#we’re gonna make it to tomorrow and the next day and after that we’ll lean on each other if we have to

[donothing-nothingworks]

okay goodnight. tomorrow is a new day and we’ll make it thru it holding hands and whatever.

[autumnscribbles]

surprise | c.b

colby brock x reader

summary: colby plans a surprise party for y/n while she thinks he’s working

idea from my bestie @wildestwords 🫶🏻

a/n: not my best work but I was in a writing mood so I just wanted to post a cute little fic :) I hope you like!

“Do you have to go?” you whined, reaching across the bed for Colby.

“Unfortunately,” he groaned, kissing your forehead one last time before standing up.

“But it’s my birthdaaaaay,” you tease, laughing at yourself. You knew Colby had to work tonight, and he had a super important video to film tonight.

Thankfully, as you got older, you didn’t care for your birthday much anyway. You were sort of looking forward to ordering take out, hanging out in your sweats and watching movies all day.

“We’ll celebrate tomorrow, I promise,” he grinned, ruffling your hair lovingly before leaving the room to finish getting ready.

You got out of bed yourself, smoothing out your hair in the mirror. One year older. You felt good, grateful to be where you were today.

You saw Colby out the door, smiling as you watched him drive off. Now, it was time to relax.

*

“Okay guys,” Colby said as he walked into the door of the party location. “She didn’t suspect anything, she thinks we’re doing haunted house stuff.”

“Perrrrfect,” Sam smirked, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“So we have everyone coming at 7, I’m gonna call y/n a bit after that and act like something went wrong and we need her help,” Colby explained. “Then we’ll surprise her when she walks in.”

“Decoration time?” Sam asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Decoration time,” Colby confirmed with a nod of his head.

*

You held your chop sticks and your Chinese takeout box, legs crossed on the couch. The throw blanket was wrapped over your shoulders and you ate happily as you watched some romcom you stumbled across on Netflix.

You heard your phone ringing in the other room, and jumped up to go catch it in time. You forgot you left it on the kitchen counter. You frowned slightly when you saw it was Colby. You almost never heard from him when he was working.

“Hey,” you answered, leaning against the counter.

“Hey babe,” you heard Colby breathing heavily. “I don’t want to worry you but I need you to come here.”

“What?” you asked. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“We need help,” he replied. “Can you please come?”

“Of course, Colby,” you said, slightly panicked as you rushed to clean up all your stuff while still on the phone. “Just send me the address, I’m on my way.”

“I love you,” Colby said gently.

“I love you too, baby, I’m coming,” you told him.

He hung up, and you put your take out in the fridge, turned off the tv, and kicked off your slippers. You pulled on a jacket and your shoes and grabbed your car keys as you rushed out the door.

The March air caught your breath as you stepped outside, the bite of the night air unexpected. You rubbed your hands together for warmth once you sat in the car. Only for a second, before pulling out of the driveway.

You followed the GPS, happy when you realized it was only 15 minutes away. This was one time you were especially grateful Sam and Colby picked somewhere nearby. Usually, you were too far away to be of any help.

When you pulled up to the house, you noticed a red light glowing from inside the house. It immediately gave you the creeps, even though you knew it was definitely done on purpose for the video.

You jumped out of the car, not even locking it as you jogged to the door and threw it open. You saw Colby lying on the ground, Sam crouched beside him.

“Colby!” you exclaimed, running over to him and crouching next to Sam. You grabbed his hand in yours. “What happened?”

“I-I fell,” Colby groaned, wincing in pain. “Can you go grab me my sweater?”

“Of course!” you exclaimed, standing up to go grab his sweater.

It was the perfect distraction for Colby to get up off the floor, and signal the others.

“Surprise!!!” you heard from a roomful of voices, making you scream before laughing.

“Oh my god!!!” you screamed, covering your face.

You saw all of your friends, even some from your hometown, all here to celebrate you. You cursed yourself for not dressing better on your special day, but you were too happy to care.

You turned back around, seeing Colby standing there with a massive grin on his beautiful face.

“You did this for me?” you asked, tears forming in your eyes.

“I did,” he nodded. “Did you really think I’d make you celebrate your birthday alone?”

You ran over to him, wrapping your arms around him tightly. You didn’t know how you got so lucky.

“I assume you were the true brains of the operation?” you asked, as you turned to Sam, pulling him into your arms too.

“I’d like to think so,” he shrugged. “The decorations were all mine.”

You smiled as you saw the big balloons, flowers, and a big poster full of pictures of you and all the people you loved.

You went around hugging all your friends, still not believing that they were here.

You walked up to your childhood best friend, smothering her in the tightest hug imaginable. She hugged you back just as tight.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” you said into her shoulder, your smile hurting your cheeks because it was so wide.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” she told you, putting her hands on either side of your face. “You really have a keeper on your hands.”

“I do, don’t I?” you asked, looking back to Colby, who to your surprise, was already looking at you.

“You have to marry him,” she teased you, pushing your shoulder playfully. “Otherwise you’re stupid.”

“That’s the plan,” you winked, wrapping your arm around her shoulders.

“What even is this place?” you laughed as you turned back to Colby. “Is it actually haunted?”

“No,” he laughed. “It’s just someone’s house they had for rent.”

“Only you,” you laughed. “It’s nice though.”

Your best friend left to the kitchen then promptly walked out with a cake in her hands, singing to you. Everyone else joined in and you couldn’t help but blush before blowing out the candles.

You couldn’t think of a wish, because everything you wanted was already right there in front of you.

[swiftieblyth]

Blyth Family: A little Something

warnings- fluff, pregnancy, morning sickness

You were laying bed with a massive headache and the worst cramp in your abdomen. You were hoping it just meant that you started your period, but you didn’t want to get up and check. Tom was taking Lady on a walk to let you get some rest. You’ve been having this same problem for a few mornings now but never this bad.

All of a sudden you felt your stomach flip and you rushed to the bathroom. You opened the toilet and started throwing up.

You stopped and leaned against the wall as you heard the door open.

“Honey, we’re home!” Tom called. You were about to respond when you started throwing up again. “Love?” Tom called, walking into your room. He heard you throwing up and came running to your side. “Darling!” He asked, crouching down next to you, rubbing your back.

You stopped throwing up and flushed the toilet. Tom carefully pulled you back to lean on him. You sighed as you press your back against your chest.

“What’s wrong my love? Are you sick? Should I call the doctor?”

“I don’t know,” you let out, tears coming to your face.

“What all doesn’t feel good?” He asked, rubbing your stomach.

“My stomach, head, everything hurts. And my boobs, gosh my boobs hurt, Tommy! But I don’t know why I still haven’t started my period.”

“Darling, when was the last time you had your period?”

“Before our anniversary.” You let out. The realization hit you and you looked up at him and gasped. “Tommy, do you think?”

“I think so, my love,” he smiled, baby blues shining brighter than ever.

“I love you so much!” You cried, hugging him. Just then Lady came running in and climbed up on Tom’s lap. “Lady,” you smiled, scooping her up. “You might be an older sister pretty soon!”

“I think we should make you an appointment my love.”

💜💜💜

You had your appointment and sure enough, you were pregnant! Little Baby Blyth is five weeks in the making!

Tom was driving you home as you closed your eyes, trying not to throw up.

“You okay, love?” He asked, grabbing your hand.

“Besides trying not to throw up I’m great! We’re gonna have a little kid in about 35 weeks!”

“I know my love! I can’t wait.”

“When do you think we should start telling people? I’ve already gained some wait, and with the premier coming up, I don’t think we’ll be able to hid it for long.”

“Do you think we should start telling loved ones now?”

“Maybe tomorrow. I kinda want to go to bed once we get home.”

“That’s perfectly fine my love. Do you want me and Lady to join you?”

“Would you?” You gasped, tears coming to your eyes.

“Of course my love! We can all cuddle together, the four of us.”

“All four,” You smiled, putting a hand to your stomach, looking at Tom with tears in your eyes.

💜💜💜

“Tommy?” You mumbled laying in bed half asleep.

“What is it my love?” Tom asked, spooning you, hands rubbing your flat stomach, as Lady cuddled into your chest.

“When do you think we should make a public announcement? It’s not something we can really hide. At least not with the tour going on.”

“Are you sure you can still do the tour?”

“The doctor said I could until about 20 weeks.”

“But do you want to?”

“I want to at least do some.” You explain. “I don’t know how far we’ll get, but I want to try. But Tommy…”

“What is it my love?”

“Once I’m done with the tour, I’m going to be taking a brake until some point after our baby comes.”

“I think that’s perfectly fine my love. I’ll do my best to make sure I don’t have to travel.”

💜💜💜

You and Tom had been spending the day (after your morning sickness) calling your loved ones and telling them the amazing news. All you had left was Rachel and Josh, and Taylor and Travis.

“How should we go about it?” You asked, fear lacing your voice as you looked at Tom.

“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t need to be scared,” Tom explained, rubbing your arms. “They’re going to be so excited, yeah?”

“Yeah,” you nodded as a tear escaped.

“I’m going to be right here with you my love,” he cooed, wiping the tear away. “Just call them when you’re ready, we don’t have to rush.”

“I’m ready.” You breathed, calling Rachel.

“Hello?” Rachel asked, on the other end of the phone.

“Hey! You smiled! Is now a bad time?”

“No, Josh, Lenny, and I are just watching some tv.”

“Okay, cool.” You looked up at Tom fear in your eyes, as he mouthed that it will be okay. “Hey, me and Tom want to talk to you two, can we FaceTime?”

“Sure, just a sec.” Rachel said as she FaceTimed you.

“Hey, Y/N/N, hey Tom!” Josh smiled.

“Hey,” you and Tom smiled.

“What did you two want to talk about?” Rachel asked.

“While, we have something we need to tell you.” Tom started.

“And we wanted to see your faces.” You cut in. I’m gonna send you a picture.”

“Did you get it?” You asked, grabbing Tom’s hand.

“Yeah, we’re gonna look at it.”

You watched as their faces became confused as they opened the message, then how they softened and their mouths fell open.

“What?” Josh let out.

“Are you pregnant?” Rachel asked, tears coming to her eyes.

“Yes!” You smiled as you started to tear up.

“Oh my gosh!” Rachel screamed. “You’re gonna have a baby! I’m gonna be an aunt!”

“We’re gonna have a baby!” You yelled.

“How far along are you?” Josh asked.

“Five weeks,” Tom proudly answered. “Size of peppercorn.”

“You two are going to be amazing parents!” Rachel smiled. Gosh, I can’t wait to see you!”

“I can’t either!” You smiled. “Both of you!”

“Who else knows?” Josh asked.

“We’re keeping it inside family and close friends for now.” Tom explained, hugging your waist, rubbing your stomach (you think it’s his favorite thing to do right now) “However we’re probably going to say something at the red carpet.”

“We only have to tell Taylor and Travis now, and we’ll do that when we’re done.” You cut in.

“This is amazing! You’re going to be parents!”

“And we’re hoping you two would be the god parents,” you let out.

“What?” Rachel yelled. “Us?”

“Of course,” Tom smiled. “You two are our best friends.”

“There’s no one I would trust more with my baby.”

“Thank you guys.” Josh smiled. “We will gladly be the god parents.”

💜💜💜

“You ready to call Trav, and Taylor?” Tom asked, once you got off the phone with Rachel and Josh.

“Yeah.” You breathed, calling Taylor.

“Hey, honey!”

“Hi Tay!” You smiled. Hey, are you by any chance with Trav right now?”

“Yeah, why? Do you need me to go to another room so we can talk?”

“No! This is great! Can we face time? Tom and I want to tell you guys something.”

You entered the face time and saw both of them.

“Hey, Trav!” You smiled.

“Hey baby girl. Hey Tom.”

“Hey, Trav.” Tom smiled.

“Is everything okay?” Taylor asked.

“Yeah,” you smiled. “everything is great. I’m going to send you a picture.”

“OH MY GOSH!” Taylor yelled, gasping and covering her mouth.

“No way,” Travis smiled.

“This isn’t a choke is it?”

“It’s not,” you shook your head.

“You’re actually pregnant?” Taylor asked.

“I am!”

“Five weeks in,” Tom smiled.

“You guys, this is amazing. My little girl is gonna be a mom!”

[mymoodwriting]

Because You're Mine

Female!Reader x Werewolf!SKZ

Genre: A/B/O

Warning: Fluff, Angst, Paranoia, PTSD, Nightmares, Nesting

Words: 4.5K

Chapter Three

(Prev//Next) (@starillusion13 @salfetkablog @youngunknownwitch @loveforred)

Prompt: With omegas completely removed from society, they needed their own communities and institutions to grow. All your life you had lived and gone to school alongside your fellow omegas, and orphaned alphas. You had managed to keep yourself together, but now at the university level, keeping your secret had grown impossible. You had to face your fears and make friends with an alpha eventually, and now was the time.

“Is that my hoodie?”

“No…”

You shyly hid your face by pulling up the hood, and scurrying off. You could hear Chan laughing down the hall before you closed the door to your room. You went to your desk and started working on your assignments. A while later there was a knock at your door, and you knew who it was. Still, you told them to come in. Chan came up behind you, wrapping an arm around your shoulder and leaning in close to breath in your scent.

“Yeah, that’s my hoodie.”

“It’s nice…”

“I know. When did you go through my closet?”

“You left it on the couch.”

“Ah, and you decided to take it for yourself?”

“I like it.”

“It does look cute on you.”

“Thanks.”

“How are your classes?”

“Good. You know it’s nothing too difficult.”

“But you do such a good job. I’m gonna make some ramen, do you want some?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, come by the kitchen in ten minutes.” 

“Thank you.”

You continued with your assignments and once you made good progress you went to the kitchen to get yourself some ramen. As soon as Chan saw you he prepared you a bowl and slid it towards you. A moment later Jisung joined you, getting his bowl as well. The three of you ate together, and Chan decided to use this moment to make an announcement.

“So, since you’re both here. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What’s up?” Jisung questioned, mouth full of noodles. “You leaving us?”

“No, no, none of that. In fact, since y/n seems to be doing so well with me, we’re gonna move onto the next phase.”

“What’s that?” You wondered. “Are we gonna share a bed or something?”

Chan choked on his noodles and had to take a moment to compose himself. You felt a bit bad for saying something so shocking, but maybe you were dropping hints. Since he didn’t take it well, you figured not to mention it again. Although it would soon be your turn to choke.

“That’s not it.” Chan lightly chuckled. “In fact, we’re gonna have another alpha in the dorm.”

“What!” 

You gagged on your food and immediately got up. You needed a moment to compose yourself and regain your breathing, looking back up at the two.

“You mean… there’ll be two alphas in the dorm…”

“Yes.”

“… why… you’re enough… and-”

“I know you’re okay with me being around, but the whole goal here is to make sure you’re comfortable around alphas in general.”

“But… but…”

“This alpha is a friend of mine, and I can vouch for them. They’re a good person.” Chan assured. “You can meet them tomorrow before they move in.”

“I don’t want another alpha in the dorm…”

“We’ll take things slow, okay y/n.”

You returned to your room without another word, thinking over what Chan had said. You knew this wasn’t his idea, and that he couldn’t change things either. The thought of another alpha in the dorm made you uneasy. You buried your face in the hoodie, trying to calm yourself down. If this one was good like Chan said there should be no problem, but you weren’t gonna know that for sure until you met them.

♥♥♥♥♥

After your classes the next day you went with Jisung to meet up with Chan and this other alpha friend of his. Jisung could tell you were visibly nervous, so he let you borrow one of his shirts to calm you down. It helped a bit, but meeting a new alpha still made you anxious. You waited out in the courtyard, and when you saw Chan with a stranger you hid behind Jisung.

“Hey you two, this is Minho, he’ll be moving in with us.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” Minho held his hand out. “Your name?”

“Jisung. Although-”

“Wow, look at you shaking hands. You’re doing better than-”

“Oh I’m not the one who’s shy.”

“Huh?”

Jisung slightly moved to the side, revealing you for a moment before you hid behind him again. Minho made a knowing look, gently stepping over to get a good look at you.

“Hello there.”

“…”

“My name is Minho, I’m gonna be your new roommate. What’s your name?”

“…”

“Chan has told me about you. There’s no need to be scared. I’ll wait for you to be ready.”

Minho stepped away, and gave Jisung a smile. He wouldn’t be moving in until tomorrow, but still had to pack things up so he excused himself. Once he was gone you tugged on Jisung’s arm to get his attention.

“Hm?”

“Can we go back to the dorm now?”

“You can’t just hide in your room.” Chan said. “Please.”

“Then why can’t we just do study sessions like before?”

“That was for you to get used to me as an alpha, and now that you’re comfortable in the dorm with me we need to keep going with the momentum. Multiple scents is a good thing.”

“Multiple… do you mean…eventually we’re gonna have others in the dorm with us?”

“If you haven’t noticed, our dorm has many empty rooms.”

You shook your head and decided to run off on your own, getting back to the dorm. You liked the way things were right now, but if there was going to be another alpha, then that meant Chan wasn’t really the one assigned to you. It was way too early for that kinda stuff anyway. Of course there was nothing you could do except stay in your room as you heard the other two welcoming Minho and helping him move in the next day. Chan tried to get you to come out to eat, but you didn’t want to, so he just left food by your door.

Minho was certainly well aware of your situation. In the mornings he’d always knock at your door and let you know he was leaving, so you didn’t have to worry about running into him. On campus you might catch glimpses of him, but he did nothing but smile and wave if he ever caught you staring at him. You couldn’t really bring yourself to be nice back, worried that those around him would start thinking they could be friendly with you, and they were all alphas too. You’d always text Jisung or Chan to ask if Minho was in the dorm, but even without an answer from them, Minho knew to keep a distance.

You didn’t like the idea of another alpha being around, but from what you could hear he was getting along nicely with Jisung. You were glad at least those two were working out. Although you knew you couldn’t avoid Minho forever. The two alphas were pretty much reporting on you to the headmaster, so if you didn’t start getting along with Minho properly, well, you didn’t know what would happen to you. Still, you weren’t ready for someone else, even if you caught their scent lingering all over the dorm. You couldn’t avoid him forever though. 

So one night after staying up to study you snuck out of your room to get snacks. You were half asleep already, but craving something at the moment. The halls were dark and you were stumbling a bit. You wound up bumping into someone, and the two of you lost balance, collapsing to the floor. You fell on top of this person, and you soon had the scent of an alpha filling your nose. Chan was up late too, and you were kinda glad to run into him like this. Without much thinking you snuggled against him, sighing contently.

“So you do like me.”

The voice was not Chan’s, and you immediately yelled and got up. Your screams caught the attention of the other two, and before you knew it the lights in the hall were turned on. You saw Jisung peeking out of his room, Chan as well. Then you slowly looked down to see Minho getting up. Your eyes went wide as you realized a moment ago you had been snuggling against him, and he had a content smile on his face.

“I guess to a degree you are more comfortable with alphas. Or maybe it has to do with my scent being around the dorm, either way, I’m glad to know you aren’t afraid of me.”

“What happened?” Chan questioned. “Are you okay, y/n?”

“I… I… I thought…”

“She just stumbled into me and we both fell.” Minho explained. “She was just startled since it was both dark and we didn’t see each other.”

“Yeah.” You agreed. “I’m not hurt or anything, you can go back to bed.”

“Okay, just be careful.”

“Sorry…”

Chan and Jisung returned to their rooms, but before you could run off Minho grabbed your arm and pulled you closer to him.

“You’re seriously not hurt, right?”

“No…” You couldn’t meet his gaze. “I’m fine.”

“What were you doing up this late?”

“Nothing…”

“Come on, I know that’s not true.”

“I… I just wanted some snacks…”

“Then let’s get you some before bed.”

“Wait-”

Minho dragged you along to the kitchen and sat you down as he went through the cabinets. You could probably run off now that he had his back turned, but you did want a snack. The two of you stayed together, sitting in awkward silence for a moment.

“You thought I was Chan, didn’t you?”

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay, I understand. You’re so used to having one alpha around, and in your state, you just assumed.”

“I don’t… hate you or anything… I just…”

“I know what happened to you, and I’m so sorry. Alphas like that aren’t the ones who will be around you. We may have advanced in our studies and training, but we don’t truly begin until after graduation.”

“So you don’t know why omegas need protection either…”

“I do.”

“You do!”

“Of course.”

“Can you tell me? It doesn’t make sense why omegas would get such serious protection and-”

“Y/n.”

“Hm?”

“You are worthy of protection. The last couple of days, even if we haven’t talked much, I know I’d want to protect you from all the bad things in this world.”

“Aish… you’re just saying that.”

“I’m not. It hurts to know something so bad was done to you when you have such a precious smile and heart. I wouldn’t want anything like that to happen to you ever again.”

“Isn’t that… just what every alpha thinks…”

“Perhaps. We all grow up with the idea that omegas need to be protected. Although getting to know you shows me that it’s not something ridiculous.”

“That’s nice…”

“I hope we can get to know each other better, and you won’t avoid me too much.”

“I’ll try not to.”

“Good. Now let’s get you to bed.”

Minho took your hand and led you back to your room, telling you to get some sleep. You wished him a good night before closing the door. You managed to sleep peacefully and this time when Minho came to knock on your door you opened it and told him to have a good day, and that you’d see him later.

“Look at you.” Jisung teased. “Getting along with both the alphas.”

“What? You do as well.”

“Yeah, but it’s nice to see. You’re not so shy and scared anymore, I’m proud of you.”

“Shut up.”

Since you were more open to socializing with Minho, he began to join you for group study sessions in the dorm. At first you made sure to sit as far as possible, but gradually you let him be closer. He was warm and comforting, just like Chan, so you had no reason to be afraid of him either. You would say hello if you saw him on campus, and would be happy to see him at the dorms. The others were all proud of your progress, and you were too. You knew that someday you’d have to get along with alphas, and this was a much better experience than you could ever have imagined. Although it couldn’t be perfect.

One evening you stayed late in the library to study, returning to the dorm around dinner time. Minho had already cooked, and left some food out for you. He and the other two had already eaten and were on the couch playing video games. You happily watched them play and they got very immersed in the game. They started shoving and spit out threats to each other. Jisung wound up backing out of things, telling them to calm down as well since it was just a game, but things only got more heated.

“Guys… cut it out…” Jisung struggled to speak. “… stop it… before-”

At first you thought it was all fun and games, but you began to feel the tension in the air. Just like Jisung, you were getting anxious. You couldn’t speak, but you wanted to. Although when you opened your mouth you suddenly found it hard to breathe, panicking. You fell off your chair and collapsed to the ground, hyperventilating. Your vision was a blur and you felt this weight on your chest. You were scared but you weren’t entirely sure of what. Jisung had heard your commotion and managed to get some clarity and rush over to your side. You tried to push him away, unsure of who he was, but he persisted until he had you in his arms. As much as he wanted to help he was also in a state of panic, but he managed some strength.

“STOP!”

Minho and Chan stopped their arguing and looked over at the two, the scent of fear hitting them both. Immediately they realized what they had done. They tried approaching but both you and Jisung flinched and moved away.

“I… fuck, I’m sorry.” Chan said. “I didn’t… we didn’t…”

“We… we know…” Jisung mumbled. “Just… not…”

“What do we do?” Minho questioned. “If we tell the headmaster about this, we’re both gonna be screwed…”

“We’ll… we’ll be fine…” Jisung said. “Call… Felix…”

“Felix?” Chan questioned. “What about him?”

“Who’s that?” Minho wondered. “Another alpha?”

“No, he’s an omega.”

“How does that help?”

“I don’t know, it’s Jisung’s idea.”

“Just… do it…”

“And you sure he won’t say anything?” Minho asked.

“I don’t think so.” Chan remarked. “But let’s just call him first.”

Chan and Minho stepped away from the two of you. Jisung had told them he had Felix’s number on his phone, and to text him. They waited anxiously and a while later Felix came to the dorm. He seemed so happy and eager to be invited over, that is until he saw the state Jisung and you were in. His eyes grew wide with concern.

“What did you two do!”

“It was an accident.” Chan explained. “We weren’t thinking and… we didn’t mean to scare them.”

“Aren’t alphas supposed to have control of their emotions?”

“Agents are.” Minho corrected. “But we’re not exactly there yet. This is why alphas and omegas aren’t usually left alone with each other.”

“So why are you all in a dorm together?”

“That’s not important right now.”

“Obviously.” Felix turned to you both. “What’s going on? What happened?”

“I… I’ll explain… later…” Jisung mumbled. “We… we need to… get away from them… can you… take y/n… to her room… please… and give her… your jacket…”

“Yeah, yeah sure. No problem.”

Felix took off his jacket and helped you to your feet, wrapping you up in it. Chan and Minho stepped away, letting Felix know where your room was. He sat you down on the bed staying with you for a moment.

“It’s okay, you’re okay now.”

You still found it hard to breathe, but at least the scent surrounding you now didn’t have any trace of an alpha in it. You didn’t want Felix to go, but you knew Jisung also needed help. He promised to return in a bit and left you alone. You were already so sensitive when it came to the pheromones of an alpha, but for Jisung to get messed up too, it was bad. Now that you were completely alone the tears started falling. When you closed your eyes the darkness took you back to that day. You fell to the floor and curled up, you could barely speak but you were crying out for help again. You kept at it until you passed out.

♥♥♥♥♥

Felix helped Jisung to his feet and into his room as well, although the boy wanted to get into the shower and clean himself up. After a few minutes under cold water he felt better.

“So, you gonna explain yourself now?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Yeah. You told me you and y/n were switching dorms, but you never said you were sharing it with alphas! Are you insane? Look at yourself, what if they had done something worse than just get mad? What happens when they get mad at you?”

“This was all an accident.”

“Still, you gonna explain?”

“Will you let it go if I don’t?”

“Not a chance.”

Jisung sighed. “You need to keep this a secret, you promise?”

“I promise, swear on my life.”

“Fine. Let’s just say something happened with y/n when she was young, and she doesn’t like alphas. The headmaster found out recently and-”

“Is that why a bunch of alphas were kicked out of school?”

“Yes…”

“Oh my gosh that’s insane! Everyone has been wondering what the reason was and-”

“You can’t tell anyone. I mean it Felix.”

“If the headmaster is involved in all this then I will keep my mouth shut. I don’t know what they’ll do to an omega that steps out of line…”

“Good.”

“So then why are you dorming with alphas if she has a problem with them?”

“Seriously? Look at our future, we end up with an alpha. If she can’t be around them, it’s a problem. So the idea here is to get her used to alphas.”

“Okay, okay, makes sense. But aren’t they gonna get in trouble for what just happened?”

“We’re not gonna tell the headmaster, that’s why we called you.”

“Me?”

“Needed an omega from the outside to help, and I trust you.”

“Thanks… although doesn’t this mean we shouldn’t leave y/n by herself.”

“Fuck.”

Jisung stumbled out of the bathtub, running out of his room and dragging water everywhere. Felix closely followed behind and the two burst into your room, seeing you curled up on the floor and trembling. Jisung scooped you up in his arms, trying to get you to wake up. After a moment you opened your eyes, relief flooding Jisung’s face. Although you started crying again, and he tried to sooth you.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, nothing bad is gonna happen, you’re safe, I promise.”

When the two omegas had run out of the room both Chan and Minho got concerned. They peeked into your room, seeing that you were in Jisung’s arms and crying. They both so desperately wanted to help, guilt chewing them both out, but when Felix noticed them he shut the door. As much as they wanted to help, now was not the time. Jisung asked Felix to run a warm bath for you, needing to get you to relax. He did as he was asked, the two then helping you into the bath. You didn’t want to let go of Jisung, so he got in with you, keeping his arms wrapped around you. Eventually you stopped shaking, feeling much more at ease and like your usual self.

“Y/n.”

“Hm…”

“You think we can get out of the water now?” Jisung asked.

“Yeah, it’s getting cold.”

Felix wrapped you up in a towel when you stepped out of the tub. Jisung followed soon after and went to his room, saying he’d come mop when he was in dry clothes. You assured Felix you were alright and asked him to get you some clothes so you could change. At this point you might get a cold but you didn’t care. You got dressed and grabbed a towel to dry your hair, cautiously stepping out of the bathroom. Felix was waiting for you on your bed, relieved to see you up on your feet.

“Y/n, how are you feeling?”

“Stable… how’s Jisung?”

“He’s changing and drying off now, he’s okay.”

“And the others…”

“Uh, I’m not sure, but they’re worried, and very sorry.” 

“I know… where are they?”

“They’ve been in the living room.”

“I’ll go talk to them.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Felix grabbed your hand. “You just got better.”

“And they’re worried sick and probably cursing themselves out. I know they didn’t mean to do anything.” You yanked Felix closer. “You’re coming with me of course.”

“Absolutely.”

Even if you were putting on a brave face, you were nervous, but you knew they needed some reassurance too. You carefully peeked into the living room, seeing the two on the couch, both anxiously waiting around.

“Chan… Minho…”

“Y/n!”

Chan got up, wanting to approach you but Minho held him back. By then Jisung had come over to join you, taking your other hand. He could tell you were still nervous, but he was quite happy to see you stepping up.

“Are you guys okay?” Minho asked. “We’re so sorry, we didn’t mean-”

“We know.” Jisung interrupted. “Still, in the moment it felt like you might do something to us.”

“We would never.”

“Still.”

“This won’t happen again.” Chan stated. “We’ll be more cautious. If you need anything else from us, just-”

“Will you…” You struggled to get the words out. “Will you… sleep with me tonight?”

“Y/n, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” Felix said. “After what just happened.”

“I know I’m gonna have nightmares… but I’d rather have you two with me so I can remember there are good alphas…”

“Wait, both of us?” Minho questioned. “You want us both to sleep with you?”

“I’d feel better that way…”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Although I don’t think your bed is big enough for three.”

“We can gather some blankets and pillows.” Chan suggested. “And make a fort here in the living room, how does that sound? Then we can all stay together.”

“Me too?” Felix questioned.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the omegas to outnumber the alphas tonight.”

Everyone agreed with Chan’s plan, so you got to work. Some of the furniture was moved around, and a bunch of blankets were brought over. Minho has turned on the TV for some background noise while you set everything up. It was very soft and cozy as you wrapped yourself up in a blanket and found a spot in the fort. Chan and Minho both cautiously took a seat at your side.

“I’m not scared.” You admitted. “I know you won’t hurt me.”

You focused on the TV, not wanting to let your thoughts drift to other things. The rest of the guys found a place to get comfy, everyone gathered together and watched TV in silence. You had a lingering sense of worry from the two alphas but you just took it as reassurance that they genuinely cared about you. At some point you began to doze off, your head lolling a bit before Minho carefully reached over and let you rest on his shoulder. It wasn’t long before you fell asleep. Chan lowered the volume on the TV, gently petting your head.

“She’s asleep.”

“I was worried she wouldn’t be able to get some rest tonight.” Minho commented. “I didn’t expect this though.”

“Y/n’s really trying to get over her fears.” Jisung said. “Although you two did not help at all tonight.”

“We know. You don’t have to keep reminding me.”

“Well, I should probably head out.” Felix mentioned. “Since she’s asleep now.”

“You can stay the night.” Chan offered. “It really would be better that way.”

“Alright. I guess I should come by more often to make sure you two don’t do anything crazy.”

“That might not be a bad idea.” Jisung said. “Why not just have him move in?”

“Wait, really?” Felix wondered. “Can I?”

“We have a lot of rooms.”

“That would be awesome. This place is way cooler and-”

“We can’t make that decision.” Chan interrupted. “The headmaster was the one that decided to have a co-ed dorm. I recommended Minho upon his request, but it’s out of our hands who can actually move in.”

“Why not just ask.” Jisung suggested. “I bet y/n would feel better with another omega around.”

“It wouldn’t hurt.” Minho added. “Y/n has been making progress, I mean, look at her now.”

“Yeah… Felix, if you agree to this, you’ll need to keep it a secret.” Chan stated. “Or else I don’t know what will happen.”

“I know, I know. I’m down to be your new roommate.”

“Just don’t get your hopes up.”

You snuggled against Minho, the boy pulling up a blanket to make sure you were warm. Everyone eventually fell asleep, although it was only normal you were all a bit sore come morning. Still, you had slept well with no nightmares, and that was worth the aches. Felix hung around with you more, it was only natural given he finally understood something so important about you. He’d even come by the dorm more often too. You were glad to have another friend, and happy that Chan and Minho didn’t object or say something. After the whole thing they had their guard up around you, but slowly they relaxed. You knew they’d do better, and you showed them nothing but trust. You had no idea something else was going on until it was brought to your attention.

“Guys.” Chan called as he entered the dorm. “I have some good news and bad news.”

“About what?” You questioned.

“It’s nothing serious.” Minho assured.

“But what is it?”

“So… Felix.” Chan looked over at the boy. “I spoke to the headmaster.”

“What did he say?” Felix asked. “Can I move in?”

“Wait, Felix is moving in?” You interrupted. “Since when.”

“Well… we all figured it would be best to have another omega around.” Minho explained. “So Chan asked about that, and I guess the headmaster liked the idea too.”

“Awesome!” Felix cheered. “I’m gonna start-”

“But.” Chan interrupted. “The headmaster doesn’t like the idea of the ratio being off right now.”

“What does that mean?” Jisung wondered.

“It means Felix can move in as long as another alpha does as well.”

“Cool. One for each of us.” Felix joked. “Do I get to pick?”

“You think we’re already paired off or something?” Jisung asked. “Cause we’re not.”

“Oh, I thought-”

“Felix doesn’t get to pick.” Chan cut in. “We all need to come to an agreement.”

“Y/n doesn’t know any other alphas besides us.” Minho reminded. “So how is that fair to her?”

“Well, I guess we just have to pitch our friends to her. Whoever we think can be trusted. Is that okay with you, y/n?”

“Uh… I… I guess… what’s another alpha in the dorm, right?”

[kybercrystals94]

hey dude!!! I totally get if you’re busy but I had to ask:

I’m leaving for college tomorrow (11 hour drive babyyyyy) and I’m excited but it’s just. A lot. And one thing I’ve noticed that really helps is kind of thinking about the Bad Batch, and what they’d say to encourage someone in a similar scenario.

And so i was wondering: would you have the energy to write something of literally any length (could be 10 words idc) of the bad batch encouraging Omega to make her decision to join the rebellion?

If not that is A-OKAY dw!!!

Thanks :3

Oof! Long car rides are exhausting —but how exciting! Heading to college to learn and create new memories…I think I could write you something 🫶

“Are you gonna go?”

Omega sits with her back against the curved wall off the house. The night is mild for Pabu in late summer, and a soft breeze brushes by, sifting through Omega’s hair and making the tear tracks left on her cheeks feel cool. “I don’t know, Wrecker. I feel like I should…like I need to…but…” she cuts herself off, wiping the sleeve of her jacket roughly across her face.

“But what?” Wrecker prompts, moving to sit next to her. He moves slowly, on worn joints and aching muscles. Age has claimed his youth so much sooner than it should have.

Omega waits until he is settled before she leans against him and his endless warmth. “What if I leave,” she whispers, “and something happens. Here.”

Wrecker chuckles. A rumbling thing that rattles her. “Nothing’s gonna happen here, kid. It’ll be the same old thing it’s been since we settled here. You’ll come visit, and it’ll be the same as it was, like ya never left.”

Omega smiles. Her brothers have found so much comfort in their routines. Their familiar, comforting routines. Maybe she’ll miss that more than she first thought. Knowing where her brothers are any time of the day simply based on where the sun is positioned in the sky.

But that isn’t what she meant. “What if something happens…to one of you?”

Wrecker is quiet for several long moments. “We’ll look after each other, Megs, you don’t gotta worry about us. Fear shouldn’t be what makes you stay.”

“Hunter doesn’t want me to go,” Omega says, “and Crosshair pretends he’s neutral on the subject…but he’s not. Do you want me to go?”

“Want ya to go?” Wrecker puts an arm around her, holds her tight against him. She’ll always feel small next to him, always feel like the child she outgrew years ago. “Yes and no. Yes, because I can tell it means a lot to ya, and I think what you wanna do is important. No because I’ll miss you. More than anything. But I can’t let my fears make ya stay either, Omega. Neither can Hunter or Cross. They just want what’s best for you.”

“Helping with the Rebellion…I could make a difference. I could use all the skills I’ve learned to help…”

“And that’s what you’ll do,” Wrecker says, voice low. “No matter what, we’re all proud of you. So kriffing proud.”

“Really?” Omega mutters into him, snuggling closer.

“‘Course we are. You’re gonna rattle the galaxy, kid. And we’ll be here waiting when you come home.”

END

I hope you like it, anon! I wrote this little snippet before getting ready for work, so pardon my typos 🥹

Have a safe journey to college!! And thanks so much for the ask! 🫶

[hbowarbabes]

Late Calls

John “Bucky” Egan x Roxanne Vernon (OC)

Summary: Roxanne can’t help but worry after she doesn’t hear from Bucky in days after receiving a gift from him. It’s not until she gets a call at work that she starts becoming worried.

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, slight angst, some allusion to sex

Words: 4.7k

Note: This mini fic leads up to the events in “A Promise and A Hope”, so be sure to check it out :)

• • •

Thorpe Abbotts,

October 6, 1943

Roxanne sat at her desk, continuously clicking her pen, tapping her foot and twirling her hair. She still had some work to get done, but her mind was elsewhere. Sandra sat beside her, flipping through a magazine to get her mind off the boring silence.

"So, Rox, have you and Bucky set a date for the big day yet?" Sandra teased, eyeing Roxanne with a smirk. "You know I can't wait to be the maid of honor."

Roxanne laughed, rolling her eyes. "Oh, please. I haven’t even thought about marriage. I’ve only been with the man for a few months.”

And it was true. She had never considered it or discussed the topic around Bucky. He was always the one making little comments or jokes about Roxanne being his “wife” even though she was nothing more than his girlfriend. Roxanne just ignored his comments and laughed them off.

Sandra frowned, her brow furrowing in concern. "Did he do something to piss you off? Because I’m gonna have to kick his ass."

“No, that’s not it.” Roxanne chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m just trying to take things slow with him.”

At 24, Roxanne believed it was a freedom point in her life. She was getting to live the beginning of her adulthood. And much to her parent’s dismay, she was doing whatever she pleased- even if it meant leaving to another country in search of work and a new life.

Sandra shook her head, chuckling. "Well, you better lock him down before someone else does. And trust me, no man is gonna pass up an opportunity. I speak from experience."

Roxanne just shook her head, laughing. “I’m in no rush to get married. We’re still getting to know each other.”

Sandra raised an eyebrow, giving Roxanne a knowing look. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Getting to know each other?”

Roxanne rolled her eyes. “Christ, Sandra, you want me to marry him tomorrow? You want to foot the bill for the wedding?”

Sandra leaned in closer, putting the magazine over her mouth as if someone was watching them. “More like I’ll be footin’ the bill for Egan’s funeral if he doesn’t put a ring on ya finger.”

Roxanne couldn’t help but laugh at her friend’s antics. “You’re out of your damn mind.”

Sandra rolled her eyes, flipping through her magazine with a huff. “Hun, all I'm tryin’ to say is that ya gotta make up your mind. You know how most of these hunks are. One minute they’re all sweet talk and stolen kisses, and the next they’re going out and showin’ themselves to the world while you’re cryin’ in a corner.”

Roxanne couldn’t help but chuckle at Sandra’s exaggerated concern. “I promise you, Sandra, Bucky is not going anywhere. And if he does, we’ll have a problem.”

Sandra put her hands up defensively. “Ok, ok. I just don’t want them throwin’ me in the brig ‘cause I had to beat up a major. You know what I’m sayin’?”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the clinic door swinging open. Both ladies were caught off guard by the loud sound of the door slamming against the wall.

“Can we help ya?” Sandra dropped her magazine on the desk and approached the stranger who had just come in. Standing on the other side, a man held a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

“I’m supposed to leave these for a ‘Roxanne’?,” The man read a tag that hung around the stem of the flower bundle.

“Well you are in the right place, hun.”

“I’ll take those off your hands for ya.” Sandra took the bouquet from the man, securing the bouquet in her arms as if it were a baby.

Roxanne grew suspicious when she saw the man lean into Sandra’s ear and whisper something to her, to which she just laughed and patted the man on the arm.

As the man left the clinic, Sandra came back to the desk with a huge smile on her face. Roxanne raised an eyebrow at Sandra as she set the bouquet down on the desk. "What was that all about? He got a crush on you or something?" she asked, crossing her arms.

“Oh, no, he was tellin’ me about your man. How he was going crazy over you at the club last night. The guy’s one of his buddies.”

Roxanne stared at her friend, dumbfounded. Sandra nodded her head at the bouquet. “Read it.”

She immediately flipped over the tag, which read “For Roxanne, From John.”

Roxanne blushed furiously, feeling a wave of butterflies in her stomach as she read the rest of the note on the tag.

“Hope to see you this week. I’ve been missing your pretty face, doll.”

As Roxanne held the bouquet close to her chest, Sandra couldn't contain her laughter. “Someone’s got themselves a little Romeo.”

Roxanne playfully swatted Sandra on the arm, but deep down, she couldn’t deny that a part of her was flattered by John’s gesture.

“That flyboy who dropped the flowers off told me the Major’s supposed to be leaving base. Got a weekend pass.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Nope, that was it.”

• • •

October 8, 1943

As the weekend approached, Roxanne found herself busy working at the clinic, attending to multiple patients. She couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that had settled in her stomach since Bucky had left, but she pushed it to the back of her mind as she tended to her patients. 

She had no idea why Bucky had left without telling her. She tried not to worry too much, assuming he had just wanted some time alone. But as the afternoon wore on and she didn't hear from him, her concern grew.

Sandra wasn’t in the clinic that day to keep Roxanne company, so she had no choice but to endure the silence.

After attending to a few more patients, Roxanne finally had a moment to herself. She decided to take a break and stepped outside the clinic. She looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Bucky, but he was nowhere to be seen.

She walked back inside the clinic, unable to brush away the thought of Bucky and his unusual behavior. An honest man he said he was, Roxanne thought. 

As the minutes went by, Roxanne stared intently at the door, just hoping the Major would walk through, ready to take her out or to just have some small talk. But there was no use waiting. No one was coming.

Roxanne hated feeling this way.

Whenever Bucky left the base, he would take her out, and if he couldn’t bring her with, he would at least let her know he would be off. But this time, nothing. Just a bouquet of roses and a simple note remained untouched on her desk.

It wasn't until the phone rang that Roxanne's train of thought was interrupted. Who could be calling at this time?

Roxanne rushed from her desk to pick up the phone, bringing it to her ear. She heard some static in the background, but no voice.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice filled with unease.

“Could I speak with Roxanne?” The familiar voice sent a wave of relief through her.

“Yes. This is she.”

"Hey, it's me," Bucky's voice came through the receiver, calm and collected.

Roxanne's heart skipped a beat. "Bucky, why are you calling me? Is everything okay?"

"I just wanted to see you," he replied, his voice tinged with something she couldn't quite place. "I know this is really short notice, but I need you to come down to Hammersmith if you can."

Roxanne felt her stomach churn with a mix of worry and excitement. Bucky rarely called her out of the blue like this, and she couldn't help but wonder why he was asking her to go to another city by herself. 

Her mind raced as she processed Bucky's request. Hammersmith was an odd place for him to want to meet, especially at this hour. But she couldn't ignore the urgency in his voice.

She hesitated for a moment before responding, “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you, doll. I’ll see you then. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Without thinking too much about it, Roxanne grabbed her coat and rushed out of the base. She hailed a cab and gave the driver instructions to take her to Hammersmith.

The whole way there, Roxanne's mind was racing with questions. What was Bucky doing? Why was he being so mysterious?

As she sat in the back of the cab, Roxanne couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled in the pit of her stomach. She replayed Bucky's voice in her head, trying to decipher if there was something off about his tone. But she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

• • •

Hammersmith, London

When she got to Hammersmith, where Bucky had told her to meet him, she found him standing in front of some shop, a look of anticipation on his face. Roxanne couldn't understand why he was acting so weird, but she put on a smile and greeted him warmly.

“Hey, baby.” Bucky’s arm snaked around Roxanne’s waist as he placed a kiss on her nose. She took in the scent of his mint gum as she pecked him on the cheek.

“You look nice.” He whispered softly, his hot breath hitting against her cheek. “What am I kidding? You always do.”

“Yeah. You look sharp yourself, John.” Roxanne ran her thumb over the collar of Bucky’s neatly ironed uniform. She couldn’t ignore that something felt different about this interaction. She wanted to say something, but before she could even open her mouth, Bucky cut her off.

“Come on. Let’s get out of this crappy weather.”

Roxanne nodded, keeping her eyes on Bucky, who didn’t even glance at her.

Bucky held onto her hand as he led her down the street to a quaint little cafe. The building read “Cafe Warsaw”. Looking through the large and open windows, Roxanne noticed the crammed tables, people young and old drinking and playing games. The atmosphere was loud and busy, and she couldn't help but grow anxious as she entered the crowded cafe.

As they sat down, Bucky kept his same content expression, which didn’t sit right with Roxanne. She could see the glazed look in his eyes and the slight wobble in his movements as he settled onto the bar stool beside her. 

Bucky waved to the bartender and ordered a round of drinks without even looking at Roxanne. She watched in dismay as he downed a shot with no hesitation, his laughter ringing hollow in her ears. She didn’t even touch her own drink; the sight of Bucky’s reckless behavior made her stomach churn with unease.

"John, slow down. Your drink’s not going to run away." Roxanne said, her voice laced with concern as Bucky reached for a second shot.

Bucky chuckled, a little too loudly. “I know you’re probably pissed with me right now, Vernon.” he said, his words slightly slurred. “But I’m having the time of my life right now, you know that?”

Roxanne’s frown deepened. She couldn’t understand how Bucky could be enjoying himself in such a state. His carefree attitude only served to worry her more. She wasn’t having any of it.

“John, are you drunk?” Roxanne asked, trying to get to the bottom of his strange behavior.

“Me? Drunk? No, no, no.” He shook his head, his brows furrowing.“I’m just having a good time with my girl.” Bucky said with a wide smile. “Is a man not allowed to be around his woman? It is a weekend after all.” 

“It’s Friday-” Roxanne started, but Bucky cut her off.

“Roxanne,” Bucky said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Relax, baby.”

Roxanne looked at him with a weak smile. She could see the alcohol-induced haze in his eyes and knew he wasn’t in his right mind. He was sure going to regret this by tomorrow morning.

Bucky put his shot glass back on the bar table with a loud thud. He brought his hand to cup her cheek, gliding his thumb over her soft jawline. “Rox, what’s got you all quiet?”

Roxanne was on the verge of knocking him out. But a cafe was not the place to do it. Instead, she held her tongue.

“I don’t know. Maybe the fact you forced me to leave work for drinks.” Roxanne moved her full shot glass away from her as Bucky nearly tipped it over with his arm. “I don’t even drink. You know that.”

“But we should be enjoying the fruits of our labor now, right?”

“Yeah. I guess.”

• • •

Later that night, Roxanne found herself on a crowded dance floor, dancing half-heartedly, trying to keep up with Bucky's erratic movements. He had dragged her out there even though she was unwilling. But even drunk, he was still able to charm her. Not that it was a good thing.

 As they swayed to the music, Roxanne couldn't shake off the feeling of foreboding that hung in the air.

He continuously kissed her, not even allowing her a second to breathe. His hands rode up her hips and waist, not allowing her to move freely. Roxanne eventually gave up trying to pry him off of her and just did as he said. Enjoy it.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, her lips clashed against his. While she was gentle on his lips, he was the complete opposite. He was practically biting her face off.

Roxanne didn’t know how to feel about this. Two days before, he had gone from the gentleman leaving her a fresh bouquet of roses to the man who was drunk out of his mind. 

The music thumped in her ears, drowning out the noise of the crowded bar. Roxanne felt the heat of the bodies pressed against her, the smell of alcohol and sweat permeating the air. Bucky’s hands roamed freely, his touch possessive and demanding.

God, how could I get myself into a mess like this, Roxanne thought. She just wanted to leave this place already.

It was then that Bucky leaned in and whispered in her ear, his breath hot and boozy against her skin. "Let's get out of here," he slurred, his words barely coherent. Roxanne managed to pull away from his strong grip, then grabbing him by the arm and dragging him off the dancefloor. 

She guided him out of the bar, got a cab, and got to Bucky’s hotel room, all with hopes that he’d sober up by morning. She was not about to bring the drunk major back to base and risk him losing his career.

• • •

As they settled in the large room, Bucky wasted no time in taking off his uniform.

Roxanne dropped her own belongings on the bed and rushed to Bucky's side as he almost stumbled in his haste to get out of his uniform.

“John, stop-” Roxanne reached out and held both of his arms, propping him up before he could fall. She could feel the warmth of his skin through the fabric of his shirt.

“I’m going to grab you some clothes. You’re going to change in the bathroom, okay?” Roxanne tried to keep her voice firm, but there was a softness to her tone that betrayed her true feelings. She hated seeing Bucky like this, vulnerable and lost in a sea of alcohol and exhaustion.

“Jesus, Rox, you’re talking to me like I’m a child.” Bucky's words were slurred, his gaze unfocused as he tried to meet her eyes.

“Yeah, all because you decided to act like one.”

Roxanne found a couple outfits, none that were actually comfortable. After rummaging through everything in his bag, she stumbled upon a pair of sweatpants.

She got up on her feet and dropped the sweatpants in Bucky’s hand. He looked at her with a drunken smile.

“Come on, on your feet.” Roxanne took Bucky’s hand, her touch gentle and reassuring. She helped him lift himself off the bed, his weight heavy against her as they shuffled towards the bathroom.

“I can walk, you know.” Being as drunk as he was, Bucky was still stubborn.

“Good. Try not to fall. I don’t want to have to take you to the hospital now.” Roxanne guided Bucky towards the bathroom, her arm wrapped around his waist for support. 

“But my girl’s a nurse. I’m sure she can take care of me.”

“It’s not during working hours and it’s almost the weekend, so you’re shit out of luck, Major.”

“I love it when you call me Major-” Bucky shook his head, a sheepish grin on his face.

“Just change your damn clothes.”

He then shut the door with a loud slam. He stumbled his way to the sink, turning on the faucet and splashing some cool water on his face. “You good in there?” Roxanne stood in front of the door, arms crossed as she waited for him to finish and change into some clean clothes.

As he dried his face with a towel, Bucky caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His eyes were bleary, his hair a mess, and he could see the flush of alcohol still lingering in his cheeks. “Yeah.” He let out a sigh before mustering up the strength to change into a fresh pair of sweatpants.

“Rox, you don’t have to stand there y’know. I can see your feet from under the door.”

“Okay.” Roxanne sighed before backing away from the door.

She exhaustedly roamed the room, examining every little object on Bucky’s nightstand from afar.

What got her attention was a little black velvet box that sat next to a card labeled “For my girl” sitting on the dresser. Roxanne had the urge to find out what was in it, but she felt bad going through things without Bucky’s permission.

She took off her coat and laid it down on the bed. As she sunk back in a chair, she pushed back one of the curtains, taking in the sight of the starry skyline.

Right now, she would normally be hanging out with the girls at a pub or they’d go out for a nice dinner. Why she chose to drop everything just for Bucky and his emotions didn’t leave her in a happy mood. Fortunately, this was only a one-time incident that she hoped wouldn’t occur again.

The silence lingered in the room as Bucky finally emerged from the bathroom, wearing nothing more than sweatpants. He wasn’t as drunk as he was at the cafe, but he was still feeling the effects of the alcohol.

As Roxanne turned around, she couldn’t help but notice the unease in his demeanor, the way he avoided making eye contact with her. He didn’t say a word to her.

Roxanne let it go. For just a few minutes in her life, she wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet, something that she rarely got to enjoy.

Once she got bored of the silence, she turned to Bucky, who sat on the bed, keeping his eyes glued on Roxanne. He wasn’t staring at her with that drunken smile anymore. No. It was more of a look of remorse.

In all honesty, Roxanne was tired all because of her non-stop work that day. Too tired to talk to Bucky about him and his actions. But what good would it do for the both of them?

Taking a deep breath, Roxanne turned her whole body to face the exhausted looking Major.

“Bucky, what’s going on?” Her voice was soft, filled with concern as she remained in the chair, watching Bucky shake his head in embarrassment.

he let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping as he sank onto the edge of the bed. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, avoiding Roxanne’s gaze. “I don’t know.”

She looked away from Bucky and back out the window.

“You didn’t tell me you’d be coming to the city to drink. You didn’t even tell me you’d be leaving.” Roxanne said calmly, still feeling a mix of hurt and frustration. She wasn’t going to shout in Bucky’s face as he was already in a drunken state. He’d probably forget everything she said the next day.

“I’m done with this, Rox.” Bucky said, his voice filled with frustration. He sounded a bit more sober now than before.

“Done with what?” Roxanne asked, confused.

“With having to leave you all the time. It’s killing me,” Bucky admitted, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air. That was something Roxanne least expected to hear.

“That’s not your fault.”

Bucky went silent, the internal struggle evident on his face.

Roxanne made her way over to the bed, sitting down next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, offering comfort in the silence that surrounded them. "John, please talk to me."

"I just... I don't know how to handle it anymore. The constant leaving, the distance between us. It's tearing me apart." Bucky finally met Roxanne's gaze, his eyes filled with anguish. “With all these missions and all these men going down, I don’t know how to feel.” Bucky buried his face in his hands.

"I don’t want to lose you, Rox. But everyday it feels like I’m getting close to losing myself.”

“Hey, no, don’t say that. You’re not going to lose me.” Roxanne smiled softly, her heart breaking as the man she loved broke down. She ran her fingers through his tousled curls, trying to offer him some comfort.

He raised his head, his red eyes still visible to Roxanne. “How do you know for sure, Rox? How do you know I’m not going to die?” Bucky retorted, no optimism in his voice.

“You’ve made it this far, haven’t you?”

He went quiet, his gaze unfocused even though he was staring right at Roxanne. She felt like she wasn’t getting through to him, and it hurt her.

Roxanne took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to say. “Look, I don't care what your colonel says about any mission and what odds you may have. That doesn’t mean anything. But if you keep sitting here and saying that you’re going to die and that you feel like the end is near, then you’ve already given up on yourself.”

Roxanne sighed, trying to catch her breath after the outpouring of words. “I’m not going to let that happen. Even if you annoy the crap out of me sometimes, I still love you.”

He blinked, processing her words. Not once had he seen her get as agitated as she did. 

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go get cleaned up. So, please don’t do anything stupid.” 

Roxanne felt disgusted still being in her work clothes, with some spots of blood being visible. All she had in her bag was a slip dress that she got as a gift from her friend. That was the best she could do until she got back to base. She headed to the bathroom without glancing back at Bucky.

“Why do you put up with me?”

Roxanne stopped where she was, not turning her head. She couldn’t understand why Bucky would think of such things. Then again, it was the alcohol talking.

“Did you think dating me was the best you could do?”

Once again, she ignored him. All she wanted to do was shower without disruptions, but hearing all those words come out of his mouth felt like a slap in the face. If she were any other woman, she would’ve left without hesitation.

“Y’know, the other night I had a dream about you,” Bucky got up the bed, making his way to Roxanne.

“You were in the clinic. It was time for me to go, and I wanted to see you before I left. Like I always do.” He dragged his thumb along the side of Roxanne’s cheek. She looked down at the ground, her arms wrapped around her chest, not wanting to see Bucky in the face.

“Everything was great. And then out of the blue, you told me it was done. That you couldn’t stand being with a man who was at risk of dying any day,” Bucky inhaled deeply, bringing his hand to his chin as he tried to find the words to tell Roxanne, who wasn’t saying anything back.

“It all felt so real.” Bucky’s voice grew a little more faint as he struggled to speak. “And I’m afraid that’s what’s going to happen. That you’re just going to leave me for some man more deserving of your love and your time.”

Bucky pushed a loose strand of hair behind Roxanne’s ear. He could hear her faint sniffles even as she tried her best to conceal them.

“Rox, please say something.” Bucky rested both of his hands on her arms, still resisting the urge to pull her into his embrace even as she pushed herself away from him.

“John,” Roxanne took a deep breath as she tried to keep her tears from spilling. She began to wonder why she even came when he asked. Was it worry? Desperation? Love?

She hated having to question herself like this. But what she hated even more was the fact that Bucky never acted like this.

“Just give me some time. Please.” Roxanne gently pulled her arms away from Bucky’s soft grip. She pushed open the bathroom door, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

• • •

After her bath, Roxanne made her way to the bed, where she found Bucky laying on the bed, his eyes closed and his breathing heavy. She frowned, wondering if he had passed out while she was in the shower.

She sat on the edge of the bed, the opposite side of his. As she turned off the light on her nightstand, she felt a hand run down her arm. Startled, she turned to see Bucky looking at her with a sad smile on his face.

She was unsure of what to make of his expression. Despite his drunken state, there was something in his eyes that made her heart ache.

"Hey, Rox," Bucky said in a groggy voice, reaching out to touch her cheek. "I'm sorry for tonight."

Roxanne sighed, still unable to forget his actions and words that night. She knew Bucky didn’t mean anything bad. All she wished was that he’d just talk to her. To be honest about what he was feeling.

She reached out, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it gently. "It's okay, John," she spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "Just go to sleep."

He nodded slowly before reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You’re too good to me," he murmured softly. "I’m one lucky son of a bitch, aren’t I?"

Roxanne tried to hold her laughter, but couldn’t stop herself once Bucky started chuckling.

“You know, I spent all of last week with Buck talking about you and what I should do about our relationship.” He propped himself up, moving next to Roxanne. “I already had something in mind, but I didn’t know how you’d feel about it.”

Roxanne’s heart skipped a beat at Bucky’s words. “What did you have in mind?” she asked softly, anticipation building in her chest.

Without a word, Bucky made his way over to the dresser, where he picked up the little box that Roxanne had seen earlier. He walked back to the bed, gently pacing the box in her hand. “It would be better if I’d done this sober, but I-” She stared at Bucky, confused as to why he was acting all anxious.

“Open it.” Bucky sat down next to Roxanne, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Roxanne’s heart was racing as she opened the box, unsure of what she would find inside. As she lifted the lid, her eyes widened in surprise.

Nestled inside was a stunning diamond ring, sparkling in the dim light of the room.

“What is this?” Roxanne whispered as she removed the ring from the box, her voice filled with awe. Bucky grinned from ear to ear, already confirming what had come to Roxanne’s mind.

“Will you be my Mrs. Egan?”

Roxanne gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked up at Bucky, her heart overflowing with love and joy. “Yes. Of course I will.” With a smile that lit up the room, Bucky took the ring from Roxanne and slipped it onto her finger.

“John, you didn’t have to do this,” Roxanne said, overwhelmed with emotion.

“I wanted to.” Bucky looked down at the floor. “I figured we’d leave things official in case something happens to me.”

Roxanne felt a lump form in her throat as she heard those words. “I told you to stop saying that. You’re not going to die-”

“Baby, just listen to me, please.” Bucky interrupted softly. “I don’t know what this next mission will bring, but I love you more than anything and I want to make sure you’re taken care of no matter what, okay?” With his thumb, he wiped the tears streaming down Roxanne’s cheeks.

As she took in Bucky's words, she couldn't help but feel a sense of fear creeping into her heart. The thought of losing him was unbearable, and the idea of being without him seemed impossible. But she knew deep down that he was right – anything could happen, and it was important to be prepared for the worst.

“Please, doll?” Bucky looked at her, eyes pleading. She was hesitant, but she couldn’t leave him without an answer.

“Okay.” She dried her tear-stained cheeks, nodding as she knew she had to accept the harsh reality of Bucky’s job.

He pulled her into a tight embrace, holding onto her as if he never wanted to let go. “Now, let’s not waste our time crying here. I wanna celebrate Mrs. Egan.”

Bucky traced his thumb against the strap of Roxanne’s slip dress, watching her with a mischievous grin. “The right way.”

[mochie85]

Just Breathe - Chapter 4

Just Breathe Masterlist Complete Masterlist

Summary: Zephyr just wanted to be left alone. That's how she's been her whole life. Abandoned, unwanted, and angry. Oh so angry. While taking her revenge on the people who have wronged her, she gets caught by the Avengers and is given the opportunity to either work with them or be kept prisoner by them. Pairing: Loki x Female Reader Word Count: Over 3k Warnings: Angst, history of trauma, some cursing, MCD A/N: This one is dark y'all. I appreciate all the love and support for this story. And I can't thank the two original requests I got to make it. I'm really sorry it took me this long to finish. I was finally in a head space to get it done without it affecting me emotionally. So, I'd like to thank you for your patience. Next up, I'd like to finish TH&TH.

“Zee!” Steve calls out to you as you run back down the hallway. Barnes was standing right next to him in the elevator. If this was any indication of how life would be like living here, you knew you made the right decision to leave. You wouldn’t want to run into him every day. It wouldn’t end well for either of you.

Loki raised his hand up on Roger’s chest. Stopping his advance towards you. “Neither of you are going anywhere near her!” he growled. Steve looked irritated as he tried to walk past Loki, ignoring him completely.

Loki materialized in front of him again, stopping him. “Rogers. You need to stop.”

“We need to talk to her, Loki. Bucky found the last hidden base. That’s what he and Sam had been doing these last four months.” Loki involuntarily looked at Barnes who was standing way behind Rogers with his hands in his pockets. “If she wants to take down HYDRA so bad, this is her chance.”

“Is he coming too?” Loki asked, still staring at Barnes.

“He has to. He’s the one that went on the mission and has the intel,” Rogers answered.

“She won’t go along with this. She doesn’t want to be anywhere near him.”

“Can you guys please stop talking like I’m not here?” Barnes interrupted.

“Then leave!” Loki snapped.

“Loki, I know you’ve gotten really close to her. But if she’s going to be a part of this team. She has to learn to work together. You of all people should understand that,” Rogers finished.

‘A part of this team.’ Loki finally realized one thing. They were never going to let you go. Even after this HYDRA base was dismantled. They would find a way to keep you. If not working with them, then for them. They would be no better than the HYDRA agents they were trying to stop.

So, what does that mean for me? Loki thought. I could make all the reparations and apologies they want, but it would never be enough for them.

“I’ll go talk to her. I can’t promise you her civility. But I can make sure she will lend you her aid,” Loki huffed.

“Ok. We leave tomorrow at twenty-one hundred hours.” Rogers just nodded, trusting that Loki will deliver on his word.

“I suggest you prepare the larger jet. More room means fewer accidental meetings like we just had.” Loki narrowed his eyes toward Barnes and walked back to your room, hoping you haven’t figured out a means to run away yet.

As soon as Loki closed your door, he found you leaning over your balcony. “Where are you going?” Loki asked, confused and astounded. “We’re at least 90 stories up? Are you mad?”

“You stalled them long enough. I’m getting out of here,” you explained.

“I still have your duffel. How are you going to survive without it? Get in here and we’ll talk.”

“You’re not gonna try to convince me to stay are you?”

“Let’s talk,” was all Loki said. He left the sliding door open and waited for you on your bed.

“What is it?”

“They found the last HYDRA base. The Captain wants you to go on this mission.”

“Whose gonna go?”

“Barnes will be there,” Loki answered your underlying question.

“NO!” you walked back towards the balcony sliding the door open. Loki used his seidr to shut it.

“Let me go Loki. I’m not working with him!”

“Just listen…”

“I said, NO!” you yelled marching your way to your bedroom door instead. Loki magically locked it too. You tried the knob. Rattling it and trying to force it free. Your breathing got haggard as your tried to keep your anxiety down. “Let me go, Loki!”

“Darling, relax.” He said calmly. Slowly making his way to you, his hands up in peace.

“Easy for you to say! You’re not the one being asked to work with your abuser. You’re not being used like a tool just so they can all pat themselves on the back and wish themselves a job well done at the end of the day,” you spat out rolling your eyes. You tried the balcony doors again.

“It’ll be the last HYDRA base, darling. Then you can leave. You won’t have to stick around anymore.” His voice had gone soft and regretful.

“And what makes you think they’ll let me? They’re not gonna let me go. They’ll put me back in that glass cell just like HYDRA.”  You tried with all your strength to pull that sliding door open. Even so much as huffing trying to get the air around you to break the glass.

“It’s no use,” Loki said coming up to you. “Stark reinforced the doors this high up in the tower. Safety measures,” he said putting his hands on both your shoulders. You stopped at his touch.

“Open the doors, Loki,” you simmered with rage.

“I’ve tried countless times to blow those doors wide open. The glass never shattered. It took me a while to realize that it was the same glass that they used in the cell downstairs. The same cage. Just with a better view.”

You laid your forehead against the glass, defeat in your breath as you sighed. You looked out admiring the lights of New York. It really was a better view. But no view was worth the cage that they put you in.

“It’s too late for me, darling. But I promise you, I will help you breathe free. Do you trust me?” He asked softly.

You lifted your head up and saw his reflection in the glass. His eyebrows were pulled together in concern, but his eyes- his eyes glowed with mischief.

The flight south towards Georgia only took an hour thanks to the speed of the quinjet. It was the most nerve-wracking and confusing moment in your life.  You had all these emotions warring for attention inside you. You were angry, energetic, and terrified. You were tired, and the most confusing emotion of all, you felt safe.

Loki sat with you the whole flight. When he couldn’t hold your hand, his knee rubbed up against yours, promising stability and security.

Your restlessness made you fidget. Your hands shook and you started looking around the jet catching the eyes of the Winter Soldier.

“Look at me, Zee,” Loki said. “Don’t look at him. Keep your eyes on me,” he said with a gentle command.

“I pictured today going totally different in my head,” you said biting your thumbnail anxiously. Loki pulled your hand from your mouth and held it. Keeping you from soothing yourself by damaging your nailbeds. His calloused hands felt cold to the touch as he twined his fingers with yours.

“Yes, now it’s even better. You get to finally have your revenge on the people that wronged you,” he joked. You sighed and involuntarily looked at Bucky again. “What did I say?” Loki chided.

“To keep my eyes on you,” you answered hesitantly, looking back toward Loki.

“Good girl,” he smirked as you rolled your eyes, swiping your hand away from his. He only chuckled as he continued reading a novel he brought with him.

“Ok team, listen up,” Steve said coming back from the cockpit. “We’re gonna touch down in less than fifteen minutes. Bucky you can go with…” after considering his options, Steve decided, “…Loki. If you can protect each other, and create a distraction, I can infiltrate the bunker with Zee and Nat. Zee and I will get any prisoners out of there. Nat’s main concern would be to extract files. Sam will stay here in the jet for a quicker getaway in case things go sideways. He’ll have Redwing on patrol. Any questions? Good.” Not giving anyone time to answer back. “Suit up.”

Instantly, Steve donned his shield behind him as he made his way to the back-hanger door. Loki’s green seidr engulfed him changing his casual Midgardian wear to his fine Asgardian leather. Barnes rolled his metal arm causing you to flinch at the swift movement. A flinch no one missed but didn’t dare to bring up.

Loki squeezed your shoulder one last time, his swirling eyes trying to convey everything he couldn’t say aloud. You nodded as you watched him jump off the back door, only a few stories off the ground. Bucky followed him, shooting as he landed on his heels.

“Ready, Zee?” Steve asked. “Keep a wind-shield around Nat and me and we’ll cover you until we get inside.” You nodded at his command. Running when the jet touched down on the field.

Everything went according to plan. Loki and Bucky had managed to attract the attention of all the guards outside the facility, while the three of you forced your way into the heavily armored base.

Once inside, Nat went her separate way to try and decrypt any information she can harvest from the servers. You and Steve separated as you took the top steps to see if they were keeping anyone in the labs.

Your heart ached whenever you did these raids. It was too late for you to have hope that the Avengers would’ve saved you a long time ago. You had to save yourself.  

Checking that every room was clear, you headed for the nearest window and blasted it with air from your lungs. The glass shattered as you looked down seeing Bucky shooting at some HYDRA henchmen disguised as SHIELD operatives. You kicked the glass out of the window not caring if it scratched Bucky one bit as you jumped.

You floated down, using your breath to slow your fall. As soon as your toes touched the grass, you were tackled down by Barnes from behind. You yelled and screamed as his whole body encased you. “Get off me! Get off me!”

Bucky didn’t listen to you. All he knew was that a gunman was pointing his rifle toward you, and he had to cover you. Nail scratches and bites be dammed! He would not let you get shot. Fire after fire, the gunman emptied his round.

Tears flowed from your eyes at having such close contact with him. The cold feeling of his arm once again touching your skin made it crawl, triggering memories that you would rather have stayed buried.

Steve threw his shield, disabling the gunman. The shots ceased as Bucky knelt up. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he repeated. You pushed him off you and tried to crawl your way from under him. Loud sobs wracked your lungs as you tried to breathe. “Zee, please. Th-there was a gunman…” he tried to explain.

“Get away from me!” you yelled at him. Bucky looked exasperated.

“Perhaps now is not the time,” Loki said coming up behind Barnes, misdirecting a few more bullets coming your way.

“I just saved you,” Bucky countered.

“Buck, not now,” Steve tried to intervene. “Let’s go. Zee, let me help you up.”

“Don’t touch me!” you screamed as you got yourself up.

“Zee, we have to work as a team.” Steve tried to placate.

“Team?! A team?! We are not a team! Answer me this Rogers, when we’re done here and we’ve taken down this last HYDRA facility, would I be able to go free?” you asked. “Would you let me go or would you put me back in that cell in the basement, studying my powers? Did you let Loki go?” you yelled pointing in his direction. “No, you haven’t. I’m nothing but a tool for you. A weapon. So don’t you dare fucking tell me I’m part of this team.”

Bucky got up with you and tried his hardest to apologize again. Consequently, Loki tried to keep him away from you. Holding his arm out, stopping his advance toward you. No one saw the gunman get up from his supine position on the ground grabbing whatever firearm was available.

A small flutter of wind was all you felt. A displacement of air barreled through as the gunman’s bullet hurled its way toward Loki. You only had a small window of time before you pushed Loki out of the path of that bullet and blew your air against Bucky and Steve, hurtling them some distance away from you.

“Zee?” you heard Loki yell. Steve ran towards the gunman, following his shield, as he threw it again to incapacitate the attacker. Bucky ran towards you and Loki.

“What happened?” he asked as Loki cradled you on the ground.

“She got shot!” Loki snarled back.

“Is she-is she…” Bucky tried, out of breath. “You saved my life,” he said.

“Now, we’re even. I don’t owe you a thing,” you gurgled.

“You’re gonna be fine, dear. Just a minor wound. We’ll patch you back up, all right?” Loki said looking down at the massive wound bleeding out from your abdomen. Loki looked up at Barnes, both of them knowing that what he said was a lie. Barnes took off his shirt and handed it to Loki to press on your wound. “Hold it still. Hold it strong, darling.”

The air around you fizzled. Heat began to rise as the oxygen around you tried to fill your gasping lungs with air. You were panting for breath. Your vision was slowly fading, and you knew what was happening. “Loki…”

“Don’t you dare, darling,” he said lifting you up. Everyone was running towards the jet now. Nat and Steve secured the remaining captives inside as Sam was preparing to take off.

“I’m not gonna make it, am I?” you asked meekly. Loki looked down on you, hurrying towards the aircraft. “Lie to m-, g-god of mischief,” you whispered.

“You’re going to be fine, darling,” he said, coolly. You smiled up at him one last time and exhaled your last breath.

“Darling, w-wake up.” Loki shook your body as he fell to his knees again. “Zee! This is no laughing matter. I need you to wake up!” he cried. “ZEE!” Loki’s face twisted in pain as he watched your lips part to your dying breath. The fire in your eyes, the one that he loved so much, the fire that he looked forward to seeing every time he annoyed you or got on your nerves, extinguished.

There was no sound in that small moment in time. Other than the roar of the propulsion and the cries of a god on his knees for a friend that just died in his arms. Everyone’s eyes stung from what they witnessed.

The flurry of heat and air swirled around you both, With no oxygen in your lungs, it vibrated as it tried to make its way inside your body. Fire engulfed all around you. An explosion was imminent.

“Loki!” Rogers yelled. “She’s causing an explosion around her. You need to leave her!”

“I- NO. I can’t!” Loki cried as the flames rose higher. Loki engulfed the two of you in his seidr, the explosion encapsulated in his small bubble. Everyone looked away as the explosion ensued, showcasing a bright light flashing in everyone’s eyes.

When the heat and the light died down. There was nothing left of your body but ash. Loki’s armor was dusted with soot. His fingers dug into the earth where your body had burned after the heat got too much for him to bear.

Thor had once told him how he harnessed the light of a dying star to help forge Stormbreaker. Loki could never have imagined the willpower it took to do that. Until now.

Steve came by and stood next to Loki. The weight of losing a member of his team collapsed his knees and he joined Loki on the ground. Everyone gathered around as a gentle breeze came and took some of your ashes along with it. Loki watched as it gently swayed and picked up. You were finally free.

“Loki,” Roger’s voice muffled in his ear. “I’m sorry Loki.”

You don’t get to be sorry, Loki thought as he glared at Rogers. He sunk his fingers deeper into the ground, clutching whatever he could of your cinders.

His lips blistered and his face burned as Loki stood up and quietly made his way back into the jet.

A month later, Loki puts on his best black suit with a dark green handkerchief adorning his breast pocket. Must keep up with appearances, he thought as he straightened his tie, slicked back his hair, and collected the calla lilies that were on his dresser.

The rest of the team watched as Loki made his way through the common room toward the elevator. They had a ceremony a week prior for your passing. They collected whatever they could from the facility and placed you in an urn. That’s where Loki was headed now, the cemetery to lay flowers for your final resting spot.

He relished the newfound freedom he was able to have. In a sense not only were you free from your glass cage but so was he. When they found out that he’d been sneaking out just to visit you and leaving you flowers, Stark himself lent him one of his vehicles.

The team wanted to help him recover from your loss. They didn’t realize how close the two of you had gotten. All those times it seemed like Loki was being his mischievous, annoying self, was really his way of trying to integrate you into the team.

Loki drove the half-hour trip west. Away from the city. Away from the buildings of glass and concrete to where the ground was green and the air was fresh. He got out of Stark’s car, adjusted his suit, and walked over to the giant marble wall adorned with plaques.

Loki walked over to the other side of that wall, where only your plaque had been installed. A small stone plate That read your name.

Zephyr Friend and Avenger.

Loki ran his fingers through your name. Whispering it with reverence. He knew you’d want this name. The name you chose for yourself. Not the one your parents gave you at birth. He planted the lilies on the canister by your plaque and sat down at the bench behind him.

He looked at the vast wall that was completely empty. Glaring white with veins of gray and black. He took a deep breath in and sighed, reading the last line of your headstone.

Until we meet again.

And Loki smiled.

⬅️Chapter 3 | Chapter 5: Finale➡️

@emarich7 @michelleleewise @coldnique @vickie5446 @psychospore @mukagentropy @lokisgoodgirl @silverfire475 @fictive-sl0th @springdandelixn @wheredafandomat @goldencherriess @peaches1958 @salempoe @thomase1 @kkdvkyya @a-witch-with-words @mischief2sarawr @sarawr-reads @vbecker10 @peachymallows @irishhappiness @cakesandtom @loopsisloops @muddyorbsblr @luvlady-writes @kellatron55 @huntress-artemiss @crimson25 @purplegrrl27 @sarahscribbles @ladyofthestayingpower @ozymdias @lokixryss @athalialaufeyson @thedistractedagglomeration @theotherspiderlady @holdmytesseract @gigglingtigger

[dp-marvel94]

Holiday Truce 2022

Summary: For @ionanana

A sick and sleep deprive Danny is failing to balance his ghost hunting and student task efficiently. Eventually, his body can’t keep up and he collapses, unable to do his night routine:

Danny only got up to his elbows before Jazz pushed him down, back onto his bed again. “You need to recover. Lay down!”

“No. I have a job to do.” Danny fought through a cough. “Who’s gonna do it? You?”

The girl swiped his thermos off his desk. “Yes.” Her hard look pierced him. “You better still be here, sleeping when I get back."

Word Count: 4,542

AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Notes:

Merry Christmas! Happy New Years! And Happy Holidays! Here is my holiday truce story, for @ionanana ! I went with your second prompt.

Prompt 2:Sick and sleep deprive Danny failing to balance his ghost hunting and student task efficiently. (Anxiously and angst Danny) His body can’t keep up and collapse. Not able to do his night routine for a few days. “You need to recover GO lay down!” “No I have a job. Who will cover for me! You?”

So enjoy a sick fic with some light angst. Warnings for mentions of blood and injury. Mentions of snot, vomit, and other sickness related ickiness. Mild cursing.

“Lunch. Finally.” Danny groaned with tired relief, approaching his friends’ lunch table.

The boy dropped his tray onto the surface…. And scowled. The plastic tray clattered, dropped too roughly. His peas rolled off the plate, the meatloaf sliding with a juicy squelch. His water bottle wobbled and tipped. The lid, un-securely fastened, popped free, water pouring out all over his mediocre lunch. 

The half ghost rubbed his head, words slipping out through a sudden cough. “Can you… not?” He narrowed his eyes, complaining at his lunch as if that could make it ignore the normal course of gravity.

Tucker offered him a sympathetic wince. “At least your milk survived.”

“But the rest of my lunch is ruined.” Danny sniffed, sinking into his seat with crossed arms. 

The boy didn’t even bother cleaning the mess, instead ripping open the milk carton and downing it. Frowning, he started fishing peas out of the lake that his food had become.

“It’s been one of those days, huh?” Sam offered, holding out an apple.

Danny dropped the spoon, giving up after the first soggy bite. “One of those weeks.” He took the fruit and bit it. “The ghosts won’t leave me alone.” He grumbled. “Desiree. Technus. Skulker. Johnny and Kitty. Even the freaking Box Ghost.” A yawn. “And then there were all these ghost animals last night. Rabbits, deer, wolves, freaking penguins. I keep catching them. And. They. Keep. Coming. Back.” The boy dropped the apple core, rubbing his face. “It’s like they can’t stay in the portal for five seconds.”

“When’s the last time you slept?” His goth friend’s eyes shone with worry.

“I don’t know.” Danny whined. “Monday maybe.”

“It’s Thursday, Danny.” Tucker deadpanned. 

The half ghost shrugged, finishing the apple.

“Maybe you should skip next period and take a nap.” The technogeek offered quietly.

Sam leaned forward conspiratorially. “Yeah, we’ll cover for you. You should rest.”

“I…” Cough. “Can’t.” Danny shook his head. “I’ve got a quiz next period. And last period, we’re doing the review lesson before the test tomorrow. I already missed so much this unit. I need to take notes. And after school….” A groan. “I managed to convince Skulker to wait until after class to try to skin me. And I’ve got so much homework.”

“Dude.” Tucker’s eyes widened, like he was the one about to be skinned, not Danny. “Let us handle Skulker if he shows up.”

“If.” The half ghost chucked, drily. “He will. If there’s any time that you can trust his word, it’s when he’s talking about skinning me.”

“We’ll cover for you with class. And you can copy off me for the homework later.” Sam continued, ignoring the statement. “Go get some sleep. We’ll deal with the ghost.”

“No, guys. Skulker’s my responsibility.” He reached for his water bottle; there were a few unspilled sips. “And you cover for me all the time. You’ll get in trouble again. I can’t- Achoo!” 

Briefly, icy blue light flashed in his hand, his core jolting. With a gasp, Danny dropped the water bottle. The supercooled plastic shattered, sending shards of ice splattering across the table. The half ghost groaned, frustratedly face planting onto the table.

“Danny…” Sam’s soft, concerned voice.

Of course, then his ghost sense went off.

Danny stood with hardly a thought. He wobbled slightly, a sudden tiredness weighing down on him. “Hopefully, I’ll be back before next period starts.”

“Danny, wait.” His friends called after. 

The boy hurried off, half aware of his friends quickly following. But he couldn’t think about them, couldn’t worry. He needed to find a place to transform, figure out who the ghost was, and deal with them before they possessed someone. Or threw knives at them. Or destroyed more public property which Phantom would, of course, get blamed for. Like he had any control over what walls Technus threw him into.

Danny rounded the corner. There, the boy’s bathroom. He’d dip into a stall and-

Another puff of his ghost sense and ghost alarm went off. Sam and Tucker yelled behind him, their footsteps quickening. Three seconds later….

“I’ve got you, welp!” 

A metal hand pulled him through the ceiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Skulker is a f-king liar.” Danny cursed to himself, flying back to the school. One hand clasped hard around the forearm of the other, a meager effort to keep the ectoplasm gushing from the slash where it belonged. “Wait ‘til after school my ass, you ectoplasmic slime.”

The hunter had grabbed him, dragging him to the football field before Danny even thought to transform. The half ghost pulled out of the hold, hightailing it back to the school for his thermos… only to end up chased by Skulker for the next hour.

Downtown, over the mall, in the woods at the edge of town. The mechanical ghost stabbed and blasted. Danny dodged and shot back. 

Skulker, leering over him. The half ghost darted down but…. the mech was still an arm’s length away. A miss-timed sneeze. Danny blinked. Skulker slashed with his blade.

“Ow! You tin can!” The boy growled out, arm screaming from his wound.

Somehow, he’d managed to get the other ghost in the thermos, despite the pain and fatigue dragging him down.

Now, Danny phased through the school’s roof and into the janitor’s closet. He landed soundlessly, his tail morphing back into legs. 

The boy scowled, holding the occupied thermos up to his face. “I should squish you, like a bug. It wouldn’t ever be hard. You… you gloop of jello.” No response came from the container. Danny frowned, shaking his head. “I’m too tired for this.”

He put down the thermos and summoned the rings. With a flash of light, he was human again, warm, solid, and oh so tired. 

A yawn. The boy moved his hand, to cover his mouth. And- “Shit.” A stab of pain. He glared down at the injury. “Great. I’m still bleeding.”

Letting out a defeated sigh, Danny slid down the wall, slumping on the floor. He turned his hands intangible and pulled the first aid kit out of the ground.

With bleary eyes, he wrapped the cut. Another yawn. “So… tired.” He coughed. “Stupid cold.” 

One final tug on the fabric and the bandage was secured. He lowered both arms to his side, his head rolling back to brush the wall. “Should get up and get to class. What time is it anyway?” He stared at the ceiling, as if it had the answer. A blink. “Right. My phone.”

He pulled the device out of his pocket and dimly stared at the numbers. A groan. “Great. I missed the quiz.” There were only five minutes left in his third period. “No point in going to class now.” 

Danny hung his head. He was so tired… He sniffed. “Just…. Five minutes. Then I’ll get up. Five minutes…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The half ghost jerked up with a gasp. Where was- Oh, the janitor’s closet…. He was still in the janitor’s closet? Blearily, he flailed for his phone. Had he fallen asleep? He must have fallen asleep…

He blinked at the time. Ten minutes ‘til school let out. He…he slept through all of fourth period. “No.” The boy complained, reaching up to rub his eyes. He sniffled, his hand going to his nose and.. “Gross.” He grimaced. Great. Now his nose was running. 

The phone in his hand vibrated. Danny turned his head down to look. A text from Tucker. 

Dude, r u comin 2 class? 

A frown… right. His friends hadn’t heard anything from him since he’d left at lunch. He typed out a quick response.

Fight w Skulker went long. Im just going home.

A few seconds later.

Go get some sleep! Sam insisted.

Danny snorted. As if he could do that, not with all the work he had to do.

The boy stood, stretching out stiff muscles. He winced. “Remind me not to sleep sitting up.” He said to no one in particular.

Danny picked up the thermos. With another flash of light -briefly making his head throb- he transformed and flew away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minutes later, he arrived home. Landing in his room, he changed back. Lucky for him, his parents were out of town at a conference; putting Skulker back in the portal was easier than ever.

That task down, Danny sat down to work on homework. Brow scrunting, he looked around for his bookbag. “Where is it?” He rubbed his forehead, just a spark of pain blooming there. “I left it at school. Stupid…”

He sent a text. I left my hw @ school. :( Can u bring it 2 me?

An affirmative from Sam and the half ghost just sat to wait.

Twenty minutes later… the front door opened downstairs. Three pairs of footsteps proceeded up the stairs. A knock sounded at his door.

“Come in.” Danny called.

The door opened. It was Sam, Tucker, and Jazz.

His sister frowned, eyeing the bandage on his arm. “Are you alright?”

The half ghost waved her off. “Skulker barely scratched me.”

“Are you sure?” Jazz asked.

“Yes, I’m-” Cough. “Sure.” Danny frowned. Stupid body betraying him.

“You’re getting sick too?” His sister’s eyes shone with worry. 

“It’s not that bad.” The half ghost denied, despite the growing headache, nose feeling like it was full of cotton. 

His friends and sister traded skeptical looks; they didn’t believe him….

“Look.” Danny waved his hands, quickly trying to divert that train of thought. “Did you guys get my homework?”

Tucker started. “Danny, I think you need to sleep, not worry about-”

“I did sleep.” The ghost boy interrupted. He blushed, realizing what he’d said. “I mean…. I got back so late from fighting Skulker that there was no point going to class so I took a quick nap. And I feel so much better now.” It wasn’t a complete lie, right? “So I’m good to go. I’ve got a bunch of stuff to catch up on…”

More worried looks were traded, while Danny tried his best to look innocent and perfectly healthy, like his nose wasn’t actively trying to become a facet. 

Finally, Sam sighed. “Fine.” She pulled sheets of paper out of her bag. “Here are the notes from the review in history today.” 

“And this is from science.” Tucker offered more notes. 

Jazz crossed her arms, still scowling. Then, tentatively… “Alright.” She sighed, pulling something out of her bag. “I told Mr. Faluca that you were sick and went home. Which is apparently true….” She narrowed her eyes. “He gave me this make-up quiz and said you could do it at home.”

His sister held out the sheet. Danny reached for it but at the last minute… “Hey!” Jazz pulled it away.

“At least take some cold medicine first.” 

Danny’s own eyes narrowed. “I don’t need any.” 

A silent stare down ensued, Jazz holding the paper out of reach while the boy scowled. But Danny cracked first. “Fine.” His sister had learned that death glare from their mom after all. “I’ll take something.” 

“Good.” Jazz dropped the paper before turning around and leaving.

Sam raised an eyebrow while Tucker laughed. “Man, you really want to take that quiz, huh?”

Down the hallway, the bathroom door opened. 

Danny crossed his arms. “I don’t really have a choice.”

“You know. You could just rest. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you don’t get it done tonight.” Sam countered.

The boy winced at the wording. “I’m fine.” He ground through his teeth.

Jazz returned with various bottles of liquid and pills. “Pain Reliever and Fever reducer.” She pointed. “Nasal Decongestant. Cough Suppressant. Expectorant.” She picked up a bag of what looked like colorful wrapped hard candies. “Cough Drops. These are really good for a sore throat.”

Danny just stared at all the options.

“Here.” With a roll of her eyes, Jazz handed him two pills and a bottle of water. He duly swallowed. “And this.” She poured some thick orange liquid into a clear cup. 

The ghost boy also took and swallowed that. He stuck out his tongue. “The grape tastes better.”

“Well, we only had the orange.” Jazz crossed her arms. “I’m leaving these here. And don’t push it with the homework.” She pointed threateningly. “I’ll heat up some soup for dinner and call you when it’s done.”

“Fine.” Danny complained, downing the rest of the water bottle. “And… thank you.” His shoulders lowered, just a hint of gratitude in his voice. His sister and friends were trying to help him out after all, even if he really didn’t need to be babied like this.

Jazz just nodded in acknowledgement before turning to leave.

“We should head out too.” Tucker said sheepishly, clearly not wanting to go.

“Yeah. I wasn’t supposed to come over in the first place.” Sam crossed her arms. “Mom’s still pissed about last week.”

Danny winced at the reminder. “Yeah… Sorry.” That had been his fault after all; they wouldn’t have been out fighting ghosts at three am if it wasn’t for him.

“It’s not your fault.” Tucker offered, eyes softening.

That really wasn’t true…. But Danny didn’t argue. Instead he wished his friends a good night, promising to call or text if he needed help with anything, ghost or homework related.

Now alone, Danny turned his attention to his homework. He coughed, the motion shaking his lungs, his chest. He grabbed for a tissue, grimacing at the feeling on his tongue. He spit. Well, the expectorant was already working. He sighed. It was going to be a long night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny groaned, rubbing his aching head. “No! Not! Again!” Cold mist poured out of his mouth and he almost felt like crying.

He’d been home for five hours and his ghost sense still wouldn’t stop going off. He’d fought the Box Ghost, a weird cat, a bunch of ghostly dudes in suits, a snake with two heads, and what might have been a minotaur.

“Who is it…” A lung hacking cough. “now?!” 

A hysterical cackle echoed from out his window. “Ghost child! It is I Technus! Master of all things electronic and-”

Danny transformed, body slamming the ghost. “Why can’t you leave me- Achoo! Alone?!” He sneezed, sending shards of ice shooting out.

“Careful! My circuits!” The electronic ghost shocked him. 

The half ghost let go, falling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty minutes later, Danny slunk home, metaphorical tail between his legs. He’d captured the ghost, but not before Technus devastated the local Apple Store. The boy phased through his window, flopping onto his bed. 

“Stupid” Cough. “Technus” Cough. “Stupid ghosts.” Cough. “Stupid electricity.” Cough. “Why’d he’d have to” Cough. “Electrocute me?!” Cough.

Danny’s chest shook, coughs racking his body. He transformed and-

Exhaustion crashed over him. He saged, hardly able to sit up. So tired….

Another coughing fit. He flailed for water. There. Jazz must have left that while he was gone. That was nice.

He practically inhaled the liquid. Then….

His eyes flitted to his bed, the papers and books spread around him. His gaze misted. He’d been sitting on this bed, trying to do homework for hours. But his stupid ghost sense kept going off… So many ghosts… he’d barely ever started.

There was so much homework. That essay for Lancer; they’d just finished… what was it? Of Mice and Men or something like that. And the math worksheets. A make-up quiz of science; Mr Faluca let him take it at home, open book, but that was just more work. And there’s the history test. He needed to study. And an art project. How was he supposed to come with what to draw? 

His eyes were swimming. He could barely keep them open. There was so much to do and he just wanted to sleep. But… but…

Danny struggled to focus on his science quiz. He had to do this. He had to. He had to get a good grade. How was he supposed to get into NASA if he was failing science? How was he supposed to become an astronaut if he was failing all his classes?!

Him, an astronaut…. He sniffed, his chest shaking with another cough. A wet chuckle exited. Him, an astronaut. Who was he kidding? He’d be lucky if he ever got into a community college at the rate, let alone Nasa. And it’s not like he would pass the physicals, not with his weird ghostly biology. 

He’d never be an astronaut. Ten years from now, he’d be working at the Nasty Burger. Or if he was lucky, he’d take over FentonWorks. Another laugh, this one almost hysterical. He’d be fighting ghosts, for the rest of his life.

Just then, his ghost sense puffed out of his mouth, again. Danny whined, the sound watery. “Why me?” He stood from the bed, wobbling. His knees buckled.

“Woah.” Jazz’s hands appeared on his shoulders. When had she come in? “I think you need to go to bed.”

Danny flopped down, lithlessly. Everything was swimming. He blinked. It wouldn’t clear up. But… “No.” He muttered.

“Yes.” The word was direct, without question, punctuated by his sister closing his binder and shoving it onto his desk. “Lay down. I’ll get you some more cold medicine.”

“No.” Another shaky effort to stand. “I need to…” Go fight the ghost. He hated it. He hated it but he had to. It was his fault. 

“Danny.” Jazz scowled, gently pushing him back down with one hand. “Rest. You need to sleep.”

The boy breathed out more cool, blue mist. He groaned again. “Ghost sense.” The ghosts, the portal were his fault and someone could get hurt, because he wasn’t there. “I have to-”

He only got up to his elbows before Jazz pushed him down again. “You need to recover. Lay down!”

“No. I have a job to do.” Danny fought through a cough. “Who’s gonna do it? You?”

The girl swiped his thermos off his desk. “Yes.” Her hard look pierced him. “You better still be here, sleeping when I get back. Or I’ll use this on you.”

The boy huffed; he couldn’t argue anymore. Not with his head throbbing, vision swimming, nose running, throat aching. Everything hurt…

Defeated, he collapsed onto the bed.

“Drink this.” Jazz shoved another cup, this one with red liquid, into his face. “Open up.” Obediently, he drank and swallowed.

“Yucky.” He winced. 

“It’ll help you sleep.” His sister reassured, head turning as if looking for something.

Cold air stirred in his lungs again. “Jazz, the ghost…” He half-slurred.

“There it is.” Jazz’s eyes widened. She reached under his bed for… the ectogun he kept under there. “I’ll deal with it. You sleep.”

The boy whined in his throat, worry blossoming.

“I’ll be fine.” His sister stood and walked toward the door. She paused at the threshold. “Sleep well, little brother.”

The lights flickered off and Jazz closed the door, leaving in darkness. 

“Jazz.” The boy whimpered her name. 

But his sister didn’t hear it, off to confront whatever danger he should have been. He should get up and help her, at least. She couldn’t handle the ghost on her own. He couldn’t…

The darkness pulled the half ghost under, sleep taking him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time passed in flashing moments. Brief snatches of consciousness. His ghost sense, still going off. So cold. So many ghosts. Another breath. It felt so cool….

He laughed, blearily. It almost felt good, like… like… What was it? Something Jazz gave him to put in his mouth and… make his throat feel better. It was like…. Cough drop. It was like a cough drop.

Something cold and… metal? In his mouth, under his tongue. Blurry red hair. She was… shaking something? “You’re way too hot.” 

A cup, a white oblong pill. “Take this.” Medicine. He needed to swallow the medicine.

“Good job.” Jazz patted his head.

Jazz… she went off to do… something. Stomach churning with worry. Was she okay? Was she safe? The ghosts… did they hurt…

Danny drifted off again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later. The smell of chicken broth and noodles. 

“Here.” Jazz helped him sit up. “You need to eat.”

Danny sniffed the food and…his stomach turned. He shook his head, trying his nose away. “Icky.”

“I know you feel icky. It’ll be better if you eat.”

His insides churned. His mouth tasted hot and acidy. But Jazz said it would help? Maybe he should try.

A tentative sip….

Danny turned to the side and gagged, throwing up in the trash can.

Jazz rubbed his back, whipped off his face. “We’ll try something else.”

Chalky pink medicine. Ginger ale and crackers. Danny managed to a few sips and nibbles before he fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashing green lights. Shouts. Curses. A familiar cold. An electric hum…The sounds of a fight. 

Panic claws up his throat. Ghost fight. There was a ghost fight. He needed to get up. Needed to stop the ghost. But… so tired. Everything was so heavy. 

“Use your words. You don’t have to-” That was Jazz. “Ah! Now that was uncalled for. I’m trying to help. Now you listen.” Jazz was…

Fuzzy blackness pulled him down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Awakening. Sweat running down his back. Shaking hands. A cold rag on his head. Someone was giving him gatorade. It was grape.

A beep. “In the park.” Tucker’s voice.

“I’ve got it.” Sam. The sound of an ectogun priming.

Why do his friends look blurry? They walked out the door… “Where…” Danny mumbled, weakly reaching.

“They’re dealing with the ghost.”

Eyes darted up, focusing. Red hair, a worried smile. Jazz. Jazz was safe. But… “Ghost?” His core pulsed, anxious.

“They know what they’re doing.” Fingers brush through his hair. “Do you want to try some food, now that you’re awake?”

Danny nodded, too tired and fuzzy to argue. Jazz offered a cracker.

A relieved smile as he finished. “Good job. I’ll bring you some soup.”

The half ghost fell asleep before she returned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny blinked awake. His eyes focused, taking in… the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling. He could actually see them and…. A breath, through his nose. Through his nose?

The boy sneezed and his core churned. A cold burn on his face, his eyes…. A brief flash of blue. And.. a cloud of snow shot up, over his face. The flasks slowly drifted down.

Danny laughed, still a little fuzzy. “It’s… snowing.”

The door opened. “You’re awake.” Jazz’s eyes lit up.

Her hand on his forehead. After a thoughtful pause… “Open up.” A… thermometer, that’s what that was. An awkward few seconds. The device beeped and… “Your fever finally broke.” His sister sighed, relieved.

A brief bubble of relief stirred in his chest but…. He was forgetting something. Something happened. Worry churned…

“Do you want something to eat?” Jazz offered,

Numbly, Danny nodded. 

Minutes later, the girl returned with a bowl. The half ghost didn’t complain as she spooned chicken noodle soup into his mouth.

He was forgetting something. He’d been sick, was still sick. Still so tired. And hungry… His eyes flickered over his desk. So many books and papers…

Eyes widened slightly. He’d had a bunch of homework to do. But… no, that wasn’t… The ghosts. What happened to the….

Danny fell asleep again, in the middle of his dinner, before he could ask.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The half ghost jolted up, ravenously hungry. His stomach grumbled, churning, practically trying to eat itself. 

“Ugg. What hit me?” He mumbled out, throat sore. He rubbed the spot; at least, he wasn’t coughing up a lung. He’d have to count his blessings. 

Danny’s head turned, surveying the room. His bedroom, still. Bright light poured through the curtain. It was probably the early afternoon. But… what day was it? How long had he been sick? And…

A puff of cold swirled in his lungs. His ghost sense. In an instant, Danny was standing. The ghosts! He’d been out of it for who knows how long and they’d been running free doing god knows what. The town must be in ruins. And his friends and family… where were they? What happened?

A brief memory flashed. 

“No. I have a job to do.” Danny complained through a cough. “Who’s gonna do it? You?”

The girl swiped his thermos off his desk. “Yes.” A hard look. “You better still be here, sleeping when I get back. Or I’ll use this on you.”

Jazz! No! No! No! Jazz must have gone after the ghost. Damn it! He was the one that started this, that turned on the portal. He was the one that put everyone in danger. This was his responsibility. 

Touching his core with his mind, Danny willed himself to transform but… his chest spasmed weakly. The ring of light formed around his torso before sputtering and going out. He was still too tired. 

But there was a ghost somewhere, nearby, close. He needed to deal with it. He couldn’t keep slacking off, couldn’t let the ghosts put his loved ones in danger anymore.

Danny bent down, sweeping under the bed. There! His wristray! Wielding the ray with one hand, the boy hurried out. What direction…. Down the hall! A foreign ectosignature swirled through the air, not twenty feet away.

Voices rang through the house, one familiar one and ….someone was crying. The half ghost followed the noise. Jazz’s room…

Danny threw the door open. 

“No one ever listened! Not… not before and not now. The only thing I was ever good at was music. It’s… it’s the only thing I’m good for but no one ever… ever listened. Even cared. Not my parents. Not my classmates. Or my so-called friends.” Ember (Ember!?) sniffed. “Why wouldn’t they just… just listen? Why wasn’t I good enough?”

What… what the… Ember and… Jazz?!

Jazz’s hand reached for the ghost’s arm, offering a comforting touch. “That wasn’t your fault, Ember. Don’t blame yourself. You are good enough, no matter what they say or don’t say, okay? Remember what we talked-”

“Jazz?” Danny finally spoke, sense breaking through his spinning confusion. “Ember?”

The ghost stiffened, shoulders raising. “Looks like the party’s over. Dipstick’s awake.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Jazz said.

“What’s…” The boy sputtered, motioning to the scene in front of him.

“I said I’d deal with the ghosts.” Jazz raised an eyebrow, challengingly. “And this is me dealing with them, my way.”

Danny just stared, open mouthed, mind struggling to process.

“Now go. Get something to eat. Ember and I aren’t done talking yet.”

“But… but…” The half ghost stuttered.

Ignoring her brother’s confusion, Jazz turned back to her chair. “Where were we?”

The rocker ghost smirked. “Yeah, get something to eat, Babypop. You look like death warmed over.”

At that, the half ghost’s mouth closed. His eye twitched. “Yeah. I’ll… I’ll do that.” 

Slowly, he closed the door, his eyes not leaving the two teens, as if…. If he looked away, they’d disappear. But finally, the door shut, blocking his vision with a click. 

Danny stared into the middle distance. What was that? A fever-induced hallucination? Was he still asleep on his bed, in the throws of his sickness? He’d think so but…. The boy shook his head. He wasn’t creative enough to come up with this. So, instead….

“Holy shit, Jazz. How?!”

Inside his sister’s room, two voices, one ghostly echoing and one humanly flat, laughed.

Note: I hope you guys enjoyed it, especially my giftee. I had been hoping to get this posted before Christmas but unfortunately didn't have time to edit it with all the packing, wrapping, and baking. Plus the sad irony of writing a sick fic and then getting sick myself two days before Christmas. Luckily, I wasn't as bad off as Danny, even if I'm still struggling with a bit of a cough and sore throat. 😢 Despite that, I had a good Christmas. I hope you did too. :)

[fox-buried-in-maple-leaves]

Engagement

Trying to figure out what to do for Pride Month is quite the difficult task for Alee Destan.

Vesper belongs to: @cat-buried-in-tall-grass

taglist: @cerasus--flores

“It's our last pride month as boyfriends.”

Vesper looked up from their laptop, eyeing the man standing in front of the living room mirror holding various outfits up to him. Xe supposed that was true, they were getting married in a few weeks. 

“Do you want to do something special?”

Xe questioned and he hummed, frowning slightly at his reflection. “I liked that dark blue bodycon dress.” Xe watched him rifle through the hangers to find the dress in question again, he held it up to his body with a sigh.

“It's so hot I wish I could wear short sleeves..”

“You can.”

But Alee gave xem a look, tossing the dress onto the clothing pile. “The baking school in town is holding a baking class next week for Pride.” He abandoned his outfits, he didn't know what he was gonna wear to Vesper's work gala. He flopped onto the couch, careful of the cat's laptop, he leaned against xem.

“That'd be fun, wanna sign up?”

Alee hummed as the mercenary began to pet his ears, his head falling to xyr chest. He liked the idea of going out with them and celebrating the season. But he did also prefer to be inside. He thought it over audibly, humming and hawing and purring loud as xe scratched behind his torn ear.

“I don’t know.. Maybe we should just throw a party or something.”

“You want to throw a party?”

The fox frowned, ears flattening at Vesper’s genuine surprise. Alee hated people! That was why they didn’t do anything for pride since they got together in 2021. Vesper held onto his ears, making them stand up again with their hands. The fox snorted, his ears going up naturally afterwards.

“It’s our last month as a dating couple!”

“I know.”

“So we should do something special!”

“We’re doing something special next month, we’re getting married.”

“Veeeesperrrrrrr..”

Vesper laughed, moving their laptop onto the ground so they could lay on the couch with him on top of them. “A party would be nice, but our friends are already going to pay to come out of state for the wedding.”

Well, the living friends.

“That’s true..”

Alee dropped his head into the crook of their neck, ear pressed against their pulse point. The feeling and sound against his ear comforted him. “I guess we can go learn how to bake pride cakes..” He melted onto their chest with a small huff. 

“We don’t have to do anything.”

“But-”

“I know~ You said.”

“You really should wear that blue dress though, it makes your chest look great.”

“Vesper!”

Vesper laughed, arms wrapping around his waist securely. “How about this. We have my gala this weekend, next week we’ll go to that class, and then after that I’ll get you fruity drinks at the bar.” Xe offered, nuzzling the top of his head.

“And then we get married on Tuesday!”

Xe nodded, a goofy smile on xyr face, at times like these, xe still couldn’t believe it. Even when they looked down and admired the ring on their ring finger. The one he bought after xe proposed so that they could match. 

And xe supposed he felt the action, pulling his arm out from underneath him so he could hold his hand up to theirs. His smaller hand clasped theirs from behind, fingers interlacing, both of their engagement rings visible.

“You know tomorrow is the day we started sleeping together as totally normal friends.”

“Is it? I forgot..”

“Mhm! Fates, we were blind.”

Not blind, they both just didn’t want to admit their feelings for the other. Both unable to express that level of commitment to another being. Vesper brought their hands up, kissing the back of Alee’s cold hand. 

“I love you.”

He giggled.

“I love you too!”

[oliverreedmasterass]

Can I request a fic of twins being young kids and playing Pirate with baby Sam

You've got it! I love the idea :)

Argh

Words: 3.5k

Warnings: N/A

While the week was typically spent trapped behind a school desk, running errands with their mom, and their tedious tutoring sessions, the weekends were wide open for Jake and Josh to get into whatever trouble they pleased. Being out in the more rural part of Michigan meant that they had plenty of space to explore and get lost in their minds, playing in the grassy fields and under the canopy of the tall birch and cedar trees. They had a routine set where, after finishing their cereal and getting dressed, they raced each other to the front door and spent their day outside playing pretend until the sun started to creep down over the horizon. The weekend prior Josh had been the mastermind behind their weekend adventure, where they were wood nymphs trying to protect the forest from evil gremlins. Jake wasn’t a big fan of the imaginary world that Josh had built, but he kept his mouth shut because he knew he would get to call the shots the next weekend. 

When that weekend came, Jake could hardly sleep the night before. Even though he was in his comfiest pajamas and tucked tightly under his constellation covers, his mind raced as he went through his plan again in his head. 

“We’re gonna be pirates,” he told Josh the following morning as they bound down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast. 

“I like it,” Josh nodded with a toothless grin. 

“We’ll hunt for treasure and fight the bad guys and fire cannons.”

“Do I get to pick my pirate name?” 

“As long as I get to pick mine.” 

They both stood on their toes to rest their elbows on the kitchen counter so they could watch their dad, still clad in his plaid robe, groggily making a pot of coffee. 

“You want your usual?” he asked his sons over his shoulder. 

“Yeah!” they both brightly chirped. With a grunt, Kelly grabbed two Scooby Doo-branded plastic bowls from the cupboard and carefully set them down in front of Jake and Josh. He grabbed an open box of Mini Wheats from the counter and filled each bowl to the brim with cereal. Jake and Josh both stared intently as Kelly poured a splash of milk in, monitoring to make sure he gave them the right amount. 

“There you go,” he said, handing them both spoons. While Jake and Josh hungrily tore into their breakfast, Sam came clomping into the room, dressed in his Elmo onesie pajamas, carrying a Bionicle in one hand and a Dr. Seuss book in his other hand. 

“Ronnie won’t read to me no more,” he whined out in his squeaky voice. Jake and Josh were too busy digging into their sugary meal to make much of Sam’s complaint. Sure, he was 5, but he really did whine a lot for a little kid. 

“Ronnie has a playdate to go to,” Kelly tried to explain to his youngest son. “She can read to you later.” 

“Can I go with her?” Sam’s face brightened. Kelly winced. 

“I’m afraid not, buddy. You weren’t included on the guest list.” 

Sam’s face contorted into a deep frown and he looked on the brink of tears when Kelly cut him off to do some damage control. 

“Why don’t you play with your brothers today?” 

“Dad!” Jake couldn’t hold himself back from protesting. Sam just got in the way. He was going to ruin Jake’s pirate game, which Jake wouldn’t accept. 

“C’mon,” Kelly gave Jake a pleading look. “Let the little guy join you. Just for today, okay? I promise.” 

“We can play pirates tomorrow,” Josh leaned into Jake’s side to whisper. 

“I want to play pirates today though,” Jake was now the one who looked on the brink of tears. Kelly accidentally let out a loud sigh and chugged down his cup of coffee. 

“Just play pirates with Sam,” he said. “I would keep an eye on him, but I’m practicing for a gig with the guys.” 

Jake knew that this was an argument he couldn't win so, with a locked jaw, he nodded. Josh patted him on the back, as if to tell him that everything was okay. 

“I get to be a pirate?” Sam sounded hopeful as he stood in between Jake and Josh, looking up at them in eager anticipation. Jake took a break from his cereal and patted on the top of Sam’s head with probably a little bit too much force. 

“You get to keep an eye on the booty.” 

“Oh boy!” Sam exclaimed, even though it was obvious he didn’t know what Jake was talking about. 

“Why does he get to keep an eye on the booty?” Josh asked Jake under his breath. 

“We’re gonna steal the booty from him,” Jake whispered back. “He’s the bad guy.” 

“Oh,” Josh breathed out. In unison the twins finished the rest of their breakfast and let their spoons clatter down on the counter. Kelly looked up from the newspaper he was scanning and pointed back upstairs. 

“All of you get changed and then the day is yours.” 

The three brothers sprinted upstairs and tore into their shared bedroom. While Josh helped unzip Sam’s pajamas and tug his Detroit Red Wings shirt over his head, Jake reached into the back of their closet and retrieved his Halloween costume from the year prior. He had given it a lot of thought during his restless sleep the night before that he couldn’t successfully play pirates with Josh unless he looked the part. Josh finished dressing Sam and watched as Jake pulled up his patched pants, black and white striped shirt, and black vest. 

“I don’t have a pirate costume,” Josh complained. 

“You can wear my eyepatch,” Jake tried to compromise. It was hard to see out of anyway. That seemed to be enough for Josh since he nodded with a goofy grin and got to work getting into a pair of jeans and white t-shirt. 

“I want to wear pirate clothes too,” Sam’s shrill voice rang out again. 

“You don’t have a pirate costume, Sammy,” Jake turned around to tell his brother. 

“Why not?” Sam crossed his arms. 

“I don’t know,” Jake responded as he carefully placed his pirate hat over his unkempt hair. “You can wear a bandana though.” 

It was Jake’s luck that Sam accepted that as enough for his pirate costume. He fetched a red bandana from underneath his bed and brought it over to Sam. Sam held the cloth in his hands and stared down at the paisley design. 

“What do I do with it?” he finally asked. Jake had been in the process of tugging on his fake pirate beard, so he tsked in aggravation and returned to Sam’s side. 

“You do this,” Jake explained as he took the bandana out of Sam’s hands and sloppily tied it around his head, pushing the fabric back so Sam looked more like a milkmaid than a first mate. Even though Josh looked equally as ridiculous with the eyepatch and a bucket hat on, he let out a small snort at the sight of Sam. It didn’t seem to bother Sam at all though, since he was already in character, running around his side of the room yelling out “Argh!” 

Jake finished getting into costume and cleared his throat. While it didn’t stop Sam, Josh joined Jake’s side. Jake cleared his throat louder a second time and Sam skidded to a stop and whirled around to face his older brother. 

“There’s booty out on the high seas, there is,” Jake growled out in his best pirate voice. “Argh, booty as far as the eye can see.” 

“I want the booty!” Sam shouted out as he danced from foot to foot in excitement. 

“You have the booty, boy,” Jake told Sam. “You need to hide it from us because we’re going to take it from you.” 

“No!” Sam exclaimed. “I won’t let you!” 

“Well get in yer boat and set sail, sonny boy. We’ll give you a head start.” 

Sam took Jake’s cue and booked it out of the room, squealing out in glee. As his thrilled cries disappeared from earshot, Josh turned to Jake. 

“What’s your pirate name going to be?” 

Jake combed his hand through his fake beard as he pondered his options. 

“Captain Brown Beard,” he decided. 

“I wanna be Curly the Pirate,” Josh shared. “I’ll be your first mate.” 

“Ay,” Jake said. 

“I want a parrot too,” Josh added. “He’ll talk sometimes, but I’ll let you know when it’s the parrot talking and not me.” 

Jake nodded at Josh’s request and then motioned towards their open door. 

“The lad’s far enough ahead. Let’s get us some booty.” 

Jake led the charge, letting out the best pirate whoops and calls he could afford, which Josh echoed behind him. They made their way downstairs and, sticking to tradition, raced each other to the front door. Since Josh was technically blind in one eye from the eyepatch, he was at an unfair disadvantage. Jake won by a landslide, but that was mostly because Josh accidentally ran into a wall while they were trying to pass through the living room. Jake opened the front door with a grunt but waited for his twin to catch up, basking in the warm glow of the early sunlight. When Josh joined Jake’s side with an embarrassed grin plastered on his face, Jake craned his neck to shout outside, 

“Sammy boy! We’re coming for ya!” 

He was certain he heard Sam call out in shock at Jake’s announcement, followed by the sound of his tennis shoes crunching on fallen leaves as he tried to run away. 

“The booty’s not far,” Jake turned back around to share with Josh. 

“Roger roger,” Josh chirped back. “That was the parrot,” he added in a whisper. 

With Jake leading the way, they crept through the front door and down the front steps to their front lawn. Jake had his hands cupped together to form a makeshift telescope, which he used to scan their property. Sam was nowhere to be seen, but Jake assumed that meant he was hiding in the backyard. Sam always ran for the shed in any game of hide and seek. Jake reached into his pant pocket and pretended to retrieve a compass, which he held out to Josh to observe. 

“North is that way,” Jake said, pointing towards the backyard. “We have to go north.” 

“Ay ay, captain,” Josh saluted Jake. They started to make their way around the side of their house, Jake pretending to steer their impressive ship while Josh was in charge of keeping an eye on the sails. 

“What will you do with the booty, Captain?” Josh asked after Jake commanded that he weigh anchor and pick up the pace. 

“I’ll buy an even bigger boat, argh,” Jake announced with his arms wide. “So I can get more booty!” 

“Brawk, more booty,” Josh imitated a parrot. “I’m going to use the booty to make a movie,” he continued in his normal voice. This made Jake stop in his tracks, Josh nearly bumping into his back. 

“Josh,” Jake thought hard. “I don’t think movies existed when pirates were around.” 

“Oh,” Josh frowned. “Then I’ll buy an island, I don’t know.” 

They reached the backyard with the shed clear in view, and Jake grabbed a long stick from the ground to serve as his sword. He knew using a stick as a weapon was something his parents wouldn’t approve of, but he wasn’t going to actually use it as a weapon. It was just a prop. 

“My compass says to go that way,” Jake ordered, pointing his stick in the direction of the shed. “Booty ahead, matey!” 

“Yarr!” Josh agreed. They pretended that a strong gust of wind had propelled their boat forward and started to run for the shed. 

“Ahoy, Davy Jones’ Locker!” Jake exclaimed as he pulled the shed door open. “What treasures are here?” 

“No booty,” Sam’s small voice squeaked from the corner of the shed, behind their dad’s lawn mower. Jake and Josh shared an amused look before cornering Sam. 

“Yo ho ho, that was too easy,” Jake couldn’t help but muse. He lowered his stick back down to his side and pretended to swing from his ship down to Sam’s side. As he started to reach for the imaginary treasure that Sam had been given, he was shocked to find that Sam slammed his own stick down on Jake’s hand. 

“OW!” Jake hollered, clutching at his throbbing hand. “Whaddya do that for, Sam?” 

“You won’t take my booty!” Sam shouted with a newfound sense of confidence. “It’s mine!” Because he had caught Jake and Josh off guard enough, he managed to squeeze between them and rush out of the shed and back around to the front yard. 

“Captain?” Josh checked in with Jake, lifting his eyepatch to make total eye contact with Jake. “Is your hand okay?” 

“It will need stitches, but I’ll live,” Jake decided to stay in character, even though internally he wanted to swing his own stick at Sam in retaliation. “Fetch me the surgeon.” Josh hurried to a separate part of the shed and then came back with the eyepatch gone.

“I’m the surgeon, Toothless Pete,” he introduced himself, shaking Jake’s uninjured hand. “What’s the problem?” 

“The enemy got me,” Jake explained, showing his red hand to Josh. “He got me with his sword.” 

“That’s a deep cut,” Josh said as he pretended to examine Jake’s “wound”. “Let me work my magic.” Jake was pleasantly surprised to find that Josh dancing his fingers over Jake’s hand while mumbling gibberish did, for some reason, make his hand feel better. “Good as new,” Josh announced, letting Jake’s hand out from his grip. 

“Let’s get that bad guy,” Jake said, pointing his stick out the shed door. 

They hustled back out into the sunlight and snapped their heads around, trying to catch a glimpse of their younger brother. 

“He can’t be far,” Jake reasoned. 

“Use the compass,” Josh reminded Jake. They acted as if they were looking down at Jake’s trusted compass again, and Jake pointed back to the front yard, where there was a scattered collection of trees. If he had to guess, Sam was probably hiding behind one of them. They set sail once more, this time with Josh and his parrot singing sea shanties while Jake attempted to do tricks with his sword. By the time they approached the trees, the twins were in high spirits. That quickly disappeared though when it was obvious that Sam wasn’t there. 

“Where did he go?” Jake’s voice rose. “He has me booty!” 

“In the house?” Josh guessed. 

“We only play outside,” Jake countered. 

“Maybe that’s why he’s inside,” Josh suggested. Jake shook his head. 

“I’ll bet he’s on the other side of the house.” 

Since Jake was the captain, Josh couldn’t challenge his judgment. They crept to the other side of the house and, again, were left disappointed that Sam wasn’t there. 

“The rascal,” Jake muttered under his breath. 

“I was thinking about it,” Josh commented. “Should we tell on Sam to Dad? He did hit you with a stick.” 

“Maybe,” Jake realized. That would have been a good way to get Sam off of their hands. But, now that they were deep into their game of pirates, Jake was determined to keep Sam in the game so he could find him and rob him clean of his treasure. As Captain Brown Beard, it was his life’s mission. “We have to find the booty first,” he turned back to tell Josh. Josh gave Jake a salute. 

They circled around the house once more without catching even a glimpse of Sam. Jake knew for a fact that Sam wasn’t that good at hiding, which meant Josh had been right all along, that he was inside their house. Jake made a mental note to coach Sam that going inside was against the rules as they steered their ship through the front door. 

“Blimey,” Jake and Josh both whispered in awe. Sam, still wearing his bandana, was sitting on their leather living room couch, happily munching on a bowl of cheddar Goldfish. 

“The booty,” Jake turned to Josh to widen his eyes. They both gazed at Sam’s snack with a newfound hunger. Sure, they were still playing pretend and the Goldfish were a nice tangible thing to steal from Sam, but Jake also realized how hungry captaining an imaginary ship made him. 

“What’s the plan, Captain?” Josh asked in a hush. “Brawk, plan,” he added. 

“An ambush,” Jake conspired. “He won’t know what to do.” 

“On the count of three?” Josh checked in. 

“Ay,” Jake readied his stick. 

“One.” 

“Two.” 

“Three.” 

Jake felt a rush of exhilaration as he and Josh both tore in Sam’s direction, yelling out in their best pirate voices. Sam had been in the middle of shoving a hearty handful of Goldfish into his mouth when he jumped in shock from the sound of his brothers. 

“No!” he cried out as Josh rushed in front of him and pulled the bowl of Goldfish out of his hands. Jake ran in the opposite direction and snatched the bandana off the top of his head, just because. 

“The booty is ours, Curly!” Jake whooped in glee as they rushed out of the room. 

“My snack!” Sam wailed. “My bandana!” 

Jake and Josh both returned back outside and ducked underneath the porch so they could take inventory on their bounty. The bowl was nearly empty, but Jake hardly cared. In that moment he felt as if he was really a pirate, swinging in from a rope, slashing away at the bad guys and taking what was rightfully his. 

“There’s five Goldfish,” Josh realized as he sorted through the crackers. 

“Enough to buy a new boat!” Jake exclaimed, waving his hands up in celebration. 

“And my island!” Josh was back to pretending, joining Jake in his glee. They patted each other on the back and divided the bowl between them, happily munching away on Sam’s food. Jake had to admit that they were probably the best Goldfish he’d ever had. 

He was finishing crunching down on his last one when he heard heavy footsteps above them. Within seconds, Kelly was down by their side, gazing down at them in a mixture of disappointment and amusement. Behind him was a sniffling Sam, who was holding onto the back of Kelly’s shirt. 

“Did you take Sam’s snack?” Kelly asked Jake and Josh. They both exchanged a quick look. It was hard to deny that they had, considering they had Sam’s bowl between them and were both holding Goldfish up to their mouths. 

“He cheated and went inside!” Jake tried to divert the blame. 

“I didn’t know!” Sam raised his voice. Kelly took a pause to turn around and address his youngest. 

“It’s okay, Sammy,” he calmly told him. “You’re not in trouble.” 

Kelly returned back to Jake and Josh. 

“I’m disappointed in you both,” he said. Those words stung. Jake and Josh winced and tried to avoid looking their father in the eye. “You shouldn’t team up against your brother like that.” 

“I’m sorry,” Josh was the first to crack. 

“I am too,” Jake echoed. He did feel bad; he had never told Sam he couldn’t go inside. Plus, it was unfair that Jake and Josh had teamed up against him, two versus one. If Ronnie was with Sam, Jake wouldn’t have felt a sliver of remorse, but Sam was all on his own. He didn’t stand a chance against his older brothers. 

“Good,” Kelly was finally able to make eye contact with his sons. “Sam, do you feel better now?” 

“I want my booty back,” Sam’s eyes still glistened with tears. 

“We can get you some more booty inside, how about that?” Jake asked as he handed Sam his bandana back. Sam cautiously grabbed it from Jake and then held it up to Kelly to tie around his head. With a small grin, Kelly took the bandana from Sam and motioned for him to stand in front of him so Kelly could properly secure it around his head. 

“There you go,” Kelly softly told him. “You’re a pirate again.” 

That was apparently all that Sam needed to hear, since he called out in glee and ran back towards the house, hollering “Argh!” all over again. Jake, Josh, and Kelly all looked amongst each other and couldn’t help but let out a laugh. It felt like there was never a dull moment with their family.

Kelly trudged after Sam and Jake and Josh shortly followed behind him. 

“Was that a good game of pirates?” Josh asked Jake. Jake reflected on their day. 

“I’d say it was pretty good,” he replied with a large grin through his fake beard. Josh tugged on the fake hair, revealing Jake’s chin for a split second, and let out a hearty laugh. 

“Curly the Pirate and Captain Brown Beard got their booty today!”

[shera-dnd]

DID SOMEONE ASK FOR FLUFFY DOMESTIC FALLEN PETALS?

Well, y'all did it's why I wrote it in the first place

This one is set like at least a full decade past whatever the show's finale is gonna be, featuring Cinder and Ruby moving in together in Mistral so Cinder can try to reconnect to her old homeland

It doesn't go particularly well for her

But it least it was fun to write for me

If anyone were to ask a young Ruby Rose where she’d settle down in her later years, her first answer would have been that she’d never settle down, because that’s lame . 

But if one managed to get her to say an actual place, then a small village on the outskirts of Mistral would not have been her first choice.

Honestly it wouldn’t have even been her last choice.

Back then Ruby had no reason to consider this place for her new home, but back then she and Cinder had also been sworn enemies. 

So maybe young Ruby had no way of guessing what direction her life would take.

Dropped a city out of the sky, fell into another world, had a little chat with the Gods, married her nemesis… 

Yeah there was no way she could guess any of that.

So here she was, in this small mistrali village, having finally settled the last of her belongings. 

It wasn’t anywhere near as big as the home she left in Patch, but it was still cozy in a way and it fit most of their furniture. It wasn’t a home quite yet, but she could see herself making it one.

Not today though. 

Today Ruby was exhausted and she needed a nice long break.

Cinder stretched next to her, rolling her left shoulder as she adjusted her prosthetic.

“How are you feeling, honey?” Ruby asked her wife.

“ Sore ,” was her blunt answer, “and in need of a long soak.”

“Well, good thing we already got the hot water running,” Ruby commented, walking up to her. 

As soon as they got close enough Cinder’s hand reached for Ruby’s almost instinctively. 

“But I meant more about, you know, being here,” she added.

Cinder sighed, “I’m… not sure. I know Mistral is my home, but after all this time… it’s hard not to feel like an outsider.”

“We knew this was gonna be awkward to start with, but we’ll make this work.” Ruby gave her hand a little squeeze and leaned against her shoulder, “now how about you go take that bath, and then tomorrow we can meet the neighbors and see if we can get you reconnecting to your old roots.”

“Yeah… I can do that,” Cinder nodded, letting go of Ruby’s hand and walking up to their new bathroom, before pausing. “You coming?”

Ruby chuckled, “tempting, but I think if we both try to fit inside that bathtub, we’re just gonna come out more sore than when we went in.”

“I guess we already know what we’re renovating,” Cinder joked.

With that she made her way into the bathroom and left Ruby alone in the room.

She had to admit, she was exhausted after a whole day of moving boxes. The thought of doing anything besides taking a quick shower, and falling face first onto her pillow, felt like hell to her now.

So she tried not to curse out loud when she heard a knock at her door.

Come on, Rose, you tracked through half of Anima on foot at age 17. 

What’s just a little chat with the neighbors? 

Though she wasn’t seventeen anymore, and after all she put herself through, she could definitely feel her age catching up to her. 

Damn it, is this how Miss Calavera felt?

Okay, time to stop that train of thought before she went into a midlife crisis.

Ruby made her way to the door, and readied her most polite smile before opening up.

She was greeted by the sight of an older woman - closer to Cinder’s age - with long brown hair tied up in a bun, and beautiful gray eyes. 

Ruby thought she caught a glimpse of a scar around her neck, but averted her eyes so as to not make her uncomfortable.

“Hey there, neighbor,” she greeted, “I saw you were moving in today, so I wanted to bring you something.”

The woman handed Ruby a basket with a little cloth laid over it. 

Ruby took it and removed the cloth, revealing a pile of still steaming gyozas.

“I know the last thing I’d wanna do after a long move is to have to stop and cook for myself, so I thought I’d save you the trouble.”

Gods, Ruby hadn’t even thought about making dinner. 

This woman was a saint.

Actually, that gave Ruby an idea.

“Thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you,” she answered, stepping aside, “please, come in. We were just done setting everything up anyways.”

The woman took her invitation, Ruby leading her to the kitchen  so she could set aside the gyozas as a little surprise for Cinder.

“We?” the woman repeated, “are you moving in with family?”

Ruby smiled at that. 

Yeah, Cinder really was her family now.

“Just me and my wife,” Ruby answered, “she’s Mistrali, but hasn’t actually lived in Anima since she was ten, so we thought it would be nice to bring her back home. Get in touch with her roots and all that.”

“That sounds wonderful. I’d love to show you both the town if you’d like,” the woman beamed with a genuine excitement that reminded Ruby of herself. Then she seemed to catch herself, “oh, where are my manners? I’m Royuka Sakurasou. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Ruby Rose. Pleasure to meet you too,” Ruby replied, offering her hand, adding, “looks like we’re both named after flowers.”

Ryouka took her hand and gave it a firm shake, joking, “I think that’s a sign we’re meant to get along.”

The two of them chatted away with surprising ease. 

It was easy to forget Ruby was an introvert sometimes, and that all her relationships - as strong as they were - never came without some initial struggle. 

But Miss Sakurasou seemed like a genuine kindred spirit, someone who understood Ruby on some level.

It seemed like Ruby could check “befriending the neighbors” off of her to-do list.

That is until they heard the bathroom door creek open, and Cinder stepped out looking properly refreshed.

“Hey, honey,” she called, making her way into the kitchen, “I left the bathroom nice and warm for yo–”

Then her eye met Royuka’s, and her jaw dropped .

“I…”

“You…” Royuka muttered, stumbling back and bracing against the kitchen counter.

“I uh… take it you two have met each other before,” Ruby commented, quickly stepping between them.

“You tried to kill me!” Royuka accused, “and you stole my clothes!”

Ruby turned to Cinder with a questioning look, only for her to flinch and force a smile that did nothing to make her look any less guilty.

“If it makes you feel better, I was only trying to knock you out,” was the best Cinder could manage.

Ruby mentally unchecked “befriending the neighbors” from her to-do list. 

This was… gonna be a lot harder than she was expecting.

[dirtypaw]

five times kissed,  for @ruinaa. 

first. 

he tells her one day.  it will be years before she meets luca,  but it is a forewarning of his nature.  of fathers.  

“  it’s been so long.  i don’t remember where i heard the name.  “  he didn’t want a reminder of someone he was never going to be,  as long as he was alive here,  which was meant to be forever.  his mother had good intentions,  giving him that name.  her heart was in the right place.  it was his father’s that was no longer beating right;  black and blue,  corroded over.  

“  i liked it.  i made it mine.  “  they walk shoulder to shoulder in the garment district of the city,  one of his hands pressed on her back and the other holding her latest dress for the next gallery event.  in the sun,  on the street,  his own heart feels alive again;  a thumping red.  it only intensifies when she laughs,  peeking up at him through her sunglasses.  

something you often do?  he shrugs,  presses a kiss to her cheek,  and continues to let her lead him along the way.  

second.  

there is nothing more that can be done in the days that follow elliot being taken.  he feels it in his gut:  the trail is cold,  gone,  the minute that he was picked up and thrown into a car.  there are things that money can buy and there are things that men want just because they want them;  revenge a price too high for him to pay.  

he looks at the back of her head.  he considers the cost of his own actions,  for once,  as heavy as they weighed on her.  (  this was no longer about just having fun.  about letting her get her own revenge in,  about paying that back.  inviting her to parties,  hanging out in his apartment,  letting her know all the ins and outs of his world.  about their friendship  ---  )  

she turns to look at him,  eyes red and puffy,  and his heart breaks.  we’ll find him,  won’t we?  she asks in an impossibly small voice.  he pulls her closer,  kisses her hair.  tucks her body against his and holds her as close as he can. 

“  we’ll find him.  “  it is the not the first or the last promise he makes her,  but it is one of the important ones.  

third. 

consequences;  they hang the heaviest over his shoulders now more than ever.  when he dies,  he comes back.  when he makes a mistake,  he does not care about the after affects.  but now  --  how he ever could have lived without her,  how these weeks could have turned to months to the day that he thought she might have been ripped from him to early  --  

“  josephine !  “  he is the first to find her,  amidst the blood bath that he has created in his pain and his anger.  he had told roman,  almost desperately so that day:  she knows that i’m looking for her.  she knows that i wouldn’t stop.  because he hadn’t  --  because if it had meant tearing the world apart,  he would have done so in a minute.  because he had admitted to himself a while ago that this was no longer about what it was in the beginning.

when he catches hold of her;  both him,  and roman together,  feeling her hands dig into his body with what strength they have to do so  --  for the first time in so,  so many years his eyes fill up with tears.   “  god damn it,  jo.  “  his body is trembling,  finally able to release all of his pent up grief.  “  i’ve got you.  we’ve got you.  “  he presses a kiss to her temple,  and carries her out to go back home.  

fourth. 

“  what did i tell you?  “  he’s got his hands on his hips,  head cocked.  four pairs of eyes look up at him.  “  if you all get into bed tonight,  tomorrow we’re going to be traveling to . . .  “  he leans forward with anticipation,  releasing one hand forward.  

andrew is the first to pipe up.  a special secret place !  shilah ruffles his hair.  “  that’s right.  but you have to go to bed in order to get to that place,  so,  i’m gonna turn around,  and then count to five,  and you all better be in bed waiting to be tucked in.  ready?  “  a collective nod.  “  alright.  one,  two,  three . . .  “  the count to five doesn’t even go that far.  the feet all scuttle to their bedrooms,  laughing along the way,  bouncing into bed.  

another pair of feet joins him,  wrapping his hands around his shoulders.  i’m letting roman do all the packing.  she says,  and he laughs,  kissing her smile.  it was like this now;  the two of them.  roman.  the children.  the odd family members in between.  

(  they didn’t talk about how he was going to lose this one day.  about how he should get the right to some grays in his hair when the kids stomp their feet,  or when the news channel was a little much.  when years down the road josephine and roman started to slow down just a little bit more.  )

fifth. 

most days when they come,  the day is bright and sunny.  he likes to think that it something she does for them all;  a little bit of her light,  still coming through.  today is that day once more,  the heat bearing down on his back like it might be her hug,  her smile,  her touch,  like how they never liked to be without each other for too long.  

of course he brings too many flowers,  because even if it has been ten years,  he won’t stop.  it’s over the top,  she would say,  and he would argue,  tell her she deserves it.  even in death.  even decorating her grave.  roman would like it,  he would counter,  and roman with all of his good naturedness would only smile and shake his head,  in their shared space for eternity.  

“  i know it’s too soon.  “  he speaks to her as he does.  but it has been ten years;  he just wants to remind her.  “  you need some peace for a while;  you deserve that,  sweettart.  some rest.  “  life in the beginning for her had been marked by hardships,  but she had preserved with nothing but strength and come out with a beautiful family.  

“  but you promised to come back to me.  so please  --  “  he squeezes the top of her gravestone,  leans to press a kiss to it.  “  don’t forget.  i’m waiting.  “

in the back,  he can hear the children calling him.  papa?  so he stands,  making his way to them.  for now,  he still has them;  ellie’s hand slipping in his,  andrew’s arm around his shoulder.  isabel’s kiss to his cheek,  and ridley’s solid smile.  time kept moving.  it did not stop.  but his grief,  and theirs,  was the love leftover that they could only share with one another right now. 

(  still  --  still.  her.  )

[windfighter]

Hypothermia, chapter 2

Kouji woke up. Takuya moved next to him.

”Hey”, Takuya greeted. ”Still cold?”

Kouji’s body shivered. He rubbed his eyes and pressed closer to Takuya.

”Not sure?”

Takuya put a hand against Kouji’s forehead. Kouji closed his eyes and listened as Takuya hmmed.

”I think that’s a fever”, Takuya said. ”I guess that’s better than yesterday at least.”

”Mm”, Kouji agreed. He wasn’t sure how bad he had been when he collapsed, but it definitely felt better. ”I’m not gonna ski today.”

”Yeah, we’re not even letting you outside today. Maybe tomorrow.”

”Morning”, Kouichi said from the other side of the bedroom.

”Morning~”, Takuya singsonged back. ”How are you doing?”

”Tired, mostly.”

Kouichi yawned and Kouji had to yawn as well. Takuya snickered.

”You two are impossible and we’ll never letting you go travelling on your own again.”

”The rest of you hate cross-country.”

Kouji yawned again and sat up. Kouichi nudged Junpei.

”Bring me breakfast?” he asked.

”Yeah, yeah, just let me wake up first.”

”If you ever bring me breakfast to bed”, Kouji said and glared at Takuya, ”there will be murder happening.”

Takuya snorted and sat up as well.

”Princess has spoken, we’ll be eating in the kitchen. Izumi, Tomoki, you joining us?”

Tomoki jumped out of the bed and disappeared into the kitchen, while Izumi stretched.

”I think I can convince Junpei to bring me breakfast as well”, she said and smiled at Junpei,

Junpei blushed and pulled a hand across his face. Kouichi laughed.

”I can get food on my own, it’s fine.”

”You should be resting”, Junpei said and sat up. ”I’ll bring you both food, it’s no trouble.”

Kouji stood up. He stumbled, his legs not quite recovered from the day before. Takuya was quick to steady him.

”...you should probably be resting as well”, Takuya said.

”I can rest in the couch, it’s getting way to cutesy in here.”

”We could make it cuter”, Junpei said and leaned down to kiss Kouichi’s forehead.

Kouji made a disgusted noise and left the room. Takuya laughed and followed him, wrapped an arm around his waist when he noticed Kouji putting a hand against the wall for support. He gently lowered Kouji into a chair in the kitchen. Tomoki was already busy preparing food for them and Takuya left Kouji to help. Kouji leaned against the table and closed his eyes. His body shivered and he felt exhausted after the short walk from the bedroom.

---------

”I don’t actually mind you two being cute together”, Kouji admitted after breakfast.

He was bundled up in a blanket on the couch and Kouichi was zapping through the channels looking for something to watch. Kouji had given up any decision-power he held because he knew he’d fall asleep again.

”I know”, Kouichi said and decided on a soap opera Kouji didn’t recognize. ”How are you feeling?”

Kouji grimased.

”Feverish and weak. Pain’s gone though.”

”I really thought we’d have to call an ambulance for a while there”, Kouichi admitted. ”No chest-pain?”

”I’ll keep an eye out for any sign of pneumonia”, Kouji promised and yawned.

”Fever is a sign.”

Kouji rolled his eyes.

”That’s just my body overcompensating in the other direction. I’m fine.”

Kouichi didn’t look convinced. Kouji closed his eyes and curled up against the armrest, but Takuya appeared and shook him.

”Move over, I want to sit here.”

”Only if I can abuse your body as a pillow.”

”That’s not really abuse.”

Kouji sat up and Takuya sat down next to him, wrapped an arm around Kouji and pulled him close. Kouji put his head against Takuya’s shoulder and closed his eyes again.

”Aww, I thought we were gonna go to the black slope today”, Tomoki said.

”Tomorrow”, Takuya answered. ”Someone’s gotta make sure the twins take it easy today.”

”I’m staying in as well”, Junpei said and sank down between Kouichi and Kouji. ”Skiing is fun, but my muscles are aching after ereyesterday.”

”Y’all are being noisy”, Kouji mumbled.

He didn’t open his eyes. Takuya hugged him and kissed the top of his head and Kouji groaned.

”I’ll go with you”, Izumi said. ”The cabin is to small for all six of us to stay in here the whole day anyway.”

”Yeah, okay”, Tomoki said. ”You’re better at skiing that Takuya anyway.”

”Those are challenging words, little bro”, Takuya said.

He laughed. Kouji’s head pounded and he frowned.

”Think the fever’s getting higher”, he mumbled. ”I’m gonna go to sleep now.”

The others fell quiet. Kouichi lowered the volume on the television. Kouji listened as Izumi and Tomoki got ready to leave, said goodbye when they were prepared and then relaxed against Takuya again. Kouichi started a movie on the television. Kouji fell asleep before it even started.

-----

Someone was shaking Kouji. He blinked awake and glared at the assilant. Takuya. Kouji growled.

”I know, but you gotta eat or else Kouichi is going to murder me.”

Kouji’s stomach growled and he sat up. Food didn’t actually sound bad. Takuya smiled.

”...Where is Kouichi?” Kouji asked.

”Kitchen. They’re making cupcakes for Izumi.”

”Hmm…” Kouji grabbed the food Takuya held out for him. ”You’re not making cupcakes for me?”

”Are you sure you’d want that?”

Kouji took a bite out of the food. It was warm. He assumed Junpei had made it since it was edible. He glanced at Takuya.

”...do you even know how to make cupcakes?”

”Not really”, Takuya admitted with a laugh and sat down in the couch next to Kouji.

He started zapping through the channels while Kouji ate, looking for something interesting. Kouji wasn’t up for watching football, but he wasn’t going to say anything unless Takuya actually found a channel with that.

The word ”Avalanche” appeared on the bottom of the screen and Takuya stopped changing the channels. Kouji recognized the ski resort on the screen – it was the one they were at. He felt cold.

”I’m… calling Tomoki”, Takuya said and stood up.

”Yeah”, Kouji agreed. ”Maybe Izumi as well.”

Takuya left. Kouji listened as the news person talked about what slopes had gotten hit and how many possible victims there were. So far five people had gotten rescued from the snow. Kouji hoped Tomoki and Izumi weren’t among them, that they had managed to get away. He heard Takuya’s voice from the bedroom. One of them must have answered. Kouji heard his own phone ring in the bedroom, and two seconds later Kouichi’s started as well. Kouji put the food away and tried getting up, but his legs still felt unsteady.

Getting sick was the absolute worst and next time he’d just do as Kouichi say and not go out in a snowstorm in only a t-shirt and sweater.

Kouichi walked past him, crossed path with Takuya, who handed Kouji his phone. Kouji sank down into the couch again before answering.

”I’m fine, dad.”

”The news said there was an avalanche”, Kousei answered.

”Yeah, we’re trying to reach Tomoki and Izumi…”

Kouji glanced at Takuya, who gave him thumbs up.

”They’re at the jumping slopes”, Takuya said. ”Totally safe.”

”Never mind”, Kouji let Kousei know, ”we’ve found them. The rest of us stayed inside after the storm yesterday.”

”Good call”, Kousei answered. ”A big enough snow-storm always increases the risk of avalanches.”

Kouji decided not to mention that they stayed in because both he and Kouichi got a teeny tiny bit of hypothermia in the storm.

”I promise you’ll be the first person I call if I ever get stuck in an avalanche”, Kouji said.

Kousei laughed.

”Call emergency first. I’m glad you’re all safe.”

”We’re safe”, Kouichi said in the other room, probably talking with Tomoko. ”Kouji’s sick, but we’re safe.”

”I’m not sick”, Kouji called.

”You have a fever”, Kouichi called back.

Kouji hoped Kousei didn’t hear that. He leaned back in the couch.

”Thanks for checking in on us though”, Kouji said into the phone. ”We’re doing great.”

”Be careful in the slopes”, Kousei warned him. ”There might be more avalanches waiting to happen.”

Kouji tried really hard not to laugh. He wasn’t going to any slopes this year.

”We’ll take care. You’re still picking us up on Sunday?”

”Yeah. I’ll see you all then. Stay safe.”

Kouji ended the call and sighed. Takuya sat down as well. He reached for the remote, but instead his phone started ringing.

”Mom”, Takuya said with a wince before answering.

Kouji grabbed his food and curled up against Takuya while Takuya tried to convince his parents they weren’t stuck in the snow. It took him about five minutes.

”You know”, Kouji said when Takuya put his phone away, ”I would actually like a cupcake.”

Takuya snorted, kissed Kouji’s cheek and finally grabbed the remote.

”Junpei!” he called into the kitchen, ”Princess wants a cupcake as well, are you making extras?”

”Why do you call him princess?” Junpei called back. ”I never understood that.”

He appeared in the door and looked at them. Kouji rolled his eyes.

”Because he keeps having to carry me”, he answered. ”One day I’ll carry him and we’ll see who the real princess is.”

”You love it though”, Takuya said.

”I don’t hate it”, Kouji admitted. ”Izumi’s fine by the way.”

Junpei tilted his head.

”Why wouldn’t she be?”

”There was an avalanche in the slopes”, Takuya answered. ”But they had already left when that hit. They’re on the way back now, said it wouldn’t be as fun after they scared us like this.”

”Are you making extra cupcakes?” Kouji asked.

Junpei laughed.

”Yeah, we figured everyone would want some.”

Kouichi left the bedroom and tossed his phone into the couch. He crossed the living room and leaned against Junpei, who wrapped his arms around Kouichi. Kouji started eating again.

”Mom’s probably gonna try to dote on you when we get home”, Kouichi said.

Kouji realized it was meant for him and he grimased.

”You didn’t have to tell her about yesterday.”

”And keep secrets from my mom?” Kouichi asked and turned around in Junpei’s arms.

Kouji laughed and put the plate on the table. He was done eating.

”You didn’t tell her grandma told you about me.”

”That’s… different?” Kouichi also laughed. ”I’m going to finish the cupcakes now.”

Junpei let go of Kouichi and the two of them returned to the kitchen. Kouji wrapped himself in the blanket and laid down in the couch again, head in Takuya’s lap. Takuya put a hand on Kouji’s shoulder and squeezed it.

”Sleep well, princess.”

”I’m not sleeping”, Kouji answered.

Two minutes later he was asleep.

[thatsallshewrot3]

Save Me From the Way I tried to Save You:

~An angst John B fanfic~

What if the Pogues were all living at the Chateau after John B gets out of jail? The Pogues are struggling to make ends meet and still have time to search for the cross. How will they get by? What will John B do to try to help the situation?

(This will be heavy so here’s the warning!)

Also I’d love to hear what you guys want to read! Tell me what you’d like to happen! Angst is more than welcome!

Chapter 1

John B POV:

So, it turns out supporting four teenagers and yourself is actually pretty difficult. I mean, hopefully, we won’t have to struggle too much longer, but apparently, it takes a while to find a lost treasure. Who knew, right?

We’re all crashing at the chateau most of the time, while we try to find out our next move. Ward just took the fall for Rafe, which made me a free man, but then he blew himself up. Sarah is pretty upset about it, which I get. I know he was still her dad and it’s difficult, but I mean the dude also tried to kill me. He made my life Hell, so that’s led to a few arguments between us. She spends most of the time with Kie, who is also pissed at me for arguing with Sarah. I tried to have empathy and be there for Sarah, but I guess my anger at Ward is too strong.

We all try to pull our weight around here. Kie and Pope spend most of their time at the Chateau, and JJ, Sarah, and I live here full time. Kie, Sarah, and Pope work shifts for the Heywards, delivering stuff around the island. JJ works odd-end jobs to bring in small stashes of cash, and I try to find work. Not many people are willing to hire someone who made national news, even if I was found innocent. They say I bring trouble wherever I go.

It’s not enough. JJ, Kie, Sarah, and Pope can’t work all the time if we’re going to find treasure. If they don’t work we can’t keep up with the bills or buy food. It’s a vicious cycle.

“Bills are in!” I announce as I make my way through the front door, slamming papers on the counter. All the Pogues are crowded around maps and books that are spread across the coffee table.

“What’s the damage this month?” Pope asks without looking up.

“Well there’s electricity, water, and taxes which are about $600, but we’ve also gotta fix a few things around here, so maybe another $150. Oh, and the Twinkie needs gas, so however much for that pus groceries,” I sigh sitting down on the couch with a beer.

Kie pulls a jar out of the pantry and starts counting out cash and coins. The coins are my sad little contribution. As I walk around the island looking for work, I collect anything I can find to add to the jar.

“I think we can barely scrape by,” Kie announces. “I mean, it’s gonna be tight. We might need to skip groceries next week, but at least we’ll have a roof. I can snag some food to get us by for a day or two when I work at my parent’s next week.”

“Is there anything else we can do? We can’t live like this every month,” I regret the words as soon as I say them. I know I could be doing more.

“You could get a job,” Sarah utters under her breath.

“Don’t you think I’m trying?” I snap.

“JB, she just means there’s gotta be someone that will hire you. Have you checked the mainland?” Pope is quick to stop any kind of argument.

“Yeah, I- I’ll check tomorrow,” I say, knowing I’ve already checked three times.

I stop listening when they start saying how good it would be if someone would hire me. I know I’m dragging them down. I know I’m a burden in my own home. I just don’t know how to be anything else I guess.

I rise from my seat, grabbing another beer from the fridge, before heading outside. I walk down the dock to where I can sit and let my feet brush the cold water. Why can’t I just fall deep within the ocean waves and let it take me away? It’d be better for my little Pogue family. I lean over to pull out a ziplock bag containing an old pack of cigarettes and a lighter. A lit cigarette finds its way between my lips, taking turns with the cold glass of the beer. I flinch when a hand finds my shoulder.

“I thought you were done with that stuff,” JJ looks disappointed as he sits down next to me on the dock.

“Yeah, just thought I shouldn’t waste ‘em.”

“You okay, Bee?”

“Just peachy,” I joke with a forced smile.

“You only smoke when things get bad up there,” He taps the side of my skull. “Look man, we know you’re trying. It’s just getting real hard to stay afloat and keep looking for the treasure-”

“I know Jay, I know. I just don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everywhere.”

JJ slings an arm around me and pulls me close.

“It’s okay. We’re gonna figure it out, man. We’re a family,” He rises and starts to walk back inside. “Don’t let Kie get a whiff of that shit. She and Pope will go all parent mode if they know you’re smoking again. That stuff is gonna kill you.”

I nod along. I don’t really care anymore. JJ goes back inside, and I stay on the dock until I’ve burned through three cigarettes and the sun is almost gone. I slowly make my way back up to the front door. I look into the dimly lit home, adding a mental note to pick up new light bulbs. JJ, Kie, Pope, and Sarah are sat around the living room, laughing at something on the tv, while chatting like a perfect little family. I don’t want to interrupt them. They look stress free, and I’ll only ruin it.

I pull my phone out, sending a quick text to the group, as I make my way around the back of the house.

‘Going for a walk. Be back in a few hours- Don’t wait up. :) ’

I hop on an old bike we keep around in case we need it. I head into town with no real destination in mind. I keep wandering around for about an hour, before I find myself in a parking lot by the beach. I stand there for a while, listening to the waves in the dark, until a large truck turns into the parking lot. I step back towards the bike, ready to try to run if I need to, as the passenger window rolls down.

“Heard you’re short on cash. Maybe I can help. Hop in,” Rafe says from the driver seat. His drug dealer, Barry, is in the passenger seat, and some guy maybe a few years older than Rafe is in the backseat.

“Why would you help?”

“Guess you gotta hop in to find out,” He taunts. “I’ll give you $50 just for getting in.”

Rafe waves a handful of cash in the air, while Barry and the guy in the back snicker. This is a bad idea. I know that. I know if the Pogues were here they’d be screaming at me to run. But, they’re not here, and I’m desperate. I throw my bike into the truck bed, before silently climbing in the truck.

“Atta boy,” Rafe cheers, passing me $50 when the door clicks shut.

The car starts to roll forward, and something in my gut twists.

“Where are we going?” I hesitantly ask.

“Somewhere to talk, Johnny Boy,” Barry smiles.

We roll along for about fifteen minutes. I test the door, which makes the guy next to me laugh. The child lock is on. We pull up to a dark wooded area. The only light comes from the headlights.

“Alright,” Barry and Rafe turn around to look at me, as soon as the truck is in park. “We need a little errand boy to do whatever we want. I mean absolutely whatever we want. We won’t even ask you about the treasure, as long as you do everything we say,” Rafe explains.

“You get $400 a week plus a little bonus here or there,” Barry’s smile makes me want to run.

“Why me?” I ask. I hate that I’m even entertaining this idea. $400 a week would be plenty to keep us afloat. Then we’d be able to focus more on the treasure, and once we get the treasure I wouldn’t need this stupid situation anymore.

“You’re the perfect candidate. You need the money. I know you do. Sarah came by begging for a few hundred the other day. Plus, you know what they say, ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’ It’d be perfect to keep my enemy under my thumb.”

I pretend to consider it for a minute. I already know my answer. Rafe already knows it, too.

“Fine. I’ll work for you, but the Pogues can’t know.”

“That makes it even better,” Rafe smiles. “Knowing this secret will be killing you, will make my life even better.”

Rafe pulls out a folded sheet of paper and a pen. I already know I’m about to sign my life away. It’s worth it if it means making life better for my family, though.

“This says you’re free to quit at any time. You have to follow everything we tell you. Every time you don't, that's $100 you have to bring to me. We can do whatever we want. I’ll text you any time of day or night and you have to respond. Got it?”

I skim through the words. It’s all there.

“Yes,” I sign my name on the dotted line.

*Smack*

Barry laughs as I cradle where he smacked my face. “You’ll start tomorrow, Bitch Boy. Be up and ready by six.”

The truck shifts back to drive, and we begin to trek towards the chateau. They drop me off about half a mile before the house. I go to hop on my bike and finish the journey home, when Rafe calls out the window.

“Hope you’re ready for a new career,” He laughs.

When I get home, everyone is already asleep. I light up a cigarette once I’m locked away in my room. What have I done?

[outerbankies]

You know how teenager rafe is gonna just be spiralling over reader going to prom with someone else? I’m going to cry cause like he’s a baby and he doesn’t know why he has these feeling for this one person that he’s always kind of orbited around?? And he knows she’s it for him but only deep down cause he’s trying to figure so much out and how could you know who you’re going to end up with at the age of 17 let alone 10 or 12 but he’s always known and aaaaah imagine that kind of love

an angsty little pre-series prom blurb partially inspired by this ^ ask that made me spiralll. thanks anon i hope u like this!

—

new light blurb: before we knew — rafe cameron

new light series masterlist

obv takes place pre-series in high school! referenced in part 1

warnings: underage drinking

“Top, it’s not fucking funny.”

“It’s kinda fucking funny, Y/n/n. Like, way more than a little.”

Rafe had ditched the last fifteen minutes of statistics when he finished his test early today, and he’d been messing around on his phone for ten minutes waiting for the rest of you to come and get in Topper’s Jeep so you could all go to lunch off-campus today.

Rafe stands up straight from where he’d been leaning against the hood when he hears your voice approaching, his smile matching yours once you see him. “Hey, Rafe. How did your stats test go?”

“Good, hey, Y/n. What’s not funny?” he asks, opening the passenger side door for you before sliding into the backseat behind you.

“Oh, get this, Rafe,” Topper says, laughing. You just groan again, clicking your seatbelt on. “Griffin is gonna ask Y/n to prom. Tomorrow.”

Rafe blanches. “Griffin?”

He knew Griffin thought you were hot. Certainly had to hear it enough times in the pool at practice every day. Rafe always found himself biting back a remark—well, almost always. As captain, Rafe was able to tell everyone to run another play whenever he felt like it. The extra exertion in the pool was nothing compared to having to tread water and hear his teammate talk about you like that.

But even after all of that, he still had no idea Griffin had the balls to actually make a move on you. Because Rafe could tell you’d seriously rather die than ever give Griffin the time of day. And Griffin had been pursuing you without luck for months, even though you’d been trying to gently show you weren’t interested. Half of the time, Rafe wished you'd just tell him to fuck off.

The other half of the time, Rafe was considering just doing it for you.

Rafe clears his throat after his outburst, a finger digging into a hole in his jeans. “How do you know?”

“He just told me in PE,” Topper says. “He said he has this huge banner, and speakers, and he’s gonna do it at lunch right in the middle of the quad—”

“Topper.” You cut him off a bit more seriously this time; Rafe can hear the shift in your tone. You've always hated being anywhere close to the center of attention, getting embarrassed by the smallest things others wouldn’t even think about. If Griffin actually knew anything about you the way Rafe does, he’d know you wouldn’t like something big and flashy. “Can you stop?”

“Hey, cut it out, Top,” Rafe is saying immediately. Topper just rolls his eyes, but Rafe doesn’t care. “You okay?”

“Yeah, Rafe,” you say, smiling over your shoulder at him. “M’fine.”

“Do you want me to tell Griffin to—”

Topper laughs from the driver’s seat, clearing his throat to cover it up when you look over at him. You look back at Rafe, and his heart breaks at the worry in your face. “Don’t, Rafe.”

“Are you gonna say yes?”

“No,” you immediately laugh, looking at him like the idea is preposterous.

“Oh c’mon, Y/n/n. Can’t say no to him in front of all those people,” Topper teases. “And where the fuck is Kelce? I’m starving.”

“You’re right,” you sigh. “I don’t wanna embarrass him. I’ll just find him after school today and tell him I’m going with Kelce.”

Topper’s eyes widen, Rafe catches it in the rearview mirror before he hurriedly looks away. Rafe clears his throat, settling back into his seat from where he’d been leaning into the front space to talk with you. “You—uh, are you actually going with Kelce?”

“Yeah,” you nod, distracted by your phone. “We said we’d go together if we didn’t find dates. Kelce didn’t really wanna ask anyone after what happened last summer. And after nearly being set up with Top last night, I’m about ready to throw in the towel.“

Rafe looks to his friend that sits in the driver’s seat, who's looking straight at his lap, the back of his neck bright red. “Wait, you two?”

“It was just our parents, dude. Went to dinner at the club last night and our moms brought it up,” Topper mumbles. You giggle at the idea, completely unaware of the energy in the car right now.

“Yeah, sorry, Thornton. But no thanks. You and Emily should be really cute, though,” you say earnestly, patting his shoulder.

Topper just stares straight ahead. “Thanks, Y/n/n.”

“And then this thing with Griffin—I’m just so over the idea of finding an actual date at this point,” you sigh. “Plus, I know Kelce won’t put up a fight about the color scheme. I’m thinking like, aqua. Or maybe pink? I don't think I'd look good in gold.”

You'll look good in absolutely anything, and Rafe will just have to watch you from across the floor of the Island Club, while Kelce twirls you around the dance floor or holds you close during a slow dance.

The guy in question opens the car door and slides into the backseat next to Rafe right then, sighing as he slides his backpack off. “Sorry guys, coach stopped me in the hall. Where are we eating?”

Rafe glares at him.

“I want a smoothie,” you declare from the front seat.

“Fine with me,” Topper nods, pulling out of his parking spot. “Guys?”

“Can we go to that place with the deli next door? I’m so hungry,” Kelce says.

“Yeah, I like their açaí bowls,” you say, twisting around to look at Rafe one more time. He must not be able to hide his emotions as much as he thought, because your smile drops when you see him. “Rafe? Does that sound good?”

He turns his body to look out the window, eyes flicking back to yours one last time. “Not hungry.”

—

Rafe meets Topper and Kelce at the dock later that night, the three of them intending to get drunk and maybe take Topper’s boat out if they felt like it.

Kelce is already there by the time Rafe pulls up, drinking a beer with Topper while they laugh at something on his phone.

And Rafe paces right down the dock, snatches Kelce’s phone out of his hand, and pushes him off the platform and into the water.

“Rafe, dude,” Topper says, immediately pushing him back by his chest.

“What the fuck?” Kelce sputters, spitting out water as he surfaces and climbs the ladder back up. “What is your fucking problem?”

“You couldn’t ask literally fucking anyone else? It had to be Y/n?” Rafe says, laughing indignantly. He looks down at where Topper is still keeping them separated. “And you—what the fuck—”

“I told you, man. It was just our moms. We didn’t even consider it,” Topper says, rolling his eyes.

“You both lied to me,” Rafe accuses. “Because you knew I’d be mad.”

“And why’s that, Rafe?” Kelce spits, reaching around Topper to try and push at his chest. “Why are you mad? Not like you were gonna ask her.”

“No,” Rafe says immediately. And he isn’t even lying; it’d never crossed his mind as a possibility. Which is why he can’t even begin to try and work out why he’s this upset about it. He didn’t do anything to stop this, but it’s still happening, and it’s making him crazy. “You know my dad’s making me take Reagan since we’re both on prom court.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kelce grumbles. “I was gonna tell you.”

“When?”

“Soon, I just—we made the plan so long ago, bro. Neither of us wanted to worry about dates… but I gave it time because I thought you might—I dunno,” Kelce trails off, shrugging. “I dunno.”

“Thought I might what?”

“Figure your shit out and ask her yourself,” Topper says, coming back from the boathouse with a towel that he passes to Kelce.

“Even if I could, Y/n/n would never say yes to me,” Rafe scoffs, shaking his head and reaching for the six-pack they were working through.

Topper scoffs back. “Oh, yeah ri—”

“Guess we’ll never know,” Kelce says, cutting him off while he dumps the water out of his shoes. He sighs at his soaked clothes before he looks back up at Rafe. “You know I’m not into her right? We’re just going as friends. It’s senior prom.”

“Why would I care what you’re going as?” Rafe says, shifting in discomfort, hand clutching his already-half-empty beer can a little tighter. “None of it even matters.”

“Whatever you wanna tell yourself, bro,” Kelce sighs, grabbing his phone out of Rafe’s hand and pushing past him to go change.

—

“Nice taste, Y/l/n.”

You whirl around from where you’d been adjusting Kelce’s boutonnière (you’d only pricked him twice, which was a personal record for you) at the sound of Rafe’s voice, plastering on a smile before you face him. Your eyes drop to his attire immediately. “Oh shit, Rafe. We match.”

“I know,” he laughs. “My step-mom wants a picture.”

You furrow your eyebrows, shifting in your heels, the tule of your dress suddenly itchy against your legs. “Um. Shouldn’t you take one with Reagan?”

“We already took a million. From every angle. With every possible fucking pose,” Rafe sighs. “C’mon, please? Before the limo comes.”

Rafe grabs your hand and you look back at Kelce who just nods, downing some champagne. “Take care of my date, Cameron.”

You can see Rafe just shake his head where you trail behind him, leading you back to where Rose is talking to one of the other moms. “There you are. Your dress is beautiful! I wish we'd found one like that for Reagan. It looks great with Rafe's tuxedo.”

“Uh, yeah. It's nice to see you, Mrs. Cameron,” you say politely, ignoring the last half of what she said completely. She pulls up her phone and Rafe’s bringing you into his side, his hand resting in the middle of your back.

“This okay?” he murmurs, his breath fanning over your neck as he leans down.

“Yep,” you say quickly, but you can’t help but look around and catch multiple of your friends watching you, including Reagan, who promptly rolls her eyes once you make eye contact with her.

“Y/n, sweetie, just a few pictures for the newsletter,” Rose says, reminding you of your purpose right now.

“Right, sorry,” you say.

“Hey,” Rafe whispers. You look up at him, feeling his hand bring you closer to his body. “Take this a little more seriously, Y/l/n. Don’t you know that the next issue of the Island Club newsletter will be completely ruined without this one specific photo, that will probably be squished into the corner of a terribly- edited collage?”

You laugh in surprise, hitting him on his chest for joking about his step-mom right in front of her. “Rafe. Be nice.”

He just grins down at you, before straightening up and turning back to the camera. “If I’m nice, will you save a dance for me later tonight?”

You’re glad he’s not looking at you anymore, because then he’d see the way your smile faltered before you turn back to the camera as well. “Sure.”

—

“How is my flask empty?” Kelce groans, tipping it over and shaking it out for emphasis.

“That’s what happens when you drink it all, bud,” you laugh, patting his shoulder. He rolls his eyes at you, linking his arm in yours as you both pass through the crowd to find Topper and his date, Emily. You all watch Rafe up on stage, waiting to inevitably be crowned prom king.

He was a shoo-in anyway, but you’d definitely distracted your English teacher with a conversation about the 1984 essay you just turned in while Topper and Kelce stuffed the ballot box he was meant to be guarding.

Rafe seemed like he couldn’t care less about stuff like prom court, just shaking his head when his name was announced over the speaker as a nominee three weeks ago at lunch.

And he’d dragged his feet through finding a date, just shrugging whenever you brought it up to him, prying partially for your own sake.

You couldn’t figure out why he seemed so averse to the entire event, but you supposed that was better than having to hear him go on and on about Reagan and how he asked her and what corsage he bought for her and if he was bringing her to after-prom—or anything else that would’ve dragged up some feelings you thought you’d firmly buried at this point, telling yourself for years that you never stood a chance with Rafe.

But the closer graduation got, the more you’ve been realizing that things with your friends would never be the same. Things with Rafe would never be the same.

“Kildare Academy, your prom king is Rafe Cameron,” the DJ says, snapping you out of your thoughts. Kelce and Topper cheer obnoxiously while you laugh, a little grateful they’re both drunk and distracted—so happy their plan worked (Rafe subtly flips them off behind his back as he’s crowned) that they can’t notice the way your shoulders slump as Rafe leads Reagan, just crowned queen, out to the middle of the dance floor while some Ed Sheeran song starts playing through the speakers. You’d roll your eyes at the terrible music selection if that was what you could focus on.

All you could focus on was wondering if Rafe would even remember that you promised him a dance tonight.

Kelce is dramatically bringing you into his arms as the prom court dance takes place, subtly turning you around so your back faces the stage and the court, smiling as he holds your waist. “C’mon, dance with me.”

—

Rafe’s letting go of Reagan as soon as the song ends and everybody cheers, dashing off to the DJ booth after telling her he’d be back in a bit. She merely shrugged before adjusting her crown and going off to some friends.

“Hey man, can I pull some prom king privilege right now?” he says, leaning in to speak into the guys’ ear. “I have a song request.”

“Playlist is set, approved by the school,” he says dismissively.

“Thought you might say that,” Rafe grumbles, reaching into his breast pocket before he can take the time to wonder if he’s really going to do this—if he’s really going to bribe the DJ to play a song by your favorite band before he goes to cash in on that dance together that you’d promised.

He hands him a crisp hundred.

The DJ sighs, snatching it out of his hand and pocketing it while Rafe smirks in victory. “Alright, what song, country club?”

And then it's practically a race to find you before the Kid Cudi remix currently playing ends. Rafe heads off in the direction where Topper and Kelce had been yelling when he was on stage, evening his pace when he spots you jumping around with Kelce, your dress fanning around you while you laugh, the string lights illuminating your face.

You’re smiling so big that it stops Rafe in his tracks.

Guys had always shown interest in you, and you turned most of them down. Not all of them; Rafe still had to see you with guys who absolutely did not deserve you giving them the time of day, sometimes at parties or maybe at the Club. Rafe could usually lie to himself, write off these feelings as some protectiveness over you, a nice girl who’d been a good friend to him his entire life. Rafe was protective of all the people he held close in his life, why wouldn’t he look out for you, too?

But something must have changed, because now—now Rafe’s looking at you, and he knows time is running out before you both set off on your futures. He has three weeks of school left with you, then a summer of seeing you around. And then... that's it.

And now he’s looking at you, those feelings less and less ignorable with every single second closer Rafe gets to not having you around him every day anymore.

Those feelings are crowding every corner of his mind, finally coming to the surface after all of the drama with prom dates had forced Rafe to wonder why he couldn’t stand you going with Griffin or Topper or Kelce. Couldn’t stand thinking about you ever being with someone that wasn’t him—a reality he knows he’d have to get used to you a lot quicker than it took him to even realize he’d fallen for you.

Because the future’s coming, and maybe in the future you actually end up with someone like Griffin, or Mateo, or that guy from the party that one time, or that touron from New England that your parents tried to set you up with, some hotshot you brought home from California after a semester, or Kelce—even Topper. Your parents would love that one. And one day in this future, you’re running into Rafe on the soccer field; your kids play for the same team together. Rafe ended up settling for someone he could never like half as much as he loved you, and he sees you across the field with a sweater tied around your shoulders, chatting with all of the other moms. The lucky asshole you finally chose just watches you the way Rafe always had, the way he is now as you dance with his best friend, the way Rafe will probably never be able to stop himself from doing.

Or maybe there's another future without you, where you move away to somewhere that suits you; the Outer Banks had never good enough for you, in his mind. Maybe you stay in California after school. And you bring home that hotshot that’s perfectly matched for you, who gets to hold you and kiss you and have you. Rafe only gets to see you every once in a while, when you decide to grace the Outer Banks with your presence for the holidays or for Midsummers. Maybe in this scenario, Rafe was never able to find someone else, maybe he shows up solo while you flash your engagement ring when the old crew gets together for drinks—no, you wouldn’t do that. You’d be absolutely smitten with whoever won your heart, showing the ring he got you to your girl friends with an embarrassed little smile pulling at your lips while they all gush over it. And maybe one of your friends jokes about how Rafe used to have a crush on you. You'll just laugh and shrug it off, nodding—because you knew all along. Of course you knew, everyone had to know at this point. And Rafe can picture you merely laughing at his feelings for you as the other guy gets to pull you closer on his lap.

The opening chords of your song snap him out of his reverie. He can see the exact moment you realize what song it is.

Rafe beelines for you, holding his hand out as soon as he’s in your vicinity, fully pretending he hadn’t just realized he’s fallen for one of his closest friends in the middle of prom. Like he hadn't realized that he wasn't just into you, didn't just think you were cute or like the way you made him feel when you remembered his stats tests or wore his shirt to his water polo games. Like he hadn't just realized that no matter how many times he'd told himself it didn't bother him that much that you'd never come close to giving him the time of day, that he'd never forget what it felt like to not even be on your radar.

“You promised me a dance, Y/n.”

You look at him and his outstretched hand and smile, then look back to Kelce, who's quickly letting you out of his arms, casting an accusatory glance at Rafe. But then he smiles a little. “I'm gonna hit the restrooms.”

“Too bad our one dance is gonna be to a song by a band you hate,” you laugh, accepting Rafe's hand. Rafe’s on autopilot, his hands resting on your lower back while yours move to his chest, swaying the two of you in little circles. The song is already through with the first verse.

“I don’t hate this band,” he lies. But maybe it’s not a lie—how could he hate anything you loved?

“Okay, prom king,” you laugh, fiddling with his pocket square a little, the one that matches your dress. “Still can’t believe we ended up matching.”

“Great minds, Y/l/n,” he shrugs, eyes trained on your face. Your hands slip up around his shoulders, and you nudge the plastic crown on his head before leaving your arms to rest there, fingers locked behind his neck. Rafe pulls you closer. The second chorus was already starting up. Time was running out.

“I’m not sure what the optics are of our matching and you leaving the prom queen to come dance with your friend,” you say, your small smile turning into a frown. “Reagan already seemed pissed earlier.”

“Don’t worry about her,” Rafe says. “It’s just you and me right now.”

“When we go off to college, I think I might just miss you, Cameron,” you say, smiling.

And Rafe might not ever get to tell you how he feels, or ever be with you the way he wants to, but at least he got to dance with you at his senior prom.

“I know I'm gonna miss you.”

—

@moniamaybank @downbytheouterbanks @littlementalpolaroids @fangirlvoice @chicagoblackhawkslover96 @pogueslandia @loveylangdon @oopsiedoopsie23 @sodasback @rafeseggplant @cooper8224 @rafeyybabyy @lemur46 @cameronsrafe @theepoguelandia @judayyyw @irlpadfoot @synonymforlame @tinawhynot @mildkleptomaniac @ilymarkchan @sofiatheseconf @hockeyshmockey @supersouthy @coffeeandcrimeshows @emptyloverofmine @infinitleyethereal @nerdypartytrashpsychic @mrs-cameron @tcmhollnd @nicavass @sakikos @catonthesideoftheroad @jemimah-b99 @serrendipiity @depressinq @svechnibrock @julianakawaja @ctrlcherries @lostaurorax @wildflower98 @babygirl2022 @lieswithoutfairytales @painlesslies @messagesinthesky @orrsoared @destourtereaux @sammywilscn @tylernagle @anonymousobxfan @lilacsandwhiskey @raphaelcameron @mardema @princesspogue @alwaysclassyeagle @brittlehe-art @drewswrld

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Prompt: Fictober: “Check that again, are you sure?”/Lovetober Day 7: Storm

Fandom: School Bus Graveyard

Summary: A storm keeps the kids stuck at Ashlyn’s for a little longer than anticipated.

Content Warnings: None that I can think of!

Words: 663

     “We still have homework due tomorrow, so—” Ashlyn paused, her brow furrowing, as a low but heavy rumble rattled the shell of the bus. “Was it. Actually supposed to storm today?”

    Logan was the first to pull his phone out of his pocket and unlock it; he swiped and stayed still for a few seconds before nodding and raising his eyes to look at her. “It is.”

    “It’s looked rainy all day,” Aiden whistled, laying his head on his arms. “But man, if it’s gonna start pouring, that’s gonna suck to bike home in.”

    “We should probably get back inside,” Taylor said. “I don’t really know how I feel about being stuck in a bus shell during a storm.”

    Thunder cracked violently above the roof while rain pelted against the window of the living room; within minutes of them getting in through the back door, a drizzle had become a downpour. They sat in what had become their usual order for the cramped living room—Logan, sitting a few inches away from Tyler, Taylor, sitting with her shoulder pressed against Tyler’s, and Ben, mildly cramped between the arm rest and Taylor on one couch, and on the other, Aiden and Ashlyn sitting practically miles apart.

    Tyler held his arms over his chest, tapping a senseless, rapid rhythm on his elbow as he stared out the window. “So, when’s this supposed to let up?”

    “Well,” Logan’s voice came out hoarse, his eyes drifting from the window and down to the phone in his lap. “It’s… Kind of supposed to go on until three.”

    “Three? In the morning?”

    “In the morning…”

    “Check that again–are you sure?” Tyler leaned over, looking down at Logan’s phone screen as he closed and reopened the app.

    “It still says the same thing…”

    “Looks like we’re gonna be stranded.” Aiden chuckled, tossing his arm over the back of the couch. “It’s definitely not the worst place to be stranded.”

    “We’re stranded here every night,” Tyler shot back at him, his voice barely above a whisper. “What do you mean it’s not the worst place?”

    “I mean, we could be stuck, y’know, in the phantom dimension, too. And I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda glad that the weather there has been pretty consistent.”

    “Can we stop talking about that when we’re sitting in my living room?” Ashlyn hissed, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

    “Op, you’ve got a point. Sorry.”

    “It’s fine, I just don’t want—” Ashlyn stopped and dropped her hand down into her lap as she looked towards the stairs in the kitchen; Mike had just emerged, his hand still on the wall as he landed from the last step. “Hey, dad.”

    “Hey, I’m gonna make some snacks while Em gets a few board games that we had stashed back out, if you guys actually wanna play those—when things calm down a little bit outside, we’ll drive each of you home? Hopefully there’s a lapse in the storm soon.”

    “Thanks! Ty and I really appreciate it.”

    “Just a heads-up that we might not be able to fit your bikes and Logan’s scooter in the back of the jeep, but we can try?”

    “Oh, it’s cool.” Aiden said. “Ben and I can just ride the bus home with Ash tomorrow or walk here, we pretty much live right next to each other, anyway.”

    “I’ll probably do that, too.” Logan raised his hand and offered a polite smile in Mike’s direction. “I appreciate that you were going to try, though.”

    “I kind of want to go home before we come here,” Tyler said. “We can just try to walk it.”

    “Nah, I can come pick you kids up? Walking here would take a lot longer than biking does.”

    “Are you sure?” Taylor asked, looking from Tyler to Mike, then back to Tyler. “We don’t want to cause you any hassle.”

    “No worries, I’ve got you two covered? Just text Ashlyn when you guys are ready for me to come get you after school.”

    “Thanks!��� “It’s appreciated.”