#then we broke into another house??? and I realized the necklace I stole was part of a couples necklace

[iguessitsjustme]

I forgot that being sick gives me crazy dreams

[alias-b]

sins of my youth. 013

Billy Hargrove x OC! Evie Fenny~ Also posted to my AO3

Summary: It was common knowledge that Billy Hargrove hated Hawkins. Hated Cherry Lane. Even loathed the strange girl next door. Evie Fenny wasn’t too fond of the chaotic Cali transfer either. An awful high school tradition sparks a chain of events that changes everything, ultimately bringing two frayed souls together.

Hey all!! Evie attends a party to get back into the swing of being a messy teen and the night doesn't go as expected. Billy opens up about his past in California with a story Evie finds all too familiar. TW: Slight sexual refs, teens drinking/smoking, talk of past s*icide/death, and addiction. TAG LIST OPEN. Always open to chatting about the fic, thanks!!

Chapter 13: Almost Paradise

   “Are you sure about this?” Heather spoke over Evie’s shoulder.

   “We always hit the mid-winter break parties. Why wouldn’t we, Heath?” Evie applied her favorite shade of cherry in the mirror. Makeup still only covered so much that next night. But, with the swelling down, she hoped it wasn't that bad.

   “Figured you’d be hanging with Billy.”

   “We haven’t done anything...much. His dad is grinding him to stay in. He'll...also be at the party I'm sure.”

   "That why you put on the new bra?"

   "It's not new..." Evie fixed her sleeve to hide the black strap. Blushed a whole garden of strawberries. "Like I said...haven't done anything."

   “Haven’t had the chance, hm.” Heather plopped down and stole some mirror space. Relenting as she applied a lustrous pink shade to her lips that matched the scrunchie holding her curls high. “I know you’re hopelessly into him. All the eye fucking over the movie last night. If you hadn’t have passed out on the couch-”

   “Would...you be mad?” Evie looked up.

   “I’m just coming around to him again. If you trust him, I will.” Heather smiled. “I just have to be the bitchy best friend. Make him sweat it out for my own enjoyment. Cute how he tucked you in last night through, looked like he might not leave you.”

   Evie lowered a brush doused in gold glitter from her eye.

   “I am sorry...about the whole-”

   “You don’t have to be sorry about him, Bowers is the one that should be sorry.” Heather frowned. “I’m not mad you didn’t tell me. Honest. I get it. I can’t imagine what I would have done.”

   “You wouldn’t be in that situation because you’re smarter than me.”

   “No, I’ve made poor boy choices too. We both know that.” Heather beamed. “Can I borrow your earrings? The little cherries you made.”

   “Sure, keep them. You get more mileage out of them than I do. I can make more.”

   Heather squealed and went to steal them. Evie thought it funny, her friend would rather wear her craft projects than the baby diamonds in silver and gold her parents were always buying.

   “Hey, I… My mom’s been lying to me. About my dad.” Evie admitted. “He’s trying to call and give her money, I think. I don’t know if he asks about me. Where he is. I’m just… I don’t know what to do with it all, Heath.” Her voice broke and leveled out. Slowly the brush came up again. “You ever feel like you remember things differently? Like maybe we never see things as they are, we just see things as we are?”

   Heather turned to see, still putting the earrings in.

   “I’m sure Mona’s trying to protect you. She’s always been so much.” She pressed her lips and tilted Evie’s face to check her work as she always did. “Covered it nicely. How’s your head?”

   “No pounding anymore. Not getting dizzy, I think I barely avoided a concussion.” A beat. “I just wonder what exactly she’s protecting me from. It’s eating me.”

   Felt like too appropriate an expression.

   “We’ll figure it out, but you put way too much pressure on yourself like you’re alone, Eves, and you’re not.” Heather pulled Evie in to hug her. “You have me and Steve. Friends at school.”

   Blue hopped up on the desk to meow loudly, both girls broke to giggle. 

   “Yes, you too, cutie.” Heather scratched the kitten’s chin. “And Billy, I guess. Whatever.”

   “Yeah, I don’t know what we’re doing. But, I don’t mind it so I guess I’ll chase that.” Evie thumbed Heather’s lipstick at the corner. “You’re set.”

   “You, too. Let’s head out.” Heather winked and stood up.

   Blue trailed after them so Evie filled her dish. Grabbed a prized jacket she used to be too afraid to wear for how loud it was. Red leather and fringe. Bitchin'. A signature piece of clothing. Undoubtedly Evangeline. Fredrick didn't like it so it was packed away with all her sharp edges.

   Heather beamed as her friend donned it. Completed Evie's look with a black skirt and graphic shirt tucked in. Vaguely mesh pattern tights and her warm boots. Gold hoops gleaming and her little music note necklace. Plucked piece of juicy fruit and a hard pit for good measure. Curls bounced, almost obscene.

   “Think Brock and his shitheads will crash?” Heather waited for the door to be locked before they got into her car.

   “I’m not worried about Brock after what happened with Fredrick.” Evie stared at the empty place in the Hargrove driveway where Billy’s Camaro usually sat. No doubt he was already there raging. Evie got annoyed with the flame in her stomach that flickered at the thought of running into him there with all the dancing they’d been doing. Every little maybe and almost. Syllables rolling off tongues to tangle.

   Loch Nora rangers were undoubtedly the best.

   Evie still liked parties. Liked the stimulation. The noise. That beautiful overlapping noise to wash her world out. The drunk idiot teens wandering to dance or do dumb shit. All technicolor. Even liked them better than what Fredrick would take her too. Annoying how Fredrick had become this constant life point of comparison. Physically out and still here to set the scales.

   Time for some liquor.

   She peered around and realized Steve never came to them anymore. Heather even asked him and he just declines too politely. Three drinks sank into her stomach so Evie went out back to where some meathead with no shirt was pouring. Moved through sprightly bodies to get another cup. Smoke and sweat in the cool night air. 

   “Fenny, you hear Tannen got a DUI?” Nameless meathead poured.

   “No, shit?” She took her plastic cup back. Black and gold glitter nails clicking the artificial red. 

   “Swear to god! His dad’s basically paying everyone to make it disappear.” The guy chuckled. “Lucky, the idiot didn’t crash into anyone.”

   “Yeah, he’s a mess.” Evie tipped her cup in thanks and watched teens bop around the covered pool to booming music. Rich house on a hill, no one was calling the cops. Cold and slush weren't stopping the festivities, it only made them turn up the noise and heat. Her outfit combated the lingering winter well enough. Perks of being a bigger gal. Thick skin to combat the weather and assholes. “Thanks.”

   “Plenty more to go around.” 

   Evie caught a bunch of metalheads thrashing around a huge trampoline. Jumping from the lowest part of the roof to it and climbing all over. Billy among them spitting beer and cackling. A hungry wolf against the bright moon. Readied to toss his head back and-

   “Evangeline!” He howled and she rolled her eyes below, drinking. Cup lifted to acknowledge them. Billy flashed his teeth, glowed there at her. Still among his following.

   "You clean up well, Fenny!" One boy cooed so Billy shoved him into one of the many seat cushions that had been stolen to line the perch.

   "Why not join us? Stay awhile." Billy crouched at the edge. Admired Evie glittering and that outfit. Tassels constantly in motion, she looked like a song leaping off unworthy pages. They echoed the calls and she laughed outright, went back inside to a chorus of whines wanting her to stay and indulge them in their debauchery.

   “They out of the hard stuff already?” Heather approached and offered a tiny joint to Evie that she caved and puffed. “Tammy’s asking. I’m switching to water.”

   “Beer only it looks like. It’s raining boys out there though.”

   “Oh, maybe I’ll catch myself one.” Heather winked and wandered outside with the smoke.

   Evie got squished in between her and Tammy moments later. Talking school and beauty and graduation getting closer. Across the way, Billy had a whole room entertained with his California stories. Evie lingered to see his eyes flicker over to her.

   The strange radar he had when she was around. Always on high. He smiled bright and animated his tale, kept them all hooked and laughing because he was just too badass. Too good. A firework in this boring town. Perched on the table with a smoke in hand.

   Spinning tales around the way he spun her under confetti.

   And they kept peering at each other. Billy got more persistent as Evie made it a point not to look. To stay reeled into Tammy gushing about the car she was almost saved up for. This baby pink bug she dreamed about. Robin joined them and Tammy blushed as they shared a freshly rolled joint. Heather and Evie shared knowing looks.

   Billy decided he wanted attention from Evangeline and left the stories behind to cross toward her. Evie felt sparks when he plucked up her hand, nodding aside. One tug and smoldering eyes. She didn't move and played a pout.

   “I’m having an important discussion with the girls about the principal's clearly fake mustache, Hargrove.” She lifted her eyes, biting her lip as if that might curve her intoxication. Curled a smirk he matched.

  "Thrilling. Something tells me it ain't getting mileage." Billy didn’t take his eyes from Evie. “Ladies?”

   “We just finished actually, Evie was about to get herself another drink. You look like just the soul brave enough to help with that.” Tammy, oblivious but a wingman to the end, cut in so Billy pulled Evie up.

   Heather flashed a guilty smile as they went off because Evie was aimlessly bickering. They didn’t go out back for a drink. Billy climbed the steps with her hand. Slowly Evie adjusted to lace their fingers. They moved over bodies and went down the hallways into a vacant TV room with beaten couches and thick screens.

   “What are you doing?” Evie dropped her arms as Billy bit his tongue with intent eyes and crossed into her space for a kiss. Tasting of some green apple schnapps the boys outside had downed with all the hard stuff.  

   “Just something I thought about for a while.” He cupped her face for another and Evie felt dizzy for the first time after her drinks. Billy and his lips. Tasting her. Pulling her back into a couch with him.

   “You mean like a day?” Evie had giggled. Breaking the kiss to see his pupils spread.

   “Hey, it was a long, long day.” Came a shrug, eyes on her pretty tights that were sending him. “I can only say so much over the phone.” Hands worked under the skirt. Melted Evie down while she came in for more of him. 

   Straddling Billy’s hard thigh, she combed his hair back and ravished him in turn. What could she say? She liked to kiss him. Liked his mouth and his palms and his heat against her. Scorching. Billy adjusted, taking her hips to press his leg up into her.

   Evie rocked unconsciously. Gave him a little moan. Let him untuck her shirt. She came out and felt his hand on her bra. Fingers sunk under the fabric while they locked eyes. Rolled her nipple until another moan lulled. Evie still pulling at his hair, lips opening.

   “No bad kisses yet, hm?” The hum hitched as Evie pressed into him. Kissed him deeper. Not worried she might squish him with the shameless, signature way he touched her. 

   “Let’s try a few more.” Evie about whimpered into his tongue. Brow furrowing. Breath quicker. Something ready to churn in her belly.

   Billy gripped her hips to encourage her on. Shifted down the line of her jaw. Silken mouth trailing to release warm sighs. Evie had her hands pressed against his grey tee. Skimming under the leather jacket to feel the hard lines. Miles of him to trace and explore. Shifting, one hand came to his left shoulder. Finger pressed and Billy gave a jerk, breath catching as he pulled back to hiss.

   Evie narrowed and yanked away the moment he looked in pain. Avoiding her eyes as if he wasn’t just trying to turn them over and finish this.

   “Are you okay?”

   “Fine.” Billy leaned back in for a kiss she barely responded to. Thoughts racing. “It’s nothing.” He cupped the back of her head. Lips all over Evie’s neck. Fingers slipped to push his jacket aside and Billy grasped her wrist. “Evie, it’s nothing.”

   “You’re hurt.” She frowned. Billy gripped her arm still, searching. He opened his mouth to speak and the door burst open, giggles sounding at the same time Evie threw herself out of Billy’s lap. Practically to the other side of the couch. Shamefully tucking her shirt back in.

   “Oooh, this one’s taken,” Tommy backed up and processed who was in there again with Carol under his arm, “Billy and Fenny? No fucking way, you two. Ha!” He cackled and Billy gave an agitated breath.

   “We’re busy, shut the door, man.”

   “No shit, you’re busy. I’m shocked. I thought Fen wasn’t speaking to you ever again after-”

   “Hagen, we’re talking.” Evie slid her eyes to Carol who’d gotten dead silent. Eyes bright and full of hate. Piles and piles. A tremendous build of fire and loathing directed at Evie for existing in the same space.

   “Talk away. Have fun, kids!” Tommy only found it funny. Jeering in his annoying way before Carol shoved off him and stomped out. “Hey Carol, what’s your problem?” He smacked the door shut following his upset girlfriend down the hall.

   “Shit, asshole.” Billy rubbed his shoulder. “Where were we?” The purr made Evie turn her head, thoughts elsewhere. Billy crawled to kiss her again and Evie stood. “Hey, where’re you going?”

   “I just, I feel weird now.” Evie stumbled around the coffee table. Cheeks bright and rosy. Not sparing him a glance because Carol’s eyes gnawed her. Created an incessant buzzing around her brain. Billy jolted to follow but she was out the door. Looking around for Carol and Tommy’s loudmouth. Boots hurried down the steps after Tommy, still trying to coax his girl back to the festivities.

   “Carol, hey,” Evie pushed beyond Tommy once Carol was out a sliding door, “Hey, can we just talk?”

   “You are such a fucking loser, you know that?” Carol spun on her heel to direct some teenage rage in Evie’s direction. A few outside by the kegs noticed the tiff, pausing to see. 

   A crack.

   “Why do you hate me so much?” Evie dropped her shoulders. Billy slipped out and stepped up behind Tommy, pausing at the standoff. Carol staggered. Clearly intoxicated. Cracking a huge, watery smile. Reckless. She stepped toward Evie so a burst came. “Why! I'm not mean to you! I've never been mean to you! I only talk back and I still feel guilty, but you're so... Why?”

   "You're nice to me?" She made it sound unreal and laughable.

   "Yeah, actually! I don't understand it, I've tried to be kind to you." Evie felt a tear slip down and stayed level. "No one deserves to be treated the way I see you treat others. So, why?"

   “Because!” Carol shot back, welling too. “You’re so fucking kind and...playing innocent...and you're good! And I..." She stopped with another deafening crack. So loud, it rang. Carol really stopped to reflect and hated what she saw looking back at her. But, Evie was here looking too so the hate rerouted.

   "Good?" Evie breathed and so much ugly spread in her veins like a disease.

   "And...And you get all this attention! Acting like you don’t know! And just look at you! Do you really think you’d get that attention if these boys didn’t feel sorry for you?” Carol stumbled and pointed a finger in Evie’s face, furious and shaking. Too close.

   Evie got silent. Dropped everything she felt.

   “You’re the one I feel sorry for.”

   Carol buzzed with rage and reeled back to slap her so hard, the force sent her into Tommy.

   "Girl fight!" Came some yelps.

   “What the hell, Carol?” He caught Evie on pure instinct, not understanding either. Billy charged forward and Carol kept pushing as Evie found her footing.

   A chorus of shocked gasps and awe came from the drunk teens near the pool. The music blared.

   “Hit me back, you bitch! Yeah? Do it like you did to Tannen. Think you’re any better than me!” Carol was near sobbing. Eyes crinkling with tears as she shoved before Tommy got in front of her. Looped an arm around her waist.

   “That’s enough, Care, c’mon.” He and Billy separated the girls, but Evie wasn’t trying to hit back. Just stared with huge eyes and a palm against her hot cheek.

   "Hey. Hey, you okay?" Billy stood in front of her now, tugging. Evie wasn't budging. Enthralled. Stuck. Sinking. Not good. "Let's go. She's wasted."

   “Evie!” Heather was racing across the grass to help. “Carol, back off her.” She planted her feet between them and Carol sneered, struggling against her boyfriend.

   “Ooh, Princess Heather to the rescue. Admit it, you just like being the pretty friend.” More hissing channeled out.

   “Just, shut up!”

   “How about you tell Fenny why Tannen even tried to chase her skirts that night? Yeah?” Carol broke free and tackled Heather into the grass. "Tell her what a shit friend you are, baby!"

   “Another girl fight!” Teens howled across the way. Billy and Tommy shoved in to pull the clawing women apart as they rolled around and pulled at hair.

   Evie heard herself shouting to stop, barely audible over the crowds that closed in on them to cheer and chant.

   “Tell her, sweet pea? Tell her that her dear B-F-F set her up with some animal. I was at that party, I heard you, bitch!” Carol skidded as Tommy pulled her off. Billy had Heather by the arm, trying to yank her up from the grass. She began to sniffle. “Perfect Heather. Little priss who can do no wrong. Perfect body. Perfect life. The teen dream. Tossing bones to us lowly folk when you're done.” 

   Carol laughed and cried all at once. Even the crowd slowed to watch her. Evie felt a coldness spread at the display.

   “Oh yeah, Heather, you’re a real carpenter’s dream!” Carol mocked relentlessly. “Flat as a board and needs a screw! Go on and tell Fenny what a great friend you are. You brushed Tannen aside and pawned that puppy off on someone easier.”

   “I didn’t know he was like that yet, okay! It was stupid.” Heather admitted, tears falling. Evie froze at that, didn’t move toward her.

   “Heath, what’s she talking about?” Evie hated how wounded she sounded.

   “I just thought maybe he’d cheer you up, we all were drinking and, Tannen, he...he was nice at the time. So I thought. I just...you know-”

   “Just, what?” Evie leveled out. Billy let Heather go once he brought her up from the grass so she came to Evie. Crowds all but hushed.

   “Can...Can we not talk about it here?” Heather tucked her hair aside, sounding too small.

   “No, I love an audience! Talk.” Evie’s spine went rigid.

   “I just...nudged Tannen your way. You just broke up with that guy over the summer and your dad left. Tannen was, I don’t know, it was stupid. He was nice and...and good looking. I thought he’d make you feel better. I didn’t know he was like that yet. I just was trying to hook my friend up.”

   "Please, you alluded to owing him a favor after. He ate that up. You talked up a desperate animal in need of a hot beef injection. You said Fenny could barely thread a needle these days." Carol bellowed. More shock. More awe.

   "I was super drunk!" Heather covered her eyes to rub them

   “So, you told him to try fucking me! Told him I was desperate for it!” Evie’s voice rose and Heather quelled with shame.

   “You were so sad...I thought he’d give you a good night.” The tone trailed off.

   “I’m fat, but I can get laid on my own, thanks. I don’t need your fucking help, how little do you think of me?” Evie’s curls shook around with the same fervor. Heather just held herself and stared at the grass. “Do I really seem that pathetic to you?”

   “No, it’s not that at all-”

   “It feels like that,” Evie stepped back, “keep me around because I make you look like the Queen Bee and toss some asshole with a reputation my way out of pity if I cease to function.”

   “Evie, it’s not like that!” Heather wept and got her hand shoved off when she tried to touch her friend. Evie wiggled through the crowd because it split for her fury.

   “Get off me,” she went around the house, “get away from me, Heather! I don't need you!"

   Heather stopped on the lawn and just stood there to see Evie follow the street lamps off.

   Carol watched them go, sagging into Tommy who was definitely too drunk for this.

   “Jesus, what’d you do?” He pulled her in another direction. Back to the house. Away from the excitement resuming. “Shouldn’t start that shit.” They got back inside so he led his girlfriend into an empty bathroom. “You okay?”

   “I am now. Bitches. I just...I can’t fucking…” Carol sniffled and cleared her throat. "I don't know why I hate her, okay, I just do! She just gets...everything."

   “This is about your mom getting back with that asshole.”

   “It’s not about that!” Her defense went up. “I’m just tired of Fenny acting like she can get everything she wants. Throwing herself at Billy, fuck. Wondered why he all but dropped everyone else. I thought he and Vicki had something. Gotta be kidding me.” Carol crossed her arms to lean back into the counter as Tommy washed his face with cold water, nauseous.

   “I don’t even think Fenny’s gonna go for him when she’s already got a thing with…” He perked. Lips sealing. Carol noticed.

   “Thing with who?”

   “Nothing, I just...I saw something...and I’m drunk. I’m fucking drunk, Care.” He got his shirt tugged.

   “Tommy.” She sucked her cheeks in and he knew he’d be caving. “What did you see?”

   “Evie’s been seeing Bowers, I saw her leaving his place all roughed up. Not the first time, I live a street away. Saw them in his driveway shouting at each other once. It was so dark. They kissed and she...well, her head dropped down for a bit. Thought I was having a nightmare there. I tried to forget it and just act like... I didn't believe it was her until I saw her on that bus. I'm drunk, fuck...” Tommy blurted in one breath. Carol’s lips opened.

   “No fucking way.”

   “Listen, I could be wrong-”

   “We can’t let them get away with that. I mean, he’s a teacher. What if he really hurt-”

   “You’re not doing it to save, Fenny, you’re doing it to make her life worse. Just...forget I said anything. I’m fucked up. Shit. I fucked up. I fucked up so bad.” Tommy rubbed his eyes. Let them dart. Carol slid her gaze away and crossed her fingers behind her back.

   “Fine. Whatever you say, T. We'll forget it.” Another pull brought him in for a kiss. Tommy caressed her arms and felt Carol trying to make herself small. “Can I stay at your place tonight? I can’t go home to Jason on our couch again. I just...I can’t. I can't do it, Tommy.”

   She trembled so he tucked her under his chin.

   “You know you don’t have to ask, babe.”

*** ** ** 

   Evie was down the hill still stomping under barely lit streets. Teens ranging to music still in the distance. Forgetting her. Intent, she marched over frozen sidewalks covered in slush. The tip of her nose and ears grew chilled pink. Heather had shouted after but stopped the pursuit at the end of the lawn. Ruefully, Evie wouldn’t weep, she already cried enough this damn week.

   She just wanted to be better. Higher. Then all of it.

   The unmistakable rev of Billy’s Camaro rolled up behind her.

   “Evie, don’t make me come out to steal you. Just get in.” The window came down. “You can’t walk home in that skirt with the snow. We don’t have to talk about it.” 

   She paused to hear him. Eyes on the wind sweeping frosted shrubbery about across the perfectly trimmed lawns. Rich people. Cozy in their homes burning bags of money on nights like this.

   “Are you going to be all the same to me, Billy? Tell me right now, I swear to god. Pretty face trying to get its way with words that are just...empty. You gonna get mad if I don’t put out and try to grab at me like Tannen? Why are you bothering with me?” Evie sniffled, hands out and dropping as he watched her. Brow furrowed. “You saw them looking at us funny.”

   “Evie.” He reasoned. “Where am I right now? Am I back there shotgunning free liquor or am I freezing my balls off coming after you? Again.”

   “You’re here with me. But, how do I know this isn’t some weird game for you with a prize at the end. Kids like us, we don’t go together. Are you trying to win a prize so you can move to the next? Can’t blame me for thinking it.” She approached the car. Still guarding herself. “I can’t let that go.”

   “I like you, Evie, and I can tell you that a hundred times. But, it means nothing if you won’t let me.” Billy leaned over to click the door open. “You don’t let anyone like you.” He waited as she didn’t move, hands gripping the wheel before he sighed. “Didn’t notice the other kids, if you really care. I’m the Keg King.”

   A cold breath puffed out her nose, almost amused.

   “I was enjoying the view.” Billy drew those glittery blues to her expression.

   “What makes this a view?”

   “You.” A shrug pulled along with her heartstrings. “Get in, let’s go somewhere.”

   “Where?”

   “Anywhere you like. Just as we planned, remember?” Billy winked at her and Evie’s walls lowered. She looked back at the house party echoing and got in to buckle herself.

   “How much have you had to drink?”

   “Relax.” He sped off. “Barely anything and I even drank water. You proud?” He fiddled with the radio. “Wasn’t feeling it tonight.”

   “Looked like a party on the roof.”

   “Well, I still gotta impress the following.” Billy gestured to the glovebox. “Put a tape in, will you?”

   “You and your hair metal...and...oh?” Evie skimmed the selection while they whirled away from Loch Nora. “What is this? Fleetwood Mac. I’m so impressed.”

   “Ugh, that must be Max’s, she keeps leaving her tapes in my car. Throw it out.”

   “Wow. Apologize to Stevie.” Evie gasped and mocked. Cupped her hands over the sacred tape. “He didn’t mean that.” Billy peered over to crack a laugh at her jabbing. “Alright, alright. Can’t go wrong with a little Queen.” 

   “Fair enough.” Billy let her slip the tape in and mess with the volume so they could still hear each other. “You really mad at Heather?”

   Evie went flat.

   “Yes and I’ll stay mad at least until school starts back up.” She crossed her arms, relaxing as the heat picked up. Too good just as Carol said.

   “Where am I taking you?” Billy turned down another road, flying beyond the trees and Evie stared at his profile. Intent on the road for once. 

   “You opposed to a little more cold?”

   “I have blankets in back. Might have to get cozy.” He slid those eyes over and Evie sucked her cheeks in. 

   “Take a left up here. I know a secret spot.” 

** ** ** 

   “You didn’t say anything about hiking through a dark forest,” Billy whined with his arms full of blankets. "If Michael Myers reams my ass-"

   "Maybe I'm a Thing like the movie and I'm taking you somewhere to assimilate." Evie teased ahead of him.

   "I actually like the sound of that, Angel. Proceed. Assimilate with me all night long." Suggestive.

   She just laughed, loathing him.

   “It’s not far. I'll protect you, Billy. You hear the water and ice cracking? Chicken.” Evie flicked a flashlight they snagged from his car after parking in the thrush. “Just up there. C’mon. I promise it’s worth it.” She hurried up, leaving him behind to watch her silhouette in starlight

   “Someday, I’m gonna stop chasing this girl,” Billy uttered under his breath, hurrying to follow because that was the biggest lie he'd ever told himself. “The whole ‘no murder’ deal stands.”

   “Naturally.” Evie giggled and stepped over a log. “Here.”

   They walked along the train tracks going both directions. Came upon the cliffs where the bridge was laid out. Billy looked out at the frozen water yards below. At the moon and stars bathing the space in an ethereal glow. Frozen water framing the rocks. Looked like a castle full of magic.

   “Down here.” She went to the edge and climbed down under the steel and wood tracks. Into the space that was suspended over the great fall.

   “This is your spot?”

   “You'll see why.” Evie reached for his wrist so he didn’t trip. Snagged the blankets from him. “Prettier with all the icicles. Look.” Billy did. Admired the iridescent, dewy glimmer. “And now we wait.”

   “Wait?” He came to Evie, lighting a cigarette. “For what?”

   “You’ll see, I said.” She settled a blanket around her shoulders and gave him one. Playfully covering his shoulders.

   “Wait to freeze to death.” Billy had grumbled as Evie paced farther, stepping over boards and balancing on steel beams.

   He saw the moonlight stream through the tracks into her curls. Admired her when she peered back to press a genuine smile. His cigarette dropped. Cherry glowing all the way down. Air whistled.

   "Tell me more about yourself, Billy Hargrove." Evie cocked her head at a dewy spiderweb. "Favorite fruit? Favorite insect? Are you fonder of chocolates or-?"

   "You think I'm interesting." He decided.

   "I think you're here with me." Evie curled around a steel post to see him.

   "Tangerines," Billy replied after a beat, "and favorite bug? Do scarab beetles count? Just think they look cool as shit."

   "Naturally. Good choice, I suppose." She sized him up and tapped her chin when Billy gestured across the way. Neither moving. "Pineapple and luna moths."

   "Luna moths?"

   "Yeah," Evie hummed to herself and hid away behind the beam, "I always thought they looked like they were fluttering straight out of our dreams. Don't you?"

   Billy took one step. Really watched her shift in ethereal lights. Luminous and bathed utterly.

   "Evangeline." He mused as she teetered across a board and came to the edge. Eyes on the water far below. "Why a singer?"

   "Hm?" She faced away from him. Seemingly in a dream herself. Billy imagined moths glowing around her pretty hair. Fluttering to follow her into the dark. He wished she'd extend a hand to him so he could join. Follow her right into it.

   "Why do you want to be a singer?"

   "Always liked it. Growing up, I just felt right, I guess. The most like me. This girl I wanted to be and she's on a stage under too many lights. Singing her heart out to miles of crowds. Touching them all in a way. Connecting." Evie trailed her fingers over chains that hung down, clicked them together like wind chimes. Billy edged up after her. Not getting too close. Wondered about what was ticking in Evie's soul.

   "Nice to be heard when you put music out into the world," Billy observed and she seemed to like that. Curls bouncing softer with her voice. Evie unfurled for him there and she was breathtaking.

   “I wanna write music that lifts people so high, they’ll have to look down to see heaven." Evie gasped gently, heart-soaring while she came to the other edge on the opposite side. Almost leaning too far.

   "Yeah?" He felt her tug tender cords in his soul. Didn't take his eyes away.

   "I want to write something that makes others understand they’re not alone. Not small. You know? One great song before I...” Evie trailed off with a sober sort of melodic call beckoning and looked far below to the great fall that was one stumble away. One step. Fingers opened. Her arms lifted enough to drop the blanket behind her and feel the wind. “You think I can write a song powerful enough to help me fly over this bridge, Billy?”

   One hand lifted higher, lips open and unable to stop. Unable to look away from the edge. Steady as can be, Billy slid his palm against her. Skin awakening. Reminded her that she was here. That he was with her. That they weren't alone and the song was alive. Fingers laced and Evie seemed to reel back to him, brown eyes glinting to see his face there. Freckles all glowy. Curls spun of gold shifting just right.

   "You're beautiful." She observed there.

   Billy surely would have followed her to the edge, but he didn't want her to go. Stay.

   "You're strange." He'd found this sentiment before and it sounded all the more lovely tonight. Billy gently pulled her from the edge. “Come here, Angel, warm me up.” 

   Billy draped himself in the other blanket again. Shifted her under it as if it were a cape. A shroud that would keep them both from harm's way. From the edge.

   “Okay, Dracula, easy.” She stumbled into him. The diamond lines of Billy’s chest cut into her. “Wait, you feel that?” She watched his earring shift while he looked around. “The vibration.”

   “Yeah, I do.” He muttered suggestively.

   “Not that kind. Just listen. Feel it.” Evie stepped out, almost giddy as she plucked her blanket up and felt around. Billy welcomed it in his chest. The smooth vibrations generating from above. “Get ready.”

   “Ready?” He laughed, coming toward her again. Billy stepped into her space as Evie reached back to curl her fingers into his leather jacket.  Head tilted up toward the tracks. 

   “Lie down with me.” She began to tug and Billy felt this drunkenness take him over at Evie and her smile brightening. They reclined together wrapped in blankets and Billy realized it as the horns called over Evie’s wild laughter.

   “You’re full of surprises, Fenny.”

   “It helps to scream it out, whatever you want. Just let it go with the train.” She kept snickering as the bridge really began to shake. Billy watched her face. Alight and wild. Red lips against the moonlight pooling to spill over her and illuminate the glitter in her makeup.

   “You’re beautiful.” He said then. Unsure if she really heard him over the howl of the oncoming cars. 

   Billy laughed with her. The roar of a train began to charge above. Blaring horns and steel wheels cranking fast. Her nose crinkled as the windswept their hair. Lips opening to scream with it. Billy couldn’t help joining her. Both of them calling out against the rumbling that never seemed to end.

   Icicles fell around the edges and reminded Billy of confetti. Falling so slow and sweet to decorate the space. Shattering colors. That night he first danced with her and kissed her long and hard. Spinning round and round.

   Evie pulled herself up and climbed higher into the beams. Head tossed back to give a call like a siren.

   “Fuck you!” She saw Billy stand and peered at him. “Keep yelling! Anything you want at anyone! Really let ‘em have it!”

   “You first!”

   “You left mom and me, you selfish fucking prick!” She raged up into the air for her father that wasn’t around. Hair whirling up into the gust of wind. The train took her syllables with it. Shouting back. "You can't just make people and then abandon them! They'll think they did something wrong forever!" Billy felt his chest tighten. Joined her. Heart bursting.

   “Why didn’t you just let me fucking save you! Why wasn't I enough!” He didn’t yell for Neil who beat him senseless. Perched upon steel Evie saw Billy tense. Burst again. “I hate you!” He cried that. Evie's fingers pressed harder into steel. Lost in him. Billy heaved for fresher air. Having never faced it all.

   The train ended as they stared at each other. Both breathing into the frozen air. Heaving to gasp.

   Evie slipped down and tossed her arms around Billy’s shoulders. Kissed him back into cold steel as if she was trying to comfort him. Kiss him all better. Luna moths landing delicately on their bodies to open and close their lovely wings.

   "Why'd you do that?" Billy asked of her for the first time. Evie beamed at the turn in the phrase.

   "Because at that time, you weren't going to." She brought him back in. Wanting more. Cupping his face. “Feel any better?” Evie drew out, leaving him to look fluttered. Unsure, Billy swept in so he didn’t have to reply yet. Miles of kisses hot like the cherry of his smoke he let tumble below.

   “Felt good.” He murmured, pulling her into him. “If anything.” 

   “You can’t tell anyone about this place. It’s my secret. Our secret.” She pecked his lips and Billy drew out because they both were too cold to continue. The heat in her belly wasn’t enough. 

   He tilted his forehead against hers, lulled forth when her weight shifted back and the loss. The loss of her ached Billy down to his marrow. This almost paradise they constructed together.

   Curls fell into his face before he lifted to glimpse Evie once more. Wondered how she’d look swaying with lush moonbeams in her hair always. Pretty goddess draped in starlight. Painted in pearly shimmers. 

   Enough to take his breath, Billy gasped for it back and gave this distant chuckle. Nodded to promise he wouldn't tell a soul. Evie caught him wincing as her hand moved over his shoulder again so she left him completely.

   “Sorry.”

   “It’s nothing.” He turned to go, eyes elsewhere. Anywhere else they could dart. Not on her. “Let’s just head back.” Billy felt like he was in a dream. Spinning and dizzy all the way back to the car. He realized as the locks clicked that Evie had been speaking.

   “Are you alright?” She swallowed and Billy looked at the car keys in his hand. Little scorpion keychain glinting. “Were you talking to your mom back there?”

   “Yeah. I just…” Billy shook his head and turned the engine on. “I don’t know where it came from.”

   “I thought it’d be Neil.”

   “I guess I can’t even stomach dreaming of him.” He replied. “I know it’s not a dream if he’s there. Even if he’s getting his. You know?”

   “Yeah. I, uh… Do you…?” Evie squirmed in her seat, worried he’d close up on her as he stared at the road and drove at a steady speed for once.

   “Do I, what?”

   “Hate her?”

   “No.” He skidded at a red light, almost sounded defensive. Shoulders fell. Knuckles went white on the wheel. “Sometimes.” Evie felt her cheeks burn and tried to sound even, it still came out as an airy whisper.

   “What happened to her, Billy?”

   “She just died.” He sighed to calm his own tone from sounding hot. “She died when I was fourteen.” Finally, he corrected himself. “She killed herself.”

   “I’m sorry.” Evie tried not to stare at him. Fear it made him uncomfortable quelled, but she couldn’t look away. Billy closed his eyes at the next red light to breathe, opened them.

   “It happens.” He said. “People wake up one morning and decide they don’t want to wake up ever again...and they act on it. And they succeed.” It felt like he started to drive slower the closer they got to Cherry. “Doesn’t matter who they leave behind.”

   Evie carefully extended her hand over to touch his in his lap. Because it does fucking matter and it always will. The fingers on the wheel flexed and Billy didn’t tear away.

   “She had a lot of problems. Like my dad. Maybe they tried to fix each other once. I don’t know.” Billy continued. Too tender about it all. “They divorced when I was nine. All the back in forth. The visitations. Courtrooms making me choose and I just...I wanted her. I wanted it to stop too. I know she was messed up, but she tried to get better… You believe me, don’t you?” 

   His blue eyes glistened. Jaw tensing. Billy pulled up between their houses and neither moved as he cut the engine.

   “Yes, I believe you.” Evie found the syllables around her tongue.

   “You believe people can get better, Evie?”

   She almost welled with him. It struck her heart with lightning.

   “I really hope so.” She had to or she was lost just as well. Evie sniffled and tried to be stone again when all the emotion came into her voice to cloud it.

   “She never hit me though. Dad drank and beat the shit out of her. Made her drug habits worse and worse. Liked when she was some coked-out zombie. Pills and needles, it just… Fuck, Evie, she just kept falling back. They fought for custody the whole time and I really thought she was getting better. Dad acted like a fucking hero, rescuing me from an evil druggie.”

   “You’re worth getting better for.” Evie felt Billy slip from her hand so he could clear his throat and rub his eyes.

   “I found her, you know?” He shuddered and stared at his open palms in his lap. Saw red on them. “It was her weekend and I took the bus home from school like I always did. We were going to go to the boardwalk.”

   His head tipped back and he gave this grim smile. They never made it to that boardwalk, Evie realized. 

   “The smell of that house, I’ll never… Just rotten...and I couldn’t even see her face at first because of all the flies.” It was Billy who reached out aimlessly for Evie’s wrist. Something to stay rooted, she figured. “My mom was beautiful and she always smelled like oranges. Like the big orchard she worked at. But, the fucking house just smelled like shit and piss and vomit and rust when I came in. Like death. I found her in the bathtub all bloated and ugly and the water was already brown. She sat in there alone decaying and no one...”

   Billy kept rubbing his eyes again until they were too swollen to cry. Evie had his hand in both of hers, clamped tight to keep him alert. Unwavering.

   “I didn’t know what to do so I called for help. I couldn’t lift her out, I wasn’t strong enough and I kept screaming...  Then, I tried my dad three times, and...fuck, I ended up calling Susan. They’d started dating a couple of months before and I didn’t like her. Or her kid. But, she was too nice and gave me a number to call if I needed her after they’d gotten serious. I don’t know why I kept it in my backpack. She came when they were loading my mom up. Kept trying to hold me and I wouldn’t let her until I was too weak to fight it.”

   “She does care about you. She’s scared, too.”

   “My dad cleans up his act well from time to time. Plays the perfect father and boyfriend, she fell for it. In too deep now with no way out. He'll bleed her dry, too. My dad, he likes it when people don’t have a way out. Mom found a way though, spite him.” Billy dropped his head back again, chest sinking before he looked at Evie. Quivered there. “I just get...so mad.”

   “I know.” She sank into the seat a little to watch him.

   “She left a note that said sorry. That she loved me. Left this for me, too.” Billy fingered his pendant. “Wasn’t enough. Sometimes, I walk into my own house now and that smell… I can’t escape it. I’m always in that house. In that room with the flies covering everything.”

   That shook Evie. They weren’t perfect kids, but they didn’t deserve to be trapped in that house. In that room. Where trauma was fed on a loop. A haunted house where they were the ghosts doomed and trapped to wander. To relive what killed them from the first.

   “I tried so fucking hard to make her better, I took care of her and I wasn’t there. I let my dad drive her to-”

   “Billy, it’s not your fault.” Evie had his hand pressed against her chest at that. “It’s not.” Both painfully sober, they just looked at each other. Leveled out. “I’m sure she tried so hard for you. Some people, they just… Addiction is…” 

   Evie felt this ice swell up her stomach. Addiction is a harsh cycle. It never really ends, you work at it and fight it, but it’s always there in the back of your memories urging. Once you start, you’re always an addict. Recovering or not. You can’t stop.

   You can’t stop.

   “Getting help is so hard when you’re sick.” Was all Evie could manage. Unable to portray how profoundly she understood. “Your job was to be a kid.”

   “All I wanted was to go back to California and now, I’m not sure if I ever can. Just knowing she won’t be there again. Sometimes when I’m here, I just pretend she’s alive and still picking oranges on long, hot days.” Billy swallowed. “My dad just...shut down for the first time when he showed up to get me from Susan’s. I asked him if he was gonna hug me. Susan had for a long time. And he just tensed and told me not to be soft. That I can’t act like a pussy and mom was just too fucking sick to get better. But, I knew she had a chance. I knew it was enough. I...” Billy’s voice cut over. He tried to gasp for some clear air so Evie pulled him over the seats into her arms.

   “You’re enough.” She said. Plain and simple. So easily.

   Billy vibrated in response.

   "Sometimes I think you navigate the world like something bad is coming for you and you're waiting for it, Evie," he muffled into her, "and I don't want you to go, too."

   "I won't go." Evie held steady, eyes flickering beyond him at dead space. "Promise."

   Hands came up like he might shove her off before Billy shattered. Melted into her heat. The soft slopes of flesh. Arms went under his so she could hold him close. Billy hitched a sob and stopped anything else that dared creep up his throat. Fingers wrung into her clothing. Evie let him squeeze her tight. Within inches of breath. Make her a balmy slice of paradise he could sink into.

   Billy closed his eyes. Face pressing into the line of her collar. Inhaling perfume and lotion. Flames bubbling up from her skin. 

   “Come to bed with me,” Evie’s lips touched his ear, “nothing funny. I just don’t want you to sleep alone tonight.” Billy felt himself relent, only nodded into her hair. 

   They snuck out under street lamps and went into the Fenny house. Cleaned up without words to dress down for bed. Blue wiggled in with them atop the pillows and Billy faced away.

   Evie wished she had something better to say, but she just told him goodnight. Gently murmured it against his spine as she tucked in behind him. 

   “Evie.” Billy shifted after a long beat. Turned over to face her there. Barely awake at that point, her eyes cracked.

   “Hm?”

   “Thanks.” Billy moved again on his back because it always seemed to get her nuzzling into his side. “What I told you. Don’t tell anyone else. Please.” Arm stretching so Evie could take her place and mumble something he didn’t catch, a nod followed. Nose pressing to the cotton tee he left on, Evie slipped away first. Left Billy to his thoughts as he watched the dim lights pull between the blinds and curtains to make patterns along her ceiling. 

   He knew he was consumed and he wasn’t sorry. Not one bit. Evie tumbled deeper into her dreams. Not stirring as fingers played with her curls. Petting them softly. Billy mulled over it all and he just wasn’t ashamed and he couldn’t figure out how to make her see it. But, he was willing to keep trying. Evie was worth trying for, too. Plain and simple. Sighing out, Billy let himself begin to slip too.

   “Anyone…” He couldn’t help uttering, almost melodic. Lashes fluttering. “...who knows what love is…” 

   Billy peered down at Evie’s face, peaceful and relaxed against his chest. Cheek pressing hot through the fabric as his fingertips ran a barely-there line down the silky skin.

   The rest of the lyrics never came. Tangled into his heartstrings where they made a cozy home.

   Billy immersed himself in burning amber, closed his eyes to follow Evie into absolute darkness. Almost paradise.

~~~~~~~

Thanks guys for being so lovely! This is probs my fav chapter to date. Leave words in my ask or replies if you have them! Love to hear from you all xoxo

TAGGED:: @80sbxtch​ @nottherightseason​ @orxhidshavana​   @alagalaska​ @alongcamedolly​ @kellyk-chan​ @10blurredsmoke10 @stanley--barber​ @charmed-asylum​ @unmistakablyunknown​

[ellewritesathing]

So Close  -  S.S. XLIV

Summary: The universe has a funny way of putting the things you want right in front of you, but just out of reach. Stiles and Y/N have been best friends ever since Scott brought him home, but when Stiles realizes that he might want to be something other than best friends, she leaves to go to some fancy private school up North. Now that she’s back though … maybe he’s got a shot? A Teen Wolf AU in which the reader has always been so close to Stiles and yet so far.

Masterlist   Prev. | Part 44

Word-count: 3.7k+

A/N: guys it’s super crazy to me that we’re almost at so close’s one year anniversary and i just wanted to take a second to say thank you for going on this journey with me 💕 here’s to two more seasons (maybe? i’ve heard 6b is trash so i might just skip it lmao)

Every time you and your friends defeated some evil force of nature, there was an eerie quiet that followed. This time that lull was spent cramming for finals and destressing with pack movie nights that almost always turned into sleepovers - at that point, you were spending more time at Lydia’s and Stiles’ houses than you were at your own house. As weird as it was, life felt good. 

At least, it was good until Lydia dragged you and Malia to Macy’s to find dresses for the winter formal. 

“Do I have to wear heels?” Malia asked. She was looking at herself in the mirror, paying special attention to the red heels Lydia picked out. “These are severely uncomfortable.” 

“No,” you said, at the same time that Lydia said: “Yes.”

You rolled your eyes as Lydia launched into her signature ‘it’s senior year’ speech. The first few times, it was endearing and convinced you to do it her way, but by now the effect had worn off. You zoned back in when Lydia hit the ‘it’s our last winter formal of our entire school career. Doesn’t that mean anything’ point. 

“But this is my first winter formal,” Malia said, turning away from the mirror with a frown. 

“And I’ve still got another one next year,” you said. 

“Semantics,” Lydia said with a shrug. When neither of you responded, she sighed and pulled you to your feet as she reached for Malia’s hand. “I didn’t want to play this card but I almost died this year, multiple times.” She squeezed your hand. “You did die.” She turned to Malia. “And your mom tried to kill you.” 

“What does that have to do with us wearing heels?” you asked. 

“Everything! We should be making the most of the life we have left,” Lydia said. Neither you nor Malia looked very convinced. “Okay, fine. It has nothing to do with wearing heels. I thought I could guilt you into doing things my way, but clearly, you two are made of stone, so forget it.” 

She started storming away when you laughed and grabbed her hand again. “Come on, Lyd,” you said, stifling a laugh at how annoyed she still seemed at you and Malia’s indifference to shoes. “You know that if it meant that much to you, we’d wear stilts to the formal.” 

Lydia’s pout faded slightly. She flicked her eyes over to Malia. “Really?” 

“Really,” Malia repeated. After a touching second of comradery, she added, “But, to be clear, these shoes are as far as I’m willing to go.” 

Lydia had an evil look in her eye. The kind of evil that she only got when she received free reign over everyone’s outfits. You’d bet she’d already picked out suits for the guys, judging by the look in her eye when she said, “Deal!” 

---

You loved Lydia, more than almost anyone else in the entire world, but if she patted you with blush one more time then you were going to snap. She was your best friend, you reminded yourself. She knew what she was doing. She taught you how to walk in heels so, of course, you wouldn’t fall. You loved Lydia. 

Lydia patted your nose with a dash of highlight and smiled. “There. You were gorgeous before but now-” 

“Now they can see me from space?” you asked. 

Malia stifled a laugh from the bed while Lydia tried to bite her tongue. “If that’s how you want to look at it,” Lydia said as she packed up her brushes. Malia had managed to escape. “What time are the guys supposed to be here?” 

“I changed the time on Stiles’ phone forward an hour to make sure he wouldn’t be late,” Malia said. 

You frowned and twisted around in your seat to look at her. “Wait, but I put an alarm on all Scott’s clocks to go off at every fifteen-minute interval.”

“So you’re saying they don’t know what time it is, they're wasting more time by arguing over whose time is right, and delayed by constant alarm bells?” Lydia asked. You and Malia looked at one another awkwardly for a moment. Lydia let out a sigh and grabbed her keys off the vanity. “Let’s go pick them up.” 

“I call shotgun!” Malia said as she got to her feet. 

“No way!” You caught her arm, partly for stability and partly to stop her from barreling into the passenger’s seat. “You’re in a suit. I’m in a dress.” 

“So?” 

“So, you can slide into the back,” you said. 

“Ladies-” Lydia cut in before Malia could call your argument stupid, but you knew she was thinking it. “Neither of you are riding shotgun if I leave without you.” 

With a final look at one another, you and Malia followed behind Lydia and piled into the car. You’d already found something new and equally dumb to talk about within a few minutes as Lydia drove. 

She was surprisingly calm, considering what happened at the last dance she went to, and it clicked that maybe that’s why she planned out every last detail of this night. Your heart ached for her but you spotted a broken down Jeep on the side of the road and your attention drifted. 

Malia turned the radio before rolling down her window as Lydia pulled over. Scott and Stiles didn’t even notice you guys at first because they were too busy arguing over the alarm that wouldn’t shut up. 

“I’ve heard if you show some skin then you’re more likely to get a ride,” Malia called out to them when she got bored of their bickering. Honestly, you wanted to hear more about the fourteenth way that Stiles was going to dispose of the alarm, but you got why she cut to the chase. 

Stiles’s heart didn’t skip a beat; not even a second later and he was rolling up his pant leg. “This enough or should I ditch the tie and a couple of buttons?” 

None of you bothered to hide your laughs or rolling eyes as he broke into a very clumsy dance. You pushed open your door as Stiles started shimmying off his jacket. 

“Hey, do you want to get it before you lose your pants, or have we changed our minds about the formal?” you asked, a silly smile still plastered on your face. 

Stiles froze when he saw you, jacket around his elbows and mouth slightly open. His hair was slightly messed up in the wind, face lit up by the light of the passing cars and setting sun. You wished you could have frozen this moment, this version of him where he was so carefree and happy. 

Lydia was the one who snapped you out of it. “Oh, my god. Are you two going to stare at each other like that the whole night?” she asked. 

You gave a nervous laugh and slid into the middle. “Come on. We can call Noah to pick up the Jeep.”

Scott hit Stiles’ arm and then they packed into the seats next to you. It was awkwardly quiet but then Malia turned the music back up and Lydia asked about Liam, and everything was back to normal. Not quite the frozen moment you replayed in your head, but happy. The happiest any of you had been in a while. 

Stiles was unusually quiet on the way to the school, though he did bounce his leg and bite at his nails. In a winning move to make you feel nervous, he stared out the window the entire time and only snapped out of it to open his door after Lydia parked. He held the door open for you after he got out. 

You mumbled a thank you, feeling awkward as you teetered out of the car in Lydia’s heels. Now that you were at school and looking at all the cheesy decorations, you felt a little sick. And then Stiles touched your hand. 

“Hey, look, I wanna apologize for being so weird,” he said. “You just, uh- you look good. Like really good. And I’m so bad at these things. So, uh, I’m sorry for being weird.” Stiles took a deep breath and rolled his wrists to motion toward you. “Okay, you talk now.” 

You laughed and took his hands in yours. This night felt like when you’d first come back and you were both annoying everyone by hiding your feelings from one another. “You had me worried there for a second. I thought the dress might have scared you off.” 

“Oh, no. The dress definitely did not scare me off,” Stiles said with a nervous laugh. “Did I mention you look really good yet?” 

“No, I don’t think you did,” you hummed. You lifted his hand to your mouth and kissed it. He stared at your hand as you let it fall to your side again. “Why are you looking at me like that again?” 

Stiles had that look in his eyes from the moment frozen in time on the side of the road. He was happy, if a little disbelieving and preoccupied. “You’re wearing the ring. Did something happen to the chain? Did it break?” 

“No, the necklace is perfect,” you said quickly. He put your hand over his to get a better look at his mom’s old ring. You could still remember the day the two of you stole it; Claudia was so mad but Noah thought it was hilarious. Your voice softened at the memory. “I didn’t think it would fit but it was so big on me back then. Lydia was the one who pointed out that if it was your mom’s then it should fit now that I’m not eight years old.” 

“Always full of ideas, that one,” Stiles mumbled as he looked at the ring. He ran his thumb over it carefully.  

You smiled, looking at him instead of the ring. This would be another moment you’d keep forever if you could. Instead of saying something so incredibly cheesy, you said, “Yeah, and Malia was the one that pointed out that if it got stuck, she could cut my finger off and Deaton could stitch it back up.”

Stiles laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like her.” In a quick move, he turned your hand over in his and interlaced your fingers. He shot a glance at the school. “Alright, let’s get this over and done with.” 

“That’s the spirit, babe.”

You held onto Stiles a little tighter than usual, partly due to the heels and icy ground and partly just because you could. Once you got inside, he tightened his grip as yours loosened. You guessed it was partly due to the people and the noise and partly just because he could. 

It took a minute before you found your friends scattered around the gym. Liam and Hayden were awkwardly dancing under the disco ball. Corey was counting how many pixie stix Mason could fit in his mouth at once. Lydia was talking to (or rejecting, hard to tell at that distance) one of the guys from the lacrosse team. Lastly, Scott and Malia were against a wall, drinking punch, and talking softly.

Actually, the last thing you noticed was the photo-booth in the corner. You gave Stiles a mischievous smile and tugged on his arm.

“No way.”

“We’re already here! And you look so nice in your suit.” 

“A photo-booth is where I draw the line. I’ll do dances. I’ll let Lydia do my eyebrows again. I’ll crawl over broken glass for you. I’d even eat cilantro for you. But there is no way we’re doing the photobooth.” 

“Well, I don’t see any broken glass or cilantro, so photo-booth it is.” 

Stiles groaned but followed after you anyway. As a result, he was pouting and pretending to be grumpy in the first set of photos and you were lovingly harassing him. It was only in the second last photo that he broke his composure and started laughing. In the very last one, he kissed you. 

The next set of photos were just of the two of you kissing. The third set was the best; both of you were laughing and playing around. And then Lydia tracked you down, bringing Scott and Malia with her. Those photos with all of you crammed in the booth were hilarious, but not nearly as funny as when Liam, Mason, Hayden, and Corey tried to shove their way in and Coach banned you all from using the photo-booth. 

You turned to the dancefloor in a laughing heap. Malia was by far the best dancer (Stiles was arguably the worst, though Liam gave him a run for his money), and she took turns dancing and jumping around with each of you. Liam twirled you around a few times until you tripped over your heels, he caught you, and Stiles told him to keep his dirty little werewolf hands to himself. Liam pressed an impulsive kiss to your cheek before disappearing into the crowd with Hayden before Stiles punched him. It was nothing but dumb, teenage fun. 

And then a slow song started playing. 

Bits of your group broke off to get punch or find a dance partner, and soon it was just you and Stiles. He dropped his eyes for a second before taking a step closer and holding out a hand to you. You tilted your head at him. 

“Typically, when one goes to a winter formal one dances with their date,” Stiles said. 

“Does one?” 

Stiles had a barely contained smile on his face. “One does. How the dance is initiated varies on formal to formal basis, but generally once initiated, the invitee and the inviter dance.” 

“Wait. Aren’t the invitee and inviter the same person?” you asked, tilting your head to the side. “Should I go so you can pull a Billy Idol and dance with yourself?”

“Oh my god, would you just shut up and dance with me?” Stiles asked, shaking around the hand he offered you. 

You grinned and took his hand in yours, placing your other hand on his shoulder. “I thought you’d never ask.” 

Stiles rolled his eyes but it faded away to a reluctant smile after a few seconds. Neither of you knew exactly how to dance, so you just swayed together. Fairly far apart at first, but you moved closer and closer together as the song went on. Eventually, the song ended and your head was tucked into the crook of Stiles’ neck, with your hands on his shoulder blades and under his jacket to keep warm. 

The songs were cheesy and the decorations were cliche. This night was everything you and Stiles liked to make fun of, and yet … there the two of you were, slow dancing to fast songs and smiling like idiots. 

You kissed the spot on his neck just below his jaw and rested your chin on his shoulder to whisper in his ear. “Hey, thank you for this.” 

“Of course,” Stiles said. “Besides, it’s not like there was any broken glass or cilantro around.” 

“Shut up.” You laughed and pulled away slightly. He was amused when you looked at him, and you fell a little bit more in love with him when you saw his smile under the purple LED lights. “Do you wanna get out of here?”

Stiles tilted his head. “And go where?” 

“Anywhere you want,” you said with a shrug. 

“You just want to take advantage of me in my post-dance haze,” Stiles teased. 

“Of course. Have you seen you in that suit?” 

Stiles got flustered and started sputtering a response as you laughed and untangled yourself from him. You promised to meet him outside as soon as you told Scott you were leaving. He wasn’t too surprised by the fact that you guys were ducking out early, but Malia made a joke that wiped the teasing smile straight off his face. You left them bickering with one another and left to find Stiles. 

Though the music was still loud enough for you to hear once you were outside, it faded as the gym doors closed behind you. You didn’t realize how much you’d needed the quiet until you were out in the cold, with the fresh air stinging your lungs and waking you up. 

Stiles was waiting just outside the gym for you, talking to his dad on the phone. Apparently, he’d replaced the Jeep’s flat tire and gotten Parrish to drop it off at the school. Noah had just stopped talking about the formal and started talking about proper driving safety when you wrapped your arms around Stiles' waist. 

Noah started berating him not paying attention when Stiles burst out laughing. He sputtered out an apology while you did everything in your power to keep him laughing and awkward. When Noah got grumpy and hung up, you laughed and he turned to glare at you … which only made you laugh harder. 

“You’re a real pain in my ass, you know that?” Stiles asked. He was trying very valiantly to pretend to be mad at you, but his mouth was turned up at the corner, giving him away. 

“Oh yeah?” You leaned in closer and whispered, “Then stop holding my hand.”

“No way in hell,” Stiles said, managing to pull you in even closer. You laughed and stumbled into him. The two of you shuffled to the Jeep without letting go of each other, laughing and stubbornly refusing to let go of each other. 

Even as Stiles drove, you held his hand and harassed him from the passenger seat. You were feeling something you hadn’t felt in a long time; the feeling was light and airy. Happiness, you thought. 

Looking at Stiles in the light of the diner’s parking lot, you didn’t just think it was happiness - you knew it was. A sneaky little dark feeling in your heart told you that you’d never feel as happy as you did again. It didn’t matter though, you were so used to being sad that you could tune it out. 

Or at least, you thought you could. 

It was more difficult to tune out the sadness once you were inside. Stiles was rambling on about everyone at the formal and how glad he was that he never had to go to another high school dance. He meant well, but all it did was remind you that he would be leaving in a few months. 

“Hey, what’s with the look?” Stiles asked, pushing his empty plate to the side. 

“I don’t have a look,” you said defensively. 

“You totally have a look and you’re looking at me with your look right now,” Stiles said. He paused and tilted his head, but tried again. “Okay, now you look confused but still. What’s wrong?” 

You sighed and shook your head, moving your glass out of the way so you could lean your elbows on the table. With your head resting in your hands, you sighed. “This is your last high school dance.” 

“Yeah, so?” Stiles asked. He reached his hands across the table but they were still too far away to hold yours unless you moved. 

“I’ve still got a year of them,” you said, looking up from his hands to meet his eyes and shrugging. “That’s all.” 

“Oh, God,” Stiles groaned. He pulled his hand back to cover his face with them. “I’ve been a total ass this whole night. I’m so sorry.” 

“Hey, that’s not what I meant,” you said, reaching across the table to grab his hands. “I know you’re just excited to graduate, and I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. I’m just a little bummed that you’re all moving on and I’m still staying here.” 

“You shouldn’t have to be bummed,” Stiles said. He moved his hands around to hold yours and gave you an encouraging smile. “How long have you felt this way?” 

“Since you and Scott started elementary school and I was in kindergarten.” You laughed at your own joke but Stiles was still looking at you with a concerned look on his face. It was sweet. You ran your thumb across the outside of his hand. “I don’t know … since you started working on the big plan post-graduation and I realized I wasn’t graduating.” 

“Seriously? That was months ago,” Stiles said, moving closer. “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

You shrugged. “You were excited. I didn’t want to ruin it.” 

“You could never ruin anything,” Stiles said. He squeezed your hands and leaned over to kiss you. 

You smiled at him, lifting a hand to his cheek. Without thinking, you blurted out, “You promise you won’t go to college and forget about me? Trade me in for some weirdly flexible dance major?”

“I will never, ever forget about you,” Stiles promised. “Alright? No matter what. No matter how many dance majors come my way.” 

“I love you.” 

“I love you, too. Hand me your purse?” 

Despite your confusion at the sudden change of pace, you put your purse on the table as Stiles slumped into his seat and dug his wallet out of his pocket. He started looking through your purse without explaining what he was looking for. Eventually, Stiles took out the strip of photos with the two of you, tore it in half, and shushed your protests. He tucked one half in front of his driver’s license. 

“There. Now I’ll look at you whenever I open my wallet or get pulled over. Which, uh, you should know I get pulled over a lot.” Stiles laughed under his breath and tucked away his wallet again. 

“Thank you,” you said quietly. 

You were going to lean across the table to kiss him when Liam barrelled into you as he scooted into your booth. Stiles was in the process of biting his head off when Scott slid in. And then Lydia. And Malia. And then Mason, Corey, and Hayden stole some chairs from nearby tables and huddled around the table. 

“What? You guys didn’t think you were eating without us?” Liam asked. 

You rolled your eyes and messed up his hair. “Of course not, biscuit. I could never get rid of you.” 

“Yeah, you’re like gum under my shoe,” Stiles mumbled. 

He and Liam started bickering and you laughed. There was that light, airy feeling again. As long as you had your friends, it didn’t matter where you all ended up. 

You’d love each other all the same, even from a phone call away. 

Tagged: @ietss​  @used-avocado​

[laceymorganwrites]

Eternity in your arms

Word Count: 6,179 Pairing: Ban x reader

Warnings: swear words, smut at the end A/N: um, i went a bit overboard with this….been rewatching nnt recently and had this idea so ya...

The forgotten one (Merlin´s perspective)

The supreme deity is known for cursing her daughters, if she had more than one…

But she only gave birth to Elizabeth, didn´t she? What if I told you she had another daughter, who was even older than Elizabeth? Would you even believe me? Maybe the idea seems crazy at first, but think about it: think about the forgotten one. There exists one person that has been eliminated from everybody´s memories and knowledge, but why is that? What did she do to deserve this? Well, if my theory is correct and she is indeed the first daughter of the supreme deity, it would all make sense. What if she was even stronger than her mother and would replace her some day? It would only be logical to the deity to take away her daughter´s wings and make everybody forget about her existence, wouldn´t it? She wouldn´t have to be afraid of her daughter replacing her this way. And it is quite peculiar, considering all of the goddesses are strong except for one, the one they sent to the front rows… if she wasn´t dead, it would´ve been a pleasure to confirm my theory.

3,000 years ago, during the holy war

It was a mess of wings, magic and blood. It was chaos, you lost the overview a long time ago, now you were just standing in the middle of it all, completely lost and surrounded by the explosive impact it all had on you. It was loud, but it felt numb. It was war. Being the weakest daughter of the supreme deity wasn´t something to envy, you always had to fight to get her approval. You trained and fought and did everything she asked until she didn´t show you her hate anymore. She even allowed you to fight in the front lines in the war to seal the demon clan away. You promised to make her proud, but you lost the overview in the battlefield. Desperately trying to get it back you stumbled over a fairy corpse and fell against a demon. It was in this instance you knew you lost, you saw your sister run to you from the distance, she screamed out your name, shouted to you to get away, but you were in a trance, you couldn´t move. You were born without wings, so you were useless, your mother said. She now also saw your misery and shook her head at you. “All you´ve ever done is disappoint me...I wish you would just vanish from this world...but that punishment would be too light. Instead, I curse you to wander the earth in solitude all eternity! Everyone you shall meet, shall forget you immediately after and you shall be forgotten! It will be like you never existed!” the supreme deity´s words reached your ears right before the demon smashed you against a tree with all his might. Your body broke and you slid down onto the ground, falling unconscious right after.

30 years ago

You awoke feeling lightheaded, everything around you was dead silent, which confused you. Sitting up slowly and looking around, you found yourself shocked. Where was everyone? There was no blood, no corpses, no fighting. Everything was gone. “Hello?” you called out for someone, but nobody answered. You stood up and walked around to see where you were. Surrounded by woods, it was difficult to see, everything was dark and the only sounds you could make out were those of the animals. You tried to cast Ark, but it didn´t work. “Why can´t I use it? What is happening?” you were hysterical, weren´t you a goddess? Shouldn´t you be able to cast a spell or use magic? Maybe it was because you didn´t have wings. Where did you lose them again? Right...you were born without them. A disgrace to your race, to your mother, the supreme deity. And then it all came back to you. “She cursed me...” you whispered, you didn´t want this to be true. What have you ever done to her? All you did was everything she asked, you never spoke up about anything, wasn´t that enough? What else could you have done? “She...she wanted me to vanish” you realized and sighed, shaking your head. “But instead she cursed me with eternity...” you continued walking through the woods and finally reached the clear. It was too dark to see anything, so you rested until the sun came up. Then you could finally see a small town in the far distance. Somehow that motivated you and on midday you reached the town. A smile curled around your lips as you saw the people and town flourishing, that must mean you had won the war.

Now you wanted to confirm that and started walking faster. You didn´t really notice where you were going, so you bumped into a child. “Oh!

I´m sorry, little one” you bowed your head and apologized. The child didn´t say anything, but hurried away from you. Then you realized he had taken your necklace in the process. You ran after the child and stopped him. “Give it back to me! My sister gave this to me!” you yelled at him, he wasn´t even fazed, while you were angered. You ripped the necklace from his hands and wanted to go your way again, until you noticed his eyes. What shocked you wasn´t the unusual red color of them, but rather the empty look he gave you. “You little devil!” you growled at him, but then you sighed. “Where are your parents, little one? I´m bringing you back to them” you calmed your voice and talked gentler. As soon as you mentioned his parents, the boy seemed frightened. “Please don´t! I don´t wanna go back! I´m sorry I stole your necklace, please don´t bring me to them...anything but that!” he clutched onto your dress desperately. “Fine! Just...let go of me!” you grumbled and slightly pushed him away from you. There was no resistance, you could feel his bones underneath the worn out shirt he was wearing. Before you could say anything, he ran away from you.

Suddenly you noticed the dirt in the city, the worn out houses and suspicious people, who all looked at you with those cruel, greedy eyes. With a bad gut feeling, you continued to walk through the city, eventually reaching the good parts of this town. “Hey you! Did we win?” you asked a man who crossed your path. He just looked at you as if your were crazy. “Win what?” he asked. “The war! Did we manage to seal them away?” you asked again. “Do you mean the holy war? Of course we won that, but that was about 3,000 years ago...every child knows that” he shook his head in disapproval and went his way. In the next few days you tried your best to gather all the information you could get about where and when you woke up, everybody told you the war was long over, but for you it felt like yesterday that you were in the middle of it. “I´m not crazy...” you muttered to yourself, it was devastating that nobody believed you, and even more so that nobody remembered you. You ran into the kid occasionally, he was always accompanied by a man, who seemed kind. The kid didn´t look beat up anymore, he had a healthy weight now and his eyes seemed to gleam with happiness. It brought a smile on your face, maybe you could also experience this happiness someday. He bumped into you many more times, but when he did it again on the next day, he had already forgotten you. So this was what solitude felt like, the supreme deity was right, it was hell indeed. And you needed to change that, you needed to find a mage that could lift the curse. Maybe Merlin was still alive, but before you could finish the thought, you heard cries from a big mansion. Following your instincts, you rushed in and saved the kid from getting beat up more. You grabbed him and escaped, he showed you the way to a secret hideout he apparently shared with the man he was always with, so he told you. “Where´s your friend, little one?” you asked him, the feeling you had about this wasn´t good. He sat down next to you with his head down and shoulders slouched. “He didn´t come...” he whispered. You gently placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “I´m sure something important happened, he didn´t leave you behind, he wouldn´t do that. If you remember one thing I said to you, please remember this.” you told him sincerely. He looked away and pouted. “Thank you...” he said as if he forced the words to come out of his mouth. You tilted your head and frowned, nobody has ever thanked you for anything. “...for saving me, you were just suddenly there...like an angel” he spoke like he just saw a miracle. “I´m far from an angel, little one.” you mumbled. “I know this sounds crazy but I feel like we´ve met before” he said out of the blue. “Do you remember?” could it be that the curse has been broken? “Remember what? I know we haven´t met before, but you just seem familiar...like Zhivago. He also saved me” he explained. “Oh...well, either way, I´m glad you´re safe.” you told him. “Listen, kid, I know you´re not gonna remember me in the morning, but if you have the chance, leave this town, and keep on living a happy life” you said, but then frowned. What was the point in telling him all of this when he´d just forget it anyway? What was the point in saving a child from a broken world? But you had to give it a try, you just had to do something...and then it came to you. Writing your words down and everything else you said to him, your story, who you were, you handed it to him. Even if he would forget you, you wrote down the proof that you´ve met before. He would forget you, but not the words you told him, maybe you could save him after all. Then you continued your journey, you would exist again, this was your goal.

20 years ago

You grew infuriated by your curse, growing more and more lonely, without any cure in sight. Entering a bar in the town you were currently gathering information about mages, you sat down in front of the barman and asked him. Unfortunately he also didn´t know anything, so you just ordered a drink. Someone plopped down next to you and also ordered something to drink. “Oi, I heard you ask about mages...I´m going to a place that might interest you” the stranger said. That was when you faced...crimson eyes? You frowned, he seemed familiar, you just couldn´t figure out why. “And what would that place be?” you couldn´t deny your interest, you just had to take the shot, you had tot try it, what else could you lose?

“Ever heard of the fountain of youth?” his eyes lit up as he grinned at you. Your eyes shot wide open and you leaned forward a bit. “You´re going to the fairy king´s forest?!” you smiled, maybe the fairies could help you. He nodded and smirked at you. “Wanna come?” he asked. You nodded heavily. “Guess that makes us partners~” he said in a sing sang voice. You reached out your hand. “I´m (Y/N)!” you introduced yourself. “Ban” he shook your hand and then proceeded to dash out of the bar. “Bastard!” you yelled as you realized he had stolen your necklace, again. You ran after him and were able to catch up with him. “You little devil, give it back!” you screamed at him. “Huh? Who´re you?” he looked at you dumbfounded and you groaned, ripping the necklace from his hands. You proceeded to write down the happening in your notebook, before handing it to him. “Do you still have that piece of paper I gave to you?” you asked, to which he nodded and read it. “I´d say that´s bullshit, but I remember stealing this necklace before” he mumbled. “Just hold onto this if we´re to run into each other ever again, I don´t want to start over every time” you said. He nodded and went back to the bar.

And before you knew it, you were on your way to the fairy king´s forest, holding onto your necklace. “Lizzie, what am I supposed to do if I don´t find a cure? All I have left of you is this necklace, I  don´t even know what happened to you...I´m sorry for being such a disappointment...I just wish I wasn´t alone, I wish people would remember me” you sighed, lying in the soft grass as nightfall came and tears rolled down your face. “I´m so terribly lonely!” you cried out into the night air. “Are you happy now, supreme deity?! Can you hear me?! You won! I wish I was dead, okay?!” you cried out, falling to your knees. “What else do you want from me?” you whispered defeated. Something shifted beside you, making you jump slightly. “I finally found you, forgotten one” Merlin smirked. You stood up to face her. “So my theory was true after all...” she reminisced. “Who are you? What do you want from me?” you asked. The mage rolled her eyes and changed her appearance to how it was 3,000 years ago. You gasped and then smiled widely, you finally met her. “Merlin!” you hugged her and she changed back into the grown up version of herself. “I searched for you all these years...” you told her. “You see, my mother cursed me and I think you might be just the person who can lift it from me. I´ll do everything you ask of me in return” you still couldn´t believe your luck, finally something would happen. Merlin smirked. “Getting to know your curse is already reward enough for me” she said. The mage then started to work her magic on you, frowning. “There are four cursed parts in you, I´m afraid I can only cure two of them… your mother sealed your powers away in the necklace you wear, I can unleash them, then there´s the eternal life. I´m afraid I cannot undo this, but what I can undo are the effects of it, I can make people remember you again. And then there´s the fourth one, this curse hasn´t been unleashed yet...I don´t know what kind of curse it is, it seems like the opposite of the forgotten one but I can´t be sure unless it´s unleashed. But I don´t know how to unleash it...I´m sorry” Merlin said. You couldn´t help but laugh, your mother hated you so much, she cursed you four times. “Thank you, Merlin. For helping me. I would like the curses to be broken, so please, undo what you can, I´ll just have to live with the rest...” you frowned, thinking about the last decade, about how things would change now, but maybe the change wasn´t so good, maybe you were better off cursed. If people would remember you now, there would be a risk of falling in love, everyone you´d meet and get attached to would die eventually, this curse was even worse than the ones your mother bestowed you with. You sighed as you nodded to Merlin and she started to commence with her magic treatment. First she set the people´s memories free, everybody would remember you now. Then she broke your necklace, unleashing all your power that your mother took away from you. It was so overwhelming that it brought you to your knees, it was like hot and cold energy was flowing through your entire body, making you feel dizzy and start shaking, you had a murderous headache. You screamed as your wings forced themselves out of your body again, and then it was over, the former uncontrollable energy has quieted down and your wings didn´t hurt anymore. Smiling you stood up and flapped your wings, the weight felt good. “Thank you, Merlin” she smirked. “You´re very welcome. Now, what do you plan on doing with your new half uncursed life?” she asked you. You said nothing for a while, not having thought about that yourself, but then you smiled to yourself. “I´m going back to the city to see Ban” you couldn´t quite figure it out, this feeling you got every time you saw or thought about him. What was it that drew you to him? You needed to find out. Merlin chuckled: “Are you going to tell him?”. “Tell him what? How can I tell him something I myself haven´t figured out yet?” you asked. “Your heart figured it out already, you´re just trying to tell your head the same thing. I saw your memories and feelings when I broke your curse. You love him, but you don´t know why, so you´re telling yourself you don´t. I get it, the need for a logical explanation for everything, you´re telling yourself it´s too soon, it´s wrong, it can´t be...you don´t even know him, do you? But that´s where it gets interesting, you and your sister have an enormous heart, you feel things on such a high level, you feel more than anyone could ever imagine. Your sister accepted it, now you have to too. There´s nothing wrong with loving someone, even if you don´t know why… that´s what makes love so interesting, it´s nothing we can control, but it controls us, it makes sense when you think about it. People act on love to justify it instead of just letting it be and following their heart. I understand your struggle, but if there´s one thing I learned from your sister it is following your heart” Merlin smirked as you blushed, you felt so exposed. “But what if he doesn´t love me back? And even if...we could never be together...” you whispered, slouching your shoulders. “He´d clearly be a fool not to love you” Merlin mumbled.

Your feet subconsciously dragged you back to the city, you almost ran. Your eyes searched for Ban, but you didn´t admit it to yourself. Ignoring the people staring at your wings, you finally found him sitting on a small hill in the outskirts of the city. He sat there, crouched, with his head resting on his arms that were hugging his legs. He seemed glum, looking up at the moon. You felt your heart and lungs squeeze together and had to physically restrain yourself from hugging him. Hesitantly you sat down next to him and as he noticed, he flashed you a big toothy grin, making your chest flutter. You returned a shy smile. “I always knew you were an angel” he remarked, pointing at your wings. With a hopeful look on your face you turned to him. “Do you remember?” you asked and smiled when he nodded. “I thought I´d never see you again” he admitted sadly. “We always cross each other´s paths, don´t we?” you whispered, looking into the distance. “I know...and I´m glad. I don´t know what I´d do if we didn´t...” he confessed. You tilted your head. “Why is that?” you asked him. “Now that I remember, I know that you were always there for me, protecting me. You saved me from getting killed that time I was a kid… you know, I really thought there was something between us, like a connection, destiny or whatever… but then I realized that I only felt that way because I owed you for saving me. It´s just...this notebook you gave me, I always felt as if I knew you and now that you´re here before me, everything makes sense and confuses me at the same time. I just can´t figure it out” he told you. His words left you speechless, your heart hammered in your chest. Follow your heart, what was that even supposed to mean? You were about to find out. “I did...or rather, a friend helped me figure it out. She also lifted some of my curses. She told me that I should just follow my heart and not listen to my head, because love doesn´t need reason, it just...is. And I think she´s right, because all this time I kept telling myself what I felt couldn´t be and I tried to justify it in some twisted way, I think you´re the same… so, let´s figure it out together, whatever this is” you spoke boldly, feeling dizzy from the blood rushing in your head. Your hand subconsciously found its way to cup Ban´s cheek, looking up to him for permission. You were met with his eyes filled with desire, he gave you a soft smile as you both anticipated and bathed in the friction between you two. Slowly you leaned in, Ban meeting you halfway. As your lips finally connected it was as if thousand fireworks went off at the same time, illuminating you in warm light. You smiled into the soft kiss and kissed Ban more eager and hungry, it felt so good and so right, this was the closure you needed. Waves of energy and electricity rushed through your body, making you feel light. You held hands with Ban and pulled him closer with your wings so that he held you close by your waist. Ban slowly pulled away and opened his eyes. He looked at you for a while, smiling, before he spoke: “I think I love you”.

The fourth curse

Your mind went pitch black, it was as if something was ripped out of your life, or rather someone, but you couldn´t figure it out. You were sitting in the grass with a stranger next to you, you didn´t know how you got there and what you wanted. The last thing you remembered was that Merlin lifted the curse your mother bestowed on you. Merlin. You needed to find her, maybe she could explain all this, you must´ve been on a journey with her. You figured you should find her and left the hill, but the stranger came after you. “(Y/N)! Wait! Don´t you have anything to say to me? Was it all worth nothing? I wanted to get the fountain of youth to be with you! I really thought you loved me back...” he yelled, making you tilt your head. “Do I know you? I´m pretty sure we haven´t met before, what are you yelling about?” you asked confused. “You don´t remember me?” he asked, defeated. You frowned. “No. Should I?” you went on your way, leaving him behind without losing another thought on him.

Wandering the streets and then the woods until you finally found Merlin, you suddenly felt lost, without a goal in life. But that was because Merlin lifted your curse, you told yourself.

She looked at you confused when you came back. “Haven´t you spoken to Ban?” she asked and you asked yourself who that was. “Who?” you asked her. Merlin frowned and her face was full of concern. “Why don´t you remember him? You love him...” she told you. “I don´t love anyone, I never have” you answered, what was wrong with Merlin? “This can´t be right, something must´ve happened...” she mumbled. “Let me see your curses once again! Maybe this is the fourth one...” she asked but you declined. “I´m not letting you in my head again, you already cured me, there´s nothing else you can do” you demanded.

16 years ago

You were traveling with Merlin for quite a while now, helping her find magical objects and such. You even joined the holy knights with her, you were now traveling with a group called the seven deadly sins. The group was led by the son of the demon king, Meliodas. You confronted him about it, saying he should be long sealed away with the other demons. This was when you found out about what happened to him and your sister in the holy war, it left you completely cold. Merlin figured out your curse was a loveless life, but you didn´t think it was that bad, your mother protected you from getting hurt this way. Meliodas was out to recruit a new member on this day, that left only Diane, Merlin and you. Diane said she´d gather food so Merlin and you were all alone now.

“(Y/N), I´ve had quite enough of this curse, a life without love is not befitting for you. I know how much you love your sister, I can´t stand how her fate leaves you so cold… and you don´t even remember Ban, that´s just tragic… you don´t even care, do you? Don´t you see how much you´ve changed? It scares me, I will lift the curse, and if I have to knock you out for it!” she warned you, you´ve never seen her so angry before, it made you smirk. “Do you really think you can knock me out, little girl? Need I remind you that I´m a goddess stronger than my mother? And how often do I need to tell you to stop mentioning this Ban guy, I don´t know who that is!” she infuriated you, always trying to tell you you were a different person than you were. You were sick of it. “Yo! This is Ban, I just broke him out of prison, he´s gonna travel with us now” Meliodas announced when he was back. It broke Ban´s heart all over again seeing you like this, with this stern expression on your face, like you didn´t even know him. This wasn´t the you he remembered and knew, but did he really know you? He doubted it. You slowly stalked towards him without any expression on your face. “So you´re Ban, huh? I´ve heard quite a lot about you… tell me why I should remember you again?” your cold words were like knives in his heart, how could you have changed so much? “That´s it! I´ve had enough of it! Meliodas, hold her down!” Merlin shouted as she cast a magic spell on you, making you unable to move. “You´re making a huge mistake, Merlin. I told you to never get into my head again, you´re gonna regret this!” you hissed at her, trying to use your powers to fight against her, but you couldn´t do a thing. Merlin cast a magic insight of your head again and sighed heavily. “So I was right after all...”. She turned to Meliodas and Ban. “Before I break the curse, I think it´s only fair if you know what exactly is going on with (Y/N). The supreme deity, her mother, cursed her four times. The first curse was sealing her powers away, the second one was eternal life, the third one was making everyone forget about her and the fourth one is taking all the love away from her life, making her forget about her true love and not being able to express love ever again. Don´t be mad at her for being so cold, it wasn´t her fault, she had no other choice but act that way, all the love she had was taken away from her by force. I can´t imagine in how much pain she must be, after all she always felt more than others, just like her sister. Now, I don´t know what is going to happen after I lift the curse, I don´t know if she will remember you, Ban. But I will try anyways...” she concentrated and lifted your final curse.

You opened your eyes with the worst feeling of guilt and sorry you ever felt. What have you done? How could you break people´s hearts like that? It was cruel. You looked up at the smirking face of Merlin, a smiling Meliodas and Ban who looked like his whole world just crumbled. “Welcome back” Merlin said, followed by Meliodas´ chuckle. “We should have a drink!” he announced. Ban still didn´t say anything, he didn´t even look at you, but who could blame him. Before you knew it you were dashing out of the room, the pain in your chest was too much to bear. You ran until you couldn´t feel your feet anymore and then you slid down a wall and cried, because you didn´t know what else to do. After ten minutes when your tears have finally dried out, Merlin came to talk to you. “See? It´s better not being cursed” she sat down next to you. “Thank you, Merlin” you whispered. “You should come back, Ban and you have much to catch up on” she smiled. You shook your head. “I can´t go back to him, not after all I´ve done...I can´t even look at him without being ashamed of myself! Besides, I don´t think he wants to see me...” you mumbled, this was your own fault, you only deserved to feel the hurt you did right now. “You have to talk to him eventually, you know? It won´t be as bad as you think. I can only imagine how bad you must feel right now, but Ban will understand it, he will forgive you, he loves you” she sighed. “I don´t believe that” you said quietly, tears rolling down your cheeks yet again. “Come on, let´s go back” Merlin took your hand and dragged you back to your hideout. It was already late in the evening when you got back and Meliodas and Diane were fast asleep, Ban was still awake.

“Talk to him” Merlin urged you. Your guilt ate you alive, you just wanted to leave and never come back. But you couldn´t run like a coward again, you had to face your fears and take responsibility for your actions. With a shaking hand you knocked on his door. He opened it, still not looking at you. “I´m sorry for everything I said and did while I was cursed” you told him sincerely. He shook his head. “It´s not your fault, you don´t need to apologize for anything. Please come in, I need to tell you something” he had the same look of guilt in his eyes as you. You slowly walked in his room and closed the door, leaning against it. “What´s wrong, Ban?” you asked him gently. He sat down on his bed, sighing heavily.

“After you left that night, I didn´t know what to do, I was lost. But in the end I still went to the fairy king´s forest to get the fountain of youth...I told myself it wasn´t for you, but for me. I don´t want to die, you know? And...when I got there, there was this girl, Elaine...” he started sobbing and you frowned as he continued. “She was up there all alone, you know? She had no one, she told me. We got really close in this time, I stayed with her, I didn´t want the fountain anymore. Did you know it was the very thing that kept the fairy king´s forest alive? I couldn´t steal something like that. And then one day demons attacked, burning the whole thing down. I killed the demon, or so I thought… I didn´t know they had three hearts, he got Elaine and I told her to drink the fountain, which she did. And then I also got hurt and she… she kissed me, forcing me to drink the fountain. I knew she loved me, but I didn´t. I still loved you, I never loved anybody but you, even after you left, I couldn´t forget you and that´s so unfair towards Elaine. I should´ve loved her back. But I didn´t. It´s my fault she died.” Ban looked up at you, tears streaming down his face, he had a pleading look on his face, almost as if he begged you to forgive him. You gulped and walked over to him, sitting down next to him and pulling him close, cradling his back and hair until he calmed down. “It´s not your fault, there´s nothing you could´ve done to prevent her death. I´m sorry, Ban, I really am. But… you shouldn´t love me. Not after all I´ve done and said to you. And also not before that. We didn´t even know each other, it would´ve never worked, you were mortal, I should´ve never approached you after my curse was broken, it was selfish. Everything about us is wrong, Ban, can´t you see that? You wanted to have eternal life because of me, you wanted to bestow yourself with the worst and unbreakable curse because of a girl you didn´t even know? That´s just reckless… and forgiving yourself to move on is just stupid. I´m sorry, but loving me isn´t getting you anywhere...” you told him. Ban pulled away from your arms to look at you. “I know and I´m sorry, I just thought...I just thought you loved me back, because after all this time I still love you and I really don´t know what I should do with that, now that you´re telling me this is never going to work” his head hung low. You grabbed his hand and softly caressed it with your own as you chuckled. “I love you too, Ban. I just couldn´t say it back then, if you never told me, maybe I could´ve saved you...but it´s too late for that now.” you reminisced. “What now?” he asked, looking into your eyes deeply. You smiled. “The inevitable curse has already been bestowed on us, it´s too late to be saved, but you can move on. What is it that you want?” you met his gaze. “I want you. I want to be with you forever, I´d give  anything for that...” he confessed. “You already gave everything you had...and I will give you all my heart and all my love. It all belongs to you, it always has. I´m yours, will you be mine?” you asked him. He leaned in closer to you. “I already am~” he smiled and pulled you in for a hug, kissing your neck. You were positioned on top of his lap and cupped his face in your hands, forcing him to look up to you. Then you leaned down to kiss him softly. You felt Ban smile into the kiss and his hands roam over your back, pulling you even closer. You moaned a bit and Ban used the opportunity to slip his tongue inside your mouth. He teased you a bit until you kissed him back hungrily, pulling away from his lips only to continue leaving kisses and hickeys along his neck. The friction got you aroused, you felt so relieved and happy having him by your side. You bit your lip and tugged at his shirt, begging him to pull it off. He did so smirking and watched with big eyes as you undressed as well. His fingers traced all over your naked skin slowly, he wanted to take all of your beauty in. Then he gently positioned you on his bed so you laid with your back down. Ban placed sloppy kisses all over your neck and collarbones, moving down to play with your breasts, leaving you sighing heavily and touching his back and muscular arms. Your hand quickly found his hard member and massaged it through his pants. Ban groaned lowly. Then he smiled at you. “You´re so beautiful, you know that?” he husked into your ear before he knelt in front of your bare legs, licking his lips. You blushed and bit your lip. He spread your legs slowly and peppered kisses over your legs, stopping at your folds. Starting to lick up and suck your clitoris, he left you trembling and lost for words. “I-it feels so good...” your breath hitched, making Ban smirk and continue more eagerly. When he deemed you wet enough he pulled back slowly and sucked on your neck, slipping his index finger inside of you, pushing it against your sweet spot. In the mean time you moaned, pressing nearer to Ban, taking his pants off and pumping his length in your hand. You were gentle, rubbing your thumb over his tip and cradling his balls in your hand. Ban soon added another finger as you sped up your movements. Ban groaned and growled in your ear lowly as a sign of enjoyment and he was smirking widely, having his eyes closed, thinking about how lucky he was. “Ban? I think I´m ready… “ you told him and he pulled out his fingers, replacing them with his cock. You let out a long cry of pleasure and moved your hips against him as did he. Your arms were interlocked behind his neck and he held you close by your waist, resting his head on your neck, kissing it thoroughly. “Yes….it feels so good, Ban” you smiled up at him in your ecstasy and held onto his arms. “I love you” you told him, you were so close to cumming. Ban stopped for an instance before he continued with deeper and faster strokes. Soon you were both cumming and held onto each other.

[a-winchester-fairytale]

Silver Heart - Part 1

Summary:  When Dean and Sam are enter an abandoned house to clean out a vampire den, they find a girl with no memory and only a silver heart necklace to tie her to her past.  Against Dean's better judgment, Sam agrees to help her figure out what happened to her and what she needs in order to move on.

Word Count: 831

A/N:  This was a idea offered by @sdavid09 for a Plot Bunny Challenge.  I am going to make this a three part series and this is the first chapter.  Thank you for a wonderful idea and I hope you all enjoy reading it.

“Sam! Look out!”  A voice cried out behind him and Sam spun around just in time to take the head of a vampire moments before she took his.  Sam jumps a bit at the sound of the silver necklace she wore as it lands across the room, her head resting at his feet.  He huffs and looks around suspiciously, ready for his next kill, the bloody blade resting comfortably in his fist.

“Who said that?  Where are you?”  He demanded, but only empty silence answers him.

“Who are you talking to?”  Dean asked, stepping into the room, wearing the results of a fight of his own down the hall. 

“I don’t know.  I heard a voice.”  Sam started to answer, but stopped when Dean smirked at him, an eyebrow raised.

“You sure you didn’t whack your head in that fight, little brother?”  Dean teased and Sam glared at him.

“I’m not crazy!”  He insisted, his words lost as Dean threw up his hands and took a step away, chuckling silently.  Sam rolled his eyes and turned away from his brother, hoping to avoid an argument but stopped as a nearly transparent figure appeared in front of him a few feet away.  “Uh….Dean?”  Sam said, his eyes frozen on the apparition.

Dean aggressively grabbed for the iron fireplace poker next to the door as soon as he saw the ghost standing only a few feet away from Sam.  He reared back, ignoring Sam’s shouts for him to stop.  He pushed past his little brother, but the figure flickered and then disappeared right before his eyes.

“Show yourself!”  Dean commanded, ready to wield the poker like a baseball bat.

“Dean!”  Sam yelled, trying again to get his attention.

“What?”  Dean snapped.

“Please, just wait a minute.  She’s not here to hurt us.  She just saved me from that vamp.”  Sam pleaded, gesturing to the body lying on the floor.  Dean rolled his eyes and groaned.

“Fine.”

Sam sighed with relief as he watched his brother storm out of the room, knowing that Dean wouldn’t go too far just in case he was right and this blew up in Sam’s face.

“You can come out.  We aren’t going to hurt you.”  Sam promised, his tone soft.  “Please…”  He added when a few moments passed.

Sam waited patiently until the figure of a young girl appeared once again, this time keeping a significant distance between herself and Sam.  “I’m not going to try and hurt you either.”  She said, delicately.

“I believe that.”  Sam said.  “What’s your name?”

“I don’t remember.”  She answered, looking away.  Sam could hear the disappointment in her voice and his heart broke a little at the sadness he felt fill the room. 

Sam guessed her to be in her early twenties with dark hair, but nothing about her physically gave away how long ago she might have died.  “Do you remember how you…..”  Sam started, but stopped when it occurred to him that she might not even realize she was dead.

“How I died?”  She finished and Sam smiled, nodding.  “I don’t.” 

“Did you die in this house?”  Sam asked, trying to help jog her memory.  She shook her head confidently.

“No, I remember coming here with them.”  She answered, venom in her voice at the reference to the vampire den. 

“The vampires?”  Sam asked and she nodded.  “Why would you be connected to them?” He muttered aloud.

“I didn’t want to, but the last one you killed stole something from me and I couldn’t let it go.”  She answered.  Sam thought for an instant before the image of a silver necklace flying across the room flashed into his mind.  He stood and walked over to the far wall and moving a dresser to be able to reach the chain behind it.

He lifted up the necklace, a silver engraved heart locket swinging in the air.  Before he could react, the ghostly figure stood by his side, tears glistening in her eyes as she focused on the jewelry dangling from his fingers.

“This is what is holding you here.”  He stated and the spirit bowed her head.  He looked for something that he could use to identify the owner but the clamp was frozen shut and the writing on the back was illegible in the dim light from the window.

“I feel like the reason is right on the tip of my mind, but I can’t reach it.  All I know is I feel drawn to that necklace and no matter what I try to do, I can’t be farther than a few feet from it.”  She explained.

“I have an idea.  What if I took it so you could come with us?  I want to help you figure all of this out.”  Sam offered.

“What about your brother?”  She asked, nervously.  Sam glanced over his shoulder to see Dean leaning stiffly against the door frame watching the entire exchange.

“He’ll adjust.”  Sam answered, more to Dean than the ghost.

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[wrightworthmakesmylifeworthwhile]

fantasy au shit

ok so to celebrate 1000 followers im posting more of this fantasy au shit i posted the first part at like 400 followers so if you haven’t read it part one here

Consciousness dawned sluggishly, resting on Phoenix like a thin blanket. As he peacefully grew more and more aware, he could hear a faint voice quietly chanting over him. Another few seconds, and he could understand the words.

“Revera, revera…” A woman’s voice intoned, using a spell Phoenix recognized to slowly revive him.

Unfortunately, the world was not so patient. “Hey! Spikey-guy! Wake up!” Another voice screamed into his ear.

Phoenix jerked awake. He nearly bumped heads with the person who had screamed. She was a teenager, no more than seventeen, with black hair bundled into a little topknot.

“Maya, stop that.” Mia chided from nearby. The baker looked to pinpoint where the woman was, in the process recognizing the inside of his own house.

How did I get here? How did they get here?

The leader, the one who had been chanting, leaned down to look over him. “How are you, Phoenix?”

“I… I'm not alright!” The baker could still feel a burn in his chest, ruling out the possibility of the events before being a dream. He didn't dare to look at the heart shaped mark the pendant left. It would surely scar.

“Dollie hurt me! Why would she do that?” Phoenix searched for answers in the leader’s face. “ Wh-Why would she hurt me?”

He could feel treacherous tears welling up, and turned away before the others could see them fall.

The leader sighed heavily. “...It isn't your fault. If anything, it's ours. Dahlia Hawthorne is an estranged member of the Fey clan. Throughout the years, there have been many of us who have used their powers for nefarious purposes. Dahlia was one of those, and after much deliberation the clan agreed to take her powers away. Her magic was stored in the bottle of that necklace,” she gestured at Phoenix’s burn.

“Dahlia would only ever be able to have her powers return if the necklace was given to her voluntarily by someone not in the family.” The woman met Phoenix’s eyes. “...I guess she talked you into doing that?”

The baker nodded miserably. That does make this my fault.

“Um, Mystic Misty?” A quiet voice piped up “I brought the object that you wanted…” The speaker was a tiny, seven year old girl with mousy brown hair twisted into strange loops. She held a candlestick.

“Thank you, Pearly.” The leader, Misty, took the candle from her, and little girl retreated.  “Phoenix, do you mind giving us some light?”

“What?” Phoenix pushed away his tears. “Oh. R-Right.” He touched the candle and closed his eyes. He frowned.

The flicker of fire on his fingertips that had come to him so easily throughout his life was nowhere to be found. No matter how hard he strained, he couldn’t produce any fire. “I can't!”

“I was afraid of this.” This time, it was Mia who spoke. “You're cursed.”

“C-Cursed?”

“Dahlia couldn't take revenge on those who took her powers away from her, so she did the next best thing she could; she stole away your magic powers. Do you remember her casting any spells like that?”

I can't use magic, I can't use magic… The loud, destabilizing mantra rang around in Phoenix’s head, making it hard to think.

“Of course not.” The baker chuckled in disbelief. “There has to be some mistake! She can't take away my powers! That's dark magic!”

“Dahlia’s not the person that you thought she was, I'm afraid,” Misty said grimly.

Everything slowed. He could feel the blood rushing through his ears, the thoughts swirling in his head. What am I supposed to do without magic? It's all I've had. It's everything I've worked for! What about my family line? What about my business? I’ve never had to bake without magic! If I can't bake… if I'm not a mage, what am I?

“I have to have magic! I’ve just got to!”

Mia’s surprisingly sympathetic voice cut through his panicky haze. “Phoenix. Think back. Try to remember what she said to you. Did she say there a way to reverse this?”

The ex-mage took a deep breath. He tried to focus. “Uh. She did say something… b-but I don't remember what! Oh Dollieeee!” This time, the tears did spill over, flooding down his cheeks.

Mia’s sigh sounded suspiciously close to “of course.”

“We’ll have to figure it out together. You're our responsibility now,” Misty said.

“What?” Maya squawked. She fell off the foot of Phoenix’s bed with a loud thud, startling Phoenix. He'd forgotten the girl was there.

Pearl directed an inquisitive look at Misty, gnawing on her thumbnail.

Phoenix sniffled pathetically. “Really?”

“Really?” Mia said flatly.

Misty nodded. “I'm sorry, Phoenix. Dahlia has already been on our radar for years. If we had been more careful, this could have all been prevented. This is a Fey matter. You never should have gotten caught up in it at all.”

The ex-mage gaped, wiping his runny nose on the hem of his sleeve.

“We’re honor bound to help you get your powers back.” Misty bowed.

Mia groaned quietly.

“This is going to take forever!” Maya hopped up from the floor. “No offense,” she added, glancing at Phoenix.

Just because you say that, doesn't mean that the hurt goes away...

Pearl didn't say anything at all. She stared at Phoenix as if his soul was laid bare before her. It was kind of unnerving, really.

The leader huffed. “It won't take that long. We keep the most of our powerful magical artifacts stored in the castle. Odds are one of them will have a solution to your little dilemma.”

“In the…” Phoenix blinked and wiped away the last of his tears. “Wait, does that mean…”

Misty grinned cheekily at him, “Ever been inside the King’s castle?”

The Kingdom did not have the most fanciful of castles. Quite the opposite. Very much like the King himself, the castle was square, robust, and practical. That was where the similarities ended. The castle was otherwise unremarkable. Gregory Edgeworth, by contrast, was remarkable among rulers: known throughout the realm as a just leader who cared about his subjects.

Despite Phoenix living only half a day’s travel away from the castle and having seen the King on public occasions, it had never been in an individual setting. It was fair to say that Phoenix was a tiny bit nervous.

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods…! What do I say to him? What do I do? I've got to bow, right? But how low? What are the Feys going to do? Maybe I can do what they do?

“Hold,” Misty called, putting her hand up. The Feys stopped. Phoenix bumped into Pearl.

In front of the leader was a stony lamp post. It held no light and seemed to serve no purpose. The only out-of-the-ordinary thing about it was a swirling mark with a star on it etched in the stone at about chest height. A rune.

Misty traced the spiraled rune with a finger. Sparks flew up in the wake of her fingertip. There was a grinding sound and all of a sudden, the drawbridge of the castle was down.

Misty turned and met eyes with Phoenix, grinning. “I always love that part.”

The Feys turned and started to cross the drawbridge as if nothing unusual had happened at all. Mouth hanging open, Phoenix looked at the castle with new respect. Clearly there was more than met the eye.

Briefly, he tried to run his finger over the rune in a vain hope, but nothing happened. Phoenix hurried to catch up with the others on the bridge.

By the time he had drawn even with the Feys, the King had already arrived. Gregory’s countenance brightened upon seeing the company. He strode over to them, stopping just short of the eldest Fey.

“Misty,” he greeted with a genuine smile, unlike any Phoenix had ever seen. “It's been far too long.”

“I agree,” Misty hummed, eyes alight with amusement.

The two stood looking at one another for another moment before Misty broke and launched herself at the King in a hug, laughing.

“I missed you, you cretin.” Misty pecked Gregory’s cheek quickly.

Phoenix's jaw dropped. Did she just call the King a cretin? And kissed him? Does she want to get herself killed?

To his endless astonishment, King Gregory didn't even slightly mad. If anything, the man was flustered.

“...I’m glad to see you too.” The King managed at last. “You didn’t write. How long do you think you'll be staying?”

“Probably not very long, unfortunately. We’re here because we have a little situation to fix.” Misty glanced over at Phoenix.

One of Phoenix’s hands entangled itself in the hair on the nape of his neck as the King’s full attention turned to him. Gregory seemed just as uncomfortable as he did at having been seen in a moment of unprofessionalism.

“Ah. Of course,” the King cleared his throat. “I wish you luck with your… situation.”

“Thanks, Your Majesty,” Phoenix grinned sheepishly. I can’t believe I’m talking to the King of the whole realm! “I really appreciat-”

“That reminds me,” Clearly Mia didn’t realize what a big moment this was for him. “We should get started. The sooner we fix this mess, the sooner we can catch Dahlia.”

“Dahlia?” King Gregory’s tone was one of worried surprise.

“I’ll explain it all later,” Misty promised.

“Sis’ got a good point! Let’s go use Nick as a spell-dummy!” Maya grabbed Phoenix by the arm and started to tug him across the courtyard.

Spell-dummy? “Wait, no!”

“We’re not going to do it like that, Maya.”

“You’re no fun.”

“Nice to see you again, Sir King Gregory!” Pearl chirped.

The King smiled gently, kneeling down to her height. “It’s very nice to see you as well, Pearly. I’ll dispatch a messenger to tell you three when dinner is ready.”

“Thank you!” The little girl turned and skipped after the playfully quibbling sisters and the protesting Phoenix.

The afternoon went by quicker than Phoenix could imagine. At first, he couldn’t help but be stunned by the castle’s immense collection of magical objects. But eventually, even the most legendary of artifacts seemed to blur together as Mia, Maya, and Pearl all took turns harnessing the power of ancient potions, rings, goblets, hourglasses, statuettes, scepters, mirrors, and tomes in an attempt to cure him. More than once Mia had to reverse a carelessly cast spell (usually one of Maya’s) to ensure that something didn’t go horribly wrong. 

”Hey, this one says it can turn anything into ash!” Maya held up a crystal skull with far too much eagerness. Phoenix’s stomach turned.

Pearls bit her thumb, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” She already had her hands full healing a welt on Phoenix’s arm from another one of Maya’s “good ideas.”

“He’s called Phoenix,” Maya shrugged. “I dunno, maybe he has to be turned into ash for the rebirth of his magic powers or whatever.”

“No.” Mia vetoed, not bothering to look up from her tome.

Thank you.

Grumbling, Maya turned away, making as if to put the skull away. But at the last minute she whirled around and cast a nasty-looking spell straight at Phoenix. The baker shoved Pearls out of the way, then jumped hard right to dodge it. Behind him, where the spell hit, a shelf of important looking magical texts started turning to ash before their eyes.

“Look. Are you sure there even is a cure?” Phoenix said, panting and doubled over his knees.

“Of course. Any magic that’s done...” Mia strode forward and, with the wave of her hand, returned the texts to their original form. She gave Maya a meaningful glance. “Must also be able to be undone.”

But after another few hours upon hours of spell upon spell with no results, all four of them were beginning to get tired and discouraged.

“I knew Dahlia was a feared mage, but I had no idea how powerful her dark magic was,” Mia muttered to herself.

Evening fell outside the castle windows and the group had to abandon their task halfway through for dinner. As they made their way down a winding staircase, Phoenix felt a tiny hand touch his back.

“Don’t worry, Sir Nick,” Pearl said. Although Maya’s nickname for him had taken off, the girl felt a need to add a level of respect to it. “I’m sure we’ll find out how to fix you!”

“Thanks, Pearls,” Phoenix muttered, feeling vaguely humiliated that he had to be reassured by a seven-year-old.

The four emerged into the large arched dining hall. There was one very long banquet table with only a few seats. On the table Phoenix was shocked to see that there wasn't much food.

Really, he wasn't sure what he was expecting. Probably plates filled with more mouth-watering meats than a butcher’s shop, delicate little sugary cakes and pies, and exotic spices that cost more than his entire home. For a castle, this banquet was shockingly ordinary.

Maya noticed his confusion. “The King said something about not wanting to live a life of plenty while some peasants live out there with so little. Y’know.”

“It's about class in-ee-qual-itty,” Pearls bit her thumbnail.

King Gregory himself was at the head of the table, an empty chair on his right and Misty on his left. The others Feys started to file into their seats. Phoenix followed suit, and found himself sandwiched between Maya and Pearl, sitting across from a strange man that he didn’t know.

“Oh, there you are! Any results?” Misty called out to them.

“Nothing’s working yet,” Mia said, sounding as dismayed as Phoenix looked.

Gregory frowned in sympathy, “I’m sure there’s a cure somewhere in there.”

“We’ve collected hundreds of magical artifacts over the years,” Misty chimed in.

“Yeah, and we’ve blown through half of them in one afternoon!” Maya said, sneaking a bite before she was supposed to.

“That still means there’s half of them to go!” Pearl chirped, far more optimistically.

I hope you’re right, Pearls.

Silence fell over the table as they waited for the last member to join them, and fill in the empty seat so they could begin the meal. Maya smuggled a few more furtive bites before Mia nudged her.

“He’s late,” the strange man across from Phoenix barked, breaking the silence.

“I’m sure the Prince is busy attending to his duties.” King Gregory said.

Before the man had a chance to respond with something nasty, the King continued. “Phoenix, I suppose you haven’t met. This is Manfred von Karma, the my advisor and second-in-command.”

Phoenix studied the Royal Advisor. He was an older man in a jeweled robe with long white hair. His face was etched in a permanent scowl.

“...Nice to meet you,” Phoenix lied.

Manfred’s eyes narrowed at him. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

“Uh, I—”

“I’m sorry I’m late.” A younger man swept into the room, closing the door behind him with a loud thud. He wore a red tunic with interwoven with an elaborate gold design. He bore an air of regality, and his prematurely gray hair just added to his distinguished aura. Phoenix knew immediately that this must be the Crown Prince.

“I was reading,” Prince Miles said. He took his place on his father’s right. He met Phoenix’s eyes and smiled at him.

“Reading what?” King Gregory sounded excited. Everyone at the table started to eat.

“Hmph! You let this boy get away with far too much, Your Majesty.”

Prince Miles’ attention swiveled. “Sir Manfred,” he greeted diplomatically. “If you're dining with us tonight, that must mean you have some news.”

“Fantastic. Just what I want to talk about at the dinner table. Politics,” Misty groused.

The King squeezed her hand and smiled apologetically. “It won't take long, dear.”

Manfred cleared his throat, rather self-importantly, Phoenix thought. “Yes. I come bearing news from the south-east.” He leaned forward, as if he was sharing a secret. “Your Majesty, there was another attack. They suspect the cause was rooted in magical extremism.”

Mia snorted with derision.

“Those damned mages have been at it for weeks! I recommend military action, Your Majesty. They must be stopped before they wipe the rest of us out!” Phoenix jumped as Manfred slammed his fist on the table to illustrate his point.

King Gregory looked uncomfortable. “My guards are stretched too thin right now to even consider military action. And, please, Manfred, I ask that you keep present company in mind when you talk about issues of magic.”

The mood at the table had shifted. Pearls and Maya picked at her food, keeping their heads ducked down. Mia was openly disgusted, and though Misty seemed more composed, her eyes were blazing.

“Of course. I apologize for my insensitivity.” He seemed more satisfied than sorry. “I am merely saying that there are some dangerous people out there. We need to take action soon so we don't find ourselves regretting inaction later.”

“Have you possibly considered,” Mia cut in, voice dripping with irritation, “that vilifying an entire group for the actions of a few is not only baseless fear-mongering, but also completely counterproductive and stupid.”

“...I have a headstrong daughter as well,” Manfred said in a deceitfully calm voice. He turned to look at Misty. “The difference is that I taught her respect.”

“Learn some yourself,” Mia snapped. “Excuse me.” She stood from the table and stormed off.

Wow.

Misty took a sip of her wine, but Phoenix swore he saw her grinning behind her goblet.

Not to be outdone, Manfred stood up and strode out of the room.

Those that remained at the table were silent for an unbearably lengthy moment.

Maya sprang up and hastily began stuffing rolls into her hood. “Well, looks like dinner’s over! Let’s go, Pearly!” She grabbed her cousin’s hand and practically sprinted from the room.

King Gregory blinked. The poor man had been caught in the middle of cutting his steak and been stuck that way for some time. “I suppose she's right. It does appear that dinner is over.” He set down his utensils, suddenly looking very old and tired. “I'm inclined to agree with her. Magic has been a huge asset to this kingdom, and making broad generalizations rarely does anyone any good. ...But that’s a discussion for another time. I’m going to retire for the evening. Good night, everyone.”

Misty followed him out, leaving Phoenix all alone with Prince Miles.

I wonder what he thinks of all this.

Phoenix studied the Prince’s face, but it was unreadable.

“...You must be Phoenix Wright.”

“That’s Wright,” Phoenix said immediately. He mentally kicked himself right after the words left his mouth. Stars, Phoenix! He’s a prince! You can’t just say stupid things like that to a prince!

Prince Miles frowned, “That was bad.”

Phoenix laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, desperately trying to alleviate his own idiocy. “Good thing I’m not a court jester, huh?”

“I don’t think you’d last very long in the profession.” He smiled and gave Phoenix a short bow. “My name is Miles Edgeworth. I’m prince of the realm.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Your Highness!” Phoenix stumbled over himself to bow in return. Prince Miles steadied him.

“There’s no need for that. Call me Miles. You’re our guest here. Ah, speaking of that...” The Prince trailed off, looking awkward. “You’ve come at a bit of a bad time. The Feys already occupy most of our guest rooms, and our last remaining one is under renovation. You’re to room with me. I’m hoping that’s not an issue...”

“Y-You would just let me—”

Prince Miles looked away, “It’s not ideal, but it isn’t completely unheard of. Mystic Misty and my father frequently share a chamber in order to leave other rooms free.”

Phoenix nodded quickly. “It’s not an issue for me.”

Silence lingered for a beat. The Prince’s gaze lingered on Phoenix’s face, expression still inscrutable. Finally, he seemed to realize that it was his turn to say something.

“Ah! But I’m being a poor host.“ Prince Miles coughed into his fist. “Would you like to see the royal gardens?“

Me, in the royal gardens?

“I’d love to!“

“Fantastic. I’ll show you the way then.” Prince Miles pushed open a door that lead outside, leaving Phoenix to follow.

Outside, evening had fallen and the stars shone bright overhead. Everything was quiet as the two walked through the castle's’ garden. Waist-high, neatly-trimmed hedges lined the path, interspersed with brightly colored flowerbeds. Magnificent trees with purple leaves looked on in the background.

Prince Miles kept walking, but Phoenix lagged behind, trying to take it all in.

“These gardens are gorgeous!”

“Thank you.”

“...Is dinner always that crazy?”

“Not typically. When Manfred is over, though...” The Prince paused, waiting for him to catch up.

Phoenix snorted. “He seems like a real piece of work.”

“He can be harsh, but he’s a brilliant man. That’s why Father keeps him around,” Prince Miles crossed his arms defensively. “He’s taught me a lot.”

“Sorry.” Phoenix wasn’t, really, but he didn’t need to go out of his way to insult the Prince’s tutor. Maybe there was more to the old coot than he knew.

Prince Miles unfolded his arms and looked curiously at Phoenix for a long moment. “Not that it’s any of my business, but what exactly is it that you do for a living?”

I can’t say I’m a mage. Not anymore.

“Oh, um, I’m just a baker.”

“I have to wonder,” The Prince said, glancing sidelong at Phoenix. They walked by a golden statue of a hooded woman bearing a seven pronged sword. “We’re not hiring at the moment. What’s a baker doing here at the castle?”

That’s really not something I want to get into.

“Sorry, but that’s on a knead-to-dough basis.”

Prince Miles groaned. There was a long pause, then, tentatively, the prince ventured, “That was a… crumby joke.”

Coming from the always-serious Prince, the pun surprised Phoenix. He burst into laughter. Prince Miles laughed too, albeit much quieter. He quickly coughed to try and cover it up. Phoenix wished he wouldn’t. His laugh was probably the best thing Phoenix had ever heard.

They fell silent as they reached the end of small garden, basking in the glow of the other’s presence. Phoenix followed as the Prince started to climb a grand, double-sided staircase.

“Miles, what were you reading earlier?” Phoenix asked.

“I’m sorry?”

“The book that made you late to dinner. Must’ve been interesting. What was it?” Phoenix rambled, “Y’know, maybe I’ve read it or something.”

“You’re literate?”

“Hey, you don’t need to sound so surprised!”

Prince Miles huffed, flustered. “Well, it’s not as if most people are.”

“Yeah, well, I need to be. How else would I know how to...” learn new spells and read tomes. “read recipes,” Phoenix finished rather lamely.

“Of course.” The Prince sighed, “If you must know, it was about government. The delicacies of running a country.”

“It must be a lot of pressure.” Phoenix frowned sympathetically. Just thinking about all those people relying on you... And he’s my age!

He shook his head in wonderment. “Candidly, I don’t know how my father handles it.”

“Sounds like you really admire him.”

“My father is a great leader. I have a lot to learn from him.” A light had sparked in the Prince’s already stunning gray eyes.

Phoenix smiled warmly at him. “For what it’s worth, I think you’ll do a great job.”

You seem like a good man. Just like your father.

Prince Miles’ cheeks turned pink. He muttered a “thank you” before hastily turning back towards the castle doors.

“W-We should head back inside. It’s getting late.”

Before following him, the baker turned to look back at the other wing of the castle. In the moonlight Phoenix could see Misty and King Gregory standing close together up on the balcony of the castle’s main tower. They looked happy.

[commandercrouton]

Jonerys Secret Santa 2017

Here is my submission for Jonerys Secret Santa. I was assigned @violet-eyes-silver-hair for this year, and I hope she really likes my fic! This is my first fic for the fandom, and it is still Christmas here so I made the deadline. I am so sorry I posted this so late. As soon as I got home, I unloaded my car and went straight for the laptop to upload it. This day has been hectic!

Violet eyes met brown eyes for the first time across the fire that was burning in the backyard of the party. She had blonde hair that looked white in the moonlight, and wore a ocean blue dress that highlighted her pale skin. A necklace that looked like a dragon’s tooth fell between her breasts. Jon stared for a second too long at the area where the necklace fell and looked up to find her staring at him with arched eyebrows. Jon blushed furiously and looked away, his cloak billowing in the wind.

His brother didn’t notice a thing as they continued their conversation, red cups in hand running low on beer. When Jon glanced back to the young woman, she was gone. He took a small sip of the cheap beer, and pretended to listen to his brother ramble about this new girl he was interested in. He didn’t understand why his brother’s frat decided to throw a costume party when Halloween was a few weeks ago.

“Did you hear me?” Robb interrupted his thoughts.

“What?” Jon blinked rapidly.

Robb rolled his eyes. “I said your ex-girlfriend is here.”

Jon looked up to see Ygritte’s red hair flash through the crowd. He wondered if she was bringing her new boyfriend as well.

“You okay?” Robb asked.

“Yeah, we broke up a while ago. We are fine now.”

“You’re too forgiving.”

“And you should be bringing me another beer,” Jon joked, thrusting his now empty cup to his brother. Robb smirked as he walked into the frat house to get more of the alcohol from the kegs they bought.

Jon stood there awkwardly, staring at the people surrounding the fire dressed in different costumes.

“What are you supposed to be?” The voice was quiet and commanding.

He turned around to find the petite blonde woman he was staring at. Her entire persona was regal and refined. She stood tall with an air of grace and power. Immediately he knew she was the type of person to get what she wanted, no matter the obstacles.

“I’m a Northern Commander,” he answered, feeling foolish in the attire he borrowed from his father. “And you are a…,” he looked over her outfit and couldn’t figure out what she was.

“I am a dragon queen,” she answered, winking. He grinned at her teasing tone.

“Don’t queens usually wear crowns?”

“A crown does not make a queen.”

“Very true. Where are your dragons?”

��I think a drunk girl stole them from me. They were cute stuffed animals.”

Jon laughed and he was pleased to see her smile a little at his response. “I’m Jon,” he introduced himself, bowing to the queen in front of him.

“Daenerys,” she answered, smiling even bigger as he finished bowing.

“I’d bend the knee, but…” he gestured to his heavy outfit and the fallen leaves on the ground.

“So what are you doing here. You don’t seem to know the members of this fine fraternity.”

“My brother dragged me out. He is trying to convince me to join next semester. Speak of the devil,” Jon said before his brother clapped him on the back. Jon could see Robb eyeing the new girl, and felt a surge of jealousy. It wasn’t Robb’s fault he was so likeable, but Jon was too familiar with girls preferring his brother over him. Robb handed him the drink and he smiled at Daenerys.

She nodded politely in his direction before turning her attention back to Jon.

“Is this the brother who is trying to get you to join?”

“That I am,” Robb interjected. “If I can’t convince him to join, maybe you can.”

“Unfortunately I cannot help you either. I am only here because my friend dragged me out. This isn’t really my scene,” she answered, never breaking eye contact from Jon.

Robb grinned as he realized there were sparks flying between this girl and his brother. Jon had been ignoring girls since him and Ygritte broke up the first month of the school year. It was a shock to both of them since they both chose this school to attend together.

Robb pretended to check his phone and told the two, “Sorry guys, but Theon needs me. Some guys are challenging us for our beer pong title. You two have fun!” He walked away, turning around to wink at his brother out of sight of the blonde girl. Jon raised his eyebrows in warning, causing Daenerys to turn around to see Robb grinning at the two.

“I am starting to believe there was no challenge,” she said.

“And you would be right.”

She stood tall and adjusted her long sleeves of the dress. He noticed her hair was done in beautiful and intricate braiding. He was about to ask her a question about her major, when they were interrupted by another person.

“Daenerys!” A beautiful black woman wearing a sheer grey dress stumbled onto Daenerys. She stumbled under the weight, and tried hard to regain her footing.

“Missandei how much have you had to drink?” Daenerys tried to shrug off her taller friend, but wasn’t succeeding.

“More than I intended. Tyrion is such a bad influence,” Missandei slurred. She saw Jon standing awkwardly besider her friend, and grinned. “Who is this handsome man? I knew I dragged you out for a good reason. Don’t mind me you two. If you want to bring him home tonight, we can sneak him in. Rhaegar won’t ever find out,” she tried to whisper, but failed miserably.

Jon blushed furiously at her suggestive tone. Who was Rhaegar?

“I am so sorry, but I think we have to go. It was lovely meeting you Jon.”

“Do you need help?” Jon saw how Daenerys was struggling under her friend’s height. She bit her lip nervously and darted her eyes back and forth trying to figure out how best to get her to the car. Jon saw the indecision and grabbed the other side of Missandei.

“Where to?”

Daenerys smiled a true smile at him, and his heart skipped a beat. Her normally stoic face completely transformed when she smiled.

“I have a car a block down from the house waiting for us.”

“Lead the way,” Jon answered, adjusting the weight so her friend was leaning more on him than Daenerys. She instructed him as they weaved the way through the crowd until they finally emerged from the house.

An older gentleman leaning against the lamp post ran toward them.

“Miss, is everything alright?” the stranger asked as he took the weight of Missandei off of Daenerys.

“Everything is fine Jorah. Missandei just had a bit too much fun. We should go home.”

Jorah nodded before realizing Jon was standing by them. Jorah appraised Jon warily before sharing a glance with Daenerys.

“He is a friend,” she affirmed.

“I’ll carry her to the car. We should get you ladies home.” Jorah scooped up Missandei and stood off to the side.

“Do you normally have men waiting for you outside of parties?” Jon joked, but immediately realized how inappropriate it sounded.

“Jorah is a close friend, and I guess you could say, bodyguard.”

“Bodyguard? Are you really a queen?” Jon teased.

Daenerys face became guarded as she shook her head no. “Goodbye Jon. Maybe we will see each other again. You seem like quite a man.”

Jon nodded, urging himself to ask for her number. Women like her don’t appear everyday. As he was mustering up the courage to ask her, she turned and walked away from him. He watched her stride confidently to her friends as they began the walk to their car. Jon waited a moment before he turned around himself and entered the party once again.

“You didn’t even ask for her number! You’re a fucking idiot, you know that. She was hot, and she was totally into you,” Robb berated Jon as they had lunch in between classes in the middle of the week.

Jon put his head in his hands and groaned. “I know, I fucking suck,” he moaned. He brushed his hair out of his face and tied it into a bun. “I don’t even know her last name, or how to find her. I don’t even know how to spell her name.”

“I can ask around, see what I can find out. Man, I was sure you had taken her home! Do you have any more details that can help us find her?” Robb grabbed the mug in front of him and took a sip of the black coffee.

“It doesn’t matter, I think she has a boyfriend.”

Robb looked at him questioningly. “What makes you say that? Did you see her with someone?”

“No, it was something her friend said. She said they could sneak me in their home without letting...what was his name? Rhaegar, I think…anyways, without him finding out,” he replied.

“Rhaegar? That does seem weird, but that doesn’t mean it’s her boyfriend. Could be a jealous ex, or a prude roommate. What else do you remember?”

“She said she had a bodyguard. That was really weird. He was waiting outside for her and helped carry her drunk friend back to the car. Part of me believes she might really be a queen,” Jon let out a frustrated sigh. If he ever met a pretty girl, thoughts of her would disappear by the next day, but she was different. Her looks haunted his dreams, and he thought he heard her voice on more than one occasion while waking in between classes. Wherever he looked though, she was nowhere to be found.

Jon looked up from his plate of food to see his brother’s face twisted into concentration. “What?”

“No fucking way,” Robb muttered as he pulled out his phone. Jon knew it was useless to try to get any information from him now. Robb wouldn’t talk until he was sure on his decision, or if he needed advice. From the looks of it, he knew what he was doing.

“Was this her?” Robb asked, thrusting the phone in his hands. Jon grabbed the phone and found pictures of the blonde haired beauty all over the screen.

“Why are there so many pictures of her on Google?”

“You really know nothing Jon. She is Daenerys Targaryen. I can’t believe it. The company said she was taking a year off from school.”

“What company? Why did you make her name sound all fancy?” Jon asked, scrolling through the countless photos of her. There were photos of her in formal wear, with suspected love interests, going to clubs with her friends, leaving the airport in sweats and sunglasses. He felt a pang of sympathy for her at the lack of privacy she had growing up.

“She is Daenerys Targaryen, heiress and partner to Targaryen Empires. One of the top ten businesses on the fortune five hundred list. Her brother is Rhaegar Targaryen, the President of the company. He inherited it from their father when he went mad. She is supposed to help takeover the business when she finishes school.”

“I guess that explains the bodyguard. Once word gets out she’s here, people will go crazy. I’m surprised she blended in this well. The media seems to follow her wherever she goes.” Jon handed back the phone.

“Well thank her brother for that. He has been leaking to the media the different countries she has been visiting on her ‘year off.’ Now we know it’s bull,” Robb answered. “I can’t believe you snagged a Targaryen.”

“Don’t say it like that,” Jon frowned.

“Like what?”

“Like she is some piece of meat. It’s not like that.”

Robb stared at his brother a moment before apologizing. “You’re smitten with her,” Robb teased.

Jon rolled his eyes. “Just help me find her. Without blowing her cover. Maybe ask your friends if they knew a Missandei or Tyrion,” he added, remembering the names of her friends.

Robb agreed and began texting his frat brothers for more information.

Daenerys groaned as she saw her brother’s name flash along the screen on her phone.

“Hello Rhaegar.”

'How is my darling younger sister? Are classes okay?’

“Classes are fine. What's wrong?”

'Straight to the point, just like Viserys taught you. I'm calling because Jorah let it slip you didn’t wear your disguise to the party you went to.’

Daenerys cursed under her breath, making a note to talk to Jorah about the meaning of loyalty. “It was a costume party. No one recognized me. They were too drunk anyways to remember me. I blended in, just like you asked,” she reasoned.

'Dany we made an agreement. If you were going to college away from home, you must wear that wig and keep Jorah close by at all times. No exceptions. You are recognized from your hair. You wanted a normal experience, so you have to make the effort to keep it,’ he reprimanded her.

“Fine, I will wear the brown wig to everything else. But the minute the media catches on to your lies about me travelling, I will burn that wig to ash,” she threatened.

Rhaegar held back a laugh. 'The wig isn't that bad.’

“I disagree. Anything else? I am meeting Tyrion for a tutoring session. Finals are coming up, and I will not fail.”

Rhaegar paused before deciding to continue. 'Jorah also mentioned a boy at the party…’

“And?” she challenged.

'Is he a boyfriend? How much does he know about you.’

“He knows nothing. I just met him at the party. He did not even ask me for my number.”

'You sound disappointed. Did you like this boy?’

“He was interesting,” she admitted. Looking at the clock, she realized she was late to meeting Tyrion, and rushed off the phone with her brother.

Daenerys drove and parked on campus in a record amount of time, and rushed to the library on campus. She glanced at her rose gold watch and saw she was only a few minutes late. The doors to the library automatically opened and she glanced around to find Tyrion waiting in the common area for her.

There were only a handful of people who knew who she really was, and he was one of them. He saw her enter the library and rose to meet her.

“Forgive me for being late, my brother called me. Seems Jorah let him know I didn’t wear this to the party,” she apologized, and gestured to the wig on her head.

“No apologies neccessary. What are we studying today? Politics or history?”

“History. I need to go over the War of the Roses. My professor advised it will be heavily covered on the final.”

“Right then, let’s get started shall we.” Tyrion led the way to the elevators and led the way to a quiet corner on the top floor of the library. The two spent the next few hours going over important names, dates, and battles until it was drilled in her mind permanently.

Daenerys stretched and sighed. She still had to finish a paper for her literature class.

“Need a break? I know an excellent pub with the most amazing honey mead,” he suggested.

She frowned in response. “I have not forgotten how you influenced Missandei drinking at the party. She was completely incapacitated the next day,” she lectured him.

Tyrion laughed in response.

“It’s not funny. I had to take care of her all day!” she reminded him, a small smile gracing her lips.

“Missandei mentioned you met a cute boy at the party. Perhaps you are really mad you had to leave Jon behind.”

“You know him?” she asked.

“Jon Stark. His major is environmental studies, and is on the rugby intramural team. I am also told he has a white husky named Ghost. Many siblings, but only has one brother who attends the college with him. They are roommates in an apartment a few blocks away from campus.”

“How do you know this?” she asked, impressed by his knowledge in not only subjects, but people as well.

“That’s what I do. I drink and I know things. I also know you made quite an impression on him.”

“Really now?”

“Yes really,” a roguish voice came from behind them. Daenerys’ heart skipped a beat at the northern accent she faintly recognized. She turned around to find Jon smirking at her, a backpack slung across his shoulder.

“Jon,” she said, shocked to find him standing there. He looked even more handsome than she remembered. His face had a romantic glow in the firelight, but now in the flourescent lights, she could view the curls of his hair, his strong jaw, and his arm muscles rippling underneath his tight jacket.

“You’re a hard woman to find Daenerys,” Jon told her.

“I’ll leave you two alone. Daenerys, I’ll see you this weekend for our next session.” Tyrion excused himself and left the two to talk and catch up.

“You look different without your cloak,” Daenerys started.

“You look different with that hair. Wasn't your hair blonde?”

A faint blush covered her cheeks as she consciously moved a strand of the brown hair behind her ear.

“You don’t have to explain, I figured it out, Ms. Targaryen. People seem to follow you wherever you go. It is a nice disguise.”

Daenerys stiffened at the sound of her last name. She was worried someone would overhear and then her cover would be blown. She eyed him as he mentioned her name, worried he only found her for her toes to the company. Her fears were unfounded though when he didn’t seem to be interested in her name.

“It was my brother’s idea,” she answered quietly, quickly glancing around to make sure no one else was around.

“Can I sit down?” Jon asked. She nodded in response and motioned her hand to the seat next to her.

“I want to explain that I have no intention of telling your secret to anyone. My brother helped me figure it out. He knew I was interested in finding you again, and he helped me locate Tyrion.”

“You wanted to find me,” she plainly stated, hoping he would elaborate more.

“I was quite fond of you at the party, and I’ve been kicking myself that I didn’t get your number. So I was hoping to find you and ask you out for a date this Friday.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“Do what?”

“Ask me out,” she smiled at him.

Jon smiled sheepishly and asked her, “Would you like to go on a date with me this Friday?’

“I’d love to,” she replied.

The two stayed in the library to talk for a bit longer before Daenerys insisted she had to go home to finish her homework. As Jon was walking Daenerys back to her car, their fingers would graze cautiously, until Jon gathered the courage to grab her hand completely.

He was shocked to feel a spark of heat shoot through him at their first contact. Jon knew she felt it as well from the look she gave him. Neither of them knew the date they would go on would be their last first date, but they both knew this relationship would be the start of something amazing.

Fin

[wheres-mulder]

Alien Baby Daddy: Part V

by @haywarde37; Part I + Part II + Part III + Part IV

(Author’s Note: this delightful piece was a prompt given by Miss Abbie. It features both Scully and Mulder’s points of view, Scully in the present and Mulder’s as a blast from the past. Also, lesbian aunts at your insistence.)

October 25th, 2003 The kids’ costumes arrive in the mail a day before Beggars Night and Scully goes to great lengths to hide the box from Mulder much to his chagrin. He lives for Halloween and depending on how tonight goes, she’s either going to get laid or ruin their relationship.

She banishes Mulder from the house to buy candy for trick or treaters and dresses the kids in their room. William’s outfit fits and with a few safety pins, so does Rosalind’s but it’s not until Scully knots the ugly ties does everything look perfect.

Her children are mini-Mulders of a bygone age with their tiny, custom suits and fake FBI badges. Even their faces reflect his flirty swagger from the nineties. How many times did he chew his lip like William is doing now? All her son needs is an X-File and a cup of cheap gas station coffee then he’d be Mulder, ready for another foray into the unknown.

She stands up and walks to her closet. In the very back, hidden by scrubs, jeans and all things elastic is another relic of her X-File days, the brown suit that she wore during the Tooms case. It’s the only suit the survived her many wardrobe changes over the years. She tells herself she doesn’t have the heart to throw it away but she knows it’s because Mulder likes it.

Scully slips the suit off the hanger and is struck by how early nineties it is. She wouldn’t be caught wearing it now but on Halloween where ghost, zombies and other spooky things come out to play, she just might make an exception.

When Mulder comes home, she watches him balance bags of candy as he steps out of the car. She’s leaning against the doorframe, waiting for him to notice.

“You know, you could help—” his words die on his tongue when he sees her.

She grins at the way his eyes roam over her body, how his gaze stops at her crucifix necklace on proud display. She licks her lips and juts out the hip her SIG hangs from. “You’re late, Agent Mulder.”

“Late for what, Agent Scully? I thought I didn’t have to go to meetings now that I’m retired.”

When he’s on the porch, she crooks her fingers through his belt loops and tugs him to the door.

“Move it, Mulder. The junior agents are tired of waiting.”

She guides him inside the house and to the playroom. The moment of truth. On the toy filled floor, Rosalind lies on her back, teething on her fake FBI badge. Next to her, William pulls at his tiny dress shoes. Mulder stares at them.

“Scully, what did you do to our children?”

She kisses his neck. “They’re the Bureau’s greatest cryptids.”

“Oh,” he says, getting the reference.

October 31st, 1993 Spooky Mulder is celebrated on Halloween. His fellow agents, who normally avoid him at all costs, surround him to hear stories of aliens and vampires. He’s invited to costume parties where the women dress up as slutty nurses and the men are either werewolves or Dracula but of course, Mulder is far more creative.

Every year he’s a different cryptid. For ninety-one, he was the Loveland Frog, ninety-two, a Reptilian and this year, he’s going as the Flatwoods Monster—an unidentified extraterrestrial being that haunts West Virginia.

He makes the costume with Scully’s help, more specifically, a pleated skirt of hers he stole. For some reason, she borrowed one of his suits last week so he doesn’t feel too bad about wearing it. An eye for an eye. Sort of.

At Mulder’s insistence, they’re going to the party together. Her abduction changed their dynamic. They’re more than partners now, they’re friends and it’s not weird to take a friend to a party. It’s perfectly normal. They might even share a few drinks like friends do and laugh at their coworker’s crappy, unimaginative costumes.

He knocks on her apartment door, smelling like the shot of whiskey he took to calm his nerves before driving here. He hears footsteps, high heeled footsteps and sighs. Clearly, they’re not close enough for her to let loose and dress up for a stupid party.

Mulder sends a quiet prayer to her God to take mercy on him when she opens the door and sees him wearing her skirt with a pair of leggings that might also be be hers too.

“Mulder?”

He starts to explain but stops when he sees what she’s wearing.

His suit.

“What do you think?” She asks shyly. “I’m the greatest cryptid the Bureau has ever known. You.”

October 25th, 2003 “I swear I’m only hard because of that suit and the memory of our first fuck.”

Scully nips his ear and pushes him against the wall. “That’s what I was hoping for, Mulder.”

“Is that why your sister and her wife are here? To watch the kids while we have a quickie in the bathroom?”

“You know Melissa doesn’t think we have enough sex. She was glad to do it.”

Mulder hums and cups her ass. He’s a tactile man, his hands have to be doing something and Scully thanks God that her body is usually that “something.”

She nudges a knee between his legs. “I may be horny but I will not miss Rosalind’s first Trick-or-Treat so get to fucking work, Mulder.”

He kisses her roughly then spins them around so she’s the one pinned to the wall. She growls when he slips his fingers down her pants.

“You don’t even like Halloween, Scully.”

“I promised my mother I’d take pictures.” Fingers brush through her pubic hair and part her lips. “I’ll be quick then.”

“That’s what you said ten years ago and we missed the party.”

October 31st, 1993 Mulder doesn’t mean to kiss her but she’s wearing his clothes and it incites a primal response. His suit is swallowing her whole, so naturally, he should too.

He pulls away with an audible smack and looks down at her flushed face. She stares back at him, her lips red and parted. He’s sure she’s going to punch him once she regains her wits.

But she does something worse, she pulls him in for another kiss and all of the anger and uncertainty from her abduction floods him and he kisses back. Hard.

For Scully, this is not romantic. This a fuck with a man she respects but expects nothing from. For Mulder, this an act of love he’s only recently realized he harbors for his partner. He wants to hold and kiss her tenderly but he doesn’t out of fear he’ll scare her off. He bites back his words of affection as she shoves her hand down his—her?—skirt. He kisses her again. “I’ll be quick. I promise.”

October 25th, 2003 “Fuck!” Scully hisses when Mulder enters her. Her pants are caught around her knees so his thrusts are quick and shallow but Scully’s fine with their situation. The nerve endings at the entrance of her vagina don’t get enough attention. She’s all for cervical orgasms but it’s nice to change things on occasion.

She kneads his ass through the fabric of his jeans, making him buck harder. He hates this position because he can’t feel her the way he wants to and Scully knows that he’ll take her on the floor after she has her orgasm. It’s endearing that he insists on her coming before him if not a little aggravating at times but that’s just Mulder. Endearing and aggravating, a living, breathing contradiction.

One hand palms her breast while the other entertains her clitoris with slow, torturous circles of his thumb. She whines low and deep at the sensation.

“Fuck! Mulder!”

He chuckles and pinches her nipple through her shirt and bra. “You’re lucky I can multitask.”

“You are such an—” she squeezes his ass instead of saying the word and he laughs harder.

“I love your ingenuity, Scully. So creative.”

“Then fuck me like you mean it.” He raises a foot to nudge down her pants, the rubber of his shoe burning against her calf. “In order for me to do that, these have to go.”

“Then yours go too. I don’t need a zipper poking me.”

He complies with a grunt, shoving his jeans down to his ankles then guiding her to lie on the cool linoleum floor. He pulls off her pants completely but leaves her pumps on. She grins.

“What?”

Scully raises a foot and touches his shoulder. “You have a heel fetish.” Eager eyes focus on her slick and swollen sex. “I do not.”

“Yes, you do. You never take my heels off.”

“That’s because they’re too damn complicated and trying to figure them out makes my boner flag.”

Mulder stops the laughter bubbling in her throat with a quick snap of his hips. He gives her no time to adjust, burying himself to the hilt, blurring pain and pleasure in a delightfully torturous mix. Sometimes she wants him to make love to her, slow and sweet but right now, she wants a good, hard fuck, one that leaves her sore in the best way.

“Fuck me, Mulder,” she groans and he does. His thrusts go deep to her cervix, eliciting raw, guttural noises. God, she hopes Missy can’t hear them. She knows she’ll have a post-fucked glow when they leave the bathroom, she doesn’t need her sister to comment on her vocals too.

“Jesus, Scully!” He draws out her name. It’s the closest thing to a prayer he’ll ever mutter. He may believe in aliens, ghosts and monsters but he’s a secular man. Once, he told her God left him when his sister was taken away but Scully thinks that just maybe, God sent her in his stead to look after his precious, erratic soul.

She kisses his neck because she can’t reach his mouth. “I love you, Mulder. You mean the world to me. You and our children.”

“I wish you said that ten years ago. I would have saved us so much trouble by asking you to marry me.”

“You’re not the marrying type, Mulder.” But that’s okay. Marriage is too straitlaced for them—and expensive. Instead of a cupcake dress and matching gold rings, Scully would rather spend their money on diapers and possibly a new vibrator (her old standby broke a month ago). She doesn’t need Father McCue or anyone else to validate what she has with Mulder. Their kids are proof enough they love each other.

She digs her heels into his sacral spine. “We don’t need to get married. Doing this until we’re too old to means more than marriage vows.”

“I can live with that.”

“Good.” She touches his cheek. “Now let yourself go. I want to watch you come.”

His face is beautiful when he reaches orgasm. He bites his lip and closes his eyes, every muscle straining, wound so tightly then suddenly snapping. Warmth spreads inside her as he ejaculates. The sperm won’t have much of a journey to her womb but there will be no egg to fertilize as Rosalind is still nursing. It’ll be at least a year until they can conceive again, but right now, she’s full of life even if she can’t get pregnant.

“Do you need a minute?” She asks when Mulder sags against her.

He rests his chin in her shoulder. “More like five or ten.”

“You get two. We need to clean up and get ready for Trick-or-Treat.”

“You don’t like Halloween,” he reminds her and she slaps his ass in response.

“Get off of me.”

When they leave the bathroom, Melissa is waiting for them in the den, dressed as a witch. Behind her, on the couch, Monica holds both William and Rosalind on her lap. Monica is nonplussed, bored even while Melissa grins.

She brushes flyaway hairs from Scully’s face. “Did you make me another niece or nephew?”

Before Scully can answer, the doorbell rings, heralding the first of the trick-or-treaters. She glares at her then stalks to the door, trying to hide her smile.

[mystic-scripture]

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Fandom: Riverdale

Pairing: None/ Wayward serpents (Nat Dwyer, JD Dwyer, Ratchet Marks, JD Maxwell, Ty Brooks, Harley Davis)

It was Harley’s favorite time of year: Christmas. Which meant going all out on decorating everyone’s houses, lockers, and doing all sorts of crafty little things for the other serpents throughout the month, but she also made a big deal out of secret santa. Mind you it was only the six of them, since they added Ratchet and JD to the list, but Harley always made sure everyone kept it to themselves until they did a big reveal Christmas Eve at Nat’s. Usually, there is booze involved, so no one really complained.

This year was no different. No reveals had been made yet, and no gifts exchanged until the reveal, though Dax broke it and she’d gotten a promise ring,and she had no idea what people got. Okay, so maybe this year being no different is a lie, since this year they decided to forgo any limits they had set the past couple of years, making it a wild card gift based on who you had. Where Nat and Harley didn’t really care about the money, the boys did, the older two especially. There was also the fact that wrapping was a dead giveaway, or least Nat’s was, so they decided to keep it simple. Fit your gift in a certain sized box and that’s it. No wrapping involved, nothing too too bad.

The others were sure that Harley regretted that though as Dax ‘unwrapped’ his gift from Nat to find a bunch of packaging peanuts and one of those dinner and a movie gift card packages at the bottom. JD hadn’t been much better with her gift, but the necklace he’d gotten was far more than what she expected. Now, it was Ty’s turn as he shoved his box towards Nat, scratching at the back of his head.

“So, I did kinda cheat this year and tell someone I had you.” He admitted earning a glare from the raven haired girl. “But! It was my mom who isn’t in this and it’s because I needed her help.”

“Dear God what would you need Gloria’s help with?” Nat grimaced, looking at the box like it was a pipe bomb.

“Just open the damn thing, yeah?” Dax punched his frustrated friend in the arm, getting a laugh from the others. “It ain’t gonna kill ya.”

She raised an eyebrow as if to question the validity of the statement, but pulled the box’s lid off anyway. The top had a couple of pieces of tissue paper along with a card. Nat took it and read it, a small crinkle appearing in her forehead. “A tribute to the most Badass Chick I know.” She read aloud, pulling at the tissue paper here eyes widening as she saw underneath it. “You sentimental dip!”

Sitting in the box was a small scrapbook that read “Nat’s Serpent Tail” across the top of it. As she took it out and flipped through it, they saw various pictures of her from during her initiation, tastefully leaving out the female version, and various after fight chats they’d had. Nat was trying not to smile, but failed as she looked at a picture of her holding the baby tooth she’d lost in her gauntlet, grinning wide with a split lip and shiner on her forehead.

“Wait…these are pictures from my camera…” she realized, looking at him accusingly. “Is that what you needed my SD cards for? I thought you said you were making a collage for Harley of all the pictures I got of her and Dax together.”

“It was, and it is.” He nodded, ducking from her impending fist. “But I couldn’t tell you it was for your own present!”

“He’s got a point, you know.” Ratchet stated, passing his box over to Ty, “But I still think I did better.”

“I doubt it, do you know how long it takes to scrapbook?” Ty exclaimed, taking the box and shaking it gently. “This does feel kinda heavy though.”

They all looked in anticipation as he opened his gift, a frown sagging across his face as he pulled out a bunch of papers and a large journal out of the box. At first he papers seemed random, then they started to become apparent. In the box sat dozens of crumpled paper receipts and notes, bits and ends that he probably left at Dax’s during a cram session or something. The girls laughed, and the boys looked confused.

“Oh! Sorry, uhm open the book.” Ratchet said enjoying the look on Ty’s face a little too much. “I may have been a dick about the wrapping.”

“May have?” Nat rolled her eyes. “How long have you been collecting his trash for?”

“Long enough to cover that.”

He said, nodding towards Ty who had discovered that the journal was actually a box, bright chrome shining brightly. Everyone scurried over to see what it was, letting out gasps as they took in the gleaming new set of socket and C wrenches that sat there, a few other mechanical tools in there as well. Ty went to wipe a tear from his eye, the new tools something he’d never had before, always getting JD’s spares or hand-me-downs from the various serpents. They were new, and they were his. They even had T. Brooks monogrammed into them.

“That is fantastic, Marks...thank you.” He murmured looking at his shiny new toys. “Now I kinda want something to be wrong with my bike.”

“Never say such things.” Came the serious reply from JD, who turned to his friend. “Dude, you never got me anything this nice before, what the hell?”

“You never asked.” Ratchet shrugged, “All he’s ever done is complain about how crappy his tools are when he’s hanging at the trailer.”

“Whatever.” He waved a hand in frustration, his finger moving between the group, okay so, Nat is done, Ty is done, and we have given two other gifts? So...Dax or Harley,  you give your gifts, I guess, then we’ll reveal whoever is left. Then you all can get the hell out of my house.”

“No need to be a grinch!” Harley protested, scooting towards her boyfriend. “You go first babe.”

“Well, I got JD, so-” He groaned, standing up and making his way over to his mentor. “Kinda a thank you for things more than a secret santa.”

“You have nothing to thank me for Kid.” He said, opening the box with a laugh. Pulling out another box and spun it to show off a very nice whiskey set. “Damn but you can keep doing so if you want to, and I don’t even want to see you breath on this Nat.”

A pout spread across the blondes face, as she stared lovingly at the stones and one of the glasses. “But it’s a set for two! There are two of us!”

“Not gonna happen.”

“Okay!” Harley jumped up, moving her box over to Ratchet. “I also kinda cheated, so your present is outside, but there is a part of it in the box.

Everyone looked at Harley with shock, slack jawed and eyes wide open. She had broken the rules? Her, the enforcer of said rules? This had to be good. They all turned as Ratchet opened it, finding a small booklet and paperwork in side. Moving it around, he found a key and his eyes snapped towards her.

“You didn’t.”

“Look outside.” She grinned, I most certainly did.”

Everyone scrambled, limbs tangling into each other as they followed him out, trying to see what the two were talking about. Dax however, saw the key and instantly knew. He went over to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Giving her a soft squeeze, he spun her around to face him.

“I’m pretty sure you just made his year if that’s what I think it is.” He said, “Given he’s been looking for that thing seven years, maybe the past few.”

“Mom was able to pull in a favor with the Sheriff.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t even doing anything, just being stripped from all the ghoulie mods from when they stole it off the original buyer.”

“You amaze me, you know that.” He touched his forehead to hers, letting out a sigh. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

She closes her eyes, falling into his embrace. “You and those goofballs outside are the family I choose, I should be asking how I deserve all of you.”

Dax merely kissed her forehead, “Merry Christmas, Harls.”

“Merry Christmas, Dust.”

“Oh geeze get a room you two!!!” Nat shouted, the door slamming open as the other piled in. “And preferably not mine.”

Harley broke away from her boyfriend to roll her eyes, and grab her drink. “Merry Christmas to you too, ya filthy animals.”

They all toasted to that, taking the time to clean up and sober up before driving home, Ratchet driving Harley to her house in his shining, almost brand new car that looked the same as the day that he’d sold it seven christmases ago.

Yeah, Christmas was Harley’s favorite time of the year.

[hunnybadgerv]

For the angsty relationship asks, do you feel like doing all of them for Nyx/Kaidan? You can keep as short as you want! Only if you like to. (If not, all multiples of 5?)

Angsty Relationship Asks

do they have a lot of arguments? if so, over what?Most of their arguments are over Nyx’s gung ho tactics. *cough* Rannoch *cough* I mean Kaidan understands what she’s trying to do, and wouldn’t balk about throwing himself in harm’s way, but there are times when she does it that it just creates a reaction. Beyond that I think their “arguments” are mostly silly--she stole his bacon, he stole the covers. They usually end up in laughter and fluff. These tend to talk more than argue. I think it’s because they are both rather even keeled.

who apologizes first? in what way? is it hard for either of them to apologize?Usually the one of them that was in the wrong. They’re both rather adult about those sorts of things. And usually they are pretty quick to realize when they were in the wrong. I don’t think either of them has an issue apologizing. But I also think that sometimes Kaidan is more likely to apologize first, I think, given everything, he’s more willing to overlook those things.

which one has more insecurities? over what?Oh this can be a toss up depending on the moment. Kaidan’s still dealing with trusting himself (at least in the ME1 timeline, later I think he moves past it. After the Lazarus Project, really suffers with self-identity issues, struggles as to whether she’s actually herself. And it doesn’t get better later one. And might actually compound when they go through the Lazarus base.

who gets more riled up? do they show their anger? I think Kaidan’s fuse can be shorter than Nyx’s. He’s likely to get a little more riled up by things. But I don’t think his anger comes out, especially in the earlier installments. He’s got that iron control over himself. I think later on I’ve shown him being more free with his anger or feelings in that range, like when he tells James he doesn’t like to share. There was a bit of anger flashing behind that statement.

how do they hide their pain when they’re upset? do they try to hide their pain?Nyx has a nearly uncrackable mask. But her pain finally cracks the surface it usually does so in tears. I think Kaidan in keeping with the idea of his exceptional control would bottle up, but I think he’d be more likely to talk about his before it became an explosive outburst. He wouldn’t want it to go that far and potentially end in a loss of control.

who tries to make up first? does it work?I think here we have another toss up. I think it depends on the situation. 

would they hate-fuck if they were mad at one another? if they had a falling out?You mean like Horizon??? Umm. I’m not really sure. I’ve never thought about this before. A part of me thinks the potential is there. 

do they hold grudges? is it hard for them to let go/forgive each other?Against each other? *cough* Horizon *cough* Kaidan does. Nyx gets furious for a while, but then realizes she’d probably react just the same way, so she kind of just lets it go. *Spoiler Alert* In the vaguest possible terms, I have Nyx do something while she’s working with Cerberus in ME2 and Kaidan ends up being assigned to a position that makes him aware of what she’s doing. And I think in that he starts to realize that maybe things are like he thought they were and maybe she wasn’t lying to him on Horizon. I think it helps move him toward finally being able to forgive her.

is there something big that could potentially tear them apart if it was revealed? If Cerberus had used Reaper tech in her upgrades, yes. If he had married in the interim, yes. If she had turned to Thane or Garrus as more than friends, yes. If either of them stopped trusting the other, yes. But I don’t think there’s anything in their pasts that they are hiding from one another that would just end their relationship cold turkey.

if something already happened to tear them apart, what would make them come back together? is it even possible?For Kaidan, it was the realization that what he thought he saw on Horizon wasn’t an accurate representation of what was happening. And also him finding out that she didn’t walk away for two years. That something actually happened. For Nyx, it was his apology.

what’s their favorite pass time when they’re upset?Nyx loves a good fight. She’s gone hand to hand with Garrus and in ME2 90% of the crew. In ME3, she and James get into it a lot. She loves a fight. Kaidan tends to go all toolbelt when he’s upset. I almost wonder if he wasn’t intentionally breaking that console all the time just to have something to zero in on. I think that immense concentration needed to repair items is what helps calm him back down when he’s upset. 

who do they confide in when shit hits the fan (besides each other)?For Nyx it turned out to be Tali at first, Garrus later. Kaidan confided a lot in Joker, and Liara later.

is it hard for them to talk about their feelings openly with each other? if so, is there any way that can be resolved, even in the slightest?The two of them from the get go could really talk about anything except their interest in one another, at least until they decided just to go for it. It was still a difficult subject from time to time, but that’s really the only thing they didn’t bring up. Well, that and feelings of jealousy. Nyx didn’t really deal with that green-eyed pang finding out someone was trying to set him up with a doctor. And when James was making flirty comments, Kaidan didn’t really say anything he just kind of let it fuel his frenzy when he got Nyx alone. 

who grieves more when the other is away?I think they both do. But the person that’s not in the thick of fighting has more time to think about the fact that the other one’s not there, that the other one’s in danger. So I’d say it’s likely Kaidan because he spends more time out of combat than Nyx does.

who misses the other more, or really thinks about them more?This would probably go to Kaidan. Nyx’s compartmentalization allows her to kind of lock certain things away and not deal with them until she wants to or needs to. Kaidan, while controlled, doesn’t feel quite as boxed up as she can be.

do either of them have a special item (an article of clothing, a necklace, a book) that they use when they miss the other? if so, what is it? what do they do with it (read, wear, look at, smell)?Nyx is all about Kaidan’s hockey jerseys. In ME2, at one point she and Thane were talking about their former loves. He shared a memory and she did too. After their next stop over at the Citadel, there was a hockey jersey in her room. She picked it up and on an off chance smelled it. She broke down on the spot, it smelled exactly like she remembered and she just buried her face in it and cried. For the most part, she just keeps it in a drawer, but there are times when she pulls it on and curls up in bed. She’d never admit it. Even when she’s doing it, there’s a part of her that feels foolish because at that moment she’s convinced it’s over between them. Later on, Kaidan finds the jersey in her quarters--a part of me is sure he asks about it. I’m not sure how that goes, or how much she admits. But she wears it while they’re apart. I have a feeling Kaidan has something as well, though at the moment I’m not sure what it is. 

who cries more? who gets more emotional in general?Nyx is the more likely to get emotional, if only because she keeps proverbially stuffing things in boxes until they can’t hold anymore, then it pops open, gets everywhere, leaving a mess.

do either of them have the other’s stuff lying around their house?Oh yes. Once they get back together the loft is theirs. Hell, after the loss of the Normandy Kaidan went back to his apartment and had to do something with her shelf. The handful of things he convinced her just to leave there until their next leave. At the time it seemed like a good idea. But he wanted her to be comfortable there, to feel like it was her space as well. 

how about teasing? do they tease each other while in a fight (whether it be with themselves or just general teasing)?Not when they’re fighting. Just in general, she’ll tease him and call him Canada, or, like in ME1, insist that he clear her so she can flirt with him. But it’s all in jest and good fun. He will also occasionally make remarks about the size of her “aura”/biotic field.

do either of them have any vices?Kaidan sometimes suffers self-doubt. They both have a little stroke of a jealousy streak. Nyx can be reckless and has to curb down her wrath. Being the tip of the spear as long as she has been has also given her a dash of arrogance that pops up in certain situations. I think there are times when Kaidan feels a little envy later on, maybe when talking to Thane, or seeing Nyx and Garrus together. Especially when they are just trying to put the pieces back together.

what’s the thing they miss most about each other?Kaidan misses her smile, the way she laughs--the fact that she sees him, not just his rank or his biotics, but really sees him. And Nyx misses the calm that he exudes--she never feels like she has to say or do anything. He just accepts her as she is. 

what’s their go-to breakup/angst song?I think this might have to be No Sugar In My Coffee or something like Amnesia. Though I’m sure there were points when Nyx was mumbling lyrics to songs like 99 Problems here and there in an effort to convince herself past whatever Kaidan-related feeling she was struggling with at the moment.

who’s more jealous?During ME2, Nyx. In ME3, it’s Kaidan. He’s given more reason than she is. 

who is the first to forgive?With the Horizon incident, it’s Nyx. But this one is a toss up on other things. 

what’s the one deal breaker for either of them (lack of communication, fear of commitment, etc)?For these two a lack of communication would be devastating. If they stopped trusting or talking to one another, their relationship would break down.

who would take longer to let go? do they ever really “let go”?Neither of them really let go with Horizon. Even thinking she was dead, Kaidan clung to her memory. And even when she was sure he hated her, she couldn’t turn the path of her heart.

which is more afraid of confrontation?Neither of them. Even with each other. Though in ME2, Nyx even after she came to terms with his response to her, still avoided him. She didn’t want to push him into a confrontation that would just shatter everything. So maybe Nyx.

who’s the first to distance themselves (if either)?Kaidan. 

who’s more patient? is it hard to break that patience?Kaidan. Yes, it’s hard to break his patience.

who’s the first to blame themselves? I think they both have this tendency to a point. 

who’s more likely to do something out of spite?I think that this is a stretch for both of them, but if pushed really far, I’m fairly certain they both could be capable of it. 

who would be the first to say they hate the other? would they mean it?Not sure either of them would say it. Except in jest. Like Kaidan tickling her feet relentlessly and her saying she hates him. But it would be a playful silly situation and definitely not with any conviction.

who worries more?Kaidan. Nyx’s compartmentalization has some benefits.

what scent reminds them of the other?Oh wow... Umm. I’m not sure if I ever went into this for either of them yet. Citrusy scents might be what evoke Nyx, or honeysuckle. With Kaidan I think it’s probably a smoky, woody scent. But I reserve the right to retcon this if I find the note where I actually had this marked out. I’m pretty sure I laid it out somewhere, but I can’t find mention of it at the moment.

do they have any regrets (regarding the other, or just in general)?They both regret Horizon. I think they both kind of regret *Spoiler Alert* Omega. 

who’s quicker to walk away if a situation gets heated?Kaidan.

who is more prone to anger?Nyx. Though Kaidan’s not immune.

who cries more in an argument? do either of them cry?The mostly likely culprit in this situation would be Nyx.

does it take a lot for it to get to the point of yelling?Oh, yes.

who sleeps on the couch? can either of them sleep without the other?Both of them. And not well. 

who’s more likely to protect the other?Flip a coin. They’d both take a bullet for the other.

if one of them gets injured, who worries more?Another flip a coin question.

who would be more afraid of the other’s death/harm?This could be a toss up as well, but I’ll give it to Kaidan, because he’s already been there once, he doesn’t want to go through that hell again.

who ends up yelling first? are they always yelling when arguing, or do neither of them yell at all?Either. Though with Kaidan on if she’s going on and on and not listening, then he’d only yell her name to get her attention and the chance to get a word in edgewise.

who would be more likely to save who?Flip a coin. I think it is highly dependent on the situation. They’ve both saved one another’s lives in the past.

who stays up at night brooding?Neither. Shepard family tradition. Her father told her never go to bed mad, even if you’re up all night. Don’t let it fester if you can avoid it.

who has more dreams/nightmares about the other?Nyx. 

who comforts who after a bad dream/event?Kaidan

do they think about each other a lot? does it affect their performance/schoolwork?Sometimes, I imagine it does affect them in their careers, and they do think about each other a lot. It gets easier when they are around each other almost all the time thought.

if one of them were to come back after a long time, who would come to who? would it go well? would the other person take them back?Well, when Nyx went to Kaidan--unknowingly--it went badly. When they got thrown together on the Normandy in the attack it didn’t go well. Later when Nyx went to the hospital with and without his request, things went better, kind of. When hell really broke loose, Kaidan came to her. Nyx forgave Kaidan long ago, and still held a torch. When he finally became willing to give it another go, she was more than willing to tell him she forgave him. And they both finally found that place where they were willing to give it another go.Honestly a part of me is certain that they could have had a harder time of if they hadn’t lost one another for a time. I think that separation helped them really get a clearer grasp of one another and just what they both wanted and needed from the relationship.