#very close to printing out a ‘best I can do is not killing myself’ sign and taping it to my back

[a-high-femme]

happy holidays

[rhysismydaddy]

Unholy Matrimony Pt. 5 (Nessian)

Damnation Series

Parts 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 

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~Cassian~

A week later, I’m exceptionally proud to say I haven’t given in yet. No matter how much I want to.

Tensions the past seven days have been... high, to say the least.

Both of us are doing our absolute best to drive the other insane.

She’s doing it so I either sign the deed and give in or turn to someone else, both which would give her Sera back.

I’m doing it because if I have to suffer, she can bet her pretty ass she does, too.

Ironically, tonight’s our engagement party. A celebration of our undying love and an announcement to the world the Russians and Italians of New York should no longer hate and murder each other.  

They’re allowed to be sexually frustrated as hell, but no, they can’t kill each other.

I’m waiting for the little minx who’s spent the week making me regret ever even asking for the club, drinking bourbon so I’m too drunk to even be tempted by her--which is likely enough to kill me--when she finally deigns to grace me with her presence.

I take one look at her, starting at the high blonde ponytail that would wrap around my fist at least twice and ending at the very high, very red shoes I immediately want by my shoulders.

“Fuck.”

Obviously the reaction she was looking for, she smiles.

Her dress is a cream color thing that clings to her curves and is short enough to showcase her long legs. It’s somehow classy, while low enough to draw my eyes to her breasts as she comes down the stairs towards me.

Nesta stops right before me, close enough I smell the jasmine and vanilla of her skin, and looks at me through her lashes.

I turn my gaze to the ceiling, vowing to keep it there until I trust myself to not do something stupid like tell her she’s the most stunning thing I’ve ever seen.

“I’m so fucked,” I mutter hopelessly.

If possible, she comes closer, sliding all the interesting, female parts of her against me. “You would be if you just gave me back my shit.”

I glare down at her. “I don’t like to lose.”

“Would you really be losing?”

I keep my mouth shut, because the answer to that question is a big fat no. God, she’s good.

“Tell me again why you refuse to put us out of our misery?” I ask in return, trying to remind myself who the fuck I am.

Even though I wonder if it is our misery. I can’t read her, can’t tell if this is affecting her like it is me.

She gives me a cold look. “What do you see happening after we get married, exactly? You think you’ll work a few hours at the club I spent three years building from the ground up, come home and eat a home cooked meal, then fuck your complacent little wife however you want?”

I have no idea what to say, because when she puts it like that, I sound like the biggest douche in the world.

Nesta sees the hesitation in my eyes and rolls hers. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I allow you to disrespect me like that, stronzo.”

“I respect you,” I say immediately, meaning the words.

“Just not enough to value my career.”

“Nesta-”

“Deal with it. If you somehow keep the board from voting you out in the next two weeks and manage to not sleep with me--which is unlikely, considering the way you look at me--the club will be yours.” She takes a step back, steeling her spin. “But I will not.”

I’m conflicted as hell, torn between wondering if she’s just playing me or being sincere.

Apparently done with the verbal smackdown, Nesta spins towards the door.

Hand on the handle, she turns back around and cocks her head. And then she answers the questions I hadn’t realized I’d been too scared to ask.

“No and yes.”

My brows raise. “What?”

“No, it hasn’t all been just me trying to mess with you. Yes, I want you as much as you want me. But I respect myself too much to allow someone who blazes into my life and steals something from me without a care or even a real negotiation to have my body, too.”

She walks out the door, leaving me standing in the living room stunned.

I eventually follower her down to the garage and we leave for the party Rhys is hosting for us downtown. But even though I go through the motions once we arrive, my mind is on the woman next to me the entire night.

I hate admitting it, but she’s right.

I took something that belonged to her, didn’t even question talking to her first, then acted like she was in the wrong for doing whatever she could to get it back.

I’ve said I like how strong and independent she is, but I tried to take that independence and turn her into something else. I bulldozed my way into her life, then acted like I was the one inconvenienced by it.

And seriously, why am I even fighting for this place? Yeah, I like it and think it’s unique, but the place is above board. Which to me translates as boring.

The past two weeks, I’ve had to go to investment meetings, deal with sending out the nightly invitations for entrance, and plan events for upcoming holidays. Things I never do with my other properties.

I hate managing things--I hire people to do that kind of thing for me. But I know I can’t hire someone, because who the hell besides my fiancé would do the job right?

No one.

I realize that on the drive home, and it gets me thinking. By the time we’re inside the apartment, I’m already mentally finalizing the details.

I tell her I have to take care of something, go to my office, and close the door.

Then I pull up the marriage contract, along with the deed to Sera, and hit print.

~Nesta~

A week after our engagement party, I realized I’ve started to lose hope.

Cassian’s managed to wrangle or bribe or threaten the board into not voting him out, and the employees have stopped calling me to ask when I’m coming back. He hasn’t touched me or tried to seduce me in six days--probably a record for him--and I start to feel like I’ve lost.

My club will be his in a week, and after we’re married, only him signing the deed over will get it back. Something that will never happen, considering it’d be a serious hit to his pride to do something as weak as give me what’s rightfully mine.

My club will be his, but like I said, I won’t.

Which honestly is just as upsetting.

Even though he’s a stubborn, boneheaded stronzo with a big enough ego for us both, it’s hard for me to overlook the moments of the past three weeks that haven’t revolved around Sera.

Little moments that have made it harder for me to pull away from him.

He’s made me laugh more than anyone I’ve ever met, whether with his foul sense of humor or stories about his violent, wild childhood. He stopped leaving the toilet seat up when I pointed it out. He hasn’t said a word about me ordering take-out all the time or working in bed while he tries to sleep.

He even dealt with one of Alexei’s buyers for me when they tried to renegotiate the price originally agreed upon.

And he hasn’t really pressed the celibacy thing. Sure, he’s complained about it enough for me to want to smack him, but I don’t know any other Made Men, Russian or Italian, that would’ve respected my wish after how much I’ve teased him.

If he would just-

I cut that train of thought off and focus on the report in front of me, because at this point, it’s obvious he won’t.

I sip my wine, which is starting to grow on me, and look over shipment records from one of Alexei’s yards, flagging crates that need to be smuggled instead of brought in through the main channels. Repressing a groan at the thought, I realize I’ll have to go down one night this week and make sure they arrive without problem.

I take another long pull from my glass.

“Drinking to forget?” Cassian asks, leaning in the doorway of the bedroom and looking me over.

I shrug, not much in the mood for banter.

“I got you something.”

Sighing, I reply, “Yeah, me too. It’s on the nightstand.”

His brow furrows as he walks over and picks up the ring box, opening it to look at the titanium band inside.

Just another symbol of our lifelong, happy, sexless marriage.

He puts the ring back in the box and extends a hand. “It isn’t a ring.”

“What is it?”

“Get your ass out of bed and find out.”

I would, except I don’t want to. And I don’t really want whatever stupid, materialistic thing he’s bought me-

He closes my laptop and pulls the cover back, ducking when I swing a fist towards his head. “Violent little wolf,” he teases.

“Stop calling me that,” I demand, trying in vain to keep the blanket on me so he can’t tell I’m not wearing anything underneath the t-shirt I stole from him.

He pauses, sighs, and scoops me up, blanket and all. “I love watching you fight how much you love me calling you that.”

“I don’t have to fight anything except he overwhelming urge to smack you.”

Cassian just huffs, walking us out of the room, through the living room, and into his office. Then he puts me down, smacks my butt to get me moving, and grunts when I elbow him in the ribs.

“Maybe this will fix your bad mood,” he mutters, flipping the light switch on and bathing the office in golden light.

I take an involuntary step forward, eyebrows going high on my forehead.

I’ve only been in here once before, just long enough to notice the obnoxiously big desk and wall of windows behind it. I’d taken in the black leather couch and wing-backed chairs, determined it was a typical male office for a typical male, and vowed to work somewhere else.

But that was a while ago, and it’s obvious he’s done some home improvement.

There are decidedly now two desks in the corners near the windows, angled in to the middle of the room where two cream-colored leather chairs sit. The desks are identical, mahogany and classic without being ostentatious.

A rug covers the hardwood floors, a deep maroon color that matches small details throughout the room.

It’s beautiful.

Cassian leads me with his hands on my shoulders to one of the desks, and I let him guide me around to the chair and push me down in the soft leather.

I look up to ask him what this is about, but he jerks his chin to the desk where to two papers lie.

One is the deed to Sera.

A rush of surprise goes through me as I see he’s transferred the building back over to me, even going so far as to deem the process irreversible. It’s signed and dated a week ago, the night of our engagement party.

My eyes are shiny as I look at the other document and read through it.

“What is this?”

“A partnership, of sorts,” Cassian explains, leaning a hip on the- my desk like he did in his Capo’s office. “You’re now a partner at my businesses, and if you sign, I’ll be yours.”

My eyes find his, and I see that he’s serious but still choke out, “What?”

He smiles and shrugs, like signing over half of your life’s work is easy. “You had me pegged when you first saw me and figured out I’m a fighter. I hate everything about running a business except the in-person negotiating and knitty gritty shit. It’s boring to me, and while I can do it, I’m not nearly as good at it as you are.”

“Cassian-”

“So run them both. I’ll do the day to day shit I know you hate, and you’ll do the rest.”

I can’t hardly process what he’s saying.

“What if we disagree?” It’s a valid question, considering we’ve basically been fighting the entire time we’ve been engaged.

“We talk about it and try to figure it out. And if we can’t, the original owner has the final call and veto power in all situations.” His eyes say he knows how important it is to me as he says, “You’ll still be in control of your property, and I’ll still be in control of mine.”

I don’t know why I’m still asking questions, because it sounds great, but there’s one more thing I want to know.

“Why?”

He sighs, sitting on the desk fully and looking down at me with open, honest eyes. “Because I’m tired of doing this shit alone. I’m tired of going to work and dealing with every single thing and then coming home and having no one who understands.”

He looks out the window, shoulders tight. “I thought you’d be like my friends’ wives, which is why I was such an ass. I thought you’d be just another thing for me to take care of, and I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to realize you could be my partner, not just my wife.”

His eyes are back on mine, the heat in them making my heart pound. “I’m sorry, Nesta. I’m sorry I stole Sera in the first place, then refused to hear you out and give it back. I have a tendency to be a little stubborn.”

My lips twitch, and his eyes soften at the sight.

“But what you said about respecting yourself stuck. I don’t want you to feel like I don’t respect you, because I do. You’re smarter than me, cool when I’m rash, and have the mind for business I never have.” He smiles softly. “I know you’re just as alone as me, and just as tired of it. So say yes.”

I feel a smile on my face as I get to my feet, moving to stand between his thighs. “Are you just doing this so I’ll sleep with you?”

He sighs, dropping his head in shame to rest against my chest. “You caught me.”

My arms wrap around his shoulders, his going around my waist, and I use the opportunity to play in his hair. It’s so soft and curly, and he makes a content sound as I run my hands through it.

“Are you saying yes, little wolf?” he murmurs against my collarbone, dropping his head to rub his face across my breasts.

I roll and tug his hair to keep the randy bastard away. “Yes, pervert, I’m saying yes.”

Cassian smiles a big, goofy smile so ridiculously charming I lean in and kiss him.

His hands lock at my waist, resting on the curve of my back, and for a moment, he just lets me kiss him.

It isn’t our first kiss by any means, but it’s the first one where neither of us have ulterior motives, so I take my time.

I kiss his top lip, his bottom lip. Find I like them both equally.

My hands work across his shoulders, the thick muscles contracting under my hands, and I sigh his name.

Cassian’s hands fist in the fabric of my pajamas--which happen to still be his shirt--and draws me closer. He kisses my neck, inhaling deeply.

“You smell so fucking good,” he mutters, biting down softly and making me gasp. “It drives me crazy.”

His hands slip to the back of my thighs, then I’m on his lap, knees on the desk next to his hips. “You drive me crazy,” he clarifies.

He kisses me again, hands sliding up my thighs to my ass to grind me against him. Callouses scrape against my skin as he sweeps the shirt off and tosses it behind me.

“Shit,” he murmurs, eyes dropping to take me in.

The fact that he’s still fully dressed while I’m in nothing but my underwear makes me feel even more exposed, doing strange things to my mind. I start unbuttoning his shirt while he kisses down my chest.

He teases one with his hand while he takes the other in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the peak. I squirm, pressing my hips more fully against is, but he holds me still, kissing and teasing me until I can’t take it anymore.

“Cassian,” I murmur, tugging his hair to pull his gaze to mine. “Thank you for the desk. I love it.”

His brows furrow, and I can see him start to think about how much I’ve teased him, but before he can worry that’s what I’m doing, I whisper, “Now fuck me on it. Please.”

A muscle in his jaw flickers, and his fingers dig into the flesh of my hips.

Before I can say another word, he stands and spins us around, sliding me on the desk. He holds my thighs around his hips, and then an idea seems to dawn.

“Wait right here.”

“Seriously?” I ask, even though he’s already half-way out of the room.

“Don’t you dare fucking move!” is the shouted response.

I roll my eyes, but he’s back quickly, holding the red stilettos I wore to our engagement party. I howl with laughter, and a faint blush colors his cheeks, but he stays firm in his desire and puts them on the floor beside my feet.

Then he leans against the window and watches while I slip them on.

His golden eyes blaze as I lean back on my elbows and slowly spread my thighs, in nothing but lace panties and heels.

“I’ll buy you all the desks you want, if you sit on them like that.”

Laughter bubbles out of me, and he’s suddenly on me, leaning over me to kiss me in a frenzy.

I rip his shirt open, and he doesn’t even break the kiss as he throws it to the floor. I hear the telltale clink of a belt, and then he stands up to slide my panties down, grab my legs, and guide them up.

I feel him brush over the center of me, instinctively lifting my hips to give him a better angle.

But he doesn’t give me what I want.

Cassian just stands there, gaze gliding from the hells on his shoulders to the apex of my thighs.

“Hold that thought,” he mutters, dropping to his knees and putting his mouth on me before I can even blink.

My back leaves the desk, a gasp escaping me.

“Cassian.”

“I want you to come on my tongue, then you get to come on my cock.”

“Cassian.”

He hums, the sensation sending shivers down my spin. He kisses me like he’s doing it for him, not me, mouth on every part of me it can reach.

I can see the lines of his tattoos on his shoulders, the top of his curly hair. It’s too much to handle, so I just lay back down on the desk and throw my hands above my head to hold on to the edge of the desk.

The only time he stops is to tell me things that apparently can’t wait five minutes, but I don’t even care because every word out of that sinful mouth makes me burn hotter.

“Come for me,” he demands breathlessly a few minutes later.

“Don’t boss me around,” I groan, even as I do exactly what he wants.

He lets me ride it out, dropping kisses to my thighs and stomach and hips.

As soon as I catch my breath, he’s on his feet, putting me in the exact position I was in earlier.

And then he’s pushing inside me, and I honestly almost come again from the feel alone. “Thank God,” I groan, the past three reminding me of the misery teasing him put me through.

“Fucking hell, you’re perfect.”

Hands on my thighs, he holds me in place as he starts to move. But as he picks up speed, going harder with each thrust, his hands have to slip to my thighs to keep me still.

I say his name, sounding like I’m begging him for something, and he groans. His head’s thrown back, bare skin shining and making him look likesome sort of beautiful devil.

“Hurry up, little wolf,” he almost pleads.

The sound of that stupid fucking nickname does me in, and I come with a loud moan. I would’ve kicked him in the head if he hadn’t immediately dropped down on top of me to kiss me without abandon.

His hips still but he keeps kissing me until he has to break for air.

I’m boneless and limp beneath him, and he looks me over with male satisfaction.

Then his mouth drops open, betrayal in his eyes, and he says, “I just realized you didn’t speak even French! All these weeks of me fucking fantasizing about that... well, I guess we’ll just have to do it again.”

“Accorde moi un instant,” I pant in French, asking for a moment.

He grins down at me. “Take your time. We have a lifetime.”

My lips twitch, and I don’t stifle the urge to smile.

I’m about to say something, but then his expression turns serious. “You realize I have to fuck you on my desk now. Equality and whatnot.”

I laugh and pull his mouth to mine. “As long as you know I’m still not giving you my side of the bed.”

He tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth. “We can share.”

~

We get married seven days later, surrounded by a crowd of family, dirty politicians, thieves, drug and arms dealers, and friends.

In the past week, we’ve solidified our business model to a thing of perfection. I handle public relations, real estate and development, and negotiations for the shipping business. Cassian handles both the Bratva and Cosa Nostra soldiers in New York, training new recruits, drug distribution, and negotiations for the arms business.

Basically, I do what I’m good at, and he does what he’s good at.

I know it’s ridiculous to trust someone with half my business after only a month of knowing them, but like Cassian said, I was tired of doing this shit alone.

I’d been dreading the future, dreading taking over and doing everything myself. And now I don’t have to.

I have him to lean on, him to trust.

Looking up, I notice him watching me as we dance, not at all paying attention to the crowd. “What are you thinking about, little wolf?”

“I’m thinking how I thought of this marriage as nothing but an alliance at first. I guess it still is that, but... it’s also more.” He spins us around to the music, watching me with a knowing expression. “You’re more to me than that. And I’m... I’m happy. Working with you and the thought of our future makes me happy.”

He smiles. 

“You love me,” he states with quiet confidence. 

My heart starts pounding, because I’ve never told a living person that before. 

But it’s never been true before, and it is now, so I respond steadily, “I do.”

“I love you, too, Nesta Orlov. Have since the moment I saw you.” He sounds so relaxed about it, the words falling from his lips so easily.

“Doesn’t it scare you?” I ask, not understanding how he’s the calm one all of a sudden. 

“Anything you love something, there’s the risk you could lose it or it could hurt you.” Cassian brushes a thumb over my cheek. “But I could never be scared to love you.”

I shake my head and start to say something, but he cuts me off. 

“Every morning, when you wake up, there’s this little moment where you look around, confused. And then you look at me, and that hesitation in your eyes just... melts.” He dips me, wrapping his arms tight around me. “You look at me like you trust me, and love me, and want me.”

He presses a soft kiss to my lips. “That look is worth every risk and hardship and whatever else loving someone entails.”

I kiss him back as he brings us to standing. “Italians are such saps.”

He shows off the smile I’ve realized he only gives me, and I say the words I know he needs to hear just as badly as I did. “I love you, Cassian. You’re worth the risk, too.”

______________________________________________________

THANK U FOR READINGGG soft ending for the win

[kookie-doughs]

Y/N L/N AND THE HALFBLOODS

Percy Jackson X Reader

-Y/N L/N met Percy Jackson and everything was now ruined.

CHAPTER 16: Mini Elvis

The war god was waiting for us in the diner parking lot. "Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed." "You knew it was a trap," Percy hissed. Ares gave me a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV." Taking the shield from Percy I shoved it at him. "You're a jerk." Annabeth and Grover caught their breath. Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back. "See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas." The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS. Percy said, "You're kidding." Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. Inside were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuff Oreos. Percy said, "I don't want your lousy—" "Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving him his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot." I could see Percy gritting his teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but I also didn't want anything that Ares had touched. Reluctantly, he swung the bag over his shoulder. I looked back at the diner, which had only a couple of customers now. The waitress who'd served us dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt us. She dragged the fry cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of us. Great, I thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow.

I imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAWS BEATS UP DEFENSELESS BIKER. "You owe us one more thing," Percy told Ares, trying to keep my voice level. "You promised me information about our parents." "You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "They're not dead." The ground seemed to spin beneath me. "What do you mean?" "I mean Percy's mom was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept. As for yours, I saw them myself. Upstairs with the big guys. Why do you think you're causing one of the biggest uproar up there? They're refusing to tell who your parent is. No matter how much cut." He smirked. "What...?" Percy and the others must've seen something as they all held me back. "What are they doing to them?" I could feel the ground shake as Percy's grip on me tighten. We'll save them... calm down. Not the hero. Us. So calm down. "Calm down Y/N." Percy whispered. The ground stopped shaking and took a deep breath. "I will make you all kneel." I said. He looked at me confusedly. Then he shrug it off then laughed, "Oh yeah? can't wait, kid." Percy gripped my shoulder. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues." Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. I felt a hot wind in my hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back." He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street. Annabeth said, "That was not smart, Percy." "I don't care." "You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." "Hey, guys," Grover said. "I hate to interrupt, but ..." He pointed toward the diner. At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck. "If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry." I didn't like it, but we had no better option. Besides, I'd seen enough of Denver. We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us. The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Riptide. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some weird antelope thing I didn't know the name for. Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like somebody had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL! Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur. "This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?" He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and we would've helped him, but just then the trucks engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and we were forced to sit down or fall down. We huddled in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but I pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, I had a feeling we might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips. I found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then Percy used Riptide to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. He gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope. Grover calmed the antelope down, while I used my knife to cut the balloon off his horn. Annabeth wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but we decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around. We told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then we settled in for night. Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened our bag of Double Stuff Oreos and nibbled on one halfheartedly; I tried to cheer myself up by concentrating on the fact that we were halfway to Los Angeles. Halfway to our destination. It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. We could make it in plenty of time. On the other hand, I had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with me. At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it—he'd put up cameras and advertised me as entertainment. But even when the cameras weren't rolling, I had a feeling my quest was being watched. I was a source of amusement for the gods. And it wasn't helping knowing they're hurting my parents. Here I was risking my life for them and what are they doing? "Hey," Percy cooed, "We'll save them. No matter what. I promised you that." "Okay." Percy pulled me closer until I was resting on him. Annabeth cleared her throat. "Hey, sorry I wasn't much help back at the park... I could've helped getting you guys out... It's just..." She shuddered. "Spiders." "Because of the Arachne story," I guessed. "She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?" She nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things." "We're a team, remember?" Percy said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying. All we did was grab the shield." I thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" Annabeth, Percy and I laughed. She pulled apart an Oreo, handed me and Percy a half each. "In the Iris message... did Luke really say nothing?" I munched my cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered me all evening. "Luke said you and he go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree." Percy answered. In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard to read their expressions. Grover let out a mournful bray. "I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along." "You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus." He nodded glumly. "And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp..." Percy looked at Annabeth. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?" She put down her Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were... amazing monster-fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us." "I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker..." "Stop it," Annabeth said. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either." "She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably, "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so." "Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair." "Percy's right," Annabeth said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says." Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy." "You're not lame," Annabeth insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now." She kicked me in the shin. "Yeah," I said, which I would've done even without the kick. "It's not luck that you found Thalia and Percy, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan. I mean, you found me despite my scentlessness... is that a word?" Percy muffled a laugh. I heard a deep, satisfied sigh. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, I realized he'd fallen sleep. "How does he do that?" I marveled. "I don't know," Annabeth said. "But that was really a nice thing you told him." "I meant it." We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at me hopefully. Percy didn't take long to fall asleep. Annabeth rubbed her necklace like she was thinking deep, strategic thoughts. "That pine-tree bead," I said. "Is that from your first year?" She looked. She hadn't realized what she was doing. "Yeah," she said. "Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress—now that was a weird summer...." "And the college ring is your father's?" "That's none of your—" She stopped herself. "Yeah. Yeah, it is." "You don't have to tell me." "No... it's okay." She took a shaky breath. "My dad sent it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have gotten through his doctoral program at Harvard without her.... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him." "That doesn't sound so bad." "Yeah, well... the problem was, I believed him. I tried to go home for that school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argued. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood." She wouldn't meet my eyes. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain." "You shouldn't give up," I told her. "You should write him a letter or something." "Thanks for the advice," she said coldly, "but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with." We passed another few miles of silence. "Luke actually told me about you two coming to camp already." "Really?" She looked at me amazed. "You two must've gotten close fast." "Well, I don't know. I feel like I had to talk to Luke. Like I had to be there for him. The same with Percy." We have to be there for both "You're not wrong. I'm not sure how I'd be without your help." Percy yawned. "Yeah, I wouldn't have been able to handle him." Annabeth glared at him. I laughed, "I think you two are cute." Both of them blushed and said some excuse to disprove me. Which then turned into them showing off who's better than who. "If I'm dating anyone it'll be Y/N!" Both of them huffed and glared at each other. I shook my head and smiled. At least I've gotten new friends out of this. "So," Percy trailed off. "If the gods fight," he said, "will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?" Annabeth put her head against the backpack Ares had given us, and closed her eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you." "Why?" "Because Y/N will and whether I like it or not you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?" "That's all Mr. Peabody." "Shut up, Droopy." I felt her rest on my shoulder and she fell asleep. "Am I that comfortable?" "Yeah," Percy laughed as he rested on my lap. I had trouble following their example, with Grover snoring and an albino lion staring hungrily at me, but eventually I closed my eyes. ~~~ I woke with a start. I was second one awake. Grover was talking to the antelope. "Morning?" "Everyone had the Y/N privilege except me?" "You fell asleep first." I stroked both Annabeth and Percy's hair, which unfortunately woke up Annabeth. "Sorry about that." "It's fine." She yawned. She brought out some Oreo and handed me one. Until the truck stopped. "They're checking the animals aren't they?" Annabeth froze. I shook Percy's shoulder. "The truck's stopped," I said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals." "Hide!" Annabeth hissed. She had it easy. She just put on her magic cap and disappeared. Grover, Percy and I had to dive behind feed sacks and hope we looked like turnips. The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in. "Man!" one of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly nose. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes. "You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket right in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said. Next to me, under the turnip sacks, Grover tensed. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous. The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!" The zebra, wild-eyed with fear, looked straight at us. There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer. The trucker inside with us yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?" A voice outside—it must've been Eddie's—shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?" "What are you banging for?" Knock, knock, knock. Outside, Eddie yelled, "What banging?" Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot. A second later, Annabeth appeared next to me. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal." "No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers!" "We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth both looked at Percy, waiting for his say. "Percy, open the lock." I snapped at his face. Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but I knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. He grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock off the zebra's cage. The zebra burst out. It turned to Percy and bowed. Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing. Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas. Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!" "Now would be a good time to leave," Annabeth said. "The other animals first," Grover said. I cut the locks with my knife which wasn't as easy as what Percy had done. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra. "Good luck," I told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos. "Will the animals be okay?" I asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all—" "Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them." "Meaning?" "Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live." "Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" I asked. "It only works on wild animals." "So it would only affect Percy," Annabeth reasoned. "Hey!" He protested. "Kidding," she said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck." We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy, and we must've looked like deep-fried vagrants, but everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay us much attention. We passed the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small replica, but still made me homesick. I wasn't sure what we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find a sandwich and a glass of lemonade, make a new plan for getting west. We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air-conditioning that smelled like flowers—lotus blossom, maybe. I'd never smelled one, so I wasn't sure. The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?" I'd learned to be suspicious, the last week or so. I figured anybody might be a monster or a god. But my knife wasn't glowing so... I figured. Besides, I was so relieved to hear somebody who sounded sympathetic that I nodded and said we'd love to come in. Inside, we took one look around, and Grover said, "Whoa." The whole lobby was a giant game room. And I'm not talking about cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any of the games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine. "Hey!" a bellhop said. At least I guessed he was a bellhop. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key." I stammered, "Um, but..." "No, no," he said, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, loom 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your Lotus Cash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides." He handed us each a green plastic credit card. I knew there must be some mistake. Obviously he thought we were some millionaire's kids. But I took the card and said, "How much is on here?" His eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?" "I mean, when does it run out of cash?" He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay." We took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. I didn't see how that could be legal, but I thought it was pretty cool. The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing, though I doubted we'd ever find time to look at the view with a room like this. "Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is ..." "Sweet," Grover said. "Absolutely sweet." There were clothes in the closet, and they fit me. I frowned, thinking that this was a little strange. I took a shower, which felt awesome after a week of grimy travel. I changed clothes, ate a bag of chips, drank three Cokes, and came out feeling better than I had in a long time. Search and find them Huh? Look for them and warn them I came out of the bedroom and found that Annabeth, Percy and Grover had also showered and changed clothes. Grover was eating potato chips to his heart's content, Percy looked like he was having a headache, while Annabeth cranked up the National Geographic Channel. "Percy you okay?" "Yeah it's just.... All those stations," he told Annabeth, "and she turn on National Geographic." "It's interesting." "I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place." Without his even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again. "So what now?" Annabeth asked. "Sleep?" Percy and I looked at each other and grinned. We both held up our green plastic Lotus Cash cards. "Play time," I said. I couldn't remember the last time I had so much fun. I came from a relatively poor family. Our idea of a splurge was eating out at Burger King and renting a video. A five-star Vegas hotel? Forget it. I spent most of my time playing and... looking for someone I think. I bungee-jumped the lobby five or six times, snowboarded the artificial ski slope, and played virtual-reality laser tag and FBI sharpshooter. I saw Grover a few times, going from game to game. He really liked the reverse hunter thing—where the deer go out and shoot the rednecks. I saw Annabeth playing trivia games and other brainiac stuff. They had this huge 3-D sim game where you build your own city, and you could actually see the holographic buildings rise on the display board. I didn't think much of it, but Annabeth loved it. Percy was playing with Grover. I'm not sure when I first realized something was wrong. Probably, it was when I noticed the guy standing next to me at VR sharpshooters. He was about thirteen, I guess, but his clothes were weird. I thought he was some Elvis impersonator's son. He wore bell-bottom jeans and a red T-shirt with black piping, and his hair was permed and gelled like a New Jersey girl's on homecoming night. When he saw me he gave a smirk and invited me to play a game of sharpshooters together and he said, "Groovy, man. Been here two weeks, and the games keep getting better and better." Groovy? Later, while we were talking, I said something was "sick," and he looked at me kind of startled, as if he'd never heard the word used that way before. He said his name was Darrin, but as soon as I started asking him questions he got bored with me and started to go back to the computer screen. I said, "Hey, Darrin?" "What?" "What year is it?" He frowned at me. "In the game?" "No. In real life." He had to think about it. "1977." "No," I said, getting a little scared. "Really." "Hey, man. Bad vibes. I got a game happening." After that he totally ignored me. I started talking to people, and I found it wasn't easy. They were glued to the TV screen, or the video game, or their food, or whatever. I found a guy who told me it was 1985. Another guy told me it was 1993. They all claimed they hadn't been in here very long, a few days, a few weeks at most. They didn't really know and they didn't care. Then it occurred to me: how long had I been here? It seemed like only a couple of hours, but was it? I then tried to move, but I bumped into a girl. "I'm sorry!" She said. "Hey, no prob." "Oh... uhm... No prob?" "I--- No problem. Say Uh... I kinda lost track of date. What's the year again?" "Huh? It's 1930. Okay, I'm sorry I have to go. I'm looking for someone." Everyone is important in our story "Did you say something?" I go by Y/N L/N, you'll find the one you're looking for at the zombie shooting game. I left her alone and confused. I didn't know why. But I knew now this place is wrong. I tried to remember why we were here. We were going to Los Angeles. We were supposed to find the entrance to the Underworld. My parents... for a scary second, I had trouble remembering their names. I had to save them. I found Percy first. "There's something wrong." We said at the same time. "Years?" He asked. I nodded. We then looked for the others. We found Annabeth still building her city. "Come on," Percy told her. "We've got to get out of here." No response. I shook her. "Annabeth?" She looked up, annoyed. "What? "We need to leave." "Leave? What are you talking about? I've just got the towers—" "This place is a trap." She didn't respond until I shook her again. "What?" "Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!" "Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes." "Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever." "So?" she asked. "Can you imagine a better place?" I grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the game. "Hey!" She screamed and hit me, but nobody else even bothered looking at us. They were too busy. I made her look directly in my eyes. I said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders." That jarred her. Her vision cleared. "Oh my gods," she said. "How long have we—" "I don't know, but we've got to find Grover." We went searching, and found him still playing Virtual Deer Hunter. "Grover!" we both shouted. He said, "Die, human! Die, silly polluting nasty person!" "Grover!" He turned the plastic gun on me and started clicking, as if I were just another image from the screen. I looked at Percy, and together we took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!" The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?" "We're leaving," I told him. "Such a shame," he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it, that we'd be breaking his heart if we went. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I knew that if I took one, I'd never leave. I'd stay here, happy forever, playing games forever, and soon I'd forget my parents, and our quest, and maybe even my own name. I'd be playing virtual rifleman with groovy Disco Darrin forever. Grover reached for the card, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks." We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs. We could just stay the night, sleep in a real bed for once.... Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert. I ran to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when we went in. Then I noticed the date: June twentieth. We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days. We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.

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Taglist?

@gayer-than-the-gayest-gay @the-natureofme @booknerd-3000 @katara720 @ynfics

[jangmi-latte]

overview:

you’ve entered your first door. listen closely, you are to meet someone here. at the end of the hall, there are two doors. choose wisely, both will unlock the doors to chapter two but will have different progressions…

𝐎𝐧𝐞 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

“Madam Loiselle—”

You halted your steps, worriedly staring at your old vampire companion as she ran around the room. She looked panicked yet she had a big smile on her face. Very unlikely of her to be smiling at seven am in the morning. “Madam Loiselle!” you called when she suddenly disappeared from thin air. You hate it when they would suddenly disappear like that. They and their abilities irritate you at times. You would either be left having your proprioception heightened or screaming in the middle of the woods when they would just decide to pop up behind you.

You should probably be used to this by now.

You’ve been with them for thirteen years.

“Mada—”

“y/n!”

“Fuck!” you immediately covered your mouth upon turning around to face Charmaine who had her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. “M-My apologies…”

“Your mouth needs some discipline. Now, why are you blabbering my name as if you’re being killed?” she asked with a huff, her arms crossing across her chest. You scratched your cheek in disquietude as you sucked in your bottom lip. “I just wanna ask why you’re running around the house…" 

"Oh.” She exhaled, taking a hair tie and tying her hair up in a neat bun. “Well, I’m preparing your stuff.”

“For what?” You tilted your head in confusion as you eyed her form who walked past you. To your surprise, there were now three bags full of your clothes and necessities. “For school,” she replied.

“School?”

“Night Raven College. You’re enrolled.”

“Enrolled?”

“y/n, how dense are you to keep asking questions and just stand there while I do everything myself?” She grabbed her newspaper and smacked your head with it. 

“Sorry…” you trailed off with a wince, rubbing your head before kneeling next to your bed as you tried to help Charmaine with your belongings. You asked, “Madam Loiselle…can you please explain what’s going on? What’s with the masquerade that happened last week? What’s with Night Raven College?” You took your chance and looked over at your caregiver. “I feel lost…”

Charmaine sighed. What’s going on in her mind, you wonder. Charmaine is someone who’s secretive with her emotions. Aren’t all vampires like that, no? She sat down on the bed and patted the spot beside her to gesture you to sit. You obliged, watching her take out an envelope from the drawer.

“What’s going on is not for me to answer, y/n. What’s with the masquerade last week was…” She paused and exhaled deeply. She looked hesitant to answer. She proceeded, “Well, you were chosen.”

“Chosen for what?”

“You’ll find out. The masquerade was an event held by three princes. Two of them are elder vampires and one is a fledgeling. The reason you were invited was because of your species.”

“A sacrifice? Is that what humans are to them now?” you grumbled while sucking in your lower lip. “Honey, no.” You looked over at Charmaine in surprise. She held, what you assumed to be, a gentle expression on her face. “Let me finish.”

“That event happens every year. Every time a human turns eighteen on the day the masquerade took place, they are automatically invited to His Highness’ place. They needed to pick someone. And you…” She looked at you. She held your hand and opened your palm, giving you the letter that you have to open soon. Your heartbeat was starting to speed up. You felt nervous. 

“You were chosen. And I have to let you go…”

“Mama, why–”

“It’s Madam Loiselle for you, y/n,” came her stern voice. Your conflicted eyes stared into her red ones. Was she going to let you go? “M-Madam Loiselle… I just have to go to school right? I-I just have to be with them for a couple of years?”

You hoped, wished, the answer was yes. Yet she gave you no answer. She looked away and stood up. “You leave tomorrow. His Highness, Schoenheit, will explain everything to you once you arrive. Remember what I taught you. Do not forget my teachings.”

“The school contains other creatures you haven’t encountered. You may or may not be the only human to walk along those halls. Be prepared.”

“Mama–!”

“Move, y/n. Pack your bags. The carriage is coming soon.” She pulled on your arms and nudged you over to fix your stuff.

You still had questions unanswered.

Conflicted and in pain, you followed her orders. Moving swiftly to pack up your bags and prepare an attire for your journey. Charmaine remained quiet throughout the whole preparation. Are you to say goodbye to her and the cottage you grew up in? Are you going to see her again?

Are you still going to be around humans again and live the life you wanted away from the immortal?

It rung.

Are you still going to be around humans again and live the life you wanted away from the immortal?

You laid your head against the glass of the carriage. Eyes swollen and damped, evident that you’ve just cried your eyes out. The passing of trees was all you could see along with the bright shine of the moon’s reflection from the sun. The galloping of the horses echoed through your ears, somehow soothing you while you think about how your life will take a sudden turn the moment you step foot out of the carriage.

In your hand, you still held the acceptance letter Charmaine gave you. You haven’t opened it. It scared you to think that the letter already wrote out your whole life. Overthinking, yes, but what can you do? You’re out of the safety of your home and from your guardian’s arms. Where can you head to when danger strikes during your journey?

You sniffled and sat up. You observed the wax seal that sealed the envelope. It was a beautiful shade of purple with the engraved accent painted in gold. It was aristocratic. Screams superiority just by glancing at it. Hesitantly, you carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. The paper wasn’t the common white one everyone would use. It was cream and sturdy. It was folded neatly, too. You carefully read the printed text:

      Congratulations!

            On behalf of Night Raven College, I am happy to congratulate you on y/n’s acceptance into our prestigious high-school. Our school has one of the most exclusive programs in the country, and we only accept the very best students into our programs. We thoroughly believe that they will do exceptionally well and that they will be a great addition to our school. To complete the enrollment process, please read the attached letter.

And it just ended there. Following what you have read, you looked back inside the envelope to see another cream paper. Except this one was handwritten in beautiful cursive, You leaned back on your seat and read the second letter. Your heart was steadily beating, however, you could feel it pulsating on your fingers as your eyes scanned over the words:

     Dear Mortal,

         I am pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to live with Their Highnesses following your acceptance at Night Raven College. Please take into consideration that you are required to oblige to their orders. This is an opportunity no other mortals could gain. No worries as your food, shelter, and other necessities are tended to. All is required is that you bring yourself in a healthy state and untouched by other vampires or immortals. 

      You will be greeted by His Highness, Rook Hunt, upon your arrival at the gates of the mansion. It is their responsibility to bring you alongside them to your transport to the college. We shall await your arrival in two days.

Sincerely, 

–

There was nothing written to let you know who the sender was. Not like that was needed. You are to live with higher ranking vampires. Those of the nobility and probably the most powerful and intelligent of them all. Who is this Rook Hunt? Schoenheit?

Then again, was that man back in the masquerade the same person – well, vampire – you were going to meet? 

This carriage ride is long. You couldn’t sit still after reading that letter nor can you stabilize your thoughts. How are you not a sacrifice, y/n? Those words in those letters already scream sacrifice to you. You are to feed them with your blood and body. You took deep and shaky breaths as you looked back out the window. Trees, trees, and all you could see are trees. 

Nonstop darkness of nature clouded your vision. As well as some figure that dashed past your vision just in front of the window.

Huh?

You blinked and immediately moved closer to the window. Your eyes frantically looking outside for any sign of the figure you just saw. It was just a blur. If it’s a werewolf, then please, you plea to be unseen. Nothing. There was nothing. You guessed you were just being delirious. Imagining things can fuck up someone’s mind, no?

“Halt!” 

You yelp the moment the horses skidded on their hooves. You were able to keep yourself steady on your seat as you breathed out. Have you arrived? You gulped and looked back out the window, it was still trees as far as your eyes could see. No light, no mansion, just a figure by the horses. Ah, damn it.

Curious, you pushed open the carriage door and walked out. Can you believe what you see? The darkness you see was brought to you by a mansion – castle? Palace? – towering over you. You were breath taken. Your throat felt dry as you stared at whoever’s home this is. You have arrived, y/n. 

“Ah, it’s nice to see you again, mon chou.”

You stopped gazing at the luxurious home to look at where you heard the voice. Nowhere. No one. You furrowed your eyebrows and quickly held the door. Mon chou. It’s him again. You gulped and wearily looked around. Vampires do love playing their little games around mortals, don’t they. “Mon chou, you’ve been scared ever since our first meeting last week!” he called and you looked behind you. Still none.

“Who are you?!” you yelled and gripped the carriage door tighter, ready to run inside even if it’s barely going to give you any safety.

“J-Just show yourself!” you yelled once again, starting to pant as you felt your heart pump more blood into your body, heightening your senses even more. 

Silence. Minutes of excruciating silence that brought you nothing but fear and worry. You wanted to run away, but where will you go? Facing the mansion once more, you noticed that the horses are quiet. There weren’t neighing. Please, if they’re also dead creatures, then you’re dead meat. You cautiously moved towards the front of the carriage and just as you suspected, the horses were skeletons.

Fucking skeletons, y/n.

You rubbed your face and stomped your feet. “Madam Loiselle for fuck’s sake bring me back home!!!” you screamed, not caring if anyone heard you. You wanted to be back to Charmaine’s arms again. You wanted to be under your blankets, reading books by the fireplace, cooking some soup, hell live a Snow White life – without the poisoning or dwarves – for all you care. This place isn’t for you.

“My, my, that’s quite vulgar, y/n,” he whispered into your ear as his cold body stood behind you. His arm snaking around your waist, tightly gripping you as you stood frozen. “Mhmm…” he hummed and chuckled. 

“Look at that gorgeous expression. The evident fear in your eyes, the way your body is shaking, ah, mon chou. You’re shaking me to the core. Makes me want to devour you,” he said. You could feel his lips against your ear. His broad chest pressing against your back as you felt your blood run cold. y/n, this is your chance.

You will…

a.) punch him in the face

b.) give a snarky remark

The Door To Chapter Two Is Now Unlocked. 

tagging:

@twstpasta @panacea-wishes @mydriases @collarjessie @twsted-caramel @softforriddlerosebaby @athaliesworld @raven-at-the-writing-desk @soukoku-trash-fanfictrashtoo @kingy-o @trashy-mctrash @peachykindalovesyou @goldenagedfollies @vivianvivvia @usagiairabokerdole

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch 3. You Can Miss Something, But Not Want It Back

Summary: Steve opens up to Peggy about his feelings towards Katie and, after an emotionally charged afternoon, things heat up between the pair.  But it all goes horribly wrong.

Pairing: Steve Rogers X OFC Katie Stark

Warnings: Language! Angst and a pair of total dumbasses in love…

A/N: A huge thank you to @angrybirdcr​ for her lovely little edit below. She’s so talented!!!!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 2

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

 April 2013

“You know, you need to find someone you can experience all this with.” Peggy looked at her picture frames on her nightstand. “So you can have as many memories as I do.” Her gaze returned to Steve and he wondered if she could possibly know about his feelings towards Katie, those feelings that had been growing stronger and stronger over the past few weeks.

And then when she asked the next question, he knew she did.

“How’s Miss Stark?” Peggy asked, her eyes twinkling and Steve looked at her as a wicked smile crossed her face. He rolled his eyes.

“Peg…”

“I’m just asking a question!” She teased.

“We’re just friends.” he sighed.

“Hmmm” the old lady said thoughtfully “Still a bloody idiot when it comes to women, I see.”

He shook his head, a small laugh escaping him.

“I can tell you like her, the way you talk about her.” she pressed

“I do, I like her a lot, but she’s my best friend. Nothing more.”

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it.” She lay back on the pillow. “Thousands wouldn’t.”

“Just a good I don’t need to convince thousands.” He leaned back in the chair, raising an eyebrow at her.

“No, just yourself.” She shot back and he sighed. “Talk to me Steve.” She pressed again and he took a deep breath.

“I don’t know, maybe…ok not maybe…I do like her you’re right, but it’s just so damn complicated.”

“Why?”

“We’re from different places, times.” he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Do you always have to be so dramatic?” She laughed

“You know, I’m getting tired of you calling me that.” He teased and Peggy laughed again.

“Because you are!” She shook her head. “Steve, I get it, you’re old…but, you’re not.” “Well that’s not confusing.” He rolled his eyes.

“What I mean is I have lived through these times, seen the world change, a lot of it for the better. Don’t let your life pass you by because you’ve still got one foot jamming open the door to the past”

“I know.” He popped a shoulder in resignation. “You know, sometimes I think it would be easier if I had my old life back, when times seemed a lot simpler.” “But then she wouldn’t be there.” Peggy raised her eyebrows. “You can miss something and not want it back, Steve. Just tell her how you feel, for goodness sake.”

“I don’t want to make an idiot of myself.” He shook his head. “If she doesn’t feel the same then-“

“Then at least you’ll know, and won’t live the rest of forever adding to that huge, great list of ‘what ifs’” the old woman shook her head “You’ve been given a second chance here Steve, don’t waste it. Barnes would be so mad at you right now.”

Steve had to fight a smile as he knew exactly what Buck would be saying if he were there.

“If you don’t ask her out, punk then I’m gonna…”

Suddenly a memory flashed in front of his eyes. The evening Peggy had walked into a pokey London boozer in that red dress, the one that had Bucky practically drooling and Steve’s crotch twitching slightly.

“I’m invisible…” Bucky moaned, turning back to the bar as she left, having just basically asked Steve to go dancing when the fighting was over.“I’m turning into you…”

“Never mind pal, maybe she has a friend…”

“You know, I’d like to see her again one day?” Peggy spoke, jerking him out of his thoughts “Katie, I mean.”

“Really?” he asked. Peggy had mentioned she had met Katie several times years ago, when she was a very small girl. Peggy and Howard had remained close until his death.

She nodded. “Especially if she’s as like Howard as you say.” “Alright, I’ll bring her in one day.” He said, before his phone beeped.

“When?” the old woman pressed.

“Were you always this impatient?” Steve quipped an eyebrow at her as he opened the message. It was a call in. He sighed “Soon, I promise.” He stood up. “Sorry Peg, I gotta go. Duty calls…”

*****

The mission was the retrieval of a stolen piece of Chitauri technology that had, according to Romanoff’s intelligence, been auctioned to some Arms traders operating out of Jordan. They were to intercept the piece of technology before turning over the dealers to the authorities. They were up against it time wise, and for that reason, everyone had boarded the jet with no real plan of what they were actually going to do, Steve had been thinking about it and studying the files since the jet took off and now he and Natasha had the bones of a strategy planned out, they just needed to flesh it out with the team.

“We’re at altitude.” Evans called from the cockpit. “Auto pilot engaged. ETA I hour 34.”

Everyone moved from their seats and crowded round the display as Natasha gave them a rundown of what they were up against.

“The main exits are here and here.” she span the blue prints round on the holodisplay. Katie frowned, her mind working fast “Evans and I can position ourselves here…” She pointed to the right of the screen. “That should give us a clear view of most of the grounds but there’s a blackspot here…” She moved her hand to the left, circling the bottom corner.

“Well we’ll just have to keep them away from there.” Steve said, and Katie glanced at him, his eyes flashing with humour. Their eyes remained locked, before Steve swallowed and he looked back round, clearing his throat. “There should be a clear run from where we touch down to the lawns.”

“Sure.” Katie nodded, making a show of looking at the detail, even though she wasn’t. Her mind was spinning. She’d been picking up signals from Steve for a few weeks now, signals that he might feel the same way as she did. The glances he gave her, the smile he would flash her that made her feel like there was no one else in the room. The gentle touches, the way he would lift her legs on movie nights so they were laying across his lap, how he would throw his arm round her when she’d lean into him, moments like the one that had just passed… but then, he made no effort to take things further and she wasn’t about to push him into anything. If there was something there, he had to decide, he had to make the decision he was ready to move forward. 

And Katie wasn’t sure he ever would be.

“Rumlow, I want a STRIKE perimeter set up around the site. Cover that blackspot.” Steve looked at Rumlow who nodded. "The weapon is our main priority, but I want a clean sweep so they don’t have chance to do this again. Then I want you and Rollins with me and Romanoff inside to flush them out. Stark, Evans you to take down anyone who looks like they might break the perimeter, non-lethal if you can.”

Katie turned to Evans who nodded at her, the pair of them sharing a fist bump as he winked at her. Evans was a brilliant partner, and a good friend at that too. They worked well together.

The rest of the journey was spent pouring over blue prints, and once they reached the point where they could land safely, everyone was confident they were prepared as much as they could be. Whether that would be enough, was a different question.  

Natasha and Steve slinked off into the shadows, heading to the building. There were two armed guards on the door but they had the element of surprise and took them out easily.

“Ok, we’re in…” Steve spoke. “Get ready, as soon as they see us they’ll make a run for it.”

Katie listened from her vantage point, a tall oak tree that overhung the South East side of the property, rifle trained, ready.

“I count six.” Natasha spoke

“At least three are armed.” Rumlow added

“Any sign of the weapon?” Katie asked.

“Negative…”

Katie kept her attention on the spot she was covering, and had to fight the giggle that threatened to erupt in her throat when she heard Steve utter, quite possibly, the cheesiest line he could have come out with when their team burst into the room.

“Auction is over Gentlemen. Where’s the Weapon?”

There was a split second and then all hell broke loose. Gun fire erupted in the ears of everyone listening on the coms along with the familiar sound of vibranium clanging off surfaces and people alike.

“One is making a break for it.” Rumlow yelled and Katie stiffened, raising her rifle slightly “Along with a case, it must be the weapon.”

“In pursuit.” Nat responded.“

He’s armed.” Steve shot back. “Someone cover her.” More gunfire and clanging rang out as Katie watched the door she was covering, not once breaking her line of sight. Suddenly it burst open and the man with the case flew out, shortly followed by a shock of red hair. But as Katie watched, her sharp eyes picked up movement in the shadow and someone barrelled at Natasha taking her down.

“Shit! Romanoff’s got company!”

“I’m handling it.” The red head grunted, jumping up.

Katie paused, before remembering the main operative.

“I’ve got no shot.” Evans spoke in her ear and Katie wheeled round locating the man in her sight. She cocked her gun, exhaled sharply, and pulled the trigger. Seconds later he hit the floor, clutching at his knee.

“Hostile down.” she informed, allowing herself a little smug smile before her attention turned to Natasha, who now had her target in a choke hold. He went limp and then she released him, dropping him.

“Well handled Widow.” Katie quipped.

“You do know that I can kill a man in twenty different ways, using just my hands, right?” Natasha replied, making her way over to the man with a bullet in his knee cap.

“Twenty?” Katie muttered, “I can think of, what, like eight, max?”

“Clearly you lack imagination, Nova.”

Once Steve was happy that the inside was clear and everyone was rounded up and secured, he made his way outside and headed over to where Natasha was kneeling over the briefcase. She opened it and grinned up at Steve, the black, silver and purple metal shining back up at them.

“The package is secure.” Steve smiled at Natasha, “Alright, Good job team. Rumlow, tell the Authorities they can move in, clear this lot up.”

“Sure Cap.”

“She’s good.” Natasha watched Katie join Evans where he was crossing the lawn, the two exchanging a hi-five before they made their way back to the jet.

“Yeah she is.” Steve nodded, allowing his eyes to follow Katie for a moment a she walked across the grounds.

“When you gonna ask her on a date?” Nat asked, turning to him as he picked up the case and they made their way back to join their team, the local police now swarming the place meant they were no longer needed.

“Seriously?” Steve looked at the red head rolling his eyes. “We’re in the middle of an op and you ask me that?”

“Well first off the op is over and second off I’m just trying to help. I see the way you look at her, like there’s no one else in the room.”

Steve floundered for a response. Was he really that obvious, or was Natasha simply that observant? He settled for a shake of the head, and an exasperated sigh. “You were trying to fix me up with someone from accounts not long ago.”

“Yeah that was before I decided Stark is a better match “ She shrugged, walking up the ramp to the jet.

Thankfully, Steve was spared responding as the jet was loud with cheering, the team all crowding Katie, taking turns to slap her back and congratulate her on a shot well taken.

Katie couldn’t help but grin as she removed her utility vest, before holding her hands up “Thanks but it was a team effort.” She felt a hand drop on her shoulder and she turned to Steve.

“If you hadn’t taken that shot he would have got away.” He looked at her. “All in a day work Cap.” she smiled.

“I mean it. You’re the best shooter I’ve seen since Buck.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze before instructing Evans to get them back to base.

As they flew back, Rumlow was engaging Katie in a conversation about a date he had had the previous weekend. Steve wasn’t really listening, but as Katie threw her head back in a genuine laugh at something Rumlow had said, gently nudging the man in the arm, it felt like someone was digging knives into his chest as the waves of jealousy crashed over him.

He glanced over at Romanoff who raised an eyebrow at him having seen the exchange and mouthed the word “just fucking ask her” and he looked away, irritated.

Steve wasn’t a chauvinist by any means, but he’d had enough that day of women telling him what to do.

*****

May 2013

The start of May brought with it a week of nothing but rain. And it was during this week that Fury dropped a bombshell on Steve. The Smithsonian wanted to curate an exhibit about him, and SHIELD along with the Government thought it would be a good idea. Steve wasn’t entirely sure how he felt to be honest. He knew the world was fascinated with Captain America, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about them knowing about him, about Steve Rogers.

So this was how he’d ended up taking a trip down memory lane in an office at the Triskellion, surrounded by boxes of his belongings that had all been in storage, things he had long forgotten he had. He’d found his mother’s old ring, the one his father had bought her when they left Ireland, a St Christopher’s pendant that had belonged to his father, a few books which Katie told him were first editions and probably worth a fortune, a couple of old records, a stash of Photos which Katie was currently digging through and something that made his breath catch when his hand closed around it. His compass, the one containing Peggy’s photo.

“Steve.” Katie spoke and he looked at her. She gestured him over and he obliged as she held out the photo for him. He glanced down, a small smile crossing his face as he looked down at the photo of him and Bucky, both in their uniforms, laughing.  “Can you remember what you were laughing at?” she asked him.

“They had us doing this info documentary type thing, for the people back home.” He cleared his throat, taking the photo. “We were laughing at how utterly ridiculous and staged the whole thing was, like we would ever let press near our actual ops.”

Katie reached for the next photo and this one made her heart stop completely. Steve was on the left, looking at something that the man to his right was showing him on a screen. And that man needed no introduction.

“Dad…” she breathed out as Steve peered over her shoulder.

“He was a good man your father” Steve smiled as he thought of Howard “If a little… wild.”

“Wild? Dad?” She raised her eyebrow

“Yeah, he errr, liked to fondue…” Steve said, as he thought back to that conversation when he had thought fondue was some kind of innuendo for what Stark and Peggy got up to on their private time

“It’s just bread and cheese my friend…” Howard had said, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Really? But I thought…“

"Well that’s your first mistake pal. The minute you think you know what’s going on a woman’s mind is the moment your goose is well and truly cooked…”

“Wow, melted cheese…what a rebel” Katie snorted sarcastically.

 “Well I thought it was…never mind,” he shrugged, absentmindedly turning over the compass in his hand and he opened it, glancing down at the photo inside for the first time in almost seventy years.

“Peggy?” Katie asked, looking down at the compass

“Yeah” he snapped it shut and then looked at her, deciding that the time was right. He wanted to take her to see Peggy. Not just because Peggy had asked him to, but because he wanted to. “Would you like to meet her?”

“Me?” Katie asked, surprise in her voice.

“Well yeah, you’re a big part of my life now and I know she’d love to see you again”

“I’d be honoured.” Katie replied, and she meant it. Peggy had been important to her father, and she was curious to meet the woman that had held her best friend’s heart. Steve beamed back at her, thrilled by her answer and as their eyes locked, he felt that warm feeling as the butterflies in his stomach woke up.

******

They sorted his belongings into three separate categories- things for the museum, some more stuff to take back to his apartment, and the remainder to go back to storage, before they headed over town to see Peggy. Giving Katie assurances he wouldn’t be long, Steve entered the room first, leaving Katie, who was feeling quite nervous, waiting outside.

She didn’t know where the nerves were coming from, after all she had met Peggy when she was a young child, but that was before she knew who she was. Back then she’d simply been a lady that worked with her daddy, and now she knew the truth.

Inside the room Steve quickly told Peggy where he had been and she smiled when he told her about the museum and the photos, quipping that she would quite like to see that when it was all open.

“That is if they ever let me out of this place. I swear breaking out of Alcatraz would be easier.”

He chuckled at her joke. “Well, today I brought someone to you so you don’t have to plan an escape just yet.”

The old woman instantly brightened up and beamed up at him. "Katie?”

Steve smiled at her excitement and nodded “Yeah.”

“Well don’t leave me waiting, again!” Peggy shooed him to the door and he stood up, opening it. Katie spun to face him, her hands wringing each other and he gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

“Come on.” He held the door open. Katie took a deep breath, quelling her nerves and stepped into the room, Steve’s hand gently falling to her back as he guided her over to a seat by the bed.

It was easy for Katie to see that Peggy Carter had been a good looking, powerful woman in her day. Her eyes were bright, hair set in bouncy curls and she had a sort of regal quality emanating from her. She shrewdly eyed the brunette, before she chuckled and looked at Steve.

“Good grief!” Peggy smiled, looking back at Katie “Forgive me my dear, but you really do have that Stark look about you, but an awful lot of your mother too.”

Katie relaxed instantly and smiled back. “So I’ve been told. It’s an honour to meet you ma’am, again. I’ve heard so much about you.” “Please, call me Peggy” she smiled reaching for her hand “And I’m so pleased to see you again, it’s been a long time.”

Katie smiled, taking Peggy’s hand as the old woman continued.

“Steve talks about you a lot.” Peggy smiled and Katie glanced up at Steve, raising an eyebrow as he inwardly groaned, taking a deep breath.

 “Peggy…” he warned, somewhat exasperatedly.

“What?” she asked innocently “I’m just saying…” she turned to look at Katie “Steve says you’ve been a good friend to him since he came out of the ice. I’m glad he’s had someone.” “He’s a good friend to me.” Katie replied, smiling “Keeps me on the straight and narrow.”

“You mean I try to.” Steve teased, and he saw Peggy smile as he was sure Katie was rolling her eyes “She’s a law unto herself this one Peg, not unlike you were!”

“He’s very sensible.” Peggy loudly whispered to Katie, before the old woman levelled Steve with a look, her eyes flashing mischievously. “But I want to know, Steven, why on earth haven’t you taken this gorgeous young lady dancing yet?”

Steve groaned and looked at Katie, feeling the heat rush up his neck and into his cheeks as he could do nothing but mouth the word sorry. Katie’s cheeks also flushed a shade of pink and he looked away as he replied, dodging the question.

 “I can’t dance…you know that.”

“Everyone can dance, they just need the right partner.” Peggy looked at him, eyes locking onto his meaningfully. He swallowed again and Katie instantly picked up on his discomfort, she wasn’t stupid, the dancing thing clearly meant something and unless she was mistaken Peggy was implying something to do with her. Katie took pity on him and decided to save him his embarrassment so she spoke, breaking the moment.

“Well I won’t be much of a teacher, I’ve got two left feet.” she said, casually causing Steve to smile slightly shooting her a side glance.

*****

Steve would be lying if he said he hadn’t been slightly worried about introducing the woman who had been his first love to the girl he was harbouring feelings for now, but he needn’t have worried. Katie had laughed and joked with the old woman, often at his expense but he hadn’t minded. In fact, he had enjoyed it.

But that’s what Katie did. She made people feel better, at ease, knew what to say and when to say it.

And he’d decided there and then, buoyed by how well the meeting had actually gone, he was going to ask her out on a date. Today had brought everything into focus for him. Peggy was right, he couldn’t move forward and take the second chance life had given him if he had one foot in the past, one eye over his shoulder, and one part of his brain constantly wondering about what could have been.

Katie, meanwhile was locked in her own thoughts. The meeting with Peggy had put her slightly on edge. Not because of the old woman, in fact it had been amazing to meet her, but something about Steve changed as they left the Nursing Home. It was almost as if he was putting up a guard. She told herself it was normal, he was bound to feel confused after visiting his old flame and the whole thing with the museum, but part of her couldn’t shake off the feeling he was hiding something, and she didn’t like it.

She wasn’t an idiot. Steve and her had grown closer over the last few months and she knew to many it would be considered more than what you would dub a normal platonic relationship. She also knew, however, that he had ghosts in his past unlike any she’d ever dealt with before, which was what was making this entire situation ridiculously complicated.

She was pleased to see, however, that as they neared his apartment he relaxed and suggested that watch a film. They were still discussing which one as they climbed the three flights to his apartment.

“No.” He immediately deadpanned when she suggested watching the remaining Saw ones before he rolled his eyes when he clocked her grin. He hated those films, and she knew it. “Why don’t we start Star Wars? We never did get round to it…”

“Providing you don’t start the debate about which episode we begin with because if so I’m not sure I can be bothered trying to explain it again…” “I just don’t understand why you don’t start with one.” he took the opportunity to tease her as he slid the key into his lock.

“Because you don’t.” She said exasperatedly and he smirked at how easy it was to rile her when it came to films. ”It ruins the surprise and plot lines. You go Episode Four, Five and Six, then we hit One, Two and Three….”

They both turned as his neighbour, Kate walked onto the landing, bag over her shoulder, clutching a pile of mail.

“Hi Steve.” She smiled, unlocking her door.

“Hi Kate.” He greeted her back before he turned to Katie, who he realised had never met the woman before “This is my neighbour. Kate this is,”

“Katie.” she extended her hand, smiling politely.

“Katie Stark, I recognised you…sorry.”

“It’s fine” she said, still smiling. There was a pause and the faint sound of a phone could be heard.

“Sorry… I gotta’ get that.” Kate said quickly making her way into her apartment. “Goodnight Steve.”

“Night Kate.” He said in response. When he turned back around Katie was waiting, smirking at him.

“You’re as bad as Natasha.” He rolled his eyes, closing the door behind them as she stood front of him, kicking off her shoes.

“What you mean?” She asked walking through the small cloak area and into the hall way, heading straight for the kitchen.

“She keeps trying to set me up on dates” he sighed watching as Katie pulled two beers from his fridge.

“Who with?” Katie asked, frowning slightly, and she felt her neck and ears growing warm as the green eyed monster stirred.

“Pretty much anyone she can.” He snorted as they walked back into the living area.

“And none of them are…” She pressed, and he sighed.

“No.”

“Can I ask you something?” Katie sat next to him.

“If I say no are you gonna ask me anyway?” He looked at her. “Yeah.” She said after a pause. He snorted and gestured for her to go ahead.

“Peggy and you…how far did you actually get…I mean…”

Oh Jesus…

He contemplated brushing this one off, but then he realised he couldn’t lie to her, and he didn’t want to.

“We were supposed to go dancing.” He said gently, turning to face her, his right hand curling over the back of the sofa and she immediately understood then what that moment in the Nursing Home had been about. “Like on a date. I’d never been before, never found me the right person. And then I ended up in the ice before we got the chance.” He paused shook his head, “I know it’s dumb but…”

“It’s not Steve.”  Katie replied, and at that she felt the tears prick her eyes. The emotion of the day completely overwhelming her. This man, this wonderful man had been denied the opportunity to live his life how he should. Robbed of his best friend, his love and all because he’d done what he could to keep people safe, serve his country.

“Hey.” He frowed as he noticed she was getting upset. “What is it? What’s wrong, Doll?”

“I hate that all that happened to you.” she shook her head softly. “That you never got chance to do all those things, that you never got your dance or your happily ever after. You deserve more.”

“Katie.” he sighed, gently wiping away a tear that fell down her face with his thumb. “Taking that plane down was my choice. Don’t cry over it, please. I hate seeing you upset.”

And he did. Her face was made for smiles, her eyes should be happy and shining, not full of tears. “Sorry.” She dipped her head, and then, before he could stop himself, Steve reached out gently and his finger tilted her face back up to look at him.

Ocean blue met emerald green, and Steve felt his insides coil tightly like a spring as Katie’s eyes bounced across both of his, the distance between them growing shorter, and shorter…

And then there was a knock on the door. Steve closed his eyes, let out a sigh and unfolded himself off the couch. Cursing internally all the way to the door, Steve wrenched it open a little harshly and took a deep breath at the blonde at the other side.

“Sorry to interrupt…” Kate said, handing him a letter “But this was in the pile of mail I got before.”

“Oh, thanks…”

“Enjoy your film.” Kate smiled and Steve nodded. “Have a good evening.”

The door clicked shut and Steve turned and headed past the doorway to the lounge and into kitchen, dropping the bill on the side. He rest his hands, palms flat on the cool surface of the kitchen counter, hanging his head slightly and taking a deep breath. He was in deep.

“I’m gonna head home.” Katie spoke and he turned to look at her, his face falling. He didn’t want her to go. But instead of telling her that he merely nodded.

“Okay.”

Without another word she turned and left, leaving Steve stood alone in his flat, rooted to the spot, disappointment an anger lancing through his body like red hot pokers.

Outside the rain had started again, so Katie didn’t waste any time in getting to her car. She’d wanted nothing more than for Steve to ask her to stay, to prove to her that he wasn’t merely swept up in the emotion of the day, but he hadn’t. Which was all the answer to her unasked question she needed. They both had baggage, she knew that, but Steve Rogers came with an entire fucking suitcase.

She managed to start the engine before she felt the tears spring forth. Slamming her head against the head rest in frustration she wiped at her face.

She was in deep, and she had no idea what she was doing to do about it.

***** Chapter 4

**Original Posting**

[unsettledink]

Comfort (Re)Reads Recs

It's been a rough couple of weeks, both personally and just *waves hands around* you know, everything. I found myself going back to some of my comfort reads again and again and thought – you know, I bet other people are in serious need of that too.

So here's a handful of some of my favorite comfort reads across a bunch of fandoms. Most are pretty long, or series. Everything has a happy ending, but I like h/c so plenty have some hurt or angst on the way. I put the ones that have the most near that bottom.

For all of them I'd suggest looking at the author's other works too! And if you liked what you read, please tell them that it made your day a bit better. I'm off to do so myself.

Leader Of The Free World, @copperbadge

Marvel (MCU) - Steve/Tony, Bucky/Clint, 15k

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[luviedovey]

the you i fell in love with

connor murphy x female!reader

a/n: not me writing a fic about mike faist’s connor murphy 2 years after he left the show...... also Connor is probably ooc 

summary: you were Connor’s girlfriend who lived in the next town over, a little over a half hour away. his family didn’t know about you, no one did. he didn’t want his family or anyone he knew to scare you away. in the end, it didn’t really matter. he was gone. when the Connor Project came to be and Evan resigned from being co-president, you ran into him. you questioned him about his “friendship” with Connor and he told you everything.

set after the Murphy’s find out the truth and before the Evan/Zoe reunion at the orchard.

second person pov

warning: a few swear words, also very brief mention of depression and taking your own life, and Larry Murphy kind of being a dick

word count: 5,573

______

“Who are you exactly?” Evan questioned the girl who pulled him off to the side of the supermarket where no one else was around. To say he was a little nervous would be an understatement, he was freaking out on the inside.

“I’m so sorry! I probably scared you half to death dragging you along like that.. I just have some questions for you, if you don’t mind answering..?” You smiled at him sheepishly. Something about your awkward smile eased his mind a bit, but not enough. “No, sorry my mom actually is waiting for me by the-” “It’s about Connor!” You interrupted, looking at him through sad, heartbroken eyes. “..Please. Evan Hansen. I know you weren’t really friends with him. I know you weren’t even secret friends with him.. Because if you were, I would’ve known.”

Evan looked around before looking back at you, confused. “Who are you?” He asked for the second time. “I’m- I was Connor’s girlfriend. Y/N L/N. I met him 2 years ago at the apple orchard you guys rebuilt?  We both went there because we thought that no one else would be there and that it would be the perfect place to escape. His family and classmates never knew about me because he-” you laugh slightly,” he was afraid they would take me away from him. Or that his family would fight in front of me and he’d lose his cool or that his sister would say nasty things about him to ‘spare me from being in a relationship with him’ or even that the bullies at his school would turn me against him even though he knew damn well I could never.” You stopped rambling and passed him a Polaroid picture of the two of you, sitting against the chain link fence that surrounded the old abandoned apple orchard. You were looking up at Connor with heart eyes as he smiled back down at you. A real smile. This was the real Connor Murphy.

Evan looked up from the picture at you, shocked before quickly returning it to you. “Oh my god... You must think I’m such a h- horrible person for doing all this and pretending to be best friends with your- your dead boyfriend- I’m so sorry for your loss by the way- and making up all these stories about things we never really did and starting a whole online campaign about-” “Evan!” He stopped ranting, breathing heavily. “Breathe, okay? In through your nose, out through your mouth. Relax.”

It was silent for a moment before Evan mumbled a quiet, “Thank you.”

You smiled knowingly. “Now. Mind telling me everything?”

The two of you sat in your old beat up truck, as Evan told you everything. And by everything i mean everything. He started from the very beginning, “My dad left when I was 7 so now it’s just me and my mom. She works all the time at the hospital to support us and to pay for her education- she’s studying to be a paralegal- and so I’m usually home alone. I have anxiety so I take medication and go to therapy where I have to write a letter to myself hyping myself up for the day and trying to be positive and stuff-” “’Dear Evan Hansen’...”

He looked up from his hands at you, “Yeah.. Connor had one of my letters when he- um.. he took it from me earlier that day..” “It was your therapy letter? Why did he take it from you?” “Oh! You see he didn’t actually know it was a letter to myself for therapy he just thought I was being creepy and writing about his sister in a letter to print it out where he would find it and freak out and explode or something- That wasn’t why though, I didn’t even know he was in the room with me, I thought I was alone. He signed my cast before he read my letter, though. He said, ‘Now we both can pretend we have friends.’ Which is why I thought doing what I did would be okay but it wasn’t and it never will be and I really shouldn’t justify my actions because it was-” “Evan breathe.” “Right, sorry.” “Don’t apologize, it’s okay.” “Okay sor-” You gave him a pointed look.

“O-okay...” You giggled slightly, looking out of the window at the supermarket parking lot, “So.. he ran out with your letter, pissed because he thought you were fucking with him... And then he killed himself.” “Yeah.”

“So what happened after that?” “The Murphy’s showed up in the principal’s office three days later. I knew something was wrong because Connor and Zoe both weren’t in school and I know Connor skips but it’s not likely that they would both be out on the same days. Zoe doesn’t really skip school- she’s not that kind of person.” You nodded, gesturing to get to the point. “Right, they called me into the office because Connor had my letter and my name was on it so they thought the letter was for me. I tried to tell them it wasn’t- that I was the one who wrote it, but they were in denial. They kept reading parts of my letter back to me from memory, trying to make sense of it but I couldn’t tell them- I couldn’t get through to them....” He sighed.

“They invited me over to dinner and I went because I wanted to set the record straight but when I got there, they wanted to hear everything I knew about Connor. But I didn’t know anything, so whenever they brought something up I just nodded and agreed. Zoe was getting suspicious so I started to make things up. ‘Connor loved to talk about how much he hated skiing.’ ‘Connor took us to A La Mode and we ate our ice cream in the apple orchard where we climbed trees and raced across the open fields.’ ‘We would quote songs by our favorite bands.’ ‘We’d tell jokes no one else would understand.’ All lies. And they believed them. They wanted me to keep talking, they needed me to. They were broken and I just wanted to help them. I told them that we were friends on the internet where we’d email each other to talk about our day and stuff. And Connor would use a secret email account because he knew his dad was checking his regular email, and he didn’t want anyone to know we were friends.... Now that I think about it, this kind of sounds like your story.” You laughed, lightening the mood, and nodded.

“You know, you really aren’t that far off from who Connor was, despite the fact that you were making it up as you went. He wasn’t the monster that everyone thought he was. I mean sure in 2nd grade he pushed over a printer because he had a little tantrum about being skipped for line leader, but what kid doesn’t have a tantrum at least once in their life? It definitely didn’t help that all those kids grew up, making the story sound worse than it really was. He was always angry and stand-offish because everyone in his life would say shit about him that wasn’t true or be nice to him to get close enough to learn something new about him and then turn around and make fun of him for it. He was battling depression and needed help but his family didn’t want to believe there was anything actually wrong with him. I was the only one to believe him. To believe in him. But I’m just one person, and I guess that wasn’t enough..” You trailed off. Evan awkwardly put a hand on your shoulder, rubbing it with his thumb as a way to console you.

It was silent for a moment. “I think he would’ve liked you. It would’ve taken him a while to warm up to you, but I really do think the two of you could’ve been friends.” Evan smiled slightly, before frowning. “I pretended to be his friend for so long, but Alana- she’s the co-president of the Connor Project- started getting suspicious about our friendship, saying that the letters didn’t make sense because it sounded like Connor was getting better so I showed her Connor’s ‘suicide note’-” “Dear Evan Hansen, It turns out this wasn’t an amazing day after all. This isn’t going to be an amazing week or an amazing year. Because, why would it be?”

“...Yeah. She believed me too. I told her not to show anyone because it was a really private thing, but she just said that was exactly what people needed to see. She posted it and people on the internet started to attack the Murphy’s, saying things like ‘They’re a rich family who couldn’t bother to pay for their son to get help?’ and ‘I’m not saying to do anything illegal but their house is the pale yellow house at the end of the cul de sac with a red door.’” Your hand flew to your mouth in shock. “They even leaked Zoe’s phone number and their house phone! Everything was just spiraling out of control and I didn’t know what to do. I panicked and the only thing I could think of to do was just.. them the truth. So I did and I told them everything. I wrote the letter, Connor took it from me, we weren’t really friends, and it was all a lie. I haven’t spoken to the Murphy’s since.” He fiddled with his hands in his lap and sighed. “And.. I’m scared. Scared that one day I’ll go to school and everyone will hate me or that the Murphy’s will ruin my life.. Not that I don’t deserve it, after what I did? I deserve worse.”

“Evan.. No one deserves that, especially not you. What you did wasn’t exactly the right thing to do but you had the best intentions.” He nodded silently, “What did you want to ask me earlier anyways?”

You turned, facing down at the wheel in front of you. “I wanted to ask you if you knew where he was buried.”, a tear slipped from your eye as you sighed, smiling sadly, “I didn’t exactly get to say goodbye..” “I could go with you if you’d like. To show you the way?”

“Thank you, Evan.”

___

During the ride to the cemetery, You and Evan talked, trying to lighten the mood, and quickly became best friends. The two of you didn't have so much in common but you were both very comfortable and supportive of each other. You were like the siblings neither of you had.

The two of you stepped out of the truck, and begun walking to Connor’s grave. “Oh! Hold on..” You turn back, grabbing a beautiful bouquet of red roses and pink tulips, with a small white card that said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you enough when you needed it, Connor. I will never forget you, mon amour. I love you, always.” Connor didn’t have a specific favorite flower but he did appreciate their meanings. Roses represent love, and tulips represent a declaration of love. You hoped that even though he was gone he would still appreciate the thought you put into it.

The two of you walked up to his grave. It was at this moment when it hit you that he was really gone forever. You dropped to your knees, carefully placing down the flowers. Tears streaming as you silently sobbed, Evan’s hand on your left shoulder and the ghost of Connor’s hand on your right.

“I’m sorry, Connor. I love you more than you’ll ever know..”

The two of you sat there in silence for a while, before agreeing to leave in case the Murphy’s decided to visit. Neither of you really wanted to run into them and have to explain who you were and why you were there. “Do you want to come over to my house? You look emotionally exhausted.” You laughed and nodded, starting up the car.

___

“Why didn’t you come to town sooner?” You sighed, “I just.. I didn’t want to believe that he was really gone, you know? And coming here, seeing his grave, and his grieving family just confirmed what I prayed wasn’t true.” You sipped on the hot chocolate in your hands, staring out of the window at the pouring rain and cloudy night sky. “Have you met them yet?” Evan mumbled, typing on his laptop on the couch beside you. He pulled up the Connor Project and read about all the many different things Alana was doing. “No.. But I feel like I should? Like I know things about Connor that would give them closure but I can’t bring myself to go over and talk to them.”

“If only there was a way for you to show them what Connor was really like so you wouldn’t have to talk to them...” It was silent for a moment, “Actually... Connor and I used to write each other handwritten letters and take a lot of pictures together..” “Well what are the odds..” he giggled, “Maybe you could give those to them? The ones that aren’t super personal?” You sat together deeply in thought.

“But I can’t exactly bring myself to just give them away... Maybe I could copy them and white out all the personal stuff? Like the things between me and Connor only, and my face and name?” Evan nodded, agreeing that that would be the best option. You’d create a box filled with things Connor wrote and pictures of when he was truly happy, then leave it on the Murphy’s doorstep. It was a safe, no-contact interaction.

___

The next night, you went over to Evan’s house with the box labeled “The Real Connor Murphy. (i’m so sorry for your loss.. i thought maybe you would like to have these to know who he really was.)” Evan gave you directions to the Murphy household. Eventually, you parked in front of the pale yellow house, all three cars were in the driveway. “You better be quick if you don’t want anyone to see you.. Just.. keep the car running, drop off the box, ring the doorbell, and book it back here and drive off. Don’t turn back.” “Okay super spy.” You laughed nervously.

You walked up to the door, placing the box neatly on the ground with a single rose and tulip tapped on the top, rang the doorbell, and ran off. You jumped into the car and drove off just as Evan, who was previously hiding away from the car window, saw the red front door begin to open.

___

“Larry!” Cynthia Murphy exclaimed, picking up the box from the front porch to the dinner table, placing it beside the small card they had found on a mysterious bouquet of flowers they found the day before against Connor’s gravestone. “What is that?” He asked, looking at it with disinterest. “I found it on the porch, it says ‘The Real Connor Murphy. I’m so sorry for your loss.. I thought maybe you would like to have these to know who he really was.’ It’s in the same handwriting as the note we found on that bouquet of flowers. It even has the same two flowers! It has to be the same person. Someone who really loved him...” “What’s inside?” Zoe asked while reading and rereading the small card.

Cynthia opened the box to find handwritten letters from Connor and a mystery girl, photos of Connor laughing, smiling, pouting, hugging and kissing someone with a scratched out face. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes. This was the real Connor, a whole different version of him that the three were completely unaware of. Seeing him like this was just so unfamiliar to them, they couldn’t believe their eyes for a moment. Zoe picked up a letter, reading it aloud,

“Dear Y/N

Things haven’t been going so well lately, my parents are always fighting, my mom pretends like there’s nothing wrong, my dad doesn’t pay attention to anyone but himself anymore, and Zoe hates me.

Not that I blame her, I hate myself too. But I don’t hate myself when I’m around you. I’m so glad to have you around. You make life just a little easier every day.

It’s harder when you’re not around, I get angry easier when I get bullied at school or when Zoe says something awful about me. I just feel like I’m an airplane about to crash, but with you around I feel like I’m flying. Smooth sailing. Floating even. You are the most perfect girl I’ve ever met.

Thank you. I love you.

Sincerely, Con”

“He.. he had a girlfriend..?” She said, in shock. The three began to shuffle through the letters, photos, and little post-it notes, putting them in piles. “These are all copied..” “Maybe whoever left them didn’t want to give the originals away..?” “Maybe because she still cares about and loves him and didn’t want to give these away. They seem so.. personal.” Cynthia picked up a post-it note,

“Tu es belle Y/N, je t'adore.”

“What does that even mean?” Zoe pulled out her phone going straight to google translate, “It’s says ‘you are beautiful, i adore you.’.. I didn’t know Connor knew french.” “He never took a class for it. Maybe he learned it on his own?” Larry picked up a photo this time, Connor was standing in front of the apple orchard’s rotting old sign in the middle of the field, fake pouting and wearing a thin little flower crown you had made him. “I didn’t know Connor had any feelings other than anger.” Cynthia hit his arm. “Wait,” Zoe said, grabbing the attention of her bickering parents, “This letter has a picture and a post-it note attached to it.”

“Dear Con,

Thank you for the painting, it’s absolutely beautiful. You are so so talented. The way you put so much thought into every detail is truly admirable. You make everything you paint so exciting and captivating, even if the thing you’re painting isn’t very exciting at all. You see the beauty in the things that most people never give a second glance.

It kind of reminds me of the way I look at you.

To most people that don’t know you, you are a “freak” or “school shooter chic”. But, when I look at you, you are none of those things. You are beautiful, you are captivating, you are perfectly imperfect. You are worth it. Don’t give up on me darlin’.

I love you.

Sincerely, Y/N/N”

Attached to the letter was a photo of the painting mentioned. It was a painting of your beaten old navy blue truck parked beside a chain link fence that blocked it off from the open field. In the background, the sun was setting in a perfect blend of yellows, oranges, and reds. It was so detailed that if you weren’t already aware that it was a painting, you would’ve probably thought it was a photo taken from a fancy camera. “It really is beautiful..” Cynthia trailed off, wiping a stray tear that fell from her eye, “He was so talented. I didn’t even know he liked to paint! I mean I knew he took an art class but because he skipped school so much, I never even thought he went..”

“I guess we really didn’t know Connor at all..” Zoe begun to get angry, “What kind of family does that?! I mean we lived with him, I grew up with him, you two raised him, and we still didn’t even know who he was?! This.. this stranger even knew more about him than we did! Do you realize how sad this is? We have to learn about our dead family member from a complete stranger because when he was alive, we were too busy pretending like he was just acting out for attention instead of actually needing help! He needed help and we didn’t give it to him! It’s not like we couldn’t afford to take him to therapy! We just pretended like he was a monster and if we ignored him, he would stop..” She took a deep breath, “Maybe we were the monsters and his anger and tantrums were his cries for help...” “Zoe..” Cynthia reached for her arm but she pulled away, running up to her room while choking back tears. “..She’s right.”

The two were quiet for a long period of time, reading and rereading every letter and every note, memorizing every photo.

Cynthia held up a photo of Connor and a girl, whose face was completely scratched out, “Who are you..”

___

The next day was a particularly warm day so you and Evan drove over to A La Mode as a victory ice cream run of sorts. You really believed in treating yourself after small, seemingly insignificant, victories such as dropping off a box of precious letters to a grieving family. They needed closure, and you were willing to give it them. Evan, despite talking about A La Mode with the Murphy’s before, had never actually been. You two talked and ate your ice cream sitting in the back of your truck, looking out at the orchard across the street. The orchard was renamed the “Connor Murphy Memorial Orchard”, which made your heart a little heavy. Another reminder that he was really gone.

In the distance, on the other side of the fence sat the Murphy’s who were packing up from their weekly picnic. As they got up to walk out of the orchard, Zoe looked across the street. “Wait a minute..” Her parents stopped walking. “What is it Zoe?” Larry asked. She pointed at the car parked across the street, “Isn’t that the car that Connor painted his girlfriend in that letter? And Evan?” They looked across the street to find the same navy blue truck and a familiar face.

Evan paled, “The Murphy’s are looking at us!” he whisper-shouted. You began to turn around, but Evan stopped you. “No don’t look!” Your head whipped back to him as your face paled, “They recognized my car..” “How could they? It was night time when you dropped off the box and the door barely begun to open as you drove away..”

You smiled sheepishly, “I may or may not have given them a picture of a painting Connor made me of my truck parked beside that exact fence...” Evan facepalmed and gave you a deadpanned look. “Well they’re starting to walk across the street now.”

You shot up, “Let’s go.” “I mean would it be so bad to meet his parents?” Evan asked as the two of you scrambled into the front seats. “I’m just.. I’m not ready to have that conversation just yet.” You reversed out of the parking spot and drove back onto the road.

“Wait!” The Murphy’s shouted to the car as it begun to drive off. “There was a girl driving. Maybe that was her?” Cynthia asked, hopefulness clear in her voice. “She was with Evan, do you think the box of letters were fake?” Larry, always the optimist. “They couldn’t be, they were handwritten in Connor’s handwriting. Even the french notes.”

Zoe thought for a moment, “Well if we’re going to find her, we should probably start with Evan’s place first.” “Who said we were going to look for her?” Larry asked, “I’m not wasting my time on a wild goose chase. She’s already shown us enough about Connor.”

Cynthia turned to her husband, “How could you say that? She could be the one thing to bring us closer to our son. Our son who took his own life because he felt that that was the only path left for him. And you don’t want to try to find her? Find closure? Honestly Larry, what is wrong with you lately!” “I’m sorry. We’ll find her.”

___

The Murphy’s found themselves at the Hansen household. They knew you were there. After all, your truck was parked in the driveway. Inside were you, Heidi, and Evan. You had just met Heidi, but she loved you. She was thrilled to find that Evan had made a friend like you. You hung out with Evan even after learning he lied about being friends with your recently deceased boyfriend, and helped him when he started to rant and breathe heavy about it. You were so kind-hearted, forgiving, and calm by nature, that he was finally comfortable around someone. You were quickly best friends.

A knock at the door startled the three of you. “Are you guys expecting anyone?”, Heidi stood up to get the door as you and Evan turned to each other. He placed a hand on your shoulder to comfort you. “I suppose now’s a good time as ever, even though I really only had 24 hours to prepare myself..” You muttered, the two of you walking towards the front door.

The Murphy’s stopped and stared at you. “Are you.. Were you Connor’s girlfriend?” Cynthia asked. You nodded slightly, rubbing your arm as a nervous habit. “I’m Cynthia, this is Larry and Zoe.. We’re Connor’s family.” “I know.”

Heidi invited them in, everyone heading to the living room. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.. We just wanted to thank you for all the letters and photos of Connor. It feels like we’re finally getting to know who he really was on the inside.” You looked up from your lap, “No offense ma’am, but shouldn’t you have gotten to know your own son when he was still around?”

Zoe laughed, awkward and uncomfortable. “I really don’t think that’s funny.. especially considering you didn’t bother to get to know him either.” You said getting defensive, sticking up for Connor. Even if he was gone, you would never stop fighting for him. You did truly love him after all. “And before you say ‘Connor wasn’t easy to talk to. He would always yell and storm off.’, just think about the fact that having a relationship with someone is a two way street. You can’t expect someone to make an effort if you don’t try to do the same.”

The three looked at her in shock. Heidi and Evan smiling sheepishly in the background. “I..”, Larry started, but trailed off, not being able to come up with a proper response. Cynthia and Zoe looked deep in thought, unable to do the same.

It was quiet for a long amount of time.

“You’re right. You’re right and I wish it wasn’t true, but it is. And the only thing we could do now is learn from our mistakes. We don’t exactly know how we’re going to do that but we’re willing to try. And we’re hoping that you could help us? Help us figure out what to do and help us learn about who Connor was?” Zoe finally spoke up, her parents nodding along in agreement.

You were trying to heal from everything that happened and them putting all their hope on you wasn’t really helping. But maybe grieving together would allow everyone to heal and remember him in a more positive way? At least you hoped.

There’s a lot of hope pinned on others here.

“I suppose helping you all would let us heal.. together?” You said, slightly questioning your own words, turning toward Evan. He shrugged, giving you a thumbs-up. “But I don’t feel comfortable talking about Connor unless Evan is around.” You paused, “It’d be nice to have a familiar face around and we’re practically best friends now.. so..” “Yes of course.” The three stood up, walking to the front door, “We’ll come back here at 11AM tomorrow and drive to the orchard for a picnic if that’s alright with the two of you?” You and Evan nodded simultaneously. “Are you allergic to anything dear?”

With the shake of your head and a quick goodbye from Evan and Heidi, the Murphy’s were off.

“Am I doing the right thing here? Connor didn’t even want his family to known I existed! And now we’re going on a picnic with them? Where I have to talk about him?” You sat down, head in your hands as a headache begun to grow. Heidi placed her hand on your shoulder gently, “It’s going to be tough right now, and it’s going to be emotionally draining, I’m sure. But, if you really think that they deserve to know who he really was, that how they perceive him is wrong, then I think you are doing the right thing. You’re helping them, you’re helping yourself, and you’re helping Connor. You did say that he wanted to change the way people saw him. And you’d be doing that for him, even if he’s not physically around to see it happen.”

“Thank you, Heidi.”

___

“It’s really nice of you to agree to meet us here, Y/N. And Evan, it’s nice to have you here too.” Cynthia smiled, putting down a blanket for the picnic. Everyone sat down in an awkward silence.

“So... is.. is there anything you wanted to know that wasn’t already in the letters?” You asked, picking at the blades of grass beside you. Evan slapped your hand away from the grass, silently scolding you in true forest ranger fashion for messing with nature. The Murphy’s turned to each other, silently debating what to say and who would say it. No surprise to you and Evan that the one to speak up was Cynthia. The past couple of hours really showed that she was the only one who seemed to care, at least a little bit, about Connor when he was around, though Zoe and Larry were trying their best now.

“Why didn’t Connor bring you around to meet the family? It really seemed like you brought so much light to his life. I mean, you brought out parts of him that we didn’t even know existed!” “We thought he was a monster...” Zoe muttered sadly.

Your heart ached for this family, they really knew nothing about him.. “Connor didn’t bring me around because he was afraid you’d all ‘scare me off’,” you laughed slightly, “And Connor may have been a monster to you, but the real Connor was never a monster, to me or to anyone in my small town. In the next town over, no one knew who Connor was or what he’d done in the past. It was like a fresh start. Which I knew he desperately needed. I mean, with all the people bullying him, hurting him physically or emotionally or both, and spreading fake rumors about him since he was in the second grade? He was angry and hurting and he didn’t know how to deal with it, so he would lash out. But wouldn’t you react the same way? Build up walls so people wouldn’t hurt you? Isolate yourself so people couldn’t get close enough to?”

It went silent again, the only sound was the wind blowing in the summer breeze and the trees rustling in the background.

“She’s right.”

Everyone looked up, faces showing some form of shock. Larry continued, “All that stuff was going on in school and we made it worse for him at home. He asked us for help and we always assumed he was doing for attention. No matter how hard we tried to be a perfect family, we never were and we probably never will be.”

Zoe wiped away a stray tear. “Even though you couldn’t save your kid, maybe there’s a way you could save someone else’s?” He turned to you with a questioning glance. “I mean you have to admit, you’re a pretty wealthy family, maybe you can spend some time donating to suicide prevention hotlines and foundations that were created specifically to help those who are suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts like Connor was? I know for a fact that Connor hated the way that he felt, and would never want anyone to go through what he’d been going through, no matter how much of an asshole they were.”

Cynthia reached over to you, placing a hand on your knee, smiling as tears fell freely from her face, from all of their faces. “That’s a brilliant idea, Y/N.”

___

The picnic went on as you told them stories of your’s and Connor’s adventures together. Jumping over the fence to lay around in the yellow fields of the old orchard, helping your mom arrange flowers in her flower shop (he would always make sure his bouquets were well thought out in their meaning), buying junk food and snacks when having movie marathons on a Saturday night, sketching and painting moments together so you two would never forget them.

With each little story, his family knew more about him and you felt as close to him as you had been before that heart-wrenching summer day. 

You fell behind from the group as you all walked out of the orchard. Turning back and taking one last look at the entrance, the fields, and the growing trees of the Connor Murphy Memorial Orchard, you notice a figure dressed in black standing with his back against the fence. He gave you a smile, a genuine yet sad smile, mouthing the words “thank you” and “i love you”, before disappearing in the wind.

[quillandink333]

Scarlet Carnations ~ Part II

BotW Link X Zelda ~ Detective AU

Rating: T

Word Count: 2.7k

WARNINGS: death, murder, loss, trauma, blood and gore, terrorism, organized crime, self-harm

Summary: Inspector Zelda Hyrule, assisted by the faithful Constable Link Fyori, is infamous for cracking the most confounding of cases in a town dominated by crime. Her latest assignment is to solve the murder of her own godmother, Impa Sheikah, the late CEO of Sheikah Tech. Incorporated, while staying under the radar of the dreaded Yiga organization.

Part I • Part II • Part III • Part IV • Part V • Part VI • Part VII • Epilogue • Masterlist

By day two of our investigation, there wasn’t much left to look into other than the gardens. We’d already searched the rest of the house and found nothing of note. On that groggy morning, however, as soon as I stepped out into the gardens, I spotted something out of the corner of my eye that struck me as abnormal.

“Link, come here.” My comrade stood to attention and came to stand beside me, on the footpath lining the sides of the zen garden. “See that?”

He followed my finger to what had caught my eye: the big footprint right in the middle of the pattern etched in the sand. His eyes widened.

A grin spread its way across my face. “What say we try getting a closer look?”

This, unfortunately, was easier said than done. Leaving our own prints behind would be tantamount to the destruction of evidence. So in order to reach the spot where the footprint was located, we would have to hop across the stones scattered throughout the zen garden. And to say that the sandals one was given when visiting the Sheikah estate and was expected to wear at all times were unsuited for this endeavour would be a gross understatement.

“Honestly...” I huffed, searching in vain for the next best place to put my toe. “There’s a footpath for a reason.” This earned a chuckle from Link, who was still two or three rocks behind me, but seemed to be struggling to only a fraction of the extent that I was.

With my attention elsewhere, I made the mistake of stepping on a stone that was barely even the size of my heel. Inevitably, my foot started to slip, and I began teetering back and forth like a broken pendulum.

“Eep!”

Just when I shut my eyes in preparation to fall, I was caught and held steady at the waist by my assistant.

My breath caught in my throat. He was leaning over me, his front curved flush against the arch of my back and his gloved hands pressed flat into my abdomen, and here I was, graceful as a swan, arms sticking out at odd angles and legs spread three feet apart.

“Are you alright?”

His smooth, demure voice in my ear startled me out of my sudden paralysis. “Yes!” I squeaked, then cleared my throat and brought my outstretched foot back in. “Yes, quite. Thank you.”

His arms left my waist, and he straightened up, putting as much distance between himself and me as there was left on the perch we shared.

“I suppose this is close enough.” I smoothed out my capelet coat before crouching down toward the sand-covered ground, careful not to let anything trail in it. Before proceeding, I breathed a deep, mind-clearing sigh. “Let’s see what we have here.”

If this had been wet sand, I would’ve had a much easier time identifying the sole responsible for this vandalism. But unfortunately, this sand was dry, so all there was to go off of was the size of the prints.

“My guess is, some oaf thought it would be quicker to cut across the zen garden via these stones like we’ve been doing, but ended up with his or her foot in the sand at some point or another.”

“So...do you think this could be a clue?” he inquired with sweet naïvety.

“Well...” I crossed my arms over my chest. “If this is in fact our culprit’s doing, then that would point to this crime being a spur of the moment, which would blatantly contradict all the things we’ve seen so far, or haven’t seen, rather.”

“You mean the security footage?”

I muttered my bitter answer through gritted teeth. “That’s one example.”

The rest of the gardens offered even fewer leads. There were no unusual disturbances in the flora, and nothing was found lying at the bottom of the koi pond. The walls surrounding the place were no higher than the walls of the main building, but they were still too high and too flat for the average person to climb over. Either way, we found no signs of such activity. We’d quite literally left no stone unturned, but to no avail.

I let out what must have been at least my twentieth sigh since our arrival. “Alright then. I suppose it’s time we start questioning some witnesses.”

“Zelda, listen to me.”

I was in the living room in the midst of an interview with Paya. Link was standing on the opposite end of the room, going over his notes. I’d asked him as politely as I could to refrain from listening in on our conversation as she’d started bringing up some sensitive topics of which it was best for him to stay out.

“You can’t let your own personal feelings interfere with your judgement,” she whispered. “You’re a detective, aren’t you? You should know this.”

“It’s been seven years,” I hissed back, “and he spent five of them in an asylum because he was an amnesiac and he hadn’t any idea who he was. He himself, Paya, let alone me.” I took a moment to try and collect myself before continuing. “I’ve told you this before. And yet you somehow suspect that I still feel the same way about him as I did when we were teenagers?”

She shook her head at me in a patronizing manner like the goody two-shoes she always had been. “You may be able to hide it from him, but not from me. I know because...well, I feel the same.” The nerve of this girl was unbelievable. Had she no shame at all? “In any case, you can’t ignore the evidence, no matter what you or I feel toward him.”

She’d finally pushed me to my limit. This was the person who’d been stalking Link from afar since the start of this entire case. I could no longer sit here and tolerate her utterly guiltless accusation of him despite her creepy obsession.

“Just who do you think you are?!” I snapped, standing up and lifting her out of her chair by the collar. “I’ll have you know I’m the one running this investigation, thank you very much.”

“But Zelda, I—”

“Enough!” She shrank back. “You’ve no right making me out like an amateur!”

I could’ve sworn I saw Link jump out of the corner of my eye just then. But when I turned around, he still had his nose buried in his notebook.

Either way, the raging fire within me had died; I released my grip on my “sister,” who crumpled into her chair like a withering lily petal. Slumping back into my own seat, I let out a weary sigh. “So you’re sure Auntie Impa was asleep in her bedroom when you turned in for the night. Correct?”

She nodded curtly. “Yes.”

“And your basis for this was...what, again?”

She sat up straight with her perfect posture. “Well, she always goes to sleep at nine o’clock, and I hadn’t seen her since supper.”

“Right...” I massaged the bridge of my nose with my first and second fingers. “So you didn’t actually see her sleeping. She could have been awake in her room for all you knew.”

“I suppose so...”

“Splendid. And you can’t think of any household members, or anyone at all, who might’ve had a reason to kill her?” Like the Yiga, for example? I added silently.

“No.”

I shut my notebook, slipping my pen into my pocket. “Thank you for your time.”

At this point, I was starting to lose hope. There was only one other matter that it had even occurred to me to look into, and even then, I wasn’t sure if it would be possible to do so. So one could imagine my pleasant surprise when my object of interest was found unharmed in Auntie Impa’s study.

“So this was her own personal Sheikah Slate...” I marvelled, peering into the miniature safe in her desk at the item in question.

“That it was,” replied Auntie Purah. “She supposedly had it made for work purposes. You know, keeping track of finances and marketing and all those hum-drum tasks she was in charge of.” She rolled her eyes. “But I’m quite sure she used it for other, undisclosed means as well.”

“That’s what I’m hoping...” I confessed. “You said earlier—and I ask this with all due respect, of course—but you said you didn’t know of any dark secrets she was keeping? Any skeletons in the closet that might’ve provided a motive for this murder?”

She shook her head in dismay. “No, I’m afraid not. She was always terribly secretive, even with me.”

“Ah... That’s alright, Auntie,” I sympathized.

“But when your mother was still around—oh my goodness! Constantly, those two would whisper in each other’s ears about who-knows-what, ever since they were old enough to speak, I tell you.”

“Is that so?” I humoured her as she spiralled into a speech about the days of her youth. Since the Slate had been kept in her study in a one-of-a-kind safe made specially for this house, it was reasonable to assume there would be no strange fingerprints on it. Nevertheless, I dusted for them anyway, and sure enough, the only ones on it belonged to its late owner. “So, what’s the trick to gaining access to it?” I too owned a device similar to this one, courtesy of my connections with the company as an adopted part of the family that ran it, but because they were still so rare and invaluable, I typically left it at home and didn’t often have the chance to make use of it. As such, I wasn’t nearly as familiar with its mechanics as I ought to have been.

“Well, one of the Slate’s features, which happens to be one of my favourites, actually,” she boasted, “is that it lets the user create a lock that’s entirely unique from one on any other Slate. There is practically no limit to the number of ways one can keep their information protected.” I listened with immense interest, knowing the technology she spoke of was entirely out of my intellectual grasp, but being fascinated all the same. “It seems my sister simply opted for a riddle, though,” she lamented as she activated the device. “Pity. I was looking forward to showing you what the system is capable of.”

“You can still show me!” I fervently insisted. “I’d love to see how it works. Do you have your Slate with you?”

“Oh, yes, I do!” she chirped, reaching into her dress pocket. “This is going to knock your socks off, young lady.”

But before I could lean in for a better view, a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned my head and met eyes with Link, who glanced insinuatingly at the thing we’d come here to investigate.

“Oh.” I stifled a chuckle. “Right. Let’s see this riddle, then.”

“Ah, yes,” she laughed along with me. “My apologies, Zeldie. I do so get carried away at times.”

“Believe me, Auntie, you’re no worse than I am,” I contested, picking up the Slate sitting on the desk.

The screen displayed an empty text box with a typewriting keyboard below it and a question above it that read the following: “I observe the world as I hide in a cage. In my youth, I am weak, but I gain strength with age. I both give life and take it away. When one tries to pluck me, I make them my prey. What am I?”

Until now, I’d thought myself to be quite skilled at solving riddles. I’d even used to make them up in my school days for sport. But as I reread the words written on the Slate over and over again, I couldn’t think of a single answer that made the least bit of sense. “When one tries to pluck me...” and, “...as I hide in a cage,” were what kept throwing me off. It seemed no two statements could have been more unrelated. Even the few things I came up with that I deemed worth a try were denied. Even when Link and Auntie Purah tried, nothing worked.

Soon enough, I was taken completely off-guard when the question vanished, and in its place appeared the words, “This Sheikah Slate has been disabled. Try again in 1 hour.”

I slammed the damned thing down and threw my hands in the air. “Are you bloody joking?!” I stood hunched over the desk, shaking with frustration. “Five guesses? That’s all we get, really?”

“Maybe it’s something no one but her could ever know,” Auntie Purah pondered. “I could picture her pulling something like that.”

In that moment, it felt as though my heart were too tired to go on beating. “If that’s the case, then...” I held my head in my palms, nails scraping into my scalp. “Then we have no hope of ever figuring it out. Do we?” The longer I stared at the words on the screen, the deeper I fell into their endless, dark abyss. This had been my last hope of finding any sort of lead on this case. If this riddle truly was impossible, I was doomed.

“Now, now. No need to fret, dear.” I raised my head, realizing I’d begun to hyperventilate. “I’ll take it with me on my next trip to the lab. I’m sure Robbie and I will be able to crack into it once we put our heads together.”

“Okay...” I counted to ten in my head while Link stroked my shoulder in quiet consolation. I gave him an appreciative glance, then turned my attention back to my auntie. “Shall I trust you not to let anyone get their hands on it until then?”

“You can count on me, Zeldie,” she winked. I could only hope she would take my request seriously.

It was well into the small hours of the night now, after I’d returned home, and I was still awake as could be, staring endlessly at my bedroom ceiling with wide eyes. There were so many things weighing on my mind all at once, it was difficult to differentiate between them.

At the centre of it all, though, was the memory of something that had occurred earlier that afternoon, when my partner and I had been reviewing the results of the investigation in my office. The things he’d said to me then wouldn’t stop replaying themselves again and again in the theatre of my mind.

“Umm... Zelda?”

I’d looked up at him from across our shared desk, more than a little surprised to hear him call me by my first name. “Yes?”

“I just—” The unsure look in his eyes had created an air of tension thicker than a miasma. He’d begun glancing around the room, gnawing at his lip. “I-I just...”

“Is something the matter?” I’d prompted.

He’d shaken his head then, shifting in his seat. “No, no. I just...wanted to thank you.”

I’d raised my eyebrows at him. “Whatever for?”

His gaze had fallen to his hands resting on the desk. “For getting me out of...that place you found me in.”

My chest had tightened at those words. He’d never uttered anything so personal and so heartfelt to me during all the months that had passed. After all this time, what could possibly have urged him to say this now?

“You did that, even though I didn’t have the slightest notion of who you were,” he’d continued, making my heart twist and writhe within the confines of my ribcage. Then, steeling himself and meeting my eyes with his, “I just wanted you to know that, even with my affliction, I’ll never forget that day.”

Those words still rang in my ears even now, after the several hours that had gone by. They tormented me. I was the only one who had a shred of faith in him—in his innocence. And yet, if I couldn’t figure out a way to prove that someone else had used the police-issued revolver bearing Link’s ID code to commit the murder, then all my efforts to free him would go down the drain, and he’d be locked away for good, if not unthinkably worse.

[fruit-teeth]

Matters of Time and Fate (Chapter 21)

The clock up on the office wall ticked in a slow, repetitive rhythm as Joann’s heels tapped against the floor. As she stared at the door to the backroom, she could hear Phoenix Sage inside, no doubt making himself presentable.

Finally, the door opened, and he emerged: dressed in a clean suit, blonde hair combed back, and with the gold watch still hugging his slender wrist. Phoenix gave Joann a nod as he sat down at his desk, just a few feet across the room from where she stood.

Joann took a shaky breath, stepping closer. “Sir – can you tell me what’s going on? You said you were declaring war on Mann Co., but you’ve invited…” she shuddered. “You’ve invited those…bounty hunters here. Don’t you remember what happened the last time you had them here?”

Phoenix scoffed, laying out a few folders onto the desk. “Please. That situation was completely different. Now, they won’t kill our target, I only need her brought to me,”

“I’m not sure I trust them,” Joann advised. “Sir, you have to understand that—”

Before she could finish, the buzzer rang outside. Phoenix looked up, and he called out, “Come in!”

The door opened, and in they came, one by one: nine people, dressed in dark clothing, with symbols printed on their clothing. Their presence filled the office immediately, causing Joann to shrink back towards the wall.

Phoenix grinned at the sight of them, approaching with his hands clasped together. “My friends! How lovely it is to see you again!”

The leader of the group, a burly bearded man, crossed his arms and moved to meet Phoenix in the center of the room. “Sage: was there a reason you couldn’t just phone us this target? Explain to me how you had to call us out here at this time of night. With all due respect, we’re busy people.”

“Oh, Rust, Rust, my dear man,” Phoenix shook his head with a chuckle. “That’s because this is a different job. For this job, the target must be brought to me alive.”

Another man, this one skinny with bug-like eyes, piped up, “Alive!? Man, what do you think it is we do!?”

“Shut up, Grudge!” Rust snapped at the skinny man. He turned back to Phoenix and looked him up and down. “What’s the deal, then? You got a union organizer you want us to go after? Someone who needs to sign something?”

“Not quite,” Phoenix turned out, pulling out some photos from one of the folders. “Are you familiar with a man named ‘Gray Mann’?”

“Yeah,” a woman with shark-like teeth answered. “He died, right?”

“Yes,” Phoenix confirmed, and he held out the picture for them to see. “His daughter is still alive. I need you to find her and bring her to me – this is where she was last seen in public, at a shopping center. She was accompanied by men who are believed to be the mercenaries of Mann Co.”

As Rust took the picture to get a better look at it, Grudge asked, “A lil’ kid? Man, I don’t know about this…”

A short but muscular woman grunted, “Fuck them kids. How much are we getting paid?”

“How’s ninety grand sound to you?” Phoenix offered. “Reasonable?”

“Reasonable.” Rust agreed, glancing to each of his teammates’ faces for confirmation. “We will do our best to bring her back in one piece.”

“See to it that you do,” Phoenix nodded, passing the folders to Rust. “I never thought I would see myself turning to a ransom situation, but…when push comes to shove, you understand?”

As Phoenix briefed the bounty hunters with extra details, Joann stood towards the back, watching with discomfort in her eyes. Phoenix was in too deep, but she couldn’t stop him, now.

At the same time, in the attic bedroom of the townhouse, Olivia had gone to bed for the night. She laid there, curled up in the quilt with her stuffed cat cuddled beside her, yet it was in this state that she began to dream.

Olivia saw herself walking through the long, winding hallways of a strange building. Harsh lights flashed from above, but she tried not to look at them as she searched for some sort of way out.

Finally, she came upon a door. She tried the handle, finding that it was unlocked. Upon opening the door, however, the sight of something she hadn’t anticipated faced her.

In a slate-colored office room, seated at a dark wooden desk, was her father. When Olivia locked eyes with him, he stood up, holding his arms out to her.

“Olivia,” he sounded gentle in a way Olivia wasn’t used to. He moved from behind the desk, approaching her.

Olivia stood completely still for a moment, and something in her told her to run away. She pushed the feeling away, though, and went straight to her father’s arms.

The way he hugged her was very business-like, but she welcomed it all the same. She buried her face in his chest, holding him for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, and she felt him brush his hand through her hair.

A long moment of silence passed, but it dissipated when Gray began speaking. “You ran from me last time, Olivia.”

Olivia lifted her head to look at him, her eyes burning with tears. “What?”

He stepped back, breaking the embrace and putting her hands on his shoulders. “The last time I saw you, you ran away.”

“Oh,” Olivia remembered the dream she’d had about him before, and that she had, in fact, run away when she saw him. “I…I’m sorry, daddy, I won’t do it again…”

“No need to apologize,” he assured her, his hands retracting from her. “All I noticed is that you’re losing yourself.”

Olivia wiped at her eyes, sniffling. “What?”

Gray went on. “You’ve become so…passive. So afraid.”

The tears quickly turned to anger, though Olivia bit it back. “I’m not afraid! I’m not afraid of anything!”

“Oh, but you are,” Gray countered. “I can sense it in you, you know: you’re scared of the people who are coming to attack this place.”

“No…” Olivia knew he was right, but she still denied it. She didn’t want to feel small.

“Don’t lie to me,” he reprimanded, though his voice started to get quieter and further away. “Remember yourself.”

Olivia suddenly realized he was fading from her, and she desperately scrambled to try and cling to him. “Daddy!” she shrieked, though her hands only met air. “Daddy, I’m sorry! Come back!”

At that moment, the floor beneath her disappeared, and she tumbled downwards into nothingness. She felt unable to breathe, her gasps for air coming slower and slower, as if she were submerged in some sort of liquid.

The darkness split, revealing a pathway of light, and she struggled towards it, reaching both hands outwards.

Finally, she was out, and she coughed for air as she fell down upon something cold and hard. The darkness was gone, but now the bright light was oppressive, causing her to press her eyes shut.

A pair of big hands grasped her shoulders just as she got up, and she yelped in distress at the unexpected sensation.

“Olivia?”

Olivia could feel her hands shaking as her senses returned. She was in bed still, and the sun was just beginning to rise outside…had she really been dreaming?

She jolted again when someone touched her back, but when she looked up, she let her guard down. It was Medic, and he looked rather concerned.

“What happened?” he wanted to know. “You were shaking in your sleep, I walked by and you seemed so restless…”

“Oh,” Olivia sniffled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She hugged her arms, before admitting, “I had a bad dream…”

Medic sighed. “Oh, dear. It must have been the fact you ate right before going to sleep, that tends to happen,” he cleared his throat and stood up off the bed. “It’s still early, would you like to go back to sleep?”

Olivia blinked, just as a yawn stopped her from answering for a moment. “Um…” she rubbed her eye again. “Yeah…I’m still tired.”

“All right,” Medic nodded, going to the door. “We will see you in a few hours, then.”

As Medic left, Olivia settled back into bed. Despite her best attempts to tune them out, her father's words echoed in her ears as she clutched her stuffed cat close to her. She was strong, she knew she was…she’d always known it.

She fell asleep again at some point and dreamed another dream, though she didn’t remember this one. When she woke up again, she could hear the sound of the phone ringing downstairs.

Olivia sat up, rubbing her eyes as someone answered the phone. She got up when she heard speaking, and padded down the hallway and into the stairwell. From where she stood, she could see Miss Pauling standing by the wall, the phone’s receiver tucked beneath her chin.

“Hey, Hale,” Pauling greeted. “Yep, it’s me…no, no one’s come around yet. That might just mean Phoenix is biding his time, or that he can’t find us.”

Pauling paused, listening, and Olivia wondered what Saxton could be saying.

“Okay,” Pauling replied after a moment. “Yeah, we’ll call you for back up if anything goes wrong. Okay? Okay. Talk to you later.”

She hung up, and it was then that she noticed Olivia watching. “Oh!” Pauling straightened up, clearing her throat. “Hey, good morning.”

“Good morning.” Olivia greeted back, walking down the stairs. “Are those guys coming to the house?”

“I don’t know,” Pauling confessed. “We haven’t heard any signs of danger or anything yet. Maybe they can’t find this place, but I have no idea.”  

Olivia began to feel uneasy again, her mind going back to the possible danger looming over them. She took a step forward and rooted herself to Miss Pauling's skirt, where she remained for a moment.

Miss Pauling paused, looking down at her in surprise. “Uh…hi? Are you okay?”

Olivia released her grip, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. “Um…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Pauling knelt beside her, watching her with concern.

Olivia shifted anxiously from foot to foot, before admitting, “I had a dream about my daddy.”

Miss Pauling took a long breath. “I see…was it a bad dream?”

“Yeah,” Olivia confessed, staring at her feet. She then looked back up at Pauling. “Am I weak?”

“What? No, of course you aren’t weak.” Pauling placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her. “You’ve been really brave this whole time.”

“Have I?” Olivia smiled a little.

“Yeah – I mean, you’ve been through a lot for a kid your age,” Pauling went on. “I can’t even imagine how stressful it must be to just…” she trailed off, before clearing her throat again. “Anyway: come have breakfast, everyone else is in the dining room.”

As Olivia walked in, Scout was in the middle of telling everyone else in the dining room a very animated story.

“So, picture this, right?” Scout took a swig of orange juice before continuing. “My hand is totally stuck in there, my piano teacher is layin’ on the floor screaming, and my ma is knocking at the door like crazy!”

Olivia hoisted herself up on the chair, looking up at Scout, watching how amusing he was when he spoke.

“What then?” Soldier prompted from where he sat, intrigued.

Scout set his glass down. “Then, my teacher takes the vegan chili and wips it all around the kitchen! Floor, ceiling, everywhere – and then she points her bony finger at me and says I have no business playing the piano!”

Spy just rolled his eyes, while Demoman gasped in outrage. “Oh, lord!”

“I know, right!?” Scout shook his head, taking a big bite of eggs. “Anyway, never went back to her again! My brother Joey mailed dead slugs to her house like a week later. Funny stuff.”

Heavy grunted. “Americans. Hm.”

As Engineer noticed Olivia at the table, he passed her a plate of scrambled eggs. “Howdy, Olivia! We got eggs here, there’s potatoes too.”

“Okay,” Olivia accepted the plate, but then she spotted a television in the corner of the room that she hadn't seen before. “What’s that?”

“Oh – yeah, that’s a screen I’m gonna hook up to a new camera,” Engineer explained. “So, we don’t have to be on lookout constantly, we can see what’s going on outside from here.”

Olivia glanced back at the TV. The screen was black for now, but she imagined what it would be like when it was a working security camera. “Shouldn’t we have more cameras so we can see the whole yard?”

“One thing at a time, lass,” Demo assured her patiently. “Besides, Jane and I did a full lookout. No one’s been snooping around here!”

“For now, anyway.” Sniper commented from where he sat, before noticing the look on Olivia’s face. “I mean, uh – everything’s gonna be fine. Trust me, we know what we’re doing.”

Scout reached over, pushing a glass of orange juice in Olivia’s direction. “Yeah! We’ve been doing this for years, kid. Now drink some juice! Like my ma says, it keeps your bones strong, or whatever…” he paused, thinking. “Or was that milk?”

“Milk!” Soldier corrected him. “It’s why my bones are unbreakable!”

Olivia couldn’t help but giggle at the answer, while Medic huffed. “You have broken bones before! You – oh, never mind…”

At this point in the morning, everything seemed to be going all right.

After Olivia finished breakfast, she went upstairs to shower, only to find that someone else was in there. She lay against the shower door for a few moments, listening to the shower sounds and recalling the morning when she slept in the laundry basket while the shower ran. This time, though, something pulled her attention away from the door: down the hallway, she could see that Helen’s bedroom door was wide open.

Olivia pulled herself away from the bathroom door, realizing she hadn’t actually been in Helen’s room before. She checked to make sure no one was around, before slipping in the room quietly.

It was a very tidy room, with a neatly made bed, a well-organized makeup shelf, and old record player in the corner. However, there were a stack of boxes sitting in the corner, something that enticed Olivia’s curiosity right away.

She reached into the box on the top, rooting around until her hand hit something solid. When she pulled it out, she realized it was a very old, framed photograph of a horse. It was a huge, black horse with a white, diamond-shaped marking on the center of its head. A plaque with the name "BLACK IVORY" and other awards could be seen beside the horse. Olivia thought back to the bonfire the night before: Helen had mentioned this horse, how it had been shot for throwing her off. The thought made a nagging, dark pit form in Olivia’s stomach, and she had to put the picture back before the feeling grew worse.

She reached inside again, finding another framed picture. This time, it showed a young man with a beard and a scar on his forehead – something about him seemed very familiar to Olivia, but she couldn’t understand why. He had a very pleasant, gentle face, and she felt comforted just by looking at him. She felt something pinned to the back of the frame as she held it, so she flipped it over to investigate.

On the back sat a note. It was old, though it had been laminated to keep it safe. It read:

For Helen, my darling angelfish –

Always remember me and keep me in your heart. May the rivers of time never separate us, and just know that I will always love you.

With all of my heart,

Your father, Garrett.

Olivia read the note over again, blinking. Helen had a father? Well, she must have had one, obviously: everyone had a father. He called her ‘angelfish’…he really must have loved her, if she had a nickname as nice as that.

As Olivia stared at the portrait of Garrett, she tried to imagine Helen as a little girl. Did Garrett train her for work, too?

Olivia set the portrait back into the box, yet it was then she noticed the box sitting closest to the floor: her name was on it. She stared for a moment, confused – why would Helen have a box with her name?

Now intrigued, Olivia knelt down and reached for the box, beginning to move aside the other boxes so she could just –

“What are you doing!?”

Olivia jolted, head snapping up to see Helen looming above her. Helen had clearly just showered, as her hair was damp and she was in her bathrobe.

There was pause, before Helen repeated herself. “What are you doing? Is this what you do? You snoop around others’ belongings?”

“That box has my name!” Olivia pointed to it, indignant. “My name! See?”

Without warning, Helen scooped Olivia up, carrying her out of her room. “It’s not important! You are not allowed in this room!”

Olivia shrieked, squirming to get away from Helen’s grip. “Stop! Put me down!” When Helen did not comply right away, Olivia turned right around and hissed in her face like an animal.

Helen set her down on the floor, scolding her, “Do not hiss!”

“Do not hiss!” Olivia repeated back to her, mimicking Helen’s voice.

“Oh, you…!” Helen stopped herself, taking a long breath. “I’m going to get dressed, and you are going to calm down. Understood?”

Olivia crossed her arms, scowling. “You’re mean to me!”

Helen’s eye twitched, but she said nothing, rising and storming back into her bedroom. As the door slammed, Olivia stamped her foot in anger, her fists balled in rage. It wasn’t her fault Helen left the door open! If Helen didn’t want anyone in her room, she could have closed the door…Olivia then realized her own door was open, meaning that anyone could walk into her room as well. Maybe it was wrong to sneak in there, to some extent. In any case, she did not care for the way Helen spoke to her.

Right then, someone else walked up the stairs, and Olivia turned around to see Pyro approaching. They greeted her with a little wave, their energy as bouncy as always.

“Hi.” Olivia greeted back, still a little on edge from what had just occurred. She rocked back and forth, trying to soothe herself.

Pyro noticed right away, and they sat down on the floor beside her, tilting their head as if to ask what the matter was. Olivia stared up at their shiny, dark lenses, before clarifying, “I made Helen mad because I went into her room. She yelled at me, and now I’m mad too.”

Pyro took a moment to process this, then mumbled something sympathetically to her while ruffling her hair with affection. They then stood up, gesturing for her to follow them.

Perplexed but fascinated, Olivia followed them down the hallway and into what was obviously Pyro's bedroom. There were a few stuffed animals on the bed, as well as their weapons, such as the axe and a flamethrower. Olivia noticed that having stuffed animals and heavy-duty weapons on the same bed was quite a contrast, but she liked it for some reason.

Pyro opened a small box, retrieving a pad of paper and a handful of colored pencils, and they sat on the floor. Olivia sat beside them, and they gave her a sheet of paper as well as a few of the pencils.

“What am I supposed to do with these?” she wanted to know, looking to Pyro for answers.

Pyro picked up a pencil, getting a paper out and drawing a frowny face. They then scribbled a series of what seemed to be tiny hills next to it with a different colored pencil. Next to that, they drew a happy face.

Olivia thought for a moment, trying to decipher it. “Hills make people happy?”

Mumbling, Pyro shook their head and pointed to the frowny face. They then drew a picture of a little stick figure drawing, and then pointed to the happy face.

It then clicked for Olivia. “Oh! Drawing would help me feel happy?”

Pyro nodded, enthusiastic. They pointed to the colored pencils, and then at Olivia, as if prompting her to draw.

“Okay…I can try.” Olivia picked up a pink colored pencil, beginning to draw. She drew a little flower, and then next to it, her toy cat and rubber duck. Feeling bold, she then drew herself, not really caring what it looked like.

She found that it helped her feel better – something about it was relaxing to her. She added more flowers, feeling herself smile.

Olivia glanced over, seeing that Pyro was still drawing as well. They had drawn two little stick figures side by side, one with a mask on its head, similar to their own, and the other with a bow drawn on its head, much to her delight.

“Is that me?” Olivia asked, pointing to the drawing.

Pyro nodded, adding a skirt to the figure as well. Olivia couldn’t stop herself from grinning, and she looked back at her own drawing.

Beside herself, she drew Pyro, paying attention to their mask and making sure it was accurate. Once she’d drawn Pyro there, she got bold, beginning to sketch out a few of the others as well.

Pyro paused what they were doing, leaning over Olivia’s shoulder to watch her draw. Olivia noticed, but she didn’t stop. She sketched out the rest of Scout’s leg, before moving on to Demoman. She wondered if she could fit everyone onto the notepad, but the only way she’d know was to try it.

At the same time, Helen got dressed for the day, the interaction with Olivia still on her mind. She felt…regret, for yelling at her. She knew she had every right to be angry about the girl looking through her belongings, but as she reflected on the situation, she realized she should have handled it better.

Her mind wandering, she glanced back over at the box, reaching inside. She pulled out the framed portrait of her father, taking a moment to just observe. His calm gray eyes returned her stare, and a flame in her heart rekindled as she recalled all the days those gentle eyes had looked at her with patience and love.

Helen couldn’t help but ask softly, “What would you have done?”

Of course, he did not answer. She tucked the portrait back into the box, and she pushed the feeling of longing yet again. The present was what she needed to focus on, not the past.

Unbeknownst to her and the rest of the others, this quiet would not last long.

The bounty hunters from the group SHDW (what this acronym stands for is unclear) had narrowed down the location of the townhouse by gaining access to surveillance cameras from stores and traffic lights. Miles away and deep in the woods, they stood on a hill and looked out, seeing the shape of the house beyond the thicket.

“You’re sure this is the place?” the small and muscular woman questioned as she approached Rust.

Rust lowered his binoculars, staring out at the house. “This has gotta be it. Only big place for miles.” He gestured to the woman. “Go get the others, Shell. We’re gonna break in.”

[songsoomin]

Let Me Down  Part 3 (A, F)

Synopsis: CollegeStudent!Mingi x CollegeStudent!FemaleReader, BestFriend!Yunho. You’re still struggling without Mingi but circumstances lead you to get closer to Yunho.

Song inspiration: “From the Heart” Another Level (Not related but I would kill to hear Jongho sing this song)

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Warnings: None really, just a suggestive line towards the end.

Word count: 10.5K (I’m so sorry)

Posted: 6th July 2020

Note: I just got this photo off Google but I think it must have been made by someone going by the name ‘Fix On’ because the tag is on there - so just making it clear it is not my photo.

Part 1 Part 2

"Can we have more water for our table, please?"

"Sure, I'll just get that for you." You said politely as you went to get the water for Table 7.

"Y/N, Table 10 are ready for their mains now and Table 5 want their bill." Your supervisor, Max, told you as you headed back with the water.

"Sure thing." You said, wishing your shift was already over but you were only an hour into it. It was lunchtime on a Saturday so the restaurant you worked at part-time was rammed, as usual. You had graduated but still hadn't found a permanent job yet.

"Y/N, you look exhausted - are you ok?" One of your colleagues, Tiffany, asked you as you took a few seconds to breathe at the till station as you printed out Table 5's bill.

"I don't know...I've felt tired for the last couple of weeks now. I'm probably just low on iron, I haven't had much appetite lately." You admitted, "I'll get some supplements after work."

Since you last saw Mingi you hadn't been eating properly again. Impossibly, saying 'goodbye' to him for a second time had caused you much more pain than the first one. You should never have given in to your emotions and slept with him that night. You gave in because you weren't strong enough to say 'no' when he was right there looking at you like he used to - like he still loved you - but you didn't have the courage to take him back and risk being hurt again. Now, it had become clear that your heart also wasn't strong enough to deal with the fall out from that decision. You'd fallen into the same cycle you had the first time; not eating, not sleeping, trying to ignore the aching in your chest but while you were trying your best to carry on with your life without him, you were really just walking around like a zombie. Just existing while all the life had been drained out of you.

"You should look after yourself better." Tiffany said, concerned. She was older than you and married with two children and her natural mothering instincts seemed to come out with everyone. "Especially working on your feet in such a busy place like this."

"I know. My appetite has been almost non-existent since I've been a bit sick and when I get home I'm too exhausted to do anything. It's just a bug but I'll try to eat better - I promise."  She looked at you skeptically but let it go.

You carried on with your shift, running here and there after demanding diners but just felt worse as it wore on. You had picked up quite a few shifts lately so it was no surprise you had worn yourself out but you needed the money. You were living on your own now since Suzy had moved in with Lucas after graduation and Jina had moved back home. Your parents owned their own company and had bought you a small one bedroom apartment - nothing fancy, just enough for you - but you still needed to pay the bills.

Coming to the end of your shift you started to feel dizzy and nauseous again but soldiered on, thinking if you could just get through it you could go home and sleep. As you were passing the bill to one of the tables in your section you all of a sudden started to lose all your focus, darkness washing over you and you felt yourself slipping.

"Y/N?" You felt something cold and wet being pressed against your face as you blinked your eyes open to see Tiffany looking down at you. She was seated next to you as you lay on the couch in the staff room. You obviously looked confused at the situation as she gently explained, "You passed out. Max carried you in here and asked me to take care of you."

"I what? I'm so sorry." You apologised trying to sit up but doing it too quickly and feeling dizzy again.

Tiffany passed you a vitamin energy drink and told you to keep still and drink it. While you drank it, you noticed she was eyeing you, as if there was something she wanted to ask but wasn't sure how.

"Is there something wrong? You look a little uncomfortable." You said, smiling a little, trying to ease her discomfort.

"Well...I'm just worried about crossing the line. We're just work colleagues so I don't want to pry into personal matters." This had you confused so you asked her to go on, curious to know what on Earth she was thinking.

"It's ok, you can ask what you want. I can see something is bothering you."

"Ok..." She started slowly, "You said you'd had a bug recently and it had made you sick...."

"Yeah, I have. I'm still feeling it a bit - I was nauseous before I fainted, actually." You recalled the last thing you remembered feeling before you woke up here.

"How long has it been going on for?" Tiffany enquired gently.

"Oh...I'd say about two weeks really. It comes and goes though." You still didn't know where she was heading with this; you imagined she was going to nag you to see a doctor, though.

"Each day but mostly in the morning?"

"Yeah..." You blinked in surprise, "How did you know?"

Tiffany sighed, "Y/N...I think you may be pregnant."

You sat there looking at her like an idiot for a second. There was no way.

"Don't be silly. I just haven't been looking after myself. I'm just run down, that's probably why I feel so bad."

"Y/N...I have two children, I know the signs of early pregnancy. Morning sickness, tiredness, fainting - I'd bet you have tender boobs, as well, right?" That last bit shocked you a little. It was true, you did but you thought that it was just because your period was due. Now you really thought about it, though, you realised it had been a while since you'd had one.

"But...I can't be." You said, still thinking Tiffany was overreacting a little. "I haven't been with anyone since my ex and we always used con-" You stopped short as the realisation hit you. "Oh."

You and Mingi had always used condoms. Except that one night about six weeks ago.

Mingi, I want you inside me.

Baby, I don't have any protection on me. I didn't expect this to happen.

Mingi! I need you. Please fuck me.

You hadn't thought about it the morning after, hungover and too caught up in the pain of letting him go again.

"I think you should go and take a test, Y/N. As soon as you feel up to moving."

You nodded dumbly at Tiffany, desperately hoping she was wrong and that the symptoms were just a coincidence. An hour later, however, you were sitting in your bathroom crying and staring at two little blue lines.

                                                      ********

It had taken you days to accept the situation you found yourself in and then a few days more before you could face telling your parents about it. They had been really supportive, although, a little disappointed that you were in this situation due to being drunk and stupid. They told you that they would support you in whatever decision you made so you set about trying to decide if you were really ready to be a mother or if it was better to end the pregnancy.

You'd always wanted children and, at one time, you had even imagined having them with Mingi - somewhere in the future - but Mingi wasn't the father you needed for your baby. He was immature and unreliable. Your parents lived quite far away now and were busy running their company. Suzy and Jina had promised their support and offered advice as best they could but Jina also lived some way away and Suzy had her own life and her job to worry about. You knew they would all help as much as they could but you couldn't ask them to neglect their own lives for you. If you were going to do this, it would be alone.

After much soul searching and many sleepless nights, you decided you would keep this baby. You weren't against abortion, per say, but it wasn't for you. Deep down you knew you would never be able to go through with it.

Now you just needed to prepare as best you could and really hope you could do this.

                                                       ********

You were nearly 3 months gone now; not showing yet but some of the worse symptoms were still there. You were starting to fell a bit more energetic but the morning sickness hadn't gone away yet. You really, really hoped you wouldn't turn out to be one of those unlucky women who had it for the whole 9 months. Today, however, you were still very much feeling it when you ran into Yunho.

"Y/N! Oh my god - I haven't seen you since graduation." Yunho beamed at you, "How have you been?"

"Hi Yunho!" You said, giving your tall, blonde friend a hug. True you hadn't seen him for a while and you had been close until about three months ago but avoiding Mingi meant avoiding all his friends, as well.

"What are you up to? Do you want to grab a coffee?" Yunho asked in his usual warm and friendly manner and you couldn't resist; you weren't good at making new friends so it had been a while since you'd had anyone to chat to like this.

"Sure, I'd love to. “I am quite thirsty after shopping." You said looking for the nearest coffee shop and spying a nice-looking one a couple of shops down. "Is this one ok?"

"Oh, yeah, this one is nice - I've been here a few times." Yunho said as you walked together. As you walked through the door, though, a particularly rough bout of nausea hit you and you darted for the bathroom, dropping your bags on the nearest table and trying to convey an apology to Yunho as you ran.

You must've been in the bathroom for about five minutes being sick and trying to think of something to tell Yunho - after all, he was Mingi's best friend and, whether right or wrong, you were trying to keep this from him. You didn't want him involved. Eventually the sickness passed and you made your way back out to the front of the coffee shop.

You reached the table Yunho was sitting at to find him with a coffee already and, opposite him on the table, a glass of water and a small packet of ginger biscuits.

"I hope you don't mind; I got these for you." He said, smiling. "My cousin had a baby recently and said ginger biscuits really helped ease her morning sickness."  

"Yunho...What are you talking about?" You said, trying to sound light, as if he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. In reality, you weren't doing a good job of it, you could hear the hint of anxiety in your own voice.  

"These rolled out of your bag when you dropped them on the table." You looked at the small bottle Yunho held in his hand - it was the pregnancy vitamins you had bought earlier. You looked away, not knowing what to say. There was no denying it now.

"So who's the lucky guy?" He said, trying to ease the tension.

"Mingi." It came out as a mumble but he heard it fine given the shocked look on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's Mingi's baby." You looked down at your hands, feeling uncomfortable.

"Right. Ok." Yunho looked lost in thought for a moment - probably trying to work out how, given you left Mingi about six months ago but you were clearly in early pregnancy.

"Graduation night." You explained simply.

"Ooohhhh! I remember!" Yunho exclaimed, "He didn't come home that night but the next morning he came back in such a state. He wouldn't tell us what happened, though."

You recounted the details of the evening to Yunho; about the man who tried to assault you, how Mingi saved you from him and that you spent the night together. You didn't go into detail except to admit that you'd both been half-drunk and had failed to use protection.

Yunho nodded in understanding but seemed bothered by something, "I know he's been a mess lately but why didn't he tell me about this? I'm his best friend."

"He doesn't know." You mumbled, looking at your hands again.

"Y/N....don't you think he has a right to know? He's going to be a father." You looked up to find Yunho looking at you but not in a judgemental way - more sympathetic.

"I know and I've struggled with it. I've wanted to tell him but he isn't capable of being the father my baby needs. He can't even look after himself, how would he look after a family? He constantly lied and let me down just so he could have fun - he only ever thought about himself."

"I'm not saying you should take him back but I do think you should tell him. He deserves that much." Yunho replied gently, seeing how upset you were becoming.

"I know it's selfish of me...but I don't know if I could stand him being in my life - seeing him but not being with him. I still love him, Yunho." You spoke earnestly, hoping he could understand. "I'm sure he probably has someone else now and, to be honest, I wouldn't be able to bear seeing him and some other woman playing happy families with my child."

"There's been no one else, Y/N." Yunho admitted, surprising you. "He's been an absolute mess since you left him. He was starting to get it together but after graduation night he fell further. He goes out to work but that's all he'll leave the apartment for. When he gets home he just shuts himself away. Hongjoong and I are really worried about him, he doesn't sleep well and drinks more than is good for him."

As you took in this new information the ache in your chest, that never went away, throbbed. It hurt to hear that Mingi was hurting so badly but it didn't change your decision.

"All the more reason why he can't be my baby's father. Please, Yunho," you almost begged the man sitting opposite you, "...please don't tell him."

Yunho looked uncomfortable and you knew he didn't like to keep something this big from his best friend but he agreed nonetheless, "Ok, I won't tell him but I really want you to rethink doing it yourself."

The atmosphere turned a bit lighter from then on; you fell into a comfortable conversation about work and life in general until you realised it was getting later and you had an appointment to go to.

"I'm sorry to have to go, Yunho but I actually have my first ultrasound scan today." You apologised while gathering your bags.

"You're not going alone are you? You said earlier that you didn't really have anyone close by." You smiled at the look of concern on your friend's face; he'd always been a good listener and cared for others so much.

"I'll be fine, Yunho. You don't need to worry about me."

"Y/N, you can't see your baby's heartbeat for the first time and have no one to be there with you. I won't let you." The look of determination on his face suddenly turned less confident, "I mean, as long as that's ok - I don't want to intrude but you should have someone to share such a special moment with."

You couldn't disagree with him; it would feel a little lonely. If your parents were closer you would have asked your mum to come with you. You also didn't want to ask Suzy to use one of her allotted leave days from work for you. Although you had accepted you'd be doing this pregnancy alone, you had to admit it would be nice to share moments like these with someone - even if it was just a friend.

"Come on then, I'd love to have some company."

Yunho beamed and stood with you to leave, offering one arm for you to hold and the other to carry your shopping as you made your way to the clinic.

You laid on the bed while the sonographer squeezed the gel on to your pelvic area and used the ultrasound probe to spread it around; you were really excited to see your baby for the first time. Yunho sat quietly on a stool next to you looking quite curious himself, having not seen one of these scans before.  

The sonographer found your baby and pointed out the head, arms and legs and, most importantly, the heartbeat. You looked at the screen in awe at the tiny fluttering heart and when the sonographer turned the sound of the machine up you could hear the whooshing sound each beat created. You looked back at Yunho with tears in your eyes and he smiled back and took your hand in his large one and gave it a squeeze for emotional support. You were so glad you'd accepted his company; it would have been sad to experience this all alone.

You both sat there watching the screen as the sonographer took the measurements and declared you to be 11 weeks and 5 days pregnant and gave you your due date. Lastly she printed out some pictures of your baby and popped them in a little envelope for you to take home. Once back outside you had to make your first appointment to see the obstetrician for your 16 week check. The receptionist was very friendly and told you all the things you would need to bring along.

"We'll need to know your family medical history, details of any medicines you take...basically the more info you can give the doctor, the better. Oh, and Daddy, we'll need your family's medical history, as well."

"Oh, he's not the -" You tried to correct her but she wasn't listening.

"So, we'll see you in about four weeks." The friendly receptionist finished with a smile.

You figured it didn't matter anyway, you could just let the doctor know at the next appointment that you didn't know the father's family history.

Yunho walked you back to your apartment, chatting with you the whole way.

"Thank you for being there with me today, Yunho. I really appreciated your support."

"Anytime, Y/N." Yunho waited as you found your key and opened your door then popped your bags just inside.

"Listen...I don't want you feeling you have to go through all this completely alone." He began, "I may not be able to do much but I can at least come with you to appointments if your family can't be here and keep you company, if ever you feel lonely here all by yourself."

"Yunho, I really appreciate the offer but I don't want to take up your time." You smiled at Yunho's caring and generous nature but didn't want to be an imposition to him.

"Y/N. Don't be silly. My work place is really flexible and I don't have much on otherwise. Anyway, we've known each other since school, I think you can let me be there for you as a friend."

"Thank you, Yunho, that means a lot."

"Anytime." He rubbed your arm gently and made his way down the hall of your apartment complex.

                                                     ********

Just over four weeks later you were arriving back at the clinic for your 16 week check with the obstetrician when you heard a familiar voice,

"You didn't call me." You looked around to find Yunho leaning against a lamp post, waiting for you.

"I was going to....but I thought I'd be being a nuisance." You smiled as he walked towards you.

"Why do you think I'm here," he laughed, "I knew you'd think like that. We may never have been super close but I've known you for a long time."

"Fine.” You smiled up at him, “Let's go in then."

The appointment went well, the doctor checked your health and listened to the baby's heartbeat but when it came time to talk about medical history it became a bit awkward.

"I...Well, I'm not with the father so I can't really get his family's medical history."

The doctor looked at Yunho, clearly having thought it was him but he held his hands up and explained, "Aah, it's not me - I'm just a friend here for support."

The doctor nodded in understanding but asked gently, "If you can access it at all, it would be very helpful."

"I'll try." You sighed. You knew it wouldn’t be easy.

You made your next appointments which were the anomally scan at 21 weeks, followed by another check up with the doctor.

"I know when those appointments are so if you don't invite me, I'll just turn up again." Yunho playfully threatened as you left the clinic.

"Yunho?"

"Hmm?"

"How difficult do you think it would be to find out Mingi's family history?"

Yunho stopped and looked at you with furrowed brows. "It's not the kind of thing that comes up in normal conversation. If I start asking him whether his family ever had any birth defects or genetic illnesses, he's going to wonder what the Hell is going on."

"Ok." you sighed, defeated, "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine. I was with him for 5 years and he never mentioned anything like that."

You moved closer to Yunho's side and held on to his arm, "Thank you, though...for being with me again. It felt a lot less lonely with you there."

"My pleasure. Do you want to grab something to eat? It's almost dinner time."

"I am hungry. My appetite has come back since the morning sickness went away."

"Great," he looked at you with that bright, beautiful smile that always made you smile back, "what do you wanna get?"

As the weeks went on you began to spend more and more time with Yunho. He gave you a lot of his time when he wasn't working; you guessed he was free because the other guys' jobs were more 9-5 than his more flexible one. Most of the time he came over to your apartment and you watched a movie or show on Netflix with a bowl of popcorn. You'd become much closer with Yunho, so much so that it was him you always thought of first when you needed someone to talk or just to have fun with. You still saw Suzy often but she was with Lucas so much you ended up feeling like a third wheel and seeing them so happy tended to remind you that you were alone.  

Although you tried not to ask about Mingi, Yunho occasionally said things that made you think that he didn't spend a lot of time with his best friend these days. They still lived together but it seemed Mingi was still shutting himself away a lot of the time and drinking a lot. It hurt you to think of him suffering alone and, as much as you tried to stop, you still thought about him a lot. You still cried often, mostly at night when you laid in bed alone and wishing with all your heart that things had turned out differently and he could be here with you, holding you in his strong arms. The aching in your chest that had been with you since you left Mingi still refused to go away, becoming more painful on those night you laid in bed thinking about him.

At least when Yunho was with you it was better, you felt calmer and happier. He had become so important in your life now - your best friend, really - and you didn't know what you'd do without him. Sometimes you'd look up at him as you cuddled against his side on your couch and think that he would make the perfect boyfriend and an amazing father. He was funny, always making you laugh and cheering you up when you were down, and so caring. In fact, it was because he was so caring and loved skinship that it felt comfortable for you guys to cuddle while watching TV and he often grabbed your hand or slung his arm around your shoulders while you were walking together. To top it all off he was amazingly good-looking, especially with those big, warm eyes and the bright smile he always seemed to have but, even when you thought this way, something stopped you from feeling anything more than friendship. As hard as you tried, you didn't seem to be getting over Mingi, at all.

                                                     ********

You were at 22 weeks now and visibly pregnant with your bump obvious for everyone to see. You'd had your anomally scan and doctor's appointment a week ago and, to your relief, everything looked absolutely fine - you'd even got more detailed scan photos of your growing baby now it was bigger. You were offered the chance to find out the sex of the baby but you'd decided to keep it as a surprise so, as you shopped for baby clothes, you were picking out neutral colours.

You'd only really bought maternity items and a few baby basics until now but as you were over half way you decided it was really time to start picking out more important items. You had spent Saturday with Yunho looking at the big things like prams and cribs but hadn't made any firm choices yet, however, you did have lots of bags full of baby clothes, soft toys, bathing accessories and all the things you were going to need ready for when your 'Little Bun' came. You had asked Yunho along for the company and a second opinion but he was also a really good bag-carrier and absolutely refused to let you carry any bag he deemed too heavy.

It was when you were walking through the park on your way home that you felt a movement. You had felt a kind of fluttering before but not been sure if it was your baby moving or not but this was a very definite kick. You stopped and gasped, your hands on your bump so at first Yunho thought something was wrong and started to worry.

"It's ok, Yunho..." you laughed, "I just felt the baby kick for the first time."

"It's kicking?" He replied, amazed.

"Do you want to feel?"

"Of course I do!" Yunho playfully looked at you like you were an idiot to think otherwise.

"Wow, you're growing so strong, Little Bun." Your now-best friend exclaimed as he felt the tiny kicks.

Yunho looked just as excited as you were, it was a common mistake for anyone seeing you to think that he was the father because, true to his word, he had been with you every step of the way making sure you never felt alone in this. You both knew you were just friends and he'd told you on one of the many deep conversations you had late at night that he wasn't trying to take Mingi's place, he just wanted to be there for you.

However, the way you both stood there as Yunho held his large hand on your growing bump with a look of awe on his face at feeling your baby kicking would make anyone think that you were a young couple about to become parents - and that's exactly how you knew it looked when you turned to see Mingi standing a few feet away from you.

You'd never really considered the possibility of running into Mingi because Yunho had told you how he'd shut himself away in the apartment when not at work but now you saw him standing in the park watching you and Yunho looking for all the world like a couple in love. He was with Hongjoong, Jongho and Yeosang and they all stood there slightly behind him with equally shocked expressions. The look on Mingi's face, however, caused your heart to clench painfully. He stood there, his eyes moving from you, to Yunho, and then to Yunho's hand on your obviously pregnant tummy, with a look of utter betrayal and heartbreak.

"Mingi...." Your voice was small, you didn't know what to say, you couldn't seem to get any other words out.

Mingi looked away from you, like he couldn't bear to look at you, and over to his best friend.

"Mingi...it's not what it looks like." Yunho quickly said, trying to fix the misunderstanding as he could see exactly what Mingi was thinking.

"Oh, really? Because it looks like my best friend has got my ex-girlfriend pregnant." He was angry,  Yunho tried to calm the situation, worried Mingi’s temper would get the better of him again.

"It really isn't like that, Mingi." Yunho almost pleaded with him.

Mingi scoffed, not believing a word of it. "You must've swooped right there in after we broke up - or did you even wait that long? Was this all going on before?" Suddenly he turned to look down at you with accusation in his dark eyes, " Is that why you left me?"

"Mingi...no." You wanted to explain but Mingi wasn't hearing it. He gave you both one last pained look and strode right past you.

As the others followed your ex-boyfriend, you felt helpless; Hongjoong gave you both a look of pure disappointment, shaking his head as he went with Jongho looking much the same but adding, "Wouldn't have expected this of you, bro." aimed directly at Yunho. Yeosang passed by last and placing a hand on Yunho's shoulder briefly, he simply said, "You must have some big fucking balls to pull this kind of shit."

You stood there frozen for some minutes, tears just streaming down your face as Yunho hugged you, doing his best to console you.

"It'll be okay, Y/N. I'll talk to him...make him understand."

You hadn't wanted Mingi to know but now he had found out in, perhaps, the most hurtful way he possibly could have. You felt horrible. You were an awful, awful person.

"You're not an awful person, Y/N." Yunho tried to reassure you but the guilt was already making a home inside you. "Let's just get you home and then I can find Mingi and explain all this."

                                                     ********

Mingi POV

Mingi sat on the couch in the apartment he shared with Hongjoong and Yunho, drink in hand, glaring at the door. He was waiting for his supposed best friend - he knew he'd come home soon and attempt to explain away his betrayal - but Mingi was so angry. As if it wasn't bad enough that he saw you had moved on and were pregnant with someone else's child, it was his own fucking best friend who had got you pregnant!

He didn't even look at Hongjoong, Jongho and Yeosang as they hovered around the apartment; most likely waiting for the inevitable fight Mingi would start. He knew they'd all been worried about his behaviour for some time now but he didn't care, he was in too much pain himself to care about how anyone else felt.

Mingi was pulled from those thoughts as he heard Yunho's key in the door, signalling his arrival and as he walked through the door, it was all Mingi could do to not leap up and punch him in the face.

"Mingi, please listen, it's not -" Yunho started but was quickly cut off.

"I can't believe you could do this to me!" Mingi shouted, "You more than anyone else. We've known each other since we were five and you do this to me?" Mingi stood and took a few steps towards Yunho who was holding his hands up and looking somewhat nervous. They had the same height and build but Mingi had a temper and Yunho didn't want to fight him.

"I didn't do -"

"Stop lying to me!" Mingi shouted and Jongho subtly moved closer ready to hold Mingi back if he made a move towards his best friend.

"You know better than anyone how much it killed me when Y/N left me....how hard it is for me to get over this." Tears were starting to fall from Mingi's eyes as he was trying to let out all the hurt and frustration he had felt since you left him, "Did you think what it would do to me to see you with her - and to see her carrying your fucking baby, as well?!"

"It's your baby, Mingi!"

Yunho had to shout to stop the angry tirade and it worked, silence filled the room as Mingi just stared at Yunho and the other three men stared between the two of them.

"It's mine?" Mingi asked in a small, uncertain voice.

"Yes. It's yours. Do you not remember the night after graduation? You took her home and fucked her without using protection."

"Jesus Christ, you fucking idiot, Mingi." Hongjoong sighed out loud.

Completely stunned, Mingi sat down on the couch again; he remembered it but it had never occured to him that this would happen.

"Why didn't she tell me?" Mingi asked, "And why didn't you?" He threw at Yunho accusingly.

"She didn't want you involved and it wasn't my place to tell you. She begged me not to."

Yunho came closer to his best friend now he was calmer and handed him a small envelope, "Y/N asked me to give you this."

Mingi opened the envelope and took out the photo from your last scan, he stared at the image of the baby, touching the paper where he could see its tiny hand.  

"This is my baby?" He asked again, trying to process this sudden shift in his life.

"Yes. It's your baby, you idiot." Yunho rolled his eyes, happy that the tension in the room was easing.

Mingi picked up his drink and took a swig, suddenly remembering something.

"Is this what you've been doing during all that time you spend out of the apartment. Seeing Y/N? Are you together? It might be my baby but that doesn't mean you haven't still stolen my girlfriend."

"For fuck's sake, Mingi!" Yunho shouted, exasperated. "No...you know what, I do like her. She is amazing. While you've been here drinking and shutting yourself away from everyone, she's been trying to do all this alone with no family and hardly any friends here with her. Do you even know how strong she is? Or how hard this whole situation is on her? Of course not because all you think about is yourself! I have just been being a friend to her; trying to support her through this so she's not alone. And I would have made a move except for one problem.... she's still in love with you. So stop fucking drinking and get your shit together because in 3 months you're going to be a father and right now you're nowhere near good enough for Y/N or your baby!"

Shock crossed Mingi's face as Yunho slapped the drink out of his hand. He couldn't take all this in. You still loved him? He had thought he had seen it in your eyes that last night you slept together but in the morning you told him to go so he had assumed you'd only been with him that night because you'd felt vulnerable and needed someone.

Yunho knew he'd been harsh but he needed to be. Mingi needed to grow up if he was going to be there for you and the baby. "Look, I know quite a lot about this pregnancy stuff now and I know what Y/N needs from you. If you want, I’ll help you get back on track. I want her to be happy and I don't think she ever will be without you. And even though you've been a complete dick, I want you to be happy, as well."

"Thank you." Mingi quietly said, feeling he didn't deserve a friend like Yunho. He'd been so awful to everyone over these last months and they'd only been trying to help him. And if he was ever going to deserve you again, he knew he'd have to get his act together quickly.

                                                     ********

Can we meet? Please.

You'd been staring at the text message from Mingi for about an hour now. You hadn't heard anything from him for about a week after he saw you and Yunho on the street and you could imagine the hurt that must've caused him but Yunho said he'd explained everything and he'd calmed down. He was still a mess but to just give him a little time to get his head around it. It was fair enough, after all, you'd had months already to process the fact that you were going to be a mother three months from now but Mingi had only just found out he was about to become a father. As you thought about it, you felt guilt spreading through you. Was it the right thing to have kept it from him just because he hurt you? He was always bound to find out one day but how much of his child's life would he have already missed by that point.

Meet me at the coffee shop we used to go to. 2pm

You replied, feeling anxious; now he knew there was no point trying to keep him away but you'd have to deal with seeing him on a regular basis whilst knowing you still weren't over him.

At 2pm you sat in the coffee shop; you and Mingi used to come here all the time back in college, when you were still together. You'd been waiting nervously, playing with your fingers and looking up every time the little bell signalled the door had opened.

Mingi walked in and scanned the room for you then made his way to your table. You looked at each other for a moment before either of you spoke.

"Would you like anything?" He asked a little awkwardly.

"Just an orange juice, please. I can't have too much caffeine."

"Oh, yeah...I guess not." At your reply he looked down at what he could see of your bump behind the table and away again quickly. He went up to the counter to order the drinks, returning shortly after with your orange juice and an iced Americano for himself.

You looked at each other for a minute or so, without saying anything. Last time you'd seen him he looked a mess - thin with dark circles under his eyes and longish, messy hair where he'd not bothered to cut it. Generally like he wasn't looking after himself. Now he looked almost well; still tired and somewhat thin but much better than before.

"You look better than when I saw you." You ventured carefully, not wanting to remind him of that day too much.

"Yunho's been helping me get myself together." His deep voice was quieter than usual as he ran his hand through his freshly cut black hair.

You were both feeling awkward seeing each other after the last time but one of you was going to have to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

"I'm sorry I kept this from you. I was so hurt that I didn't want you involved so I wouldn't have to see you but it was selfish of me. I should have told you."

Mingi looked at you, surprise on his face, as if he hadn't expected you to say this. Maybe he thought you'd still be too angry at him, after all, he'd been surprised you agreed to meet so quickly.

"I understand why you didn't. I realise now that you leaving me was my own fault. I neglected you when we were together and put myself and my friends first. I know I let you down and hurt you a lot." Mingi didn't look directly into your eyes as he said this, feelings of guilt present within him. You sat and listened quietly as he continued on. You were surprised at seeing a level of maturity he'd never shown before.

"I'm not going to ask you to come back to me - I know I don't deserve that - but please...let me be a part of our baby's life. I want to show you I can be there for you both, for whatever you need."

"Mingi, I'm not going to keep you out of our baby's life. I realised by not telling you it wouldn't only be you missing out; I'd be robbing the baby of knowing it's father...and it's grandparents, too."

Mingi's eyes widened like he'd suddenly thought of something bad. "What's wrong?" You asked a little worried.

"I hadn't even thought about that." He said groaning.

"What?"

"How the fuck am I going to tell my parents that I'm going to be a father in three months? They're gonna kill me for being so stupid and not using a condom."

You giggled quietly at this man who was about to become a father but was still worried about his parents scolding him.

He looked at you apologetically, "I'm sorry about that, by the way. I should've been more careful but I missed you so much - I wanted you so badly, I didn't think about what could happen."

"Hey," You replied gently, "It was both our faults. We were both stupid and I seem to remember me being the one begging you to do it."

"How did your parents take it?"

"They're supporting me but, of course, I got the lecture about how stupid I was to not use contraception." You admitted laughing.

"I'm glad they're ok with it. Let's just hope my parents are ok, too." He still looked worried but a little more relaxed now.

"Mingi," you started, turning more serious, "As I said, I won't keep you out of your baby's life but if you let Little Bun down like you did to me, there won't be any more chances after that."

Mingi looked at you earnestly as he replied, "I won't be letting either of you down. I promise you."

"Little Bun?" He enquired, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh...yeah, I decided not to find out the sex of the baby so he or she is 'Little Bun' for now."

Mingi smiled finally - you'd missed his smile so much but it still hurt to see him so for now you decided to cut short your meeting.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Mingi asked, still polite and a little awkward.

"I'll be fine but thank you."

You walked home feeling a little lighter now that you weren't keeping it a secret anymore but still apprehensive as to how you were going to manage to see Mingi so much. You realised upon seeing him that you were no longer angry at him for how he treated you but still you couldn't trust him enough to take him back. You knew you still loved him and it was going to be hard to see him so often and not be able to be with him.

                                                      ********

You were sitting with Yunho on your couch in your apartment, watching Netflix, as usual, and talking about things in general so it was inevitable that Mingi was going to be mentioned sooner or later.

"How is everything going?" Yunho asked carefully, knowing it was still a delicate subject.

You sighed, looking down at your hands - a habit you had when talking about or doing something uncomfortable. "I guess it's ok. It's still difficult seeing him but he seems like a different person somehow."

"How so?"

"Well...he seems a little more mature, I suppose."

"Probably the consequence of finding out he's going to be a father in a few months." Yunho snorted.

"It's more than that, though." You paused, thinking; you weren't quite sure how to convey it in words. "I can see he's still hurting and that he's still a bit of a mess inside but it's...it's like there's something missing from him."

"There is." Yunho replied, seriously now, "You're missing."

You cocked your head, looking at your best friend questioningly.

"Mingi isn't Mingi without you. He took it for granted that you'd always be there and so he didn't treat you right but when you left him, it was like a part of him left, as well. I've been friends with him since we were five years old and I've seen him go through some hard times but I've never seen him like this. Being without you broke him."

A stray tear rolled down your cheek as you listened; you'd thought from how Mingi had treated you that he didn't love you anymore.

"If only he'd shown me that he still cared when we were together, it wouldn't have had to end with us both getting hurt."

Yunho hummed in agreement as he wrapped his strong arms around you for comfort, "Believe me, I don't think he'd make that mistake again."

"I just don't know whether to trust him, Yunho."

"He's trying really hard, Y/N. He's quit drinking, he's looking after himself better and not shutting himself away." Suddenly Yunho laughed, remembering something, "I probably shouldn't laugh at this because he really is trying so hard...but the other day I walked past his room and saw him trying to put a nappy on the teddy bear he's had since he was a baby."

Your eyes widened in astonishment, "On Ted?" You remembered the slightly tatty old teddy Mingi always kept on his shelf in his room but couldn't imagine the picture Yunho was painting.

"Yeah..." the tall blonde continued laughing, "...looked like he was trying to follow a YouTube video on baby care."

"Wow. I can't believe he's really taking this seriously." You thought for a few moments before continuing, "Yunho, I think I should start taking Mingi to my appointments now." You watched carefully for signs Yunho might be hurt by this. He had been such a huge support to you, you were worried he might feel like you were casting him aside.

"You don't know how much you mean to me, Yunho, you've been such a huge support to me and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it but if Mingi is going to be in Little Bun's life, I need to make him feel a part of it already. Also," you continued smiling, "it's probably best if I take him to my ante-natal classes where he can learn about baby care without trying to do it in secret."

Yunho looked at you, smiling back, "It's the way it should be," he shrugged, "I was just filling in for him but he should be the one taking care of you and Bun."

"Thank you." You whispered, cuddling into your best friend's side as he gently kissed the top of your head before hugging you closer to him.

                                                     ********

Over the following weeks you thought about Mingi a lot - it wasn't hard to do because he'd been texting you everyday to see how you and the baby were doing. You were thankful it was mostly texting because it gave you time to get used to having him back in your life without seeing him too much yet. Maybe he knew you needed time and that's why he didn't ask to see you too much. You'd only seen him once or twice for ante-natal appointments; the first was just a standard check up with the midwife but you asked Mingi along to make him feel more involved. You were glad you did when the midwife used her portable monitor to check the baby's heartbeat because the look on Mingi's face was one you think you'll never forget. As the whooshing sound of the tiny heartbeats came out from the monitor's speaker, a look of pure wonder came over Mingi,

"That's our baby's heartbeat?"

He looked at you wide-eyed and you nodded, smiling, not able to help the warmth that spread through you as he then looked down at your bump in awe. It was quickly replaced by guilt, though; Mingi looked so happy that you felt awful for having kept this from him and not letting him share in it with you. In reality you knew you wouldn't have been strong enough back then to see him but, still, you felt guilty.

The second appointment was for a growth scan; the midwife had been a tiny bit worried about the baby's rate of growth so she sent you for another scan. Luckily, nothing was wrong and it was nice that Mingi was able to see the baby on the screen as he hadn't been there for the other two. When the sonographer pointed out all the features to Mingi he looked absolutely enthralled; you knew this because, as well as looking at your baby on the screen, you had been watching Mingi closely. In your uncertainty about whether you could really trust Mingi to be there for you wanted to see his reactions and, although you weren't convinced yet, you were happy that he seemed to be taking this seriously. To be honest, you think that was the moment it really hit him that he was going to be a father and you understood completely as it was at your first scan that it all became more real for you.

"So...I told my parents about Little Bun." Mingi said as he walked you home after the scan.

"Really? How did they take it?" Mingi's parents were a little more strict than yours so you didn't imagine it went down too well.

"About as well as you think they would." He said grimacing at the memory.

"Was it really bad?"

"I got a very long talking to about how stupid I was and how could I have been so reckless? At least by the end of the call they had calmed down enough to ask if the baby is healthy and if you're doing well so I think they'll be ok. They were just shocked, I guess."

It was only a few days after the scan that you were spending a relaxing Saturday at home alone when you heard a knock at your door and, upon opening it, found Mingi on the other side. He looked a little awkward as he apologised for showing up unannounced but that he had some things for you. Curious, you stepped aside so he could come in but he stepped out of your view and appeared again wheeling a pram into your apartment. You hadn't actually asked him for anything so it came as a real surprise - especially as it was the exact pram you had been admiring when you had gone baby shopping with Yunho. Yunho did say he'd been helping Mingi get himself together so you suspected he'd been giving him advice on what to buy as well as supporting him to get better. Your suspicions only grew as Mingi then went back out into the hallway to retrieve a big box containing the crib that had been your favourite that day, as well.

As you stood there looking a bit stunned, Mingi stood looking a bit sheepish.

"I hope I got the right ones. I wanted to buy you some things but I had no idea what you had already or what style you wanted...so I asked Yunho. He told me which ones you seemed to like the most."

"I love them...thank you."

"Oh!" Mingi suddenly remembered something and pulled a bag from inside the pram, "I got this for Little Bun, as well."

You opened the bag and took out a stuffed toy giraffe. You laughed as you remembered they had always been his favourite animal when you visited the zoo.  

"It's perfect."

It got a little awkward then so you offered Mingi a drink and you sat talking about jobs and friends. Mingi caught you up with as much as he knew about his group of friends but he looked a little sad while talking about it.

"To be honest, Y/N, I've been a terrible friend to them. I know Yunho must've told you what a mess I've been... I shut myself away and barely spoke to any of them. I don't really know much about how they've been doing since you last saw them. I was too wrapped up in myself."

"I'm sure they understand." You said quietly.

"I want you to know how much better I am now, though. I've stopped drinking entirely and I feel like Little Bun has given me something to look forward to...to make my life worthwhile."

"Mingi," you replied, trying to make him feel better, "...your life is already worthwhile."

"Not without you." He said, looking down. "When you left me I felt like everything was over. I had never really realised just how much I loved you and how important you were to me. Without you everything else seemed so pointless and miserable. It was like all the colour had been drained from the world."

You could feel tears welling in your eyes, Mingi had told you he loved you when you were together, of course, but towards the end of your relationship it always felt like he was saying it out of habit more than really meaning it. He'd never sounded so sincere as he did now.

"I'm sorry," he apologised quietly, "I'm not trying to make you feel bad; I just wanted you to know how I feel."

You couldn't help it then; you found your hand moving towards Mingi's and resting upon his. You looked up at him, into his beautiful, dark eyes that you had always loved most about him, and they were looking back into yours with such an intensity that you found yourself moving closer. You weren't sure if this was a good idea or if you were setting yourself up to be hurt again but what you did know was that everything Mingi had said he felt without you - the world devoid of colour and joy, and life seeming so pointless - was exactly how you had felt without him.

As you moved closer, Mingi's hand moved up to rest against the side of your neck while his thumb gently stroked your cheek. You closed the distance and felt his soft, plump lips against yours and, despite your worries about him, everything felt so right again.

Pulling away, you looked down and Mingi closed him arms around you, kissing the top of your head lovingly.

"I love you, Y/N. I'm so sorry I never showed you how much. I promise if you give me another chance, I'll never let you forget it. I'll never let you down again."

You took a deep breath, looking up at him you knew you had never stopped loving him, even though you'd tried to move on.

"We can try." You told him. "Let's see where this goes."

Mingi took your face in his hands and kissed you more passionately now; you could feel the joy radiating off him as his lips moved against yours, asking for entry as he gently swiped his tongue across your bottom lip. You stayed this way for a while, kissing and enjoying being able to hold each other once again until a tiny movement made you stop and laugh.

"What?" Mingi asked, wondering if he'd done something weird.

"Nothing," you smiled, "it's just the baby kicking."

Mingi looked at your bump with wonder in his brown eyes, "Can I feel?"

You realised at that moment that up until then Mingi hadn't touched your bump, at all. In fact he hadn't even tried and you wondered if he'd been trying to be considerate of you, not wanting to make you uncomfortable with that level of closeness given that he was your ex. It didn't matter now, though, you wanted him there with you.

"Here...give me your hand." You reached for Mingi's hand and placed it on your bump where Little Bun had been kicking. After a second there were a few more kicks and you couldn't believe the way Mingi's face lit up like he'd just felt the best thing in the whole world.

"My baby." He whispered and you could've sworn his eyes looked a little wetter than usual, "I promise I'll never let you down, Little One."

It was as if he'd suddenly felt a real connection with the life he'd helped create; he spent most of the evening laying with his head on your lap talking to your bump. You felt a happiness you hadn't felt for so long just sitting and listening to Mingi talk to your baby while his large hands caressed your bump.

After some time you felt Mingi pick you up off the couch and carry you into your bedroom; in your sleepy haze you vaguely thought about how strong he was as you were definitely heavier than you used to be now you were more than seven months pregnant. He laid you on your bed and left a gentle kiss on your forehead. As he went to go, you reached out to him,

"Don't go. I don't want to be alone anymore."

Mingi paused, not expecting such a request, "Ok, Baby...let me just lock up and turn the lights off."

After a minute or so Mingi joined you back on the bed, covering the both of you up and holding his arm out for you to cuddle into his side. You went to sleep feeling complete again, the dull ache you could never get rid of, finally gone.

In the morning you woke on your side with Mingi's arm over you and his hand lightly stroking your bump as every now and then you felt a little kick.

You rolled over to face him, closing the distance between you to kiss his lips. Mingi smiled at you when you pulled back,

"Good morning, Baby."

"Hi" You said feeling slightly shy, not used to this yet.

You laid together just looking into each other's eyes until Mingi inevitably broke the romantic atmosphere - like he always used to,

"Is it weird that it kinda turns me on that I got you pregnant?"

You sighed heavily. Who'd have known your boyfriend had a breeding kink?

"Yes. It is." You replied, laughing. Then added, "And inappropriate given that that baby is kicking right now."

You moved his hand from your behind, where it had somehow snuck around to, back to your bump to distract him from such things. You still found him hot as fuck but in your heavily pregnant state, feeling a bit like a beached whale, you did not even want to contemplate anything like that.

It worked because he soon turned more serious again.

"I really thought I'd lost you. I'd always held on to a tiny shred of hope but when I saw you with Yunho, pregnant and looking so happy...I thought you were with him...that I'd lost you forever."

"You never lost me completely." You said, cupping his face with your hand and running your thumb over his soft skin. "And if you can't even lose me to Yunho who is, basically, the perfect man...then you never will."

You laughed as Mingi suddenly let go of you, a huge put on his face at your assessment of his best friend being perfect.

"I love you, you idiot." You said pulling him back to you.

"I love you so much, too. I meant it when I said I'd never let you down again. Either of you."

                                                      ********

Epilogue

Over the last couple of months of pregnancy you and Mingi got closer than you ever had been before and decided to move in together as neither of you wanted to be without the other. You sold your apartment and bought a bigger one together with Mingi who, despite having been such a mess, actually had a really well paid job.

As your due date approached he barely left your side and when you woke up to feel your waters breaking, he took you to the hospital, despite the look of complete horror that never left his face the whole way there. Once you were at the hospital with trained medical staff he visibly relaxed and helped you all the way through the labour, holding your hand and telling you how well you were doing and how much he loved you. When your daughter was born the look on his face was ecstatic and, as much as he tried to hide it, you know you saw some tears.

Mingi was so excited, calling both sets of grandparents, followed by all his friends to tell them the news. The grandparents came down while you were still in the hospital - and fell in love with her immediately, of course, despite their previous concerns about the situation.

Mingi's friends came round to meet your daughter once you'd got settled back at home and he was so proud to show her off.

"Guys, this is Soo Min" he said beaming,

Of course Yunho rushed in for the first hug.

"Hey, Little Bun...do you remember my voice? I looked after you and Mummy for a bit so I'd better be your favourite uncle as you grow up."

"Hey!" The other guys all chorused.

Everyone wanted to take their turn holding her but she was a bit fussy from being passed around. In fact, out of all Mingi's friends, the one she was obviously most comfortable with was Yunho - now a best friend to both of you. As Soo Min settled down and fell asleep in Yunho's arms you couldn't help teasing Mingi by whispering,

"See? I told you he's the perfect man."

Mingi looked affronted and smacked your behind, whispering back,

"Do I still have competition? Once you're feeling better I'm gonna remind you who you belong to." winking cheekily after the last statement. At any other time that would’ve send a thrill straight to your core but you were still really sore down there.

As time passed your favourite sight to see was your daughter sleeping on Mingi's chest. You'd feed her and then pass her to Mingi to be burped and she'd always fall asleep on his broad chest, looking so tiny laying on him.

He was keeping to his promise of never letting you down so well that after a few months you had to force him out with his friends for an evening because they kept asking him out as one of their birthdays approached.

"Mingi," you said, worried he was telling them 'no' because of you, "I'm not going to think you're neglecting me if you go out for one evening. Just go and have fun."

"But I don't want to leave my precious girls." He said whining.

You leaned up to cup his face in your hands and kiss him softly on the lips,

"I love you and I know how much you love me and Soo Min but, really, go and have fun - the guys will be sad otherwise."

"Ok," he pouted, "...but just a few hours. I don't think I can be away from you two for much longer."

"Jeez, Mingi...you spend longer than that away from us when you're at work!"

"And it's Hell for me." He whined over dramatically while you could only laugh.

At least you never had to question if he loved you anymore.

[iraacundus]

Butterfly Lies - Three

chapter three ✭  masterlist ✭ previous ✭ next ✭

mafialeader kun x reader

words: 4.5k

genre: fluff, smut (in later chapters), angst

warnings: implied murder, probably swearing idk i forgot

money makes people do strange things, is what people would say, it can even motivate them to murder. kun didn’t have people killed for the money, he had them killed for the power, he was a monster among men, is what people would say. in reality kun had only ever been motivated by one thing, his love for you

✭  ✭  ✭  ✭  ✭  

You had never been a person to waste time. The next morning you had already formulated an idea that would kill two birds with one stone. You just needed Kun to agree. So, when you put your interview suit on, you swapped your normal skirt for a slightly shorter one and made sure you wore the bracelet Kun had given you.

You were not opposed to such low tactics. You were a woman with a plan.

You grabbed your CV off from your desk, along with a copy of your university work placement letter that you needed signed.

You had thought all night about how to become a strength to Kun rather than a weakness. It didn’t take you long that your intelligence and good decision-making skills had always been a strength of yours.

Kun was smart, but you were smarter, therefore you could help him.

Well at least you hoped you could as you struggled to find the heeled shoe that matched the one you were currently hopping around in.

You spotted it under the sofa, pumping your fist in the air triumphantly when you finally managed to get it out from underneath.

You were running about half an hour later than you had hoped but it only occurred to you when you were already on the bus that Kun might not even be at his office. He might have taken the day off due to injury or at least have come in late.

You began to wonder if his line of work even tended to start at nine in the morning, seeing as it wasn’t your typical nine to five.

But by that point you were already halfway there so you decided to just hope for the best. Practicing over and over again in your head what you would say. You somehow guessed it wasn’t going to be an easy sell.

You pressed the button for the bus to stop as you approached the street where Qian Industries was situated. It was filled with buildings for some of the biggest firms in the country and expensive restaurants.

You still weren’t fully processing how far Kun had managed to go up in the world.

This time when you walked into the building foyer it wasn’t empty. Security guards stood just inside the door and there were four receptionists at the desk, working away. The other day when Xiaojun had gotten you both in the elevator you vaguely remembered him using a staff card, something you weren’t in possession of.

Instead you had to overcome the first obstacle, getting the people who worked on reception to let you inside. You approached the desk, putting a smile on your face. The man on the phone didn’t look up, neither did the three women next to him, even after you had been standing there for about thirty seconds.

“Hello, hi, excuse me,” you said, trying to get one of them to notice you. Eventually the man stopped typing and looked up from his computer.

“Welcome to Qian Industries, do you have an appointment?” he asked in a monotone voice. You had absolutely no clue why Kun had hired such standoffish members of staff.

“I’m here to see Mr Qian,” you said, not mentioning that you technically didn’t have an appointment.

“He doesn’t have any meetings this morning, you need to call him and arrange a time, please come back then.” The receptionist gave you a false smile before going back to typing.

“My name is y/n, if you could just call him, he will agree to meet me, we are close friends,” you endeavoured to explain. The man didn’t reply, he just gave a small nod to the security guards who immediately came over and started to drag you out.

“I can walk myself out,” you said, pushing them off you and walking the rest of the way out the door. You stopped for a moment and sighed, not in defeat but out of annoyance. Pulling out your phone, you clicked on Kun’s name, ringing him.

“Hey y/n, what’s up?” he said, answering the phone.

“Can you tell your staff to let me into your building, they didn’t believe we were friends and so I have been dragged out,” you told him.

“Why are you at my building?” he asked but didn’t give you time to reply, “never mind, I will come down now and get you,” he said, hanging up the phone. You stood with your arms folded, giving the receptionist your best glare. The security team were just doing their jobs, but the man, he was just rude.

Kun was taking his time in coming down to meet you and you were starting to regret your decision to wear heels, even if it had been part of your master plan. But seeing as step one: get into his office had so far failed, your optimism was somewhat dwindling.

Seconds later the elevator doors opened and Kun walked out. You took the opportunity to walk back inside the building to greet him.

“How’s your arm?” you asked. Kun didn’t reply and the look he gave you made you think you probably shouldn’t have mentioned the arm in front of these people.

“This is y/n,” Kun said loudly, causing all the staff to actively look over, whereas before they had been pretending not to, “she is allowed into the building at any time, please refrain from escorting her out in the future.”

He turned on his heels back towards the elevator, so you followed him, waiting until the doors had shut to bring him his arm again.

“Are you okay though,” you checked,

“I’m as fine anyone who was recently stabbed in the arm,” Kun replied. He didn’t ask you what you were doing there until you got to his office and he had shut the door.

You placed your CV and the university form down on his desk, side by side.

“I have a proposal,” you said, smiling.

Kun raised one eyebrow slightly but didn’t interrupt.

“I am going to be your strength, by using my brilliant brain to help your company.”

Kun shook his head and sat down in his chair, almost laughing out of shock.

“You are not going to work for me. Not going to happen, no chance, never, no, not happening.”

“Just listen to me before you make up your mind,” you urged. This was the reaction you had expected from him. However, you knew you had a card up your sleeve that meant there was no way he would refuse in the end.

“I am intelligent right, more so than the average person, I’m not trying to be arrogant… but we have all seen my test scores,” you began, “I want to be able to help you and with my amazing strategy and logic skills I can. I also need a work placement for University and you technically own a large firm.”

“Still no,” Kun said, “can you not find work experience, literally anywhere else, that’s not, you know, an illegal organisation.”

“Not by next week. The work placement I have currently got is not one I really want,” you explained, pulling out a third piece of paper and unfolding it. Pointing to the part you wanted him to see, “because it would make Minjun my supervisor, he skipped uni, his dad has a lot of influence, so he is already quite high up in this firm. I refuse to work for Minjun.”

Two birds with one stone. Help Kun, avoid Minjun. Minjun whose dad was one of the richest Korean businessmen in China and the ex-boyfriend Kun hated.

Kun rubbed his temple in frustration before looking up at you. He held up your CV, glancing at it quickly, as if that was going to make any difference at all, before throwing his hands up in the air.

“Fine, you win. You can work here. Nothing is worse than you working with that asshole.” He languished in referring to Minjun in a derogatory fashion.

Two weeks later you once again entered Kun Industries but this time you held an employee pass that had intern printed in large lettering.

You had been told to go to the third floor to meet the strategy department. You had expected to go in and see Xiaojun or Ten. Instead you saw a room full of people you had never seen before.

You greeted the supervisor who explained to you briefly what your job would consist of. It became clear very quickly that these people weren’t really involved in what Kun was really doing. Their jobs were to create the façade.

Your first task had been to come up with a presentation that one of the senior managers could give at a conference of what “Qian Industries” were planning on doing in the future. He said you could go with whatever engineering project you wanted, as long as it could be faked easily.

You were less than impressed.

It wasn’t that you wanted to be doing something dangerous or violent. You defiantly didn’t want that. You did however want to do something that would really benefit Kun.

You decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he really did need help creating the façade, convincing everyone in the business circle that Qian Industries was a legitimate firm.

So, you worked hard. You came in everyday you were meant to be there from eight in the morning until nine at night. You came up with the best proposal and presentation you possible could.

Your work was impeccable, if you did say so yourself. Your manager said the same, he said he had never seen anything so impressive and that the boss would be pleased.

“Can I give him the proposal myself? He’s a friend of mine, I’m sure he would like to see me,” you asked the manager. On hearing Kun was a friend of yours he immediately said yes. He had always been nice to you, but he managed to become even nicer after that.

You smiled. Gathering up your files and walking out into the corridor and down to the lift. You pressed the button for the fourteenth floor with confidence. You had diligently done the work and now you were going to get what you wanted.

You knocked on Kun’s door,

“Come in!” he called out as you pushed the door open. A man exited the room as fast as possible as you entered, a fearful expression on his face.

“Tough day?” you joked, trying to ease the slight tension in the air. Kun didn’t bite.

“Not that I don’t love to see you, but why are you here may I ask?”

“To deliver your presentation,” you said, “read it over before you say anything.”

And he did, he spent five minutes carefully glancing over the key points of your work before smiling up at you.

“This is really good,” he said, “I think we should hire you full time,”

“Or you could let me do an actually useful job,” you countered.

“Those presentations are useful, without them people would instantly be suspicious of me and the company,” Kun said, trying to justify his placement of you.

“While that may be true, the presentations don’t need to be as good as the one sitting in front of you, the employee’s you have are competent enough. I want to do a job that really helps you, to make what you do less dangerous or more efficient, I want to be a strength, someone you can rely on.”

Kun closed your report, linking his hand with yours across the desk.

“I understand that, I really do, but I don’t want you to be sucked into the danger of what I do, because even with your brain, if you made it less dangerous it would still be life or death in some situations. You shouldn’t have to live like that just because you met me by chance.”

You narrowed your eyes at him.

“You really think chance encounter friends is all we are. Yes, we met by chance, but we have been friending all this time by choice.”

“You didn’t know what I really did then,” he argued.

“I sort of did to an extent. And now I do, and this is the choice I’m making now, if you ever want there to be a chance of us ever being together you have to let me into your life. Not just a pretend part of your life where we eat ice cream, but the real part as well, where you make hard choices and do some questionable things. You don’t have to tell me all of it, I stand by that, I still don’t want to know all the grisly details, but I do need to know some of it and I want to be able to help you with that some of it. Help you make a better organisation. Make it so you don’t end up needing to save someone like Yangyang because something went wrong.”

Kun spun his pen, processing your words. He didn’t want to agree with you, but he also knew you well enough to know you weren’t going to give in.

He also knew deep down that you he couldn’t ever be your boyfriend if he had to hide ninety percent of his life from you. He needed to reduce that to about sixty percent at least.

“Okay. You’re right, I suppose I shouldn’t waste your intelligence when you could be a real asset.”

You clapped your hands together in excitement.

“I knew you would come around,” you beamed at him, mostly happy you had won the conversation.

Kun wasn’t smiling though.

“We are planning to expand to Korea, deal with some problems arising from there. I have a friend with a similar organisation there named Johnny. He’s a long-time friend of Ten’s. You can work with Ten to help plan the expansion. It’s not a super dangerous job innately but it will be super dangerous if it gets fucked up. So, use your 150 IQ to make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said, his voice monotone.

You squeezed his hand.

“Thank you,” you told him, “I’m not doing this to annoy you or upset you Kun, I hope you know that. I genuinely want to help you. That’s what best friends are for right?”

“I suppose so,” Kun answered giving you a small smile back.                          

Your first order of business however, turned out to be a black-tie event with Kun. Not the planning of Qian Industries expansion.

“I’ll get someone to drop off a dress at your apartment, it will be one of my top guys, I’m not just handing out your address, don’t worry,” he assured you.

About an hour later there was a knock at your door and Yangyang stood there holding a box.

“Not to be mean but how are you one of his top guys?” you asked, unable to take your eyes off of the horrible bruise all over his once broken nose.

“They call me young, dumb and enthusiastic,” replied, handing you the box, “well they don’t but I guess that is why, I am an enthusiastic team player. I’m also very good at grand theft auto – in real life, not the video game.”

“Fair enough, thanks for dropping this off,” you said, shutting your door. You walked into your room before opening the box. Inside was a note which told you to be ready by seven. You placed it aside and lifted the dress from the box.

It was one of the most beautiful black dresses you had ever seen. It must have cost Kun an inordinate amount of money. You had offered to wear one of your own dresses but Kun insisted he would buy you one.

You knew he had bought it so you wouldn’t stand out at a party of rich people, but he would never say that. It was one of the reasons you had a slight crush on him too.

You got ready, trying your best not to stab yourself in the eye with the mascara wand, something you usually had trouble with. You didn’t have a lot of time which made it particularly difficult.

You were still waiting for your nails to dry when you heard a knock at the door for the second time that day, cursing that you hadn’t sorted out the mess that was your nails before that point.

You blew on them as you grabbed your bag from the side, throwing your phone and keys in, hoping that somehow your nails would miraculously dry on the walk to the door.

You opened it to see Kun standing there in black tie attire, bowtie slightly lopsided but a mesmerising sight.

“Let me fix that,” you offered, stepping forward to readjust the bow tie. You could faintly feel his breath against your cheek as you sorted it out, “all better,” you smiled, stepping back.

“You look stunning y/n,” he said, his face beaming.

You had never seen Kun dressed this smart, he always wore a suit when you went to a fancy restaurant, but he never wore a tie or anything like that, so the tuxedo was something else.

“And you look indeed very handsome,” you said in a fake posh voice to indicate some sort of joke. It wasn’t that he wasn’t good looking, you just seemed to have an emotional issue, “shall we go and party with the rich?”

“We shall,” Kun said, shaking his head laughing, but yet still copying your accent, going along with it.

The drive wasn’t a long one, nothing was that far from your apartment in the centre of the city. You had no clue how you had found it for such a cheap price.

The event was being held at a large hall, there was a red carpet outside and tabloid photographers waiting, camera’s poised, hoping to get the best shot of a famous couple or a wealthy heiress.

The driver opened the door and Kun helped you out of the car, offering you his arm. He led you up the carpet as you did your best not to look awkward when there was so many camera’s in your face.

“What is this event for?” you whispered to him. Kun shrugged.

“I don’t know, some sort of education charity or something, Ten wanted to donate money, so we did, clearly a sizeable enough donation that they invited us here,” he explained.

“I think you’re more attractive now I know your such a philanthropist.”

“My only act of philanthropy was not killing Minjun, the rest is just being rich, it’s not hard to donate money when you have a lot of it.”

He wasn’t wrong there.

The people at the door didn’t even ask for your name, clearly, they were aware of who Kun was and so you just walked straight in.

As expected, it was all très extravagant, champagne towers, seafood platters, men in expensive suits, women in even more expensive dresses. A single bottle of the champagne they were serving could probably have paid your rent for three months.

“I don’t think I’m quite fancy enough for this event,” you said to Kun, staring at the other people around you, “I’m not rich, I’m a broke college student.”

“Yes, but I am rich, these days anyway, and you’re wearing a twelve-thousand-dollar dress.” He smiled at you softly, “care to dance,” he said, grabbing your waist with one and your hand with the other.

“Did you leave the tag on!? Can we take it back to the shop? That’s stupid money on a dress Kun,” you whispered forcefully in his ear. Kun just chuckled.

“That’s what it takes to fit in at an event like this, especially when you are as terrible at waltzing as you are.”

“Why would I know how to waltz, that wasn’t on my PE course thank you very much.”

You waltzed terribly with Kun for a while longer before gave you a reprise. Unfortunately, the next activity was much worse. Kun dragged you around to introduce you to many rich people and engage in the most harrowing of small talk about yachts and stories from swiss boarding schools.

At some point you just started making things up.

“Yes, my friend Marcos had a yacht that we stayed on in Italy for a week, we just got so bored of ski class you know,” some people around you nodded sympathetically and you had to pinch yourself to avoid laughter.

“I might actual die, how often do you do this?” you said to Kun when you finally sat down at a table away from other people.

“Twice a month or so, but only in the last two years have I had the money to do this, I got rich in a short period of time. Also, you seemed to fit right in anyway, what’s the issue, how is Marcos doing these days?”

You poured a shot of vodka in your champagne and downed the whole thing in one, hoping that somehow it was be better, if you were drunk.

A few drinks later and you were very tipsy and very warm.

“I am so hot, is it me or is it warm?” you asked.

“I’ll call the car,” Kun said, picking up his phone. Before he could dial you put your arm out and stopped him.

“Do you wanna maybe walk around for a bit,” you asked, and he nodded. You grabbed his hand and made your way for the exit. Thankfully the paparazzi were on a break. They would come back at around midnight to take picks of the less sober exits from the whole affair.

The hall wasn’t that far from the river, which was always beautiful when the city lights reflected in the water at night. You and Kun stopped by the railing, staring out across the water.

After a while you realised Kun wasn’t looking out over the water anymore, he was looking at you. You started to notice the lights reflecting into the depths of his eyes more than the river in front of you.

“I’m happy I could finally take someone to one of those events, they are so much worse when you are alone,” Kun said.

“Why did you never take someone else, surely I can’t be the only girl you know, there must be a rich girl out there, or a scary but cool girl in a leather jacket who works for you?” your eyes searched his for an answer.

Kun brought his hand to your face, slowly brushing his thumb across your cheek.

“You know you’re the only girl I care about, the only one I have ever been interested in.”

Your heart was on fire, it hurt so much to hear him say that when you knew that you had never said anything of the same kind back. That it wasn’t something you felt ready to say, even if you felt it too.

Instead, in your tipsy, adrenaline high state all you could do was close your eyes and step forward. Your hands tangling in Kun’s hair as you brought your lips to his. Kun didn’t react for a second, clearly surprised.

When his brain finally seemed to connect with his body, Kun’s arm snaked around your back and pulled you closer to him, somehow taking control of the kiss with ease.

Your brain was screaming at you to stop, that it wasn’t a good idea, but you couldn’t you were too intoxicated by his lips. You were surprised, Kun was usually so sweet, you hadn’t expected him to have a dominant side. On reflection you weren’t sure how you never guessed that of your gang leader… friend.

Before anything could go any further Kun’s phone began to ring. You pushed him away softly.

“You should take that,” you said, before covering your lips with your hand, contemplating how to beat yourself up.

Kun glanced down at his phone,

“It’s just Ten I can call him back later; I think it’s probably more important that we talk about…”

‘It’s late he probably wouldn’t call you unless it was important,” you said, the phone still ringing.

Kun turned around, picking up the phone,

“I’m kinda busy, is it important?” he asked, not wasting time to say hello. He listened silently for a moment before raising his hand to his forehead, “Fuck. Well you have to kill him then, the rule on that was always clear. If we don’t kill him then you know what will happen.”

You were in your own state of shock. You were witnessing Kun, smiley Kun, order someone’s execution, and you wanted to be sick. You started to feel dizzy and so sat yourself down on the cold asphalt.

Kun ended the call moments later. He turned back around and saw you staring blankly into space and remembered that you had just been there to hear everything you said.

“I’m sorry,” he said, apologising for the hundredth time that month. His voice snapped you somewhat back into reality, “I hate being the bad guy, you shouldn’t have kissed me, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have let you.”

You just patted the ground beside you, just wanting him to sit with you, even if it was ridiculous for you both to sit on the ground outside in the middle of the night. Kun obliged and tucked his phone back into his pocket before sitting down next to you.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” you agreed and Kun’s face fell, even though he had said it himself, “not because of that phone call, I’m not stupid I have an idea of what you do, even though I don’t like it and even if it shocked me to actually hear it. I shouldn’t have kissed you because I’m still not clear about my feelings regardless. It wasn’t fair on you.”

“You shouldn’t be sympathetic towards me; you should run and never look back.”

“You’re being melodramatic Kun. Would you really be happy if I transferred university to a different city and never came back?”

“I would miss you, but I think you would be happier… It’s hard for me to watch you struggle internally with the idea of me and what I do.”

“You ignored me for a month, and I missed you enough to break every rule I had about not interfering with your life Kun, there is zero chance moving away from you would make me happy. But I promise, if I ever feel like that isn’t true, I will leave and never come back. Clean break.”

Kun took off his jacket and placed it over your shoulders.

“Then I only have one question,” he said, you nodded form him to continue, “was kissing me so bad you had to reassess your feelings. You laughed out loud.

“Your kissing skills are not under question here. I just need to do a bit more… internal struggling as you called it. That’s my fault not yours though. You are pretty great Qian Kun.”

[viahoshi]

only those who are forgotten die  // k.sy

pairing — kwon soonyoung x female protagonist genre — heavy angst, enemies to lovers (?) warnings — swearing, death, blood, murder, major character death and any kinds of criminal stuff words — 2.8k summary — the one where kwon soonyoung needs a new partner in crime note — this is highly inspired from the series, vis a vis as I can’t seem to move on from the character death, I created another one myself. The italic writings are flashbacks, the dialogue ones are the current time. Enjoy♡

“How did you meet him?”

“Do you know that one quote from Dostoyevsky that says: We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who interest us at first sight. Somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word has been spoken.”

“Do you like Dostoyevsky?”

“No.” She firmly answered, “He did, though.” 

“So, you two were strangers at first who suddenly grew closer?”

“You can say that. Even though he worked with my brother, I had never greeted him before. Their latest heist went wrong, so wrong. My brother died, and he got into jail. I wanted to greet him personally after he was out to get revenge, you know? Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.”

“You were planning to murder him.”

“Mmm- yes.”

“When did the latest bus pass?” Soonyoung asks while wearing his black leather jacked in the middle of the heat of July, rubs his hands together, takes slow steps to the bus stop before turning back again.

“5 minutes ago.”

“And the next one will come in-?”

“40 minutes.”

Soonyoung signs before placing his sunglasses on his nose bridge, and takes another step towards the bus stop before turning around again just to stare at the place he spent most of his youth into. The world seems too large for the young man as he keeps groaning.

Soonyoung was a restless man. He almost appreciates the person who stopped their car for him. Almost. He sharply groans when he recognizes the woman stepping out of the car. The familiar appearance of the girl looks nothing like the one he saw years ago. The way her expression has no marks of distress and uneasiness makes him feel nauseous.

“What are you doing here?”

Soonyoung knows that he was miserably dishonoring his uncaring aura as he shifts from left to right at where he was standing. His hands became sweaty and unsteady in his pockets, failing himself. His features told a different story, and his hands showed another. 

“Every single night when I close my eyes, I see nothing but the two police officers arriving at our house to state that my brother was dead. I acknowledged that everything would go downhill, but I wasn’t foreseeing it to happen this fast. Their son was dead, and their daughter was conceivably a psychopath. All the people I loved and trusted turned their backs to me after that, just like it was my responsibility. You do not understand how it makes your head to be free, but not having anybody.”

He pouted in surprise while nodding, almost as if he was waiting for her to finish and leave, “Nope, I have no fucking idea.”

“I heard you’ve been a very good boy.” Her voice expresses nothing but sarcasm, lips form a smirk, hand raises to remove the hood of her sweatshirt which was closed the whole time, then moves before her eyes to block the steady sunbeams coming to her eyes.

“Yeah, I helped the police in two cases.”

“We’re all falling in line in the end, aren’t we?”

Soonyoung looks at her, tries to read her expression, studies the way her lips curl up on the ends when she smiles, and how her face creases when she fails to block the sunbeams.

“Really, what are you doing here?” Soonyoung asks again, wonder takes over as he glares behind the faint print of his sunglasses.

The girl takes her time glancing at the left and right side of the road, “The bus isn’t coming,” she glimpses back at him, “do you want a ride?”

Soonyoung takes his sunglasses off, and the girl studies the unique frame of his eyes, “To the cemetery.”

“He wanted to visit my brother’s grave. He tried to look undisturbed, but I knew he was. I left him there and returned to work.”

“Then what happened?”

“It didn’t take him a long time for him to locate the place I worked. When he came in, I thought I was seeing things, I used to daydream about him a lot at work, and I’m not talking about pleasing daydreams.”

“So you want us to become a duo? Like Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise?”

“No, that wouldn’t work out. You and me, as a limited liability company. [y/n] & Soonyoung LLC.”

His words make the girl throw her head back and giggle in doubt, “You’re trying to sacrifice me to protect your own ass as you did to my brother?”

“You’re talking as if you weren’t plotting to kill me for years.”

“You see, I hate you and you hate me. Why are you so sure that I won’t stab you in your sleep?”

“Hate is the greatest motivator.” The girl could picture his half smirk even though she has her back turned against him. He continues while standing up and making her way towards her, “We have another option, we don’t see each other again until we meet on a tour bus for seniors, heading to the beach.”

Edges of the girl’s mouth lifts, it’s crystal clear that his words satisfied her, the thought of replacing her brother giving her stomach slight tingles as she imagines the bad things she always wanted to do in her life but never could, “Okay, let’s do it.”

“And this is how our shared life began as a mismatched twosome who everyone thinks: They’re going to kill each other. With the money we made, we bought our first house, a baby blue caravan. We instantly learned the secret to a good marriage, trusting each other. We weren’t friends, we shared nothing. But as much as we didn’t like it, together we were the best. The perfect couple, precisely because we didn’t love each other. We found the perfect amount of space to not kill each other, neither too close nor too far.”

“You lived like a domestic couple, how come you could undoubtedly trust each other in such a little time.”

“Not a domestic couple, but more like a husband and wife in their eighties who have over 20 grandchildren, but no one visits if that makes sense.”

“Tell me about the things you did respectively, how did you spend your time?”

“We had nothing noteworthy to do, so he bought two chairs and we just sat on the roof of the caravan, on the opposing sides. That was the agreement.”

“And the robberies? How did you follow through with that?”

“We started with big targets, casinos. We would quarrel during the heist and people would just look at us like we’re lunatics.”

“No one move!” Soonyoung raises his voice, puts his hand behind his head, and holds onto his gun smoothly, “Put your hands behind your head like how I’m doing it. I won’t say it again, okay?”

The young boy doesn’t hesitate to wander towards the money source and doesn’t even consider it necessary to turn towards the girl before commanding pointedly, “The cash. I’ll deal with the cashier, you take care of the hags.”

“Excuse me?” The girl’s attitude catches him off guard as he stares at her in uncertainty. He chuckles softly before running his hand through his pitch black hair. “We’re not having this discussion here. Not now.”

“Why? Why do you need to be in charge of the money?” She cocks her head to the side, not bothered by the weirded looks of the people surrounding her. Soonyoung takes a step towards her, eyes and mouth wide open, “Any problems?”

“The problem is you fucking always put yourself above me,” Soonyoung takes another step towards her to hear her better, “shit, are we really going to start our first job together like this?”

Soonyoung gets much closer to her than he was moments ago, uneasy as he keeps peeking towards the woman who’s filling the bag with money, “We’re already splitting it 50/50.”

“It’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of attitude.” Her look changes as her voice rises, “Either stop looking down on me or this is over.”

Soonyoung tries to change his expression, softens his voice, whisper screaming, “Is this the right place to talk about this?”

The girl walks over to him completely, face inches away from each other, feeling each other’s breaths on their faces. She whispers, “Are we equals? Yes or no.”

“We have to go.”

“I don’t care. Not before we clarify this. Equals or nothing, you decide.”

Soonyoung lowers his gun, steps away from her, spits while gritting his teeth, “Very well, equals. In sickness and in health, till death do us apart, amen.”

She nods, visibly satisfied. Giggles when she catches Soonyoung grumbling about how more effortless it is to work with a man rather than a woman.

“And that’s how we carried out together. It wasn’t the Bonnie and Clyde story you would predict, but days like this made me neglect the murder plots going on in my head. And that baby blue caravan was the closest thing I had that resembled ‘home’ to me, if that makes sense.”

“How would you define ‘home’?”

“Home? I don’t know.”

She gets a decent amount of shampoo in her hands before pressing them to Soonyoung’s airy locks, sudden contact of her hands sends shivers down his spine as he tries to get comfortable in his chair, relaxes his muscles while the girl runs her hands through his dark hair. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Did you knew that hair doesn’t stop growing after you’re dead?”

“And you want your hair to look sleek in the morgue?”

“No, I just want to talk without looking at your face.”

She eases her hand movements as if she waits for him to continue, he goes on, speaking softer than he did before, “I was 12 years old when my mother married to that pig. He brought nothing but misery and discomfort to the only place I knew as ‘home’. My mother neglected me, trying to be a suitable partner for that bastard,” he chuckles hysterically before continuing, “I was 15 years old when they send me to an orphanage, too old for adoption, too rebel for that environment. I fled from there at 18, and that’s when I met your brother, been doing this shit ever since.”

Soonyoung would pity himself sometimes, only life could be a little kinder to him, only if the world would have a little mercy for him, everything could’ve gone differently.

“Soonyoung”

“Mmm.”

“What is it?”

“There’s no need to run if you have a home, and the time we spent in the caravan, in the camper is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a home. I wanted you to know that.”

She lets the teardrop she keeps in her flow on her cheek, her lips curl up, forms a faint smile, “It was special for me too.”

She sniffs, grabs the water from the small bowl and rinses his hair. “Even though, to tell the truth, you’re a shitty roommate.” She grabs the towel and throws it to him, making him giggle like a little kid.

“And you droll in your sleep.” He turns towards her.

“So you watch me while I sleep?”

“No, I don’t watch you, you’re just making weird noises and it draws my attention.”

“Fuck you.” Her face lights up before grabbing the pot full of water and wetting his whole torso, his light colored jeans making the situation already more apparent than it already is. He laughs aloud before grabbing the fountain and pointing it towards her, their laughs brighter than the sun, for the first time after a long time.

"No.”

“No what?”

“I already know what you’re going to ask. Everyone wonders whether Thelma and Louise fucked or not. We did not. We did not fuck.”

“Okay.”

“And also, just clearing it for the record, we weren’t in a relationship either. We didn’t talk about any shit except the heists, that’s it.”

“Okay, good to know.”

The fairy lights inside of the caravan are shining in the colors of the rainbow as the girl sways to the beat of the song playing in the background. The drink in her hand matches the color of her colored sunglasses, giving her a vintage vibe. Soonyoung lies on his back, watching the way her body moves. She notices how his expression seems so cloddish, approaches him so that their noses touch, “Is this your first time?”

“What?” He tries to brush her off, not breaking the eye contact.

“Yes it is,” she laughs breathily, “this is your first time doing ecstasy.”

Soonyoung pushes her away and stands up to sit comfortably, “This isn’t getting me high at all.”

His tone of voice makes the girl giggle, “Right, you’re not high at all.” Her voice carries no expression but lust and sarcasm at the same time.

“At all.” Soonyoung keeps arguing while giggling and shaking his head.

“You don’t feel… Euphoria, empathy? This- sort of- uh- love? For anyone? I thought those were your favorite emotions.” She smiles sheepishly.

“When does this shit end?” He asks, not betraying his uncaring aura even when high.

Her sarcasm slowly drops and she feels alone with nothing but lust in her heart. She looks at him with an innocent expression, reminding him of those kids who want to buy candy in a convenience store, “Do you know what I want to do right now?”

“What?”

She gets closer to his face again, looks directly at his eyes, looks directly at his soul, “I want to touch your face.”

“Jesus, fuck no.” He stands up to go to the table which is decorated with various of liquor and grabs the entire bottle of the alcohol, drinks an enormous amount of it until the girl makes her way towards him again.

She moves her hand towards his face; he flinches when her hand contacts his skin. Her fingertips travel on his nose bridge, his cheekbones, his lips, his jawline. She leaves her fingerprints all over his face gently. Soonyoung chuckles but doesn’t move away, he doesn’t look away either. He enjoys the feeling that comes up to his spine as he keeps touching his face.

The air inside the caravan is thick, but it feels lighted than air for Soonyoung as he feels the butterflies in his stomach gently waking as she travels her fingertips along his sharp features. He pants, he doesn’t know if it’s because of the drug, or her.

“We’re not going to fuck, that’s what we agreed for.” He whispers while looking at her with a blank expression.

“You think I want to fuck with you?” She smiles again, and he nods.

“That makes little sense, does it?” She argues again, still looking at him with the same smile on her face and the same tone of her voice, seductive, “Oh well, let’s go to bed then.” And the first thing Soonyoung does when she turns her back at him to walk towards the bed is to grab her by her hair and pull her back towards his body. She laughs in surprise, her heartbeat rises as he pushes her front towards the wall.

And the rest is just a blur.

The next morning, she wakes up to Soonyoung practicing gunshots. She makes him and herself a cup of tea before making her way towards him. “About last night, that was stupid.”

“Yeah. By the way, I made the plan for the next heist.” He grabs the handle of the cup and responds in a sassy way.

“Well, you can tell me later.”

Soonyoung chuckles.

“Do you have any regrets?”

“Only if I looked back before leaving.”

“No.”

Soonyoung stretches out the beautifully packed gift, catching the attention of the girl who was sitting outside despite the cold air. She looks at him in doubt, “Kwon Soonyoung gives presents? Is that a bomb? Or an internal organ of one of your relatives? Perhaps it’s a scorpion-”

“Fuck, just take it.”

She hesitantly takes the gift and opens it just to find a polaroid camera inside, laughs while opening the box, taking the camera out. “Do you want to take a picture?”

“Yes. So you can remember we were young, we were hot, and we were free, and we felt a little, just a little less lonely together.”

She looks at the camera, and back at him before standing up, “Cool, let’s do it.”

The bright flash of the camera makes Soonyoung’s eyes hurt a little. He turns to her as the film gets released from the machine. He bounces slowly, reminding the girl of a little kid while smiling softly, waiting for the polaroid to darken. She gives the polaroid film to him after looking at it.

“Merry Christmas, asshole.”

“You too, princess.”

“Do you think things have worked out differently?”

“Things should have gone differently. I must have been in Italy or France, not here talking to you.”

“What about him?”

“What about him? Death didn’t intimidate me, nor him. There will still be winters and summers. It’s not like people will stop celebrating Christmas, or a child won’t get a birthday present. The gone is gone, and the world goes on, it’s nothing I can ease. However, he’s not dead.”

“How come?”

“Only those who are forgotten die, I’d like to consider he’ll be living for a long time.”

[uswnt-owns-this-homo]

Babe- (Emily Sonnett x Reader)

(Little bit of background:

Reader lives in Orlando and plays for the Pride. She and Emily are usually the goofy ones of the team and are known as the wonder twins. The team is in Orlando for the upcoming SheBelieves Cup in this)

The girls had all come around and I was tired. So very tired. It had all started out as a little funny idea. Practice had been rough, Vlatko feeling out everyone and pushing you, trying to prepare an Olympics worthy team. Everyone had been a little scuffed up, leaving the field incredibly sore, hopped up on Advil and the thought that there would be an open day tomorrow.

    Which is how I’m in the situation I am currently in. Everyone's dancing, having a few drinks, overall not a terrible time. Except for one thing. Emily Fucking Sonnett has shown up 2 hours late, a, as much as I detest the idea, decidedly okay-looking women on her arm. Now, this normally would not be an issue. But, normally, you wouldn’t have a huge ass crush on your best friend, your partner in crime. Yeah, try to explain your irrational jealousy and overall bitchiness to Saucy Sonnett without letting that slip. I gag slightly as I see the girl, Ashley? Sam? I don’t fucking know, pat Emily’s cheek, slipping her other arm around the small girl’s waist. I’m not drunk enough for this shit. And with that thought I go for another drink, only to run into Mal.

   “Hey, y/n, I’ve been looking for you. How you holdin’ up, bruiser?”

Ah, the all too popular nickname your teammates had come up with.

  “Mal, that was one practice, and how was I supposed to know Ash was going to try and prank me??”

I reach around her for the rum I have stashed in my cabinet, grabbing it and getting the coke from the cooler. She rests her hand on my shoulder, giving me her patented mal-pugh-puppy dog-eyes.

  “Okay, but seriously, how are you, know it can’t be super easy,”

I wince and throw back half of my solo cup, looking into it and swirling the alcohol heavy drink around.

   “Well, I’m doing just fine, maly paly, how about yourself?”

She rolls her eyes and leads me into the living room, filled with our national teammates.I lean my head on her shoulder, trying to hold back semi angry, semi sad tears.

  “Man, I’m trying to help your ass, you gotta do something about this, we’ve all seen how y’all look at each other,”

I shake my head, scoffing.

  “Mal, she obviously doesn’t. She brought Brooke or whatever the fuck her name is, didn’t she?”

Mal just shakes her head, giving my head a pat and walking away to go find Rose or Emily or someone. I sit in my corner and nurse the rest of my drink, trying to avoid looking at Sonnett.

  Periodically people come over to talk to me, trying to convince me to go talk to Sonny. It’s not until Megan staggers over for the third time that I snap.

     “Dude! She obviously doesn’t like me like that! I thought she did but she doesn’t, she literally brought another girl to the party, and if that doesn’t spell, ‘hey don’t really like you y/n’ then I don’t know what does!”

I’m crying by the end of my small explosion, something any of the team rarely sees.

   “Okay, bruiser, we’re gonna get you some water, maybe some advil, and then we’re going to go talk this out with Rose, and then we’ll see how you feel, okay?”

In any other setting this would be comical. The small 5’6 Megan Rapinoe trying to coax a 6’2 goalkeeper somewhere. I just nod and let her lead me wherever she decides to go. 

   I end up in my bedroom, dressed in my boxers and a sports bra, with a bottle of water.

  “Okay, y/n Pinoe said I should talk to you cause’ you’re all depresso expresso bubs,”

I choke out a laugh, rubbing my face with my large hands and turning to face Rose.

   “Look, Sonny said not to tell you, but I’m tired of the both of you dancing around each other and being all up in denial, so… Sonny brought Tessa to try and move on I guess? I dunno her head works kinda weird. So, my semi plan is that we can all get up in a group, play some truth or dare, and then she picks truth, or you do, and then confess, and it’s a love story for the ages,”

I must still be drunk because that doesn’t seem like a half bad idea. I slowly nod before I get up, heading to the door. I glower at Rose as she grabs my arm.

  “Hey, don’t think any of us would complain, but you should probably like cover the abs, Sonny might just die if you don’t,”

   “Oh, huh, didn’t notice it I guess,”

I quickly put on a tank top, a palm tree with ‘suns out guns out’ printed on it.

Me and Rose both leave my room, heading to the living room where everyone is already sitting on the couches and chairs in a circle. Ash pipes up, grinning wildly.

  “Rosie Posie already told us we’re playing truth or dare, and must I say… Bring it BITCHES!!”

Everyone laughs and we have a small arm wrestling contest to see who goes first. Allysa groans as I slam her hand into the coffee table.

  “Okay, okay, Ali, truth or dare?”

 The game goes well until it’s Emily’s turn to ask and she turns to me.

“Y/n, Executive Frat Daddy Jr, truth or dare?”

Fuck, fuckity fuck fuck! Can’t risk truth, but dare is going to suck ass. Fuck! 

“I’mma go with dare, Son, let’s see what you can cook up,”

She sits with a pensive look on her face for a few moments, her hat slipping down for a moment before she pushes it up.

  “Okay, I’m going to give you a choice. You can either let the group call the person you’re interested in, ooorr… you can drink this the rest of this vodka,”

Oh no. this is a bad. A bery bad. 

  “Yeah, no way I’m letting these asshats call whoever, so I guess we’re chugging this bitch,”

Em whistles, her arm around the girl she brought. Why the fuck can’t I remember her name? I take the bottle, which is a little more than half way full, and twist off the cap.

  “Let this go down in history as the night that y/n y/l/n defied death!”

I nod at Ash, thanking her for her full support of my dumbassery.

  “Wait, if I’m draining this then lets raise the stakes. I’m completely confident in my ability to not vomit with this so, if I do, I’ll let y’all call my mystery person!”

Everyone cheers and I throw up a quick fist before I get to chugging. I get about ¾ of the way through my half and my stomach starts to roll. Aw hell nah, we are not calling Emily. No fucking way. I last a few more chugs, leaving about an inch or two at the bottom of the bottle before my stomach really starts to roll.

  “Oh fuck, she’s gonna barf!”

I run to my bathroom, clipping my foot on the coffee table, and sprawling myself on it.

  “Shit, shit, pick her up! Y/n, when the hell did ya’ get so heavy,”

I groan as they stand me up and help me to my kitchen sink. I get to it right as the half handle comes back up, along with everything else in my stomach.

  “God, that’s rank, remind me why you picked this Sonnett?”

  “Dude, I thought she could hold her liquor, or that she’d pick the other option!”

I groan as I finish retching. I stand up and sway lightly, trying to walk to my fridge to get some water. I take a swig and straighten up.

  “Okay, listen up bitches! Since I did a piss poor job at the dare, y’all are gonna call mystery person of interest,”

Everyone clambers to get to my phone, which I hand to Ali. She raises her eyebrows at me and I just nod. She dials Em’s number and puts it on speaker, setting it on the coffee table. 

  Em’s eyebrows furrow and she grabs her phone. Her face screws up a bit.

“Yeah, that’s real funny Ali, lets actually call the person now, kay?”

I just look at her.

“There you go. Now, I’m going to go lay down before I ruin any other relationships, I’ll catch y’all at team bonding tomorrow,”

I throw up a quick peace sign before I book it to my room, closing the door and sitting on my bed, peeling off my tank top and laying down before the tears start to leak out of my eyes. I hear someone at my door and huff.

  “I told y’all she didn’t feel like that, I’ve had a rough night, I’d like it if you’d leave me alone,”

Someone chuckles softly.

  “Well you didn’t tell me that I didn’t feel that way so I’m going to wager and say that I’m fine to come in?”

Oh shit. Of course it’s Sonny, I know better than to try and walk away from something that big. I quickly rub my eyes and nose, trying to smooth down my hair slightly before I go open the door.

  Emily’s eyes widen as she glances at my stomach.

 “Oh, whoops, Rose told me to put the shirt on, my bad”

I go to grab the shirt and she stops me, putting her arms around my waist.

  “Dude, I thought I made it obvious by coming up here that I’m interested in you as well, have been since college pretty much. And don’t worry about the shirt, I really don’t mind at all, hotstuff,”

I whip my head to look at her instead of the wall. 

  “Bitch wait. We will be coming back to hotstuff, but more importantly... You are not telling me that 1) you had a crush on dumb college nerd me and 2) we’ve wasted this much time? I would’ve killed to get your attention in college!”

She chuckles and shakes her head.

  “I guess we’re both dumb lesbians then… well, in that case, would you like to go out with me after the cup? I mean only if you want to, we can definitely go back to mutually pining.”

I shake my head.

  “Yeah, no, don’t think so. Well, since you’re already here, would you like to stay over so you don’t have to drive back to yours? Or I can drive you back, I don’t know how much you’ve had to drink, or I can sleep on the couch it’s totally fi-“

  “Dude, we’ve literally roomed together for every camp and tournament, I’d love to sleep over,”

I shrug and we both go about getting ready to sleep. I grab her a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that she left over for these exact occurrences. We both brush our teeth and then sink into my bed.

   I leave about a foot of space between us, not wanting to weird Emily out, but she just huffs, grabs my arms, and pulls me to where they wrap around her waist.

  “You gotta chill, we’ve been doing this for years, now we just get to enjoy it and know that we’re interested, okay?”

I nod and tighten my hold, thinking about all it’s taken to come here, and how good it feels now that we’ve sorted everything out. 

   I wake up to a mouthful of hair, which isn’t a new experience when waking up next to Emily “I shed more than a German Shepherd with a skin condition” Sonnett. There’s both a pounding in my head and at my door. I groan as the night comes back to me, tightening my hold on Emily’s waist. I try to gently move away from her, but only get the tightening of hands and a low, drawn out whine.

  “Fuck whoever decided to come and get you, I want to cuddle,”

I chuckle, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead and picking her up, carrying her bridal style to my front door and opening it.

  “Hello, this is the y/l/n household, how may we help you on this fine day?”

Ashlyn looks up from her phone and lets out an uncharacteristic squeal when she hears Emily.

  “Oh my god! Y’all totally fucked right? Who am I asking, of course you did! Well the whole team is waiting downstairs so maybe freshen up and don’t keep us waiting? Today’s a beach day and we’re all stuck waiting on your sorry asses,”

  She goes to rush downstairs, presumably to tell the whole team about Emily and I. I quickly grab her by the shoulder, promptly dumping Em on the ground.

  “Oh fuck, sorry babe, my b.”

  “Now, you, we did not, as you so crudely put it, ‘totally fucked’. Em stayed here last night after we figured some stuff out. So, go tell the team we’ll be down in like 10, thanks,”

She quickly nods as I help Emily up, lacing our hands as we go into my room. I quickly give her one of my hoodies, some shorts she’s left over, and a spare bathing suit she has left over as well. I let her shower in the master, going downstairs to shower and then change into a floral print shirt over a black bikini with swim shorts. By the time I get out of the shower, Emily is waiting in the living room, a small cooler packed with beer and water.

  “Thanks babe, we ready to go?”

Now, this term of endearment is not new. The blush that spreads over the usually pale cheeked Sonny is though.

  “Wait, are you really blushing over babe? I’ve called you babe since junior year of college Em! This is definitely going to be used to my advantage,”

She just shrugs and mumbles something.

“What was that emmy? Can’t hear you over the blush, babe”

She smiles and grabs my hand.

  “If you could hear, I said ‘you didn’t mean anything by it before, or at least I didn’t think you did, so yes I did blush over it,”

I feel a giant grin slip onto my face and I tuck her under my arm, both of us grabbing any last minute things and heading downstairs. 

  The team is all waiting on us and we quickly head to a little place in town to get some breakfast. We all pile into a corner booth, me and Emily squeezing into the corner. Ash and Pinoe are almost vibrating with excitement and Megan pretty much screams at us.

  “Okay, y’all are gonna tell us all the juicy deets about y’all doing the hanky panky last night, right?”

I start to crack up and Emily puts her hand on my shoulder. I gasp and motion for Emily to explain.

   “Well, after you crackheads left, I went upstairs to try and chat with bruiser here and she was crying and so she answered the door almost nude and then we established that we’re going to go out after the cup, and then we went to bed, and that’s it,”

  Ash and Pinoe both boo and the rest of the team just nods. I put my hand on Em’s hand under the table and she laces our fingers together. The waitress comes and we order food, eating it quickly and then heading to the beach for a fun day in the surf.

   It’s been two weeks since me and Emily officially got together and it’s been pretty great. The first game of the SheBelieves Cup is tomorrow and me and Emily are both lounging around my apartment, trying to mentally prepare. We’ve discussed coming out to the fans a quiet a bit and decided that if they ask, we’ll tell, but not until then. We’ve talked more and are now officially girlfriends, and we’ve gone out for breakfast almost everyday, driving to training together, and spending the evenings with each other or the rest of the team. The rest of the night goes by pretty quickly, Em and I playing some video games and watching last years semi-final game against England in the World Cup to prepare. We fall asleep at around 11:30 wrapped up tightly in my bed, Emily laying on top of my chest, my arms around her waist.

   Today’s the day. The first day of the cup, and my start for the USWNT in one of the most important games in the cup. Vlatko told me that I would be starting and I’m pretty sure my eyes popped out of my head. Emily is also starting, so we’ll get to play together. The team meets at the Exploria stadium and we all start to individually warm up. I have my airpods in and am in the middle of some volleys with AD when Emily runs up to me. I turn off the music and look at her, smiling at the small shine in her eye from her love of the game.

  “Okay, so, I had a grand idea, and Rosie Posie agrees, so does Ms. Kelley,” “Okay then, what’s the grand idea that has popped into your head, Ms. Sonny?”

She grins really big.

 “Well, someone mentioned that they need people for press after the game, and I may have volunteered us two, and then I thought, why not kill two metaphorical birds with a metaphorical anvil, or however that goes, and maybe we could tell people tonight?”

I laugh at her phrasing and go to hug her.

  “I mean, sure, Em! We’re both getting a start, we’re on home turf, why not? Let’s do it babe!”

She laughs and runs back to the defenders. I turn to AD and she grins at me.

  “I’m sure you know it, but, you break her heart and every one of them is going to ruin you,”

I chuckle.

  “Yeah, I know. The day I hurt her is the day they take out my ankles,”

We chat about AD’s fiance for a bit while we volley, and then the game is set to start.

  Me and Sonny stand beside each other for the anthem, our hands brushing as we stand facing the flag. The team gets into a quick huddle before the game, and everyone looks to me to do a pre-game pep talk.

  “Okay y’all, all I really have to say is let’s go out there, bring the boom, show them what team USA’s all about, eh? We got this, we did it in the world cup, we can do it again. Let’s do this!”

Everyone does our pre-game chant and we all take our positions. I slap Em on the shoulder as I go take my place in goal and she winks at me. 

   The games goes great. We win with two points over England, and no serious injuries. I mean, Toby did get a bit of a hair pull, but Chrissy took care of that. The team is back in the locker room, celebrating and getting ready for post-game stuff. Me and Sonny get a drink and then go to do press. We walk out of the tunnel and over to where they need us, taking a couple seats in front of the interviewer.

  “So, y/n, Emily, how does it feel to both start, in your guy’s home stadium?”

“Well it’s not really home yet, at least not quite for me, but it’s pretty amazing, we all played so well, and just had a really nice game,”

I nod along with what Emily said and smile as the interviewer turns to me.

  “What about you y/n? How do you feel about tonight?”

“Well, I didn’t have many shots on goal so I’d say it was pretty rad, uh, we all were really connected and on top of things, it was no easy game, for sure, but I think we just brought it,”

  “Now, fans have been speculating for years, and it’s fired up again in the past couple weeks, but are you dating anyone, y/n? They seem to have picked up on something!”

I glance at Emily and she nods, grinning.

  “I mean, yeah, I’ve recently started dating someone, so if they picked up on that, they must really be in tune with us,”

The interviewer leans in closer.

  “Any specific people, any specific things to say?”

“I guess I just want to say that she makes me really happy, and I’m glad I get to train with her and play with her almost everyday!”

I grab Emily’s hand and kiss it before placing it on the table, winking at the camera, thinking about how lucky I am and how glad I am that I threw up on my dare.

[mx-jinxous]

Interrogation of Leonard Snart

Chapter 1:

The department was bustling more than normal, cops running around as Barry walked out of the elevator, almost having his coffee knocked from his hand as someone shoved past him to get into the elevator. Walking over he looked at the circus around him, spotting reporters talking to some beat cop about something, probably Singh’s doing. Barry silently nodded toward the man as a sign of sympathy, making his way to his cousin Eddie’s desk, seeing him talking on the phone. He stood waiting, smiling at his cousin as he smiled back, tapping his pen on the desk. Eddie was one of those guys too handsome for his own good, earning the nickname “Detective Pretty Boy” from some of the other cops. Compared to his cousin Barry was kind of lanky. Often people were shocked when they heard the two were related, after all Barry didn’t have sunkissed blond hair, tan complexion, or his muscles that made most of the female detectives swoon when they first see them. Eddie and him were nothing short of polar opposites, but that what made them so close. Eddie was the eldest, which made him think he was responsible for Barry’s safety, even though both were full grown adults. Barry trusted his cousin, letting him know every secret he had, never having to worry about Eddie overstepping or thinking he’s crazy. 

“As of right now there are no comments to be made, but if you have any tips that’s what we appreciate on the tip line. Have a nice day.” With that Eddie slammed the phone down, looking at Barry with hopeful eyes. “Please tell me one of those is for me and is a Flash latte?”

Barry handed the other coffee to his cousin with a roll of his eyes. “Here you go, you big dork.” Barry waited till Eddie finished with his chug of coffee, looking back down at Barry. “What’s with the circus?”

“Hadn’t you heard about the mass murder down at the bank this morning? It was all over the news.” Eddie wasn’t surprised when Barry gave him a blank stare, Barry was well known from steering clear from the news.

“I’m sure there’s plenty of evidence for you and Julian lined up, best to get started before Singh sees you coming in late again.”

“I know, the train was running slow, don't get me started on the bus.”

“We’ll make up for it getting results, they have a suspect we haven’t located just yet. Singh’s really getting it from the mayor’s office, so you better work your magic.” 

“Alright, I’m getting to it.” Barry said, giving a roll of his eyes as he walked away to go see what a mess had been left on his desk.

A mess didn’t cover what he had walked into, his whole entire desk cluttered with unprocessed evidence and files, the machines already busy with what Julian had started with, said man already diving into the case file. He glanced up as Barry’s bag hit the floor, giving an eye roll as he looked back down. “If you were on time you may have made it through a layer.”

“I doubt it.” Barry mumbles, taking a seat at his desk, diving himself into the caseload.

He didn’t know how long he had his face buried in the evidence, but he was dragged out of his little world by the door opening, hearing his cousin call out.

“Hey Bare.” Eddie said as he and Singh walked into the lab hours later, Barry typing away on his computer, not looking up.

“Hey Eddie. Let Cap know I’ll have the results on the gun back within the next hour.” He said, finally looking up to see the two men, Barry went red, pulling the twizzler from his mouth and standing. “Sir!”

“Allen, we need you to come with us.”

“What for?” Barry asked nervously, Eddie looking over at his boss.

“We brought in a suspect, but he won’t talk to anyone except you. Seemed like he knew you, asked for you by name. Do you know Mr. Leonard Snart?” Barry looked around the room and the three occupants looked at him expectantly.

“No, he must have read about me somewhere and thinks he can try and persuade me to put in a good word or something.”

“We’ll need information and we’re running on a clock. Just get him talking, the cameras will be rolling and we’ll be behind the window.”

“Yes, sir.” Barry sighed, following the other men down to the interrogation rooms. Barry took a deep breath, opening the door and walking in with Eddie and Singh right behind him. The man was standing, his back to them as he looked at his reflection, watching them walk in. The sight of him was breathtaking, Barry's body burning as the man’s eyes flickered towards him, glancing up and down. He was paler than the average human, but Barry blamed it on the dim lighting of the interrogation room. The stranger wore a black, three piece suit that fit to the curves of his body, Barry personally thinking that is the real reason for his arrest. Shaking the thoughts from his head, Barry dropped his glance, not wanting the stranger to see how flustered he was.

“Mr. Snart, as you asked Mr. Allen is here to speak with you.” Singh said, the man smiling at Barry through his reflection before holding his hand up and waving Singh and Eddie off. 

“I wish to speak to him alone, bugger off won’t you.” Snart said, Eddie patting Barry’s back as Singh pulled him out of the room, once the door clicked Barry swallowed. “No need to be nervous Barry, I’m not the man that killed those people.”

“How do you know who I am, I’d remember a name like Snart.” Snart let out a chuckle, turning to face Barry. 

“You really are breathtaking.”

“Excuse me?” Barry growled, going red, Barry not sure if it's from embarrassment or anger.

“Sorry, where are my manners, please join me in sitting while you try to find your answer.” Snart said, pulling out the chair in front of him, offering it to Barry. The young forensic scientist scoffed, pulling out the chair facing the mirror. As they both sit Barry crosses his arms, glaring at the man.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m not stalking you if that’s what you’re getting at. I only recently discovered you, didn’t think our first meeting would be behind a glass mirror with an audience behind it.” Snart said, folding his hand on the table, Barry catching sight of a tattoo as his sleeve caught on the table and rode up. It was a symbol that resembled a snowflake, taking up half of his forearm.

“Discovered?” Barry asked, Snart smiling.

“I believe your boss wants us talking about the crime. I’m not guilty, I had been there, yes, but I had left minutes before the real culprit struck.”

“So why were you at the bank?”

“Why would you think? I was withdrawing money. I wanted to go to the new Jitters that opened down the street from my home, I don’t think that’s a crime. I won’t be of any help to get a description either since there were multiple people there when I was there.”

“So why drag you in here?”

“Because your captain said the gun used was registered under my name, but I don’t own a firearm myself. My bodyguards might, they should be on their way, but what they have is registered under their names. Perfectly legal. I don’t know anyone who would want to frame me though.” Snart said, Barry leaning into the desk.

“Why ask for me? I’m not here to take your side, the evidence will prove if those are or are not your prints on the gun.”

“Because I know you’re a smart and trust worthy man, these other people I don’t know a thing about. I don’t know what their favorite flower is, Iris’  by the way.” 

“How do you know that?” Barry sat up straight, body going stiff.

“You told me, many years ago.”

“I think maybe you’re not in the right mind at the moment. Perhaps I should come back after you have settled down.” Barry stood, wanting nothing more than to get away from the man. As he turned to walk away a hand grabbed his wrist, Barry jumped and turned to see Snart had reached across the table and grabbed his wrist. Panic started to rise as his heart felt like it was going to burst from his chest. Snart’s hand was cold, almost like those of the corpses Barry had had the unfortunate luck of having to search. He didn’t prefer to go down to the morgue, it was one of his fears about working in such a big station, but sometimes he needed some evidence from the victims.

“Please, I am of sound mind. I’m telling the truth. I do not own any weapons and I also didn’t kill those poor people. Please believe me Barry.” Barry stared at the man, moments passing before Barry sat down.

“You have five minutes to give me a list of names of people that could want to frame you.” Barry said, crossing his arm.

“I’m not a very likeable man Barry. My business profession causes many enemies. I can give you a list, but it’ll take a while.” Barry took a piece of paper and a pen from the folder laying in front of him, slamming it down in front of Snart.

“Go ahead and write them down, my boss will be back to grab it.” This time Barry stood he managed to pull his arm away from Snart as he reached out again. With the remainder of his strength, Barry escaped the room, meeting his cousin outside. He almost collapsed into his arms, as his legs went weak.

“Come on, let's sit you down, get some water.” Barry nodded, letting his cousin lead him to his desk, Joe spotting the two and came over to help. 

“Let me grab a water for you, Eddie make sure he doesn’t pass out.” Joe said, not giving room for argument as he took off towards the break room. Joe had found himself the fathering type of the two when they were all still kids, having gone to the same schools. Since Iris and Eddie had gotten together he’d become like a dad to the small group. Barry knew that if anything would happen Joe would alway have his back, just as much as a real dad.

“What a creep.” Eddie grumbled, checking over his cousin once Joe was out of earshot. Barry felt cold, like he had many times in his life, but this time he knew this threat was physical.

“He’s stalking me, he’s got to be. There’s no way he knows me like that.”

“Don’t worry Bare, I’ll talk to Singh about the details.” Eddie said, Joe returning with the water. 

“What’s got you rattled kid?” He said as he gave Barry the water, the young man gulping it down.

“Just a suspect who seems to know a lot about me and I don’t know a single thing about him.” 

“If he tries anything he’ll meet a steel slab in the morgue.” Joe said, patting Barry’s shoulder before taking off to deal with someone that had just walked in.

“Bare-.”

“Can we just talk about the case. I don’t want to think about that creep anymore.”

“Yeah…do you want to visit the bank…you can do that thing?” Eddie asked, a little on edge knowing Barry would probably snap at him.

“No. Absolutely not.” Barry grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Bare, we’re running on no evidence. People died today Barry, kids died. They deserve justice.”

“I agree, but every time I use the damn thing I lose a part of me. I won’t do it.” Barry said, Eddie sighing, but nodding understandingly.

“Okay. Just relax, I’m going to go see Singh and see if we got any names.” Eddie patted his shoulder before walking back towards interrogation. Barry sat there, waiting for his legs to stop feeling like jelly.

Looking around the room a chill ran through his body, Barry’s eyes directing him towards a teenage girl staring at him, her magenta colored hair grabbing his attention. Barry smiled at her and waved, she smiled and returned the wave, taking off right after. 

The minutes ticked by before Eddie returned, trying to shoo Barry out of the room. He wasn’t fast enough as two men escorting Snart followed by Singh, walked out of the office. Seeing Barry, Snart smirked, making his way towards Barry. Eddie stepped between them, Barry trying to not look like he was using his cousin as a shield. Snart stopped feet away from both of them, the smirk not leaving his face.

“It was good to see you Barry, figured I’d give you my card before I go, in case you have any more questions.” The older man smirked as he held out a card between his fingers, Barry glaring from behind Eddie. The older of the two took the card, crumpling it up in his hand as he didn’t break contact with Snart.

“I’ll call you if we have any more questions Snart.” Eddie said with a protective nature, Snart looking like he was being challenged, glaring back at Eddie.

“I’ll talk to you later Barry.” Snart said, smirking back at him, winking before walking away, leaving the three men.

“Did we get the names or was he pulling our strings to waste our time?” Barry asked, looking at his captain.

“No, we got the names, but he requested that you have the original.” Singh said, holding out a folded up paper. Barry shook as he took it, slowly opening. He was met with a drawing of himself, shading and outline using the names of possible suspects.

“I don’t want it. Keep it. I don’t want to be near that man at all. I just want to go back to testing evidence.”

“Okay, go ahead. Eddie, will you process these names? I wanna know exactly why Mr. Snart has so many enemies.” Eddie nodded, taking the paper from Barry. The younger stood, legs finally getting enough strength to stand.

“Take a break first Barry, get your mind clear.” Eddie said, patting his cousin’s shoulder.

“Yeah. I’ll do that.” Barry mumbled, walking towards the stairs up to his office.

*******

Barry sighed as he dragged his feet from the elevator, heading towards his apartment, his day had managed to drain him of the remaining energy. After his run in with the creepy Mr. Snart, all Barry wants to do is flop on his bed and forget about his mysterious stalker. His keys jingled as he removed them from his pocket, shuffling through them to find his apartment key. Lazily he unlocked the door, throwing his mail and keys on the side table, the light from the hallway flooding his home, 

Barry jumped, seeing the teenage girl from the station standing in his dark apartment. “How’d you get in my house?” Barry asked, looking around to see if there was anyone else, possibly Snart’s “bodyguards”.

“I need help finding my mom.”

“She’s not in my house.” Barry said, not walking in. “Where’d you see her last?”

“At the bank this morning. You’re the only person who’s talked to me since.” Barry blood ran cold, his body acting on autopilot as he rushed inside his apartment, locking the door behind him, flipping on the lights. The girl wasn’t too old, maybe 16 years old at most, and it was always harder to break the news to children.

“Okay, what’s your name?”

“Frankie.”

“Okay Frankie, so I have some bad news.”

“I already know I’m dead. I just need your help finding my mom. Since you see dead people and all I need you to help my mom and I crossover. You know, like that lady from Ghost Whisperer.” The teenager crossed her arms, her magenta hair flailing like it probably did when she was still alive.

“I’m no Jennifer Love-Hewitt. Look Frankie-.” Barry flopped down on his sofa, feet tired from a long day and wanting nothing but a shower. “I don’t talk to ghosts, I don’t go ghost hunting. I tried that before, to help the dead crossover. I almost lost myself to something I thought was a lost person. There are monsters out there ready to hurt whoever they can.”

“Not everyone is like that, I just want to move on with my mom. If you help me I’ll give you evidence.” Barry looked at the girl, giving him an equally stubborn face.

“You know who killed you?”

“Not by face or name, but it wasn’t the guy you were interrogating. He left before that guy walked in. But he did touch stuff that the cops didn’t swab.”

“So there’s evidence at the bank…you swear if I reunite you and your mom then you’ll show me new evidence?”

“Ghouls honor.” Sighing Barry grabbed his jacket.

*********

“This place looks terrifying.” Barry said as he entered the bank, Barrt shining the flashlight around the dark bank.

“Anything yet?” 

“Just you, I don’t see anything else.” Barry said, the girl walking over to a big blood stain, staring down at it. Barry walked up behind her, eyes focused on her worriedly.

“It happened here. You know I thought dying would be painful, it wasn’t. My life didn’t even flash before me. Why would anyone gun down innocent people like this?”

“There’s a lot of angry people out there, lots of crazy ones too. You got caught in the middle and it’s a horrible thing.” Barry said, looking down at the ground.

“Why isn’t anyone else here? I don’t sense anyone...if that's a thing.” Frankie looked around, the bank just as dark to her as it was to Barry. 

“Maybe they already ascended. You probably were called to be my guide, some spirits are chosen for that. All we have to do is find out what you’re supposed to guide me to. If I may.” Barry held out his hand, holding it out to Frankie:

“Um…I’m a ghost. You can’t touch me.” Barry let a chuckled pass through his lips, looking softly at the girl.

“I can, trust me. Just hold my hand like you would have been alive.” She hesitated, reaching out and hovering her hand over his for a moment. Lowering her hand, Barry took hold, the world around him going bright as the sun shone through the window.

Turning around he was met with people, seeing Snart at the counter, two of his goons standing behind him protectively. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, Frankie’s eyes dragging over to herself and her mom. Barry mentally took note of how pale Snart looked in the sunlight, much like the interrogation rooms dim lighting. “We were going to go to the mall, get some new clothes for school tomorrow. I told her they had an atm at the mall, but she insisted on just pulling it out here. Do you ever get those vibes that things aren’t right.”

“More than you’ll ever know.” Barry mumbled as he watched Snart walk from the teller with a nod, his goons following behind. Like Snart had said he left, Barry turning back to scan the room, looking for the culprit. His eyes settled on a man in a black hoodie, hands in his pockets, something bulky weighing down the pocket. 

“That’s him.” Frankie said in a terrified whisper, as if the man could hear her. Suddenly the man whipped the gun out, aiming it towards the teller. Gasping, Barry tore his hands from Frankie’s, the world around them going dark once more with a flash. Covering his eyes Barry tried to calm himself at the horrors he almost witnessed. 

“This was a horrible idea, I shouldn't have done this.” Barry turned to walk blindly towards the door, Frankie watching in horror.

“Please don’t go! You're my only hope for justice.” 

“The police will catch this guy, you helped me prove that creepy Snart didn’t do it.”

“Is that good enough!? Only getting one answer to a problem with multiple answers?” My mom’s not here and I can’t leave till I’ve probably guided you somewhere.”

“I’m sorry Frankie, I just can’t do it.” Barry mumbled, looking back at the young girl with sorrowful eyes.

“I can’t move on to a peaceful slumber without your help. Please don’t leave me to this lonely existence.” Barry stared at Frankie, the misery in her voice almost strangling him, a knot growing in his throat as he weighed his options. 

“Okay. Give me your hands.” Holding them out Frankie lowered hers into Barry’s, the world coming back. Barry’s eyes stayed on the gunman as the world around them exploded in light with each shot. Pulling Frankie towards the man Barry knew he could only see what Frankie’s eyes saw, so he wasn’t surprised that the man's face was just shadowed. Looking down though Barry noticed a familiar snowflake on the man’s exposed wrist, a wave of cold washing over him. Realization hit as he pulled his hands away that he was going to have to see Snart again. Even if the man didn’t pull the trigger he was tied to the gunman.

“Did you get what you need?”

“I know where to head. Firstly, do you see any light?” Frankie looked around, seeing nothing but darkness, shaking his head.

“Then I guess you will be hanging around a bit, till we figure out the message you’re supposed to convey.”

“So if I’m sticking around to be your guiding spirit then I want a cool codename. I’ll be your eyes and ears in places that you can’t be.” Frankie said, smirk on her face, hands proudly on her hips. Barry smiled at her, seeing innocence most lost in the tragedy of death.

“Okay, what do you want me to call you?”

“Magenta, seems cooler than Frankie.” The girl said, bobbing her head back and forth.

“Okay Magenta, how do you feel about some recon?” A bright smirk came across her face, one Barry hadn’t seen from her yet. 

“What do you need me to do Bare?” She asked, looking at Barry with intrigue and enthusiasm.

*******

His dress shoe clacked as he tapped his foot against his desk, drink in his hand as he stared at the photo he pulled from his desk drawer. He smiled, as he drank from the cup, thick red liquid pouring down his throat. A knock came to the door, Len not turning his glance away from the photo. “Yes, Mick.” He said, hearing the other man’s heavy breathing.

“Santini’s are moving around the territory again, dipping over the borderline.” The bulky man said, leaning against the door frame. “Caught one of his lackeys playing around with one of his knives. The victim said she wouldn’t turn it in. He’s downstairs if you’re hungry.” Len smirked, sitting his half empty glass on the desk. He was silent for a moment, still glancing at the picture.

“I’ll be down in a moment.” He finally said, putting the frame back in the desk drawer.

“Seems just as spunky as ever, still not in favor of you.” Mick grumbled, Len smirking up at his right hand man and oldest friend.

“He never is on the first meeting. I don’t worry, soon he’ll come back to me.” 

“He seemed really close to that cop, think you have competition?” Len stood, fixing his suit, smirking at Mick.

“It isn’t the first time. I don’t worry Mick, it’s not the first time.” He walked towards the man, fangs peaking passed his bottom lip. “Now enough about Barry, take me to meet our new guest. I want to give him a real Rogue welcome.” With a grunt Mick led the way, Len following with hunger in his eyes.

(Not the fic I was expecting to bring out, still working on the other, but this one caught my interest and I think this one will be my main focus for now)

[theautisticquillholder]

Murderous Love Chapter I

(WARNING: This fanfiction has themes of Suicidal Ideation, Suicide itself, Self harm, Sexual Assualt, Murder, Extreme Bullying and Humiliation and a lot of Mental Illness related content and is NOT appropriate for children and the faint of heart. If you are under 18 or may be triggered by the content of this fanfiction please do not read this.)

Mitsuhide’s POV

I was at school waiting for Motochika to arrive. I heard the main school bully Loki talking with his friend that he would normally bring with him to bully others Ares about me, I teared up thinking about what they could be saying.

I have recently been diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder thanks to the trauma from the bullying and being sexually assaulted by a grown woman as a child. They’re probably planning on doing something to trigger me for their own entertainment.

Before they could walk to me to torment me Motochika, my best friend and crush had arrived and hugged me from behind.

“How was your weekend Mitsuhide?” he asked, I blushed saying.

“It was good, Gracia dragged me out for ice cream with her best friend Ranmaru since they couldn’t spend time with their partners as Koshosho was working and Nobunaga was away on a family camping trip. I wanted to stay home and read…”

Motochika laughed “Afterschool we had an appointment with a psychic medium. I want to know who I was in my previous life, and yes you’re coming with, I have a feeling that in our past lives we were either very close family or lovers and I want to know if that is the case.” He spoke.

I blushed saying “Is it a bad thing that I hope that it turns out that we were lovers in our past lives?”

Motochika laughed a bit but before he could say anything Ares punched Motochika while I was dragged away from him by Loki, I screamed out for Motochika or someone to help but everyone turned a blind eye and Ares restrained Motochika and he couldn’t get the male to let go, Loki called out.

“Bring the emo! He needs to watch!”

Ares Laughed and both myself and Motochika were dragged to a bathroom that no one would use anymore as it was believed to be haunted.

We saw Da Ji waiting in the bathroom smirking, I shivered with fear, scared that I’ll be forced to relive my past when an older woman sexually assaulted me.

Loki ordered Ares to tie Motochika to the post that holds the paper towel holder. Loki smirked holding up a key and asked Da Ji.

“Let me know if you need some privacy!”

Da Ji grabbed my arm before I could even get the chance to free Motochika so that he could run and get someone to help us. I tried to escape her grip, but I heard her say something and a door slam and lock.

Motochika and I was trapped with this senior.

Da Ji removed her clothes while I tried to free Motochika before she grabbed me and removed my clothes slapping me when I screamed. Motochika tried to break free from the restraints as Da Ji had her way with me. I was screaming for her to stop but it was no use.

It has been half an hour and Da Ji reached her climax. I was laying on the floor at this point, having lost the will to fight her off. I looked at Motochika who was crying as he tried to break free from the restraints.

Da Ji grabbed her phone and took a picture of me. I called out to her.

“Delete that.”

Da Ji jeered at me “Demand anything and you’ll be forced to go round two!”

I whimpered as she was typing on her phone after she was finished, she smirked.

“We’re going to stay here! You don’t get to go to class for the whole day!”

I cried, I crawled towards my pants grabbing my phone and sent a text to my sister Gracia asking her for help and it sent my exact location. Before Da Ji could notice that I was sending messages for help I hid my phone in my pant pockets.

I then crawled towards the sink basin to get a drink of water because I was thirsty, but Da Ji dragged me away from the basin. I cried “Please… I need a drink of water, I’m thirsty!”

Da Ji laughed before we heard the door unlock and Loki opening the door “Hey Da Ji, your friend Himiko wants to spend the day with you. Don’t worry about these freaks, you probably exhausted the living hell out of the man-whore and his best friend is tied up so they wouldn’t be thinking about escape any time soon.”

Da Ji left and the door was shut and locked. I instantly took this opportunity to break Motochika free from his restraints, when I managed to break Motochika free he hugged me tightly.

“I swear when I see those basterds they’re fucking dead!”

He then grabbed some toilet paper and got me to wipe myself he then had me wash myself then he helped me get dressed as I was still slightly weak from earlier.

When I was fully dressed, we sat in the corner of the room and Motochika cuddled me tightly.

Three hours passed and we heard the door unlocked. Motochika got ready to kill only to calm down when the person who entered the room was a locksmith, my sister Gracia, my favourite teacher Hades, and the principal Gaia.

Hades noticed what happened and looked at Motochika “hey, it’s okay, I won’t hurt you."

“I have little concern for myself, I’m more worried about Mitsuhide!” Motochika replied.

I held the tissue that I had to wipe myself with asking “is there any zip lock bags I can put this in. Also, you might want to call the police...”

Hades shook with rage. Not only was Hades a teacher but he was also the school chaplain.

He looked at Gaia saying “I want these two in my office without any interference from the other students. And I want the police called. I have suspicions that something has happened and whoever the fuck did this isn’t finished yet.”

Gaia nodded and took Gracia to her office. Probably to nominate her for the school bravery award for getting help for me while Hades lead me and Motochika to his office refusing to let anyone near us.

When we were in Hades office, he looked at me saying “are you able to go into the kitchen and make yourself a coffee? I’ll be asking Motochika what happened as I do not wish to traumatise you further than you already are.”

I nodded and went to the staff kitchen and made myself, Hades and Motochika a hot drink. I heard what Motochika said to Hades about what happened this morning and I could hear Hades typing away at his laptop.

When I came back with a tray holding the hot drinks, I set the drinks down and sat next to Motochika and hugged him tightly. I said, “I feel more fearless against the things that traumatise me when Motochika is here.”

Hades nodded and handed me Motochika’s statement that he had printed out asking me to confirm it. I read it and this was what was written.

‘This occurred about five minutes after I arrived at school at 8:45am and met up with Mitsuhide and we were talking about our plans for when the school day ends. Loki and Ares then attacked us, restrained the both of us and took us to the bathroom in which Hades, Principal Gaia and Mitsuhide’s sister Gracia found us in.

I was then tied to a pole that used to hold the paper towel dispenser by Ares before myself and Mitsuhide was locked into the bathroom with Da Ji, who proceeded to sexually assault Mitsuhide while I was forced to watch.

I tried to break free from the bonds that kept me tied to the pole while this was going on. Mitsuhide tried to fight Da Ji off and get her to stop as he didn’t give consent and it’s forcing him to relive a horrible memory of his childhood, but Da Ji kept going, when she was finished Mitsuhide had no energy left.

She took a photo of Mitsuhide nude and threatened to sexually assault him again if he demanded that she delete the photo.

Mitsuhide snuck a text to his sister calling for help before trying to get a drink of water. Da Ji dragged him away and laughed when Mitsuhide pleaded her to let him get a drink of water.

Loki unlocked the door only to get Da Ji out of there because her best friend Himiko wanted to spend the school day with Da Ji.

When there was no one near or in the room Mitsuhide used the last of his mental strength at the time to free me and I helped him get cleaned up before holding him tightly stating that I will have my revenge.’

I looked at Hades and handed the paper back saying, “That’s correct, I want to put my own statement in as well, that way if the police want a statement from me, you’re prepared.”

Hades nodded, opened a new word document on his laptop and I gave my statement, including the horrible things that Loki and Ares were saying about me.

When I was finished Hades Printed my statement out, got me and Motochika to sign our statements stating that what Hades has written on those documents were true and Hades hasn’t made us say anything and merely typed them up so that there is a paper trail for the police.

Motochika heard his phone, so he checked it. It was a message from Magoichi one of his friends, I peered at the message out of curiosity and shook with fear when I read the message that said.

‘Hey Motochika? Is the picture Da Ji posted on Instagram of Mitsuhide? I reported it just in case it is and took a screenshot of the post just in case you need it.’

Motochika called Magoichi and put him on video chat, Hades was a bit confused by this before Magoichi said.

“SOOO I was checking my Instagram and I saw a naked picture of a feminine looking guy with long black hair looking rather distressed posted by Da Ji, I took a screenshot of the post and reported it to Instagram, is the guy in the picture Mitsuhide!? If it, is I’m forwarding it to the fucking police!”

I curled into a ball after letting go of Motochika and cried Motochika looked at his phone saying, “I think the background noise coming from my end is the answer, can you please send me an email with that screenshot so I can print it and give it as evidence?”

Magoichi nodded “Sure! I just did as soon as you confirmed who it was. I can’t believe Da Ji would do that sort of shit!”

Motochika looked at Hades saying “Can I connect my phone to your printer and print out a screenshot one of my friends made of an Instagram post? I want Da Ji to be charged with child pornography, but I don’t want to put your job at risk.”

Hades nodded and Motochika printed the screenshot as well as a statement requesting that Magoichi is not to be charged as he was helping with the apprehension of the person who posted it. By the time we had all the paperwork and the tissue with mine and Da Ji’s DNA on it in a zip lock bag the police arrived and took them.

One of the male officers looked at me saying “I’ll protect you from those people who ask those horrible questions to try to indicate that you liked it.”

I looked at the officer smiling “Thank you.”

Motochika and I were then sent home. Motochika’s father wanted him to stay with me for as long as I needed and transferred some money to my father’s bank account so that my father can pay for the utilities and food that Motochika would use.

By the time we were home the psychic medium arrived at my house as well, myself, Motochika and the Psychic Medium went to my bedroom, and we began our appointment with them.

We did everything the Psychic Medium needed us to do in order to find out who we were in our past lives and then as if in a trance the psychic started writing something down.

I was curious but I had to stay calm while this was happening. It took the medium about an hour to finish writing and they gave us each a piece of paper detailing our past lives.

Motochika paid the money and the psychic medium left.

I looked at mine only to find that I was a castle maid to a Samurai Clan who fell in love with a Lady Samurai and had a lesbian relationship with said Samurai. I blushed before Motochika smirked.

“Turns out we were lovers in our past lives. You were the maid who wanted to become a medic for the soldiers while I was the Samurai who was going to be married off to the clan head’s son. And both the Samurai and the maiden were in love with each other.”

I hugged Motochika tightly “I’m so glad.”

I was madly in love with Motochika.

“I love you” I whispered, Motochika hugged back just as tightly saying.

“I love you too. I had developed feelings for you for a while. You’re a broken soul who needs someone to love them and fix them with gold to make the cracks stand out” I teared up as I heard this.

My father Mitsutsuna walked into my room and noticed us in the position we were in and awed at it.

“That’s adorable, Motochika, look after my son, my wife is very protective of him.” He spoke.

I was shocked as I looked at my father who said, “I would only not approve if I didn’t know the young man well enough, but since his father and I were high school friends, I have known him since he was born so I approve of your relationship with him.”

I blushed as my father left to make dinner. I looked at Motochika before hugging him feeling his warmth against my body.

[eternalsehyoon]

Park Jinyoung - Beautiful stranger (part one)

Title: Beautiful Stranger

Pairing: Jinyoung x Reader

Words: 1.6k

Summary: You work in a café and meet a beautiful stranger. Being quite insecure when it comes to feelings, and completely naïve when it comes to guys flirting with you, you don’t really see how much this stranger is into you... until your much too involved best friend convinces you otherwise.

I was cleaning the tables in the tiny café I have been working to for the past three years and a half. As much as I told myself I despised it, it had become a part of my routine and I had built my circle of friends around it. The customers were all usual, except for the few occasional tourists. Which meant I could tell you the names of almost every client who walked in the café, and my coworkers were like my family. My goal was to be a best-selling author, but as you probably know, it's easier said than done. I had been working on my book since I got this crappy job, and even though the novel itself was complete, my perfectionist self couldn't dare to send it to a publishing company.

"Y/N!!" My colleague and, most importantly best friend Kim called. "I know how much you hate tying up your hair, but I swear to God Josie will kill you if she sees you serving food with your hair down." I simply sighed, rolling my eyes. I knew Kim was just checking out on me, but I couldn't help to be a tiny bit annoyed by her attitude. I lazily grabbed an elastic in the front pocket of my dark apron and rapidly tied my long brown hair in a messy bun. "See." I pointed to the top of my head. "Happy, now?"

"Very." She simply stated, with a wide smile plastered on her face. Her title had just bumped from simple waitress to assistant manager and she took her role way too seriously, if you ask me.

Kim made her way from behind the counter to literally five inches away from me in the span of a few seconds. My reflexes made me take a huge step back, but my friend quickly closed the space between us and approached her mouth to my left ear, only to whisper: "By the way, you know, just like that... You've been cleaning this same table for the last thirty minutes." I let out a slight chuckle, covering my mouth with my right hand. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Sure..." She rolled her eyes. "I'm certain it has nothing to do with the handsome young man sitting right there, a couple of tables away." She wasn't subtle at all, since she almost yelled out the last sentence. I looked over at the table in question, and thanked the Lord that the "young man" was wearing a large pair of headphones on his head.

I caught myself staring at him again, noticing every little detail. From the way he was holding his phone with one hand, to the way he was using the other to occasionally sip on his latte. I felt my heart skip a beat, what the hell was happening? His hands were veiny, and his fingers were slightly crooked but had a perfect length. His dark brown hair was falling on his forehead adorably, and I enjoyed the way he would grin every so often while looking down at his phone with a smile so genuine, he almost resembled a small child receiving his first toy.

It was the first time I had seen him, you know, he was far from our typical 60 year old customer. When he had entered the place, he shyly asked for a table for one and I escorted him to my favorite spot; a small round table accompanied by two leather-covered lazy boy type chairs, by the window. The bistro was practically empty, so he was the only customer I could take care of, if you didn't count the two elders who would occasionally ask me to refill their coffees. "M-my name is Y/N and I'll be your waitress today." I stuttered. I handed him our menu, and he simply nodded with a smirk appearing on his lips as a form of "thank you". "I'll be back in a couple of minutes to see if you've made your choice." He looked up at me and that's when I realized he had the most gorgeous dark brown eyes. "Earth to Y/N!!!!" Kim exclaimed, bringing me back to my senses. "Go ask him for his number, for God's sake, or I'll do it for you." She ordered, half-serious. I bursted out laughing. "If you think one second that I've got the guts to even do that, you don't fucking know me, Kim!" She cackled. "Don't make me do it, Y/N." She threatened me jokingly, while making her way to the counter to start a new batch of coffee.

Kim had been working here for the past five years; she could pour a cup of coffee, answer the phone and print receipts all at the same time. It impressed me how determined she was, since she was still a student and didn't plan on working here forever.  I followed her steps, only to print the stranger's receipt, since he had been in here for the past hour and a half. I awkwardly strutted towards the customer, "Here's your receipt, don't hesitate to tell me if you need any-anything else." I placed the piece of paper on the table gently, and as he took it, his hand brushed the top of mine, so I removed it swiftly. My cheeks were burning and I could see that his were turning bright red. It was like we were having a staring contest, and I swore I could get lost in his eyes for hours without even realizing it. His gaze shifted from my eyes, down to my nose and lips and then to the receipt he was holding. "My name is Park Jinyoung, by the way..." He muttered. "Uhm... I don't know why I said that but, yeah..." He took his face between his hands, his elbows leaning on the small round table and looked down. I let out a small giggle, I was sort of relieved that he was nervous also, I mean, that was a good sign, right?

Even when he was completely mortified, Jinyoung was still the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on.  "You can go to the register when you are ready to pay." I mumbled and left.

An excited Kim was waiting for me in the kitchen. She had witnessed this whole scene and was jumping around everywhere, I swore she was going to break something. She took my two hands in hers while she began dancing; I was just standing still, wondering what the hell was going on with this woman.

"He's soooooo into you!" She spoke melodically, almost like she was singing along to her favorite song. I sighed.

"Come on! You have to ask him on a date!" She was enjoying this too much, but that's what best friends are for, I guess. "Oh and I could tag along with Mark! It could be a double date!" She clapped her hands. Kim and Mark were the cutest couple I knew. They had just gotten engaged a few months ago and I always looked up to them as a model for what I want my future relationship to be like. I swore to myself that I would never waste my time with a guy if my eyes didn't sparkle like Kim and Mark's eyes do when they are around each other. That's what true love is, folks.

"Woah there!" I placed my hands on both her cheeks and gently pressed. "You need to calm down, he just told me his name. It's no big deal!"

"Whatever." Kim gave up and rolled her eyes, her sudden change of attitude caught me off-guard. "Just know you're your own cock-blocker." She pointed her index towards me and shrugged.

I was never the one to make the first move with guys. Even though I'm pretty confident most of the time, I always tend to chicken-out when feelings are involved. You could say self-sabotaging was my speciality.

I greeted new clients, placing them strategically all over the dining room. I was taking the order of a young couple while I noticed Jinyoung waiting at the register. My gaze scanned the place all over, Kim seemed nowhere to be seen so I tried my best to serve the couple as fast as I could in order to attempt to speak to Jinyoung for one last time.

Of course, the universe was totally against this plan. The guy, who was the male version of a Karen, wouldn't stop asking questions, and while I knew it was part of my job to answer him, I was completely annoyed. He kept on asking if the menu was vegan, and even though I told him it was not completely, but that we did in fact have some vegan options, he didn't want to cooperate at all. He only kept on yelling that we were all animal killers and left the restaurant, after insulting me.

I murmured a silent "go fuck yourself" to myself, before making my way to the register, noticing that Jinyoung had left the café already.

Just my fricken’ luck.

It was now the end of my shift, so I punched myself out and threw myself, completely exhausted, on one of the colorful bean bags in the break room. I had to wait for Kim, since she was my ride home. I scrolled on instagram for a couple of minutes when suddenly, a wild Kim appeared in the door frame, with the biggest grin on her face. I struggled to get up and out of the bean bag, my best friend laughing out loud at the view.

"I thought you'd want to have this." She handled me what I thought was a piece of paper.

I unfolded the wrinkly paper, soon realizing it was a receipt. Why exactly was she giving this to me?

"Flip it over and read." She ordered in a joyful manner.

It read:

To Y/N, Here's my number: 82-******* Please text me? I mean you don't have to... But I'd really like if you did? Jinyoung

My eyes grew three times their original size and I felt heat rise up my cheeks. So he was actually flirting with me?

******

Tell me if you guys are interested for part 2 and I will post it maybe in later this week!!! Thank you for reading :)