth connecting the fireplace to the room. She holds the fireplace's metal poker in the flames, tip glowing cherry red. The firelight illuminates her deep umber skin.

The younger male releases his grasp and steps away. The bound man's head falls forward to his chest. He musters the strength to lift his gaze to his attackers before speaking.

"C’mon… We can work out a deal." Turning his head, he spits on the ground. His saliva mixes with crimson blood, "Just name it. You want a cut of the sale? It's yours."

You step forward, planting your heavy boots in the space before the man. Leaning forward, you bend at the waist until you are eye-to-eye with your current prey. "All we want is the truth. Admit what you did."

"You little cunt." He growls, staring you down. His eyes catch the long scar that travels diagonally from below your left eye, over the bridge of your nose, and across your right cheek. "My buddies are gonna find me, and you'll get what's coming to you."

"Oh, you mean this buddy?" You snap upright as a third young woman, her black hair cropped short on the sides, approaches you. She holds open an army-green canvas knapsack. You reach into the bag before jerking your arm back, revealing what's inside. Your fingers hold the decapitated head of an older caucasian male by the hair. The word "SLAVER" is carved into its forehead in jagged capital letters. The head's eyes are half-lidded, and his mouth hangs open.

You shrug nonchalantly and look down at the head in your grasp. "I don't think he is going to be much help."

A tidal wave of nausea-inducing terror overtakes the man in the chair, threatening to drown him.

"Your friend made a smart decision. He told us what we wanted to know without putting up much of a fight. So, I made it quick." You nod behind you, gesturing to the aged double-headed axe hanging from a leather sheath strapped to your back. "One clean swing, and it was all over for him."

You smile, and a sickening twinkle flashes in your eyes as your gaze flicks between the severed head and the tied up man before you.

"Catch." Your voice is sweet, like a child playing a game with a friend. You toss the head into the man's lap.

The man screams in horror and instinctively jerks away as the head makes contact with his thighs before falling to the floor. His sudden forceful movement causes the metal chair to clatter to the ground, slamming him on his side. The man continues to shriek as he tries to push himself away, still attached to the folding chair.

The room erupts in sickening laughter as his four captures find amusement at his panicked response.

Boots thud across the wooden slat floor as you approach his pathetic quivering form. His eyes are still locked on his friend's head, lying lifeless only a few feet away.

Using the toe of your boot, you turn his attention up at you. "Now, I'll ask you again.”

Without breaking eye contact, you hold out your hand for the glowing red poker. The teen girl places the handle in your open palm as you wrap your fingers around it. The man below you can feel the heat radiating off the metal as you bring the glowing end close to his face, lining it up with his right eye “Admit what you did."

· · · ────────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ────────── · · ·

Joel takes in a deep breath through his nose. The air is warm as it enters his nostrils. It's still early in the day, but summer has finally come to Jackson. The snow has melted away to reveal lush green foliage and wildflowers in bloom. He has grown to enjoy patrol duty. Time away from the hustle and bustle of the town he now calls home, where a man can clear his head and get some peace. He enjoys the silence, hearing the natural sounds of the Wyoming wilderness. That is until Tommy decides to break the silence.

"I swear, man." Tommy begins, holding the reins of his horse with both hands. "Benji called me 'daddy' last night."

Joel shoots a pointed look at his brother.

"Hand to God, man. He said it." Tommy defends himself.

Getting used to Tommy being a first-time parent has been an adjustment for Joel. He was happier than he could admit for his younger brother. He understands firsthand the pure joy being a father gives a man. Fatherhood was the greatest blessing Joel ever experienced with Sarah. And now he has gotten a second chance to experience it again because of Ellie. But Tommy never stops talking about his infant son.

"He's three months old. Babies can't even hold up their own heads yet." Joel informs his brother.

"That's why it's so fuckin' amazin'!" Tommy exclaims, "He's a genius. Just like his mama."

"Tommy, just watch for any damn infected." Joel sighs.

The two continue their patrol, only getting off their horse to sign the books at designated checkpoints. Once the final checkpoint has been cleared, the brothers ride back to Jackson.

The horses stroll leisurely, using the same path they came from.

Joel is dressed in a pair of fitted jeans and a worn cotton t-shirt, but he is starting to sweat from the sun's heavy rays. He guesses it must be midafternoon from the way the sun is positioned just above them in the sky.

He reaches for the stainless steel canteen attached to his saddle. Bringing it to his lips, he takes a pull of cold water. After screwing back on the lid and clipping it back in place, Joel scans the horizon lazily. He isn't expecting to see anything unusual from how quiet it is, but his eyes catch sight of a strange silhouette in the tree line. He's sure that wasn't present when they first passed by. It looked almost like something was hanging concealed high in the canopy. He tries to squint his eyes, but they are too far away to make out.

"Tommy." Joel alarms his brother, gesturing to the tree line.

Tommy nods. "Yeah, I see it too."

The brothers jerk their horses' reins toward the forest's edge. As they approach the dense trees, the silhouettes come into focus.

The bodies of two men hang lifelessly from a branch of a centuries-old pine tree. Joel's eyes search the corpses, head to toe. He sees both men share a similar message carved into the flesh of their foreheads. The words "RAIDER" and "RAPER" are crudely carved into their thin skin.

"Jesus Christ…" Tommy's voice is just above a whisper. He points down directly below the two bodies. The decapitated body of a third man lay propped up in a sitting position against the tree trunk, holding what Tommy can only assume is its own head in its lap. The third man shares the same writing across his forehead. This one reading "SLAVER"

Joel pulls the silver revolver from the holster on his hip. "Keep an eye out."

Tommy nods and pulls his own handgun from the strap on his thigh.

The two brothers hurry back to Jackson, their horses' hooves thundering against the solid ground. They make sure to keep a close lookout for whoever is responsible for the death of the three men.

As they approach Jackson's large wooden gates, the sun sits low, casting the sky in a collage of pink and orange. The gates open, welcoming the brothers homes. Once inside, they holster their side arms and slide out of the saddles. Two guards come to usher their horses back to the stables.

"We need to tell the council about whatever the fuck that was," Tommy tells Joel as they walk onto the main street.

"We don't need to scare people." Joel disagrees.

Tommy looks at his brother "There are some psychos stringin' up bodies out there. The other patrol groups need to know."

Joel runs a hand through his graying curls. Deep down, he knows Tommy is right. He only wishes they knew more before bringing this to the council.

· · · ────────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ────────── · · ·

You lay flat on your back, staring up at the night sky. Santiago sturs a small cast iron pot suspended over a crackling fire. He is preparing his famous "Rabbit and Whatever the Hell Else We Can Find" stew for tonight's dinner. Safiya sits on a flat rock, rubbing an oiled rag across the delicate inner workings of her rifle. Adriana sits at Saf's feet and leans against her leg for support.

"Adriana, get off me. It's too damn hot for all that." Safiya complains, trying to shake the younger girl off. With the fire burning and the summer air still warm around them, it was too hot for such close proximity. "And you smell awful."

"Sorry, I just wanna be close to you." Adriana sucks her teeth as she stands, rolling her brown eyes. She walks around to the other side of the fire and lies next to you.

"What are you thinking about, professor?" the teen asks, using the nickname she knows you can't stand.

"I was coming up with a plan to get some peace and quiet for once." You reply flatly. You aren't really upset with her. Over the decade you and Adriana have traveled together, she's become the younger sister you never had.

"What month do you think it is?" Adriana ignores your not-so-subtle jab and asks.

You raise your right hand toward the sky and trace the path of a specific constellation with your index finger, "Do you see that line of stars? It looks like an uppercase T with a long curly tail?"

Adriana nods, her eyes fixated on the twinkling sky.

"That one is called Scorpius. It's only visible in North America during the summer months." you explain as Adriana "oohs" and "aahs."

"I could have told you that," Safiya remarks under her breath.

You turn your head to the side, finally removing your gaze from the stars and to the girl lying next to you. "I would say it is probably early to mid-June."

You pause and scrunch up your nose, "You really do smell bad."

Adriana gasps offendedly and sits up with a huff. "You both are a couple of grouches tonight. Santi would never treat me like this." She pushes onto her hands and knees and crawls closer to Santiago.

He looks up from the bubbling stew before him and meets her eyes, jokingly waving his free hand in front of his nose. Adriana shoots up to her feet and stomps against the ground of the campsite. Her eyebrows are drawn together, and her hands are curled into fists, resembling a child about to throw a tantrum. You and Safiya can't help but laugh at Adriana's frustrated display. She is nineteen years old but never outgrew her bratty preteen phase.

"Fine then." She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm going for a walk since clearly none of my friends love me anymore."

She turns her back on the group, marching into the darkness. "Come get me when dinner is ready."

"Don't wander off." You call after her, sitting up with one last chuckle.

"Can't be that mad if she's still hungry." Safiya continues her ministrations, caressing her rifle's frame like it was her lover.

You raise one arm up and take a sniff, the smell making your expression twist into something sour, "We could all use a good bath in the river tomorrow. I'm sure it will be warm enough again. We definitely earned a little reward after today."

"Finally caught the bastards. About damn time." Safiya is now reassembling her rifle, clicking every tiny piece into place with just muscle memory. "We've only been tailing them since Boulder."

You pick at a loose thread on the leg pocket of your brown cargo pants. "It's probably about a day's walk to Grand Teton from here. Then from there, it's only a stone's throw to Yellowstone. We could head west after and see the battlefields at Little Bighorn."

Looking up from the lone offending string; you see Santiago and Safiya staring blankly at you.

You sigh, "It was where Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led an army of Native American warriors in order to stop westward expansion and preserve their ancestral way of life."

The two younger group members' expressions remain unchanged.

"Does your head ever feel heavy from all that book learning weighing it down?" Safiya asks, mostly joking.

"Haha," You speak dryly, rolling your eyes. "Socrates was persecuted for the pursuit of knowledge in his time as well. Some 'book learning' might be good for you. Expand your mind a little. The only thing you care about is that damn gun."

"Until the day Socrates comes back to life to fight off infected, I'll stick to this girl right here." Safiya hugs her beloved rifle to her chest.

You shift your body to lie back down when you hear Adriana’s

voice carrying through the surrounding forest. The three of you spring to your feet, your hands immediately reaching for your respective weapons.

"You guys!" Adriana's boot crunch against fallen leaves and twigs as she sprints back to the group "You guys come look!"

The teen erupts from the darkness into the light of the campsite. "Come on!"

She waves her hand, motioning you all to follow her. She turns on her heels and speeds back to her discovery. The three of you rush to follow her into the expansive forest.

When you finally catch up with her, Adriana is standing in a clearing next to a cliff overlooking a deep valley. An unnaturally bright glow emanates from the very base of the valley.

It's a settlement. No, it's more of a city. What looks to be a couple hundred buildings illuminated by electricity burns like a beacon in the middle of the Wyoming wilderness. It's bigger than anything you've seen before during your travels. More grand than tent villages powered by portable generators and bigger than makeshift towns constructed by those lucky enough to have survived this long. It looks like the kind of cities that existed from before the outbreak.

· · · ───────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ───────── · · ·

The council assembles an emergency meeting a few hours after Tommy and Joel's return. The brothers stand side by side in front of the council's long, curved desk, explaining what they saw on patrol.

"They all had a different word written in their skin." Tommy squeezes his hands tight, trying to keep his fingers from fidgeting. This is an odd feeling for him. He's usually sat behind the desk in these meetings, not speaking before it.

"What did they say?" Maria asks her husband.

"Raider, raper, slaver," Joel answers, his voice coming out low.

"Maybe this was personal." An older woman with snow white hair sitting at the far end remarks. "Whoever did this could have already left the area."

“Takin' down a group of raiders ain't easy. Whoever did it had to be skilled. And well armed." Tommy continues. "This is a kind of brutality that ain't something that should be ignored."

He thinks back to the headless man propped up against the tree trunk, "One of 'em, his head was cut clean off."

"With what? A knife?" Another council member asks.

“Nah," Tommy shakes his head, "Something big, heavy."

Like an axe, the conclusion came to Joel as soon as he saw the precise cut.

Maria closes her eyes and takes a deep breath through her nose, "We should double patrols until we know for a fact whoever did this is gone. And increase the numbers on the walls."

This time, Joel is grateful for Maria's pragmatism. While the other members want to bury their heads in the sand and pretend there isn't a threat in their backyard, Maria is willing to admit they may be in danger.

Maria calls the meeting adjourned. She and Tommy need to rearrange patrol and guard duty schedules for the next week to accompany the extra shifts.

Joel exits the city hall building and makes his way home. The summer air feels good against his skin. Jackson's winter had been bitingly cold. Even the spring was still too brisk for his liking. But the summer here reminds him of Austin in the spring, just not as humid.

He returns home and hears the soft strumming of guitar strings coming from the backyard. Joel approaches the small garage that Ellie has made into her new living space. Joel knocks on the door, and the guitar chords come to an immediate halt.

"Come in!" Ellie shouts through the closed door. Joel pulls the door open and enters the dimly lit room. Only the old Christmas lights that they found in the house's dust-filled attic illuminate the space.

"It ain't too dark in here for ya?" He asks, looking around the garage.

"Nah, I like it dark." Ellie shrugs. She's sitting at the edge of her bed, acoustic guitar resting in her lap.

Teenagers, Joel shakes his head.

"You eat dinner?" He comes to sit next to her on the bed.

Ellie nods "Me, Dina, and Jesse went to the dining hall earlier."

Joel inhales. "There is something… weird goin' on outside. It might be a while before we go out explorin' again."

Ellie furrows her eyebrows. "Weird, how?" She sets the guitar on the floor, leaning the neck against the bed.

"Don't know yet." He tells her before standing, "Just promise me you'll be careful for the next few days."

"Are you just being extra paranoid again or something?" She asks skeptically.

"Ellie." He speaks her name in a warning tone.

Ellie hears the seriousness in his voice. She notices his posture is stiffer than usual, too. "Okay, I promise."

· · · ────────── ⋆ ✩ ⋆ ────────── · · ·

"We should go!" Adriana exclaims before shoving a spoonful of stew into her mouth. The idea of going to Jackson makes her eyes shine with excitement.

Your group has returned to the makeshift campsite and are eating Santiago’s rabbit stew from aluminum camping bowls and matching spoons.

"We don't know anything about them. It's not safe." You immediately shut down her little fantasy. She should know better than this.

"But they have walls. And electricity. Maybe even running water!" The younger girl continues trying to argue her point.

"They could be a town of cannibals for all we know." You bring the spoon of stew to your lips. "Cannibals that like to eat pretty girls like you."

“Not everyone is out to get us," Adriana replies softly. She knows you're overprotective for a good reason, but sometimes it can be too much.

Safiya chimes in, "Adriana might be right. They could even be willing to trade. We could use some medical supplies, and who knows the next time we’ll see another settlement."

You can't believe your ears. There aren't many rules amongst the group, but not purposefully putting yourselves in danger is definitely one of them. "We survive by laying low. We don't know anything about these people."

“What makes you think they would even let us enter their town in the first place? You two are living in fantasy land." You look at Santiago. "Santi agrees with me."

He averts his eyes to his bowl and continues eating his meal.

"Why don't we vote on it?" Adriana volunteers, letting her gaze scan the group. "All in favor of not going?"

You're the only person to raise their hand.

"All in favor of going?" All three of your traveling companions raise their hands.

"Guess it's decided then." Safiya shrugs, "We aren't gonna stay forever. Just check it out, then we can keep heading east."

Your heartbeat is audible in your ears as you feel blood rushing to warm your face. How could they all be so trusting? All four of you have seen the worst humanity has to offer. All four of you have experienced it firsthand.

You push yourself to your feet, grabbing your axe from beside you before resheathing it on your back. "I'll take the first watch."

You leave the light of the campsite before anyone can protest. You just need some time to clear your head.

[ravenisalone]

The Chronicles for Harry James Potter

Disclaimer: I do not support J. K and her actions do not aline with my beliefes, I am purely using her world and characters and making it my own.

Summary: Harry James Potter finds a box full of tape in an old bedroom at Grimmauld Place. The old bedroom appeared that afternoon, the name being his aunt Ophelia Lyra Black's in cursive letters on the door.

a/n: This is my first fanfiction, and I'm still not fully sure where this will be headed but if you guys enjoy this world and the way I write these characters, I might write a story about my OC Ophelia growing up at Hogwarts with the others. So please leave a comment, I would love to hear your opinions!

Love, Raven <3

Chapter 1: The secret under the bed

Harry had been staying at Grimmauld Place ever since the war had ended. It wasn’t against his parents, but he felt like he needed a break from everyone, and since the order hadn’t used this place for over a year now, his godfather happily passed the house onto him for the time being. 

Harry had been busying himself with exploring the dark house that is Grimmauld Place, although he was given a list of forbidden rooms he wasn’t allowed into. But the more time he spent in the house, the more he realized that years of dark magic had made the Place more alive than himself. Rooms changed places sometimes, some doors led to nowhere, and some rooms appeared out of thin air. 

One of these rooms was where he found the most entertaining thing in the house so far. The door appeared near Sirius’ and Regulus’ room one afternoon. The name on the door read “ Ophelia Lyra Black”,  his aunt, Harry put together immediately, although surprised by the Black last name. The name was displayed in gorgeous black cursive writing.

When Harry entered the room he could immediately smell strong lavender candles burning on a shelf. The room was pretty bare considering it was his aunts. Only a bed, a few bookshelves, and a desk and chair took up space in the dimly lit place. A thick coat of dust covered everything, it was clear that this room hadn't been used in a while.

Harry searched around the room not finding anything interesting until he looked under the bed. A giant box was pushed into the darkness of the space and Harry had to crawl a little under it to reach it. He sat against the bed with the box in his lap gently opening it up.

It was filled with a bunch of cassettes a smaller camera lying next to it. He reached for it softly turning it around in his hands before finding where the opening was. He pushed on it popping it open seeing that it had no cassettes in it yet.

He looked back in the box searching around and checking the different dates on the tapes before finding the earliest one. He looked around the room not finding any VHS players so grabbing the box he hurried into his room in the Place. He put the tape into the player turning on his TV before he sat against his bed on the floor.

The film crackled for a second before his aunt came into view messing around with the camera.     

"Is it working?" Her voice was quiet as she turned the machine around a few times before a grin crossed her face. "I am a genius!" She sang before letting go of the camera.

“It is currently the 15th of March 1980, oh sorry the 16th now as it is one in the morning!”

The camera floats in place. The low light of the small bathroom makes her face paler than usual but the bright smile across her face makes her face radiant. She sits on the floor of the bathroom at the Potter Manor criss-cross. Her feet are clad in longer Gryffindor socks that reach up to her knees, she has a pair of bigger black shorts hanging loosely on her hips paired with an oversized Slytherin quidditch sweater with the name Crouch written in big bold white letters.

“My name is Ophelia Lyra Watson or as my friends call me Whiskers, we celebrated three birthdays today! Prongs’, Moony’s, and Mary’s, all of the March babies are down for the month and today was the day we got the big news of you! Our hope and joy in this merlin awful world at the moment.” She took a deep breath and tucked a strand of purple-toned black hair behind her ear, gentle tears shining in her eyes.

Harry stared at the screen with a smaller grin a chuckle escaping him for the first time in forever.

“So hello baby Potter! I would gladly call you by your name but Lily and James are still fighting over which one it should be! My vote is with Harry because the name Arnold-“ she pauses and looks up to think before leaning closer “-and sorry to all Arnolds-“ she lets out a low giggle before leaning back once again “-but it is a terrible name! So for now we’ve been calling you Bambi! Yes, your dad and your Uncle Sirius came up with it. Sorry, Bambi, I’m rambling over here.” 

His aunt never mentioned anything like this before. She was always creative with her gifts but this was amazing, Harry thought. One of the best things she had ever made and it was hidden away under a bed in a hidden room. As the video went on Harry started laying out the rest of the tapes in order, paying close attention to the younger version of his aunt.

She put her head in her hands before lightly slapping her cheeks to shake herself out of her ramble.

“So! I was thinking and with a whole war going on and with the uncertain future the best thing would be to document everything from now on! Remus and I charmed a muggle camera, it was pretty easy growing up with my dad and everything. But I just wanted something permanent for you to see all the people who love you so much and think of you as their hope in these dark times!”

Suddenly there is a gentle knock on the door which makes her look up.

“ Lia? You okay in there?” A male voice echoes quietly through the silent night making her reach for her wand which has been the light source in the small room. She muttered a few words before placing her wand down again the doorlock clicking as it opened. A tall man stands there lean with well-built muscles, a messy head of brown hair, and a pair of black shorts hanging low on his hips.

Harry immediately recognized his uncle, Barty, although he looked a lot more boyish in the video.

 “Hi, doofus.” His voice is heavy with sleep as he crosses his arms.

“Hello, Loverboy.” The tone is gentle in both cases filled with love and care.

“Watcha doin’?” He pushes himself away from the door frame and squats down behind her closing the door behind them. The space is crammed with the two of them behind each other. Even though the manor was giant it still had smaller bathrooms on the guest corridors.

“I am filming a video for baby Bambi.” She elongates her words trying to gain time between each of them feeling awkward at getting caught even if it is him. “A video?” His question is filled with confusion being a pureblood made him curious to muggle inventions. “Yes! It’s moving pictures with sound and everything! I thought I could make them for Bambi if-“ Her words get caught in her throat. 

Harry is slowly starting to get why the videos have been hidden away.

She leans back against the man who on instinct puts his arms around her running his hands up and down her arms. “-I just want him to see his future family. Our little makeshift gathering of people.” She looked up at him receiving a kiss on the forehead. “You think it’s a stupid idea?”

The man only shakes his head and after another kiss looks at the floating device.

“Umm hi, Bambi. Merlin, I still think that’s a stupid nickname even for you guys. My name is Barty Crouch Jr. I’m your Auntie Ophelia’s partner! We are all really happy about you, I’m sure your parents are nervous but we can handle a baby can't we? There is like what-“ he looks up in thought and mumbles numbers as he counts their small found family “13 of us? We can handle one tiny wizard.”

He looked back to Ophelia who was smiling up at him. “Did I do that right?” He had a lopsided goofy grin on his face but the need for validation still shone behind his eyes.

“Perfect. So, Bambi, we all cannot wait to meet you! Your mom said she is about four months pregnant which will make you a summer baby! I’ll introduce everyone tomorrow, I promise.” She leaned close to the camera once again holding it with one hand.

“We already love you so much, Bambi.” A gentle smile crosses both their faces before the video cuts off.    Harry stared at the now black screen with a grin across his face. He immediately started searching for the next tape in order and as soon as he found it he changed the two and leaned back holding onto the first one.   “It is the 17th of March 1980 and I’m still Auntie Ophelia.”

She still looks pale but the glow of the early spring sun makes her skin more healthy looking. Freckles litter her face dark blueish purple eyes now in full glow. She has her hair half up and out of her face.

She is now wearing a grey knitted sweater half of it hanging off her right shoulder the white tank top peeking out from under it a golden locket previously hidden by the drowning green sweater now on full display. She has barely any makeup on roundish glasses sitting on her nose.

“As I promised I am introducing everyone to you today so let’s go over the list!” She starts walking down a long staircase portraits hanging on the wall talking among themselves. 

Harry can recognize the staircase of the Potter Manor from anywhere. The woman in the video skillfully avoids the one part of a stair that would set off an alarm and continues down into the main area.  

“First up is of course the precious people who made you!” She arrives down in a sitting area walks past chattering people and walks into a kitchen. The camera isn’t floating this time she is holding it with her right hand. She turns around with it and a ginger woman comes into view. 

Harry softly smiles at the sight of his mother.

She has a blue sweater on with a V-neck her hair is pulled into a low bun, and baby hairs frame her face. She has a surprised look on her face with a camera being presented to it, held by her friend. “This is your beautiful and wonderful mother Lily Evans!” Lily looks at her with a weird smile.

“Ophie what in God's name is this?” She laughs in shock as she looks back to the camera still filming them. “This is a video series I am filming for your soon-to-be-born baby boy! I thought it would be a good idea! You know show them to him when he is older?” As she goes on her voice goes quieter anxiety sitting on her face. “Aww that is a lovely idea darling.” She holds her face with one hand and plants a big kiss on the side of her head making Ophelia blush.

“Wait what is this?” A male voice comes in loud and brash as he pushes in between the girls. He has a mess of black hair circle glasses sitting on his nose, he wears a deep maroon shirt with a black plaid shirt over it.

Harry can now recognize his Father. He is starting to miss the two of them.

 “This, Bambi, is your dumbass of a father James Fleamunt Potter, or as we like to call him Prongs.” James swept the girl up making her screech and giggle before he put her back down dropping his hand over her shoulder.

“Is this that moving picture thing?” He looks back to Lily who only nods a huge smile on her face. “Hi, Bambi! It’s me your cool and awesome dad! I can’t wait to meet you, Buddy!” Before he could continue Ophelia ducked out of his arm with a laugh. “Okay okay, I’m stopping you there because I know this will never end otherwise!”

She stepped back into the sitting area where people’s chatter could be heard. She walked from one couch to the other and with a tap of her wand floated the camera out a little bit in front of two men sitting down close to each other. She put her arms over them leaning onto the couch before she looked back up at the floating camera. The room slowly went quiet everyone now looking at her. “

This right here is your Uncle Sirius Orion Black or Padfoot if you will, he is a bit crazy but we love him for it.” She pats the black-haired man's head before putting her other hand over the tall lanky scar-faced one.

“And this darling sweetheart is your Uncle Remus John Lupin or Moony as we lovingly call him the gentle giant of our friend group!” 

They both look so young, Harry thinks. Everyone did if he wanted to be honest with himself. This was the earlier period of the war, he remembers his father telling him about these times. There were no real scars on their faces from battle, Their eyes were still so full of light, no sign of the trauma that was to come.

She pushed the camera to the right a chubby boyish man coming into view. “And this here is your Uncle Peter Pettigrew or Wormtail! The quiet one of us but he still has enough mischief in him!” 

Harry froze at the sight of the traitor. He looked like a boy still. No real signs that he was a rat. Just sitting among them and being introduced as his uncle. A shiver ran down his spine as he watched on.

She pulled the camera back to her holding it once again.

“And we are the Marauders! I mean your Dad, uncles, and I! Your mom is a part of another friend group of mine all the girlies, the school we go to, and where you will study in the future, Hogwarts, students called us the Valkerys there, which is pretty freaking awesome if you ask me!”

She rounds the corner ignoring the questions from the three boys on the couch. The camera floats once again and shows the other couch now. A pair of women come into view cuddled together on the couch. First, she points at the black girl. Her box braided hair is pulled up into a high ponytail her eyes a dark chocolate colored framed with sharp eyeliner. She arches a curious eyebrow looking up at the girl.

“This is Auntie Dorcas Meadowes! She is a real force to be reckoned with! A silent hunter and curse expert!” She then points to the wolfcut blonde who can hardly keep up the uninterested face she is making. “And this is your Auntie Marlene Mckinnon! Rockstar and real-life rebel!”

She pushes the camera over once again and another pair of girls come into view. Next in line is another black girl, lighter-skinned than the previous one her hair short natural curls framing her face. “This is Auntie Mary Mcdonald fashion icon and makeup enthusiast!” She pointed at the surprised blonde big blue eyes staring at the camera.

Harry almost sits surprised thinking it is Luna but soon realizes the truth of it.

“And this is your Auntie Pandora Rosier! Our lonesome Ravenclaw potion master!”

She picks up the camera again now skipping over to the two last armchairs not far from each other the group is still shocked into silence from the happenings around them. She rounds the first one and leans down next to a similar-faced boy to Sirius pale skin and black hair.

“This is Uncle Regulus Black! Our prim and proper astrology nerd!” She bounds over to the other armchair two people sitting on it the familiar figure of the last video sitting on the armrest in the chair itself a blonde man, very similar-looking to Pandora sits with confusion written on his face as well.

“This is Uncle Evan Rosier, dueling genius and of course, you already know your Uncle Barty!” He has a gentle smile on his face once again looking at his girlfriend fly around the space happily.

“Your last three uncles, Pandora and Dorcas make up the Serpents! The last group of friends our small family is made up of!” She stands tall now smiling at the camera.

“What is this again?” It’s Dorcas who breaks their silence her deeper tone asking the gentle question, it was an unwritten rule between them all that Pandora, Mary, and Ophelia needed to be protected at all costs.

“It’s a video series for baby Bambi!” She turns to them all now her body electric with the anxiety of disapproval. “For what?” The question from Regulus isn’t harsh it’s curious if anything. “So he can see us! So he can see our love for him, you know. So he can see… the real us.”

She looks down for a moment before a radiant smile crosses her face again. “Anyway! Bambi this is your family! There is a lot of us and you still don’t know Molly and Arthur or Frank and Alice! Or our wonderful Minnie Mcgonagall but you will see them all in time I promise! Don’t forget we all already love you so much!”

Her smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes as she puts the camera down the video cutting off once more.

[pardonmydelayyy]

And just like that, my first fic ever is complete! 41 chapters of Dean getting the life he deserved. Adding the link below but also posting the first chapter on here in case you want to check it out.

Chapter 1

The world was quiet.

Dean Winchester didn’t wake up to the sound of wings, or fire, or screaming. There wasn’t the sharp paralyzing pain from the rebar he remembered in his back. There were no monsters breathing down his neck, no blood on his hands, no weight in his chest—except the confusion pressing hard against his ribs. He blinked against the morning sunlight filtering through trees, standing in the middle of a suburban neighborhood he had never seen before in his life, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans that didn’t feel like his but somehow fit perfectly.

The houses around him were quiet, calm. A breeze stirred the leaves. Children laughed and played in the distance, the sounds coming from what appeared to be a school a few houses down the street. Somewhere else, a lawn mower came to life. A car blasting some pop song crap sped down the street, and as it did, Dean caught a glimpse of a California license plate.

He turned in a slow circle, taking in his surroundings. He should have been dead. He should have been in Heaven. But this, wherever the hell he was right now, looked far from Heaven. There was no Impala. No Sam.

He felt the weight of something in his jacket pocket, and reached inside to find a piece of paper.

“Dean. I know you’re wondering where you are right now. All you need to know is that you’re exactly where you’re meant to be. In a universe that’s closest to the one you know…but without all of the things you spent your life hunting. Here, you don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, don’t have to worry about saving the world. Here Dean…here you can live. Truly live. You can have the apple pie life you’ve always craved. And that’s because of what exists here - or who exists here, as you’ll soon find out. Give it a chance. Give love a chance. Find the peace you’ve craved for so long but were never able to have. You deserve it, Dean. you deserve everything. I’ll see you again in a few decades.

Jack”

He read the note once. And again. And again, until he almost had the damn thing memorized. But then he noticed something written on the back of the note, an address. He looked around the neighborhood and started walking, searching for the house number written on Jack’s letter.

His heart felt heavy and he had a thousand questions, the most prominent one being why. Why was he here? Why did Jack bring him back? Why couldn’t he be with Sammy? The questions lingered as he reached the house he was looking for. It was a small one story house, painted in tones of brown and beige with a white screen door.

He walked up the stairs and without knowing why, he lifted his hand to knock on the door. But before he could knock, the door opened and within seconds, Dean felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Everything inside of him, everything that he had ever been shifted completely. Right now, the only thing keeping him grounded, the only thing that felt real about this strange new world was right in front of him.

Dean was looking into the bluest and most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Her eyes were wide in confusion but also there was a flash of curiosity…and maybe even intrigue in her irises. She was wearing little makeup, not that she needed any in Dean’s opinion, and her mouth was slightly open, full lips on display for him. Her black hair fell wildly around her face and past her shoulders and she nervously tucked a strand of it behind her ear. Dean couldn’t help but notice how short she was— probably a whole foot shorter than him— and how much younger she appeared to be. But then he noticed that as he was taking in every inch of her, she seemed to be doing the exact same thing to him. He smirked slightly and without even meaning to, broke the silence between them.

“Heya sweetheart,” he said, his voice almost sounding revenant.

“Hi,” she replied, sounding breathless. And then she seemed to gather herself more.

“You must be Dean,” she said.

He nodded. “Yeah. That’s me.”

She crossed her arms. “Cameron said you’d be moving in today. For the vacancy in our house that I had no idea we had until 20 minutes ago.”

Dean cleared his throat, suddenly feeling a bit awkward. “Yeah, kind of a last-minute thing.”

“Clearly,” she muttered, looking him over. “I’m Carson.”

The name hit him like déjà vu. Not the sound of it, but the feel. Like an echo of something he never lived but always carried. It was unconventional, at best.

“Carson?” he asked.

She sighed. “Yeah, it’s a masculine name, I know.”

He chuckled, warm and sincere. “No. It suits you.”

“Thanks,” she said, sounding somewhat surprised by his statement.

Dean hesitated before he spoke again. “Look, you obviously didn’t know I was coming. I’ll stay out of your way.”

“You don’t have to,” she said, softer this time. “It’s not your fault that Cameron didn’t tell me about you. Just… don’t be a serial killer. I don’t have the energy for that.”

He gave a half-smile. “Been there. Done that. Didn’t like it.”

She arched a brow, clearly unsure if he was joking. But she let it go and stepped aside, inviting him into the house and into the lives of her and her brother.

The house was warm, lived-in. Photos on the walls of a younger Carson and who must have been her brother Cameron. She led Dean down the hallway, showing him Dean to the room that was supposedly his now. The bed was made. Closet empty. Like someone had prepared for him to walk right into this life that he never expected to find.

[nowtoboldlygo]

recs for women in translation month: The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth by Veeraporn Nitiprapha, translated from the Thai by Kong Rithdee. purple prose surrealist high drama magical little novel, you stole my heart. the translator also included a botanical and playlist annex in the back because he loves me 💜

[goldensunset]

forget ‘when will missing link release’. how about the more fun question: how long will live service for the game run once it’s released? over how many years are they gonna stagger those episodes? how consistent will it be? will they drop seven chapters at the start, go on hiatus for an eternity, then drop thirteen more chapters and end there?

[yasmeensh]

Paleolithic Media Catalogue

Hello everyone :) Short story first: When I began brainstorming for my prehistoric story, I started wondering what other prehistoric fiction there is out there. I was not familiar with it and have not seen much. That's when I started my grand literature review and began a search for what fiction exist out there. I wanted to know what kinds of stories are being made with this time period. What are the common themes or recurring ideas (I found lots of humans and dinosaurs works. And time travel). Since I've had a growing collection on my computer, I decided I should keep on enlarging it and put it online. It's nowhere near complete. I'll slowly keep accumulating the collection as I find more. I only have fiction books and comics right now. I still need to work on the film section.

You can access the blog here!

***

As for where I am in my reading, the one's I've finished reading are Earth's Children series (book 1-4. Dropped it afterwards lol. I made a post on with fanart) Dance of the Tiger and it's sequel Singletusk (They were good! I'll upload my review on the blog), and Sisters of the Wolf (It was ok!). I got my hands on The Inheritors and excited to start reading it. I REALLY want to read the Shiva trilogy, but I found no PDF online... and it's out of print :( There is certainly old copies on ebay. And I want to read Chronicles of Ancient Darkness. There seem to be lots of good books out there.

[fictionadventurer]

"If the structure of your world ever evaporates, I will still be here."

I think The Q might contain one of the greatest declarations of friendship/love ever.

[mechazushi]

Heart-To-Heart {A Kaiju Number 8 Short story.}

[Warning: Major Character Death] [Warning: Depictions of Gore]

It was a long drive back to the First Division base. It felt even longer since you could feel everyone collectively reeling from the news. It hadn't hit the front-liners just yet. The higher ups were waiting to see just how many were going to come back from the fight alive first. Mina and Soshiro couldn't bring themselves to tell Reno or Kikoru just yet either. They knew something was off when they rushed their friend into an armored truck as soon as the dust settled. They were just going to have to writhe in a lack of understanding for a little while longer. At least, just until the captain and vice captain could get a better understanding of what Kafka; or, they guess in this new situation, Kaiju Number 8, was now.

"You seem to have developed a new staring problem." Hoshina observed bitterly.

Him and his captain were riding in the back of a mostly empty armored box truck. Other than them, there was what was to be assumed to be what remained of Kafka. That being just... the kaiju itself. It wasn't clear what had happened to Kafka after the end of the fight, but that's why they were in here. Although, neither of them felt like getting a head start on questioning.

"Apologies. It's just... you, remind us... of someone. Someone... we miss." Kaiju Number 8 spoke as it cocked its head to the side, it's sight not leaving the commander's face.

It was strapped to a metal chair again, similar to the one they had placed their friend in three months prior. It's voice wasn't the same as Kafka's anymore. Even when Kafka was in his Kaiju form, you could still hear it and tell it was still Kafka, even if it had developed a deeper tone and a rolling grumble. Now... there was nothing of that jolly voice left. It sounded more like listening to a stadium of people talking in unison behind a closed door. It was almost hard to listen too... in more ways than one.

"We? All I see is the one knucklehead." Hoshina retaliated, his voice unchanging. A brief pause was filled with a low, clicking growl. Almost like thunder rolling over mountains.

"Was that a purr? He fucking purrs now?" Hoshina thought as he continued to return the stare down the Kaiju was giving back.

"Looks like... we, won't miss... him... for much... longer." Kaiju Number 8 said with an uncanny level of hope in its voice. It was an odd sight watching the kaiju speak. It moved its mouth like it was talking, but the movement didn't match the words themselves.

"We. You keep saying we. Why is that?." Mina spoke up for the first time since they entered the vehicle. They watched the kaiju as it took its time coming up with an answer.

"We are... gone. All gone. We are now... shame. Regret... Fear. Rage...Revenge." Kaiju Number 8 said cryptically.

"Well, that wasn't exactly helpful." Mina thought.

"Revenge? Against what?" Hoshina questioned on his turn.

"To finish... what we started. To kill... Kill all Kaiju." It said as it's voice became more threatening, dropping in tone and developing a deeper growl.

A harsh, wheezing laugh came from the vice captain as he got up to walk around the container.

"Great. The damn thing's turned you worse than a mindless, killing dog." He muttered to himself as he was turned away from both of them.

"Hoshina." Mina said with a warning tone, having heard what he had said very clearly.

"Oh, don't act like you're being okay about this! How is anyone going to be okay about this? How's he okay about this?" Hoshina suddenly became very shrill and his movements became exaggerated despite him still feeling the toll the back-to-back fights had put on him, "This is Kafka we're talking about! Or, well, at least it was Kafka."

"Our host... is still here." the kaiju interrupted, "He has joined... the others." There was a weighty pause as the information settled into the commanders.

"Is there... a way to bring him back?" Mina cautiously questioned, trying to not let her hope betray her tone.

"He was presented... a choice. To heal his own heart... and walk away. Or to let it become... our new core." It spoke longer now, gaining speed as well as confidence while it acclimated to it's new state. That harsh laugh rang out again from Hoshina's bruised lips as he tried to not shake his head at the absurdity.

"Why am I not surprised. Ohhh, I should have seen this coming." He sighed as he gently rubbed his face, "He didn't have to do any of this. I had that fight handled." the vice captain continued to mutter as he paced the metal box. This earned a disappointed look from his captain and a curious head tilt from the strapped down Kaiju.

"Oh, don't give me that look." Hoshina said quickly.

"You said he's... that Kafka is still around. Do you think that... it's possible he can hear us?" Mina continued to question cautiously, her heart quietly grasping at any straws that Kafka could have a chance. A chance to understand, to come back to them, or anything that would assuage the pain she felt in her chest, she didn't know.

"He can... He is." the Kaiju answered. Mina tried to prepare a statement, something that could have be reassuring to the both of them at the moment, but the words were killed on her tongue as Hoshina stomped over to their altered friend and slapped a hand on one of the metal arm cuffs while he rudely pointed his finger at it's chest.

"Good. Then that self-sacrificing, one-percent lump of dead weight can hear in great detail about how I'm going to jump down your throat and drag his hairy ass back into the sunlight the second the option seems viable." Hoshina was growling and practically frothing at the mouth by the time he finished his tirade. He took a deep and shuddering breath as he stared the unflinching Kaiju down before calmly turning his head to side-eye his captain.

"You've picked one hell of a friend, captain." he said, his tone unfortunately still harboring misplaced resentment. Mina's normally unflinching face cracked as her brows furrowed and her lips pinched as she got up from her seat.

"You're the one that wanted him on the force." her voice was dark and deceptively even as Hoshina rose to meet her eyes.

"You might want to rethink your tone, captain." He said, trying not to spit it back in her face. The tension in the air pulled tighter and tighter behind the sound of the road noise, only to be cut short as the Kaiju in the room spoke up.

"Kafka... Were you and Kafka... friends?" It asked softly. The two of them turned to face it with puzzled expressions.

"Did having him melt into your little hive mind not already clue you in to that?" Hoshina scoffed.

"It did." The kaiju answered.

"Then why ask?" Mina questioned slowly, becoming deeply curious as well as a little worried for the answer.

"He felt he had... lost the honor." it said as it's white pupils flicked away sympathetically, "He had... broken his promise."

Hoshina shook his head a little at the answer, not understanding completely what that would mean to Mina. He was already aware at this point that her and Kafka were childhood friends, but without any deeper knowledge as to what that friendship meant to each other, he just felt left out of the loop. What ended up grabbing his attention was a shallow, rattling breathing next to him. He turned to look at his captain and saw an emerging and disheartening marvel. Mina seemed to be on the verge of tears. Lips quivering and tears threatening to spill from her shocked eyes.

"Hadn't he?" the kaiju asked, tilting it's head again.

The final nail in the coffin it seemed. Mina spun around on her heels and sprinted to the container's reinforced doors as she put her finger up to her ear comm.

"Stop the vehicle." She commanded, her voice not betraying an ounce of what she felt at the time.

A brief pause was held before she commanded again, this time screaming the order into the comm. Hoshina quickly widened his stance against the force of the truck breaking suddenly.

"Mina?" Her voice captain called out as he watched the back doors fly open and his captain hop down and out of the vehicle.

He tried to rush forward and catch up to her, only for the doors to be slammed back in his face before he could leave. He banged his fist on the metal for a moment, hoping for someone to open them back up. All he felt was the truck rumbling back to life and continuing down the road. He shook his head in disbelief and concern, not knowing why his captain reacted like that.

"Do you believe... that this is not a good price... to pay?" that infinitely echoing voice rang out from the back of the truck.

"What?" Hoshina spat, not understanding the question.

"You continue to fight against... what has already been decided. Do you think that... this form... was not a good price... to pay?" It spoke slowly, not in intentional mockery, to be sure, but it felt like it to Hoshina.

"Pay? Pay for what?" he shouted back.

"No more lost lives... No more shattered families... No more broken promises." It spoke, leaving the idea open ended. It didn't need to expand further anyway. Hoshina got the idea pretty well as he calmed down.

The only thing worse than a predictable friend, was knowing how predictable you were yourself. Because Hoshina asked himself the same hypothetical question and found himself coming to the same answer. A heart for a core... a thousand times over.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿

"Epidermis breached. Eight, you're up!" Soshiro called as he leapt back from the entry wound he caused in their newest threat.

Some sort of bastard child of the Meraki Kaiju a year earlier. It hadn't developed Number Nine's shape shifting abilities or possessed any way of speaking, but it damn sure inherited its intelligence. Emerging without warning in the northern part of Japan, it made it clear it still had an ax to grind. A writhing mass of acidic smelling meat, tentacles, and eyeballs, it looked the part to start a spaghetti monster themed cult.

Kaiju Number Eight made a mad dash from the sidelines, focusing solely on getting to the gaping wound the Vice Captain had started. Getting to the weeping slash, it pried the edges of it apart with as much force as it could muster, sending violent arterial sprays of acid around, over, and behind it. From then, it was just a fury of movement. Strong claws ripping and yanking large chunks of hazardous flesh from the threatening mass of black and sending it away from them so it could dig ever further to its center. An example of perfectly honed equilibrium comprised of streamlined intent and raw berserker rage. A flicker of bright, webbed strings of multi-colored light let it know that its destination had been reached. Quickly scrapping the muscle around the core, the Kaiju noticed that the monster had picked up another thing from its progenitor; a hard-light barrier around the core.

"Core two of three located. Beginning demolition." Eight called out loud enough to be picked up by its custom ear comm.

"Core sighting confirmed. Begin neutralization." Okonogi had said on the other end of the link.

It reared back its fist as it felt the thruster tubes in its forearm slide out and into position. It waited for the jets to build up sufficient pressure before letting it send its fist rocketing forward to the shield with each punch.

First hit.

Second hit.

Third hit. Shields gone.

Fourth hit.

Fifth hit. Core shattered.

"Energy readings dropped. Core Destroyed! Good work Kaf-I mean, Eight!" Okonogi let out a reserved cheer as she read out the information at her station.

That wasn't the only surprise the monster had in store it seemed. Just as Eight turned to launch itself out of the slowly enclosing wound, a barbed tentacle shot out from behind the broken core and propelled through its chest with enough force to send its body flying out and down the street. When the tentacle stopped moving, Eight's body flew off of it, feeling the barbs rip through its flesh as it tumbled through the air. Eight hit the asphalt, hard. Would have sent any ordinary officer unconscious with a concussion even if they had the suit's shield. It felt itself rolling down the street and over the harsh edge of a curb. With the wind knocked out of it's lungs and the very obvious sign that it's blood was pouring out from its chest, it made the now monumental effort to prop itself against a solid surface and take a mental rundown of the damage. Bringing a clawed hand to its chest, it made the devastating discovery.

"Well... shit."

On the other side of the offending mass of destruction was Mina and Narumi, tag-teaming their attacks to crack the first layer of the Kaiju. Dodging the slashing appendages coming for them left and right, they felt they weren't any closer to breaking its resistant shell. The fight had been going on for so long that the both of them could feel their fortitude percentage dropping with every twitch of muscle. Out of nowhere, Mina saw her vice captain drop from the air in front of them and plunge the sword in his suit's tail to cut a deep gash in the beast top-to-bottom.

"Heard ya'll were having some trouble." Hoshina panted with a bloody and cocky grin.

"Hoshina! You're supposed to watch Eight's back!" Mina yelled as she shifted her cannon's muzzle away from him.

"Kafka got his mission handled. He should be on his way." Hoshina replied as he dashed in a circle around her, dicing up any tentacles shooting out her way.

"About that! Eight's vitals just dropped off the map!" Okonogi cried in panic, watching the screens turn red.

The captain and her vice immediately looked to each other as their faces turned to shock. Okonogi could only watch as she witnessed everyone's vitals go haywire at the news. Mina could just barely bring herself out of her nightmarish thoughts and leveled her cannon at the kaiju's gaping wound, making sure it stayed open a little longer.

"Go to him! Me and the Bowl-cut Bastard can handle this!" Narumi cried as he fought off his own barrage of barbed obstacles.

Mina looked over to her vice as he reassured her with a quick nod before jumping into the fray with Narumi. She whistled hard and loud, calling her faithful tiger to her aid. She leaped onto its back and held on tight while they tracked down their fallen comrade, trying not to think the worst.

Back on the other side, Eight had managed to prop itself against a shockingly still intact dumpster next to one of the few miraculously standing buildings this close to the fight. Black rivulets of blood trailed behind it and stained its path to false safety. A jagged tunnel had been left behind from the tentacle's blow, acting as the main source of agony and fear for its health. This kind of an injury wouldn't normally be a problem, even the acid melting away at his chest wouldn't have raised any concern. It's healed from worse before, but not this time. No, this time was a problem as it could feel where the barbs had ripped and shredded its way through its core and the acid making quick work of whatever was left to touch.

Inside the dark, flesh textured walls of their mind, Kafka's presence manifested as a battered and broken soldier. Redder blood leaked from various gashes on his face and body. Dark, angry bruises littered his sore chest and limbs. Outside of the pain, he mostly felt numb. At most, a dull ache in his chest where his heart-turned-core would have been. He turned to one of the other presences in his mindscape, the samurai soldier that held his powers before him, and smiled a weak smile. He couldn't tell if the samurai was as badly battered as he was, but he could tell in the way he held his chest they at least felt the same pain. Kafka chuckled raspingly as he turned and shuffled toward the last being in the brain, the big Kaiju bug that held all the power, and painfully shambled his way over to it.

"So... Was that a damn good last run or what?" Kafka playfully mocked as he carefully settled himself to the floor, leaning back against the equally battered Kaiju bug.

"No... We're not finished. We have to finish the fight!" The samurai shouted wheeling around to Kafka, still clutching his chest.

"Can't do that if there's no more fight left in us, Papaw. Face it... We're fucked." Kafka panted from the pain as it spread more viciously and his muscles released its tension.

"How dare you call yourself an officer! There are still lives on the line back there!" the samurai angrily shouted at him.

"AND HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO CONTINUE WITHOUT ANOTHER FUCKIN' CORE, HUH?" Kafka screamed back with more rage than the samurai could ever express.

There was a lot of words that both of them wanted to say, things to be said in anger and fear, in hopelessness and tiredness. But they were getting tired themselves, feeling the energy being sapped from their muscles and the warmth being leached at the same rate as their blood. There was no denying that this... this was it. No more hearts for cores, no second chances, no turning back the clock. Kafka never got to feel what it was like to be by Mina's side. The Samurai won't get to see other people live a life without fear from otherworldly threats. The kaiju that made all this possible will never know what a quiet mind could have felt like.

"But we got close though, didn't we?" Kafka softly begged, "Tell me we got close, Papaw."

The samurai looked down for a moment, seeming to think his response over, before looking away entirely.

"Even if one fails to reach the moon, one still lies among the stars." He finally said, still not looking back.

Kafka gave a soft smile in return, leaning his head back as his head grew heavy with a lead-like feeling. He knew he didn't mean it, but appreciated the effort anyway.

"And not a night sky to be seen." Kafka muttered to himself as the dark started to overtake his sight.

Something in the back of his mind wouldn't let him rest completely, however. He could sense something coming closer and moving in rapidly. He could tell it was a kaiju, but a smaller one giving off an abnormal but familiar signature. Mina's tiger, no doubt bringing its owner along with it.

"Shit. Can't let Mina see us like this." Kafka groaned painfully as he tried to stand both inside and outside the body, "She doesn't need to see this."

The samurai just eyed his mental roommate from the unchanging confines of his mask and made no move to help the struggling Kafka up to his feet. In their mind's eye, they watched as Mina dismounted and bolted forward to their devastatingly injured remains. Her voice was muffled, but they could definitely sense the distress in her tone as she dropped to her knees by their side.

"Oh God! Nonono, KAFKA!" Mina cried as she harshly dropped to her knees beside his still body. She brought up a hand to its chest wanting to slow the profuse bleeding, only to feel the massive opening staying warm through the power of the acid alone. It became all too clear to her that at this moment... that her friend couldn't be salvaged

"Mina... please. You need to go." Eight muttered out as more blood dripped from its teeth.

"No, Kafka, this can't be it! Not like this. I can't lose you again." Mina's eyes rained its tears freely, taking advantage of their privacy to stop holding back in this vulnerable moment.

She could barely hear the sounds of the on going battle in front of them through her wet sniffling and ragged coughing. She held on tight to its chest and shoulder, trying to focus her thoughts away from another time. An earlier time where this had happened before, where she lost the last pieces of her long gone friend. Her cheeks were hot with anguish as she bowed her head against its shoulder, thinking of any and all prayers she could think of. She didn't want this moment to finish and take the last shreds of hope she had with his passing.

Back in the dark passages of their mind, Kafka had only managed to drag himself to his hands and knees as he tried to speak to Mina. He barely had enough strength to keep himself upright, let alone to project his voice out of the confines of his mind. The samurai just stood still as it quietly watched this all go down.

"Mina... Mina I'm so sorry *cough* for everything... I... I know this is going to be hard... but I know that... you can be strong-" Kafka coughed again and almost landed on his face from exhaustion. Planting his trembling arms as firmly as possible underneath him, he tried to look over at the samurai standing next to him.

"For fuck's sake, Papaw! Can you help me up sometime today, please?" He called out as he managed to lean back onto his legs somewhat.

He watched as the samurai continued to ignore him, not even bothering to look his way. As Kafka busied himself with finding the strength within him to push Mina away in any way he could, he missed the telltale sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath. As Kafka got off of one knee, he felt something hard and sharp push its way through the back of his neck and out of his mouth. He instantly felt all of his limbs going numb in that second and all of his weight being carried by what was shoved through his neck.

As the sword pulled itself back out, Kafka felt warm trickles of his blood start running down the back of his throat. He couldn't swallow the blood into a different direction and could only feel it all sliding right into his lungs, making him choke reflexively. As he fell onto his face, he felt the growing pain from the wound grow from the back of his head and slowly turn into the worst, practically splitting headache he had ever felt before now. Feeling his body twitching from the numbness and his lungs quaking in the fight against being able to breathe, he just laid there and saw his Ancestor flick his sword and clean it on his sleeve before placing it back into the sheath. Had Kafka not been choking on his own blood or had enough feeling in any of his limbs, he would have certainly returned the favor. What happened instead was the feeling of the floor opening up underneath him and dropping him down into that familiar, watery, bottomless pit in their shared conscious, eyes and mind growing darker the further down he drifted.

Back up top, his Ancestor took control of the body and started talking to the grieving Mina.

"Mina..." He called out.

"Kafka? Kafka, are you still with me?" Mina cried out desperately as she continued to hold the body close.

"We need... another heart." He asked, trying to stretch out whatever remaining willpower he had left to finish his request.

"A heart?" Mina questioned in the interlude, slowly gaining control over her tears.

"Yes... Another heart... for another core." He finished, hoping for Mina to understand what he was asking of her.

"A... a heart." Mina reiterated as the request she began to realize what was being asked of her, "I-I can't... I can't ask something like that from anyone..."

"You don't have to ask... If they're not here to question..." He answered, hoping he wouldn't have to spell it out further than that.

Mina's eyes grew wide as the tears threatened to spill over again. He was asking for her to drag over an already dead body? Just to continue fighting? Warning lights went off in her head as this ask dawned on her. Kafka would never ask for something like this, it was too underhanded. But then again... Maybe this wasn't Kafka talking anymore. Maybe Kafka was gone, and it was whoever made Eight was talking now. It had to have been, because Kafka's hate for the Kaijus was never deep enough to warrant this.

Still... some part of Mina refused to give up on him. Even if he wasn't the one talking right now, Eight was all she had left of her friend. Mina was strong, she led the forces, she joined the Division because of Kafka. She had watched him struggle year after year to catch up to her, falling back to square one every time. This Kaiju helped him on his last chance to get his foot in the door, and she hated to admit that it was probably the biggest reason as to how he managed to stay this long.

It wasn't the only reason, however. If the Kaiju helped him physically, his promise to her helped him in every other way. All he wanted was to be by her side, and even after every roadblock and setback and debilitating snag he hit, he got to this moment... this fight, and it was the closest he had ever gotten to fulfilling it. But one can't be expected to carry that kind of fight alone. She knew that well enough after blitzing through the ranks to Captain. At some point, a hand needs to be extended, a branch to hold on to, a sign that this isn't a one sided fight. That someone else wants what they want too, and wants to see that dream realized for them... with them. It took both of her hands to muscle the slackened arm up to her chest and placed the bloodied and acid-stained hand over her own heart.

"Take mine... You can take mine." She said, her voice betrayed no cracks, only a solitary hiccup.

"Mina... no. Anyone else..." The ancestor argued, knowing well enough that this would hurt more than just Mina.

"Well, you're not getting anyone else, goddamnit!" Mina screamed, " I've wanted too damn long for you to be by my side and watching you sacrifice everything on the dotted line, just for it all to stop here! I'm tired of waiting. I'm done waiting."

She placed her head back on its shoulder, waiting for it to decide. She worried that she took too long and that there wasn't any life left within it to finish the task. Eight found enough strength to bring his head over to the top of her's and lightly placed his closed mouth on it. For he had no lips to kiss away her fears, or a voice left to reassure her that everything would be okay. All it could give was a low, throaty rumble as her tears fell down like a storm.

'I'm sorry... for everything.' It thought.

A loud squelching noise was heard in tandem with a dull ache suddenly spreading out in her chest. Mina looked down and could see that Eight's hand had pushed itself through the barriers of her suit and was now being drenched in warm rivers of red blood. Her lungs spasmed irregularly as that dull ache started to feel more and more staticy. As she coughed, she felt a little spurt of blood splatter out of her mouth. Eight waited for her eyes to roll into the back of her head and for her body to grow limp before he sucked her heart out of her chest. Warmth began to travel down its arm and flowed freely into the rest of its body. It shed one lone black tear as the cavity in its chest began to close up.

Soshiro and Narumi's fight with the Daikaiju had gotten only a little further than nowhere in the time that Mina had left them. Soshiro had managed to keep the wound that he had made earlier open and could only stand by and watch as Narumi ventured inside it while slicing his way deeper in. A weighty moment had passed before he saw that back of Narumi's suit being propelled toward him at unbelievable speed. The two of them made contact and were sent flying backwards. Hoshina took his own fair share of damage as he ended up getting abruptly sandwiched between a broken piece of a stone wall and the full weight of Narumi in his numbered suit and weapon.

"Augh! What the hell, Narumi?" Hoshina cried out in pain as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Damn thing must have learned from the last two times we hit its core! It tried to skewer me with a tentacle and launch me backwards. I managed to deflect it with my weapon, but Jesus! That acid stings!" Narumi yelled as he shifted off of Hoshina's lap, trying to use his now ruined jacket to wipe off the rest of the acidic blood from the suit.

Hoshina tried to get back onto his feet, but could only manage to slowly shift himself onto a knee. Bracing himself against the wall, he leveled his one undamaged eye toward the hulking monstrosity before them. He panted heavily as he weighed his options, finding all of them to be far from satisfactory plans to finish this brutal beast once and for all. Still, no one could rest until that thing was put down for good.

"Get up Narumi." Hoshina growled through his pain, "We need to finish this." Narumi just squinted up at him with a question on his mind, before deciding that the smack talk back wasn't worth the effort. As they propped themselves to their feet as best they could, an unearthly voice came over the ear comms.

"Hoshina. Narumi. Stand down and head to safety." the voice commanded with easy authority.

Hoshina peered his head over the chunk of wall first. Off in the distance he saw a slim figure walking towards them. The sound of metal dragging over asphalt matched the sight of the stilted silhouette and its heavy looking object it brought with them. He grabbed Narumi by the shoulder and dragged them both off to the side of the street to hide behind more rubble. Leaning against a shattered chunk of roadblock, Hoshina watched with great interest as the figure got closer and closer. The sound of metal being dragged got replaced with the sound of metal being loudly pried apart, sheets and gears popping and buckling under great pressure. He studied the new arrival as best he could from his distance and made one startling discovery after another.

The being that approached looked almost like Eight and carried Mina's cannon. Only now that cannon had looked like it was caught in a tangle of thick, black, jungle vines that had wound itself into every part of the complex machine. The body that was connected to the cannon looked very different from what he remembered as well. Eight looked taller, leaner, and not as wide. And he certainly knew that Eight didn't have a full head of long black hair.

Narumi watched the new figure as well, but was focused on a very specific part of them. He watched the new kaiju open one set of eyes, then a second set below that, then a third set above them both. It only got stranger as he saw the borders of the eye's sockets stretch and lengthen out to the borders of the other eyes. Once the edges touched, the sides popped open and the eyes melded into each other, forming one long, glowing, teal band extending across the width of its face.

The tentacles on its arm had finished their job of weaving their way through the cannon and lifted the whole mess level with its target, the Kaiju everyone had been fighting. Hoshina watched on in slowly dawning horror as he heard the voice on the comms match to the movement of the teeth on the new Kaiju warrior in front of them.

"All should know better than to be caught in their Captain's line of fire."

Inside the mind of the new beast, Kafka could feel his mind turning on to a sense of alertness. It almost felt like waking up from a paralyzing nightmare. As he blinked his eyes and got them to focus, he tried to recall what had sent him sprawling over the floor in his own mind. His memories slowly worked their way forward from the moment he entered the fray, to when he felt the acidic sting of the tentacle pierce his core. He rolled onto his side and brought up a hand to rub his face, trying to dislodge anything more important or at least relevant. Even moving around in his listless state, he could instantly tell he felt different. His arms didn't feel sore or bruised, his chest had lost its weighty pain that had settled deep in his core. His core. If that had been broken, then how was he still able to think? As Kafka landed on his back and pushed himself up onto his hands, a deep, reverberating thump rattled in his chest as more recent memories started to crop up.

The fight. The killing shot. Crawling away to hide his shameful death. Mina... Oh gods, Mina! She found him, and... and... His Ancestor, the samurai. What did he do to him? Kafka felt his chest tighten as his breathing became labored and ragged, quick puffs of angry air sucking its way past his teeth. He shot up to his feet quickly, the lack of pain making him all the more angry at the thought of his Ancestor committing some atrocity that somehow fixed this. His only reasoning for this being that if it wasn't supposed to be a bad decision, then why bother silencing Kafka at all?

"WHERE ARE YOU?" he screamed out into the vast space of his mind, "FACE ME AND EXPLAIN, YOU COWARD!"

Kafka made a slow turn, viciously eyeing down any shadow in the dark recesses of his mind that could have been his murderer's form. Spying a dark shape off in the distance behind him, he turned and ran toward it, thinking it to be the samurai. As he got closer and closer, it became very clear that this new person wasn't the samurai. His Ancestor didn't have a flowing curtain of black hair, nor did it wear a defense force suit. He slowed down his pace for a second, becoming worried and praying that his mind had just decided to play a cruel joke on him, now of all times.

"Mina?" Kafka hesitantly called out, a thousand prayers for salvation from this fear echoed in his heart.

He watched on in horror as the familiar shade turned to the sound of its name and faced him with shock in her eyes. He picked up speed again, this time not with intent to maim and harm, but to approach this mirage of agony faster with the hopes that he'll just run right through it.

"No. No, no, no, nononono, MINA!" He cried as he got close enough to see that this wasn't a horrible joke, but a nightmare made flesh.

Carelessly plowing right into her, Kafka held her tight as they fell to the softly giving floor. Sobs racked his ribs and shuddered his lungs as he scrambled to his hands and knees. His hands roughly busied themselves with pulling her onto his lap and brushing strands of hair out of her face, chanting that simple word over and over. They slowed as the realization of this, of her physically being in his mind really meant, began to chip away at his already war-torn heart. He could feel himself rocking back and forth, cradling Mina's warm body close to him as he looked into her unbothered expression with his being stained with a flood of tears. He supposed it was him trying to bring comfort to Mina, but as her gentle hand placed itself on his cheek and stroked with her thumb, he knew that this was all to comfort him.

"No, Mina why? Why would you do this? You had to have known, right? I would never ask you to do this, you had to have known that it wasn't me! Why, Mina? You didn't have to do this." He whispered

Kafka could barely get the words out over the snot and bile building up in his throat. His tears soaked his cheeks and fell like rain onto Mina's hand. His face felt like it was on fire as he sniffed hard and tried to clear his throat. Holding her in his hands made any attempt of composure in vain as it just reaffirmed to him that what was done was irreversible. The Third Division lost its captain, but it certainly didn't feel like he had gained back his friend. He tried to restrain his violent sobs as he felt her arms tighten around his neck, pulling his body down over and closer to Mina. His arms tightened in return as he felt the other hand come up to play soothingly in his hair, the other rubbing gentle circles over his spine.

"My heart... was already yours." She whispered into the crook of his thick neck, the vibrations of the words sending small shockwaves through his torso.

All Kafka could bring himself to do was cry. Cry and scream and cry again until his voice became shot and he had no more tears to shed. Hands forever tight around his new heart.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿

(Some thoughts I had while writing this that won't fit into tags well)

Real quick, I just wanna mention that this is based off of a recent theory that I developed after reading chapter 118 and its that Kn8' true power isn't that fact that he's a shape shifter, or that he's got super strength or a sonic screech or anything else.

His true power is that he can turn hearts into cores, indirectly making itself partially immortal. (we could be immortals, immortals...)

So I see the end of this story going one of two ways:

One: Once the Third Division finds out what happened, they all come to a mutual agreement that they want their hearts cryogenically frozen after death so that Kaiju Number 8 is forever supplied with back-up cores. This ending kinda gives off this lovecraftian feel where in the future, Kaiju Number 8 stops being considered a Kaiju at some point and is more of an amalgamation of undying spirits that haunt the base forevermore.

Two: Kafka pulls a Hellsing Ultimate Abridged. He fights against Papaw first and then proceeds to fight and kill every soul that inhabits his core, ultimately evicting the collective consciousness that made his powers in the first place and distills it into himself. The only better way I think I can explain this is "Imagine Venom bonding to Eddie and then something happening to Eddie, causing Venom to sort of... recreate Eddie. But it's just Venom, so now it's like if Venom was his own host." Kafka is now Kafka, the parasite, and the Kaiju all at once. (He also somehow figures out a way to spit Mina out into her own body so she's fine.)

He's not a human that can turn into a Kaiju or the other way around. By Legal Definition he is, technically, the first, true, Human Kaiju.

[eggmacguffin]

.

[leejeann]

Fully leaning into the brainrot and writing a cinderella boy au fic, and I'm sitting here debating whether I'll need to come up with a fake name for Buddy that i can swap out later when it's revealed properly, or if I just shouldn't even bother because there's a good chance I'm slow enough at writing it that I won't even get to that part before the free episodes catch up lmao

[mushroompollution]

Chapter 75: Alone

Previous Chapters: Sablier Arc Masterpost(35-42) || 43 || 44 || 45 || 46 || 47 || 48 || Ceremony Arc Masterpost(49-61) || 62 || 63 || 64 || 65 part 1 || 65 part 2 || 66 || 67 || 68 || 69 || 70 || 71 || 72 || 73 || 74 part 1 || 74 part 2 Read the Manga: imgur || mangaread (ad warning

Gilbert was Oz's first servant, taken in by the Vessalius family after appearing in the chambers of the Abyss Gate in their basement with no memories beyond his own name. But ever since they first met, Gilbert seemed to be afraid of something.

He also had an unbreakable habit of calling Oz "master," though no one had ever ordered or asked it of him. For a while, Oz didn't mind, saying it made him feel like grown-up. But he quickly began to realize that something wasn't right.

Oz says that will work for now. But he tells Gilbert he wants him to simply call him by his name by the time they're grown up.

With that, their late night escapade continues. They stand outside Uncle Oscar's study, only to find the door locked. But that's not going to stop Oz.

Oz finally comes to, finding himself locked inside a holding cell. Lottie asks about his nightmare, then explains that the magic circle carved in the floor restrains Contractors like him.

She goes on to update him about the situation at hand. In the three hours or so since Oz had collapsed, the Baskervilles had taken control of Pandora. With Duchess Rainsworth incapacitated, Duke Vessalius unable to be reached, most of the organization had folded quickly when Duke Barma explained the true story of Jack Vessalius.

Oz is surprised to hear that Break had been captured.

But as Alice races toward Oz, he manages to sit up despite his wound. He can't help but remember the past. The reason she had died.

It was all his fault that happened. He had promised to protect her, only to hurt her. He doesn't want to hurt her anymore.

Jack's words eat at him. Nothing can belong to someone like him. So....

[happywitchesofnewdi]

Idk how popular Tsumugi was during era ! but the more I read, the more I'm not surprised he's not too popular in era !!

Mostly bc - unless it's a Switch story or a main story - he really just appears as almost a work NPC y'know?

I like to read the stories where Switch members may just have short appearances bc sometimes we still get a sprinkle of amusement or characterization - and some stories def give more than others. But in era ! Tsumugi made a LOT of individual appearances outside of Switch and he had a lot of personality and played a relatively large role in those stories. I had a lot of fun reading those bc I always felt like I learned a lot about him. I feel like that's really clear even if you go back to the early posts on this blog. A lot of the first story posts were about Tsumugi's antics.

In era !! most of the stories ive run into, so far at least, he's really just there to say some work words bc he's the boss at New DI. We don't really get much new information about him at all. He's basically an accessory and not a person. One or two times he'll at least do something funny but that's about it.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that they're using that time to focus on the other characters that have more relevance to the story, but it's weird that they include Tsumugi at all without the intention to really utilize him so much of the time. It really does make him seem super bland until he gets a story where he actually matters and then it's like "oh right the boss man is a FREAK".

[bonestrouslingbones]

that one scene in atbb where russ is being a tall asshole to karma on purpose but instead of squatting down to his level he pulls this shit

[cloudedgalaxies]

Ugh I've been trying so hard to get that next STSH chapter out but school has literally been trying to kill me recently... I feel so bad that I didn't manage to get anything out in February and now we're nearly halfway through March already TwT OTL

For those of you who read STSH and are caught up to and/or finished Book 7, just a reminder that I started writing and planned STSH out in advance to knowing its end, and since I only play in EN I won't really know what Book 7's end is for sure until it comes to our server. Ultimately there are some little details I could maybe change here and there to make it fit better, but in the end idk if it'll be very lore-accurate to the end of Book 7, sorry (this is like my 1 true fear in the world so I'm probably taking it harder than I need to lol)