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backtobackbakubabe · 5 years ago

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I am the Alpa Now part 1

Bakugo X Reader

Words: 2808

Reader is from America and somewhat of a delinquent with an alpha quirk that allows her to turn into a wolf as well as bond with dogs. She is sent to UA to straighten out her attitude. She ends up in a power struggle with none other than our favorite hot head. Words in Italics are words said telepathically

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Don’t do the crime if you can't do the time... That was what my stubborn, hard ass, police chief father told me before shipping me off to some stupid school across the world.

What was my crime you may ask? I was my small towns vigilante for over a year. Sure I may have not respected law enforcement during that time, or public property for that matter, but I never took it too far. Or at least in my humble opinion I didn’t. But apparently the mayor and my father did not agree. The final straw was when I left mugger tied up in front of the police station with a note to the police asking them to do their fucking job. Sure that note may have been graffitied on the side of the building but I think I got my point across.

So that brings us to my time... which I will be spending as some school called UA in Japan. My dad knew one of the teachers there and they agreed it would be the best thing for me. Teach me some discipline and respect or whatever. So here I am on an airplane leaving the only world I’ve ever known behind. Sure Georgia wasn’t much but it was home.

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You wouldn't be totally alone though. Due to your Alpha quirk you were allowed to bring your wolf-dog Mercy. You yourself could turn into a wolf about the size of a small horse and as durable as a tank, and you could also establish your alpha dominance over other dogs and in some special cases you could bond with them and add them to your pack. So far you've only managed to add Mercy but it was an amazing bond you wouldn't trade for anything. The bond allowed you to telepathically communicate with him and the longer you were bonded the smarter he got. He was basically thinking full sentences now. He was also getting faster and stronger, it was like part of your quirk was rubbing off on him.

You were anxious as hell knowing he was in a kennel in the cargo area of the plane. You knew he was okay though. You could feel his presence, but it did nothing for your nerves. You just wanted to land already and give him a big squishy hug.

Somehow you managed to fall asleep and when you woke up you were in a different country. You knew only a small amount of Japanese and you didn’t know anything about the culture... Here goes nothing.

You were picked up at the airport by a fancy looking SUV. The man driving didn’t look at all pleased with the fact that Mercy would be riding in the car with you.

“Why does this man stare at me?” Mercy made sure to stay in between me and the driver as my luggage was loaded into the car.

I gave him a quick scratch behind his ears to try and calm him down. “Easy Mercy. He’s nice. I just don’t think he wants you to shed all over his nice black leather seats”

Huffing he jumped into the backseat of the SUV, “It’s not like I have fleas…and I took a bath before we left!”

You giggled at your beta buddy and hopped in behind him, ignoring the confused look of the driver. He must think you’re crazy laughing at nothing. But then again you were used to that. You didn’t always remember to speak to Mercy telepathically and you had to admit you looked crazy having a one-sided conversation with a dog.

You marveled at the passing town through the window. You definitely were not in Georgia anymore.

When you arrived at the school it was already a little after midnight, but you were nowhere even close to being tired. The car pulled up to the front gate and you could see a few figures out there waiting for you. You were from the south and you were used to good ole southern hospitality, but you couldn’t believe they were up past midnight just to help you with your things.

The driver got out and started unloading your belongings from the trunk as you took a deep breath and opened up the google translator app on your phone. “Alright y/n you can do this. You’re a badass bitch who takes no shit from no body. You are smart, you strong, you can do anything…”

“Oi! You fucking done talking to yourself?”

Your head whipped up to see that a spikey haired blonde had opened the passenger door in the front and was staring at you. You sighed and returned your phone to your pocket, “Oh thank god you speak English!”

His red eyed narrowed, “Yeah unfortunately I have the highest scores in English so I’m the one stuck with you for however long it takes you to catch up.”

Mercy started to growl sensing this new guys hostility. I snapped my fingers, “Hey. Calm down! He’s a friend. He’s obviously an asshole but he’s our new friend.”

Mercy continued to growl low in his throat, “No. I am your friend. I don’t like him. He is not our friend.”

You snorted, “I can have more than one friend dumbass. Now chill the fuck out.”

The new guy was now glaring at you. His red eyes tried so hard to look mad, but you could see a hint of curiosity in there. “Oh great she fucking talks to dogs… Let’s go! The rest of the welcome wagon extras are ready to piss themselves they are so excited.” He started to walk away but he gave you one last glance, “And tell your mutt to stop fucking staring at me like I’m dinner.”

“WHO IS HE CALLING MUTT!”

You just laughed at your dog as you made your way out of the car and grabbed your backpack. Mercy followed and took his place at your heels. You walked up to the smiling group of students waiting at the front of the building that looked the most like dorms.

A green headed boy with a huge smile walked up and bowed, “Hello my name is Midoriya. Welcome to UA! This is Iida, our class rep, and of course you’ve already met your guide Bakugo.

You smirked so weird guy’s name was Bakugo, “Nice to meet all of you. My name is Y/n, and this here is my beta Mercy. He’s part of my pack and he’s very sweet unless you give him a reason not to be.”

“Tch.. yeah right. Dumbass dog growled at me.” Bakugo’s eyes narrowed.

Iida sighed, “Well Bakugo I’m sure you probably gave him a reason to then.”

Midoriya leaned over and picked up one of your bags that actually held all of Mercy’s things. “So Y/n, what did you mean when you said he was your beta?”

You took the bag from him and strapped it to Mercy. “He actually likes to carry his own bags. But yeah so back to your question. I’m the alpha which makes him the beta… and well… I guess it’s just easier to show you.”

Your eyes started to glow blue and then you shifted into your wolf form. You absolutely loved being in your wolf form. You always felt so powerful and free. Like you could do anything, like you had no limits or rules to follow. Your senses were naturally better than most peoples but in your wolf form they were heightened even more. At this moment in time you could hear the thudding heartbeats of the people before you. You could see the beads of sweat dripping down Midoriya’s forehead. You could smell what you could only describe as excitement coming from someone.

Bakugo was the only one who looked unimpressed, so you walked up to him. Your eyes being level with his. Your large electric blue eyes staring right into his scarlet ones. You took a step closer sniffing him and just when you could sense he couldn’t possibly be more annoyed.. you went and give him a nice big lick from chin to forehead.

“Ugh! That’s disgusting! What the fuck!” He was frantically whipping his face with the sleeve of his shirt and shooting daggers at you the whole time.

“Y/n why do you kiss the angry boy! I don’t like him!” Mercy huffed and shook his head.

You shifted back into your human form laughing the whole time. “I’m sorry but you should have seen your face. I just had to!” Your nose scrunched up at the smell of something really sweet. Almost sickeningly so. You sniffed until it led you to Bakugo’s palms. “What’s that smell?” You covered you nose to stop to awful smell from invading your nostrils and further.

Bakugo smirked as his hands crackled with mini explosions, “Well if were showing off our quirks the-.”

“Kachan stop! There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow… Sorry Y/n as you can see he has a short fuse.” Midoriya was rubbing the back of his neck now, “But he’s not so bad once you get to know him I promise.” He gestured to the dorms, “Shall we show you to your room?”

You nodded and attempted to pick up what was left of your bags. It wasn’t easy though and soon enough you were starting to drop stuff. You were about to stop to rearrange how you were carrying everything when Bakugo strolled up next to you and took two of your bags, “Shit did you have to bring everything you own?”

Before you could respond he was storming off ahead of you.

“Just give me the signal and I’ll bite him.” Mercy tight on your heels, taking in all the new surroundings. You knew he was fighting the urge to pee on every bush you passed. He may be smarter than most dogs, but he still had those territorial instincts.

“Mercy we got sent here because we apparently need to learn how to behave… I don’t think biting someone on our first day is a great idea…”

“He started it!”

You just chuckled as you followed your new friends into the building and down a few halls. First floor, very nice.

Bakugo threw you bags down in front of a door and immediately stalked off to the room next door and slammed the door behind him. Great so he was your neighbor too….

Midoriya gave you a shy smile, “So usually the girls sleep on a different floor. But given the fact that your quirk means you have an animal we thought it would be smart to put you next to Koda. His quirk is talking to animals so he always has a few pets. So he’s your neighbor to the left. And ah .. Kachan is your guide for the next few weeks so it makes sense that you would be close to him so he’s your neighbor to the right. If this makes you uncomfortable though we can always find you a new room!”

You waived him off, “I’m fine! I don’t scare easy. Thanks for all the help! I can take it from here. I guess I’ll see you all in the morning?”

Iida bowed, “Yes. Bakugo should come collect you no later than 7 am to escort you to class. Your uniform should already be hanging in your closet. Good night.”

You gave a quick awkward bow, “g’night y’all”

You could hear Midoriya giggling about how you had actually said y’all as you closed the door. He seemed like a sweet guy, a little goofy maybe, but sweet. Bakugo on the other hand… You couldn’t wait to fuck with him. He just seemed so tense and you felt like you could quite literally make him explode.

Your room was pretty sparse save for a bed, nightstand, desk, and a lamp. You could work with this. A few posters and pictures from home. Maybe a cool rug… you were happy you didn’t have to share with anyone though. By nature you were a night owl. You preferred several small naps throughout the day then a whole nights sleep. You were always just so restless to sleep for too long.

You unpacked Mercy’s things first and gave him a quick snack. You put the bed he almost never used at the foot of your bed. You knew he would just end up in his usual spot curled up next to you. He didn’t have many toys but he did have lots of bones to chew on. He only had one single stuffed toy. It was an elephant that he had gotten when he was a puppy and he was a little protective of it. You threw the stuffed elephant on your new bed and sighed. The rest of your shit could wait until tomorrow.

Mercy hopped onto the bed and curled up around his elephant and yawned, “If we’re not going for a run tonight then I’m going to go to bed.”

You looked at your phone and saw it was a little past one in the morning. Bakugo would be here to “collect you” in less than six hours. Usually you’d try and scope the perimeter before sleeping anywhere but you figured this place was probably one of the most secure places you’ve ever been, and you also had no idea what kind of day you had in store tomorrow.

“Yeah bud, I think a good night sleep is probably best. I don’t know if we’ll get a chance to nap tomorrow.”

Mercy started to wine, “Noooooo I need my naps.”

Well no one said you can’t nap. You’re not the one who’s actually going to be in class.”

“Wait you’re taking me with you right? To class?”

You frowned and climbed into bed next to him, “Yeah I don’t know. They never got back to me on if you could go to class. They said you were welcome during training sessions though…”

Mercy wined again obviously stressed out, “That’s not fair! I want to learn too! I don’t want you to leave me! We just got here, what if something bad happens. Nooooooooo”

The end of his sentence resulted in a howl. Shit. “Mercy shut up! You’re going to get us in trouble. They’re going to kick us out if you start waking people up in the middle of the fucking night!”

But of course, he wasn’t listening. He just continued to howl, throwing a temper tantrum just like a toddler would.

You huffed in irritation and your eyes started to glow. You used your alpha voice, “I said Stop….”

His howl immediately stopped and his head bowed to show his submission, “I’m sorry…. I am a good boy. I’ll stop now.”

You gave his head a quick pat before pulling the blanket up to your chin. “It’s okay buddy. I know the first few days are going to be a little stressful.” You reached over and turned the lamp off. “See you in the morning. Try to get some sleep.”

You felt Mercy move his massive furry head to lay on your stomach, “Hey… please don’t be mad…. But I kind of need to pee.”

You rolled your eyes and threw off the blanket, “Of fucking course you do. You have the smallest fucking bladder for how big a dog you are.”

“Wolf”

“Whatever let’s just go.”

You opened your door just to be met with the angry glare of your neighbor, “Are you going to fucking talk to dog all night? These walls are thin!”

You stared at him for a minute before cracking a smile and patted his head, “Is it past someone’s bed time?”

Flustered Bakugo took a step closer, “Tch what? No? You and your stupid dog are just really fucking loud!”

“WOLF! I AM A WOLF!”

You nodded in acknowledgment to Mercy and returned you attention to Bakugo, “Wolf.”

He sneered, “Excuse me, what?”

You shrugged, “He’s a wolf. You called him a dog and he’s a wolf and I think you should apologize.”

His eyes bugged out of his head, “I’m not apologizing to a fucking DOG!”

Mercy started to growl so low it was almost a hum. You could tell he was nervous but also a little amused. “Tell him if he doesn’t get out of my way I will pee on him.”

You started laughing which pissed Bakugo off even more, “OI! What’s so funny!”

You thumped him on the nose, which is something you usually did when training dogs. Nothing hard just a light thump. “He said he needs to pee and you look an awful lot like a tree.”

“Ugh you disgusting excuse for a woman! No fucking manors!” He stomped off back to his room slamming his door for the second time that night.

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gloriainalbis · 4 years ago

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Strangers

Part 1 - Losers (S1E1)

Nathan Young x Reader Words: 4.4k Warnings: Swearing, mentions of sex, drugs Songs: Strangers - The Kinks Bad Reputation - Joan Jett

“So you've been where I've just come From the land that brings losers on”

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Masterlist | Ao3

As bad days go, you’re having a pretty horrible one when you arrive at the Wertham Community Center. It’s the first of many to come, part of the court-mandated service that goes along with your ASBO. Your dad keeps telling you that you’re lucky the judge had been so lenient and should be grateful that he’s allowing you to stay with him and your stepmum again– even though you have no one to stay with and nowhere else to go. And he’s your dad. “In the future,” you tell him while getting out of the car, “I think I’ll walk.”

Striding through the frosted glass of the front doors, you continue on to the locker rooms to change into the orange jumpsuits you find waiting for you. You choose a locker on the far wall and dump your stuff there. You decide to leave your t-shirt on underneath, zipping the suit up most, but not all, of the way. Finished, you lean back to take a look at your designated companions for the 200 hours to be dispersed across the next few months. One girl has chosen her locker to be in front of the mirror. Her hair is short, curly, and pinned back on the side to form some cute bangs-like fringe. You notice an ankle monitor adorning her lower leg as she strips down to a pink lace pushup bra and panties and steps into her jumpsuit, rolling up the sleeves and bottom cuffs and adding a gold belt around her waist to complete the ensemble. The color of her earrings and bangle bracelets– both large, round, pink, and plastic– match her underwear. She steps back to take a look at herself and smiles. Another girl brushes her hair back into a high and tight ponytail. She looks curvier than the first girl, but just as confident, pairing smoky black eye makeup with shiny, pale pink lip gloss and gold hoop earrings. The guy who’d taken a locker near yours fishes a cigarette out of his pocket and sticks it between his lips. He looks equal parts cute and odd, tall and lanky with a mop unruly, curly hair framing his face. He wears a red and black checkered shirt and an air of swaggering cockiness radiates from him with a pungency usually reserved for uncommonly offensive odors. He smirks at you slyly. The guy with the locker across from the two girls looks vaguely familiar to you. He has two gold chains, one with a cross, and a grey tank top. His jumpsuit is only zipped up halfway, with the arms tied around his waist. He looks remarkably fit, and, not having much of an affinity for sports, you wonder where you recognize him from. The last person you see in the locker room is shadowy and reserved. His hair is short and neatly combed and his jumpsuit is buttoned up all the way to the very last button. He holds a small, black camera phone in his hand and shifts his gaze between people nervously. As you start to file out, one last person stomps in front of you, looking you up and down as he nearly bowls you over. You grimace as he winks. The first thing you notice about him is the immaculate green flat-brimmed baseball cap. You suspect that this hat and others like it are a large part of his personality. Once you’re all together, a man introducing himself as your probation worker, Tony, leads you outside and has you line up against some railing as he gives what you believe is supposed to be a rousing speech. From left to right is Curtis, Gary, Nathan, you, Kelly, Alisha, and Simon. You would learn their names later, but for the purposes of clarity, we’ll start using them now. Tony paces before you, attempting to assume the macho, fear-inducing demeanor of a boot camp officer. “This is it,” he barks. “This is your chance to do something positive. Give something back. You can help people, you can really make a difference to people’s lives. That’s what community service is all about. There are people out there who think you’re scum. You have an opportunity to show them they’re wrong.” He has the tone of someone who has given this speech before and is just barely holding onto their faith in its underlying message. The girl to your left, Kelly, looks mildly offended at the word “scum,” as if Tony had been speaking directly to her. “Yeah, but what if they’re right?” Nathan interrupts on your right. He looks around at the rest of you, “No offense, but I’m thinking some people are just born criminals.” You smile to yourself and try to hold back a chuckle as a look of anger flashes over suspected-douchebag-Gary’s eyes and he bursts out with “Are you looking to get stabbed?” “You see my point there?” Nathan asks, turning back to Tony. A phone rings and Alisha answers with a casual “Hey,” while twirling a curl between her manicured fingers. Tony tries to continue, but he’s becoming increasingly exasperated. “Doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past-” “Doin’ my community service,” Alisha speaks to her phone. “Hey!” He tries and fails to catch her attention. “Boring as fuck,” she continues. It was getting harder not to laugh and you glance at Nathan out of the corner of your eye, amused at the part he had to play in the deterioration of Tony’s speech. “Excuse me!” He tries again. “Hello, I’m still talking here.” “What, I thought you’d finished?” She didn’t care, evidently. “You see my lips still moving, that means I’m still talking.” He tries to assert something akin to authority but clearly doesn’t realize how poorly that approach tends to work on rag-tag groups of rebellious young offenders. “Yeah, but you could have been yawning, or chewing,” Nathan points out facetiously in a drawling tone. Tony ignores him, but you are full-on laughing at this point. “End the call! Hang up!” He shouts at Alisha to no avail. “My probation worker,” she explains to the person on the other line. “You all right there, weird kid?” Nathan leans past you to point at Simon, who stood alone at the far end of your lineup. Tony fumed. “Don’t be disgusting. I’ll call you later.” She finally hangs up, looking over at Nathan, who was approaching Gary and making kissing noises at him. “I’ll rip out your throat and shit down your neck,” Gary snaps back. He looks amusingly short in comparison, you now realize. Curtis grimaces and leans away from the touchy ball of anger standing next to him. “I shouldn’t be here, man.” Kelly gapes at his arrogance as Gary starts to scuffle with Nathan, grabbing at his jumpsuit. “We need to work as a team here. Hey, that’s enough!” Tony takes a few steps forward. “Can I move to a different group? This isn’t going to work for me,” Curtis continues, even though Tony is clearly otherwise engaged. You lean back, nearly bumping into Kelly as she steps to Cutis’ indirect insults. “Um… What makes you think that you’re better than us?” “What is that accent?” Nathan comments, drawn out of his conflict by the way her “us” sounded a lot more like “oss” “Is that for real?” Curtis scoffs, rolling his eyes. “What, are you tryna’ say something or yeah?” She speaks, the latter half her sentence mostly lost due to her lack of enunciation. “Its- you- that’s just a noise! Are we supposed to be able to understand her?” Nathan exclaims. You shake your head and raise your eyebrows at their audacity and Kelly’s incoherence. She sticks her hand out and flips him off, “Do you understand that?” Things escalate again when Nathan puts an arm around a violently unwilling Gary who responds by grabbing him and preparing to punch. “Hey, pack it in!” Tony lunges forward to separate them “It’s love, man!” Nathan yells. You double over, stepping back to get out of the way. Kelly meets your gaze and smirks at the growing scene before you. Alisha laughs, a high-pitched giggle. Tony stood between them now, pulling Gary further and further away from Nathan, who assumed a boxer’s stance and put up his fists comically. “Do it man! Do it! You’re a prick, man, look at you!” Gary calls, trying to push past Tony. “What the fuck are they doin’?” You say to everyone behind you as Kelly looks between you and Alisha. Simon looks like he’d rather be elsewhere, as does Curtis, but for different reasons. Nathan had taken to punch the air, which only served to further aggravate Gary. “You’re a fuckin’ pussy, bruv! He’s takin’ the piss, come here!” Cue the intro music. -- Tony eventually diffuses the conflict between Nathan and Gary and finally leads everyone to some benches by the lake, which you are told to paint white. Paint drips everywhere, from your shoes to the concrete sidewalk, but you hardly care. How different is this from the reason you were here in the first place? You were reprimanded for painting on someone else’s property and were told to instead paint on someone else’s property to pay for it, how is that supposed to work? The only difference is that the first time had been art, and this was largely pointless. They wanted to cover up the graffiti on these benches, but the new paint job would only make future acts of vandalism easier to see. You did it anyway, though, happy to peel off with Nathan and Kelly as Curtis and Alisha and Simon and Gary pair off to the benches on either side of you. You watch as Gary leans down to pick up more paint on his brush, his hat brushing dangerously close to the fresh paint before it finally touches, leaving a stark white smear on the brim. You poke Nathan’s shoulder and point as Gary notices, ripping off his hat in horror and stomping off in a huff, kicking a bucket of paint into the lake and leaving behind a violent burst of white. “Oh, man! There’s paint on my cap, this is bullshit!” “Ooh!” Alisha whistles as he walks past. Everyone turns and stares as he struggles with a shopping cart that’s in his way, kicking it at first before trying and failing to shove it into the lake as well when it simply falls in front of him, still blocking the path. “I know you,” you hear Alisha say to Curtis, perking up due to your own curiosity. “No, you don’t,” he brushes her off. “Yes, I do,” She continues, unphased. “You’re that runner guy. You screwed up big time.” That’s it. You’d seen him years ago at your secondary school’s track meets and races, and later in the news for his accomplishments and subsequent arrest. “You noticed, yeah? Thanks for reminding me.” He grew increasingly annoyed, and it was abundantly clear. Overhearing, Nathan glances up at Kelly and tries to strike up a conversation, “So I’m guessing shoplifting?” She ignores him. “No?” He was about to speak again when she cuts him off, “Don’t act like you know me, ‘cuz you don’t.” “I’m just makin’ conversation!” He motions to you and Kelly, “This is a chance to network with other young offenders. We should be swapping tips. Brainstorming!” He looks at you to continue, but you stay silent, also curious about Kelly’s infraction. You shrug and he looks back at her. “Come on, what did you do?” “This girl called me a slag so I just got into a fight,” she admits, slapping her paintbrush to the bench in annoyance. “Was this on the Jeremy Kyle show?” He jokes. “No, it was at Argos.” “Argos?” you ask, finding the store an odd place to get into fights. “You know what you should’ve done? You should have got one of them little pens and jabbed it in her eye.” He was referring to the pens for filling out the catalog cards at Argos and you smirk at the image, but Kelly just stares at him incredulously. It’s an odd thing to say to someone you barely knew. He turns to look at you, “And you? I need to know what we’re workin’ with here.” “Ah…” You glance between Nathan and Kelly before continuing, “Graffiti, mostly, and throwing a party that bugged my neighbors, breaking the peace.” You had broken the law, technically, but it was nothing compared to punching someone and getting into a fight in the middle of Argos. He raises his eyebrows curiously, “Is there a story behind it or was it just mindless vandalism?” “It was on the wall of my apartment, my landlord saw it when he went to break up a party that my friends were throwing and he said he’d report me.” “Oh, what a wanker!” Nathan exclaims. “The worst part is I lost the apartment and now I’ve gotta live with my dad and stepmum again and it’s a living nightmare.” You don’t want to exaggerate or sound like too much of a cliche, but your stepmother is one of the meanest people you have ever encountered. You could understand it to some extent, as she has two young children and you aren’t the greatest of influences. You call these siblings stepfuck and stepcunt respectively, case in point. “Well, I can sympathize with that. But at least yours is a stepmum, they’re, like, inherently kinda hot, amirite?” You glare at him and begin to understand some of Kelly’s annoyance. He redirects, turning his attention to Simon, who is now painting his bench all alone after Gary’s outburst. “What about you, weird kid? Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but you look like a panty-sniffer.” He holds his hands up beside his face, mocking a disgusting sniff of some invisible panties. “I’m not a panty-sniffer,” he responds. “I’m not a pervert.” He tries to return to painting the bench, but Nathan begins walking towards him, pretending to jack off with his paintbrush still in his hand, grunting disgustingly. You sigh and roll your eyes, glancing at Kelly. He could be funny, sure, but you were quickly learning about his tendency to take things too far. Kelly shrugs at you. “I tried to burn someone’s house down,” Simon blurts out to get Nathan to stop. Everyone who’d heard snapped to attention, as arson seems considerably more serious than vandalism or a few punches. “Fire?” Nathan laughs and walks back. Kelly looks up at him, “What did you do?” You were still curious about the fire and arson, but you let the conversation move on regardless. “Me? I was done for eatin’ some pick ‘n’ mix.” “Yeah, right,” you scoff. “Bollocks,” Kelly agrees. “What is goin’ on with this weather,” Nathan muses, distracted, as thunder rolls down from overhead and you quickly noticed the growing dark storm clouds in the sky just across the lake. Huh, odd. That hadn’t been there just a few minutes ago. “How did that happen?” you hear behind you, looking around to see Tony returning, an angry look instantly plastered to his face. He points to the overturned paint can, part of Gary’s carnage, and holds his arms up in exasperation. “I mean, you’ve been here five minutes. It’s painting benches. How’d you screw that up? You tell me, because I’ve got no idea.” From out of nowhere, a giant white ball of something smashes down on the car behind Tony, completely caving in the roof and sending the car alarm blaring. Shocked, you jump back and duck amid the various screams and cries of “What the hell was that?” and “Oh, Jesus!” Nathan’s smug grin immediately falls and transforms into fear and wonderment. Alisha shrieks, crying out in a warbling tone, “What’s goin’ on?” Tony turns around slowly in disbelief and gasps, “That’s my car!” “Oh, fuck,” you mutter under your breath. But Nathan isn’t taking it as seriously. “Classic,” he chuckles, thinking it to be some sort of prank. But then another thing falls from the sky into the lake behind you, whizzing past your heads and spraying you, Nathan, and Kelly in an onslaught of lake-water. “Okay, so I’m a little bit freaked out!” he admits. “No fucking shit!” you agree. “What is that?” Alisha asks, turning your attention to the storm Nathan had pointed out just moments ago. It had grown, somehow, turning dark and dangerous as it travels at an unnervingly fast pace towards your group. Simon holds his phone up to film the storm and its effects just as another ball crashes into the dumpster beside him, knocking over the heavy, metal container and spewing ice at him as he ducks and runs from it. More and more ice falls from the sky, huge blocks larger than your head, and you don’t want to think of what could happen if one of them hit you. “Right, let’s get everyone inside,” Tony instructs as more and more of them fall all around you. “Move! Move! Run!” You sprint back to the community center at top speed, holding your head as ice shards rain down on you, pelting and stinging your face and arms. Your heart practically beats out of your chest. One ball of ice pummels into the sidewalk in front of you, breaking a concrete tile. Another falls into a phonebooth, and the glass shatters to the ground around your feet. The storm seems to get thicker as you near the center, and your hair is plastered to your face from the mixture of sweat and water that you were drenched in. You could barely hear Tony yell “Keep going!” over the crashes and booms that fill your ears as you run for your life. Curtis reaches the door first, pulling on the handles and banging on the glass before stepping back and yelling over the din to Tony, “It’s locked! Open it!” Tony groans, “Come on…” and fumbles with the keys. You throw yourself against the wall, as far away as possible from the mega hail storm, and scream, “Just fuckin’ unlock it!” “What is happening?” Kelly shrieks as another massive ball of ice falls onto the pavement beside her. “Open the door, come on!” Nathan yells as Tony grows increasingly frustrated. “I’m finding the right key!” he bellows back “Open the door!” Curtis yells again, and Alisha agreed. “Open the fucking door!” Tony whips around in a burst of anger, “Don’t speak to me like that!” You were about to berate him for his poor priorities when a bright white burst of cold lightning cracks in front of you and sends you flying backward in a chorus of screams. Time slows as you fly through the air and the electricity transforms from a chilling shock to a burning flare, searing and snaking through you as you soar and tumble backward onto the hard pavement. You hit the ground with a sickening thud, from which groans and cries of pain follow. A few remaining snowballs hit the ground around you, but the storm appears to have passed. “I feel really weird,” you hear Kelly say. Your vision is still black, which has you worried until you realize it’s only because your eyes are still closed. You open them and sit up, rubbing the back of your head, which is still screaming in pain. “That’ll be the lightning,” Curtis says to try and explain what just happened. “We should be dead,” Simon points out. “Well, that’s comforting,” you snap back. “A little reassurance might be nice, you know,” Nathan agrees, instead directing his comment to Tony, who is sprawled before the door of the center and has just started to sit up. “‘You’re fine!’ ‘Looking good!’” he elaborates. “Wanker…” Tony groans, pushing himself up onto his elbows. “Did he just call me a wanker?” Nathan asks, indignantly glancing at you and everyone else. He snaps his fingers at Tony, “Hey? Hello?” You see a quick look of anger flash across Tony’s face before he grumbles, “Is everyone alright?” “We could have died, you dick,” Alisha adds. “Are you alright?” Kelly asks tentatively as Tony shakes his head and coughs out a growl. “You’re actin’ like a freak.” He ignores her, “Maybe we should call it a day.” -- Tony finally manages to unlock the door, and you return to the locker rooms to gather your things. You feel like you should be annoyed, leaving early only means you’ll have to spend another day here, but you are too exhausted to feel anything. That was probably the closest you’d ever been to death. You can still feel your heart beating, a deep, steady drumbeat, and your lungs ache from the running and adrenaline. Beside you, Nathan closes his locker and leans against it before turning to you, “Do you think we’ll stick together now, bonded by our shared experiences?” “Dunno. I’d rather spend as little time here as possible,” you explain, closing your locker and stepping away to put on your hoodie. “Oh, you’re one of those types, are you?” Nathan smiles. “What type?” You glare at him. “The I’m-too-cool-for-this type.” “No, that’s Curtis,” you quip, knowing that he’d already left the room. “I just happen to not like community service.” Or any of these morons, all the other girls are total slags. “Hey!” Kelly snaps, swinging around to glare at you suddenly. “Oookay?” You turn away awkwardly and leave, you can’t imagine anything you’d said having offended her. Maybe she just really loves community service or something, but that is decidedly not the impression you’ve gotten from her so far. You walk out to the waiting area by the vending machines, where you find Curtis and Simon standing around in heavy silence. Nathan follows after you moments later. “Do we just go, then?” Curtis asks, clearly annoyed. “Where’s the probation worker?” “I think there’s something wrong with him,” Simon speaks up. “It’s like he was having a spasm.” “He was probably just faking it, trying to get some compensation. Cheap bastard,” Nathan scoffs. “I don’t think he was faking it,” Simon insists, looking back down at his phone. “And you know all about being… mental.” Nathan takes a few steps forward as he talks, leering at Simon and lowering his voice. Then he pretends to convulse and yells “Wanker!” You punch him in the shoulder. “Ow, what the hell was that for?” He sticks his head out at you almost comically. You stick your head out back at him. “Stop being such a prick, he might have a point.” Alisha walks in, already looking bored. “Are we waiting for something?” “Probation worker,” Curtis explains. She scrunches up her face in disgust. “I’m not hanging around for that dickhead.” She turns on her heel and leaves, which everyone else seems to take as their cue to leave as well. You can’t be bothered to be the only one waiting around, so you follow suit. Once outside, everyone pretty much goes their separate ways. Nathan, however, trots after you. “What’re you doin’?” You ask. “Thought you looked a little lonely, and, well, I’d like to recommend my own company as recompense.” He motions to himself like he’s all that, which honestly has you snorting to hold back your laughter. “You can’t be serious.” You raise your eyebrows. “Fine, I happen to live along this way, alright? I’m Nathan, by the way.” “Y/n.” You smile at him. “And I’ll have you know that to date, I haven’t had a single complaint.” He says it like you should be impressed or something. “Can’t have complaints if you haven’t been with anybody,” you joke, smirking. His jaw drops in mock surprise, “Oy! I have, too!” He keeps trying to impress upon you the depth of his sexual prowess, offering many stories as proof, all of which have you in stitches. He peels off when you were about halfway home. You say your goodbyes and wave as he walks away, grateful for the company. A few houses down from your own, though, you stop walking, contemplating what to do next. Home doesn’t seem like a particularly fun place to be right now, but it’s not like you have anywhere else to go. It’s still the early afternoon, so it would probably be only your stepmum at home, with your dad at work and your step siblings at school. It’s practically a worst-case scenario, as you doubt she would believe that they let you go early. You wish this day had gone differently. As you’re musing and trying to work up the courage to walk the thirty or so meters left to your front door, the skies begin to darken. You look up to see if a cloud had rolled in overhead, not exactly trusting the weather as of late, but as soon as you do so, it disappears and the sky goes back to normal. You think nothing of it, which is probably a poor choice on your part, but you are too burned out to care. You finally reach the front door, closing it gingerly behind you, but to no avail. “Y/n? Is that you?” You hear from the other room. “Yup.” You stand in the doorway to the kitchen, knowing you need to address this, but desperately wanting to leave. “They let us go early today.” She eyes you quizzically, “Really?” Now here’s the thing, the truth isn’t even remotely believable– There was a freak hail storm and everyone in our group got hit by lightning or something but now we’re all okay and our probation officer did too, he let us go early and then disappeared– so you have to lie. “Yeah, ‘cuz it’s the first day. They mostly showed us the ropes, got us started on something, and then let us go.” You wait, holding your breath. “Oh.” She looks disappointed. “I thought you’d be out today.” “Yeah, well I did, too,” you mumble as you walk away, not really caring whether or not she heard. “What’d you say?!” she calls after you. “Nothing!” you yell back as you walk as quickly as possible to your room. Once inside, you sigh and collapse onto your bed. You feel like a teenager again and it’s horrible, being forced to be somewhere where you’re treated like immature crap every day, living at home again, constantly having a row with your stepmum. You hope, but doubt, that the next day will be better.

#misfits #misfits tv #nathan #nathan misfits #nathan young #nathan young x reader #nathan young misfits #nathan young imagine

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thevioletjones · 5 years ago

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The Ian & Mickey Show

Week 12

Timestamps

4:50-6:26 - Morning of the wedding day in the jam-packed Gallagher boys’ room. Liam and Carl ask Ian a buncha questions about the tuxes and shit. Lip pops in and leaves. Mickey comes in from the shower and immediately starts messing around with Ian as Liam leaves the room and Carl is forced to follow.

8:00-10:33 - Debbie & Sandy in bed talking about the wedding plans. Debbie asks if she thinks Terry’s really gonna kill Mickey. She gets a timely text about the venue being burned down. They run outside, followed by IxM, see the smoke in the distance. Cut to them in front of the burning building. There’s some elementary school level stick figure graffiti out front of 2 dudes fucking with a gun pointed at them, and a nearby swastika, so obviously this is Terry’s work. Mickey gets pissed and runs back to the house to get a shotgun. They all follow him and tackle him in the back yard. Punching and biting ensues. It’s not cute.

15:34-17:11 - Preview clip in the kitchen where Mickey’s handcuffed to the chair, and they all talk about what to do and Debbie rallies them for a white trash solution. Seriously, who are these 120 wedding guests??? Where are they coming from??? And why did they edit out that Trump joke? Fucking weird. Mickey’s bedhead is the star of the scene, tbh.

18:58-21:35 - Lip comes home to all kinds of wedding shit being dropped off. Everyone’s scrambling for ideas on where to have the wedding, except for Mickey who’s resigned and giving up by drinking in the corner, now handcuffed to a shelf above the washing machine. He talks about how fucked up Terry was as a father when he was growing up, declares his love for Ian in front of the entire main cast, and everyone ignores his pleas for murder. Lip and Debbie head out to The Polish Doll and pretend Debbie’s straight and looking for a last-minute wedding venue, because this place is super homophobic.

24:12-25:10 - They are successful in procuring the Polka place, and Lip explains about Debbie posing as the bride due to the above mentioned. They’ll figure it out later. Wedding is back on.

28:34-29:31 - Ian does up Mickey’s bowtie for him, and they talk about *gasp* real things. It’s a miraculous group of seconds where these two are alone with their guards down. Loved to have seen more of it this whole season. Anyway, they talk about wanting to have kids. (*whispers* “You do kinda have a kid already, tho.”) They razz each other about looking terrible, and it seems to cut away from a kiss, tbh. But that’s not news really.

29:32-31:29 - IxM arrive at the venue and Mickey pronounces it a shithole. Lip is being super cute and helpful, and this episode does work on the level of having the whole family working together to get this done. It’s uncharacteristically (of late) sweet. Oh, and there’s a wedding cake topper of a plastic Ian fucking Mickey from behind in their suits. Whoever ends up with that prop is gonna be the real MVP.

35:15-37:16 - Wedding. Ian is nervous as Lip comes up to him. Etta James’s “At Last” starts up with the dramatic strings. Ian says he chose it. They walk over to the “altar” and fake!MandySandy walks Mickey down the aisle. The minister starts the vows. That’s definitely not 120 people, and we definitely have not seen most of these people ever before.

38:07-39:58 - Wedding. Mickey says the traditional vows very earnestly, then Ian. They’re pronounced “husband and husband.” They kiss. Everybody cheers. They walk back down the aisle holding hands, all smiles.

40:12-44:05 - Reception. Other characters have scenes where IxM are in the background throughout, namely on the dance floor. Yes, Mickey is dancing.

47:30-49:06 - Reception. Debbie & Ian talk about Monica and it’s a really genuine bittersweet moment. Ian calls Mickey his husband for the first time. He goes to grab him for a slow dance.

50:36-51:02 - IxM exit the building to the typical rice and cheers, and drive away in the vintage Mercedes.

57:10-58:05 - Mid-credits. IxM in a stereotypically tacky honeymoon suite, naked (but covered) in a red velvet heart-shaped bed. They joke about being Mr. Gallavich and Mr. Millagher (it would be Milkogher, Fisher). I guess we can rest easy that they didn’t actually change their names to that portmanteau. The sound of screeching tires outside interrupts their wedded bliss. They roll out of bed, with Mickey covering Ian, and they hit the floor just in time for a hail of bullets to start flying. Ian points out that Terry still seems mad.

Episode Tally: 13 scenes. 22 mins 57 secs.

#ian x mickey #gallavich #shameless #shameless spoilers #the ian & mickey show #10x12 #timestamps #recap

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fandom-necromancer · 5 years ago

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1151+1153. “Shut up and kiss me.” “Stay with me forever.”

This was prompted by the awesome @anxiousmessofaperson! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warnings: mentioning of severe injury, temporary character death (both for an android))

An android’s processor was always active. Always running millions of tasks, calculating and pre-constructing. And the processor of an RK900 was the most advanced ever created. That allowed him to analyse their planned tactic for today’s mission over and over again, thinking of all possible outcomes and complications, and simultaneously preparing his partner a coffee. He gladly helped the human and would likely do anything for him. Unfortunately, Gavin Reed had only ever asked for a coffee. Nines had joined forces with Tina for that reason, but even his best friend wasn’t able to have a serious talk with him. Still, they would not back down. If Nines could be anything then persistent.

He continued to let two sugar cubes fall into the thermos and started stirring. He should get back to them, but he decided to linger as he overheard Gavin and Tina speak to each other. Apparently, he had taken too long for the human and he had decided to pass the time with a chat. ‘Did you ever think of dating an android?’, Tina asked, and Nines immediately had his hearing amplified. ‘Hah! Why are you asking?’ Of course, Gavin would evade the question and laugh it off. ‘Found someone?’ ‘Maybe.’ Nines could practically hear her smile. He knew a specific receptionist had caught Tina’s eye. But that was their secret. ‘But don’t you chicken out now. Would you?’ ‘Pff… You know, I would have given a clear no just a few months ago. But with the revolution and all… Maybe? I don’t know, I would have to know one for that first, I guess.’ ‘Hmm… You know Connor?’ ‘Are you shitting me? Plastic Detective sent by my brother’s phcking empire? Hell no. Never. I mean, he looks alright and all that but… Hey, I would also have a buy one get two deal going whatever his relationship with Hank is. And… no, I’m a disaster myself, I don’t need another one.’ ‘What’s with Nines then? You know him, too. And he basically has the looks of Connor but sharper.’

Needless to say, the coffee was forgotten by now.

‘Nines?’ It stayed quiet for some time. The laughter: ‘Come on Tina! That’s Nines.’ ‘And?’ ‘Have you seen the tin-can? He’s all cold calculation and his missions. Hadn’t I known him pre-deviation, I would have said the thing’s still a machine.’ ‘He has a lot of emotions, Gavin and you know it.’ ‘Yeah, anger and fury and an overall sense of not-my-phcking-problem. That’s not emotions, Tina, that’s a defence mechanism. It’s not like he could feel anything that is nice, it’s not like he could be earnestly passionate. And it’s not his fault, I mean, he wasn’t built for that. But I need someone who, you know, wants to be with me because of these feelings, not because it’s what I want.’ ‘I think he likes you a lot.’ ‘Maybe. But it’s not like he would suddenly shout “I love you, shut up and kiss me! Now!” He’s a machine for all it’s worth, Tina. He doesn’t feel anything.’ Nines had to concentrate a good fraction of his processing power to keep his LED on yellow and his hand from crushing the brushed steel of the thermos in his hand. ‘A machine that’s phcking late. Tell him I’m in the car once he decided to re-emerge!’

Nines shook out of it, screwing the lid on and walking out to Tina’s desk. ‘Oh god, Nines, you heard all of it, didn’t you?’, Tina rushed to say. ‘Shit, I’m so sorry! He’s just embarrassed, I’m sure. He knows you feel a lot. And he’s wrong. I just… I was too quick to ask him something like that.’ ‘No’, Nines interrupted her. ‘He is right. I would never shout that.’ ‘But only because you are shy and thoughtful, and he is brash and aggressive! Don’t lose faith, he is just an idiot. But I know the only reason he is like this is because he thinks he isn’t worth you. Give him time and he will be convinced you mean it!’ ‘If you say so. I’m sorry. We have a mission. And I’m late. I should go.’ He left for the front door and Tina watched him walk away. Only then did her gaze stray to her desk and a familiar thermos stand on it. ‘Hey, Nines, you-‘ She looked for the android, but he was already gone. ‘forgot something…’

They pulled up to an abandoned Cyberlife store amidst the abandoned district of Detroit and Gavin killed the engine. ‘Ready, tin-can?’, he asked joyfully. ‘Of course, Detective.’ ‘Oh, so we’re back to “Detective”? What did I do wrong this time?’ ‘Nothing major’, Nines answered as neutral as he possibly could. ‘You just talked.’ ‘Watch out, toaster!’, Gavin mocked, holding a hand to his chest. ‘It sounded almost like you had a sense of humour!’ Nines stayed silent and exited the car. ‘Oh wow’, Gavin sighed, following his partner. ‘So, we are particularly pissed together. What’s happened? Someone hurt your simulated robo-feelings?’ Nines looked the man dead in the eye. ‘Only some prick I thought was my friend.’ Gavin squirmed under his gaze, but like so often laughed to hide it. ‘What, you have friends?’ Nines looked away. ‘You know, sometimes I question that myself… Let’s go, we have work to do.’ ‘Yeah, fine, how do we do this?’ ‘We have worked out a plan together. You know how, Detective.’ ‘Okay, okay! Goddamn, whoever it was who pissed you off, I guess he won’t live long.’

They climbed through a broken window and slipped into the store. It was completely empty, the pedestals for androids on display were barren and only a lone dead android laid in some corner. Well, his torso at least. Where the rest was, not even Nines could reconstruct. They strode through the shop, Nines taking to whichever corner he hadn’t looked at that was also farthest from Reed. They suspected a Red Ice lab somewhere around this shop. All their evidence led to a graffiti that was used as a marker for it on the outer wall. ‘Hey, Nines, has this phcker been moved recently?’ The android decided to ignore the undignified way the Detective referred to a dead body – he had done far worse today – and knelt down in front of the unit. ‘Yes’, he pressed out. ‘Figured. His clothing is raised up. He has been dragged.’ Nines nodded and scanned the body’s shoulders. ‘Fingerprints’, he murmured. ‘Belonging to Axel Bernhardi. Was at the station once already. Attempted theft of an android. Served community service for three months.’ ‘Great. Any clue to-‘ ‘The android has been moved recently’, Nines interrupted and Gavin grunted. ‘Fine. Any clue to where he is then?’ Nines inspected the android’s clothing closer. ‘The body had been pulled from two directions. First up, then from the back into the direction of the wall.’ ‘What?’ Nines stood up and pulled the android away, unveiling a narrow whole with a ladder underneath. ‘Phck, is he still there?’, Gavin whispered and after a quick scan Nines nodded. The human took out his gun and was about to climb down, but Nines held him back. The Detective might have been a total idiot today, but Nines wouldn’t let him slide ass first into danger. He pushed off his white Cyberlife jacket, wriggled himself into the narrow space and scraped along the walls downwards. He heard Gavin following him but concentrated on climbing and listening to any noise from underneath him.

They found back on solid ground in a room that had been excavated by handheld machines. It was newer than the building above, likely dug just to house the lab. They stood in front of a curtain made from milky plastic sheets. Light flooded from behind it covering everything in a cold glow. Someone was moving behind the curtain, Nines suspected it to be Mr. Bernhardi. He held his finger to his lips before taking his own gun and taking position in front of the curtain. Gavin stood behind him ready to jump on his notice.

Nines counted down from three with his right hand, then they both entered, shouting: ‘DPD, away from the table!’ The red-haired man was shocked to the bone and stared at both of them speechless. Thankfully he stepped back from the table and another step into the room. Only then did Nines have the chance to scan the room and regretted his manoeuvre immediately. The first thing he noticed was an escape route dug into the water drainage system of Detroit. The second was a big red button on the wall. The third that the man was side eyeing the button and the fourth that it led somewhere behind them. All of that was detected in the same second Mr. Bernhardi decided that attempted theft wasn’t enough to his folder. He jumped to the side, pressed the button and darted out of the room into the sewers. Gavin reacted fast enough to shoot but missed and Nines had reacted even faster than Gavin had, throwing himself on the Detective as behind him the bomb went off. The impact made them scoot across the floor and ripped apart Nines entire back hull, but the human was okay, Gavin was okay. And he himself was okay too. Technically. For the next few seconds. Enough to realise the structural integrity of the room was failing. He picked himself and the Detective groaning underneath him up and ran to the escape route. The room would collapse every second now, but the sewer system would hold out. He managed to get himself to the edge of the room as it collapsed and Gavin had recovered enough to pull him out after him before the rubble slid into the canal. ‘Oof, that was close…’, Gavin panted, adrenaline still flushing his body. ‘Hey, tin-can, you okay?’ No. The seconds that Nines had been okay had run out now. The little rivulet in the canal was quickly more Thirium than water and Nines couldn’t even begin to process the damage warnings coming into view. ‘Ga…vin…’ ‘Shit! Nines!’ The human was immediately next to him. ‘Nines! What’s wrong? Hey, Nines!’ The android wasn’t capable of clear thoughts anymore. All he knew that there was so much damage, so much, so much. He felt the Thirium depleting and his systems running burning hot as a result. He knew he would shut down soon and he wasn’t sure he was repairable. There were so many warnings and notices… He didn’t want to stop existing. There was so much left to do, so much left to say. Despite everything he still wanted to tell Gavin what he felt and hopefully the human would allow it. Gavin… Where was he? Was he still there? Had he left him behind like the useless piece of plastic he was? Was he off chasing the criminal, Nines’ death only a footnote in some report? Maybe repairing him would be too expensive. But Gavin would want that, right? They were a good team, right? ‘Ga…vin?’ His hands searched for purchase and they grabbed something, although Nines didn’t know what that was. He hoped it was his human. ‘Stay… with… me…’ He heard laughter over thick static and held onto it. ‘Heh, for how long, toaster. Come on, get your ass up, we have a criminal to catch!’ Nines imagined how it would be to simply do that. It would be wonderful. Gavin sounded scared. Why was he scared? Too many questions, too many thoughts. Only one that counted: ‘Ga…vin… stay… with… me… forever…’

[Warning: Core temperature critical.] [Commencing emergency shutdown.] [Unit deactivated.]

The machine above him was busy. Multiple arms fastened to an enormous joint in the ceiling moved back and forth, getting rid of old bent metal and torn plastic and gathering new parts for assembly. Under Gavin’s dull gaze lights flickered and wires were reconnected, Thirium-tubes were sealed and refilled. Gavin saw it all and noticed nothing. He was too deep in his thoughts, the only thing he really felt the android’s hand in his.

Tina had told him everything.

Every talk she had with the tin-can, every carefully selected detail Nines trusted her with over time, every little thing Nines liked about him and every minute gesture he had failed to realise as Nines being friendly to him. Tina had told him Nines liked him. Had a crush on him. Kinda. It was weird to think of the android in such ways. He had never shown any signs of affection towards him. Or maybe Gavin had just never bothered to look for them. If he was being honest, he couldn’t really believe it. The android was… Even if Nines had been a human, he would have been way out of his league. He was a functioning person; he didn’t look out for a new disaster to dive into and didn’t create them if he didn’t find one. He was kind, in his own way. He never spoke or emoted much. But…

God, Gavin had taken his extremely slow pace, his careful steps as a sign the android wasn’t interested in anyone at all. He had even told him he didn’t feel anything, that he was simulating everything and… “Stay with me forever.” Shit.

‘Hey… errr… tin-can…’ He took a few breaths, following the mechanic arms. There were fewer now. Nines back was nearly fully restored. ‘I don’t know if you can hear me. But I’m sorry. For all that I’ve said. I just… I never thought… I… I’m a huge idiot, okay?’ He couldn’t keep his composure and a part of him hoped Nines couldn’t hear him. ‘I am a dumb, dumb human, who only understands what someone wants if they push it into my face so hard it hurts, and you were so gentle with… with everything. Phck I didn’t notice any of it and you were trying so hard to be perfect when this asshole right here can’t handle perfect and I should phcking go, because you don’t deserve someone like me and-‘ ‘Gavin.’ There was an impossibly faint pressure on his hand from where the android was squeezing his. Gavin couldn’t do anything but stare at the smile on Nines’ face. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t talk, he could only stare. ‘Shut up and kiss me.’

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed900 #RK900 #Gavin Reed #why am I recently like Fluff: have a sentence Angst: Here have a novel #I guess I'm stressed so I can write this one better at the moment #there will be fluff days coming again I jsut don't know when #and it's kinda fluffy in the end?#Me torturing my favs AGAIN #Gavin: he will never shout he loves me buhu #Nines: No I will not #Nines: I will whisper it most tender when I've come back from the dead tho

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all-things-skam · 5 years ago

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Jens’ season | Chapter four

Saturday, January 25th

Last night’s kiss had messed with Jens’ head - and feelings. Lucas was the first guy Jens had ever kissed, the first guy he’d ever had straddled like this, and he wanted more. So much more.

He hadn’t stopped thinking about the kiss since he left the party, since Lucas’ lips left his. The pressure of Lucas’ lips on his, plush and soft and needy, the taste of weed lingering on his tongue, the small moans. It haunted him.

It also confirmed that, maybe, he wasn’t straight as a stick.

If he closed his eyes, he could still feel the burning touch of Lucas's fingers on the small of his back, grazing his skin underneath his hoodie. Or his lips mouthing against his jaw and neck, fingers lost in each other's hair. Even the faint smell of his cologne was engraved into his head, mixed with an herbal hint from the joint they were smoking.

Jens breathed out, staring at his ceiling.

Someone cleared their throat and Jens glanced down, catching Jana standing in his doorway, wearing a green sweater and a beanie, looking a bit nervous.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Jens sat up, removing his headphones from his head. ‘’Hi?’’

‘’Hi,’’ Jana said, smiling tightly, walking in. ��’Your sister let me in.’’

Jens nodded. Of course she did.

‘’What’s up?’’

‘’Just listening some music.’’ And thinking about Lucas.

She nodded, taking a seat on the end of Jens’ bed. ‘’Still into that rap stuff?’’

Jens smiled, remembering how much she hated it every time he’d play any rap songs. Sometimes, he would even purposely play those songs to piss her off. She said their music was degrading toward girls and only talked about drugs, money and cars. While she wasn't all wrong, some songs had deeper subjects than naked chicks and smoking weed.

‘’Yep.’’

‘’Where were you last night? Aaron said you were there, but I didn’t see you. You didn’t even sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Amber with us.’’

Despite the honesty rule between them, Jens didn’t feel like sharing his bathroom makeout session experience with Jana. For starters, it was none of her business. They weren't dating, Jens could kiss whoever he wanted - boys and girls. And, he didn’t know if Lucas was out, if he wanted to be out - hell, he didn’t even know if he was gay. He’d feel bad for accidentally outing someone.

‘’I...I was with Kobe. You remember Kobe from the skatepark?’’

It wasn’t completely a lie. He did see Kobe at the party...to sell him weed.

‘’Vaguely,’’ she responded, frowning a little.

‘’He owed me weed and we went outside to smoke to not stink up Amber’s house.’’

Jana gave him a look, unimpressed. ‘’Weed, again?’’

Jens rolled his eyes. Here we go again…

He didn't get why she was so against weed. She was the same when they were dating, making a whole case every time he’d smoke a joint with Robbe and Moyo. It’s not that big of a deal. Marijuana was even becoming legal in some countries.

‘’If you’re here to lecture me on weed again-’’

‘’I’m not,’’ she cut. ‘’Did I do something?’’

Jens frowned, surprised. ‘’No. Why are you asking me that?’’

The brunette looked down, about to ask the dreaded question. ‘’You’ve been avoiding me at parties and at school, it’s like you don’t want me anymore. Did I do something wrong?’’

Her constant insecurity and constant need to make sure she was wanted or desired had always ticked Jens off. He liked the people he was with to be confident and sure of themselves, it’s one of the things that drew him to Lucas.

Sighing, Jens tried to keep his cool despite his growing annoyance. ‘’I’m just not in the mood, okay? Is it so impossible to accept that I don't feel like having sex all the time?’’ He didn’t want to come off as angry, trying his best to keep his chill with Jana, but he was just so annoyed by her unannounced presence that his temper was getting the best of him.

‘’We don't have to have sex all the time, it’s just-’’ She sighed, biting her bottom lip nervously. ‘’What are we, Jens?’’

‘’I don’t know, Jana…’’ he responded with honesty.

Where was this sudden desire for clarity coming from? Up until last week, she didn't seem to mind what they were. They made out in his room two weeks and she didn't pester him with questions while he his hand was down her underwear. Why the sudden urge?

She had a perfect timing too. As if Jens didn't have other things to do than think about his relationship status with Jana. Breaking news, he had other problems, more important ones, to take care of and she wasn’t the first thing on his mind.

‘’You don’t know? What do you mean?’’ she repeated, dumbfounded.

Jens sighed. ‘’Jana…’’

‘’What, Jens? It’s a pretty simple question: what are we?

‘’I have a lot on my mind right now, okay? I gave you time and space when you needed it, so please understand that.’’

‘’So what? You want me to leave?’’

‘’Actually, yeah. My parents are coming back soon and I’m not allowed to have guests over this weekend.’’

It was a lie and Jana knew it. Jens’ parents weren’t the kind of parents who had these kind of rules. They weren’t very strict. All the boys could be over and Fenna wouldn’t think twice about it.

Jana’s face hardened, aware that Jens was lying to her. Without saying anything else, she stood and left, stomping down the hall.

Sunday, January 26th

Hood covering his head, Jens skated along the sidewalk, on his way to the skatepark. His earbuds were in, rap music playing. He was meeting the boys there, the weather finally warming up enough to skate again.

The graffiti of Robbe’s face came in sight, meaning that he had almost arrived. Jens still couldn't believe his best friend's face was on a fucking brick wall. Sander was one of a kind.

The skatepark was practically empty, being that it was still early in the season. Jens stepped off his skateboard, about to pull out his phone to text the group chat when he spotted Lucas in the distance, at the top of a ramp, waiting to go down. He was talking to some guys, laughing at something one of them said.

Jens stopped in his tracks, stomach knotting.

He didn’t expect to see Lucas there - and wearing that pink sweatshirt. Damn, he looked good.

For a second, Jens thought the distance and his pulled up hood wouldn’t give his presence away, but Lucas must have excellent eyesight because he quickly recognized him. The brunet told something to his friends before making his way over to Jens, skateboard in his left hand.

Fidgeting with the sleeves of his hoodie, Jens watched as Lucas got closer, every step he took causing a nervous feeling in his stomach. Why was he feeling this way? It was just Lucas, the boy he couldn’t stop thinking about.

Jens bit his lip when Lucas stopped and stood in front of him. The wind was blowing, causing his fringe to sweep on the side more than usual.

''Are we ever going to talk about what happened Friday night?'' Lucas asked, breaking the ice.

''Eh, what happened Friday night?''

Lucas pulled his eyebrows, shaking his head. ''You drunkenly kissed me in the bathroom at Amber's birthday party.''

Jens hesitated for a moment. Should he play the dumb card and act like he didn’t remember or face his actions and acknowledge what happened? That he kissed Lucas. While the first option sounded easier, the second was the rightest. Kissing Lucas hadn’t felt wrong, it felt...good. So fucking good.

''I wasn't that drunk,'' Jens admitted, holding his breath, anxiously waiting for Lucas’ reaction. ‘’In fact, I barely drank that night.’’

Even though Lucas had kissed him back on Friday, it didn’t mean that he liked him back, that he had feelings for him. The weed had clouded their mind and they let their teenage pulsions take control.

''So, did you mean to kiss me?''

Jens glanced down for a second. ''Yeah, I did. The alcohol just gave me the courage to do it.’’

Lucas’ lips curled into a grin, blue irises staring right into Jens’, before closing the space between them, capturing Jens’ lips into a kiss. The lump of stress in Jens' stomach dissipated as they kissed, turning into butterflies.

Slipping his tongue past Jens' plump lips, Lucas curled his arm that wasn't busy holding his skateboard behind Jens’ neck, pulling him down and closer and licking into his mouth. It was usually the other way around, but Jens didn't mind being kissed by Lucas - in fact, he liked it a lot. Lucas’ dominant and confident side triggered a new sensation in him.

Jens’ phone started vibrating in his pocket and he tried to ignore it, but it buzzed again and again and it was getting really annoying. Groaning, the dark haired one broke the kiss and fished his phone from his jeans, seeing messages coming from the group chat.

Moyo: Just woke up, oops…

Moyo: Are you all at the skatepark?

Robbe: I’m almost there

Aaron: Me too! I can see Robbe’s big face

Robbe: At least my face is on a building...

Jens sighed, slipping his phone back in his pocket. ‘’My friend are going to be here soon,’’ he informed Lucas, disappointment transpiring through his voice.

Lucas pursed his lips into a pout, not ready to part yet, looking way too cute for his own good and making it difficult for Jens to leave.

Jens sighed, how could he resist that face? He leaned in and kissed that pout off Lucas’ lips.

‘’Wanna skate with us?’’

He hadn’t asked the boys, but surely they wouldn’t mind having a supplementary guest to their first skating session of the season. Plus, Robbe already knew Lucas from that time at the café.

‘’Race you to the ramps!’’ Lucas declared, dropping his skateboard on the ground and rolling away, Jens trailing behind.

Monday, January 27th

Jens removed his hoodie, pulling it over his head with Lucas' help, laughing as it got stuck to his head. He threw it on the floor, not caring where it landed, his room already a mess anyway, and Lucas met him in the middle, closing the distance, hungry and eager to taste Jens' lips again.

When Jens had first messaged Lucas to come over, he hadn't planned for things to escalate so fast. Okay, that was a half lie. He had hoped it would lead there, but it wasn't his first intention nor the only reason he had invited Lucas. He genuinely wanted to spend time with him. But, he wasn’t mad about this impromptu make out session. He would have had to be an idiot to not want to kiss someone as fucking hot as Lucas Van Der Heijden.

‘’When does your parents come home?’’ Lucas asked, lips touching Jens’ as he spoke.

‘’Mom’s at work until 10pm and my sister is at a friend’s house doing a school project.’’

‘’And your dad?’’

Jens paused, not knowing what to answer. Where was his dad? Mohamed wasn’t home when he arrived after school and there was no notes.

Sensing his inner struggle, Lucas cupped Jens’ face, guiding him back into a kiss, silently telling him ‘it doesn’t matter’. Lucas’ touch was soft and tender, a perfect distraction from his worries. It could almost make him forget about everything.

A lover's touch is more powerful than you could imagine. Touching someone you have feelings for releases dopamine and serotonin, both of which can boost your mood and curb depression. It reduces anxiety and decreases your worries.

Aka, exactly what Jens needed right now.

Lucas’ slim hands slipped underneath the back of Jens’ shirt, causing the fabric to rid up and expose his warm skin, and dragged his nails down slowly, causing Jens to shudder with pleasure. A smug smile spread on Lucas’ face, content to see the effect he had on the tanned boy, and raised his hips, the growing erection in his jeans brushing Jens' and causing a moan to escape their lips.

They hadn't gotten further than kissing yet, but both bodies were very responsive to the other's touch.

The bed creaked as Lucas moved to straddle him, one leg on each side of Jens' stomach. The air had become hotter in the room, but neither cared, too caught up into their own bubble of lips on lips and hands on skin.

It was a blessing that Lotte had a school project to work on tonight. If she had been home, Lucas wouldn’t have come over. Much like when Jana was here, Jens didn’t want his sister to know too much about his sexual life and relationships. Her pure and innocent mind didn’t need to know about this kind of stuff yet.

Jens' hand grabbed at Lucas' thigh, fingers digging into his pants fabric as their hips brushed together, creating friction in all the right places. Lucas moaned and grinded down.

‘’Do that again,’’ he breathed out, feeling his jeans tighten more and more.

Instead of listening to Lucas’ demand, Jens slowed down, ignoring his teenage hormones, and moved himself away from underneath him. A small whine came from the brunet, letting himself fall flat on the mattress, and Jens had to bite back a smile.

''Why are you so far away? Come here.'' He reached out with his hands in silent demand.

‘’You’re the one that moved away!’’ Lucas reminded, crawling over anyway.

Jens laughed, brushing his nose with Lucas at how close they were. He stole a quick kiss and looked back, taking in the moment. The house was quiet bare from their breathings, now returned to a slow and steady pace.

A small bruise was starting to form on the side of Lucas' neck, the delicate skin having been previously sucked and kissed by Jens. The latter reached out, touching the red-ish skin and Lucas hissed.

Immediately, Jens retracted his hand and felt bad. He hadn't meant to hurt him, just to leave a mark on lucas’ unflawed skin. Maybe he had gotten too carried away with the sucking?

''Does it hurt? Sorry.''

Lucas laughed. ''Got you.''

Jens narrowed his eyes and pinched Lucas’ side where his shirt was hiked up in revenge, causing him to squeal. ‘’Little shit.’’

The brunet giggled and swatting Jens' hand away.

Moments like this were something Jens missed. Just being together, fooling around and doing nothing. With Jana, they couldn't have a real conversation without arguing. She was always on the defensive or reproaching him things - and Jens was always horny.

‘’As much as I want this, I don’t want to rush it.’’

Lucas' hand was tracing shapes on Jens' arm, causing the hairs to raise at his touch.

''What? You want to wait for the 'perfect' moment?'' he said in a mocking tone.

Jens rolled his eyes. ''No.'' He sighed and bit his lip. ''I've never done this before...with a boy, at least.''

''Me neither.'' The brunet paused, playing with the hem of Jens’ sleeve. ‘’I mean. I’ve kissed boys. Just, it never went past kissing.’’ Lucas glanced down, unable to look at the other boy in the eyes. ‘’With girls either,’’ he admitted, his voice lower, sounding ashamed.

It was the first time Lucas had put his guard down since they met - fully down. They had talked before, in Amber’s bathroom, sharing little stories here and there, but Lucas was always shielding himself behind layers of confidence and cockyness, playing it cool. As if he was protecting himself from emotional harm.

This sudden trust warmed Jens’ heart. It was nice to know that Lucas felt comfortable enough to tell him something so vulnerable - especially so early in their relationship - not that they were anything concrete yet. He didn’t have to tell him this, confess something so personal and intimate, but he did.

''Hey.'' Jens' voice was soft and calm. ''It's okay, Luc. I don't- It doesn't matter to me,'' he said, trying to reassure him that he wouldn't use the information to make fun of him.

There was nothing wrong in being a virgin. Jens wasn't, but Lucas wasn't worth any less or less attractive to Jens' eyes because he hadn't done anything sexually with anyone. If anything, it made it more exciting and thrilling.

Getting uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation, Lucas used the tanned boy's distraction to sneak his hand on Jens’ thigh, itching higher and higher until Jens caught him and his intentions.

He took Lucas’ hand in his, stopping him from reaching anywhere near his crotch. ‘’Stop it.’’

Lucas shrugged, smug look on his face contradicting his innocent tone. ‘’I’m not doing anything…’’

Wednesday, January 29th

‘’Jens?’’

The teenager hummed, swatting the hand on his arm away.

A couple more minutes.

''Jens,'' someone hissed, a bit louder.

Slowly, the raven haired boy stirred from his sleep, a bit confused. His eyes were half open, blinded by the harsh neon lights of the classroom. ‘’Uh?’’

Robbe glanced at Jens sideways, checking on his best friend. ''You were drooling on your textbook,'' he explained while messily writing notes in his notebook.

''Oh. Was I?'' Jens asked, stretching subtly over his desk.

The past nights have been very short for Jens. The nightly arguing between his parents hadn’t slowed down and things didn’t sound like they were going to be fixed anytime soon. Thankfully, his dad hadn’t come home drunk again. But, their loud, hushed voices still woke Lotte up and she had crawled in Jens’ bed every night this week. Although it flattered him that she felt safe with him, she was an agitated sleeper and the teenager needed his beauty sleep too.

Robbe nodded. ''Yeah. And, if the teacher catches you, she'll give you detention. I saved your ass.''

Jens pushed his head in his hands. ''Thanks, bro.''

''Everything okay?''

“No everything is not ok. My parents are fighting, Lotte is scared so she keeps crawling into my bed, Jana is up my ass about if we are together or not, and I hooked up with Lucas. You know, the new kid? I also started selling weed to help out my parents, want some?”

Jens glanced at Robbe, hesitating. Should he tell him all of this? Robbe was his best friend, he would understand, but Jens didn’t want to bother him with his problems. He had enough on his plate.

Flashing a smile and nodding was easier than explaining everything, so Jens did that. ''Yeah. I was up late studying for the Math test.''

The brunet’s eyes widen, panic spreading on his face. ‘’Shit. We have a Math test?’’

Thursday, January 30th

Secluded on an empty flight of stairs, the two teenagers were stealing kisses, making the most of their lunch hour. Lucas’ stomach rumbled, demanding for food, but they ignored it, too busy licking into each other’s mouth to open their lunches and eat.

Lucas bit Jens’ bottom lip, tugging and releasing it with a ‘pop’. ‘’It’s my mom’s weekend,’’ he announced, mood dropping a little. ‘’Which means…’’

Jens sighed. ‘’That you won’t be here this weekend.’’

‘’Yep.’’

Lucas took Jens’ hand in his, lacing their fingers together between them, causing a tingle to spread through Jens’ chest. Jens couldn’t remember the last time a simple touch had made him feel this way - but he hoped the feeling would never fade.

‘’I’m sorry it has to be that way. I wish we could spend the weekend together. I really do, it’s just-’’

‘’Hey, I get it. It’s okay,’’ Jens assured, using his free hand to play with Lucas’ hair, pushing his fringe away from his eyes.

Cert, he wasn’t happy that Lucas was going away for the weekend, but Jens didn’t want him to feel guilty about seeing his mom. It would be ridiculous. Jens didn't want to be the controlling boyfriend who dictated to their partner what they can and cannot do.

‘’Yes, it sucks that you have to go and I’ll most likely miss you, but I’m not going to ask you to stay. She’s your mom, not seeing you every day anymore must be difficult for her.’’

Lucas cocked an eyebrow, looking smug. ‘’You’ll miss me?’’

Jens rolled his eyes. ‘’Yeah…’’ he admitted shyly. ‘’Is that all you picked up from what I said?’’

Lucas hummed and leaned in, about to kiss Jens, but their lips didn’t have time to meet because Aaron appeared up the stairs, loud as always.

“Hey guys, what’s up?’’ He clapped Jens on the shoulder breaking the moment between them. ”Robbe and Moyo are already waiting for us in the cafeteria. Oh man, have I got the best idea for our next video.’’ Aaron glanced at Lucas. ‘’Lucas, do you want to join us for lunch? Maybe you could even help? I was thinking-”

“Bro, slow down with the verbal vomit. How about we wait to discuss your ‘idea’ with the guys?” Jens said, glaring at Aaron for interrupting.

“Thanks for the invite, but I have a history test right after lunch that I need to study for. Maybe another time?”

“Cool man, no problem. See ya around,” Aaron said, oblivious to the physical contact that had just happened between Jens and Lucas.

Lucas grabbed his greige backpack from the floor and walked away, giving Jens a devious wink and all the raven haired boy wanted to do was run after him.

Jens had sold the rest of the weed this morning. A guy from Friday’s party had contacted him and took all Jens had left with a demand to contact him when he’ll have more. Bless him.

‘’You did good, Kid,’’ Michiel stated, counting the money Jens had handed him, making sure it was the right amount.

Jens flashed him a small smile but stayed silent, still intimidated by Michiel.

Unlike last Thursday, Michiel had invited in further inside the building. They were in a small room with a couch and a set of table and chairs - probably where Michiel made his deals. Framed posters of Marijuana leaves and cars were on the walls, giving the place a classic movie vibe.

‘’Count is right?’’ Jens asked.

Michiel nodded. ‘’Still interested in a job? I might have something for you.’’

The man stood and went to the backroom behind the thick curtain and returned with a black package. He set it on the table and slid it in Jens’ direction. ‘’One of my guys got caught over the weekend and I need someone covering your school’s ground. I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding buyers. Kids your age are always looking for these ones.’’

Jens opened the top and frowned, seeing Xanax, Fentanyl, Ecstasy and more colorful pills separated into baggies. He shook his head. ‘’I never agreed to this. I said just weed-’’

Michiel scoffed. ‘’You ask for quick money. This is what I have to offer. If you don’t want it-’’

‘’I’ll do it.’’

Friday, January 31st

The snow was almost all melted in the neighborhood, which meant that Spring was on its way. Jens couldn’t wait to ditch his jacket in a couple weeks and feel the sun on his skin.

His phone buzzed in his hands, a new message from Moyo appearing on his screen. Jens had missed a part of the conversation when he was in the bus, but apparently, Moyo had found a new girl to obsess over and, to quote him ‘she was hot as fuck’.

Moyo: She’s fucking hot. Did you see her BOOBS?! 😍

Robbe: Wipe your mouth. You’re drooling, man

Moyo: You can’t get it, Robbe…

Jens rolled his eyes at his friends. Moyo was getting just as bad as Aaron. Desperation and gushing about girls’ physique wasn’t going to get him laid though - even if he really needed it.

Aaron: Can you get beers? 🍻

Moyo: I’m already bringing the weed…

Moyo: Jens? Is it your turn? 🍻🍻

Jens: Yeah, yeah. I'm on it

Aaron: Is Sander coming?

Jens pulled out his keys, about to unlock the door when a yellow piece of paper was taped on the front door caught his eye. Furrowing his eyebrows, he removed it and read the notice.

Fuck. This was not good.

His eyes glanced at the time on the clock, impatiently waiting for his mom to arrive from work. He could've called her, but Jens prefered to tell her the bad news face to face.

Her shift had ended half an hour ago, but she was picking up Lotte at school. She should be here soon.

Jens would've never thought they would end up here. He had stayed optimistic. He told himself that it was just a rough patch and they would make it through. But, seeing the eviction notice on the door made him realise the gravity of his family’s situation and woke doubts that, maybe, things wouldn't be okay.

The rumble of a car was heard from the driveway and Jens tensed, dreading the conversation to come. He knew it would break his mom's heart and aggravate her stress, but he couldn't just rip the paper and never tell her. The engine was cut outside and followed by the front door opening and Lotte’s voice echoing.

“-and my teacher said I was the best in the class. She was really proud of how hard I’ve been working.”

“That’s amazing sweetheart. I’m so proud of you,” Fenna said from the living room, closing the door behind.

“I’m proud of you too.” Jens said from the doorway of the kitchen.

Lotte giggled, she ran up to him and gave him her biggest hug. “Do you even know what we were talking about?”

“No, but I’m proud of you just the same.” Jens ruffled her hair and she wiggled away from his hold. “Lotte, can you give me a minute with Mom? I need to talk to her alone for a bit.”

‘’Did you get in trouble at school?’’ she asked in a whisper.

Jens gave her a tight lipped smile. ‘’Something like that…’’

He watched as Lotte removed her boots and jacket and went upstairs.

‘’Mom?’’

Fenna glanced at her son, bright smile on her face. Jens could tell she had had a good day, she seemed happier than she had been in weeks. He felt horrible because he knew that the little piece of paper in his hands was about to shatter her good mood.

‘’What is it?’’

‘’Erm, this was on the door when I came home.’’ Jens handed her the yellow paper and watch his mother’s features pull, confusedly taking the document from her son. He watched as she read, her face changing and falling.

Fenna sat down on the couch and clutched the eviction notice in her hand. She sat for what felt like forever before speaking. “I’m sorry you had to see that.’’

‘’What are we going to do, Mom? This is big. We...we could lose the house, we-’’

‘’I’ll take care of it.’’

Jens shook his head and went to sit next to her. “How? You’re already overworking yourself at the hospital. You can’t do more.’’

‘’I’ll go ask for a loan at the bank. I-I’ll figure it out.’’ She forced a smile at her son, trying to reassure him - or herself. ‘’I always do.’’

‘’You need to tell Dad about this.’’ Fenna shook her head, but Jens insisted. ‘’Mom.’’

''Jens,’’ the woman countered on a firmer tone. She sighed, overwhelmed by the direction her life had taken.

One month ago, they were a happy, typical, middle class family living easily. They ate take out every Thursdays, have game nights together and go to the movies every other Sunday with their daughter. And now, Mohamed had lost his job, Fenna was chaining double shifts at the hospital and the bills were piling up.

Sensing his mother’s inner turmoil, Jens pulled her into a hug. It wouldn't solve their problems, but hopefully it would at least show her his love and support. She hugged him back, tightly holding on to her son.

''Please, let me take care of this my way. I'll tell your dad when he's ready to hear it.''

Jens scoffed, shaking his head before heading upstairs. He didn’t agree with his mom’s reasoning, but didn’t feel like arguing with her any more. It would serve nothing.

Once in his room, Jens locked the door and checked the knob to make sure it was locked. He walked over to the drawer where he had stashed the money and the pills, and opened it.

He had no choice now, did he?

#jens's season #van der stoffels #jens stoffels #lucas van der heijden #wtfock #vds #skam nl #lucas x jens #jens x lucas #please let me know what you think of the chapter #I worked SO hard on this one

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pure-bakusass · 5 years ago

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Kiribaku AU Month: Day 7: 💣 Vigilante AU 💣

I can’t believe I missed on so many days. I suck at this. I’m going to make up for it though! Here’s what I was finally able to do for Vigilantes! Rowdy rebel boys 💥 Including the sketch alone cause I like it too!

✨bonus✨

About the “Down with Deku” thing! My headcanon for Vigilante Bakugou is Graffiti Artist Bakugou. His goal is to be wherether Deku should be before him and do his job to spite him. Also leave the “Down With Deku” graffiti everytime, so that Deku knows he’s still better than him, even though he’s not a hero like him. Since he can’t see Deku as often as he wants to hate him in person, the graffiti serves as a nice substitute. Deku is confused.

The Vigilante Theme Song: Sam Tinneasz “Legends Are Made”

@kiribakumonth2019

I also wrote an angsty hurt/comfort kiribaku drabble for this! That’s my second drabble, so still long way to go as a writer. I’m so sorry I did that. I even cried while writing. Kirishima deserves better but the idea just came to my head and wouldn’t leave. You can read it under the cut and judge me.

***

“Ei? It’s me, open the doors.”

Usually when Kirishima was crying, Bakugou’s presence could work wonders when it came to calming him down. But this time was different. This time, when Kirishima heard Bakugou knocking on his doors, he prayed he’d rather stay out of this and let him be alone for once.

“Eijirou! Don’t think you can fool me, I know you’re in there! I’m hearing you crying your guts out! Just fucking let me in, damn!”

Deep down, Kirishima knew that once Bakugou settled on something, he would rather die than give up on it. That’s just who he was. That’s why he wasn’t surprised at all to hear the gentle knocking soon turning into violent slamming as his boyfriend was quickly getting irritated.

“Shitty Hair! If you won’t let me in, I’m kicking those doors out! Don’t think I won’t fucking do that!”

Kirishima didn’t even have enough time to react as he heard a loud THUD and the next thing he witnessed was a visibly pissed Bakugou right in front of him.

“Dude, what the fuck?!”

“I should be the one to ask you the damn question! Do you even know how fucking scared I was after you left like this, locked yourself up and didn’t even give me a single fucking answer? Do you?!“

As Bakugou continued yelling, Kirishima felt a sudden wave of anger hitting him unexpectedly. Strong enough to make it easier for him to restrain himself from crying. He wiped his tears off quickly and sniffed loudly as he gave Bakugou an angry look.

“What else was I supposed to do after you made a scene?” said Kirishima, doing his best trying to sound rough despite being visibly shaken. “I told you to stay out of this but you just don’t listen. Like, ever. You’re not making it easier for me.”

“Of course I don’t! I am not going to listen to bullshit. Who the fuck do you think I am, Eijirou? Did you really expect me to just- put up with those bastards deciding you don’t belong in the fucking school anymore? You’d have to be one hell of a fucking idiot to think that I’d let go of you even for a second.”

Now that Bakugou said it, Kirishima felt like there’s way more tears coming. Fuck, he really was doing the worst job trying to supress them. One thing he wanted more than anything right now was to be wrapped in Katsuki’s arms and just forget about everything. But he knew he couldn’t, because then all the effort he has already put in distancing himself would be for nothing. He turned back at Bakugou, keeping his head down and rubbing his shoulders in attempt to calm himself down.

“You should let go of me for good. I told you. Leave me alone and let me pack my things. I’m being serious.”

Bakugou crossed his arms, ready to fight back. He sure as fuck wasn’t leaving. At least not with such a weak attempt to make him do so.

“Oh, really? I don’t think you’re being serious at all, turning your back at me like this. You really want me to go? Then you’ll have to try fucking harder. You want me to leave you? To give up on you just like you gave up on yourself? If that’s what you really want, then go ahead! Tell that to my fucking face. Tell me I don’t mean shit to you anymore, tell me to go fuck myself. Only then I can take you seriously.”

The only response that Bakugou received was silence, interrupted only with Kirishima’s loud sniffing. He honestly expected that to happen, but it still felt awful. Bakugou hated silence, it felt far worse and difficult to handle than the fight. He’d honestly rather have Kirishima yell at him. He began to hate himself for pushing his boyfriend to the level when he was lost for words.

“Shit, I knew you wouldn’t. That’s because it’s not what you want, is it?”

Bakugou inhaled deeply and let out a heavy sigh, as he approached Kirishima and put his hand on his arm, gently.

“I’ve made my point. Your turn. Why are you trying to push me away? Why are you trying so hard to distance yourself from me, Eijirou? Just tell me.”

Even despite his irritation, Bakugou’s voice surprisingly became calm. A lot quieter, softer. And…sad? Fuck. Kirishima could fight Bakugou’s anger in every form, he knew he could. But he absolutely couldn’t stand a chance against the hint of hurt in Bakugou’s voice, nor againts the gentle gesture. That’s when he lost it. He turned back again, to face him, to let their eyes meet, not even trying to fight flowing tears anymore. He was a mess.

“Fine! It’s just- I can’t let you throw your life out because of me! I can’t!”

“What? What are you even saying-”

“No, listen, the moment I knew i have to leave, I knew you would want to follow me- and I knew I would never forgive myself if you did. Being here is like your life goal, your determination to be a number one hero is what drives you. It’s remarkable. How could I be the one to take it away from you? How could I ever be ok with this?”

As soon as he spoke out, Kirishima felt Bakugou’s arms wrapping around him instantly, pulling him closer and holding him tight. He embarced him back, clinged to him for life, burying his face in Bakugou’s chest. They stayed like this for a while, as Kirishima was sobbing uncontrollably.

“Fuck, Ei…” Bakugou muttered under his breath. He was rubbing Kirishima’s back to help him calm down. “Is that what’s troubling you right now? Me?…shit. Fuck, I’m… I’m sorry I yelled, ok? For fuck’s sake, why weren’t you honest with me from the beginning?”

“I- I was just trying to do what I thought would be best for you.” Kirishima mumbled into Bakugou’s chest. Now that he said that out loud, it sounded kind of stupid and he felt embarassed. This didn’t sound right and Kirishima couldn’t believe it took him so long to realize how badly he could hurt not only Bakugou but also himself with pushing him away.

“You’re so fucking stupid, Eijirou.” said Bakugou, softly and lovingly. “I know what’s best for me. Being with you, that’s what. Nothing else besides that really matters. I can’t fucking live without you, and I will repeat myself as many times as you need to hear this. So maybe it finally gets through to your dumb brain.”

“Fuck, Katsuki… I love you so goddamn much- b ut-”

“No buts, that cuts it, dumbass. You love me, and I love you, we’ve got that covered. What else are you supposed to worry about?”

“I don’t know, everything? What are we going to do, where are we supposed to go? What about Ground Zero the number one hero?”

“Huh? What about it? Am I not making myself clear? Ground Zero doesn’t fucking exist without Red Riot.”

“-but- your goal-”

“Tch. And who said I need this shitty school to reach my goals?”

Bakugou grabbed Kirishima by the chin and lifted his face up so that he looked him in the eyes.

“I’m still going to be the best fucking hero there has ever been. And you, as my equal, are also going to be the best fucking hero there has ever been. Both of us are about to make the whole fucking world know our names. Got it?”

Kirishima opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Backupu cupped his face in his hands and kissed him, so deeply and affectionately that Kirishima let out a surprised gasp. But he did nothing to stop him. He engaged in the kiss wholeheartedly, and for the first time since he knew he has to leave, he felt like this was a beginning of something new and exciting, rather than the depressing end.

“That’s more like it” Bakugou smiled as he pulled himself back" Come on, Red. We’ve got some packing to do.“

***

Does Bakugou regret it? Fuck no.

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the-entity-down-the-street · 5 years ago

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We Have the Moon

Hey guys, sorry I disappeared off the face of the Earth for a while. I’ve been pretty depressed and unmotivated because, well *gestures vaguely to everything.* Here’s the second installment of my human-monster romance stories. We’re going full Gothic Lesbian Vampire Love today. I hope y’all enjoy. I can’t think of any content warnings off the top of my head, this is pretty tame honestly, but if there’s anything I should add let me know! Read under the cut.

Plink.

It was a light tap, subtle as the wind itself. Nobody should’ve woken up. But Alice did. Subtle, tinkling reverberations made her ears perk up.

Plink.

She lifted her head. Though only the pale moon offered light, she had no trouble seeing. Her eyes were built for picking apart shadows. The room was empty.

Plink.

“Alice!”

Oh. Oh no. Why was she here? Alice scurried to the window. It was covered in a frosty sheen broken up by a few persistent stones. Cracking it open enough for one eye to peek around, Alice spotted a familiar figure standing outside.

Melody. In a prom dress.

It was silver, sleeveless, and dripping with rhinestones. She’d woven matching ribbons into her box braids. “Alice, come down.”

“Go home, Mel. You know you shouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah, and?” Melody asked, indignant.

“Please go home. You must be cold.”

“Guess I’ll just be cold till you get your ass down here. And put on something cute.”

Alice narrowed her eye. “You’re not going away, are you?”

“Negative.”

She sighed. Melody was stubborn enough to freeze until she came down. Might as well keep her from getting frostbite. Alice hurried to slip into a pair of black leggings, a button-up top, and her dad’s leather jacket. Dressed, she opened the window fully and crawled down the side of her house.

Alice wasn’t the beautiful type of vampire. Her skin wasn’t pure white marble; it was pale corpse flesh, showcasing a network of black veins pulsing underneath. Her limbs weren’t perfectly sculpted; they were spidery and knotted and all her joints protruded into bulbs of tendon and bone. And her face did not showcase a haunting beauty, but a ghoulish caricature of something that might’ve been human, once, if you squinted a little. If she were a full vampire, Alice was sure her friend would run home, leaving only a trail of piss and tears behind. But her horror was diluted by the glow of her mom’s humanity, so Melody stayed waiting for her.

“Happy?” Alice asked.

“Yes,” Melody replied, grabbing her arm. “Now come on. I’m freezing.”

Melody’s hand, even kissed by the winter wind, was so warm. Alice’s half-beating heart sped up to a human pace.

The two of them ran through the woods separating Alice’s house from the rest of the town. There was no snow, but a low fog hung over the roots of the trees, whipped up by their legs and soft laughter.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Where do you think?” Melody said.

Oh. Alice would’ve blushed if she’d had the heat for it. The graveyard. Melody always waited for her there, always where the moon was brightest. Never afraid. Ready to play with death. To flirt with it. To dance with it. To go to prom with it.

“I thought your parents said they’d cut off your college fund if you saw me again,” Alice said.

“They did. And if we don’t do this tonight, they will.”

“And what is this, exactly?”

“You’ll see.”

Christ. Always so damn cryptic. As much as Alice was annoyed by it, she had to admit the spark of mystery was welcome. The heartbeat of her life had slowed to a comatose lull since Melody left for college. It had just her and her parents eking out a quiet existence where they wouldn’t be bothered by the townsfolk. The shadows may have been safe, but they weren’t nearly as interesting as humans thought they were.

They arrived at the graveyard. The headstones they grew up around were glistening with ice droplets. In the center was an abandoned, rotting church which towered over the graves. They always sat in its shadow on the hotter nights. The memory of a lingering kiss danced on Alice’s tongue as they made their way up the mossy steps. The front door was held shut by several wood planks haphazardly nailed over it.

“Help me open this, would you, baby?”

Yes, she could, happily. The door, and the boards, caved like paper when Alice kicked them in. No invitation necessary.

Like vampiric beauty, it was also a myth that God held vampires at bay. That implied that vampires weren’t of God. It also implied that the Christian God was the only Holy Spirit around. That was the biggest myth of all.

It was oddly lovely inside. Pews draped in cobwebs decorated the otherwise barren space. The altar at the front was defaced with graffiti, mostly of pentagrams drawn by misinformed teenagers, highlighted by the stained-glass window throwing muted rainbows across the floor.

“Okay, we’re here. Now what are we doing?”

Melody looked towards the altar. A crystalized breath fell from her soft lips. “Getting married.”

“…Huh?” Alice felt her heart speed up even more. It was uncomfortable. How did humans deal with this?

Melody looked to Alice and squeezed her hand. The shifting browns of cats’ eye swam in her irises. “Marry me, Alice.”

“B-but this isn’t… I thought maybe…” she scratched her neck.

“That I’d meet someone?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would I do that?”

Alice took her other hand. “Because they’re human, Mel. Because you could have a normal life. Because, I don’t know, you could grow old together and stuff.”

Melody made an audible snoring sound.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. That shit’s boring.”

“But your parents—”

“Will have to get the fuck over it. I chose you.”

“That’s a choice I could never understand.”

“But I’m making it anyways,” Melody said. “You in or not?”

Alice bit her lip. Her fang poked into the skin, and a stream of black blood ran down her chin. She had no doubts that Melody was serious. And looking into her eyes, Alice also had no doubts that Melody loved her. Humans couldn’t hide their feelings well even if when they tried. It was kind of cute, really. Their little twitches, jittery hands, hushed curses, even their breathing— it always gave away the truth. Melody’s truth was stark, longing gazes, reaching lips, and a racing heart.

“This isn’t exactly an official ceremony,” Alice said. “We don’t have a priest or a wedding license or anything.”

Melody offered a shrug. “That can come later. Once I’m on my own. For now,” she pointed towards the large circular window above the altar, where the full moon shone, “we have the moon. She’ll be our officiant.”

Alice considered this. The moon. It followed them through their every night. Even when they were apart, even when they couldn’t talk to each other, the moon would know. That was all that mattered. “The moon it is.”

“Great, I already bought rings. Come on.”

The excited, giggling brides ran to the altar and took places opposite of each other. Melody pulled two rings out of her bra. One had a large red gem and one had a blue gem, both oval, a little like class rings.

“I hope these weren’t too expensive.”

“Nah, got them from Walmart. We can get real ones for the real wedding.”

“Think your parents will suspect?”

Melody waved her hand flippantly. “They know I like a lot of jewelry. One more ring won’t set off their alarms if it doesn’t look like a wedding ring. Stop worrying.”

“You’ve been planning this a while?”

She lowered her head. “Since they forced us to break up.”

Alice held Melody’s cheek and stroked it. They had tried to be sneaky, but people in this town never mind their own business. As soon as they found out Melody was going to prom with the local abomination, all hell broke loose. A lot of screaming. Even more crying. They never even got to go to prom. “I’m sorry, baby.”

Melody looked up to Alice. “Doesn’t matter now. Hold out your hand.”

Alice did. “No vows?”

“I think we both know what I’m agreeing to.” Melody slid the red ring over Alice’s finger. Alice slid the blue ring over Melody’s. “Till the end, love.”

“Till the end.”

Their lips met, hot upon cold, life upon death. The kiss was long and lingering. Alice knew it would be their last for a long time. Maybe months, maybe years. It all depended on how often Melody could sneak visits during her breaks. Alice could wait. Once Melody was on her own, they would get their real wedding. After that they had eternity waiting ahead.

Until then, they had the moon. She would know, and that was all that mattered.

#entitywrites #terato #terato love #monster girlfriend #monster wife #wlw #monster lover #vampire girlfriend #vampire wife #romance writing #my writing #writing #terato writing

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purplesurveys · 4 years ago

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907

Are you one of those lucky people to own a walk-in closet? lol lucky people. No I don’t have one of those. Is there a random object you own that has a huge personal significance? Well it’s more significant today because we had our virtual graduation this morning... so I’ll go with my graduation sash. Ever since I started university I’ve always wanted to wear my own sash in a physical ceremony so again, it sucks that our batch got affected by the pandemic. Do you use Google? For just about everything, yeah. Would you like to go swimming right now? That would be soooooo so nice. I’ve been going through old vacation photos and I really miss the beach. Can you play electric guitar? Nope.

Do you have an HDTV? My parents do. When was the last time you drank something through a straw? Around a month ago when my dad bought milk teas for me and my sister. Have you ever tried to teach yourself a different language? I didn’t teach myself per se, but I have tried my hand learning Spanish on Duolingo several times. It always comes in phases – I get passionate about learning and use the app for weeks, then it kinda burns out after a while. Right now I haven’t used it since I got sick in May. How long was your last phone call? A little longer than an hour, I think. It was pure silence though; we just wanted to hear each other’s surroundings. Do you need to repaint your nails? No, I never get it painted. Has there ever been a horoscope that came true for you? Psh. Are you a fan of industrial metal? Holy shit I feel so stupid right now. I thought this was referring to a literal kind of metal and I thought, that is such an odd thing to be a fan of...Google quickly taught me that it is in fact NOT a material for building infrastructure jdsskfjskf. Anyway, no I am not a fan. Are you one of those people who chew two pieces of gum, not one? Yeah, occasionally. I don’t like how one piece loses flavor all too quickly so I go ahead and pop two in. Do you have a wall calendar? Not since 2008. We only had a wall calendar in our old house; when we moved here we started to rely on digital clocks and our phones to tell the time. Have you ever taken the pictures from a calendar and used them as posters? I haven’t had a calendar like that, so no. I’ve done this with magazines though. Can you handle the cold? Hahaha no, I can’t. I was already in so much pain in 20ºC weather in Sagada, and I fared much worse in 12ºC Japan weather. I would still pick living in a colder climate in a heartbeat over a tropical one, though. Have you ever been to Canada? Nope. Do you believe in superstitions? Just one superstition involving my university that doubles as an inside joke, so it’s not like I take it 100% seriously. It’s a generations-old joke that’s impossible to ignore if you’re a student, so I just jumped in. When was the last time you took a taxi somewhere? It was from the airport to back home, but I forgot where we landed from. Bohol I think? Palawan? I don’t even know anymore. It was so inconvenient I begged my dad that we stop using taxis as transportation for our future trips. Would you ever join the army, airforce or navy? No. How old is the person you last kissed? 22. Is there a friend that you can always rely on to get you out of a jam? I don’t think so. When it comes down to it they all have their own different things going on and I can’t just call them whenever and expect them to come to me, and that’s okay. Generally though, I think my most reliable friends are probably Andrew and Angela. What was the most embarassing thing you've had to buy? I’ve never felt embarrassed by anything I had to buy, but it can get a little uncomfortable trying to buy napkins when my dress or pants are already soaked. I get over it quickly though, since menstruations are normal lol. Have you ever tried to balance the light switch between off and on? When I was a kid. I haven’t tried it in a while. Do you believe in ghosts / supernatural occurences? They’re fun to think about, sure, and I do enjoy watching the supernatural episodes of Buzzfeed Unsolved where they go ghost-hunting. I like to think that they somehow exist, but I still also very much maintain my skepticism at all times. Have you ever mistaken a person's gender? I’ve used the wrong pronouns accidentally but I always correct myself and apologize once I’ve noticed my blunder. What was the most expensive thing you've broken? My old iPhones. I’ve also sported a few dents on my car, but I wouldn’t say I broke the car. Has anyone texted you yet today? Not text, but online chat. We had our virtual graduation this morning so my inbox was swamped with congratulatory messages and such. Did you stay calm during the whole swine flu scare? I did, but I mean I was 11 and had no clue how serious it was supposed to be. I remember cheering when they suspended classes for a week because of a local swine flu case, so yep – still ignorant back then. Is there a light on in the room you're currently in? There is, but it isn’t turned on. Are your feet touching the floor? Nope, they’re on the bed. Have you ever been in a car accident? Mild ones, nothing too life-threatening. Do you usually make back-up plans? Yeah man I’m so anxious I always have at least plans A-C lined up in my head and ready to go whenever necessary. Can you focus well in high-stress situations? Usually. Without the aid of mascara, do you have long eyelashes? I do. I get compliments on it all the time too. I didn’t realize it was apparently a nice feature to have until more and more people pointed it out haha. Is there a kind of music you listen to that helps you release your anger? Yeah I have a playlist that’s lined up with all of my favorite loud, angry punk rock music specifically for when I’m pissed off. Are you one of those people who keep their feelings bottled up? I can, particularly whenever I feel like it’s not worth it to blow up. Is one of your friends extremely odd but you love them regardless? Not really. Aya’s pretty weird but I wouldn’t call her extremely odd. Is there anyone you dread going into public with? My mom when she’s mad. Are you a victim of writing run-on sentences? For the most part, I wouldn’t say so. If I write a run-on sentence it’s almost always in an informal setting where I’m more loose with punctuation, like if I’m chatting on IM or writing an answer on here. Still, I try to avoid them and I never do it in a formal situation. Graffiti: an art or an act of vandalism? They can be both. Some people who genuinely just want to fuck around vandalize, like how I’ve seen “Mark <3 Erica” in spray paint on public walls or some similar shit lol. But a lot of graffiti are art as well; many have important messages or symbolisms to say. Do you buy things online? I’ve done it a few times. Not regularly. I like being able to see and touch something before buying it. Are you easily frightened? I definitely am but at the same time I’m really into horror movies and serial killers and a ghost-hunting series? Hahaha it’s weird. I guess I enjoy the thrill that comes with having those interests. Do you have a favorite model? Over the years I’ve loved Elizabeth Jane Bishop, Kiko Mizuhara, Taylor Marie Hill, Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, and (controversial pick!) Kendall Jenner. Have you ever watched Titanic? So many times. Honestly, one of my favorites. What's your current facebook display picture of? It’s my official graduation photo wearing my graduation sash! :) I finally changed it last Friday after I got the email saying I’m on the list of graduates. How about your IM display picture? My main IM is my Messenger, which also uses my Facebook photo. Is there anyone whose hair you envy? Gabie’s for one. Hers is really smooth and silky and wavy. Would you act in a movie if it offered a role? If I was going to be a mostly unseen extra in a blockbuster film and still be paid like $600 for it, then I don’t see why I wouldn’t take it. Does speaking in front of people make you nervous? Only if there’s going to be an unscripted aspect to it that’ll make me have to come up with answers on the spot, like miting de avances or thesis defense. If I have a script or even just a general gist of what I want to say, I have no problem improvising and speaking in front of a crowd. Can you read in a moving vehicle or does it make you sick? It makes me sick but it hasn’t stopped me before. Have you ever dated someone who was extremely shy? I’m the extremely shy person... Or have you dated someone who took things too fast? I felt that way with Gab at first when she wanted to have sex like two months after we started dating, though I was scared mainly because it was going to be my first time and I wanted to make sure I was comfortable. Now that I’m a little older, two months seems like a healthy amount of time. Does the idea of driving 220 mph sound exciting to you? Sounds terrifying. It could be fun, but only if we’re in the middle of nowhere where there’s loads of space to go that fast and no chance of crashing. Everyone has a weakness, what's yours? Food. Do you or anyone you know have an account on Deviantart? I had classmates in high school who had accounts but I’m not sure if they still have it, or if Deviantart is even still as active as I knew it to be. Thoughts on the Dunkin Donut commercial that says "America runs on Dunkin'"? It’s a creative slogan but if I was American I wouldn’t want a doughnut place claiming to represent my country. It cute though. Do you bother buying movies on DVD anymore or do you just download them? I watch them on Netflix, which is still technically like buying them since we pay for the subscription anyway. Do you listen to Daughtry? No. Do you get your eyebrows waxed? I don’t. Waxing looks so painful to me. How do you take your coffee? Lots of creamer or milk, a little sugar. I like trying out different coffees, but when I’m simply relaxing I do want my coffee as least bitter as possible. If you have a dog, what breed is it? I have an aspin mix, though we never figured out what Kimi’s other half is. And I also have a beagle. Have you found someone who makes you unconditionally happy? I don’t know if 'unconditionally’ is possible but yes, I do have people who make me very happy. Do you have a friend who always seems to be dying their hair? Not anymore. Jo used to dye her hair like every month though and she must have been able to go through the entire rainbow. She looked sooo good in each of the colors. Would you swap names with a friend? I love all their names but I don’t see why that would be necessary. Do you plan on going to university? I did. I graduated today. Guys who wear muscle shirts, yes or no? Idk man, they can wear whatever they want. Are you a fan of Carrie Underwood? No. I liked some of her singles when I was younger, but I’m not a fan in that I have her albums and know her lesser-known songs. Do you make playlists on iTunes? I used to, when I still used iTunes. I make playlists on Spotify now. Have you ever forgotten someone's birthday? I don’t think so. Are you scared of being left behind? Yessir. I’m super competitive, so I hate the feeling. Do you remember your last dream? No. I’m really bad at remembering them unless they’re nightmares or insanely strange. I do know that I dreamt while we were watching mass earlier on the television though, hahaha. Do you know someone who is an obsessed Star Wars fan? So many people in my circle are. Is politics something you don't care about? No. If there’s anything I give tons of fucks about, it’s that. What's a movie/tvshow/book/series that is way overrated? I’ll go with the first things I thought of...in that order: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before; Stranger Things (it’s good, but not as good as people hyped it to be); I don’t really read anymore; and what do you mean by series? Just realized I only gave 2 out of 4 answers lol oh well. Do you think Barbie presents an unhealthy image to young girls? I don’t like how its physical features are still unrealistic; but I appreciate their attempts at diversity. I can’t say it was upsetting seeing a Filipino-themed Barbie :) Is there a pet that you desperately want? All I ever wanted were dogs, and now I’ve got two of them. Would you ever get your bellybutton pierced? Nope. Are you musically talented? Hahahahaha Have you ever shot a gun? Not a real one, so no. Athenna’s dad had this practice gun he used for target practice (duh) and I messed with that a few times. Do you have a friend that always changes their mind last second? That’s Gabie. She’s lucky she’s my girlfriend and that I love her, because it’s actually a big pet peeve of mine. Are you not afraid to voice your opinion? Yup. The only time I don’t say it out loud is if it’s unnecessary and if it’s going to be simply disrespectful. An example would be when my uncle offered to make me a carrot cake for my grad gift, and I just said yes because it was already generous enough for him to offer me a free cake when he runs a food business. In reality it’s not my favorite cake at all; it wouldn’t even be in my top 20. Are you one of those people who are always pushing their limits? Yes, I definitely overwork myself to the point of exhaustion and burnout. But I honestly prefer doing things and being busy than sitting around. Is there a word that you will always find humorous? Bubbling. Because Drake and Josh.

Do you frown upon immature people? Typically. Have you ever slipped on ice and hurt yourself? This may have happened to me once or twice when I was still regularly visiting the ice skating rink at the mall. People were always super nice and helped me get up, though. Do you try to have an intimidating impression? I don’t try. Apparently it’s naturally the vibe I give off. Living in the big city or chilling in the country? BIG CITY. Always the big city. I’ve gone to the country/province so many times; I already know what it’s like there. I’ll always prefer a noisy city. No one seems to obey the legal drinking age, do they? Hahahaha a lot seem not to. I know so many high school kids who’ve had a drink before turning 18. Do you like your country's flag? Sure. I like that we can switch up the colors depending on if we’re at war or not. Have you ever made a totally amazing snow fort? I’ve never even seen snow before. Do you use Bounty Paper Towels? No. Are you the one usually behind the camera or the one in the picture? BEHIND If you get married, will you have a traditional wedding? Traditional, yes. Religious, no. Do you feel you’re slowly losing one of your friends? No. But now that I’m no longer in school, I really hope I’ll continue to be friends with my orgmates. I’ll certainly keep in touch as much as I can. If you draw, what's one thing you always have trouble with? Everything about it. Is there someone you know moving away any time soon? No. I do know my friend’s sister had already moved and started her new job in California, but when the pandemic started she had to go back here. This virus is just ruining so many great things for everyone, man... Allergic to anything? Nope. How many cars have you owned? Zero. I drive one; can’t say I own it because my parents bought it. What are you going to do after this? Maybe take another survey.

#survey #surveys

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babbushka · 5 years ago

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Blue Moon (10/10)

New York, 1987. The air was filled with smog and the streets were ridden with crime. Just another day in paradise. Your quiet life turns upside down when a striking man moves in across from you. You’re falling, fast, into a love that could never, ever, happen…or could it?

(Could be interpreted as modern!au Kylo Ren/Reader for those who don't know who Pale is, but really this is Pale from Burn This!)

Word Count: 11.5k

Warnings: Explicit N*FW content, language

----------------------------

When you woke up, it was to the bright warmth of sunlight streaming in through the windows, to the feeling of being absolutely enveloped in Pale’s arms, cradled against his chest.

You blinked against the light, confused; you normally didn’t sleep so late and neither did Pale. But the clock read half-past ten in the morning, and you placed your head back down on Pale’s chest, content to just stay there a while.

That was, of course, until your body woke up the rest of the way and you needed to figure out how to peel yourself out of Pale’s hold. You smiled to yourself as you tried to move, but acting like a trap, his arms only tightened around you.

“Pale, honey, we gotta get up.” You whispered, straining your neck to pepper soft kisses on his cheek.

His brows pinched in sleep-induced annoyance and just like that time so long ago, he rolled over, crushing his body weight on top of you and kissing your neck with deep thoughtful hums.

“I like that.” His voice somehow seemed deeper like this, thick with sleep.

“Like what?” You smiled as he sucked marks down your throat onto your chest, kissing your sternum and burying his face there.

“When you call me honey.” He said, muffled against your skin, “Nobody calls me honey.”

“Good, then I’ll keep callin’ you that.” You replied, working on the difficult task of combing the knots out of his hair with your fingers.

You both stayed like that for a little while, his steady weight evenly pressing you into the mattress, your hand in his hair.

The more you woke up, the more you noticed how beautiful it was outside.

It had been so frigid, now that you were getting towards the end of January, but for whatever reason, the sun was out and the sky was blue. You could see from your bed just how blue, with white fluffy clouds to boot.

Wasn’t there a saying that there were only four good days a year in New York? This must be one of them.

“Fuck.” Pale groaned – whined really – breaking the silence.

“What?” You frowned, worrying you had accidentally pulled on his hair or something.

“Now I gotta piss too.” He grumbled, pushing himself off of you and pulling you with him.

You couldn’t help but laugh at that, chuckling to yourself as you both went to the bathroom, going through the daily motions of getting fully awake.

“You got work today?” Pale asked, with a toothbrush halfway in his mouth as he bent over the sink to brush his teeth.

“Nope. You?” You replied, doing the exact same while plugging the drain for the bathtub and turning on the faucet.

“Yeah, tonight, but I can stay with ya for the day before heading over.” He said, spitting before rinsing.

The steam of the hot water filling the bathtub made the little mirror go foggy, and as Pale poured his mouthwash you watched him draw a small happy face on the corner of the mirror. You smiled too, glad that he was in a good mood.

“I was thinking, it’s so pretty outside, do you think we could go into the city?” You asked, reaching a hand out for him as a silent request for him to get his ass in the tub.

He took it, drawn to you like a magnet, and climbed in.

“Yeah of course, whatever the fuck you want sweetheart. You don’t gotta ask, ever, okay? You want to do something, you tell me, and we go do it – you don’t got to ask permission. I want whatever you want, you want to go eat?” He asked and you nodded as you stepped into the tub and settled in opposite from him.

He waited until you were good before grabbing your ankles and propping them up on the edge of the tub right by his head.

He turned and kissed your ankle before asking, “We could eat lunch at The Boathouse, you ever been there before?”

“Nope, where’s that?” You asked, wiggling your toes, making him smile just the absolute smallest amount. You liked seeing his smile, those dimples.

“Oh you’d fuckin’ love it, it’s perfect. Right on the water, on the lake in Central Park. They got rowboats and shit, fuckers can rent ‘em out, row on the lake, feed the fuckin’ ducks. I dunno, it’s pretty. Was thinkin’ of taking you there anyway, but it’s been too fuckin’ cold lately, so I think you’re right on the damn money with bringing this up.” He lit up a cigarette and waved it around as he gestured.

“I’d like to row on the lake.” You decided, and he nodded.

“Then we row on the fuckin’ lake.” It was as easy as that, apparently. You couldn’t help but envision what Pale would look like, feeding the ducks. “They got gondolas too, I’ll get us one of those. They like people to have reservations, but your V.S.O.P don’t need one.”

“I’m real lucky, huh?” You grinned, loving how smug he could be. He knew he was hot shit, he knew it. And he was right.

“Damn right you are.” He winked, pulling another drag. “We can’t stay in here all fuckin’ day though, it’s gonna take fuckin’ forever to get down there.”

“Twenty minutes?” You pouted as you leaned forward, careful not to slosh water all over. You picked up his hand and kissed at the knuckles there.

“You’re real lucky you’re pretty.” He shook his head, but he was smiling.

Twenty minutes came and went, and when you asked for five more, he let you have them.

He didn’t let you have the next five that you asked for though, but that was probably for the best. Your stomach growled just as you were about to whine about it, only proving Pale’s point that lunch at The Boathouse was better than a bath.

He picked out his clothes and you picked out yours to match, thinking it could be something fun since the two of you were going into the city. You didn’t have much reason or opportunity to go to the city, and if this lunch place was nice – which dining with Pale always meant somewhere nice – then you wanted to look the part.

It wasn’t that you were self-conscious, it was just that you wanted to fit in with the high society world Pale occupied, wanted to integrate yourself so you wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb. Pale had bought you all these nice clothes after all, and you wanted to wear them.

He always dressed so well, you thought. Always in a suit when he was out and about, always with a perfect half-windsor tie. Those lizard skin boots of his were always shined, and his gold chain always clean and polished. You picked out a sweater and skirt set to match the color of his tie, a pretty pale blue for today.

He noticed, because of course he did, and he backed you into a corner to kiss you and sneak a hand under the soft cable knit cashmere sweater for a minute before ushering you out the door.

-------------------

“You remember the last time we took the subway?” You asked in a low voice, sitting on Pale’s lap in the subway car as Queens zipped past the windows.

The subway was every bit as messy and graffiti covered and garbage filled as it was last time, only this time there were more people on the car. Ten other passengers, all listening to their walkmans or reading a book. Everyone was spread out, no one wanting to get too close to someone else.

You and Pale were tucked in the very back of the car, out of the way. He had said he wanted you sitting on his lap to protect your skirt from the grime of the subway car, but really you knew it was because he just wanted to get in your panties – and you wanted that now.

“Course sweetheart, how could I ever forget?” He smirked, already wedging a hand between your thighs.

He pushed his hand under you instead of reaching around to rub at you from the front so no one would see or be able to tell as long as you kept quiet. Your pulse spiked, and you licked your lips, feeling his hand stroke your cunt through your panties.

“You want a repeat performance?” You asked, keeping your voice down, trying your best not to whine as he applied more pressure, his thumb coaxing your pussy to get wet, to coat the cotton panties in your own slick.

Instinctively, you spread your legs a little, looking around carefully. No one was paying you any attention, and you spread them just a tiny bit more.

You felt Pale huff a little laugh on your shoulder.

“Fuck you’re a perfect little slut, ain’t ya?” He swallowed, murmured low in your ear as he stroked you, pulled away just enough to smooth that big fucking hand of his under the waistband of your panties, curve over your ass and start fingering you for real.

“Yeah, I didn’t get a good dicking this morning and it’s making me antsy.” You replied quietly, steadying yourself on the handrail pole that happened to be right next to you.

“You love my cock that much, you whore?” He licked his lips and thrust his fingers deep inside you, making you suck in a breath.

“Yes, can I have it, please?” You looked over your shoulder, bat your eyelashes for him, hoped it’d get you what you wanted.

You felt like you were on fire, desperate for that big cock of his to fill you up. You wanted to sit on it, to feel it push into your stomach, into your throat. You wanted him to push himself in deep, wanted the rattle of the subway car to make you bounce on his dick.

With his other hand he pinched at your cheek, kissing you sweetly just once.

“No, I want you to come on my hand instead baby.” He said, letting go of your face. “Think you can do that?”

“Anything you want.” You nodded, already halfway there.

You’d get fucked sooner or later, you knew that. Maybe you’d make a show of how bad you wanted him at the restaurant.

“Your pussy’s so hot, you feel it sucking my fingers in? Hungry for me.” Pale said so low in your ear, his hot breath tickling you as he slowly, ever so slowly fingered you.

“Pale – ” You couldn’t help but gasp, just the smallest bit, couldn’t help but clench down hard around him as he prodded at your clit, his long fingers slipping out of your cunt and running through your folds, smearing your wetness all over your pussy.

“Gotta be quiet you whore, this car ain’t empty like last time.” He warned, and you nodded.

It was such a waste, you thought, because you could feel just how rock hard Pale was for you, could feel it through those pleated pants of his, the hard line of his dick against your ass. How the hell was he going to get up and walk away with that cock of his? Maybe he’d fuck you at the station, in the bathroom or something.

That thought made you eager.

“Okay.” You said softly, your thighs tensing.

You were so close, he had gone back to thrusting his fingers deep inside you, had found that spot that makes your vision white out around the edges, like you’re gonna faint but from pleasure.

He knew he had found it, and he finger fucked you hard.

“Fuck, Pale, I’m gonna come.” You bit your lip, tried to keep from crying out, from moaning his name.

“That’s it, come for me.” His voice was low, but raspy like he’d been shouting.

He fucked you on his hand and snuck his fingers up to your clit and pinched down on it hard enough to make you gasp a little too loud. Mortified, you looked around, but no one seemed to notice – or if they did, they didn’t care.

And then you didn’t care, because you were coming, and your hips and thighs felt like jelly as you gushed onto his hand, stars sparking behind your eyelids as he fingered you through your orgasm, not stopping until you were whining.

“God you’re so fucking dirty.” Pale said like he was impressed as he carefully pulled his hand away, “Abso-fucking-lutely filthy.”

With his other hand he pulled the handkerchief from his jacket pocket and used it to wipe up all your mess, folding it up once every last drop was cleaned away.

“Kiss me?” You asked, turning to look over your shoulder again, puckering your lips for him.

He wasted no time kissing you, kissing you until your breathing evened out and your heartbeat wasn’t racing.

Your mind was hazy with pleasure, but you were vaguely aware that you were getting close to the stop. You mostly focused on the solid man you were sitting on top of, trying to hold on to that glowing warm feeling that you got when you came.

It eventually faded into the back of your mind, your muscles pliant and relaxed.

You turned around in Pale’s lap, sitting sideways and looping your arms across his shoulders. He looked like the definition of smug, and you just had to kiss that expression off his face.

“You got a sharpie in that suit of yours?” You asked, your gaze wandering to the wall behind him.

“Yeah, why?” He asked, feeling around in one of his inside jacket pockets, pulling out a short black sharpie.

You took it happily and stared at the wall.

It was mostly covered in graffiti spray paint, big bubble letters you couldn’t read. Any large open spaces were filled up with stickers and shit like that, but occasionally you’d see a scrawled piece of writing that was legible.

You decided that if everyone else could fuck up the subway car and draw whatever they’d like, so could you.

You uncapped the sharpie and wrote (Your initials) + V.S.O.P., and drew a big heart around it. You wanted everyone who came on this subway car to know you were Pale’s girl, even if they didn’t know exactly what that meant.

“That’s why.” You said with a smile, capping the sharpie and handing it back to him.

He shook his head, and you swore you saw a hint of a smile on his lips, but he kissed you before you could press him about it.

Much to your surprise, Pale didn’t pull you into a dark corner when you finally arrived at the 72 Street Station, just outside Central Park. Instead he let you hold his hand when you asked for it, let you lean your head on his shoulder when you asked for it.

You couldn’t really remember the last time you had been to Central Park, and the smile on your face never seemed to go away. Pale talked about nothing for the whole walk to the restaurant, and you looped your arm in his and listened intently as the both of you strolled along the path that cut through the park.

“You know this place used to be a fuckin’ hellhole?” He said, smoking his cigarette. “Some assholes raised a shit ton of money to conserve the park and made it look real pretty like this. You should see it in the Spring, pink flowers all over the fuckin’ place. Feels like Japan with all the cherry blossoms. I know it ain’t too nice lookin’ because it’s winter, but even the snow’s got a picturesque quality, if you ask me.”

“When’d that start?” You asked, interested in the conservation.

“Right around the beginning of the decade. You go around to some other parts of the park and you’ll find drug dens with broken fuckin’ heroin needles, and prostitutes, and patchy grasses, and graffiti all over. I didn’t take you that way though because I’m fucking starving and there ain’t no use showing you that shit when you’re just gonna see it on the way home later.” He said with a shrug.

“They’re doing a good job, look how many people are here playing in the snow.” You pointed out whole families and couples and friends and strangers all enjoying their time, throwing snowballs and making snow angels in the snow that was starting to turn to slush from the unexpected heat of the day.

You couldn’t remember the last time you heard so much innocent laughter. You wondered what Pale might sound like, laughing that freely.

The two of you kept walking until you finally arrived at the restaurant, a relatively unassuming building from the outside. It looked like it definitely used to be a boathouse, that was for sure.

Pale held the door open for you, and the inside made you gasp.

“This place is gorgeous.” You couldn’t help but say, surprised by how different it was inside than it looked on the outside.

There were nautical looking chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and all the pillars had been wrapped in string lights to give an air of romance. The tables were covered with white cloths and there were beautiful winter bouquet arrangements atop each one. Everything was dark wood and cream linens, and there was gentle classical music playing from a live band in the corner.

It was completely packed, everyone seemingly wanting to fill their stomachs with a nice lunch.

“It don’t hold a candle to you, but it’s got charm.” Pale sniffed, making you blush. “Table for two?”

“Name?” The host asked, not bothering to look up at you.

“Just tell the manager it’s for Pale, he’ll know what to do.” Pale said, and the host immediately changed his tune.

“Of course! Right this way.” He perked up, gesturing for the two of you to follow him.

You followed the host, and Pale followed you to a secluded little table away from the rest of the hustle and bustle of the restaurant.

“Someone will be with you shortly.” The host said before bowing just a bit and walking away.

Pale pulled out a chair for you and pushed you in, sitting directly next to you.

“Thank you.” You said, before looking out onto the beautiful sunshine day, the light sparkling off the lake.

You were thankful it wasn’t frozen, thankful that there were people in boats taking advantage of the rare warmth. You tried to picture this place in Spring, like Pale was saying.

“How do you always get the best seats?” You asked, as you shrugged out of your big fur coat you brought along just in case it got cold again. You let the sun heat your face for a moment or two.

He lit up a cigarette and draped an arm across your shoulder, encouraging you to lean against him as you flipped through the menu. You didn’t know why you even bothered looking, Pale was going to order for you anyway.

“I’m good at what I do, I know every-fuckin’-body and everybody knows me. What can I say, I’m a charmer.” Pale shrugged, and you laughed because he was, an absolute charmer.

“You know what I was just thinking?” You asked once the last bites of the delicious lunch were eaten up, once the bill was paid and the gondola was pushed from the dock.

“How’s that?” Pale hummed, pulling you close to him as the cheerful gondolier steered the little boat, as the sun kissed your skin and the birds were chirping happily above you.

“I was thinking more about what you were talking about, vacations. The two of us going on one, I mean.” You said, tucking your head on his shoulder, “Going to some warm tropical place and getting to see you in the bright sunshine like this every day, for a little while.”

It was a good look on him, you thought. It had gotten so warm that Pale had taken his jacket off, was just left in his silk shirt and pleated pants, the chain glinting in the light. His skin looked so warm, healthy in the sun, his hair looked richer and darker, his lips more plush. It was all you could think about, how he might look after a week in the tropics, surrounded by lush greenery and blue waters.

“Sounds pretty fuckin’ nice, huh?” Pale smirked, pleased that he had finally been right.

“Yeah, it really does.” You chuckled, sitting up to look him in the eye. “Maybe we could go somewhere where there’s water, rent a boat and sip champagne. Hawaii or Florida or California, or something.”

“I’d take you anywhere, you know? It doesn’t have to be in the country. We could go to Italy, or the south of France, or Greece. Wherever the fuck you want.” He nodded, tucking a stray bit of hair behind your ear.

“All of those sound like a dream.” You smiled, reveling in the hypothetical.

“Then we’ll go to all of them. Talk to Fish, he’ll give you the time off.” Pale said, and you chuckled.

“Pale, that’d be too much.” You smiled fondly. There was no way you’d let him, he was bad enough spending as much as he did on you.

“Look, it’s my money, ain’t it?” Pale frowned, and you rolled your eyes.

“Yeah, but – ”

“I work hard for it, don’t I?” He interrupted, pinching your chin in his big hand, making you look up at him.

His eyes were so brown, you didn’t think you had ever seen just how brown they were.

“Of course you do but – ”

“So then what’s wrong with me spending my fucking money how I’d like?” He asked, not unkindly, as he swooped in for a kiss.

“Just don’t go wasting it all on me.” You tugged on his earlobe affectionately.

“Nothing is a waste if it’s for you, you got that?” He snatched your hand and smacked a kiss to it, “Nothin’.”

“When did you become such a romantic?” You teased, and he scoffed.

“Me? Romantic?” He lit up another cigarette, making you grin, “Don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

You just shook your head and rest it back on his shoulder, his arm tightening around your waist.

The gondolier, bless him, took the opportunity to sing a soft ballad. You couldn’t make out what he was saying, he sung in what had to be Italian, but the sentiment was what mattered. You smiled, thinking that despite Pale’s stubbornness, it was pretty damn romantic.

In some ways, you liked that it was winter. It meant you’d get to experience the whole year with Pale, get to discover all the new things to come with him.

While the two of you sat on that little boat on the lake, you smiled at the barren trees, thinking how wonderful it would be to get to watch them bloom together. They reminded you of the trees near your apartment, maybe one day Pale would kiss you underneath one, sweating from the scorching summer heat.

He talked and talked about everything and nothing, bitched about how he didn’t want to go back to work later in the evening.

He complained about the people there, the incompetency of it all, and it made your heart sad.

“We gotta head back soon, don’t we?” You asked, not wanting this magical moment to end. The sun was starting to get low in the sky, and you knew that if you stayed out any later, he wouldn’t make it to work on time.

You thought about cleaning the apartment while he was gone, maybe cooking dinner for him despite all his complaints about your ability – or lackthereof – to season properly.

Pale sighed, ran a hand through his hair and looked at his watch.

“Yeah, I got a meeting before work starts.” He sucked his teeth, clearly not pleased with it either.

The gondolier took the hint and rowed you back to the dock, and Pale tipped him generously before helping you climb out of the boat.

“Should we go back to the subway now, get you back with enough time so you’re not rushing?” You asked, reaching your hand out for him, entwining your fingers with his.

His hands were calloused and warm, and you smiled. You liked that he was giving you this, these small moments of sweetness after holding them back for so long.

“Probably, it’s a pretty big fuckin’ meeting.” He said, making you raise an eyebrow. His tone practically demanded to be questioned.

“Well don’t leave me in suspense!” You replied, but he just shook his head and the two of you began walking back through the park to the 72 Street subway entrance.

“It’s a surprise.” Was all Pale said back, and you groaned.

“I’ll show you my tits?” You waggled your brows, but he shook his head.

“I get to see them anyway.” He stopped walking in the middle of the path and pulled you to him, leaned down to kiss you right there, right in the middle of the whole park.

“No I know, but I’ll show you them now?” You tried, and he laughed, a real genuine laugh that always made you feel like you hit the damn jackpot.

“No sweetheart, I ain’t budging.” He patted your ass lightly, before he kept walking.

“You’re awful.” You complained, and he chuckled.

“I know.” He smoked a cigarette and smiled around it, his hand in yours as you whined.

“The absolute worst. And you say I’m the menace?” You pouted, and he rounded on you real fast, pushed you up against a tree, nudged his knee between your legs.

“That’s because you are, you terror.” He said around his cigarette, “A fucking gorgeous one, but a terror.”

You plucked the cigarette out from his lips, and he sucked a dark mark on your neck, chuckled at the way you grounded down onto that thigh of his. His hands slid under your sweater, pinched at your nipples as he sucked on your neck, making you moan.

“Will you fuck me now?” You asked, breathy.

You’d been wanting it since the subway, and Pale’s eyes darkened as he licked his lips.

“Fuck, we gotta make it quick.” He said, grabbing your arm and bringing you off the path of the park and into the trees just a little, just to give some coverage.

He bent you over a big rock, it was hot from being baked in the sunlight all day, but you just sighed happily as he pushed your skirt up over your hips.

“God look at you, look at this pussy.” He said, crowding behind you, yanking down your panties.

Your cunt was practically twitching, drooling, desperate for him, and you tried pressing your thighs together to get some friction. He smacked your ass just enough to get it to jiggle, and you arched your back, tried making yourself more enticing for him.

“It’s yours.” You said right away, because it was, and you wanted him to use you, wanted him to fill you up like you’d been hungry for all day.

“That’s fucking right it is, it’s begging for my cock ain’t it? Beg.” He said, voice gruff as he roughly untucked his shirt, fought with his belt and nearly broke the zipper as he rushed to get his cock out.

“Pale please, please I’ve wanted this all day, take me, I’m yours all of it’s yours.” You said, so easy, you were so easy for him.

“You’re pretty when you’re like this, fuck.” He said, wasting no time in pushing into you. His fingers were great, they were fucking fantastic, but you couldn’t help but moan happily as you felt the head of his cock thrust deep inside you. “I’m gonna come in you so fucking much it’s gonna slide down your thighs and then maybe you’ll learn not to be a fuckin’ brat, getting me all wound up when I can’t even take my damn time with you.”

“Go to work and then come back and fuck me again.” You gasped as he grabbed a fistful of your hair, as he snapped his hips against you, his balls slapping your ass.

Your nipples were so hard, almost painful, you had to reach under you and play with them yourself as Pale fucked you hard.

“You gonna be waiting for me?” He demanded, “This cunt gonna be ready for me to just slide the fuck in?”

“It always is.” You nodded, before gasping as he let go of your hair and used both his hands to grab your hips, pull you flush against him.

“I’m going to walk through that front door and if you’re not naked I won’t let you come for a fucking week.” Pale said through gritted teeth, and you clenched down hard around him, the threat spurring you on even though you knew he didn’t mean it.

“I – I’ll be naked – oh!” You were having trouble talking, especially when he pounded just the right spot, brushed up against it as his cock hit your cervix, nudged it and made you whine until you were coming, toes curling in your heels.

He came in you without any warning, fucked you through it until his hips stilled against you. You swore you could feel just how hot his come was, could feel it pulsing through you. He held you tight against him, didn’t want one single fucking drop to go to waste.

“I’m gonna be late.” He panted, but you just grinned, blissed out and well fucked.

Pale pulled out, sticky and slippery, a mix of your and his come dripping down your thighs, just like he said.

---------------------

He dropped you off at the apartment with a quick kiss before he dashed out the door, leaving you to your own devices for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

You took in the state of your place – it could do with a good cleaning. It wasn’t messy or disorganized or anything, but you felt that some vacuuming never hurt.

On your way to the bedroom you opened the windows and aired out the apartment. You made a quick stop at the closet, hung up your coat and stepped out of your shoes before grabbing the vacuum that was shoved in the corner.

You were relieved to see the vacuum bag was empty, and began the process of making your way through the whole apartment. There was something so incredibly satisfying about hearing it suck up all the crap that your heels and his boots brought in, collecting all the dust bunnies and bits of gravel and asphalt from the outside world.

Once you finished vacuuming, you grabbed an old cut-up t-shirt and some glass cleaner, wiped down the sink and mirror in the bathroom, cleaned the tub. You figured why the hell not go ahead and clean the kitchen too.

By the time all the dishes were done and put away, the counters cleaned and the stove scrubbed, you were exhausted and starving.

Shit, you thought to yourself, you couldn’t remember if you needed to go into work tomorrow or not. Your stomach growled, and you figured the best way to find out would be to just show up for a bit of dinner, and ask Fish when you saw him.

Splashing some water from the kitchen sink onto your face, you put yourself back together and headed out the door, walking down to the diner.

The warmth from the day was starting to disappear, and you were glad to have brought the coat with you again, bundling it around yourself as the sun began to set and the nighttime chill returned.

The diner wasn’t too busy, which was to be expected for the time of day. The dinner rush didn’t really start for another hour or so.

“(Y/N)! What are you doing here?” You heard your boss greet you from the counter.

“I’m starving over here Fish!” You grinned, going to hug your friend.

“You mean you’re not here to help out?” He teased, and you laughed.

“Not tonight, but I’m coming in tomorrow, right?” You asked as you took a seat at the milkshake bar.

“Yeah, I’ve got you scheduled for the morning shift. You alright? It’s not like you to forget.” He frowned, and you smiled fondly, he was always such a worrier when it came to you.

“I’m fine Fish I promise, just wanted to make sure is all.” You waved away his concern, but he just went into the back and brought you out a big platter of your favorite dinner special.

No matter how many fancy restaurants Pale took you to, you had to admit that regular old diner food was some of your favorite shit on the planet. Not that Fish’s food wasn’t delicious, because it absolutely was, but there was something so comforting about a simple traditional, no fuss dinner.

“Where’s that man of yours?” Fish asked with a bit of a twinkle in his eye as he slid you over a milkshake.

“Pale’s at work right now, I probably won’t see him for another day or two.” You smiled, gratefully accepting the shake and washing down your bite with it.

“Why’s that?” He frowned, and you thought it was sweet that he cared so much.

“Usually I’m going into work when he gets off.” You shrugged, taking another bite and savoring it.

“Is that why he sometimes stumbles on in here first fuckin’ thing in the morning?” He grumbled, and you laughed.

“Yeah,” You nodded, “He sometimes comes straight here to see me.”

“That’s the sweetest damn thing I’ve ever heard.” Fish clicked his tongue as he started wiping down the milkshake bar.

“Don’t go telling him that, he’s got a reputation, you know.” You winked, and his smile grew more fond.

“If you want, I can switch your hours so you two can spend more time together.” You offered, surprising you.

“No that’s okay Fish. I like my hours, we see each other plenty.” You reassured him.

His counter wiping slowed, and he looked at you with sort of an unreadable expression on his eyes. He almost looked nervous, but you couldn’t really place why.

“But...would you be opposed to different hours? If something were to happen where there might be a need for that sorta thing?” He asked, officially worrying you now.

“You’re not making sense Fish, is everything okay?” You asked.

What did that mean, was he going to cut your hours? Were you not doing your job well? Was the diner not doing well? Your mind started to trip into overdrive, and Fish rushed to shake his hands, try and wave away your concern.

“Yeah! No no no, yeah – everything’s fine. Was just wondering is all.” He said, and you calmed down. “Food good?” He asked, trying to change the subject.

“As always Fish.” You replied truthfully, but you were unconvinced everything was okay.

“Don’t forget your soup before you leave.” He said with a smile, just as the front door opened and a family of eight shuffled in from the cold.

You nodded, happily finishing your dinner and your shake, watching as the other waitresses seated the family and took their order. They weren’t half as good as you, you thought with a bit of pride as you went around the counter and filled up a to-go Styrofoam bowl with your favorite soup, heading out to go back to your apartment for the night.

The next day, everything was completely normal at work, much to your relief.

Fish was his usual cranky self, the diner was busy for breakfast and lunch, and right when you were getting ready to leave, a whole new group of people showed up for the after-lunch rush.

“You need me to stay?” You asked Fish, but he shook his head.

“Nope, I got Stephanie coming in to take over for you, she’ll be fine.” He replied from the kitchen.

“Alright, I just gotta make a call and I’ll head out.” You said, hurrying over to the phone and dialing it.

It only rang for a second or two before connecting.

“Pale speakin’?” Came through the receiver.

“It’s me,” You grinned, “I’m leaving work now, can I come over?”

“Yes! Yeah, give me like five minutes?” He sounded caught off-guard, and it made you laugh.

“Okay, love you, I’ll see you soon.” You said, hanging up and quickly untying your apron and taking off your little hat, sticking them both in your cubby.

You walked to his apartment with a spring in your step, not stopping until you were in front of his door, ringing his doorbell.

Pale opened the door and you were on him immediately, kissing him and making him frown, confused.

“What are you doing?” He asked, closing the door behind you, hands on you, tugging you out of your clothes.

“What, you can barge into my apartment unannounced and fuck me, but I can’t ask for the same?” You grinned, and Pale groaned.

“You’re gonna kill me,” He announced, “Look at this, blood rushed to my dick so fast I’m dizzy. You make me dizzy.”

“I’ve been thinking about you all day, please fuck me?” You asked, pressed yourself against him.

“Anything you want baby, any-fuckin’-thing you want.” He said quickly, picking you up and carrying you to the bedroom.

He dumped you on his bed, and you bounced on the mattress with a laugh when he did. His pupils were blown wide open, and he was already sweating. You looked over on the night-stand and saw his little mirror, shook your head fondly at him.

He was already licking up your neck, undoing the buttons on his trousers.

“You been thinkin’ about this, you said? My big cock?” He asked, licking his lips, already stepping out of his clothes to get as naked as you were.

“Yeah, please give it to me?” You dug your fingers into his back and pulled him down to you.

“Well when you ask so pretty like that…” He grinned, yanking your leg over his shoulder and pushing into you.

“Pale!” You gasped, grabbing at him, at the sheets, at anything and everything as he thrust straight into you.

Sweat dripped off his nose, landed on your tits as his cock forced you up the bed. You loved it when he was rough, and he must have known because suddenly his hand was coming down onto your throat, pinning you in place so as he fucked you, you wouldn’t go anywhere.

The force of his hips also had another side affect, other than shoving you up the bed. Nearly every time he fucked you, that chain of his smacked you in the face, heavy gold swinging off his neck. It never hurt, you barely noticed it whenever it happened, usually so overwhelmed by Pale to even register it, but this time it was driving you crazy.

You kissed his neck, hot open mouthed kisses, before biting down on his chain solely to keep it from giving you a black eye.

“Come on baby, take it.” He ground out, eyes pinching shut as he smacked his hips against yours. “You’re doin’ so good.”

The praise made you melt, and your hands grasped at his muscular forearm that was holding you down. He let go of your neck just for a moment so you could get some air, spit in your mouth when you did so you’d swallow him down too.

“Your pussy’s so good, was just about to come over when you called.” He said, panted, fucking and fucking you, the bed shaking and creaking under the both of you from his movements.

“Pale – !” You moaned, pushed your tits up as an invitation.

He immediately latched onto one of your nipples, grunted out loud as one particularly sharp thrust moved your hips in a way that got him impossibly deeper. You liked that he liked fucking you so much, even when he was high as a kite, especially then.

He laved his tongue all over your breasts, taking care to nip and suck as many marks as he could. Tears were clinging to your eyelashes from the feeling of it all, his mouth on you, his hands, his cock, everything. You pulled his hand off your throat and brought it up to your mouth instead, sucked on his fingers and moaned around them.

“Not gonna last long.” He grunted, and you nodded, didn’t care if he fucked you for ten minutes or ten hours, days, years – as long as he fucked you, you didn’t care.

“Please!” You cried, sucking on his fingers and swallowing around them as you clenched down.

“Holy shit – fuck – !” He rammed into you once, twice, three more times before stilling, keeping his hips flush against yours. “Don’t fucking move, just – not yet.”

He was out of breath, coming and coming and coming down from his high, from one haze into the next.

“I love you.” You hummed as he collapsed down onto your chest, his cheek rubbing against your sternum.

“Keep sayin’ it.” He sighed, closing his eyes against the hand in his hair that you combed through, gently and so full of love.

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” You murmured, feeling him pull out after a minute or two.

He settled himself between your legs, took his fingers and fucked his come back into you, pushed whatever had spilled out right back into your cunt.

“Why do you do that?” You asked with a small smile, shimmying up the bed to rest your head on Pale’s soft pillows.

“Because you’re mine.” He replied simply, as if that was all the answer you needed.

And it was, because once he regained his breath, he shuffled out of bed and went into the bathroom, returned with a warm washcloth and cleaned you up.

He was always so careful with this part, made sure to be gentle and sweet to make up for how rough and tumble he was in bed. He wiped down your thighs, your stomach, your tits. Made sure no sweat or spit would dry and make you itchy.

He kissed you sweetly before doing the same to his own naked body, tossing the washcloth in the vicinity of the bathroom door before snuggling next to you under the covers. He hated blankets, got too hot, so you were merciful and shucked the big comforter down to the end of the bed, now only covered by the satin sheet.

“Quit biting on my fuckin’ chain.” He huffed at you as he squished your cheeks in-between his thumb and forefinger, scrunched his nose up and bared his teeth, all bark and no bite.

Well, maybe not no bite. You liked some bite, if your chest and thighs were anything to go by.

“I will once it stops smacking my face when you fuck me.” You smiled despite his hold, rolled your eyes and looped a finger underneath the gold that hangs around his neck, the very same one that rests on your sternum as the two of tangle up in his big bed, a mess of sweat covered limbs.

“Fair.” He sucked his teeth, regarded you carefully. “I could always fuck you from behind.”

It was a joke, you could tell by the way he had the smallest of twinkles in his eye, the way his frown twitched like he was gonna smile. You felt that was a great victory: Pale, makin’ jokes.

“You could, but then you don’t get to see my face when I come.” You winked, knowing how much he liked to watch you, right from the very beginning.

“Yeah.” He nodded, probably thinking the same thing.

He gave your face a little shake before pressing his lips against yours for a moment and letting you go, manhandling you to lay on his chest in that way he likes, with you propping your chin up with your hands so you could still make eye-contact.

“You got a real good face too.” He sniffed, reaching over on the nightstand for a cigarette.

“Oh yeah?” You grinned, striking a match and lighting it for him, watching as the afternoon sunbeams caught the smoke he breathed out after inhaling a big puff of the shit.

“Yeah, I like lookin’ at it.” He said with a smirk, sighing happily and putting that big hand of his right back onto your cheek, cupping it affectionately. He liked touching you too, hands and eyes, always on you.

“I like lookin’ at you too.” You said, kissing the spot on his chest closest to where your lips were, not wanting to move too far too fast.

Sometimes Pale felt like a skiddish stray – any sudden movement, anything unplanned or unexpected, and he’d run away. He’d gotten much better than when you first met, you had to admit, but still you sometimes saw the urge in his eye to bolt.

You wished you could tell him that you’d never do that to him, what they did. You’d never hurt him the way they did.

“You’re so handsome.” You say instead, not wanting to overwhelm him.

He took a deep drag of the cigarette, and through the haze of the afternoon sun you swore you saw a hint of blush on his cheeks.

“Even my broken nose and big ears?” He asked, voice low.

“Especially your broken nose and big ears.” You replied, turning your face in his hand to kiss the palm there. You smiled when you felt his thumb rub soft circles on your cheek.

“Hey you ain’t supposed to agree.” He huffed, but you just scooched up his chest to press your lips all over the blush that still lingered, right on top of those dimples that made you melt.

Pale stubbed out his cigarette and you kissed his cheek, and the sunshine streamed in through his big expensive windows into his luxurious room, and everything was peaceful and quiet.

“I was wondering if you’d play something for me.” You whispered, making him hum in confusion.

“Play something?” He asked, half asleep.

“Yeah, like on the piano. Or something.” You traced patterns on his relaxed face with the tip of your index finger, trailing it over his lips. “You don’t have to.”

“Not yet.” He shook his head, lightly biting your finger.

“But soon?” You pressed, and he hummed again.

“Hopefully.” He said, then cracked an eye to look at you, “Why are you smilin’ like that?”

“No reason.” You lied.

You wanted to hear it, your song. You hadn’t forgotten, but you knew he had.

“Did you have anything in mind?” He asked, and it was all you could do to not give yourself away then and there.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what it’s called.” You skirted around the subject, and he opened his other eye with a frown.

“How does it go?” He asked, and you grinned, because of course the classical aficionado would be able to tell you the name just by a few notes.

“I don’t know.” You replied honestly, and he groaned.

“That’s the fuckin’ worst. If you want, take a look at my tapes collection, maybe somethin’ll be there, jog your memory.” A lazy hand waved around before settling down on your bare back, brushing through your hair.

“If you won’t play me something yet, will you dance with me to one of your tapes?” You asked, hopeful.

He looked at you, really looked, and nodded.

“Sure thing sweetheart.” He said, holding you close just for a few moments more.

“I like to dance like this. I like to dance in the clubs too, the discos are pretty fun, but I like this. It’s cozy.” You said, after the two of you finally dragged yourselves out of bed and pulled on the bare minimum of clothing.

You had picked a tape at random, stuck it into Pale’s home entertainment system, and was pleasantly surprised when Debussy’s Arabesques began to play throughout the apartment.

Pale had you wrapped up in his arms, his socked feet stepping around yours as you leaned your head on his chest, eyes closed and absorbing the sunshine of the late afternoon and the music.

“Yeah, warm and fuckin’ fuzzy or something. It ain’t something I’m used to, you know?” He said, like he was nervous. You didn’t want him to be nervous around you.

“Me neither, but I feel it when I’m with you, just like how I feel safe around you.” You sighed, cozy indeed.

“You do?” He asked, surprised. You wondered if he’d ever stop being so surprised.

“You think I’d spend all my spare time with a man who scares the shit out of me? I’ve never felt safer, even when you were screaming in Marty’s face.” You chuckled, leaned up to kiss him, kiss the frown off his lips, kiss him until he was chuckling.

“How the hell is that cocksucker by the way?” Pale asked, making you chuckle too.

“He’s alright. Keeps a respectful distance, gives me extra mayo on my sandwiches.” You shrugged, making him suck his teeth.

“Good, I’d hate to break his fuckin’ nose in a second time.” He said as he gently twirled you, making you laugh openly.

“Can I spend the night here?” You asked, not entirely sure he didn’t have work, but wanting to be close just in case.

“You want to sleep here?” Pale asked, eyebrows raised.

“If that’s okay.” You replied quickly, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

“Of course it’s okay.” He said back, just as fast, making you breathe out a sigh of relief.

“Kiss me?” You asked, and he did, kissed you until the song ended and the tape rewound, kissed you until his stomach rumbled, kissed you until the sky turned orange.

“Come sit,” Pale said, leading you into his big kitchen. “I’ll make dinner.”

“Do you have to go to work tonight?” You asked, following him and hopping up onto the counter, just like you would have if the two of you were across the street in your apartment.

He began opening up the cabinets and the fridge, started setting the oven and got out the cutting board.

“Yeah, but I can leave in a couple hours. Plenty enough time to eat with my girl, don’t you think?” He said with a smile, pushing the hair out of his face.

Your chest warmed at him calling you his girl, just like it always did when he let a little bit of affection openly slip out.

“What are we having?” You watched him as he started chopping vegetables.

“I got shit for ratatouille, that sound good?” He asked, making your face light up.

“That sounds delicious! Can I help?” You asked, wanting to be of some assistance if you could.

“Just sit there and look pretty dollface.” He chuckled, and you rolled your eyes, feeling dumb for not expecting that answer.

“What do you normally eat when I’m not around?” You wondered aloud, watching him quickly and efficiently chop zucchini and eggplant and peppers and throw them into a skillet that was sautéing garlic and onions.

“I don’t know, something quick and easy.” He shrugged, stirring the vegetables around, “You know, even when I lived with her, I was always the one who cooked? Had to do all the fancy shit, impress her and her friends and whatever else. It was my job, you know? To take care of her, not that no one ever fuckin’ thought to return the favor.” He huffed, not so much angry as annoyed.

“I’ll take care of you.” You said without thinking, making him lick his lips.

“Yeah you would, wouldn’t you?” He quirked a smirk, scooping some of the vegetables out onto a wooden spoon and holding it to your lips, “Taste this.”

“I’m serious.” You said, before blowing the steam away and eating the offered bite. It was delicious, stupidly delicious – what the hell did he do to food to make it so good?

“So am I, does this have enough salt?” Pale said, and you acquiesced, not wanting to press the issue.

“No, add some more.” You said, just to have something to say.

“What? No it’s got enough.” He tasted it with a frown and you laughed, in love with how stubborn he could be.

When dinner was ready you ate at the big dining table. Despite its size, you and Pale sat right next to each other, enjoying one another’s company before he had to leave. He even lit a candle or two, and protested immediately when you even started to suggest that this was a romantic dinner date.

He had to go though, so he left his dishes in the sink and changed into a fresh suit, kissed you lovingly before he was out the door.

Without him there, you got bored and went to his room, raided his closet for soft sleep clothes and tried to sleep in his bed.

You found that you couldn’t, only because the excitement of it all kept you awake. Being there, in Pale’s apartment, meant you would wake up to him next to you, and that was a feeling you had been craving more and more recently.

Eventually, sleep overcame you, and you dreamed about dancing in the sunlight and rowboats on central park lake and gold chains in your face.

--------------------------

“I changed my mind.” Pale said, some days later.

You’d been spending more and more time there, at his apartment.

Sometimes you just sat on the couch with him while he made calls, other times he fucked you so hard in the kitchen that now you kept a pillow tucked away so the counter-tops wouldn’t bruise your skin.

You were currently sitting on his lap in the living room, leisurely combing your hand through his hair as he went through his accounting books for work.

You were naked just the way he liked you, skin warm and flushed from intermittent making out. It was a rare day where neither of you had work, and he had spent the whole morning eating you out. Something told you he wasn’t quite finished with you yet, but you wanted to know what was going on in that mind of his.

“Changed it to what?” You asked against his lips.

“I’ll play you something.” He said, immediately filled with excitement.

“Really?” You beamed, you’d been wanting to hear him play for what felt like years, and he chuckled.

“Yeah, if you still want.” He said, closing the ledger, apparently done for now.

“I do!” You said quickly, the biggest grin on your face.

“Alright, come on.” Pale reluctantly smiled, patted your ass as you got off his lap, walked past you to the piano room.

Pale sat down on the bench and patted the open spot next to him, and you joined him, careful not to touch anything and screw anything up.

He wasted little time, simply pushing back the keylid and letting his fingers hover over the ivory.

And then, just like magic, music played, sprung forth from his fingertips.

You were right, had been right all along, his hands were so big, spread so wide that they flew over the keys with ease.

It was the piece, the one he played on your back eons ago, the one he had tapped out onto your skin in a drugged up drunken stupor, the one he had said was yours.

You listened, enraptured by the sound of it, by how good it was. Of course it was good, it had to be, this was Pale you were listening to – but it blew you away how actually stunning the piece was.

It was like a window into his soul, a glimpse inside his mind. Was this how he felt? Wasn’t that what he had said, ages and ages ago?

“Is it a happy song?” You asked when he finished, when his hands finally stilled and your back tickled with the phantom feeling of all the little taps and pokes.

“I don’t know.” He replied right away, making you frown just a little, making your stomach do those nervous flips.

This wasn’t the part of your story where he told you he hated you…was it?

“What do you mean?” You had to know, but he shrugged, only making your stomach knot up tighter.

“Well, it don’t got any real meaning to it or anything. There’s no story. It’s just feeling, you know? How you make me feel.” He said.

“How do I make you feel?”

“Like I’m dyin’.”

You hadn’t understood then, but you got it now. You could feel it, the longing, the love. Because that’s what it was, wasn’t it? That was love. The fear and the anxiety and all the bliss in the world.

You could hear it in his music, you understood it.

And just like that, the song was over, the last note ringing out in the piano room.

“That was gorgeous.” You whispered, not daring to speak too loudly and ruin everything, ruin the beauty of that reverberance. “Does it have a name?”

“No, not yet.” Pale replied, just as softly, “Did ya like it?”

“Yeah, I did.” You smiled at him, and he kissed you.

-------------------

“I really would, you know.” You said, standing next to him in the kitchen later, watching as he prepared tea for the both of you.

He had a whole tea cabinet, and every time he let you spend the night, you asked for a new one to try. He always obliged you, was happy to do it.

You wondered if he had made tea for anyone else in a long time.

“How’s that?” Pale asked, distracted by the pour as he fills two small cups. You couldn’t help but smile at how small they were in his hands as he passed one to you.

“Take care of you.” You replied, bringing up the conversation you’d had. “I would, if you’d let me.”

You sip the tea, gently blow the steam away. This one tasted like oranges and cloves, and it tingled your nose just a little when you tipped the cup to your lips.

Pale put the teapot down, took a sip of his own for a moment before casting his eyes to his socked feet.

“It’s a shit job.” He said, matter-of-factly, “Takin’ care of someone fucked up like me.”

“It’s worth it, if it’s you. If it’s takin’ care of you.” You walked across the kitchen and stood next to him, pressed your side right up against his, his arm slipping over your shoulders and tucking you close. You warmed your hands on the teacup.

“What if I fuck you up too?” He asked. You wondered what hurt more, the fact that he thought he might, or the fact that he needed the reassurance that he wouldn’t.

“You won’t.” You wasted no time answering, making him chuckle just a bit with the passion of your response.

“You said that too fuckin’ quickly.” He smiled into his teacup, shaking his head.

“I don’t have to think when I’m with you. I can just talk, you know?” You defended yourself, looking up at him.

“Yeah.” He nodded, tucking you ever closer. “Yeah I know.”

You sipped your tea, and he sipped his, and it was quiet and calm for a long while, before Pale cleared his throat.

“You remember that fuckin’ meeting I had to go to?” He asked, and you frowned, trying to recall.

“The day we went to Central Park?” You guessed, and he nodded, making you smile that you got it right. “Yes, what about it?”

You had assumed it was just work related, but something in the way he sipped his tea made you think otherwise.

“It was with The Philharmonic.” He said, and you frowned.

“The New York Philharmonic?” You asked, stupidly.

“The very fuckin’ same.” He nodded, and you nodded back, confused. “There’s a performance tomorrow, something I wrote. I was wondering if you’d maybe come with me, be my date to the opening show.”

It took a couple seconds to register what he was saying, but the minute you did, you put your tea cup down on the counter with a little too much force, excitement coursing through you.

“Pale!” You were overjoyed, “Of course I would! Oh my god, congratulations that’s incredible!”

“Woah, hold your fuckin’ horses sweetheart, you’re gonna burn the shit out of us.” He laughed, putting down his tea cup too before scooping you up in his arms.

“This was the surprise?” You asked, grinning, face hurting from how much you were smiling.

“Yup, pretty fuckin’ good one too, huh?” He smiled back, his crooked teeth and dimples on display.

You kissed him.

“Yes! Oh my god, Pale!” You laughed, “I’m so excited, how long has this been going on?”

“They started rehearsing back in December when I finished the last fuckin’ song. Was stuck on that one for a good while.” He said, cupping your cheeks in his hands, big warm calloused things.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this.” You were so proud, so completely proud of him.

“But you’ll come, right?” He asked, and you nodded, laughed and kissed him.

“Of course I’ll come.” You said.

Pale kissed you.

The concerto was, in a word, a success.

You still couldn’t wrap your mind around the beauty that Pale’s music had managed to convey, even as you were standing out on the balcony of the Lincoln Center, waiting for him to make his way through the crowd of fans and peers and audience members to come find you.

It had been magical, completely and utterly magical.

You hadn’t realized how well known he was in the business, not until all the paparazzi rushed him, asked him what it was like to be performing for the first time in a decade. You hadn’t realized how important this was, that he make a good come-back, how he chose your song to come back with.

Because of course it was your song, of course it was. It was what ended the third movement, what brought the entire audience to their feet, what brought the champagne bottles out for the after-party, what brought the tears to your eyes.

“All of it’s for you, you know.” He said, stepping out onto the balcony, finally having found you.

You turned to greet him, smiling wetly as he walked to your side.

He stared out into the skyline as he flicked his cigarette ash, watched as it fluttered off the balcony, caught in the slight breeze.

Your throat tightened, more tears threatening to collect in the corner of your eyes. Of course it was, you thought. Of course he’d go and do something so grand and pass it off as something so nonchalant. You hoped he never changed, that that shyness never went away.

Even after all this time he was still so shy.

“I talked to Fishel, me and him are gonna go into business together, open up a second diner in the city. I’m gonna manage it.” He said, apropos of nothing in that way of his that he sometimes did.

“Pale.” You whispered, placing your hand on the railing right next to his, an offering. So that’s what Fish had been on about that day at the diner.

He took it, and you leaned your head on his shoulder, looked out into the night sky with him. You didn’t think you’d ever see this many stars again, the one night where the smog or the clouds didn’t totally cover it all up. It was a perfect night for this sort of thing, like the sky opened up just for the two of you.

The tip of Pale’s cigarette glowed orange as he took in another drag.

“I figured, you know he’s got a real fuckin’ good thing goin’, but there’s just not that many people here to appreciate it. The city’s got millions of people every day, and we figured since I got the connections, I could make it something real special. A diner, but special, you know?” You didn’t think you had ever seen him this nervous – and he had just been given a standing ovation.

“You know what this means?” You asked, your throat caught tight.

“Hm?”

“You’ll get to be your own boss, make your own hours. You could write more concertos and tour the world with them and not have to worry about conflicting schedules.” You smiled, happy for him, happy that there were already so many people who wanted him to tour, who wanted to hear his music.

“Only if you come with me.” He said, turning to face you.

“Really?” You asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah. What do you say?” He fidgeted with the gold chain around your neck.

“Of course I’ll go with you. I’ll go anywhere with you.” You said, leaning up to kiss him, pressing your lips to his, his hands wrapping around your waist.

You kissed and kissed, the music of Pale’s concerto playing in your head, your song bouncing around and around in your brain.

“I’m so proud of you,” You rested your forehead against his, “For all of it.”

“It’s yours, you have to know that. A hundred fuckin’ years from now, someone’s gonna listen to this. Maybe it’ll be just one person, maybe it’ll be a million people. Maybe it’ll just be my grandkids or their grandkids, who found a dusty cassette tape recording of it in the back of a box somewhere, but someone…someone out there is gonna listen to this and they’ll know. They’ll feel it.” He nodded to himself, so certain.

“Feel what?” You asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“If I did it right, they’ll feel what I feel every time I look at you. They’ll feel how you make me feel. They’ll take one fuckin’ listen and they’ll know that someone somewhere a hundred years ago was so completely and totally in love with someone else, that they had to pour their entire goddamned heart into a concerto to get it out.”

“If I fuckin’ did it right, maybe they’ll close their eyes and see a beautiful fucking woman who’s got the whole weight of the world on her shoulders. Maybe they’ll see a hardworking man who’s got his fair share of baggage. Maybe they’ll watch them get to know each other through late night baths or cups of coffee in a diner.”

“If I’m lucky, maybe they’ll get to see this gorgeous woman smile at the man, open up her arms to him. They’ll see how fuckin’ breathtaking she is when she smiles, when she laughs. Maybe they’ll get to feel that fuckin’ swoop in their stomach that makes them worried they’re sick, dying from it, the fear and the panic that one day she’ll find out she’s too good for him, that he’s a mess.”

“That’s only one half of it.” You interrupted him, tears threatening to spill.

“How’s that?” He frowned, and you kissed him, kissed him until you could feel his hands stop trembling against your back.

“They’ll feel her fall in love with him from the very first morning where she makes him breakfast, how she wants to be near him all the time, thinks about him all the time.” You said, taking his hand. “They’ll hear how her heart beats too fast whenever he’s around, because she’s just so excited that he chose her of all people. He could have anyone he wanted, and he chose her. Ain’t that somethin’?”

“They’ll watch the man fall in love, but they’ll watch the woman fall just as hard, just as fast, even faster. They’ll watch her hold him close when he’s vulnerable, watch him keep her safe and happy and offer her companionship after going so long without it.”

Pale shook his head, shy, so shy.

“She could have so easily kicked him out like all the others, but she didn’t. She calls him handsome and thinks he’s funny and wants to know about him and wants to listen to him and picks up the pieces of his broken fucking heart after seeing just how damaged it is. Now that’s somethin’.” He replied, looking very much like on the verge of tears himself.

“Sounds like we’re one of a kind, you and me.” You grinned, and Pale laughed, because of all the things in the world, one of a kind was the only thing to call it.

“Got a real blue moon kinda love, don’t we?” He agreed, cupping your cheek, looking into your eyes – really looking.

“Yeah, we do.” You nodded, placing a hand over his, looking right back.

And you did.

You did.

-----------------------

Thank you all so much for going on this wild ride with me! I can’t even begin to express how much it means to me that this fic has received so much love, thank you thank you thank you <3

Tagging some pals (as always, please just let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list or taken off of it): @fullofbees @spinebarrel @dreamboatdriver @thecurlycaptain @bourbonboredom @driverficarchive @aweirdlookingtree @rosalynbair @redhairedfeistynerd @adamsnackdriver @glitzescape @adamsnacc-kler @kyloxfem @fallin-for-youreyes @kylo-renne @attorneyl

#reader insert #pale x reader #kylo ren x reader #pale burn this #burn this #burn this broadway #kylo x reader #my writing #blue moon

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naturepointstheway · 5 years ago

Text

Caught on a bad day (Life is Strange fanfic)

In the alternate timeline where William is alive, Chloe tells Max the latter caught her on a ‘good day’. What if Max had caught her on a ‘bad day’ instead?

Max pauses in the middle of the path to the Prices’ door, taking in the changes to the house before her, with its fully complete blue paintwork and the ramp--

Wait. A ramp?

The Prices never had a ramp.

Shit, shit, shit. What else have I done?

She tries, and fails, to stop herself from imagining the worst. Did she hurt Chloe? William? Or perhaps Joyce? Surely, people need ramps to their house all the time, not just people who need more accessibility due to a disability or aging. William and Joyce weren’t even that old anyway, so why would they need a ramp? Or maybe they were fostering or had adopted a child who needed a wheelchair. That had to be it.

Chloe. Chloe... please be okay, God please be okay...

She takes a deep breath, another, another, and still her chest squeezes back in the vice of anxiety. Panic swells inside her, turns her stomach with that bottomless sick feeling as she walks up to the front door, her hand poised to knock.

Okay Max, you can do this. Come on.

She tries to swallow, but her throat is too dry, too parched with apprehension as she knocks gently on the door, stepping back to wait until someone—please, please let it be Chloe—answers.

Instead, it is William that answers the door, immediately breaking out into a warm smile on seeing Max.

‘Max Caulfield, we thought we’d never see you again.’

A rush of nostalgia and relief on seeing William’s still-warm smile swells in Max’s heart, despite the shock at the changes so far.

‘I could never abandon Chloe like that. I might not have kept in touch, but…I couldn’t not see her again after coming back here.’

‘Come inside.’

William steps aside, and Max, trying to keep down the rising panic squeezing at her insides, walks into the hall of the house at once familiar and strange. She hears the door click behind her, followed by William’s voice.

‘She isn’t in her old upstairs room anymore, Max, instead we’ve converted the old garage into a new room for her. Makes it easier for her to get around. Got her wheelchair and everything now.’

Wheelchair. Chloe’s in a wheelchair. Shit what have I done?

Max steps up to the door that once led into a garage, but now leads into Chloe’s new room in this new timeline. What has she done to her best friend, her partner in time and crime? She tries to keep her composure as William addresses her once again.

‘I must warn you, Max, she’s having one of her bad days.’

Max stares at the door; it’s so not right that there is no ‘wrong way’ sign.

‘W-what do you mean?’

‘You already know about her car accident two years ago. Has she talked to you about it?’

Shit, shit, shit.

‘I...don’t think so.’

‘A driver illegally cut her off, and she ended up...’ a heavy pause. ‘The accident left her paralysed from the neck down.’

Max leans a hand on the door, willing herself not to pass out. Chloe...Chloe paralysed. Neck down. Unable to feel a thing. Unable to dance, let alone go out to enjoy concerts and go down in the mosh pit.

I fucked up. Well done Max. You’re a loser. A fucking loser. You don’t deserve Chloe. She deserves a better friend than you.

William’s hand on her shoulder brings her back to the present, or whatever present this fucked up reality is.

‘Max, you look like you’re going to pass out. Do you need to sit down?’

‘N-no, I think I’ll be fine. I need to see Chloe. Please. I haven’t seen her in five years. Will she be okay enough to see me?’

‘She has very regular headaches like now, as her body redirects all the pain toward her head.’

‘God.’

‘But I think she’ll be glad to see you, nevertheless.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Are you sure you don’t need to sit down?’

‘No, I think I’m okay.’

William, despite clearly looking concerned for her, knocks gently on Chloe’s door, and opens it just enough for Max to see it is dark inside, like all the curtains have been drawn.

‘Chloe?’

Silence. William opens the door a little more, looks inside, before turning to address Max.

‘I think she’s sleeping right now, but feel free to go inside. It’ll be a pleasant surprise for her to see you when she wakes up.’

‘Thank you.’

William stands aside so Max can step through the door, and stops still on the threshold, feeling the blood drain from her face as she surveys the dimly lit interior, and the bed with—

Oh god, Chloe! My Chloe!

It is wrong, so wrong, so very wrong to see her best friend motionless in a hospital bed, hooked up to a ventilator, a drip, and God only knew what else. Even in the dim light, Max sees the thick tube running from Chloe’s throat to the ventilator with its silent vital sign readings, and she hates herself more than ever. It’s so wrong to see Chloe without her usual blue hair, instead left as its natural blonde. Instead of punk posters and graffiti, the walls are nearly bare, save for a photo here and there, and what appears to be a pinboard with desperately few bits of happiness and comfort tacked to the cork.

What Max wouldn’t do to tear apart the house until she finds that goddamn photo, to undo all of this, even at the cost of William’s life, undo, rewind all the last five years, until she’s back in her old timeline, back with an able-bodied, blue-haired Chloe, and not this...ghost...

She wants Chloe, her Chloe from her timeline, her beautiful blue-haired badass, who dared her to kiss her in another time, in another morning, in another life. She’d willingly hunt for another hundred bottles in the junkyard if it meant bringing back the Chloe she’d grown up with, running around Arcadia Bay in their pirate get-ups.

Max takes a deep breath, forces herself to step over the threshold into the dimmed bedroom, hearing William close the door behind her as softly as possible. Chloe’s head is still turned to the side, looking for all the world like she’s in a peaceful sleep, were it not for the soft ventilator-aided breaths, or the drip in her arm, or that tube running from her throat.

This is my fault. All my fault. I’m so sorry, Chloe, you didn’t deserve this. You deserve to dance, to go to concerts, to dye your hair blue, to fall in love, to stomp around the house in your big boots...to...what have I done to you. My fault. My fucking fault.

Max can’t help but think that Chloe in this reality has never painted her nails electric blue, nor etched a tattoo on one arm that Max has, on more than one occasion, wished she could sit and trace and trail with her fingers, following its designs from forearm to shoulder. Now, instead of a tattoo needle carving art into her arm, it’s a drip delivering pain killers into her bloodstream. Rather than a necklace of bullets, she has a tube taped in place to her throat.

She can’t bear to look at Chloe a second longer, not now anyway, and turns her attention elsewhere, immediately spotting a wheelchair in a corner, her heart dropping to the core of the earth at the sight. There is enough light for Max, on closer examination, to see it also has a tube similar to what Chloe in the bed has now. Max reaches a tentative hand to the wheelchair, tracing her fingers over an armrest before pulling her arm back, fingers covering her mouth, brows knitted together as she fights back tears. She can’t move her eyes away from the odd things at the top of the seat, where Chloe’s head would be were she in the chair. Max wonders if they were there to help keep her head still.

I can’t believe I put Chloe in that chair...or the bed.

Max tip-toes away from the chair, not wanting to wake Chloe, and takes note of the sign on the bathroom door, and manages the weakest of smiles at the words.

Gas masks optional. That’s so Chloe.

What she wouldn’t give to see that ‘wrong way’ sign again. Strange how one can miss such a little thing that otherwise might be ignored as part of the scenery.

She doesn’t dare touch the huge computer screen nor the mouth-operated joystick; knowing her clumsy self, she’d probably break it, though there was no reason she couldn’t use rewind to fix it. Still, better safe than sorry. She allows her fingers to trail along the edge of the desk, one foot in front of the other, back toward Chloe’s bed, and stops when she sees a familiar bracelet with spikes. Picking it up, Max allows a little pinprick of relief to see some sign of the Chloe she knew from her old timeline.

Still a punk at heart, Chloe. Never change.

Strange how something as small as a punk bracelet with spikes could make her feel just a tiny bit calmer, at least until she catches sight of the drip right in front of her, delivering morphine to her best friend’s bloodstream. She wishes she can block out the whoosh of fluid flowing from the drip into Chloe, lying so still right there.

Legs weak and shaky, Max moves to the small wooden chair across from the bedside, lifting it up to move it closer, but not too close, to Chloe. Slumping back into the seat, Max watches Chloe sleep for a moment, sees the way her chest rises and falls with each shaky breath, before she leans her elbows on her knees, letting her face drop into her hands, palms pressing into her eyes.

It isn’t long before Chloe’s voice, hoarser and wearier than Max ever heard it, drifts into her ears.

‘Either I have so much fucking morphine in me that I’m hallucinating seeing Maxine Caulfield, or you really are here. The fuck you been the last five years.’

Max raises her head to see Chloe has woken up, her face turned in her direction. But instead of the pissed off look Max expected, her heart skips a beat to see, instead, the smallest of smiles, one she hasn’t seen since...this morning, really, when she woke next to Chloe on her double bed after a night at the swimming pool at Blackwell. The smile, though sullied by the tension of pain in her eyes and the corners of her mouth, is still enough to melt Max’s heart.

‘C-Chloe!’ Max has to use all her willpower not to immediately jump up and draw Chloe into a hug, lest she hurt her. ‘I’m really here.’

‘Damn, perfect timing as always, Max. You caught me on a craptastic day, dude. Shame, since we haven’t even seen each other in five years. Liked your letters and selfies but… could’ve made an effort to visit more often.’

‘I’m the worst.��

‘How long have you been here watching me sleep anyway, you creep?’ Max relishes the snarky tone—so Chloe.

‘Not long, actually. William told me you were having one of your bad days.’

Chloe grimaces, turns her head so she stares up at the ceiling. ‘You have no idea. Doped up all day on morphine and my head still feels like it’s gonna implode. Or explode. Whichever happens first.’

‘Ugh, sounds crummy.’

‘God, I hate this. All of this.’ Chloe nods over at the machines, ‘Two years of this crap. Prick. Ditched my car with his SUV. Woke up in hospital unable to feel a thing, let alone move a muscle. Back snapping like a twig was last thing I felt.’

A shiver prickles at Max’s back, and she can’t help a little shudder of horror.

‘Jesus. I... I don’t know what to say.’

‘Don’t.’ Chloe clenches her jaw, squeezes her eyes shut. ‘Fuck. Fuck. Sorry. Talk makes it worse.’

‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t bother you.’ Max can’t help a twinge of guilt.

‘Shut up,’ Chloe’s voice is softer, but still painfully hoarse, ‘I’m glad you’re here.’

‘You are?’

‘Um, I haven’t seen you in five years. Of course I am. Makes a change from my usual visitors.’

‘Visitors?’

‘All the friends who never visited me or just left me all together.’

‘Chloe, I should have visited you more.’

‘Not like we could just waltz out of here anyway.’

‘I’m never leaving you again, Chloe, okay? I mean…if you need rest, I can leave you alone, read a book.’

‘Or we can still chat like old times,’ Chloe’s voice sounds more strained than before, her eyes closing almost against her will, ‘Don’t be surprised if I drift off again.’

Max allows a hint of gentle teasing into her words. ‘I’ll just think you’re bored of me talking about photos.’

‘Hey, if it helps me drift off with this fucking headache...can’t even with sunlight. Way too bright. Makes it even worse.’

‘It’s almost sundown.’

‘Still messes me up.’

‘That bad.’

‘All the pain is redirected to my brain. Funtimes.’

‘That sucks.’

‘You don’t say. No need to feel too sorry for me. I can do that by myself.’

‘You’re a survivor, Chloe.’

‘Platitudes I’ve heard before.’

Max hears a hint of that old familiar bitterness buried in Chloe’s words. Sure, not as bitter, nowhere near, but still, there it is.

‘I mean it, really.’ Max reassures her.

‘Doesn’t help when I’m like this. All doped up to eleven, and yet in so much fucking pain.’

Max glances back over her shoulder at the bathroom built for Chloe, still with that sign that is just so her. She turns her chair around a little so she faces Chloe more directly.

‘Your parents do so much for you. They really do love you. You’re here.’

‘More like they’re here for me, Max. They can’t even take a walk alone. It sucks.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Sorry for what? For me? No thanks. I get enough of that from people. I’m not an invalid, you know, lying here like some dying woman in a Victorian novel.’

There is a long pause, and Max casts around for something, anything else to say. Clearly, Chloe was not putting up with pity, something even Chloe in her original timeline wouldn’t put up with. She hated fake people, platitudes, and pity, and this timeline’s Chloe was no less different.

‘You have an impressive set-up with the computer.’

‘I can at least watch concert videos on that beast. And check out all the concerts. Hate myself for not being able to see them. Not today though, I’m in way too much pain to listen to any pirated youtube videos of concerts.’ Her words are broken by a series of dry coughs. ‘Throat’s dry already. Haven’t talked this much in a while. See if there’s water left in my cup. It’s on the dresser.’

Glad for something to do, Max stands up, walking over to the dresser with the cup of water. Grabbing the cup, she sloshes it around a little to check how much water there is in it—it seems to be nearly full. She returns to Chloe, sitting down next to her on the bed, bringing the cup close enough to Chloe’s lips so she can take a sip from the straw.

‘Drink up, buttercup,’ she hears herself say, watching as Chloe drinks from the straw, eyes never leaving Max’s face. Max almost can’t bear to see how much love and gratitude there is in those soft blue eyes, pupils large in the dim room. She had forgotten how Chloe’s eyes had looked, before being hardened by bitterness and trauma from a world that had abandoned her. This Chloe had none of that trauma, and so her eyes were softer and more beautiful than Max ever remembered them to be.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—

Chloe presses her head back into the pillow, turning her mouth away from the cup, obviously having taken her fill.

‘Thanks, Max.’

‘Always happy to help.’

‘Next time, grab me a beer.’

‘That’s…not going to help headaches.’

‘Wet blanket. I was joking.’

‘I know you were,’ Max assures as she replaces the drink on the dresser, ‘Is there anything else?’

‘Think...I might rest a while, Max. Like I said, caught me on a shit day. Go take some pictures or something.’ Chloe turned her head to nod at the shuttered window, with golden light leaking around the corners. ‘What do photographers call this time? Everything looks amazing at this time.’

‘The Golden Hour.’

A long pause, Chloe still staring at the curtained window, as though to reflect on this new piece of knowledge. For a time, there was little noise except for a bird twittering outside and the ventilator working to help her breathe. Max thought she might have drowsed off when Chloe turns her face back again to Max with a wan smile, her forehead crinkling with pain, eyes closed.

‘Learn something new every day, Max. Now thanks to you, I know.’

Max waits a few more minutes, still looking over at the window, imagining the view beyond. She realises she had not paid any heed to anything that was outside, but then again, her mind had been thinking only of one thing—or person, rather. Chloe, now lying before her in a bed, unable to move anything below her neck, stuck day and night, not unless she was in her wheelchair, able to move around at will, wherever she wanted. But all the most modern wheelchairs in the world could not undo her paralysis, could not help her feel anything below her neck again.

Convinced that Chloe has dozed off again, Max quietly leaves Chloe’s side, returning to the bedroom door, opening it to the soft golden light of sundown. The house seems to be very still, except Max can smell something delicious wafting from the kitchen, and her stomach growls in anticipation of dinner. No doubt Joyce is in there cooking up a meal; Max wonders if Chloe eats much, and this idle thought is chased immediately by a jolting realisation that she likely has to be hand-fed her meals.

God. No dignity for her. This sucks. Oh Chloe...

Bills and opened envelopes lie on both dressers and table, and Max cannot help but take a quick glance at them, without touching or being too obvious about it. She carefully suppresses any outward reaction on seeing the horrific bills they have to pay, even just for Chloe’s basic supplies. A newspaper article on the table catches her eye, and her hand flies to her mouth as she reads about the mysterious whale strandings on the beach.

Has this anything to do with my powers? What the hell am I doing?

Strange how seeing an article on the stranded whales she’d seen earlier on the bus ride from Blackwell Academy really hit it home for her. This surely could not be a coincidence after the snow, the eclipse, and flocks of dead birds. Was the storm coming in this reality too?

She was just fucking everything up, that’s all she was doing.

Trying to take her mind off this shit, Max drifts to the sliding door facing out into the yard, spotting at once that their old board with their innocent childhood drawings had been moved from the space it usually inhabited in her original timeline. Why over there, across from what used to be the garage…

Oh.

No doubt Chloe wanted it moved so that she could see it from outside her window whenever she could. So she could remember Max, even though there had been no visits from her for five years. No doubt seeing a reminder of Max gave Chloe hope that the former would come back someday to visit, and today that wish had finally come true.

How fitting that the wish had been granted at the golden hour, a time that granted a touch of magic to every photographer’s framed shots. If only Max had her camera now, she might have taken a photo or two of the painting tinged by sundown, or of the bird on the fence, its feathers dusted with evening light.

A few hours pass Max by, spent exploring and reflecting on changes in this old familiar, and unfamiliar, childhood home away from home. She could not bear staying long in Chloe’s old room, bereft of the smell of weed and stale pizza, of the clutter of beer bottles and cans and piles of unwashed laundry, and the walls naked for want of punk posters and graffiti borne of a life ‘dipped in shit’ as Chloe had so colourfully described it yesterday.

But then she is summoned to the stairs, eventually, by Joyce calling for Max, that Chloe is awake, that she wants to see her again. Chloe’s headache has simmered down a good bit, Joyce says when Max joins her at the bottom of the stairs. Not by much, she hastens to warn, but enough that she can talk again with Max, at least for a little while.

Max doesn’t hesitate for even a moment, rushing back into Chloe’s room, shutting the door again behind her. It is still very dim inside, a small lamp on a dresser the only source of light, aside from the glowing screens of the machines hooked to Chloe, and the heat lamp’s glow. Again, Max’s heart skips a beat when Chloe catches her eye with a smile.

Has she always been this beautiful when she smiles?

Max makes her way back to the chair next to Chloe, settling herself in it as she had before, stretching her legs out in front of her, at a loss for what to say.

‘Dude, stop.’

Max blinks in confusion, staring at Chloe. ‘Stop what?’

‘Feeling sorry for me. My parents and I do enough of that on our own.’

‘I just never expected it to be...like this...’

‘Well you never made much effort to find out either.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Just because I’m like this doesn’t mean I can’t do anything. Fuck, getting my wheelchair after months motionless in bed was so...freeing. Could actually move my ass around without help.’

Max glances over at the wheelchair in the corner. ‘It looks...very high tech.’

'My parents made sure to get the best. Even if it bankrupts them.’

‘All of this looks so impressive.’

‘I can go online, talk shit with other people, listen to music. I’m not just...sitting here like a sentient Christmas tree.’

‘What kind of music? Classic?’

‘Uh, no fucking way am I listening to that. Punk, rock, that’s more my thing. Something I’m sure you’re way into, right.’

Max can’t help but laugh a little, half in relief that this Chloe still likes the same music. ‘Uh...not really.’

‘Figured.’

A pause slips between them, Max shifting on the chair as though to find another comfortable position, while Chloe turns her head to study the ceiling.

‘Sorry to be boring tonight, Max. We totally would’ve hung out on the beach or something.’

‘What? No, no you’re fine,’ Max leans forward, touching a hand on the blankets near where she thought Chloe’s arm was.

‘I would totally watch Blade Runner tonight with you, but…pain. Joy.’

‘Do you…need more painkillers? Should I ask—’

‘Nah, stay,’ Chloe’s gaze falls back to Max, ‘Being here with you makes it less shitty. Really. I’m so glad I got to see you today, it took you long enough to visit me.’ A smile lilts on her lips, reaching her eyes, so stark in both gentleness and not-quite-hidden pain. ‘Seeing you here…reminds me so much of when we were kids running around Arcadia Bay, playing at pirates. Seems like so long ago when we were that young.’

Max lets out a soft sigh of nostalgia. ‘Seems literally like yesterday to me.’

‘Time flies, doesn’t it?’

‘We should’ve taken over Arcadia Bay while we still had the chance.’

‘But you will. You still have time, Max. And you’ll be photographing every little thing along the way.’

‘You know me well.’

Chloe winces a little again in pain. ‘Fuck. Shitty timing. Max, do me a favour?’

Max stands up, ready to do anything for Chloe. If she needed the world, the moon, hell even goddamn Pluto, she would do it. Chloe deserved so much more than this.

‘Anything. Anything you want, I’ll do for you.’

An impish grin tugs up Chloe’s lips, her blue eyes catching Max’s. ‘Anything, huh? Because hot monkey sex would be nice right now too.’

Max opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out, even as a blush creeps up into her cheeks and she has to look away, hearing Chloe’s teasing laugh, pulling at her heart with its familiarity.

‘Oooh look, I made Maxine blush!’

Omigod, Chloe. You’re impossible.

‘I…I’m…’

‘God, Max, you’re so adorable sometimes. Can you look in that drawer over there?’

Max finds the drawer Chloe wants her to open, and sees nothing but several tubs and tubes of medicated lotion.

‘Keeps my blood circulating. Or makes my headaches fuck off a little more.’

‘You need some right now?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Uh which one?’

Max finds the one Chloe wants and brings it over to her, unscrewing the cap.

‘What should I do?’

Chloe gives her a look, raising an eyebrow. ‘I don’t know, unscrew the cap, pour lotion in your hand, rub hands together, then massage lotion onto my forehead and temples. Simple enough instructions.’

‘Think I can follow those instructions.’

Chloe closes her eyes as Max rubs her hands together, sitting next to her on the bed, placing her hands on Chloe’s forehead, feeling how soft her skin is under her palms, fingers massaging lotion into her temples as gently as she can, feeling the brush of Chloe’s hair over her fingertips. Close up, Max can see the deep bags under Chloe’s eyes, the very faint line forming between her eyebrows, and how thin and pale her face has become from so much pain and weariness. It’s strange to think this Chloe is nineteen, same as her Chloe in her old timeline, and yet she seems so much older beyond her years.

Am I the same when Chloe looks at me, whether here or in my old time?

Her hands, so tender and careful, now still on Chloe’s cheeks, cupping her face between her palms, thumbs brushing over her cheekbones.

‘Is…is that making it better?’

‘You’re good at this—hell of a lot better than the nurses.’

Max can’t help a little smile, moving a hand up to brush some of Chloe’s hair back from her forehead, letting the blonde strands slip between her fingers.

‘Always wanted coloured bangs,’ Chloe says in a whispery tone, ‘Like Pris.’

‘Who?’

‘Blade Runner.’

‘Oh…I see. You’d look amazing with blue hair.’

‘Weird. I would have said the same for me.’

‘With a cool beanie to top it off when you go outside.’

‘Dressing me with your eyes are you, Max? Normally it’s the other way around.’

‘N-no, I mean...you’d look stunning.’

‘Never change, Max.’

Max draws her hands a little away from Chloe’s face. ‘How’s the pain now?’

‘Lot better than earlier today, and not as bad as it would be without you here.’ Chloe’s eyes open, meeting Max’s with a sleepy, yet achingly glad, expression. ‘You’ve made my day being here at all. Can’t believe we’re already on the cusp of adulthood.’

‘Yeah…me too.’

‘I keep wanting to go back to that time, when we were dorky kids covered in pancake flour…I still have that photo somewhere.’

Max’s breath catches in her throat, heart hammering. ‘You do?’

‘Yeah, in the album on my dresser over there,’ Chloe nods toward the wall beyond her ventilator. ‘Tomorrow morning, we can go on a trip down memory lane, get all mushy about ye olde days. Not tonight, not up for it.’

‘I can wait until morning,’ Max assures her, ‘I’m just happy we’re together again.’

‘Me too, Max. It’s been too fucking long.’

In this reality anyway. Was it just this morning Chloe had dared her to kiss her, and ended the day with an argument in her truck? Meanwhile, for this Chloe, and this Max, five years had passed since the last time they’d seen each other. At least this timeline’s Max made some effort to bother keeping in touch, even if she never visited.

Max slung her legs up on to the bed, lying back as gently as possible until her head is next to Chloe’s on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling. She allows her eyes to close, just for a minute or two, relaxing against Chloe next to her, trying not to think about how she cannot even feel the presence of her best friend next to her in the bed, like this was just another one of their old sleepovers.

‘Some sleepover, this, isn’t it?’ Max whispers, seeing Chloe turn her head toward her out of the corner of her eye. ‘I mean…when was the last time we had a sleepover?’

‘Right before you left, actually,’ Chloe whispers back, ‘I missed our sleepovers. Or, rather, when you came here to sleepover with me.’

Max turns her head to meet Chloe’s gaze, heart skipping as she sees how close their faces are to each other. She still cannot believe this is the same Chloe she knew from her old life. So different and yet still just the same in so many ways. She wonders if this Chloe would ever have double dared her to kiss her.

‘I remember. I don’t think we ever slept so much as stayed up as long as we could. We always pretended we slept all night.’

‘My parents always saw right through that.’

Max laughs a little, nostalgia mixed with sadness. ‘Yeah. Yeah they did.’

Chloe’s face softens into a small smile, her eyes never leaving Max’s, even as her eyelids start drooping again, drowsy from so many pain meds.

‘Max…you’re…you’re the only one I grew up with…who’s visited me…ever…’

Max shifts so she’s lying on her side, facing Chloe, foreheads just touching, the tickle of a strand of blonde hair against her own.

‘Chloe, I promise, I’m never abandoning you again. I’m never leaving you.’

A soft sigh, Chloe’s head tips a little against Max’s. ‘I love you, Max.’

Max allows her own eyes to close, drowsy from the stifling warmth from the heat lamp, and being so close to Chloe she could have kissed her again, like she had that all-too-brief moment this morning. She’s amazed she’s already so tired, her mind a whirl of shock, fear, love, and nostalgia, and still she finds herself drifting away, Chloe next to her.

Love you too, Chloe.

The photo could wait until tomorrow morning. For now, all that mattered was this Chloe, in this lifetime, in this thread of time.

#Life is Strange #Chloe Price #alternate timeline Chloe #Max Caulfield #Pricefield

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