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ellievickstar · 1 year

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Final Choice

A/N: So, I saw your guys making up ideas for this part…I must say. Some were happy, some just wanted Azriel to suffer…which one did I go with? Well…read to find out :) Also the beginning of this fic is in Rhys’s POV since Azzy and our dearest Y/N are kind unconscious

Summary: When then mating bond finally snaps into place, what are you meant to do when you realise your mate has another in his heart, will you break it off to save yourself, or will your mate be able to save this heartbreak?

Request: N/A

Pairing: Azriel x Witch!Reader

Warnings: Self-hate. Mostly written in Rhys's POV I thought it would be funny to see his monologue of things. confessions. Heartache.

~*~*~*~*~

Rhys’s POV

This was…unexpected. Not that it wasn’t out of character for Azriel or Y/N to end up sabotaging themselves instead of talking through their issues like normal adult faeries or witches. I shook my head as Nesta helped to break the shield around Y/N. Thankfully, for that spell to work, the witch casting it had to be able to stay awake the whole time, if not, the safety measure — that had been weaved into the ritual by Y/N’s mother — would kick in and stop all magic completely.

Both were alive and I breathed out a sigh of exasperation. Couldn’t they have waited until the morning to do something so extreme? I was pretty sure I was still hungover from drinking with Cassian and Azriel to distract one from worrying over the fact his mate hadn’t come home. He could feel her alive and well across the bond, but I suspected she needed space, so we made sure we drank him into literal oblivion.

If only I had known this was what she was doing….

I shook my head. No, this wasn’t my fault. Feyre had already been telling me to stop blaming myself for everything that happened to our friends, but hell, if I had let Azriel go after her then maybe they’d work through their feelings, if I had ordered him away from Elain when I first suspected that he was starting to hurt Y/N, maybe things would be different.

I heard my mate come up behind me, she glanced at the pair, shaking her head disappointed. it reminded me of my mother when she caught me trying to sneak out for a flight around Moonstone palace. Wrapping a wing around Feyre, I pulled her closer to me, making sure to drape an arm around her waist.

“Nyx is asleep again, he had quite a fright from all the screaming, but he’s alright now,” She murmured. I hummed as I watched Madja — her eyes looked as if she was going to kill both witch and Illyrian once they awoke — with the help of Nesta and Cassian, drag both unconscious bodies to separate rooms.

“Azriel is…a dumbass,” Amren said from beside us, Varian nodding from beside her. I had no clue where the latter had come from, but it was anyone’s guess what the two had been up to when the events earlier transpired. Feyre agreed with Amren, but I had a small inkling that she was being biased towards the witch she considered a sister. Smiling to myself, I let go of Feyre if only to pick up the worn out leather book that had been beside the symbol-spell-ritual, whatever the witches called it.

Flipping through the pages, I noted that there was no name on the book, but I was sure that this was a diary. There were personal accounts of someone’s life, while a few pages here and there were sketches of spells or instructions on witch magic. That’s when I came across a familiar name. This entry said:

‘Y/N is only five now. But, I can sense the war is coming…soon. I don’t know if I will survive. My Magic is growing weaker, Y/N is feeding off of it, but who could blame her? Especially…when she’s more powerful then any other witch in history. I don’t quite remember what her father was…but his name. I will never forget his name. My love. I miss my lover.

So this was her mother’s diary. Interesting indeed. I hummed carefully as I closed the book, all the information I needed was inside. All I needed to do now was get a hold of that sand that was used in Y/N’s rituals. “Feyre darling, how would you like to speak to the dead?”

~*~*~*~*~

Y/N’s POV

“Why do you love him, Y/N?” You closed your eyes as the question rang through you. “In all of my lonely nights, when I was a ghost inside, he was there for me. Whenever I drank too much, whenever my eyes cried floods, he would be there for me, he’d listen. He made my demons go away, he would clear the darkness, he was there for me. He was there when I lost faith, he was there through every heartbreak. And I’d do the same for him,” You admitted.

Your ancestor smiled at you. “My dearest child, you can’t see it can you?” “See what? I love him. I love him I love him I love him. But I don’t understand if he loves me? When I look at him and her I can’t help but wonder ‘what about us’? what about all the times we spent together? What about all the times he said he would have the answer for me? What about all the moments we shared, what about all the disastrous pranks, plating footsie under the table, laughing together under the night sky during Starfall? What about love? What about trust, what about us?” Tears began to fill your eyes. You didn’t understand anymore. You were so sure that breaking the mating bond was the answer, but when you did you felt it, that love for you, but you also felt that love he had for her. Her.

You couldn’t put it into words. How you felt that roar of love for you, but there was that spark, there was something that kept him from loving your completely. And you didn’t understand. What happened to promises of forever, what happened to ‘whatever end’? What happened to the both of you. You wanted to cry, you wanted to scream at him, wanted to let this pain, this confusion out. You couldn’t help but feel so alone. What happened to the times you stuck around with him even when everyone blamed him for something went wrong. What happened to the times you would listen to him for hours as he croie down because of nightmares? What happened to the times you’d soothe him, even if it was the latest hours?

Your heart was breaking and there was nothing you could do about it. You had no way of knowing whether he truly loved you. How could you believe anything he said? After all the times you had to watch as he fell over himself because of Morrigan. After all the times he practically ogled at the youngest Archeron. Would there ever be a day you would find piece within your relationship? Your heart was bleeding and no amount of stitches or bandaids could stop it. You bit the back of you closed fist as you sobbed. “I can’t do this anymore…please,”

“I will always be here for you, you may summon me whenever you wish, not just in your dreams, child. But even if there are times you can’t bring yourself to call me, just look to the moon. It will shine the same wherever you are, and I’ll be here as you search for the light,” She bent to your height as she gently took your hands. Her fingers lightly brushed against your cheeks. “It doesn’t matter what he decides, in the end, you are still the most powerful queen of witches there has ever been,” You nodded, but something in you wanted to know more. But before you could ask anything, she had already disappeared, leaving you alone in the endless darkness of your own mind.

~*~*~*~*~

Rhys’s POV

Getting ahold of the sand as a fae, was hard. We visited six different merchants all selling witch’s tools before finally we met a merchant that could sell us the sand. Feyre had gasped when she hear the price, but to me it felt like I had barely scratched the surface of my account, Feyre called me entitled when I said that to her. (A/N: we love rich Rhys)

Okay…so the book says to pour the sand on the ground in this shape. Feyre held out a hand and I was confused at first before she rolled her eyes and said, “You’ll get it wrong, plus, I paint, so I have steadier hands then you,” I wanted to scoff but she was right. She was better suited doing this. Especially with those hands that were basically built for painting and good artwork.

After the...spell? Ritual? Magic Shape? - I'll have to ask Y/N - was complete, I opened the diary and chanted the words that was written. Light magic seemed to burst from the sand was it began to glow. Feyre squinted her eyes against te bright light while poor me had to keep on reading the book.

And as the light finally began to dull down I looked up, and smiled.

"Your majesty," I purred as I bowed to the hooded figure before me. Feyre looked confused at first, but as the woman lifted her head and smiled down at us, she froze and curtsied.

"No need for that High Lord and Lady of the Night Court, though, I did wonder when you would finally call. It seems my daughter has gotten into a bit of trouble, hasn't she?" I nodded, rising to face her. She was as elegant as I remember, clad in white as flowers were weaved through her thick curls. Unlike Y/N's near-straight brown hair, hers was dark and black as a crow's feathers. She held her head high with an air of grace as her crown signalled to all who she truly was, the hood she had previously cloaked herself with melting away.

The late Queen of Witches. Y/N's mother.

"Well to be quite clear, your daughter is an absolute joy and she will make a wonderful king. But unfortunately, we do have a few questions, concerning the spell that breaks the mating bond," She nodded, wanting me to continue. "I can sense it...I can still smell the connection between them and even as they shut me out of their minds their souls still seemed to be intertwined. So if that spell didn't break the bond, what exactly did it do?"

She hummed, considering my question carefully, thinking silently to herself before nodding as if agreeing to something. "I cannot tell you much, High Lord, but what I can tell you, is that what is that both of them are the key to what holds them back. Not one, but both," I wanted to ask her more. Beg her for answers if it meant saving my two friends, but without a word she had vanished, the spell had given out. I had no skill of my own to be able to maintain the line of communication between us and the afterlife, I couldn't redo the spell. I didn't know how to save my friends from themselves.

~*~*~*~*~

Y/N POV

Blinking away the darkness you were greeted to a warm sight, with shadows creeping across the ceiling, and a shadow singer sitting close to your bed, his arms crossed, fury was clear as day, stricken across his face.

"Why would you do that?" you sat up, trying to understand his question. All you remembered was the pain...the ritual...the mating bond! You reached out to that tether you used to feel and as I realised it was still there my heart sank. "I- I didn't think you truly wanted me as a mate," You blurted out as you silently arose from your bed.

"What must I do to make you understand? I want to be with you!" He tried to approach you, but you raised a hand and he stopped. "Why? Because of this- this cauldron forsaken mating bond? Because you feel some nobility some honour saying that you chose to be with your mate!? You didn't even want to be with me. Even before, you were going to leave me, now the only difference is that your soul is bound to me and even then everything you do is just-" He let go of an exasperated breath as he listened to you rattle on.

"What can I do? I told you I love you but it seems everything I do is some scheme or because I feel pity for you. Have I hurt you so much that you cannot bring yourself to believe that every single thing I do is insincere," He paused, breathing heavily as he stepped towards you. "I don't know what else to say, what to do. I'm sorry. I love you. I wish I could take everything back. But don't walk away from me. Hit me, tear me apart, give me new scares to carry the shame for the rest of my life. Break my heart, break it a thousand times over, it was only yours to break anyways. But stay with me. Please," You didn't know what to do, and as his hands finally reached you, red hot magic seemed to burn between you as you gasped and he hissed, pulling away.

What in the name of the mother? You blinked as the red print of magic from his had seemed to fade away slowly from my skin. That was...how. Looking back at Azriel you tried to recall what you had read about the ritual. When it failed it would create a shield between both mates so that the ritual would not be tried again. The only way to break this spell was...you shook your head and sobbed into the back of your fist as you made a terrible realisation.

"The book- 'This wall shall only be destroyed if both souls accept their own and each others truest emotions for each other. Only then will they come together.'" Tears streamed down your face, you had been so stupid. So, so stupid. And now it was hurting Azriel. You felt so stupid, and angry.

You tried to sit back down, but you completely missed the bed and tumbled to the floor, Azriel unable to do anything as he stared at his own hands, shock still written in his features.

This was bad.

"I see you both have finally awoken. And now we know what the little spell did," Rhysand spoke up. You whipped your head to the door and there he stood. Feyre smiling as she waved to you, happy that you hadn't killed yourself on accident yet. "The spell shouldn't exist. I have accepted that Azriel will never love me, and he has accepted that I will always love him, even if it tears me apart inside, even if it has nearly killed me...several times," You said. Azriel shook his head as he buried his face in his hands, and Rhys seemed to frown.

The High Lord and High Lady said nothing in response, only opting to pat Azriel on the back as they left. You didn't understand. You had to be right. There was no way that Azriel loved you, right?

No. These hopeful thoughts would only harm you. You mustn't think too much of what ifs. That's when Azriel finally spoke. "I swear to you, I will spend the rest of my time here making up for everything I did. I can't excuse how I've hurt you, but I will try to fix this. I will court you how I should have, love you until you can see, and I will wait for you, everyday," Gazing up into his brown eyes, ones that were usually piercing and intimidating now soft and sincere. You smiled as a small piece of you heart began to believe that maybe, this could be real, allowing you to make, this final choice.

"Okay."

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: I decided to stop torturing you guys. I love all of you <3333 my bestest babes. I will be doing bonuses if anyone has any requests, but this marks the end of the choice series. I know this is abit rushed but it's been dragged on for so long and I didn't want the series to be long either. Also because I think you guys kinda deserve a happy ending. I love you <33

taglist: @azriels-mate123 @penguinsworldsblog @hannahx1111 @jacksonpleasestopkillingme @positivewitch @happyseadreams @fuckthatfeeling @meritxellao @xiangping-28 @clarkie-carmody-blog @aroseinvelaris @azrielhours @shadowsinger-654 @azzydaddy @nisa-wisa @cosmic-whispers @cat-or-kitten @thecraziestcrayon @thegirlintheshadows101 @marina468 @act1839 @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @holywolfsstuff @gengen64 @goldenmagnolias @tobifeemo @readerworld22 @cyrygher @shisingh @txzii @antisentimentalus @t0uch-starved-h0e

(If your user is in bold I could not tag you, sorry T^T if you want to be tagged please specify in the replies <3)

#Azriel shadowsinger #acotar #acotar fandom #acosf #a court of silver flames #azriel shadowsinger #a court of mist and fury #azriel #azriel angst #azriel x reader #rhysand #azriel fluff #azriel x you #azriel imagine #azriel acotar #acotar fanfiction #feyre acotar

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differenteagletragedy · 6 months

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Hi, could I request a fic of mc and Cove (and Cliff if possible) reuniting after not seeing each other for 3 years while mc was studying abroad?

Here you go, thank you!!!

You were practically vibrating as you sat in your cramped airplane seat, your eyes glued to the window. Down below, you'd seen long stretches of green, the brown of the desert, the mountain peaks, but now, finally, you saw what you'd been waiting for.

The Pacific stretched out to the horizon, big and blue and endless. You'd seen an ocean hours ago, of course, as the plane passed over the Atlantic, but this was your ocean.

Which meant you were almost home to your ocean boy.

It had been three years since you'd been home -- three long, exciting, excruciating years. After your freshman year of college, you got the opportunity to study abroad in Europe, and you couldn't pass it up. The following summer you got an important internship, and the cycle continued until it was your senior year. You'd just graduated, and you were coming back to Sunset Bird.

In those years, your parents had visited you, but you'd been too busy to make a trip halfway across the planet. You'd kept in touch with Cove through letters and emails and occasional phone calls, and the rare video chat when you were able to find a good enough internet connection. He hadn't been able to come see you, so the last time you'd been together was when you were 19.

You were 22 now. So many things had changed, but you hoped with all you had that the special bond you had with Cove wasn't one of them.

You'd had a pretty major crush on him for as long as you could remember, maybe even since that first summer he moved to town. There was always some reason not to tell him -- you weren't sure if he felt the same way, you didn't want to risk your friendship and, most recently, you were going to be on another continent for a considerable amount of time.

But as your plane began landing and the reality that you'd be seeing him soon really started sinking in, you thought that maybe you might be ready now.

When it was time to get off the plane, you waited for the passengers ahead of you to make their way through the aisle and into the airport, checking your watch. This whole process would take a bit, then you'd have to make your way to the outside entrance for your moms to pick you up, then it was about a 30 minute drive home if traffic wasn't too bad.

You were still working out the math, trying to figure out how many minutes until you were with your best friend again, when you heard someone shout your name as you left the terminal.

And there he was -- a little taller, a little broader, and a lot more tattooed. But it was Cove.

You barely had time to process the surprise before he barreled into you, wrapping his arms tight around your waist and picking you up so you could be as close as possible. You dropped your bag and hugged him back just as fiercely, burying your face into his neck and smiling so hard it hurt.

It took him a bit to let you go, and even when he did it wasn't completely. After he set you back on the ground, he held onto your arms, stepping back just a bit to get a good look at you.

"Did you have a good trip?" he asked softly. There were tears in his eyes, but he wasn't bothering with trying to hide them.

"Yeah," you laughed, finding yourself getting a bit teary too. There was so much to say, so much to catch up on, and it felt surreal that you were actually together again.

While you were standing there looking at each other, you heard someone nearby clear his throat. You looked over and saw Cove's dad. That wide grin made yet another appearance, and you momentarily stepped away from Cove to hug Cliff.

"Hey there, kiddo," he said fondly, patting your back. "It's been too long."

"I was going to come get you myself but dad wanted to drive," Cove explained.

"Yep, thought you'd be a little too distracted to handle heavy machinery," Cliff laughed. Cove rolled his eyes, but there was no real malice there -- he was still beaming at you.

"Here, I'll get this," the older man said, leaning down to pick up the handle of your forgotten suitcase. "Now let's head home, what do you say?"

As the three of you made your way through the rest of the airport and out towards the parking lot, you and Cove stayed close together. Any worry you'd had about the reunion had evaporated as soon as he held you, but now it was clear -- things were the same as they'd always been. Hundreds of days and thousands of miles couldn't change what you had.

When you made it to Cliff's car, you climbed in the backseat, surprised when Cove hopped in beside you. You gave him a questioning look, but he just smiled and shrugged.

"I didn't want to be that far away," he said, glancing up at the front seat like it was another universe.

The two of you started catching up in ways you couldn't over all your letters, and while you thought you knew how much you'd missed him, it didn't really sink in until you had him again. Whether you decided to share your feelings or just stayed best friends, he was your person. There was no doubt about that.

Sometime after Cliff pulled out of the parking lot, Cove laid his hand down in the middle seat, his palm facing up. You met his eyes, then placed your hand in his. He laced your fingers together, giving you a squeeze, then went on talking about everything he wanted to do with you this summer.

You weren't back to Sunset Bird yet, but a warm, fluttering feeling in your stomach told you that you were home.

#our life beginnings and always #olba #our life #cove holden #olba mc #olba cove #cove x reader #cove x mc #cove x you #cove holden x you #cove holden x mc #cove holden x reader #our life cove

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writtenbymisunderstoodnerds · 1 year

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I never wanted this, but maybe it's not such a bad thing part 2 (Preath x Reader)

Part 1

Hope you enjoy :)

Words: 3.2k

Ash had been waiting for me when the elevator finally opened. I had fallen into her arms, not moving for a good 5 minutes as I calmed down. Christen and Tobin were already gone when I pulled myself away from Ash. I hung out with Ash and the kids for an hour or so, trying to forget about the elevator. My mind kept going back to Christen and Tobin. Despite everything that had happened so far, they had helped me through the elevator without a second thought. I had meant what I said about getting to know them before making any decisions. I was quick to dismiss them at first, but they were right, I didn't even give them a chance. From what I had seen they were amazing, people that I could actually see myself having real feelings for if I gave it a chance. It was a terrifying thought, but something I found myself wanting to do regardless.

I decided the first step was to thank them so I made my way to their room, knocked and waited anxiously until Christen answered the door. "Hey Y/n, everything okay?"

"Um I just wanted to thank you guys, for distracting me in the elevator. I know we haven't had the best start and that's my fault, but I appreciate you guys helping me regardless. It's been months since I've had a panic attack and I'm really glad it didn't get that far. So thank you."

"Any time Y/n, do you want to come in? We're thinking about watching a movie."

I followed Christen into the room, standing awkwardly when I realised there was only one bed and nothing else to sit on. After a few seconds, I sat down on the floor, legs crossed. They offered for me to sit on the bed, but right now it was more comfortable to have a bit of space between us. We made small talk while they tried to find a movie. It was a bit awkward at first, but as time went on, I started to relax and actually enjoy talking with them.

Tobin cleared her throat a little while later, "In the elevator, you said that you don't do well in confined spaces anymore, what happened? You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable."

This was something I had hoped they wouldn't bring up. When I had said, I had hoped they wouldn't notice that I had indicated something happened. It wasn't something I really liked talking about as it brought back memories that were preferred buried. Although, I didn't feel as uncomfortable with the thought of telling them as I expected to. After a few seconds of internal debate, I decided to just answer. Might as well start the process of getting to know them now.

"I was a marine. We were out on a routine mission, the guys got out to do a sweep while I stayed in the truck. We uh we were ambushed. The truck was flipped, I ended up trapped by myself for a long time until rescue came. My guys were injured, they weren't able to help. I got over the fear of being in a car pretty quickly, but the fear of being trapped never went away. My military career ended then as well."

"I'm sorry Y/n, I can't imagine how hard that must have been."

"It was, but I'm mostly okay now. I struggled a lot after that, PTSD, nightmares, drinking, but Ali and Ash really helped me get through it. I don't think I would have made it without them."

---

It became an almost nightly routine from then. I would sit on the floor of their room while we talked and properly got to know each other. Sometimes we would watch a movie or play a board game, most of the time we would just talk. It wasn't necessarily deep conversation, occasionally it was. Most of the time it was just getting to know each other, talking about our lives, interests, hobbies, that sort of thing.

I admit it was nice, just talking to them. My feelings were starting to grow the more time I spent with them. I started getting excited at the thought of seeing them, butterflies would erupt when I saw them, heard their voice or they touched me. When they touched me, it felt like I was on fire, yet at the same time I felt calm, comfortable, more relaxed than I had in a long time. I was starting to want more, to really try being with them. The idea still scared me, though I was starting to think maybe that wasn't such a bad thing, that it was something I could work through with them.

Instead of rushing into it, I decided to give it a bit more time so I could be sure, so I didn't change my mind later and break their hearts again. Though I did decide on doing something nice for them. A date of sorts without calling it a date.

"Do you want to get dinner with me? Well a picnic, it's a beautiful night. I was going to go to the beach by myself, but I was hoping maybe you would join me?"

Christen smiled widely, "I would like that."

Tobin took a second, but smiled, "I would too."

I hadn't originally planned for a picnic, therefore I had nothing prepared. They were going to meet me in the lobby in half an hour. I knew that the team dinner would be getting set up so I decided to try my luck. The chef let me pack some stuff I knew they liked into containers. Then I practically ran to the store down the road to pick up some wine and fruit for dessert. I tried not to let the nerves rise too high. We got along and it was just dinner so there was nothing to worry about. That fact that dinner wasn't anything special added to the nerves. What if they thought I didn't actually care?

"So I'll be honest, a picnic wasn't actually in the plans. It just kinda came out so the food is just the team dinner and fruit."

"It doesn't matter to us Y/n, this is perfect. Is that wine?"

"Uh yeah, I hope I remembered correctly what type you like. Plastic cups for obvious reasons."

Christen sent a soft smile my way, hand resting on my arm. There was no way she couldn't tell how nervous I was, "You did, how about we sit down?"

We spent hours on the beach, watching the stars, talking and laughing a lot. Our conversations flowed easily like they did in the hotel room, but it seemed different somehow. They were a little more personal, deeper than previously. We talked more about our fears and what we might want in a relationship.

I found myself with my head in Christens lap, her fingers running through my hair as I played with Tobin's fingers. The realisation hit me suddenly. There was no doubt left in my mind that I wanted to be with them. I wanted this, I wanted them. They were being so patient with me, waiting for me to make the move, to decide what I wanted. I didn't want to wait anymore.

After abruptly sitting up and facing their concerned faces, I took a deep breath and spoke before the courage went away, "I never wanted any part of this soulmate stuff. It was ridiculous to me, but the more I get to know you, the less I can deny the feelings I have for you both. I don't even think it's necessarily the soulmate thing. You two are kind, caring, patient, amazing in ways I never expected. I want to try this with you, be with you as you know girlfriends. If you might want to that is?"

They looked at each other for a second before nodding, each taking one of my hands as wide smiles stretched across their faces, "Of course we do Y/n. We want nothing more."

---

There was soft music playing in the background as I cleaned up my hotel room. I knew I could get the housekeeping to do it, but I find it therapeutic. Something that came from my military days and stuck. There was knock on the door, Christen waiting on the other side, "What are you up to baby?"

"Cleaning." I replied taking her hand and pulling her into me, "Now dancing."

Christen laughed as she allowed me to guide her around, spinning her around and pulling her back into me. It was like we both froze, staring into each others eyes, "Can I kiss you?"

"You don't have to ask," Christen whispered, leaning in and connecting our lips in a soft, slow kiss. Calmness washed over me, stronger than I had ever felt as I melted into her. I guess it's true what they say, kissing your soulmate is one of the most amazing feelings. It felt right, like the piece I was missing fell back into place as we connected in a way that I had never felt before.

There was still a piece missing, I knew it was Tobin. I knew we might take a little longer to get here than Christen and I. She was more scared that I was just going to change my mind and decide to leave them, hurting them again. Tobin interacted with me in the same way Christen did, she cuddled with us, joked with me, talked to me. There was a barrier that she kept up though. When we cuddled, she always held Christen, she went on dates with me only when Christen was around as well.

Christen pulled away, leaning her forehead against mine, "What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to think that that kiss wasn't amazing because it was beyond amazing, but I'm thinking about Tobin. I know she's scared, she has every right to be. I'm in this Chris, I just wish I could get her to see that."

"I know. She'll get there Y/n, it might just take a bit of time. Just keep doing what you're doing and you two will be okay."

"Are you okay if I take her out tonight, just the two of us?"

"Of course. I think it'll be good for you guys."

---

There was a high chance that Tobin would make up an excuse as to why she couldn't make it if she knew the date would be the two of us. So I told her it was the three of us. I hated that I lied to her, but we needed to sort things out, spend time together. I was waiting in the lobby, getting more nervous as time went on. To be honest, I was a little bit scared of how Tobin would react when she found out Christen wasn't coming. Whether it be because I lied to her or because she would have to be around me alone. I hated that I felt that way about my girlfriend.

I shamelessly watched Tobin walk over to me. She was only wearing simple black jeans and white short sleeved blouse, but she had recently cut her hair and looked amazing. Tobin stopped in front of me, her smile dropping when she noticed Christen was there, "Where's Chris? Isn't she supposed to be here?"

"We knew you probably wouldn't come if you knew it was just me. I'm sorry for lying to you, but I wanted this to just be me and you."

"It's fine."

"You don't have to go out with me if you don't want to. I understand."

"I want to be here Y/n."

I decided to be bold, kissing her cheek quickly. It had happened before, just not when it was only us, "You look beautiful by the way. I really like this new hair cut, it suits you."

A small, but genuine smile appeared, "You look pretty good yourself."

We walked along the street in slightly awkward silence until we reached the park. We had dinner reservations, but I had left time so we could talk before hand. I wasn't good at talking about my feelings. Though I knew we were going to get past this and actually work, then we needed to have an honest conversation about it, about us. To my surprise, Tobin let me lace our fingers together.

"Um I was hoping we could talk," Tobin's face dropped again as she tried to pull her hand away. I tightened my grip slightly, kissing the back of her hand, "Hey, it's nothing bad, I swear. I just think we need to have an honest conversation about us. I know you're scared Tobin, about me deciding that I don't want this and leaving you."

She seemed to relax slightly, "Chris told you?"

"She confirmed it. I understand why you're scared. I know it took me a while to come to terms with meeting my soulmates and figuring out what I wanted. That's in the past, without a doubt, I know what I want. I'm not going anywhere Tobin. I'm in this with you both. I want you both. I know words don't mean much, but please let me prove it to you. To be able to do that, I need you to let me in, even if it's only a little bit right now. I'm with you, I'm here to stay. If you still want me that is?"

"Don't even go there. Of course I want you Y/n. You are amazing and I know things are kind of rough between us, but I don't want you to think I don't want this. I know this is mostly my fault. I'm trying to let go of the fear, I really am, it's just harder than I expected.

"It's not your fault. I know you're trying. I don't expect that fear to go away just like that, but I want to take away the reason for that fear. Make your doubts go away."

Tobin smiled, cuddling up under my arm, "I'll stop pulling away so much, but I need you to push me a bit. I know you won't like that idea, being scared holds me back though. There have been times where I've wanted to do things, but the fear holds me back, it stops me. I don't mean force me, just a little push now and then."

I held her closer, kissing her temple, enjoying the feeling of finally getting to hold her properly. The idea of pushing her, made me uncomfortable. I understood where she was coming from though, I mean fear stopped me from taking the chance with them to begin with, "I guess that could be okay, but you have to tell me if it's too much. I don't want to push you too far."

"Deal, so you and Chris kissed huh? It's pretty great isn't it?"

I laughed loudly, of course Christen had told her, "It was. Chris is amazing. Are you okay with that? Us moving at a different speed to me and you."

"She really is. You guys go at whatever speed is right for you, we'll catch up. I um please don't go further without me though. I know Chris and I have already gone there, but with the three of us that's a big step, we shou-"

"It was never going to happen without you. Those important steps in our relationship happen together, with all of us."

"Thank you. It's weird, being out with out Chris. We've always done everything together. It is nice though, spending some time with you. I think it's what we needed to get out of the limbo we're in."

Things between us were a lot more comfortable after our talk. During dinner we connected in a way we hadn't before. Our conversations flowed easily as I let her in. I had told them somethings about my time in the marines and what happened after, but it was more superficial, a retelling rather than me actually opening up to them about the feelings involved. I knew that opening up would be an important part of progressing our relationship. I also still had nightmares, which I would rather them know before the sleep overs started. Of course Tobin was amazing, she held my hand listening as I talked before reassuring me that they would always be there when I needed them.

It felt like we had already made progress. Since our conversation, Tobin actively sought my touch. Whether it was lacing our fingers together, wrapping her arms around me or resting them on my hips at the arcade or tucking herself under my arm as we walked along the beach.

An hour or so later, we just stood outside their hotel room, neither of us making the move to leave. I knew it had to, but I didn't want the night to end. Even though they still made me nervous, when I was around either of them, I was relaxed, happy. It made leaving them hard.

"Thank you for tonight Y/n. I had a great time."

I kissed her cheek, "Me too Tobes. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Tobin went to open the door, but quickly turned around, cupping my cheek and connecting our lips. There was something about it that made me weak at the knees. Maybe it was the passion behind it. Given our relationship so far, I was slightly surprised by it. Regardless, I reciprocated with just as much passion. I had been waiting for this moment for weeks. Ever since I let in the idea of being with them, my feelings had grown quicker than I could keep up. They were all I could think about most of the time, I wanted to be around them and if I wasn't, I just wanted to talk to them. I was comfortable, I felt safe with them which didn't happen with people often.

She pulled away slowly, smile stretching across her face, "Sorry that was out of no where, I've been thinking about doing that for a long time."

I cupped her cheek, leaving a lingering kiss on her lips, "Don't be, I've been wanting to do that for weeks."

"Things went well then?" Christens voice came from behind us. I wrapped my arm around her, kissing her cheek.

"You could say that. Thank you for being okay with us going out without you, we needed it. You were right Chris, we're going to be okay. We did miss you though."

Christen smiled, pecking both of our lips, "Of course I'm okay with you going out, we don't always have to be the three of us. We're together, but we're going to have different connections, different things we like doing. You have surfing, we have meditation, we all have hiking, and that's okay. I'm glad you had the chance to talk things out."

My fingers were laced with Tobin's as she asked a question that surprised me, "Do you want to come in? I don't think I'm ready for tonight to end yet."

"Neither am I."

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #uswnt imagines #christen press x reader #christen press/reader #tobin heath x reader #tobin heath imagine

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karmalynn500 · 1 year

Text

Sid’s cute sister

character ~ billy loomis

Request~no- yes

warnings ~ drugging readers drink, i love to cuss, use of words like slut, whore and cunt, mentions of sex while under the influence, drinking, mention of kidnapping and murder, one night stand, kind of ooc billy and stu? Mention of death.

Word count~ 4728

“God damn it stu!” Billy was quickly getting frustrated, Stu didn't know how to drug a drink and Billy wasn't there to help. “How will we even know it works, there must be a better way to do this” stu’s whining was only pissing Billy off more. “Just put the shit drug in her shit drink!” Billy pulled up to the Prescott house where all the girls waited. “And hurry up, im picking the girls up now” billy quickly hung up before stepping out of the car.

“Oh come on y/n~ tell us who this mystery man is” y/n was panicking, she absolutely could not tell tate and sid that she was crushing hard on billy, sid's boyfriend. It's not like sid would have to worry, billy hates y/n, but it would still put a rift between them and y/n did not want that. “No thank you, i shall keep this man all to myself” y/n joked trying to shake the feeling of guilt. “Hey it's ok, i understand how hard it is to admit who you have a crush on out loud, it makes it real” sidney smiled in a comforting manner, sadly all her words did was make the knife in y/n’s gut twist. “Yeah.. to real” y/n forced a smile, continuing to look through her clothes.

Mr Prescott opened the door smiling warmly at billy. “Ah come in come in” Billy gave a small nod in thanks stepping into the cool house. “Thanks Mr Prescott, are they almost ready” Billy was ready to leave. This plan had to work and for that to happen Stu still had to get his hands on y/n and sid's dad. “I'm sorry to say that i'm not sure, they will come down when they're ready” with that the prescott twins dad left the room. Sid came down first, she was wearing a light blue sweater, a good color to stain red, with some slightly baggy jeans. Tatem was next, there was a lot of light yellow and red, another good outfit to stain red. “Hey Billy,” Sid smiled, giving him a small peck on the cheek. Billy forced himself to wrap his arms around his girlfriend, adding a fake smile to help sell the whole being in love shit. “y/n will be down soon, her heels are giving her some trouble” tatum giggled, billy tuned the girls out after that full attention on the stairs. Finally y/n started to make her way down the stairs. She looked hot, as always, clade in a lilac purple crop sweater, it had a deep v neck showing off y/n’s tits perfectly. She wore a short skirt, matching in color and texture to her top, it was short and Billy had no doubt that if she turned around he would be able to see the bottom of her ass. She paired this with a small lilac checkered purse and mostly transparent heels. “You look like a whore” Billy glared. Watching her smile fall a little broke his heart, he wanted that smile directed at him so bad but he always fucked it up, like now saying the exact opposite of what he was thinking. “Billy” sid scolded him lightly. Billy rolled his eyes unwrapping his arms from around sid, “whatever lets go”

Stu had finally done it, he drugged y/n’s drink. Knowing if it will work was another story, but for now he was proud of himself. He put it with a few other drinks in the fridge, which guests knew was off limits. “Hey man, where can a man get a drink around here?” some jock that was most definitely not invited asked. Stu pointed to the island where all of the drinks sat, how he missed that Stu would never know. Stu did not invite this guy for many reasons, the main one was that he constantly flirted with y/n, which pissed billy right the fuck off. Stu knew this guy would distract Billy, hopefully Billy killed him before the rest of the plan was being filled out. Stu rolled his eyes at the jock before being distracted by someone jumping on his back “were here!” tatum yelled. Stu smiled at y/n while grabbing onto tatum’s thighs, “hey bestie!! i put a few beers in the fridge for you, I know how you hate warm alcohol” y/n smiled going to the fridge. “Thanks bestie” she yelled as she left the room.

It had been about an hour, y/n was on her third drink and reasonably tipsy. She had been dancing with some jock that had been flirting with her since like last year. She always rejected him, cause she really doesn't like him, but he has a reputation for one night stands and a big dick, and that's what she needed right now a one night stand to help forget about Billy standing in the corner with sid. “Hey, i have a key to the guest room, wanna join me~” y/n whispered seductively into the jock she hasn't cared to learn the name of’s ear. “Hell yeah” he smashed his lips onto hers, hands finding her butt instantly, “knew you would give in eventually” he smirked. y/n rolled her eyes, was he trying to kill the mood. She grabbed his hand leading him to the guest room roughly, telling herself she needed this and not to let him ruin it.

Billy was growing angrier by the minute, sid had disappeared somewhere with tatum and with his only distraction gone he got a great view of y/n leading that shit face joke of a guy to the guest room, though it was basically her room at this point. “Dude you look about ready to strangle him” stu chuckled from beside him, billy was more than ready to strangle him, to watch the light leave his eyes but first he needed his name and him alone. “Stu, when mr jock comes down the stairs, send him to the basement, tell him to get something heavy like a keg, make him feel real strong too” Billy smirked.Billy wanted this guy dead, so he's going to die. Stu nodded with a dark smile, “you got it billy”

“That was great” the jock pantad from his spot beside y/n. “Yeah” to be honest the sex was not good, not even a little bit. She never finished and all she could think about was Billy, it was partly her fault but the jock was definitely a selfish lover. The jock also tried his absolute hardest to not use a condom, saying he would pull out, y/n quickly rejected the idea and told him he would use a condom or he wont get to fuck her. The jock got up, grabbing his pants and pulling them up. “The nights still young, you coming back to the party” y/n was honestly exhausted, she had almost fallen asleep during her and the jocks hook up. “Um no i'm going to go to sleep- you go ahead” the jock smirked, he obviously thought he was the reason that y/n was in this state. “Ok, see you monday” he winked before leaving the room.

Finally billy heard the basement door open, the door was locked and only he and Stu had the key, so it had to be the jock. Slowly the annoying man made his way down the stairs mumbling to himself. “ first i fuck y/n and now im the strongest man here! Tonights really my night, now where's that keg” billy was seeing red at the confession to fucking y/n, but he knew he had to be carful with this, there was a whole party upstairs and if the jock got back to it billy was fucked. The jock made his way over to a still very alive and very scared mr prescott, laid out on a table that stu and brought down just for him, “oh what the fuck man” the jock went to turn around, only to come face to face with a masked billy. If everything went to plan tatum was dying right now, and then the jock and then anyone who gets in the way of sids timely death. “actually what the fuck man” the jock tried to run past but billy quickly grabbed his arm driving his knife into the jocks shoulder. The jock screamed in pain, grabbing his shoulder as he fell to the floor. “ how weak,” Billy laughed. The jock tried to crawl away but billy stoped that by sitting on his back, “ah come on, i thought it was your night, fucked a slut~ the strongest!” billy smirked, he was glad that he and stu built the voice changers into their masks, makes it so they can taunt their victims. “Please don't kill me, come on man” the jock cried, struggling to get away. While the jocks begging amused Billy, he had a plan to finish. Billy grabbed the mans hair lifting his head roughly, “think before you fuck my cunt” and with that he slit the jocks throat. Billy smiled, letting the jock's head fall to the dirt floor. “Bye bye bitch”

Billy's side burned as he climbed the stairs in search of y/n. He had a pretty good idea of where she would be, the guest room or stu’s, she often would move from the guest room to her best friends when at a party. Billy checked Stu's room first, no sign of her there, guest room it is. The cops were on their way and he and Stu needed fresh air, but there was no way y/n would not be out there with them. Billy opened the door, blushing at the sight of y/n who was half under the covers, boobs on full display for him. Billy limped over, reaching out to slowly shake y/n “y/n'' Billy shook harder, “mmm billy?” y/n was groggy, not fully waking up. This was evident in the fact that she didn't cover up, “come on get up” Billy started to gather y/n's clothes “what, why?” y/n sat up still not realizing she was showing off her tits, “here get dressed i'll tell you what happend outside” billy didn't want anyone else to see her this way but he made sure to memorize how she looked in this moment, naked, sleepy and oh so beautiful.

y/n was slow and unsteady as she made her way down stairs. The strong iron smell was scaring her, waking her up fully. “Oh my god billy your bleeding” y/n reached to stop him, she wanted to check and make sure he was ok. Billy shrugged her off with an eye roll. “Let's just get outside, I feel like I'm suffocating" Billy continued down the stairs. y/n followed behind him, still unsteady. “Here hold my hand, you're going to fall” Billy took y/n's hand. y/n blushed, letting billy lead her out of the house. “Billy, why is there so much blood?” Billy and Stu spent a few minutes dragging the body’s out of the hallway so that y/n wouldnt see, but there are still puddles of blood on the floors and walls. y/n got distracted from the question when she saw stu, who was sitting on the porch scrunched up and leaning against the railing for support. Stu looked up giving y/n a pained smile. “Hey bestie” y/n sat beside him, letting him lean against her instead of the railing. she was crying, the tears staining her cheeks. “ what happened?” She turned to Billy who was now sitting next to her. “ your dad went fucking psycho, tried to kill everyone.. Were the only ones who survived” this was definitely not what y/n expected, out of everyone in this town the killer was her own dad.. “Oh” y/n turned back to the road. This was a lot to process, she hoped Billy and Stu would understand that.

Billy was getting antsy, y/n had passed back out a few minutes ago. stu was dying, and fast. Billy wanted to help but the most he could do for stu is maybe help put more pressure on his wounds, y/n he couldn't help. Billy was upset, why would the police take this long when a group of teenagers call saying someone is trying to- he hears it now, even so they are required to come check it out right. “Bro.. do you think i put too much in her drink” stu whined, whether from the pain, or him being stu, billy didn't know. Stu had warned Billy he didn't know what he was doing, Billy should have had him wait and put it in himself, or he should have sent Stu to pick the girls up. It's too late for that now though.”it's.. Crossed my mind, she should be fine as long as the paramedics get here” hopefully soon. Billy didn't want to admit he had actual feelings for y/n, while Stu knew he had a small crush, he did not know that Billy felt as though if she died his world would come down with her. When they decided she would be the final girl it was easy, y/n was stu’s ride or die, and billy had a small crush on her, that means that both were happy or somewhat happy she's alive. “Billy, you know now that sids gone… you can admit it's more than a small crush” billy couldn't say he was surprised that stu knew, he was the only person that could read billy perfectly, no matter what billy was thinking stu knew, same with billy for stu. Their parents used to tell them that they were the same person, they could just look at each other and be up to no good. “How'd you figure it out” stu chuckled shaking his head, honestly too tired to actually joke about it “billy when you see y/n, you relax and your face lights up, and you give her this look, that says i'm in love with you, how sidney never found out is a honest mystery to me” billy's rudeness to y/n had masked it pretty well, sid always thought he hated y/n but stu knew, stu always knows.

Stu had definitely put way too much in y/n’s drink, it had almost killed her. It's been three weeks, no one suspected it was them and both Billy and Stu have been released from hospital, they still spend most of their time there, seeing as y/n still hadn't woken up. “Dude!” Stu yelled from across the room, he had just got off the phone with his mom. “What” billy grumbled “oh don't get upset, you can stare at y/n all you want after this, my parents got us all an apartment, told them that the house was to traumatic for me and that i hated being away from you and y/n, plus that gives y/n a place to stay now, seeing as her whole family’s dead” stu shrugged, sometimes billy thought stu was the stupidest person alive, he really just shrugged about y/n’s family's death and didn't think about the fact this is a hospital it has cameras. Billy's only concern about the apartment is that Stu's family would pick, they had already been trying when Stu was looking at apartments near the college he was going to go to. “Are they picking?” stu smiled wider, “nope, we get to pick, trama works well huh” stu chuckled. Billy rolled his eyes, deciding watching y/n sleep was a better time waster then listening to stu.

Bright lights blinded y/n as she woke up from what felt like four weeks worth of sleep. She moaned in discomfort trying to blink the blurriness in her eyes away. Finally being able to see clearly she looked over her right, Billy sat there half asleep and holding her hand. y/n genuinely thought that billy hated her, so why is he here, holding her hand like its his lifeline? “Billy?” her voice was hoarse and she knew Billy just barely heard her. “y/n!” Billy was awake now, he had let go of her hand in the process of sitting up, a large smile splayed across his face. “One sec let me call the nurse, then i'll tell you what happend” y/n remembered what happened, her dad went psycho and killed her friends, and her sister. Billy pressed the button on the end of what looked like an extention cord attached to her bed. “Um, I'm sure you're wondering what happened to you” Billy started, honestly y/n wasn't, so what she slept for a few hours she would be fine. “Apparently someone drugged you.. The doctor found high levels of rohypnol in your system, she said you must have had both your drinks laced with the stuff” y/n was so confused, what even was rohypnol? “The only person- wait no people who could have drugged my drink was stu or that jock, never got his name, but he's been flirting with me all year?” y/n didn't think stu would drug her drink, i mean why would he? So that left the jock, who did have a reason kind of? He did look proud of himself when she was border line passing out. “Well there was a dead jock found in the basement.. So if it was him he got his karma” y/n was unsure about billy joking at a time like this, but it's billy and she gave him a weak smile nonetheless. “Hows stu” y/n was more then concerned for her best friend, she remembered how fucked he was. “Hes ok, he's in a lot of pain but he's been released from the hospital..” y/n let out of sigh of relief, her best friend was ok, she wasn't alone “he's umm he's looking for and apartment so he doesn't have to stay, you know..” y/n nodded, it would be traumatic to ever go there again, most of all for stu and billy. “We were wondering if maybe you.. Would like to stay with us, we know that staying at your house will be hard and expensive” billy seemed to rant, even though his words were calculated and thought out. Living with billy and stu seemed like a good idea, y/n knew staying in her house was a no, she couldn't bear being there without her dad or sister, and while she was still pretty sure billy hated her, stu was her best friend and it might be fun to live with his crazy ass. “Yeah sure, I'll move in with you guys” Billy smiled. Damn the doctor is slow.

Billy was relieved y/n said yes, this was his chance to fix there fucked relationship and maybe even get her to be his. “Hey bills” y/n whispered, the nickname was a shock. Not necessarily cause it came from y/n, she was kind of known for that, it was the nickname itself, he had heard billy, bill, will, even just a simple b, but he had never heard bills, not even once.”hm” he hummed to tell her he was listening. “How are you, you know.. Feeling” billy could tell she was trying to make some sort of small talk, she was trying to be nice and Billy couldn't be happier. “Mentally or physically” Billy was doing fine, Stu went a bit deep but other than that he had no other injuries. And mentally he was great, he got away with murder twice now, and Sidney's dead, now there's nothing stopping him from pursuing y/n. “Both” y/n said quietly, she didn't want to set him off or have him hate her again. Billy took a moment to plan his words, so that they came out in the best way for y/n. “I don't know where to start, i miss sid a lot, it was hard knowing i had broken up with her only for her to die that night..” y/n was shocked at the news of their break up, she thought they were happy. “Physically i'm fine, i got let out on my second day in the hospital, your umm, the killer wasn't able to get me to bad” billy shrugged, with a weak smile, in hopes that would get y/n to believe everything he said.

y/n was absolutely heart broken. Billy pulled up to the old house slowly, “you don't have to come in if you don't want to, me and stu can get all your stuff” Billy put his hand on y/n’s thigh, trying to comfort her. She shook her head, determined to say goodbye to the house, and to grab some of the things her dad kept hidden. “No, it's fine billy i want to go in” billy nodded reluctantly, “ok but if it gets to be to much for you then you come back to the car, or you sit on the porch, just look out for yourself” y/n nodded but billy wasn't convinced, “hey, just- promise you will leave if it becomes to much” y/n couldn't help the smile that started to form, billy seemed to care for her, and it made her happy in a way she couldn't explain. “I promise” Billy nodded, getting out of the car, moving to the trunk to get the boxes. “You ok?” y/n turned to the back where Stu sat patiently waiting for his turn to check in on his best friend. “Yes stu, i might need to hold your hand though” while y/n said it like it was a joke, it wasn't and stu knew that, so he nodded his head with a goofy smile to show he was comfortable with it.

Billy had been checking in on y/n the whole time. He could tell she was having a hard time, seeing her glossy eyes and hearing a sniff every now and then. “y/n, you ok.. Do you want to switch? I can help stu with the bed” billy asked as he shoved another piece of y/ns clothing in the box in front of him. Billy got put on clothes duty, which he was not complaining about since he did undies first, while y/n was taking apart her bed with stu. “Yeah, it's just weird knowing that this is the last time i will be in this house” y/n sighed, stu reached over to rub her back from where he sat. Billy felt bad for making her feel this way, but he felt no regret in killing Sid, or anyone for that matter. “Do you need a break, me or stu could sit out there with you” y/n just shook her head going back to unscrewing the bedpost from the frame.

Finally done, y/n looked back at her door for the last time. “Bye guys” she sniffed, she missed her family, she missed the good days. It was weird that she would never go back in, at least she didn't plan to. It felt like she was just going to stu’s for a movie night and would be coming home in the morning to her dad scolding her for spending the night again, on a school night. “You ready” she jumped, not expecting someone to be beside her. “Yeah, just saying goodbye” she wiped her face of tears, billy nodded with a sad smile. Billy wrapped his arm around her, gently turning her towards the path. “You're being so nice to me why” y/n couldn't stop herself from asking. “What?” y/n sighed at Billy's confused tone. “Your being nice, a-and caring, but i was sure you fucking hated me” y/n knew she should have waited for this conversation, stu was waiting in the car and they stood right outside of her child hood home, but she needed to know if this was a trick, or if he actually cared. “I never hated you?” y/n frowned, how could he say that when he was such a dick, “really? Cause it really felt like you did” she looked down to her shoes, suddenly becoming way more interesting then normal. “What's taking you guys so long” stu called from the car, clearly bored. Billy rolled his eyes, dragging me with him towards that car. “Lets save this conversation for when we get settled in at home” billy whispered in her ear, y/n nodded in agreement.

“Billy?” y/n knocked on his new bedroom door. Billy had been planning what to say to her, he knew this conversation was coming and he was not excited. “How do you tell a girl you love her, after you dated her now dead sister” billy whispered to himself. “One sec” he called out. Standing up from his bed, he realized just how nervous he is. He quickly threw on a white shirt before making long strides over to his door. “Yes?” he asked as he opened the door. “Can we have that conversation now?” y/n continued talking after that, and billy wanted to listen he really did, but her soft frown and glossy eyes distracted him. Billy must really be fucked in the head to think she looked hot like that. “Hey come in, stu’s nosy” y/n chuckled but nodded in agreement before stepping into the room. Billy watched as y/n observed the room. “You really like this band huh” she asked pointing to one of his many nirvana posters, “yeah” y/n smiled “i'll keep that in mind” he smiled ignoring the flutter in his stomach. “So.. you left off saying you never hated me?” Billy sighed nodding. “I really never did” he sat on his desk chair rubbing his face as he thought about what to say. “Then why were you such a dick to me” she walked over standing right infront of him. “I don't know” she laughed sarcastically, “Billy you made me feel like shit, the least you could do is tell me why” she glared. Billy really did not want this to turn into a fight, “Billy why!” he looked up to tears falling down her face. Billy stood up brushing the tears from y/n's face. “Billy.. Answer me please” billy knew he was going to regret this.. He sighed, smashing his lips onto hers. y/n wasn't kissing back, he didn't know if she was shocked or didn't feel the same way, but she wasn't returning the kiss and that scared the shit outta him. Billy frowned as he pulled away looking into her beautiful glassy wide eyes. “I-shit” billy bright his hands up from her face and into his hair, coming through it. “Billy do- do you have feelings for me?”

y/n was ecstatic, billy just kissed her “yeah… i do” she smiled wide, now he was admitting he had feelings for her, how was she supposed to feel. y/n leaned up pressing their lips together in a quick kiss. Billy looked shocked, but y/n couldn't really blame him, she was too shocked to kiss back the first time, and she saw what that did to him, he looked like a kicked puppy. “I have liked you for so long, you don't even want to know.. But you were dating my sister and i thought you hated me, so i pretended the feelings weren't there, i think stu knew though” y/n and billy’s smiles turned to lookes of annoyance when they heard stu yell “i did” from right outside the door. Billy rolled his eyes, smiling at y/n, a smile she now realized only she got to see. He then leaned down, connecting their lips in a soft kiss. Maybe living with billy wont be so bad.

#billy loomis #billy loomis x reader #scream #scream billy #billy loomis x y/n

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ladykailitha · 1 year

Text

If I Rescue You, Will You Rescue Me, Too? Part 4

We finally get to the concert part of all of this. And the start of The Plan.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Steve was in such a hurry to get home and actually shower that he wasn’t watching where he was going and barreled straight into Wayne.

“Oh shit!” he said, bending down to help the man pick up all the books and papers that Steve had knocked to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Wayne chuckled. “It’s all right, I’d be in a rush to get out of here to if it was me.”

Steve blushed. “The nurse told me that Eddie’s going to have the room to himself now.”

Wayne grinned. “He’d like that. Not having to share with anyone else. Not that he had a problem sharing with you.”

Steve scratched his cheek nervously. “I didn’t mind sharing with him, either.”

Wayne raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought with you used to having everything to yourself that sharing would have chaffed.”

He shrugged. “It gets lonely up in that big house all by myself.”

Wayne pursed his lips but left it alone.

Steve picked up the last paper and looked at it in confusion. “What’s this?” He handed the paper back to Wayne.

Wayne read the flyer. “Oh, it’s that concert Ed was saving up for.” He gave it back to him. “Looks like he won’t be able to go now.”

April 6th. “I mean he could, his doctor said a week if he’s lucky,” Steve murmured.

Wayne shook his head. “He didn’t have all the money to go. That’s why he was so willing to sell to that girl.”

Steve frowned. “That’s too bad.” He held up the flyer. “Do you mind if you I keep this?”

Wayne shook his head. “Go ahead. I don’t think he’d want the reminder that he can’t go now.”

Steve nodded. “I’ll probably be back to visit him later.”

Wayne squeezed his arm. “You do that. I think he’d like that.”

He blushed and went to the patient pick up where Nancy and Robin were waiting for him to take him home.

“Thanks, guys,” Steve mumbled as he slid into the front seat of the Wheelers car.

“You’re welcome,” Nancy said. “I’m just glad it wasn’t more serious.”

“That’s because I had a great nurse,” he teased.

Robin smacked the back of his head. “Why nurse and not doctor?”

“Ow! Robbie!” he protested. “Because doctors don’t do the actual work, nurses do that. Shit, dude.”

Robin paused for a moment. “Yeah, all right.”

Nancy giggled, but stopped when Steve glared at her. She pursed her lips to hide her smile, but Steve saw it anyway.

“What’s a guy got to do get some respect here?” he grumped, sliding down in his seat to sulk.

Even though he was mostly joking, it was something that did bother him. How many lives did he have to save? How many monsters did he have to kill? How many people did he have to protect to get people to see that he had grown since high school?

“Aww...” Robin teased. “We pick on you because we love you.”

He shrugged and grudgingly accepted it, but he was quiet all the ride home. Once Nancy had drove off and Robin had helped him up the stairs to his room, she asked, “Hey, what’s up? We were only teasing in the car.”

Steve shrugged. “It’s not that...” Robin raised a skeptical eyebrow and he sighed. “It’s not entirely about that. I mean it bothers me a little that people still treat me like we’re still in high school, but that’s not what’s upsetting me.”

He sat down on the bed while she rifled through his drawers for clean clothes.

“So what is the problem?” she asked, filing away the high school thing for later.

He pulled the flyer out of his pocket and handed it to her.

“Ozzy Osborne headlining Metallica?” she read out loud. “Wait...why does that sound so familiar?”

“Ozzy is who Eddie compared me to when I ripped that demobat in half,” Steve muttered, “and Metallica is the band that the song he played to distract the bats while we were going after Vecna.”

Robin sat down on the bed next to him. Hard. “Shit. He was going to go to this, wasn’t he?”

Steve nodded. “He was trying to scrape up enough money to go.”

Her eyes went wide. “Chrissy!”

He hung his head between his hunched shoulders. “I kept thinking all the way home about how it wasn’t fair he was dragged into this nightmare because he wanted to go to some concert.”

She took his hand and squeezed it tight. “I mean, even if we could get the money to buy a ticket for him, there’s no chance his doctors will let him go to a metal concert.”

“I know,” he mumbled, thumbing the ring on her hand. “But part of me wants to try anyway.”

“Go get your shower, dingus,” she said, helping him to his feet. “Maybe you’ll figure it out once your brain isn’t fried.”

Steve nodded and headed into the nearby bathroom. He turned the water as hot as he could stand. He hadn’t gone this long without showering in...well...if he was honest, only when the Upside Down happened.

He let the water wash over all his body. The bottom of the tub turned brown with dirt and dried blood. He couldn’t scrub but even getting the surface shit off his skin felt like sin. He washed his hair three times before he was satisfied that it was clean. He turned off the water and slid out of shower. He put on the clothes Robin had picked out for him.

It was just another sweater and pair of sweatpants. He put them on gratefully and stepped out to his room. Robin was still on his bed looking at the flyer.

“I think I might have an idea,” she said without looking up.

Steve chuckled. “I thought I was the one that was supposed to be thinking while I was in the shower.”

She waved him off and licked her lips slowly. “What if contacted the venue or band or whatever and told them that we had a huge fan that got hurt during the earthquake and would like to see them. We could get a couple of cheapo tickets and he could see them.”

“Who would go with him?” Steve asked, coming to sit next to her.

“You.”

He reared back. “No. Why–I can’t go. No. I don’t even listen to that kind of music. One of his actual friends or Dustin maybe.”

Robin shook her head. “It wouldn’t be fair for the other two boys if only one of them got to go. And for Dustin, he wouldn’t be able to help Eddie get around the venue.”

Steve gaped at her open-mouthed.

She bumped him with her shoulder. “And then there’s the fact you like like him.”

He tried to speak, but no words came out.

Robin raised an eyebrow. “You can’t even deny it.”

Steve hung his head. “I don’t even–I just...I don’t know!” He threw his arms in the air and abruptly stood up. He started pacing, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Do I like boys? Both? What if my entire sexuality is a lie? Was he flirting with me? But he was also telling me to get back together with Nancy. Which you were doing too, by the way.”

Robin opened her mouth and then closed it again. “Yeah, fair. But that was before you abandoned Nancy and I to finish off Vecna when you heard Dustin screaming Eddie’s name.”

“Why was he flirting with me if he wanted me to get back with Nancy?” he asked again. “Because if he was interested why throw Nance at me? Or if he wanted me to get back with her why did he flirt with me? It’s messing with my head, Robs!”

She stood up and grabbed his arms to steer him back onto the bed. “Let me explain something to you as the resident queer. I think the Nancy thing was seeing if you were interested in her and if you weren’t then he could admit he liked you. To test the waters so to speak. I was doing the same thing only about Nancy.”

Steve looked up at her blankly. Robin waited for the lights to come on and he mouthed, “oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Too bad Nancy is happy with Jonathan,” Steve murmured.

“You’re missing the point, dingus,” she said softly. “He wanted to make sure that you were interested in boys before he put the moves on you. Only you had the weirdest reaction.”

Steve blinked, furrowing his brow. “I don’t understand.”

“Most straight guys would have pushed him away,” Robin said. “Only you didn’t, at least not violently. But you also didn’t flirt back. You acted confused.”

“I was confused,” he whined. “Still am if I’m honest.”

“Which is fine,” Robin said holding up her hands. “Finding out you aren’t as straight as you thought is absolutely terrifying. I can’t even imagine what you must be going through right now. I always knew I liked girls. This must be like a bombing dropping on you.”

“Or a demogorgon,” he muttered darkly.

“Or one of those, definitely,” she agreed. “But the point is that your reaction wasn’t what he expecting so he had to try other avenues to see if you were interested. Hence the Nancy test.” She spread her fingers wide to emphasize her point.

“Oh.” He threw his head back and rubbed his hands over his face. “I failed, didn’t I?”

“No, no,” she murmured. “Results were inconclusive. However if you do this for him...”

“He’ll know how I feel about him?” Steve asked, hopeful.

“Right in one.”

Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20

Tag List: @anaibis @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @goodolefashionedloverboi @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @plyerice27 @thedragonsaunt @chaoticlovingdreamer @sapphirecobalt-1 @a-little-unsteddie @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @itsall-taken @justforthedead89 @whalesharksart @nburkhardt @snapshotmaestro @shrimply-a-menace @theotalksalot @child-of-cthulhu

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #season 4 fix it #ladykailtiha writes

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shamsrevengers · 15 days

Text

𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗼 ;; 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚.

⤷ ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢꜱ; BONTEN TIMELINE, language, sex, drug abuse/use, violence, toxic themes, overall not for young audiences or those easily affected by subjects of the same nature.

⤷ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀꜱ; Haruchiyo Sanzu, Manjiro Sano, Ran Haitani, Rindou Haitani, Kokononi Hajime, Takeomi Akashi, Kakucho, Hanma Shuji.

⤷ ɪᴍᴘᴏʀᴛᴀɴᴛ; this is all work of fiction. in no way am i prompting the acts in this fictional story nor am i encouraging acts done or words said in this piece of writing. i heavily recommend only 18+ viewers as the heavy themes are not the most suitable for a younger audience.

“That proposal seems favourable," Your leg tapped rhythmically beneath the table while facing Manjiro in his office. It wasn't out of fear towards him, but rather a reaction to the impending change. Sano's intense onyx eyes remained fixed on you, showing his lingering doubts.

"Are you able to commence work tomorrow?" His words didn't come across as a mere inquiry. It wasn't a question, but a command. A command that could be declined, but doing so would signify your permanent departure. Did you truly desire to leave?

As you listened to his plan, you couldn't help but feel a sense of unease creeping up on you. The idea of being involved in a potentially illegal operation was normal and with the allure of the hefty payout that was promised. . . it was perfect. You knew that your skills as a member of criminal organisations that have transpired to be amazing throughout the years could be put to good use in a variety of legitimate ways, but the temptation of easy money was hard to resist.

You took another sip of your whiskey, trying to calm your nerves as you weighed the risks and rewards of the job. The man across from you watched you carefully, waiting for your response. Finally, you set down your glass and met his gaze.

"I'll need more information though," you said, your voice steady despite the doubt swirling in your mind. "I need to know exactly what I'll be getting myself into and what the potential consequences might be."

The man nodded, understanding your hesitation. He began to lay out the details of any job, painting pictures of high-stakes operations that required precision, skill, and a willingness to bend the rules.

You knew that you were treading on thin ice, but the promise of a big payday was too tempting to ignore. With a heavy heart, you made the decision to go through with the job, knowing that it would test your morals and ethics in ways that it hadn’t before. But then again, that last look Shuji gave you made you question your morality.

But for now, all you could do was steel yourself for the task ahead and hope that your skills as a lawyer would be enough to see you through.

As you nodded in agreement, Manjiro informed you that Sanzu and Ran would accompany you for the job. You couldn't help but chuckle at the thought and posed a question, "What kind of job would require a lawyer?" You poured yourself another glass of whiskey, hoping that it wouldn't cloud your judgment. The amber liquid swirled in the glass as you took a sip, savouring the warm sensation that spread through your body. Despite your doubts about the job, you trusted Manjiro's judgment and felt confident that you would be able to handle whatever challenges lay ahead.

The man sitting across from you leaned in and asked, "Your license is legal, correct?" You nodded in response, feeling a bit uneasy about what he was about to say next. "We have a deal being made in a government building and we need a distraction," he explained, taking a sip from your glass. You couldn't help but feel sceptical about the job he was proposing. It seemed too simple to just walk into a government building with a legal license that you haven't used in years. As you looked into his eyes, you couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble you were getting yourself into.

“What’s the condition?”

Mikey chuckled heartily when you raised the question, a sign that he had complete faith in your abilities. After all, he wouldn't have entrusted you with a task as risky as operating under the watchful gaze of Hanma Shuji for years if he didn't believe you were a meticulous and sharp-witted individual, capable of handling such a demanding job with utmost care and precision.

The person speaking began by saying, "Everything is expected to fall apart. The agreement will collapse after a heated argument and violence will break out at a predetermined time." He then turned to you and said, "We require your assistance in keeping three specific individuals confined to an office until Sanzu arrives to retrieve you at the end of the assignment."

It had plot holes. Like why would they purposely break off a deal? Why are they making an illegal deal in a government building in the first place? Who are these three men and why should they be blind to everything happening? You can’t ask questions. It’s not part of the repertoire.

Over the last fourteen days, you have found yourself waking up in a hotel room that is heavily guarded and located only a few minutes away from the main headquarters of Bonten. Although the experience has been unusual and uncomfortable, it is a welcome change from the suffocating and unpleasant experience of waking up in your previous bed. Despite the foreignness of the situation, you cannot help but feel a sense of relief and safety in this new environment.

You got the call from Ran Haitani saying they’re ten minutes away from the hotel. He said you’d be picked up by cars that aren’t aligned with them so as to not raise any suspicion of you being a part of Bonten.

As you stepped out of the car, the driver remained silent and avoided all eye contact with you. It almost seemed as though he had received a specific instruction to keep his distance from you. Once you arrived at the building, you quickly put on your sunglasses, shielding your eyes from the bright sun. With a deep breath, you stepped forward, ready to face whatever lay ahead.

As per Manjiro's instructions, you entered the main building and made your way towards the main desk. You felt a little nervous, but you took a deep breath and approached the receptionist with confidence. You pulled out your lawyer license and greeted the receptionist with a warm smile, "Good morning. I am a part of Peter Ippoti's team of lawyers here to discuss his ongoing lawsuit." You spoke with a sense of authority and conviction, using the lying skills that you had developed over the past four years. The receptionist looked up from their computer and nodded, "Alright, let me check if Mr. Ippoti is available." You waited patiently, hoping that your plan would work.

The man bought the lie, just as Manjiro had predicted. As you stood in the elevator, feeling a mix of anticipation and anxiety, your eye caught Sanzu and Ran as they pushed the main glass doors. Sanzu glanced back at you for a split second before disappearing with Ran up the emergency stairs. You couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that lingered with you as you stepped out of the elevator on your floor.

You recall the path that Manjiro had shown yesterday, guiding you through different turns and twists until you finally arrive at the designated room. As you approach the door, you notice the number scribbled on your wrist by Manjiro, serving as a constant reminder of your destination. With a sense of understanding, you reach the door and prepare to occupy the room.

As soon as you walked into the meeting room, you couldn't help but notice the seven male lawyers sitting on one side of the table. You took off your glasses slowly, trying to hide your discomfort at being the only woman in the room. They all ogled at you as you sat down on the opposite side of the table, effortlessly keeping a confident smile.

As soon as you sat down, you took a quick glance at the three men. They looked like ordinary lawyers, dressed in crisp suits and ties. Two of them had wedding rings on, which made you wonder what their spouses would think of their current situation. You couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt creeping up your throat. After all, you were tasked with keeping them locked up in this small room, away from the rest of the world during whatever the hell was supposed to happen in a couple of minutes.

The room buzzed with idle conversations while you intermittently glanced at your watch, eagerly anticipating the designated time. Once the clock struck the anticipated hour, you strained your ears for any signs of commotion, signaling the commencement of the crucial task. However, to your dismay, there was no activity whatsoever.

Minutes ticked away, stretching from five to ten, and before you knew it, it was already 8:30. You found yourself still seated in a room alongside several other attorneys, patiently awaiting a client who would not show up.

Unexpectedly, everyone reacted swiftly to the abrupt gunshots and gunfire. Finally, you thought to yourself as you glanced back at your targets. They started whispering to each other quietly while the others were clearly in a state of panic.

Something inside you suggested that these individuals were not ordinary lawyers.

As their gaze shifted towards their watch, your eyes widened as their sleeve inadvertently revealed a tattoo in kanji. It was a tattoo that spelled out 'Punishment' in kanji characters. Your breath hitched, but you knew you had to react swiftly as they made their way towards the exit.

Without hesitation, you retrieved a gun from your purse and aimed it at the back of their heads. In an instant, their hands shot up in surrender, while the remaining four men gasped in a mixture of astonishment and fear. "Don’t move," you cautioned firmly.

It seemed like eons of you standing there with a gun pointed at people's faces, the safety off. However, it was only a minute or two before the door swung open abruptly, revealing Sanzu covered in blood.

You gazed at him in shock before he grabbed you and hurriedly led you through the halls. Glancing back, you noticed three men chasing after you both, armed with their own guns. As you descended the emergency stairs together, you turned to him and exclaimed, "What the hell happened?!"

"Shit went awry," he calmly responded, disarming you and firing a shot that hit one of the men in the leg. The distant wail of police sirens made you both exchange a tense glance, his gaze resolute, yours filled with alarm.

He grasped your wrist firmly and guided you up the stairs in the opposite direction of your intended path. As you ascended higher and higher, a chill breeze brushed against your skin, signaling your arrival on the rooftop of the building.

He came to a halt abruptly, fixing his gaze upon you with intensity. His eyes, a deep shade of rose, silently pleading to convey a question. Pleading to express a specific desire that words seemed unable to capture.

As you stood there, the silence hung heavy in the air, amplifying the unease that had settled within you. Your inquiry, uttered in a hushed tone, seemed to have disappeared into the void, swallowed by the vast emptiness surrounding you. The absence of a response only deepened the mystery that shrouded this encounter.

But then, as if in response to your unspoken question, you felt a gentle touch upon your cheek. The sensation of calloused fingers grazing your skin sent a shiver down your spine, both unsettling and strangely comforting as the other hand held the black, shiny gun. It was a touch that carried a weight of significance, yet its purpose remained elusive, leaving you perplexed and yearning for answers.

As those fingers continued their delicate exploration, tracing an intricate mark etched upon your cheek, a surge of curiosity mingled with a tinge of apprehension coursed through your veins. What was the meaning behind this enigmatic symbol? What secrets did it hold? And why was it being revealed to you now, in this moment of profound silence?

With each stroke of those rough fingers, a flood of emotions washed over you. There was a sense of intimacy, as if this touch was meant for you alone, a connection forged in the depths of an unknown past. Yet, there was also a hint of vulnerability, as if the mark on your cheek exposed a part of you that had long been concealed, a hidden truth waiting to be unveiled.

As you tried to decipher the identity of this mysterious mark, your mind raced with possibilities. Was it a symbol of protection, a ward against unseen forces? Or perhaps it held the key to unlocking a forgotten memory, a fragment of a story that had been lost in the recesses of time. The uncertainty gnawed at you, fueling a desire to unravel the enigma that had been placed upon your very skin.

In the absence of words, you found solace in the language of touch. The mark on your cheek became a bridge between two souls, a silent conversation that transcended the boundaries of speech. And as you stood there, enveloped in the mystery of this encounter, you couldn't help but wonder what other secrets lay hidden beneath.

God, were you becoming delusional?

i can fix him (no really i can).

#bonten #bonten x reader #haruchiyo sanzu x reader #haruchiyo sanzu #kakucho #kokonoi hajime #manjiro sano #ran haitani #rindou haitani #sanzu haruchiyo #sanzu haruchiyo x reader #sanzu x reader #tokyo revengers sanzu #bonten sanzu #tokrev sanzu #tr sanzu #Spotify #SANZU 💊🤍

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skzteez8 · 8 months

Text

I TOLD YALL I WAS GONNA TAKE MATTERS INTO MY OWN HANDS

anyways here's a nice little jongho fic. it's only the second fic I've ever written, so please beware of bad writing. I also read and re-read this about 4 times so if anything is misspelled, hey, that's on me.

jongho x gn!reader

genre/type: fluff

warnings: good ol makeout sesh, weak knees, possible bad writing. let me know if I missed anything

ENJOY!!

"Give it back!" Jongho shouted across the kitchen. "Give is back, y/n," he raised his eyebrows. He raised his hand out in front of him, palm facing up, signaling for me to hand his phone back to him.

I let out a breathless laugh, "Not until you tell me who is making you act this way!"

Jongho had been very bright and vibrant the last few weeks, which was odd for him. I had suspected that there might be someone special in his life who would have changed his mood drastically. I had brought it up to him only about ten minutes prior when I noticed he had been slightly distant from the conversation we had been having. When I asked who this person was, he tried avoiding the question.

Honestly, at first, I was a little hurt that he seemed to not trust me with the knowledge of this person's existence. So, I quickly devised a plan.

I dropped the subject quickly. Once his defense was lowered, I pounced. Grabbing his phone out of his hand and running through the living room and into the kitchen. His hurried footsteps followed. I looped around the island in the middle of the kitchen, separating myself from him.

"y/n," he warned.

"Dude, just tell me," I pressed.

"No," he pouted slightly.

I inhaled, trying to calm my racing heart from the thrill of the chase.

Jongho suddenly darted around the right side of the island, forcing me to move in the same direction. Now, standing on opposite sides of the island that we had been before, I faked him out. He quickly jerked him body in the direction he thought I was about to move, but my feet stayed in the same place. He let out a laugh and shook his head.

"Okay, I respect that you aren't ready to say anything about whoever it might be that's significantly improved your mood. But you could at least tell me if there is for sure someone." I waited for him to say something. I could see him turning this over in his head. "I just feel like you aren't trusting me, and honestly, I'm a little offended, Bo."

He smiled a little bit at the nickname I gave him a few years into our friendship. The nickname is based on my favorite brand of gummy bears.

"Give me my phone back, and I'll consider it," he put his hand out in front of him again. When I hesitated for a moment, he pushed his hand out further, urging me to return the device to him.

Suddenly, he charged at me. Clearly, he didn't like the fact that I took too long to do what he insisted on. I was suddenly on my toes, bounding through the house, back into the living room.

Unfortunately, I had cornered myself. And Jongho had realized this. He smirked at me with his arms slightly out at both of his sides, ready to catch me if I tried to slip past him.

Adrenaline coursed through me, and I let out a playful giggle. I bounced on my feet from side to side, acting like I was going to be able to get around the man standing in front of me. He giggled at my actions. While he was slightly distracted, I decided to attempt an obvious failure of an escape.

I charged straight at him, but his eyes had been carefully watching me the entire time. Once I was close enough to him, he reached his arm out, catching me around the middle. Wrapping his other arm around me, he secured me in his grip and ripped his phone from my hand.

"Thank you," he said, putting his phone in his back pocket. He looked down at me, struggling to get out of his firm grip.

My eyes finally met his. He had a slight smirk on his face. He was acting so smug, it slightly pissed me off.

"Fine! Don't tell me then!" I said, breathlessly.

He chuckled down at me, "You should just give up. I'm not letting you go."

"WHICH IS ODD FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE SKINSHIP!" I shouted, twisting and turning in his arms, trying to free my own.

I fought him for a few more moments before finally admitting defeat. More tired than I was before, I looked up at him. I could feel the tips of my ears turning red once I noticed how close our faces were. His eyes moved down my face and lingered on my lips for a moment. I felt my heart rate pick up.

I knew then.

I mimicked his behavior, letting my eyes linger on his lips. I was increasingly aware of the warmth from his body. Where his arms were wrapped around my waist, pressing me close to him. I could feel his large hands spread across my back. My brain started to feel fuzzy.

He pressed his forehead slowly to mine. Followed by the tip of his nose touching mine. Next, his lips were on mine. He was so gentle. The complete opposite of the way his arms were wrapped around me. He kissed me like I would break but held onto my body like if he let go, I would disappear forever.

We pulled away from each other for a brief moment. I moved my head towards his, chasing his mouth with mine. He loosened his grip enough for me to free my arms and my knees threatening to give way. My hands found their way to his hair and neck. Our lips moved in sync with each other.

Jongho pulled away from me so we could catch our breath. He rested his forehead against mine, eyes closed, basking in the moment.

"Open your eyes," I whispered. My hand caressing his face.

After a few moments, he moved his head away and opened his eyes. The sight of him like this was breathtaking. His pupils blown out, his lips slightly swollen, and his cheeks tinted lighty with a red brush. A small smile played on his lips.

I couldn't help myself. I was back on his mouth. This time, we were less gentle his each other. This was a hungry type of kiss. The type that should have been shared between us months ago. The type that was making up for lost time.

The air around us shifted completely. His hands moved across my back and down to my waist. He squeezed my sides slightly as a warning. I could feel his hands moving lower over my hips and down to my thighs. He tapped my legs, signaling for me to jump. And I did, wrapping my legs around him. A low groan escaped him.

Jongho walked us over the couch and sat us both down, so I was straddling his lap. Once we were settled, I pulled away.

"Why," I said quietly, keeping my eyes closed. Our noses still touching each other, he brought his hands up to both sides of my face and placed a light kiss on my own swollen lips.

He inhaled for a long moment, followed by an equally long exhale. "I should have told you sooner. I wanted to, but I honestly couldn't read you that well. I had no idea how you felt about me. And you know I'm not good at expressing my own feelings, so I never knew how to approach this." He licked his lips. He snaked his arms back around my waist and pulled me flush against him, causing a giggle to escape from me. "But now you know. I am so deeply enamored by you."

He had said all of this with stars in his eyes and the blush deepening on his face and neck.

I leaned forward, kissing him once more. "I am completely enamored by you too, Choi Jongho."

He let out a small chuckle. "Let's stay like this for a while."

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck and brought my face close to his, leaning my forehead against. I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth from his body underneath mine.

hope y'all enjoyed!! any NICE AND KIND feedback is welcome. if you're mean, BLOCKED instantly. kisses!!!! <3

#ateez #ateez imagines #ateez fluff #jongho #choi jongho #jongho fluff #jongho imagine #jongho fanfic

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lidiasloca · 1 year

Note

Can you ps write a Jurdan based on that TikTok lipstick trend. Like Jude and Cardan on the floor, and Jude fixing her lipstick while Cardan is next to her looking at her while having lipstick stain on his lips, his cheeks, and neck. Also can you make it in Viví or one the court of shadows member pov. Thx <33

makeup when drunk (jurdan fic)

Post QoN

⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄⠄⠂⠁⠁⠂⠄☆

Oak reaches for the sleeve of my shirt and makes me lean to him by pushing it down almost aggressively. “I think I saw them walking inside that door,” he whispers while grinning mischievously, as if he was the one making trouble.

Well, let’s not get it wrong, he is one troublemaker, but at least right now, he’s not the one hassling.

“Okay, we’re going in,” I murmur back.

Closer to the door, we hear Cardan and Jude laughing, and we share a knowing look, Oak and I. My little brother gasps in disbelief and places his hand over his mouth like the drama prince he is.

“Jude?” He says out loud before I can stop him. The laughter on the other side of the door stops, but only a second later, it begins again, more hysterical now even. “Oh my god,” I say exasperated. This is not going to be easy, I’m guessing.

“Should we?” Oak asks me as he moves his hand to the handle. I nod and start walking when he opens the door. And just when I enter I can’t help but to laugh, and the toddler next to me seems to be judging me for joining this drunk laughing royal cult thing. He must not be seeing what I am.

The High Queen and King of Elfhame on the floor, drunkenly attempting to do their makeup. It’s all more fun when I pay careful attention. Jude is looking funnily guilty while Cardan is attempting a blank expression, and I realize it’s because his wife is pinching him on the thigh to keep him from laughing.

Not to mention the subtle detail that is that Cardan is covered in red lipstick. His neck, his cheek, his nose, his temple, everything. It doesn’t take one too smart to guess the doer.

“Oak.” I try not to laugh. “Maybe you should get going downstairs with Taryn.” He doesn't move his gaze from her sister as he walks backwards out of the room. He’s watching her with utter shock, which is funny enough to make me chuckle.

When he’s gone, I turn to them and attempt seriousness.

“Okay, I have to get the Queen and King of Elfhame downstairs in a matter of minutes. So, whether it is with a few slaps or with a bucket of water -you decide-, I need you to become those serious monarchs again, for the sake of Elfhame and the Courts’ representatives you’ve made come to this important revel.”

I’m only proud of how well I’ve recited this speech for a brief moment, just before they start laughing at me, then I'm only embarrassed.

This shouldn’t be like this, Jude is the serious one, I’m not. I think I do hate Cardan’s influence. “It was Randalin’s speech. He made me say it,” I explain, ashamed.

They keep laughing, so I threaten them. “Well, I guess it’s the bucket of water, then.” And I pretend to go get it.

“Wait! No!” It is surprisingly Cardan who’s able to reason and talk.

“So you’ll get ready for the party now?” I ask in what I hope to be an authoritative tone. “Both of you?” I glare at Jude, who is now watching Cardan without his noticing, and her admiring eyes and open mouth as if in awe distract me. But not for too long.

“Guys, c’mon! I’m responsible for the two of you being in the party as lucidly as you are supposed to. And you are not cooperating. I hate this.”

It feels like I’m talking to myself at this point, because when I look at them, Jude is only focused on carefully climbing on Cardan as if, if she fell from him, it’d be like falling from a mountain.

“Jude, are you listening to me?” I ask her. Then Cardan, who’s seated on the floor, seems to acknowledge the dangerous height that he is, and takes Jude in his arms as he gasps. “Love, be careful.” Elfhame has it bad.

“Cardan! There is literally the floor under you.” They finally look at me, their brows furrowed like if I was the one acting dumb. But then their gazes move to the floor and they share a look. “Yes.” Cardan tells me, his eyes still on Jude. “The floor is down here. Great share.”

Jude grins at him. I can’t believe they think I’m stupid. They’ve reached quite a level of intoxication. And then I see the bottles of wine behind them. All of them empty. Wow-

“Okay. Enough.” I kneel to Jude and take her by her shoulders. “Come with me, you have to get changed.”

Cardan hugs her tighter and says, “She will not. I still have to fix her makeup.” He turns to her and asks, “Right?” She nods quickly, alarmed due to his preoccupation.

“So you are to go to the revel like this?” I gesture to her clothes, Cardan’s clothes, actually. She’s wearing a purple blouse under a wine red vest, it’s horrific. She looks like she had decided to wear a costume to the party and had found Cardan’s part of the dresser.

“What? Don’t you like it?” Jude whispers to me as if hurt. “I love it.” Cardan responds before I can, which makes her smile while she puts her arms on his shoulders to hug him.

I sigh yet again.

Then… Maybe this could work. “I have wine.” They turn to me. They listen to me.

“Where?” Jude asks, all seriousness.

I’m happiness itself as I realize I’m convincing them, I’m making this work. “The revel. Downstairs. In five minutes.”

“Where is exactly five minutes?” Cardan asks cautiously. “You wouldn’t dare lie to the crown about this subject, would you?

I suppress a laugh. “No, no. I would never dare to do such a thing.” I stand up and expect them to do the same. “I meant that you, your majesties, ought to be there in about five minutes.”

“Oh.” Jude says and stands up, letting go of Cardan’s arms. When she’s finally up, she kneels again to Cardan and takes his hands.” “We should go.”

Cardan nods and lets himself stand with Jude’s help. They start walking towards the door, ignoring my presence there. “Hey, wait! You have to get changed.”

They look at me, then at each other. I see them grinning, and I don’t have time enough to realize their plan before they take off running out of the room.

-characters by Holly Black

Thank you so much for the request, I hope it is what you had in mind. and sorry it took me so long, i feel like i first read the message an eternety ago. oh, and in honor of the stolen heir, I ofc had to put baby Oak in this. shame on me, though: i still haven't read it.

#jurdan #jude and cardan #jurdan headcanon #the folk of the air #thefolkoftheair #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #i miss jude and cardan #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #jurdan fic #jurdan fanfic #the cruel prince #jude x cardan

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touchoflaughter · 8 months

Note

Hi may you do a tickling word prompt with 50 and 51 where Draco Malfoy has a girlfriend's who she could be a Gryffindor and she tried to tickle him to mess with him and he tried to hide it?

"I have no weaknesses."

This is such an adorable request Anon! Ofc I'll do you (and me) that favour! Let's get right into it!

Ticklish!Draco x Ler/Reader

Requests from the promt-list

50. “I have no weaknesses.”

51. “I’m not going to be taken down by something as childish as tickling.”

"What are you trying to do?", Draco chuckled, looking down at you with his brows risen in surprise.

"Imma make you take that back!", you answered, still trying to tackle your much bigger boyfriend to the bed.

"That I said you're pretty smart?", he seemed confused.

"That's not what you said!", you protested.

"That's exactly what I said. Now stop this nonsense.", he was smirking from ear to ear in that typical cheeky way, clearly amused about your clumsy attempts to knock him over.

"You said I'm pretty smart for a Gryffindor. That's a huge difference!", you insisted, finally breaking his balance and landing right on top of him. Draco, who landed on his back, looked up to you in surprise.

"Okay, I gotta correct myself. You're smart and strong-", he chuckled, before completing his sentence: "For a Gryffindor." The cunning Slytherin couldn't stifle a gleeful smirk when your expression darkened.

"Oh you'll regret that one!", you threatened with an evil grin. Without further hesitation you started pinching his sides, still sitting on top of him.

"H-Heheyy! What ahare you dohoing?", Draco started twitching from left to right like a fish out of water before he quickly caught your wrists.

"Aww did I found a weakness right there?", you mocked him, smirking about his adorable reaction. You haven't heard him giggling like that before.

"I have no weaknesses!", He claimed returning to his well known arrogant attitude.

"Let go of my wrists then.", you snickered provocatively.

"Oh hell nah.", he shook his head, knowing damn well what your next move would be.

"Why? Since you have no weaknesses, you wouldn't mind a few harmless fingers, right?", you mocked. He grunted and seemed to take some time to concentrate before letting go of your wrists.

You wasted no time and started scribbling your fingertips all over his exposed ribcage while Draco tried to hold his shit together. His hands formed fists when he grabbed the blanket, trying to distract himself from the torturous sensation. "Mhhh-wahahait."

"Wait for what?", you asked while squeezing right under his armpits. The blonde Slytherin tried to dodge your attacks as inconspicuous as possible by pressing his arms on his body. He was tensed so much, his veins were already bulging out his sinewy arms. "For you to give up?"

"I’m not going to be taken down by something as childish as tickling.”, Draco countered, surpressing the laughter at all cost.

"To me it seems you're pretty ticklish- especially for a Slytherin.", you laughed, scribbling your nails all over his exposed belly and hips. That's when he lost it. His arms shot forward, covering his body as good as possible.

"I'm nohot! Stohop!", he tried to maintain his facade- vainly.

"I won't stop until you take that back!", You blackmailed your boyfriend, who seemed not so tough anymore.

"Damnit youhu evil whihitch!", he tried to insult while involuntary giggles slipped here and there.

"Thank you.", you countered sarcastically when you slid upwards, onto his chest so you could get his sides without Draco being able to defend himself. "But wrong answer." You immediately started scribbling both your hands up and down his sides and watched him loose his coolness.

"Fuhuhuck! Ohohokay! Okahahaay!", he pounded his fists against the bed.

"Okay?", you raised your brows in amusement, not stopping the tickling. "Okay what, silly?"

"Don't mahake me sahay it!", he pleaded while he tried to buckle you off. The tall boys giggling had turned into uncontrolled laughter by now and it was music to your ears. It's a rare thing to see him smile, let alone laugh like that. You've never seen him laughing as carefree yet involuntary like that. And you acquired a liking for it.

"Oh I totally will make you say it." To underline your words started pinching and squeezing at his hips what immediately made him squeal. You could't say who was more surprised about that reaction.

"Thihis is rihidiculous!", he bubbled between his laughter when, all of a sudden, his arms were at your shoulders and you realised he simply tolerated your cheekiness to this point- but now? He threw you off him effortlessly. You landed next to him on the bed when he bent over you:

"You're almost as merciless as a Slytherin my dear. Maybe the sorting hat made a mistake right here.", Draco chuckled, still breathing heavily but with an almost proud expression on his face.

"Don't make me do this to you again, Draco.", you threatened with a knowing smile.

"You know that I let you do it, right?", he rose one brow and looked at you masterfully.

"So you liked it?", you mocked him.

"Wha- no!", he seemed surprised. "I wanted to prove my point."

"Right. You officially proved you're pretty ticklish.", you chuckled.

"That's not-", he sighed when he realised you were messing with him again. "You know what?"

"What?", you asked, giving him your most charming smile.

He looked at you a moment in silence. "You're done." Suddenly he pounced at you and started the most rigorous tickle attack. Even though he was your loving boyfriend, he was still Draco Malfoy after all. And he wouldn't let you emerge unscathed.

"I'll stop anytime. Just admit you're smart for a Gryffindor."

#fics by aphro #tickle community #sfw tickles #tickle fic #harry potter tickle fic #Draco Malfoy tickle fic #tword content #word fic

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hero-deserves-to-be-happy · 3 months

Text

Under The Weather (A Hero-Centric Sick Fic)

When Hero has to cancel his visit home due to illness, Kel gets worried and calls in some reinforcements to take care of him. Kel knows there is nothing that upsets his brother more than being fussed over and worried about, but maybe he'll let himself be taken care of just this once...

Genre: Sick Fic, Slice of Life and Hurt/Comfort. Friendship and Kel & Hero's Brotherly Love. Post-Good Ending. Self-Indulgent. Hero Deserves To Be Happy.

Characters: Hero (POV Character), Kel (POV Character), and Zoey (OC). Sally and the parents make brief appearances. Mari and Sunny are mentioned.

Relationships: Hero and Kel's Brotherly Bond. Kel and Zoey (OC) Friendship. Hero and Zoey (OC) Friendship [Could be Hero/OC if you really wanted, but this story take place mid-extremely slow burn so they'd swear they're just friends here]. Past Hero/Mari is implied, referenced, and mentioned.

Word Count: 11,886

Rating: G

Warnings: Some hurt/comfort. Some mentions of grief. Mentioned flu and flu-like symptoms. Sick Character. Referenced Canonical Character Death. OMORI SPOILERS. There is a little angst, but it wraps up with brotherly love and Hero actually being happy and taken care of after the good ending (who knew we'd live to see the day...)

⛅This story is part of the "When Sun Shines Again" universe & includes specific references to "Am I Ready For Love? Or Maybe Just A Best Friend" but it should stand-alone and make sense without reading any of that.

A/N: It's my birthday and this is my (Acacia's) self-indulgent present to myself. 😁Thank you for indulging me!

Link to work on AO3. Full text below the cut.

Thank you for reading! 🧡💙☂️

Kel glanced over at the clock, watching as the second hand barely ticked away. He generally wasn’t this distracted or antsy at basketball practice, even when his coach called an emergency practice after school on a Friday when everyone was naturally jittery with anticipation for the weekend. But he couldn’t seem to focus on anything today—found himself zoning out until something collided with the back of his head.

“Ouch!” he yelped, rubbing his hand across the spot the basketball had just bounced off of him. That was definitely going to leave a mark. Some of his teammates snickered while a few offered shrugs of apologies. His coach huffed, crossing his arms clearly unamused.

“What is going on with you today?”

“Sorry, coach,” he mumbled sheepishly—scratching the back of his neck. “My brother’s coming home from college for the weekend, so I guess I’ve been a little distracted.”

His coach frowned. “Well you can run out that distraction by running laps around this gym. 10 laps—go!”

Kel sighed, but he sprinted off for his laps. If he was being perfectly honest, he didn’t mind. If he was lucky, maybe running laps would help time pass faster. He’d try anything that would help time pass faster. Hero was coming home, and he couldn’t wait to see him.

When practice finally wrapped up, he practically sprinted out to his car and, though it likely would have worried his mother, he sped home at, at least, a solid 10 mph above the speed limit. He hoped he hadn’t missed Hero’s arrival—though he knew he had a class this morning and wouldn’t have been able to leave until later in the day, then he had what was probably a 3-hour drive taking traffic into account, so maybe time was on his side.

When he pulled onto his street, he was relieved to see that Hero’s car was not in the driveway, and as he ran through the doorway into the house, he called, “Have you heard from Hero at all?” Do you know what time he’s coming?”

With an affectionate chuckle, his mom looked up from the block structure she had been building with Sally. “Well, welcome home to you too, Kel. Did you have a good day at school? How was basketball practice?”

“It was fine,” he said with a shrug, trying to ignore that lump on the back of his head. “But have you—?”

“Wanna play ‘zoo,’ Kel?” Sally interrupted with a bright smile as she held up some of the colorful, plastic animals he and Hero had bought her for her birthday. “You can have any ammimals you want.” She stared up at him with wide, expectant eyes as she handed him an elephant. Kel smiled, patting his little sister on the head.

“Thanks, Sally. We’ll play in a minute, okay?” He paused, turning back to his mother. “Mom—”

“I haven’t heard from him since this morning. He was supposed to call before he left, but maybe he got busy or forgot,” she cut him off with a slight shake of her head. “I hope he’ll make it back in time for dinner.”

“I’ll call him,” exclaimed Kel reaching for the telephone receiver. As Kel began to dial the number he knew by heart, he stopped—wondering if it would be better to call Hero’s cell phone. They were all still adjusting to the fact that he had gotten one. It made their mother feel safer and more secure, knowing that Hero had a way to call for help in an emergency, but since he had limited, prepaid minutes, they all still usually communicated with him by calling the landline at the fraternity house where he lived. In this case, however, Kel was hoping that Hero was already on his way, in which case, his cell phone would be the best way to get ahold of him.

“What if he’s driving?” sighed Mom as Kel began to flip through the address book they kept near the phone. When he found the number, Kel shrugged.

“Then he won’t answer, and I’ll just leave a message.”

“Tell him about my zoo,” giggled Sally, and Kel nodded. As he held the phone to his ear, the ringing of the telephone mingled with Sally’s best impression of a lion. A smile tugged at his mouth as he watched as his sister began to set her animal toys in the block zoo she had been building with their mother.

He was so distracted he almost didn’t hear the slow, heavy breath followed by a hoarse, groggy, “Hello?”

Kel’s brow furrowed. “Hero? Uh…it’s Kel…” He stumbled over his words, worried he had dialed the wrong number. The person on the other line barely sounded like his brother at all. There was more wheezy breathing as if Hero couldn’t catch his breath, followed by an audible gasp and a stumbling, almost panicky, “Kel? Oh my gosh—what time is it?”

“Um…around 6:00, I think.”

“I’m so sorry,” apologized Hero, sounding like himself again besides the hoarse breathiness of his voice. “I wasn’t feeling well so I lied down to take a nap before I left, and I must have completely lost track of time.” His voice cracked and hitched—raspy and wheezy before he finally burst into a fit of nasty, phlegmy coughing.

“You sound terrible. Are you sick?”

“He’s sick?” interjected their mother bustling around him in a fidgety panic. “What’s wrong? Did he see a doctor? Does he have a fever?”

“I don’t know, Mom,” huffed Kel, but he was promptly cut off by Hero.

“Mom’s there?” There was something concerned and guilty in his already weary voice. “Tell her not to worry. I’m fine. My friends have been passing this bug around. I’m the last one to catch it. I’ll probably be better in a couple days.”

Kel nodded before he realized his brother couldn’t see him; then, he turned to his mom giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “He says all his friends have had this bug. It only lasts a day or two. He’s gonna be fine.”

“Tell him to take medicine, get lots of rest, and drink plenty of water and to keep checking his temperature,” his mother began rambling. “If it reaches 103, he needs to call a doctor or go to urgent care.”

“Mom,” sighed Kel. “Hero’s gonna be a doctor. I’m sure he knows all that.”

“You can hand the phone off to Mom If you want. I’ll talk to her,” Hero weakly interjected before he started coughing again. “I’m really sorry I’ll have to postpone my visit, but I’m not well enough to drive and I wouldn’t want to get you sick.”

“It’s fine, okay? Don’t worry about it. Are you sure you’re alright? That’s a really nasty cough.” Kel bit his lip, trying not to sound nearly as concerned as he felt. His fingers trembled as they gripped onto the receiver. As he looked in his mother’s face, he knew she was worried too and likely for the same reason: Hero never got sick.

“I’m fine,” he insisted but his raspy voice and coughing fit seemed to imply otherwise. “Don’t worry about me. I’m probably just going to make some instant ramen and go to bed.”

“But you hate instant ramen…”

“He’s making instant ramen,” interjected their mother. “Tell him to try to eat something healthier—more hearty like soup.”

“Mom—” Kel began to protest before Hero cut him off with a weary sigh.

“I just didn’t have the energy to make anything else…” Hero’s voice trailed, and Kel swallowed hard.

“Is there someone there who can take care of you?” he asked, and Hero sighed again.

“I don’t want to bother anyone or get them sick. Besides they’re all heading out to this party tonight.” He paused, coughing again. “But it’s fine. I’m really okay, Kel, just a little under the weather.”

Kel sighed heavily. He wished he could believe him, but Hero had always had this way of deflecting and belittling his own problems because he didn’t want people to worry. This had gotten especially bad over the past couple of years. Ever since their fight, it seemed like Hero would never tell him that anything was wrong ever again. Kel’s chest ached. His brother could be dying right now, and he’d have no idea.

“Hero—” He stopped abruptly, unsure of what he even wanted to say. It would probably just be the wrong thing anyway, so it might be better if he just didn’t say anything at all.

“I’m okay, Kel,” Hero gently insisted again. “And I’m sorry…but we’ll see each other another time. Maybe next weekend or the weekend after? Whenever I’m not contagious anymore.”

Kel sighed, but he finally answered, “Yeah…You just take care, okay? Do you want me to put Mom on now?”

Hero hummed, and Kel handed the phone off to their mother who started blustering and prattling away about cold medicine, sponge baths, and electrolytes. Kel didn’t catch most of it, but he did clearly hear, “I wish you had someone up there to take care of you.” Kel let out a long, heavy sigh. He certainly felt the same way, but that definitely wasn’t going to happen. Hero hated asking for help more than he hated instant ramen.

“Is Hero gonna be, okay?” asked Sally, tugging on his arm. Kel gave her a reassuring smile.

“Yeah. He’s just a little sick right now, but he’ll be fine. Then he’ll come visit and see your zoo.” He took Sally’s hand and led her back to the blocks and toys. “Here, I’ll help you with it.”

Helping Sally with her zoo project did not distract Kel nearly as much as he hoped. He was constantly distracted by worries about Hero and how bad his health was—if he was really telling them the whole story. He didn’t usually get sick after all, and he sounded horrible. What if he had a flu or something and needed medical attention? He could at least use someone who could check in on him and make sure he was getting water and enough to eat that wasn’t instant ramen. But Kel wasn’t sure who that would even be. Unless…

Impulsively, Kel raced upstairs to his room to grab the notecard where he had written Hero’s friend Zoey’s phone number after she had offered to let him call her whenever he got stuck on his math homework. Kel had used to call Hero with all his homework trouble, but after Hero himself was stumped by a particularly difficult math problem, his brother had suggested they ask his friend who was an engineering major and, Hero insisted, a math genius. Best of all, she had just so happened to be hanging out with him when Kel had called. Zoey had quickly solved and walked him through the problem, then several others. Then she generously offered that he could call her with any other questions—which he had multiple times. Honestly, he’d probably be failing math right now if it wasn’t for her.

He talked to her all the time, sometimes it seemed, even more than Hero, though Kel often thought he probably got a more accurate account of how Hero was actually doing from her than if he had just asked his brother himself. He could only be told ‘I’m fine, just busy’ so many times before it started sounding automatic and rehearsed. Zoey at least told him the truth: he’s stressed about upcoming exams, busy cooking food for a party his fraternity was hosting, or groggy from staying up all night studying. Kel sighed. He understood if his brother wanted to keep a lot of his life private, but, he’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt a little to be cut off from his reality by dismissive ‘I’m fine’s. He knew Hero didn’t want him to worry and was likely just trying to protect him from that, but still…he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was his own fault. Hero probably didn’t want to tell him he was stressed out, overwhelmed, or sick because he was worried Kel would just say the wrong thing, just like he had when Hero had gotten so depressed after Mari had died.

Neither of them ever wanted that to happen again so they just didn’t really say much of anything anymore—at least not much of anything that mattered. Sure, they still talked—so much and so often that Kel knew the phone number to Hero’s fraternity house by heart, but it barely scratched the surface, never touched anything deep or meaningful. In a way, it felt hollow, distant—like Hero was only showing him a hazy impression of his life, enough to reassure Kel he was doing okay but not enough that he could feel like he actually knew him anymore, at least not like he had when they were younger and Hero had told him everything. It was getting better—had been over the past two years since they had learned the truth, but…Kel knew things would never go back to the way they were. He should probably be used to that by now. His brother was a very private person, and he probably always would be.

And by the time Kel had dialed the number and listened to two rings of the telephone, he realized with a somewhat sheepish sigh that he probably should have been a little more respectful of that. His hands began to tremble as he clutched onto the receiver—genuinely starting to worry he was crossing a line. Zoey was one of Hero’s best friends, and Hero might be embarrassed to know his younger brother had been calling her to ask if she’d check up on him.

Before he could even begin to consider hanging up, however, someone answered the phone with a “Hello?”

“Hey, uh, this is Kel. Is Zoey there?”

The young woman on the other line laughed. “Scotty, how are you?” she asked, and Kel’s mouth curved into a bright smile. He knew immediately it was her. She was the only person in the world who called him ‘Scotty.’ Zoey had explained to him once it had to do with his talent for fixing things, just like “Scotty the Miracle Man,” a reference to some old tv show Zoey said she had used to watch with her dad. It didn’t bother Kel that he didn’t get the reference. He was honestly just kind of excited to have a nickname. After all, he had never really had one besides ‘Kel’ before and that was just a shortened version of his name. He had always kind of wanted one, just like Hero, but he had never told anyone that before.

“I’m good,” he replied with a chuckle. “You?”

Zoey hummed. “I’m doing okay—been kind of busy. You stuck on your math homework again?”

“Well yeah,” Kel admitted with a shrug. “But that wasn’t why I was calling. Is this a bad time?”

“Nope. Most of my sorority sisters are headed out to this party, so that’s probably what you’re hearing in the background.”

Kel’s brow furrowed. He heard some background chatter and rustling noises, but it was all kind of faint—nothing he would have thought was worth mentioning if Zoey hadn’t brought it up herself. “You’re not going to the party?”

“I have a project due next week, and honestly, parties aren’t really my scene. Don’t tell your brother, but I really don’t think I’d have a good time without him there anyway. We’re usually the only sober ones, and drunk company’s really not all it’s cracked up to be,” she replied dryly, and Kel laughed but shrugged his shoulders.

“Have you talked to Hero at all?”

“Not since yesterday. Did he make it home okay?”

Kel sighed. “He’s not coming. He’s sick.” Kel paused—sighing again and trying not to sound too disappointed. “He called like 45 minutes ago—has this terrible cough. He says he caught some bug or something and isn’t well enough to drive.”

“I knew this would happen,” huffed Zoey though she sounded more guilty than upset. “We’ve all been passing this flu around, and Hero’s been trying to take care of everyone so, of course, he got sick himself.”

“A flu?” interrupted Kel. He shook his head. So Hero had been underexaggerating again…? He should’ve known.

“I’m sure he’s going to be okay,” Zoey reassured him. “He has a really strong immune system—barely ever gets sick. It’s one of the reasons he’s going to be a great doctor. Don’t worry. I had this flu too—got over it in a couple days.”

“He got it from you?” teased Kel, and Zoey laughed.

“Probably from Kyle. They are roommates. But we’ve all had it. Hero’s the last one.” Zoey paused, sighed. “We really didn’t think he was going to get sick.”

“Yeah he uh…usually doesn’t, but he sounded pretty miserable when I talked to him earlier today. Said the only thing he could eat was instant ramen.”

“He hates instant ramen,” Zoey interjected, and Kel shook his head with a sigh.

“I know.” He paused thoughtfully then tried to ask as nonchalantly as he could manage, “Hey…uh…do you think you could bring him over some food or something? Just so he wouldn’t have to keep eating instant ramen. I wouldn’t want you to get sick or anything, but since you already had it, maybe you could just drop it off and maybe check in to make sure he’s doing okay…?” His voice trailed, and he bit his lip as he waited for her answer.

“I’m not much of a cook, Scotty,” chuckled Zoey. “But I could stop by a restaurant or Other Mart to pick up a couple things and drop them off for him. You know it’s only going to make him feel guilty though. He’ll help anybody that needs him without batting an eye, but the minute you try to turn it around and return the favor, it’s suddenly a big deal.”

Shaking his head slightly, Kel sighed. “Yeah…that’s just Hero for you.”

When Zoey sighed herself, Kel imagined she was shaking her head with the same somewhat affectionate exasperation, but she hummed thoughtfully. “I’m sure he’s feeling pretty miserable right now, and not just because he’s sick. He’s been so excited to see you—talked about practically nothing else for the past couple weeks.”

“Really?” The question slipped out before Kel could stop it, and his face flushed. Luckily, she couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, of course,” Zoey chuckled like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I don’t know if I’ve ever known anyone who’s so excited to see his brother. I mean, I love my brother, but the way Hero talks about you—it’s like you’re the most important person in the whole world, his best friend.”

“I don’t think I’m his best friend anymore,” mumbled Kel without thinking.

“Hey…” Zoey’s tone of voice softened—something gentle and sympathetic in it. “If you’re talking about me or Kyle or Brandi, C.J., Lorraine, Tamra…yeah, we’re all Hero’s friends and we all care about him, but none of us are you. And we’re never going to be you, Scotty. You’ll always be number one.”

“I dunno,” sighed Kel. He was pretty sure he lost that spot when he was insensitive, said all the wrong things after Mari died—when he hurt his brother, broke him.

“I don’t really know if it’s my place to say but…” Zoey began tentatively, but she let out a conceding sigh. “You know the only time I ever really see Hero happy is when he talks about you—about how amazing you are and how proud he is. His face just lights up, and he smiles for real—it actually reaches his eyes.”

Kel’s face grew warm, but he stifled a chuckle. It was funny to hear her say that considering he would have said the exact same thing about her. They all would have. It was Sunny who had noticed it first, actually, on account of the fact he lived in the city and Hero often invited him to hang out with him and his friends. Kel would never forget how he had excitedly told him, Aubrey, and Basil all about what it had been like to see Hero smile again. They almost hadn’t believed him, but then Hero had come home on a break and told him about how he got caught in the rain with some friend of his, a spunky engineering major who thankfully had a red umbrella. In the middle of his story, Hero’s face had lit up and he had smiled just like Sunny had said, a real smile that actually reached his eyes. Kel’s chest ached just thinking about it—about how much he wished his brother would smile like that all time, about how much he wished he would be happy again.

Kel took a long, deep breath. Could it really be possible that Hero smiled like that when he talked about him too? He couldn’t really believe that. Not after everything that had happened.

“He really loves you, you know?” Zoey continued quietly, and Kel fidgeted. Could she read his mind or something? “If the situation was reversed and you were sick and he was hours away, he’d be calling your friends too—having Aubrey and Basil go check up on you and make sure you’re doing okay. He’d probably be calling your parents all the time for updates too. Everyone in Faraway Town would be keeping an eye on you for him.”

Something twisted in Kel’s chest, and his eyes fluttered closed as he took a deep breath. “Please don’t tell him I’m worried.” His voice hitched over his words—quiet, small, like he was that little boy cowering in the corner watching Hero break again.

“You can tell him yourself,” Zoey gently encouraged. “I’m sure he—”

“You know about our fight, right?” Kel interrupted without thinking. He swallowed hard—the only sound during the long, heavy pause which followed. It probably crossed a line to ask that. He didn’t even know if she knew, but Hero had told him he had told Zoey about Mari, had told her a lot of things that he didn’t think he’d ever tell anyone. It wouldn’t have surprised Kel if their fight was one of them.

“Yes,” Zoey finally admitted—quiet, matter-of-fact. “He told me.”

Kel huffed lightly, breathily almost a disbelieving laugh. “Then you know why I can’t just call him up and tell him I’m—” His voice hitched, and he stopped abruptly.

“Kel—” she began to protest, but he cut her off.

“And you also know that it’s all my fault that we’re not—” He stopped abruptly—the words getting caught in the back of his throat. He shut his eyes tightly and swallowed hard.

“That’s not the story he told me.”

Something twisted in Kel’s chest. He couldn’t imagine what else his brother could have possibly said. Even if Hero had tried his best to protect him with his account and paint him in a better light so Zoey wouldn’t hate him, he couldn’t change the fact that it was his pushy and insensitive words that had broken him, right? He was the one who had made him feel guilty, made him feel like it was his fault he was so depressed, like he could just snap out of it somehow, like he wasn’t doing enough, and worst of all, like he was disrespecting Mari. He was the one who had said all the wrong things, who hadn’t been sensitive or kind enough like Hero himself would have been if the situation had been reversed. He was the one who said this wasn’t what Mari would have wanted, and he was the one who watched while those words broke his brother. He was the one who had broken him.

No version of the story Hero could have possibly told anyone could have changed that, but he supposed it was really none of his business.

“You know, Kel,” Zoey continued with a heavy sigh. “Sometimes we put up walls between ourselves and the people we love because we’re afraid of hurting them. It doesn’t mean we don’t love them—it just means we don’t know how.”

Kel’s chest ached, but he swallowed hard. “And you’re saying Hero’s like that?” He paused, and the words slipped out before he could stop them. “With you?”

“With everyone.” She hadn’t missed a beat. Kel supposed he admired that about her. She could be so honest but so kind too, and she knew Hero so well. Kel could tell that she cared about him and was a good friend. Both she and Hero vehemently insisted they were nothing more than that, and Kel believed them—which is why his question probably crossed a line, why Zoey felt compelled to add, “Not just me. You know that we’re not—”

“Yeah, sorry,” stumbled Kel interrupting as he shifted and fumbled around with the phone in his hands. “I didn’t mean anything by that. I just—”

“It’s okay,” she thankfully cut him off. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t getting the wrong idea. We get teased enough as it is by our friends—I can tell it bothers him. He won’t say, but I know it’s a touchy subject…”

“Do you think he’ll ever…uh…you know…?” he stumbled over the question, feeling guilty for even asking though he was desperate to hear another opinion that wasn’t the dismal ones he, Aubrey, Basil, and Sunny could generally come up with. Given the way he had tripped over his words, he wasn’t sure she’d even understand what he was trying to say, but she sighed.

“Honestly…I don’t know.” She paused thoughtfully. “But I do know that he’s not ready right now.”

Kel’s brow furrowed. That wasn’t exactly the answer he was expecting. “He told you that?” he asked before he could stop himself.

There was a long pause before Zoey answered, “Yes.” Her voice was matter-of-fact, pragmatic, and unreadable, but she sighed heavily. “Scotty, if you want to talk to Hero I feel like you should. He’s your brother. You should be hearing all this stuff from him—not me. It’s really none of my business.”

“He won’t talk to me.” Kel’s face flushed. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Zoey sighed.

“Kel…”

“It’s fine. It’s just…the way it is, you know?” he shrugged, swallowing hard. “He wouldn’t even tell me how sick he was.”

“He didn’t want you to worry.”

Kel huffed. “Well, I did anyway.”

“I’ll go check on him, okay?” Her voice softened—kind and sympathetic, almost reassuring. “But he’s going to be fine. Don’t worry. Then, I’ll call you later and tell you all about how he’s feeling better already.” She paused chuckling. “Okay?”

Kel sighed, but he shrugged his shoulders conceding, “Okay.”

“Good. Now what’s that math problem you’re stuck on?”

Kel snorted a laugh in spite of himself. “You think we have time for that?”

“Unless you want me to tell your brother you called specifically to ask me to check up on him, then yeah—I’m gonna have to actually help you with your homework,” she quipped dryly. “I think there’s a special place in hell for the kind of person who’d lie to Hero.”

Reaching for his math textbook, Kel laughed. “Alright…Well in that case, it’s another one of those functions…”

*-*-*

Wearily rubbing his eyes, Hero groaned. He was so exhausted it took all of his strength just to roll over onto his side so he could reach his bottle of water. He knew it was important for him to stay hydrated, even without his mother reminding him, and was truthfully desperate for something to drink given how hoarse and sore his throat was after he had just woken up.

Coughing, he managed to take a few sips before he sunk back down into his bed. Sunny had once rated it a 9 out of 10, but now Hero would probably rate it an 11, the most comfortable bed on earth. He never wanted to leave it ever, ever again—but that was probably just the flu talking.

Hero couldn’t remember the last time he had had the flu. He rarely ever got sick. Contracting what he had originally thought was a cold was a surprise enough, but he had just chalked it up to being a little under the weather and tried to push through it—until he had crashed that afternoon after a coughing fit—chilled, aching, and too tired to even move. By the time he woke up to answer Kel’s call, he was honestly miserable—phlegmy, wheezy, shivering, and so feverish he could barely put a sentence together. Even now, his head throbbed, and his thoughts were cloudy and muddled. He felt disoriented and too exhausted to even think too hard.

Hero sighed. He should probably take his temperature again—make sure it wasn’t too dangerously high. It barely took any time at all for the thermometer to ding—flashing a whopping 102.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Hero took a long, deep breath, or at least as deep as he could manage given his nasty cough. A fever that high certainly explained why he felt so crummy. He reached for some tissues and blew his nose before he coughed again. It would probably be best if he just went back to sleep.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier until they finally started drooping closed, but Hero was distracted by rustling noises he heard downstairs. His brow furrowed. He thought his entire fraternity was out at a party. Had someone come back early?

The sound of footsteps walking up the stairs echoed through the hallway, followed by a knock on the door to his room.

“Uh…Come in…?” Hero mumbled unsurely in a hoarse voice before he coughed again. He tilted his head at the door as it swung open, and Zoey walked in with two bags—one paper, one plastic.

“You look terrible,” she teased dryly, but her freckled nose wrinkled as she smiled at him brightly enough that it reached her green eyes.

“Zoey?” Hero stumbled slowly, breathily. He rubbed his head—unsure if he was seeing things. “What are you doing here?”

“I heard you were sick so I brought you some soup and a Hero sandwich but I put that in the refrigerator since I thought you probably weren’t up for solid food yet.” She reached into the paper bag and took out a plastic spoon and a to-go container of soup from his favorite soup and sandwich place in the city.

“Thank you…” Hero’s voice trailed as he struggled to catch his breath.

“It was nothing, especially compared to the homemade soup you made me when I was sick.” With a thoughtful hum, she ran her hand through her short, red hair and began fumbling around in the plastic bag. “I’ve also got you some sports drinks, water, cough drops, tissues, tea, and VapoRub.”

“You really didn’t have to do that…” Hero insisted in a raspy whisper. “How much do I owe you?”

Zoey waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. It’s my co-op semester so I’m basically rolling in money.” She chuckled lightly. “Plus, I wanted to do this for you. What are friends for, right? And I mean, I’m the reason you got sick.”

Hero shook his head weakly as he took a long breath. “No, you’re not.”

“Right. Sorry. It was all of us,” Zoey corrected with a lopsided twitch of her mouth. “And your lack of boundaries.”

Hero chuckled lightly in spite of himself, but it quickly turned into coughing. As Zoey scrambled to get him some water, he managed to choke out, “Sorry…”

Zoey tilted her head handing him the water to drink. “For what?”

Hero shrugged, but he took a few sips. “I don’t want to get you sick.”

“I’ve already had it. I’ll be fine.” She sighed with a pointed tilt of her head. “You take this ‘hero’ stuff way too seriously, you know? It’s not gonna kill you to let someone take care of you every once and awhile.” She pushed his desk chair next to his bedside and took a seat. “Now you just sit back, relax, and take easy, okay? Mama’s here.”

“I thought I was ‘Mama’,” he teased—dry and breathy. He wouldn’t have had the energy to argue with Zoey on the best day but especially not when he was so rundown and miserably ill like this, so instead he chose to banter. Mama was the nickname his roommate and Zoey’s long-time best friend Kyle had given him back in their freshman year, after all, so it seemed appropriate.

A smile tugged at Hero’s chapped lips as he watched Zoey laugh. Something warm spread through his aching chest knowing he had made her smile.

“Hey, I was ‘Mama’ before you were,” she bantered back. “But don’t worry I won’t tell Kyle.” She twisted her mouth to the side, but her expression softened as she reached out to take his hand. Frowning, she shook her head. “Your hands are so clammy.”

“Sorry…” mumbled Hero as she pushed some sweaty hair out of his face—pressing her palm to his forehead.

“You’re burning up. You have a thermometer?”

Hero nodded—then weaky motioned to his bedside table where his thermometer was sitting amongst a bunch of tissues. “I just took it. It’s 102.2.”

Zoey’s brow furrowed. “When do we call a doctor?”

Hero shrugged. “Probably if it’s over 103…” His breathy voice trailed wearily. “But there’s things you can try to bring it down before then.”

“Like a cold sponge bath like in a movie?” asked Zoey, her mouth quirking to the side. Hero shook his head.

“You want it lukewarm—not cold. If it’s cold, the blood vessels will constrict, and the body will hold onto heat…” He sighed then coughed into his elbow. After he managed to catch his breath, he added, “But tepid water is good. You can take a wet rag and use it to sponge the back of the neck or the forehead—the arms and torso would help too.”

“You want me to go get one?”

Hero’s face flushed, finally realizing what he had said and that it had come out in a way he hadn’t intended. “No, uh… I meant ‘you’ in the impersonal sense. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

Her mouth curved into a slight smile. “I’m happy to help.”

“I know,” he said, but he fidgeted, something almost bashful in his expression. “But I uh…I wouldn’t want you to have to see me…uh…”—his voice cracked and he mumbled—“shirtless.”

Zoey chuckled. “You’re adorable, you know that?” she teased. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. We’ve been to the beach how many times and you’re a lifeguard for goodness sakes. You can’t possibly be that self-conscious.”

“That’s different. That was the beach or the pool—this is…” He could feel his ears burning. “my room. We’re alone here, and—”

“And you’re sick. It’s all medical. Surely, I don’t need to explain that to you, future doctor.” She crossed her arms with a pointed look, before she clicked her tongue and bantered, “Yes, we all know you’re very attractive, Mr. Prince, but you kind of look like death warmed over right now. It’s nothing to get worked up over.”

Hero choked, then coughed repeatedly—phlegmy and guttural, definitely not attractive in the slightest. As he hacked and lurched forward, Zoey patted him on the back, firm but gentle before she rubbed her hand across his shoulders.

“Woah. Woah. Take it easy. I was just teasing you.” Her voice was soft and kind, and there was something so gentle in her eyes as she met his and apologized. “Sorry.”

Hero’s insides twisted. He could tell he had worried her, and he couldn’t stand it. He never wanted anyone to worry about him—especially not his friends.

“No. It’s okay,” he insisted when he finally caught his breath, but his words got jumbled and muddled in his foggy brain and scratchy throat. “I…I know you were... It’s just…that’s not what I meant. I was just…embarrassed. I mean you’ve already had to see me in my pajamas.” Hero stared down at his pajama shirt and pulled on the collar as his face burned and not just from the fever.

“Your grandpa pajamas?” Zoey teased dryly. His face flushed, but he nodded. Chuckling lightly, Zoey shook her head. “You do realize I’ve seen Kyle in his underwear more times than I’d care to admit, right? This is nothing. And besides, I’ve already seen them before.”

“You’ve”—Hero’s voice cracked—“seen my pajamas?”

“Well not in person, but Sunny drew me a picture of you in them.”

“Sunny drew you a picture of me in my pajamas?” Hero repeated incredulously in a disbelieving, hoarse voice.

Zoey shrugged but answered matter-of-factly. “He only draws you in your pajamas. He draws everybody in pajamas. You know, the last time I saw him he asked me about my pajamas so he could draw me in pajamas too.”

“Why—?” Hero’s voice hitched—cut off by an awkward laugh and wheezy coughing. “Why would he do that?”

“No idea. You tell me.” She paused, but Hero could only shrug his shoulders. Sunny was a talented artist, but Hero would be lying if he said he understood a lot of his abstract pieces or the reasoning behind them. Zoey’s guess as to why Sunny wanted to draw everyone in pajamas was as good as his, he supposed. “But I’m pretty sure he always draws you in these exact pajamas—long sleeves, button down shirt, stripes. I remember thinking ‘why does Sunny think Hero wears grandpa pajamas?’ but clearly it’s because you do.”

Hero chuckled lightly but tilted his head at her. “What’s wrong with my pajamas?”

“Nothing—if you’re over the age of 70,” bantered Zoey. “If you’re not, I don’t think anyone’s worn pajamas like these since the 1950s, but I guess you were always a Wally Cleaver type, huh?”

As his face burned, Hero sighed. “I don’t think I’m as charming as Wally Cleaver, and I’m definitely not as athletic as him. And he had all those girlfriends…”

“That’s a moot point,” Zoey interrupted, waving her hand at him. “Wally wanted all those girlfriends—you don’t. If you did, you absolutely could have them.”

“I’m sure that’s not—” Hero began as his blush deepened, but Zoey cut him off again.

“No, it is. Every girl in my sorority house would date you in a heartbeat,” she replied bluntly—pragmatic as if it was a well-known fact, but her mouth curved into a lopsided grin as she dryly teased. “You are Mr. Prince, after all.”

“Tamra has a boyfriend…” Hero protested—weak but somewhat playful.

Zoey sighed, rolling her eyes. “Well okay…not Tamra then...”

“Or you,” he quietly added, but Zoey’s mouth twitched into a lopsided smile.

“I don’t know, Mr. Prince. If you were actually interested in me, I think I’d have to seriously consider it—especially now that I’ve seen you in your grandpa pajamas.” She beamed at him with a bright, teasing grin before she let out a short, playful whistle.

Hero blushed before he buried his burning face in his hands. “Zoey…”

Before either of them could say anything more, however, they were interrupted by a distant, shrill whistling sound.

“That’s the kettle,” said Zoey. “I’ll be right back with some tea for you.”

“You really don’t have to—” Hero began to weakly protest, but she cut him off with a pointed stare.

“I don’t want to hear it, Henry.”

Hero paused. It still caught him off guard every time she used his real name. It wasn’t too often that she did—only when she wanted to tell him to stop being a ‘hero.’ It was her way of reminding him to take care of himself, reminding him that it was okay if he was just ‘Henry’ for a while. If Hero was being honest, it meant a lot to him to know someone cared enough to tell him that. Zoey had been telling him that for years now, but she only started calling him ‘Henry’ to do it after he had told her about Mari.

To this day he wasn’t sure why exactly he had told her in the first place besides the fact she had sort of figured it out on her own, but he was grateful that he had told her the truth, had finally been able to share that with someone. He would never forget the way she had cried for him—held him, told him that she wished he and Mari had gotten their forever. He had been so stunned, so moved by her empathy and kindness, that he had just panicked—trying to apologize for making her sad, for making her cry. After a lot of back and forth of him apologizing profusely and her gentle reassurances that it was okay, she had finally just cut him off in that spunky little way of hers. “No. None of that, Henry,” she had said with a pointed emphasis on his real name, trying her best not to smile as she said it for possibly the first time. Even so, she had insisted, “I’m serious. I’m going to keep calling you that until you stop that. Stop being a ‘Hero’—stop worrying about everybody else for just a second. It won’t kill you to be a little selfish for once…and it’ll honestly make the rest of us look better.”

Hero chuckled lightly to himself just thinking about it. She certainly kept her word—pulled his real name out for that reason whenever she felt he needed reminding of that. There was always a certain warmth and a flutter in his chest whenever he heard her say it.

A smile tugged at his mouth as he stifled a laugh, and the way her lips twitched in the corners made him realize she was trying not to laugh now too. Could it be that even after all this time, it still felt a little unnatural, a little awkward for her to call him that? After all, she generally called him ‘Hero’ or if she was feeling playful or cheeky ‘Mr. Prince.’

Hero’s chuckling was soon drowned out by coughing again, and Zoey patted his back and handed him tissues, water, and a cough drop until he finally calmed again.

“Still think you don’t need me?” she quipped, quirking an eyebrow at him.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he admitted quietly.

Her smile widened before she gave him one final pat on the back then took off down the stairs. “I’ll be right back with the tea.”

Hero took a long, shaky breath, trying his best to stay awake as he waited for her to return. His mind was feeling hazy again—sluggish and foggy from fever and exhaustion, but a question nagged at him. How had Zoey known he was sick? Yes, she was very perceptive, and there had certainly been times he was almost convinced she had to be a mind reader but…he hadn’t been that ill when he talked to her last. He supposed Kyle could have said something, but as far as Hero knew, Kyle had just assumed he was napping not battling with a flu.

“Here’s your tea,” said Zoey, swiftly reappearing with a warm mug, a gift from his fraternity brothers that read ‘World’s Best Mama.’ Hero laughed every time he saw it, though this time it came out more like a breathy wheeze then a cough. “It’s lemon and echinacea since you’re sick. I put a little honey in it for you too.”

Hero smiled as she handed him the cup. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Zoey was one of his best friends. She probably knew more about him than anyone else—of course, that would extend to knowing how he took his tea. But it wouldn’t extend to knowing he was sick, would it?

“Thank you,” he mumbled, taking a sip of his cup of tea before he took a long, shaky breath. “Hey…Zoey?”

“Yeah?”

“How did you know I was sick?” Hero swallowed hard—then coughed again. Zoey tilted her head pointedly at him.

“It’s kind of obvious,” she quipped—deflecting. Hero sighed. He knew a lot about that himself.

“Yeah…but did someone tell you? Ask you to check up on me?”

Zoey sighed heavily, but she finally admitted. “Yes. Scotty mentioned it when he called me earlier. He said you were too sick to drive home this weekend so you had to cancel your trip.”

Hero blinked at her. It took a minute for the words she had said to register. Scotty was her nickname for Kel, some reference he had never quite gotten himself, but it seemed to make his brother happy to have a nickname. Hero’s head ached. His brother…? “Kel?” he asked in a weary confusion. “Kel called you?”

Zoey nodded. “I helped him with his math homework.”

Hero swallowed hard. Somehow he knew that wasn’t the entire truth. The thought made something twist in his chest. He bit his lip as he quietly asked, “Is he worried about me?”

“What do you think?” Zoey paused, but from the look she was giving him now, Hero knew the answer, if he hadn’t already. “You two are a lot alike you know—you both worry about each other but won’t really say.”

“I don’t want Kel to worry...” The words slipped out without him really thinking about them—honest, vulnerable, real. The feverish haze was loosening his tongue, it seemed. Hero’s brow furrowed. He didn’t like it for the same reasons he didn’t like drinking. It felt like losing control—only this time, he didn’t have the energy to care too much.

“Then I don’t think not telling him anything is the answer,” Zoey replied. “Kel’s pretty smart, you know? He knows something’s wrong even when you won’t say—knew you were way sicker than you let on. He asked if I could stop by and check on you.”

Hero’s face flushed. He couldn’t really process what she was saying, “Kel did that?”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

Hero swallowed hard. He met her eyes—hoping the look in them would say louder than any words that she already knew why. Ever since their fight, he had felt Kel slipping away—walking on eggshells around him like he was scared he was fragile and would snap again. No matter what he did to try to reassure Kel that he was okay and that he would never lash out at him like that ever again, Hero couldn’t shake the feeling that he was losing his brother. He tried his best to stay connected—talking to him all the time, planning trips home to visit him, even letting him stay with him in the city, and even though things had been getting better since they had learned the truth two years ago, Hero knew that they would never be the same. They could never be the same, not anymore. Not after…

“I really hurt him…” Hero’s voice cracked—breathy, dazed, but heart-wrenchingly guilty even all these years later.

He hadn’t realized he had said that aloud, until Zoey gently reassured him, “And you apologized and moved on. That’s all, in the past now. I don’t think Kel holds it against you at all.” She paused, sighed. “What if he’s sitting around, saying the same thing—worrying the same thing…?”

Hero’s chest ached, but he shook his head. “No, I…”

“Hero,” Zoey sighed, cutting him off. “If there’s distance between you and Kel, it’s only because the two of you won’t just talk to each other. If you did, maybe you’d realize you’re both scared of the exact same thing, and that it’s not worth being worried about. You had one fight. It doesn’t mean your relationship is just broken forever.”

“It was a really big fight,” Hero gently protested, swallowing hard before he tried to catch his breath. “There are some things you just can’t come back from.”

“And I can promise you, this is not one of them.” She reached out and took his hand again, holding it tightly until he looked up at her and her reassuring green eyes. “You should hear the way Kel talks about you. It’s constant—all the time, no matter what we’re talking about. We’ll be working on polynomial functions and suddenly he’ll just start going on and on about how you always got all As on your report card or how you jumped into a lake to save Sunny and Basil or how you won some hot dog eating contest. He polishes all your trophies while you’re away at school. He’d be the first to tell you that you are the kindest, most amazing person he’s ever known, and he wants to be just like you. You’re his hero—no pun intended. And nothing you could possibly say could change that—could change how much he looks up to you.”

Hero’s face flushed red—he could feel the tips of his ears burning as he turned away from her staring down at his duvet. “He…he said all that?”

“He didn’t have to. Scotty wears his heart on his sleeve. It’s obvious, and honestly you only have to talk to him for five minutes to know how important you are to him. It honestly makes me wonder a little about what Jared and Lorraine say about me—probably nothing nice,” she chuckled teasingly with an affectionate roll of her eyes. “I can almost guarantee you; most people are not talking about their siblings like they’re actual saints behind their backs.”

Hero chuckled lightly, but his expression softened—something warm spreading through his chest as he thought about Kel. Could that really be true?

He sighed, pushing the thought away—grateful for the opportunity Zoey had given him to change the subject to her own family. Hero knew that wasn’t her intention, but he was taking the opportunity anyway. No matter how easy Zoey was to talk to and how many private and difficult things he had told her about himself, he still didn’t like to be the center of conversation and would never enjoy talking about himself. Zoey didn’t enjoy that either, so he wouldn’t want to put her on the spot, but this was about her siblings, right?

Hero didn’t know Zoey’s younger brother Jared very well, but he didn’t really seem like the type to have many nice things to say about anyone, but her twin sister, Lorraine, was also a good friend of his. They often knitted or did arts and crafts together during which time Lorraine tended to gush about her sister in a way Hero found very sweet and endearing. He hoped Lorraine wouldn’t mind if he told her that.

“Lorraine has nothing but nice things to say about you,” he admitted with a slight smile. “She’s always telling me how smart, driven, and beautiful you are. How you’re strong and honest but so kind, so much softer than you want people to know. She says you’d make a great girlfriend.” Hero blushed. That last part had just slipped out—he probably wouldn’t have said it, if he wasn’t so feverish, but Zoey just laughed.

“Lorraine said that to you?” She sighed, rolling her eyes somewhat affectionately but the look in them was genuinely guilty. “Sorry. I’ll talk to her.”

As he coughed, Hero shook his head. “No, it’s…it’s okay. She’s right…” His voice trailed, distant and breathy, but he couldn’t stop the words that tumbled out of his mouth, “You are all of those things, and if you did ever want to date someone, that person would be very lucky…”

“Not nearly as lucky as the person who gets your heart, Mr. Prince.”

Even though Hero was sure she was only teasing him, his face flushed anyway—burning to the tips of his ears. He pursed his lips together, then stared down at his hands on the duvet. “It’s pretty broken…I’m not sure it’s much of a prize anymore,” he mumbled, trying his best to play along despite the sadness that crept into his words.

He bit his lip, but he felt her warm, gentle hand reach out to take his. He couldn’t look at her face, but he felt her squeeze his hand, heard her voice—quiet but sincere. “I don’t think that’s true.”

As he took a long, shallow breath, Hero shivered, but he wasn’t sure it was from the fever. Zoey let go of his hand immediately.

“You’re trembling. Let’s get you another blanket,” she said, turning towards Kyle’s bed. “You can have Kyle’s. He won’t mind.”

“It’s okay. I have a quilt…It’s under the bed.” Hero struggled to catch his breath as he leaned forward, trying to pull himself out of bed to look for it, but Zoey gently reached out her hand to stop him.

“I’ll get it,” she insisted; then she pulled the quilt out of one of the plastic bins under Hero’s bed—unfurling it then tucking it around him, all the way up to his chin. With a sigh, she ran her hand across the carefully stitched pattern of bright orange and yellow marigolds. “It’s beautiful.”

“My Tía Gloria made it for me after Mari died.” The words just slipped out—automatic, unfiltered. Hero flushed. He hadn’t meant to say that—probably wouldn’t have to anyone else, maybe not even to her if he was a better state.

“Oh Hero…” Zoey began quietly, but Hero cut her off with a fit of coughing that upset his blankets. Zoey pat his back again, but he could feel her tender hand running across his shoulders long after he had stopped coughing.

“Zoey…I…” he began, hoping the words would come to him if he just started talking, but thankfully she cut him off.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything—unless of course, you want to,” she paused, blinking at him with a soft expression in her eyes. “But I don’t need explanations, especially not now when you’re sick.”

Hero sighed in relief, and hoped the look in his eyes would convey the gratitude he didn’t quite have the strength to express at the moment. “Thank you...”

“Don’t mention it,” shrugged Zoey. “You look tired. You want me to go?”

“You can stay if you want—maybe watch a movie…?”

Zoey smiled, but as she glanced over at the tv and shelves of tapes which, naturally almost all belonged to Kyle, she teased. “Let me guess: the choices are raunchy comedy or sports biopic?”

Hero chuckled, lightly, breathily. Zoey certainly knew Kyle and his movie collection very well. He supposed he would expect that given how long the two of them had been friends. “We rented The Godfather from Blockbuster.”

“That’s not bad,” hummed Zoey. “But if we’re talking about Brando’s mob movies, On The Waterfront is better.”

A smile twitched in the corners of Hero’s mouth. “I have that one.”

“Really?” Zoey asked, her brow furrowing, and Hero nodded. “So you really do like old black-and-white movies after all, huh? Here I was thinking you were all talk.”

Hero let out a few chuckling heavy breaths, then swallowed hard. Finally, he took a sip of water trying to cool the burning of his hoarse throat. “I only have a few tapes. Most are in color, but I have some black-and-white.” He paused—shutting his eyes as he tried to clear his head—sifting through the fogginess to focus on his tape collection until he could picture it in the feverish haze of his mind. “Casablanca, Roman Holiday, It’s A Wonderful Life, 12 Angry Men, Christmas in Connecticut…”

“You do not have Christmas in Connecticut over there,” Zoey interrupted in disbelief.

Hero took a deep breath, but he nodded. “It’s on the bottom shelf.”

“I’ve never met another person who has even heard of that movie,” laughed Zoey, but Hero just shrugged, pulling the quilt up around his shoulders again.

“It’s one of my favorites. Always makes me laugh. I love the scene where she tries to flip the flapjacks and the pancake sticks to the ceiling.” Hero laughed then, par for the course, coughed.

“It’s one of my mom’s favorite movies too,” Zoey said as he handed him his water, giving him a firm but gentle pat on the back for good measure. “I used to wonder if that was because the main character falls in love with a navy guy.”

“Like your dad…?” asked Hero, worrying only after the fact that it was a prying question. He didn’t know much about Zoey’s father except that he was an admiral in the navy, and, according to Kyle, particularly stern, serious, and somewhat frightening. Zoey, however, only shrugged.

“I don’t know. I think my dad is a lot rougher around the edges than Jefferson Jones.” Her lips curved into a smile. “Jefferson’s pretty soft—quite the catch actually: sincere, generous, kind, domestic…and he can play piano.”

Hero’s brow furrowed, and he stumbled in confusion, “Is…that a…?”

“Perk?” Zoey finished for him. Then she chuckled dryly and nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Are you just saying that because you know I can play?” asked Hero dryly, but his mouth twitched in the corners.

“You know I’ve never actually heard you play before,” she teased back. “You could be terrible. In which case, it wouldn’t be a perk at all—more like a deterrent.”

Hero chuckled lightly. “I probably am terrible. I’m really rusty, and out of practice.”

“Well, we’ll never know for sure will we.” Her mouth curved into a lopsided grin before her expression softened. “Though Scotty told me you used to be quite the pianist—had a lot of fun with it. What did you used to play when you were in practice?”

“Nothing too complicated. I…I think my favorite song to play was ‘Vienna.’”

“Billy Joel?” asked Zoey, and Hero hummed. “That has a great piano part.”

“Yeah it’s pretty fun. I’ve always been a fan.”

“I can see that…” teased Zoey glancing over at the stack of CDs on Hero’s bedside table. Cold Spring Harbor was on the top—probably because Hero had been listening to a particular song on it on repeat. His face flushed as he thought about why, but he swallowed hard and shrugged his shoulders, trying his best to push the thought away.

“I used to annoy Kel with it a little, I think,” he admitted. “I played it over and over. He once threw a pillow at me while I was practicing and yelled ‘Don’t you know any other songs?’” Hero chuckled breathily, and Zoey laughed.

“When was the last time you played it?”

“I dunno. It’s been years…had to have been before Mari died.” He paused—catching his breath, but he kept talking, almost like he couldn’t stop. “I haven’t really played anything since then. I played a few bars on her piano before her family moved away, but…” His voice hitched, and his chest ached—panging in that all too familiar space in his heart that Mari had left behind. “You know I…honestly I learned to play piano because she loved it. I enjoyed it sure—it was fun, but Mari…Mari was the one who had real passion for music and I guess…I just wanted to be part of that. After she died, I just…I didn’t want to play anymore—didn’t want to play without her.”

Hero stopped—his face flushing. He hadn’t meant to say all of that. Talking about Mari with Zoey was getting easier—clearly, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing, just like he wasn’t sure if he would have even said all of that if he hadn’t been sick or feverish. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, to know that he made the smile disappear from her face, made something sad pass over her eyes.

“I’m sorry…” he began to apologize. “I keep talking about her…” Swallowing hard, he stared down intently at his quilt—running his hands over the thoughtfully embroidered orange and yellow marigolds—a symbol of hope, remembrance, a connection that endures even after death.

“It’s okay, Hero…” said Zoey, quiet, gentle as she reached out to pat his hand. “And it’s okay if you never want to play piano again either. You don’t have to. It’s nothing to feel guilty about.”

Hero took a long breath, watching as Zoey’s fingers slipped between his. He curled his hand catching hers—intertwining their fingers, holding on tightly to her. “I’d play for you if you wanted…”

“I know you would,” Zoey replied with a tilt of her head and a kind smile. “And as much as I would love to hear you play piano, I’d only want you to play because that’s what you wanted—not because you felt obligated. Someday if you see a piano and you just feel like playing, I hope you will and then you can call me and play for me, but don’t force yourself. It should be something that makes you happy, like it used to.”

Hero’s chest ached, but he managed the twitch of a bantering smile as he asked dryly, “How else will I pay you back for taking care of me when I was sick?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Our debts are paid,” she insisted with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You took care of me first remember, and besides I’ve already gotten my reward which is getting to see you in your grandpa pajamas,” she teased winking playfully at him.

“Zoey!” Hero burst into a fit of laughter mixed with intense, nasty coughing.

“If you’re going to have a coughing fit every time you laugh, do you really think we should watch this movie?” she quipped, but Hero shrugged.

“It’s fine. I’m probably just going to fall asleep anyway.”

Chuckling, Zoey got up from her seat and put the tape into the VCR with a “Okay. Whatever you say” then she curled up on the edge of Kyle’s bed—pulling her knees to her chest as she leaned back into his mountain of throw pillows.

Hero chuckled a little himself before his weary eyes started drooping again. He had been right, of course. He started nodding off during the opening credits and was sound asleep before he even got anywhere close to his favorite flapjack scene. He wasn’t sure if he had dreamed it or imagined it in a half-asleep daze, but he could have sworn that once the movie had ended, he had felt gentle fingers tangling in his hair as it was pushed out of his forehead and Zoey’s voice whispering, “C.J.’s back now and will keep an eye on you, so I’m going to head out. You take care of yourself, Henry…”

*-*-*

Two Weeks Later…

“You made it!” exclaimed Kel excitedly as Hero walked through the front door with his suitcase. Kel threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“Sorry it took so long,” Hero chuckled lightly as he scratched the back of his neck somewhat sheepishly.

“Are you feeling better at least?” asked Kel with a kind smile, and Hero nodded.

“Yeah…I was only sick for a couple of days, and my friends looked after me.” Hero paused, meeting Kel’s eyes with an expression that said more than his words, “Thanks for that, Kel.”

Kel flushed a little, but he laughed. So Hero had figured that out after all? He should’ve expected that from his brother. He was always so smart. Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind too much that Kel had meddled, not that he’d really tell him if he had. Still Kel smiled and teased, “Hey, no problem. You’re lucky I didn’t drive up there myself.”

“Your father and I almost drove up too,” said their mom before she pulled Hero into another hug herself. “It was horrible thinking of you so sick in the city all alone.”

Hero’s face softened, as he pulled away from their mother to look her in the eyes. “I was fine, Mom. Please don’t worry.”

“Hero! Hero! Wanna play zoo?” exclaimed Sally, twirling around him with her favorite plastic animal toys until he scooped her up into a hug.

“Of course, Sally, but uh…”

“Give him a minute,” Kel interjected with a good-natured laugh. “He hasn’t even taken his coat off yet.

“Oh let me take that,” said their dad—patting Hero heartily on the back as he slipped his arms out of his coat. “It’s good to have you home.”

“Good to be home, Dad,” Hero replied with a kind smile.

“Let me take your bag upstairs,” exclaimed Kel reaching for the suitcase Hero had brought with him, but his brother reached out a hand to stop him.

“Oh…you don’t have to do that. I can get it.”

Kel waved his hand at him. “Don’t be silly. It’s just upstairs. Come on. You can freshen up for dinner too.”

“I made all your favorites,” said Mom. “And I even ordered a hero sandwich for you from Gino’s.”

Hero scratched the back of his neck—the slightest tint of pink in his cheeks. “Thanks, Mom, but you really didn’t have to go through all that trouble.”

Kel snickered and was still snickering as Hero followed him up the stairs. “You know Mom’s just going to make a big deal out of every time you visit even if you tell her not to, right?”

Hero sighed conceding, “Yeah…”

As Kel opened the door to their room, he set Hero’s suitcase down on his bed—still perfectly made from the last time he had visited, but as he turned back to his brother he paused, tilting his head curiously as he watched Hero staring wide-eyed at their old keyboard, pushed up against the wall next to the door.

“Oh uh…yeah…we found that when we were cleaning out the garage—” Kel shrugged, scratching the nape of his neck. “Thought we might as well set it up again.”

“Are you going to start playing again?” Hero asked, and Kel laughed.

“Nah. I don’t think I can even read music anymore, but maybe Sally will want to. She likes to come in here and bang on it sometimes—doesn’t sound much like music though.”

Hero chuckled, but before he could say anything, Kel said, “Or you could…if you wanted. I found a bunch of your old books and sheet music and stuff.” He motioned to a box on the ground near the keyboard, but he twisted his mouth to the side. He didn’t want to seem pushy. He knew Hero hadn’t played since Mari had died, and he probably wouldn’t want to ever again. Kel supposed, it was just one of those things his brother just couldn’t bring himself to do without Mari.

Kel sighed—blinking at Hero’s unreadable expression. Had it made him sad? He couldn’t tell. Maybe he should have given him a heads up about the keyboard or hidden it in the garage or something while he was visiting?

“Yeah. Thanks, Kel,” shrugged Hero, clearly putting this conversation to rest.

“Well uh…” Kel began to stumble before his mother’s voice called for him.

“Kel, can you come give me a hand for a minute?”

“Sure, Mom!” he yelled before turning back to Hero with a somewhat helpless shrug of his shoulders. “Hey, uh…I’ll be right back okay?”

Hero nodded, and Kel disappeared through the doorway. He shook his head. Why did everything have to be so awkward?

Kel sighed, and his chest ached. He knew why. But he swallowed hard—pushing the thought away, focusing instead on helping his mom set the table. As he was setting out some silverware, he stopped abruptly—his ears perking up at the sound of distant music, a familiar progression of notes he recognized.

“Do you hear that?” gasped Kel in disbelief, but it seemed his mom could only blink at him with wide, surprised eyes as Sally gushed and giggled.

“So pretty!”

Kel nearly dropped the silverware he was holding—fumbling around with the forks and spoons until he finally dropped them in a disorganized heap on the table and raced up the stairs—that all-too-familiar song growing louder and louder. As he burst through the door of his room, he could scarcely believe his eyes. Hero was sitting at the keyboard—his hands gliding across the keys playing music again.

“Hero?” Kel choked in a breathy disbelief which must have startled his brother because he stopped playing abruptly—clearly bumping the wrong keys in surprise creating a dissonant chord.

“Oh uh…sorry…” he mumbled, his face flushing somewhat sheepishly as he fidgeted—recoiling his hands away from the keyboard. “I just uh…I saw the keyboard and…wanted to play…”

Kel could only blink at him with wide, dark eyes. “You wanted to play piano?”

Hero’s blush deepened, but he nodded. “Yeah…uh…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I know you don’t really like that song but the music was on the top of the stack and…”

His voice trailed, and Kel’s expression softened, brightening into a wide smile. He supposed Hero was right. Once, what felt like a lifetime ago, he had given his brother all kinds of grief for playing that particular song over and over, but in the years that had followed, he would have given anything to hear him play it one more time, would have given anything to hear him play again. And now that he hadn’t heard it in so long—now that their room, their home had been quiet and empty for so long…

“I…I can try to play something else…” Hero chuckled awkwardly, but Kel cut him off.

“No, I’ve never been happier to hear anything in my whole life.”

Hero laughed lightly, and his mouth curved into a smile—a real one that reached his eyes.

Kel’s chest ached. He had missed that even more than the music. He rushed forward—throwing his arms around his brother and hugging him tightly, hoping that gesture would say more than his words ever could.

“Kel!” Hero gasped quietly, leaning backward in surprise, his shoulders stiffening a little before he relaxed. He wrapped his arms around his brother, running his hand across his back as Kel pressed his chin to his shoulder.

Kel shut his eyes tightly, but he whispered with the brightest smile on his face, “It’s so good to have you back.”

He could feel the chuckle reverberating in Hero’s chest before his brother patted him on the head and whispered, “It’s good to be back.”

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