#yes i’m watching i only have eyes for you (buffy)

[patchodraws]

kajemac fic where mac is a poltergeist with unfinished business (needs to tell kj how she always felt) and kj is being haunted thinking it’s because mac is angry that she’s living a happy life that she didn’t get to live and for mac to move on and be at peace kj has to go back to stony stream and give mac that absolution and god i need to write this god i need to make this fic happen god i need to wring the grief right out of them 😭

[l0vergirlv0mit]

Bags

Song to go with: Bag by Clairo ❤️

Pairing: College!Hazel Callahan x Reader

Summary: you’ve been in love with your best friend for years. Watching her date people sucks especially when one of the absolutely despises you.

Contents/warning: Switch!Hazel x Switch!Reader, fingering, oral, pet names, nipple play, cursing, threats, light? violence (nothing gory), sm yearning.

A/n: for the dorm imagine Buffy and willows dorm from btvs<3. Also reader isn’t fem but also isn’t masc but is definitely masc leaning. for my in between girlies 😘.

You alarm clock rudely wakes you up with an incessant buzz. Hitting it a bit to hard it falls off your night stand making you groan into the sunlit room. You sit up with squinted eyes not noticing that Hazel was still in the dorm. “Well good morning sleepy head.” She smiles at your groggy state.

You wake up just enough to snatch the alarm clock of the ground and punch it off. “Ughhh good morning.” Your eyes finally adjust to the light fully taking Hazel in. She was still in her pjs wearing a white wife pleaser and low waisted grey sweats. “Shouldn’t you be in class right now?” You ask her confused as to why she was skipping her morning class.

“I should but Anya had me up till 2.” She clasps her hands around the back of her neck. She still had her tired raspy voice probably having woken up a couple minutes before you. “Oh god spare me.” Suppressing an eye roll you got up from the bed and grabbed your towel, getting ready to go to the showers. Anya pissed you off to no end.

And it wasn’t because she was dating the person you wanted more than anything (maybe a little bit). It was her glares and her back handed compliments that she gave you any chance she could. How she would snap at people over anything and everything she was extremely abrasive.

Your friends tried to explain that that was just her personality but you didn’t function like that you were quiet and sweet. Both didn’t mix well so she tended to single you out. Always trying to push you out of your comfort zone by teasing and getting a rise out of you. You can barley ask a waiter for ketchup let alone defend yourself. But you refuse to tell Hazel about her behavior because she was happy. She was so sweet to Hazel and that made you most livid.

“Not like that y/n we went out for our 4 months.” She grinned at your scrunched face. “How fun nothing says I love you like sleep deprivation.” She raises her eyebrows at your grouchy mood with a soft smile still on her lips.

“Oh wow someone’s moody, anyway Josie was texting the group chat about a going to the bar tonight are you gonna come?” Hazel asks you hoping you’d say yes because you never go out. “Mmm I’ll think about it Haze Ill probably have a lot of work to do.” Hazel sighs. “Pleaseeee you never come out with us anymore.” She give you a pleading look. “I have a lot of today I’ll let you know if I’m up for it.” You giggle at her childish tone and pat her shoulder then leave the dorm.

—

You let Hazel know you were coming and put your phone down and change out of your work clothes. Your style has always been a bit more grungy and masculine only really dressing a bit feminine for special events or outings.

You put on your favorite baggy black jeans that hung off your hips so beautifully. Then put on a spaghetti strap tank top and a long sleeve over it made of black mesh and lace that was completely see through. You left your hair messy and smudged black shadow and liner on your eyes. Finishing off your outfit by putting on your black docs.

Hazel was already with the group so you drove yourself to Josie, PJ, and Isabel’s shared apartment. You found your way to the apartment door knocking timidly. You rock back and forth on your feet waiting for someone to open the door.

When someone finally does it’s her. She doesn’t talk to you directly. “Y/n is here now guys can we finally leave?” She says not letting you in yet talking to YOUR friends behind the door.

Hazel quickly comes to the door and smiles brightly at you pulling you in by your hand . “Oh wow someone’s trying to get lucky tonight.” Hazel softly says nudging you. This earns you a glare from Anya.

The group sits in the living room area to catch up before heading out. Everyone’s talking but your mind is elsewhere. You’ve always been the quieter one of the group so your lack of conversation goes unnoticed.

You can’t help but stare at Hazel and Anya. A deep grief blooms in your chest. Hazels arm around Anya protectively. Anya tucks a piece of hair behind Hazels ear and kissed her on the cheek. Hazels face becomes so soft and loving it tears you apart wishing so bad that you were Anya. Hazels hand travels to her waist to pull her closer just to top it off.

You look at Anya for a bit taking in how perfect and pretty she is. She’s so feminine and put together. She was everything you would never be. She had on a full face of makeup that was perfectly done and a dress that hugged in all the right spots. She was an absolutely gorgeous girl.

You were only pulled out of this haze by Josie putting her hand on your knee. Knowing exactly what was going through your mind. You had drunkenly told her about your 2 year long crush on Hazel in a club bathroom. You look back at her with glazed over eyes and squeeze her hand as a silent thank you.

“Are you guys ready to get wasted cause I am.” Josie announced and pulled you up with her off the couch. She looks to you and smiles trying to change the mood that’s setting in. You smile back but felt suffocated anyway and had to leave. Everyone excitedly agrees and heads over the bar.

—

This bar was THE bar all the college kids go there to find hookups and get drunk. The group gets drinks to loosen up but you decide to hold off for tonight. You let your friends make you dance their tipsy state amusing you. You move timidly at first but the encouragement from your friends has you swaying to the music.

You danced with Britney trying to absorb her confidence in some way. When Hazel comes over to playfully dance with you twirling you around and giggling. She saw your shyness and was trying to remedy it.

She made you sway with her hands on your waist. It was all friendly and playful and you were best friends so it wasn’t unusual behavior.

Nonetheless you felt your face get warmer at her proximity. Anya was staring from the bar after telling Hazel she didn’t feel like dancing. Anya really thought Hazel was just going to sit there and watch all of her friends dance instead.

Anya quickly changed her mind though. Seeing you too make her jealous. Hopping out of her seat and waltzing over to shove you away from Hazel with feigned innocence. Hazel mouths sorry towards you and it was your turn to go to the bar and watch from a far. You get yourself a coke to sip on since you would be driving later, not much of a drinker anyway.

You sit there mindlessly scrolling your phone trying to keep yourself occupied. Watching them still it hurts your chest. Hazel holds Anya close she has her face in the crook of her neck holding her from behind. It was a real sight. Especially when Hazel looked so good. Her cropped white tee and baggy jeans left just enough midriff exposed to mesmerize you.

Josie comes to sit besides you breaking your trance. “I hate her.” Is all she says and she looks from Anya to you. “Me too.” You both laugh together. “Yeah she’s kind of a bitch isn’t she.” Josie remarks pressing her lips together and furrowing her brows.

“Yeah she’s something.” You huffed and smiled brighter grateful for your friendship .That’s when Josie gets a certain look that you know to well. “You wanna smoke?” She flashes you a wide grin and wiggles her eyebrows. “Oh god yes.” You take one last sip of your coke and follow her outside.

—

You and Josie walk back into the bar in a hazy giggle. After a shit talking session that had you loosing your shit and gasping at gossip. You go to dance again and you notice Anya arguing with Hazel.

Anya rolled her eyes and says something that made Hazels face contort into hurt. Hazel says something in a pout then storms off in the other direction. “Jesus they do this shit every fucking night bro.” Josie rolls her eyes following Hazel to the bathroom. Every night? You though to yourself. You were under the impression everything was great?

The anger taking over your body doesn’t let you ponder over it more. Body moving without you telling it too, you yank her shoulder to face you. She was taller than you and definitely stronger then you but you didn’t care. The face Hazel made at Anya was enough motivation. You could’ve fought 10 frat boys and won.

“Hey! What did you say to her.” You could stand her being mean to you but being mean Hazel was absolutely not allowed. “I don’t think that’s any of your business y/n.”

She looks you up and down. “I suggest you fuck off before I tell her your little secret.” She gets closer to you only inches from your face. “What do you mean secret?” You started getting nervous. She grabs your face in her hand and looks in your scared eyes. “Your in love with her. It’s pathetic really the way you gawk at her.” Her acrylics are digging into your cheeks. Frantically staring at her in disbelief.

“Start keeping your distance y/n, Im not worried about you im just annoyed that you THINK that could happen. Like she’d ever be into someone like you.”

She let’s go of your face lightly tapping it. You feel tears fill your eyes about to break the barrier of your water line. “I-i… f-fuck you Anya.” Tears cascade down your face. Anya just vocalized your internal thoughts for the past 2 years now your sure she’s some demon from hell that crawled out to make your life miserable.

Just as Hazel and Josie come out of the bathroom they see you walk quickly out of the bar. Hazel feels completely exhausted, this was supposed to be a fun night you FINALLY agreed to have fun and hang out again.

Hazel follows you out just catching up to you when you get to the door of your car. “Y/n! Wait! Please, where are you going it’s barley been an hour?” She looks at you confused eye brows pushed together and hands on her hips. “I’m tired Hazel.” You can’t face her you can’t stop the tears rolling down.

You open the door but Hazel puts a firm hand down closing it again getting frustrated at your short response. You finally look her in the eyes and she takes you in. “Holy shit y/n are you ok?” She goes to put a hand on your shoulder but you flinch. Her face becomes even more worried than before. Staring at the streaks running down your cheeks.

“Please Hazel I just wanna go home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow ok.” Hazel moves her hand from the door and lets you open it. “We will talk about this tomorrow?” She ask you to get more confirmation. “We will.” You reassured her knowing talking was the last thing you were gonna do.

You drove back to your dorm still feeling shocks of fear pulse through you at the thought of Hazel knowing you were completely in love with her. Losing her would do more than wreck you. She’s been your best friend for what felt like forever.

Finally inside your dorm you rip your clothes off and put you pjs on as fast as you could. You didn’t bother to take your make up off and fell asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow. Thank god for the weed.

—

Your woken up by the jiggling of keys. You turn to look at the time and you way overslept. “Oh your up.” She closes the door lightly walking over to your bed. She puts a brown paper on your nightstand and smiled softly at you. “I got you a bagel from the place we like, I made sure they put extra cheese and hash browns. And I got you salsa.” The same sadness you felt the night before washed over you. Her sweetness makes you fall apart in more ways then one.

“Thanks Hazel.” You can only produce a small awkward smile. “Do you wanna talk about last night?” She carefully sat next to you and put her hand on your back, rubbing up and down. “I’m ok Hazel, really it’s fine.” You brush her off.

“I can’t help you if you push me away y/n. You’ve been really distant recently I’m worried. I-i mean did I do something?” She spoke softly and looked at your face silently begging for you to look her in the eyes instead of the floor.

But you can’t you start to cry before you can even get a word out. “No you didn’t do anything I’m sorry. Last night Anya was just really mean. Well she’s mean every time I’m around her but I-I’m sorry.” You spoke through tears and hiccups not even knowing even know why you were saying sorry. Regretting everything you just said. You knew Anya was going to tell her—everything was going to be ripped away from you.

Hazels face contorted into anger and shock. You were petrified that you had made her angry at you. “Anya did this.” Her tone was steady and dark. You nodded. Her jaw was clenched and her fist balled breathing heavily. She grabs her keys and opens the door. “I’ll be back in 30 minutes.” She shut the door behind her harder than she meant too. She quite literally couldn’t control her anger. She liked Anya, a lot actually, but the fighting has gotten to much. Hazel could handle a bit of sass from her here and there. But knowing she hurt you had Hazel enraged.

—

It had been 45 minutes of you sitting there bouncing your leg. Shaking anticipating the consequences of your breakdown. You tried watching a movie to get your mind off of your situation but you couldn’t focus. The bagel on your nightstand making you nauseous just by being there. Frustrated tears forcing there way up every once in a while.

You hear the knob jiggle and keys. Your immediately alerted. Hazel calmly walks through the door and moves to where you’ve come to stand infront of your bed. She takes your face into her soft hands pulling you into the deepest kiss you’ve ever had. When she finally lets you catch your breath she looks in your watery eyes .

“Why did you never tell me.” She whispers looking over your post cry face. Your lips puffy and pink frustrated cheeks. You notice that her lip is busted and she has a mark on her cheek that is definitely going to turn into a bruise. “Y-you aren’t angry? Are you ok?” You started to tear up again from the relief.

“No baby i could never be angry at you. And I’m fine just thought I should put what I’ve learned in my boxing class to use.” As she’s wiping your tears way, your remember, her and Anya took the same boxing class; thats actually how they met. Hazel looked angry but you didn’t think she was THAT angry. “I didn’t think you thought I was pretty.” She pulls you closer to her. “What! Why is that?” She questioned from the crook of your neck. “Cause you date girls like Anya I didn’t think I was your type.”

Hazel suddenly starts placing kisses on your neck. She realizes she has you turning into putty in her hands, like she always wanted. Everything about you was captivating to her in this moment. The way you smelled, the way your skin felt, how she could hear your breathing pick up with every kiss.

Your heart was racing you couldn’t believe this was actually happening. “Your not gonna have to worry about Anya anymore honey, I promise. Your the only girl I want. And your sooo my type.” Hazel sucks a bruise with no warning into your neck and licks over it. “Oh my god Hazel please.” Your hand reaches up into her hair your fingers tangled in her silky brown tresses. “Please what baby?”

Your face got impossibly redder whole body on fire unsure of how to answer her. Feeling the way Hazels hands roamed you made your head spin. You just couldn’t take it anymore pulling her up lightly by the hair to have her look at you.

“I need you.”

You make sure you say it clearly. Hazels eyes become more lidded than before overcome with lust. She pushed you backwards towards her bed until you fall into her sheets.

“Y-your so beautiful.” Shes stammering seeing you laid out in HER bed. She connects your lips again teeth clashing and tongues fighting for dominance.

You want to make her feel as good as she’s making you feel. Her knee comes between your legs giving you relief from pulsing heart beat that’s developed.

Your grinding on each other urgently. Years of pent up sexual frustration and longing being released.

You try to keep up with her kisses the best you can. The friction making you lose control. Completely entangled in each other, hands trying to feel every part of her.

Exchanging heavy breaths and soft whimpers. It was frenzied and sloppy it was the hottest thing you’ve ever experienced.

You tug her shirt over her head. She does the same for your exposing your bare chest. “Fuck.” Her brows pushing together as she feels her arousal pooling in her boxers. She can’t help but gently thumb your hard nipple trailing kisses from your collar bone to your breast.

She took the soft flesh into her mouth leaving hot kisses. Her hand massaged the other. Her lips wrapped around your nipple and released it with a pop. You let out a strained moan.

Her hand traveled to the waist band of your pajamas pants. Teasing you with her fingers moving back and forth under the fabric.

“Can I take these off.” She ask you her eyes begging you to say yes, desperate to see all of you. “Please” You nodded and she gently undressed you leaving your skin vulnerable to cool air for your dorm.

It doesn’t matter though, because Hazels warm body is pressed to you in a second. Her hand trails from your breast to your hip slowly, keeping your attention.

“Do you know how long Ive wanted you?” You shake your head, voice escaping you in the moment. Her finger slides through your folds, your wetness sending waves of pleasure and confidence through her. The sound alone made her ache.

“Way to fucking long.” She slips a finger in your soaked needy hole. You let out an open mouthed exhale. She slips in another finger. “Fuck! Mm-n!”

Her fingers stretched you out and the sensation was mind numbing. An endless repeat hazelhazelhazelhazel. Was all you could think about. Her fingers curled at a slow pace hitting just the right spot. Working your clit with her thumb at the same time.

“Im I making you feel good honey?” Her voice was gentle and attentive. The way she was grinding down on your thigh mixed with your pretty noises was making her go insane. Your moans start to get more frequent. As you were embarrassingly close to release so soon. “S-so good Hazel.”

“Talk to me sweetheart. This is all mine now right?” Hazel questions you her pace picking up and mouthing your tits. “All yours all yours all yours all…” You mumbled to her as your eyes flutter. “That’s right honey.” She kept a rough tempo leaving marks on your chest until you were finally coming undone under her.

Shes watches as your orgasm possesses you. Moaning her name as you arch your back grinding yourself against her fingers. “Yeah honey just like that cum for me baby.” She doesn’t stop till your squirming from overstimulation.

You catch your breath for a second before becoming focused. You didn’t want your fatigue from your orgasm to keep you from pleasing her. Hazels already pulling you into another deep kiss like before.

“I want to make you feel good now Hazel.” She seemed a little shocked. As you think about the girls she’s hooked up that’s probably not the kind of treatment she was used too.

“You don’t have to y/n, making you cum is pleasure enough.” She seemed almost nervous. You shake your head and take her hand placing the two fingers that were just fucking deep inside of you into your mouth.

Releasing them with a pop. Her eyes are droopy and mouth slightly open. Her chest breathing deeply overwhelmed with lust. “No Hazel. I really want to make you feel good.”

Hazels ripping off her sports bra without another word. You nudge her shoulder down and straddle her. She’s frantically trying to take her sweats and boxers off. You help her rip them off and throw them across the room.

The sight is beautiful she’s completely soak, all you want is to have your face between her thighs. “Can I taste you?” You ask coyly as your hands rub up and down the tops of her thighs, your words going straight to her core. “Fuck, y-yeah, yes p-please—I mean.”

You settle between her thighs leaving light kisses on her inner thighs. Hazels having a hard time keeping still with you so close to where she needed you.

You look up into her eyes through your lashes as your breath fans over her soaked cunt. She lets out a whimper on accident and it set her body on fire with embarrassment.

Finally you lick a broad stripe. Hazel sign in relief. Her fingers pulling at your roots. Your hands are hooked over her thighs keeping them apart. Tongue flicking over her clit at a pace YOU didn’t even know was possible.

Hazel eased into the feeling of being taken care of. She’s switching between look you in the eyes and looking at the ceiling when the shyness become too much. She quietly took in the sensation of being taken care of before speaking trying to get rid of the shyness.

“I’ve thought about you like this s-so many nights.” Hazel mumbles out between whimpers. You push your finger into her curling. “Yeah?” You question quickly. She throws her head back when you go back to sucking on her clit.

You add another finger. Pace becoming quicker and deeper. “I always imagined this,oh god,h-happening during one of our movie nights.” You hum into her creating a whole new sensation as her legs start to quake. “I th-thought youd take the hint. Oh god don’t stop.”

She let out a soft laugh until the knot in her stomach was becoming to much to handle. “I mean we c-cuddled for like 3 hours at a time! Shitshitshit!” Hazels grip on your hair became tight as her eyes rolled back, letting out a loud moan. The knot in her stomach snapping as the white hot feeling flushes over her.

You watch her in awe. Her chest heaving as she grinds into you her other hand gripping the headboard showing her toned tricep.

You help her fully ride out her orgasm then pull away to use your shirt to clean yourself in and lay next to her gently.

Hazel turns to look at you with a tired smile spreading across her face. She cups your cheek once more kissing your forehead. “I thought it would end like this too.” She says to you quietly. “Me too.” You reply going to kiss the tip of her nose. She looks into your eyes for a moment thinking.

Her eyebrows push together as a though crosses her mind. “Did you ever eat the bagel?” You laugh at her genuinely concerned question and pull her into an embrace, warm bodies lovingly entwined. “No I actually thought I was dying though in my defense.” Hazel pouts at you.

“Did you beat up Anya?” You question her instead. “I tried to but she honestly kicked my ass sooo bad, like embarrassing I’m so happy you weren’t there” You laughed at this too.

“I looked cool though right?” She dropped her voice dramatically. “Oh yeah sooo cool.” She gasped at your sarcasm.

When your both of yours laughter dies down it’s seems both of you have the same realization that your best friend was now your girlfriend. Eyes saying what they needed too.

“You wanna watch a movie?” You asked quietly. “Only after you eat cause a $12 bagel on a college student budget is atrocious.” She kissed your forehead and nudged you to get up.

(Thank you for reading😙)

[klausysworld]

would u be down to write Klaus x vampire hunter? I need that forbidden love angst and all that goodness!! I also may have seen a Buffy the vampire slayer post and couldn’t stop thinking about a Klaus x slayer relationship 🤔

Plot twist? She ends up getting pregnant!?!? I just need the juicy stuff loool

(this is gonna be a multiple part story FOR SURE! I can't lie I've had a very similar idea/scenario running through my head for the past few weeks so i'm really glad someone really wanted this too! The only reason it'll be multiple parts is so that it's easier to read and so that i'm able to add the build up how i imagined :))

Love is never simple

(Part 2 here)

Y/n was the first born daughter to Grayson and Miranda Gilbert.

When Y/n was born they had only very recently claimed Elena as their own, passing the two babies off as twins to those they knew. Fraternal of course for they were definitely not similar not for their looks nor their behaviour.

Elena was a mommy’s girl, she wanted to dress up and be the princess: have her hair and nails done, go shopping with her friends Caroline and Bonnie.

Meanwhile Y/n was more curious. She liked to follow her father, learn from his actions. She still spent time with the girls but given the choice to run around a field and swing a bat then she wouldn’t say no.

One day Miranda was unable to pick up the two girls from school, they were only young and couldn’t get a lift home. Grayson came straight from work and took the girls back there with him. Elena did as she was told, stayed in the designated room and wrote in her diary. Y/n decided to sneak after her father, wondering down a cold staircase to a dungeon of sorts. Men were walking with purpose in lab coats and barking orders at weak, pale beings in cells.

She could see card shot glasses filled with a deep red liquid laid out in rows on a tray. She held onto the railing of the stairs and watched as, who she assumed to be sick people, begged for the cups. Eventually they were given the small dosage, dark veins travelled down their eyes to their cheeks and sharp teeth poked into their lower lips.

A hint of fear swirled within her eyes, confusion and fascination. Something was wrong with these people. She peered closer, accidentally drawing the attention of one of the patients. His eyes narrowed before a small, cruel smile formed on his lips. It barely lasted a second before Y/n was harshly grabbed by the upper arm, causing a shriek to leave her as her head whipped round to see her fathers alarmed face staring back at her

“Y/n!” He yelled “you do not come down here!” Grayson hurriedly lifted her up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind him. “Where’s Elena? Is she still in the office?” He questioned in a panic and Y/n nodded quickly

“She stayed- I’m sorry Daddy- i just wanted to see” she whispered and he sighed, placing her down onto her feet and kissed her forehead.

“It’s not safe for you there” he warned

“What was wrong with those people?” She asked quietly and he clenched his jaw

“They’re not people Y/n…” he murmured “they’re…monsters…they just dress up as people”

They both looked at each-other trying to figure out what the other was thinking

“Dressed up?” She questioned curiously and he clicked his tongue

“Yes…see y/n, they aren’t humans. They just want you to believe that they are, they’re dangerous and it’s part of my job to stop them…to help real people be safe” he explained and she nodded

“You cure them?” She tilted her head, she knew her father was a doctor. Perhaps by stopping them he would make them people instead of monsters.

“If only that were a thing my little y/n….these beasts cannot be cured. Do you remember last summer when there was that…mountain lion on the loose?” He asked her and she nodded with a puzzled smile. “Well that creature hurt people, sent them to heaven…and because of that, the lion had to be put to rest” he told her and she nodded, viscous animals were put down, she knew that. “These beasts, they’re just like that lion. They’re viscous and they won’t ever be tame…they won’t ever feel love. They just want to hurt people.” He whispered, his eyes conveying passion as he spoke of the monsters.

“So you put them down?” She murmurs and he nods

“That’s right” he confirmed and she nodded back at him.

“Because they deserve it?” She utters and he smiled

“Exactly y/n, exactly”

And that was the start of a very twisted childhood.

Miranda was furious when she found out that Y/n had seen the Augustine vampires. They yelled all through the night, their angry voices sounding through the house which resulted in a frightened Elena and a crying Jeremy to climb into Y/n’s bed, all huddling together, looking to y/n for protection.

The next morning nobody spoke a word of the previous day. They ate breakfast, Grayson kissed the heads of each of his children and went of to work. Miranda got them all ready for school and dropped them off before going to work.

The system repeated itself until Y/n stepped out of line again. Tyler Lockwood had shoved Jeremy into a wall and called him names, Y/n wasn’t nearly as big as Tyler but threw punches just as hard. By the time the teacher had separated the two, both Grayson and Miranda were at the school beyond worried.

The school recommended Y/n went to a child’s psychologist to catch her anger management issues earlier rather than later. The same message was passed onto the Lockwoods.

But Grayson didn’t see a troubled little girl when he looked at his daughter, he saw someone strong, a fighter, a hunter.

With many disagreements and arguments, Miranda demanded that neither Y/n or Elena and Jeremy would ever be faced with the supernatural life as long as they were alive.

Grayson however didn’t listen. When Miranda took Elena out and Jeremy was at a friends, he would bring Y/n back to the vampires.

He showed her brain scans of a vampires brain vs a humans brain. He showed her a sociopaths and a psychopaths. He taught her what they had learnt, how a vampire thinks. How it behaves and why. He had her taking multiple self defence classes a week as well as personal training where she was allowed to used weapons, stakes.

On her 14th birthday, when everyone was getting ready for bed, Grayson came back into her room and gave her a box. Inside the box was a dagger, a very special dagger. One she had seen drawings of, heard stories of. And with it came the promise that one day she would get to use it.

Y/n was given weekly lessons on vampire history, all the way back to the originals.

By the age of 16 she was searching for them. For him. She wanted to see the one and only Niklaus Mikaelson. Supposedly the most ruthless, most dangerous and most powerful creature to walk the planet? The one who was supposed to kill her very very own sister.

Grayson didn’t approve of her wanting to seek him. He agreed with almost everything she did but not that. He couldn’t risk Klaus. Y/n could fight off a vampire, she was even able to kill a ripper while it was in a frenzy, but an original hybrid? At 16? He couldn’t guarantee that.

So she left in the night. She was gone four full days and nights before she returned. Miranda was in tears and begged her to never leave them again. Elena was angry and Jeremy felt betrayed. But Grayson could tell that Y/n had exactly what she wanted. She knew what Klaus Mikaelson looked like.

And when she placed a photograph of the beasts face on the table beside his glass, he knew he had successfully created a true vampire hunter.

Y/n had boards drawn, hidden from her siblings and mother and only accessible to herself. They held the locations of vampire nests, werewolf packs and witch covens all over the US. She began to form connections with witches. Shiela Bennet, Grams, was aware of Y/n’s involvement and although she wanted nothing more than to stay out of vampire business, she knew Y/n was in too deep to back out and she would protect that girl. She helped her get in touch with other witches, warned her of the witch trials that took place, where a hundred spirits would support her. In return Y/n promised to protect Bonnie, to never take advantage of her and to try her best to keep her away from vampires.

Everything was smooth for a while until that tragic night. One slip in the road and the car was in the water. Y/n had kicked and punched with everything in her to break the windows open, to save Elena, her mother and her father. But she watched as the life drained from their eyes, she watched as Elena tried to tell her how much she loved her. And then, in what she thought would be her last moment, she saw a figure force the door open with a supernatural strength. A vampire, Stefan Salvatore, saved both girls that night.

Y/n didn’t know what to think.

She understood that maybe he saved Elena because of the doppelgänger history that she had learnt of over the years. But she never understood why he would save her too.

Y/n had searched on Stefan before, the ripper. To say she was disgusted was an understatement, but now he was acting as though he was nothing more than a bunny muncher? Lies. There was darkness within him, waiting to be let free. He would kill them all. She was sure of it.

So sure that she broke into his house, only to find his brother Damon already there nursing a glass of bourbon. She observed the two brothers as they through each other from the window and hissed like feral cats. Like a mountain lion.

Damon didn’t even bother to hide his darkness, he was a monster in her eyes. Clear as the moon amongst the stars.

But before she could get her hands on the right stake, Grams was at her door

“Y/n, child, you mustn’t” she warned and Y/n frowned

“I will not have two vampires in our town, ruining my family.” She snapped back and Shiela shook her head

“Child, please” she begged “you have to trust me, trust me that you will need them” she whispered urgently

“Why would anyone need a vampire?” She sneered and Grams grabbed her hand

“Just believe” she uttered “they will not touch you, I can guarantee that not a hair on your head-“

“I don’t care if they hurt me, they will hurt Elena- Jeremy- Jenna-“ she listed, taking a pause before looking Grams in the eye “they will destroy Bonnie”

“You know I wouldn’t put her in danger, they will come and go. The older one of here for one thing, once he has it he will leave and the younger is nothing more than a nuisance” she tried to encourage but Y/n only shook her head

“You know that would be the easiest thing to believe. But they are not made to make friends, they are not here because they feel anything other than hunger. Hunger for blood and hunger for power. Your power, Bonnie’s power.” She threatened

“Y/n, you must trust me just this once. We will rid ourselves of these demons but we must do it right so that we do not become the monsters we fear”

And so with much reluctance, Y/n waited and watched.

She didn’t reveal any of her intentions, she just stayed quiet.

Even when the vampires escaped the tomb, she didn’t make herself known. When Grams died it broke something inside Y/n but it also made her stronger, she knew she had to protect her family, the Gilbert’s, the Bennett’s.

Not even the council knew she was in on it all. Grayson never told a soul outside of the Augustine community so that Miranda never found out. She helped of course, but at the end of the day when she watched Stefan and Elena beg for Bonnie to let them save Damon…Y/n just couldn’t decide where she stood. In that moment she froze, she watched Bonnie Bennet help a vampire and it confused her beyond belief.

And she witnessed it time and time again.

How could this happen? How could everyone in that godforsaken town so easily submit to those animals?

It was Damon who finally caught onto Y/n, noticing the pure disgust on her face when a vampire entered the room. The way she looked at Caroline after she turned, the inner battle she faced when Caroline cried like a child and begged Y/n to tell her everything would be okay.

He eavesdropped on Y/n’s conversation with Caroline’s mother, Liz. It was after Mason had outed the Salvatores and they were waiting for the vervain to leave her system.

“She isn’t my daughter anymore Y/n” she whispered and Y/n just stared back at the wall

“No?” She questioned slightly

“She’s a monster- my little girl is…my little girl is gone” she uttered, tears brimming in her eyes and Y/n’s thoughts stirred

“Gone” she repeated “it’s just a monster…dressed as Caroline?” She mused and Liz let out a sob

“How could this happen? They killed my baby” she cried over and over but Y/n remained emotionless. She wasn’t expecting Damon to be back yet, she wasn’t aware of the way he looked at her. The tilt of his head and the narrowing of his eyes. The shock he felt when he heard the question slip from her mouth

“Will you kill her?”

Liz looked up at Y/n, horrified to an extent as she slowly shook her head “I couldn’t…” she breathed and Y/n nodded in understanding

“Would you…would you have someone else kill her?” She asked quietly and Liz sat up a little straighter, looking at Y/n almost quizzically

“I…don’t know” she whispered “should I?”

That was the biggest question Y/n had. Where was the line drawn? The line between right and wrong, the line between human and monster.

Silence hung over them and Damon watched as Y/n pondered the idea, he could see the way her eyes glistened as she thought over the idea of tearing Caroline’s heart out and then he saw the guilt settle in and the confusion take over again.

“Maybe” she mumbled “maybe Caroline is truly gone. Maybe now she is just a hollow shell of who she is supposed to be and a violent, vicious animal” she stated unfazed “but then what if she’s still your baby girl? What if she’s everything she was and more? What if she’s…better” she whispered, a glint in her eye.

Liz couldn’t give and answer, neither of them could. Neither of them ever would.

By the time Y/n left, Liz was almost asleep.

Damon seized Y/n’s arm as she walked toward the front door and attempted to pin her to the wall only to be knocked off his feet and kicked straight in the gut. His hand automatically grabbed ahold of her ankle and twisted but nothing more than a grunt left her as she grabbed something, a glass, and smashed it against the side of his head. He let out a growl and lunged for her throat but her hand was in his chest in seconds. They both stayed completely still as she held is heart still inside his body, his fangs on display and pain clear in his expression.

A silent stare down happened before Y/n squeezed at his heart and forced a surrender out of him. Once she let go they both crawled away from the other and sat on the floor, facing the other with a contemplating look.

Eventually he spoke, “what are you?” He questioned and she scoffed

“Human” she stated as though he were stupid

“It isn’t human instinct to rip someone’s heart out” he raised a brow and she sighed

“Well maybe not every human but when we have things like you living in our town-“

“Things like me?” He laughed “oh you really aren’t who I thought you were” he grinned a grin of disbelief and stared up at the ceiling. “You think all vampires are monsters?” He murmured, glancing to her

“I’m not sure anymore” she mumbled and he hummed, his brows furrowing

“So…me…Stefan and Caroline are the demons and you? You’re a little angel?” He mocks and she rolls her eyes

“Nobody said or implied that” she sighed and he squinted his eyes

“So then what?”

“I don’t know.” She stated, angrier.

The both went quiet for a moment until Stefan walked in. His eyes were wide and confused. Both Damon and Y/n looked to each other, a look that said they needed to keep this quiet.

“What the-“

“Caroline thought I was gonna hurt Liz, she threatened me by grabbing my heart” Damon lied, a sarcastic smirk on his face which made the situation much more believable. “Y/n stayed to watch Liz, didn’t you?” He glared and she nodded

“Yeah, course, anything to help” she smiled and Stefan slowly nodded. Something wasn’t right but he knew he shouldn’t ask.

And from there stemmed an odd and twisted friendship.

Damon liked to purposefully annoy Y/n, see what made her angry enough to the point where she would hurt him. He wanted to know why she was so strongly against vampires. He wanted to know where she went when she disappeared.

Because disappearing wasn’t uncommon for Y/n, since those days when she hunted down Klaus Mikaelson. The beast who was supposed to be impossible to find but clearly wasn’t trying very hard to hide. Since then she would disappear for a week every couple of months, release her built up anger and hatred for the supernatural by going to a vampire nest and seeing how many she could take on at a time.

Between stakes, wooden bullets and enchanted blades she did very well.

She would return, any wounds wrapped in bandages and nobody would ask, Elena and Jeremy had come accustomed to it. They would hug her, thank her for coming back in one piece and she would promise to never leave without coming back.

Damon however would dance circles around her: “where were you?” “Why do you smell of blood” “what did you do?”

One day she snapped at him and told him she killing of leeches like him. She proceeded to stake him through the stomach and leave him on floor before going up to bed.

That was how Stefan found out. He witnessed the scene and very cautiously raised his hands in surrender when she stomped past him on the stairs.

Damon and Stefan had many conversations on it but nothing ever came of them.

Actually a sort of alliance was formed between the three, nobody tells Elena or anyone for that matter that Y/n is a vampire hunter and Y/n will help behind the scenes when needed.

It worked well.

When Elena and Caroline were taken by the wolves, Y/n killed more of those dogs than Stefan Damon combined.

When Elena was kidnapped by Rose and Trevor for Elijah, she had seen it happen and tracked them before anyone else realised they were missing. She waited patiently in the shadows for Elijah to arrive. She already knew so much about him and it was a dream of sorts to see him so close. She had the dagger of course but she wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do. Looking at the situation, his tone and the look in his eyes, he didn’t seem to carry any untoward intentions with Elena and if Y/n were honest she wanted to take Elijah down to Augustine. She wanted to scan the originals brain, test his blood to see if he were different to the others.

But when Elijah continued to smack Trevors head clean off and grab Elena in a painful hold, she couldn’t just stand by. A stake was thrown strain into the top of his spine, temporarily paralysing the original and causing him to let out a sharp cry of pain and anger. Elena turned to face Y/n in shock, confusion and relief. Damon and Stefan moved as soon as Y/n did and tackled Elijah unto the others presumed him dead. Y/n however collected a small sample of his blood before they left.

She returned home with the others, explaining to Elena the best she could about how she got to be who she was. About their father’s secret vampire hunting job, leaving out the Augustine side to the story as she knew Elena would not approve and Damon, Stefan and Caroline would be appalled.

Everything was different from then, Elena seeked more support in Y/n like she used to do when they were younger and Y/n guarded Elena with her life. Even when Elena was determined to sacrifice herself, hand herself over to Klaus, Y/n was there.

Y/n could feel her heart in her throat when Elijah stood in-front of her, two hearts in his hands from the vampires that were here for the doppelgänger. He gave a her a strange looked, confused as to who she was before he noticed the way Elena hid behind her and Damon grabbed at her wrist. He vanished into thin air and Y/n went on edge.

She slept in Elena’s room or had Elena in her own. She dug back through her original’s knowledge and information, pages and pages worth of history and myths. Sketches of Klaus’s face and the daggers. A small figure, hand carved by Klaus himself and made of white oak which she had stolen and kept hidden away. But then she remembered what she had learnt from the witches she had conversed with.

Killing one original would wipe out every vampire of that sireline.

She wasn’t sure what to do. Kill Klaus and the Salvatores, kill Caroline? Her childhood friend? Destroy her bond with her sister and be left alone?

She hid the white oak away and decided on presenting Damon with the mystical dagger and white oak ash. He immediately took to the idea while Stefan was hesitant but after another week of Elijah proving to be nothing but a threat in their eyes, he found himself as close to death as he could be in the cellar of the Salvatore’s.

But then Klaus showed up, we’ll sort of.

He had taken over Alaric and assumed they would all be too stupid to notice.

But Y/n could sense something. And he didn’t like the way she was looking at him, a calculated and curious look. She knew he couldn’t question her, that would be confirming her theory. So she just waited and watched. Klaus couldn’t help but feel a little nervous when she narrowed her eyes and glanced toward Elena.

When he finally revealed himself and attacked the girls in the school, Y/n was already in the cellar and forcing Elijah up the stairs.

“You’re fucked up brother is here, wake the fuck up” she yelled as his fingers slowly twitched to life. She threw blood bags at him, watching him drain them in seconds through coughing and groaning.

Once he came to he tried to have her by the throat only to be smacked back by the invisible force of the doorway. She held the dagger threateningly at him until he calmed down and took a step back to compose himself.

They grabbed Elena ASAP and got to talking.

It was another couple days before she actually saw Klaus in his true form. Y/n had just stepped into the grill, ready to yell at Damon for force feeding her his blood when she noticed the dirty blonde, blue eyed vampire stood with a glass of scotch in his hand and a cruel smirk on his face. She swiftly weaved her way through the grill and to a booth in the corner to watch the interaction.

Klaus finished threatening Damon, walked all the way to the door and paused. He could feel himself being watched, his head turned in her direction, his eyes locked onto hers and his brows pulled together with a hint of confusion. He watched as Damon noticed Y/n and called her name, drawing her attention and beckoning her over. Klaus left with her on his mind.

She was soon forgotten when he completed his ritual, was faced with his brothers betrayal and then set free.

He then left with Stefan, unaware that Y/n knew exactly where they were all of the time. Following them, tracking them, hunting them.

She watched as they moved from the road to motels, to diners to hotels to dodgy alleyways to drain helpless humans, to houses to slaughter petrified people.

And while they slept she would break into their hotel rooms, seeing how long it would take to wake the beast. She rummaged through his duffle bag of clothes and papers. She flipped through his sketch books, seeing what new things he had added since the last time she looked. She made her own copies of his maps, marking the same places as he had to know where he would be going next to find the werewolves. It was amusing to her that the reason he struggled to find them was because she had helped kill a proportion of them over the past few years.

Klaus could always feel like someone was watching him but he wasn’t sure if it was actually there or just his paranoia so he never thought too much of it. She was always hidden when he looked over his shoulder anyway.

What he didn’t know was that sometimes she would slip a concentrated doses of ketamine into his and Stefan’s drinks when he wasn’t looking to ensure he would sleep through the night. What she wasn’t expecting was for him to have a nightmare.

She had been in Klaus���s room, transferring all the data from his phone over to her laptop so she could track is messaged and phone calls when he began muttering. She ignored him and waited for it to load but he began to get louder so she stood up, a little worried he would wake. But when his breathing turned rapid and his mumbled became cries for help in fear she started to understand. He was in the middle of a nightmare and the ketamine refused to let him wake.

Hesitantly she came over to his sleeping form, placing a hand on his shoulder which his shook off.

“Shhh” she hushed quietly, not wanting anyone else in the motel to wake. “It’s okay” she whispered but he wouldn’t shut up. He just wouldn’t stop screaming, begging for the wolves to let go of someone- Henrik.

Y/n pulled the covers off him, leaving him in only his boxers. His skin was covered in sweat as he struggled against his own mind. She gently rubbed her hands over his chest, trying to soothe him with physical touch. She whispered kind words to him as she smoothed her fingers over his skin to his face, petting him gently and calming him back to a more settled sleep. His face turned to press his cheek into her palm and she sighed, relieved.

Carefully she pulled away and grabbed her laptop which now had all of his information. She placed everything back when she found it and left, locking the door and moving into Stefan’s room.

Klaus could faintly remember the feel of hands on his body, such soft skin on his. He could remember her soothing voice as she told him to breath and relax. He could still feel her fingers in his hair when he closed his eyes.

Stefan almost always knew that Y/n had been there, he could always smell her perfume. Plus sometimes she would leave him little notes to let him know she was with him.

What wasn’t planned was for Klaus to actually find Ray. She was torn between staying with Klaus or following Stefan when Stefan promised to get rid of Damon, who was searching for him as he assumed Y/n was glad to be rid of the two monsters.

Y/n only stayed because Stefan had spotted her in the bar and mouthed for her to stay, that he would be back.

So she stayed and observed. Watched as Klaus threw vervain-dipped-darts into the man’s body with a smirk on his face. It was creatures like him that she reminded her of why she killed. Why she was apart of Augustine.

So she ordered a drink for him, had the waiter tell him a girl had gotten payed for it and watched as he grinned, flattered and looked around for her. He didn’t spot her as she hid herself behind the bar, he shrugged anyways and took the drink in one gulp. His eyes went wide instantly as the liquid quite literally burned through his throat, a mixture of vervain and wolvesbane in his system. He angrily looked around for the culprit but she was out the door in seconds and in her car.

Once he came back outside, Stefan was back and Ray was unconscious.

She followed them to the mountains and followed at a safe distance, stakes and wolvesbane grenades ready. She stayed low and far enough away, occasionally climbing into trees to watch as he snapped each wolves neck.

She watched in boredom as he failed, she already knew why he wasn’t successful. The witches had already told her Esther’s plan. The double curse.

Cruel but necessary.

She watched his tantrum and then she watched as they both dragged themselves back down to the car.

Following them to Chicago was a low point for her. She had dozens of cans of red bulls and protein bars in her car and had been listening to the same list of songs for months. Klaus’s messages were dryer than a dessert and Stefan was losing his spark. He was losing what made him special, the reason she began to trust a vampire. He was proving that all vampires were beasts.

Thankfully for Y/n, she had already met Gloria in the past. So when Y/n came into the bar after Klaus and Stefan had left and explained the situation, Gloria was happy to let Y/n stay with her in the apartment above the bar for a few days. Without Klaus’s knowledge of course.

She was also happy to let Y/n sit and watch the security cameras whilst Klaus and Stefan were downstairs. In return Y/n offered Gloria a favour, whether it be an ingredient to a spell or the death of another supernatural. Either way it didn't bother Y/n, she was just as happy to do either. if anything she craved to kill a vampire, it was her release and this trip was nothing but a bore for her so far.

It became slightly more interesting when Klaus woke his sister; Rebekah. watching them whine at each other was somewhat amusing but it also reminded her of Elena and Jeremy. She had never been away from home for more than two weeks and these past few months had been isolating and lonely.

What definitely sparked her attention however was when they began talking of Elena's necklace. She bit at her finger tips as she watched Stefan's dreadful attempt at behaving oblivious and the way Gloria's eyes darkened when she glanced toward him. y/n knew this would not end well. she was 100% certain that Klaus or Rebekah would figure out what was wrong and so she left with a head start.

She had Damon on the phone in minutes, bag packed and on the road.

"They know Elena's alive and by they i mean Klaus and his wacko sister, that's right another crazy original bloodsucker is coming to town! Get Elena, get Bonnie and get out!" she yelled down the phone as she drove way past the limit.

"woah woah woah, what? Y/n is this a joke? I'm not in town!" Damon whisper shouted back, clearly frustrated

"where the fuck are you?" she borderline growled

"I'm.... I'm with Katherine" he sighed, knowing the pissed off expression she would have on her face in that moment

"Well I'm in traffic! So get home, get Elena back ALIVE and then say goodbye to you dick because I'm gonna chop it off!" she screamed down the phone at him before abruptly ending the call and coming to a standstill as dozens of cars in front of her come to a halt. She clicked the radio on only to be told that a crash had happened a few miles ahead of her. Y/n smacked her head against the horn of her car and groaned loudly.

Klaus must've taken a diversion because she returned late into the night, Stefan was home with zero humanity and an angry blonde bitch. klaus was missing again and Elena was crying in her bed. Y/n laid with her until they both fell asleep.

The next morning Y/n, Elena, Jeremy, Caroline and Damon were piled into the Gilbert's kitchen. They figured out Tyler was sired/Y/n told them that it was obvious. Together they agreed that getting Mikael would be a good idea. Y/n didn't want him to kill Klaus, although it would have probably been the best thing for her. However she did want him to scare Klaus away at least for a while.

The problem was getting Rebekah to agree but Y/n already knew just the secret to spill to get her attention. It was pure luck that the creatures from 'the other side' were able to cross the barrier and that mason revealed the symbols. Y/n decided it would be better if Damon thought that Klaus killing his own mother was discovered by him instead of Y/n. And she thought it would be better if Elena spoke to Rebekah over herself. Y/n didn't really want to form any kind of relationship with the originals if they were going to be here any longer. Especially not Rebekah, she was too girly and obnoxious for Y/n.

So she let the plan fall out. She played her part, even let Caroline dress her up for homecoming just to make her happy. Afterall if Mikael did end up killing Klaus then Caroline would die too and Y/n would rather she went out on a high.

Everything was going fine, she even had a conversation with Mikael himself. He was rather impressed with her actually, he could recognise a vampire hunter within miles.

They then went to the gym, got redirected to the Tyler's, weird but whatever. And then Klaus made his appearance, reclaimed homecoming as a wake and effectively ruined everyone's night.

Y/n tried to cruise through the evening, keeping to herself and drinking shitty punch. She was pretty happy with just waiting until Katherine, posing as Elena pulled Y/n aside and let her in on what she and Stefan were gonna do. Well not everything they would do but that they planned to save Klaus because the hybrids would kill Damon. Y/n reluctantly agreed, much to Katherine's surprise if she were honest but she took the win.

Y/n then returned to the 'part' in annoyance and relief, that familiar confusion settling over her as she grabbed a real drink and stood to the side of the crowds.

Unfortunately for her, Klaus had spotted her and taken her loneliness as an invitation to approach her. and what was even more unfortunate was that Stefan was glaring straight at her, warning her not to fuck this up.

So she looked back to Klaus with an awkward smile. She knew her body was tense and she could feel her fingers twitch with the urge to defend herself. His power radiated like heat. She just knew Augustine would kill to have him in their facilities.

"Y/n, isn't it?" Klaus questioned knowingly.

"mhm" she mumbled, unsure how to behave.

"why are you all alone?" he asked, his eyes flicking up and down the length of her body, lingering on her cleavage without shame.

"I don't like people" she stated simply and he let out a chuckle.

"Ah I understand that" he smiled but she shifted a step away from him which he noticed but didn't comment on though his smile did drop, it was common for people to distance themselves from him. "you know things aren't going to end well tonight" he warned, his voice quiet but clear

"I'm aware" she mumbled, glancing to where Tyler was dragging an annoyed Caroline toward the house

"Then you should really make better decisions about who you side with, sweetheart. You're strong, and smart. I could tell that from the first time seeing you, it didn't take you 5 minutes to figure out that I wasn't Alaric" he murmured to her, his tone changing from threatening to proud though his face remained neutral.

She said nothing in response, she didn't know what he wanted her to do so she just stared back at him, watching his jaw clench and unclench as he watched and waited for her to come to some sort of answer. He knew that realistically he wouldn't received one but he hoped that she would be intelligent enough to at least take his words into consideration. Klaus liked her, he liked that she was observant and that she had the common sense that everyone else in the town didn't have, to stay out the way. If he were honest, he would have liked her to have been on his 'team', he imagined that she probably had a lot of untold knowledge just waiting to be put to use.

If he only knew the half of it.

Klaus was too buried in his thoughts to notice how Y/n's eyes focused on someone behind him, Damon, who mouthed that he needed 10 minutes before Mikael to get there and that Klaus needed to be occupied.

Y/n could have smacked him when she gave him a look as if to ask what to do and he acted out a dance scene. Her eyes flicked between Klaus and past his shoulder, and then just as Klaus let out a sigh and took a step back she cleared her throat and mentally stabbed herself

"Dance with me?" she offered, her hand very unwillingly lifting out for him to take. His brows shot up but he accepted with little hesitation.

She bit at her own tongue to keep her expressions at bay. Almost everything in her wanted to shove him off, stab him, stake him, behead him. She could feel the vervain syringe she had brought with her in the hidden pockets of her dress, she so desperately wanted to weaken him, kill him.

But no, instead she had a half vampire/half werewolf with his hand on her waist and the other holding her own. His werewolf side made his touch warm, almost like a human's. Slowly her hand went to his shoulder, lightly touching the expensive material of his suit jacket.

Her eyes found his awaiting blue ones, she didn't like how they seemed so deep, they reminded her of Damons. They were those obvious blue eyes, they could be beautiful some of the time and terrifying other times. They were the sort of eyes you could fall into, the kind you could swim in, the ones you would lose yourself in and never find a way out.

It was for that reason that she looked away from them and instead glanced around, taking in the music and the people. There were so many people, it didn't take a genius to guess that most of them were with Klaus, hybrids. She hoped this would be the last time she would touch him, be this close to him but deep down she knew better.

She could feel him pull her a little closer so that his cologne engulfed her, the scent was rich and her inhale for a second too long. She could sense Klaus's smirk in response but refused to acknowledge it. Hopefully someone would come get him soon.

Until then, however, she was to stay in the arms of the beast.

He wirled and twirled her around, doing whatever he could to entice a smile or a laugh from her. Klaus knew many dances from over the centuries, some slow and some fast. Some much more erotic than others and he took great pleasure and amusement in changing between them until a melodic laugh was buzzing through the air. His arms held her close as he brought them low and high, round and round. He spun her one last time before dipping her. Her breathing calmed and her laughs faded as she because aware of how his body pressed to hers, how his arms supported her and how close his face was to hers. The warm air from his mouth fanned over her face and the words she needed to say got trapped in her throat.

Thankfully a women cleared her throat which gained Klaus's attention.

"What is it, I'm busy?" he huffed as he lifted Y/n to stand by herself. He frowned when her touch left him and she moved away, a look of self disgust scrunching up her pretty face.

"Someone's here for you... he says his names Mikael" She told him, unbothered by his angry tone.

His demeanour changed in a second . That familiar coldness returning, it reminded Y/n of the vampires she'd seen with no humanity though it was a little different. She wasn't sure what was different about it but something was.

Either way she didn't like it.

And so by the time Klaus had turned around to apologise to Y/n for the interruption, she was out of sight. He sighed and shook his head before going to end his father.

Y/n proceeded to go sit in Katherine's car, turning the engine on and the radio as she waited for the inside to heat up. She was patiently waiting for the doppelgänger and Stefan to arrive and as soon as they were in the car, her foot was down and they were speeding into the night.

Ripper Stefan and Katherine Pierce were the two worst vampires for Y/n to be around. She wanted them dead, they deserved to die. She wished Klaus had died to his sireline went too. She really did...until she remembered that Elena would be broken. Family would always be more important than anything else.

So when Katherine and Stefan started talking about a way to get revenge on Klaus, she left. She went home and to bed so that she wasn't on 'the wrong side'.

Y/n didn't want to be on any of their sides. She didn't want to be in support of any supernaturals.

Which is why she hated to admit that she had some sort of weird friendship to Damon Salvatore who had been relentlessly teasing her on what he witnessed at the homecoming.

"Oh you should have seen them Elena, for a moment it was like I was in Spain watching salsa dancing and the next I was back in the 1800s" He laughed and Y/n lobbed a dart at him

"You wanted him distracted" she grumbled and he grinned while Elena rolled her eyes

"There's distracting and there's seducing" Damon chuckled

"Hey! He started the whole-"

"The whole what love?" Klaus's voice sounded from behind the trio. It was cold and sharp like the icy wind of the winter. He didn't appreciate being played with let alone mocked, especially when she had asked him too dance. Whether it were apart of a plan or not, she could have done something else for his attention. Throwing a drink on his would have taken him a good few minutes to rage about before changing his outfit but she chose a dance.

"Nothing" she answered, standing and walking away from them all, over to the farthest point of the bar so that she couldn't here what they were saying. 'No involvement' she would warm herself.

She knew they were talking about Stefan from the defensive stances the pair were taking but she didn't want to know why, not even for a second.

And she hoped and hoped that Klaus would just leave after his little threats but of course he had to hover.

A drink was placed infront of her and a hand spun her round on the bar stool forcing her to face the beast once again. "Afternoon sweetheart, lovely to see you again after our little moment. You could even call it a date" the sarcasm was clear but the words alone made her nose wrinkle up.

"I'd prefer you didn't" she mumbled and he hummed

"well I'd prefer a lot of things so I suppose we're all unhappy. Now, where's Stefan hm? I know you had something to do with last night, I witnessed you talking suspiciously quietly with Katerina." He placed a threatening hand on her upper arm and both Damon and Elena stood from their places, worry on their faces as they saw a darkness swirl inside Y/n's eyes. "Where is Stefan, and where had he put my family?"

Y/n let out a laugh, she couldn't help it.

"He took the originals?" she questioned, covering her mouth as hiccups of laughter threatened to escape. Damon headed over fast, muttering to Elena to get it the car. He quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and let out a nervous chuckle, looking to Y/n with wide eyes but she couldn't stop giggling.

"She's just...going through something right now" He smiled fakely and pulled her out of her seat, holding his own hand over her mouth making her shove him off out of reflex, her voice aggressive as she began to yell

"Get the fuck off you filthy-" she cut herself off when she noticed multiple people staring at her with surprised expressions. Damon simply chuckled and grabbed her elbow, pulling her toward the door

"don't hit me" he whispered quietly as he pushed her through the door and toward the car.

Klaus watched the two in confusion and interest. He certainly hadn't expected her to switch up so fast and he definitely wanted to know what the end of her insult was supposed to be.

His curiosity grew when he went to the Salvatore's to try and see if maybe Stefan was there only to find Damon and Y/n with a supernatural board, pictures and names written with strings running from the to different information.

"God if you and your fucked up brother just pissed off instead of following Elena around like the hungry mosquitoes you are then everything would be sunshine and daisies" Y/n complained and Damon rolled his eyes as he linked Stefan to the originals via some red wool.

"What and you would have carried on hunting and slaughtering vampires while Jeremy, Elena and Jenna would obliviously move on with their lives and eventually Elena would have settled down with good ol' Matt Donovon?" he mocked and Klaus's brows furrowed.

"Sounds better than my life right now" she mumbled and Damon rolled his eyes

"Surely this is every crazy vampire hunters dream?" he questioned "cmon think about it, you're surrounded by the oldest vampires, a famous ripper, hybrids and best of all...you got me?" he grinned and she groaned, dropping onto the couch.

"I know and it just makes me feel murderous all the time" she whined "and gross and contaminated" she gagged and he dramatically huffed.

"Come on, you can attack me" he offered with a playful glint and she let out a mocking 'ha ha'. "hey no come on, how about you get to stab me a few times and I get a shot of your blood?"

"Damon?"

"yes?"

"I would rather rip my own heart out then let a soulless , leech anywhere near my blood" she sneered and he laughed with a clap.

"How did it take me so long to realise you undying hatred for what was it?-my kind?" he raised his brows and she glared at him

"These past few months have done nothing but confirm my every belief. You and everyone like you are monsters" she whispered, enjoying how his expression faltered "unsavable, unloveable-"

"shut up" he uttered, veins appearing under his eyes making her lips curve up

"see? you can't even control yourself"

"says the girl who nearly lost it in the middle of the grill" he quipped before walking out and leaving her alone.

Klaus's mind was spinning with new knowledge. It made sense to him but he still wasn't exactly expecting it. Either way, he would find a way to put this to his advantage.

(Okay I'm going to make this part one and then from here Klaus and Y/n will have more time together and start to fall for one-another. I know this is a little different to my usual stories as I never usually give so much build up/back story but I had a lot of ideas and wanted to share those with you. So thanks for reading and I hope you loo forward to the next part/parts)

[perseephoneee]

kinktober 8 (kol mikaelson x f!reader)

↳ masterlist ↳ ship exchange ↳ taglist ↳ kinktober masterlist

content warnings: blood sharing, oral (f!receiving), inexperienced reader

a/n: we did it guys! had to save my fav for last <3 i was discussing with @wholoveseggs earlier that we think kol is a giver so i had to incorporate it lol.

all of these are inspired by this post by @moremaybank

“You’re joking.”

Kol looked at you with an expression that could be described as shocked, offended, and also intrigued. You squirmed under his gaze, bringing a pillow into your lap like it would guard you against his scrutiny.

“Well, gee Kol, thanks for your empathy,” you scowled.

“I’m just shocked, that’s all.”

“Right. Like it’s surprising.”

“It is,” he said. “A gorgeous girl like you should’ve orgasmed once in your life, but never? That’s an affront to nature.” You flushed slightly at his compliment but still refused to make eye contact.

You were both in your bedroom Halloween night. Becoming friends with Kol had been an accident, and falling in love was an even bigger one. You had never told him, though, happy to stay the way you were. Until somehow, your sex lives came up, and the wine had caused you to spill your lack of history in pretty much everything. You wished you could both go back to watching Buffy and leave it at that.

“Not even through masturbation?”

“Kol, I seriously don’t want to talk about it,” you hissed, turning away from him. You didn’t mean to snap at him, but it was already embarrassing enough without the pity of the guy you like. It was only silent for a few moments.

“I could help you.”

You whipped your head around, brows furrowed. Kol barely seemed bothered by the proposition.

“I am quite good, and I’ve always wanted to.”

“You’ve always wanted to make a girl come? Doesn’t that counteract the ‘I am quite good’ statement?” you raised a brow, and Kol threw a pillow at you.

“I’ve always wanted to make you come,” he scooted closer to you, his eyes darkening.

“Me?” you gulped.

“I only befriend pretty girls, but you had to go and make me like you, you minx,” Kol grinned. “Plus, I’ve been meaning to ask you on a date.”

“A date? This is not a date; this is sex.”

“Semantics, darling,” he purred, brushing your hair back. “Would you say yes? If I asked.”

You blinked, heart galloping at a speed unsafe for humankind. “Yes,” you breathed, and Kol beamed. You’re not sure what you said yes to, but he was attracted to you, and you were going to say yes to that. He pushed you back on the bed, helping you get comfortable as he settled between your thighs.

“Now, we’re going to have to do something about these clothes,” he said as he fiddled with the hem of your shirt. You sat up, taking your shirt over your head and enjoying the way his mouth parted at the sight of you in your bra. He quickly helped you remove your pants, and his expression made you want to be admired by him for the rest of your life. He caged your head between his arms, delicately brushing your face. “Relax, darling,” he cooed. “I got you.”

When he kissed you, it was better than you imagined. He tasted of apple cider and spring days, and you wondered if it was plausible to never breathe again if it meant kissing him. He bit your bottom lip, slipping his tongue into your mouth and coaxing a moan from you. One of his hands cupped your breast over your bra, and you arched into his touch. Your hands gripped his biceps, following the planes of his shoulders. He kissed across your jaw, licking your pulse point and sending shivers down your spine. He kissed his way down your body before settling between your thighs. His lips kissed and nipped along your thighs, bringing your legs over his shoulders as he made marks across your skin. You saw the veins appear beneath his eyes, and his grip tightened on you as he held his fangs back.

“Kol,” you whispered. “Would you drink from me?” His gaze snapped to yours, hesitation in his eyes. “I trust you…please?”

“You drive me crazy,” Kol murmured, smirking at you as his fangs came out. You were sure what to expect when he sank them into the plush of your thighs, but the burn felt good, and you rested your head against the pillows with a moan. He brushed over your clothed center, adding pleasure to the burn as he drank his fill from you. He detached, switching to the other thigh and giving you twin marks. The sight of Kol drinking from you was one of the more erotic things you’d seen in your life, and you wondered if you could come from the sight alone. When he was done, his mouth stained red as he came back up to kiss you. He bit down on his lip, drawing his blood to the surface and forcing you to drink it as he kissed you deeply. You felt yourself heal up as Kol pulled away and settled back between your thighs.

He removed your panties with a wink and dispelled any nerves by immediately causing you to melt with licks to your center.

“Oh, Kol,” you breathed, unfamiliar to the sensations throughout your body. He held your hips down with one arm, the other teasing your entrance as he slowly pushed in. You felt tears of pleasure prick your eyes as he sucked and kissed your clit, his fingers brushing you in all the right places. You wanted to die like this, with Kol between your thighs, bringing you the best pleasure of your life.

When you did come, it was all at once in a shout. You had never felt something so infinite as he held you through it. When you were done, you thought he would stop, but he continued his ministrations on your clit.

“Kol,” you murmured, squirming from the overstimulation.

“C’mon darling, give me one more,” he groaned into your pussy, adding a second finger. You were helpless against him, but when you did come a second time, he held your hand through it, his grip the only solid thing bringing you back to earth. He wiped his mouth on the inside of your thigh, coming back up to you and kissing you softly. “Now, how was that?” he smiled, cupping your face.

“Your date is going to have to meet some high expectations,” you joked.

“Oh, darling, don’t ever underestimate me,” Kol chuckled, pulling you close to him. “Not when you’re all mine.”

[emma-m-black]

Soul Mate Magic - Chapter Sixteen

Rupert Giles x OC (FanFiction) - MATURE 18+

A new magical transfer comes to Sunnydale High, and ends up discovering a magical connection with our favorite Watcher.

OC is 19+ (Not a Minor), Age Gap, Slow Burn-ish (with a little preview thrown in there during the Bandy Candy Episode).

____

Author Master List

Read: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen,

Chapter Sixteen:

“Rose!” The shout of her name broke through the suffocating darkness she’d been lost in. Her eyes fluttered open as her body trembled, pain pulling her further into consciousness. “Rose, wake up!”

Buffy’s frantic face hovered above her, concern flooding her features.

A dull throb turned into searing pain at the back of Rose’s head. “Oww,” she whispered, raising her hand instinctively, but the moment she did, memories slammed into her like a freight train.

There had been a knock at the door. Joyce had answered it. Rose had heard her scream, and she’d rushed to help, stepping out into the night—then the sudden force throwing her back, her skull colliding with the banister. Darkness had followed.

“If you bring her outside, I can heal her,” came a distant, familiar voice, tugging Rose’s attention.

“That’s not going to happen,” Buffy snapped, her voice taut with tension. “Rose. Rose, they took my mother. I have to go after her. Do you know where they went?”

“Boarding house, Prescott Lane,” the voice replied again, each word dripping with a cold certainty. “The Watcher’s Council has been working out of there for the last week.”

Her father. Slowly, Rose turned her head, and there he was—sitting just outside the open front door, leaning on the frame like an outsider watching from the shadows. His eyes met hers, tired and broken in a way that mirrored something deep in her own chest.

“Rose, I ne—”

“Go, Buffy,” Rose cut in softly, her voice steady despite the whirlwind of pain and confusion inside her. “Save your mom.”

As Buffy gathered her weapons and disappeared into the night, Rose shifted, pressing her back against the banister for support. She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Her father, sitting there so casually after everything, made her skin crawl.

“Rose, you’re bleeding. I can heal you if—”

“I’m not stepping out that door,” she interrupted, her tone sharp as her gaze locked onto his. “Were you there the whole time? Just… watching?”

Her father nodded slowly. “Yes, I saw what happened, but I... I couldn’t get into the house.”

The words stung, not just for their content but for what they implied—he had seen her in danger and she had spelled him from being able to help. Anger and sorrow tangled together in her chest, making it hard to breathe.

“How did you know the Watcher’s Council was here? Where they’re hiding?” Rose asked, her voice quieter now, as if the energy to stay angry was draining away.

“The coven has been watching all the comings and goings in town. The Elders went to them, told them about the interference from the Watcher and his Slayer,” he explained, his tone measured.

The betrayal hit her in waves—first slow, then suddenly, like a drowning sensation she couldn’t escape from. Her own family, people she’d trusted with everything, was tied up in this conspiracy. She wanted to scream at him.

“If you hurt them...” Rose warned, her voice trembling, though she wasn’t sure if it was from fear, anger, or the fresh stab of hurt.

“I don’t want anyone hurt,” her father said quietly. “Especially not you.”

Rose scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping her lips. “But you’d still throw me on a pyre, wouldn’t you? All so you can keep your power.”

Her laugh was hollow, but it was the only thing holding back the tears she refused to shed. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.

“No,” he said, voice trembling slightly. “I’m done with it. They’ve excommunicated me, Rose. For telling your friends where you were. I won’t let them sacrifice you. I won’t let them destroy you. Not for this.”

There was a flicker of sincerity in his voice, and for a moment, just a split second, she wanted to believe him. But how could she? After everything? She had spent her whole life trusting this man, and in return, he had betrayed her. Lied to her. His actions had led her here—wounded, broken, and on the verge of losing everything.

“How could I ever trust you again?” she asked, her voice cracking. The words echoed the deeper pain inside her, a pain far worse than the throbbing in her head.

“I don’t expect you to trust me,” he admitted, sadness weighing down every syllable. “But I hope you’ll believe that I’ll be watching, and I’ll do what I can to help you. I’ll make up for the lies, somehow.”

Rose looked at him, eyes blurry with emotion, not entirely sure how to respond. She was too raw, too wounded. She shut her eyes and let out a shaky breath, trying to steady herself.

But then he spoke again.

“So, you and the Watcher seem quite close...”

The shift in tone was enough to drag her out of her misery, and a groan escaped her lips. “Dad...”

“He’s quite a bit older, though...” his voice was laced with discomfort.

“DAD!” Rose’s voice was louder now, a laugh bubbling up despite everything. She couldn’t help it.

“He’s also quite protective of you,” her father added softly.

“Mr. Giles is like that with everyone,” Rose mumbled, though her heartbeat quickened at the thought of Giles. She tried to ignore the memories—the closeness, the connection, the intimacy that had somehow drawn them together.

But then her father’s next words stopped her cold. “His right hook said otherwise.”

Her eyes shot open, staring at him in confusion. “What?”

“When I came to him, to ask them for help, he... well, we may have come to blows.”

“May have?” she asked, her mind whirling with the information. It didn’t fit—Giles was always so controlled, but then her mind flashed to the motel room with Ethan...

“It was the spell.“ she said simply, the memory of that time rising to the surface.

“Oh, I don’t think that was because of that silly love spell,” her father said, his tone darkening. “That Mr. Rayne explained everything. I know what spell they used, Rose. It only amplifies something that’s already there. Or has the potential to be.”

The weight of his words crushed down on her chest, suffocating. Her family knew. They knew everything. The embarrassment burned through her, hotter than any fire her family could throw her on.

“Wait... how much do you know?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, afraid of the answer.

“Everything, Rose.”

“Oh my God,” Rose groaned, the shame rising in her throat like bile. “I think I might die from embarrassment.”

Her father chuckled softly. “Hey, I never told you about my first time...”

“DAD! Oh my god no!” Rose screamed as she raised her hands to her ears to cover them.

A laugh broke through her lips before she could stop it, and soon her father was laughing too.

Rose wasn’t sure how much time had passed as she and her father exchanged stilted, awkward conversation. The distance between them—emotional and physical—felt like an invisible wall neither could fully breach. But then something flickered in her memory.

“Wait,” she said, snapping her attention to him. “You said came to blows… Did you punch Mr. Giles?”

Her father shifted uncomfortably, his lips twitching into a lopsided smirk. “Tried to. Didn’t get a very good hit in mind you,” he admitted with a small shrug. “But he was always faster than me.”

“What?” Rose’s voice was disbelieving, her mind struggling to connect the pieces of a life she never imagined her father shared with Giles. She stared at him in shock, the distance between past and present collapsing into one messy, tangled truth.

Before she could process the revelation, the familiar rumble of Giles’s car cut through the tension. Rose turned her head, watching as Giles and the Summers women emerged, each of them looking haggard and worn. It was as if the weight of the world clung to them.

Rose and her father stood as they made their way up the porch, the atmosphere shifting with their arrival. She made a move to approach Buffy, concern clouding her expression. “Buffy, are you okay?” she asked, taking a step forward before stopping abruptly, remembering the barrier—the house’s threshold that kept her father just outside and her safe.

“I’m okay,” Buffy replied, her tone flat but tinged with exhaustion. Her eyes flickered toward Rose’s father, wary and distrustful, but she carefully sidestepped him, ushering her mother inside and disappearing toward the kitchen.

Then, silence. The kind that crackles like static in the air, thick and suffocating.

“Rupert,” The greeting was cold.

“Cole,” Giles replied, his voice sharp with unspoken history.

Rose blinked, trying to wrap her mind around what she was witnessing. Her father, Giles, together. She could feel the words struggling to form in her mouth. “What is… happening?” she asked softly, her voice faltering, as if her brain couldn’t keep up with the revelations.

“We met long before all of this,” Cole said, keeping his eyes locked on Giles with an intensity Rose hadn’t seen before. “Oxford.”

“Oh, my god…” Rose whispered, her heart sinking into her stomach. This wasn’t just a collision of the past and present—this was a nightmare unfolding before her.

Cole’s gaze never wavered, hard and cold as it fixed on Giles. “Surprisingly, I wasn’t much of a fan of you back then either,” Cole said, his voice laced with bitterness.

Rose stood frozen, her heart hammering in her chest. Her father—the man who had betrayed her—and Giles, the person she trusted, the man she… had feelings for, were at odds. And not just because of her. They had known each other long before the curse, before her entire life had spiraled into chaos.

Giles’s response was biting, full of venom Rose had never heard him use. “Perhaps that was because you always knew, somewhere deep down, that I would be entrusted with your daughter’s care. While you and your coven plotted to kill her.”

“This was never what I wanted!” Cole’s retort came fast, his frustration clear as his voice cracked under the weight of his guilt. “I didn’t know about the curse until it was too late! By then, I’d already been blooded into the coven—excommunicated by my own family for turning my back on the Council. Don’t act like you’re some saint, Rupert. You slept with my teenage daughter.”

Rose’s blood ran cold as Cole’s words struck like a slap to her face. You slept with my daughter. The weight of that accusation—spoken aloud, right there in front of her—felt like a wave of humiliation crashing over her. Her face flushed hot, and she could feel the embarrassment suffocating her, knowing that not only her father but everyone knew what had happened between her and Giles.

“Wait, the Council?” she stammered, trying to latch onto anything to distract her from the overwhelming shame coursing through her.

Cole sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair, his features hard with regret. “Much like Rupert, I rebelled against my destiny as a Watcher. But by the time I knew the truth—what your mother was, and the curse that bound the coven—it was too late. She was already pregnant with you, and there was no turning back. Not when I knew…”

Giles’s patience snapped, and his voice cut through the air like a blade. “That you would one day have to kill your own flesh and blood,” he spat, his face twisted in contempt. He shoved Cole, and the sudden violence startled Rose, her breath catching in her throat.

Cole staggered back, but he didn’t hesitate before pushing Giles right back. “There was nothing I could do! They would have hunted us down—hunted her down!” His voice broke, a hint of desperation leaking through.

Rose’s head spun as she stepped out into the night and between the two men before her—two people who seemed to care a great deal for her—now throwing accusations and fists as if she were some object of power, something to be fought over. Her heart ached with betrayal, and yet some small, wounded part of her wanted to believe her father. She wanted to trust that, somehow; he had meant to protect her. But how could she?

She looked at Giles, the man she had come to trust more than anyone, and saw the fire in his eyes—the protective, possessive rage that scared and comforted her in equal measure. And then there was her father, pleading for understanding in the only way he knew how. This wasn’t just some petty grudge between them; this was about her. About their failure to save her, their failure to keep her safe.

“So what, do you think you can protect, Rose? The good old Watcher—protector of the good and innocent—you threw your beloved Slayer to the slaughter.” Cole spat, stepping back, distancing himself from his daughter.

“What are you talking about?” Rose’s voice cracked, confusion and disbelief rippling through her as she glanced from her father to Giles.

Cole’s words were dripping with venom as he leaned against the railing. “Oh, did your beloved protector not tell you how, if the Slayer happens to live long enough, they’re basically put out to pasture by their Watcher? Strip them of their powers, see how they fare. It’s just a way to thin the herd, really. Get rid of the Slayer before they age out, before they’re too difficult to control. Then call up the next young, impressionable potential.”

“Buffy’s powers...” Rose whispered, her stomach twisting as horror crept into her heart. She turned to Giles, taking a step back from him, her eyes wide with disbelief. “You did that to her?”

Giles opened his mouth, his hand instinctively reaching out to her, but he stopped himself short, his face drawn tight with guilt. “Rose, I can explain.”

“You took her powers away. You left her defenseless. Her mother was kidnapped, I was attacked...” Rose’s voice rose, shaking with the weight of the accusation. She couldn’t believe it—couldn’t believe him.

Giles’s face blanched, his eyes wide with concern, his voice soft and urgent. “Are you okay?” He stepped toward her, desperation in his eyes, as if needing to know she was unharmed.

Rose waved him off, her anger bubbling up, her hand trembling. “I’m fine, but this isn’t about me!”

“It’s okay, Rose,” came Buffy’s quiet, steady voice from the doorframe. Her tone was calm, but there was an undercurrent of pain. “Giles put his job and his life on the line to stop the trial.”

“It doesn’t matter much now. They sacked me,” Giles muttered, his voice heavy with defeat, as if the weight of it was too much to bear. “I’ll be lucky if they don’t have me deported.” His eyes met Rose’s, filled with regret, and something else—something tender.

“Rupert,” Rose whispered. Her heart twisted, aching for him, but her body remained frozen in place. She wanted to reach out, to close the distance between them, but her feet wouldn’t move. She was caught between the love she felt for him and the overwhelming guilt, shame, and confusion choking her.

“The Council said he cared too much for me,” Buffy said with a faint smile, trying to break the tension. “And they were ready to hand you over to your coven, Rose. They didn’t want us meddling in your families affairs, but you’ll be happy to know, Mr. Murphy—” Buffy turned to Cole, her gaze steely—"Giles threatened to burn the Council to the ground if they laid a hand on your daughter. And we won’t have to worry about them. I made sure they got the message loud and clear: they’d better be out of town before my powers come back."

“The coven would’ve told the Council everything...” Cole muttered darkly, rubbing a hand across his face.

The weight of it all was too much for Rose. Everything came crashing down at once—the betrayal, the love, the guilt. The exhaustion from constantly looking over her shoulder, being hunted by her own family. Giles losing his place in the Council, risking everything for her... the reality of it cut through her like a blade, sharp and unforgiving. She wasn’t just feeling guilty for Buffy’s sake anymore. She felt a deep, gnawing fear that everything in her life was unraveling. Buffy’s mom had been kidnapped. Buffy herself had been left vulnerable. Rose’s own father, her flesh and blood, had been complicit in this madness. And Giles—Giles had sacrificed his career, his future, for her, and for his Slayer.

Her knees buckled. The weight, the shame, the love—it was overwhelming her. She felt herself falling, but before she could even register what was happening, strong arms caught her.

Giles lowered them both gently to the ground, his breath ragged with emotion. Rose let out a small, hiccupped sob as she looked up, her eyes locking with his. His blue eyes, always so calm, so steady, were now full of worry—worry for her. He cradled her gently, like she was something precious, something he couldn’t bear to lose.

And in that moment, her heart broke and mended all at once. She loved him. She loved him. It wasn’t the spell. It never had been. Her heart, her magic, every part of her, was bound to him in a way that transcended anything she could explain.

“Thank you.” She whispered, her voice barely audible as she reached up to touch his face. Her hand trembled as she traced the worry lines on his brow, her eyes searching his. She knew this love was another burden to carry, another complication, but she couldn’t deny it. Not anymore.

Even with everything falling apart, the truth was simple. She loved him, and he still cared enough about her to protect her—not even the chaos swirling around them—could change that.

Chapter Seventeen

[iobsessoverfictionalmen]

AN: Yes, I chose this particular episode on purpose and yes, I used Spike's rant. You can catch up with the previous installments here, here, and here.

Warnings: cursing, arguments, insults, angst, mentions of betrayal, violence, and injury, and spoilers for Buffy season 7.

Tagging: @rmoonstoner and @queenofthehobos.

“What is her purpose here?” Kennedy snarled at Willow, pointing at you and talking as if you weren't in the room after you, Spike, and Andrew had returned.  All you had done was ask where Buffy was.

“Back the hell off Kennedy,” Faith warned.

“No, I want to know what she contributes.”

“Right because (Name)’s been sitting up in the bedroom watching Passions and eating snacks all this time while you risk your lives.”  Spike scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“She might as well have been.  She walks around like Buffy critiquing us and doing nothing!  She disappears when we need her only to reappear when the fight’s over!”

“For the past six years, I have been keeping Ares’ forces out of Sunnydale,” you explained icily.

“And you’ve done such a great job of it!  The god has been sighted all over the place!”

“If you’ve only sighted him, it means I’m doing my job!”

“That’s just your fancy way of saying you’re sleeping with the god.”

The kitchen went deathly quiet at her words.

“I am not one to sleep with another just because of the power and influence they wield, Kennedy. Especially when I am in a relationship with someone else.”

“Perhaps we should--”

“She’s exactly the same as Buffy.  She needs to go.”

“Is that what you did?”  Spike asked venomously, “You lot conspired to push her out of her own house?”

“Let me tell you a little something about your girlfriend.  She was always on our backs and whatever we did it wasn’t good enough!”  Kennedy shouted.

“Because Buffy has been through Apocalypses before, you nit!”

“So that justifies treating us as if we don’t have any say in our destiny and not letting us have any fun?”

“Don’t you get it?  Every win for the First is a loss for you!” You exploded.  Your eyes scanned the room and you noticed Xander wearing an eyepatch that he had definitely not worn before you left.  Realising what must have happened, you spoke again with a softer tone.

“Xander.  The way you were maimed is horrible.  No one is arguing that point.  If you want to blame someone, blame Caleb.  Blame the First.  Do not blame Buffy because I know she gave you an out before you faced the First’s forces and Caleb.”

“She needs to go.”  Kennedy repeated. 

“Right now she is the only thing standing between you and Ares, you dolt.  Rupert, are you going to sit and watch this happen again?”

“He didn’t intervene then.  Why would he intervene now?”  Kennedy rebutted.  Rupert wouldn’t meet your eyes.   While you could understand that the Hellmouth amplified evil and emotions, Buffy saw Rupert as a father figure.  To hear that he had sat by and done nothing while Buffy left the only safe place she knew made your heart ache.

“You sad, sad ungrateful traitors.  Who do you think you are?!”  Spike demanded.

“We're her friends.  We just want-” Willow stammered, looking to you for help.

Spike chuckled mercilessly, “Oh that's ballsy of you!  You're her friends and you betray her like this?!”

Finally, Rupert tried to speak, “You don't understand-”

“That’s going to go over well with Spike.  You haven’t even shown a shred of concern for Buffy’s welfare or asked us about her whereabouts, Rupert.”  You thought, “How did everything fall apart so quickly?”

Spike was quick to reply to Rupert’s weak attempt at justifying their actions, “Oh, I think I do...Rupert.  You used to be the big man, didn't you?  The teacher all full of wisdom.  Now she's surpassed you, and you can't handle it.  She has saved your lives again and again.  She's died for you.  And this is how you thank her?!  This is how you thank both of them?  You sit by while Kennedy insults the woman that you supposedly love knowing full well what she’s done to protect the lot of you?!”

“We should go Spike.  Staying here and arguing with people who don’t want to admit they’ve done the wrong thing isn’t going to help us find Buffy.”

Spike said nothing but followed you to the front door.  You could feel the eyes of the potentials on you as the two of you walked out with your heads held high.  Spike sniffed the air when the two of you stood at the end of the footpath, “Got her scent.”

“This is another one of those times that I’m grateful you’re a vampire.  It’s only one of a small handful of times.”

Spike jerked his head, “We go that way.”

“Oh, my darling.  Can you see now how easily humans betray one another?”

[emryses]

love bites

Rating: Teen Wordcount: ~4k Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Alternate Universe - 1990s, Vampire Eddie Munson, Enemies to Lovers

EXCERPT / READ ON AO3:

There’s a leak somewhere in this abandoned church, the drip, drip, drip is incessant and it’s driving Steve nuts.

He’s been doing this thing with Nancy for two years now and he’s still not used to it all, the chilly drafts, the abandoned places and the dark passage ways he’s forced to occupy.

At least he has snacks. That’s something. He cracks open a pop can with a hiss to have with the bag of chips he had ripped open not too long ago.

“Come on dude,” Eddie whines from the chair he’s strapped to in the center of the church. He kicks his feet out like a child. Steve’s sitting on one of the pews in front of him. “That’s not fucking fair.”

“You can’t even eat this shit,” Steve throws back at him, mouth full.

“Yes I can. I eat human food all the time!” Eddie says.

Steve rolls his eyes. “That cannot possibly be good for you.”

“Tell that to the lactose intolerants of the world.”

Steve glares at him and takes the opportunity to eat a chip with an obnoxious crunch, smacking his lips as he does it and then taking a long swig of the can he just opened. The lingering coldness of the drink is only due to the chill air in the church. They’ve been sitting here for what feels like hours, and he’s probably not far off. Steve knew this mission would probably take a while, that’s why Nancy, Robin and Jonathan had left him with so many snacks. Nancy also left him his homework, but there’s no point in even cracking that open. The school has already told him he’s going to have to repeat his senior year, no matter what he does.

That doesn’t matter right now, though. The only thing that matters is that Eddie doesn’t escape from the ties they put him in, and that Nancy and the others are able to finally dust the One. Steve’s only job is to keep Eddie where he is, and watch to make sure he doesn’t go back on his word of helping them defeat the One.

“All I’m saying is I don’t think it’s fair that you got all these little snacks and I just have to sit here,” Eddie continues. He shakes his head, letting his hair settle back behind his shoulders. “Kind of rude of your friends not to leave a single thing for me.”

“They like me significantly better than they like you,” Steve replies with a sneer.

“If they like you so much why’d they leave you here with me? I was called Edward the Bloody for a reason you know.” Eddie has a grin on his face, the same stupid grin he’s had on for hours, distracting Steve.

Eddie has been doing nothing but distracting Steve the entire time they’ve been here. Asking stupid questions, singing stupid songs, complaining that he was hungry and thirsty, and it’s been driving Steve absolutely up the wall. He cannot believe he’s here babysitting a vampire while his friends get to save the world.

[specialagentlokitty]

Giles x teen!Reader - a demigods fate

Part 9:

The months slowly went by, and as summer came the town was being swarmed by Monsters who simply circled the edge of it.

You paced up and down the library, eyes fixed on where the hellmouth was.

“Why won’t they come in?” Willow asked.

Giles set down all the papers and books you had brought to him from your apartment.

“Because it’s not time.” He said.

They looked to him in confusion.

“The hellmouth will open regardless on if we stop it or not, that’s what they are waiting for, the day of the total solar eclipse is when they’ll rush the town, come straight here.”

You nodded your head in agreement, walking over to your chair and you sat down, resting your chin on your hand.

“I need you all to protect the library while I close the hellmouth.”

“Have you figured out how to do that yet?” Buffy asked.

Giles gave you a look, and you shook your head, looking away from him.

“No, I haven’t.”

“We have a week and you still haven’t figured it out?!” Xander blurted.

“I’m working on it okay? I’m trying to figure that part out, these aren’t exactly clear instructions, it’s not a step by step guide.”

Xander raised his hands muttering an apology.

Closing your eyes, you thought for a moment.

“The hounds will keep you safe, and on the night before the eclipse I’ll raise the army that will help, they don’t understand English, they’ll simply just fight.”

“So… you’ll raise an army of…?” Willow mumbled.

“Skeletons, straight from the depths of the underworld.”

They all seemed a little unsure about the idea.

“It’ll be fine, they only attack the monsters, you’ll be safe.”

“The town?” Buffy asked.

“(Y/N) has assured that the monsters have no interest in that, just the hellmouth, they’ll come straight here.”

You nodded your head, and you looked at the doors as they opened, watching the centaur as he walked in and you smiled.

Getting up, you walked over and hugged him, guiding him to the group.

“Chiron trains demigods, he’ll be better at the whole speech thing than me. I’ve got one last thing to do, I’ll be back in a few hours.”

You left the library and Giles called out your name, walking around you.

“How long are you going to hide the fact that you’re going to die from them?” He whispered.

“They need to be focused, it will only distract them.”

“You still haven’t found a way around it?”

You sighed, shaking your head as you looked at the sword in your hands as it reverted to a coin and you put it into the pocket of your jeans.

Taking your jacket off, you held it out to him.

“Will you look after this?”

“Absolutely, it will be safe.”

Giles took it, setting it on the stairs next to him, and you sat on them, looking down at your hands.

He walked over, crouching in front of you, clasping his hands together.

“How are you?” He asked.

“I’m fine.”

Giles gave you a look and you took a small breath.

“I came here thinking I was going to hate it, but you know what? It hasn’t actually been that bad, I’ve enjoyed it, being able to be a teenager, nobody trying to out do me for glory, reminding me I’m just a demigod and its all I’ll ever be…”

You looked at him, smiling.

“You treated me like an actual person, not like some chosen one. I didn’t even think it was possible for me to get an A on a test, or not get kicked out of school.”

Giles chuckled, looking down.

“Yes, well, you.. you have yourself to be proud of for that, you did that all yourself.”

“No.”

He looked back at you.

“You put in the effort when you didn’t have to, you could’ve just ignored me and what I was doing here. You chose to help me, teach me, support me.”

You sniffled a little bit, wiping a few stray tears that had fallen from your face.

“For once since I found out about who I was I felt normal Giles… because of you… I.. I.. I was normal teenager for a while…”

You took a shaky breath.

“You’re the father I wish mine had been… I wish mine was like you.. that he cared…”

Giles placed his hand in yours.

“I am so proud of you, and I will always be proud of you, I’m just sorry we couldn’t find a way around the prophecy…”

You shrugged a little, standing up, and he did the same thing.

“You can’t have everything…”

“We still have time.”

“It’s okay, I’m ready for this, remember? It’s okay Giles, really… I’m not scared… I’m just… I’m going to miss everything here… I’ll miss school… the gang..”

Giles placed a hand on your shoulder and pulled you in for a hug, and you hugged him back, squeezing your eyes shut.

“We’re going to miss you as well…” he whispered.

You moved away, and he picked up your jacket.

“I’ll come back in a few hours.”

You jogged away back to your apartment, sitting down at your desk with some paper and a pen, tapping the pen against the desk as you tried to figure out what to write.

When you finally had, you shadow travelled back to the school and you walked into the library.

“Chiron, can we talk?”

He nodded his head, walking over to you and you glanced at the group that were still revising the game plan for the big day.

Looking back to Chiron, you held up the letter to him.

“I need you to look after this until everything is over.”

Chiron took the letter, tucking it into his blazer pocket.

“Of course, but I do have hope that you will be able to give it yourself.”

You scoffed, shaking your head.

“That’s the whole point, we both know the truth Chiron. It’s a fail safe, or well, more of a last communications kind of thing really.”

Chiron looked back to the group.

“The watcher has a father’s love for you.”

“I wish he were my father, but I guess we can’t always have everything we want, right?”

Chiron sighed, turning back to you.

“I want you to do something for me.”

You nodded.

“Go to his office before the fight, there’s something in there I believe you should see.”

“I will.”

For the next week nobody saw much of you until the night of the eclipse, it was set to happen at sunrise, so as night fell you all met at the front of the school.

You looked at the small group, and you turned around holding your hands out.

The shadows drifted from your palms and into the ground, the rattling of bones taking the silence as they rose from the ground.

Thousands of them rose up, all turning to look at you.

“I command you to protect them, protect this school!”

The skeletons rattled, raising their weapons in the air with silent war cries.

The skeletons ran through and around the school, and you turned to your friends.

“You remember your places?”

“We do.” Willow nodded.

You smiled, walking up to them all, you hugged them one by one as they left, and you got to Giles, walking through the hallways with him.

“We still have a few hours, we might be able to find something.”

You took his hand to make him stop walking and you let him go.

“It’s too late for that Giles, you and I both know that.”

“It’s never too late.”

You smiled softly, stuffing your hands into the pockets of your hoodie.

“It’s been really fun Mr Giles.”

“It’s been a pleasure (Y/N).”

He smiled sadly at you.

“You’ll do what I asked right?”

“I will, just as I promised.”

You went to walk past him and he placed a hand on your shoulder to stop you from walking.

“(Y/N)?”

You shook your head.

“We’re running out of time.”

You pulled away and walked into the library while he stood at the doors with the sword you had given him in your hands.

Walking around, you looked at his office and remembered what Chiron had told you.

Making your way inside, you looked around and walked to his desk, picking up a photo of you, him and the others from a trip you had all took to the mall.

Smiling, you set it back, and turned around to see the board.

Walking over, you looked at all the grades papers you had given to him, your first passing grades, your first A grade, the tickets from your first zoo trip, a picture of you with the penguins.

The dagger you had made for him.

It was every achievement you had made since being there, every good, normal thing you had done, the things you thought he had just tossed away, and he kept them.

They were important to him.

You were important to somebody.

Leaving the office, you looked to Oris who was watching you.

“Protect them, all of you.”

He growled and backed away into the shadows, and you stood over the now cracking helllouth.

As the early morning light filtered through the windows, you watched as the floor began to give way.

Raising the dagger you took from the office you poured shadows into the portal, creating spider like webs, blocking anything from entering it.

You could hear the sounds of the fighting beginning, and you took a deep breath, watching as monsters began to pour into the room.

Skeletons fought alongside of you, and you kept the monsters at bay, still trying to figure out how to close the hellmouth.

The coin in your pocket was red hot, searing pain shooting through your skin.

The monsters could barely land any seriously blows on you, some small scratches as they tried to rush the hellmouth.

You stood near it, bringing down anything that dared to get close.

You could see flashes of your friends fighting, struggling, and it made you fight even more.

You were struck in the head, and you stumbled back, throwing the dagger into the monster.

Lowered your head, you raised your hand to touch the bleeding wound, and you watched as your blood fell on the ground.

The hellmouth held a small glow, sealing a tiny bit.

“The child of the underworld is the key, their life seals the gate…” you whispered.

Reaching into your pocket pulling out the coin and you flipped it, catching the sword and all the monsters and skeletons backed away.

You could still the glimpses of your friends, your new family struggling for their lives, and it all made sense to you now.

The reason you were told not to use it and you would know when to use it.

The only weapon to break the curses on you.

Turning it inwards, you pressed the point to your stomach and took a shaky breath, closing your eyes as you turned your head towards the sky.

You drove the sword through you, and ripped it out, blood falling into the hellmouth, a burst of energy coming from it, wiping out all the monsters.

The hellmouth closed, and you stumbled dropped to your knees, sword falling from your grasp.

Slowly you fell on your back, hand over your stomach.

The monsters pinning everybody turned to dust, and the skeletons wondered back towards the ground to return home.

Giles placed a hand on his head as he sat up, looking around.

“We did it…”

At first it was whispered in victory, then the words sunk into his head.

Scrambling up, he threw the doors open, looking around at the destroyed place.

“(Y/N)!?”

Giles rushed up the stairs, and he slowly walked over, sitting down next to you, placing a hand over yours on your stomach to try and stop the bleeding.

You let out a shaky breath and turned your gaze towards him.

You coughed, giving a small smile.

“Did.. did we… win…?”

Giles smiled softly.

“We won…” he whispered.

You smiled, turning your head away so you could cough up some more blood.

Giles picked your head up, making it easier for you to cough.

When you were finished you breathed deeply, staring up at him as tears fell from your eyes.

“I… I don’t…”

“Shush now, you’ll be alright…”

You gripped his arm.

“I.. I’m scared…”

Giles cradled your head in his hand, taking his hand from your side, removing his glasses before grabbing the hand that was gripping his arm and he held it tightly.

“There’s… there’s no need to be scared…”

He smiled at you which was a warm smile, but the tears falling down his face told a different story, he was upset.

“You’ll be alright… I have no doubt in that…”

“You… you won’t go…?”

He shook his head.

“I’m not going anywhere…”

You nodded your head weakly.

“I am so proud of you (Y/N). So.. so very proud… you’ve come so far… you’re everything your father should have… everything I.. I.. could’ve hoped you would grow to be… I.. I only wish I could have done more for you…” he whispered.

You smiled, eyes drifting closed a little bit, before you opened them again.

“It’s alright… you.. you rest… I.. I.. I’ll be right here…”

You closed your eyes again, opening them once more.

“Can.. can we.. see the penguins again…?”

Giles laughed weakly, nodding his head.

All the hellhounds crowded around you, laying next to you with their heads on your legs.

“Of course we can…”

You smiled and finally closed your eyes once more, your grip slacking on his hand until finally it went limp, your hand falling from your side.

The sword nearby held a small glow before it faded, and Giles closed his eyes clenching his jaw as he held your tightly.

“I’m so sorry we couldn’t find another way…”

He pressed a kiss to your forehead, his tears falling down his face as the doors were slammed open and the trio stopped in their tracks.

“Giles?! (Y/N)?!”

Giles carefully picked up your body, making his way down the stairs, the hounds whining as he laid you down on the broken table, folding his blazer to put under your head.

“No…” Xander whispered.

Willow let out a chocked sob, rushing over to you and the other two followed.

Xander wrapped an arm around Willow, and Buffy took your hand in hers.

Giles got up, walking up the stairs he looked at the blade there, he tried to pick it up, but he couldn’t, so he picked left it, making his way back down to your side.

He held your other hand, wiping his tears with his free hand, a heavy silence falling over the library

[wolfstrong]

hi sorry if i come off as a hater lmao it's just i hate xander and you seem to like him, could you explain why? I know he has some positive qualities and can be a decent friend but i've always perceived him as a Nice Guy (tm) and often just a misogynistic creep (maybe i need a rewatch where i try to have more compassion idk)

I don't think you come off as a hater, everyone has a right to dislike any characters they want!

Yes, Xander is one of my favorite characters and I have a deep affection for him! I do agree he can be very misogynistic and also creepy (more so creepy in the first couple of seasons, his crush on Buffy often made me very uncomfortable) I'm not going to say I "forgive" his misogynistic actions, but I guess I see it more as a problem with the show as a whole. You know, the time period and such and such. BTVS is a very strange show because it was progressive and groundbreaking in some ways and also very flawed in other ways. It's got some of the most realistic and well written female characters I've ever seen in a show, and yet its constantly undermines them with misogynistic jabs. i don't know, its weird but I digress. The point is I can kinda look past those two specific flaws because I see them more as functions of the show itself.

I like Xander because he's the "everyman" of the series. He's the very unspecial normal guy and idk I just really like that. I’m not trying to reduce the other scoobs to just their practical talents, but Buffy is the slayer, Giles brings the smarts and has his watched role, and Willow has her magic and before that her hacker skills. But all Xander has is himself, all he can give to the team is himself and he does it every single time without question. And like he knows this, everyone knows this about him. If all he can do with himself is physically throw his body in the line of danger to try and help someone else, he's going to do it. How many times does Xander run into the fight only to get punched out. And it's like yeah, its probably stupid and self-destructive, he's never going to be able to face off with the demons they fight because he's just a regular human. But he tries anyway and I love that. I don't know, it's just very admirable to always try, even if you feel like those around you are stronger or better then you. I guess i personally struggle with this, feeling like other are better then me or have more to offer or are more talented. It's nice to see a character whos in a similar situation yet still gives it his all every time. I think he's really relatable because of that and I feel for him.

I really love his loyalty. I know that his dislike for Angel in the earlier seasons stems from his crush on Buffy (which is ew) but also I think a part of it is because he feels protective of her as a friend. Like when Angel turned evil and they were debating what to do, Xander was like "maybe we should just kill him" and everyone acted like he was a huge dick for saying that, but I had to agree. Angel was trying very hard to kill Buffy, to kill all of them, and Xander was trying to prioritize their safety. Oh also there is a part of the season one finale (I think it was that episode... i could be mistaken) where Willow and others get kidnapped because of Buffy and Xander gets so mad he says "If they hurt Willow I'll kill you" which i know is kind of harsh, but like I think it really shows his loyalty and priorities. At this point, he did have a crush on Buffy, but he'd known Willow for much longer and his friendship to her was more important. So like idk, when we see him at his most angry or cruel its always on behalf of his friends.

I also just love that he's goofy and funny and cute. He has a certain charm that so based around the fact that he's slightly pathetic and lame. Just look into his big brown puppy dog eyes and tell me you don't like him just a little bit... he's literally a big loyal slightly stupid dog, come on now. He's always got sleeves that are just a bit too long that they flop over his hands, his shoes are untied his hairs a floppy mess and he has a giant smile and a weird cracky voice that goes up a pitch when he's nervous and he's always trying so hard to get everyone to laugh. I love him :) I can't help it, I just really love him

[girl4music]

It’s one hell of a point though that I don’t feel too many people who watch the show touch on… @secretsofthewilde @willnotacceptalifeundeserved

If BUFFY is so “feminist” why don’t they ever do an episode where it’s the FEMALES that lay out their flaws and failures and mistakes? Why is MALES always involved in the conversation when it comes to this? They shouldn’t be because they don’t need to be.

It’s a feminist show, supposedly…

Females should explain themselves.

Maybe males don’t dominate the conversation but their opinion always seems be needed regardless.

I’m not saying males shouldn’t be a part of the discussion. I’m just perplexed as to why when it’s ABOUT A FEMALE why it’s not ever the female that is explaining these things ABOUT THEMSELVES for themselves. They are and should be capable of it.

It’s not really very “feminism” that they don’t, is it?

And that’s my point. “Feminism” is really more of a guise in this show. It’s the wool over our eyes and ears.

Behind that is a male-dominated created system that just tells us what “feminism” is supposed to look like.

Which - obviously - isn’t feminism at all. Not when Whedon gets to hold the brownie points for that term.

One way or another what the show is goes right back to him and his tight-fisted control over the operation.

And if you look hard enough under the surface - you can see it everywhere in the show in the writing, the staging, the directing, even the clothing for both male and female characters - or lackthereof - I should say.

Don’t get me wrong - BUFFY is a well-created show.

But it’s not a FEMINISM show. Not by a long shot because it only plays the role of being feminism.

In the end - it all goes back to a male perspective.

Compare that with how they have flawed female characters in XENA and how it’s always the females that tells and shows us about these flaws in themselves. Males are present but they don’t butt in.

They only ever have an opinion when it’s about them.

In XENA - females speak for themselves unapologetically unless it involves a male.

And yes, the show is predominantly created by men.

However, it’s very clear the lead actress sets the tone.

[banannabethchase]

Hello!! It’s me again. Would you write (even) more for the Fragile Invincibility au? I’d accept anything but specifically love to read the first time hangman takes the baller club boys to watch a match!! Thank you so much for every fic ✨

Backyard Wrasslin' - also on AO3

~

A "The Fragile Invincibility of Youth" story

Adam invites Matt, Kenny, and Nick to one of his wrestling shows. Mox is baffled.

~

Note: Teenagers are referenced having sex. They are both 18, committed relationship, nothing onscreen, all fade to black YA type vibes.

I...maybe have gone overboard on this prompt fill. I hope you enjoy!.

~

"You invited the Baller Club to a match?!" Mox asks. He's got his shirt off and belt undone. "And you decided to mention this right before we have sex?"

Adam, who's brain is decidedly not working right, nods. "Uh. Yeah?"

"They're gonna freak out," Mox says. "They're gonna think I'm actually trying to kill you."

"They won't - come back!" Adam grabs at Mox's belt loops. "I don't know why I brought it up. Take your pants off, I don't - come back."

Mox rolls his eyes. "Okay, yes, because I can't say no to you, but you'll explain yourself later."

"Explain myself la- what am I, your student?"

Mox grins at him. "I mean. We could play that."

"I'm going to kiss you so you shut up," Adam deadpans.

~

They're making their way into the kitchen when Mox grabs Adam's arm and pushes him against the wall. "Wait a second."

"Again?!" Adam giggles. "My parents are going to be home in, like, five minutes."

"Your hair's all messed up," Mox says, fiddling with Adam's hair.

Adam slaps his fingers away. "I - let me fix it. Get off."

"Already did that!"

Adam laughs as he steps into the bathroom. He ties his hair back in a quick bun, adjusts his shirt, and steps back out. "So - "

"So you invited your ex and your annoying friends to our match tonight," Mox says. He doesn't look angry, at least, so Adam thinks that's a small win.

"I can tell them no if you don't want them there," Adam says. He drops onto the couch, pulling his backpack toward him with his foot. He briefly worries Mox won't join him, but then he's there, snuggled up next to Adam like a puppy. “Seriously.”

“No, I just want to make sure they know I’m not actually hurting you.” He looks up at Adam, frowning. “As much as I’m glad you’re all friends again, I’m still a little worried they’re looking for an excuse to kill me.”

“They won’t kill you,” Adam says, running his fingers through Mox’s hair. He’d grown it out over the winter, bringing back the soft locks Adam had originally fallen in love with. The blue was new, though. He and Willow match now. “And if they do, I’ll kill them back so I can use their blood to resurrect you.”

“I need you to stop watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Mox laughs, but he curls into Adam’s lap and falls asleep while Adam completes his Chemistry homework.

~

“Okay, I know I haven’t called you in, like, years, but I have no idea where to go, and I think I’m being followed by a white van, and I’m pretty sure I’m about to kill Nick and Kenny, so where the hell am I supposed to go?!”

Adam pulls the phone away from his face as Matt rants. “Um,” he says. “Are you – where are you?!”

“I don’t know!” Matt wails. “There’s a blue house with, like, pride flags everywhere?”

“Okay, you’re close!” Adam jogs past the ring and parking lot, then dashes out to the road. “Do you see me?” He waves his free hand. “I’m waving. Do you see me?”

Making what is probably a highly illegal u-turn in the middle of the road, a car that is highly familiar zooms toward him and slows only to turn into the dirt road. Matt, looking haggard and confused, is behind the wheel.

“When I tell you these two can’t even read an effing GPS, I’m not kidding.” Matt exhales, blowing his hair out of his eyes. “Where do I go next?”

“Follow me.”

Adam jogs as Matt follows him, and guides Matt into a parking space he’s pretty sure Matt won’t be able to back out of on his own. He waits a little awkwardly as Matt picks his way around the puddles of mud.

“This place is a mess,” he says, grabbing Adam’s arm as he leaps over a puddle.

Adam shrugs as Kenny and Nick, a little less delicately, make their way around the puddles and follow Adam toward the ring and chairs. “It’s a backyard wrestling group. Nothing’s particularly well made here.” He gestures to the seats he saved for the three of them. “Except for the matches. Those are pretty cool.”

Matt primly sits into a chair. “When do you go on?”

“Well, me and Mox have a match first,” Adam says, “but you’ll get to see some cool stuff, too. Eddie is in the main event, so he’ll be on last. He’s going up against the Bryan guy Mox wrestled a while back.”

“Are there any other matches?” Nick asks. He’s looking around eagerly, like he’s more comfortable here than he expected.

Adam nods. “I think three others? Willow’s going up against Ruby – they’re doing a feud because Ruby hit her with a chair a while back – and I think this kid Wheeler Yuta is going up against somebody. He’s a sophomore.”

Matt’s eyes widen. “He’s here? Really?”

Adam states at Matt. “Oh, god.”

“I –”

“I can’t believe you have a crush on him,” Nick chuckles.

“I don’t!” Matt says. Adam, Nick, and Kenny stare at him. Adam thinks it’ll be seconds to wait him out. “…I do. Don’t tell him.”

Adam grins. “I won’t.” He bumps Matt’s shoulder with his. “I gotta go get ready for my match, though, so I’ll see you later.” Adam looks at Kenny. At Nick. At Matt. “Um. Thanks for coming, guys. It means a lot.”

“Of course, Adam,” Kenny says. His smile is genuine when he looks at Adam, and it doesn’t ache like it used to. It’s nice. But nothing more. “Go out there and kill it.”

Adam smiles back. “I will.” He makes his way to the tent where the other wrestlers are getting ready. Ruby is doing Willow’s hair as Willow plays some song game on her phone. Eddie and Mox are trading headlocks in the corner. Wheeler Yuta is stretching on his own, though, so Adam walks over to him.

“Hey, dude,” he says, settling in the chair by Yuta’s bag. “How are you holding up?

“Good,” Yuta says, smile a little weak. “Nervous. Claudio’s huge. I’m pretty sure he’s going to kill me.”

“He won’t kill you,” Adam says, waving it off. “He’s good. And he’s safe.” Adam doesn’t mention the time he almost broke his arm last week after taking an elbow drop wrong, since that was more his fault. “You’ll do great.”

“That’s not how Eddie sees it,” Yuta says, chancing a glance over at Eddie, who is now sitting on Mox’s butt and poking him in the ribs to make him laugh. “He really hates Claudio.”

Adam knows Eddie’s disdain for Claudio, knows of the hatred, but doesn’t know why. He doesn’t feel like he’s ready to ask about it, though. “Eddie hates a lot of things,” he decides on. “Doesn’t make them bad.”

Yuta nods slowly. “Yeah.” They’re quiet for a moment, and Adam’s about to leave when Yuta says, “Um, actually, I have a question.” When he looks up, his cheeks are just this side of pink. “Mox told me you were, um, inviting the Jacksons?”

Adam hesitates. “Yeah?”

“Is, um,” Yuta folds himself into a weird shape. Adam assumes it’s a stretch, but he’s upside down and standing on his head, so he’s not sure. “Is Matt going to be here?”

“Oh, god.”

“No!” Yuta says, scrambling to his feet. “It’s – okay, don’t say anything.”

“I promise,” Adam deadpans, “if you go out there and wrestle like you’ve been, Matt will fall in love with you before you know it.”

Yuta lights up. “Really?”

Adam sighs. “Yes.”

He shoves Eddie off of Mox, getting a smack on the ass for his troubles and grinning about it. “Come on,” he says, dragging Mox to the back. “Let’s go over the match, one more time.”

They run the match, throwing each other around, and it ends with Mox pinning Adam. It doesn’t quite feel like Adam’s the one losing, though, with the way Mox’s legs straddle Adam’s hips and his arms loop around Adam’s legs. Mox called it a rollup. Adam asked him if it was secretly a new position Mox wanted to try.

“Oh, god, go be pervs somewhere else,” Ruby says, nudging Mox’s leg with her boot. “Tony wanted me to get you two idiots up so you can get to the stage.”

Mox swings his leg over, spins to his feet, and sticks out his arm. “C’mon, baby, let’s get out there so I can kick your ass.”

“You don’t have to be so annoying about it,” Adam giggles as he leaps to his feet. “I’ve won in other –”

“Nope!” Ruby yells. “Still in earshot! Shut up!”

They get behind the curtain ready for the ring, and Mox starts bouncing. Since Adam’s the newbie, he goes out first to his edit of Bronco, throwing the curtain open at the first, ‘Bronco, runnin’ wild,’ to cheers. He glances over to see Matt, Nick, and Kenny cheering like they’ve been here a million times, like they know exactly what to do. He’s excited to be the face in this match – it’s the first time he’s gotten a real character for himself. The jeans and old cowboy boots work almost too well.

“And coming in next,” comes the announcer’s voice, “Jon Moxley!”

Mox comes out to Wild Thing, a sneer on his face that almost makes Adam giggle. The boos are loud, almost deafening. Matt and Nick look bewildered, but Kenny leans over and says something to them and they boo as well.

The match goes by in a whirlwind, and Adam almost forgets at the end that he’s not supposed to kick out.

When the referee, one of Eddie’s friends from work, Aubrey, counts to three, Adam’s pretty sure he can hear Nick booing the loudest.

“Good job,” Mox says, beaming at Adam. “You killed it.”

“You too.” Adam has to remember to look disappointed as he rolls out of the ring. When he gets backstage, Eddie practically mauls him.

“You did fuckin’ great, baby!” he yells, clapping Adam on the shoulder.

Adam grins at him. “Thanks. It felt really good.”

Mox comes in after him and pretty much does maul Adam, sending him careening to the floor in a way reminiscent of the pin from earlier.

“Hi,” Adam says.

“Hi,” Mox says. “You did so good.” He leans down and kisses Adam hard and fast.

“Gross!” yells Ruby from somewhere in the back of the tent.

Mox helps the other wrestlers prepare while Adam sneaks out to watch the rest of the matches next to Matt.

“You did awesome!” Nick says. “That was so cool.”

Matt’s face is a little pinched. “Mox was kind of mean to you.”

“He’s supposed to be mean, Matt,” Kenny eyes, rolling his eyes. “He’s the heel. That’s the bad guy.” He glances over to Adam for confirmation. He nods. It’s kind of nice to be the one they check in with. “It’s all pretend, right?”

“It’s all pretend,” Adam confirms. “Well, except for the getting an arm across the chest. That kind of hurt.” He rubs at it, the ache blooming as he mentions it.

Matt turns into a googly eyed disaster when Yuta gets in the ring. He enters to American Idiot and Matt claps like a maniac.

“Nick,” Adam says, leaning behind Adam. “Do we need to sedate Matt or something?”

Nick laughs. “Nah, just let him be in love. He’s being super weird about Yuta.”

“Am not!” Matt snaps. “He’s so smart. He’s in tenth grade and he’s in my senior level Calculus class. It’s…” He trails off. “Oh. Oh and he’s got abs.” He pauses. “Maybe I do need to be sedated.”

Adam laughs as the music changed to Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? That entrance music is one among many reasons Eddie hates Claudio, but Adam thinks it’s hilarious.

The match is quick, as expected, as it’s Yuta’s first, but Yuta does great and sells like a champ.

Matt audibly gasps as Claudio hauls Yuta up in his signature swing, spinning Yuta until he taps out and collapses to the floor.

“Should I go check on him?” Matt asks, looking over at Adam. “He looks hurt.”

“He’s fine,” Adam says. “But I’m sure Yuta would be very pleased if you ran ringside and got all concerned about him.”

Matt nods and leaps out of his chair, running over to the ring. “Wheeler!” he calls. “Are you alright?”

Adam, Nick, and Kenny laughs at Yuta’s bewildered face. “Uh, yeah,” he says. He glances at Adam, who shrugs and grins.

“Go for it,” Adam mouths.

“I, uh, could use some help getting to the back,” Yuta says, doing his best to look miserable and hurt. It doesn’t quite work on the rest of the crowd, Adam thinks, but it sure as hell works on Matt.

“Of course!” Matt helps Yuta out of the ring and bats his eyelashes as they go back to the tent.

“I can’t believe Matt got a boyfriend at your wrestling thing,” Nick grumbles, folding his arms over his chest. “I have got to get out there.”

“You will, champ,” Adam says, clapping Nick on the shoulder. “You will.”

Matt and Yuta come back holding hands and chatting with stars in their eyes, and the rest of the show goes off without a hitch. Bryan and Eddie may literally be trying to kill each other during their match, but Eddie wins and it’s an overall success.

“We usually head to Willow’s house after matches,” Adam says as Mox comes up behind him and curls around him. “If you three wanted to come?”

“Yeah, sure!” Matt says. “Wheeler, do you need a ride?”

Wheeler looks shocked, as he’d ridden with Mox and Adam to the show. Adam stares at him, hoping Yuta gets the hint. “Uh. Sure! Sure, I could need a ride.”

“And Kenny and Nick, if you want to hop in my truck,” Adam says insistently.

Nick nods. “Yeah, I don’t want to be anywhere near whatever the two of them are doing.”

As Adam watches Matt smoothly pull out of the parking spot like it’s nothing, clearly chattering nonstop to Yuta, he takes the lead and drives the short distance to Willow’s house.

“Hey, Mox,” Nick says. “So, if you and I were in the ring, which of us would win?”

“Oh, I’d fuckin’ flatten you in seconds.”

“Would not!”

Adam laughs, and thinks that, maybe, he’s got it figured out. At least for now.

~

Mini Playlist: Bronco - Orville Peck Wild Thing - The Troggs American Idiot - Green Day Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Rod Stewart

[faith-thee-slayer]

Buffy/Faith for the ship ask game? (But if you've already been asked that, then Fred/Gunn.)

buffy/faith: 1000% yes like it's a known fact at this point

idk where to even begin with what made me ship them, they just have so much to work with. the perfect enemies to lovers setup. the mirror selves meeting each other. the heartbreak and betrayal. the "things could've been different between us but they were also always doomed to turn out how they did." the "you are the only person in the world who understands me but i can't stand you." the attempted murder. the actual murder. the angst. the chemistry. i remember on my first ever watch of s3, i actually thought they were gonna kiss at some point because the tension was so palpable

favorite things about the ship: see the above, lol. i'm obsessed with how they don't realize how much the other cares about them. that's where so much of the tragedy takes place

i’m not sure if i have any unpopular opinions about them... i think for fuffy to successfully work, they’d have to get together sometime post-comics, like in their 30s. also i don’t believe that it was buffy’s fault for how faith turned out, i think that was sadly a series of events bound to happen

fred/gunn: YES

i can’t remember the specific episodes, but right around the middle of ats s3 when they become closer and start dating, i was sold. they are so precious. that one breakfast date they have where they look into each other’s eyes and place their hands on the bill is tooth-rottingly sweet

i love how gunn is usually a tough guy, and then soft only for fred. and how everyone calls gunn “gunn” but fred calls him by his first name. it’s simple, but tender

i don’t think this is an unpopular opinion but they could’ve easily got back together at some point, even after gunn killed that professor. (as if her relationship with wesley somehow made more sense...)

[softtransbf]

Say You'll Share With Me One Love, One Lifetime (Even If We Can't Have It)

My original plan was this scene being maybe 600 words and at most a third of the whole thing, but oops it's almost 1900 and we're getting married. So there will probably be 2 more parts to this story, eventually.

Word Count: 1890

Warnings: light angst in the beginning, brief food and alcohol mention, fade to black implied fuckin'.

Summary: Only having a month before being separated by a thousand years would make any couple do something impulsive and probably crazy, right?

It had been a perfectly routine evening. I got home from work first, so I started dinner, and it was about ten minutes from being ready when Winn walked in, kissed me on the cheek, and poured us each a drink. It was a heavier pour than usual, so I figured it had been a rough day, and he’d tell me about it later. Heavy conversations can wait until after dinner. We chatted about my day and the light parts of his as I finished cooking, and we ate on the couch and continued our way through Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

When the credits ended and the dishes were done, we sat back down on the couch, and he dropped the bomb.

“The Legion? 31st century space heroes? Led by Mon-El? That Legion?” 

Winn nodded. “Yeah, Brainy can’t go back with them because of… something about his relative wiping out all other AIs? He didn’t give a lot of detail. Bottom line, he said I should take his place. They’re leaving when the ship is ready, and that’ll probably take a month.”

“That- that’s incredible! Really, I’m so proud of you and so glad that your genius is being recognized.” I smiled as best I could, and his worry lines deepened.

“I don’t have to go. I can say no.”

I sat up straighter and looked him in the eye. “No, you can’t. You are, in an infinite multiverse, singularly brilliant. And you’ve got a shrine to your two-item space dirt collection. Space, the future, being a hero- this is all of your dreams on a silver plate.”

He took my hands in his, eyes watering. “Not all of them. Not anymore. Yes, those are dreams of mine, but so is a life with you. I love you. I love the life we’ve built together!” He gestured with one hand around our apartment. “I don’t know if I can survive being somewhere you’ve been dead for a thousand years.”

I took a deep breath, fighting back tears of my own. “You can. You know how I know that?”

He rolled his eyes and smiled a little bit, knowing this game very well. “Because you love me?”

I smiled, too, and nodded. “Because I love you. You, Winn Schott, are the love of my life. I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much before we met. I will always love you so much that you’ll be able to feel it across all of space and time.”

“Simon, no,” he said, his smile disappearing. “If I go, you have to move on. Find someone in this millennium, and be happy with them.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sweetheart, think about it. You’re not the only one here who’s dreamed of space; how could anyone even begin to approach how goddamn hot you being a spacefaring superhero is? You’re literally setting the bar astronomically high.” I paused for a moment, thinking. “Would you call me a hypocrite if I said you should let me go in the same breath I swear I won’t let you go?”

“Not a hypocrite,” he said, shaking his head, “but definitely wasting your time. My heart will be here with you, forever.”

The fervency in his eyes was too much; I had to take my hands out of his and look away. We were both quiet for a while, but before long, I felt Winn sit up straighter. I looked over at him, and I could practically see his brain working as he stared off into the middle distance, not really seeing anything. It was beautiful, as always, so I took the opportunity to simply watch him. How am I supposed to keep going, when he’s gone?

Eventually, he came back to reality, blushing when he realized I’d been watching him. “I have an idea. It’s crazy and probably a terrible one, so I totally get it if you say no. It might even be better if you do.”

I smiled, having heard that countless times. “I’m sure it can’t be that-”

“Marry me.”

My smile fell and my jaw dropped. I searched his face for any indication of hesitancy or a joke, but all I saw was pure sincerity. “What?”

Instead of responding, he got up and walked into the bedroom. A minute or so later, he walked back out with a small black velvet box in his hands. He got down on one knee, eye level with me, since I was now frozen to my spot on the couch. 

“I didn’t think I was going to do this for at least another year, but we don’t have that kind of time. You kinda stole my lines earlier, with the whole not thinking it was possible to love someone this much and love of my life stuff. All that is true for me, too.”

He took a deep breath before continuing. “Simon, you're the love and the light of my life, the home I thought I’d never get. Somehow, at the same time I was learning about aliens and superhero shit, falling in love with you was the most unexpected and wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. 

I want to be your husband. I want the world to know that I am the luckiest man in the entire universe, because you chose me, even after I hurt you like I did. I want to make that up to you with a lifetime of laughter and bickering and love. We can’t have a lifetime, but will you give me a month?” He opened the box, revealing a white gold claddagh ring with a brilliant clear gem for the heart. “It’s moissanite, not diamond, because, you know, ethics. And, uh, I can sign divorce papers before I go, so you can file them if you change your mind later.” 

I’d held it together through the beautiful romantic speech, but the suddenly anxious logistical addendum was too much; the tears fell. Despite everything I’d believed about marriage for my entire life, there was only one answer I could possibly give. “Yes! Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” His smile put the wonders of the world combined to shame. Without a word, he took my left hand and put the ring on, heart pointing towards me. 

Once it was on, he kissed it, and I chuckled. “Pretty sure it’s supposed to go the other way until we’re actually married, my love.”

He shook his head. “If all we get as husbands is a month, I’m not wasting a moment of it with the ring facing the wrong way. And I fully intend to take you to the courthouse first thing in the morning, so it won’t be wrong for long.”

“A proposal to a wedding in…” I checked the time. “Less than 12 hours? People will talk about buns and ovens,” I joked, mock scandalized. 

“Let ‘em talk. Even if I still had an oven for you to have put a bun in, I couldn’t care less. It’s none of their damn business, anyway.”

I nodded. “Fair point. I have three requests, if we’re really going to elope in the morning.”

“Anything.” The words were barely out of my mouth before he responded. “As long as you’ll marry me, anything.”

“Be careful with writing blank checks, my love. You said you wanted the whole world to know, and I’d like to… not keep it a secret, because you can’t keep a secret to save your life, and we do need 2 witnesses. But not make a big deal about it. With how recently Alex and Maggie broke off their engagement, I don’t want her to feel like we’re rubbing it in her face or anything. She’s already in enough pain- I really don’t want to make it worse.”

Not letting go of my hand, he moved back to his spot on the couch next to me. The longer his silence went on, the more I realized how devastated I would be if he changed his mind. After what felt like an eternity but was probably only about ten seconds, he nodded. “Okay, as long as you still wear the ring. Even to game night. What else you got?”

I could breathe again, and I smiled. “I’d never dream of taking it off. My second request is much lighter- a moratorium on talking about you leaving. Until the day of, we pretend like we will get our lifetime together. With, of course, the ability to call time-out or quits altogether on it. The usual safewords. And on the subject of rings, I want to get you one before the wedding. Have you put any thought into what you might want?”

He shook his head. “Yes on the pretending we’re not on a clock, but I haven’t thought about a ring I’d like. We can absolutely go ring shopping, though. Oh, also, who do you want to ask to be our witnesses?”

I thought for a moment. “I think we have to ask Kara, since it was her karaoke shenanigans that got us together in the first place.”

“Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t even consider her not being there, but if we do that, she’ll insist on making it a big deal, maybe even try to talk us out of it. How about James?”

“Yeah, you're right about Kara.” I sighed. “Definitely James, no question about it. As for the second, hear me out- Mon-El. He’s been a good friend to you, and he’ll understand better than anyone why we’re doing this. Even if he does think it’s a bad idea and tries to talk us out of it, I’m not above admitting that I’d enjoy guilting him just a bit about being the reason you’re leaving in the first place. He owes me.”

“As much as I don’t want to encourage your pettiness, you’re right,” he chuckled, and I smiled a Cheshire smile.

“Fantastic. You wanna ask him, and I’ll ask James?”

He nodded. “Sounds great.” He finally let go of my hand, taking out his phone to text Mon-El, and I did the same.

Text sent, I put my phone down and took a closer look at the ring. “The ring really is absolutely perfect. I have to ask, though, when did you buy it? You said you’d planned on doing this later and had presumably planned or maybe even rehearsed lines for me to have stolen.”

[9:36 pm] TO James Olsen: Hey, can you meet Winn and me at the courthouse tomorrow, around 10? We need a favor. Don’t tell Kara, please.

“Would you laugh if I said the day you asked me to move in?” he asked, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck.

I blinked once, twice, processing what he said. “No, but I will question your sanity. We’d been together less than a year, including the months when you were still at CatCo! I was questioning if we were moving too fast, and you were buying a ring?”’

He shrugged. “When you know, you know.”

Moved beyond words, pulled him forward by the front of his shirt and poured everything I was feeling but couldn’t say into a kiss. His phone chimed and mine lit up, but neither of us would be aware of anything except each other for the rest of the night.

[watchingspnagain]

Rewatching Lazarus Rising

Welcome to “CAAAAAS!: A Supernatural Rewatch Blog” with Lor and Mace!

 Up today, s4e1: Lazarus Rising.

  “Dean pulls a Buffy and has to dig his way out of his own grave, gets splashed with holy water by Bobby, and mistaken for Sam’s boyfriend by Ruby. And that’s all great and all, but…CAS!!! CAAAASSSSS!!! ahem Um, also Castiel makes his first appearance on the show, claiming responsibility for Dean’s Easter parade.”

 Below is a log of our real-time reactions as we watched. Remember that there may be spoilers for any part of SPN’s 15-season run here. Note also that the nature of our conversation is adult and thus it may contain adult language and themes.

 [and we begin:]

 Lor:

 bounce bounce bounce

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

omg pause

 Lor:

i have no sound

 Mace:

 omg compy, look here

 Lor:

okay fixed.

 Lor:

41:20 left

  Mace:

 okay i’m there

 Lor:

copper boom

 Mace:

 copper boom

 Lor:

jeez. okay, cas, come soothe my furrowed brow

 Mace:

 HAHAHA

 Lor:

omg the eye stuff

 Lor:

I FORGOT

 Mace:

 yeah

 Lor:

and his chokey breathing

 Mace:

yep

 Mace:

 they buried him with his lighter

 Lor:

crawls in coffin with him, absolutely not making the situation worse

 Mace:

 SNORK

 Lor:

OF COURSE THEY DID

 Lor:

can't go to the underworld without your lighter

 Mace:

 he and Buffy could TALK about STUFF

 Lor:

YAAAAAAS

 Lor:

the haaaaaaaaaands

 Mace:

 and give dirty looks to Willow and Cas from across the room

 Lor:

LOL

 Lor:

they have an EXCEPTIONAL dental plan in hell

 Mace:

 SNORK!!!

 Lor:

GAAAAAAH THIS SHOT

 Mace:

 Dean will not AT ALL be bitter about Buffy spending her time in heaven/nirvana

 Lor:

NOPE

 Lor:

not even a little

 Mace:

 omg those BOWED LEGS I CANNOT

 Lor:

YAAAAAAS

 Lor:

I love that the sign says keep the cooler door closed and he leaves it open

 Mace:

 SNORK!!

 Lor:

don't turn on only the hot water, you dope

 Lor:

mmmmmm HAND PRINT

 Lor:

HI CAS

 Mace:

give him some slack, he’s readjusting,

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

LOL

 Mace:

 ah, only the essentials then, eh? Dean?

 Lor:

SNORK

 Lor:

he needs reading material

 Mace:

 yes because he just reads the articles

 Lor:

correct

 Mace:

 yes, Dean, run from one set of windows to the other

 Lor:

yeah, he's a little disoriented, the muffin

 Mace:

i suppose so

 Mace:

 oh BOBBY

 Lor:

YES

 Lor:

he is NOT amused

 Mace:

 poor Dean

 Lor:

omg their faces

 Mace:

YES

 Mace:

 aw, this is adorable. the first time Dean has come back from the dead and Bobby isn’t experienced at it yet

 Lor:

"you're about the closest thing I have to a father"

 Mace:

 OOOF

 Lor:

YES

 Mace:

 simpler times

 Lor:

yeah

 Lor:

I love that he winces a little before he makes the cut

 Mace:

DUDE WHY CUT THERE?!

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

the palm of your LEFT hand, Dean, come on

 Lor:

lololololol the holy water

 Mace:

 or, like the other side of the arm

 Lor:

yep

 Mace:

 oh Dean, your pants are on fire

 Lor:

YEP

 Lor:

Dean is sus

 Mace:

YEP

 Mace:

“dammit Sammy"

 Mace:

 “this force, this presence” that’s your boyfriend, DeanDean

 Lor:

YEP

 Lor:

you'll recognize him soon, hon

 Mace:

 “what don’t I know about that kid"

 Lor:

ooooof Dean calling out someone else about their drinking

 Lor:

YES

 Mace:

 yeah, read the room, Dean, he lost his SON

 Lor:

HE DID

 Lor:

"heya, Sammy"

 Mace:

BOYS

 Mace:

 Ruby looks pretty good in those undies

 Lor:

she DOES

 Mace:

 “I look fantastic” HAHAHAHA

 Lor:

SUPER stoked we're finally to Ruby 2.0

 Lor:

LOLOLOLOL

 Mace:

YAS

 Mace:

 it’d be great if she could take over for Laurel, too [Ed. On Arrow.]

 Lor:

LOL

 Lor:

it WOULD

 Mace:

 “are you two, like, together?” “what?” this doesn’t fit.

 Lor:

well, they're pretending she's not Ruby, right?

 Mace:

if she’s Ruby and Sammy knows she’s Ruby, then that doesn’t work

 Mace:

yes but Sam’s reaction just doesn’t seem right

 Mace:

 i just don’t like the writing there

 Lor:

yeah, it should be more like "ooooh riiiight I'll play along"

 Mace:

 yep

 Lor:

bc it's not like they thought he was gonna show up

 Lor:

it was a nugget of the lord, dean!

 Mace:

 HAHAHAHA

 Lor:

I really like that shirt of Sammy's

 Mace:

yeah, this would have been a huge shock and they wouldn’t have had the presence of mind to pretend that smoothly

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

yeah

 Lor:

SAMULET

 Mace:

THE NECKLACE

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

YAAAS

 Lor:

LYING

 Mace:

 too soon, Sammy

 Lor:

RIGHT?

 Lor:

like let the man have a burger first

 Mace:

 Is this the first time we get Dean looking in a mirror like this?

 Lor:

oooo MAYBE

 Mace:

 (his eyes are SO GREEN)

 Lor:

although.... I think I already have a mirror tag going, so maybe not?

 Mace:

ooooh

 Mace:

 DOUCHE HER UP

 Lor:

(YAAAAAAAAS)

 Mace:

HAHAHAHAHA

 Mace:

 omg the LOOK he gives Sammy

 Lor:

I LUFF HIM

 Mace:

“really?”

 Mace:

 HAHAHAHAHA

 Lor:

YAAAAAS

 Lor:

it almost makes up for him saying "I almost forgot" about Baby. HE DID NOT

 Mace:

(I would SO get him into things like Tori Amos through sheer stubborn determination)

 Mace:

 right?!

 Lor:

(YAAAAS)

 Mace:

 well, it has been forty years, though

 Lor:

(sit down, Dean, it's time for some Ani DiFranco)

 Lor:

PFFFT

 Mace:

(SNORK)

 Mace:

she is gorgeous

 Mace:

 and saucy

 Lor:

she IS

 Lor:

the look Bobby gives her

 Mace:

too bad Cas gets jealous and burns her eyes out

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

LOLOLOL

 Lor:

he knows she groped him under the table

 Mace:

of course he does

 Mace:

 Dean, you shouldn’t assume it was a him

 Lor:

"she's gonna eat you alive"

 Mace:

 “YOU ARE NOT INVITED”

 Lor:

RIGHT? Jesse was definitely a girl

 Mace:

 DEFINITELY

 Lor:

LOLOLOL

 Mace:

 “he didn’t touch me there” not yet, at least

 Lor:

LOLOLOLOLOL

 Lor:

he would never. not without taking him to dinner first

 Mace:

 SNORK

 Lor:

he DID SAY, Pamela

 Mace:

 and she DID ask. several times.

 Lor:

"castiel or whatever"

 Mace:

 oh Dean

 Lor:

his perky nipples lolololol

 Mace:

HAHAHAHA

 Mace:

 self objectification as defense

 Lor:

YEP

 Mace:

 I smell Fault of John here

 Lor:

YYYYYEP

 Mace:

 “the smarter brother’s back in town” HAHAHA

 Lor:

I love that Dean is obsessed with Cas in relation to Sam before he even knows who he is

 Lor:

LOLOLOLOLOL

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

tsk Sammy, sneaking off in Baby

 Mace:

 yeeeah

 Lor:

lookit him sleepy

 Mace:

 YES little muffin

 Lor:

oooooof

 Mace:

 yeah

 Lor:

that scene always gets me

 Mace:

 yeah

 Lor:

poor Dean all on the floor with the glass falling on him

 Mace:

 yeah

 Lor:

"we could choose life"

 Lor:

BOBBY

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

oooof Sammy

 Mace:

yeah

 Mace:

 bounces

 Lor:

YAAAAAAAAS

 Mace:

 (I think the title of this one should just be CAAAAAASSSSS)

 Lor:

(YEP. I was thinking that too)

 Lor:

oh Sammy

 Mace:

 right?

 Lor:

Bobby swinging his legs!

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

Dean fiddling with the knife

 Mace:

 YES

 Lor:

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 Mace:

 YAAAASSSSS

 Lor:

AAAAAAAH LOOKIT HIM

 Mace:

CAAAAASSSSSSS

 Mace:

 ADORABLE LIL NUGGET

 Lor:

he enters the room and SPARKS FLY

 Mace:

 YAAASSS

 Lor:

"GRIPPED YOU TIGHT AND RAISED YOU FROM PERDITION"

 Mace:

 THERE IT IS!!!

 Lor:

aw, stab at first sight

 Mace:

SNORK

 Mace:

 FIRST FINGER-TO-FOREHEAD

 Lor:

HIS EYES ARE SO BLUE

 Mace:

 THEY ARE

 Lor:

YAAAAAAS

 Mace:

 that’s what Dean’s thinking

 Lor:

YEP

 Lor:

he comes in and starts flipping through their books I LOVE HIM

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

"you have no faith" aaaaaaaaaah

 Lor:

WINGS

 Mace:

OOOOOOF

 Mace:

WINGSS

 Mace:

YASSS

 Mace:

 BOUNCES MORE

 Lor:

LOL YES

 Lor:

"buddy, next time lower the volume"

 Lor:

try whispering in his ear, Cas

 Mace:

HAHAHA

 Mace:

 Cas, do NOT tell Dean he isn’t special

 Lor:

HEAD TILT

 Mace:

he already has issues in that area

 Mace:

 YAS

 Lor:

he does

 Mace:

“good things do happen, Dean” “Not in my experience"

 Mace:

 aaaaand that’s the relationship

 Lor:

"you don't think you deserve to be saved"

 Lor:

"we have work for you"

 Mace:

 YEP

 Lor:

YES

 [after the episode ended:]

 Mace:

 OOOF SOOO GOOOD

 Lor:

BOUNCEBOUNCEBOUNCE

 Lor:

YES

 Mace:

 bounces and sings “CAS IS HERE CAS IS HERE”

 Lor:

like, I'm supposed to believe that entrance WASN'T tailor made for everyone AND DEAN to fall in love with Cas?

 Lor:

pfffft

 Mace:

 RIGHT?!

 Lor:

joins in singing CAS CAS CAS like a baseline

 Mace:

HAHAHAHA

 Mace:

 I remember the first time through the show I was hot for DeanDean until this episode, and then it was like, Oh. OH. HOLD UP. I THINK I HAVE ANGEL FEVER.

 Lor:

LOL

 Mace:

 my love for Sammy was slow to emerge, but it’s no less true for that

 Lor:

nothing could ever diminish my love for Dean. I made him scooch on the couch a little so there was room for one more

 Mace:

 see, that’s why you deserve him more than I do. I’ll just sit over here on Sammy’s lap while secretly oogling the members of the couch

 Lor:

in a sliiiiightly more serious take, I think Dean and Cas are almost a unit for me at this point? like, you can't fully understand either of them without the other, so

 Lor:

SNORKLE

 Mace:

 agreed. (although for me, in my mind, it’s a trio)

 Lor:

(that works too)

[stellarwxtchsims]

15 questions for 15 mutuals

tagged by @budgie2budgie, thank you 🙏🏽✨

1. are you named after anyone? nop. 2. when was the last time you cried? last week actually, re-watching an episode of buffy the vampire slayer (s5), yeah, that one. 😭 3. do you have kids? i don’t, but i hope i will. 4. do you use sarcasm a lot? too much for my one sanity i guess.  5. what sports do you play/have you played? i used to do gymnastic while in middle school and in high school, but i stopped.  6. what’s the first thing you notice about other people? this might make me sound like a weirdo but, their teeth. that’s the first thing i notice. the second thing might be the way they look at other people, i think it tells a lot about someone. 7. eye colour? brown. 8. scary movies or happy endings? i���m much more of an happy endings guy, but i do enjoy some scary movies once or twice a while. 9. any special talents? not that i can think of. 10. where were you born? near paris, in france. (yes, i’m french 🇫🇷)  11. what are your hobbies? sims, writing and reading.  i like to do french role play on forums too. 12. do you have any pets? not anymore. i used to have a cat, named kara (named after kara zor-el). 13. how tall are you? 175 cm. 14. fave subject in school? literature, english & french. 15. dream job? i would like to become a writer of fantasy novels, i’ve got a head full of ideas but i still lack some real assiduity. 🙄

tagged : i have to tag my one and only @simghosts. i have to be honest, i’m not sure how many mutuals i do have so feel free to do it and pretend i tagged you, it would be my pleasure to learn more about you. 🥹

[emma-m-black]

Soul Mate Magic - Chapter Fourteen

Rupert Giles x OC (FanFiction) - MATURE 18+

A new magical transfer comes to Sunnydale High, and ends up discovering a magical connection with our favorite Watcher.

OC is 19+ (Not a Minor), Age Gap, Slow Burn-ish (with a little preview thrown in there during the Bandy Candy Episode).

____

Author Master List

Read: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen,

Chapter Fourteen:

“Please say when this spell is broken, we won’t have to witness that anymore,” Xander muttered from behind Rose, his voice a thin veil of sarcasm that barely masked his discomfort.

Rose’s chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. The kiss had left her feeling more exposed than she cared to admit. She hadn’t kissed Giles for the magic boost alone; there was something raw between them that the magic only amplified. “I’m sorry, I needed the magic boost,” she muttered, her voice shaky, eyes trying to avoid connecting.

But her gaze drifted against her will, locking onto Giles once more. His expression was a storm of emotions, a chaotic mix that mirrored the turmoil within her. She saw the shame, deep and cutting, etched into every line of his face. But behind it—there was something else. A flicker, faint yet undeniable. Desire. A glimmer like a lone star struggling to shine through the clouds. It was a dangerous thing, that spark. It threatened to unravel everything.

Rose tore her gaze away before she could fall deeper into the storm. She needed space—distance. Without another word, she turned sharply and headed out the door, her steps faltering as she descended the shaky metal stairs that led to the parking lot. The cold night air hit her, but it did nothing to calm the heat coursing through her veins. Her body was weak, her magic unstable, but it was her heart that hurt the most.

She stared out at her family, her relatives standing in the distance, barely visible shadows at the edge of the property. They were watching, waiting, and it infuriated her. Her hands tingled, the magic itching beneath her skin, desperate to be released. “This ends now! You need to leave!” Her voice rang out, sharp and filled with a fury she hadn’t fully realized was bubbling up inside her. “I’m ending this line of stolen magic, and I dare you to try and stop me!”

Her words felt like a challenge to more than just her family. They were a plea, a desperate command to the universe to stop pulling her in so many directions.

“Yes, we dare you.” Buffy’s voice was low but resolute as she stepped to Rose’s side. Rose glanced over and smiled at the Slayer’s unwavering determination. Soon, the others joined them—Willow, Xander, and Giles.

“If you want her, you’ll have to get through us first,” Giles declared, his voice hard but steady, directed into the night.

“Yeah!” Willow’s voice was a small but fierce echo beside him.

Rose’s family remained silent, their faces unreadable in the dim moonlight, until they finally began to step back, vanishing into the darkened brush. Relief surged through her, but it was only temporary, a fleeting respite. The real battle was still within her. The battle between the feelings that tore her apart every time she looked at Giles.

“Oh, thank god,” Xander exhaled as the tension dissipated.

“Come on,” Buffy said, her voice lighter now. “We should get out of here before they start to feel gutsy again.”

Rose nodded numbly, following them toward Giles’s car. She felt empty now, like something important had been ripped from her—maybe it was the brief kiss or the intensity that followed it. She couldn’t be sure, but the absence gnawed at her as much as the unresolved emotions.

In the car, Rose settled into the backseat, sandwiched between Willow and Xander, but her mind wasn’t there. It lingered on Giles, on the weight of his gaze that kept flicking to her through the rearview mirror. The silence of the drive pressed on her, thick and suffocating. All she could think about was how different everything felt now that they’d kissed again. Even if it was to save their lives, that kiss had ignited something terrifying and unrelenting.

When they finally arrived at the Summers’ house, Xander helped her out of the car, his grip steady as she wavered on her feet. Magic or not, her body was still drained, and the walk up to the house felt longer than it should.

As they approached, Rose’s eyes caught something familiar, and her heart gave a weak lurch. “Hey, that’s my car?” she whispered, her voice barely above a breath, her exhaustion clear in the way her body sagged between Willow and Xander.

Willow glanced at the car and then back at Rose, a sympathetic softness in her voice. “Your dad... When he told Buffy and Giles where to find you, he brought your car and some of your things to the school.”

Rose stopped in her tracks, the words sinking in slowly, like they were moving through water. Her dad had... betrayed his family. For her. The realization struck deep, a sudden ache blooming in her chest as the weight of it settled over her. He had risked everything—his standing in the coven, his loyalty, his safety—just to make sure she was found, to help her escape.

Her vision blurred for a moment, but she blinked hard, pushing back the swell of emotion rising in her throat. There were too many feelings crashing into her at once—relief, guilt, confusion. She had never thought he would do that for her, not after everything.

Once inside, Buffy’s voice echoed through the foyer. “Mom’s still out of town,” she said, then turned to Rose and Giles, her eyes narrowing with a mixture of concern and amusement. “We’ll do a quick patrol. Give you guys time to talk. Just no more...” Buffy waved her hands around awkwardly, gesturing between them.

Rose felt the heat rise to her cheeks, but before she could respond, Giles’s quiet voice cut through the moment. “We’ll be fine, Buffy. Just stay alert.”

“Always am, boss,” Buffy chirped before she, Willow, and Xander left, leaving Rose alone with Giles.

An awkward silence followed, thickening the air between them. Rose leaned against the banister, feeling the weight of her exhaustion settle over her. The kiss still lingered on her lips, and every time she looked at Giles, her heart raced with the memory of it.

Giles cleared his throat, his hand moving awkwardly to the back of his neck. “Would you prefer food or a shower first?”

Rose forced herself to meet his eyes, trying to steady her breathing. “Definitely a shower. Although, I might need to do a bath. I’m not sure I can stand for that long.”

Giles moved closer, his touch gentle as he wrapped an arm around her waist. “Let me help you up.”

They made their way up the stairs slowly, each step punctuated by the unspoken tension between them. When they reached the bathroom, Rose set down the dagger she had been carrying and turned to Giles. He wasn’t looking at her—his gaze was fixed somewhere distant, as if trying to focus on anything but her presence. She hated how much she wanted him to look at her. Really look at her the way he had after their kiss.

“I can manage from here, Rupert,” she said softly, her voice trembling despite her effort to sound composed.

He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

A wry chuckle escaped his lips, and finally, his eyes met hers. “You’re worried about me being uncomfortable?” His hand moved to the bridge of his nose, lifting his glasses in that familiar gesture. “I spelled you, Rose. I’m the one who—”

“Rupert!” She cut him off, her voice sharper than she intended. “We are not doing this again. What do I have to do to make you understand that this is not your fault?”

He tried to respond, but she interrupted again. “Rupert, I would slap you, but I really don’t think I can lift my arm right now.”

There was a pause, and then the tension between them broke with a shared burst of laughter. It started as a small chuckle from Giles, but soon, Rose found herself laughing too, gripping the wall to steady herself as her body shook from the effort.

Giles’s laughter faded first, his eyes soft as he watched her, and the weight of everything they’d been through settled once again in the quiet room. “It is all quite ridiculous, isn’t it?” he said, the smile lingering on his lips.

Rose nodded as she sat on the edge of the tub, her heart heavy despite the lightness of the moment. “You think? You were spelled to me to protect me, which in turn linked us together when you performed a love spell, and then we ate bewitched chocolate and slept together.”

“Don’t forget your family is trying to kill you, and you were abducted by a madman,” Giles added with a rueful smile as he sat down next to her.

Rose sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder, the seriousness returning to her voice. “Just tell me it’s all going to be okay.”

Giles’s arm wrapped around her, his warmth steady and comforting. “It’s going to be okay, Rose.”

They stayed like that for a few quiet minutes, the warmth of Giles’ arm around her a rare comfort in the midst of everything. He finally pulled away, and the absence of his touch left a strange emptiness in its wake. Rising to his feet, Giles moved to the bathtub tap and began testing the water, his hands steady as he adjusted the temperature, steam curling into the air.

“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” His voice was soft, almost tender, as if he was reluctant to leave her on her own just yet.

Rose managed a weak smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I’ll be okay. But if I’m not out in an hour. Maybe check to make sure I haven’t fallen asleep and drowned.”

Giles gave her a brief half-smile in return, though concern still darkened his features. “I’ll go see if I can find something for you to eat. Something light for your stomach.”

He stood then, but his gaze lingered on her, his eyes sweeping over her frail form. Rose could feel the weight of his stare, the way he silently took in the starkness of her figure, the hollows beneath her eyes, the sharp lines where softness had once been. It wasn’t just her body that was fragile—it was everything about her.

“Thank you, Rupert,” she whispered, her voice barely above a breath. His name felt oddly intimate on her tongue, yet necessary in that moment.

The bath was a slow process. Each movement felt heavy, deliberate. As Rose soaked in the warm water, she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the faucet—her ribs stark against her pale skin. She frowned at the sight. Had she really changed this much in just two weeks? She supposed magic had its own way of taking a toll, one that couldn’t be measured in typical ways.

She scrubbed her hair twice, ridding it of the grime and traces of her captivity, and shaved away the remnants of the last two weeks, as if removing the unwanted hair could also cleanse her of the fear, the uncertainty, and the trauma. Slowly, as the water cradled her and the scents of soap filled the air, she started to feel like herself again. Maybe not completely, but it was a start.

Rising from the tub, she wrapped herself in a large, fluffy white towel, the softness a small luxury against her raw skin. She padded over to the mirror, wiping away the condensation with a swipe of her hand. The fog cleared, revealing her reflection—sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, dark circles etched beneath them. She barely recognized the girl staring back at her. She was no longer the Rose who had walked into this mess weeks ago.

A droplet of water slid down her cheek, like a tear she hadn’t cried. She watched it trace her skin before disappearing under her chin. For a fleeting moment, everything felt oddly normal. Just a girl in a bathroom, fresh from a bath. But she knew better. The moment she stepped out into the hall, the weight of the world would fall on her shoulders again. So, for now, she savored the quiet—this tiny fragment of peace.

Her reverie was broken by a knock at the door.

“Rose?” Giles’ voice called from the other side, tinged with concern.

“Still alive,” she answered, her voice steadier than she felt as she continued to stare into the mirror.

A soft chuckle filtered through the door. “The others are back, and I’ve prepared some soup for you whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll be down in a few minutes,” she said, brushing a hand through her damp hair.

“Whenever you’re ready,” he echoed gently before his footsteps retreated, leaving her alone with her thoughts once more.

Her gaze shifted to the dagger on the counter—the same blade she had reclaimed from Ethan. Picking it up, she turned it over in her hands, its weight grounding her. It was a reminder of the danger that still loomed, of the chaos waiting just beyond this room. She sighed, setting the dagger aside before making her way to the bedroom at the Summers’ residence.

Joyce had thoughtfully prepared a wardrobe for her, ensuring she had fresh clothes. The kindness of these people—strangers only a short time ago—never failed to astonish her. They had welcomed her into their lives, saved her when she had been at her most vulnerable.

She slipped into a pair of jeans and a baggy dark green sweater, the fabric hanging loosely on her now much slimmer frame. The sweater wasn’t meant to be this oversized, but her weight loss made everything fit differently now. She frowned at her reflection, feeling a sharp pang of disconnection from the girl she used to be.

Placing her glasses on her face, the world sharpened around her. She hadn’t worn them for what felt like an eternity. She barely remembered when she had removed the contacts from her eyes, abandoning them in the dingy motel room where everything had started. But now, with the glasses in place, things felt clearer—if only on the surface.

The dagger caught her eye again, its gleam a stark contrast to the ordinary comforts of the room. She hesitated, then hid it under the nightstand, tucking it away where it couldn’t haunt her for the moment.

With a resigned sigh, Rose padded out into the hallway, barefoot. The wood beneath her feet felt cool, grounding. But as she reached the stairs, she felt her body falter; the exhaustion hitting her harder than she expected. Gripping the railing tightly, she wavered, her steps unsteady.

“Here.” Xander’s voice was soft as he appeared beside her, offering his arm without hesitation.

“Thanks,” Rose murmured, a small smile tugging at her lips as she accepted his support.

“Anytime.” He grinned, his easygoing nature a welcome balm to her frayed nerves. Xander carefully guided her into the kitchen, helping her settle into a chair. A bowl of soup was already waiting for her, the steam rising in gentle spirals, filling the room with the comforting scent of broth.

Across the table, Buffy and Willow sat quietly, their eyes tracking her every movement with concern. Giles sat at the head of the table beside her, his brow furrowed in thought. Though the room was filled with her friends, the silence weighed heavily. It was the kind of quiet that came when too much had been left unsaid, when everyone was waiting for someone else to break it.

Pulling one leg up to her chest, Rose reached shakily for the spoon in the bowl. She tried to scoop up some broth, but as she lifted it towards her lips, her hand trembled so violently that the liquid splashed back into the bowl. Determined, she attempted to steady herself, only to feel the tremor worsen. Frustration clawed at her, but before it could deepen, a gentle touch stopped her hand—Giles’ warm, steady grip wrapping around hers.

“Let me,” he murmured softly, his soothing voice bringing comfort to her frayed emotions. He took the spoon from her fingers, shifting his chair closer, the scrape of wood against the floor momentarily loud in the room’s stillness. Setting the bowl between them, Giles scooped up a small amount of broth and, with deliberate care, lifted the spoon to her lips. Rose parted them, allowing the metal to slip between her teeth. The warmth of the broth filled her mouth as she swallowed, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“This has to be the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done,” she whispered, a hint of self-deprecation in her tone.

“Did we forget when we all walked in on you two—” Xander’s voice cut through the air, his grin wide as he tried to lighten the mood.

“Or that time in the hotel room,” Willow chimed in, barely holding back a laugh.

Buffy, ever the master of quips, smirked. “Wait, were you two really attacked that night in the library?”

Rose groaned, a laugh escaping her despite the awkwardness. “Oh god, you guys are never going to let this go, are you?”

Buffy shrugged, her expression playful. “I’d like to say no, but this is kind of a normal Tuesday for us. Something more ridiculous will probably happen next week.”

“Good to know,” Rose muttered, rolling her eyes as Giles raised another spoonful to her lips. There was something strangely intimate in the way he was caring for her—an odd sense of safety mingling with the ever-present undercurrent of tension that lingered between them.

After five more spoonfuls, she had to stop, her stomach protesting the sudden introduction of something more substantial than stale granola bars. She winced as the cramp hit, pressing a hand against her abdomen.

Willow, ever practical, leaned forward. “So, the counterspell isn’t that difficult. Light a few candles, say some ancient words, maybe sacrifice a little blood, and voilà—you guys will stop, you know, undressing each other with your eyes.”

“We’re not—” Rose and Giles protested in unison, their voices quick and defensive. They exchanged a glance, then looked away, embarrassed by the truth Willow had so bluntly spoken.

“The sooner, the better,” Buffy added, her voice taking on a more serious tone. “We can’t have you two weakened like this, especially with your family lurking in the shadows.”

“Only if you’re feeling strong enough,” Giles said quietly, concern etched in his features as he turned his gaze back to Rose.

Her eyes swept the room, taking in the familiar faces that had become her makeshift family over these past weeks. She then focused on Giles, his expression unreadable yet so full of quiet concern. “I’m ready when you are,” she whispered, though the words felt heavy in her mouth, like a lie she wasn’t quite ready to admit to herself.

Giles’ sharp eyes flickered with a flash of doubt, but before he could voice it, Buffy stood, nodding towards the others. “We’ll go set up upstairs, just in case your family decides to make an uninvited appearance.”

Giles nodded, and Rose saw the tension ripple through his frame as he slid off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “We’ll join you in a moment,” he said.

With that, the others slowly left the room, the sound of their footsteps echoing up the stairs before fading into silence. The quiet that followed was thick, almost suffocating, as Rose and Giles remained seated together. For a long, drawn-out moment, neither of them spoke, the weight of what lay ahead hanging between them.

Eventually, Giles stood and extended his hand. “Rose?”

She hesitated only a fraction before placing her hand in his. His fingers closed around hers, firm yet tender, sending a pulse of warmth through her skin. As she stood, she found herself face-to-face with him, and for a moment, it was as if the world had shrunk down to just the two of them.

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Giles asked, his voice low, the question laden with unspoken worry.

Rose’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “Better we do it now before I get kidnapped again.”

The faintest trace of a smile flickered across Giles’ face, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. What did reach her, however, was the electricity in his touch. His hand, still holding hers, sent a current of energy coursing through her veins.

“It might be the spell talking, but we can wait. You’re stronger when we’re together. We… I would understand if you need that—to protect yourself—” Giles’ voice was calm, but underneath, there was something more. A quiet desperation. He sounded as though he didn’t want this closeness to end, didn’t want to lose the fleeting connection that felt so right despite its cause.

Rose held his gaze, squeezing his hand, the warmth of his skin grounding her in a way nothing else could. But there was a fear lurking behind her smile, fragile like glass. “I’ll be okay,” she said, trying to sound certain, though her voice wavered at the edges. “Buffy’s right. We can’t risk it if we’re separated like this again because if I die.” She forced herself to speak pragmatically, but her heart twisted at the thought of losing the feeling—the pull she couldn’t explain.

Giles’ eyes softened as he searched her face, his thumb tracing slow circles on the back of her hand. “If I’m honest though,” Rose added, her voice lowering, “I’m a little afraid of what comes after this. It’s hard to think about a world where I don’t constantly feel...” She faltered, struggling for the right words, struggling to admit the truth of what she wanted to say.

Giles nodded, a small, knowing smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I know the feeling,” he replied softly. There was a sadness there, mingled with the barest hint of humor, as if trying to keep things light would somehow stave off the inevitable.

They shared that look for a moment, a fragile peace hanging between them. Rose let out a small, defeated breath before she turned toward the stairs, the weight of what was coming pressing down on her chest. But she barely took a step before Giles’ hand. An unmoving tether that halted her.

She stopped, glancing back with a questioning look. “What?” Her voice was quiet, her heart pounding in her chest, louder now than before.

Giles stared at her, his usually guarded expression unraveling, something fierce and pained flickering in his eyes—something that had been simmering beneath the surface for too long, and now, it blazed with a force he could no longer suppress. He took a step closer, the distance between them narrowing, and when he spoke, his voice was a whisper—low, rough, every word dripping with longing as if they cost him everything to say. “Allow me to be selfish… one last time.”

Before Rose could even process the weight of his words, before she could respond or question the emotion trembling behind them, Giles closed the space between them in one swift motion. His hands, strong yet trembling slightly, found her waist and pulled her toward him with a need that felt both urgent and reverent. Her chest collided with his, the sudden closeness stealing the air from her lungs, leaving her breathless in more ways than one.

His arms wrapped around her, firm but tender, like he was afraid that if he held her too tightly, she might break—or worse, disappear altogether. And then his lips were on hers, not tentative or testing, but fierce and aching, the kiss pouring out every unspoken emotion, every silent yearning he had kept hidden. It was as if all the time they’d spent apart, all the tension they had carried, had led to this moment of release—of surrender.

The kiss shattered something inside Rose—something she had been desperately trying to hold together. She couldn’t resist him, couldn’t hold back. Her free hand reached up instinctively, fingers curling around his shoulder, as if it was the only thing keeping her anchored in this overwhelming storm of feeling. It wasn’t exhaustion that made her knees weak—it was him. It was Rupert Giles. The taste of him, familiar yet intoxicating, the heat of his lips claiming hers, the way his breath mingled with her own, sending shivers down her spine. His lips moved with a hunger she hadn’t expected, as if he had been starving for this—for her—for longer than either of them had realized.

The world around them seemed to dissolve. The weight of everything they had endured, the uncertainty of what lay ahead—it all faded, leaving only the two of them. She could feel the intensity of his need in the way his lips pressed against hers, the way his tongue teased her lips before slipping past them, coaxing her to open to him. Her body responded without thought, arching into him, the pulse of desire igniting a fire that spread from her core to every part of her.

Rose melted into him, her body surrendering completely to the heat of the moment. His scent—book dust and tea, and something unmistakably Giles—flooded her senses, grounding her even as her mind spun. There was a wildness to the kiss, a raw, untamed energy between them that felt just like the magic they once shared—powerful, electric, and uncontrollable.

A soft, breathless moan escaped her lips, the sound barely audible, but enough to stir something deep within Giles. He responded instantly, his grip tightening as one hand slid up her back, fingers tangling in her still-damp hair, while the other pressed into the small of her back, pulling her even closer. The kiss deepened, becoming more insistent, more desperate, as if they were both trying to make up for all the time they had lost, for all the words left unsaid, for everything they were about to lose.

Her body trembled with the intensity of it all, the world outside slipping further and further away. His kiss consumed her, setting every nerve aflame, and the heat between them grew uncontrollable, like a fire raging out of control. Every touch of his lips, every brush of his hands against her body, seemed to send her spiraling deeper into the connection that was so much more than just physical.

When his hand slipped from her hair and cupped her cheek, the touch was tender, contrasting the hunger of the kiss. His thumb brushed softly against her skin, a gesture that spoke of all the care and affection he had buried beneath his walls. Her heart ached in response, the vulnerability of the moment striking her like a lightning bolt. This was not just about desire. This was about them.

And as his lips softened against hers, slowing, becoming more deliberate, Rose reluctantly began to pull away.

But Giles’ lips followed hers, not yet ready to break the connection. His eyes, dark and filled with a longing that mirrored her own, seemed to plead with her. The space between them was only a breath, yet it felt like a chasm now.

Rose’s heart pounded in her chest, her lips tingling from the ghost of his kiss, and as she looked at him—his swollen lips, his dilated pupils—she knew he was feeling everything she was. The magic still hummed between them, even now, pulsing in time with their shared heartbeat.

Neither of them spoke as she turned away, their hands still loosely intertwined, a lifeline neither was willing to let go of. Wordlessly, they walked to the stairs, fingers slipping apart as they reached the top. And when their hands finally broke apart, Rose felt the cold absence immediately, her heart lurching in protest, as if it already knew what was coming.

The door to her room opened, revealing the others, but Rose felt numb. The kiss still lingered on her lips, and the magic, once vibrant between her and Giles, now felt like a distant memory, as if the spell had already begun to fade.

She sat across from Giles, her hand shaking slightly as she took the offered knife and made the cut in her palm, watching as her blood mixed with his in a bowl Willow had set out. The words Willow read sounded distant, muffled by the overwhelming sense of loss already closing in around her.

When the candles flickered out and the spell was done, Rose stared down at the blood that had once been entwined but now lay starkly separated, as though some invisible force had driven it apart. And in that moment, despite the room full of people, Rose felt more alone than ever.

Chapter Fifteen