#the girl sent me an apology text and i was like No DW I Have 4th Of July Off! Itll Be Fine

[corvidaedream]

i had a really fun time the other night w a girl at the event at the nightclub, but i was really hoping there wouldn't still be visible bite marks when i returned to work today lmao

now im going to have to go through the mortifying ordeal of talking to either of the really attractive people in the costuming dept like "hey i know ive got a really modest neckline as it is but is there a way to make it higher?? its an emergency"

[sturncrazy]

SECRET KINK

Chris Sturniolo x y/n (fem!)

(anyone else = green)

warnings: SMUT SMUT SMUT SMUT!!NSFW 18+

this is from a request for a breeding kink soooo!! hope u enjoyyyy🫶🫶

(breeding kink…obvi, no protection, pet names, praise, lang, and light mentions of drinking at beginning)

authors note: GUYS!!! sorry it’s been a fucking MINUTE!!! schools been whopping my ass but i’m back babyyyyyy!! and to the baddie that sent in a request lemme say girl don’t apologize for being into the breeding kink stuff cause i think it’s hot too🫶💋

word count: 3,112

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“here❤️” you texted chris,

pulling your car into the driveway.

“doors open❤️ the boys are still here, dw they’ll head out in a bit”

“nw! i wanna say hi” you checked your makeup in your mirror. you and chris had been dating for almost a year and you spent a chunk of the week sleeping at each others houses. chris had been having a “boys night” with his brothers and their friend, and you could hear their voices shouting over video games as you walked in the door.

“hi boys!” you said entering the living room. you were received with a serises of enthusiastic grins, but none of them seemed able to budge from their game. you walked up to chris and gave him a kiss on top of his head.

“hi beautiful” he grinned at you briefly

“hi hon��ooh! can i have one?” you asked, glancing at the table full of beer cans.

“yeah of course! help yourself” chris said, returning his focus back to the game.

“oh man fuck you” said nate, throwing down his controller in defeat. you chuckled and snagged yourself a can out of the fridge. nate fussed around the coffee table, already bored.

“what’s this” he said, holding up a card game box.

“some shit we got as PR, but it’s a drinking game i think? don’t know, we can’t exactly post about it” chris said, momentarily glancing up from his video game. nate unwrapped it and flipped through the deck.

“damn these are crazy” he said, his eyes going wide.

“really?” matt said, clearly uninterested.

“yeah like, just straight up asks your body count or take a shot”

“ooooo how improper” you mocked. nate gave you the finger, kiddingly.

“read me one. i’ll be the judge of how fun the game actually is” the video game was becoming increasingly boring to watch

“okay, tough guy” nate said, skimming for a better card. his eyebrows raised, apparently landing on one

“what’s the craziest kink you have? drink half your drink if you don’t answer” you sucked in your lips, and raised your can to your mouth.

“oooooo” nick chimed in

“bet chris already knows that one” nate said, slapping chris on the shoulder. chris laughed, his tongue folding over the front of his top teeth forming a cocky expression.

“nuh uh, you couldn’t waterboard that shit out of me” you snorted. chris shot you a curious look.

“weird game, probably meant for horny high schoolers” you quickly tried to end the conversation and settled down on the couch next to chris, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and your fingers into his hair. he smiled up at you and gave you a kiss on the cheek, which resulted in him getting killed off in the game.

“aw shit” he muttered

“sorry babe” you chuckled

“YES! FUCK YEAH! I WIN!” nick yelled moments later, while matt chucked his remote half across the room.

“who’s playing me again?” nick asked, eager for another victory.

“not me man, i gotta get home and get some sleep” nate stretched.

“i can give you a ride” matt said, reaching for his car keys

“sweet. alright, bye brotha” nate said, pulling chris in for a half hug

“bye, y/n” he continued, tussling the top of your hair in a familial way.

“night, nate!” you laughed out as he and matt headed for the door.

“wanna get to bed soon? i’m pretty wiped out” you said turning to chris

“yeah sure thing. i just need to shower” he smiled up at you.

“let’s head downstairs” he patted your leg, urging you to stand up and took your hand, leading you to his room in the basement.

“night nick!” you shouted out

“uh huh” he half answered, clearly engulfed in another game. you followed chris and padded down the steps to the lower level. chris had claimed this floor his and had done a nice job with it, particularly since you helped. it was cozy and felt secluded. plus, the privacy of being two floors from where his brothers slept was an added bonus. you flopped onto chris’s bed and reached for the tv remote.

“cool if i take a shower now?” he asked, you nodded

“okay…better not be asleep when i get out” while chris was in the shower you snagged one of his old t shirts and tossed it on as a nightshirt. your eyelids were just growing heavy, when you heard his bathroom door pop open. chris walked out in plaid pj pants, shirtless, rubbing a towel against his damp hair. he looked effortlessly hot—enough to wake you back up. he gave you a smile

“i love seeing you in my clothes” you continued to stare dumbly at his body, you’d never get over the sight of him.

“you fallin asleep?”

“well now i’m up” you said dramatically giving him a once over, eyes wide.

“little freak” he mumbled, bending over you to give you a kiss.

“dick” you teased, shoving him playfully. he crashed down on the bed next to you. you moved your head to his bare chest. he wrapped an arm around your shoulders pulling you close, before speaking against the top of your hair

“hey speaking of you being a freak”

“oh?” you laughed shooting him a look.

“was nate right that i’d know your answer in that game?”

“well…” you struggled for words a moment too long, chris caught on and pulled back to look you in the eyes. his mouth ajar in a shocked smile

“WHAT?! WHAT IS IT?! cmon y/n you have to tell me”

“what?? no way! nope!” you shook your head vigorously

“what? that’s so not fair. why not?”

“cause…i dunno it’s embarrassing. nuh uh” you felt your face begin to flush.

“we’ve had sex like a million times. and you’re telling me THIS is embarrassing?!”

“okay well that stuff is different”

“what stuff”

“like…fantasy…y’know?”

“oh so you’ve had FANTASIES you’re hiding from me” nothing you were saying was deteriorating chris’s curiosity.

“well no not fantasies but like stuff i’d never ACTUALLY do”

“you’re killing me here please TELL ME”

“NO!” you dragged the word out and rolled into a ball away from him, laughing. chris clamored on top of you and rolled you onto your back, pinning your arms down on either side of your head forcing you to look at him

“tell me right now i swear to god” he said smiling down at you, his still wet hair brushing against his eyes. you hated to admit the way he was holding you down was already turning you on.

“you’re gonna think i’m weirddd” you whined

“no i WONT! i promise” he let go of one wrist and offered you his pinky. you locked yours with him and widened your eyes

“you SWEAR you won’t judge me”

“cross my heart hope to die”

“you’re an idiot”

“just TELL ME”

“OKAY OKAY” you pushed him off you and sat up, facing him.

“but just to be clear, i’m not saying we’d ever like do it. i’m totally happy never doing this it’s just like a weird thing—“

“ehhhh whatever enough spit it out” chris said cutting you off. you rolled your eyes at his childish behavior and took a deep breath in.

“okay fine. i guess i’ve always kinda had a breeding kink?” you winced at your own confession. chris raised an eyebrow

“i mean i’ve never done anything to act on it, but like the idea of it is just hot to me…i know it’s weird”

“so is it just the idea of like not pulling out?” his tone was impossible to read and you felt your palms begin a nervous sweat, what if this freaked him out?

“no-well i mean— that’s a part of it yeah—but not just that, y’know?” chris nodded, taking in what you’re saying.

“but you’re on birth control right? like nothing would actually…?” he raised his hand, in gesture to what he meant.

“oh no, i guess it’s sorta more a role play thing? it’s not that i actually’d wanna get pregnant, just more the idea of pretending like that—i—it’s weird i know—sorry—“

“i don’t think so” he cut you off, shaking his head. you froze slightly

“you don’t?” he gave you a small smirk

“no, i get” you felt your heart beat heavily against your chest. he studied your face for a moment, the silence in the room drowned out by the obvious tension, before he suddenly broke out of it.

“so, what are we watching?” he asked lightly, lying back with his an arm behind his head and facing the tv. you felt a small wave of disappointment at the sudden shift, but went with it.

“oh i dunno, nothing looks great” you sighed, lying back down onto chris’s chest. he mumbled a response into the top of your head, his free hand softly brushing up and down your arm. you picked back up the remote and continued to flip through the screen. you landed on an old comfort show and before you knew it the conversation seemed like ancient history. chris eventually moved his arm from yours to around your waist. you raised a leg over his. your eyes flitted down to his fingertips where he was playing with the hem of his shirt you were wearing. he mustve noticed because he began to pull the fabric up higher, exposing even more of your barely covered lower half. you looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

“what?” he chuckled

“whatcha doing there christopher”

“nothing” he mused, watching his own hands fumble with the shirt, the occasional bump of his cold fingertips against your skin sending little jolts through your body

“y’just look so sexy like this” he mumbled

“oh yeah?” his hands now lightly grazing your bare hip bone, the angle of your body being the only thing keeping you from behind entirely exposed.

“mhm. gets me all worked up”

“how worked up” you said in a innocent tone, looking up at him with doe eyes before sliding the hand your had from his stomach to his crotch. his eyes screwed shut and he let out a small hiss as your palm reached his already stiff clothed length. you scoffed lightly.

“hard for me already, huh?” you began to rub your hand against him, adding some pressure. chris squirmed under your touch, a faint groan escaping him. he nodded.

“aww poor thing. want me to help you out?” you said in a sweetly, palming his dick harder. he nodded his head, again, vigorously. you removed your hand to spit on it and he watched you wide eyed. you bit your lip in a smile, loving getting to see his face contort in desperation as you moved your hand down the waistband of his pjs. you wrapped your grip around his hard cock, it twitched against your touch and he let out an unsteady breath. you kept your eyes on him as you began to pump your hand up and down his length, watching him let out small moans and grasp at the sheets nearby.

“oh—fuck—“ chris sighed out. throwing his head back, his eyes rolling back into the sockets. his obvious enjoyment only made you want to hear more. you began to leave wet open mouthed kisses on his chest and moved down, slowly. his stomach flexed against each kiss and he whined against your teasing. you reached his waistband and looked up at him. he lifted his hips, allowing you to discard the pjs. his throbbing cock, still slick with your spit, slapped against his stomach. you returned your hand to wrap around the base of it and brought your lips to leave a sloppy kiss on its flushed tip. he shuddered before you began to lower down, sinking his dick into your mouth. you bobbed your head up and down, a trail of spit leaving your mouth. chris’s groans and curses filled the room in harmony with your occasional gags against his length. you felt one of his large hands reach for the back of your head. you tried to prepare yourself for him to push you further down, fucking your throat as he often liked to, but we’re surprised when he yanked your hair back, pulling you off of him. you looked up at him in confusion. he smirked and reached for your waist to bring you closer to him

“can’t cum yet baby” he lifted you onto his lap, his lips brushing yours

“don’t wanna waste any of it” he rasped against your mouth

“wha—“ you tried to question, as he wrapped an arm around your waist and tossed you onto your back. he pinned you, wrists by your head, and leaned down

“you heard me” he said cockily, before beginning to kiss you. you almost managed to fight for more answers, but chris began to grind his exposed rock hard dick up against your pussy and your mind went blank.

“oh—god—“ you moaned dumbly, raising your hips higher to meet his motion. his cock began to run up and down against your slick bare folds, brushing your clit repeatedly.

“such a good girl—so wet for me” he breathed out, the tip of his dick just barely adding pressure against your throbbing entrance. you heaved and thrashed underneath him. he kept your arms pinned and savored watching you become even more desperate.

“chris—please—“

he leaned down, his lips brushing against yours, and slide his hands to lock into yours.

“you ready baby?” he rasped out, letting go of your hands. you nodded and moaned against him.

“good” he said with a kiss before beginning to slide himself deep into your core. you let out a whimper as the tip of his dick pressed up against your most sensitive spot. a groan tumbled from chris’s lips and his eyes rolled back at the feeling of your walls fully tightening around him.

“god you feel so good, baby” he mumbled, before pulling back out of you almost fully

“please—fuck me, chris—“ you almost cried out, your pussy aching for more.

“—i need it so bad”

“yeah? you need my dick, honey?” he said sweetly, smirking down at you. you whined again and nodded as he thrusted deep into you again.

“oh god—yes—“ your fingernails reached to latch themselves deep into the flesh of his shoulders as he began to find a steady slow rhythm in and out and in and out of your squelching wet core. Chris’s eyes scanned your face and body lying beneath him as he fucked into you. they landed on your stomach and he licked his lips at the sight.

“fuck—look—can see me inside you—“

sure enough, his hard length created a bulge against your stomach with each thrust deep into you. Chris lowered a hand to press against it. you bit your lip and sighed out, too overwhelmed with pleasure to speak. He nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck, groaning against your skin and bit your earlobe lightly.

“can’t wait to fuck a baby into you” he hoarsely whispered

“what—“ you half moan out, still too consumed with pleasure to think straight

“you heard me, sweetheart—gonna fill you up and stuff your little pussy—you’ll look so pretty all full of my cum”

your stomach twisted and your heart raced. you couldn’t help but let out an almost pornographic moan at chris’s words.

“you want me to give you a baby? huh, princess?”

“fuck yes—-please—“ you said, desperately. chris continues to slam into you, perfectly hitting where you needed him most. he gave you a passionate kiss before saying against your lips

“you gonna take every drop of my load, right?“

“yes chris—i promise—“

“such a good girl”

“don’t fucking stop—fuck—“

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna give your pussy all the cum it deserves” he started to pick up the pace of his even plunges into you and the sound of your skin slapping against his began to echo in the room.

“gonna get you all big and fat and pregnant. well make the prettiest baby in the world”

“oh god—feels so fucking good—“ you whimper

“you ready, baby? want my cum in you now?” chris groaned, breathlessly. you felt your walls tighten around him as the familiar knot in your stomach started to form.

“yes—-please—fuck chris fill me with your cum—“ his dick twitched inside you at your words

“you’re gonna make such a perfect mommy—you’re doing so good for me gorgeous—just keep taking me just like that—”

the knot in your stomach begins to reach its last moments

“Chris—fuck—I’m gonna cum—“ you cry out

“good girl—cum all over my cock, sweetheart—“ Chris huffed out, coaxing you to release. your hearing begins to buzz as you feel yourself come undone. Chris continues to fuck you through your high as his motions begin to get more sloppy, the clenching of your walls bringing him closer to cumming.

“Ohhh—oh shit baby—“ he began to whine

“mmm that’s it—cum in me, chris—put your baby in me” you sigh out, wrapping your arms around his neck as you start to regain your senses

“ohh—nggh—i’m cumming—fuck, baby—-here it comes—“ chris pants as he roughly thrusts into you, his thighs and upper arms shaking slightly.

“OHHHH—“ his brow furrows as his release takes over. he lets out a loud moan as he haults, his cock buried all the way inside you. he shoots hot, thick, strands of his cum deep inside your walls, and then collapses against your body. the two of you try to regain your breath. chris lifts himself back up to look down at you and gives you a kiss, still buried inside you. you smile against his lips.

“how was that” he breathed out

“fucking perfect” you giggled

“yeah? i think so too” he chuckled, giving you a peck before lifting himself higher off you to pull out of you. he removed himself, gently trying to be aware of your sensitivity. you whined at the loss a little. he sits back and stares between your legs where your entrances still pulsates slightly, his cum leaking out. his jaw went slack

“what?” you giggled again, feeling a little embarrassed

“i could get used to seeing that” he said, not pulling his eyes away

“chrissss” you whine, attempting to shut your legs. he stops you with his arms

“nuh uh” he says before taking two of his fingers up to collect his cum and shoving them back inside you. you let out a sharp moan at the sudden feeling. he leans back over you with a smirk

“can’t waste any” he said, giving you yet another kiss

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HEHE

hope u guys like this one

ITS GOOD TO BE BACK!!!!

💋

[wondernimbus]

battleground — draco malfoy

pairing: draco malfoy x female!reader

request: could i kindly request a draco x reader where they get into a fight before the war, and draco chooses to stay a hogwarts and voldemort but reader pushes herself in front of him to save him? but they both survive 🥺 if it's too complicated dw about it :)

a/n: i tweaked the request a little bit but this is set when the slytherins are sent to the dungeons during the battle of hogwarts! also it isn’t explicitly stated in the text so just in case there’s some confusion, the reader’s parents are death eaters

The cold stone hallway leading to the Slytherin common room is eerily quiet despite the hundred or so Slytherin students trickling into their common room. No one bothers to quell the uneasy tension hanging in the air or makes a move to address the sounds of chaos coming from just up above them, a mere stone floor away.

But at the very middle of the pack, there is someone shoving past people on her way back towards the way they came. Back to the first-floor corridor; back to the war. No one pays her much heed. Everyone is too busy lost in their own conflicted thoughts, and even if they do register the fact that there is a girl among them turning back to head into the very battle they were kicked out of, they make no move to stop her.

Somewhere along the back of the group, she catches sight of a face that brings with it a sudden rush of relief. [Y/N] pushes past the crowd of students clad in green until she stops right in front of him, grabs onto his wrist and drags him along.

The last of the Slytherins have filed into the common room. [Y/N] and Draco stand in the middle of the cold dungeon hall, illuminated only dully by the torches hanging on the walls.

[Y/N] wastes no time. She leans in and presses her lips to his, and it's all force; there is no time for passion or tears or dramatic farewell. She kisses Draco like a starved man, lips all pressure and no tenderness, and Draco kisses her back with just as much fervor, hands gripping onto her waist almost desperately as he holds her to him as close as he can.

And they would stay like that for as long as they can if only they are allowed to, but there is a war to be fought and there are people to be saved. So [Y/N] pulls away, breathless, forehead on Draco's and their lips mere centimeters apart as they breathe in each other's air the same way they have done so many times before.

Draco can think of no words to say; all that leaves his lips is a breathless exhale of her name. Just her name.

[Y/N] nods just a fraction of an inch as though she understands completely, and in a way, she does.

Against her will, she pulls away, fingers gently gliding down his shoulders and down to his middle, where they rest almost hesitantly. In a voice just as quiet as his, she whispers, "I need to go up there, Draco."

Silence. She opens her eyes only to find that he is already looking at her, gaze unreadable. A feeling of uneasiness settles in her stomach.

"Up where?" He's frowning. His hold on her waist has tensed.

"I'm going to fight," [Y/N] says, and her voice is throatier than usual, like a lump has already formed in her throat.

Draco blinks. There's a crease in between his brows; she reaches up to smoothen it out with her fingers out of habit, but his hand flies to her wrist and holds it there, hovering just above his lips.

"You're going to fight," he repeats, still frowning.

[Y/N] swallows. Nods. "And you should, too."

Draco stares at her, brows furrowed. It's at rare times like these that [Y/N] can't quite figure out what he's thinking, but she guesses that it's something along the lines of—

"You can't," Draco says, shaking his head. "You can't. I won't let you."

She reaches up and gently pries his fingers away from her wrist, but his grip on her only tightens. "Draco."

"I'm not letting you risk your life."

She stares at him for a moment, brows drawing together in the middle just like his, but the way she is looking at him is a sharp contrast to his suddenly stern gaze—she looks incredulous, like she can't believe what she's hearing.

"I thought you'd understand," she says, tugging her wrist out of his grasp and taking a step back. A foot of space rests between them, but for some reason it suddenly feels like they are thousands of miles apart. "I can't just hide here while people risk their lives to save—"

"What—to save ours?" Draco cuts her off, scowling. It's unimaginable to think that mere moments ago they were entangled in each other's arms, kissing as though the other will slip away if they don't hold on tight enough. Coldly, Draco says, "They'd throw us to the wolves if they had a chance."

"To save everyone's."

"Don't be ridiculous. If they saw you fighting alongside them, they wouldn't hesitate to turn their wands on you."

"And how do you know that?"

He advances towards her, and for a brief split-second [Y/N] thinks that he's about to kiss her again, but all he does is grab the black and green necktie hanging around her collar and hold it up for her to see.

"Because of this," he snarls. "The moment anyone fighting against the Dark Lord sees you're a Slytherin, they'll think you're an enemy. And the moment any of the Death Eaters see you fighting against them, they'll think you're a traitor—which you are—and they'll kill you. You'd be fighting against both sides."

She scoffs, the first few traces of anger surfacing. "You are making assumptions."

"It's the truth and you know it. You have no choice. Stay here and save your life." He grabs her hand and tugs her towards the direction of the Slytherin common room. The dungeon door has closed. There is no one left in the cold stone corridor but them.

But [Y/N] wrenches herself away from Draco's hold. "I can take care of myself and I am fighting," she says sharply, a sense of finality in her tone. "And I would have asked you to fight by my side but it seems like you'd rather stay and hide here like a coward." The final word escapes the confines of her lips without her even realizing, but the anger in her chest makes it hard for her to feel guilty for it.

"If wanting the love of my life to live makes me a coward then so be it." Draco turns to face her, jaw taut and his eyes flashing. "You're asking me to let you put your life on the line—"

"I'm asking you to trust me—"

"And what happens if you die? What do you suppose I do?" he hisses, and then, his face contorting into a sneer, "I apologize for my selfishness, [Y/N] but I'd much prefer other people die than you."

She scoffs in disbelief. "Always a selfish prick, aren't you, Draco?"

[Y/N] doesn't mean it. Of course she doesn't. But the frustration in her chest is reaching boiling point and the words that leave her lips do so without her even pausing to think about them.

Doing little to mask her scorn, she snaps, "I'd rather die in battle than sit back doing nothing while innocent children are slaughtered."

"Those innocent children hated us for the house we were sorted in," Draco sneers. "They saw the green on our robes and they made sure to stay away from us—they spoke ill of us and spread vile rumors about our families and you're willing to sacrifice yourself for them?"

"And you want to let them die just because they disliked us." She doesn't phrase it like a question.

Draco clenches his jaw. She would have been able to feel the slightest empathy for him if he showed even a tiny bit of guilt, but he holds his gaze in hers resolutely and shakes his head. "I don't want to die for them. And you shouldn't, either."

Her lip curls. "You disgust me."

And it scares her because she isn't sure whether she means it or not.

In one swift movement, [Y/N] reaches up and roughly yanks the green Slytherin tie hanging around her neck. "I don't care what they think about us or what you think about them," she seethes through bared teeth, throwing the necktie at Draco's feet as she holds his gaze with just as much fieriness as she sees in his. "But I refuse to stay here while those people risk their lives fighting for what they believe is right—what is right."

Draco narrows his eyes at her, lips drooping downwards in a scowl. "Even if it means fighting against your parents?"

Her parents. The people who had raised her her entire life and made her believe in things she held true not so long ago. Things that entailed the uselessness of Muggles and Muggleborns alike. Her mother and father, who once cruelly punished her for helping a lost Muggle boy when she was no more than a mere child eager to offer a helping hand.

Parents—do they really deserve to be called that?

With her jaw set, she nods. "I'm done doing things for them. It's time I make decisions for myself."

A cold glare is all she has left to offer Draco before she turns her back on him and walks away, wand in hand.

Part of her understands. She knows that Draco is not much different from her. He has told her stories based on his own experience; stories just like hers that tell tales of pureblooded prejudice and exiled blood-traitors in the vicinity of his own home. But even if he hadn't found enough comfort in her to tell her, she still would have known.

She recognized the look in his eyes the very moment they first met. It was the very same one she saw whenever she looked in the mirror.

But [Y/N] has been luckier than most. Somewhere along her journey to what some would call self-discovery, she'd found something a great deal more important than bloodlines and family trees. Though hesitant at first, she met and came to know people whose blood was perhaps not as magical as hers but whose hearts were purer than any other she had ever seen. Purer than hers, certainly.

She came to know Muggleborns who viewed her as an equal, and everyone else along with her. Muggleborns who treated everyone with kindness not because of the blood in their veins but because it was right.

And because of them [Y/N] has learned to differentiate what is right and what is wrong; what is important and what is not. Now she knows fully well which category one's blood type falls under. She may have been a little late on the uptake, but if risking her life is what it takes to redeem herself, then so be it.

But Draco has a harder time wrapping his head around things. [Y/N] understands; truly, she does. He has been raised to think a certain way and so has she—but if she can break out of the box that her parents have caged her in for so long, why can't he?

Just before she disappears behind the staircase leading away from the dungeons, she stops, and with her gaze fixated on the stone steps, takes a deep breath.

"People like us—" she begins in what was meant to be a stone-cold voice, but her voice is shaky for the first time that day. "They think we're a lost cause. They think we're cold-hearted and we're rotten to the core because of our last names—and you're right—because we're in Slytherin. But if you don't want to fight against the Dark Lord because of your hatred for the people who looked at us as though we were devil's spawn, then at least fight because you want to prove them wrong."

From here, she can make out the sound of spells hurtling through the air and people screaming from up above. She hears panicked voices of people a tiny part of her feels as though she recognizes. Voices she must have heard in her classes. Voices she could have heard in the hallways or in the Great Hall. And despite the fear in her chest and the voice in her lovesick heart telling her to stay with Draco, it's those voices that urge her to put one foot in front of the other until she emerges in the middle of the first-floor corridor, right in the heart of the battle.

—

Death. Chaos. Destruction. She sees it everywhere around her—in the corridors and the classrooms she grew up in, and in the Great Hall, where the large glass windows have been reduced to mere shards and the long house tables have been flipped over and cracked to splinters.

Why take this away from her—from everyone who has lived their childhood in that castle?

For so long Hogwarts has been her sanctuary. Her safe place. The only place in the world where she feels as though she could be at peace. And now it is nothing more than crumbling stone foundations and broken glass and soot and dust.

Jets of red and green light whiz past her almost every step she takes. Fear: she feels it in every fiber of her body like a parasite waiting for the right moment to consume her whole and render her immobile. Part of her wants to run back down the dungeons and join Draco and the rest of the Slytherins—it is so much safer down there—she doesn't have to narrowly dodge recklessly-aimed curses every corner she turns, wondering which one will finally hit her—which one will kill her—

But then she sees none other than Colin Creevey amongst the blur of destruction around her, and just like that she remembers why she's here.

"Colin!" she yells, darting forward. He stands in the middle of the corridor, wand drawn in front of him but looking so lost and confused he might as well have just been an innocent passerby unfortunate enough to come across the Battle of Hogwarts. From this distance [Y/N] can tell he is shaking but no one seems to notice him amongst all the madness; "Colin!"

His name tears out of her throat again as she wills her legs to move as fast as they can, weaving through all the dueling and in some cases, brawling—and she doesn't know what she aims to do, exactly, but she just knows that she has to protect this timid little fifth-year Gryffindor who she has treated like her brother for so many years. The same one who, despite her infamous blood-smattered family tree, was one of the first ones outside of Slytherin to treat her like a normal human being.

She shouts his name again, and somehow, despite all of the noise and the yelling and the sounds of spells being cast all around them, Colin hears her; his eyes meet hers and they flood with relief and recognition, flood with the same bright light [Y/N] has grown so familiar with—

And then the light dies out.

[Y/N]'s entire world freezes.

"No," she gasps.

From behind Colin, a jet of bright green light hurtles straight towards him and hits him in the back—he jolts forward at the impact, and then falls to his knees. A half-moment later, Colin Creevey crumples to the ground, lifeless.

She skids to a stop. A dry sob leaves her lips as the hand holding her wand falls to her side.

No.

—

Five minutes.

Draco spends five minutes in the chilly dungeon corridor, staring at the stone steps [Y/N] had disappeared through only moments before.

If he walks up those steps, it will be to the sight of the school he has come to call his home destroyed. He will see numerous spells hurtling through the air, some finding their targets and others lodging themselves into stone and causing walls to crumble in on themselves. He knows that he will bear witness to a nightmarish scene, but that is not what has Draco hesitating: what stops him is the thought of fighting alongside students just like him who will give him mistrustful glares, as though they are waiting for him to jinx them when their backs are turned.

And perhaps worst of it all is the fact that he will have to fight against familiar faces. He will recognize his aunt, his uncle, his best friend's father, his own parents. And he will point his wand at them and hope that his curse hits them before theirs hits him.

Draco is scared.

He doesn't know if he has enough courage to climb those steps and fight alongside people who barely trust him, and fight against the people who have raised him.

But he can't lose her.

He may be scared, but he can't lose [Y/N].

So Draco unravels his Slytherin tie from his neck, takes a deep breath and walks up the stone steps. He can't lose her—not in this lifetime. He loves her far too much to care about who he has to kill and who he has to fight alongside.

The rest of the world be damned, so long as he doesn't lose her.

—

"You killed him," she whispers. Tears are in her eyes but they haven't quite fallen yet, and despite the invisible hands that have reached into her chest and started squeezing her lungs to a pulp, she manages to say louder, "You killed Colin."

[Y/N] looks up at the Death Eater standing amidst the countless fierce duels. She thinks she hears him laugh behind his mask; cruel and jeering and oddly familiar.

She doesn't pause to think. As soon as the feeling floods back into her arms, she cries "Stupefy!" and a burst of red light explodes out of the end of her wand.

But the Death Eater deflects it with little to no effort. He lets out another laugh, this time louder.

[Y/N] is sure of it this time: she knows that voice. She catches sight of a strand of long platinum blond hair trailing beneath his hood and recognizes him even before he reaches up with one hand and wrenches the mask off of his face.

"Foolish girl," Lucius Malfoy snarls, stopping a mere few feet away from her. "Instead of saving your own skin, you decide to betray the Dark Lord and your own family along with him."

He brandishes his wand; a jet of green light rushes straight towards [Y/N] and she cries "Protego!" at the very last moment, stumbling a little upon impact.

Lucius advances forward, long black robes billowing behind him as [Y/N] backs away, wand trembling slightly in her hand. "You care far too much for those who do not deserve your sympathy," his face contorts into an ugly, spiteful glare, "For Muggles and Mudbloods and filthy blood-traitors—"

"Stupefy!"

Just like the one before it, Lucius deflects this one effortlessly. His upper lip curling contemptuously, he stops in his tracks, wand still pointed at [Y/N] as her chest heaves with deep, heavy breaths of both anger and grief that hasn't quite gone away. "I have always wondered why my son adores you so much."

Another jet of red light bursts from [Y/N]'s wand, but her attempts are futile.

"But he will move on," continues Lucius. "He will forget you and wed someone who is worthy of being a Malfoy." And then the jeering smile on his face droops and intent floods his features as he sneers, "I just have to get rid of you first—Avada K—"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

This time, the spell hits Lucius and his limbs snap to his sides before he topples to the ground, spine rigid.

But [Y/N] hasn't even opened her mouth.

Standing right behind Lucius Malfoy is the last person she would have expected to see—

"Draco," she breathes.

Draco's wand is still drawn and his eyes are blown wide, mouth slightly agape as he stares at his father, who lies face-down on the ground unbeknownst to the fact that it was his own son who had cursed him.

Shock is etched into every inch of Draco's face. He is just as stunned at his actions as [Y/N] is. But when he snaps himself out of his trance and finds it in him to tear his gaze away from his father, the first thing he does is stride towards [Y/N], pull her to him, and hold her with the desperation of a man who has been longing for his lover for centuries.

"You—your father—"

"I know."

"Draco," she exhales into his shoulder, breathless. "Draco—"

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"No—no, I'm okay."

Draco takes a deep, shuddering breath and nods. Keeps nodding.

And when he takes her hand in his and runs with her to the courtyard, where there are more Death Eaters to fight and more innocent lives to protect, he can't help but look back and catch a last glimpse of his father on the floor. His father, who is still rigid and unmoving, at the mercy of Order members who might stumble upon him.

Draco doesn't regret it.

The rest of the world be damned—including his own father—so long as he doesn't lose her.

[skyeofloxlay]

Duskwood - thoughts, observations and summaries. (DW-TOS) Part 2!

And I came back with the second part!

82 - Jessy sends us a message asking if we send messages to Hacker, if we answer yes, she replies that he is scary. If we say "I happen to like him, actually." Jessy says, "I bet you're the only person in the world who likes this guy. But don't get me wrong, I don't think he's behind the kidnapping. He wouldn't take such chances talking to us."

83 - Jessy then comments that she had a similar conversation with the others, but it was about the MC. If we say, "If I were you, you wouldn't trust me," Jessy replies, "But I trust you. If others knew that I sent you a message, they would be irritated with me. Anyway, I think it's better if you don't tell him too much "

84 - Another message in spy mode, this time between Thomas and Dan. Thomas contacted Dan, and Dan asked where Thomas was. Thomas replies, "You know what? It doesn't matter." Dan then asks what was going on, and then Thomas responds by asking if Dan was still part of the deal.

85 - Jake sends us a message, asking what it was all about (referring to the conversation between Dan and Thomas). We can say that no matter what it is, it seems to be highly suspicious and Jake agrees. He then comments, "Maybe we can find out together what that means. I found it more than strange that Thomas disappeared after the news of the body appeared."

If we say "Wait, how did you find this out? I didn't tell you about it" Jake replies that he is not going to put all his cards on the table for us. At least not for now.

86 - We then started seeing a message notification between Dan and a guy named Poke. Poke contacted Dan to be sure, and also said that Dan knew the time and place. Dan then tries to make some price offers, I think. In the end Poke says he was sorry for the girl.

87 - We talk to Jake again, and he asks us what we thought all that meant. And we can guess that Dan is buying something from Poke, and that he's asking for good money for that thing. Jake says he thinks the same thing as us, and he praises us by saying "good job". Jake also comments that the thing that is purchased is highly illegal, as Dan made sure not to mention the thing.

88 - Telling Jake that we should get to the bottom of this, Jake replies that he was going to get Poke's number. If we say "And what should I say?" Jake says "I didn't say the plan was perfect ... Can't you try to get this person involved in a conversation? Say you got a friend's number. Maybe you can get somewhere with this or not. If it doesn't work out, you can say you sent the number to the wrong number. Doesn't that sound convincing? " He then asks for time to find out the number.

89 - Jake contacts us, and says he managed to reconstruct a part of the image (of the medical prescription) And he says that we should take a look at it.

90 - Jake wonders why Hannah put a prescription on the cloud. For he could not understand what it would take a person to carry this in the cloud.

91 - So Jake says it would be better to search the almighty internet for what SSRI means. (SSRI was what we could see in the prescription)

92 - In this part we can place a bet with Jake to see who finds out the fastest =]

93 - We found that SSRI is a medication to treat depression.

94 - If we ask Jake if he knew that Hannah is suffering from depression, he says he doesn't know, so he says it didn't make sense and finally says he would talk to us later.

95 - We can then ask Jake if he was okay, he replies that he was okay, and then we can ask if we did something wrong, then he says "No, of course not. Let's talk later. I have to do some research" and then he goes off.

96 - We decrypt a file, this time it was a written file.

97 - Cleo sends us a message saying she was in front of Hannah's apartment, if she asks her what for, she says she went there at random, and says "But I think it wouldn't hurt to take a look".

98 - Cleo then tells us that it really wasn't spontaneous, and that she had thought about it asking herself "Would Hannah do the same for me? And I'm sure she would. She would have done it on the first day, as soon as knew. " We can then tell Cleo that we would like to have a best friend just like her.

99 - Cleo says to us "If it makes you feel better, I'm not invading. I know where her emergency key is hidden." And before entering, Cleo decides to call us and says "As you know, two heads are better than one"

100 - On the call, Cleo walks around the apartment and goes to the second floor, when she hears someone's footsteps, and when that mysterious person opens the door, we can't see who it is because the call hangs and then falls off. (If I'm not mistaken, was that the end of chapter 2? Or was it 3? Wait ... it was the end of chapter 2)

101 - So, now in chapter 3, Cleo, apparently a few minutes after the call dropped, she sends a message. She then tells us that Thomas was at the door. Cleo says she is still in the apartment with Thomas and says she would speak to us later.

102 - Jessy sends us a photo of a newspaper article reporting the body that was found. She was angry because the article was too short about something that should be given more attention, but apparently Duskwood likes to ignore the disasters that occur around the city.

103 - We returned to the group where all the guys are and Thomas finally appears and comments that it was the police and tells the group that the body found was not Hannah's. But we still don't know whose body it was (we only discovered this more recently in chapter 7, but I'll leave that to comment on when I get there).

104 - If we ask Thomas if he was at the police station all this time, and soon after he came to tell the group that the body was not Hannah's. He replies that before that, he was crying like a baby after we told him about the body, and then he went to the police. And then he asks us if we are happy now. After we answer him, Thomas says nothing and goes offline. 

105 - Jake sends us a message, and he says he decided to read the conversation between MC and Cleo. We can tell him that this no longer surprises us, but then he apologizes and comments that after our phone call went down, he was a little worried. We can ask him "Well, what do you want me to say?" and he replies "I know it's not comfortable for you. But I would like you to look at it from my point of view and understand why I am doing this." We can ask him "So is it important how I feel about you ?!" Jake replies, yes, he cares what we think about him. We can tell him that we also care about what he thinks about us. (Then he replies with a smile :) )

106 - Jake asks us why we thought would take Thomas to Hannah's apartment. We can guess that Thomas was trying to recover something there. Jake says it is a very logical assumption, but to be honest he was not sure, and it was better to wait because he was sure that Cleo would tell what had happened. 

If we tell Jake that we think something wasn’t right, he responds "Do you think? I didn’t notice anything.", We can answer him because we think something was wrong, saying that Cleo wanted to say something, because of Thomas . We then found out that Jake has problems deciphering emotions through text messages, and he says that MC managing to do that is of utmost importance.

We can then tell Jake that we have never heard of anyone who has had this problem before, and Jake replies, "There are few people who can openly admit their faults. I usually find it very difficult to do. "By thanking him for telling us something like that (you know, something so personal, admitting your failure? I think it takes a lot of courage and trust with the person you are talking to. Who likes to admit their faults openly to other people? Especially to those you hardly know?) 

Jake says we could talk about it in more detail again in another moment, if we wanted to know more. But now there were more important things to talk about.

107 - We then started talking about what we found in Hannah’s cloud (That written note. Unfortunately I don’t have a printout of the note, so I’ll describe the note in other post) Jake tells us that he read it several times and couldn't understand what it meant. We can then share with him our thoughts on the note, we can say that Hannah wrote that note because she was trying to process something, because the text was very emotional. Jake tells us that MC is incredibly observant.

108 - If we ask Jake if he never thought Hannah's behavior was strange, Jake says no. Asking him "But you know Hannah personally, right?", He replies "I don't think I can say I do, no", "Does Hannah even know you?" Jake just says that he will one day tell everything, when the time is right.

109 - Asking him about Poke's number, Jake replies that he needs more time to find out and asks if we still remembered what we were going to tell him. 

110 - When commenting on Hannah's antidepressant medicine, Jake says he had no idea that she suffered from depression. However, he says there is no need to worry about this for the investigation, as it would not have hurt herself, and that it was not even under discussion.

111 - Jake then says that until now we already knew the most important things, and then we can comment on the body, and ask if Jake was trying to avoid this issue. He says no, at least not intentionally. He also says he already knew it couldn't be Hannah's body and asks us if we had discovered anything in the meantime.

112 - It is then that we can comment on the legend of Duskwood, the legend of the mwaf. Jake asks if we want to talk about it, but then we can answer him "When the time is right". Jake says "Are you making fun of me now?" and we can answer "It doesn't look so good, does it?", Jake then admits that it made him laugh, and that he deserved it because he always made us wait to know things.

113 - But even so we give Jake a chance and we tell what we found, commenting that it is about an old legend, about such a man without a face, that he goes after people who have committed terrible sins, and drags them to the forest, and they say Hannah is one of their victims. Jake says he understood, but that he generally doesn't have much hope about legends and ghost stories. He also says that we weren't supposed to misinterpret him, but he was still going to check, but that he was going to find out Poke's number first.

114 - We talk again with Jessy and Richy about the legend of the mwaf, and about the fact that Alfie saw Hannah being dragged through the forest. Richy gives his opinion that Alfie, like him, was born in Duskwood, so he must have heard about the man without a face several times, and having heard about Hannah's disappearance, it's easy to mix reality with imaginary stories.

115 - If we say that we do not believe that this is what happened, Jessy says that she agrees and that the mwaf is a real clue and that we should go further, whether or not Richy was with him, since he did not believe in those things. In the end Richy decides to stay so things won't get out of hand

116 - As the conversation ends, Richy realizes that he hasn't added us yet.

117 - Richy asks us a favor, asking us not to instigate Jessy too much with all this mwaf history. He also comments that Jessy is the type of person who WANTS to see the monster, that he is real. We can then tell Richy that we are only after facts, that is, behind clues, not monsters, and that makes Richy feel more relieved. We can also ask if Richy is in love for Jessy, he is embarrassed and asks us why we think so. When we say it's just a feeling, he is speechless and denies it, but then asks "But what if I liked her?" , we can say that we don't care about that and he replies "That's good. As long as you don't think I'm in love with her." (he makes a spelling mistake, but I don't know what it would be like in English) When we correct him, Richy says that we pay a lot of attention to details and says that he will talk to the MC later.

118 - We decrypt another written file and send it to Jake. After he took a look he said that this note was completely different from the other. We can say why we found that note different by saying that "It's easier to understand" Jake agrees and adds that the first note was mysterious, almost enigmatic, while the second note seemed to be talking about an experience. And we can say "A diary?" Jake agrees and says that our discovery was really important, and he praises us saying that we did a good job. 

119 - Jake says he wants to try to do something new with us, taking notes on some of the most important key points, and after he and we made our conclusions, we would compare. When we say that we think this is a good idea, he replies that he is happy we found it.

When we finish our notes, Jake compares them, and depending on what you answered, Jake can tell you that surprisingly our notes are the same as his (again, I don't have a print of the text, so when I get to that part of the game I will do some prints and comment on it.)

120 - Jake begins to summarize all the clues that have been found. We know that Hannah visited a family, and in that family there was a woman named Iris, Hannah was accompanied by an unidentified man, and his support meant a lot to her. They were talking about something that Hannah already seemed to know, she hoped to find out more and Hannah was feeling very guilty about this family. In addition, it is commented at the end of the note on "The emerald eyes".

121 - We can guess that this note is related to Hannah's disappearance. Jake comments that this may be the way to find out Hannah's exact steps in the days before she disappeared. 

122 - Jake then ends (or tries) the conversation by saying "Very well. I think that's it for now. Or is there anything else we should talk about?" And at that point (if you have premiums) you can ask Jake "Tell me your name". He replies "My name? Why would you care about my name?" And then we can say to him "Because I like you." "Please" and then he finally reveals to us that his name is Jake. So we can say "Hello, Jake" and he replies with "Hello, MC" "I'm getting careless. This is not good" and we can ask him if he doesn't feel relieved and Jake says "Yes, strangely. At the same time, it's dangerous to open up to you. There's a lot at stake for me." we can tell Jake that he can trust us, and he replies "I want to trust you" Then right after he asks us "So now I would like to find out more about you", When we ask what he would like to know about us, he responds by asking if we are dating someone. If we say "No" and ask him why he would like to know, he replies "I don't know. I ..." when we say "Yes?", He says "I think you're fascinating" (Aww Jake, you know how to conquer me, don't you? Did I just think that this would be something Sherlock Holmes would say if he were in love? Just me? Ok .-.)

and of course, we can answer him saying that we also find him fascinating =]

Quickly Jake says he better go before he blushes, and then he says he'll talk to us later.

123 - Richy sends a message to the group saying that something is now on a date, which will be on Sunday at 2 pm, we found out shortly after he was referring to the search he would have in the forest to try to find Hannah, that the women of church at Duskwood are organizing, Miranda, Cleo’s mother, she’s the one who’s leading the women’s group. 

124 - Cleo sends us a message and says that Thomas is hiding something. Cleo says he was shocked to see her there. She asked him why Thomas was there at Hannah's apartment, he replied that he was at the police station and was told that the body was not Hannah's, and then he said he went to the apartment to find clues, because now the time was even more essential than before.

125 - Cleo realized that she hadn't heard Thomas use the key when he entered. She asked him how he got in and Thomas smiled and said it was clear that he had the key, and even made a kind of joke about whether Cleo didn't remember that he was Hannah's boyfriend.

126 - Cleo comments that Hannah and Thomas had fought a few weeks before she disappeared, and that he had returned the key to Hannah.

127 - Thomas took something from the apartment.

128 - After Cleo talks to us, she will talk to Richy, she said that when she was running she heard voices and jumped over the junkyard fence. Richy doesn't seem to care about that, and says that if Cleo wanted to reward him, she would just make the famous pyramid cake. And Cleo was already doing that.

129 - Richy says it was his voices arguing with Paul (Richy's dad) and then he says "She got lost outside again because he wasn't paying attention." (Who is "she" that Richy commented on? Was it his mother?)

130 - Jessy sends a message to the group of legends saying that she had an idea, that she was sure that in the library there was a book that told about mwaf.

131 - Jake sends us a message saying he got Poke's number. And we found out that we have to call Poke because he has a private account, luckily the connection fails so Poke is obliged to send a message to us.

132 - We found out that Poke is a keyring. And then it all makes sense, Dan bought a key from Poke so Thomas could get into Hannah's apartment.

133 - We talk about it to Jake and then he asks if we had talked to Cleo. We can comment that Thomas took something from the apartment, Jake asked if we knew what he had taken, of course we don't know, but we can guess that he took something that linked him to the kidnapping.

134 - We can also comment that Thomas lied to Cleo about the key.

135 - And we can tell that Hannah and Thomas had a fight. Jake is incredulous that Cleo has known this for so long and only tells it now.

136 - If we ask Jake what he thinks of all that, he replies that we have enough reason to be careful with Thomas. However, we should not yet feel safe with others.

137 - We asked Jake what we (MC) should do now. He responds to act normally around Thomas, as if we don't know any of this. Jake also says that we should find out about Thomas's side.

138 - Jessy went to the library, but the book had already been borrowed, and on top of that it was not known who was with it, and whoever had the book with it was already 4 days late to deliver.

139 - We see a conversation between Phil and Jessy. He said he was disappointed that Dan hadn't shown up on the first day of work.

140 - Apparently Cleo went to snoop around the bar (she had already commented that she would go to the bar to try to find new information, but she didn't tell us when she went.)

141 - We heard that Cleo asked Phil some questions about Hannah, and he was very rude. Saying that Hannah was flirting with someone, and that it was just a matter of time before she messed with the wrong guy.

142 - Richy asks if he should talk to Phil, if we say yes he will talk to him after he leaves work.

143 - Dan talks to Jessy, apologizing for what he had done, he said he had forgotten. Then he invites her to a date at the Black Swan.

144 - We found a photo of a raven carved in a tree in the forest.

145 - Jake starts writing, but then gives up, so we can talk about what it was, that it was the crow sign. Jake asked if this had anything to do with the legend we had mentioned earlier.

146 - Jake says he's going to leave it to us, and we can say "Because you don't believe that, right?", And then he says "No, because I trust you. I would suggest showing the photo to your friends."

Okay, I know, it doesn't have as many topics as the other, but I think I've reached the limit for now, and I have to do a few things now, so I don't have any more time to write =/

But I hope you like it and that it helps you in some way. See you in the next part! :)

(Well, 633 prints have been transcribed so far, with only 1677 left to write xP)

(Sorry if it have something confusing or has English errors ; -;)

Part one if you haven't seen it yet! DW-TOS1 

Ask box open!

[turquoise-stones]

Edge of Insanity Ch. 5: Slow Burn

Yandere!Todoroki x fem!reader

Previous Chapter

A/N: fluff incoming! the yandere is coming soon, dw ;) for now let’s enjoy innocent todoroki while he lasts.

. . .

You hadn't shown up for your last class. Even when Todoroki tried to take his mind off that fact, your seat, which was so glaringly empty, pulled his thoughts back onto you. On any other day, he wouldn't have been so worried. But after the events that transpired today, he felt his fear was well warranted.

The building frustration with himself only made it worse. If only he had decided to follow you and Shinsou earlier today, he could have comforted you, he could have protected you from all those staring eyes, he could have been the first to find you, he c-

He let out a sigh of frustration. He wasn't even there for you during lunch. While his friends managed to find and comfort you, he was on the other side of the school searching, which made him feel like an utter failure.

After lunch, when he saw you again in class, he had promised himself that he wouldn't let you out of his sight. And seeing how relieved you looked when he offered to walk you from class to class was enough to make his heart ache. He relished the feeling of helping you, relished the feeling that he was needed by you.

And the day had passed smoothly, with him staring daggers at anyone who let their gaze linger too long, until just minutes before the last class when you excused yourself to the bathroom, urged him to go ahead without you, and just never returned.

He felt like it was his fault. Did you slip and knock yourself out? Were you locked in a stall? Or at the very worst, did someone attack you? Another drawn-out sigh escaped his lips. Maybe he was overthinking it and you just had a stomach ache.

"Todoroki? Are you alright?" Kirishima whispered on his left. "You're biting your fingernail."

Todoroki nodded absently, a bit irked that Kirishima broke his train of thought. He glanced at the clock. 25 more minutes until class ended. He really just couldn't wait any longer. He raised his hand and waited impatiently for his teacher to call on him.

"Yes? Todoroki?"

"May I use the bathroom?"

His teacher let out a sigh and waved for his go-ahead. Todoroki needed nothing more to bolt out the door. The moment he was out of sight, he whipped out his phone and sent you a quick text. Eyebrows furrowed, he waited impatiently for you to respond, but as the minutes ticked by, he decided that it would be better to just go look for you.

He first checked the bathroom, fighting back a flush of embarrassment as he cracked open the door, averting his eyes in case there were any girls still inside. Luckily there weren't any there to witness his shame. However, no one responded when he called out, which made him all the more concerned. A quick peek under the stalls showed no bodies or feet (which quelled the fear that you had hurt yourself) and he quickly left the bathroom, hoping that no one saw him and assumed that he was nothing more than a shameless pervert.

He wandered the halls, a bit more frantically than before, searching for you. It wasn't likely that you went home, since you always had work after school...

He walked from floor to floor, shoes making loud squeaks that echoed down the empty halls. He peaked at any empty classrooms and courtyards, but you were nowhere to be found. His lips pressed together into a thin line as frustration and restlessness settled in. Walking slowly back to class, he passed a storage cabinet, but froze when he heard the quietest of noises coming from within. Tiptoeing closer, he leaned against the door, half expecting to hear crying or something akin to that, but instead, soft music sounded from within. Something so quiet he must have missed it the first time he looked down this hall. It had to be you.

He knocked quietly, frowning when he heard no reply. He put his hand on the knob, hesitant to open it lest he scare you. But he couldn't just walk away knowing you were in there, especially since people don't just hide in storage cabinets for fun.

Slowly, he creaked the door open. In front of him were rows and rows of dusty textbooks, illuminated by a dim yellow light. There you were, snuggled against a corner of the small space, fast asleep. Your arms were wrapped loosely around bent knees, and your head rested against the bookcase, hair falling over your face and neck. Your phone, which was balanced precariously on the books next to you, was softly playing calm music. Your backpack was haphazardly thrown opposite you. The word 'relief' could not even begin to describe the feeling he felt when he saw you weren't hurt.

He quietly shut the door behind him, the room scarcely giving him enough space to crouch down next to you. He looked at you thoughtfully, not sure what to do now that he had found you. He didn't want to wake you up but it didn't feel right to simply leave. Would it be too much to touch you? The skin that peeked out from under the curtain of hair looked so soft.

He waited a moment longer to see if you would stir, and when you didn't, he brushed a knuckle against your cheek, admiring the soft warmth that radiated off of you. He paused, listening for changes in your breathing, before gently pushing your silky locks behind your shoulder.

Your eyes were still baggy like they were earlier today, but Shouto noted with a pained frown that they were now puffy and wet too. Tears still glistened at the base of your eyelashes. But even in tears, you looked so lovely. He had never been so close to you, but now that he was, he could unabashedly stare at your pretty features. If you were awake, you would undoubtedly cover your face with embarrassment. You even smelled sweet, like shampoo and soap.

He brushed your bangs behind your ear as well, careful to not be rough, lest he disturb you. His heart ached when you parted your lips and let out a quiet sigh. Black dots spotted his vision and he realized that he was holding his breath.

And then it hit him. Maybe it was the oxygen-deprived delirium speaking, but at that moment he realized that his feelings for you were more than just infatuation. Would it be too much to say that he loved you? He had only known you for a month yet you already meant the world to him. He would do anything for you, do anything to make sure your eyes never filled with tears again. So maybe he did love you. It was a terrifying thought.

The soft music came to a stop, and the song changed to something more upbeat. At the sound, your eyes fluttered open. He froze, feeling as if he had been caught doing something unsavory. You blinked in confusion for a second before your eyes widened and you jolted away from him in surprise. Your elbow knocked into the bookcase with a thump, and the impact caused a plume of dust to come raining down on the two of you.

After a long moment, the dust literally settled, and you gasped his name out.

"W-what? Why are you here?" You placed a hand over your racing heart as the adrenaline slowly ebbed off.

"I... you didn't show up to class and I was worried."

You glanced about, embarrassed to be seen in such a pathetic state, and still a bit disoriented. He was very close to you, probably close enough to kiss you if he wanted to. You hurriedly swiped the tears from your eyes, brushed the dust off your head, and grabbed your phone to turn the music off. Upon seeing his concerned texts, you cast him a guilty look.

"I'm sorry for worrying you... and for not replying. But I'm fine so... it's okay."

"Don't apologize. And... don't lie either." He shifted from his crouching position in front of you to sit next to you on the dusty floor. You looked down, saying nothing.

"What happened?"

You were about to say that everything was okay, but he did seem so genuinely concerned that you couldn't bear to just push him away.

"I bumped into Inomata in the bathroom." You felt him stiffen next to you. "And we... talked a bit."

His face came into your field of view and you glanced up at him. His multicolored eyes scanned your face and then your neck, lips tilted down in a frown, looking for any bruises that he may have missed earlier. You realized what he was doing and shook your head.

"No, we didn't fight. She just gave me a lot to think about."

"What did she say?"

"She told me why she hated me. And I guess... well I don't know. I guess I'm just too dense. Our quirks are very similar. She said that I stood in her way."

Todoroki was quiet for a moment, before saying, "She should know that competition breeds better heroes. And by removing her competition," he gave you a pointed look, "she's only taking the easy way out."

You purse your lips and nodded in agreement.

"And you're the one in 1-A, not her."

"Yeah..." you let out a sigh, and Todoroki was disappointed to see that his words didn't have the comforting effect he had hoped they would have. You leaned your head back against the bookcase and closed your eyes.

"Do you hate her?"

You almost snorted out loud. "Todoroki, of course I hate her. But I don't hate her for having the same quirk as me... I hate her for what she's done to me. There's such a thing as healthy rivalry... but then there is cruelty."

He hummed in understanding.

"I didn't just transfer to 1-A because I felt like it. When school started I was actually pretty happy in general studies."

He raised an eyebrow at you. Ever since that day in the cafe, he had suspected that there was a dark underlying reason for your transfer.

"Inomata and I were friends for a while actually." You let out a sad laugh. "Probably 'cause our quirks were alike, you know? So we had the same training and sparred with each other a lot. And when you're around someone so often you just kinda get close to them."

"But I think something like... I'm not sure how to describe it. Something soured? Something went wrong. The more time passed the more bitter she got."

"She was jealous of you." Todoroki offered.

"Jealous of what? I'm just... I'm just trying to get by. Nothing about me is worth being jealous about..."

"You're kinder, for starters."

You cast him a shy smile. He never ceased to be charming. But the smile quickly faded as you recounted the next part of your story.

"Well... her bullying got a lot worse really fast. She would steal things from my desk, harass me in the halls... and injure me during training. Never enough to look suspicious, but always enough to hurt. I think she was trying to get me to drop out. Or at least leave the class."

Todoroki had known that general studies was a miserable experience for you, but the severity of the situations you were explaining, and the exhaustion in your voice was jarring. If it wore you out even to recount the past, it must have been absolutely terrible in the moment. His blood boiled as he imagined the things that happened to you, and he couldn't imagine how things could even get worse.

"But I finally decided that I couldn't take it anymore when... one day she and one of her friends made me destroy my hero suit.

"What?"

"They made me destroy it. With my very own quirk." You repeated, sounding pained. "And they filmed it."

You realized that the small closet was considerably warmer than it was a second ago, and you realized that rage-induced waves of heat had been steadily rolling off Todoroki's left side.

"Her friend... my classmate had a quirk that could control air. They threatened to suffocate me if I didn't do it. It's not the loss of the suit that hurt me so much, I mean I have a new one now... it was the fact that they literally made me destroy my dream of being a hero."

You were starting to tear up again. Were Todoroki not momentarily frozen by his rage, he would have cursed out loud. She threatened you. She hurt you.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" He hissed.

You looked at him, angry. "Would it have helped? Sure, she would have gotten expelled, but she also would have released that video. I thought about it... but if hero agencies saw that video they would never even consider me. The things they made me say..." you shuddered. "They are things I never want anyone to hear me say."

You glanced up at him and flinched at how intense his stare was. You knew his anger was directed at Inomata and not towards you, but the expression on his face could have frozen blood. Upon seeing you twitch away, the concerned expression returned and he reached out to touch your hand.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that." He said softly. "No one deserves that."

"And... she still has that video. As long as she does, she'll always have power over me. And I'll never be able to escape her. I... I..."

You started crying again, and Todoroki was at a loss. He already had trouble confronting his own emotions, so it went without saying that he had even more trouble with the emotions of others.

"I-I'm sorry I keep crying, I'm just really overwhelmed and everything is t-terrible right now." You hiccupped, trying desperately to stop shaking but the flood of painful memories had all resurfaced.

Todoroki hesitantly touched your arm, and when you didn't move away, he scooted closer to wrap an arm around you.

"Shh... it's okay to cry."

"A-and that post she m-made today..."

"Shh... shh..."

"A-and what she said in the bathroom..."

"I know... I know..."

At his warm touch, you leaned into him, pressing your face against his shoulder and wrapping your arms tightly around his waist. You normally wouldn't be so forward but honestly, you needed to be hugged and comforted so badly.

His other arm wound around your back and he pulled you into his lap to hug you tighter. He rubbed soothing circles as you wet his shoulder with tears.

"There there... you're okay. You're okay. You're a hero and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Can you promise me... promise that you'll always believe that?"

"I promise." He murmured.

You squeeze him tight at his words, warm tears starting to soak through his shirt. Todoroki tried to remember back to when his mother would comfort him when he was small, and rocked you the same way she used to.

And the two of you sat like that, quiet and comfortable until your shaking stopped and your breath slowed. His heartbeat, fast yet steady, and his protective embrace soothing beyond measure. Outside, the final bell rang, but even the muffled shuffling of exiting students did nothing to disturb the peace.

For Todoroki, it felt so good to be needed by you, to have you holding on to him like your life depended on it. He had spent his whole life feeling used and unwanted, but you were the one thing he could make better, the one thing pure and worth protecting. He relished this feeling of your soft form in his arms. It felt so correct, as if you were made to fit with him so perfectly.

As the school quieted down once more, it occurred to him that you must have fallen asleep again. Your hands had relaxed and your head was heavy on his shoulder. Feeling a bit braver knowing that you were asleep, he reached up and stroked your hair, sighing at the silky feeling. He was obsessed. Obsessed with the thought of you. You had so much influence over him and you didn't even know it, and it scared him.

You lifted your head off his shoulder for the first time in a long time. Your eyes were tired and your cheeks were flushed. He froze, staring at your flustered expression. His hand was still tangled in your hair and the other settled at your hip. You let out a soft breath and he felt it fan over his lips.

"Shouto..." You mumbled in a sleepy haze.

His heart skipped a beat. You had never called him by his first name before, and it rolled off your tongue effortlessly. He murmured your name back, lifted a hand to brush against your cheek.

Your eyes were so lovely up close, framed by dark lashes, and looking almost multichrome in the light. He leaned in, your noses practically touching...

Abruptly, your eyes snapped open and you jerked back, practically tumbling out of his lap. Your face flamed a brilliant pink as you clapped your hand over your mouth. You didn't mean for his name to slip out like that.

"T-todoroki I-I'm sorry that was so... so..."

He had turned rather pink too, suddenly very shy for having been so close to you just moments before.

"T-thank you so much for comforting me today. I-I need to get to work." You stuttered out hurriedly. You bowed your head adorably at him in gratitude, before rapidly gathering your backpack and books.

"I..." the normally eloquently spoken boy was at a loss for words. He hadn't meant to lean in like that but his body did it before he had even registered the fact.

"I-I..." you tried to say something but your words died on your tongue. "Thank you, again. P-lease... please get home safe."

And with that, you sped out of the closet, a furious blush on your face. A gust of wind ruffled his hair before the door closed and he was alone.

He sat there in the closet, feeling much more empty without you. You had pulled away in the end... but he could have sworn that when he leaned in, you did so too.

Next Chapter

[hutaochan]

omg pls do share who’s your favorite, who do you think she’s gonna pick 😌 I wanna say semi is my favorite (it was the song for me lmao) but I’m thinking she’s gonna go for shirabu 😳

OMG YES okay so you and I are the same ☺️ I’m a Semi stan, almost ridiculously so, and I was rooting for him for day one ♥️ his chapters got me in my feels~

But it was Shirabu and reader’s six hour phone call and the raw apologies and conversation in Step 27 (I’m pretty sure it was 27) for me. Her interactions with Shirabu have been different compared to the other three, as much as my Semi-loving heart doesn’t want to admit it 🥺 (dw I actually love Shirabu too so win win)

As long she’s happy and thrives idc in the end who she chooses ♥️ I think it might also be Shirabu because they had their month-long silence from each other. The other three were essentially distractions. And if I remember correctly, when they met at dinner, she was adamant that Shirabu got her number out of everyone there.

Even though, yes, he was upset that she was talking to other people, he actually came back and apologized for that in a very mature manner. And not only that, his temporary absence from her life did effect her, as was mentioned and sprinkled throughout other steps while they weren’t in contact.

And the jars and gift he sent her—I die 😭♥️

(As much as a part of me wants Semi to have something Shirabu doesn’t and get the girl, I think in this case.. Shirabu wins~)

ALSO IT WAS THE SONG FOR ME TOO, like I SWOONED SO MUCH

Not me rereading his chapters for the heart-melting texts fhfhfjfjfjfj

[melindamoriartylestrade]

Consulting Detective, DI, Soldier, Spy

Chapter 1

After the Fall and Before the Hearse

A/N This is just a story I keep adding to now and then. It’s just an exercise in writing to flesh out ideas. A friend wanted me to post it here so I am.

John stood at the grave. It had been a year since he asked his best friend to not be dead. No such miracle had happened and so John went on with his life. He had moved out of 221B he just couldn’t bear to go back. Mrs. Hudson just left it as is she wouldn’t be renting it out, she just couldn’t.

​

Hearing footsteps behind him he turned to see a woman in her mid-thirties. He had seen her before abet much younger in many photos in an album at 221B Baker Street. In those pictures though she was a young teen.

​

Dora Wilhelmina Anna Holmes. Younger sister to Sherlock and Mycroft, John didn’t find out about her till his second year of living with the consulting detective. He had found the photo album and asked who the girl was. John had noted a lot of emotions in Sherlock’s answer. Fondness when telling him she was his little sister, remorse when saying they had a falling out, joy when saying about reconciling and keeping in touch, and sheer pride when he let John know that she was DW the lead singer of Paddington Station one of the biggest modern rock bands to come out of Britain. 

  The siblings exchanged texts and cards at Christmas. Sherlock last saw her a few months before he met John when he was invited to see her concert at the O2 arena.

​

John had just smiled at the thought of Sherlock at a rock concert.

​

“You must be John Watson, my brother spoke of you in his last card.” She said stepping forward hand extended “I’m”

​

“DW, I mean Wilhelmina” John said shaking her hand.

  “Please call me Willa.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Sherlock spoke highly of you” John said as Willa looked at the headstone.

  “He probably hardly ever spoke of me. We were talking but not fully reconciled” Willa said as she and John turned to head out of the graveyard.

  “No, no he did.” John said explaining.

​

Willa smiled “I like the subtle telling, not like Mycroft who will tell anyone within ear shot. Yet forget to call and tell me my brother jumped of the roof of a building, had to find out from a reporter two days after the funeral.”  

“If I knew how to reach you I would have let you know” John said

​

Willa smiled “It’s alright, I actually was by your flat, Mrs. Hudson sent me there and Mary sent me here. Mrs. Hudson let me move into 221B and I saw you had some stuff in your room still and I was wondering if you wanted it, I could bring it by sometime if you didn’t want to come back in.”

​

“I could come by and get it, Just haven’t really gotten around to it, sorry” John said as they hailed a cab on the street

​

“It’s ok, it was hard for me to even enter the first time Mrs. Hudson showed me up.” Willa said as they got in the cab.

​

They talked on the cab ride there, Willa had been in London for a few months now, when she moved into 221B she kept busy by cleaning and disinfecting the kitchen as she had no idea what kind of experiments Sherlock had been doing or had done in there. John laughed and said she really didn’t want to know.

​

She had slept on the sofa for the first few weeks before finally starting to put together a room in what was once John’s room. She just couldn’t go in Sherlock’s room.

  John had asked about her band and her music. She replied that her heart wasn’t really in it anymore. Even before Sherlock’s death the world tour she was on was deemed as the bands last for a while, they were taking a break. The drummer was a new dad, the bassist’s mother was very ill and needed care so they decided a break would be good.

  Willa had lived on the road for so long she didn’t have a house to call her own. Upon arrival in London she went to see Mycroft. He understood her not wanting to go back home and disrupt the order of their parent’s lives she was an all hours sort of person. So he was the one who pointed her to Mrs. Hudson who had gladly taken her in.

  Willa apologized for not seeking out John sooner, but she needed to settle. He said it was ok.

  Willa paid the taxi and the two headed up into the flat.

  It really hadn’t changed much except for it being a bit tidier, not just clean but organized. The kitchen looked like it was a fully functional working kitchen. There was food in the fridge and nothing else, no heads no toes no body parts save for those that belonged to an animal. And there were homemade biscuits in the biscuit jar. The pans for which were in the sink.

  “These are your bags here.’ Willa said pointing to the two laundry bags by the door of his room. “They’re mostly books and a few clothes” she continued as John looked in them.

  “Was wondering where this shirt went.” Johns smiled.

  Willa smiled.

  “I should head home Mary will be wondering why I’m gone so long” John said standing.

  “I’m sorry I should have just brought them to the house.” Willa said

  “No, no it’s ok. I needed to come back.” John said surveying the flat again. “You don’t have to be a stranger you know. I think I would like to get to know the little sister of the great Sherlock Holmes, you seem more human then him” John smirked

  “It’s all an act I can be downright dreadful if I so choose” Willa smiled. “And I would like that; I would like to get to know the man who became Sherlock’s best friend.”

  “You should have dinner with Mary and I” John said picking up the bags “Are you free Thursday.”

  “I am now, dinner with you and your girlfriend will be a thousand times better than dinner with Mycroft.” Willa smiled.

Plans were set in motion and John left after receiving a hug from Willa.

  Willa went and sat on the sofa. It felt odd to lie to John, not that she never lied, But to lie to someone who cared so deeply for Sherlock, to lie to him to have him think Sherlock dead.

  While it was true that she had found out about Sherlock’s suicide from a reporter, she did know it was going to happen. A few days before it happened she had received a phone call from Sherlock, he explained why he had to go “underground” as it were and to not believe everything she had read.

  When the reported shared the story, after the interview Willa’s first call was to Mycroft, who gladly filled her in on all the details. After all Willa was one of Mycroft’s best intelligence gathering specialists.

  No one would suspect the Rock Star, especially one so popular that all the heads of countries and men with money paid to have Paddington Station play at their private parties and events all over the globe.

  Willa was a star by her own talent but it was a talent that Mycroft had no problem using for his own gains.

  She came home after the tour was over. What she told John about the break was true. But she sort of figured she’s settle in America, or Australia. But she came home and moved in to 221B.

  Once the night owl she had taken to actually sleeping at night and being up and productive during the day. Making 221B livable for herself but also keeping it ready for if and when Sherlock could and would return.

  The sun was setting. Willa looked over at her yoga mat, maybe some yoga for bed would be helpful. Willa had struggled with back problems since a fall she had in childhood and had been introduced to yoga when she was in LA for a time between album recordings.

  =-=

  Down on the street level Detective Inspector Gregory Lestrade was driving down Baker Street. A case had brought him near here and he thought he would drive by see if Mrs. Hudson was home maybe he would see how she was, he hadn’t spoken to her in a few months. He had talked to John though. He told him how Mrs. Hudson had decided to leave 221B empty, she just wasn’t up to renting it out.

  The lights were off in Mrs. Hudson’s flat but in 221B there was a faint light and a shadow, he pulled over and went and knocked at Mrs. Hudson’s door. No answer.

  Greg bounded up the stairs and pounded on the door of 221B, no answer; he pressed his ear against the door and heard a moan like grunt. He pounded again, no answer. He moved back. With one swift motion he kicked in the door.

  In front of him a startled woman fell over hitting the edge of the coffee table. She looked up cut over her eye. Her mat, and work out gear told him she had been doing yoga. She pulled the earbuds out of her ears.

  “What the hell” She said standing.

  “I am so sorry, I didn’t know there was anyone living in here and the lights were half on, and there was no answer at Mrs. Hudson’s and I heard a moan and a grunt, I thought with no answer here someone was in trouble.” Greg said standing up the door.

  “Ah you must be Geoffrey?” She said smirked

​

“That’s Detective inspector GREG Lestrade. And you mind telling me what you are doing in this flat?”

​

“Mrs. Hudson said I could live here as it was my brother’s.”

​

“Your Brother’s!!”

​

“Yes Sherlock Holmes, I’m Willa Holmes.”

​

“What is going on here?” Mrs. Hudson said as she came up the stairs in her dressing gown. “OH the door, Gregory Lestrade what have you done to the door?” She asked raising her voice

​

Greg looked down at the floor. “Sorry about that I’ll fix it.”

  “You most certainly will. And I see you’ve met Willa.”

  “I have”

  “I’m surprised you don’t recognize her.” Mrs. Hudson said looking over the door. As Willa went and got a cloth for the cut on her head.

  “What did I meet her before?”

   “Well you listen to her band all the time. “

  “What?”

  “Willa is the lead singer of Paddington Station”

  “Sherlock’s sister is DW Alley lead singer of Paddington Station?”

   “He never told you”

  “No” Greg said. It was true he loved that band they were a great 70’s and 80’s throwback rock band. Went to see them last time they were in town spent a pretty penny getting floor seats. Sherlock knew this, why didn’t he say anything. Why didn’t he recognize her, well she was prettier in person without all that stage make up on her eyes and without the garish bright red lipstick.

  Willa moved the cloth from her head which caused more blood to ooze out.

   “I think I need stitches” Willa said sitting on the sofa.

  “I’ll call John” Mrs. Hudson said heading for the phone.

  “No it’s too late, don’t bother him. I’ll get a cab.” Will said standing to find her purse.

  “Why don’t I drive you?” Greg said “I caused it, I’ll take you.”  

“Thank you” Willa said getting her purse

  “Then I will come fix this door.” He said with a small smile as he helped Willa down the stairs.

  “Willa sweetie do you have your key I’ll lock this main door up tight till the other is fixed.” Mrs. Hudson said as Willa and Lestrade stepped out onto the street.

  “I do thank you.” Willa said as Lestrade let her into the car. He went around and got in the driver’s seat and turned it on. Willa’s voice filled the car as Paddington Station’s song. Fortress of the Mind blared on the stereo. Willa just smiled as Lestrade hurriedly turned it off.

  “You know, now knowing who your brother is that song makes a lot more sense.” Lestrade said as he headed to the nearest hospital.

  =-=-=

  Willa lounged on her sofa and watched Lestrade fix the door, she offered to help but he insisted she rest.

  While there was no concussion her assessment on needing stitches was correct, four to be precise. Willa said she could hail a cab home but Lestrade had insisted on waiting. In fact he used his Scotland Yard pull to get her in quicker and with little paper trail should a nurse wish to call a paparazzi.

  It took till sun up to fix the door. Willa said he could leave it, but he had the day off, and was still apologetic for breaking it in the first place.

  Willa went and made him a cup of coffee and offered him one of her biscuits.

  “Won’t your girlfriend be wondering where you are?” Willa asked as they sat at the kitchen table.

  “No girlfriend, just an ex-wife, divorced.” Lestrade said sipping his coffee.

  “Oh.” Willa said hiding her smile behind her mug “Ah yes my brother did tell me something about a PE teacher and a DI’s wife. I am sorry.”

  “It’s ok all in the past now.” Lestrade said

  “Well there’s someone out there for you DI Lestrade.” Willa smiled

  “I guess. And please call me Greg”

  “Not Graham” Willa smirked Greg laughed as Willa went to get more coffee.

  =-=-=-=-

  “So what did you to do after your giggle fest around the kitchen table” Mycroft said as he sipped his wine. He was sort of now regretting asking what his sister had been up to since their last dinner.

  “We made hot passionate love right there on the kitchen table with the Billy the skull shockingly watching from his perch on the mantel.” Willa said as she swirled her wine around in its glass before taking a sip.

  Mycroft raised his eyebrow. “Really”

  “No not really, he headed home and I went to bed, although he is coming by tomorrow to take me to the store to get a little box and some supplies for the cats.”

  “Cats, plural I thought you were looking at getting one, singular”

  “Well I went to the shelter and they had the cutest little kittens from the same litter so I took all three, picking them up Saturday afternoon, that’s when they can be released after their spay and neutering procedure.” Willa smiled bringing up a photo on her phone

  “The little white fluff ball is Marshmallow, the grey and white is Harlow, and the grey is Cooper after Anderson Cooper my second favorite silver fox”

  Mycroft raised his eyebrow yet again “And who would your first favorite be?”

  Willa glared “George Clooney”

  “Didn’t you date him for a month?”

  “He wishes” Willa laughed as their dinner arrived “Is that steak on your diet?” Willa asked with a wicked smile.

  “Now don’t you start in on me too.” Mycroft said waiving his fork at her.

  Willa smiled.

  Mycroft and Willa had always got along well even in childhood. Willa got along with her brothers. Treated them all equal and had many fond memories with them.

  Even as an adult she gave them equal time and not shy of letting them know how she felt.

  “What is Sherlock going to say when he comes back and finds that there are cats in his flat?” Mycroft asked between bites.

  “Well we don’t even know when he’ll be back or if he’ll survive his little mission” Willa said as she ate.

  “That’s a little cold from you in especially in regards to Sherlock.” Mycroft said surprised “but then again do I detect some anger?”

  “A little, he didn’t tell me much before this little adventure of his and quite frankly I’m mad at both of you for not including me.”

  “Willa my dear you have a life outside of this, a chance for normality.” Mycroft said “That is what you said you wanted after the tour was over, that you were tiring of tours, that you had been tempted again.”

  “That is true, the last assignment I had when we were in Hong Kong, it got to me.” Willa said putting down her utensils. “But still I would like to help Sherlock and you anyway I could”

  Mycroft gave a small smile “I know but this is something he has to do on his own.”

  Willa nodded and went back to eating

  “After his chauffeuring you around on Saturday will you be seeing much of Detective inspector Lestrade?” Mycroft asked without looking up from his plate.

  “We’ll see” Willa smiled

  “After all the suitors and lovers you’ve had, a member of Scotland Yard has you a flutter and smiling like a silly school girl” Mycroft ask.

  “Yes, I find him charming.” Willa smiled. Mycroft also couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to see his sister happy again.

  =-=-=--=-=-

  Willa settled into life at 221B Baker Street, just her and her kittens and the occasional visit from Greg.  John and Mary just remarked how it was like a fairy tale come true with Greg dating his musical crush, though Greg was always quick to say they weren’t dating.

  “You go out for coffee, you helped her paint her bed room, heck you fell of a ladder and hurt your hip helping her put up shelves” Mary said as she and John sat with Greg in the restaurant, they were waiting for Willa to join them, she had text Mary saying she was running late after her doctor’s appointment.

  The four tried to meet up once and a while for dinner or lunch. They had really all become close. It was nice, though for John it was two sided he loved getting to know Willa but at the same time it made him miss Sherlock more. Willa entered and spoke to the hostess. Her hair had been slowly becoming a more normal colour now it was a pale pink tinged blonde, she had mentioned to Mary that she wanted to blend. And just live quietly.

  Greg had really become close to her. She had felt so awful when he missed the rung on the ladder and injured his hip (A nasty deep bruise that caused some muscle spasms). She had made him stay the night so she could take care of him. Mary’s eyebrow had risen at that will Willa informed her that she let him sleep in her bed while she took the sofa.

Mary had asked if Willa had considered getting closer to the Detective Inspector to which Willa said she was unsure. Greg was amazing and he was gorgeous but she had only been single since the end of the tour (three months) when her then boyfriend and backup singer voiced his displeasure on Willa returning to London.  Plus she didn’t want to be pressuring the Detective Inspector into anything.

Willa and scanned the crowd, Mary waved, Willa smiled and headed over.

  “Hi, she said before planting a kiss on Greg’s forehead. Not the first time she had done it, and not the first in public, but Mary just smiled as she saw Willa’s eyes look at Greg’s lips. Really for being two very smart people they were clueless about love. Then again Greg’s wife had cheated on him and divorced him and Willa had never really had a single solid relationship before. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t now.

  Willa sat next to Greg.

  “Sorry to be so late as part of the conservatorship Mycroft has me under I need bi-monthly blood tests to prove I’m clean” Willa said scanning the menu

  Willa’s late teen and early adulthood years had been marred by drugs much like Sherlock’s had. Willa’s drug of choice was heroine; it was easily accessible in the clubs where she played in the early days of her music career, from there she had reached into a bit of cocaine (given to her by Sherlock) and some prescription meds. But she was clean before her big break and to keep her from straying down that path it was decided that Mycroft would have a conservatorship over her earnings. He was generous with the amount that she could live on but also invested a lot to allow it to gain interest so that she would have a nice sized fortune for her retirement, and also if she ever chose to have children it would be a nice nest egg.

  “So, I want to order a nice bottle of wine and drink to being clean and drug free for 15 years.” Willa smiled. She may not take drugs but she still loved her liquor.

  “15 Wow you when did you stop 13??” Mary asked with a chuckle

  “17 started at 14” Willa said as the waiter came over. “A bottle of your finest red and four glasses please” She smiled.

  The others smiled and ordered. Willa reached next to her and held onto Greg’s hand. She gave it a gentle squeeze.

  The wine came and was shared. John toasted to Willa’s 15 years clean. Mary toasted to new friends. Greg toasted to many years of happiness for all moving forward.

  That made Willa look away and John look down.

  “Oh I’m sorry Willa, I never thought, you and John still dealing with the loss of Sherlock.” Greg said the tops of his ears turning pink.

  “No, no, it’s ok,” Willa said John agreed.

  Willa took her glass and raised it. “To those years ahead but not at the expense of those we leave behind. May their spirits be with us in our new adventures.”

  “Wonderfully said” John smiled.

  Willa smiled as their meal came.

  Their meal was spent talking about John’s increasing hours at the surgery, Mary’s work, a bit of Willa’s settling into life, and a bit of Greg’s work.

  “Maybe Willa should start assisting at crime scenes. Be the world’s second ever consulting detective” John smiled as he finished off his spaghetti by dragging some left over bread along the side wiping up the sauce.

  “NO!” Willa said waving her hand. “I don’t think so; I’d be rubbish at it. Way to emotionally involved”

  “I don’t think the bosses would react well to me bringing in another outsider” Greg said as Willa took his hand.

  “I think they’d have a problem with the fact we’re together too” Willa said leaning over and giving Greg a kiss on the lips.

Greg’s ears turned pink again but he made no motion to move away instead he leaned into her cupping her face with his free hand. After a moment they backed away slowly.

  “How’s the bruise?” She asked resting her head on his shoulder.

  “Doing better, faded a lot.” Greg said with a slight blush of embarrassment.

  “Well that’s good then” Willa said running her free hand up his arm. “Should we just skip desert, pay and head back to my place?”

  Greg blushed again but smiled. “You sure this isn’t that wine talking?”

  “Nope all me.” Willa said as the waiter brought over the cheques. Greg snatched up his and Willa’s

  “My treat.” He said giving her a kiss and handing his card over to the waiter.

  Mary and John watched the two as they themselves held hands and cuddled on the other side of the booth.

  Balances paid the two couples headed out onto the street. John waved down a taxi as Willa and Greg headed for his car.

  “We’ll see you soon” Mary said as she and John entered the taxi and headed off.

  Willa smiled as Greg held open the door of his car. She climbed in and turned on the radio. He got in and started heading for Baker Street. Willa reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. Slowly she moved it higher. Greg smiled and sped a bit, not worrying about getting a ticket he could easily get out of.

  Greg pulled up in front of the flat and they both quickly got out. They were just starting up the stairs when Willa stopped and kissed Greg hard on the lips.

  Mrs. Hudson peeked out she was going to greet Willa. When she saw the two on the stairs she smiled and quietly retreated back to her own flat unnoticed.

  Willa fumbled with the key to the flat as Greg’s mouth made its way down her neck with alternating kissing and soft biting. Door opened they kicked off their shoes and Willa guided Greg to her room. She made quick work of his shirt buttons before he pulled her dress over her head.

  Willa nibbled Greg’s lip as she slid his belt from his trousers. She unbuttoned his trousers and slid down them and his pants at once. Greg kicked them aside as he pulled Willa close arms around her chest. Her bra came undone with one swift move. Willa smiled as did

Greg. Still got it, he thought to himself.

  Willa stood at the foot of her bed and carefully kissed her way down Greg’s chest while sitting down on the bed pausing only to suck on his nipples a bit and give his stomach a bit on a lick.

  She bit down on his hip which elicited a soft moan from Greg.

She slowly pushed herself back against the headboard. She motioned for Greg to join her. Greg smiled and climbed up the bed from the foot of it till he was on top of the now laying down Willa.

  He leaned down and kissed her chest, licking and kissing around her breasts before starting to kiss his way down her stomach. He couldn’t help but note a few scars that marred her body he’d known she was an accident prone child, but some of these looked did not look like surgical scars. He had seen the bullet scar on her shoulder. Every Paddington Station fan had been in an uproar when they had found out the Band had been caught in a drive by shooting in Los Angeles California, a local rapper also inside the swanky restaurant had been the real target. He had seen the scar on her back from her surgery when younger, something about falling down an only mine shaft while on holiday.

  But the ones on her stomach were thin and small, like a razor would make, the ones on her hips were surgical scars but she had never mentioned having hip surgery.

  It didn’t bother Greg and it didn’t affect how soft her skin felt on his lips.

  He worked his way back up her chest as he slid his had between her legs.

  Willa in turn reached up and grabbed his now erect cock. She gave it a gentle pull.

He slid his fingers in to warm her up. Once she was primed he moved her hand and adjusted himself before moving down and entering her.

  Willa moaned in pleasure and grabbed his ass cheeks, it hurt a little as her fingers dug into his bruise, but it didn’t deter Greg from his rhythmic thrusting. 

  Together they filled the room with moans and gasps of pleasure, and Greg thrust himself deeper Willa let out a scream of passion.

Greg gave a final thrust and came, Willa was right behind him.

  Greg carefully moved himself off of her and lay beside her.

  Willa moved her head onto his chest, her sweaty cheek felt nice against his equally sweaty chest.

  He slid his one arm under her and held her across the shoulders, pulling her close. She smiled as she gently ran her fingers over his body tracing the curves of his muscles and hips.

  Greg’s hand gently caressed her cheek before pulling her in for a kiss.

  She smiled and started to doze.

  =-=-=-=

  The sun shone through the window illuminating the two bodies entwined in the bed.

  Willa opened her eyes and smiled. She studied the man in front of her. His body was just as gorgeous as his face. His chest was stunningly strong. The sun was causing the greying hair to shine silver.

  Willa had been pursued by many stars and fans alike, she had dated rock and Hollywood royalty, but she had never felt the way she felt when she was with Greg.

  At first the attraction had been purely physical as she stared up from the floor at this big handsome brute of a copper that broke down her door. But from talking to him in the hospital to fixing the door, she knew the attraction went deeper.

  The more they talked and the more they went out, the harder she fell for him. He treated her like a human being, not like a celebrity. Yes Mary and John joked about how big of a fan he was but Greg was so humble and kind, and hard working. Willa fell and fell hard.

Willa wiggled her arm out from underneath Greg and went to start the shower. Greg slept thought it. Willa smiled, the last time he stayed at her place after his fall she had witnessed the deep sleep of Greg Lestrade, the only thing that would wake him was a ring or beep of a phone.

  Willa wondered if bacon would wake him as she dressed and headed to the kitchen.  She grabbed a pan and tossed in some bacon she peered back into the fridge and smiled. She had everything needed and hadn’t cooked a Full English in a while as so went about.

Greg woke as a pan clanged in the kitchen, the smell of bacon, sausage and beans floated into the room. A full English he smiled, she didn’t have to go all out.

  Greg smiled and got out of bed, he headed for the washroom. He smiled as he saw Willa singing away as she cooked. He slipped into the washroom and showered then headed back to her room to dress, Willa waved as he exited the bedroom; she was just plating the food.

  “Hope you’re hungry. Only thing missing is the black pudding, don’t really fancy it myself so never buy it.” Willa said setting the plate in front of Greg.

  “It’s fine this looks marvelous.” Greg said as he began to eat, and it was delicious, Willa was an amazing cook. Something she had said that she learned from her mother.

  They ate in silence before Greg looked up at the clock. “Sorry I should be heading off if I want to make it to work on time.”

  “It’s ok. You’re going to have to start keeping some clothing here, what they will think you arriving in the clothes you wore yesterday.” Willa smirked

  “They will think I had an amazing time with the woman I love.” Greg smiled before pulling Willa in for a long passionate kiss.

  “Easy tiger, you get me all worked up again and you’ll have to explain why you were late, and being tied up and ravaged by the woman you love may not be a valid reason.” Willa smiled; Greg smiled and downed the last of his coffee before heading off.

  Willa collected the dishes and started running water in the sink. She was just drying the last fork to put away when the phone rang.

She picked it up and looked at the number, it was Mycroft, she never took him for an early riser.

  ‘Hello, Mycroft” Willa said “What’s got you up so early?” “You didn’t call last night, you said you were going to call, I got worried.” Mycroft replied.

  “I was a little occupied” Willa said with a smiled “you know sins of the flesh and all.”

  “Hmm, finally upping the relationship with the Detective Inspector are we? Is that wise?”

  “Why not, and if you start on this whole fan infatuation line again I will hang up. Greg proved last night and this morning this is real. I know all along but you’re so cynical.” Willa said sitting on her sofa.

  “No.no, I am more worried how DI Lestrade would be career wise if anyone was to uncover what you did for me on tour, I mean what you really did while on tours and concert trips” Mycroft said coldly into the phone.

  “No one would tell. And if you tell, I’d be will to risk execution to spread your little secrets too.” Willa replied equally cold.

  “No need for threats my dear little sister. I am merely looking out for both of you. Lestrade already had turned a blind eye to some of Sherlock and John’s antics and I have made sure that he is not punished for it, but there is only so much I can do.” Mycroft said Willa could hear his sneering smile.

  “I am retired dear bother, and nothing will change that, what is in the past is in the past. Let it go” Willa said forcefully

  “I am sorry I upset you. It was not my intention. I was merely calling to check in and to inform you that I will not be able to meet for dinner tonight; I have an engagement that came up. Would you care to reschedule for tomorrow?”

  “That would be fine.”

  “Dress nice, we will have company”

  “Who”

  “The Marquess of Bute, and his wife and children, they are very excited to meet you.” Mycroft smiled.

  Willa rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. She loved Mycroft but she could really hate him at times like this. She sighed.

  “Fine. What time and where?” She replied

  “Alain Ducasse, located at the Dorchester Hotel, Piccadilly” Mycroft said “reservations are for 8”

  “OK” Willa said scribbling it down on the note pad by her. “Can I bring a date?”

  “No” Mycroft replied “Not that I think Lestrade would not fit in, I promised the Family exclusivity.”

  “OK but you owe me” Willa replied

  “I know” Mycroft smiled knowing that Willa hardly cashed in her debts. “I will pick you up tomorrow at half seven.”

  “OK, bye” Willa said hanging up, she text Greg letting him know she was free now tonight, then went to change to go for a run.

-=-=-=

  Willa had set out for a run heading south. Normally she’d go north taking a run through Regents Park. But today a run down to Green Park and Maybe by Buckingham Palace would be nice. She hadn’t really been there since the time her band had an audience with the Royal Family. It would be a nice long run, there and back. And the weather was fantastic.

  There were lots of tourists on the Mall. Willa smiled as she watched them taking pictures. There was a whole group of tourists all with Selfie sticks in the air.

  Willa got distracted by a street performer and missed the curb. Her toe catching the edge of the cement, she planted her foot to stop but her ankle twisted under her that and her own forward momentum sent her sprawling onto the ground.

  The tour groups turned and stared at Willa blushed and sheepishly got up and headed to a bench. Her knees and shins were a bloody scraped up mess as were the palms of her hands.

  She waved off two of the tour guides who came over to check on her, mostly out of embarrassment. She assured them she was fine and they went back to their groups. Willa sat on the bench and drank some of the water she had brought in a small back pack. People stared as they walked by and a few came over to check on her.

  Willa looked down at her legs, they were still oozing blood and looked awful. She took the small towels she kept in the pack and wrapped them around her knees holding them in place with two elastic headbands she found in the bottom of the pack. She looked at her hands they didn’t look much better but they were no longer bleeding. She brought ID but no money, She didn’t know if she could walk the entire way home, she took out her cell and dialed Mycroft, it went to voicemail. She called John, Mary and Greg, same thing.

She looked at her surroundings if she cut across the park she could get to New Scotland Yard easily. Even if Greg wasn’t there maybe someone could help her home.

  Willa carefully stood and started across the grass. She would have to go over the lake but bridge it wasn’t far, it really wasn’t a lake, more of an over grown pond.

  People starred but she really couldn’t care less, as long as there were no paparazzi around she was fine. She’d only had to deal the paps a few times since returning home. And she swore they were more aggressive than the ones in the United States.

  By the time she reached the visitors entrance of the building her legs were throbbing a 15 minute walk had turned into 35, and somewhere around Queens Anne’s gate her wrist had also started to throb, she was second guessing herself on not leaving a message for anyone, she carefully and gingerly pulled open the door and entered the foyer. Three nearby officers came hurrying over. It was then that she realized what this must look like, a bleeding woman walking into a police station.

  “Hi, I’m fine I fell while running, I’m just looking to see if Greg Lestrade is in, or if I could wait here to get a hold of someone to take me home.” Willa said as two of the officers led her to a chair. Now she was really embarrassed.

  “It’s ok. Constable Edwards will go get DI Lestrade. You sit here” He said as she sat, another officer came with some ice and a first aid kit. The officer who stayed, his name tag read Constable Redding grabbed another chair and put Willa’s legs up on it and placed an icepack on each leg, and put one on each hand while raising her throbbing wrist up and resting it on a bunched up jacket.

  Willa felt her cheeks getting redder with embarrassment and was on the verge of tears when Greg stepped out of the Elevator and hurried over.

  “I’m sorry” Willa managed to croak out without sobbing “I didn’t mean to cause A fuss, I fell while on my run, I don’t have any money so

I was just looking for a ride home.”

  “You need a ride to the Casualty” Greg said kissing her forehead, a few of the constables around them raised their eyebrows; this was the young lady who had put a spring back into the DI’s step. “Get those knees and arms looked at.”

  Willa held back a sniffle, and looked down as Sally Donovan one of Greg’s coworkers came over.

  “Sir. Give me your keys I’ll bring your car around. Or should we call an ambulance?” The woman said approaching.

  “NO!” Willa said as she attempted to get up but her legs were now numb from the ice. “I don’t need an ambulance I just need a ride home… I know I should have just walked, bleeding legs or no.”

  Greg picked up on Willa’s embarrassment and waved off the other officers. And scooped Willa up into his arms. He knew that added a little to her embarrassment but didn’t think her legs could really support her right now. He headed to the parking garage, Donovan leading the way.

  She opened the back seat of his car and Greg carefully put Willa in then sat beside her. Donovan got in the front seat and started to drive.

  The adrenaline that Willa had been running on was now quickly disappearing as she rested her head on Greg’s shoulder. Once they reached the nearest A&E Donovan pulled up to the main doors and Greg got out and again lifted Willa into his arms and carried her in.

  =-=-=-

  Four hours later Willa was curled up in her bed at home. Her left arm was casted from the base of her fingers to her elbow. Her right hand was wrapped in gauze, as were both knees. There was also gauze tapped over the scrapes on her shins, her ankle had a splint on it that was held in place by an elastic bandage.

  Greg returned from the kitchen with a glass of water.

  “Here the doctor said to take your tablets as soon as you got home.” He said, she looked at her hands, “Here open up”

  Willa knew she looked like a pathetic little puppy as she opened her mouth and Greg put the pain tablets in. he held the glass close and helped her take a drink.

  “See and that’s why running is not healthy” Greg said with a smirk.

  “Ha-ha. Honestly this is the first time I’ve ever wiped out so at least I made it spectacular.” Willa smiled as Greg lay beside her, she leaned on him. “Shouldn’t you go back to work?”

  “Mostly a paperwork day, besides HR is always buzzing about how I don’t use my leave.” Greg smiled as he held the glass for her again.

  “Couldn’t find any straws, will have to get some if you are not going to be able to use your hands for bit”

  “This one will be fine to use soon” Willa said wiggling her wrapped hand, and then wincing.

  “You just rest for now” Greg said “did you need any more pillows under your leg?”

  “No it’s fine”

  “Fine, or fine” Greg said with an annoyed huff accent being put on the second fine.

  “It’s good fine, not to high and believe it or not the way the pillow had sort of encased my ankle and making it warm feels good” Willa said with a yawn.

  “I’ll leave you to sleep and go watch some telly” Greg said carefully standing.

  Willa just nodded.

  As Greg headed to the living room he heard a knock on the door. He peered out the small peephole to see Mycroft Holmes. Greg opened the door.

  “Hi, Mycroft Willa is just in her room, probably asleep she was just dozing off when I checked on her.” Greg said letting the elder Holmes in.

  “Yes thank you Inspector.” Mycroft said entering the flat. “Thank you for taking care of my little sister.”

  “It was nothing.” Greg said “She did give me a scare though when someone came up and said a beat up bleeding woman was looking for me, thought it was a case, exited that elevator and panicked.”

  Mycroft nodded “So you have feelings for my sister?”

  “I do, sir” Greg said now suddenly feeling like a school boy called to the office.

  “That is good. Just so you know Mr. Lestrade, if you do anything to hurt my sister, I can make you disappear and no one would ever remember you existed” Mycroft sternly said, then gave a smirk that made him resemble an imp. “Have I made myself clear?”

  “There is no need for threats Mr. Holmes. I care deeply for your sister.” Greg said as he straightened to his full height.

  “Yes, yes I know you took things slowly.” Mycroft said sitting down on the sofa. “I did not mean to threaten you Inspector. You are probably the best thing that has happened to my little sister. But that is it she is my little sister and therefore I feel I must look after her, I already lost one sibling and I would be devastated to lose another.  My sister has never been lucky in love; it’s all been more lust then anything. Most relationships were harmless, the 2 week wedding to American Rapper L-Train was not the worst but it started the downward spiral.  Mostly it was mental abuse, my sister has always had body issues, I guess it runs in the family. While Sherlock dealt with anorexia as a teen, Willa was having her own battle with bulimia, she was always made fun of for being too skinny, so she would eat on mass binges, only to force herself to throw it all up later.”

  Greg stood by the door way and glanced up at the other room where Willa slept, he may have been a huge fan of Paddington Station for years but he was never an intrusive fan, he knew Willa’s birthday (she always threw huge parties for children in hospitals), but never really anything to personal. Mycroft’s gaze followed Greg’s up the stairs as he continued.

  ‘The scars on her stomach are from the self-harm she also indulged in during that time. Most were just deep enough to leave scars, the one on her right arm that was the worst, required hospitalization. She’s since covered it with the family tree, well vine tattoo; the vine is the scar, perfectly covered.” Mycroft looked down, even now years later he still was at a loss of how he had missed all this when she was younger.  “The relationships she was in as I said were not healthy, from the mental abuse of having to look a certain way for L-Train to thinking she was going mad and having a relapse by that stupid gold digging Record producer Alyn Filn”

  “Who?” Greg said momentarily glancing at Mycroft.

  “Not anyone you need to know, he’s no longer in the business and no longer a problem” Mycroft gave a smirk. Greg just looked back up the stairs. “You have by now seen the scars on her hips. That one was a little harder to keep from the paper. She was dating her former stylist Andrew Quest.”

  “Oi I remember him, disappeared off a boat in Australia, Willa was held up in Sydney for weeks in grief if I remember what the papers said” Greg, “Never really like them together he was too slimy and always dressed her funny”

  Mycroft couldn’t help but smile. Greg may not have known much about Willa’s personal life but he had paid attention to more than just her music.

  “Yes, yes disappeared so tragically after pinning my sister to the side of their villa with his sports car.’ Mycroft’s smile turned wicked. “She was so grief stricken as she laid in bed rest for two weeks after having her hips put back together with metal plates, and another two months of rehab. It’s actually how she started running for fun and fitness; I guess we can blame today’s accident on the Late Mr. Quest.” Mycroft paused “Just before the tour ended it was another hard breakup with her bandmate, he was an ass, and no one really liked him. Never knew why he was with Willa, but then again they only dated a few months, started the night she found out about Sherlock, and ended when she moved here. He never wanted to return to London save for a tour stop or two, Willa can never leave it or her beloved Paddington. She and that silly bear, she never grew out of loving the stories and still carries that miniature bear Mummy bought her years ago. I think the stories are what got her though a lot of her most desperate times. I still can recite a Bear in Hot Water and Paddington Turns Detective by heart, I have a fair wager Sherlock when he was alive could too.  So you see when she moved in here and met you and started seeing more of you. I was worried, was she using you as another rebound, and were you a star struck fan who was looking to move in on the Rock Star. But I can see it your eyes, and I know that this will be a lasting relationship.  I hope forever.” Mycroft said.

  Greg looked up at the doorway. “The way I feel about Willa, the way I feel when I am with her, and how I think of her when I’m not with her... I never felt that way with anyone, not even my ex.”

  “That is because even though it may have felt like it at the time, you were not meant to be with your Ex, but I truly believe that you are meant to be here”

  Greg moved to sit on the chair next to the sofa.

  “I love your sister” Greg said “I can’t promise it will last forever, she could get bored of me or annoyed with me working, or Prince Harry could come calling”

  “Oh nonsense that quote was made up, Willa has never thought of Harry as more than a friend, someone she does charity work with” Mycroft said with a wave of his hand “And she is more suited to living with a member of New Scotland Yard than your ex-wife. She will not bore of you; the way she looks at you I have never seen her look at anyone else like that.”

  “Really”

  “Yes”

  “You giving him the protective brother speech?” A voice said from the door, Willa was leaning on the doorframe. Greg leapt up and went over.

  “You shouldn’t be up walking too much on that ankle” Greg said as he lifted her up.

  “I had to go to the loo” Willa said her head finding a spot on Greg’s shoulder

  “You should have called” Greg said carrying her there. When she was done he carried her to the sitting room and put her down on the sofa. Mycroft had move to sit in the chair Greg had been occupying. Greg also sat on the sofa and put Willa’s feet on his legs.

  Mycroft smiled a soft smile for once. Willa looked between the two men then settled on Greg.

  “He been telling you my life story?” She asked “All the baggage, feel free to walk out I’ll understand.”  

“I will be doing no such thing.” Greg said leaning over and kissing her. She smiled

  “I think I finally picked a winner”

  “That you have.” Mycroft said standing “I came by to say if you’d like me to postpone the dinner tomorrow I can move it back a few weeks.:

  “No. I don’t cancel on kids” She said sitting up a bit “I’ll just need a bit of help, Greg can come.”

  “Yes, yes he can” Mycroft smiled “I’ll send the car a half seven still. See you tomorrow night.”

With that Mycroft was gone.

  “What dinner?” Greg said looking at Willa, who explained. “Hey I can wear that suit you had made for me” His eyes lit up.

That was their “date” two weeks ago when they were out for lunch and she had to idea to get him fitted for a suit. She was more thinking of the gala dinner coming up for the Who’s Teen Cancer Fund but this would be nice.

  “Yes. We were saving it but I did get you an array of ties so, I’m wearing my grey dress tomorrow you should wear the grey tie and pocket square it will match perfectly.” Willa smiled then looked down at her hands. “I wonder if Mary or Molly is available tomorrow night to help me with my make-up and hair.”

  “I could do your hair” Greg smiled “My cousin has a little girl who I used to babysit. She always wanted me to do her hair. Finally I got a book out of the library and I can do some pretty good up-dos and even a French plait” Greg smiled

  “Really?”

  “Yeah here you sit this way” Greg stood and got Willa on the sofa comfortable but with her head at the open end where he pulled up the chair. He went and got her brush and a few hair elastics from the washroom and started.

  Willa smiled, it always felt amazing to have someone else do your hair, and Greg had such a wonderful touch. The brushing was calming and relaxing. And by the time Greg was done she had two perfect French plait style pigtails going down her back.

​

“Took me longer than it used to, had to try and remember all the steps”

​

She smiled into the mirror Greg brought out.

​

“Wow. You are amazing. And other special talents you’re keeping hidden” She smiled again as she pulled him in for a kiss

  “In due time, can’t open myself up too much, have to keep my air of mysterious going” Greg laughed; Willa laughed and pulled him in

for another kiss. There was a knock at the door.

  Greg went and let in John and Mary.

  “Hello came by to check and see how you were” John said “You look very nice, for being in an accident.”

  “Oh Greg was just showing me some of his special talents” Willa smiled.

  “You did this?” Mary asked pointing at Willa’s hair.

  “Yeah” Greg explained.

  “Yep he’s a keeper” Mary smiled and John went about checking over Willa’s legs.

  =-=-=-

  “How do I look?” Willa said as Greg reentered the sitting area, he had done her hair up in a chignon (or as he called it the fancier bun roll) then went to get dressed as Mary did Willa’s make-up

  “You still look gorgeous” Greg said “You could be in a potato sack and covered in mud and you would still be a knockout”

Willa smiled and kissed him.

  She had stayed off her feet for the entire day so that she would be able to walk on her ankle into the restaurant and then out after the meal. She had planned to wear a sheer jacket over her dress to cover the cast and bandages but it didn’t fit over the cast. So instead she wrapped a shawl around herself and well she would just tell the truth if anyone asked about the cast. No sense hiding it, she just didn’t want to upset the kids.

  Most of her charity work centered on kids. And she never wanted to let them down.

  Greg looked at the clock 7:28

  “We should head down” he said carefully taking her in his arm being mindful not to mess up her dress.

  By the time they got downstairs a sleek black car pulled up and woman, Greg had come to learn was named Anthea and was Mycroft’s assistant, held open the door.

  “Evening Miss Holmes, Inspector Lestrade” She said as Greg helped Willa in then got in himself. Anthea then got in and sat next to Greg (across from Willa and Mycroft)

  “How are you my dear” Mycroft said giving his sister a gentle hug

  “I am well.”

  The drive to the restaurant was not quiet, Mycroft asked Greg about Arsenal and the two started to have a discussion about the standings in the Premier League. Anthea and Willa just smiled as they discussed an article they had both recently read on a travel blog.

They reached the entrance and Greg and Mycroft helped Willa out, the streets were crowded but they made it in easily, though the restaurant and into the private dining room.

  Willa and Greg were introduced to the Marquess and his family. The girls marked how handsome Greg was and it made him blush, the added for an older man took away a bit of it.

  “Now girls that was no very nice” the Marquess said

  “It came out wrong father” the Eldest (Lucia, 13) said “We meant for someone older then Harry Styles”

  “Wait!” The youngest (Bethany, 7) spoke up “Have you met Harry Styles Miss DW?”

  “Of course she has they were at the Brit awards together silly” The middle (Johanna, 10)

Willa smiled.

  “I’ve met with the entire band several times. I even got the first pictures of Freddie after he was born.” She smiled

The girls were sent into a frenzy asking if they could see any. While their mother got embarrassed Willa fired off a quick text to the One Direction member who said it was fine.

  “Here” Willa said bringing it up on her phone the girls squealed with delight

  “He’s so cute, I really do think he is the dad even if he and Harry are meant to be together” Lucia said with conviction

Willa just giggled as the mother changed the topic to how Willa had been enjoying the months since the tour ended.

  “Well” the mother (Annalisa) said looking over Greg “We certainly know you have something to keep you busy”

  Greg, Mycroft, Willa and Anthea nearly choked on their food, such bluntness. Willa giggled and Greg smiled as they both said yeah at the same time.

  “So Greg. What do you do, producer, media mogul, actor?” Annalisa asked.

  Greg “I ah” he looked down at his meal.

  “Greg is a Detective Inspector with Scotland Yard’s CID” Willa smiled “Highest closing rate in the City”

  Greg still couldn’t talk he was embarrassed. He braced himself for the ridicule.

  “You worked with Sherlock Holmes is that correct?” The Marquess asked

  “I, I did” Greg answered

  “Terrible, tragedy really, such a brilliant mind, and to sacrifice himself to save everyone from that mad man oh what was his name.. Moriarty” He said Annalisa nodded

  “He’s very missed” Greg said a catch in his throat, Willa put her hand on his.

  “He was related to you, is that correct Mycroft” the Marquess asked

  “Yes he was our brother” Mycroft replied indicating himself and Willa.

  “Wow she really is the coolest” Johanna smiled “Rock Star, knows One Direction, a handsome boyfriend and sister of Sherlock Holmes” She sighed.

  Willa and Greg smiled but the blush was back in Greg’s ears, a tad embarrassed again. He was not used to having attention put on him like this.

  The rest of the meal was spent chatting about a wide manner of topics. The girls (and their parents) posed for pictures with Willa and With Greg.

  The Marquess and family left as Mycroft, Willa and Greg sipped the last of their dessert tea. They were getting ready to leave Anthea looked up from her phone at Mycroft.

  “Someone tipped off the paparazzi; they are swarming out there, front and back.” She said with annoyance. Mycroft glared into the restaurant at the passing wait staff wondering who had tipped off the press.

  “I am so sorry Willa I know you were not ready for all this yet” Mycroft said as he started forming a plan

  “It’s fine Willa, Greg and I were going to have to do this sometime, might as well be tonight. IF that is ok with you” Willa said looking over at Greg.

  “I’ll think of it as practice for that fancy dinner you’re taking me to” Greg smiled.

  Willa smiled and they headed to the door. Hotel security and some constables were also out trying to control the crowd. Willa leaned back on Greg and squeezed his arm.

  “We can wait it out I can have the street cleared” Mycroft said. He knew getting knocked around made Willa feel very claustrophobic; it’s one thing she never liked about the fame. Red carpets she could handle, The paparazzi sneaking photos while she was out and about as well, but the scrums like this. The one she had been in after the drive-by in LA had set her recovery back a month as she got jostled so badly. Mycroft was still forming a plan when Greg removed his jacket.

  He put it over Willa’s shoulders giving her more cover. He pulled her close to his body tight against his chest and wrapped his left arm around her protectively.

  “Mycroft get a car ready and waiting” Greg said Mycroft just nodded.

  The restaurants host opened the door and Willa and Greg started towards the street and the Valet pick up. Greg kept his arm around her tight and held his other stiffly in front of them and they calmly but forcefully made their way through the crowd. The flash of the cameras were blinding and the shouting was near deafening.

  Where have you been hiding DW? Who’s your new bodyguard? Is he your Boyfriend? Where can we expect a new album? Are you really putting together a solo album? We heard you switched to Vegan?

  Greg would have laughed at the vegan question (so out of left field) except they were nearing the end and a grabby pap was trying to pull Willa free. Greg lowered his arm knocking the man’s hand from her arm.

  The car was there and the Valet attendant opened the door. Willa tapped Greg’s hand and he loosened his hold allowing her to slip into

the car. He practically dove in as he felt someone tearing at his Jacket hem. Once he was in the attendant closed the door and the car took off.

  Willa grabbed Greg and pulled him close planting a long hard kiss on his lips. He pushed in tighter to her and put his hand behind her

head. She wrapped her arm around his waist.

  A cough came from the other side of the car. Willa and Greg pulled away and looked to see Mycroft and Anthea sitting on the seat facing them.

  Greg blushed. Willa let out a giggle.

  “Sorry forgot you’d use my media frenzy to sneak out unnoticed.” Willa said leaning on Greg for the ride back to Baker Street

  “Of course, I must commend you Inspector that was one of the best examples of protection I’ve seen in a long time. If you ever tire of the Yard I am sure I could find you work” Mycroft gave his impish smile.

  “Thanks but I like my job” Greg smiled he turned to Willa “Is that what it will be like at the gala?”

  “They’ll be behind barriers, but that bright and that loud, yeah” Willa smiled “If you don’t want to go it’s ok. I’ve gone solo before”

  “No, no I want to go, I’m your support remember” Greg said kissing her “Besides you said I could meet Roger Daltrey.” He smiled

Willa smiled.

  The car pulled up in front of the flat.

  “Good night Mycroft” Willa said leaning across the car and giving him a hug

  “Good night my dear sister” He said returning the hug.

  Greg got out then turned to help Willa. Once they were in the street side door the car pulled away. Mrs. Hudson peeked out.

  “Hi. Willa said

  “Hello, I saw you on the telly. You were on the news just a little clip of you going to the car everyone very excited to see you out and having fun. They had some pictures too, One looking into the front of the restaurant nice on of you kissing.” Mrs. Hudson smiled. “I do hope they don’t decide to crowd around here, we live on such a quiet street.”

  Willa and Greg smiled then Willa yawned.

  “OH my dear.” Mrs. Hudson said “must have been a long day, you go get some rest”

  “Thank you Mrs. Hudson” Willa said giving her landlady a hug. Greg hugged her as well and gave the older lady a soft kiss on the cheek before scooping Willa up in his arms and taking her up to get ready for bed.

  -=-=-=

  “I especially like this one Sir” Sally Donovan said putting another news clipping on his desk.

  His face was everywhere, and they had even linked it to his name from the last time he was in the papers (though he like this new story better than the last).

  “They’re comparing it to the Bodyguard. Just don’t get shot sir” Sally smiled

  “Nice now you’ve jinxed me” Greg said with a smile.

  His smiled faded as he looked down at the stack of files on his desk. Three unsolved two that were tied up in warrant problems because of the lack of real evidence from the lab and one new one that had just rolled in. What he would give to have Sherlock back.

  =-=-=-=

  “Hey what are you doing with those?” Greg said returning to the living room. Willa was lounging on him sofa with her feet up on his coffee table reading though one of the files Greg had brought home with him to look at.

  Willa had dropped by before he came home (he’d given her a key) and had cooked him a lovely dinner. He had just gone to the kitchen to grab them some glasses for the wine she brought so they could watch a movie. It had been a week after her fall and she was moving around a lot more. The stitches were out of her legs and her one hand. All that remained were some small scars, the cast and the bandaged ankle.

  “These are the two cold cases you were telling me about right?”

  “Yeah I didn’t mean to talk about it that much.” Greg said sitting “I don’t mean to bring work home with me.”

  “Why I do. I’ve been doing up all those media packs and fan forum emails the last few time you’ve been over.” Willa said leaning on him while still looking over the file.

  “That’s different” Greg said “that’s fun and interesting, this is dull, boring and well frankly this one is creepy”

  “It’s fascinating.” Willa said “The killer using the chalk to dry out his hand to try and prevent the transfer of his fingerprints only leaving those little smudges. Did the victim have any ties to gymnastics or climbing?”

  “I don’t know, why?”

  “The chalk is very fine like used for climbing or gymnastics. OH or weight lifting!” Willa said with a smile

  “The victim was a fitness competitor” Greg said with a smile, it really did run in the family.

  “Check the past local fitness competitions.. Actually pass me your laptop. No wait I have my phone” Willa said sitting up

Well there goes the cuddling and maybe more. Greg thought as he looked over at Willa as she typed away at the phone.

  “Reggie Muther” Willa said looking up with a smile.

  “Huh the victim’s name is Leo Grouse??” Greg said scrunching up his nose.

  “No the killer, Reggie Muther placed second to Leo in the last five fitness competitions, this year he was disqualified for testing positive for steroids” Willa said.

  Greg took out his note pad and wrote down everything she said. After she was done he called into the CID and got the ball rolling for the warrants.

  “Arrest warrants will be ready in the morning, I have to text Sally and let her know it will be an early morning.” Greg said sitting back by Willa who poured him another glass of wine. “I don’t have to worry about you snatching my warrant card and going off on investigation do I?” he said wrapping his arm around her and pulling her in close again.

  “No. That was a one time; I will no longer look at any files you bring here or Baker street.” Willa smiled as she turned and started kissing and biting his neck.

  =-=-=-=

  “Greg what happened?” Willa said standing and heading to the door of her flat.

  “Mr. Muther did not take kindly to being arrested” Greg said as Willa inspected the bruise that had formed over and around his eye.

  “Have you seen a doctor, should I call John?” Willa said leading him to the sofa.

  “I’m fine” Greg said sitting “One of the paramedics who came to tend to our arrestee took a look, and I had some ice on it at the office.”

  “Mr. Muther needed a paramedic?” Willa said standing and heading to the kitchen.

  “Yeah, after he took the swings at me he took a swing at Sally she side stepped and he went down his flats stairs.” Greg said. Willa returned and placed the ice pack on his face. “Thanks.”

  “Welcome” Willa replied and she leaned him back on the sofa. “Did you want some coffee.”

  “That would be lovely.” Greg smiled as Willa kissed him and then returned to the kitchen.

  Greg closed his good eye and relaxed as he listened to Willa singing in the kitchen. The coffee machine then the sound of biscuits being put on a plate,  Willa had told him last night that she had made some gingersnaps, hers were the best he’d ever had, not too hard and just the perfect amount of ginger. Another sound piqued his interest, like a metallic scrape, and a clicking noise.

  He sat up and looked around the room. Willa was in the kitchen looking though the fridge probably figuring out what to make for dinner. It wasn’t totally planned for him to come over tonight but after the arrest went awry he wanted to see her.

It was coming from the door, there was also some muffled voices.

  Willa turned and was looking at Greg who just motioned for her to stay quiet. He stood himself in front of the door as he heard the last click.

  The door opened and he came face to face with a retagged group of people all clutching notebooks and cameras.

  “Somehow I feel like I just became a little dumber.” Willa said walking over. “Oh that must be Anderson, Sherlock said he looked a little ferret like.”

  “Lestrade” Anderson said looking up from his knees, he was at the height to be picking the lock “What are you doing here.”

  “Visiting my girlfriend” Greg said pulling Anderson to his feet “Mind telling me what you are doing breaking into Willa’s flat”

  “There’s never been anyone living here before when we came.” One of the other people said, a few more were murmuring about freaking out as DW Alley was standing right in front of them.

  “You’ve broken in here before” Greg growled raising his voice and pulling Anderson in close “When?”

  Willa took out her cell and started recording, not only for evidence should it be needed, but she figured Sherlock may want to see this if he ever decided to come home.

  “Few times, like over a year ago.” Anderson sputtered out most of his group had started to go, only a tall thin blonde man and a shorter stocky woman remained. “It’s a part of our Empty Herse Club.”

  “Your what?” Greg snarled.

  “E.Em.Empty Herse Club, Sherlock has to be alive and we are trying to figure out how he faked his death” Anderson said

  Greg’s nostrils flared and he gave Anderson a great shove forcing the man out into the hall and onto his backside.

  “Your conspiracy theories have already got you suspended from your job; do you also want to wind up in jail?” Greg said standing over the fallen man “You trespassed on private property”

  “It was empty, the landlady said she wouldn’t be renting it out, we figured we’d fall under squatters rights.” The stocky woman said.

  “Well it’s rented now. Mrs. Hudson made a renters exception for Sherlock’s sister” Greg said “And this can be construed as breaking and entering”

  “Sherlock, sister” Anderson said looking over at the filming Willa as he stood. “DW Alley is the sister of Sherlock, wow, I see where all the look went in the Family”

  “Don’t push it Anderson” Greg said as he stared down the other two who started making their way down the steps.

  “OH right you’re new squeeze” Anderson said he took a step towards Willa Greg moved a hand to the man’s chest to stop him from going any further. “I simply wish to ask her a few questions about her brother’s death, if that is what it really is.” “Have you no compassion.” Greg said moved Anderson closer to the stairs.

  “How about an autograph” Anderson said. Greg paused to consider it.

  “Then we can talk about the conspiracy” Anderson added.

  Greg hulled off and punched Anderson sending the man into the wall.

  “You, get out of here and if I ever see you around here again I will hand you over to her eldest brother a high ranking government official, and the tabloids as a stalker who breaks into celebrity houses.” Greg hollered as Anderson gathered himself and nodded “You keep yourself and your stupid club away from Willa, and you are damned lucky I will not be telling the Yard about this. Pull yourself together, and smarten up.”

  Anderson took off. Outside a sleek black car watched then drove away confident the situation was handled.

Greg turned and looked at Willa who was just putting her phone in her pocket.

  “I’m glad Mrs. Hudson is visiting a friend would hate for her to have to have seen this.” She said “that’s probably how they chose their break in days”

  Greg wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in tight. She put her head on his chest and he kissed the top of her head. He gave a shiver as the adrenaline came down. She gave a squeeze.

  “Thank you” She said as she started to lead him back into the apartment. He paused to check to locks then followed her to the sofa.

She picked up the ice pack and placed it back on his eye, she went and got the coffee and biscuits set them on coffee table then curled up on the sofa next to Greg.

=-=-=-=-

  Greg had stayed the night, Willa insisted, she may not have shown it outwardly but inside she had been shaking. She stayed cuddled tight with Greg the entire night. Shaken from the break in but also worried. What would Greg think of her that she knew Sherlock was alive and didn’t say anything to him? Would he feel betrayed? Would he understand?

  Willa had just shivered causing Greg to move the blankets up more. HE wasn’t sleeping either instead he was watching her, occasionally kissing the top of her head or her forehead.

  “You should sleep, you have to work in the morning” Willa said running her hand over his shoulder.

  “I could call in. I have the time.” He replied

  “No, No I don’t want to risk your job you having to call in because of me, you took time off after your fall, then mine, Plus I was thinking we could go see my parents at Christmas, I know it’s months away but I think my mom and dad would like to meet you.”

Greg smiled “Ok I think by then I’ll be up to meeting the parents. Gain enough nerve; prepare my answers to your father’s protective questions.”

  “Oh you support Arsenal daddy will love you the minute you enter the door, it’s mummy you’ll have to please.” Willa said smiling and kissing him “Now get to sleep so you don’t fall asleep at your desk or something.”

  =-=-=-=

  Willa sat in front of her laptop going over her schedule for the next few weeks. There was a photoshoot for Rolling stone she had pushed back after her fall, that was next Wednesday, the interview for the article would be the next day, they were meeting at a west end coffee shop. She knew the interviewer and was looking forward to seeing him again. There was a stack of fan mail to answer, and she had to start planning her birthday, she was wanting to partner with the British Museum and do an Egyptian theme with the kids getting dressed up and pharos and leaning about Egypt. They could have face painting, and crafts, she had learned how to mummify a baby carrot while in Winnipeg Canada while on a tour stop. She wondered if the London Zoo could bring in some falcons, she knew the Cleveland Zoo did two years ago when she held her Birthday there and they did a medieval feast for the kids. Then there was the gala dinner prep. She and Greg would be near the front and Willa had to prepare a speech as she and the Teen Cancer Trust had worked together to create a new lounge for cancer patients.

  She reached down and rubbed her ankle, it was healing but still sore. She had been given the go ahead to leave take the splint off when at home. If she was going to be walking any great distance then she’s have to still wear it. The cast on her arm would be due to be swapped out for a brace soon and maybe a bit of physio to care for the muscles that hadn’t been getting much use.

The timer on the oven went and she stood and headed over, She was making some raisin bread as she had been craving it.

  She heard the door click.

  “Mrs. Hudson is that you?” She asked no answer “Greg?”

  Willa turned to see a tall muscular ginger man standing in her sitting room.

  “Who are you and how did you get into my flat?” she asked as she carefully made her way over to the mantel where she had her phone charging.

  “You don’t recognize me it’s ok. I was near the back of the group. I’m Everett I’m part of the Empty Herse club, After Mr. Anderson picked the lock the first time I went on line and learned, never wanted to come here without the club before, till I saw you yesterday Miss Holmes.” He said taking a step forward.

  Willa started to reach up for her phone when Everett charged. He grabbed her by the shoulders and started dragging her across the floor; she tried to gain some footing when he suddenly picked her up around the chest pinning her arms to her body.

  She tried to wiggle out as he neared the hallway leading to the washroom and Sherlock’s room she tried to knock him over she lifted her legs and was just about to push off the wall when he stumbled forward a bit. Her foot hit the wall twisting her ankle sending new pain up the near healed joint.

  “I’m a huge fan” Everett said “I always dreamed of meeting you. And now I know who your brother is, you can help me out by telling me everything about him and you and I can prove all those club members wrong, and I can reward you with my unconditional love.”

  “I have a boyfriend” Willa said as she tried again to free her arms from his tight grip.

  “Who that old Copper, you could do a lot better than someone 20 years your senior” Everett said as he pulled out one of her kitchen chairs with his foot.

  “Greg is ten times the man you’ll ever be pulling off stupid shenanigans like this” Willa said driving her bare foot down hard on his foot.

  “Ow bitch” Everett said throwing her down on the ground. Willa barely got her arms up to prevent her head from hitting the floor. She reached for his legs only to have his boot meet her side.

  HE pulled her up and slammed her down on the chair and made quick work of tying her arms behind her.

  “Now, tell me everything about Sherlock Holmes” Everett said sitting down on a chair next to her.

  “Bugger off.” Willa said

  “Fine then kiss me”

  “Get bent”

  Everett stood and paced the kitchen.

  “Anderson wasn’t too picky who joined his little club was he” Willa said adjusting herself in the chair. “My brother always said he was stupid, but letting hot headed psychos in is a real low.”  

“I’m not a psycho” Everett yelled.

  So loud, Willa thought, wouldn’t Mrs. Hudson hear all this, Willa hoped she didn’t come up, wouldn’t want her involved in this.

  “OK, ok not a psycho, just an ill prepared menace” Willa said looking at the clock. Wasn’t even noon, Greg was working late tonight wrapping up some investigations, oh how his eye looked when they woke up, the swelling was gone but the colour so purple and a bit brownish. And besides he wasn’t going to come over tonight as she had an early morning interview with a local morning talk/news show.

  “I’m not ill prepared. If you’re wondering about your landlady, I barricaded her in her apartment she ain’t getting out to get no one, cut her phone line too.”  Everett smirked

  Little moron, Willa thought, Mrs. Hudson has a cell phone. Oh but please don’t call Greg away from work, it will look awful him getting pulled away by her again. Maybe she’ll call John, John can call Mycroft, maybe Mycroft already knew and the Calvary was coming.

  “So if I am not going to tell you what you want to hear, what are you going to do? Sit here and stare at me till my boyfriend comes?” Willa said as Everett placed.

  “You talk he comes and I’ll be gone.” Everett said

  “Really you break into my flat, you assault me tie me up, then if I magically give you what you want to hear, you’ll untie me and leave.” Willa said

  “Yes”

  “So I can then call my boyfriend Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade of the New Scotland Yard’s Criminal Investigation Department.” Willa said Everett continued to pace “Or I could call my elder brother, he’s a high ranking official in the Government, He could make you disappear and make sure that no one remembered you, not even your own parents.”

  Everett grabbed the knife Willa had taken out to cut up some fruit.

  He turned and held it against her throat.

  “How about if you don’t talk I cut your fucking throat and leave? Without your brother around who could tell the coppers about all the subtle clues.”

  “My brother would find you. You should be scared of Greg, but you should be terrified of my brother.” Willa smiled

  “You aren’t fooling me, you don’t even have a name for this other brother, you’re making him up”

  “I assure you Mycroft is very real” Willa smirked; this guy was in deep now. No holding back, even if Mrs. Hudson called Greg, Willa’s first call would be to Mycroft and this toe rag would not even be a blip in the world. Willa was already regretting not fully unleashing on him in the first place; she was giving him a chance. But now she wished she had just snapped his neck the minute he charged at her. Then again maybe she was getting soft; it had been almost two years since she used any of the training she had.

  “Mycroft, Mycroft, who the hell names a child Mycroft.” Everett said easing up on her neck and stepping away.

  “Mycroft, Sherlock, and Wilhelmina, our parents like things unique. There is ano… no let’s not talk about him” Willa said wiggling her arms. He wasn’t very good at knots and Willa was determined to free herself, at least he had been smart enough to tie the one above the cast. That would make it be difficult.

  Everett started pacing again. Willa pulled at her restraints. He went to sit in the black chair that faced the kitchen.

  “You do not sit there.” Willa said loudly, “That is his chair and no one is to sit there.”

  “Anderson sat in it all the time”

  “And Anderson is going to get a right smack if I ever see him again” Willa said fuming.

  She heard the car drive up and park, Everett when and looked out the window, and ran back over to Willa and started searching her.

  “What are you looking for?” Willa asked as she heard the front door downstairs open.

  “How did he find out?” Was all Everett said

  “What?” Willa asked she was so close to getting her uncasted hand out once it was out the other would be easy.

  “That damned boyfriend of yours” Everett

  “You know Mrs. Hudson has a cell phone right, her nephew bought it for her” Willa said

  The front door opened and Greg came around the corner. Everett charged Greg put up his arms to defend himself; Everett lashed out wildly and embedded the smaller knife in Greg’s upper arm.

  Willa yanked her arms free and ran forward. She grabbed Everett by the shoulder and pulled him around before smashing her cast across his face sending him to the floor in a bleeding crumpled heap.

  Willa stepped over the intruder and pushed Greg down into Sherlock’s chair and started removing his shirt.

  “Easy Willa I’m ok.” Greg said as Donovan and Dimmock entered with a frazzled looking Mrs. Hudson.

  Willa went to the washroom and grabbed some of the medical stuff John had left behind in a kit. She turned to Donavan as she ripped open a medicated wipe.

  “Lock this asshole up and hold him till Mycroft get there.” Willa said cleaning Greg’s arm “You’re going to need stitches”

  “Ah ok” Greg said as he watched Willa limp over to the sofa to grab a pillow as Donovan started the arrest procedure on Everett. “Willa maybe you should sit down”

  Her pajama pant leg was pushed up and he could see the swelling and growing bruise on her ankle.

  “I’m fine” Willa said bringing the pillow over and propping up is arm on it. She dug thought the medical kit “Ah he did leave something to numb it with.” Willa said removing the needle.

  “Maybe I should call John” Mrs. Hudson said, it was just the three of them left in the room

  “Why I can do stitches” Willa said as she injected the needled labeled lidocaine into Greg’s arm.

  Greg sat quietly Willa had a different look about her. Her eyes looked hard mean and angry not the sweet smiling eyes and gentle eyes Greg has seen the near year he’d known her for.

  Mrs. Hudson just watched as Willa did the stitches with more precision then Greg had ever seen a doctor do. She tied it off, cleaned it again and bandaged it as Donovan and Dimmock reentered.

  Willa just looked up at them. Greg could see the adrenaline leaving her as she curled up on him lap.

  “Sir did you need a doctor?” Donovan said surveying the scene.

  “No, arms fine Willa took care of it. Mrs. Hudson could you call John though to have him come and look at Willa’s ankle she reinjured it and I just want to make she she’s ok.” Greg said holding her close.

  Mrs. Hudson nodded and went.

​

“Did you want up to take the prisoner to the lockup?” Dimmock asked

  “Yes please, Tell the boss I’m staying here to help the victim.” Greg said kissing Willa’s forehead.

  “I’m sure when her creepy brother shows up, because I know he will. He’ll give the boss everything he needs.” Donovan said as her and Dimmock turned and went.

  “Where did you learn to do stitches like that? Patching up roadies?” Greg asked with a small smile

  “Learned it in my field training.” Willa said running her hand through his hair.

  “Field training?? Like Scouts or Cadets?”

  “MI-6” Willa replied as she carefully stood.

  “MI-6 when did you train with them?” Greg said sitting he was confused Willa was a rock star. Gold records and a voice like an angel.

  “Just before my first album, been working for them since, well till I retired.” Willa said limping over to the sofa. “I guess since we’ve taken our relationship to the sexual stage I should be perfectly honest with you. Since you seem to be entwined in my problems now too.”

  “Truth about what?”

  Willa text John to keep Mrs. Hudson downstairs she’d call when they were needed then shut and locked the door.

Greg was worried, how badly was Willa shaken by this break in?

  “I’m aware Mycroft told you of my eating disorder when I was a teen, and you know I was taking drugs by 14 do you know how easy it was for me to get heroin in the music clubs I’d frequent even being a teen. At 17 I overdosed, once I was lucid enough Sherlock, who was at the time dealing with his own addictions got it in his mind that he would scare me out of taking drugs. So when I was asleep he carried me down to the Hospitals morgue and locked me in one of the disabled fridges. I woke up and panicked. Mycroft and Mummy rescued me, only after I was near catatonic from shock. Mycroft enrolled me in an addictions program and gave me one of London’s best psychologists, who also happened to work in government with Mycroft. My little experience in the fridge had changed me, I was angry and bitter, I felt betrayed by Sherlock. How could my brother that I loved so much do something so horrible to me. I learned later he himself was high at the time and was just trying to help in his own mottled way.” Willa curled on the sofa, Greg stood and went to get an ice pack for her leg

  Willa stared at the ceiling and continued

  “The psychologist determined that I was the perfect fit for some of MI-6’s more clandestine operations. I was put into the training program, but I still wanted to make music. The higher ups thought that that would be an excellent cover and money was spent to find the best of the best to be my band. I chose the name after my London safe haven, the Paddington station and the Paddington bear statue.  What Mycroft and my new bosses could not have predicted was the success of our first album and how we skyrocketed to fame. Mycroft was impressed and so were the higher ups. They changed my directive. My music career was first and foremost but if I was in a city that they needed something done, I was given a file. It started easy enough of grabbing some files from an ambassador of business man. Who would suspect the special guests. My bandmates knew nothing of this, the only other agent in the group was my manager. After the first three years they upped my directive. You see we were gaining even more popularity on the world market not just Britain and North America. We were in Jakarta on a world tour stop when the first new order came in; I was given my folder and in it was my target. I had been upped to assassin.”

  Willa teared up Greg was now sitting on the floor next to her holding her hand, she hadn’t even noticed him come over or take her hand in his.

  “So it went. The drive by in LA was in retaliation, my publicist who at the time was also an agent was the target but I got hit, no one not even the more blackest of black ops knows the truth about me. Then just over two years ago on the last leg of our world tour I had a job in China, I got my target but a child got hurt, he lived but I couldn’t do it anymore, I called my bosses and said I was done. They surprisingly accepted. I wanted to focus on my music but as the tour ran on, I realized the longest break I’d ever had was a month is that. I needed more I needed stability. So after I learned about Sherlock and after the tour was over I came home. A semi-retired rock star and a fully retired MI-6 assassin, who’s fallen madly in love with a Detective Inspector, who’s probably going to walk out the first chance he gets now that he knows the truth and how messed up I really am inside.” Willa sniffled.

  “I’m not going to leave you. I’ve been around Holmes’s enough to know there’s always more than meets the eye. Your past is your past, it’s the woman I see before me now that I fell in love with and the woman heard about is still her, but it’s all said and done. I still love you and I am still going to be here for you.” Greg said moving so that he sat Willa up on the sofa then sat and put her head on his lap cradling her. “ I am grateful that you felt comfortable enough after all of this to tell me the truth. I can’t say I am ok with what you did but, I am not one who can judge, I have navigated on the outside of the law and not just with your brother, but I have crossed that line if it meant getting justice. And I am sure your bosses had good reason to send you those targets”

  “All war criminals some with heavy crimes against the Geneva convention” Willa said, “My brother didn’t want to make me a heartless killer he just made me a global vigilante”

  “And they had no problem with you writing a song called Vigilant Warrior” Greg said with a smirk.

  “All made up scenarios” Willa said. “My first love was my music. I was scared if I told them I wanted to stop earlier they would end my music career. All the relationships I got in because I wanted to be a normal celebrity not one with a secret agenda that did not include charity work”

  “You didn’t like the killing?”

  “Threw up after every hit” Willa said resting her head on shoulder.

  Greg kissed her

  “And that right there is the reason why you deserve your normal life. If I wasn’t terrified Mycroft would make me vanish I would have a word with him about what he had you do.” Greg gave a small smile.

  “He wouldn’t care in his eyes he did what he had to do.” Willa smiled

  The door opened, Greg was sure he had locked it; John, Mary and Mrs. Hudson were standing there with Mycroft who if Greg was not mistaken looked a little frazzled.

  “My dear Willa are you alright” Mycroft asked as he hurried in

  “I’m fine just bruised my ankle” Willa said sitting the pain that shot though her side made her stop and she unconsciously wrapped her uncasted hand around herself.

  “Dr. Watson is here he will be the judge of your condition” Mycroft said leaning down and kissing Willa’s forehead. Willa just nodded as Mycroft went to sit in the chair. It was odd for Greg to see the cracks in the hard Mycroft exterior.

  Greg went to move but Willa just gripped his arm tight.

  “Stay there Greg, John can assess me fine like this.”  Willa said as John started examining her ankle.

  Mary looked at Greg’s arm (he still hadn’t put his shirt back on)

  “It’s ok Willa patched me up, She’s good too” Greg smiled

  “You need an x-ray” John said wrapping Willa’s ankle “I think you broke it” Willa just nodded. As John moved to check her side “We’ll get an X-ray of those too, I think they are just bruised by better to be safe than sorry.”

  Willa just nodded. Greg stood and went to lift her up.

  “No you are resting that arm” Mary said “It should be in a sling to prevent you pulling your stitches”

  “I don’t need a sling” Greg replied as Mycroft came over and scooped up Willa into his arms, her head laid against his shoulders. The adrenaline was draining and Willa was asleep by the time they reached the car.

  =-=-=

  Willa slept soundly in her bed, her ankle was in a boot like walking cast, and her ribs were bruised and so they had taped them with a stretchy kind of a tape that would offer support without hindering her normal breathing.

  Greg was down at the kitchen table with Mycroft, John and Mary. John had made Greg get checked out and the doctor was very impressed with the handiwork of Willa, but had insisted on Greg being in a sling, which Greg had taken off as soon as they got home.

Mycroft had sent over some of his men and the lock on 221b was changed to a new unpickable one. John and Mary were given a key as was Greg, and Mrs. Hudson. Willa’s new key was in her purse already. Greg also had a new number in his phone. It was a pound prompts of #42 filed under brother. It was Greg’s direct line to Mycroft should he or Willa need him. It was Mycroft’s gift to Greg in gratitude of his caring for Willa.

  Greg sipped his coffee. Mycroft had spoken freely and was letting everyone know that there were going to be new cameras and constant monitoring of Baker Street. There was going to be a city ordinance passed that would not allow for large gatherings of people without a permit, this would also dissuade the paparazzi that had begun to form after it was leaked by Everett where Willa lived. Everyone at the table knew that there was no chance that Willa would ever move. And they would not force her, so extra security measures were put in place.

  Her publicist and manager had already stopped by to talk to Mycroft, They were new Mycroft had informed them, Willa’s old ones had decided to hook up with another touring band. Greg knew the truth, Willa told him when he was tucking her in, they are actual real management and publicity, and the others went back in the field as agents. Willa’s photo shoot was still going ahead, Mycroft could have pulled Greg from his job to guide her but Willa was insistent that Greg not ruin his career by putting all his time and focus on her, she was scared it would ruin their relationship. Instead Mycroft would be accompanying her to the photoshoot, and her manager would be in attendance at every meeting. Her talk show appearance was pushed back till the next day. They wanted to outright cancel but Willa hated canceling and insisted that she would be fine after a day of rest.

  Greg would be her date and guard for all evening events should he be tied up at work Mary or John would accompany her as a friend. Mycroft would prefer John as his military training made him better equipped for security.

  Greg felt weird talking about will while she was upstairs sleeping.

  “I have been the executer of the conservatorship we put over Willa since its creation on her 18th birthday” Mycroft said stirring his tea to dissolve the sugar. “I became consultant on her security the moment she became famous. Not to be immodest but my sister is a global star, yet one who just looks to share her music. Yes she had her moments when she thrust herself into the spotlight only to shrink back into wanting a private life. She loves her fans, minus ones like Everett, and wants to be available for them without being pulled by the masses and ones who would look to take her down a darker path. So I took over security. She had many attempts on her by stalkers and overzealous fans, but always stopped before she noticed. I let the full efforts be dropped after she returned home and moved in here, I should have known better. But with these new protocols in place, Willa will be safe.”

  “But to watch her every move” Mary spoke up.

  “I will not be watching her directly I own my sister that much of her privacy, I will simply be monitoring the area around where she is. For example here, there are no cameras in the flat and there never will be, however there is now a camera trained on the door downstairs and many more on the street. The keys you have all have a transponder in them it will set up a log of who accesses the flat and when, this information will only be available to Willa after I give her log in instructions when she wakes. If in the unlikely event someone get a hold of one of the keys and makes a duplicate the key will be able to unlock the door but with no transponder it will send a signal to the program and if Willa does not deactivate the sensor trip it will alert me and a team will be sent to make sure she is ok. You all also have my direct line on your phones, only to be used if at the utmost necessity. If it is an emergency dial 999 and I will find out.” Mycroft stopped to sip his tea.

  Greg took another drink of his coffee, he knew by falling in love with Willa he was going to have a hectic life. But this, he hope he could do what was needed, her didn’t want to let her down.

  “She’s been home almost a year” Mycroft continued “It’s become a game for fans and press alike to try and find her, this will all die down eventually. Willa knew what she was facing, and I hope this doesn’t affect her relationships with any of you”

  “I got used to an odd life with Sherlock” John spoke up “I am sure I can handle this”

  “I’m fine with it” Mary said “Everyone deserves a normal life”

  “Whatever anyone out there” Greg said waving his hand in the direction of the street “Wants or thinks, it does not affect how I feel about her. I didn’t fall in love with DW Alley, I fell in love with Willa Holmes and I’m staying with Willa Holmes no matter what.”

  Mycroft gave an honest genuine warm smile

  “I was right, you two are meant for each other” Mycroft smiled. “I must go. Give my love to Willa and tell her to call me tomorrow after she’s up for a bit, not too early she needs her rest.”

  Mycroft stood and took his cup and saucer over to the sink before gathering his umbrella and heading out. He was met at the bottom of the stairs by Mrs. Hudson, she was looking a lot better after being barricaded in her flat. She held up a box for him.

  “Just some custard tarts” She smiled “Willa, John and Greg love them so I made them a batch; I thought you should have some too. You are such a caring protective brother, Sherlock was lucky to have you and now Willa is too.”

  “Thank you Mrs. Hudson. I shall share them with Anthea she loves a good custard” Mycroft gave the older woman and smile as he took the box and headed out.

  =-=-=-=-=

  Willa carefully made her way down the stairs, her bed was empty when she woke was Greg that mad that he didn’t stay. Not that she would blame him, not only for getting involved in a scuffle because of her fame but also from her adrenaline fueled confession. The door to the main flat sat a little a jar. Willa carefully pushed it open to see Greg curled up on the sofa asleep, the telly still on low. She smiled and carefully sat on the edge of the sofa and kissed his cheek. His eyes opened.

  “Moring” She said running her hand down his cheek “You’re warm.” She said putting her hand on his forehead

  “I’m fine” He said carefully sitting, his arm was stiff

  Willa unbandaged his arm and frowned “It looks a little infected, I cleaned it well, Mary said the doctor cleaned it again too.”

  “Yeah and I showered last night too” Greg said wincing as Willa inspected the cut.

  “You used my body wash again didn’t you?” Willa asked raising an eyebrow.

  “I like the smell.” Greg smiled

  “It has micro scrubbing beads in it, micro scrubbing beads that have irritated and caused and infection to form in your cut.” Willa said as she poked at it “You have two options. You let me clean it and restitch it wear your sling and go to work, or go to the hospital have them flush it out restitch it and them make you take the day off and I know you don’t like taking personal days for your own personal self”

  “You can do it, hate hospitals”

  “OK”

  Willa went and gathered the supplies she needed, she removed the stitches she had put in then went about cleaning it out thoroughly, She then restitched it and redressed it.

  “I know you don’t like wearing a sling but the stab went into the muscles and this will keep them from moving too much so they can heal. In fact maybe I should wrap that upper arm.” Willa dug though the kit and found an elastic bandage and wrapped it around his bicep before putting his arm in the sling. “There all ready to face the world, and I will be texting Sally to get her to keep an eye on you to make sure you leave this sling on” Willa smiled and kissed him before heading to the kitchen

  A couple of Mrs. Hudson’s tarts and a cup of coffee later Greg was off to work while Willa planned to cuddle with the cats all day, they cats who normally spent most of their time in Sherlock’s room (it was warm for them) or on by the windows. Since the back to back break ins they stayed close to Willa and Greg.

  =-=-=-

  Willa was grateful for things getting back to a more normal day. It had been two weeks since Everett’s break in. Her cast was gone only an elastic bandage remained and the walking boot had been replaced with an ankle brace, and her ribs were feeling more normal. Greg’s arm now only bore a small scar

  She was in bed curled around Greg, she hadn’t looked at the clock but was pretty sure it was sometime after noon. That was fine, they had gotten in very late… or was that early.. After the Teen Cancer trust gala ball. Greg had had the time of his life. He had met so many rock and acting stars. And as Willa had promised he met Roger Daltrey, in fact she hadn’t told him that they were sitting at Rogers’s table, and she made sure Greg was sitting next to him the whole night. The two got along great after Greg’s initial star-struck-ness. Willa had a wonderful time and was able to just forget everything that had happened over the last two weeks, and have fun, they ate amazing food heard amazing music, they were able to meet some of the teens the new cancer care lounge helped, and Willa was planning on visiting soon to show they kids how to play some of her songs on the instruments there. And then her and Greg danced, and danced, and danced.

  They had rolled into Baker Street sometime around 3am, and that’s when even more fun started. Willa had fun peeling Greg out of his three piece suit. She even added a snapping of his braces on his chest before undoing them and sliding him out of his perfectly tailored trousers.

  She doesn’t even know what time they stopped playing around and fell asleep, but she was all sure that it wasn’t more than a few hours ago.  She woke and stretched.

  Greg couldn’t get the day off but instead opted to have a night shift, which was fine with Willa her guitar, note pad, a case of Dr. Pepper she ordered from America and her cats had a date. If only the fans knew all their favorite big rock ballads and hits were written in the jimjams usually surrounded by pets and drinking a sugary beverage while nibbling on Jammie Dodgers, prawn cocktail crisps and smarties. Willa ate well but in her writing moods she indulged… sometimes over indulged on junk food.

Willa headed to the kitchen and put on the coffee before looking up at the clock. 1:36pm ok, not bad. Greg had to be into work at 4. She would make him breakfast maybe share the shower with him that made her smile. Then send him off and start writing. She put the coffee on then dug around to see what cereal she had in the cupboard.

AS the smell of coffee filled the flat Greg made his way downstairs.

  “Moring” he said kissing Willa

  “Afternoon” Willa said kissing him then his neck before starting to suck at his neck giving an almost faded hickey a new brightness.

Greg smiled and there they went at it again on the kitchen floor, Cooper, Marshmallow and Harlow all watching from their perch on the kitchen table. The shower and food was done quickly and without much fanfare.

  =-=-=-=-

  Greg sat in his office going over the paperwork, he had been surprised when Donovan also opted to take the night shift, she had said something about not wanting him to be alone and getting to party on a Thursday night.

  Willa was sitting on his desk, she had brought him some takeaway and some homemade coffee for his dinner.

  “Writers block?” He asked with a smile as she entered.

  “Yeah and I was going to go visit Mary but then I remembered what day it was” Willa said setting the food containers on the desk.

Greg narrowed his eyes while thinking then a smile of realization spread across his face.

  “That’s tonight, I almost forgot. If all goes according to plan you’re going to be hoping and praying that Mary picks out some decent bridesmaids dresses in a nice colour” Greg smiled “Big step for them, marriage proposal.”

  “Yeah” Willa smiled; they both stared at their food and ate in silence for a minute. “You know” Willa started “Since we are seeing more of each other and you are spending more and more time at Baker street I was thinking that you should just.”

Willa was cut off by her phone ringing the Imperial March from Star War played. Willa picked it up.

  “Hello, Mycroft” Willa said, a little annoyed at being interrupted. Greg watched as she furrowed her brow “Ok I’m on my way, no I’m at New Scotland Yard. Ok”

  She stood and started gathering her things. “I have to go. Sorry I will explain everything later.”

  “Is everything alright?” Greg asked slightly worried.

  “Yes, yes wonderfully alright. I’ll call you later.” Willa said giving him and kiss and heading out.

  Greg sighed and returned to eating his food.

  Willa headed down to the street where the car was waiting. She climbed in and it was off to Mycroft’s office.

  =-=-=

  Willa exited the car and headed up to the office, her smile grew as she saw the man sitting in the chair, his hair was much longer than she had ever seen it before and he has a beard to rival that of a hermit.

  “Sherlock!” Willa exclaimed as she raced forward and hugged him. He gave a little wince before wrapping her in his arms and returning the hug.

  “Willa. You’ve been injured. A fall while running, or a fight?” Sherlock said studying his little sister.

  “Bit of both but it’s no bother.” Willa said looking him over “You’ve been tortured!”

  “Just a little nothing I couldn’t handle” Sherlock said with a smile.

  “You look like one of your homeless network. Mycroft get me a razor and some shaving soap. Sherlock needs a shave.” Willa smiled.

  “I called in someone” Mycroft replied.

  “Nonsense Mummy showed me how to give a man a proper shave, I’ve done it for both of you in the past and I have shaved Greg and my bandmates, who do you, think gave Benson his Seneca Crane cut” Willa smiled as she guided Sherlock to a chair.

  “You’re not still working with Mycroft are you?” Sherlock asked glancing between the two

  “No I’m retired.” Willa smiled as the shavings supplied were brought. “Going to have to get someone to do your hair though, don’t want to mess up those gorgeous curls” She laughed as she began to shave. She handled the straight razor like it was an extension of her hand.

  Once she and the barber were done she stepped out to allow her brother to dress.

  Once he was dressed she returned and smiled, there was her brother, the stoic yet playful Sherlock Holmes.

[365daysof2017]

50/365

Dear tumblr,

I’m gonna start off my posts like this. Hi it’s me. Ash. I’m back. Sorry I didn’t post much last January but you know me, I get lazy, and I procrastinate. I’m just gonna continue where I left off with my previous blog, 366daysof2016, though, I still can’t process that it’s already 2017. 

So how am I? Great. Honestly, not. Life is really really really complicated. It’s probably really simple, just me making things complicated, I don��t know.

 I actually have been worse. I thought I’ve already moved on from David. You see, I told myself that I already need to forget him and all, and I actually did. I met some guys on kik, some lasted on my chatbox, and some didn’t, but everything seemed okay. Everything seemed okay. Then for some reasons, I started cutting my wrist. I have plans to do it again sometime but, I can still hold it.

Okay back to the “David” topic. Everything keeps coming back and it was really hard for me cause I don’t have any space in my mind to think about him. I’m already thinking about a shit ton of crap in my head, and I don’t want to think about him anymore. I thought I already forgot about him. But everything keeps coming back.

So this one day, last Saturday, we went to an Amusement Park. Nothing connected to him at all. I had so much fun! I got home at around 11PM. Then I had a fucking dream. 

It’s the worst type of dream, cause I was lucid. I’m always lucid when I dream about him, so it makes it  even harder. In my dreame, he went to the Phillipines, he apologized. He did everything. I already kinda forgot, but one thing I remember is that it was fun. I had fun. I was happy.

The morning after, I realized how important he was to me, god I was thinking about him the whole fucking day! How I was so happy with him, how he made me feel special... The whole fucking day.

At around 10PM, I was on kik, just randomly flirting with strangers online. I did something impulsive. I messaged him. 

me: dude me: I fucking hate you so much me: I wasn’t done with you yet and you fucking blocked me. So here’s the time where I was supposed to reply another message cause I was gonna flood him with hate messages, but he fucking replied. Instantly. I didn’t expect that. He never replies fast.

David: Ok. me: You fucking left me hanging David: Yea David: I suppose so me: You even called the night before you blocked me! me: what me: that’s it David: I’m sorry me: no explanation or anything David: I dont know what to say me: right me: just fucking say something please

Oh god I was so annoyed and so pissed and so nervous I felt everything at once. He didn’t even say anything. I wanted to hear something from him. I wanted an explanation. That was the only thing I needed to move on and yet he couldn’t give it to me.

David: I just David: Idk I got caught up with the army David: And I was afraid I’d hurt you David: So I ran from the situation David: Which still hurt you but atleast left room for hate me: and went to her instead me: yup

Ohhh shit put an ice to that burn, bitch.

David: Lol I’m not dating anyone so don’t try that

Uhm excuse me? Don’t you think I know anything you’ve been up to? Man I know everything. I have eyes everywhere. Everywhere. It’s kinda creepy, tbh.

me: lmaooooo me: songia??? David: Go look at my stuff David: Not dating anyone David: In fact we broke up and I slept with someone else and now we don’t talk at all First thing that came up to my mind: He’s not a virgin anymore. LMAOO.

David: So that’s that sticky situation I wasted 2 years on

Ha. Sticky. Cause you slept with someone? LMAO OKAY. me: right me: fuck me: its been months me: and its still you me: fuck you okay David: What do you mean me

Dumb-fucking-ass?? Are you that ignorant? or are you just dumb???

me: I hate you so much me: you’re still the one I remember David: Okay I expect that me: I keep having dreams

(lmao why did I say that?)

David: I’m sorry David: I dont know what to say or do me: and its fucking annoying me: its so hard to forget you me: I keep getting these dreams me: and it just made me remember you even more David: Sorry David: I don’t know what to say

ikr, it’s not like it’s your fault I get the dreams??

me: why did you just block me though me: why didn’t you atleast say something David: Trying to run again David: Realized it’s not the right thing to do David: I don’t have anything to say David: You’re right I shouldn’t have left you hanging David: It was wrong of me David: I thought about it too David: I felt bad David: But I couldn’t face it me: fuck you for leaving me when I already fell for you. me: you even said you’re gonna go here me: ugh David: Fuck me David: Okay I get it David: You hate me David: I’m shit David: Leave me alone if that’s all you want to say

Seriously dude, do you really not sense my purpose here? I want you back.

me: I just wanted an explanation lol me: and I didn’t want you to leave me: those were the words you said and I can’t believe I’m saying it me: I don’t want you to leave me alone

So that’s it that’s the serious part. The next part of our conversation wasn’t as long as this one but we were just bantering around. I don’t think he’s as comfortable with me as he was before but I feel like there’s still something.

I just feel so confused about my feelings for him, confused about what we are, confused about what he feels for me. Last Friday, he sent me a message, and I was in school

9:51 AM David: Hey David: You busy?

So I read it during my lunch time cause we were doing something

11:39 AM me: I’m in school

1:42 PM David: Call me after

2:32 PM me: I can’t I have like 100MB left

9:43 PM David: Ughh David: Noooo David: When do you get more David: You are legit so cute David: In your picture David: And your body looks good lol David: JUST SAYING.

I wasn’t able to reply cause I was watching this Selena Gomez film, Monte Carlo. It was really nice btw, I loved it.

11:00 PM me: LMAOOO me: I’m home now it’s like 11 David: What lol. David: I know, I know David: Why you laugh. me: idk me: whats up David: Laying in bed being lazy David: Hbu Piper

Fuck. Right in the feels. So much nostalgia. Piper’s the daughter of Aphrodite in the series that we love, he used to call me Piper, and I told him if I’m Piper then he’s the Jason to my Piper. (Jason’s the love interest of Piper in the books)

me: I just finished watching a movie me: and it was greatttt I loved it David: What movie? David: *sends a cute selfie* David: Lol look @ me

okay so I totally forgot that he asked a question cause a cute fucking selfie just popped in my screen.

me: you look different David: Do I? David: How so?? David: Bad huh David: Thanks I’m ugly ik me: yeah idk me: you look happy me: no wdym ugly David: I am ugly David: You making fun of me lol David: Thanks me: wtf you’re not ugly shut up me: what time is it there me: and where are you David: I’m in kentucky US David: And it is 0912 there!

Idk that’s probably how they read time in the army

David: Girl you’re obsessed David: Lmao jkjk me: ruuude David: No me: Kentucky though me: KFC David: I like you dw

okay... fuck... that was sudden. I mean, good job! That’s a great way to make me even more confused about what’s happening here!

me: ha David: Yes lmao! David: It’s not that good David: I figured it would be the best here David: But it’s the same as everywhere else me: really? me: that’s sad David: It’s nothing special David: Send me a selfie? me: I dont have a selfie me: jk David: Send me one David: Now David: I order you me: dude me: chill David: Lol nope I wanna seee youuuu me: I’m still looking for something decent David: Send them all David: Right meow me: *sends a selfie* me: tada me: I like that one lmao me: hoe filter me: I got more pimples me: smhhhh me: *sends another selfie* me: and one time my hair became like this hahah David: Fucking cute David: Is that overalls lol me: yes hahah

Then he left me on read. But because I’m a creepy-ass stalker that knows his facebook account, I saw his post that he shared. The post said, “I like clingy. I’d rather have someone who blows up my phone and shows they care than someone who texts back 12 hours later” So I messaged him this morning. I didn’t care if I double texted. 

me: dude me: when are you free David: Not tonight, I don’t think me: aw but when David: Idk I’m with jocelyn rn

Who’s Jocelyn???

me: ohh okay me: tell me when you’re available David: Okay

So that was it. I notice that I keep on using the word ‘dude’. Idk what to call him?? Maybe I’ll refer to him as Jason soon. Back to his facebook though, he also shared a post that said, “I blocked my ex on everything but she somehow managed to message me through direct tv *a pic of that*”.. Well.. Was that me? Lol. I dont know!! Someone commented though, “Man, if she goes through that much trouble to try to talk to you I would have to give her a second chance haha” then he replied, “that’s true hahah” UGH ITS JUST SO CONFUSING. So that’s all I have to say about him.

Now I’m here typing this blog. I don’t know, I just wanna talk to him, on the phone. Maybe that’d clear things up, but for now, I never think about our future. I don’t wanna think about the next step, cause when it doesn’t happen, I’m just gonna be twice disappointed. 

This was really a long first blogpost. See ya next time. 

Love, Ash