#yes chris and ethan dug her out from the ground

[coffeebrownn]

[cinnamonrusts]

i’ll see you in the village -- 2

parts: 1

This village is nothing that you thought it was going to be. You interact with some locals and Chris does some homework to find where you are when he cannot contact you. (chris redfield x f!reader) (a/n: it’s a long one, bois. thank you for all the love)

                                                            ✧.* ✧.*

As the terrifying sounds echoed through the dilapidated village grew closer to where you stood, your blood ran cold and you reached for your gun but stopped; because, you knew that if you opened fire you might blow your cover. However, whatever created these noises did not sound like a friendly neighborhood pet. Person? Dog? Creature? Whatever it was, it sounded dangerous.

“Come out!” you yell as your head whipped side to side, desperate to get a glance at what it was that was playing this game with you. “Come out!” you scream again, but are only answered with a sharp arrow which hurdled through the air and embedded itself in the wooden fence beside your head. You curse loudly, your life almost ended, and you probably wouldn’t have realized it if it did.

Before you popped off any rounds in retaliation, a strong arm pulled you back from behind. Their rough, dirty palm was pressed firmly against your mouth and they shushed you quietly. The person pulled you into a darkened home and quickly closed the front door that was opened just enough for the two of you to slink through. Your mouth opened to speak once you felt relatively safe from whatever horror lurked in the shadows of the night. “Quiet, girl,” your savior spoke. With the faint moonlight that shined through the boarded up window, you could make out the face of an elderly man and to his right was presumably his wife - who was armed with a double-barreled shotgun and the nose of it pointed at a small hole in the door.

They didn’t explain anything besides telling you that being quiet is the correct thing to do. The same blood-curdling screeches grew closer and thuds on the roof caused you to jump. “Do you have a gun?” he asks and you nod as you place your hand on your hip where it was concealed under your clothing. Sounds of snapping wood from above draw the attention of the wife and she proceeded to pump shells in the general direction of the intruders. One of her shots hit whatever it was and it scurried away. Screams of pain were the last of its noise before the thuds stopped and sounds of it tearing through the front yard verified it was gone.

✧.*

A brief amount of time passed before the two locals spoke. “You’re an outsider,” the woman said as she leaned her firearm on the wall beside the door. “Yes, that is true, but I’m nothing but a traveler from a town far East of here,” you lifted your long skirt to curtsey for the couple, “I’ve come here to spread my fortune telling for all to enjoy.” The man scoffed and shook his head before he took a drink from a dirty mug. “Mother Miranda does not cater well to outsiders,” he burped, “--Especially those with talks of necromancy and fortune telling.” Mother Miranda? Score.

“I promise I have no ill well to you, the locals, or this Mother Miranda that you speak of.” The man scoffed once more but his wife shushed him, “You’re welcome here, dear.” she placed a hand on your shoulder and grinned a gummy smile. “Thank you,” you say and the three of you exchange backstory to your lives, until you try to push for some information about Miranda. “Who is this Mother Miranda?” you ask finally and hope that the tape recorder that is hidden in your waistband had begun to record once you bumped it with your wrist. A glimmer of light sparked in her dark eyes and she walked over to the main wall across the way. She pushed herself onto her toes and reached for a dusty painting of a woman that hung crooked above her head.

“This -- this is our wonderful, Mother Miranda.” she placed it in your palms and you brushed away a thick layer of dust with your thumb. The painting was faded but you could still make out what this woman looked like, and it was identical to the photo that the BSAA showed. Another spot marked off on the mission bingo sheet. “She keeps us safe and has for longer than we have been around.” she continued to praise the blonde. “She does? What about whatever is out there!? Does she keep you safe from that?” Your insult hit a nerve because the man stood from his seat, “How dare you insult our Mother in our home! You will feel her wrath!” he continued to yell, despite hiding away from the thing just outside the door. He proceeded to kick you out of their home and closed the door behind you, then locked it so you couldn’t get back in.

You knocked several times and attempted to apologize, but the same shotgun used to save your life was now pointed at your forehead. When you could feel the sensation of the firearm aimed for you, your hands raised instinctually in the air and you backed away slowly, your eyes never moved from the barrels. Never again would you see this couple.

✧.*

Once again, you found yourself alone in the dark village. Maybe the large castle that loomed over would be a good place to investigate next? You wandered toward the center of the crossroads and your thoughts drifted from subject to subject before being interrupted by the sound of a horse’s gallop. Another villager?! Hopefully they’d be nicer than the last pair. You turned to wait for the horse to approach but were horrified at the site that soon was before you. On the animal’s back was no man or woman, but a grey skinned creature who wielded a burning stake with a charred human remain pierced through the middle. It looked like one of the drawings you found in the old fairytale book your mother read to you when you were a small.

There was no time to scream but just enough to pull your pistol off your hip and shoot into its face. Unlike any human but just like the BOWs you’ve dealt with previously, it took the bullets like a sponge. Instead of wasting any more ammo, you decided on your best bet, and that was to run - run fast. The terrain was unknown but you did your best to go in any direction that was not the same way as your assailant. 

The creature slashed the burning spike around in the air as it tried to hit you with it but you managed to duck and dive each time he did it. Soon, you saw a hope of escape, a line of trees. You continued down your path and once you reached the wooded area, you threw yourself down the only option you could see -- a steep hill and then tumbled down. The horse cried in fear and bucked upward, it wouldn’t allow the hostile creature to chase you any longer.

Your hands covered your head as you bounced off the hard, icy ground. Each hit, bump, and scrape burned through your body but you hoped that at the bottom you’d be safe. When you reached the bottom, you rolled out onto a dirt path and narrowly missed being trampled by a horse drawn carriage. The stallion that carried the wooden neighed loudly as it’s hooves dug into the ground. Your vision was blurred from your trip down the hill and you could barely make out a rather obese face of a man who peeked his head out from behind the curtain of his carriage. 

“My word, I nearly flattened you into a pancake!” he cried as he pulled the fabric back completely. Your breaths were heavy and short as you remained silent, eyes fixated on the Caucasian friendly face. The man encouraged you to enter his wagon and you hesitated to accept but did once you pushed yourself up from the ground. “Unlike those bewitching women who lurk in that castle... I don’t bite!” he giggled. The gentleman introduced himself as “The Duke” and gave you a short tale about his travels in this village. Duke explained that it wasn’t always this way and it was once full of rich life and light, but it’s all different now... “What about you, my lady? What is it that brought our paths to cross one another?” he asked before he blew out a puff of cigar smoke. You coughed several times and waved your arm in the air in an attempt to waft the smoke from the small room. “Well...” you started and then proceeded to tell the imaginary tale that you told the couple previously.

                                                                      ✧.* ✧.* ✧.*

“Dammit!” Chris yelled and slammed the dashboard of the vehicle he was passenger in with his fist. The truck that was to transport Ethan and his deceased wife had been taken off the road and the infant, Rose, was most likely gone or dead. He began to bark orders at his squad in frustration before he came to his senses and took a deep breath. Miranda must’ve been behind all of this... and took Rose. “There,” he pointed at a rugged map of the local area that was taped onto the truck’s wall and turned to Umber Eyes, “Miranda’s village is there, and I bet so is Rose.” 

A female interrupted from the back of the caravan, “Alpha, that information you requested came in.” she brought over a laptop and set it in Chris’s palms. The bright screen in the dark caused Chris to squint as he read through the document. Your BSAA photo was the largest thing on the page and beneath it was the detailed report of your newest mission, the one that brought you to Europe. He gritted his teeth - thoughts of the BSAA sending you on what could be a death mission crossed his mind. Chris reached into the breast pocket of his black overcoat and pulled out his phone, then held down the 1 key to speed dial your cell. It rang several times before informing that there was no voicemail set up. He huffed before he tried several more times. Each call ended the same way and Chris felt anxious.

“Lobo, ping on [Y/N]’s phone and find her location!” he ordered, his voice cracked just the slightest as his anxiety peaked. Lobo nodded, gave his superior a thumbs up and typed away on his laptop. Chris not only was concerned for Ethan and baby Rose, but now your whereabouts plagued his mind. He was confident in your capabilities but he knew how dangerous Miranda and her subordinates could be.

Chris sat in silence with his thoughts as the vehicle turned around and headed in the direction of Miranda’s village. He reached into the same pocket as earlier and pulled out a wrinkled photograph of the two of you. It was from your first mission that the two of you ever went on together. It wasn’t too long ago, maybe three or four years but it felt like a lifetime now. His calloused thumb ran over your smiling face and he hoped that you were okay...

The moment of silence ended, “Alpha, her phone pinged in the same location as Miranda’s village.” Lobo informed as he turned the screen to Chris. A brief moment of relief washed over him but if your phone was there, then where were you? And why weren’t you answering?

Little known to you or Chris -- the cellphone laid in the middle of the dirt road, left behind as you road off in the carriage with the Duke. The screen lit up brightly in the dark air and the generic tune jingled in the stillness of the night. It continued to do this several times as Chris continued to call and worked on pinpointing the pings. On the final ring, a feminine hand reached down from above and picked the phone up. The screen flashed, “CHRIS” over and over. The call was ended by the person, they took the phone firmly in their palm and crushed it with their strength.

Now, there was no way for Chris to communicate with you and someone was now on your tail...

[saturatedboy]

The Paw of a Lion (Ethan!Winters x Karl!Heisenberg)

Can be found on my AO3 (Use title above)

Word count: 4.2K

Chapter 3 under cut

Tick

Tick

Tick

Ethan, the blonde father, had bundled himself up in a thick cover he had taken off his bed in his new home. The night had only begun to take over, the rain storm outside had pattered against the roof and windows of his den. It was times like this that he had slight regret over the fact he could have just tried to convince Chris to place him and his daughter somewhere else. Maybe then this night wouldn’t be cold because of the timed heating system in place- maybe he just goes over and ask Dimitrescu if he could sleep over with Rose.

That thought he quickly shook out. As far as he was concern, he didn’t want to get too friendly with his neighbours. He still had his walls up, ready to attack if it meant his Rose could be safe. The father was already worried about the fact that his daughter would also ned to have tests run on her. The thoughts simple didn’t sit right with him, but it wasn’t like he could just straight up disagree with whatever the BSAA wanted to do. He was no match for any of them...or maybe he was?

A ring caught his attention, vibrating his thoughts out of his skull. Drifting brown eyes caught onto the rotary phone. ‘Heisenberg’ The father thought, a hand itching to grab the phone. With finger tips just glazing over the phone, he quickly withdrew his hand back to his chest and cradled it with the other. “Should I though?” He pondered out loud, watching as the phone carried on ringing. “To hell with it.” Ethan had reached and grabbed the phone before the ringing could stop. Reaching the phone to his ear, he held it and waited for the other to speak.

“Ah papa! Thought you would never answer,” The gruff voice came out, a little glitch but that was due to the rain outside.

“Yeah. I wasn’t going to.” The truth spilled out with Ethan moving to lay back against the armrest of the couch and pulling his feet up to rest on the cushions. A laugh came out from the other side, making a twitching smirk come up upon the young male’s lips.

“Ah, feisty as ever still. Relax, I won’t call you every night. More or less 6 calls at most a week.” Ethan rolled his eyes playfully, well aware the other couldn’t see but he liked to think he did. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I wanted to call you on this fateful night.”

“Hm,” Ethan hummed, “It never crossed my mind but go ahead, seemingly you’ll just keep calling if I placed the phone down now.”

“That’s the spirit papa, I still have an hour and 25 minutes anyway! So, I want to learn.” It took a few seconds for Ethan to process the others words. ‘Learn?’ Why would Heisenberg, the fourth lord and creator of walking armed zombies want to learn?

‘“Okay...What do you want to learn about?” The line had gone silent to the point Ethan had moved the phone a little away from his ear and craned his neck back as though the problem would be shown. His body soon jerked up when the familiar voice had answered back, startling the man.

“I want to know your interests.” A simple answer, yet eerily uncomfortable to Ethan. He didn’t like the sound of that one bit. Licking his lips as a way to calm his beating heart, Ethan relaxed back in his position and sighed through his nose.

“And why do you want to know my interests now?”  

“Isn’t it obvious. We are neighbours, bond to be for probably the rest of our lives so we might as well start getting homely with each other!” A prompt scoff and click of the tongue came from Ethan as he changed his position, with a little struggle, to sit back straight on the couch with legs dangling off the front and back pressed against the back cushions. He rested his elbow on the arm rest and placed his head on his hand.

“I am not staying here forever Heisenberg. After these tests, I’m going back to a normal life with my daughter away from all this.” Unknowing to Ethan, Karl had taken much a liking to his protective nature. It was rather...tempting to mess with, to see how much further the male could go for his daughter- even after a close death.

A chuckle came from Karl. “Now, now Ethan. I’m sure you’re aware that we're stuck here till then. You’re different Winters, just like the rest of us. You really think they’ll let you go after some tests? We...what did they call us again,”  

“They called us bio weapons Heisenberg...”  

“Ah yes! We are bio weapons. Now, I’m pretty sure weapons aren’t allowed in your society now are they. So, Winters, are we really going to be free after everything?” A flash memory appeared in Ethan’s mind, back to the start of the day when his arm had been covered by the mould. How it didn’t come off, how it felt like it was stuck forever so him...the weird boiling sensation that washed over him.  “I’ll take your silence of you knowing I’m correct.”

“So, what!” The sudden snarl had caught Heisenberg off guard, making him take the phone away from his own ear. Even then, he could still hear Ethan’s voice loud and clear, a realisation that he had angered and frustrated the other. “Maybe I am some weapon but some of us have lived through a normal life for that to be taken off us. I may not understand half the shit you’ve gone through but dammit I could still be a normal person for all I know.” Ethan had stopped to take a breath. Luckily his voice being raised had not awaken the sleeping child but it did awake something else.  

“Ethan...” Karl asked after hearing the line go silent for a second too long. “I-I understand your angry at my words but-”

“AH FUCK GET OFF ME!”  

…

Karl stared at the phone in his hand. A long deafening sound came out of it, a single beep carrying on for generations ahead. Working up a cold sweat, Karl had slammed the phone onto its stand and grabbed his coat off the back of the chair he was sat on in his own small kitchen. Silently, he was thankful for still wearing his boots as he had rushed out of his home, knocking a plant that was on a table top inside the home on accident, then proceeded to stampede his way through the dirt road to get to Ethan’s home. He hadn’t even managed to get his second arm through his coat before he was at Ethan’s front door pounding against the wood. “For fuck's sake Ethan, Open up!”  

Pressing up against the door, Karl rattled the handle about only for the door to open with him falling in behind. The rain drops that was collected on his clothing had splattered amongst the wooden floors of Ethan’s home. Trying his best to get up and not slip, Karl had successfully stood up and chucked the door shut behind him to stop any more water entering the Winters resident. Bracing himself, Karl had steadied himself straight as he stood his ground and closed his eyes, trying to hear the man who lost connection. A quiet groan was heard from the left room closest to the front door. “Ethan!” Karl called, running in that room and looking about.  

“The fuck you-ack!-doing in my home,” Karl turned his sightlines to stare at the floor, he then walked around the couch to see the man he was looking for on the ground, turned away from him. Tugging his hat off, Karl placed the wet material on the armrest close to him and then settled down to the ground, sitting on his knees.

“I’m here because you randomly screamed and left. Are you okay?” Bringing comfort to someone was never and never will be Karl’s strong suite but hopefully his presence there will somewhat calm the other.

“It’s nothing. Just go back home,” Ethan’s voice came out as a whine, on the contrary it also sounded desperate. Karl looked down at his lap fiddling with his fingers. He furrowed his brows and snarled.

“I'm not leaving till you tell and show me that everything is okay.”

“Why would you care, go home Heisenberg.” The sneer that came back from the other in response to Karl’s words had him annoyed. He wasn’t going to sit here and let the man who gave him somewhat a freedom turn him away. He wasn’t going to leave Ethan no matter how many times the other will try to push him away. Making a bold move, Karl reached over and grabbed Ethan’s shoulder harshly, before pulling him backwards making the taller blonde male collide on his back. Karl looked down at the fallen male and loomed over him. Ethan had shut his eyes as his back had hit the ground, a hushed cry came from between his lips as he tightened his grip on his shoulder.  

“Ethan,” Karl breathed out, steadily thrusting his hand to hold Ethan’s as he tried to pry it away from his shoulder. “Ethan everything will be okay, just breath.”  

“What do you think I’m trying to do,” Ethan had opened his eyes and spat out his words, breathing harshly through gritted teeth. “Ow” He cried out, letting Karl take his hand away from his shoulder. Once removed, Karl peered down to see black taking over half of Ethan’s body, it was just beginning to move onto his wrist that was just seen appearing before the end of his pyjamas top sleeve.

“Woah, don’t you look a lil different.” The amusement in Karl’s voice sent Ethan over the edge. The father had raised his hand and made a quick slap on the others face before pulling himself back up and pushing his back to rest against the couch.

“Just leave. I’ll deal with this on my own.”

“Yeah, not going to happen.” The flat voice of Karl had Ethan turning his head with a scrunch up nose.  

“Yes, you will- ahm- leave.” Karl shook his head, growing annoyed at how Ethan had discouraged his advances of staying with him. Then, a great idea popped into the mechanical man’s head. Snaking an arm around Ethan’s waist, the Lord had brought Ethan to his side and held him tightly. His fingers dug a little into the thin frame of Ethan, rubbing soothing circles into his side.  

“Just relax. It seems whatever is happening is reacting to your emotions. Stay calm.” For once, just for this time only, Ethan couldn’t help but agree in his mind that Heisenberg was correct. All this happened after he lost his temper or was saddened greatly. He had to do this. Do this for Rose.

Inhaling deeply, Ethan tried his best to relax in the other’s grip. Going as far to even turn to rest his head on his shoulder. Together they sat, only a few sparks of quick pain passed through Ethan’s muscles. He felt like his body was trying to cave in on itself, but it wasn’t. He couldn’t feel it physically doing that, it was his brain telling him different stories. ”That’s it. See, being calm is good for you. Especially a lion like yourself.”

“If you carry on talking, I will bite your throat out.”

“Kinky.” Another slap, this one a little lighter, came across Karl’s chest. Realising that Ethan had hit a blow on him, he laughed at the thought that was behind it. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, luckily for you I enjoy a bit of biting.”

Ethan hit head against Karl’s shoulder, groaning loudly at his words. On the other side, Karl had bit his lip and scrunched his eyes up, holding back more laughter at Ethan’s reactions. ‘Gosh he’s cute’ Karl kept his thought to himself, gazing down at the other who seemed a lot more at peace with himself and not groaning in pain- but rather annoyance.  

Time passed, both of them sat in the same spots, bathing in the others presence. ‘Maybe he isn’t all bad.’ Ethan stared at the sleeping Lord, who was snoring loudly within his ear. Although Ethan wasn’t ready to fall asleep after all this, he allowed himself to settle next to the other. “You better not get sick.”

The next day had seeped in quicker than the father had wanted it to. All night he had been laid against the sleeping lord, who after the first bird tweeted, had wrapped both arms around Ethan and fell to sleep on his lap. Ethan had to use all his willpower to reframe from smacking the other awake, instead he decided to run his fingers through his mangled hair- being careful for the knots.

His eyes felt heavy as he drifted in and out of conscious. It seemed that over the hours the mould had once again disappeared. The metal man was right, he had to control his emotions better if he was going to protect his cub. He didn’t need to get worked up and harm her by accident. The thought made him shiver.

Just as his eyes had clamped shut, a bang against the wooden door had startled both men. Karl lifted his head up at world record time, his forehead colliding with Ethan’s chin. “Ow, what the- OH gosh. My bad” Karl scrambled out of his mouth as he moved away from Ethan. Ethan rubbed his chin, looking towards the other and hummed. They calmed their breaths before another knock was heard at his door.

Grumbling, Ethan rubbed his eyes and stood, making his way into the front of his home. Letting out a yawn, Ethan had swung his door open to come face to face with Redfield. “Where is he?” He simple asked, before barging into the Winters home.

“HEY!” Ethan called out, slapping Chris’ shoulder. “Don’t just walk into my new home, and what do you mean ‘where is he?’”

“Heisenbug Ethan. Where is Heisenberg?” Chris wasted no time to walk into Ethan’s living room, only to stop his movements at the doorway leading to the living room and cough loudly.

“Hey there.” A sheepishly voice said, no doubt feeling awkward with the situation.

“No time for sleepovers you two, get in the car Heisenberg. Your testing remembers?” Chris stood aside, letting Heisenberg walk past him with his hat on this time. Just as Karl saunter past Ethan, he tilted his hat down and winked, continuing past Ethan who rolled his eyes at the other’s flirty actions. He watched as Karl left his house, purposely jumping down the steps on his front porch and entered a black BMW with armed security- nothing like what Ethan had.

A hand was placed on Ethan’s shoulder, shaking him around. “What was he doing here?” Chris asked, looking into Ethan’s sleep-driven eyes. Ethan gave a shrug of his shoulders and leaned against Chris’ shoulder closing his eyes. Out of instincts, Chris wrapped his arms around Ethan and steadied his feet so he could support the weight of the blonde.

“Something happened but I think I know why now...” Chris hummed, a sign for Ethan to continue talking. Firstly however, he let loose a yawn. “When I get really...emotional, the mould takes over. However, it only takes over half my body so I think if I let my emotions come unstable...well you know...”

“So, Heisenberg came over because?” Ethan let loose another yawn and completely fell limp in Chris’ hold. Smiling a little, Chris placed his arms under Ethan’s knees and pulled him up into a bridal-position and took him back into the living room to place him on the couch.

“He came over to help me...” Silence held onto Ethan after that, the father on the brink of sleep. He first pulled his knees up to his chest and held them there, letting his eyes fully rest.

“Ethan, I just need to ask a favour.” Luckily for Chris, Ethan still had the energy to speak back to him.

“Hm?” He hummed, really wanting to sleep.

“We are going to need Rose for testing today.”

Oh boy.

Ethan was nestled next to Heisenberg in the back of the BMW with Rose wide awake bouncing on his leg. At the front was Chris sat in the passenger seat, looking at the front view mirror every few minutes to see his friend drifting off to sleep. When he turned to look at Heisenberg, he just caught him glaring at him. “Keep glaring like that and who knows, maybe your eyes will pop out.”

“Maybe your spine will pop out boulder-punching boy.”

“Will you both shut it, it’s the first thing in a morning.” Ethan had groaned, not wanting to hear anyone’s voice. Just sleep. He just wanted sleep.

“Your fault for not sleeping.” Karl had answered towards him, turning to look at Ethan but was instead met with Rose trying to grab his coat pocket. “What the- hey, your gremlin thing is trying to rob me.” He grassed out as Rose had successfully grabbed a pouch of money out from him. Everyone in the BMW had smirked and turned their heads other directions to hide their humoured faces.

Ethan looked down and smiled softly at his baby girl, going as far as to pat her on the head softly. “That’s it, we only rob from metal man. I’m proud of you Rose.”

“hey!” Karl argued back, pointing a finger at Ethan. “And here I thought you were the going to raise her to be good.” Ethan shrugged in return, gently taking the pouch from Roses’ hand and passing it back to Karl.

“She is doing good, stealing from you.” Karl huffed and leaned back, crossing his arms. Soon though, Rose had followed and did the same thing making everyone realise their laughter they were holding.  

“Oh c’mon!”

The testing wasn't all that bad luckily. However, Ethan refused to sleep whilst his daughter was getting blood samples taken from her as well as x-rays and other shots that a scientist had claimed it was only flu shots. He had his suspicions though. Another test was them pricking her finger, only to watch it heal almost instantly. It seemed Rose had gathered regenerations abilities, just like her father. “And that’s it for today. We may ask her back to see if anything changes as she grows up but for now everything seems to be good and stable. You’re welcomed to take her back home after you have your tests done.”  

Ethan held his daughter in his arms. Her cheeks were a little red due to crying at getting her blood sample taking from her, but it was only for her to cry because her body hadn’t experienced pain like he had. Holding her on his lap with one arm and her frail body leaning against his stomach, Ethan had shrugged his jumper off leaving him in a grey shirt. He placed his arm on a small table in front of him and watched as the scientist dragged a scalpel down his arm, only to watch mould leak from the wound and close it up. “Hm, interesting.” Th scientist mumbled, writing down on his note board and another one following doing the same thing. “You wouldn’t mind if we did a much larger cut would you?” They asked, smiling kindly.

“Be quick please.” Ethan talked, letting his eyes settle on Rose. The scientist seemed very excited to do so. They disappeared out of sight lines before returning with a much larger and sharper tool.  

“You might want to bite on your jumper,” they said as they placed his jumper into Ethan's mouth. Closing his eyes, Ethan howled as he felt the knife slide down his arm, digging much into his skin. For a second, he saw white, only for that to go and his vision came back. He looked down to see how much they just cut him, only to see that the mould had in fact covered the whole of his arm. “It seems to be protecting you. Write that down.” The scientist tried once again to cut through the mould, only to fail this time. “Well, we have all that we need at the moment. Be sure to check in every month for yourself and the child when we need her.”

“You’ll ask me first before going through my child.” Ethan spat out as his jumped fell onto his lap. He was quick to jump of the chair he was sat on and place Rose on it so he could place his jumper on. His hand was still covered in the dark green mould but at this point, he didn’t feel to make a big scene out of it. Pulling his jumper down, Ethan was fast to secure Rose back into his hold and walk out of his testing room. On the way out, he accidently bumped into Moreau.

“O-OH! Ethan...Thank you! Thank you so much. I didn’t know what I was doing then. Please- Please forgive me. I-I'm sorry!” The man called out, tears springing slightly from his eyes as he clasped his hands in a pleading manner in front of himself.

Ethan awkwardly looked at the agents leading Moreau for help. They all raise their arms in defence and watched from a far. Sighing, Ethan looked at Moreau and moved a hand to pat his head. Unluckily for him, it was his mould hand and Moreau saw it. “O-OH! That’s mould, right? Wow, you get cooler each time. I-I wish I was like you! No wonder why little-little brother loves you so much from the start!”

Okay now that caught Ethan off guard even more than the apologies coming from Moreau’s mouth. “I’m sorry, I must have misheard you.”

“I got to go! But I promise I’ll make it up to you, I promise!” Moreau rushed off, following the agents as they led him away from Ethan. As Moreau was getting further out of sight, Ethan stood his ground alone.

‘Loves me? The heck, like, yeah sure. He’s shown that but loving...Nah, Moreau been watching too many romantic movies.’ He brushed it off, wiggling his fingers in Rose’s face. “I need sleep, that’s what.” He spoke out loud before walking down the same hallways as Moreau. On his way down, he had begun to walk with the Beneveinto group.

“OOoo, it's the father!” Angie squealed, waving enthusiastically at Ethan who walked right next to Lady Beneveinto by the elevator and stair case.

“Yeah yeah, sure. Hey, I have a question?” He asked, looking at Beneviento's veil. She stopped for a second and turned, nodding for him to continue. Angie watched from her shoulder, her eyes staring intensely out of their sockets. “Do you have a name...like a first name?”

“HAhaha! Of course, she does silly! It’s Donna! And you better call her that and nothing else you blondey.” Angie spoke for Donna, crossing her wooden arms over her chest and pointing her finger at him.

“What is it with everyone pointing their fingers at me today,” Ethan mumbled down to Rose before looking up and nodding. “Well, it’s great to meet you Donna. Hopefully our stays close by won’t be a problem in the future. I hope to get a long.”

“Me too,” Her voice was very quiet, nothing compared to Angie’s. At first, Ethan thought he was hearing things but the soft tap of her hand against his shoulder proved to differ. “Goodbye small one,” She whispered down at Rose before walking away, taking the stairs case down.  

For the first time in a while, Ethan didn’t have to force a smile onto his face. It came naturally and relax. Pressing the button on the elevator, the male had stood waiting for the doors to open. As soon as they did though, a sudden force he did not even notice pushed him in and the loud sound of something clicking made him turn, anger seething in his bones. “WHAT THE HE- Heisenberg!” The name fell from his mouth with violence lace within.  

“Hush Ethan, they going to catch us!” He breathed out, pressing himself to the back of the elevator watching as the doors begun to shut.

“Who is they?!” The elevator had fully shut, making Ethan panic. Here he was, in a small space with Karl right next to him and Rose within his arms.  

“Agents, armed people, that boulder guy. Quite a few people actually.” Karl begun to explain, looking at the father who carried an angered look.

“Heisenberg, which button did you press?” He asked, lacing his voice in a fake kindness and a smile dripping with the urges to kill the man in front of him.

“Oh, this one,” Karl hovered his glove hand over the button that said ‘Ground floor’. A sigh left Ethan’s lips as he rested his eyes. At least they were heading to the floor he needed. “I was going to press this bright red and shiny one though,” Ethan opened his eyes and watched as Heisenberg had pressed the button that said ‘STOP’ in large letters.

“Karl...”

“Yes?”

“You’re a very dead man.”

[rextasywrites]

Little Darling 7 - a Lady Dimitrescu x Mia Winters fanfiction

"“Yes. I doubt you are gonna kill me after we have gotten so far with our plan. Go on, Alcina”, Mia said and closed her eyes, tilting her head a tiny bit. As if she was leaning in for another kiss from the tall vampire. This newfound bound of trust felt good and Lady Dimitrescu could barely contain herself anymore. As she drew her lips closer to Mia’s neck, she let every kind of sensation burn into her head. From the way Mia's skin felt, so soft and taken care of. A skin routine she’d have to ask her about. The way Mia's hair smelt and felt. It was freshly washed after Lady Dimitrescu had told her to take a cold shower after her latest anxiety attack - cold showers helped ground Mia and Alcina alike. Her shampoo was a creation from Lady Dimitrescu, a mixture of burnt wine stems and lye, something she had used back when she was alive."

the attack is drawing closer, but Lady Dimitrescu has some needs of her own. how is Rosy doing? Mia is falling apart, can Alcina catch the pieces and glue them together again?

two chapters in one day? hell yeah! enjoy it and let me know what your opinion on certain ideas is... ;)

Warnings: Blood drinking

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3  Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

It’s been three weeks since Chris Redfield disappeared with Rosy and Ethan started his one man army to get her back. Little did they know what would await them in the lab, little did they know what avalanche they set loose.

*

Something Mia loved about her body was that it adjusted to time zone changes rather quickly. Even back in the day with her ‘job’, she was the first one to get rid of any jet lags, and the last one to complain about troubles while flying. Even here in Romania, some of the worst days in her life, Mia could sleep rather well and without troubles.

The night before the vampires and her would head to the lab, Mia slept like a baby. Lady Dimitrescu must have put something into her food, but the relaxation was welcome as her stiff muscles ached for soft and comfort. Lady Dimitrescu had decided to stay over the night with her, not letting her be alone in fear she might do something...something she might regret later on.

Lady Dimitrescu was always cold - one of the perks of being dead. The only heat spurt she could experience would be when the mold was hungry and begging her for new blood. And one of those heat spurts was currently happening. Mia looked so delicious in her nightgown, barely reaching down to the middle of her thighs. Of course, Lady Dimitrescu could wait until tomorrow and drink from the fallen soldiers...but where was the fun in that?

Around two in the morning, Mia woke from her slumber to a Lady Dimitrescu staring at her. “...Did I do something?”, she asked once she noticed the stares from her new friend. Lady Dimitrescu shook her head, which confused Mia even more, “Then what’s the matter?”

“You look delicious.”

“...I am gonna take this as a compliment?”, Mia frowned as Lady Dimitrescu moved closer to her, placing a hand on her cheek.

“I don’t think you understand what I mean. My body is longing for you, Mia…”

“Wait, you want to have sex with me?”

“No no...don’t you worry. Only with your consent. But right now, I lust for your blood. Can you feel how warm I am?”

“Yes?”

“That’s the mold telling me to get blood into my system. The rare steak from yesterday didn’t do its job, and I can do so much until the mold becomes...unpleasant. So, my question to you is - Will you let me drink from you?”

Mia looked at Lady Dimitrescu as if she had asked to marry her, but oh well...not the weirdest thing that had happened in her life. “But where from? My neck? My wrists?”

“So you are alright with it?”, Lady Dimitrescu reassured herself and Mia.

“Yes. I doubt you are gonna kill me after we have gotten so far with our plan. Go on, Alcina”, Mia said and closed her eyes, tilting her head a tiny bit. As if she was leaning in for another kiss from the tall vampire. This newfound bound of trust felt good and Lady Dimitrescu could barely contain herself anymore.

As she drew her lips closer to Mia’s neck, she let every kind of sensation burn into her head. From the way Mia's skin felt, so soft and taken care of. A skin routine she’d have to ask her about. The way Mia's hair smelt and felt. It was freshly washed after Lady Dimitrescu had told her to take a cold shower after her latest anxiety attack - cold showers helped ground Mia and Alcina alike. Her shampoo was a creation from Lady Dimitrescu, a mixture of burnt wine stems and lye, something she had used back when she was alive.

“Just relax Mia. It’s gonna sting a little bit but I won’t hurt you badly.”, Lady Dimitrescu calmed Mia down once more as she had picked up how her chest rose and fell at an alarming rate. Her lips connected with the pulse point on Mia’s neck, slowly sucking on it before her teeth pushed out. They dug through the sensitive skin, making Mia jump in surprise. Lady Dimitrescu tightened her grip on Mia to assure she would stay put. Once Mia was calm enough, Lady Dimitrescu started to suck, taking in the metallic tasting blood. But there was an undertone. Something was tingling against Lady Dimitrescu’s tongue, and she had only felt that kind of tingle before.

A few minutes passed before Lady Dimitrescu let go of Mia. The other woman was still a bit shocked, but there was something else lingering in the air. Something so familiar yet new. They stared into each other's eyes, Lady Dimitrescu lapping away the blood from her lips, the bit that had spilled in her hunger. “Do you want to taste your own blood?”

Before Lady Dimitrescu could add something, Mia jumped on her lap, connecting their lips again. This desire, the need for closeness...it’s not that Mia was unfamiliar with it. No, Ethan loved her plenty of times before their world turned dark, but Alcina had her wrapped around her finger. Like a good little pet she lapped up every bit of blood still present in her mouth, the taste and texture appealing to a weird level. Mia couldn’t stand meats of all kinds, but the taste of human blood became more and more appealing. Guess that’s what staying with a vampire does to one.

“We shouldn’t be doing this”, Mia breathed against Alcina’s lips which were curled into a smirk.

“And yet we are doing it.”, Alcina chuckled as Mia got off her lap, shaking her head. “Thank you for letting me drink, my dearest...but I do have a question for you.”

“Hm?”

“I tasted you. And...I felt a weird undertaste that I had only had in a few cases over the hundreds of years, and-”

“Oh my God, do you mean I am ill? Do I have cancer?”

“No no, dearest...you are pregnant.”

*

“Mr. Redfield?”, one of the scientists ran up to the commander of the whole operation, out of breath and confused.

“What is it?”, Chris looked up from his coffee and newspaper, not too much interested in the concern of the man. They had everything planned through, why the sudden wave of nervousness?

The scientists pointed towards the direction where he came from, gesturing wildly, “You kidn- took a baby from the Winters family, right?”

“Yeah. Why? Spit it out!”

“We have a kid in the cell, demanding apple juice, fish craskers and a hug from her Mommy. And she demands to see her Mommy as soon as possible.”

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck no, not again…”

[ellewritesathing]

So Close - S.S. XVI

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

Prologue - S2E1 Part 1 - S2E2 + S2E3 Part 2 - S2E4 + S2E5 + S2E6 Part 3 -  S2E7 +S2E8 Part 4 - S2E9 + S2E10 Part 5 - S2E11 + S2E12 Part 6 Part 7 - S3AE1 Part 8 - S3AE2 + S3AE3 Part 9 - S3AE4 Part 10 - S3AE5 + S3AE6 Part 11 - S3AE7 + S3AE8 Part 12 - S3AE9 + S3AE10 + S3AE11 Part 13 - S3AE11 + S3AE12 Part 14 Part 15 - S3BE1 + S3BE2 Part 16 - S3BE3 + S3BE4

Word-count: 3.5k+

A/N: nano’s lowkey kicking my butt but i’m super excited to get back to writing fics when december comes around

“You know, I really hate driving on this thing,” you mumbled as you took off your helmet. Scott took it from you as you shook out your hair. “I mean, look at this. My hair’s a mess.” 

He didn’t answer and you were about to complain some more when you saw him walking around the bike to talk to the twins. What were they doing back? 

“You’re back in school?” he asked them. 

“No, just to talk,” Ethan said as you stood next to your brother. He cast a quick glance at you before turning back to Scott. 

“Well, I’m not really in the talking mood, so-” you said as you looped your arm through Scott’s. 

“Plus, talking’s kind of a change of pace for you guys,” Stiles interrupted you as he walked up to the group. “Usually, you’re just hurting, maiming, and killing.”

“You need a pack,” Ethan continued like he didn’t hear you and Stiles. “We need an alpha.” 

“Yeah …” Stiles pretended to think about it. “Absolutely not. That’s hilarious though.”

“You came to us for help. We helped.” 

“You beat his face into a bloody pulp,” Stiles argued. “That’s not helping. In my opinion, that’s actually counterproductive.” 

“Seriously, that’s what you guys were doing while I-” you started, pulling on Scott’s arm again.

“Why would I say yes?” Scott asked interrupted. 

“We’d add to your strength. We’d make you more powerful,” Aiden said. “There’s no reason to say no.” 

You rolled your eyes. You liked it better when he wasn’t talking. 

“I can think of one,” Isaac said as he strode over, pointing a finger at them with the same hand that was holding Cora’s. “Like the two of you holding Derek’s claws while Kali impaled Boyd.” 

“Yeah, that was real helpful, guys,” you said sarcastically.

“I don’t know why we’re not impaling them right now,” Cora chimed in. 

Aiden shifted just enough for his blue eyes to shine and his fangs to drop. “You wanna try?” 

You stepped forward and put a hand out to Cora to stop her from engaging. Scott pulled Isaac back by his wrist. You took a deep breath and stepped back so you weren’t in the middle of everything.

“Sorry, but they don’t trust you,” Scott said, diffusing the situation. “And neither do I.” 

He pushed past them and Stiles followed. You started to as well, but stopped when Cora lingered. You grabbed her hand and pulled her away from them, and Isaac trailed after the two of you. 

“I don’t get why you always stick up for them,” Cora said once you were a few feet away. 

“I don’t stick up for them,” you said. “I just don’t want you to all worked up before your big geometry test.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

---

The school was a nightmare. You hated mischief night. As fun as it was to pull pranks and get free candy, it was exponentially less fun to hit with a toilet paper roll on your way to class. You put on a smile for Cora because she was having enough trouble adjusting to high school as it is. The look of relief on her face when Derek called was enough for you to encourage her to ditch the rest of the day. Yeah, she needed to catch up a lot but she also needed to not murder her classmates. 

Noah had come to deliver an announcement to the school and you’d bumped into him in the hallway. The two of you were talking about the book you were reading in English when Stiles came running up to you. 

“The William Barrow?” he asked, bulldozing over your conversation. “The Shrapnel Bomber? Spotted nearby?” 

“Stiles, what are you-” 

“A little closer than nearby, actually,” Noah admitted. 

The frown on your face deepened as your dad blew past with a team of officers, talking about he needed to know where every entrance and exit in the school was. 

“Okay, can either of you tell me what’s going on here?” you asked. Your eyes followed your dad until he rounded a corner. 

Noah told you about the bomb that Barrow set up years ago and then he told you the reason why he did it. The kids on the bus had glowing eyes. And now he’d escaped from the hospital, with the intent to set off another bomb. 

“We, um-” you put your hand on Stiles’ arm after Noah. “We happen to have some friends with glowing eyes.”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “You wanna tell ‘em or should I?” 

The original plan was to split up to cover more ground, but at some point you’d met up and gathered Lydia and Allison to tell them what happened. The police already cleared the building but Lydia was sure Barrow was still there, and you had to figure out what to do once he was caught. 

“The bestiary is literally a thousand pages long,” Allison said as she lifted the blinds. “If I’m going to find anything about flies coming out of people’s bodies, it could take me all night.” 

“I’ll help you,” you said. Stiles was giving you a look. “It’ll go by faster that way and it’s not like I can concentrate on my classes with Barrow still out there.” 

He nodded and you started following Allison out the window. 

“And remember,” Lydia said, “The word in archaic Latin for fly is ‘musca.’”

“Got it,” Allison said as she climbed over the ledge. 

“See you guys later,” you smiled and waved at them before following her out.

---

After a good few hours of combing through the bestiary for any mention of flies, Chris got home with dinner. Allison pushed herself up and walked over to the door, throwing a look over her shoulder to you. 

“You coming?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” you sighed. “You go ahead. I’m gonna call Scott with an update.” 

“Okay,” she smiled. “Hey, uh, I know this is awkward, but-” you raised an eyebrow and she laughed. “Never mind. I’ll save you some pizza.” 

“You’re the best.” You grinned at her as she closed the door behind her. You dug out your phone and got up while you waited for it to ring. Voicemail.

“Okay, so Allison and I have basically spent the day doing nothing,” you sighed as you paced. “Well, nothing helpful. Flies are able to carry messages from the dead, but Barrow’s not dead. Beelzebub is the Lord of the Flies, but I think he probably has better things to do than mess with teenagers.” The lights started flickering and you got quieter. “Just call me back, okay?” 

You hung up and walked over to the door, but it wouldn’t open. You tried again but it was locked. You heard something fall over and spun around to find five shadowy figures getting closer to you. You engaged Derek’s knife and called for Allison, but it didn’t help. Fighting didn’t help. 

You heard the Argents yelling your name when they closed in, but they started to sound further away. The room was cold. One of the shadows put their hand on the side of your face. They cradled your face, and you were faintly aware of the burning sensation. Just like you were faintly aware of your screaming. 

You couldn’t pull your eyes away from the glowing orbs just behind the shadow. Or were they in front? They were gone in the instant that you blinked. And so was everything else - except for the darkness. 

You weren’t sure how much time had passed between calling Scott and Chris pouring water on your face. You gasped as you woke up and scrambled to get your back against a wall. 

“Y/N, what happened?” Allison asked, trying to get close to you. 

“I- I don’t know,” you said. You were stuttering. You were freezing. “There were five of them. They- they came out of the shadows. They were the shadows-” 

Your phone lit up and you could see Stiles’ name flash across the screen. He could be in danger. You reached for it and got up. 

“I-I have to go,” you said. 

“Y/N, wait-” Allison caught your arm. “What happened?”

“They were wearing black and I couldn’t see their faces. Their eyes were …” you searched for the word. “Haunting. Glowing. Almost like …” 

“Like what?” 

“Fireflies.” 

---

You ran out of the Argents’ apartment building and called Stiles. He didn’t answer. You checked your messages. 

“Hey, so don’t panic,” he started. You hated it when he said that. “I know you hate when I say that but just- just trust me, okay? Barrow was after Kira and we’re on our way to the substation to go save her. It’s no big deal. Call me when you get this.” 

You checked your most recent message. 

“Okay, so you didn’t call me. It’s cool. It’s fine. Scott says you called him but whatever.” He took a breath. “Uh, this is kind of awkward but your dad is kind of taking us into custody because we may or may not have destroyed the power station. If you could meet me at the police station, that would be great. Oh, this is Stiles, by the way. In case you didn’t notice from the-” 

Your phone cut him off and you shoved your phone in your pocket and started heading to the police station. Scott, Kira, Lydia, and Stiles were on their way out when they got there. 

“Oh, so your phone does work?” Stiles asked as you ran up to him. You almost tackled him with the hug you gave him. “Woah, hey, I’m fine. I told you- why are you so cold?” 

“I don’t- just hug me, okay?” 

“Yeah, okay,” he said softly, tightening his grip around you. You pulled away when Scott cleared his throat and handed you his jacket. 

“What happened?” he asked. “You look terrible.” 

“Thanks,” you mumbled. “I don’t know exactly what happened. I was at Allison’s and I called you … and the power went out so I tried to go find Allison. The door was locked and-” you looked up at Kira. “I’ll tell you at home, okay? Right now, I just want to go home.” 

---

Not to sound narcissistic or anything, but considering this was the second time you almost died in six months, you expected a little more concern. But Scott was more concerned about Kira getting her phone back. He even gave her your helmet so she could ride on the bike with him! Sure, you hated that bike but still. A little brotherly concern would be nice. 

“Okay, this one will get you into all of the perimeter doors,” Stiles explained as he handed Scott a key. You stopped sulking in the passenger’s seat and paid attention. “This one into the evidence room. And this one’s for my father’s office.” 

“You didn’t steal these, did you?” Scott asked. You rolled your eyes. 

“No. I cloned them using the RFID emulator,” Stiles answered with a nod. 

“Is that worse than stealing?” Scott asked, frown on his face. 

“That depends on your definition of worse,” you said, leaning over the armrest to get closer to the conversation. “But it’s a lot smarter.” 

“Aww, thanks,” Stiles smiled and looked down at you. You realized just how much closer you had gotten. 

“Uh, Scott, can I ask you something?” Kira asked. She led Scott a few feet away and you moved back to your side of the car.

“So they’re cute together. Don’t you think?” you asked. 

“Who?” Stiles asked. You pulled a face. “Oh, Scott and Kira? I mean, yeah. They’ve both got that sunshine child thing going for them.” 

“Yeah, but-” you stopped when they headed back to the car. 

“Okay,” Stiles grinned at them. “So, now almost everybody’s out dealing with the blackout. But there’s always somebody at the front desk. There’s dispatch and usually a night shifter or two.”

You listened as Stiles explained the plan to the two of them and that he could only be lookout because of the investigation around Noah. That your dad was in charge of. He sunk back in his seat and watched Scott and Kira leave. 

“So you think they’ve got a shot at pulling this off by themselves?” you asked quietly, slumping back in your chair. 

“Oh, not a chance in hell,” Stiles answered. “But Scott goes along with all my dumb ideas so-” 

“Your ideas aren’t dumb,” you said, pushing yourself up. “Reckless, maybe. Never dumb.” 

“You think so?” Stiles asked. 

“Of course.” 

“Listen, we, uh, never really got the chance to talk,” Stiles started. “About, you know, that night our parents were missing … and Scott wasn’t …” 

“I remember,” you said.

“You do? Great, uh …” he took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m really sorry for-” 

A car pulled in front and you pulled Stiles down. Peering over the dashboard, you saw that it was your dad. Stiles was unusually quiet next to you. 

“I’ve gotta go help them,” you whispered. You were so close to him. 

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I understand. I’ll, uh, text Scott.” 

You nodded and made your way into the building. What you were going to talk to your dad about, you had no idea. But you had to try. 

“Dad!” you called after him, pushing through the doors. “Dad! I need to talk to you.” 

Rafael looked surprised to see you. You couldn’t blame him. “What’s wrong?” 

“I just-” you took a breath. You needed something. “Why did you stop coming to see me? I know Willow Creek was a lot closer, but why didn’t you … call? Or text?” 

Rafael looked away and took a deep breath. “Y/N, I … I thought we were in a good place.” 

“We were, but then I got kicked out and you dropped off the map,” you said. “You didn’t even tell me you were coming home.” 

“I didn’t want to have to bring you guys into this,” he explained. “I just wanted-” 

“Wanted what? To do your job and leave?” you asked. “Were you even going to tell us that you were back?” 

You heard the doors open and felt Stiles stop next to you. Rafael was staring at him but you couldn’t look away from your dad. 

“Stiles, what are you doing here?” he asked. 

“I-” 

“I asked him to come,” you said. “Because he’s always been there for me. Just like Noah has always been there for me. Unlike you.” 

You turned to leave and Stiles said he’d be right behind you. You stormed out to the parking lot and sat on the Jeep’s hood while you waited for everyone to finish. 

Stiles was out first, but he didn’t say anything. A few seconds later, Scott and Kira ran out with dumb, goofy grins on their faces. 

“Are you finished?” you asked. 

“Yep! All the pics deleted,” Scott beamed. 

“That was awesome!” Kira was still visibly excited. “I mean, terrifying. Completely terrifying, but kind of awesome! I’ve never done anything like that before. Have you?” 

You choked back some laughter when you saw how quickly Scott’s face fell. 

“Yeah, once or twice,” Stiles said. Kira hummed in acknowledgment. 

“So I guess I should take you home,” Scott said. Kira looked a little crestfallen as they walked away. 

Stiles turned to you. “I guess that’s our cue, huh? After all the excitement of, uh, getting some new emotional baggage to carry around?” 

You laughed pushed yourself off the Jeep. “You know … Cora texted me something about a blacklight party at the loft. If you wanna take your troubled childhood and use it as an excuse to do a little underaged drinking?” 

“I don’t need to use my troubled childhood an excuse for my underaged drinking,” Stiles scoffed. “I’ve got plenty of other reasons to drink underage!” 

You met up with Scott and Kira at the party, but excused yourself to grab some waters for the group. Before anything too crazy happened, you needed to make sure everyone at least had some water in their systems. 

When you got back to the group, however, you found Stiles’ face smeared with luminescent lipstick. You handed the waters out and shoved Stiles’ in his chest. “Seriously?” 

“Y/N, it’s not- it’s not like that!” he yelled over the music. You were already stomping away. 

“I don’t think I care what it’s like anymore,” you said. You laughed. “I mean, honestly, Stiles, I don’t know what I expected. Go have fun with whoever kissed you. Heck, go have fun with Lydia! Just leave me alone.” 

You shrugged him off and went to find wherever they kept the alcohol in the loft. You ended up finding Allison and handed her another drink. She was staring in the direction of Cora and Isaac slow dancing to electro-dance music. 

“Rough night for you, too?” you asked, bumping into her arm. 

“I’m not moping,” she said when she turned to you. “Seriously, I’m not. So don’t pity me.” 

“So this doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that Scott’s here with Kira and you thought Isaac was into you until he asked Cora out?” you asked, downing your own drink. 

“Maybe,” she admitted. “Okay, give me that. I’m not moping sober.”

“That’s the spirit!” you laughed. 

“Wait, why are you moping?” she asked a few drinks later. “And why is Stiles dancing with some girl in a wig?” 

“I’m moping because he’s dancing with some girl in a wig,” you said. “God, I can’t believe I just said that out loud.” 

“So you’re seriously saying you’ve never told anyone how you feel about him?” Allison asked, laughing slightly. 

“I’m saying that …” you sighed. Looking around the room. “That I need to find Lydia. How long has it been since you saw her?” 

“I don’t know … a little while ago.” She frowned. “You’re right. We should find her.” 

You got lost in the crowd and eventually found Stiles racing out of the loft. You grabbed his arm. 

“Hey, have you seen Lydia?” you asked. 

“Seriously, you’re still mad at me about that?” he asked. 

“No- well, yes. But I haven’t seen her since we got here and I’m really worried about her,” you said. 

“I’m sure she’s just making out with Aiden somewhere,” he sighed. “Is that all? Because I’ve gotta go.”

“Where are you going?” you asked. 

He sighed again and pulled out a key. It was glowing under the UV light. “To figure this out.”

---

The sun had started to come up by the time you and Stiles broke into the chemistry classroom. Stiles closed the door carefully behind you and then went to the supply closet. His mystery key fit perfectly. 

“Stiles, that doesn’t mean anything,” you said gently. 

“What? You’re talking to me now?” His words were harsh but his voice was quiet. He was confused. Hurt. 

You watched him go up to the blackboard and take a piece of chalk. He wrote matching atomic numbers next to the originals. His handwriting was an exact match. 

“Does that also not mean anything?” he asked. His voice was shallow. 

You put your hand on his and took the chalk out of his grip. “Hey,” you said gently. “Look at me, okay? Stop looking at the numbers.” 

He did. There were tears in his eyes. “I thought you were mad at me?” 

“I was,” you said. “But I think I was just jealous. It doesn’t matter now.” 

“You forgive me?” he asked. 

“I-” you looked down. And you realized that you did forgive him. He’d done nothing wrong. “I understand that it wasn’t your fault. There’s nothing to forgive.” 

“There’s a lot to forgive,” he said. “Y/N, I- I’m scared. I don’t remember doing this. I’m getting worse.” 

“I know,” you said softly. “So am I. I think Allison’s the only one that's not … not falling apart.”

“I’ve been having these nightmares,” he started. He shook his head and scratched his neck. “I don’t know. Can you still call them nightmares if they happen when you're awake? Or when I think I'm awake. Am I awake?”

“As awake as I am,” you said. 

You reached for his hand when he started picking at his nails again. They were a little bloody and ragged looking, but that didn't matter to you. 

“You promise?” His voice was small and it trembled with every word. He looked like a scared little boy. 

“No matter what.” 

You squeezed his hands and pulled him into a hug. When he pulled away, his hand was cupping your jaw. He ran a hand through your hair, finger stopping behind your ear, and frowned. 

“What’s wrong?”  you asked, tilting your head to the side. 

“Nothing.” His eyes snapped up to meet yours. “Nothing at all.”

You frowned. He was acting strange. “You’re sure nothing's wrong? Cause you’re acting a little-” 

“Actually, I’ve gotta go,” he said. He pulled away and started heading for the door. “I can’t do this.”

“Do what?” You asked, walking behind him. He was going so fast. “Stiles, you drove me here. Stiles!”

But he was gone when you reached the hallway.

“Great,” you mumbled. “Looks like I’m walking home.”

Part 17

[lemonadeswift]

Luca 17 Months: Merry Christmas Baby!

“Merry Christmas sweetheart,” Chris whispered to Luca as he clung on to him. He kissed his cheek and looked up at the sky as the snow fell. The nieces and nephews had made a Snowman in the front yard and were now running around with Dodger and throwing snowballs.

“Do you see the snow? Yeah? It’s pretty isn’t it, you can catch it on your tongue if you open your mouth. See...” He tipped his head back and opened his mouth letting the flurries fall and melt on his tongue. He looked at Luca who stared at him for a moment before copying him with a smile. He giggled as he felt the snow on his face and Chris grinned as he watched the 17 month old. Luca then wiggled in his arms trying to get down out of Chris’s grip. He slowly let him. His feet touching the ground before he sunk up to his waist in snow. His eyes widened and Chris laughed again as Luca reached back up to him.

“You want me to carry you again? Okay, yeah, the snow is pretty high right now,” Chris pulled him out of the snow. Brushing off the excess snow that had stuck to Luca from the uncovered parts of his snow to keep him from being too cold.

Suddenly Dodger came bounding over to them, his tail waging an butt wiggling in the air as he crouched and panted happily before starting to hop around again. Throwing snow as he leapt and barked. Luca giggled in Chris’s ear again softly

“Dogger!”

“Yes! It’s Dodger, hey bubba, how you doing? You having fun? Here, go fetch,” Chris picked up a stick that was sticking out of the snow and threw it. Dodger barked and ran after it, the end of his cable knit sweater flying up after him as he ran. It had been a cute gift from Scott and Dodger actually seemed to like it.

Luca made a noise finally and pointed over to the fort that Miles, Ethan, and Stella were making.

“Oh you want to make the fort? Well we will have to ask them if that’s okay,” the fort was being built on a space of ground that had been shoveled where the snow wasn’t as high. Chris came up to the kids and grinned,

“Uncle Chris!” Stella said, standing up with a huge smile of her own on her face,

“Hey munchkin, what are you guys doing?”

“Making a fort!”

“That’s so cool! Do you think I’ll fit?” Stela’s face fell.

“I’m sorry, I think you’re going to be too big,”

“Aw, that’s alright, what about Luca? Will he fit? I think he’s pretty interested in what you guys are doing,” Chris slowly let Luca down. He was still getting used to walking but he was steady enough.

“Luca! Hi Luca!” Stella stood up and hugged him in her tiny puffy jacketed arms.

“Stewwa,” Luca giggled as she patted his head.

“Come on, you can help us build,” she said. Taking his hand and leading him over to where they had snow piled up. They were packing snowballs together and building them up before packing snow between the snowballs as well. Ryan made his way around. Smoothing the walls of the fort together.

She sat down with Luca. Luca on his bottom and herself on her knees she tried to show him how to make snowballs. But Luca, as little as he was, wasn’t really getting it. In the end Stella just smiled and let Luca dig around in the snow as she went back to helping build the fort. Occasionally Luca would try to hand her snow and she’d smile and take it and carefully add it somewhere, making Luca happily kick out his legs to see he was helping.

“Daddy!” Luca shouted when Sebastian finally emerged from the Evans household.

Seasonal/Holiday depression had hit the younger man hard this year. But a genuine smile spread across his face at the sight of his baby boy waving to him, covered in snow, with a little read nose and the happiest of expressions on his face.

“Hi bean! How you doing bud? Are you having fun with papa and your cousins?” Luca nodded before gesturing for Sebastian to come over. With a mittened hand and another call of “Daddy!” Sebastian looked around to see Chris’s second pair of snow boots on the porch he slipped his unsocked feet into them and began to trudge out into the snow. Chris was half paying attention to Luca while the other half of his attention was spent on throwing a stick back and forth for dodger to fetch, but he caught Sebastian’s eye and gave him a grin as he watched him trudge out into the snow in pajama pants with his grandmothers hand knitted afghan thrown over his shoulders to keep his thinly clad torso warm as he went to attend to their child.

“Hey bean, what are you doing?” Sebastian asked with a half forced smile.

Luca gestured to slight hole in the snow he’d dug and the fort that he was halfway inside of.

“Oh, are you helping with the fort?”

“No!” Luca said with glee in his eyes, again getting his “no’s” and “yes’s” mixed up. But Sebastian knew what he meant and he reached forward to ruffle his Pom Pom beanie.

“I think you mean yes, and that’s wonderful! You’re doing such a good job!”

“He is!” Stella piped in as she took more snow from the pile Luca had begun to form on his own. Luca clapped as he noticed her using the snow he’d gathered and Sebastian felt his heart warm at the laughter and the kindness the older cousins were showing their youngest.

“Alright, well I think Uncle Scott is about to come out so finish up with the fort so you guys can go sledding!”

“Sledding!” Ethan gasped! Jumping up and down.

“Yup!”

“Uncle Seb! Will you sled with us!” Miles asked.

“Yeah! Uncle Seb please! That would be so much fun! You didn’t play in the snow yet!” Stella said.

“Come on Luca, lets beg your dad to sled with us, can you say please with me and make the face I taught you?” Stella asked. She made a face, making her eyes go big and sticking her lip out. It was a puppy dog face if Sebastian had ever seen one. Luca looked over at her and then mimicked her expression.

“PleaSe Uncle Seb!”

“Pwease!” Luca repeated. And as much as Sebastian felt completely drained, he couldn’t say no to those faces and pleas.

“Alright. Just for a little while. But it will take me a few minutes to get ready so you’ll have to hold on.”

-

Luca is secured between Sebastian’s legs and Sebastian is secured between Chris’s they’ve all got their winter gear on and Sebastian is smiling for the first time in a few days. His heart is light as he holds on to Luca and talks down at him gently.

“Alright bean, hold on tight. We’re about to go down the hill!” Scott, Ryan, and Carly are all behind them ready to push them off. They count down from three and on one they push. The sled starts out down the tall hill slowly before gaining momentum. Chris’s scarf flies in the wind behind him and Sebastian vocalizes “wheeee!” To Luca as they fly down the hill the hill levels out and they skid to a stop on the embankment laughing. Even Luca is giggling happily.

“Did you like that bean? Do you want to go again?”

“Yay!” Luca says throwing his hands up adorably.

“Alright we can go again,” Chris tells him. Both parents smile down at their little boy who’s happy and bouncing with excitement between them. Chris gets the sled and Sebastian has Luca and together they traipse back up the hill.

It’s a little while before Luca gets to go again because Sebastian gets roped into sledding down the hill a few times with the other kids along with Scott and then down at the bottom a snowball fight starts when Miles throws a snowball at Sebastian’s back as he’s picking up the sled. Sebastian stands. His shoulders straightening as a smirk crosses his lips as he turns around, he grins widely as he bends down to pack his own snowball together. Miles squeals as he begins to runaway and then as Scott, Ethan, and Stella arrive at the bottom of the hill they join.

At the top of the hill Luca makes a noise and points down at where he knows his daddy is and where his cousins’s look like they’re having fun.

“Not now honey, that’s a little advanced for you. But we can go sled again when they bring them back up, do you wanna go back and play in the fort? Let’s go play in the fort.”

Chris let Luca down on the shallow snow again and he happily padded his way into the fort on hands and knees. He peered our the other side, calling out

“Papa!” Chris leaned over the fort and grinned

“I see you!” He said. Luca giggled and retreated into the fort again before saying, “Papa!” Again.

“Oh no, where’d you go?! I can’t see you!” Chris got down on his own hands and knees and peered into the fort.

“There you are! I’m gonna get you!” Chris reaches into the fort and Luca squeals crawling away from him quickly.

“Oh, no you don’t you little rascal!” Chris reaches in and grabs Luca by the foot. Gently dragging him out of the fort and then lifting him up with the utmost of care into an upside down position. He held him up in the air upside down. His hat falling off and hood coming to cover his head instead.

“I got you! I got you bean!” Chris dips Luca as he’s still screaming with laughter. His cheeks flushed red and wide smile on his face, he dips him, pretending he’s gonna drop him before grabbing him around the back and lifting him back up right.

“Christopher!” He hears an outraged voice. He turns to see a wide eyed Sebastian coming towards him.

“What the hell! You almost gave me a heart attack! Luca!”

“Oh come on, he’s fine. I was careful.” Sebastian sighed,

“You know I don’t like it when you do that with him,” Chris gave his husband a raised eyebrow.

“Come on, loosen up a bit, I wouldn’t ever let something bad happen to him,”

“Not on purpose you wouldn’t. I just don’t want anything to happen to him. I love this precious little one with all my heart. Yes I do, I love you Luca. You ready to sled again?” At the word “sled” Luca reached out eagerly for Sebastian.

-

After four more rides down the hill and one more short ride halfway down the hill by himself, building a snowman and crawling through the fort a few more times it was finally time to go inside. The snow clad individuals all trampled back into Mama Evans’s house where she had hot chocolate and Christmas cookies waiting for them. Two at a time people took showers. The youngest two kids, Stella and Luca took a bath to warm up together while Chris and Sebastian both took a quick shower together to warm up before letting Scott and his boyfriend at it. Miles and Ethan forwent their shower and bath for now. Deciding to warm up with blankets instead.

Chris’s dad arrived with his wife and kids a sack of gifts for all the grandkids. Chris was the first to wrap his father in a warm hug and Luca was the first to run up to him on stubby legs to cling to him shouting

“Grapaw!!!!”

“Hey there squirt, how have you been?!” Bob said, picking up Luca and setting him on his hip. Luca didn’t answer but he grinned at him. Everyone’s hellos were said before Lisa came in and called people for help with getting dinner together. Sebastian went willingly with a kiss to Chris’s cheek along with Scott’s boyfriend and Carly, Stella, and Jean, Chris’s step mother.

Chris and his dad and brother headed into the living room. Luca on Chris’s lap, Luca pointed to the table where brightly decorated cookies were. His teeth were still coming in but these were pretty soft so Chris picked one up and broke off a piece for him. Luca took it eagerly kicking his legs in Chris’s lap.

“He’s so precious,” Lisa’s voice came from the entrance of the kitchen. Luca looked up and grinned a toothy smile.

“Yes I’m talking about you bud, you’re such a cutie pie, do you wanna come to grandma?” Lisa came over and held her arms out to him. Luca looked at Chris, and Chris just smiled and nodded to him. Luca then reached for his grandma and Lisa took him into her arms. Fake grunting as she picked him up.

“You’re getting so big lovebug, come on let’s go set the table, we’ll get you some juice.”

“Uice!” Luca said throwing his hands up. Chris just shook his head before turning to the TV where Tom Brady was doing a special on the decade in football.

-

Dinner was served and the family split off into the dining room and the kitchen table. The house wasn’t big enough for them to all eat at one table but they’d all get to talk in the basement later. Meatballs from Shanna, and Beef Braciole compliments of his mom as well as an egg plant and green bean dish, a cheesy potato casserole from Jean, and hand baked bread from Carly and her kids were passed around both tables. Wine was poured and Luca reached for Sebastian’s as he accidentally left it in reach, quick reflexes kept the baby from getting a hold of it as laughter chorused around the table.

“Nope, not for you. You’ve got juice!” Luca pouted adorably but soon got over it and dug into his plate of shredded meatball and mashed up potatoes. Sebastian tore the crunchy crust off a piece of the bread and handed Luca the soft inner part to eat as well. The whole table was in high spirits as jokes, friendly jibes, and stories from the year and decade gone past went around. Sebastian’s heart only twinged once or twice as he was pulled from the conversation momentarily. Missing his mother and Christmas’s gone by with her. He never could have foreseen the day when she wouldn’t be in his life by choice. He shook his head and took another bite of his own food trying to to be spiteful, it was Christmas. But it was so Damn hard sometimes. Chris noticed from where he sat on the other side of Luca and he reached behind the ravenously eating tike to rub Sebastian’s shoulder.

“You okay?” He mouthed.

“I will be,” Sebastian mouthed back with a shrug. It tore Chris up inside to know that the holidays had been ruined for Sebastian. He just hoped his own family would help and eventually heal as much of that hurt as they could as years passed. Sebastian might have lost his own mother but in the process he’d gained a whole slew of people who loved him just the same. Including his own mother.

“Daddy?” Luca said, turning to Sebastian and holding out a piece of meat.

“Oh, wow, thank you for sharing,” Sebastian said as he softly smiled. Crows feet crinkling at the corner of his eyes as he leant down and let Luca feed him. Luca giggled at the feeling of Sebastian’s stubble against his soft baby hands and to make him smile more Sebastian pretended to eat his hand. “Om nom nom,” he said before leaning in to kiss Lucas cheek as he laughed. Carly watched them across the table with a fond smile.

“He’s just too cute. I remember when Stella was that age,” she sighed.

“Uh oh, baby fever again? Are you and Ryan gonna try for another?”

“God no, at least we have no plans to. I’m old now,” Carly laughed. Chris just nodded with a shrug,

“I’ll just steal your adorable little cutie to get some baby time in, what do you think about that Luc? You wanna spend some time with me?” Luca nodded his head and Carly laughed. Not sure if Luca knew what he was agreeing to but it made her happy.

After a few more minutes of sitting and chatting the clean up began. All the guys who didn’t help set up dinner decided to clear it up, shoeing Lisa and Carly our of the kitchen with compliments about the food and assurances since they made it, it was time for them to rest. It only took a little fight before they gave in and went to rest with wine and the glow of the tree in the living room.

-

It was almost time for gifts. Chris went out to their car and got the bag of gifts for everyone and came back in through the basement to set things up under the second tree. He met Sebastian and Luca back upstairs. Luca was happily playing with his MegaBlocks set he’d received earlier that morning with Lisa, Jean, and Miles. They were building small towers and letting Luca stomp them down like a dinosaur. He was having the time of his life as he giggled and fell into Lisa’s lap. She hugged him and kissed the back of his head as she rubbed his back.

“Mom,” Chris said, he gave her a nod, “Everything is ready,” he said. Lisa smiled and nodded back.

“Alright everyone! Time to go down stairs!”

“PRESENTS!” All of the children shouted at once. Jumping to their feet from whatever they were doing. The parents all laughed. Especially Sebastian and Chris because while the others who were older were all excited Luca just looked confused. Chris picked him up, ready to head down stairs.

“You ready for presents buddy? You know what we did this morning at our house. When Santa came to visit? You got all those new toys, well guess what? There’s MORE! And this time they’re from grandma and grandpa and your uncles and aunties,”

“Play?” Luca asked.

“Yeah, you’ll get to play with them, let’s go, we don’t want to miss it!”

-

When they arrived downstairs the kids were all vibrating from excitement. Ethan, Stella, Miles, and Chris’s step siblings Scarlett, Delilah, and Max all stood waiting very impatiently for gifts. Luca pointed over to them and Chris let him down so he could join them. Stella and Delilah both welcomed him into the fold. Patting his head and taking his hand. Lisa smiled as she took her place in the middle of the massive pile of gifts by the tree.

“Alright is everyone ready?” She asked. Looking around the full basement of eager eyes and flushed happy faces.

“Well, where should we start. This gift wrap is pretty let’s start here,” she said looking at a holographic blue and silver snowflake patterned gift wrap.

“This first one is for Scott, from Shanna, Shanna, amazing gift wrap where’d you get it?”

“Thanks, I got it from Walmart,” she answered with a smile,

“Scott hold on, we’re gonna do three at a time like always so it doesn’t take forever but so we can still see what people get! The next one is for Stella!” She said with excitement holding out a small gift box with the same paper but an added silver bow on top. Stella grabbed it with bright eyes. Luca looked at it as well with curiosity.

“And this last one is for- oh it’s for me, let’s choose a different one for now, I’ll open mine later, hm, Chris! This one is for you.” Chris came forward to take his gift with a smile and a thank you to Shanna.

“Alright, on the count of three open! 1, 2, 3!” Paper tore immediately with excitement. Chris unwrapped a new Fruit Ninja, since he’d recently burnt his out when the whole house had short circuited, Stella received a 20k Gold heart locket with a rose etched in the center and Scott received a new sweater from Banana Republic. The next round of gifts given were still from Shanna but to other members of the family. Luca got his in the third round and Sebastian came over to help him open it. Everyone properly oohed and ahed for him as he opened a slinky dog from Toy Story that was also on wheels. As it moved its tail and tongue wagged. Luca was immediately taken with it.

“Tank you!!!” He said running to Shanna and hugging her around the legs. It was adorable.

Sebastian got his gift in the last round of gifts from Shanna and he was surprised at how thoughtful it was. It was a Christmas ornament from Shakespeare’s Global Theater in London where he’d studied. He and Shanna had a long conversation about it before she’d been invited to take a summer class on costuming earlier that year and he was touched that she’d thought to bring him something back.

The second round of gifts was passed out and it came to Luca’s turn. Lisa kneed over to a large box, searching for a gift tag and with a smile she said “oh this one is for Luca!” Sebastian and Chris shared a look with one and other wondering what on earth Scott had gotten for the one and a half year old that was so big. It was literally Massive, he didn’t even know how they’d gotten it in the door or down the stairs of the basement. Unless they’d brought it in through the basement doors. Which was also a possibility.

“Luca do you want to come over and unwrap your present?” Lisa asked. Luca looked up from where he was playing with yet another mega block set. (They were Lucas favorite toys and he wanted more to be able to build bigger things)

“Yeah bud, you’ve got another gift do you want to come open it?” Luca looked over at his dads and Sebastian stood,

“You want some help come on,” Sebastian reaches out a hand to Luca who takes it and toddles over to his large gift.

“Okay, go on, you can open it!”

“Big” Luca says instead of opening it.

“It is big isn’t it! I wonder what it could be! Come on, let’s open it!”

Slowly Sebastian began tearing away the paper and as he did Luca joined him quickly ripping it off with no abandon. As they finished revealing it the room went up into polite oohs and ahhs while Luca kind of just stood there waiting for more guidance from his dad,

“Wow! Luca! Look at this! It’s a play set! With a slide and a cubby and a little climbing wall! Oh my goodness you’re gonna have so much fun with this once it gets a little warmer. Say thank you to Uncle Scott!”

“Slide?” Luca questioned, Sebastian pointed to the picture of the slide part on the package and nodded.

“Yes! It’s got s slide!” Sebastian enthused back. Luca laughed happily and clapped.

“Yay yay yay!” He said. Sebastian smiled at his happiness.

“I know it’s gonna be so much fun!” He ruffled his hair. Luca then stood from where he’d plopped back on his bottom to take in the size of the box and ran to Scott, he threw his arms around Scott’s legs and said “tank you tank you tank you!” He was still jumping up and down when he pulled away. Scott picked him up and hugged him close.

“Oh of course, you’re welcome little dude,” Chris grinned from where he stood leaning against the back of the armchair his dad was sitting in over at his brother who caught his eye with a nod. That was Uncle Scott always winning Christmas since the first nephew had been born and old enough to appreciate it.

Each family member got an average of 8-10 gifts overall. Aside from the little kids, who all got more courtesy of grandma and grandpa. Some of the favorites were a Cricut/Cricket Machine for Carly from Chris, and a case full of Vinyls and various objects to use it with from Sebastian. A double all expense paid Alaskan trip to Denali National Park to Scott and Lisa from Chris. A set of limited edition Leonard Cohen Vinyls from Carly to Sebastian. A Star Wars LEGO DeathStar kit from Bob to Miles. And a Jojo Siwa Bow Maker to Stella from Lisa. Chris and Sebastian were also surprised by Lisa when she presented them with an ornate hand carved door plaque that read “Evans Residence” with their address carved in small letters along the oval base and the date of 2018, when they’d moved in there, above it.

“Thanks mom, this is really beautiful.”

“It was nothing, more fun for me to make than for you to hang up probably!” She laughed. Both men went in for a hug from her.

Out of everyone Luca had been showered with the most gifts. Even the little cousins had banded together to get their newest little cousin something. From them he’d gotten a “zoo basket” a plush basket filled with other various plush animals from all around like a parrot, a tiger, a monkey, a elephant, the regular cat and dog, a mouse, a whale, and even an octopus and squid. There were at least 50 mini animal plushies that came with the soft basket. It would be a great learning tool down the line. Lica also got various puzzles, finger paints and glitter glue, bathtub crayons, an Elmo plushie that said “I love you” and a few other phrases. A sand table with sand for outside, a bathtub boat, some new clothes and shoes and a really big triceratops plush that he fell in love with on sight from his grandpa and step grandma. He squealed with excitement as he tried to pick up the plush and show Chris and Sebastian.

“Daddy!” He squeaked.

“I know buddy! It’s so cool! And so big! You’re gonna have lots of fun with that!” Luca nodded before turning back to it and hugging it around its neck.

-

After presents it was time for desert. Chocolate chess pie, apple pie, brownies, Christmas cookies, and hot chocolate were all options. Everyone got their desert and spread out across the living room and dining room. Chattering with each other about different things as the kids played by the tree with their new toys.

Luca, however had decided the box to one of his toys was more interesting and kept calling out “Daddy!” Before sliding the box back over his head in attempt to hide. Sebastian humored him, looking over before furrowing his brow and saying “what? Hm. I thought someone said my name, guess not,“ before Luca would giggle and reveal himself “here I am!”

“Oh there you-“ Sebastian was cut off when Luca dropped the box over his head again. “Oh no! Where’d you go!” After a few minutes of this Sebastian sets his cup of hot coco down and makes his way over to Luca who’s dropped the box over his head and is giggling again.

“Where’s Luca? Where did he go?” Luca pears out from under the box and squeals happily falling back onto the carpet as he sees his daddy’s face right there in front of him. Sebastian laughs.

“I found him! Here’s my little Luca bean, I got you! I got you, I got you I got you, and I’m never gonna let you go!” He says as he picks Luca up in a cradle hold and gives him a raspberry on the tummy before kissing him all over his face as he swivels Luca back and forth in his arms.

The whole family have stopped talking to take in the adorable scene. Sebastian sets Luca up right and Luca grasps his cheeks gently,