#this got long whoopsiedoo!

[fourteenfifteen]

I’m nearly through with the spreadsheet demo when Monica screams.

For some reason, my first instinct is to check the screen. I mean, God knows that Excel makes me want to scream sometimes, and I’ve been working with it twice as long as she has. I turn to it, and everything’s fine, like, as fine as it could be, and then my eye catches on something on the other side of our suite’s glass walls.

The office lead, Angela. With a deli platter. Wiping something off of the plastic cover with a napkin.

“Oh goddamnit,” I say under my breath.

“So you saw it too?” Monica says. She’s stock still, well, except for the way she’s shaking.

In lieu of an answer, I lean forward and hit save on the spreadsheet. I stand. Monica manages to drag her eyes from Angela (still wiping) to stare up at me, scared like a baby animal. That makes me decide against asking her to stand. I grab the back of her desk chair and pull her towards Christina’s office.

She’s free, thankfully. I tug open the door, tug Monica inside, and tug it closed behind me. She does a double take at her shell-shocked face. “Hey- uh, hey guys, what’s up?”

“So you know how Monica’s desk faces out?” Christina nods. “Well,” I say, “Angela was out there, and-“

“She ate that kid!” Monica suddenly stands. “That delivery driver! She- she- her mouth-“

Christina buries her head in her hands. “Oh goddamnit.”

“Right.”

“He was- there was blood-“

“Angela’s lucky nobody else saw,” Christina says. “I mean, assuming nobody else did!”

“Seriously.”

“He was screaming, I could see it.”

Christina is gesturing widely with her hands. “She seriously needs to cut it out. I mean, one of these days someone’s gonna come looking for one of these delivery drivers-“

Monica freezes. “What do you mean?”

“What?”

“What do you mean, one of?”

A pained look crosses Christina’s face. She looks from Monica up to me. “You really should have taken her over to Tom’s office instead.”

“Somebody explain what is happening right now.”

“Okay!” She throws her hands up. “Jeffrey, come on, explain.”

I scoff. “Wow-“

“This is the kind of responsibility that comes with having an intern, Jeff. Look, I’ll remember it when I do your performance review.”

I sigh. I move to sit on Christina’s desk, like a cool guidance counselor or something. Monica looks at me, arms folded, eyes still glassy, breath still not quite steady. I turn and grab the kleenex box off of the desk and hand it to her. She holds it awkwardly like she’s not quite sure what to do with it.

I take a breath. “So,” I begin slowly. “Angela is… a bit different.”

Monica laughs. “No shit.”

“Yeah, no shit, Jeff.”

I wave both of them off. “Right, no shit, but what I mean is… uh, back when I started, she was a lot different. We think- well, we pretty much know that she got replaced. Or changed somehow. Something… made her into a different person. Who has razor sharp teeth and claws sometimes.”

Monica looks scared again. “How? How does that happen to a person?”

“Uh,” I say, “well she had this camping trip-“

Christina cuts in. “And she was into urbex-“

“-And she drank a lot of strange tea-“

“-And her sister was into weird transhumanist stuff-“

“-And she liked to start fights on Wiccan subreddits-“

“-And her dog always freaked me out-“

“So you don’t know,” Monica says.

I sigh again. “Not… strictly. Obviously we’ve speculated.”

“Tom thinks it was aliens,” Christina says. I can tell without looking she’s rolling her eyes.

“Wait.” Monica looks suddenly mad. “How many people know about this?”

“Uh.” I rub my scalp. “All of our team, I think. Like half of sales. Have you met Lizzie and Nish in IT because they have this whole elaborate timeline document-“

“We don’t tell the interns, generally,” Christina says. “It sucks, but… I mean, we want them to take full time offers, so…”

“Oh, God, am I in danger? Is she gonna eat me?”

“Nobody’s disappeared since she changed,” Christina says gently. “And it’s been, like, four years-“

“FOUR YEARS?”

“-so like, she might even be protecting us. Ask Nish, he has thoughts.”

“I’m not going to ask Nish anything, actually, because this,” Monica gestures around her to make it clear that this includes Christina and I, “is insane. And immoral. That delivery driver just died-“

Christina rubs at her head. “Obviously that isn’t ideal-“

“Not ideal, you’re sick.”

“I’m just saying! Not happy about the delivery drivers! Not a fan!”

“Me neither, for the record,” I say.

“But-“ Monica opens her mouth and Christina holds up a hand. “Let me finish my sentence. I don’t like it when Angela kills and eats delivery drivers but there is a reason why we haven’t, y’know, gone to the police or tried to vanquish her or whatever.”

Monica crosses her arms again. “Ok, what?”

Christina takes a breath. “The old Angela was… okay, you know I don’t like this kind of sexist language, but she was a huge bitch.”

“Oh my GOD-“

“When Tom’s wife was sick she told him to come in instead of stay home with her! And- and-“

“She used to shake her head at the rainbow flag at my desk,” I say.

Christina points at me. “She was genuinely so homophobic and nobody talks about it. I remember.”

“Why didn’t you just leave?”

“I was actively trying,” Christina replies.

“Yeah, I was looking,” I say. “This was the only offer I got out of college, though, it was here or retail.”

“You should have-“

“Monica,” Christina says, “think of it this way. Are you going to quit and find a new internship?”

She sets her jaw. “Maybe.”

“Really?”

Monica is about to snap back again, but then she stops. A series of complicated looks goes over her face. She bites her lip. “You said she hasn’t eaten any employees, right?”

“Exactly.”

“But I am not! NOT accepting my offer letter.”

“That’s fine,” Christina says. She sounds genuine. “I get it. Let me just say, though: you might not believe me, but Angela, this Angela, is the best boss I’ve ever had. Whatever, like, alien race or whatever she’s a part of, they have kickass leadership seminars. And, hey, you have a great mentor here too-“

I roll my eyes. “Come on, Christina-“

“No, I mean it, Jeff, you’re great, Monica, listen to him and you’ll be an Excel pro when you leave. And hey, this is better than working for an oil baron or defense contractor. Just,” she says, “keep it in mind.”

There’s a knock at the door of the office. When I turn, I see a head of light brown highlights. Angela.

Monica audibly gulps. “She doesn’t have super hearing, does she?”

“Come on in!” Christina calls with a quick glare in Monica’s direction.

She pokes her head in and smiles. Her teeth look to be of normal sharpness. “Hi guys, there’s sandwiches in the break room! Just wanted to make sure you heard.”

“Thanks,” I say, weakly.

She smiles, then looks down, unblinking. “Monica, right? How’s your summer so far?”

Monica is watching her the way a person might watch a snake. “Good,” she manages to get out. “I-I’m learning a lot.”

“Awesome. Not surprising, with these two. Well, I’ll catch you guys later. Go have one of those sandwiches!”

She shuts the door behind her. We spend a long second in silence before Monica speaks under her breath. “I am not fucking eating those.”

You and your other co-workers have known for a while that something is impersonating your boss. But no one has bothered to say anything because under its leadership the workplace has become an enjoyable place. Today you’re training a new employee when they see the boss eating a delivery driver.

[ssparksflyy]

the last time.

pairing : luke castellan x gn!reader summary : after letting him in through your window for months, it was time to stop. this was the last time. warnings : atrocious grammar, small cursing ( whoopsiedoo ), angst :(, reader being a hopelessly in love little shit :( word count : 1.7k a/n : im SO SORRY for not releasing stuff, i promise i tryyyy but then i get distracted </3 ( screw you adhd ) ill try harder !! in regards to the fic tho, reader lives in an apartment with a fire escape, '---' means ~flashbackkkk~, reader & luke are in a mess of a relationship, and (f/m) = favorite movie, (y/n/n) = your nickname :D alright, tysm for reading!

you honestly had no idea how you let it happen.

his first visit was on a lonely night in september, not long after he had famously betrayed camp, and you.

---

it was saturday evening, and you, unlike your parent, who was actually out with friends, were laying in bed, rewatching f/m, for the 13th time.

you were a mess, to say in the least. just before your summer at camp half blood ended, you found out that your boyfriend (maybe ex, you didn't know what to call him) was a follower of the titan, kronos. and was planning to help him overrule the gods.

like everyone at camp, this came as a total shock to you. not once the whole summer had something seemed off about luke. he was simply the same as he always was. cheerful, sweet, caring, and the best boyfriend you could have ever asked for. how could you ever suspect he was planning something like this?

this left you in a state of feeling lost once you got home. you had no idea how to handle it. you were angry at luke, he betrayed you. he left you alone, after making you believe that he would never do that. he was the reason you couldn't sleep at night. the reason you couldn't focus on your normal life. he made you feel so lost, you didn't know how to move on. so why were you still madly in love with him?

you sighed as this thought crossed your mind once more. you shut the tv off, and slumped in your bed, your hands sliding up your face then resting on your cheeks. you sat like this for a good minute, but bolted up at the sound of knocking at your window.

it was luke.

he had that stupid innocent look on his face, his eyes begging you to let him in.

you couldn't believe him. you couldn't believe he had the nerve to show up at your house, after everything he had done? you couldn't believe you were walking over to your window to let him in.

you unlocked your window, then turned around and walked a few feet away as he climbed inside your room. you heard him close the window behind him, then sigh.

"y/n/n-", he began.

"don't call me that", you said harshly.

he sighed again sadly before continuing, "im sorry."

"that's it?" you said, turning around, beginning to walk toward him, "im sorry? for what luke? for being an idiot? for betraying camp? for betraying me? you pull all this shit and all you have to say is im sorry?"

you paused about 3 steps away from him. tears were beginning to form in your eyes as you looked at him. he looked slightly different, a little more roughed up, in a way.

"yes okay, im sorry. im sorry i left you. but you've got to understand, im doing what i think is right. the gods have ignored us far too long for us to stay quiet. it's time they pay for it." he paused, then continued, "in a way, im doing this for you. for us. i want to live a life with you where we don't face the consequence of being some stupid god's kid."

you didn't know whether to believe him or not. maybe his heart was in the right place, and was just following through the wrong way? maybe he was still the luke you knew?

he closed the space that was once between you and put one hand on your waist, the other to your cheek. you stayed silent, unsure of what to say. you were still angry at him, but couldn't help but give into his touch that you hadn't realized you missed so much.

"i thought i could do this with just knowing that i'm doing this for us, but i can't. i miss you, y/n/n. i miss you every day im gone. i can't stop thinking about you, my heart yearns for you."

he was so close, your foreheads were touching and he was looking pleadingly into your eyes.

you didn't want to believe him. you wanted to be angry at him, and tell him to leave. you didn't want his stupid words to have such an impact on you. you wanted to make him leave, and never see him again.

your wants however, were overthrown by your need to kiss his stupid lips.

---

since then, he began to come at least once each month.

he never told you when he'd come, he just would.

because of this, you'd find yourself canceling any plans you had with friends, always saying, "oh, ive got plans with my (guardian)" or "sorry! can't tonight, gotta study!" just in case he'd come.

you knew you wouldn't want to risk not being home when he came, because who knew when he'd be able to again?

on the nights he did come, he came pretty late, but you'd then get him for the rest of the night. he'd fall asleep at your place, but you'd always wake up alone, staring longingly at your window.

there was always a voice in your head telling you this was wrong, and you shouldn't be seeing him. for the first few months, that voice was easy to ignore. but the closer summer came, the louder that voice got.

how would you see him over the summer?

you knew he couldn't sneak into camp, it'd be too risky. you loved seeing luke, but you wouldn't be able to if he was caught and attacked by every single camper there.

'you can't see him over the summer.', the voice would say, 'so end things with him now, you know you have to.'

you didn't want to listen to the voice, but you couldn't ignore it either. you knew you had put it off for too long. a part of you always knew that you'd have to tell luke to stop. you had just always hoped you wouldn't have to be the one to call it off.

you made your plan. the next time he came, you'd have to tell him it was the last time. you couldn't- no wouldn't allow him to visit you anymore.

the next time he came was late may.

he knocked on your window as usual, with the same stupid grin that you fell in love with on his face.

you told yourself just once more before you let him in, 'this is the last time.'

you walked over to your window, and let him in.

he came in quickly, shutting the window quietly, then turning and immediately swooping you into his arms.

"hey y/n/n" he said with a grin, just before pulling you into a kiss.

'tell him now.' the voice said.

"luke-" you said breathlessly, trying to pull away from the kiss, but failing as he connected your lips once more.

"luke i- i gotta tell you something" you say breathlessly again, as you push him away from you.

he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "what is it y/n/n"

"this.." you began, then took a deep breath in before continuing, "this is the last time i can see you."

he looked at you, confused, "if you mean before the summer, then yea, i know, i can't visit you at camp."

"no.. i mean, in general." you say firmly, "i can't keep letting you in, this is wrong luke. what you're doing is wrong. if i keep seeing you then its like im ignoring that this is wrong. i, i can't keep doing that."

his confusion slowly turned to anger. you heard it in his voice as he said, "y/n/n i told you, im doing this for us. how could that possibly be wrong?"

"i know! but that seriously doesn't justify it luke! what's gonna happen when you 'overthrow the gods' huh? the very gods that make up this world? there won't be a world if they aren't here!" you say, beginning to raise your voice. thank those said gods that your (guardian) wasn't home.

"you just dont get it y/n! and besides- don't you want me? you know i want you more than anything! you think you're the only one taking a risk to see me? every time i come here i risk my life!" luke said, his voice also rising.

"exactly! so you'll be saving yourself if you stop coming here!" you say, letting out a sigh that sounded like a laugh.

you took a step closer to him, "look, luke, i won't lie. of course i want you." you sigh before saying, "but not like this. not when we're both taking risks."

he looked down.

"join me then."

"what?"

"you heard me." he said, looking up at you, and pulling you in, "join me. and we wont be taking risks y/n. we'll be together, and you can help me make a better world for us."

"luke, no." you say sadly, you hated saying no to him, and this was already hard enough.

he looked disappointed. he wanted you to join him. he wanted to spend more time with you. he loved you, damnit. but that look on your face was enough to tell him he wasn't going to get anywhere if he continued to push you.

you both stood there, in silence for a minute. both trying to accept the fact that this was the last time you'd see each other, peacefully, at least.

luke raised his hand to the back of your head, and made your forehead touch his. you wished you could stay here forever. you wished time would just stop, so you could stay here, with luke. you'd give anything for it.

slowly, luke connected your lips. the kiss was soft, but full with such emotion. a true kiss of goodbye.

you were the one to pull away, and give luke a pained look. it felt hypocritical, you were the one to tell him that whatever you had was over, and now you were the one giving him a sad look.

luke you sighed. he began to walk to your window, but held your hand. you stayed where you were.

he opened the window, and just before he turned around, he kissed your outstretched hand, and gave you a pained look back.

he dropped your hand and began to climb out the window, but paused midway.

"goodbye, y/n/n"

"goodbye luke" you said, tears forming in your eyes.

"i love you."

he closed the window.

you fell to your knees, sobbing.

a / n pt 2 : how was it? did ya like it? what'd ya think?? :D tysm for reading <33 seriously, lmk if u liked thissss! likes, comments and reblongs r seriously appreciated, i appreciate each and every one! i'll seriously try to post more, i got some ideas, so hopefully that helps! again, tysm for reading, ur very much appreciated <3 oh also sorry if i lost my flow torwards the end, its 4am :D well, now, i will go back into my cave of a room, waiting til next tuesday's episode :)

peace from manhattan,

percy jackson