#his family is nice to me…he enthusiastically wanted to do a costume together for Halloween…I could gush on and on !

[goawaygoongit]

SOOOO EXCITED FOR MY DATE TOMORROW !! 2morrow we will have been together for 6 months and as a gift I have gotten him one of those engravable heart shaped locks that u have to take bolt cutters to to take them off there’s a specific thing in another city that you’re supposed to clip it to but we could clip it wherever. (my lovely mum said that when we break up she will get some bolt cutters and we will hurl it into the river <3) also i saw that he got me real gold earrings (ACK! TOO NICE!) but that can be remedied via receipt. we won’t do anything too special I think just dinner at his house a movie at his house then dot dot dot. and that kind of date will be nice I think especially after work cause ill be tired from dancing !! ooh speaking of i hope we do a bit of dancing on our date.

#beware mushiness ahead: i CANNOT believe I have gotten this lucky what a wonderful first relationship to have…I was so convinced that he was #going to be sick of me after like a month and I was sooo sure I was going to be ‘the clingy one’ but he is so kind…so good at boundaries an #communication…such a good planner…he prefers to talk on the phone rather than text what guy will do that in this day and age…doesn’t let hi #friends say awful things about me…he has many hobbies…he is very humble…we have a lot of interests in common…he is nice to my family and h #his family is nice to me…he enthusiastically wanted to do a costume together for Halloween…I could gush on and on ! #remove later

[angeltrapz]

chainshipping ask time <33 i think ive asked smthn similar b4 but uhh fav holidays? + following that, fav Things To Do on those holidays? (i like to think Adam always did his best to go Crazy on a halloween costume even if he was just gonna spend th night eating pizza + watching scary movies alone.. Anyways th tenderness of him doing Lawrence's gross SFX makeup for Halloween? yea <3)

Even if you did send me an ask like this b4, that’s perfectly fine!! God I LOVE talking abt holidays w ships omg ty!!!

Honestly? I think Lawrence’s favourite holiday would be Christmas. He likes having that extra time to spend with his family, he gets Really into decorating (one year Diana begged him to get one of those little reindeer decoration sets - the ones you can put on your car - and she used her best puppy eyes, and how could he say no to that???), makes a big thing about the three of them (as in Adam, Lawrence, and Diana) decorating the tree together, popcorn balls and everything, and for Adam it’s definitely like... an adjustment thing? He doesn’t mind it at all, he finds it rather cute actually, but it’s a vast difference from his childhood + the way his family treated celebrating Christmas. He Does love gaudy Christmas sweaters, though; the worse they are, the better. (You know that one with the gingerbread man that says Let’s Get Baked? Adam has that. Fucking dork. It was a gift from David. He got Lar one that says Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animals and he unironically loves it, esp bc Adam picked it out. Adam Also has one that’s Labyrinth themed bc he likes that movie. I love them???)

As for like, specific traditions, they settle in on the couch or make a huge pillow fort (ESP if they have Diana!! Adam is just so good at building them...) with hot chocolate, some sugar cookies (that Lawrence + Diana made n decorated, w Adam’s help), maaaybe some popcorn, but that depends + Diana’s usually the one eating it, they’re all in their pajamas, and they watch a couple movies!! Specifically the Rankin/Bass ones. Diana’s (and mine!) favourite is Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town, Lawrence can’t help but be fond of Frosty The Snowman, and Adam needs to watch Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer at least once (it’s the one he watched the most in his childhood + he’s just attached to it. Don’t tell anyone that the isle of forgotten toys makes him cry sometimes). Diana gets to open one present on Christmas Eve that she gets to pick out, so long as it’s not a “big” one, and it’s just a nice evening <3

A big thing at first, though, is that Adam like... isn’t used to receiving gifts, especially any that exceed $20, and Lawrence’s heart is just so big and he likes to spoil Adam bc in his mind he deserves it!! He loves him!! But the first Christmas they spend together, Adam had just begun using his camera again two months before, but he was having a hard time w it bc of the flash + it having gotten roughed up a little when it was taken for evidence when he was still missing. It was just. Hard for Lar to watch him struggle like that. Esp when he was wanting to pursue his passion again. So he got him a new camera, one without a flash so he didn’t have to deal with it.

And when Adam opened it he just... had to sit there for a moment because. Holy shit. No one has ever spent money on him like that, esp on something like a brand new camera, and for a long moment he was just. Silent. And Lawrence was panicking bc oh god did he mess up?? But Adam got up off of the floor where he was sitting (he’d been passing the presents out w some help from Diana, who had excitedly handed him the one w his name on it) and moved to where Lawrence was sitting on the couch, but he didn’t sit down - he stood in front of Lawrence for a little bit, quiet, and then leaned forward and kinda pulled Lawrence’s head against his chest and he just. Sighed. Low and shaky. That’s when Lawrence kinda understood what was happening, because he knew that meant Adam was a little overwhelmed, so he just kinda wrapped his arms around his middle and was like “Are you okay??”, which prompted Diana to ask the same question.

All he said was, “You didn’t have to do that,” and then, quieter, “I love you.” And Lawrence just grins bc yeah he didn’t have to, but he wanted to, because he loves him, and he makes sure to tell Adam that. Adam cried a little bit after that. It’s bc he was happy, but that kinda helped to put it into perspective for Lawrence, so he toned it down a little bit after that.

Lawrence is also Super Fond of Valentine’s Day, and Adam used to hate it - just didn’t rlly see the point of it - but, well,, the first Valentine’s they spend together after the bathroom, he started to see the appeal of it. They didn’t do anything too involved (neither of them wanted to deal with reservations in packed restaurants or anything like that), just a nice at-home dinner with some wine (Adam isn’t super into wine, but he likes it enough; Lawrence is the one who rlly likes it), sitting down together and talking and laughing, bumping hips when they clean up + take care of the dishes together after. It’s so simple and yet it’s so, so meaningful for both of them, and Adam finds it hard to dislike it so much after that.

+ YES I agree that Adam’s fave holiday is Halloween + that he goes all out on costumes regardless of if he’s staying home or not!!! Lawrence and Alison alternate holidays, so when it’s Lawrence’s turn, the two of them take Diana trick-or-treating and honestly? It’s a lot more fun than Halloweens previous had been for Lar!! He always has fun watching Diana run around and get excited about how much candy she’s gotten, but Adam is just as enthusiastic, and it kinda rubs off on Lawrence. Sure, he’s not running around, but he’s definitely more Into It. He kinda lets Adam do whatever he wants in regards to SFX makeup bc he loves seeing how focused Adam gets, tip of his tongue poking out, squinting a little and keeping his touch gentle but still firm enough to make sure stuff adheres + to even out details... it takes him a little while to realize that Lawrence is just heart eyes the whole time. Like thee softest gaze there’s ever been, even if he’s not quite smiling bc he doesn’t want to disrupt Adam’s work. It’s just a nice moment for them + the result is always killer, so it’s definitely worth it!! (Adam’s had quite a bit of experience w SFX since he learned early on how to do it w some help from David growing up!)

If they don’t have Diana, Lawrence prefers not to dress up, but he’s still supportive of Adam if he wants to lol. They get their biggest bowl and put a bunch of candy in it to set on their doorstep with a sign that says “take 2,” and then they stay inside for the night (Adam is Very insistent abt the candy bowl lmao!! He wants the trick-or-treaters to have fun!!). I like the idea that they just kind of watch a couple horror movies, sharing some leftover candy and snacks. They usually end up holding hands and it’s so cute when Lawrence gets startled/spooked bc he’ll squeeze Adam’s hand and Adam is just like... oh that’s fucking Adorable. He’ll squeeze back just to be like it’s okay <33 I like the HC that Lawrence isn’t,, super into horror movies, doesn’t rlly care for the majority of ‘em whereas Adam Adores them, but there’s a couple they can agree on + those are the ones they watch (whatever movies they watch is up to you!! Personally I think they could at least watch Donnie Darko, which is more psychological, + Halloween! It kinda depends on personal interpretation!)

#ah the inclusion of david as adam's brother makes an appearance!! I love that hc #I see them as twins w david being like three minutes older. adam never hears the end of it #adam #lawrence #diana #asks #GOT RLLY INTO THIS ONE OOPS #tysm this is one of my Absolute Favourite things 2 talk abt

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA AU Ideas : Songbird

Also on AO3!

TL;DR: 

Izuku has a powerful quirk: he can give powers to the people around him based on the different songs he sings. Unfortunately, everyone else really wants that quirk and are willing to kidnap him to get it. 

Songbird is an au where Izuku has a quirk that gives a powerup/debuff to anyone that hears what he's singing! The effect depends on the song, or rather, what the song means to him.

He's been kidnapped a lot.

It came in when Izuku was like, 4? The normal time for a quirk to come in. Bakugo thought it was pretty cool, if not as cool as his.

Izuku's favourite powerup at the time was the Mario theme because it gives everyone a jump boost. So we have this little kid enthusiastically shouting the Mario theme as a small pile of kids jump around like maniacs.

Very stressful for all parents involved.

Anyway, the way his quirk works:

With some serious concentration, he can stop it working on specific people around him, but it always affects himself. Trying to limit it's spread for too long will make him pass out.

The shorter the song naturally is, the stronger the effect. His quirk works through speaker and coms but not through pre-recorded audio.

The effects can be really specific and strange, for example, 'Stronger Than You' gives a powerup to two people fighting together that care for each other. 'Radioactive', well, it literally irradiates the people around him and himself. 100% not a song he's allowed to sing.

Each song only works once per day, for the duration of the song. If accidentally, or intentionally, sings the song in a way that stops it from ending, the effect will slowly fade out.

the more a particular song has been used on you / the better you know the song, the better it works on you and the easier it is to control

Anyway, villains quickly get word of this kid running around with a powerful and versatile support quirk. Support quirks aren't super common, and one that works in so many different ways is super valuable. So, they start kidnapping the poor guy.

Obviously getting kidnapped is pretty traumatising for Izuku. It's not super great for Bakugo either, who watched his friend get stuffed into the back of a van by a small pile of villains. He gets saved by All Might. The two kids still have nightmares.

Eventually, he gets kidnapped so many random times each individual attempt is nothing to write home about. He and Bakugo become kind of blasé about the whole thing.

"Midoriya, why didn't you do your homework?"

"He got kidnapped, teach."

Izuku, bleeding sluggishly from a headwound. "Yeah, got kidnapped."

He and Bakugo are going to be heroes. They kind of end up the top dogs of the school, Izuku without meaning it, Bakugo 100% intending for that to happen. They train more than is probably healthy, because at this point it's not just good practise, it's in their best interest in an attempt to ward off more kidnappings.

Izuku has met All Might a depressing number of times, almost always getting saved from the kidnapping of the week. Bakugo is the only person Izuku lets see how all of these kidnappings are effecting him, everyone else just views it as kind of funny that this kid is so chill with getting taken so often.

He's really not, but heroes smile when they're scared, right?

Even if other villains fail, his quirk is just so useful its worth it to give it a go. He can turn a ragtag team of unfit losers into a force to rival pros with the right song choice. Plus, his involvement in all the kidnappings is suppressed for his own safety, so he's never on the news.

Oh yeah, the plan B for the USJ was take Izuku and run.

Aizawa knows about the kid that gets constantly kidnapped, but he doesn't know who it is. At the USJ, Shigiraki creepily calls out 'Hey Songbird!' and he has around 8 'oh shit' moments all at once. Izuku just wants to cry out of frustration.

The only reasons All for One hasn't stolen Izuku's quirk at this point is that All Might constantly rescuing the poor kid is both good entertainment and a good way to get him in one spot. Also he just finds this whole mess kind of funny.

His quirk only works when he's singing, but there is nothing stopping him from singing the tune to classical music! His quirk tends to work better with an instrumental or other people singing along. General power-ups are too risky to use with villains nearby, so it's mostly for disaster work.

None of his songs work on Nomu or people who can't hear (either by blocking their ears or being deaf)

Songbird Izuku kinda gives off a nice but chill air, a lot of people are afraid to talk to him because he's typically pretty popular. Inside he's just as, if not more, anxious than canon Izuku, he's just gotten pretty good at hiding it.

Regarding OFA, All Might considers giving it to him, but doesn't, mostly because he realised Izuku can't say no. It's not fair of him to ask something so big of someone who, because of the position he's been placed in, can't turn you down. He is pretty close with the Midoriya family though and comes over for dinner a lot.

The UA entrance exam is wild. Izuku kicks butt in the written, goes to thank Uraraka for helping him before but Iida stops him. Izukus externally like "Dude, you don't know me. Please calm down." internally he's like "I'M SORRY PLEASE DONT EVEN LOOK AT ME OR ILL DIE".

The announcement rings. He takes a deep breath and starts to sing, taking off after the other students.

First song up is 'Victorious'. It's both a confidence booster and a mild strength boost. He really just needs the confidence at this point. (In the distance, a purple-haired boy who was worried about the exam gets a pep in his step. He tries a little harder.)

Next up is 'Whatever it Takes', a strength and speed up based off the amount of adrenalin currently in your system. Izuku, who is constantly stressed, gets a big boost from this song. He ends up with around 28 villain points by the song, but punching robots with bare skin isn't good for your knuckles.

The 0 pointer appears and he's ready to just leave it behind until he sees the person trapped in its path. No matter how scared he is, no matter how badly he wants to go to UA, he can't leave her there.

He grits his teeth, and starts 'Get Back Up Again'. His quirk is honestly starting to run low, it's not meant to be used back to back to back like this. Still, 'Get Back Up Again' does it's job, temporarily powering up the quirks of those who can hear it. While he just wants it for Uraraka, so she can lift the rock off her legs, it works on him too.

The effects of the songs linger after they complete.

He helps Uraraka free herself from the rock and starts 'What's Up Danger'. Normally its not the strongest, but with the power up, the effects are impressive. The song itself grants luck and skill in equal measure. Normally it's hard to notice, but here it allows him to throw himself up the zero pointer until he reaches the fuse box, pulls out all of the important wires without getting zapped to high heaven, and somehow have stopped the robot in its tracks.

Unfortunately, songs end. His luck doesn't last long enough to give him a safe landing.

But Uraraka was watching him, and she can, stopping him just before he hits the ground. The buzzer goes off a second later and they collapse together, laughing hysterically and trying not to throw up everywhere. Everyone in the area looks a little shell shocked at what they just saw.

All Might looks on from with the other teachers and cheers for the boy he's seen grow from a scared kid to a determined young man. Aizawa is 100% confused and annoyed at this blatant favouritism.

He could write songs, but the catch is his quirk works with the emotions he has towards the song and his automatic reaction to it. There is a big chance that if he wrote them himself, each song would have the same effect as the other.

Please consider though, a classmate like Jirou writing him a song. That song would probably give a strong healing effect / widespread warm and fuzzy feelings.

A few fun ones:

Duel commandments from Hamilton should let you shoot air bullets

This is Halloween: i lowkey want it to be that people transform into their costumes, or something simple like it makes people glow like jack o lanterns

The Cha Cha Slide: its something he only does for fun, because it also forces him (and everyone else in the area) to do the cha cha slide

Thunder by imagine dragons electrifies everyone who hears it, so please consider a small swarm of zappy children

Upgrade from BMC gives your quirk an ‘upgrade’ or mutation. 

Hey Little Songbird from Hadestown causes earth to creep up the legs of anyone who hears it. It can’t be shaken off.

Deviltown by cavetown causes the temperature around to drop dramatically. Again, if you can’t hear the song, the temperature feels normal for you.

#bnha au #songbird au #midoriya izuku #Midoriya #bakugou katsuki #bakugo #All Might #aizawa shouta #yagi toshinori #uraraka ochako #uraraka #izuku #katsuki

[sunkissedpages]

Traditions with a Twist

Tom Holland x Reader

A/N: This is the first Christmas fic I’ve ever written and also the first moodboard I’ve ever made (I’m still learning lol if you have any tips lmk)! I listened to Josh Groban’s Christmas album while I wrote this 10/10 would recommend. 

Summary: Meeting Tom’s parents for the first time and spending the Holidays with them. (There’s also gingerbread house building lol)

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 3.4k

“Let’s go inside, darling.”

“Just give me another minute.”

Despite it being below freezing your palms were sweating. You rubbed your hands on your jeans nervously, attempting to wick the moisture away. You were about to meet your boyfriend’s parents for the first time and you wanted to throw up.

“Waiting out here is only going to make you more nervous,” Tom insisted, tugging on your elbow gently.

“I know, I know I just-” you stopped. Tom looked at you expectantly. “What if they don’t like me?”

“Don’t worry, love,” Tom said comfortingly and wrapped his arms around you “they’d never say so to your face.”

“Thomas!” you shoved yourself out of his grasp, affronted.

“You know I’m kidding.” Tom reached for you again. You allowed yourself to be embraced this time. “They’ll love you. How could anyone not?”

Even though it was the exact script a boyfriend was supposed to say to his girlfriend before she met his family you let the words comfort you anyway. The Hollands didn’t even need to love you, you would be satisfied if they liked you. You could even work with tolerance. 

“You’ve already met all the boys, they love you, and Harrison will be here. You’ve got plenty of people on your side.” Tom was pulling you towards the house now, but you weren’t resisting.

Lights were on inside. You could hear light music and laughter and you let yourself relax the tiniest bit. Tom rapped on the door and you held your breath. Within seconds the door swung open to reveal a small woman with copper colored hair. She beamed at the two of you.

“We were wondering when you two would get here!” she exclaimed. “Come in, it’s freezing outside!”

Tom’s mom squeezed her eldest son first then gave you a warm hug. “Y/N, I’m Nicola, we’ve heard so much about you! We’re so glad you’re spending the holidays with us this year.”

Your mouth felt like it was filled with cotton but you smiled anyway. “Thank you for having me!”

“Of course! The more the merrier!”

She showed you both inside and Tom kicked off his boots. You followed in suit.

“How was your flight?”

“Long, but luckily we both slept through most of it,” Tom said, taking the lead.

“I’m glad! Did you already drop your things at your flat?”  she asked and Tom nodded. “Alright, everyone’s waiting in the kitchen.”

Nicola gave you a brief tour of the downstairs, mostly just pointing at the rooms as you passed them on the way to the kitchen in the back. There was a Christmas tree set up in the living room in front of the window that was covered in homemade ornaments and string lights. Underneath the tree, an old toy train chugged around the outline of the skirt. You remembered Tom telling you about the train, and how he got it for Christmas when he was seven because The Polar Express was his favorite Christmas movie. You couldn’t help but smile. This is where Tom had grown up, his whole childhood had been spent here and now he was sharing a little piece of it with you.

Every time you passed a framed picture of Tom you wanted to stop and fawn over it. Tom had been the cutest frickin kid. He caught you giggling at a photo of him in a Bat-man Halloween costume and blushed. He pulled you by your hand to keep you moving. You couldn’t believe Thomas Stanley Holland was being shy. You wanted to tease him for it, but settled for squeezing his hand instead. You could make fun of him later.

Finally she led you into the kitchen. All of Tom’s brothers whom you’d already met were sitting at the breakfast nook, as was Haz. The boys waved noncommittally from their spots, but they smiled brightly at you. Harrison actually got up from his seat to give you a quick hug, and slapped Tom on the back.

“Would either of you like some hot chocolate?” Nicola asked, refilling her own mug from a pot on the stove.

“Yeah, Mum that’d be great,” Tom said at the same time you nodded and said “I’d love some!”

Tom left your side to retrieve two mugs from one of the cabinets and hand them to his mom. She filled them both and handed them back to Tom who brought them back to you. Tom clinked his mug against yours and you sipped simultaneously. It was sweeter than you expected, but you usually made dark chocolate back home and you figured this was milk chocolate. Still, it was good and it warmed you up just the same.

“Where’s Dad?” Tom asked his brothers. They shrugged.

“Who’s looking for me?” a voice inquired from behind you.

You turned and realized Tom’s dad had materialized behind you. Tom hugged his father and you took the initiative this time to introduce yourself. “Hi, I’m Y/N. It’s so nice to finally meet you!”

“Likewise, I’m Dom.” He held out his hand for you to shake. “Tom has been so excited to bring you home,” he exclaimed. “I don’t think he’s ever phoned us that much in one month since he left!”

“Dad,” Tom cleared his throat with embarrassment and you giggled.

“Well I’ve been looking forward to this trip for so long! I’ve never been to England.”

“Make sure to drag Tom to all the tourist spots,” Dom teased “especially during rush hour.” You grinned knowing Tom’s dad must know how impatient his son was, especially when it came to crowds. It was endearing to see him push his buttons.

“I’ll be sure to document the whole ordeal,” you promised Dom and he laughed appreciatively.

“Thanks, Dad,” Tom huffed in irritation.

“I’m sorry am I embarrassing you?” Dom asked his son.

“Maybe a little.”

“I’ll be sure to to pull the family albums out for Y/N later then,” Dom promised and you hoped he wasn’t kidding.

“Can’t wait,” you said enthusiastically and Tom groaned next to you. You took his hand and he relaxed a little bit. You hadn’t considered the fact that he was probably nervous too, but so far so good.

“Dinner won’t be ready for some time,” Dom said “but you guys can get started with the gingerbread houses.”

“The gingerbread houses?” you wondered aloud and turned to see that the table was stacked with boxes of DIY gingerbread house kits.

“It’s a tradition,” Tom explained. “Every year we have a competition to see who can build the best gingerbread house. Mum and Dad judge, and whoever wins gets to put the star on top of the tree.”

“Nicola and Dom aren’t allowed to see whose house is whose,” Haz added “so there isn’t any bias. That rule had to be implemented after Sam won too many years in a row,” he paused, “and your parents try and tell you lot they don’t have a favorite.” Tom shoved his best friend’s shoulder playfully. “That rule is how I won for the first time.” He winked.

“If you ask me, I think we’re getting a little old for it,” Paddy, Tom’s youngest brother, piped up.

“Oh hush up,” Tom chided his brother. “You’re just saying that because you’re bound to lose.” Paddy just rolled his eyes at Tom and crossed his arms.

“Are we going to start or are we going to stand around all day?” Sam asked impatiently and everyone started moving at once.

Nicola and Dom had disappeared into the living room some time ago, leaving everyone to work. There was barely any room left at the table but you were able to squeeze onto the window seat between Haz and Tom. Tom handed you your own gingerbread box.

“I get my own?” you asked in surprise.

“Well I’m not going to let you wreck my chances at winning,” Tom said in complete seriousness as he grabbed his own box from the pile. You shoved him in response. “Y/N, I swear if you make me drop this box-”

“You’ll what?” you teased. “Put me on the naughty list?”

You swore you heard a record scratch as everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at you with shock. Even Tom looked like he thought he hadn’t heard you right.

“Fuck,” your heart rate picked up instantly and you started to stutter. “I, I didn’t mean it like that, I was just trying to make a Christmas joke, but I didn’t think about how it would sound-”

Tom swooped in and kissed you on the cheek, bubbling with laughter. “I mean, if that’s what you really want, darling...” he wiggled his eyebrows at you and was met with a chorus of boos and gagging sounds from his brothers. You wanted to crawl into a hole.

Once the commotion died down everyone got down to business. The cardboard boxes were thrown aside to clear more room on the table and everyone started to assemble their houses.

You followed the instructions on how to knead the icing and started sorting all of the candy decorations into little piles. Meanwhile, the boys were already fully into it, putting up the walls to their houses and going ham on the candies.

“Wait is this timed?” you asked and everyone nodded without looking up at you.

What the fuck? You couldn’t tell if they had conveniently forgotten that detail on purpose, or legitimately just hadn’t mentioned it accidentally. Either way, it was crunch time. You hadn’t realized how seriously they were taking it.

You haphazardly put all the walls into the little slots and tried to glue them together with the icing you’d just mixed. It was working...king of. You had to hold the pieces in place and wait for the icing to harden before you could move on or they would fall apart and you’d have to start all over. You had no idea how the boys were moving so quickly.

You were tempted to glance at Tom’s creation, but resisted. You needed to concentrate on your own work. Once the walls were up you moved to the roof. The roof was much trickier because of gravity. Every time you thought they were solid, you’d let go and the pieces would slide off and onto the table. Groaning in frustration you moved on to the gingerbread men that were supposed to stand outside the house. You could come back to the roof later.

You attempted to decorate the gingerbread men with a little packet of red icing, but you weren’t very steady and Haz and Tom kept bumping you accidentally in the process of decorating their own things so it came out looking like a mess. You sighed, but trudged on. Decorating the windows and door turned out to be semi successful. At least you could tell what they were supposed to be. When you tried to fix the roof again the pieces were stuck to the cardboard base where the icing had hardened when you weren’t paying attention.

“Dammit,” you whispered to yourself, and no one acknowledged you, still preoccupied with their own crafting.

Attempting to pull the roof off of the base proved to be futile because you only broke the cookie in half when you tried. You wanted to scream. This house wasn’t fit for any gingerbread people to live in especially since it didn’t have a fucking roof, even calling it a “house” was being a little generous.

You didn’t want to show this monstrosity of a gingerbread house to anyone let alone your boyfriend’s parents that you’d met like five minutes ago. You were a grown woman and this, this was sad. You were going to have to get creative.

After thinking for a few minutes you thought you might have a way to get around the traditional gingerbread house and got to work. You worked quickly, things finally coming together. You were half decorating with the candies, and half eating them. You didn’t need all of them anyway.

You ran out of red icing so when Tom wasn’t looking you snatched his unopened packet. You figured it was payback for not telling you what you were getting into.

You finished before all the boys and sat back to watch them, satisfied with your work. Tom was working on a quaint little setup. The roof was lined with little beads that looked like Christmas lights and the gingerbread people were building a snowman out of marshmallows (that had not been included in the kit what a fucking cheater) in front of the house. He was currently working on piping some icicles onto the roof. You had to admit, you were impressed.

Harry’s looked like a winter wonderland. His was completely covered in white icing and the gingerbread people were making snow angels on the front lawn. Paddy’s looked exactly like the picture on the box had and you were shocked. How had he memorized it and replicated it so precisely? Sam’s gingerbread house was color coordinated with all green and red candy. You wondered how long it had taken him to sort through all the decorations to do that. Finally, Harrison’s house looked like it was straight out of a lifestyle magazine. The front door had a wreath on it, he’d made a picket fence out of peppermints, and he’d even drawn out perfectly shaped snowflakes on the roof as decoration.

You sighed and smiled. You should have known Harrison’s house would be extra as fuck, like him. He caught your eye and smiled.

“Sizing up the competition?” he asked.

You shook your head. “Don’t need to.”

“Famous last words,” he warned and went back to his work.

You weren’t confident in your work whatsoever, but it was fun to talk shit.

On your other side Tom leaned back against the window dramatically, massaging his right hand. You took the opportunity to rest your head on his shoulder and admire his work.

“Looks good, babe,” you complimented and he grinned down at you.

“Thanks,”

Just then, Nicola popped her head into the kitchen, hand over her eyes. “Are you all ready?”

“Just about, Mum!” Harry called and began to switch the houses around, making the order random. He stopped when he got to yours. “Wow, Y/N, really...original.”

Everyone suddenly turned their attention to look at your creation. You had turned the house into a....murder scene. One of the gingerbread men was lying in a pool of red icing, aka blood, and the other one was standing above him with blood on his hands. You’d used the red icing to decorate the house as well, smearing it on the windows and walls. The gingerbread house looked like a total disaster, but on purpose.

“Holy shit,” Tom gasped beside you and you immediately regretted going the creative route. Maybe Tom’s parents wouldn’t think it was funny.

“Is it too much?” you fretted “I can change it!”

“Love, you’re a genius!” Tom laughed and kissed the top of your head.

You breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back into Tom as the boys gaped at your house. Even if the Hollands were appalled, you’d impressed your boyfriend which was no easy task. Your art skills, or lack thereof, had come through for you which was a first.

“Why have we never thought of this before?” Sam asked his twin who just shook his head.

Once the houses were all set up in an order that pleased Harry he called his parents back into the kitchen. Nicola and Dom stepped back in, mugs of hot cocoa still in hand.

“These look fantastic you guys!” Nicola exclaimed, giving all the gingerbread houses a onceover.

You braced yourself, holding Tom’s hand as his parents made the rounds, looking closely at each one, whispering to each other. His family was taking this very seriously. They stopped when they got to yours, and you held your breath nervously.

“This is new,” Dom said.

“Never seen anything like it,” Nicola agreed.

You relaxed when they both chuckled at it before moving on to the next one. Even if yours didn’t compare to the more traditional ones, you were satisfied that they were amused by it.

Once every gingerbread house had been thoroughly scrutinized, Nicola and Dom retreated to the living room to discuss the decision.

“You smashed it, Y/N.” Harrison admitted and gave you a high five.

“Literally,” you agreed, looking at the crumbled remains of your house.

Everyone descended into light banter about whose house was better and Tom drew you close, wrapping an arm around your waist. You snuggled up to him, and went back to work on your hot chocolate. You listened to the boys talk and could still hear the soft Christmas music from the record player in the living room. You could stay like this forever. Here, with Tom and his family, bundled in his arms while snow fell outside. It was the nicest holiday you’d had in awhile and you couldn’t wait to spend Christmas with his family.

Nicola and Dom reentered the kitchen both smiling like children with a secret. Their energy was infectious and you began smiling too. You could see why the Hollands did this every year, you were having so much fun.

“After a heated debate,” Dom began, “we’ve come to a consensus.”

Everyone leaned forward expectantly. Tom’s parents paused for dramatic effect.

“Annnd,” Nicola said agonizingly slowly, “the winner is...”

“Out with it Mum!” Paddy exclaimed.

“The winner is the gingerbread house with the gingerbread men making snow angels!”

“YES!” Harry jumped up and threw his fists in the air. “Suck on that!”

Sam dragged a finger through the icing on Harry’s roof and licked it off in defiance. “Nobody likes a sore winner.”

“Nobody likes a sore loser,” Harry retaliated

“Alright, alright, let’s go put the star on the tree,” Nicola announced and everyone moved into the living room.

You stayed behind to clean up some of the mess on the table before joining them. Tom’s mom noticed you missing and came back to help you.

“We could’ve done this later,” she assured you,

“Oh, I just wanted to help.”

“I appreciate it, I’m not one to turn down help.” She smiled at you. “Which one was yours, Y/N?”

“Um, the death one.” You shifted awkwardly and Nicola laughed.

“We talked about picking that one,” she admitted “it was so creative and funny! But we thought one of the boys had done that one and we were actually trying to pick the one you had made so you could put the star on the tree this year.”

You were taken aback. “But, but I’m not family,” you protested.

“Neither is Harrison,” Nicola pointed out, “not by blood anyway, and he’s won probably around four times. And...” she hesitated “Tom’s never brought a girl home for Christmas before, so it must mean there’s something about you.” She smiled fondly. “If he loves you, then so do we.”

Your heart felt like it was going to explode right then and there. You actually had to hold back tears as you finished cleaning with Tom’s mom.

Afterwards, you joined everyone in the living room. Harry was standing on top of a chair they’d pulled from the dining table with the tree topper in hand.

“Wait!” Nicola called, running for her camera on the coffee table. “Let me get my camera ready!”

Harry rolled his eyes despite the fact that he was still beaming from his victory.

“There you are, love,” Tom whispered and snaked his arm around your waist. “Where’d you wander off to?”

“Oh nowhere,” you brushed it off cheekily and watched as Harry triumphantly stuck the glowing star on top of the Christmas tree. Everyone cheered then gasped as the star began to list to the left. It stopped before it fell, leaving it lopsided on the top of the tree.

“Excellent!” Dom exclaimed through laughter and applauded.

“It suits Harry perfectly,” Sam teased, receiving a shove from Harry as he made his way down from the chair.

“Okay, one quick picture of all the kids before dinner!” Nicola insisted and everyone immediately started whining. “I can wait all night!”

Grumbling, everyone assembled themselves in front of the tree as you watched on.

“You too, Y/N!” Nicola said waving you into frame.

You were surprised to be included in the picture, but did as you were told. You positioned yourself next to Tom and posed for the picture. You didn’t think you could smile any less than you were if you tried.

Once that was finished everyone made their way back into the kitchen for dinner, but Tom held you back by your hand. Once everyone was gone he leaned down and kissed you chastely on the lips.

“I’m really glad you’re here,” he said, nearly whispering.

There went that feeling in your heart again.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” you agreed and kissed him again in the soft white light of the Christmas tree.

Okay that was cheesy as fuck but it’s Christmas okay?? Also this was kind of inspired by the gingerbread house that I made last year which was also a murder scene lol. Ty for reading, I hope you liked it :) Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

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#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland moodboard #tom holland imagine #tom holland one shot #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fic #tom holland christmas #harrison osterfield #sam holland #harry holland #hollanders #mcu #marvel #mcu cast #marvel fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #christmas #holland #haz #self insert #peter parker #spiderman #tom holland drabble #tommy #fan fic #tom holland blurb #wazzupmrstark

[meteorit3737]

3

The morning sun stubbornly shone directly in the eye, Cameron moved her head to the left, then to the right in an attempt to hide from the omnipresent light, but she did not succeed. She buried her face in the pillow and carefully opened her eyes. She felt well, despite yesterday’s raid on the pubs. Apparently, the pill brought by Haley helped. That's just the body was somehow constrained. She raised her head and immediately saw the reason for the constraint - she and Donna intertwined, like creepers, Donna's head lay on Cam's hand.

On the one hand, it was nice, on the other hand, the hand was noticeably numb. It’s strange, Cam thought, I've never been a fan of sleepy hugs, maybe this is Donna ... But it was impossible to blame everything on Donna, given that Cam’s arm and leg were on top of Donna’s body. Cameron lay still for a moment, listening to her friend's calm breathing, but then she took her call from the body, she carefully unraveled and went to the bathroom. The mirror reflected the terrible state of her costume and hair. Cam grinned, thinking how real vampires would appreciate their appearance, because they did not reflect in the mirror. She threw off her clothes and took a shower, after which she wrapped herself in Donna’s bathrobe. In the guest room, she kept a change of clothes just in case, and now this occasion has come.

Cameron left the bathroom and saw that Donna was also awake, sitting on the bed and rubbing her whiskey with a pained look.

- Hello! How are you? asked Cam.

- It's been better. And how are you?

- Not bad. I think this is because I drank an Alkazelzer pill yesterday, and we were able to pour only half a glass into you.

- We? Who are we? - Donna looked at Cam, trying to remember how they got home. The memory was fuzzy.

- Haley and me. She met us when we arrived and helped us get here. And then we both passed out.

- Mmm, this explains something, - Donna lifted the vampire jaw from the folds of her skirt and extended it to Cam. - I came across this with my hand, opened my eyes and almost screamed.

- I'm sorry I dropped my teeth in your bed, I won't do it again, - Cam laughed and Donna laughed after her.

- God, I'm a terrible mom! I don’t remember how I came home, my underage daughter had to give me a hangover remedy ...

- And you slept with a vampire jaw at your side and didn't even notice it! Come on, take a shower, feel better. I took your robe though. But I can make coffee while you're in the shower.

Cameron helped Donna get up and directed her to the bathroom door. Donna turned around at the door and giggled.

- With a jaw? In this state, I did not notice a whole vampire at my side! Fortunately, he was unarmed, so I hope all my blood is with me.

- Even vampires in the morning want more coffee than blood! - smiled at Cam and went to change clothes in the guest room. Donna closed the bathroom door and began to get rid of the witch’s costume, unsuccessfully trying to remember at least something after returning home. Did she and Cam fall asleep together? Damn, why doesn't she remember anything?

The shower actually eased her condition. Donna was glad that it was Saturday (well, parties are best scheduled for Friday, right?), dressed in home clothes and went to the kitchen. It smelled nice of freshly brewed coffee, there was a mug of steaming drink on the table, and next to the table stood Cam in a T-shirt and jeans, with a mug of coffee in one hand and a polaroid photograph, which she thoughtfully examined, in the other.

- Everything is good?

Cam flinched slightly, turned and nodded. Donna took her mug and took a couple of sips. The coffee was made the way she liked. From this fact in her stomach warmed. Or is it from coffee? Donna drank more before looking back at Cameron. Cam seemed to be waiting for this and handed her a photograph. In the photo, they were sleeping next to each other in their Halloween costumes. Calm faces, disheveled hair, Donna on her back, half-turned head turned toward Cam, and Cam on her side facing Donna, resting her hand on her forearm. Donna hardly looked up from the picture and turned her head to Cam, who looked at her in anticipation of a reaction.

- It's cute. Yes, we are drunk, but cute. But where from?

- Hailey, - Cam shrugged. - She left a note.

On a sheet torn from a notebook it was written: "Good morning, mom and Cam! My friend and I went to the cinema, then to the library, I will come after dinner. You are so funny in costumes, especially Cam! You need to go to such parties more often! If you need to more pills, they're on the table. Bye! "

Donna just now noticed an alkazelzer on the table. She shook her head and drank more coffee.

- Great coffee, by the way. Thanks! I already feel better.

- It's all your coffee maker, - Cam shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and, looking away, asked:  Can I ... There are two such photos, will I take one?

- Of course, Cam, you didn't even have to ask!

Cam smiled softly and took a second photograph from the table:

- I’ll take her to my car so as not to forget.

Donna watched Cam for a few seconds, then went to the refrigerator and attached a picture to him with a magnet. This was the first photograph that appeared on it since Donna began to live in this house. Before the divorce, the Clark family refrigerator had photos of girls and families, children's drawings, and after the divorce, Donna’s refrigerator was clean and she never thought about it. Now she seemed to start a new story, new pleasant memories. And the first frame of this story was she and Cam. And Haley as the author of the photograph. Donna thought for a second and attached Haley's note.

There were steps nearby, Cameron returned. A strangely awkward mood had already left her and she cheerfully asked:

- How about some more coffee? And breakfast? There's a great bakery nearby, by the way! They have delicious donuts.

- Yes, Haley said they were almost like mine.

- Do you know how to make donuts? Donna, you're just a storehouse of talent!

Donna smiled and took out the dishes to knead the dough.

- Will you help?

- Of course! - Cam enthusiastically responded. - I hope this is no more difficult than fixing a hard drive, because we could not cope with it.

- Oh, believe me, this time we are waiting for a resounding success! Speaking of deafening ... - Donna handed Cam a mixer. - Check that it works.

Cam plugged the mixer into a power outlet, took it in her hand as if it were a gun, and with a short press of a button she made a sound from the mixer, pretending to shoot, and then defiantly blew imaginary smoke from an imaginary muzzle. Donna could not help laughing. They worked together and after a while drank coffee with donuts, both very pleased with themselves and with each other.

While washing dishes, they tried to calculate how many bars they visited yesterday, and constantly lost count. Gradually, the conversation turned to where it all began.

- What will happen to this moron, will you fire him? - asked Cam.

- Peters? I don't know. - Donna shrugged. - I should have fired him, but remember how scared he was? It is unlikely that he will now come close to me.

- And rightly so! - Cameron twisted a towel as if it were Peters' hand, then she straightened it and hung it in place. It reminded something of Donna.

- Cam, how did you do that? Made him let me go? It looked like some kind of secret trick from spy movies.

They finished the dishes and Donna went into the living room, Cameron followed.

- Well, actually it’s not very difficult, - Cam sat on the sofa and stretched out her arms in front of her. - You fix it with your left hand, not allowing him to straighten his elbow, take it with your right hand and turn his wrist.

- Show me! - Donna stood in front of Cam and held out her right hand.

- Seriously? I do not want to hurt you.

- You won’t do it. Show it slowly.

- Okay...

Cam stood up, Donna grabbed her hand:

- Here, I’ve grabbed you. So?

- It's a little different, but, in general ... The movements are almost the same.

Cam moved her hands smoothly, pressing Donna’s palm to her hand and not letting go, and with her right hand turned Donna’s wrist. And although she moved cautiously, the pain in her wrist forced Donna to kneel down. Cam immediately released her hand and sat down beside her, anxious eyes looking at her friend:

- Hey how are you?

- That's cool! It was a little painful, but already gone. How does is called?

- Nikkyo, one of the basic techniques of aikido.

- Did you learn this in Japan? Show me something else?

- Ummm ... Actually, this is the story of my next failure.

- Failures? Can not be! - Donna got up, took Cam by the hand and sat on the sofa, sitting next to her.

- I came to practice aikido because I had to do something other than programming and games. Tom came home late, and we had a difficult relationship after ... Well, after Comdex and that trip to USA. And dojo classes were a way to get distracted. My sensei was very patient, but a year later he admitted that he had never met a person with such unable to aikido as I was.

- No! - Donna shook her head incredulously.

- Yes! He said, I think too much before performing the desired set of movements. To get up here, keep your foot there, turn your arm around here ... It's like a program code, and it’s like I write it again each time, and the body must remember it myself. He tried to teach me how to memorize techniques with my body, not my head, but then realized that it was useless and focused on one technique - nikkyo. He said that in most life cases, one is enough. I worked out only its variations. Sensei ordered the other students to suddenly grab my hand so that I would not have time to think and the body would react automatically. And you know, it worked! One day Tom and I had a fight, I turned away from him, he wanted to turn me around, took my hand and I automatically applied nikkyo. This, of course, did not help our relationship at all.

Donna introduced this picture and gave a laugh. She tried to drown it and bit her lip, but the more she fought, the more laughter seethed in her. Cam stared at her, raising her eyebrows.

- Sor ... Sorry, I know this is not funny, but I ... I just can’t ... I imagine the face of Tom, suddenly brought to his knees by his wife ...

Donna couldn't hold back any longer and laughed, and Cam laughed too, looking at her. They looked at each other and laughed to exhaustion. When the last rumble of laughter subsided, Cam brushed away the tears that appeared in her eyes:

- Thanks. It was like laughter and tears at the same time and so ... purifying.

- What could be better than a good cry? Just a good laugh.

Donna reassuringly took Cam's hand, felt a reciprocal squeeze, and unexpectedly hugged Cam. And her heart began to beat faster when Cam hugged her back.

#theresebelivett #read more please and tell what you think #they don't obey me #halt and catch fire

[crossroadsimagine]

(1) Hey I was wondering if I could request a Halloween Naruto match up! I would say that I’m really hard working and that I put my all into anything I do. I also care about people but to an extent worry how people receive me (it’s something I’m working on). I enjoy having fun with my friends whether it’s travelling, going to amusement parks (I love amusement parks), haunted houses, pumpkin picking or Halloween parties.

👻 Matched with Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto takes an interest in you pretty quickly after meeting you but unlikely to immediately ask you out or even show too much of a strong romantic interest in you, simply because he can be shy about it at first and will push to get to know you and develop a friendship with you first. This can be for weeks, months or even years depending on when the two of you first meet, because the younger he is the more shy he is to actually try to express his feelings for you and to ask you out. 

But once the two of you have known each other for awhile and feel comfortable around each other he will begin dropping some hints that he likes you as more than a friend, even lightly flirting with you at times but he’s not always full of confidence when he’s around you even though he can try to play it cool when he’s with you. But he can stutter over his words, get embarrassed, become clumsy or awkward or even just have a hard time maintaining eye contact with you, particularly any day you’re looking really nice. 

If he sees you dressed up in something different than what he’s use to he can become more flustered and awkward, like if you typically wear more casual clothing like pants and a t-shirt and he suddenly sees you in a nice dress or more girly clothes like a frilly skirt and girly blouse. Eventually he will ask you out and when he does he is kind of flustered and shy and tries to get you some place the two of you can be alone, walking you home, a walk through the outskirts of town, stroll through the forest, something simple and easy and nothing too public for people aren’t watching him ask you out. 

Once the two of you begin dating he is very loving, caring and affectionate with you and can even come across as a little overly needy or clingy at first because he absolutely loves having your attention and spending time with you which as a side affect makes him a little smothering or even overbearing at times around the beginning of the relationship. However, this does fade a bit the longer the two of you are together especially if you start to get annoyed or even seem bothered by his clingy behavior because he certainly doesn’t want to get on your nerves. 

He does get better at giving you space and time to yourself but does still really like having your attention and affection, which he really doesn’t mind PDA or at least some PDA but won’t push it on you. After all you really care much for PDA so he is respectful of that though sometimes he will try to hold your hand, but he can show more affection towards you in public if he feels like someone is trying to flirt with you or even just looking at you a certain way, he may hug you or even just put his arm around you. 

But when the two of you are alone or at home, he is far more open to instigating affectionate acts and cuddles, even more so if he sees that you aren’t busy. If he sees you napping, relaxing, watching tv or movies he’ll try to join you to cuddle with you and try to instigate cuddles more subtle at first to see if you’re interested. He loves going out or staying in he just likes doing things with you and having fun so anything he thinks you’d be interested in he’ll suggest or try to get you to do, like going out to a festival even last minute. 

He’ll like going out with friends too and kind of combining your friend groups and going out as a group for things like amusement parks, fairs, the zoo, parties especially around holidays like going out for Halloween parties or going to haunted houses. He tends to act braver than he really is when it comes to things like haunted houses or scary movies, because he can be startled pretty easily especially in haunted houses and will usually get scared after watching a horror movie rather than during the movie, like if he hears a noise or something he can get jumpy. 

But scary movies aren’t really something he likes to watch all the time just occasionally or for certain things like for around Halloween he can push for scary movies, though he will also like to kind of balance the scary out with cartoons or something light hearted after the movie. This also means he won’t mind watching cartoons with you or you watching cartoons at all, he doesn’t judge you one bit for the things you like and enjoy. 

You are very hard working and tend to put your all into something when you do things, though you also care a lot about people even to the extent that you can worry too much about how people receive you and what they think of you. Naruto loves you for you and appreciates your hard-working nature though he can be pretty protective over you and very quick to defend you and become hostile towards anyone who would dare to judge you or criticize you. Though he doesn’t typically jump to become physically aggressive with anyone but he can and will if someone hurts you physically, mentally or emotionally. 

He loves holidays so he likes doing anything for Halloween and costumes will probably be the first thing he brings up when it gets close to Halloween, because he will be up for matching costumes to some degree but also fine with different costumes as well. He’ll want to carve pumpkins too for decorations and not just one but at least a few to sit around outside for decorations, he’ll like going to just about any Halloween parties that are going on but he won’t push to go to all of them and also won’t press to do things when you don’t want to or don’t feel like it. 

Over all he is very loyal, caring and supportive and will do anything for you, he’s encouraging and want’s to see you do well and achieve whatever you put your mind to, he’s protective and has your back and will be right there at your side no matter what happens.

👻 Headcanons between you two

🎃 Loves being able to chill at home with you and make an entire day of it, even making a date out of staying home. Having a picnic in the living room and watching tv shows and movies while cuddling, eating snacks, playing cards or board games and more.

🎃 Tends to get really enthusiastic about any and all holidays and will like to be involved and do as many activities as he can, so taking kids trick or treating, dressing up in costumes, decorating, going to parties and haunted houses he’ll be all for any of it.

🎃 Will dance with you but that certainly doesn’t mean he’s very good at it, but he is willing to learn from you or learn dances with you. He also doesn’t typically get embarrassed very easily so he doesn’t mind to dance with you in private or in public.

🎃 Enjoys being able to take any kids trick or treating whether children of friends or family, he’ll like walking around with them and you but he’ll for certain be asking the children for candy. And can be eating candy the entire time while trick or treating. In fact, he’ll be eating a lot of candy around Halloween in general.

#Naruto #Naruto Match up #Match up #Match ups #Halloween Match up #Naruto Uzumaki match up #Happy Halloween

[indigosees]

Secret Pumpkin~

Had the honor of making a secret pumpkin for @v-dcc for the event we held in the server at @mm-discord. Fic is after the cut~

Fandom: Mystic Messenger Ship: Platonic JuminxV Theme: Halloween

Another day, another pile of paperwork. Jumin sighed softly as he placed a file to the “done” pile. In three minutes and twenty Assistant Kang should come knocking at the door to pick the signed files up. He placed his pen neatly down the table, exactly 38.7 centimeters from the right edge of the desk. It was the perfect placement as it allows him to get the pen at 0.18 seconds faster than it was at 38.6 centimeters and 0.12 seconds faster than at 38.5 centimeters. It must be due to how his arm is usually positioned on the desk, which is important to consider since it is the relative distance. He took out his phone to check for messages and found zero notifications—a little disheartening as he was hoping to hear from V after not having talked to him for more than a week now. V has told him that he was going to fly overseas again for a project, so it will take him a week to be back. Although he’s used to V not being around often because of his work, Jumin couldn’t help but feel a little less enthusiastic about his days. He would always appreciate wine nights with him, talking about whatever crossed their minds. No matter. V should arrive soon enough, with tales from his adventures. Then that meant he should be ready to receive him. When he gets home, he will pick out from his collection one of his best wines and then order the best snack pairing for it. Although V doesn’t really snack much, it is courtesy to at least leave some for the guests, no matter who they are.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. ‘It must be Assistant Kang’. Checking his watch, she was… two minutes late. ‘Hm. This is unusual.‘ She better has a reason for being late. The door swung open to reveal the brunette, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. Jumin waited for her to explain, slightly wondering himself why she is wearing such an expression.

“Mr. Han,” Jaehee said. “V is in the lobby. He said he wanted to see you.”

Jumin’s features lit up. V? He’s here? Why didn’t he message him first? Suddenly remembering that he has work, he nodded at her. “I’ve finished signing these documents.  I will meet with V shortly.” He stood up from his seat, sliding his phone in his pocket.

“But you have a meeting in a couple minutes, Mr. Han,” She proceeded to take the pile of folders and paper work on Jumnin’s desk. “I can tell V to return in the evening, when you’re most free.”

“No need, I’m sure our meeting won’t take long.” Jumin walked out of his office and took the elevator ride down. It felt a little longer than usual, even if it barely stopped at any floor. He counted that it only stopped twice, which meant that the it shouldn’t have taken him so much time to get down. ‘Weird,’ He thought. ‘Then again, time is relative.’

A soft ding signaled that he has reached the ground floor. He strode out of the elevator, his steps seemingly quicker than usual. He couldn’t afford to waste time—there is a meeting in a couple minutes and it will be rude to be late for it. He wanted to see V, however. And usually, V comes up to his office if he has anything important to say. Why stay in the lobby now? He shrugged the thought off. He will find out when they see each other soon.

It didn’t take him long to reach the lobby and see V. His mint-colored hair has always stood out from the crowd. It was admittedly a unique color, one that most often than not earned him stares whenever he was out. It suited him, though. Although it remains a puzzle to him how such hair color came to be.

“V, you’re—” Jumin was about to greet V when he realized that V was wearing… a costume? He raised his eyebrow at V. He was wearing what seems to be an animal suit of sorts. Was it called a onesie? He was dumbfounded, unsure of how to react.

“Jumin,” V stood up from the sofa and turned to Jumin, his lips pulled to a smile. “You’re here. Happy Halloween!” He was beaming, and Jumin stood paralyzed in confusion as he tried to understand the situation. ‘Halloween? Is this what this is?’

“Let’s go trick or treating.” V showed him an orange plastic container that resembles a pumpkin and has a face drawn on it. It had nothing inside.

Jumin stared at V for a full five seconds, his lips slightly parted in surprise. He closed his eyes and took a short exhale. “V, you do realize I have work today right?” he crossed his arms, exhaling again. “And these are for children.”

“But we are children, Jumin,” V smiled brightly. “And we should make the most out of the opportunity to have fun together.”

Jumin’s brows knit together. 'Children? What ever does he—’ He looked around to check and saw that he was back in his old mansion. It was as he remembered it. Elegant wooden furniture and glass chandeliers hanging in the high ceiling. Lavish carpets, heavy drapery—his house had made their wealth apparent. He returned to V with wide eyes, who was now standing in their front door, a carefree smile in his face. They were both young again.

“Let’s go, Jumin,” V turned and went down the steps of their porch. “We might run out of the good candy.”

Jumin huffed, his lips pulled to one side. He followed the mint-haired boy and left the front door. “Why do we have to do this? We could easily buy the candies we wanted.”

“I figured we should experience this at least once.” He was leading Jumin down the streets of their neighborhood. The moonlight shone down on them, and the fluorescent glow from the lamps lit their path. They came across other groups of children in costumes, their loot bags equally empty. They left their homes just in time.

They stopped in front of a simple house. It had modest decorations, obviously bought from dollar stores--or at least, the Korean equivalent of it. Looking at it, one could wonder how a family could possibly fit in such a cramped space. Perhaps the tenant lived alone.

“This is pointless.” Jumin said, mildly annoyed. They could've simply ask their fathers for the candies they're interested in and ultimately save themselves the trouble. To Jumin, it was a waste of energy and time.

V either did not hear him or ignored him, as he didn't respond to Jumin’s complaint. He reached out and pressed at he doorbell, a soft ding song breaking the silence of the night.

Jumin sighed, and waited with V for the door to open. He stepped to stand beside V and took a short glance to look at his expression. His face was bubbling with excitement; his lips were upturned and his eyes sparkled in anticipation. ‘He really is into it.’

He sighed. The door swung open to reveal a figure. Jumin estimated that they were in the mid to late 30s. Like her home, she looked pretty ordinary.

“Happy Halloween!” V greeted. He held out his bag to the lady.

The lady smiled. “Happy Halloween.” She took a bowl full of candies and picked up a handful to give to V. Jumin stared, but held out his bag as well. She gave him a handful of candies before closing the door.

V chuckled, making Jumin stare at him blankly. “What?”

“You looked like you were demanding her to give you some.”

“It is only normal to demand equal treatment. If she is going to give you candies, then she should give me as well, or it will be a preference bias, and is therefore a questionable method of handing out candies.”

V walked away from the house chuckling softly. “Jumin, you’re taking it a little too seriously.”

Jumin snorted lightly. He saw no reason not to look at it in such perspective.

They went to other houses--some giving them candy, others shooing them off. There were also those that recognized them and refused to give them any, which didn't come as a surprise to both of them. As sons of wealthy families, it's even questionable that they bothered to go trick or treating. They did heir best to avoid the other groups of children--they didn't want to get caught up with them or for them to recognize who they were.

They got home an hour or two before midnight--they ended it pretty early as Jumin has been complaining at how long they've been walking. V turned to his best friend and smiled. “We did it.”

Jumin sighed. He still doesn't see the point to it--it honestly felt like they were begging for things they can easily acquire. To top it off, his feet and legs are sore.

He was about to complain again, but V started speaking again before he could. “It was nice to spend the evening with you.”

“We could've just stayed at home and played games,” Jumin said, mildly peeved at V’s apparent enthusiasm. “Instead we wasted hours and effort for useless and unhealthy things.”

“I’m sorry you think that way, Jumin,” V looked away from him. “But I personally think it was fun that we had a new experience together.”

‘A new experience…’ Jumin’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden realization. He wasn't the most sentimental person but he understood what V meant. Sure, it was pointless and they wasted so much effort, but it's not always that they got to spend time like this together. Thinking that, Jumin realized that maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe he shouldn't be mad at V for dragging him around like this.

“Alright,” Jumin looked down at the stash of candy he got. V certainly had more, as he was the one doing the greeting. He was more of an afterthought. “Do you want to… try some of them out?”

V chuckled. “You don't have to force yourself. I'm sure your nutritionist told you not to eat too much sweets.”

“I'll… make an exception. For new experiences.”

Jumin woke up and found himself asleep in his office chair. ‘What… time is it?’ He took a glance at his watch and found that it was only three in the afternoon. ‘Right.’ He let out a small exhale, and stood from his seat to get a glass of water. A knock from his door made him turn to it. He half expected for Assistant Kang to come in and deliver files to him, but he only heard more knocks when he didn't answer it. Raising his brow, he decided to answer the door and open it himself. His eyes went wide when he realized it was V, and he was wearing a costume.

“Happy Halloween, Jumin.”

#mysticpumpkin #mystic messenger #Vumin #juminxv #jumin x v #platonic #MM #probably didnt get V right #and yes jumin is precise with his numbers #writing #fanfiction

[soul-music-is-life]

Hiya! Do you think maybe you can eventually do a prompt were it’s Sam’s first Halloween? And like they dress him up in the cutest little outfit (I just love dressed up babies) and he’s like matching with Lily and Grace and I don’t know I would love to see it 🍿🔮👩🏼‍🎤👶🏼

Happy Halloween

****

“Lily, come on!” Grace pounded on her sister’s door.

“No. I look stupid. I’m not doing this.” Lily grumbled back. She stared at herreflection.

She had never been big on Halloween. She’d outgrowntrick-or-treating a few years ago. Grace still loved to go. And her family wasreally big into dressing up together. Last year they’d gone as characters from Inside Out. The year before had been Game of Thrones. Her direwolf costumehad been hot as hell. And here she was again, stuck in the fluffiest hottestcostume of the bunch. It was because she was too nice. And she let everyoneelse pick first.

“Peeease?” She heard a tiny high pitched voice thatshe’d never been able to turn down.

It was one of the few words Sam knew. Along with ‘boob’, ‘Mama’,‘no’, ‘go bye bye’, and ‘cool, dude’. The last one had been courtesy of Grace.She’d tried to get him to say ‘bitchin’ but her mothers did not approve.

Lily sighed and walked over to the door, unlocking it andcoming face to face with Grace and her baby brother. Grace’s face was paintedsilver and Sam was in his little puppy costume. He clapped his hands togetherin excitement when he saw her and reached out for her, leaning out of Grace’sarms.

“No fair using the kid against me.” Lily scowled at hersister, who looked equally ridiculous in the bulky Tin Man costume she waswearing.

Sam looked adorable as Toto though. He reached up andtouched the Cowardly Lion make-up on Lily’s face, smudging it a little.

“It is his firstHalloween. Don’t you want it to be memorable?” Grace asked.

“He’s a baby. He sucks on his toes and licks people’s noses.He’s not going to remember this.”

“He will with proof.” Grace opened up a tiny compartment inher oversized robot looking costume and whipped out her phone, quickly snappinga picture of Lily and Sam.

“I hate you.” Lily frowned.

“You look so adorable.” She jokingly reached out andscratched the curly braided mane on top of Lily’s head, jostling the red bow onthe top.

Sam squealed and then giggled. He laid his head against Lily’sfuzzy costume and stroked the material with his tiny little hands. He tugged atthe bearded mane underneath her chin.

“Girls? Are you ready yet?” They heard Alison call out fromdownstairs.

It was already dusk and they wanted to get out and aroundthe neighborhood before it got dark. They knew they needed to start earlybecause Sam had refused to take his nap earlier, so they knew he would tire outquickly.

“Coming!” Grace called enthusiastically. She bounded downthe hallway.

Lily looked down at her brother. His black Toto costumecovered his entire body. She pulled the hood up over his head, fiddling untilshe got it so the ears were straight on the top of his head.

“I’m only doing this because I love you, Sammy,” Lily said.She shifted him on her hip and leaned towards his face. “Can I have a kiss forcourage?” she puckered her lips out.

Sam knew what that meant. He pushed his lips out and gaveher a sticky baby kiss on her jaw. At the very end of it, he opened his mouth and histongue fell out like a dog’s tongue and he smiled, drooling all over her chin. Lilychuckled and wiped the drool away and then went to meet her family in theliving room.

“There’s my little Toto.” Emily smiled when she saw Lilywalking in with Sam.

Emily’s long hair was split evenly into two ponytails tiedoff with two little blue bows, matching the checkered blue dress she waswearing. The outfit was tied together with sparkly red shoes and a wickerbasket.

Initially, Emily had suggested Alison be Dorothy, but Alisonthought it would be easier for Emily to just throw her hair in pigtails. Sheplanned to go with the blondeness of her hair to be the most fabulous Scarecrowanyone had ever seen.

“Do we really have to do this?” Lily mumbled as she handed asquirming Sam over to Emily. “This costume is really hot and itchy.”

“Hey, we all have to suffer a little. You think I want towalk around all night wearing these clunky heels? At least it’s cool outside soyou’ll cool down. My feet have to suffer the whole time. Your sister and yourmother really want this, Lily. So let’s just keep the complaining to a minimum,okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You look so cute.” Emily ruffled the top of the mane on herhead.

“Now you’re just punishing me.” Lily laughed.

Grace and Alison walked into the room. Grace had put thepointy Tin Man hat on her head and she had an oil can in her hand to complete herensemble.

Alison had a pointed dark green hat on her head, her blonde hairflowing out in several directions. She’d done her best to make it look somewhatlike straw.

She was wearing a long-sleeved green top that had yellowtrimming around the collar. She had on a burlap colored brown skirt tied offwith a roped belt. Her legs were covered with pale yellow ripped pantyhoserunning down into a pair of long tan boots that had light yellow tassels onthem.

Emily smiled at her. Her wife was the sexiest Scarecrow thatshe’d ever seen. She couldn’t wait until after the kids went to bed. Suddenly,she wasn’t thinking about how much her feet were going to be hurting anymore.

“Are we ready to go?” Alison questioned.

“Oh, we forgot one thing.” Grace scurried off into thekitchen.

A few seconds later she came back in with their dog Busteron his leash. He had on a light blue vest with spiky flames and gray wingssticking out the back. The wings matched his bluish-gray medium-length fur. Therewas a light blue hat with flames that matched the vest tied around his head,which was probably going to be pawed off the second they walked out the door.

“I still think Grace should have been the evil monkey.” Lilysuggested.

“Just you wait until next year when we do The Three Little Pigs.” Grace grinned.

“I will huff and I will puff and I will throw a shoe at yourface.”

“Girls.” Emily tried to mediate. “The night is young. Pleasesave your squabbling for when your brother is screaming his head off and thedog has plopped down in the middle of the sidewalk and refuses to move until wetake the hat off of his head and the neighbors are all staring at us andjudging us. You know, normal family stuff.”

Alison walked over to Emily.

“You look hot,” she said teasingly.

“You too, babe.” Emily replied.

“Ew, gross. Don’t traumatize Sam with your mushy stuff.” Graceshook her head with a frown.

The girls were at an age where love and affection was “icky”,which was fine by their moms because it meant they weren’t dating yet, whichmeant they weren’t swapping spit with anyone yet.

“Are you ready for your first time trick-or-treating, babyboy?” Alison reached out and pinched Sam’s cheeks, careful not to smudge thelittle black blob that had been drawn on his nose as the end of his doggy snout.

His mouth fell open into a stupid grin and he bounced inEmily’s arms.

“Mama mama!” He exclaimed in excitement. “Go bye bye?” Heasked.

“Alright Dorothy, lead the way.” Alison smiled at Emily.

They took the kids around the block. Then they ventured alittle out of the neighborhood. Sam was good for the most part. He got a littlefussy when he saw something that scared him, but his sisters were always rightthere to assure him he was okay.

They ran into Caleb and Hanna on their way back to theirneighborhood. The Rivers family had chosen a musical movie theme, too. Theywere Sandy and Danny from Grease. Theirdaughter Cami had wanted to be Frenchie because she wanted to wear the frillypink cotton candy wig, so Caleb and Hanna had gone along with it.

“You are the cutest little Toto I’ve ever seen.” Hannagushed, playing with Sam’s hands. He giggled.

A few seconds later she was the one carrying him. It wascomical to see the clashing of the two movies. Sandy from Grease carrying around little Toto from The Wizard of Oz.

They walked with them for a little bit, the girls runningahead while the adults caught up. After a while, Caleb and Hanna had to run.Cami had a Halloween party she was going to.

Shortly after their friends left, the DiLaurentis-Fieldsfamily were about ready to call it quits. Sam was starting to get increasinglywhiny. And the dog was stopping every two seconds to scratch at the costume onhis back.

“Girls, are you about finished?” Emily asked.

“I was finished the second I put on this costume.” Lilyadmitted.

“Don’t be surly.” Alison scolded her. “Here, take yourbrother.” She handed Sam over to Lily. “Why don’t you go ahead and go home?Grace, you too.”

“Huh?” Grace turned around to face them. She’d been toopreoccupied shoving chocolate in her mouth to hear her mother.

“Come on, Willy Wonka, we’re going home.” Lily laughed.

They started walking ahead.

“You know, Willy Wonka wasn’t the one who ate the chocolate.He just made it.” Grace corrected her sister.

There was a pause, then a “shut up, Grace” before theyturned the corner.

“Man, the attitude on that child.” Alison shook her head indisbelief.

“Where do you think she got it from?” Emily teased her,wrapping her arm around Alison and pulling her close.

Alison turned into her wife’s body so they were facing.

“You ready to call it a night?” Alison questioned, her handrunning down from the small of Emily’s back to her toned ass.

Emily leaned forward and kissed her.

“There’s no place like home.” Emily grinned against herlips.

When they got home they found Lily sitting on the couch withSam. He had conked out on the walk back to the house. He was sleeping soundlyagainst his sister’s shoulder. Grace was sitting next to her singing “Over theRainbow” softly to him.

“Home sweet home.” Alison smiled, looking attheir children.

They stood there watching their little girls with their son. They turned to one another and smiled. The dreams that they had dared to dream really had come true.

#Pretty Little Liars #Emison #prompt #Emison fanfic #PLL #asks #writing #The Wizard of Oz #Halloween

[sweetdollfromhell]

Chilling Tales of Riverdale

Chapter 3 of a old fanfic but stil alive that is a mix of Riverdale, CAOS and Archie horror. Located in season 2 and will have differences with the canon for both shows. I hope you like it.

**************************************************************************************

Sabrina joyfully led Jughead and Betty through the forest with a familiarity that showed her knowledge of the area.  From time to time, Jughead's eye clung to one of his famous fetishes or an inscription carved in a tree but they did not seem to be placed in a sufficiently coherent way to serve as an indication. The cat trotted near them without the slightest fear.

-Your cat, did you find it here or did you already have it? Betty asked as she looked at the animal.

-Oh, Salem? I've had it since I was a little girl. He's... my best friend," said the girl.

-Is he that old? Asked surprise Betty. -It doesn't look like you're seeing it.

The cat slowed down to walk at the same speed as Betty and began to purr.

-He buried us all, believe me.

Suddenly, she stopped and turned towards the other two:

-Dear guests, mi casa! Proudly presenting Sabrina.  

In front of them stood a family tent. Close to it, a kind of clothesline, a space for a campfire and a cooler half buried in the ground. If we forget the terrifying grey grays, we would have thought that a family or a group of friends were doing a normal wilderness camping.  

-Come on, we'll be more comfortable inside. I mean, it smells a bit like it's closing because I have to let the tent close with the temperature going down but it's clean and pleasant otherwise! The girl continued as she unzipped the tent.

-You live in the woods and you just helped us. I think we can handle it," says Jughead.

He had lived in a drive-in for weeks before he found himself squatting in school, he wasn't going to be so picky for that little.

The tent was indeed clean if not a little cluttered. A sleeping bag and some blankets were lying in a corner. Several bags were resting, some leaving objects that had escaped from them. In another, a kind of tablecloth had been installed with several objects on top: books, a small cauldron, several small knives, jars and dried plants. This last element caught Betty's eye. What was it for him? If it was done in Jughead's eyes, he also had questions.

Meanwhile, in the meantime. Sabrina pulled out some clothes and put them together in a semblance of pillows and opened the sleeping bag to spread it along.

-You should be comfortable like this. So, you suspect that my reserves are limited but I can offer you water, tea and a few cans of soft drink.  For something more consistent, I have dry meat, preserves, some wild vegetables, apples, walnut bars, rice, soup, dehydrated stuff and good chip packages, chocolates and candies taken from vending machines.

-Uh... the tea sounds good, says Betty.

-For the food that suits you, Jughead continued despite Betty's look.

-Okay, I'll be back," Sabrina said enthusiastically before going outside.

Betty turned to Jughead.

-We can't leave her here! We have to take him to Riverdale!

-Betty, I think she's here by choice. I agree that it's not ideal, but she probably has her reasons. You're not going to convince her to follow you easily. And maybe it's for the best. She's hiding something...," said Jughead, continuing to observe the objects in the background. - Her story about her decorations is shady and she was too comfortable with her attack. It's not his first time.

-I know, but I think it may not be motivated by bad intentions. You and Polly were also homeless. And neither of you trusted anyone to ask for help for a reason. All I see is a girl our age living in the woods when the temperature keeps dropping, a killer is free and desperate enough to stay there anyway. In addition, she has helped us by putting her life on the line and she shares her resources, which are probably few in number.

Before Jughead could reply, the cat entered the tent closely followed by his mistress. She placed a metal plate between them before placing a teapot on it and holding cups out to them.

-Fortunately, there are only two of you, otherwise I would have run out of cups.

-You were quick," said surprised Jughead.

-Well, when you're stuck in the woods, you learn to make a fast and big fire without hurting yourself. I also have a great hot plate," Sabrina says proudly.

She deposited a plate filled with several apples, chips, bars, sweets and carrots.

-Thank you, that's very kind of you," Betty continued.

-Oh, it's nothing. I am very happy to have company other than Salem's.

The cat, as if to show his anger at his mistress' commentary, climbed onto Betty's lap and lay there.

-You're not allergic, are you?  

-No, I even had a cat when I was younger, Betty said as she stroked the animal, which immediately began to purr.

-Better yet, he's very social!

 -Are these wild carrots? Asked Jughead.

-Yes, not hemlock, I reassure you," said amused Sabrina. -These two plants are very similar, it's true, but a few key differences can save you from ending up like Socrates or the idiot from On the Road. One, there is a beautiful crown of leaves under the flowers like thorns in wild carrots. Two, its flowers are white or pink pale except in its center or grows a single red flower sometimes almost black. And finally, three, the smell is very different. The hemlock one can't even pass for a carrot from far away.

She laughs when she sees the surprised looks of the other two.

-I like the woods and it's not my first-time camping in the wild. I knew what I was doing when I moved here," she continued, taking one of the carrots to prove her point.

-Have you been a jeannette? Asked Betty.

-Oh, God, no. My family is just... very natural. I come from a long line of midwives, apothecaries, healers and snake oil sellers. This is no longer necessary nowadays, but old knowledge can sometimes be useful. We know how to feed, heal and protect ourselves. Nature is full of gifts for anyone who knows how to see them. Hence my material there, she continued, pointing to the tablecloth and its contents.

-My guides, knives and other instruments to prepare my food, remedies and traps. I have to be self-sufficient if you want to know.

- Oh, is that why? Asked Betty.

-Uh... yeah. What do you think it was?

-Just curious, cut them off, Jughead. -Where do the chocolate bars come from?

-Oh, that, promise me you won't be angry. There's some kind of camping grounds a few miles from here. It's empty and the lock leaves something to be desired. The electricity is out but the water is not. I do my laundry and take a shower there.

-But it must be freezing! Says Betty.

-It's not so bad and I told you, I'm pretty much cold resistant. I usually warm up afterwards with a fire in the appropriate locations. But I need to save my parts for the washer and dryer, but there was this vending machine who catch my eyes . I may or may not have hit it until it gives me its content. But the glass is intact!

-So, you too have discovered the weaknesses that made them drop their loot," said Jughead amused.

-Do I have to guess that you know them too? Sabrina asked, reassured.

-I may have some experience in this," said the young man.

Betty was surprised that Jughead seemed willing to let such information slip into a similar situation. Happy... she believed.

-Besides, if you ever want to use your phone, I'll take you to camp. I think he has a connection because it was written on one of the signs.

-Good idea, I look forward to seeing what you say to your mother, Bet.

-The truth. Just tell him I was in a car rather than a motorcycle, don't talk about the Ghoulies and just say we couldn't find a network," says Betty.

-Ghoulies? What is it? What is it? Sabrina asked.

-The gang members, Betty explained. -The boys who were chasing us were part of it.

-Are you serious? Ghoulies is their gang name? It sounds like the name of a brand a cheap of Halloween costumes for kids! mocked Sabrina. -I mean, I'm sure they're dangerous, but they could have forced themselves for the name! Why, are they after you?

-Why do you live in the woods? Jughead replied.

-Good repartee, conciliated Sabrina.

Betty decided to come back to the charge.  

-I don't know if you know, but there's a serial killer on the loose.

-Maybe I heard it between branches without any pun intended, Sabrina confirmed. -But the details are unclear: what is his type and what does his hunting table look like?

She could have asked them if they wanted more tea than her tone would not have seemed more disturbed by the question.

-He... he calls himself the Black Hood, Betty began.  -He wounded three people and killed one. He claims he's getting rid of sinners.

Betty kept the calls to herself.

-I sees. A maniac with a twisted and personal sense of morality, the oldest scourge in the world. But his average is not very high, unless the survivors were particularly gifted and lucky people. Or maybe only some are important, and the rest is a diversion, Sabrina continued to think aloud. -All in all, it's nice to know. I will be careful," she smiled.

-There's a serial killer on the loose and you're going to be careful? Betty asked, repeating her words as if to convince herself of what she was hearing.

-What are my other options?

-Coming to town, Betty replied. -You'll be safer.

Sabrina looks at her like she's crazy before answering:

-No. I'll be screwed if I go into town! You might as well draw a giant target on my back!  

-I...

-Your serial killer probably hangs out more in town than in the middle of the woods! All that's going to happen is that people are going to ask questions and it's going to come back to me!

-You don't have to...

-A what? I have some money, but there's no one who'll rent to a minor! I don't have a phone and if I have to find a job, who will want to hire me without references? I'm going to be noticed and then they're going to send me back...

She could not even finish her sentence; the terror being displayed on her features.

-I can't go back, I can't!

The cat had risen from Betty's knees to climb on Sabrina's knees and Sabrina squeezed the animal, which rather than trying to free itself, allowed itself to do so without resistance. Betty looked horrified at the girl. She didn't want to cause such a panic.

-I'm sorry, calm down! Look, I'm sure we can find something...

-Would your parents be comfortable letting a girl and her cat you've known for less than an hour sleep on their couch? Mockingly asked for this one. -I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I don't have any other options. And between having to go in there or taking the 0.01% chance that a serial killer will attack me, I take the killer without hesitation and with full knowledge of the facts.

-Is it that bad? Asked Betty.

Sabrina nodded, her face haunted.

Betty watched Sabrina disconcerted, not knowing what to say. Jughead, for his part, fights what his heart and head told him. And for a rare time, his mind was not the winner.

-I live alone," he said. -I'm supposed to live with a host family, but I managed to move back to my father's caravan. It's small but there's heating, hot water and even internet. You can sleep in the room and I'll take the couch.

-Are you serious? Asked the two girls in heart.

-Yes," said Jughead, already regretting. -I'll get you a padlock for the room, but I reserve the right to kick you out if you stick carrion to the walls.

Sabrina looked with an expression of shock that turned into joy.

-Thank you! Thank you so much. And don't worry, I intend to pay back this kindness. I can give you a small rent with whoever I have left and pay the rest in the kitchen, cleaning, laundry, home remedy for hangovers, make your choice!

-Just try to respect my privacy and keep the place clean! Says Jughead wondering how quickly he would regret his words.

-Promise! But I insist on participating in one way or another! Can Salem come?

-Can you have him do his business outside like a dog?

Sabrina nodded.

-He is welcome.

-And if it's ever too hard, I'm sure I can probably convince my mother to let me take a cat. Especially a nice one like that, Betty said as she stroked the animal.

-Oh don't let him fool you, he can be a little brat when he wants, Sabrina mocked. -I'll give you back your kindness too, Betty," she says so seriously this time.

-You don't need to do that, Betty assured me.

-But of course, it is. Goodness must be rewarded in a world like ours, so let us encourage it!

-Speaking of which, I may have another condition," says Jughead.

-Make me an offer," said Sabrina.

Betty suddenly had a thrill. Her expression had changed, the more a panicky kid in her place, she felt like she was seeing something else that was totally different. Cold and in control.

-You're running away from what? I don't want details, just to know if I should expect the police to knock on my door," says Jughead.

Sabrina observed him for a long time without speaking before finally speaking.

-I have serious family problems. And if you're afraid that I'll attract unwanted people, know that I'm waiting for a sign from another branch of my family tree. I'll go with her if everything goes well or I'll manage otherwise. If you want more, then you'll have to open up for me. An equivalent exchange.

The choice of words troubled Betty and she knew that her boyfriend would pull a tooth out alive before delivering personal information to a stranger. Well done.

-All right. I don't know if there's room for everything," said Jughead looking at the contents of the tent.

-I can bury some of it and come back for it later.

-Or we could ask Veronica or Archie if they could put them in their garages, Betty continued.

-I would like to thank them if that is the case. You too, Betty.

-So, I think the issue is settled. Do you think you can pack a bag right now and be ready to go tonight? If it works for you too, Jug, of course!

-It's all right," said Jughead.

-I don't know, I'd like to leave nothing to be abandoned. I have traps and other things that it would be a bad idea to leave it like that," Sabrina continued uncomfortably.

-Take us to the camp so we can call and see if you can do it, otherwise we'll come back tomorrow to get the rest, Betty suggested.

Sabrina nodded and pointed in one direction:

-Walk this way, the network should eventually appear. No need to go to the camp for that. I'm starting to tidy up my things. I can give you a compass or Salem if you're afraid of getting lost.

- I don't think the cat is an animal that can guide people, at best they eat the bodies of lost people," said Jughead.

-Oh, he's brilliant and he listens to me occasionally," Sabrina reassured Sabrina. -Show them Salem how great you are.

Salem advanced towards them and to Jughead's surprise began to walk in front of them but at a slow pace as if they were to follow him.

-He's really trained," Jughead continued surprised. -Did you know it was possible?

-No, I've always been told that cats understand but don't listen. Note, it may be a particular breed. I don't know of any cat that would be more than ten years old and still look like that either.

Betty looked at her phone and smiled:

-I have a signal! I'll be able to call Archie and my mother after!

-Perfect. Bet, would you mind if I went all the way to see this camp she's talking about? continued the young man.

-Uh... no, but why?

-I'd just like to know why she didn't move there. A summer camp seems a better alternative than in the middle of the forest.

-Okay, I'll follow you," Betty said, dialing the number and then taking her hand. 

The camp looked like it had just come out of a horror movie and Jughead could have considered this a credible reason to abandon it if Sabrina had not surrounded his own decoration camp that would have been in their place in American Horror Story. Another detail was the heavy padlock that blocked the main entrance. She said she had forced him but not that she had replaced him afterwards. It was a lot of work for a little bit. Unless she climbed the fence? As feasible but ironed with equipment? Especially since the content could be damaged if she simply throws it over the fence, assuming she has the strength to do so.

In the background, he could hear Betty's conversation. Archie was not difficult to convince to come and get them and their new acquaintance. The conversation with her mother was of a completely different nature. Jughead could hear the sound of the Coopers' tone rising to a hysterical level. It seems he would probably have to go up to Betty's window if he wanted to see her again this year.  

-Are you all right? He asked, although he suspected the answer.

-It's all right," said Betty, trying to calm down.  -Did you find anything?

-Only more questions.

-If you've changed your mind....

-No, it's okay. It's okay. I'm not going to pretend that I'm excited about having a roommate, but that's the best solution right now.

-I wonder what she's running from," says Betty. - I don't think she was exaggerating. She seems really scared.

-Neither do I. I doubt a little more about the part about a family member coming to pick her up. Maybe she just said that, so I could leave her alone.

(Or maybe she hopes he'll come and get her) thought Jughead, remembering his own mother. If that were true, he was going to wish her that it would work.

-Going back to see if she was finished, he decided, no longer wanting to think about Gladys Jones.

 When they returned, Sabrina had unpacked the tent and gathered her possessions into three bags. She had also changed, now wearing jeans, army boots, a pink sweater but had kept her hoodie.  

-I buried part of it in a camouflaged hatch. I'll bring the rest with me unless it's too big. In that case, maybe I can leave one here.

-Do you have a cage for the cat? Asked Betty.

-No need. It may be on my lap or I would put it in a bag with an opening for air, it is used to it, Sabrina proudly said.

-Is it a cat or a stuffed animal? Asked Jughead as he looked at the cat.

-Sometimes I wonder, recognized Sabrina as the cat was coming back to her.

-Do you want us to help? Asked Betty.

-I... yeah, if you don't mind.

Sabrina handed Betty her broom and one of her bags to Jughead, keeping the backpack and a large wheeled suitcase.

- Which road? Sabrina asked.

-669, Betty replied.

Without hesitation Sabrina walked in the direction of it as the two followed.

 Once out of the woods, Jughead took his bike and dragged it towards them, hoping he could take it back to town. Fortunately, their wait was not too long just fifteen minutes before Archie's old car appeared.  

-Hello Bet, Jug," Archie began.

- Hey Archie, thanks again for helping us out!  Says Betty happy to see a familiar face.

-Hey, Arch. You think I can tie it up after your car? Asked Jughead as he showed his bike.

-I suppose, said Archie hesitant.

He didn't like any sign of the Serpent with his friend, even as simple as his means of transport. He went out despite the help to load the bike.

-Hello, you must be Sabrina? Says Archie smiling at the newcomer.

Sabrina nodded and approached Archie cautiously.

-Hello, who are you?

-Archie Andrew, to serve you, replied the amused one, reaching out to him.

Sabrina took it and squeezed it.

-Nice to meet you, Archie.

-And you? Archie asked.

-Me what?

-Your last name?

- Betty and Jugheand didn't give me their last names, Sabrina replied

-It's Cooper for me and Jones for Jughead, says Betty.

She seemed hesitant before saying:

-Spellman. My name is Sabrina Spellman.

-Like the singer? Archie asked.

-I don't think we're related but we write it the same ways. And this is Salem," continued the white hair girl, holding the cat.

-Oh yes, your cat! You don't have a cage, Archie remarked.

-He will be quiet, I swear, Sabrina promised.

-His cat is obedient enough, Betty said to reassure him.

-And he will lie on the floor at the first sign of a siren, Sabrina promised. -He's used to it.

-In this case, Archie gave in.

Archie opened the trunk but rather than handing it over, Sabrina placed it herself, taking the sports bag from Jughead's hands and placing it too.  She went to take the broom from Betty's hands when she asked her the question:

-Are you sure it will fits?

-But of course, you just have to place it in the right angle, smiled Sabrina.

To Betty's surprise, she actually managed to get her in without any difficulty.

-I sits in which seat? She asked.

-The boys could sit in the front and we both in the back. Is that okay with you?

Sabrina nodded and sat down with the animal lying on her lap next to her bag, which she put between Betty and her.

 -So, how long were you in the woods? Asked Betty.

-Maybe a two weeks. I didn't really count, Sabrina admitted.  

-You know there's... Archie started.

-A serial killer? Yes. Betty and Jughead told me. He's not as scary as the werewolf on the highways yet, but still.

-From what? Asked Jughead.

-The werewolf on the highways, I know, the name sucks, but at least he has an excuse for not choosing him. There was a serial killer in the sixties in the area. He picks up women on the highway always in the same order near the highways of cities in the region, including Riverdale. Everything was good, from the kid to the old lady, from the pastor's wife to the prostitute. Raped, tortured and eventually killed. They never caught him, but the consensus is that he was probably a truck driver. And he must be dead because guys like him don't stop like that. With any luck, he suffered.

-I've never heard that story," says Jughead surprised.

-Oh, despite his violence, he didn't make too many waves at the time. People believed in isolated incidents and cities communicated with each other far too late. But if you google it, you should find something. People think he had at least 29 victims, although some think he has more than 47, but even then, it's hard to be sure. Strangely enough, the Riverdale reaper is more celebrated than him when he only killed one family.

-Only?" asked Jughead, raising an eyebrow.

Sabrina laughed nervously.

-I'm sorry to be so morbid. Let's talk about lighter stuff. Do you like pastries? I could do you a little something to thank you! What you want: cupcake, muffin, French toast, pie...

-My friend Veronica loves to cook," says Betty. -Personally, I only know the basics.

- I'm sure you have other equally useful talents," says Sabrina.

-Betty is an excellent mechanic," says Jughead.

-Wow, that's impressive! Sabrina continued. - I can't do it without help.

-Not as much as it looks! And I think that impressive question, you're pretty much yourself. Surviving alone in the woods must have been hard. Not to mention the Ghoulies.

-This is my natural environment. I was pretty good, I was just feeling a little lonely. And the Ghoulies didn't have a chance on my field.  I wouldn't be so confident in the city.

-But you're not alone in town, Betty continued.

-I suppose... Sabrina said hesitantly.

Betty tried to make her keep talking.

- Do you work out?

-Kind of like everyone else at school. My best friend was a cheerleader, so I tried to please her, but it wasn't for me. She ended up dropping out anyway for more social activities as well. I like the arts, for example! I have done singing, dancing, piano and theatre. I also started a social club with her.

-Archie is a musician and a singer too, says Betty.

-Oh, yeah? Says Sabrina suddenly interested. ¸

-He even wrote songs," said Jughead.

-I would like to have a career in music, recognized Archie.

-That's cool! Are you also musicians?

-No, I prefer to write and the same for Betty," Jughead continued.

-Veronica sings for example, Betty continued.  

-Is she your best friend? Sabrina asked with candor.

-Yes, but on a par with Kevin.

Betty's heart will then be remembering their fight. She understood his anger, but she never wanted him hurt. Kevin could have a boyfriend or twelve that he changed every week, she didn't care, all she wanted was for him to be safe.

-Veronica tried to calm him down, clumsily tried Archie

Betty forced herself to smile and nodded.

-He needs time, I understand.  Besides, I probably won't be able to see many people with my mother.  

-Is she angry? Sabrina asked for an anxious expression on her face.

-Yes, but it's all right, don't worry. In fact, we have arrived!

Jughead got out of the car with Archie taking Sabrina's luggage out of the trunk.

-Are you going to be all right to carry everything? Archie asked.

-Of course. You, go bring Betty back before her mother sends the Sheriff after us.

-Good point.

The two friends greeted each other, and Betty took her head out of the window to share a kiss with Jughead. The car then left the mobile home park. Jughead picked up the sports bag and swept it up while Sabrina put her backpack back and dragged her suitcase. The cat followed them as he trotted.

-Come on, I'll show you which one.

-Thank you again. I know you don't really want to get in my way, but you do it out of generosity. I'm not going to make you regret it.

-If you don't want to make me regret it, stop talking about it.

-Okidoki.

As they advanced towards the caravan, Jughead recognized several silhouettes waiting for him in front of the entrance. Sabrina, seeing her expression changing, asked a question:

-Are you going to introduce me to them or should I get my broom back?  

#chilling riverdale #riverdale #chilling adventure of sabrina #chilling tales of sabrina #archie horror #archie andrews #betty cooper #jughead jones #veronica lodge #sabrina spellman #salem saberhagen #bughead #varchie

[oumiyuki]

The Daily Life of Loving a Really Cute but Dense Vampire Ch21

Ch21 - Special Chapter: Happy Halloween

Summary: Maki aged 5-years old is excited to spend Halloween with Honoka and Umi, not that she will admit it out loud. And we get to peek into Nico, Eli, Nozomi, Hanayo, Rin and Kotori’s Halloween when they are 5 years old too.

Author Notes

Late Halloween Special Chapter~ :P It all started with the first line. ;D

May you enjoy~ XD

“Today is the day that I will turn Maki-chan into a vampire!” Honoka declares with a toothy, over-enthusiastic smile and hands on her hips, a five-year-old doing her best to stand tall and proud.

“H-Honoka!” Umi exclaims with a look of disbelief and disapproval, but both hands clutched in front of her worriedly; a cute contrast of stern and nervousness.

The gingerhead laughs without a care. “Of course, I mean dress Maki-chan up!” Honoka reassures the worrywart bluenette as she runs one round around Maki to put a cool, black and blood red cape around Maki – the red being on the inside, and the cape’s collar raised up to cover Maki’s neck and cheeks slightly for a mysterious outlook.

Maki herself was doing her best to stand aloof, pretending like she could care less about such events like Halloween that only the excitable vampire Honoka would be interested in, even though she was looking forward to hanging out with her two best friends, and hoping to get a number of the new tomato flavoured sweet during their trick-or-treating.

“Look! Maki-chan looks just like a vampire now!” Honoka kept running back and forth to look at the redhead with the huge cape from every angle.

Umi shakes her head though she did crane her neck here and there to see how good Maki looked all dressed for Halloween. “Vampires aren’t represented simply by capes, Honoka.”

“I guess I should bite Maki-chan for Maki-chan to be a true vampire too, huh?” Honoka crossed her arms and seemed to think about it seriously.

“Honoka!” Umi exclaims again, hurrying between the redhead human and the brooding vampire.

Honoka laughs again. “I’m joking, Umi-chan. I’m joking. I won’t bite Maki-chan unless she wants me to~ Right, Maki-chan?”

“Don’t bite her regardless!” Umi scolds, even though the gingerhead has skipped to Maki’s side, ignoring her.

“I don’t see why I’ll ask you to bite me, Honoka. Can we go already?” Maki twirls her hair in her finger but kept stealing glances at the gingerhead’s fangs that were fully out for display with how broadly smiling Honoka was; they didn’t have to hide that today since people will just assume it’s fake fangs (not that the playful and carefree gingerhead vampire ever remembers to be careful).

“Sure! Umi-chan, let’s go!” Honoka grabs the bluenette’s hands, along with the redhead’s as she runs out the room.

Umi and Maki both had to lift their really long capes that match Honoka’s since the gingerhead wanted all three of them to be vampires for Halloween this year, as they ran along, smiling and excited for sweets and simply spending time together at night.

 “Hanayo, are you sure you don’t want to go out and trick-or-treat?” Hanayo’s mum offers to take her daughter out to experience trick-or-treating or simply enjoy the Halloween atmosphere.

Her five year old daughter, however, only looks away from her book for a second to shake her head. “It’s okay. I want to read, mum. Plus I won’t eat the sweets then it’ll be a waste.”

Hanayo’s mum smiles at her daughter, it’s endearing that Hanayo respects not wasting food; the Koizumi parents both lead by example with never wasting a single grain of rice (check their rice cooker and you’ll know), plus being an avid reader makes Hanayo a really obedient child and is easy to take care of.

“Alright then, I’ll be in the kitchen.” Hanayo’s mum gives her daughter a pat before going into the kitchen.

The doorbell rings after five minutes and even though the little brunette would have preferred to not have to look away from her fairy tale book, she placed it down after bookmarking it, got off the couch and over to open the door.

“TRICK OR TREAT, NYA!” An orange haired girl the same height as Hanayo shouted very loudly and enthusiastically, clearly in the spirit and mood of Halloween as the girl was dressed with cat ears, cat tails and gloves plus boots that were paws.

“Um…” Hanayo stands at the door, not sure how to respond to Rin’s enthusiasm and had half a mind to just run at vampire speed back into the house.

“Can Rin get some candy, nya?” Rin thrusts her half-filled pail of candies in Hanayo’s direction.

“Of course.” Hanayo’s mum appears just in time to drop a handful of candy into Rin’s pail and giving her daughter an assuring pat on the head, Hanayo sighs in relief.

“Thank you, nya! Hey!” Rin’s practically glowing yellow eyes had all its attention on Hanayo who squeaked.

“Y-Yes?”

“Let’s go trick-or-treating together, nya!” Rin takes Hanayo’s hand when the brunette seemed to try to hide behind her mother.

“B-But I…don’t have a costume…so…” Hanayo stutters shyly and wanted an excuse to not go out.

Rin however simply smiles broadly. “No problem, nya! You can wear Rin’s werecat ears!” Rin removes her bright orange werecat ears and places it on Hanayo’s head. “Now we match, Kayo-chin! Let’s go trick-or-treating, nya!”

Hanayo looks to her mum who smiles encouragingly and then back to her only friend with the broad, broad smile; she knew she can’t say no to that smile so she nods and follows Rin out of her house and to a busy street of candy joy. “Okay, Rin-chan.”

“Let’s go, nya!” Rin didn’t let go of the timid brunette’s hand knowing that Hanayo will feel more at ease that way.

 “Obaa-sama, is it like this?”

“Am I doing it right too?”

In the Ayase household, Eli and Arisa were baking Halloween themed pastries such as cookies and cakes with their grandmother instead of dressing up and going outside, though they both wore beautiful light blue dresses.

“Mm… Yes, that’s the way. Just press a little harder for the dough to have the shape of the bat cutter.” Grandma Ayase smiles at her two granddaughters.

“But does it have to be bat cookies…” Eli poked at the bat cutter with a small pout. “Bats are scary…”

“Eli, would you rather see santa hat cookies on Halloween?” Grandma Ayase gave an out of season option on purpose.

Eli shakes her head. “That would be weird.”

“I think bats are cute!” Arisa says as she cuts three more bat-shaped cookies out of the dough.

Eli smiles at her younger sister’s energy; it’s a nice slow day of baking with her sister and grandmother, she should enjoy herself more.

“Here, Eli.” Grandma Ayase passes her older granddaughter another cookie cutter. “Candy shaped cookies aren’t out of season for Halloween, am I right?”

Eli’s smile broadens as she straightens her back on the stool she was sitting on. “It isn’t!” And Eli was happily cutting up cookies to bake, happy to pack them into little orange, Halloween themed wrappers for any other kids who stop by for trick-or-treating at the warm abode of the Ayase household.

 Far, far off, if the Toujous wanted to, they could listen in on the happy bustling in the city where many citizens of old and young were out in the night to spend Halloween together with friends, families and neighbours. But since they were on their own Halloween agenda, they focused on the slow rustling of the forest leaves and animal life.

“Tonight we’ll have a feast, Nozomi. So find your most favourite animal and meet back here, okay?” Nozomi’s father grins and Nozomi just loves how her father’s emerald eyes twinkled with mischief in the dark of the forest, along with her mother’s pink glow; both ready to enjoy their Halloween night feast.

“Yes, dad!” Nozomi nods excitedly and pulls on her jacket sleeves to make herself more comfortable for a sprint; the young purplenette was dressed nicely, in a thick and warm dark purple jacket and black stockings to not feel the cold of the forest.

“I’ll tag along, dear. But this time I won’t assist you right away in your hunt. Is that okay?” Nozomi’s mum was a worrywart, but who can blame her for caring to an extreme of her only (adorable) daughter and loving husband?

Nozomi giggles and gives her mum a reassuring hug. “I can do it, mum! I’d tell ya not ta worry, but I know ya will anyways. So…Just watch me, okay?” Nozomi pulls away with a wide grin; that grin can be classified as the Toujou grin with how much mischief and love it expressed.

Nozomi’s mum giggles softly into her hands. “I believe in you, dear. Let’s get some meat for our barbeque~”

Nozomi’s dad chuckles lowly, not wanting to alert the animals of the night. “See you later, honey, Nozomi!”

Nozomi didn’t want to lose in speed even though it wasn’t a competition and she was only five years old with hardly enough experience in hunting to be called experienced, but Nozomi felt the challenge her dad put up anyways and zoomed off further into the dense green and brown, her mum right behind her.  

 “And there you go, Nico. All dressed up!” Nico does a twirl and smiles broadly, all pearly whites shining and fangs out at her mum.

“I look like a magician now?” Nico asked as she held up her black and pink dress and twirl a few more times.

“A cute and beautiful magician.” Nico’s mum touches her daughter's nose lightly with a smile that Nico reflected.

“No one makes a cuter magician than my daughter!” Nico’s dad joins the conversation with a jolly chuckle while lifting his pride and joy into the air, spinning one round as Nico laughs happily.

“Oh? Then what does that make me?” Nico’s mum jokes as she takes a picture of her husband and daughter both dressed up as magicians.

Nico’s dad blushes slightly as he leans in to his wife's ear to whisper, “The magician who stole my heart and cast an everlasting one to have me charmed for the rest of my life.”

Nico’s mum giggles while waving a toy wand around. “I don't think I need a spell for that~”

Nico’s dad turns redder while Nico asks what's wrong.

“It’s nothing, Nico. Your dad can get easily embarrassed at times by magicians.” Nico’s mum winks.

“But magicians aren't embarrassing! I'm going to be the world's number one magician and give every one smiles!” Nico cheers, struggles in her dad's hold so that she can be situated on the ground again.

“Nico always makes us smile.” Nico’s dad grins along with his wife, an arm around his wife also dressed as a magician.

“Have fun~ Have energy~ Smile more~!” Nico laughs like the world belongs to her and her family as she casts spells on her parents, and they all break out into happy laughter as they went on their way to spread the joy and share the fun with their neighbours all through the Halloween decorated streets where they lived.

 The street was filled with parents accompanying their children dressed in a range of Halloween costumes such as ghosts, wizards, or mummies and as Kotori’s mum observes the array, she chuckles which leads to large golden eyes looking up at her mum with curiosity. “Why are you laughing, mum?”

Kotori’s mum smiles gently at her daughter dressed in a frilly pink dress and a plastic tiara on her ash-grey tresses pressing the small tuft of hair down where it was placed, plus pink kid heels on. “Just wondering if you’ll ever want to dress as something other than ‘princess’ for Halloween.”

The ash-brunette dolled up as a princess this evening blinks twice not understanding the joke or issue. “Kotori wants to be a princess when she grows up!”

Kotori’s mum couldn’t help but chuckle again at how cute and innocent her daughter’s dream is, and bends down to be of the same eye level as her five year old daughter. “And meet a prince and get married?”

Kotori’s golden eyes widen and her cheeks colour. “K-Kotori has to fall in love first though!”

The older Minami’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “And it’ll be magical like the fairy tales.”

Kotori nods and plays with the frills on her dress shyly. “Kotori hopes it will be.”

Kotori’s mum stands to her full height and pats her daughter’s head, making sure not to knock the tiara off. “I know it will be.”

Kotori smiles widely to her mum before beginning her walk to the next house to trick-or-treat with her mum.

 “Honoka, stop playing with your cape and keep up with us, okay? We wouldn’t want you getting separated from us. And you really should stop doing that…” Umi has her hands on her hip which was a little hard to tell since her arms were under the large cape.

Maki also stop to look at the gingerhead who was having a lot of fun as her broad smile clearly expresses, the redhead “vampire” for the night could not help but smile at the gingerhead’s silliness.

“But this is really fun and cool! Umi-chan should try it too!” The young vampire was using her supernatural speed to create a sort of gust of wind so that her cape flutters coolly, while she strikes various poses, her smile never fading.

“J-Just stop messing around already. C’mon, Maki. Let’s go to that house next.” The bluenette’s cheeks were tinted pink as she found Honoka looking cool indeed and she really doesn't want to entertain those thoughts right now so she stutters and hurries off – trick-or-treating as an escape plan.

Maki would have pretended to be more aloof again, but when she saw that the house had a bright red sign that reads ‘New Tomato Flavoured Sweets to share with Cute/Cool/Scary Trick-Or-Treaters’, the tomato-loving child could not help but hurry to catch up with Umi to get sweets she wants.

Honoka pouts a little at Umi’s lack of appreciation for her fun way of using their super speed ability, which was in the spirit of Halloween too! But quickly recovers as she wants to keep playing with her cape she calls the ‘Vampire Cape’.

The small gingerhead’s fun with her cape wasn’t going unseen though, as little ways away, a small ash-brunette was staring in awe; distracted by how magical it was that the gingerhead’s cape and hair was the only one moving as though there was wind just for that light flutter – as perfect as a scene from those fairy tales Kotori loves reading.

All that staring though, resulted in some kids running by to knock into her and she drops her basket of collected candies. “Ah!”

Honoka’s sharp ears caught the shout of surprise and distress, accompanied with the short crash sound of the basket hitting the floor with candies rolling out onto the ground. Bright blue eyes looked to the accident and rush over to help pick up the candy.

“Here, your candy. Are you okay?” Honoka asked from her squatting position on the ground beside the ash-brunette dressed in pink that was picking up her candy too.

“Ah, um, Koto- I…I’m okay.” Kotori got slightly tongue-tied by the bright, attractive blue shine from the gingerhead’s eyes and subconsciously changed her way of addressing herself.

Honoka grins wider, relieved to hear that the girl is okay. “I’m glad!”

“Um…You were really cool just now…I mean, you’re still really cool! But…earlier with the cape…And, um…but you’re not a prince…” The ash-brunette blinked rapidly as she toyed with the handle of the basket nervously from where she stood; she was shy in the first place, so making conversation on her own with a stranger who she finds kind of charming was even more nerve-wrecking that her words were all over the place.

Honoka chuckles, a hand rubbing the back of her neck as she smiled broadly – feeling pride to be called ‘cool’ but slightly abashed too. “No, I’m not a prince.” Honoka then lowers her voice to a whisper. “I’m a vampire.”

The ash-brunette stares in awe at the gingerhead’s fangs shining more than the street lights and Halloween decorations around. Kotori wonders if it’s just her but she simply can’t take her eyes off the girl in front of her.

“But vampires are usually bad and scary though…” The shy girl lowers her gaze as she thinks about how vampires are usually described as dark, villain characters in storybooks.

“Vampires aren’t bad! Or scary!” Honoka being a real vampire could not help but defend her species, but when she notices the tiny flinch from the ash-brunette in front of her she scolds herself not to scare someone. “Um, at least we are good ones.”

Kotori smiles much to Honoka’s relief. “I think you’re really nice. So…since you’re dressed as a vampire, it means there are nice vampires too.”

“I’m not only dressed as one.” Honoka did her quick movement again so as to create the wind effect for her cape which in turn blew her hair and Kotori’s a little. Honoka felt cooler when she does that, not knowing that she made the ash-brunette feel like she was living a fairytale moment.

Golden eyes felt like the world was sparkling or shimmering just for her and the gingerhead she just met, Kotori giggles from that pure happy feeling, while Honoka laughs along not needing a big reason to.

“Say, where’s your mum? I’ll take you back to her. Wouldn’t want you to get lost, princess~” Honoka said the last line on purpose, she rarely (never) gets to use it, and adding princess felt cool too, so Honoka did.

These little cool acts the gingerhead enjoys doing tend to have an effect on the fairytale loving ash-brunette however, as she felt her heart skip a beat at being called princess by someone other than her mum. “M-My mum is just over there talking to someone she knows.” Kotori points a short distance away from where her mum was chatting.

“Oh.” Honoka may have felt slight disappointment from not getting to escort someone.

“How about your mum?” Kotori decided to ask as she pulled at her pink dress again, feeling the nerves return. Was it weird to ask about someone else’s mum?

Honoka’s smile made Kotori feel at ease though. “My mum is busy at the store! She’s probably swarmed with work to sell blood to everyone!” Honoka’s pearly whites and fangs were flashed out even more as the little gingerhead felt doubly proud to use a big word like ‘swarmed’ which she just learnt from Umi.

“Blood?” Kotori’s voice was floaty as she couldn’t believe her ears.

“Yup! Many would love to get their blood-filled manju for Halloween!” Oblivious as ever, Honoka continues sharing about her vampire normalities with a human girl she just met, fortunately, Kotori just takes it as Honoka being very true to her vampire character, and she really likes how passionate and cheerful and having fun Honoka is, making Kotori find the evening even more fun too.

“Have you eaten them too?” Kotori tried imagining the gingerhead eating a manju that spills out blood, and then changed the image to a more vampire like scene of sucking a human’s blood. However the one having their blood sucked was her, so Kotori blushes and changes the scene in her mind to Honoka with one of those fancy glass cups she saw her mum with, drinking blood from it.

Honoka chuckles not noticing Kotori’s reddened cheeks. “I sure have. It’s actually quite delicious! Perhaps you could try some too!”

Kotori smiles wider at the thought of hanging out with the friendly and warm gingerhead more. “I would like to!”

“Great! Then-” Before Honoka could invite the ash-brunette, a mature voice interrupted them.

“Kotori, let’s go now~” Kotori’s mum calls for her daughter and the ash-brunette nods to her mum and begins to walk over even though she still wanted to continue chatting with the bubbly and nice ‘vampire’.

“Um…Bye-bye, Vampire-san.” Kotori gives one last shy smile to the gingerhead.

“Bye-bye, Princess-sama~” Honoka waves energetically before a lightbulb moment hit her and she does her quick-wind act once more, letting her cape flutter as she did a less over the top wave.

Sure enough, Kotori felt her heart race faster and the scene had a special glow for the ash-brunette. This was a scene she believes she won’t ever forget, and she later regrets not getting the vampire’s name, but she really enjoyed this Halloween when she’s aged five and it wasn’t because of the sweets or the princess dress; it was because of a certain cool, friendly, charming and warm vampire.

 Author Notes

Wah~ *O* These kids are simply too adorable!! *w* -chuckles- Don’t you agree?

I thought I’ll just write Honoka, Umi and Maki’s Halloween when they were young, but then I had ideas for the others’ too so I decided to write them too! XD

They pretty much live in different places, so only Kotori and Honoka (plus Umi and Maki) would have been able to bump into each other~ :P Which in this case, Kotori did with Honoka! XD Though names weren’t exchanged and the time being so magical that Kotori can’t exactly remember it now when she’s 16. But who even remembers everything when they were small kids right? XD hahas.

I wish I get to write Nozomi’s parents more. They seem as fun as Maki’s parents! XD (Maki’s parents in this story are so light-hearted and playful~ XD I can’t help but chuckle when I read what I wrote of them~ Teasing Maki so much~ XD hehe~)

Oh, and Nico’s little spell she did with her parents? *O* That was taken from Nico’s song “Mahoutsukai Hajimemashita”; the lyrics/spell being “tanoshiku nare”, “genki ni naare”, “Waraimasho”. :D (able to be translated as “Have fun”, “Have energy” and “Smile more” respectively) but I don’t want to teach you guys wrongly – “waraimasho” is more correctly translated as “Let’s smile” X’3

Either way~ *O* I just love how Nico is so sweet and purely wants to make others’ smile. XD

This note is getting a bit long, isn’t it? XD

I hope everyone enjoyed this late Halloween Special! *O*

Leave me comments on what you think about it! XD

#honokoto #kotohono #fanfic #fanfiction #minami kotori #kousaka honoka #sonoda umi #nishikino maki #yazawa nico #toujou nozomi #ayase eli #hoshizora rin #koizumi hanayo #vampire au #love live #love live! #honoka x kotori #kotori x honoka #love live! school idol project

[pandoramajora]

Happy Halloween

Since Murata-sensei was in the Halloween spirit today, I decided I would join in. I am also declaring Halloween month the Month of Garou so I’m gonna get this started! 

Are you ready my children? Cause I don’t think you are.

-

Garou x Reader (Tareo’s older sister)

Warnings: NSFW  for obvious reasons ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[Word count: 3666] 

Fic under cut

“Tareo!” You called down the hall. “Are you getting ready? We’ll be leaving soon.”

“I’m almost done!”

“Do you need help putting on your costume, sweetie?”

“No, I think I got it!”

“Okay just let me know if you do!”

Halloween was your favorite time of year. You loved watching scary movies and those paranormal investigation marathons they had this time of year. Before they death of your parents you used to help your mother decorate the house in spooky décor. Tareo on the other hand did not like anything relating to Halloween. He was terrified of anything monster and supernatural related.

This year was completely different, however. Tareo was ecstatic about Halloween. He helped you decorate the house and even picked out his own costume! He still didn’t like watching those ghost hunting shows with you, unfortunately (Baby steps! You told yourself). You had a pretty good idea who had helped the small overcome his fears.

But as much as you loved Halloween, what you didn’t love were the overly sexualized costumes made for women. If you had the time and patients to make your own costume, you would have. You ended up overthinking what costume you were going to get and by the time you went to buy it, they had practically sold out of all the costumes. They only two costumes they had left were: Sexy Witch and Sex Little Red Riding Hood. And unfortunately for you, they had just sold out of your size in the Sexy Witch.

Your makeup was done and you were now starring at the skimpy outfit that laid out on your bed. It looked more like lingerie than a Halloween costume. At least you could hide your shame underneath the cape and hood (it would also helped cover your ass, even if just a little). The irony of the costume didn’t escape you either. Garou was never going to let you lives this down. You groaned.

Ten minutes later you were dressed and ready to go. You made your way to your kitchen to grab Tareo’s candy bag. You looked out the kitchen window. The sun was just starting to set.

“Tareo are you ready to go yet?”

You were halfway to kitchen when someone started banging on your front door. You knew exactly who that was and you were not looking forward to opening the door.

As you opened the door you prayed to whatever deity was currently listening to give you strength.

“I took a stroll around town looking for some good houses to-”

Garou quickly cut himself off and raised a brow at your outfit. He’d like to think he was rarely caught off guard, but this? The Hero Hunter was not expecting you to open the door wearing that. ‘Fuck,’ He thought to himself. He could feel himself harden slightly. He looked you over: white stockings, short red skirt, a red low-cut blouse, and the red cape and hood. That’s when it hit him, ‘Little Red Riding Hood.” He grinned wickedly.

“Did you buy that just for me?” The look he gave you was downright predatory and you gulped. He stepped towards you and you instinctively step back, hands coming up in front of you.

You needed to stop him before he tried to do anything lewd with you. Tareo was down the hall, probably on his way to see who was at the door. He was too young for that mental scarring.  

“If you try anything! You’ll be sleeping on the couch. Forever.”

He continued his advancements, not bothered by the threat. He caught your wrist firmly, but before he could pull you towards him—

“Tan ta da daaaannnn!!!! Never fear! Justice Man has appeared!” Tareo appeared suddenly, running from the kitchen. He hopped in front of you performing a heroic pose.

“Ah! Garou, you’re here! Do you like my costume! I’m Justice Man! I picked it out myself!” Tareo was completely out of breath from his performance. He’s cheeks were flushed and smile wide with excitement.

You glanced over at Garou, who had gone eerily still. Your own costume now long forgotten (‘Thank God!’). But the white-haired teen was uncharacteristically quiet.

“Uh, Garou?” You placed a hand on his shoulder.

The Hero Hunter quickly snapped out of whatever trance he was in and regarded the excited boy in front of.

“Kid, it's Halloween. Why aren't you dressed as a monster or something?” Garou said, sounding slightly… offended?

Tareo as if not hearing Garou's comment, moved on to more pressing matters.

“Eh? Hey old guy, where’s your costume?” He pointed at Garou’s lack of costume. Garou was wearing his usual attire.

“Yeah, where is your Halloween spirit, Garou?” You turned towards to face the younger man, brow raised at him.

“I don’t need a costume! I’m already The Great Monster Garou!” He said enthusiastically.

Tareo seemed less than impressed.

“That’s sounds pretty lame to me, old guy….” Tareo trailed off.

“Hey! Watch it, brat! And what have I told you about calling me old!”

You rolled your eyes. “Okay children! Settle down! Let’s get your candy bags do we can head out! We don't want all the good candy to get taken!”

“Okay!”

“….”

After visiting a few the houses around the neighbor, the three of you decided to head to the park at the center of the neighborhood. Several schools had come together to host a nice event for the school children to go trick-or-treating. There was music, food carts, and haunted houses set up by the school for families to enjoy.

Tareo had found some of his classmates near a small playground that was out of the way of the carnival's crowd. Garou had mentioned wanting to avoid being spotted by any heroes patrolling the event. And there were a few heroes set to make appearances at the event. The HA had even set up an autograph booth.

‘But aren't you the Hero Hunter?’

‘It's my day off.’ He replied simply.

You and Garou sat on a nearby bench at the far end of the playground. Meanwhile, Tareo exchanged candy with his friends. You and Garou began picking through your own shared bag of candy collected that night. You both had taken turns walking Tareo to the front door of the houses when the decorations were too scary for him— ‘Baby steps!’ You reminded yourself. As a result, you both had scored quite a bit of candy. Garou smugly claimed he had collected the majority of it. You rolled your eyes at him, but didn’t argue. It had been partially true after all. Almost half the houses you had visited had older women handing out candy. You had a pretty good idea why he had gotten the most candy.

You were in the middle of finishing off a candy bar when Garou nudged your shoulder with his.

“What do you think’s in that building?” Garou motioned towards an abandoned house that sat nearby.

You knew the center of the park used to be part of the old zoo. In fact, this whole park was park of the oldest part of town. There were still some abandoned houses and buildings scatter along the edge of the park that were once part of the original settlements. Many of the old buildings from the zoo had been repurposed for the park, but others remained abandoned. You figured the large house Garou was referring to was probably once part of the old settlement.

“Ghosts? I don’t know, but it gives me bad vibes.” You shivered.

“Let’s go see what’s inside.”

“Um, no?”

“Oh, come on! Where’s your Halloween spirit? This is what Halloween’s all about!”

~ 5 minutes later ~

You had reluctantly followed Garou to the old house. It was situated on a small hill with a large tree sitting next to it. The raising moon illuminated the decrepit house in an eerie light. All the windows and doors were all boarded up, deterring trespassers. There was no way to get in and you were completely fine with that.

Garou stood in front of you facing the building. With one hand on his hip and the other on his chin, he stared up at the old house in contemplation.

“Well, it looks like we can’t get in! Oh well! We should probably head back!” You wrapped your cape around you tightly.

You turned to leave, but a loud crash stopped you in your tracks. You jumped at the sudden sound and you felt your heart leap up to your throat. You quickly glanced back to where you had last seen Garou and noticed that he had easily kicked the boarded-up door down. Of course, he did!

“Come on, we can get in from here.” He was already stepping into the old house.

“Are you out of your mind! We can’t break into a house!”

“Too late, I already kick the door in. Come on.” His gold eyes gleamed with mischief. Before you knew it, he was in front of you pulling you by your wrist towards the opening. You resisted needlessly, knowing full well you couldn’t break his grasp. He pulled you in front of him and placed his hands firmly on your shoulders.

“Garou! This is exactly how horror movies start! Two dumbasses saying, ‘Let’s go explore this abandoned building!’ Then they get killed! Or possessed by demon! And then killed!” You dug your feet into the ground as he began pushing you forward.

“No one is getting killed, relax. ‘sides, do you really think I’d let anyone touch you? We’ll just take a quick look.”

~ 10 seconds later: Inside the house ~

OH MY GOD IT WAS WORST THAN YOU IMAGINED

It was so dark. Too dark. You felt your heart began to pound against your chest. You couldn’t see a thing and you hated it. You felt panic grip your chest tightly causing you to breath unevenly. When you were a child you used to be terrified of the dark. You thought you had overcome it, but this pitch-black darkness proved otherwise.  

The door Garou had kicked down led to a dining room and a kitchen. Or at least according to him. He could apparently see perfectly fine. You nearly tripped over something on the floor as Garou steered you towards the kitchen area. Had it not been for Garou’s hand on your shoulders, you would have fallen over. As you passed a boarded-up window, Garou briefly left you to pull the boards off, letting the moon light. From what little moon light came in through the window, you could see there was some furniture nailed to the ceiling?! Like it was some sort of fun house! There were also various items scatter about like the people had just up and left without taking anything. But even more eerie were the symbols painted on the dining room walls. That’s when you started panicking.

“This house is probably haunted or there’s an axe murder living in here! In fact, I know this house bad news. I can feel it!” You looked up at him with wide eyes, causing your hood to come off. He placed his hands back on your shoulders, pushing you onward again.  

“It’s just like one of those shitty paranormal shows you like. I thought you were into this sorta stuff?” Those gold eyes looked down at you gleefully.

“Y-yeah, when I’m not the one getting the crap s-scared out of me.” You had starting stutter from nerves. ‘Damn it!’

Suddenly, you thought you saw something move out of the corner of your eyes. You let out an audible gasp and your entire being froze up as you backed into Garou. If you weren’t petrified before, you sure all hell were now. You were now a shaking mess. Eyes wide with fear and your heart felt like it was going to burst out of your chest. You were sure Garou could hear it.

Garou snickered in your ear. His lips brushed against your neck briefly, you could feel his hot breath against you. It made you shudder as it sent a shiver up your spine.

“Y-you’re enjoying this a-aren’t you? Do you like seeing me scared out of my mind?” You frowned and he chuckled darkly.

“Yeah, I’m pretty fucking turned on right now.” His voice was low and thick with desire. To further prove his point, he pulled your hips back to grind against you. Your widened, you could feel him through his pants! His member was already painfully hard. How had you not noticed before?!

“Oh my God, you really are getting off on this aren’t you? Did you plan this?!” He began to gently nibble and suck at your ear. You let out breathless sighs as you felt his hands roam your body. One hand had settles on kneading one of your breasts, while the other made its way underneath your skirt.

You heard thud come from somewhere in the house. Or was it outside?! You let out a loud gasp, snapping you head in the general direction the noise had come from. You thought you something move in the in the dark. Your eyes went wide with fear again, your body seizing up. Behind you, Garou inhaled sharply against your neck, ‘Fuck.’ He buckled hips up harder against you.

His fingers rubbed you through your panties and pantyhose, causing your fear to subside to arousal. Dark shadowy figure no longer relevant. You let out a breathless moan.

“Garou.”

Garou loved how your small frame trembled against him. He was so fucking turned on by how vulnerable you felt against him. Your eyes wide like a frightened doe, erratic pulse just underneath his teeth. Just all of it. ‘Fuck,’ he wouldn’t last long like this. Your outfit also wasn't helping either.

He needed to be inside you. He needed to feel your walls clench around him as you came. ‘Fucking shit!’ He couldn't take it. He needed you.

“(y/n),” His moaned hoarsely. He was all but breathless against your neck. “Let me fuck you. I fucking need you”

He turned you around to face him and pushed you back until you were cornered against the counter top. A jolt shot through you once more as you looked up into his gold eyes. His eyes were wild with hunger and you felt your breath hitch. He seemed to grow taller and was now towered over you.

You honestly couldn’t believe this was happening. You stared back up at him, the need behind those eyes was overwhelming. It left you breathless. He really did want you and only you. The thought made your heart flutter and your arousal grow. Haunted house be damned.

“Do you have a condom?”

“Is that a yes?” You watched as he hastily pulled a condom and a small bottle of lube from his pocket.

You narrowed your eyes him.

“You really did plan this didn’t you, you asshole!” You laughed.

It was his turn to narrow his eyes at you.

“Is that a yes?” He hissed impatiently. It was taking all his self control to keep him from just taking you. He wasn't in the mood for teasing right now.

“Hmm,” You placed your hand on your chin thoughtfully. Not unlike you would when deciding what to order off a menu for lunch. You nodded, “Yes.”

“Yes what?! Say it. I want to hear you said it, (y/n).” His gaze was dangerous as he loomed over you. Hand on either side of you, trapping you against the counter and blocking any route of escape.

You straighten yourself and looked directly into his eyes.

“Fuck me, Garou.”

The second those words left you and he was on you. His lips crashing against yours. His hand moved to the back of your neck, deepened the kiss.

He pulled off your caped, kiss and nipping down your neck and along your shoulders. His kisses were rough and he rarely stay in one place for long. He made sure to give every inch of your skin attention. You couldn't think. You felt overwhelmed.

Without warning you were turn around and bent over the countertop. He pulled his hard cock from the confines of his pants and hissed as it met the cold night air. He pressed you further against the countertop and you felt his member rub between your thighs.

He quickly lifted your skirt and lowered your pantyhose and underwear in one go. He pressed a firm digit against your clit, causing you gasp loudly. You moan in delight as he traced his finger backwards towards your dripping entrance.

You moaned his name in delight.

He removed his finger, much to your disappointment. You turned to look back at him as you heard the condom wrapper being torn open and he prepared himself. You turned back around and letting out a shaky breath knowing what came next.

You felt the head of his cock rub against your clit. You let out a cry of need as you began grinding against it. You wanted more. You moaned desperately against him.

“(y/n),” he leaned over you. “Are you ready for me to fuck you?” He whispered hotly in your ear.

“Yessss!” You groaned.

He grabbed you by your hips, placing the head of his cock at your entrance. Then in one fluid motion, Garou penetrated himself completely inside you. The head of his member brushing directly against your sweet spot.

You let out a scream, almost coming right then and there.

“Garou! Ah!” You whimpered, arching your back in delight. You rolled your hips back against him, desperate for him to move.

“Fuck (y/n), you feel so good.” He moaned in your ear.

He pulled back and snapped his hips forward harshly. He continued like this, aiming directly at your sweet spot. You moaned incoherently and began rolling your hips back to meet his rapid thrusts as best as you could.

You felt your walls twitch around him. God, you were so close and so was he, if his erratic thrusts were anything to go by. He reached around you, spreading you open and placing his fingers against your clit. He began to rub your clit gently while he sucked at your neck. You could hear his pants in your ear.

“Garou, I'm so close! Please. Harder!”

His fingers began to pick up the speed, rubbing your clit with just the right pressure. This along with a few carefully aim thrusts was all it took for Garou to send you over the edge.

You moan loudly as your walls spasmed around his cock.

“Y-YES! Garou! Garou! Yes! Ah!” You arched your back and rolled your hips back against his thrusts, ridding out your climax. You clawed desperately at countertop looking for something to hold on to as your orgasm left you seeing stars.

Just the sight of you coming undone underneath him was enough to make Garou come. His long fingers dug into your hips, enough to bruise, as he came letting out a long throaty moan against your neck. He rode out his own orgasm while whispering how fucking good you felt.

He pulled out and you groaned at the sudden lost of contact. Your legs felt weak and you were sure if it hadn't been for the countertop you would have collapsed. You closed your eye waiting for the euphoria to pass. Behind you Garou had already disposed of the condom and adjusted his pants. Where did he throw the condom way? You had no idea and you couldn't exactly see straight at the moment.

~A few minutes later~

You had successfully redressed yourself, with some help from Garou. You re-clipped your cape and hood back into place, lifting the hood over your head. Thankfully they helped conceal the marks left by Garou.

It was getting late and Tareo was bound to have noticed your absence.

You pushed off the counter you had been leaning on for support to follow Garou out the door. But your legs still felt like gelatin and you felt yourself limped. You also didn't have something to wipe yourself with which made walking uncomfortable. You really needed to go to the restroom.

Garou stopped just outside the door to see what was keeping you. He felt something dark stir inside him as he watched you limp towards him. He was grinning.

You noticed it and gave him a disapproving frown. That cocky little….

Once you reached him you leaned against him. He wrapped an arm around you, pulling you against his side for support.

Garou spotted Tareo sitting on the bench you both had been on earlier. He was alone inspecting his candy haul. You felt a twinge of guilt at thought of leaving him alone. How long had he been waiting?

“Heeeeyyyyyy!” Tareo spotted both of you and began waving his arms around wildly.

As both you made your way over to Tareo you passed a mother consoling her crying son.

“Shhhhh, it's okay sweetheart. Everything is going to be alright. I'm sure it was nothing. Shhhh.”

“B-but mommy! *Sniff* There was screaming coming from that old house” He began sobbing loudly.

You felt your stomach drop and your face paled. You were utterly scandalized. You wanted nothing more than to disappear right then and there. Garou on the other hand snickered at your horrified expression. You could feel him side vibrate as he tried to contain his laughter.

Tareo approached hastily with candy bags in tow. He stops just before reaching the both of you when he noticed both your expressions.

“What's wrong? Did something happen?” He asked innocently, tilting his head in confusion.

Unable to contain himself any further, Garou threw his head back howling in laughter. Tareo yelped at the sudden outburst from the Hero Hunter. You had also been taken aback by his abrupt laughter.  But soon the feeling passed and you glowered at him.  

“I hate you. You're sleeping on the couch tonight.”

----

Tada! I hope you guys liked it. It’s been awhile since I wrote a FF like this; like years. Sorry for any mistakes! I’m a bit rusty! I tried my best to catch any mistake! 

#garou x reader #garou x reader (Tareo's big sis) #garou opm #garou #garou the hero hunter #garou the human monster #fanfiction #PandoraMajora writes

[there-willbeblood]

22: The Tale of Two Steve's

NATALIA’S POV

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning —

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

I read the last lines of The Great Gatsby and closed the book as Steve kissed his way up my legs that were currently naked and wrapped in his sheets.

"I like that book the best so far." Steve mumbled and looked at me with piercing eyes, "Even though I usually hate it."

"I told you that you would." I put the book on the table next to his bed, "I don't know why you insist that Fitzgerald can't write."

"He's just never done anything for me." Steve stopped his kissing and came to lie next to me.

It was the end of October, only two days before Halloween and I was more than willing to just sit in Steve's house and read forever.

I had gone through about five novels in the span of four days. I would read a little from each of them every night and if I was staying over Steve's, he wouldn't let me go to sleep unless I read to him. It was "our thing" and I didn't understand what it was, but Steve always seemed turned on by me reading, so that would merge into late night love making sessions that never tired me out.

After the first initial shock of Steve's veracious sexual appetite, I realized that it wasn't an odd thing to go two, three rounds in a night and we would be dog tired by the next morning, but I didn't care. He was incredible and taught me things about my body that I didn't ever think were possible. The way I screamed from pleasure should have brought the ceilings down. I was turning into a nymphomaniac because all I thought about was fucking Steve if we were apart and I literally counted down the minutes until I could see him again.

It was pathetic but I didn't have any way of explaining it.

No matter what it was, Steve and I were fucking like rabbits and I was slowly getting used to being in his bed when I went to sleep as well as when I woke up. In the past week, I think I've slept in my dorm maybe once and that was only because I had a group study session that night.

Steve and I had settled into a very comfortable routine. Every afternoon, he would either pick me up or I would just walk to his apartment, which wasn't that far away. Sometimes Wanda would walk with me and stop off at Bucky's but most of the time, it was just me alone.

I didn't have a key to the place and I had to ask the man at the front desk for a new one every time. I would hold onto it like a lifeline in my pocket or backpack but whenever I would look for the damned thing, it was gone. I had a suspicion that Steve was taking them while I slept but I hadn't approached him about it yet.

If Steve was home when I came up, then we would order dinner and he made me do homework before the real fun began. We would lock ourselves in his room, reading, having sex, talking.

If he wasn't home then I would just wait until he got back from work before jumping him like a crazed groupie.

That was basically it.

Nothing too exciting to report but it was nice to just spend time together with Steve because I was falling more in love and I didn't know how to tell him.

That was my main problem as of now. I didn't know what to say. Was it too soon for that? Was I just crazy? Did Steve even care? I was going crazy just thinking about it all when I slept so I tried to go with the flow but there was always this bell in the back of my head that would ring whenever Steve touched me or kissed me or looked at me. After awhile, the bell seemed to be chiming three words: I love you.

I couldn't shut it up.

"What are you thinking about?" Steve asked me, bringing my mind back from my thoughts.

"Nothing."

"You can't be thinking about nothing." He chuckled, "It's impossible."

I shrugged and snuggled deeper into his pillows that were surrounding us on all sides, "Do you have plans for tomorrow?"

"Well, it's Friday so…the normal." He replied like a question.

"I have classes early in the morning and then I'm free. If you…want to even hang out with me." I quickly said, backtracking.

"Calm down, Natalia. I have no friends so don't worry. I won't be going anywhere." He laughed.

I loved it when he was like this. There were no barriers and Steve could just laugh freely. I had figured him out somewhat from our time together. I had deduced that the two Steves were so different from each other that it was almost bordering on bipolar disorder.

With me, when we were alone, he would express amusement, joke and play around but as soon as someone came around or when we were in public, a wall went up. I didn't know what that was about but Steve basically shut down, not towards me but towards others. He would be cold and clipped, like he didn't even want to talk to them. It was so strange. Even with Thor and Bucky, he was acting like the leader of their small group. The weird thing was that they followed. Maybe it was just the dynamic of their family but Steve was kind of scary around other people.

I would always make sure to never back down though whenever he went off into Dr. Jekyll mode. He was getting slightly better at opening up to me but there were still things that he kept to himself. I wasn't trying to poke into his life, I simply wanted to know who the real Steve was.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to come to a baseball game with me and my family tomorrow?" Steve asked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we always get good seats from the mayor and my father is a huge White Sox fan. Plus, it's the playoffs so…"

"I would love to go." I said, enthusiastically, "I don't know that much about baseball but I can keep up. Nick usually makes me sit in front of the TV to watch the games."

"I don't usually go but if you are, then I'll be there."

"You don't go? The mayor gives you guys seats and you pass that up every year?"

"I don't get too excited over things like that and the mayor is just trying to get as much money out of us as he can. I sold him his house."

"Wow, I didn't realize you ran in such high circles." I laid on his chest.

"You have no idea." He sighed, "And then Halloween is on Sunday."

"Wanda already has my costume picked out."

"What is it?" Steve got a certain look in his eye.

I hit his arm, "Stop being such a perv and I don't know. She won't tell me. We're supposed to be going to Plasma for the party they have there."

"Bucky loves that party." He rolled his eyes, "I guess I have to go this year."

"We could stay in." I suggested.

"No, we can go...but I'm not dressing up so tell Wanda to back off." He said seriously.

"If I have to dress in something then so do you."

"Absolutely not."

I was about to say something else when Steve's phone rang on the table. He reached over me to pick it up.

"Rogers." He answered professionally, telling me that this was a business call. Dr. Jekyll was about to come out.

I couldn't hear what the other line was saying but it sounded pretty serious and Steve started shouting, "What do you mean he got away…fuck you….well bring him back….you're worthless…why can't you take Peter to find him...alright...no, I'll be there in a second." He stumbled out of bed and pulled on some boxers, still on the phone.

I sat up and watched him gather the components of his suit, throwing them on his body. He made sure to smooth out any wrinkles and stood in front of the mirror, fixing his sex hair so that it was straight.

He hung up the phone with a growl, "Idiot!"

"Who?" I asked quietly.

"What?" Steve turned to me with a small fire in his eyes.

"Who's an idiot?"

"Oh, no one." He calmed down, putting up his mask so that I couldn't see how frustrated and angry he was, "I have to go handle some business." Steve snapped a watch on his wrist and stuffed his feet in some shoes.

"You have to sell a house at…eleven at night?" I checked the clock.

Steve stopped when he was at the door but didn't turn around, "I'll be back later."

That was all he said and then bounded down the stairs. I heard the door slam a second later.

Like it was happening in reverse, the door downstairs opened and Steve stomped back up only a couple seconds after. He came into the room and didn't even stop as he glided to my side of the bed and gave me a passionate kiss. His lips were strong and fierce with a hint of adoration mixed in as he held my face in place with unyielding hands.

All too soon, he pulled back, "I'll be back, I promise."

"Alright" I replied in a soft voice, "Be safe."

"I always am." He kissed me once more before leaving the room again.

I didn't know what Steve was up to but I figured that it was something dangerous and something illegal. I had dwindled my options down to two paths. Drug dealer seemed obvious but I never saw any evidence. I had also gain the farfetched idea of assassin-for-hire. It only got more absurd as the days went on and my imagination wandered.

My body was telling me to get out because I was in a hazardous situation. Being with Steve was risky but I couldn't move. He had a hold on me that was stronger than my mind was willing to admit. I had never felt like this before and even though I knew Steve was a dangerous man, in some way I also knew that he would never hurt me. There was something different about him when it came to us.

But that left me in an even worse situation.

I was the cop's daughter, the one who never got into trouble, the one who didn't even have a parking ticket to her name. Now I was the girl who was with the bad boy. What would Nick think? What would Renee think?

The sad thing was that I didn't care what they thought about my relationship with Steve. It was hard to turn my back on the law but the pull was too strong. I couldn't help myself. I was slipping further and further away from everything I was taught. I wasn't supposed to be in this man's bed but I couldn't leave.

I didn't desire to.

I sighed, not wanting to think about my current predicament anymore, and got out of the bed to take a shower.

I went into the bathroom and got the ocean spray body wash that was in the cabinet. It was the only scent in there since I had cleaned all the other ones out when I learned that Steve used them for when his many women frequented his shower. I wasn't having that so I threw everything but his scent away. He scowled at me the whole time but didn't say anything.

I got into the massive shower and let the hot water run over my body as I stood under the faucets. It was very relaxing and I thought I was at a spa somewhere as the ocean spray steamed around my muscles.

Half an hour later, I was wrinkled like a prune and got out before wrapping myself in a soft red towel on the counter. I stood in front of the mirror as I brushed my hair until it was tangle free.

I went back into Steve's room and didn't even hesitate as I searched through his top drawer for my favorite sleep clothes. I pulled on the navy blue, silk, Armani boxers and then a plain, white undershirt. I had been wearing these clothes whenever I came over and Steve even set them aside for me.

I climbed back in bed and noticed that an hour had passed since Steve left. I was too tired to wait up and I had an early morning class so I decided to skip out on more reading. I rested my head on the comfortable pillows and was out like a light minutes later.

That night, I dreamed about something but I can't really remember. There was a lot of red through. I wasn't really a big believer in dreams but this one kind of scared me. Wasn't red supposed to be the color of death or something like that? The dream made for a very restless night of sleep.

Sometime around three in the morning, I was woken up from the sound of water dripping on the shower tiles. I squinted my eyes and waited for them to adjust to the dark before sitting up. I figured that Steve was home.

I just wanted to make sure that he was okay.

I got out of bed and quietly walked over to the bathroom door where the light was coming from underneath. I pushed it open softly and was immediately hit in the face was the smell of rusty, tangy blood. It wasn't that bad since the scent was mixed with the steam of the shower but I could still smell it.

I walked into the bathroom further and saw something that must have come out of a horror movie.

On the pristine marble counter, were Steve's clothes. His suit that I didn't even think could wrinkle was bloodied to a point that it was unrecognizable. There was a lot of red liquid dripping onto the floor and I saw drops as they led to the shower.

Even through the glass of the door, I could see Steve scrubbing his naked body that was stained an off color of red. I wanted to run over and make sure he was okay but the blood didn't seem to be his. He was just washing off. It was oddly erotic but I kept my wits about me.

The thing that shocked me about this whole scene wasn't all the blood but the massive, golden gun that was situated next to Steve's suit. It was beautiful in its deadliness with a black holder and was actually shimmering in the lights of the bathroom.

The shower was still running and I was just standing there, looking at the pistol on the counter. I don't think I had ever seen a gun that big and it was almost completely covered in blood with fingerprints along the handle. From their shape and size, I could tell that they were Steve's.

I didn't even notice that I hadn't taken a breath until my head started to get light.

I didn't touch anything and backed out slowly, going into the bedroom.

Stay or go?

I decided that Steve's apartment wouldn't be the best place to be if I needed to think about things so I pulled on the clothes that I came in and almost tripped on my way down the stairs. I was out of the door in a split second and in the elevator, heading down. I just needed to get outside so that I could breathe again. The smell of blood was clinging to the inside of my nose and I realized that I was running away.

The chilly October air was perfect for me to rid my mind of the stench and I took deep breaths outside of his building.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" I asked quietly and just stood in front of the doors.

Once I got my head cleared, I hailed a cab and jumped in the back, calling Wanda to tell her that I needed to speak with her. She said she would be waiting in my dorm when I got there.

He tried to warn me. Steve told me that he was a bad man but I didn't listen. I figured he just had a low view of himself but that obviously wasn't the case. He had blood on his hands, literally and figuratively; did that change the way I felt about him?

By the time I got back to my dorm and paid the cab driver, I had my answer to that question.

I still loved him and there was nothing I could do about it but I needed some answers. I wanted to know why Steve got a call in the middle of the night and came back with a bloodied gun. What was going on?

I made it up to my room and Wanda was already sitting on my bed waiting.

"What the hell's going on?" She asked, "You sounded really messed up over the phone."

"I know, I know." I sat down on the chair and realized that I didn't grab my backpack before I left. Oh well. There were more pressing matters.

"Are you okay? You look as white as a sheet." Wanda sat on the edge of the bed.

"What do you know about Bucky's work?" I pulled off my jacket and got straight to the point.

As soon as the question was out of my mouth, I knew that Wanda understood what I was talking about but was covering up, "His restaurants?"

"No, other stuff." I shrugged, "Have you noticed anything strange?"

"No." She laid back down.

"You're lying." I accused.

"I am not." She shot back.

"Yes you are and I know something's going on. I saw a gun."

Wanda sat straight up, "Okay, I've wanted to tell you for so long but I couldn't and I had to warn you. There is so much shit going on right now." She slapped a hand over her mouth.

"What do you know?" I went to sit next to her on the bed.

"I can't say really but about a week ago, Bucky got completely drunk and let a lot of things slip."

"What do you mean?"

"They…the Rogers' don't really deal in the most legal types of activities."

"Like drugs or something?"

"…among other things." She replied cryptically, "I can't tell you anything until Steve does, if he chooses to. What happened?"

I told Wanda about my night that was basically normal until Steve got that call. She said that Bucky got the same call and left around the same time but she went back to her apartment right after so she wasn't there when he got home.

"I don't know what to do." I held my head in my hands, "My father is a cop and now my boyfriend is a drug dealer?"

"I didn't say that, Nat. You need to talk to Steve."

"What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know." She said sadly, "Bucky was drunk and let everything slip. I think Joseph was really

mad but there was no taking things back."

"I'm so confused and scared right now."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes." I answered immediately.

"That's the only thing that kept me sane. I know that I love Bucky and he loves me. I could never live without him so I have to accept him."

I envied Wanda and Bucky. They just met each other and were basically already planning a wedding. They seemed to have things so easy and had nothing compared to the relationship I had with Steve.

"But it's easier for you because you know what's going on. I'm still in the dark about all of this."

Wanda sighed heavily, "I know and to be honest, I don't think Steve's going to tell you anything. I freaked the fuck out. I literally scaled the walls when Bucky was letting things out. Steve is more guarded."

"I was afraid of that. What should I do? Should I tell him that I know something's up?"

"I bet he already has some kind of inkling that you suspect."

"Just tell me if they're doing something illegal." I begged.

"It's worse." Wanda packed up her purse and gave me a hug before getting off the bed and leaving the room.

I didn't go to sleep that night but by the time I was settled down, it was already seven in the morning so it was stupid to even try and get some rest.

I changed clothes and didn't even bother getting breakfast because I knew I couldn't keep anything down. I walked out of my dorm and my body just seemed to know that Steve was there.

I raised my head and saw him leaning against his BMW with his arms crossed; my backpack in his hands. He had on a navy blue suit and sunglasses so I couldn't really tell the expression on his face but his body position looked rigid. I let out a deep breath and started walking towards the car with feet that felt like boulders.

When I reached him, I kept my head down so that I didn't have to see him or I would surely lose control of myself.

"You left last night." Steve said calmly.

"I know. I had…things to do." I lied.

"I brought your bag back." He handed it to me and as I went to reach, our hands touched slightly. I pulled back, remembering his long fingerprints on the handle of the gold gun last night.

Steve let out a deep breath, "I understand if things are too complicated for you. I should have been more careful last night."

I looked up at him and could tell that Steve was really sorry although he would never say those words, "I'm begging you to tell me what's going on."

He hung his head and kicked a rock on the pavement, "I can't. Bucky told Wanda and he's in a shit load of trouble from my father. I can't tell you but I want you to know that it's because I'm trying to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"Yes, I don't want you living the life I have. The only problem is that I can't stay away from you but I don't want you mixed up in all of this."

"I can take care of myself; just tell me what's happening. I think I deserve to know."

Steve looked at me behind his sunglasses, "I'm a coward Natalia and I just can't tell you…not yet."

"Not yet?"

"I need to know how far this is going to go between us. If I tell you what's going on now and we break up, what's going to happen to the information I gave you?"

"I know how to keep my mouth shut. I just feel like I'm in the dark."

"Just give me some time to figure out what to do but if you say one word about what you saw last night..." He let his sentence trail off murderously.

I nodded in understanding because if Steve was really doing illegal things, this wasn't something to take lightly. I know that it might sound weak but I couldn't let Steve go. What else could I do but wait until he decided on a course of action. I wanted him, I needed him and even though we just started dating, I could have sworn that we had been together for years. I couldn't drop him even if I wasn't thinking correctly.

My father would kill me, not only for having a twenty-five year old boyfriend but the fact that he was some drug dealer/assassin, would just be icing on the cake.

"Just give me some time." Steve passed a hand over his hair, "I have to figure out the best way to do all of this."

"Okay, I understand." I said stupidly. I should have responded with a 'Get the fuck out and don't come back until you have some answers' but I just couldn't.

He handed me my bag again and this time I took it.

Steve leaned in hesitantly and gave me the most delicate kiss yet that I almost didn't feel it.

"Don't hate me. I will tell you." He said firmly, just inches away from my mouth.

"I know." I nodded and he then kissed me one more time before going around to his side of the car.

"Should I expect you at the game tonight?" He asked when he opened the door.

"I'll be there." I smiled but it wasn't real.

"Okay. I'll pick you up at four-thirty." He got in the car and the engine came alive with a smooth sound, driving off a second later.

I didn't feel like going to school now and it seemed like the day was already over but I had to get to class so I made my feet move. I was already ten minutes late but the class was so large that no one would notice.

I sat in my normal seat next to Sam.

"You're late." He muttered quietly.

"I know. I had to get my backpack from my boyfriend." I start pulling out my notes.

"Boyfriend? Damn and I thought we could go out sometime." He chuckled.

"Fat chance."

We stayed quiet for a couple of minutes and made sure to seem like we were paying attention.

"Any weekend plans?" Sam asked me when we had finished an equation on the board.

"Not really. I'm going to a baseball game tonight but that's about it. Maybe a Halloween party later." I shrugged.

"Sounds fun. You taking the boyfriend?"

"Probably." I answered without giving too much away. I was a very private person when it came to relationships. I didn't even really tell my parents that I had a boyfriend and I hardly knew Sam so I didn't want to just gab to a new friend.

"I wish there was something fun I could go to for Halloween. Where is this party you mentioned?"

"Uh…I'm not sure." I said easily and was slightly shocked at how fast the lies came to my mouth. I didn't want Sam knowing that I would be attending a party at Plasma. That would just raise more questions about my age and things like that.

"Well be safe. The freaks come out on Halloween." Sam wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Truth be told, Sam was kind of weird and if it weren't for the fact that we were from the same state, I wouldn't have any reason to talk to him. I was always nice but Sam liked to ask questions and that got annoying really quickly.

By the time my classes were finished for the day, I was exhausted so I took a quick nap for about two hours before I got a call from Steve saying that he was on his way. The sound of his voice was thick with worry and still held a little bit of apprehension towards me. It wasn't necessarily awkward but I could tell that he had some things to say and didn't know how.

It was kind of cold outside so I dressed in jeans and a dark green sweater while letting my hair stay in its waves to cover my neck.

Steve said that we were all going out to dinner so I didn't need to eat anything and I was wondering how much money I should bring even though I knew I wouldn't be using it. Steve never let me pay for anything.

I went downstairs and saw Steve in the same spot I did this morning, up against his impressive BMW. He had taken off his suit jacket and was now in the pants with a white, collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked extremely delicious and I was happily surprised that I actually felt good to see him. With all the bullshit that had happened last night, I was still joyful from just seeing him.

"Hi." Steve said when I was closer to him. He held the door open for me.

"Hi." Just to show him that I wasn't mad or scared, I stood on my tip toes and gave him a sweet kiss that didn't last more than a couple of seconds but it did the trick because Steve smiled at me.

He was in the car a couple of seconds later and we were off.

"Okay so I know we have some things to talk about but if you could keep whatever you saw under your hat until later that would be much appreciated." Steve said as he drove through late afternoon traffic.

"Will I get you in trouble with Daddy?" I teased.

"Bucky is currently being ringed through the torture chambers." He sighed.

"So what I don't get is why Wanda can know but I can't?"

"It's not that you can't, it's just that Bucky wasn't supposed to say anything but his drunk ass…the point of the matter is that Wanda shouldn't know anything and luckily, she just got a general picture."

"I know that you're not squeaky clean and I don't expect you to change but I just want to make sure you're not in danger."

"That doesn't matter but I will promise you that you won't ever have to worry about your safety." He looked at me with deep eyes.

"My safety?"

"Just give me time to think about this, Natalia." Steve groaned and I backed off the questions.

We drove in compatible silence for a while and I didn't feel scared at all even though I should have been giving the evidence I saw last night.

I decided to change the subject, "So…you said it was the playoffs?"

Steve visibly relaxed, "Yeah, I'm not much of a baseball fan but Joseph loves it so we usually go when October hits."

"Are the White Sox going to win?"

"The White Sox never win." He laughed in his beautiful baritone, "But we always go to watch."

As we neared U.S. Cellular Field, the traffic became unbearable and I thought that we were going to be in line for hours but Steve masterfully veered off into a section of the parking lot that I guess was reserved because there were security gates blocking it off from the general population.

"Box seats always get the best parking." Steve explained to me when he pulled into the underground garage of the stadium that was filled with expensive cars.

"Do you guys live like this all the time?" I asked, slightly stunned that anyone had this much money.

"Only the best." He answered and moved into a parking spot next to a giant black Hummer that I knew was Thor's.

I got out of the car when it was turned off and Steve took my hand as we walked through the parking lot. We got into an elevator and went up.

"Is your whole family going to be there?"

"Yes and I promise that Joseph will be on his best behavior."

"Does he still hate me?"

"No, he never hated you but he's under a lot of pressure to protect his family and he had to make sure you were alright."

"That's the same excuse Jane gave me."

"They have similar views on the subject but who cares. You're not going anywhere." Steve wrapped an arm tightly around my waist as we went up.

I looked at the ticket that was in my hands and saw that the game started at seven but that was two hours from now.

"What are we going to be doing for two hours?" I asked.

"We sit in our seats up top and eat basically. We watch warm-ups and then the game starts. Baseball is an all day thing with the Rogers."

"Sounds like fun." I kind of got excited because I had never been to anything like this. I would have to make up some story to Nick as to how I got such great seats.

The elevators opened and we were in a long hallway that was complete with doors on each side. It was very eerie and the lighting wasn't that good. I could have sworn that we were in a basement somewhere but Steve knew exactly where he was going and arrived at the fifth door on the left before opening it.

The whole room was huge and everything was spacious with floor to ceiling windows that encased the box but could open onto a patio type thing so that we could get up close and personal. The box was pretty high in the stadium and I was looking straight down onto the field, right behind home plate.

I don't even think I noticed everyone else in the room until Thor swept me up in his arms. "Nat! We've missed you so much." He spun me around.

"I missed you too Thor but I just saw you a couple of days ago." I patted his shoulder.

"I know but it's been hell being with just Steve, Bucky and Peter the whole time. They're no fun." Thor sat me down and I waved to everyone in the box.

"I'm so glad you could come." Sarah got up from the sofa with Jane and gave me a hug, "Baseball is a very big deal in this family."

"So I've heard." I hugged her back.

There was heaps upon heaps of food that was lined up on a long table with chairs all around it. Bucky was talking to Wanda and they both gave me a head nod, Jane was trying to calm Thor down, Joseph was pointing onto the field, trying to show Peter some things and Steve stayed next to me.

"Something's missing." Steve tapped his chin and then snapped his fingers, "I got it." He pulled something out of this back pocket and put a blue White Sox hat on top of my head.

"Oh great." I said sarcastically.

"You look so attractive in that." He kissed me, "You'll have to wear it later." He said suggestively under his breath.

"You wish." I hit his shoulder and went to sit next to Jane and Sarah.

Dinner started about ten minutes after Steve and I got there.

We all sat around the long white table, just like it was Sunday, and dug into a massive feast that was catered by someplace called Levy Steakhouse, which I found out from Thor, was created to feed all the Diamond Club members of the White Sox, of which Joseph had been a member for thirty years. Food was passed around and conversation was abundant as we watched some warm-ups. I was surprised that Joseph wasn't mean towards me anymore. I guess he and Steve had a talk because he was actually quite nice in a strange way since I had only experienced the darker side of the Rogers patriarch.

Joseph and I didn't really have a chance to talk alone but he asked me how school was going and if I had any plans for Thanksgiving, normal stuff like that and I kept up a conversation with him so my night was off to a good start.

By the time seven rolled around, the box was filled with cigar smoke, thanks to Steve, Bucky, Joseph and Steve. Sarah opened up the French doors so that we could sit outside on our own personal patio that overlooked the field.

Before the national anthem, the mayor came to actually talk to Joseph like they were best friends and I was introduced like I was actually a part of the family. Some of Sarah's friends came to say hi as well and I couldn't believe that people actually had this much money that they could dress so fashionably. I only thought that happened in movies.

I sat next to Peter on the comfortable sofa as Steve was trying to explain to us the rules. I knew some of them but I wasn't very up to date on baseball lingo.

"So…who's that?" Peter pointed to the man behind home plate.

"That's the catcher and the pitcher tries to put the ball right in his glove so that they can strike the hitter out." Steve said.

"And when you get three strikes, then you're out, right?"

"Exactly. See, it's not that hard."

Peter and Steve had this bond that I didn't know was possible in such a quick brotherly relationship. Peter was doing well and looked a lot healthier than he did the first time I met him but I could tell that he had a long way to go until he resembled a normal fourteen-year-old.

He told me when we were eating dinner that Sarah and Joseph had adopted him. Peter looked so happy when he was telling me that and it was almost impossible to dislike the kid because he was genuinely happy to be in a better position than he had been before.

"This is the playoffs so it's usually a big deal, only made bigger because we're playing the Yankees." Steve puffed on his cigar.

Peter looked at him with admiring eyes and I could tell that he thought of Steve as a role model. Maybe it was because they were both the youngest or maybe it was because Peter just seemed to mesh better with Steve than Thor and Bucky but in any case, they seemed to have a strong bond with each other.

"Can…can I try?" Peter asked Steve as he saw him smoking his cigar.

Steve looked at him for a second and then handed it to him, "Don't tell Ma."

Peter took the cigar in between his lips and held it there before taking a drag. He shot up and threw the cigar back to Steve, crouching his way out of the room. Sarah chased after him.

Steve roared with laughter and was clutching his stomach.

"That wasn't funny." I said seriously, "He's going to be sick."

"Hell yeah he is. I threw up for three days after my first puff."

"You can't give him stuff like this and you shouldn't be smoking them either." I snatched the cigar out of his hand and stubbed it out in the ashtray on the table in front of us.

"That was hilarious." Steve wiped his eyes.

"I hope Sarah kicks your ass for that." I crossed my arms, "He's probably puking his guts out and you know he needs to keep every ounce of food down."

"I know but I couldn't resist."

The game started a couple minutes later and Peter came back, still sick to his stomach but getting better.

We all sat on the patio to watch the first inning and I never knew fans to be so vocal. There were Yankees shippers and White Sox shippers but they always made sure to let you know who they were cheering for.

By the time the fourth inning was over, the Sox were up by four runs and everyone was pleasantly surprised. Steve told me that never happened.

"Can I buy a souvenir?" I asked Steve who was staring intently at the game.

"Yeah." He pulled his wallet out without looking at me and retrieved a one hundred dollar bill, "Buy anything you want."

"I don't need your money." Steve just raised an eyebrow at me without saying anything. "Okay, fine." I got up from my seat and headed to the door.

"Let me come with you, Nat." Joseph stood from his chair and held the door open for me.

"Uh…thanks." I walked out into the hallway.

"So, how are you liking the game?" Joseph asked as we started walking.

"It's fun. I never thought I would say that about a sporting event."

"Well I'm glad you came."

"Really? I was under the impression that you didn't like me much."

"No, it's not that, I'm just very shielding when it comes to new comers to the family."

"Maybe this isn't my place to say but you weren't like that with Wanda."

"No, I wasn't." He admitted, "Steve is just…different."

I decided not to ask any more questions because truthfully, I was just happy that Joseph was talking to me at all and I was going to give Steve his chance to explain things later.

We walked out into what was known as the Hull and it was a large area where vendors sold shirts and other souvenirs along with food of classic Chicago sausages and pizza.

"What do you want?" Joseph asked me, "Take your pick."

"I just wanted a shirt but Steve gave me a hundred so…"

"My son knows how to provide. Let's waste it on something stupid." He got a look in his eye like he was a kid. I never thought I would see this side of Joseph but it was so easy and the air held no tension around us.

Joseph and I spent ten minutes looking around and comparing prices before finding a nice man in a corner that had some pretty cheap stuff.

I ended up getting three shirts, one for Wanda, Jane and myself along with a hat that was identical to mine so that I could shove it on Steve's head when I got back. Joseph decided to get one of those big foam fingers for Peter and then two blow up bats for no other reason than to watch Thor and Bucky fight with them. He said it was really amusing.

"Now, I'm hungry." He said as we started carrying our stuff back, "Let's stop and get some pizza."

"That's fine with me."

We went to the long line that was forming at one of the vendors who advertised 'The best pizza in Chicago' and Joseph said that it was true so we were fine with waiting.

I never thought that I would have a conversation with Joseph about anything because he just seemed so abrasive at first but now I saw the gentle side of him that everyone talked about. We found that we had a mutual love for some old rock bands and he even sung me a verse from AC/DC's Highway to Hell.

When he laughed, I could see the face that he gave Steve and everything about them was almost the same, except for their eyes and hair. Steve got those things from Sarah but the majority of his features came from his father.

We had been waiting in line for about fifteen minutes, slowly inching forward when a loud laugh came from the other side of the Hull. It was one of those loud, drunk laughs that alerted everyone to its presence. And then, the laugh spoke.

"Joseph!" A drunken blond man came stumbling towards us, "Joseph Rogers. Hot damn, is that you?"

Joseph pushed me behind him so quickly and smoothly that I almost didn't realize the shift of position.

The man was skinny but well built and long with shaggy hair that looked like wheat as it fell over his deep gray eyes, which I could see even from far away. I could already smell the booze on him but the man's clothes were perfectly intact, almost as pristine as Steve's would be but I don't think anyone could match Steve's fashion savvy.

"Joseph, is that you?" The man pushed people out of the way, "I think it is."

Just like his son, Joseph switched completely into business mode. He stood strong and rigid with a hard look on his beautiful face.

"Joseph, why aren't you talking to me?" The man laughed and fell the last few steps forward, "I know it's you. I would be able to tell anywhere."

"James." Joseph nodded, "It's good to see you again."

"You too old buddy." The man, whose name was obviously James, slapped him on the back, "I tried to get up to the box but those stupid ass bodyguards you have wouldn't even let me get a word in."

"That's what they're there for." Joseph smiled tightly.

Bodyguards?

"They were being bitches." James took a long draw from a bottle of beer, "So, what you been up to? You get the last shipment I sent you?"

"I did and I sent my thanks." Joseph replied and I could tell that he didn't particularly like this situation, "How are your siblings?"

"Oh, you know, Laurent's a bitch, Tanya's a bitch, and I'm just living life." He shouted.

"Lower your voice." He growled when he noticed that we were attracting attention.

"Why? This is a White Sox game." James started singing something indistinguishable and ended it in a laugh.

"Why don't you go back to your seat?"

"No, I came for some pizza." He shouted and then his head tilted to the side as he noticed me,

"Hello." James sang creepily, "And who are you?"

"James, go back to your seat." Joseph commanded to him and stood further in front of me.

"Stop cock blocking, Joseph." James sidestepped him and held his hand out for me. I didn't really know what to do and just looked at him strangely.

"Nat, this is James, a family friend." Joseph introduced me, "James, this is Nat, my niece."

I didn't bat an eyelash at the lie and just shook James' hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"A niece? Very nice." James disgustingly slinked his finger over my wrist.

Joseph nearly snatched my hand out of James' hastily and I could see him gripping James' wrist like it was a stick, applying a painful amount of pressure.

"She's not a toy you can play with." He spoke softly but still had the face of calm.

"Why, is she spoken for?" James snarled.

"Yes so keep your hands to yourself."

"I can do what I want Joseph. You might run everyone else but if my father was still alive, you'd be cowering in your boots."

"Your father was scum and that's why I kil…did what I did do him."

What the hell was going on?

It sounded like James and Joseph knew each other but they were old time rivals or something like that. If one wasn't twenty or so years older than the other, they could have been college buddies.

It was obvious that Joseph was in full control of this situation but James was fighting for dominance that he would never get. The weird thing was that no one seemed to be seeing the same thing I was. I looked around and people were either on their phones or impatiently waiting in a line that wasn't moving forward.

"I can do as I please." James ripped his hand from Joseph's and turned back to me, "Do you want to go out sometime?"

"Uh…no." I answered, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"I'm sure I can make you feel good." James reached around my body and squeezed my ass roughly, almost to the point that I yelped out in pain.

I heard a click and James grew inflexible before he even retracted his grasp from my butt. If I wasn't so close to Joseph, I would have never noticed the golden gun that he was pointing at James' stomach. It was almost identical to the one I had seen in Steve's bathroom but two times bigger.

What was with the gold guns?

"I told you to keep your hands off of her." Joseph growled, "If I ever see that type of behavior again, especially with a member of my family, I will blow your spleen clean out of your body. Do I make myself clear?"

James drunkenly nodded but didn't say anything.

"Don't ever speak to me again. If you have something to say then say it to my sons. This is why I don't deal with trash." Joseph pushed James backwards and his hands were suddenly free from the gun.

James turned and took a swig of beer before stumbling away.

No one was the wiser as to what just happened and I felt like I was in a bubble.

Joseph and I stood in line silently for another ten minutes before we could get our pizza and then carried it back to the box. Not one word was mentioned about the interaction that I just saw but some part of me knew that this wasn't something we would have a heart-to-heart about.

When we went back into the box, almost everything was the same as usual and the family was cheering for a White Sox win. I didn't really know what to do or if I should tell Steve but I kept my mouth shut.

"What did you get?" Steve asked me when I sat down.

"Lots of stuff." I replied but I wasn't really paying attention to our conversation.

"Good. I hope you spent all the money."

"Yeah and I got you a hat." I pulled it out of the bag.

"I don't wear hats, Natalia." He looked at me jokingly.

"You'll wear this one." I put it on his head and made sure it wouldn't fall off, "You look cute."

"I bet." He rolled his eyes but didn't take the hat off of his head.

We watched the rest of the game but everyone could tell that something was off. Joseph wasn't as he was before and Sarah seemed to be calming him down.

By the time we all left the box, it was dark outside and we were all tired. Steve held my hand as we went down the elevators and when we were in the parking garage; Joseph pulled him aside to talk. I didn't want to let go of Steve's hand because I knew he was going to be furious with the information he was receiving.

I watched from the car as his face turned an odd shade of dark purple and his fists bunched at his side. Steve's lips turned into one solid line and his eyes grew hard as stones. Even from far away, I felt a shiver of terror go up my body.

Steve ripped the car door open and slouched inside, igniting the engine without a word.

He spun out of the parking space easily and quickly with a scowl of the devil on his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly as we sped through traffic going out of Cellular Field.

"No, Natalia. I'm not okay." He responded coldly, "I'm going to drop you off and then I have some things to take care of."

"Are you going to hurt him?"

I don't know why I asked that but I didn't want anyone getting harmed on my account. I figured Steve would do something rash in the heat of the moment.

"Yes." Steve said, not even bothering to lie.

"Are…are you going to kill him?" I knew he would and with the new evidence I had, it was a strong possibility in my mind that Steve had killed before.

"No, I can't, but I want to. He had no right to put his hands on you."

"He didn't know and Joseph said I was his niece."

"He didn't know? That's no excuse. He shouldn't be touching anyone that way, especially you and he's going to never forget that." Steve growled.

"As much as I'm turned on by this possessive Steve, I don't think you need to do anything bad."

"I told you that I would explain things later but this is who I am. Someone did something bad and they have to pay for it." He said in a very black and white way.

"Pinching my ass wasn't that bad."

"You have no idea what the thoughts are in my head right now. I feel like I could rip this city apart." Steve stomped on the gas and we shot off.

We stayed quiet as Steve blasted through the roads and I couldn't tell what he was muttering under his breath but it sounded like a prayer.

We screeched to a halt in front of my dorm and he sighed before leaning back, "I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked

"I guess so." I shrugged.

"Good." He leaned over for a kiss, which I gave him but hesitantly.

"Don't hurt him." I got out of the car and shut the door.

I didn't even want to look backwards as I walked into my dorm and heard the car roar off down the road.

I swiped my card at the proctor station and got in the elevators.

The whole time I was going up, I was wondering what Steve might do to James. I had only just met the guy and I was scared for him. The way Steve drove told me how he was going to handle the situation but I hoped nothing bad happened because James got a little frisky. It wasn't worth it but something told me that Steve wasn't going to just let him walk away from this.

That night, I don't think I went to bed but I just tossed and turned so things were really blurry in my head.

I was scared. It was a plain and simple thing. I didn't know what Steve was going to do but I feared that he was going to get in trouble. He seemed like the kind of man who would do something rash to defend me or some macho shit like that.

To be honest, I didn't give a fuck about James but I didn't want Steve getting hurt.

I woke up the next morning and since it was Saturday, I didn't have much to do so I lazily stayed in bed. I was supposed to be meeting Steve today but I didn't know if that was going to happen. I still needed to think about things.

Around eleven, I got hungry and decided to go downstairs for some breakfast. By the time I was finished gorging myself on waffles and bacon, I wanted another nap.

I got out of the elevator and went to my door, unlocking it easily.

When I pushed myself into the room, I kicked something that wasn't hard but I could feel it. I turned on the lights and looked down at the CD case on the floor. I picked it up and rolled it in my hands.

I didn't remember leaving this on the floor and I don't even have any CD's so I was very concerned. Someone must have pushed it under the door.

I opened the case up and in big black letters was: Watch me.

I was suspicious as I started my laptop and took off my jacket, sitting at the desk while I waited. As soon as it was ready to go, I put the CD in and waited for it to load.

Something about these past few days was making me very paranoid and I suddenly realized that hanging around with Steve was a liability.

Suddenly my screen went black and a grainy picture appeared on screen with the words Nicola Rossini under it. The picture got smaller and moved to the top of the screen before a family tree began to branch out.

I saw a whole lot of men all with names and dates under them but I had no idea what I was looking at until I saw Joseph. Under his name, Thor, Bucky and Steve appeared. All the pictures were candid so that the subjects didn't know they were being photographed.

They vanished and the screen was filled with words like murder, illegal trading, drug dealing, corporate espionage, gambling, tax evasion, arson, grand theft auto and others, but I had to stop reading. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I should be questioning where this disk came from but I couldn't even think right.

There was newspaper articles that went back to the earliest part of the 20th century and in every headline were the name Rogers along with another charge that was suddenly dropped or forgotten about. Pictures were zoomed in on Joseph talking or eating with some pretty ruthless looking men who all had last names like Volturi and Denali. I knew those names because of my father.

The Volturi's were a major mob family that did a lot of criminal activity around Seattle. The Denalis ran drug scams all up and down the west coast and were involved in a string of suspicious cases in California as well. Why would Joseph be meeting with them?

There were pictures of Thor, Bucky and Steve all holding guns and looking very suspicious. In some photos, they were bloodied and beaten but in others, they were clean cut with nothing more than a scratch on them.

The last thing I saw was a newspaper article from this morning, I had no idea how it was digitized so quickly but there it was. The story wasn't on the main page but was still pretty horrific in its details.

A man by the name of James Denali was found in a back alleyway late last night, alive but badly beaten. The weapon of choice was a thick, wooden baseball bat that was lying next to the victim, bloody and splintered.

James was beaten so badly that he was in critical condition at some hospital downtown. Both of his arms were broken, his right leg was completely shattered, he had bruises that were the size of watermelons, and his jaw was busted in three places. It had to be wired shut and doctors didn't know if he would ever be able to speak correctly again.

There were no suspects and no witnesses.

Things in my mind snapped together in a nano second.

I snatched the CD out of the holder and grabbed my jacket off of the bed, heading out of the door.

Steve and I needed to talk now.

#romanogers #twbb

[anavoliselenu]

blood chapter 11

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther... And one fine morning —

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

I read the last lines of The Great Gatsby and closed the book as Justin kissed his way up my legs that were currently left naked, wrapped in his sheets.

"I like that book the best so far." Justin's voice was mumbled and he finally looked at me with piercing eyes, "Even though I usually hate it."

"I told you that you would." I put the book on the table next to his bed, "I don't know why you insist that Fitzgerald can't write."

"He's just never done anything for me." Justin stopped his kissing and came to lie next to me.

It was the end of October, only two days before Halloween and I was more than willing to just sit in Justin's house and read forever.

I had gone through about five novels in the span of four days. I would read a little from each of them every night and if I was staying over Justin's, he wouldn't let me go to sleep unless I read to him. It was "our thing" I guess and I didn't understand what it was but Justin always seemed turned on by me reading so that would merge into late night love making sessions that never tired me out.

After the first initial shock of Justin's veracious sexual appetite, I realized that it wasn't an odd thing to go two, three rounds in a night and we would be dog tired by the next morning but I didn't care. He was incredible and taught me things about my body that I didn't ever think were possible. The way I screamed from pleasure should have brought the ceilings down. I was turning into a nymphomaniac because all I thought about was fucking Justin if we were apart and I literally counted down the minutes until I could see him again.

It was pathetic but I didn't have any way of explaining it.

No matter what it was, Justin and I were fucking like rabbits and I was slowly getting used to being in his bed when I went to sleep as well as when I woke up. In the past week, I think I've slept in my dorm maybe once and that was only because I had a group study session that night.

Justin and I had settled into a very comfortable routine. Every afternoon, he would either pick me up or I would just walk to his apartment, which wasn't that far away. Sometimes Alice would walk with me and stop off at Jasper's but most of the time, it was just me alone.

I didn't have a key to the place and I had to ask the man at the front desk for a new one every time. I would hold onto it like a lifeline in my pocket or book bag but whenever I would look for the damned thing, it was gone. I had a suspicion that Justin was taking them while I slept but I hadn't approached him about it yet.

If Justin was home when I came up, then we would order dinner and he made me do homework before the real fun began. We would lock ourselves in his room, reading, having sex, talking.

If he wasn't home then I would just wait until he got back from work before jumping him like a crazed groupie.

That was basically it.

Nothing too exciting to report but it was nice to just spend time together with Justin because I was falling more in love and I didn't know how to tell him.

That was my main problem as of now. I didn't know what to say. Was it too soon for that? Was I just crazy? Did Justin even care? I was going crazy just thinking about it all when I slept so I tried to go with the flow but there was always this bell in the back of my head that would ring whenever Justin touched me or kissed me or looked at me. After awhile, the bell seemed to be chiming three words: I love you.

I couldn't shut it up.

"What are you thinking about?" Justin asked me, bringing my mind back from my thoughts.

"Nothing."

"You can't be thinking about nothing." He chuckled, "It's impossible."

I shrugged and snuggled deeper into his pillows that were surrounding us on all sides, "Do you have plans for tomorrow?"

"Well, it's Friday so…the normal." He replied like a question.

"I have classes early in the morning and then I'm free. If you…want to even hang out with me." I quickly said, backtracking.

"Calm down, Selena. I have no friends so don't worry. I won't be going anywhere." He laughed.

I loved it when he was like this. There were no barriers and Justin could just laugh freely. I had figured him out somewhat from our time together. I had deduced that the two Edwards were so different from each other that it was almost bordering on bipolar disorder.

With me, when we were alone, he would express amusement, joke and play around but as soon as someone came around or when we were in public, a wall went up. I didn't know what that was about but Justin basically shut down, not towards me but towards others. He would be cold and clipped, like he didn't even want to talk to them. It was so strange. Even with Emmett and Jasper, he was acting like the leader of their small group. The weird thing was that they followed. Maybe it was just the dynamic of their family but Justin was kind of scary around other people.

I would always make sure to never back down though whenever he went off into Dr. Jekyll mode. He was getting slightly better at opening up to me but there were still things that he kept to himself. I wasn't trying to poke into his life, I simply wanted to know who the real Justin was.

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to come to a baseball game with me and my family tomorrow?" Justin asked.

"Really?"

"Yeah, we always get good seats from the mayor and my father is a huge White Sox fan. Plus, it's the playoffs so…"

"I would love to go." I said, maybe a little too enthusiastically but I didn't care, "I don't know that much about baseball but I can keep up. Charlie usually makes me sit in front of the TV to watch the games."

"I don't usually go but if you are, then I'll be there."

"You don't go? The mayor gives you guys seats and you pass that up every year?"

"I don't get too excited over things like that and the mayor is just trying to get as much money out of us as he can. I sold him his house."

"Wow, I didn't realize you ran in such high circles." I laid on his chest.

"You have no idea." He sighed, "And then Halloween is on Sunday."

"Alice already has my costume picked out."

"What is it?" Justin got a certain look in his eye.

I hit his arm, "Stop being such a perv and I don't know. She won't tell me. We're supposed to be going to Plasma for the party they have there."

"Jasper loves that party." He rolled his eyes, "I guess I have to go this year."

"We could stay in." I suggested.

"No, we can go but I'm not dressing up so tell Alice to back off." He said seriously.

"If I have to dress in something then so do you."

"Absolutely not."

I was about to say something else when Justin's phone rang on the table. He reached over me to pick it up.

"Bieber." He answered professionally, telling me that this was a business call. Dr. Jekyll was about to come out.

I couldn't hear what the other line was saying but it sounded pretty serious and Justin started shouting, "What do you mean he got away…fuck you….well bring him back….you're worthless…why can't you take Alec to find him...alright...no, I'll be there in a second." He stumbled out of bed and pulled on some boxers, still on the phone.

I sat up and watched him gather the components of his suit, throwing them on his body. He made sure to smooth out any wrinkles and stood in front of the mirror, fixing his sex hair so that it was straight.

He hung up the phone with a growl, "Idiot!"

"Who?" I asked quietly.

"What?" Justin turned to me with a small fire in his eyes.

"Who's an idiot?"

"Oh, no one." He calmed down, putting up his mask so that I couldn't see how frustrated and angry he was, "I have to go handle some business." Justin snapped a watch on his wrist and stuffed his feet in some shoes.

"You have to sell a house at…eleven at night?" I checked the clock.

Justin stopped when he was at the door but didn't turn around, "I'll be back later."

That was all he said and bound down the stairs. I heard the door slam a second later.

Like it was happening in reverse, the door downstairs opened and Justin stomped back up only a couple seconds after. He came into the room and didn't even stop as he glided to my side of the bed and gave me a passionate kiss. His lips were strong and fierce with a hint of adoration mixed in as he held my face in place with unyielding hands.

All too soon, he pulled back, "I'll be back, I promise."

"Alright" I replied in a soft voice, "Be safe."

"I always am." He kissed me once more before leaving the room again.

I didn't know what Justin was up to but I figured that it was something dangerous and something illegal. I had dwindled my options down to two paths. Drug dealer seemed obvious but I never saw any evidence. I had also gain the farfetched idea of assassin-for-hire. It only got more absurd as the days went on and my imagination wandered.

My body was telling me to get out because I was in a hazardous situation. Being with Justin was risky but I couldn't move. He had a hold on me that was stronger than my mind was willing to admit. I had never felt like this before and even though I knew Justin was a dangerous man, in some way I also knew that he would never hurt me. There was something different about him when it came to us.

But that left me in an even worse situation.

I was the cop's daughter, the one who never got into trouble, the one who didn't even have a parking ticket to her name. Now I was the girl who was with the bad boy. What would Charlie think? What would Renee think?

The sad thing was that I didn't care what they thought about my relationship with Justin. It was hard to turn my back on the law but the pull was too strong. I couldn't help myself. I was slipping further and further away from everything I was taught. I wasn't supposed to be in this man's bed but I couldn't leave.

I didn't desire to.

I sighed, not wanting to think about my current predicament anymore, and got out of the bed to take a shower.

I went into the bathroom and got the ocean spray body wash that was in the cabinet. It was the only scent in there since I had cleaned all the other ones out when I learned that Justin used them for when his many women frequented his shower. I wasn't having that so I threw everything but his scent away. He scowled at me the whole time but didn't say anything.

I got into the massive shower and let the hot water run over my body as I stood under the faucets. It was very relaxing and I thought I was at a spa somewhere as the ocean spray steamed around my muscles.

Half an hour later, I was wrinkled like a prune and got out before wrapping myself in a soft red towel on the counter. I stood in front of the mirror as I brushed my hair until it was tangle free.

I went back into Justin's room and didn't even hesitate as I searched through his top drawer for my favorite sleep clothes. I pulled on the navy blue, silk, Armani boxers and then a plain, white undershirt. I had been wearing these clothes whenever I came over and Justin even set them aside for me.

I climbed back in bed and noticed that an hour had passed since Justin left. I was too tired to wait up and I had an early morning class so I decided to skip out on more reading. I rested my head on the comfortable pillows and was out like a light minutes later.

That night, I dreamed about something but I can't really remember. There was a lot of red through. I wasn't really a big believer in dreams but this one kind of scared me. Wasn't red supposed to be the color of death or something like that? The dream made for a very restless night of sleep.

Sometime around three in the morning, I was woken up from the sound of water dripping on the shower tiles. I squinted my eyes and waited for them to adjust to the dark before sitting up. I figured that Justin was home.

I just wanted to make sure that he was okay.

I got out of bed and quietly walked over to the bathroom door where the light was coming from underneath. I pushed it open softly and was immediately hit in the face was the smell of rusty, tangy blood. It wasn't that bad since the scent was mixed with the steam of the shower but I could still smell it.

I walked into the bathroom further and saw something that must have come out of a horror movie.

On the pristine marble counter, were Justin's clothes. His suit that I didn't even think could wrinkle was bloodied to a point that it was unrecognizable. There was a lot of red liquid dripping onto the floor and I saw drops as they led to the shower.

Even through the glass of the door, I could see Justin scrubbing his naked body that was stained an off color of red. I wanted to run over and make sure he was okay but the blood didn't seem to be his. He was just washing off. It was oddly erotic but I kept my wits about me.

The thing that shocked me about this whole scene wasn't all the blood but the massive, golden gun that was situated next to Justin's suit. It was beautiful in its deadliness with a black holder and was actually shimmering in the lights of the bathroom.

The shower was still running and I was just standing there, looking at the pistol on the counter. I don't think I had ever seen a gun that big and it was almost completely covered in blood with fingerprints along the handle. From their shape and size, I could tell that they were Justin's.

I didn't even notice that I hadn't taken a breath until my head started to get light.

I didn't touch anything and backed out slowly, going into the bedroom.

Stay or go?

I decided that Justin's apartment wouldn't be the best place to be if I needed to think about things so I cowardly pulled on the clothes that I came in and almost tripped on my way down the stairs. I was out of the door in a split second and in the elevator, heading down. I just needed to get outside so that I could breathe again. The smell of blood was clinging to the inside of my nose and I realized that I was running away.

The chilly October air was perfect for me to rid my mind of the stench and I took deep breaths outside of his building.

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?" I asked quietly and just stood in front of the doors.

Once I got my head cleared, I hailed a cab and jumped in the back, calling Alice to tell her that I needed to speak with her. She said she would be waiting in my dorm when I got there.

He tried to warn me. Justin told me that he was a bad man but I didn't listen. I figured he just had a low view of himself but that obviously wasn't the case. He had blood on his hands, literally and figuratively; did that change the way I felt about him?

By the time I got back to my dorm and paid the cab driver, I had my answer to that question.

I still loved him and there was nothing I could do about it but I needed some answers. I wanted to know why Justin got a call in the middle of the night and came back with a bloodied gun. What was going on?

I made it up to my room and Alice was already sitting on my bed waiting.

"What the hell's going on?" She asked, "You sounded really messed up over the phone."

"I know, I know." I sat down on the chair and realized that I didn't grab my backpack before I left. Oh well. There were more pressing matters.

"Are you okay? You look as white as a sheet." Alice sat on the edge of the bed.

"What do you know about Jasper's work?" I pulled off my jacket and got straight to the point.

As soon as the question was out of my mouth, I knew that Alice understood what I was talking about but was covering up, "His restaurants?"

"No, other stuff." I shrugged, "Have you noticed anything strange?"

"No." She laid back down.

"You're lying." I accused.

"I am not." She shot back.

"Yes you are and I know something's going on. I saw a gun."

Alice sat straight up, "Okay, I've wanted to tell you for so long but I couldn't and I had to warn you. There is so much shit going on right now." She slapped a hand over her mouth.

"What do you know?" I went to sit next to her on the bed.

"I can't say really but about a week ago, Jasper got completely drunk and let a lot of things slip."

"What do you mean?"

"They…the Bieber's don't really deal in the most legal types of activities."

"Like drugs or something?"

"…among other things." She replied cryptically, "I can't tell you anything until Justin does, if he chooses to. What happened?"

I told Alice about my night that was basically normal until Justin got that call. She said that Jasper got the same call and left around the same time but she went back to her apartment right after so she wasn't there when he got home.

"I don't know what to do." I held my head in my hands, "My father is a cop and now my boyfriend is a drug dealer?"

"I didn't say that, Selena. You need to talk to Justin."

"What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know." She said sadly, "Jasper was drunk and let everything slip. I think Carlisle was really mad but there was no taking things back."

"I'm so confused and scared right now."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes." I answered immediately.

"That's the only thing that kept me sane. I know that I love Jasper and he loves me. I could never live without him so I have to accept him."

I envied Alice and Jasper. They just met each other and were basically already planning a wedding. They seemed to have things so easy and had nothing compared to the relationship I had with Justin.

"But it's easier for you because you know what's going on. I'm still in the dark about all of this."

Alice sighed heavily, "I know and to be honest, I don't think Justin's going to tell you anything. I freaked the fuck out. I literally scaled the walls when Jasper was letting things out. Justin is more guarded."

"I was afraid of that. What should I do? Should I tell him that I know something's up?"

"I bet he already has some kind of inkling that you suspect."

"Just tell me if they're doing something illegal." I begged.

"It's worse." Alice packed up her purse and gave me a hug before getting off the bed and leaving the room.

I didn't go to sleep that night but by the time I was settled down, it was already seven in the morning so it was stupid to even try and get some rest.

I changed clothes and didn't even bother getting breakfast because I knew I couldn't keep anything down. I walked out of my dorm and I don't know what it was but my body just seemed to know that he was here.

I raised my head and saw Justin leaning against his BMW with his arms crossed; my backpack in his hands. He had on a navy blue suit and sunglasses so I couldn't really tell the expression on his face but his body position looked rigid. I let out a deep breath and started walking towards the car with feet that felt like boulders.

When I reached him, I kept my head down so that I didn't have to see him or I would surely lose control of myself.

"You left last night." Justin said calmly.

"I know. I had…things to do." I lied.

"I brought your bag back." He handed it to me and as I went to reach, our hands touched slightly. I pulled back, remembering his long fingerprints on the handle of the gold gun last night.

Justin let out a deep breath, "I understand if things are too complicated for you. I should have been more careful last night."

I looked up at him and could tell that Justin was really sorry although he would never say those words, "I'm begging you to tell me what's going on."

He hung his head and kicked a rock on the pavement, "I can't. Jasper told Alice and he's in a shit load of trouble from my father. I can't tell you but I want you to know that it's because I'm trying to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"Yes, I don't want you living the life I have. The only problem is that I can't stay away from you but I don't want you mixed up in all of this."

"I can take care of myself; just tell me what's happening. I think I deserve to know."

Justin looked at me behind his sunglasses, "I'm a coward Selena and I just can't tell you…not yet."

"Not yet?"

"I need to know how far this is going to go between us. If I tell you what's going on now and we break up, what's going to happen to the information I gave you?"

"I know how to keep my mouth shut. I just feel like I'm in the dark."

"Just give me some time to figure out what to do but if you say one word about what you saw last night..." He let his sentence trail off murderously.

I nodded in understanding because if Justin was really doing illegal things, this wasn't something to take lightly. I know that it might sound weak but I couldn't let Justin go. What else could I do but wait until he decided on a course of action. I wanted him, I needed him and even though we just started dating, I could have sworn that we had been together for years. I couldn't drop him even if I wasn't thinking correctly.

My father would kill me, not only for having a twenty-five year old boyfriend but the fact that he was some drug dealer/assassin, would just be icing on the cake.

"Just give me some time." Justin passed a hand over his hair, "I have to figure out the best way to do all of this."

"Okay, I understand." I said stupidly. I should have responded with a 'Get the fuck out and don't come back until you have some answers' but I just couldn't.

He handed me my bag again and this time I took it.

Justin leaned in hesitantly and gave me the most delicate kiss yet that I almost didn't feel.

"Don't hate me. I will tell you." He said firmly, just inches away from my mouth.

"I know." I nodded and he then kissed me one more time before going around to his side of the car.

"Should I expect you at the game tonight?" He asked when he opened the door.

"I'll be there." I smiled but it wasn't real.

"Okay. I'll pick you up at four-thirty." He got in the car and the engine came alive with a smooth sound, driving off a second later.

I didn't feel like going to school now and it seemed like the day was already over but I had to get to class so I made my feet move. I was already ten minutes late but the class was so large that no one would notice.

I sat in my normal seat next to Seth.

"You're late." He muttered quietly.

"I know. I had to get my backpack from my boyfriend." I start pulling out my notes.

"Boyfriend? Damn and I thought we could go out sometime." He chuckled.

"Fat chance"

We stayed quiet for a couple of minutes and made sure to seem like we were paying attention.

"Any weekend plans?" Seth asked me when we had finished an equation on the board.

"Not really. I'm going to a baseball game tonight but that's about it. Maybe a Halloween party later." I shrugged.

"Sounds fun. You taking the boyfriend?"

"Probably" I answered without giving too much away. I was a very private person when it came to relationships. I didn't even really tell my parents when I had a boyfriend and I hardly knew Seth so I didn't want to just gab to a new friend.

"I wish there was something fun I could go to for Halloween. Where is this party you mentioned?"

"Uh…I'm not sure." I said easily and was slightly shocked at how fast the lies came to my mouth. I didn't want Seth knowing that I would be attending a party at Plasma. That would just raise more questions about my age and things like that.

"Well be safe. The freaks come out on Halloween." Seth wiggled his eyebrows.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Truth be told, Seth was kind of weird and if it weren't for the fact that we were from the same state, I wouldn't have any reason to talk to him. I was always nice but Seth liked to ask questions and that got annoying really quickly.

By the time my classes were finished for the day, I was exhausted so I took a quick nap for about two hours before I got a call from Justin saying that he was on his way. The sound of his voice was thick with worry and still held a little bit of apprehension towards me. It wasn't necessarily awkward but I could tell that he had some things to say and didn't know how.

It was kind of cold outside so I dressed in jeans and a dark green sweater while letting my hair stay in its waves to cover my neck.

Justin said that we were all going out to dinner so I didn't need to eat anything and I was wondering how much money I should bring even though I knew I wouldn't be using it. Justin never let me pay for anything.

I went downstairs and saw Justin in the same spot I did this morning, up against his impressive BMW. He had taken off his suit jacket and was now in the pants with a white, collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looked extremely delicious and I was happily surprised that I actually felt good to see him. With all the bullshit that had happened last night, I was still joyful from just seeing him.

"Hi." Justin said when I was closer to him. He held the door open for me.

"Hi." Just to show him that I wasn't mad or scared, I stood on my tip toes and gave him a sweet kiss that didn't last more than a couple of seconds but it did the trick because Justin smiled at me.

He was in the car a couple of seconds later and we were off.

"Okay so I know we have some things to talk about but if you could keep whatever you saw under your hat until later that would be much appreciated." Justin said as he drove through late afternoon traffic.

"Will I get you in trouble with Daddy?" I teased.

"Jasper is currently being ringed through the torture chambers." He sighed.

"So what I don't get is why Alice can know but I can't?"

"It's not that you can't, it's just that Jasper wasn't supposed to say anything but his drunk ass…the point of the matter is that Alice shouldn't know anything and luckily, she just got a general picture."

"I know that you're not squeaky clean and I don't expect you to change but I just want to make sure you're not in danger."

"That doesn't matter but I will promise you that you won't ever have to worry about your safety." He looked at me with deep eyes.

"My safety?"

"Just give me time to think about this, Selena." Justin groaned and I backed off the questions.

We drove in compatible silence for a while and I didn't feel scared at all even though I should have been giving the evidence I saw last night.

I decided to change the subject, "So…you said it was the playoffs?"

Justin visibly relaxed, "Yeah, I'm not much of a baseball fan but Carlisle loves it so we usually go when October hits."

"Are the White Sox going to win?"

"The White Sox never win." He laughed in his beautiful baritone, "But we always go to watch."

As we neared U.S. Cellular Field, the traffic became unbearable and I thought that we were going to be in line for hours but Justin masterfully veered off into a section of the parking lot that I guess was reserved because there were security gates blocking it off from the general population.

"Box seats always get the best parking." Justin explained to me when he pulled into the underground garage of the stadium that was filled with expensive cars.

"Do you guys live like this all the time?" I asked, slightly stunned that anyone had this much money.

"Only the best." He answered and moved into a parking spot next to a giant black Hummer that I knew was Emmett's.

I got out of the car when it was turned off and Justin took my hand as we walked through the parking lot. We got into an elevator and went up.

"Is your whole family going to be there?"

"Yes and I promise that Carlisle will be on his best behavior."

"Does he still hate me?"

"No, he never hated you but he's under a lot of pressure to protect his family and he had to make sure you were alright."

"That's the same excuse Rosalie gave me."

"They have similar views on the subject but who cares. You're not going anywhere." Justin wrapped an arm tightly around my waist as we went up.

I looked at the ticket that was in my hands and saw that the game started at seven but that was two hours from now.

"What are we going to be doing for two hours?" I asked.

"We sit in our seats up top and eat basically. We watch warm-ups and then the game starts. Baseball is an all day thing with the Cullens."

"Sounds like fun." I kind of got excited because I had never been to anything like this. I would have to make up some story to Charlie as to how I got such great seats.

The elevators opened and we were in a long hallway that was complete with doors on each side. It was very eerie and the lighting wasn't that good. I could have sworn that we were in a basement somewhere but Justin knew exactly where he was going and arrived at the fifth door on the left before opening it.

The whole room was huge and everything was spacious with floor to ceiling windows that encased the box but could open onto a patio type thing so that we could get up close and personal. The box was pretty high in the stadium and I was looking straight down onto the field, right behind home plate.

I don't even think I noticed everyone else in the room until Emmett swept me up in his arms,

"Selena! We've missed you so much." He spun me around.

"I missed you too Emmett but I just saw you a couple of days ago." I patted his shoulder.

"I know but it's been hell being with just Justin, Jasper and Alec the whole time. They're no fun." Emmett sat me down and I waved to everyone in the box.

"I'm so glad you could come." Esme got up from the sofa with Rose and gave me a hug, "Baseball is a very big deal in this family."

"So I've heard." I hugged her back.

There was heaps upon heaps of food that was lined up on a long table with chairs all around it. Jasper was talking to Alice and they both gave me a head nod, Rose was trying to calm Emmett down, Carlisle was pointing onto the field, trying to show Alec some things and Justin stayed next to me.

"Something's missing." Justin tapped his chin and then snapped his fingers, "I got it." He pulled something out of this back pocket and put a blue White Sox hat on top of my head.

"Oh great." I said sarcastically.

"You look so attractive in that." He kissed me, "You'll have to wear it later." He said suggestively under his breath.

"You wish." I hit his shoulder and went to sit next to Rose and Esme.

Dinner started about ten minutes after Justin and I got there.

We all sat around the long white table, just like it was Sunday, and dug into a massive feast that was catered by someplace called Levy Steakhouse, which I found out from Emmett, was created to feed all the Diamond Club members of the White Sox of which Carlisle had been a member for thirty years. Food was passed around and conversation was abundant as we watched some warm-ups. I was surprised that Carlisle wasn't mean towards me anymore. I guess he and Justin had a talk because he was actually quite nice in a strange way since I had only experienced the darker side of the Bieber patriarch.

Carlisle and I didn't really have a chance to talk alone but he asked me how school was going and if I had any plans for Thanksgiving, normal stuff like that and I kept up a conversation with him so my night was off to a good start.

By the time seven rolled around, the box was filled with cigar smoke, thanks to Justin, Jasper, Carlisle and Justin. Esme opened up the French doors so that we could sit outside on our own personal patio that overlooked the field.

Before the national anthem, the mayor came to actually talk to Carlisle like they were best friends and I was introduced like I was actually a part of the family. Some of Esme's friends came to say hi as well and I couldn't believe that people actually had this much money that they could dress so fashionably. I only thought that happened in movies.

I sat next to Alec on the comfortable sofa as Justin was trying to explain to us the rules. I knew some of them but I wasn't very up to date on baseball lingo.

"So…who's that?" Alec pointed to the man behind home plate.

"That's the catcher and the pitcher tries to put the ball right in his glove so that they can strike the hitter out." Justin said.

"And when you get three strikes, then you're out, right?"

"Exactly. See, it's not that hard."

Alec and Justin had this bond that I didn't know was possible in such a quick brotherly relationship. Alec was doing well and looked a lot healthier than he did the first time I met him but I could tell that he had a long way to go until he resembled a normal fourteen-year-old.

He told me when we were eating dinner that Esme and Carlisle had adopted him. Alec looked so happy when he was telling me that and it was almost impossible to dislike the kid because he was genuinely happy to be in a better position than he had been before.

"This is the playoffs so it's usually a big deal, only made bigger because we're playing the Yankees." Justin puffed on his cigar.

Alec looked at him with admiring eyes and I could tell that he thought of Justin as a role model. Maybe it was because they were both the youngest or maybe it was because Alec just seemed to mesh better with Justin than Emmett and Jasper but in any case, they seemed to have a strong bond with each other.

"Can…can I try?" Alec asked Justin as he saw him smoking his cigar.

Justin looked at him for a second and then handed it to him, "Don't tell Ma."

Alec took the cigar in between his lips and held it there before taking a drag. He shot up and threw the cigar back to Justin, crouching his way out of the room. Esme chased after him.

Justin rolled with laughter and was clutching his stomach.

"That wasn't funny." I said seriously, "He's going to be sick."

"Hell yeah he is. I threw up for three days after my first puff."

"You can't give him stuff like this and you shouldn't be smoking them either." I snatched the cigar out of his hand and stubbed it out in the ashtray on the table in front of us.

"That was hilarious." Justin calmed down.

"I hope Esme kicks your ass for that." I crossed my arms, "He's probably puking his guts out and you know he needs to keep every ounce of food down."

"I know but I couldn't resist."

The game started a couple minutes later and Alec came back, still sick to his stomach but getting better.

We all sat on the patio to watch the first inning and I never knew fans to be so vocal. There were Yankees shippers and White Sox shippers but they always made sure to let you know who they were cheering for.

By the time the fourth inning was over, the Sox were up by four runs and everyone was pleasantly surprised. Justin told me that never happened.

"Can I buy a souvenir?" I asked Justin who was staring intently at the game.

"Yeah." He pulled his wallet out without looking at me and retrieved a one hundred dollar bill, "Buy anything you want."

"I don't need your money." Justin just raised an eyebrow at me without saying anything, "Okay, fine." I got up from my seat and headed to the door.

"Let me come with you, Selena." Carlisle stood from his chair and held the door open for me.

"Uh…thanks." I walked out into the hallway.

"So, how are you liking the game?" Carlisle asked as we started walking.

"It's fun. I never thought I would say that about a sporting event."

"Well I'm glad you came."

"Really? I was under the impression that you didn't like me much."

"No, it's not that, I'm just very shielding when it comes to new comers to the family."

"Maybe this isn't my place to say but you weren't like that with Alice."

"No, I wasn't." He admitted, "Justin is just…different."

I decided not to ask any more questions because truthfully, I was just happy that Carlisle was talking to me at all and I was going to give Justin his chance to explain things later.

We walked out into what was known as the Hull and it was a large area where vendors sold shirts and other souvenirs along with food of classic Chicago sausages and pizza.

"What do you want?" Carlisle asked me, "Take your pick."

"I just wanted a shirt but Justin gave me a hundred so…"

"My son knows how to provide. Let's waste it on something stupid." He got a look in his eye like he was a kid. I never thought I would see this side of Carlisle but it was so easy and the air held no tension around us.

Carlisle and I spent ten minutes looking around and comparing prices before finding a nice man in a corner that had some pretty cheap stuff.

I ended up getting three shirts, one for Alice, Rose and myself along with a hat that was identical to mine so that I could shove it on Justin's head when I got back. Carlisle decided to get one of those big foam fingers for Alec and then two blow up bats for no other reason than to watch Emmett and Jasper fight with them. He said it was really amusing.

"Now, I'm hungry." He said as we started carrying our stuff back, "Let's stop and get some pizza."

"That's fine with me."

We went to the long line that was forming at one of the vendors who advertised 'The best pizza in Chicago' and Carlisle said that it was true so we were fine with waiting.

I never thought that I would have a conversation with Carlisle about anything because he just seemed so abrasive at first but now I saw the gentle side of him that everyone talked about. We found that we had a mutual love for some old rock bands and he even sung me a verse from AC/DC's Highway to Hell.

When he laughed, I could see the face that he gave Justin and everything about them was almost the same, except for their eyes and hair. Justin got those things from Esme but the majority of his features came from his father.

We had been waiting in line for about fifteen minutes, slowly inching forward when a loud laugh came from the other side of the Hull. It was one of those loud, drunk laughs that alerted everyone to its presence. And then, the laugh spoke.

"Carlisle!" A drunken blond man came stumbling towards us, "Carlisle Bieber. Hot damn, is that you?"

Carlisle pushed me behind him so quickly and smoothly that I almost didn't realize the shift of position.

The man was skinny but well built and long with shaggy hair that looked like wheat as it fell over his deep gray eyes, which I could see even from far away. I could already smell the booze on him but the man's clothes were perfectly intact, almost as pristine as Justin's would be but I don't think anyone could match Justin's fashion savvy.

"Carlisle, is that you?" The man pushed people out of the way, "I think it is."

Just like his son, Carlisle switched completely into business mode. He stood strong and rigid with a hard look on his beautiful face.

"Carlisle, why aren't you talking to me?" The man laughed and fell the last few steps forward, "I know it's you. I would be able to tell anywhere."

"James." Carlisle nodded, "It's good to see you again."

"You too old buddy." The man, whose name was obviously James, slapped him on the back, "I tried to get up to the box but those stupid ass bodyguards you have wouldn't even let me get a word in."

"That's what they're there for." Carlisle smiled tightly.

Bodyguards?

"They were being bitches." James took a long draw from a bottle of beer, "So, what you been up to? You get the last shipment I sent you?"

"I did and I sent my thanks." Carlisle replied and I could tell that he didn't particularly like this situation, "How are your siblings?"

"Oh, you know, Laurent's a bitch, Tanya's a bitch, and I'm just living life." He shouted.

"Lower your voice." He growled when he noticed that we were attracting attention.

"Why? This is a White Sox game." James started singing something undistinguishable and ended it in a laugh.

"Why don't you go back to your seat?"

"No, I came for some pizza." He shouted and then his head tilted to the side as he noticed me, "Hello." James sang creepily, "And who are you?"

"James, go back to your seat." Carlisle commanded to him and stood further in front of me.

"Stop cock blocking, Carlisle." James sidestepped him and held his hand out for me. I didn't really know what to do and just looked at him strangely.

"Selena, this is James, a family friend." Carlisle introduced me, "James, this is Selena, my niece."

I didn't bat an eyelash at the lie and just shook James' hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"A niece? Very nice." James disgustingly slinked his finger over my wrist.

Carlisle nearly snatched my hand out of James' hastily and I could see him gripping James' wrist like it was a stick, applying a painful amount of pressure.

"She's not a toy you can play with." He spoke softly but still had the face of calm.

"Why, is she spoken for?" James snarled.

"Yes so keep your hands to yourself."

"I can do what I want Carlisle. You might run everyone else but if my father was still alive, you'd be cowering in your boots."

"Your father was scum and that's why I kil…did what I did do him."

What the hell was going on?

It sounded like James and Carlisle knew each other but they were old time rivals or something like that. If one wasn't twenty or so years older than the other, they could have been college buddies.

It was obvious that Carlisle was in full control of this situation but James was fighting for dominance that he would never get. The weird thing was that no one seemed to be seeing the same thing I was. I looked around and people were either on their phones or impatiently waiting in a line that wasn't moving forward.

"I can do as I please." James ripped his hand from Carlisle's and turned back to me, "Do you want to go out sometime?"

"Uh…no." I answered, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"I'm sure I can make you feel good." James reached around my body and squeezed my ass roughly, almost to the point that I yelped out in pain.

I heard a click and James grew inflexible before he even retracted his grasp from my butt. If I wasn't so close to Carlisle, I would have never noticed the golden gun that he was pointing at James' stomach. It was almost identical to the one I had seen in Justin's bathroom but two times bigger.

What was with the gold guns?

"I told you to keep your hands off of her." Carlisle growled, "If I ever see that type of behavior again, especially with a member of my family, I will blow your spleen clean out of your body. Do I make myself clear?"

James drunkenly nodded but didn't say anything.

"Don't ever speak to me again. If you have something to say then say it to my sons. This is why I don't deal with trash." Carlisle pushed James backwards and his hands were suddenly free from the gun.

James turned and took a swig of beer before stumbling away.

No one was the wiser as to what just happened and I felt like I was in a bubble.

Carlisle and I stood in line silently for another ten minutes before we could get our pizza and then carried it back to the box. Not one word was mentioned about the interaction that I just saw but some part of me knew that this wasn't something we would have a heart-to-heart about.

When we went back into the box, almost everything was the same as usual and the family was cheering for a White Sox win. I didn't really know what to do or if I should tell Justin but I kept my mouth shut.

"What did you get?" Justin asked me when I sat down.

"Lots of stuff." I replied but I wasn't really paying attention to our conversation.

"Good. I hope you spent all the money."

"Yeah and I got you a hat." I pulled it out of the bag.

"I don't wear hats, Selena." He looked at me jokingly.

"You'll wear this one." I put it on his head and made sure it wouldn't fall off, "You look cute."

"I bet." He rolled his eyes but didn't take the hat off of his head.

We watched the rest of the game but everyone could tell that something was off. Carlisle wasn't as he was before and Esme seemed to be calming him down.

By the time we all left the box, it was dark outside and we were all tired. Justin held my hand as we went down the elevators and when we were in the parking garage; Carlisle pulled him aside to talk. I didn't want to let go of Justin's hand because I knew he was going to be furious with the information he was receiving.

I watched from the car as his face turned an odd shade of dark purple and his fists bunched at his side. Justin's lips turned into one solid line and his eyes grew hard as stones. Even from far away, I felt a shiver of terror go up my body.

Justin ripped the car door open and slouched inside, igniting the engine without a word.

He spun out of the parking space easily and quickly with a scowl of the devil on his face.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly as we sped through traffic going out of Cellular Field.

"No, Selena. I'm not okay." He responded coldly, "I'm going to drop you off and then I have some things to take care of."

"Are you going to hurt him?"

I don't know why I asked that but I didn't want anyone getting harmed on my account. I figured Justin would do something rash in the heat of the moment.

"Yes." Justin said, not even bothering to lie.

"Are…are you going to kill him?" I knew he would and with the new evidence I had, it was a strong possibility in my mind that Justin had killed before.

"No, I can't, but I want to. He had no right to put his hands on you."

"He didn't know and Carlisle said I was his niece."

"He didn't know? That's no excuse. He shouldn't be touching anyone that way, especially you and he's going to never forget that." Justin growled.

"As much as I'm turned on by this possessive Justin, I don't think you need to do anything bad."

"I told you that I would explain things later but this is who I am. Someone did something bad and they have to pay for it." He said in a very black and white way.

"Pinching my ass wasn't that bad."

"You have no idea what the thoughts are in my head right now. I feel like I could rip this city apart." Justin stomped on the gas and we shot off.

We stayed quiet as Justin blasted through the roads and I couldn't tell what he was muttering under his breath but it sounded like a prayer.

We screeched to a halt in front of my dorm and he sighed before leaning back, "I'll see you tomorrow?" He asked

"I guess so." I shrugged.

"Good." He leaned over for a kiss, which I gave him but hesitantly.

"Don't hurt him." I got out of the car and shut the door.

I didn't even want to look backwards as I walked into my dorm and heard the car roar off down the road.

I swiped my card at the proctor station and got in the elevators.

The whole time I was going up, I was wondering what Justin might do to James. I had only just met the guy and I was scared for him. The way Justin drove told me how he was going to handle the situation but I hoped nothing bad happened because James got a little frisky. It wasn't worth it but something told me that Justin wasn't going to just let him walk away from this.

That night, I don't think I went to bed but I just tossed and turned so things were really blurry in my head.

I was scared. It was a plain and simple thing. I didn't know what Justin was going to do but I feared that he was going to get in trouble. He seemed like the kind of man who would do something rash to defend me or some macho shit like that.

To be honest, I didn't give a fuck about James but I didn't want Justin getting hurt.

I woke up the next morning and since it was Saturday, I didn't have much to do so I lazily stayed in bed. I was supposed to be meeting Justin today but I didn't know if that was going to happen. I still needed to think about things.

Around eleven, I got hungry and decided to go downstairs for some breakfast. By the time I was finished gorging myself on waffles and bacon, I wanted another nap.

I got out of the elevator and went to my door, unlocking it easily.

When I pushed myself into the room, I kicked something that wasn't hard but I could feel it. I turned on the lights and looked down at the CD case on the floor. I picked it up and rolled it in my hands.

I didn't remember leaving this on the floor and I don't even have any CD's so I was very concerned. Someone must have pushed it under the door.

I opened the case up and in big black letters was: Watch me.

I was suspicious as I started my laptop and took off my jacket, sitting at the desk while I waited. As soon as it was ready to go, I put the CD in and waited for it to load.

Something about these past few days was making me very paranoid and I suddenly realized that hanging around with Justin was a liability.

Suddenly my screen went black and a grainy picture appeared on screen with the words Nicola Rossini under it. The picture got smaller and moved to the top of the screen before a family tree began to branch out.

I saw a whole lot of men all with names and dates under them but I had no idea what I was looking at until I saw Carlisle. Under his name, Emmett, Jasper and Justin appeared. All the pictures were candid so that the subjects didn't know they were being photographed.

They vanished and the screen was filled with words like murder, illegal trading, drug dealing, corporate espionage, gambling, tax evasion, arson, grand theft auto and others, but I had to stop reading. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew I should be questioning where this disk came from but I couldn't even think right.

There was newspaper articles that went back to the earliest part of the 20th century and in every headline were the name Bieber along with another charge that was suddenly dropped or forgotten about. Pictures were zoomed in on Carlisle talking or eating with some pretty ruthless looking men who all had last names like Volturi and Denali. I knew those names because of my father.

The Volturi's were a major mob family that did a lot of criminal activity around Seattle. The Denalis ran drug scams all up and down the west coast and were involved in a string of suspicious cases in California as well. Why would Carlisle be meeting with them?

There were pictures of Emmett, Jasper and Justin all holding guns and looking very suspicious. In some photos, they were bloodied and beaten but in others, they were clean cut with nothing more than a scratch on them.

The last thing I saw was a newspaper article from this morning, I had no idea how it was digitized so quickly but there it was. The story wasn't on the main page but was still pretty horrific in its details.

A man by the name of James Denali was found in a back alleyway late last night, alive but badly beaten. The weapon of choice was a thick, wooden baseball bat that was lying next to the victim, bloody and splintered.

James was beaten so badly that he was in critical condition at some hospital downtown. Both of his arms were broken, his right leg was completely shattered, he had bruises that were the size of watermelons, and his jaw was busted in three places. It had to be wired shut and doctors didn't know if he would ever be able to speak correctly again.

There were no suspects and no witnesses.

Things in my mind snapped together in a nano second.

I snatched the CD out of the holder and grabbed my jacket off of the bed, heading out of the door.

Justin and I needed to talk now.

I leaned my head against the tile of the shower as I let the hot water glide over my body.

It had been a rough night and I was just getting in.

After I dropped Selena off at her dorm, I was running on rage and tracked James down like the fucker he was. I didn't know what was wrong with me but after my father told me what happened at the baseball game, I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I had to literally down a whole bottle of anxiety so that I didn't massacre everyone around me.

Even though I didn't see the interaction between James and Selena last night, just the images going through my head were enough to set me off. His hand gripping, squeezing, pinching her ass were too much. That ass was mine. I had pounded into it over my fucking desk and he had the nerve to even look at Selena? Needless to say, I was livid.

I left Selena at her dorm and drove through the streets to James' favorite bar on the other side of town where he usually frequents after a baseball game. Emmett and Jasper were already there waiting to control me because they knew that I was working on animal instincts at this point.

I had never in my life been so possessive, so overprotective of a woman and this was all new to me but I was willing to kill for Selena. James had no right even speaking her name so I was going to make sure he knew to cross the street if he saw her coming near him. He was never going to forget who she belonged to.

I knew I sounded like some macho, jackass who was living off of cavemen ideals but I couldn't help it. I had rage going through me that I couldn't control and it was impossible to reel myself back in. My body was being pupated by the devil as he directed the evil out of me.

Emmett, Jasper and I walked straight through the back of the bar and grabbed James before he could even look up. My brothers were just there to make sure I didn't kill the fucker but I would have done so easily if they weren't present.

I shoved James outside and just basically laid into him with all my strength. My fists were still raw and my knuckles were throbbing but I didn't care. Apparently, Carlisle had made up some lie as to how Selena was his niece or something and that was all James kept muttering but I beat the dude to a bloody pulp and left him there. Just to add a certain touch of drama, I brought a baseball bat, ironic I know, but at least he wouldn't forget this particular game. I just thrashed him until he stopped moving.

I wouldn't let Emmett or Jasper help me.

I was surprised that Laurent wasn't around or I would have had to deal with him too.

Bring it!

I knew this had the potential of starting some kind of mob war but no one really liked the Denalis. One less of them wasn't going to upset the status quo we had created.

That was a couple of hours ago and I had to just drive so my mind was right and try to understand what was going on with me.

With my photographic memory, I was able to deliver Freud's view on jealousy perfectly.

"Jealousy is defined as an emotional state that is aroused by a perceived threat to a relationship or position. It motivates behaviors that counter the threat. Jealousy is a reaction related to fear and rage, and it makes one want to protect, maintain, and prolong the association of love."

I raised my head when I was done with my recitation and water stung my eyes but I didn't care.

There was that word again: love.

I dug deeper into my brain to find the Webster's definition.

"A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person." I muttered to myself.

So…according to Webster, I loved Selena.

Is that why I was so furious at the thought of some other man putting his hands on her? Is that why my heart nearly stopped beating every time she smiled? Was that why I couldn't get her out of my head?

I shut off the shower and beat my head against the tile harder to clear my mind.

"I love Selena." I said it out loud and groaned, "I can't love her but I do."

I was horrible with emotions, I really was and hated to say that but I have no capacity to love. My life didn't allow it.

Just like it was said in one of my favorite movies, Heat, "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."

Could I walk out on Selena in thirty seconds?

I wouldn't, I couldn't but how was I supposed to do this?

Frankly, I was surprised that I had lasted this long in a relationship. I never thought it would happen but I did have the capacity to be normal. I hadn't had the wandering eye since meeting Selena. No other woman seemed as beautiful or worth my time when I was with her.

Selena just made me feel…good and I liked who I was when we were together. I wanted to be a better man for her and I wanted to do right by her. Was that love?

I didn't know what to think or what was becoming of me. I had been the man who could just push all emotions out and think solely on impulse. I had a sharp mind that was unclouded by feelings and that helped me in this business. Now what did I do? I had something that I couldn't' lose and wouldn't give up.

"I'm so fucked." I groaned and stepped out of the shower.

I pulled a towel out of the cabinet and wrapped it around my waist before going into my bedroom to get dressed. I decided to just step in a pair of black, silk boxers since it was still early in the morning and I didn't have anywhere to be until later. I didn't know what we were doing today but I would call Selena when I figured she would be awake. Currently, it was eleven thirty and a Saturday.

I walked downstairs and looked around for something to do. The urge to clean something was strong but I fought it, grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniels and sitting on the couch to unwind.

As soon as my lips hit the rim of the bottle, there was a banging on my door that could wake the dead. I choked down the whiskey and glared behind me.

"What the hell…" I stomped towards the door and ripped it open, ready to curse the fuck out of someone but my demeanor dropped when I saw Selena standing there.

"We need to talk." She pushed herself into my apartment.

"Uh…is something wrong?" I shut the door.

"Did you send me this?" She held up a CD case.

"No, what is it and why do you look so pissed?"

"You!" Selena screamed and pointed at me accusingly, "Tell me right now where you went last night after you dropped me off."

My defensive side was coming out, "I don't like your tone." I set the bottle down on the counter in front of me, "I don't have to answer to you."

"Justin Bieber, I swear to God…" She grabbed her hair, "Did you send this to me?" Selena asked again.

"No." I tried to snatch from her but she was quick, "Selena, what's wrong with you?"

"Justin, I need you to be honest with me because I'm so confused right now." Selena was panting and pacing like she was having a seizure, "What did you get me mixed up in?"

"Selena, just talk to me." I was kind of worried that she might pass out and moved towards her but she backed up, appearing frightened, so I stopped.

"Don't touch me."

"Why?"

"You have so much blood on your hands, it's disgusting." Selena's eyes told me everything I needed to know.

I swallowed the golf ball in my throat and my head was thumping so loudly that I almost couldn't hear, "What do you know?"

"I know that you're a very…bad man." Selena handed me the CD with shaking hands, "You have lots of explaining to do and I want answers…now." She stressed.

I took the CD from her and Selena's eyes shifted to the wounds on my knuckles. I caught her eyebrows scrunch together in worry but she quickly put back up her face of anger.

"Who sent you this?" I asked, all pretenses gone.

"I don't know and I barely understand what's on it." She exhaled heavily.

"Follow me." I instructed and turned my back, climbing the stairs to my library. I didn't know if she was following me but I needed to see what was on this disc.

I had a sneaking suspicion of what it was but I prayed that this CD did hold such detrimental information. I wasn't ready to tell her, not yet.

I hurriedly went into the library and pulled my laptop out of the first drawer of my desk. Selena was standing against the door with a neutral look on her face.

"Are you scared of me?" I asked and turned my computer on.

"Yes." She replied sadly, "I know it's all true. I've known or at least, I've theorized but I hoped that it was just my imagination."

I nodded, not saying anything and hung my head because for the first time in my life, I was ashamed of who I had become.

The computer was fired up and I took a deep breath, putting the CD in the holder. When the first picture came up of Great Grandpa Rossini, I shut my eyes angrily and couldn't see anymore.

This was the same instructional video that they showed at the police academy. This was what new recruits saw when they were trained to spot the big, bad Cullens. The officers in the Organized Crime division knew this video by heart and they were the only ones who had copies.

This was dirty cop work.

When I opened my eyes again, the CD was halfway through and Selena was standing closer to my desk.

"Please tell me it's not true." Her voice cracked.

"I told you I was a monster."

Selena took deep breaths as she swayed and stumbled away from me, "No, I don't believe you. I won't believe you."

"Selena, listen to me. I know you're scared right now but I need to explain some things to you." I stood up slowly.

"How could you be that person? What about Carlisle and Emmett and Jasper?" She shouted, "You're all killing machines!"

"No we're not." I lied and tried to find synonyms for what I would categorize myself as, "It's just who I am, who I was raised to be."

"I saw the gun but I convinced myself that it was something else." Selena spoke to herself, "How could I be so stupid?"

I used this time to walk around the desk lightly and as soon as she noticed me, she backed the hell up against one of the bookcases.

"I can't do this, Justin. I never asked for any of this." Selena whispered clearly scared and I saw tears run down her cheeks. It was such a sad and beautiful site at the same time.

"I know and I'm sorry. I told you, I tried to warn you but…" My sentence trailed off.

"I asked you from the beginning and I never thought that it was this bad. A mob family? How could you do this?"

"Don't question it like that Selena."

"What am I supposed to do?" She screamed, "My father is a fucking cop and you knew, didn't you?" Selena shoved me hard in the chest.

"Yes, Carlisle did a background check."

"This whole time, you and everyone else knew. You put me in danger and didn't even warn me. All the guns, the sneaky phone calls and the money. You have so much money and I knew that it was something like this."

"Then why are you freaking out?" I asked lamely.

"Because I'm scared, Justin. I don't know the man on that video. He's a fucking killer and that's not who you are. Where is the guy I fell in love with?"

It was my turn to be scared.

I stepped back like I was hit by a freight train from her words.

She loved me?

"Wh…what did you just say?" I asked in nothing more than a whisper.

"I…I…nothing" Selena ran out of the room so quickly that I didn't have time to catch her.

It took me a couple of seconds to regain my bodily functions and followed after her quickly, "Selena, wait!" I called but she was already gone.

I rushed swiftly but I had no use of catching up as I her bound out of the penthouse.

I watched the doors of the elevators close on her tear stained face but I wasn't letting her go just yet. We needed to talk about things so in my boxers and nothing else, I slammed the door to the stairs open. I ran down the steps at lightning speed until I hit the floor below and sprinted into the hall to catch another elevator.

I pressed the button like a maniac, "Come on, come on." I groaned and fleetingly recognized that I was chasing after a woman in my underwear but I didn't care. Selena was too good to let go and I had some things to say. I was going to make her see that I could be what she needed.

The elevator opened and I jumped in while pressing the bottom floor button. I was probably about ten seconds behind Selena but I knew that the penthouse lift went slower than the rest of them.

I tapped my foot annoyingly as I went down. The elevator stopped on the tenth floor but I didn't let the doors open. I descended without interruptions this time and darted out into the marble lobby without caring that I was basically naked.

I looked around frantically and several people's jaws dropped when they saw me.

I went to the reception desk, "Derek, did you see Selena? Which way did she go?" I asked frantically.

"Uh…out the door to the left, sir."

I ran out of the door.

"You don't have any clothes on, sir." He called after me.

"I know." I shouted back and pushed myself into the near freezing, late October air.

People looked at me like I was crazy as I moved through the crowds, searching for Selena.

My balls were shrinking in my boxers, my feet were almost bleeding from the cold cement, my entire body was shaking but I didn't feel any pain. I never did.

Selena was trying to hail a cab on the sidewalk and even though I couldn't see her face, I could tell that she was still crying from her body position.

I moved faster, trying to catch her before a taxi stopped.

She must have sensed me because Selena started walking further down the street without even turning around to notice that I was behind her. People were gawking and pointing and whispering. I wanted to just tell them all to fuck off.

"Selena!" I shouted at her and pushed a fat man out of the way who was yelling on his phone.

She turned around at her name and stared at me with wide eyes, backing into the street without even noticing it.

My heart stopped beating completely as I saw a delivery truck speeding towards her. The driver was bending down, trying to pick something up off of the floor and wasn't stopping for anything.

I was too far away to catch her.

"Selena!" I shouted and kept running but I wasn't going to make it.

Where was that fucking bodyguard? It was time for him to earn all that money I was paying him.

I dug deep and pushed myself harder than I ever had in my life. I wasn't going to let her go without hearing those three words again.

I didn't even think as I ran into the street and slid over the hood of two taxis so that I could cut across the street. Cars screeched to a halt in front of me and I jumped over a bike messenger who had crashed to the floor.

Selena was still backing away from me but I was faster. I pushed her out of the trucks' path, with a hard shove but wasn't fast enough to move myself.

My body was struck with the force of a real freight train this time as I was thrown across the frozen ground of the street. I slammed into the rear windshield of a parked car and felt the splintering glass cut the flesh of my back. I rolled over lazily and hit the pavement hard.

I was in and out of consciousness as I heard screams mixed with yelling and honking but the only voice I wanted to hear was Selena's.

"Justin, are you okay?" I felt soft touches on my face, "Oh my God."

"No police." I muttered through my thick throat, "There can't be any police."

"I know, I know. Just stay right there." I felt Selena's lips in my hair.

"Are you okay?" I gasped out as my chest constricted.

"I'm fine. Why did you do that? You're so fucking stupid." She kissed my head more furiously, "I'll be right back."

I grabbed for her and a searing shot of pain ripped through my side, "Selena, don't go." I held onto her hand like a fucking pussy.

"I'm not going anywhere." She kissed my forehead, "I'm just calling Jasper."

I was slipping into blackness as I heard her voice talking quickly.

There were a lot of logistical errors that went with all of this and I prayed that things wouldn't get blown out of proportion. The cops and the ambulance would have already been called but I needed to make sure that I wasn't taken in under them. They would ask questions and once Black and his fucking goons knew that I was in an accident, they would use it to trap me, saying I was jaywalking or something. They would have me arrested and go from there.

We already had a group of doctors that were employed especially for us so we didn't have to step foot in a hospital. I had never seen a real doctor in my entire life and my "medical chart" for school was completely fabricated. I had no true official records.

"Eddy, what the hell?" Emmett's voice was in my ear, "You chased after a girl in your underwear and then got hit? I swear…" He lifted me up easily and I would guess that this site was one for the history books.

"Where's Selena?" I shifted my head to the side and my eyes were starting to readjust.

"I'm right here." She said from somewhere behind Emmett.

"Dad is going to kill us." Emmett said and I felt the air grow suddenly warmer. I guessed we were inside.

"What the fuck happened?" Jasper's voice said.

"Go do damage control." Emmett pushed him out of the door and lifted me into the elevator.

I think I blacked out but wasn't sure. All I know is that when I came to, I was laying on the couch in my penthouse.

Selena was dabbing my forehead with a warm cloth and her eyes looked pained to the point that her hurt was mine. She had a gash across her left cheek that didn't look that deep and it was covered in surgical tape.

"You're so stupid." Selena breathed a laugh.

"Are you okay?" I tried to sit up but she pushed me back down.

"I'm fine but you're not." She continued to wipe my forehead, "You have a concussion and your back looks like you were attacked by a wild animal. Your chest is all bruised."

"How can I be the stupid one when you stepped out into the street?" I chuckled painfully.

"You ran after me in your boxers. That's stupid."

"I had to catch you. I have some things to explain and I didn't want you running off."

"You should have just let me go." She squeezed my hand.

"I haven't ever run that fast."

"I don't know what to make of that video but…I meant what I said. I love you." Selena smiled sadly and it looked like she was about to cry again.

I was about to say it, I really was but there was suddenly a lot of noise in my apartment.

"Where is he?" Carlisle bellowed.

"Dad, he's fine. The doctor said he's just got a few bruises and cuts." Jasper replied.

"I don't care about that. Justin?" He shouted.

"Over here, Dad." I raised my arm so that he could see me from the couch.

"Do you know how idiotic you were?" He came to stand in front of me, "I have about one hundred people out there asking questions and I can't shut them up."

"Who cares, Carlisle." Esme pushed him out of the way, "Are you okay, sweetheart. What would posses you to dash into the street like that? I thought I taught you better."

"I was running after something." I looked at Selena.

"It was kind of badass if you think about it." Emmett laughed, "I'm writing this one down for the grandkids."

"Shut up." Rose slapped the back of his head.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Esme asked.

"He's fine, Mrs. Bieber." My doctor, Dr. Robbins, said as he appeared from the kitchen, "Justin has the uncanny ability to come out of situations better than he should. He can't sleep for twenty-four hours so we can make sure he doesn't slip into a coma from that nasty concussion but besides that, he's good old Justin. I bandaged the scrapes on his back as well."

"What were you thinking?" My father accosted me.

"Lay off." I muttered, "I wasn't thinking."

"That seems to be happening a lot these days." He huffed and sat in a chair.

Selena had never left my side throughout all of this and didn't shift her eyes from mine for more than a second.

"We have bigger problems." I moved to swing my legs over the couch and sat up this time. My head spun slightly but I was fine for the most part.

"Really? I can't think of any." Carlisle rolled his eyes.

"Selena knows." I spoke firmly, "Someone sent her a video of us and she put things together."

Everyone grew silent and the tension in the air multiplied tenfold.

"She's seen everything." I clarified.

"I think we need to go clean up." Esme began pushing people out of the room. Rose, Emmett, Alec, Jasper and Alice, who I hadn't seen until now, were shoved up the stairs. Dr. Robbins packed up quickly and left.

It was just Carlisle in his seat across from Selena and me on the couch. I took her hand in mine because we both needed support right now.

"How?" He asked.

"I got a CD under my door this morning and it had a video on it about you guys." Selena shrugged hesitantly, "I don't even know who gave it to me."

"It was Black. The video was the same one from the crime division." I said angrily.

"She knows." My father repeated, "And what do you think about this life, Selena?"

"I…I don't know. I always suspected something but I could have never imagined that it was…this big." She spoke softly.

"Are you scared?" Carlisle grinned in a sickening way.

Selena lifted her head and gave him a glare that could peal the paint off of the walls, "No. I understand that I'm not in the most opportune situation and I don't even know what to make about all of this but…I love your son." She said without faltering.

He sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair, which I hated that I picked up, "Selena, against my better judgment, I'm going to tell you some things but I want you to know that…for some reason, I trust you and I don't do that easily."

"I understand." She nodded, "And I promise that I won't say anything but I just want some answers."

"I know but you have to understand that if anything I say leaves this room, I will be forced to take action." His eyes hardened and my fist tightened into rocks.

Carlisle was threatening her and I wasn't going to have that.

I was about to say something but Selena unfolded my hand, intertwining our fingers, "I understand." She repeated.

"I need your blood." He leaned in, taking a small dagger out of his coat pocket.

"No." I stood up too quickly and stumbled but Selena caught me, "She doesn't need to do that. We can trust her." I almost pleaded.

"Justin, I've never done this before and I know how much you…care for Selena." He chose his words carefully, "I'm willing to accept her into this world if she is willing to listen."

"No, I'll explain things to her."

"You know I can't do that, Justin." Carlisle said.

"I'm right here and I can make decisions for myself." Selena pushed me back on the couch, "What do I have to do?"

"Usually, Blood Oaths are used to solidify a tie to a family. In this case, us." My father answered her question, "I don't allow people into my life easily but I have a feeling you might be around for a while and if you truly love my son then you will honor this oath."

"You don't have to do this. I just met you for Christ sake and you don't want to know…" I spoke quickly, trying to will Selena away from this life. I wasn't sure why.

"I want to see what you're all about for myself and if that includes some oath, then that's what I'm going to do." Selena said firmly with a single head nod.

"She sounds like your mother." Carlisle chuckled to me, "Selena, normally, this would be done if you and Justin were getting married but I can bend the rules as I want and since you seem to know so much already, I think you need to get the facts and not some fabricated lie from the police department. May I have your hand please?"

Selena shockingly gave him her hand, palm up like she already knew what was coming.

The dagger rapidly swiped across the center of her hand and I squeezed her knee tightly when I saw her shudder from the blood loss but she didn't whimper or say anything.

Carlisle took a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it into her palm, staining the fabric red.

"Where shall I begin?" My father sat back in his chair, wiping the knife off on his pants.

Everyone was called back down so that we could do all of this in one big swoop. Alec and Alice needed to hear this all too. After Alice's blood oath was performed, Carlisle began his long tale.

It took nearly the whole day but he didn't leave out one detail, which I was surprised at. It seemed like my father actually trusted the new comers to our group. Alice had heard abridged versions of all of this before and Selena had seen the pictures so they weren't taken completely by surprise but I could tell that Selena was scared.

I held her hand the entire time, still in my boxers, as the minutes turned into hours.

She didn't move or blink for that matter. I watched her the entire time my father kept on with his storytelling.

He didn't shy away from what the Cullens did and what we were all about. I knew I was going to have to fill in some of the gaps from my side but Carlisle was doing a pretty good job of making us seem like bastards. He left out everything about me being the second in line and things like that because I knew he wanted me to tell her.

Like it was destiny or some kind of sign, the sun set over the cityscape as Carlisle finished his tale.

"And that's who we are." He clapped his hands nonchalantly, "Any questions?"

"This isn't a college lecture, Carlisle." My mother sighed and took Selena's hand, "I know that it's a lot to take in and it might not make sense but we aren't really that bad. It's just in our blood."

Selena finally breathed, "I need to think." She got up from her seat and went to the liquor cabinet before pulling out a bottle of Grey Goose and then heading onto the balcony, shutting the doors behind her.

"Well that went well." Jasper snickered.

"Is she going to tell on us?" Alec asked, slightly worried.

Everyone looked to me.

I didn't answer and got off of the couch, heading to follow her.

I found Selena basically gulping down the bottle of vodka like a pro. I shut the doors quietly and the wind was raging around us.

"Why do you do it?" She asked when her lips were free from the bottle.

I sat across from her, "Because I have to."

"That's not what I meant. I was…wondering how you could do all this? Your whole life is an illegal lie."

"I never claimed to be perfect but…I enjoy what we do. I like killing people, Selena." I decided to just put it all out there, "I like scaring the hell out of my enemies and making them fear my family. "

Selena looked at me deeply, "Did Carlisle push you into all of this?"

"No, he never did and never would but we always knew we would follow him. I wanted this from the time I was ten."

She closed her eyes, "I'm so stupid. How the hell did I get myself mixed up in this?"

"I don't know but I…don't want you to leave." I admitted pathetically, "I love you." I said unsurely but didn't feel any different.

Should I?

She snorted and took another gulp of vodka, "You don't love me."

"That wasn't the reaction I was expecting." I sighed.

"What do you want me to say? My entire mind is screaming at me to just leave all of this behind and I know I took that stupid Blood Oath thing and I shouldn't even be talking to you right now and I'm trying so hard to look past all of this and I can't wrap my mind around some of it…" She took a breath, "…but I can't stop my feelings for you and it scares the hell out of me."

"I don't want that and I tried to get you to leave but you wouldn't." I moved closer to her, "I never wanted any of this for you."

"Then why didn't you tell me anything before I got so deep?" Selena threw the half finished bottle of vodka onto the stone balcony and it shattered into a thousand pieces. She was pissed as hell.

"I don't know." I said stupidly.

"You don't know?" She stood up, "I want to walk out that door right now but I can't because I don't want this to be over. No matter what you do or who you are, I can't stop loving you and it's killing me." Selena panted heavily.

"I meant what I said." I took her hand softly in mine and she didn't jerk away so I pulled her towards me, "I think I love you."

"What does that mean?"

"I think I love you and I don't really know how I should feel or what I need to do to show you that but I do."

Selena looked at me with such confusion in her eyes that I was almost started to question myself.

"What makes you say that?" She asked quietly.

"According to Webster, love is defined as a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person." I repeated the words from this morning.

She choked out a laugh, "You're thinking too much. How do you feel?" Selena sat in my lap and placed a hand over my heart.

"I…feel like I need to protect you all the time and see you all the time and be with you all the time. I'm pathetic." I hung my head in shame.

"No matter what you are, you're not pathetic." She lifted my head back up, "As much as I hate what you do, if that's what comes with you then that's something I have to deal with. You just took me by surprise with all of this."

I don't think I heard her right and I almost didn't know how to react to her statement.

"I have…problems Selena." I said slowly so that she understood.

"I know."

"I'm seriously messed up. I have OCD that should be in a textbook, I have a photographic mind that scares me sometimes and on top of all that, I use drugs, I kill for a living, I ship illegal products to different countries. Need I go on?"

"I think I realize that you come with a lot of baggage." She played with my fingers, "I can't just walk away from you."

"Thank God." I sighed and closed my eyes as her lips softly met mine.

What started out as something fairly chaste, turned violently passionate as her tongue licked my bottom lip. My hands bolted themselves into her hair as I pulled her closer to me and I kept a firm hold as I laid us down on the comfortable chaise lounge outside, my body covered hers.

She let out a moan of pure pleasure that spurred me on further.

"Just coming to check on you two…" My mother came out onto the balcony, "Oh, sorry. Do you want a condom?"

"Ma, leave." I said through kisses and Selena's giggles.

"Well to be honest, you shouldn't be dry humping her with everyone still inside." Esme huffed.

"Leave." I said more sternly.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" She moved closer, "I think you're crushing her."

"I'm fine, Esme." Selena said from under me, "And yes, we're fine."

"Good, then I want to talk to the both of you." She sat in a chair and I reluctantly rolled off Selena, pulling a pillow over my raging hard cock.

"What is it?" I asked in a funk and Selena hit my knee.

"I wanted to say that I'm proud of you two for making it this far." She smiled motherly at the both of us, "I know that young love is quick and sometimes it doesn't always work but I see a determination in both of your eyes that's indescribable."

"How did you…get over all of this?" Selena asked her cautiously.

Esme laughed softly, "Selena, sweetheart, I was born into all of this."

"Do we have to get into this now?" I groaned.

"I want to know." Selena interjected.

"Well, my father was an Irish mobster out of Boston." Esme sat back, "He moved my mother and me to the states when I was three from Dublin and we were just one of his many families around the world. He wasn't a very nice man but everyone was scared of him."

"So, you're not Italian?" Selena quirked an eyebrow.

"Don't tell anyone but not fully." She laughed, "I'm actually about one-eight. I spoke with an Irish accent until I was ten." She replied, "But I went to college in Chicago and that's how I met Carlisle. I knew who he was of course, everyone knew who he was but there was just something about him that…I couldn't stay away from."

All three of us nodded in understanding.

"Carlisle was young back then and had no desire to follow in his father's footsteps, who was still alive at the time. He wanted to be a doctor if you can believe it." My mother's eyes grew sadder at the lost possibilities, "He was rebellious and dating the daughter of a rival crime lord was about as far off the rocker as you could get but he was determined to leave all of this behind. We had dreams of moving to Australia or someplace like that, away from everyone."

"What happened?" Selena asked, totally engrossed in my mother's tale.

"His father was murdered." Esme sighed, "Carlisle took over and there was no leaving after that. We got married within the next year, not caring that I was crossing lines and…here we are."

"Wow, what did your father say?"

"Carlisle killed my father." Esme thought out loud, "It was about six months after we got married. He came to get me back because he said I was a traitor to the family. Carlisle warned him to stay away but my father was stubborn and he felt like a fool so he threatened me. Well, Carlisle was less than pleased and took care of it."

"How did you feel?"

"Relieved, free, grateful. Like I said, my father was not a nice man to me or my mother. I know this sounds horrible but I had to make a choice. I was in love with Carlisle more than you can possibly imagine, I still am and even though we weren't in the most amazing of situations, I wasn't going to leave him. It was either my father or Carlisle."

Esme got up from her seat and smoothed out her clothes, "Just remember that love might not conquer all but you have to fight for what you want, especially in our world. Don't let Carlisle rule your life." She kissed Selena's forehead and then mine before leaving us alone outside.

"They've made it work." I said hopefully.

"I know." She breathed through her nose and then turned to me, "I need to be familiar with everything. I understand that you will have to keep some secrets and I don't expect you to tell me about your day-to-day business but I need to understand the big picture. Who are you?"

I took her hand and lifted us off the lounge, taking her inside. I bypassed the rest of my family who were flitting around the apartment, not paying attention to us. I climbed the stairs and took Selena into the library before shutting the door.

"It seems like every time I come in here, something important happens." Selena shivered.

"I need to show you what I do." I went to retrieve a ladder and pulled it towards the last bookcase on the left, scaling it easily until I reached the tenth shelf up. I tugged on a tattered copy of Guns, Germs and Steel.

The bookcase behind my desk rose without a sound and I climbed back down the ladder.

I know it was corny and cliché but I couldn't help adding it into this place when I furnished it.

"What is this?" Selena stayed in the middle of the room.

I went towards the massive vault that was taller than I was, and put in the key code before it clicked open. I swung the heavy metal door aside and the lights inside flickered on. I turned back to her.

"Come here." I nodded towards the door.

She walked slowly until she was next to me and peeked into the vault.

"Oh my God." She stepped inside.

"There are 1,598 guns, explosives, pistols and semi-automatics in here." I followed her inside where my impressive firepower collection was on display.

There were guns hooked to the walls and on tables and in drawers and in cases and…just everywhere.

"This is what I'm trained in." I shrugged.

"How many people have you killed?" She walked around in a daze.

"A lot"

"I need a number, Justin. I know you know the exact number."

"Since I was thirteen, just over a thousand."

Selena stared at me for a long second before resuming her inspection, "How can you just kill like that? Do you care at all?"

"Not really? I used to but I got over that quickly. Jasper is the only one who kind of feels something out of all of us. We all have a certain immunity to other people's pain."

"Do you enjoy killing?"

"Yes." I admitted without shame, "But I don't just kill anyone, only people who do me wrong."

"What about Alec? Does he…do this? Did he have a choice?"

"Yes, he had a choice and we've taken him out so he can see what we do but he hasn't killed yet. It's coming though."

Selena picked up a standard, match, USP pistol that was completely black with a ribbed grip. It was one of my favorites.

"My father has one of these." She said.

"The police use it." I replied.

"And you knew he was a cop?"

"Yes."

"And you still stayed with me?"

"I can't blame you for who your father is."

"We're going to have to be careful." She set the gun down, "Good thing I've never mentioned you before."

"He'll know who I am." I nodded.

"I'm so going to hell for this." Selena walked up to me and kissed my lips strongly, "But I don't care. Call me a rebellious teenager but I'm not letting you go."

We stayed in that gun cabinet and kissed the hell out of each other for the better part of an hour, making one my strongest fantasies come true although it would have been better if we were naked but I wasn't going to push into that realm so soon after her learning I was a monster.

By the time we were finished with our hot as fuck kissing session, my dick was painfully hard and Selena had bite marks up and down her neck.

"I didn't mean to be so rough." I lightly kissed a bruise and moved her shirt to the side.

"I'm fine." Selena looked around as I pulled away from her. She was sitting on the table in the middle of the room and I was nudged in between her legs.

"So…are you okay?" I asked.

"With what, the fact that my boyfriend is in the mafia or the fact that I'm making out in a gun vault?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Both I guess."

"It will just take me some time. You're not any different and I need to get used to that. You just have an unusual job." She nodded to herself, trying to convince us both of her logic.

"That's right." I agreed. I was going to leave out all the Il Principe stuff until later. I didn't want to overwhelm her so quickly.

"You're no different than you were two days ago." Selena sighed deeply.

"I'm your same Justin." I kissed her again.

That night, my family left around ten and no one really even acknowledged the fact that we had just basically divulged our entire life to two new people. Somehow, it didn't seem like the world was going to end. Even though Selena was a little hesitant around us, she didn't really show it.

My father was the last one to leave and I shut the door behind him, thankful that this day was over.

My body still hurt like a bitch and every time I moved my neck, a pain went through my spine but the doctor said that I would be fine so I didn't worry about it. I couldn't go to sleep that night so I planned on staying up and drinking, which was against medical orders but I didn't give a shit.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" I asked Selena when we were both sitting on the sofa.

"I think I'll go home." She said, "Not because I'm scared of you, because I'm not." Selena quickly replied, "But I need to get some rest."

"Okay." I took a sip of Johnny Walker.

"It's not because of you, really. I just didn't sleep last night and I know we have to get up early for church and then there's that Halloween party so…"

"I understand. I'll have my driver take you home." I called downstairs and arranged everything within seconds.

"You'll pick me up bright and early?" Selena asked as we stood at the door.

"Of course and thank you for being so understanding."

"If I was a normal girl, I would have run out of here hours ago." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes, "I just need to get used to all of this."

"Nothing will change except for the fact that now when I get calls in the middle of the night; you'll know that I'm going to take care of family business and not with some other woman."

"I was never worried about that." She ran a hand over my chest, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What did you do to James?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat and debated if I should tell her the truth or not, "Uh…well I had to teach him a lesson."

"So you beat the hell out of him?"

"Yes." I answered simply.

"You shouldn't have done that."

"I should have killed him. Why didn't you tell me what he did to you?"

"It wasn't that big a deal. Guys get grabby a lot and I just push them off but it always happens."

"Are you serious?" I growled, "That's unacceptable. No one should be touching you but me."

"As nice as that sounds, you can't keep every guy away from me."

"Like hell I can't." I took a deep drink, trying to calm myself.

"Okay, I think that's enough of this." Selena took it from me and set it on the in table, "You can be protective without going ape shit on everyone."

"That's not who I am. When I get possessive, I…I can't even explain it." I trapped Selena against the door with my hands, "Especially when it comes to you."

She bit her bottom lip in the most seductive way, "That's kind of hot."

"I have never had these feelings before and jealousy is one of my many flaws. I don't take lightly to people playing with my toys." I kissed her lips.

"I need to go and you're trying to trap me here." She breathed heavily.

"You can go whenever you please."

She didn't push me off so I dove for her neck.

All too soon, Selena suddenly got some sense back into her brain.

"Justin, I really have to go. It's already past midnight and we have church."

I sighed and stepped back reluctantly, "I never thought I would hear you become an advocate for religion."

"If that's what I have to do then I'm going to do it." She opened up the door, "Goodnight, Justin."

"Goodnight, Selena." I kissed her forehead.

I was tempted to say 'I love you' but I still needed to think about that. There was no doubt in my mind that theoretically, I loved her but what did I feel? It was too much for me to think about with a bruised body and boozed up brain.

I watched her until she was in the elevator and then closed the door.

The first thing I did was call my father.

"Hello." He picked up.

"We need to find out who sent that to Selena." I combed my hair with my hand and sat on the couch.

"I know it was Black but I just don't see how. I have two men watching Selena and they didn't see him anywhere near her in the past two weeks."

"Undercover goon?"

"That would be my guess but he's never used them before."

"It could be anybody. How do we weed them out? He could have guys all over Selena and we wouldn't even know."

"We'll have to do this the old fashioned way. It's obvious that he got that disk up there somehow so we'll work backwards."

"You're calling the shots, I guess but when it comes to Selena, I need to make sure that she's safe. If we have people who can get to her then she's vulnerable to everyone out there."

"I know and I'm hoping that no one has discovered her but that stunt you pulled with James last night won't go unnoticed by Aro. He follows the Denali's every move and he will suspect who caused that kid's damage. If Aro doesn't know about Selena now, it's only a matter of time. She's in a lot of danger."

"I know, I know. Question though, if you have two fucking men watching her then why was I the one who had to pull her out of the street?"

"First of all, don't curse at me and secondly, they are instructed to keep a distance unless someone threatens Selena. It was my instruction for them to stay as far away from her as possible."

"What good are they if they can't help? I have cuts all over my body." I raised my voice.

"I understand that but they were doing their job. Don't blame them."

"I think I need to have a talk with them."

"Let me handle it. Selena's safety is now a matter of importance to all of us."

Carlisle and I hung up after another ten minutes of strategizing Selena's safety.

I sat on the sofa, looking out of the window while drinking my bottle of whiskey the entire night. I didn't move, I barely blinked and I don't think I even breathed.

The sun rose around six-thirty and I heaved myself up to take a shower.

I turned the water to a near burning temperature and just stood there, not caring to actually move my tired muscles. The cuts on my back stung like a bitch. I had trained my body to work without sleep so I wasn't tired but mentally, I was exhausted.

Just thinking about the conversations that conspired last night was making me cringe with revulsion.

I never wanted Selena to be a part of this life but I was glad that she wasn't going anywhere. I had this disgusting need to just be with her and it made no sense. I couldn't describe the way I felt because I had no past experience with any of this. I didn't know what to do. That being said, Selena had my balls in the palm of her hand. She was going to have to make a decision on where she wanted us to go. She said that everything was fine and it was just going to take time but things might be too difficult for Selena if she ever saw me in action.

Esme and Rose of course knew what their loves were capable of. Alice was too far in love to care but Selena hadn't even heard the half of it.

What was she going to do when she found out that I was basically the boss? That I not only ruled this world but caused all the horrors that flashed across the front page of her newspaper?

I turned off the water to the water when I saw my skin start to turn red from the heat that I didn't even feel. I stepped back in the shower when I realized that I had only spent twenty-four minutes and waited out the last three.

I got out and dried off before going into my closet to dress for church.

I decided on a smart, dark blue, pin striped, suit that was of course made by Mr. Armani and a lighter blue shirt along with a dark tie. I slipped my feet in some Italian loafers and made sure that my hair was somewhat respectable but I knew it would be messy by the time I picked Selena up.

I stood in front of the mirror and pushed on the swollen portion of my jaw that was an injury from yesterday's accident. There were a couple of cuts on my face but I had been through worse.

"Damn." I muttered when I saw that I forgot to shave and a two day stubble was starting to grow in. I fought the urge to jump back in the shower because I was already running late.

I snapped a silver watch on my wrist and grabbed everything else I needed before locking up the penthouse.

I was in the elevator with a splitting headache a couple of seconds later. It was probably a mixture of my concussion, late night drinking and lack of sleep but my head felt like it was being pounded with a jackhammer.

I almost didn't hear the doors open but skidded out of them before they closed.

I slipped into the BMW and pulled out easily onto the street. On my way in between thick congestion, I passed the exact spot where I was rammed by that fucking delivery truck.

There was glass on the road from the accident but besides that, no one would have ever known what scene had occurred the previous day. I didn't know how my father had covered things up but he always did. As far as I knew, there were no police and no record of the catastrophe.

I drove down the road for about ten minutes through slow ass traffic until I pulled up in front of Selena's dorm.

She was sitting on the bench in a beautiful cream colored trench coat so I couldn't see what dress she was in but she looked beautiful. Her hair was swept over her left shoulder and she was in a pair of black, fuck me pumps that made her legs look so amazing.

I stopped easily and she got up from her seat as I went to open her door.

"Good morning." I greeted her.

"Good morning." Selena rose up on her toes to kiss me and I didn't shy away. She sunk into her seat and I shut the door lightly before going to my side.

As we drove off, I wanted to jump right into things and ask Selena how she was feeling about last night. Thankfully, she must have been reading my thoughts because she started off.

"Okay, so I thought about things." She sighed, "I don't want to break up so you don't have to worry. If Esme and Rose and Alice are fine with all of this, then so am I but it's not like you were going to change for me and I didn't expect you to. I have just one thing."

"Okay." I said, relieved that this was going better than I thought it would.

"Well, two things. First, I need to know what's going on. I'm not going to ask you about anything specific but I want to be kept in the loop. I don't want to have to find out that you were in some shootout on the five o'clock news. Tell me what's going on. I don't need to know about all the money or where it's coming from but I need to understand your life."

"I can do that." I nodded.

"And second, you have to promise me to be safe."

"Safe?"

"I've watched enough mafia movies to know what you guys go through and I don't want any of that happening to you. Promise me that you'll be safe."

"Of course" I replied. If she asked me to shave my head, I would.

"I won't say anything to Charlie or anyone. I don't want to put you in more danger." Selena sat back, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How have you stayed out of jail all these years?"

I laughed shortly, "Carlisle owns this city. He could run for mayor tomorrow and win at the drop of a hat. Besides, we have a lot of police on our side. They can make things disappear like that." I snapped my fingers.

"That's why he was like that." Selena said under her breath.

"Who?"

"Oh, uh…well Rosalie probably already told you but that week you were in Russia and we went to your casino, I met some police guy. He came up to talk to me." She shrugged.

Rose told me that there were some police at the casino that night but she didn't tell me who or that they talked to Selena.

"Do you remember his name?"

"Uh…Jacob something." She trailed off.

I had to grip the steering wheel so that I didn't turn the car around and plow it through the front lobby of the Chicago Police Department.

Who the fuck did he think he was?

Not only was Black out of line by stepping foot in my casino, but he had the nerve to speak with Selena. She didn't know about anything that was going on but I figured that he guessed she did.

That son of a bitch was going to get it the next time I saw him. I was tempted to fucking throw a Molotov cocktail through his car window but I had to calm down right now.

I didn't want to make a scene in front of Selena.

"Did you say anything?" I asked, not necessarily scared but more pissed.

"No. I don't talk to people I don't know and I could tell he was up to something."

I almost laughed at how well it seemed Selena fit into this life. I was happy that she wasn't going anywhere.

The day went by as much the same as normal.

We sat through a boring ass church service. It took a little longer to get out than normal because Esme wanted to take Selena to confessional for some reason so we waited for them to be done before we headed to the cemetery.

We changed the flowers and cleaned up the grave of Esme's father and I never really thought about it before but it was kind of sick now that I studied the story.

Carlisle killed this man and Esme hated him but out of respect or faith, I wasn't sure which, they brought flowers every week.

Esme was of course fixing her amazing feast but this time, Selena wouldn't let her work alone. She was determined to memorize my mother's lasagna recipe.

For hours, I stood in the kitchen and just watched them interact.

They were both so much alike but totally different in the same way. Esme was probably a version of what Selena was going to be in a couple of decades. I guess what they say is true. Men always fall in love with women like their mothers.

When people started to arrive for dinner, Selena came to sit with me on the couch as I drank from my beer bottle.

"So, tonight is the big Halloween party." Alice bounced in her seat, "I'm so excited. I've always heard that the party at Plasma is just insane. I've never been able to get it."

"It's a zoo is what it is." I said.

"No it's not. Justin just usually has so many women on him that he can't keep up." Jasper laughed.

Selena crossed her arms but didn't say anything. She looked incredibly cute when she got defensive.

"I won't leave your side." I whispered into her ear.

"You better not." She smiled evilly.

"What's Halloween?" Alec asked as he sat across from Emmett on the floor. They were playing checkers and currently, the big football player was getting his ass kicked.

"It's when kids usually get dressed up and beg for candy." I answered, "They go from door to door and ask for stuff."

"Sounds like fun. Can I go?" His eyes shined innocently, "I want get candy from people."

"No, no, no. You're going to have a grown up Halloween." Emmett sat up straight, "We have to give the kids his first everything and since you're not a baby, you can come with us."

"I don't know about that." Jasper shook his head, "It can get pretty…messed up."

"I have a costume for him if he wants it." Alice shrugged.

"What are we going as, maestro?" Selena asked.

"Everyone has something different but it should be fun." She gleamed.

"What do you think Justin?" Jasper asked me, "Can the kid go?"

"It'll be alright. Just make sure he stays away from the booze."

Alec nodded eagerly, "I promise but can I have candy?"

"You'll rot your teeth." Esme came into the room with a tray of antipasto that she put on the coffee table, "And you can go but make sure you stick with Justin at all times."

"I promise."

"I don't see why you have to have a Halloween party on Sunday anyway. It's a sin." Esme stressed to Jasper.

"It's the way of the calendar, Ma. It has to be that way." He held up his hands.

Dinner was easy and flowed without any interruptions.

We didn't talk about business at all and I was thankful that I could actually have an easy meal for once. We gorged ourselves on lasagna, veal parmesan, ten types of salads, four types of soups, six types of pastas, steaks and whatever else Esme decided was appropriate.

It was pure insanity with all the talking and hand moving but it was kind of fun. I never really paid attention to Sunday dinner. With Selena there, I found it bearable.

No one really ever left the house after dinner and just hung around but Rose, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Alec, Selena and I were skipping out early to head out to Plasma.

"Everything is in your rooms so hurry up." Alice commanded us all around nine that night.

"This is not going to be fun." I took Selena's hand and climbed the stairs.

"It won't be that bad. I haven't dressed up in years."

"What if you have to wear some skimpy skirt?" I didn't like the sound of that for the fact that I was just getting over James touching her. I might blow up tonight.

"We'll come to that later. I'll throw on a jacket but if you don't do what she says, it'll just be the worse the next time." She rolled her eyes and we continued to climb.

We entered my room and on the bed were out costumes.

"You can't be serious?" I huffed and held up the red, velvet, cigar jacket, "Hugh Hefner?"

"That's nothing." Selena growled and raised her dark red, Playboy bunny costume to her body, "I'm going to kill her."

"Wow, that looks hot." I muttered like some teenager.

"Shut up." Selena gathered the rest of her things and slammed the door to the bathroom.

I laughed as I took off my suit, folding it as I went and then pulling on the black, velvet pants that looked like a track suit. It was so cliché and I hated it but I wasn't going to get on Alice's bad side. She reminded me of Rose in the way she was bitchy and completely controlling but at least Alice had a personality.

The jacket was a deep burgundy that came below my waist and had black trim along the collar and sleeves. There were pockets and a sash that I was supposed to tie. There wasn't a shirt that went with the costume so I didn't wear one. The Playboy bunny and emblem was smack-dab in the back of the jacket. I stuffed my feet in some comfortable, black slippers.

I went to the mirror and to complete the look, combed my hair until it slicked back and then dug through my top drawer until I found the antique pipe from Great Grandpa. I stuck it in my mouth just as Selena came out of the bathroom.

"Alice going to pay for this" She grumbled and stood in front of me.

"Sweet Lord." I looked her up and down.

The cut of the thing left nothing to the imagination but Selena pulled the whole costume off without seeming slutty or trashy.

The corset was basically just a tight piece of fabric that cupped her breasts and hugged her curves. She had the complete outfit on from the bent bunny ears, to the bow tie and cufflinks along with the same fucking black heels that she wore today. Her hair was flowing down her back and I wanted to basically fuck her until she couldn't breathe. There were no stockings and no coverings.

"Is it nice?" Selena asked, biting her lip and knowing exactly what she was doing to me.

"Turn." I spun her around slowly so that I could see her legs and the puffy white tail that was right on her ass, "I can't believe you look this hot."

"You sound like a horny teenager."

"I feel like a horny teenager." I whispered, "You're not coming out of that until I'm done with you tonight."

"That's what I was planning on." She kissed me long and deeply.

We were both breathless after ten minutes.

"By the way, you look incredibly delicious in that." Selena ran her finger over the outline of my jacket.

"I don't know what I'll do if guys look at you tonight." I said seriously.

"I'll carry a pole so that I can beat them off." She took my hand and led me out of the door.

We went downstairs where Alice was making last minute touches to everyone else's look.

Rose and Emmett looked so fucking messed up as Tarzan and Jane. They barely had any clothes on but I knew that's how they liked it. Alice and Jasper were slightly more tamed as a cowboy and saloon waitress. Alec was in a drummer boy outfit that made him look five. It was shameful and too big for him but he didn't seem to mind. Everyone else was basically naked.

"You look hot!" Emmett spun Selena around, "I want Rose to borrow this one."

"I think I'm going to keep it." Selena raised an eyebrow at me and I shuffled my pants so that my dick wasn't visible.

"We have to hurry up or we'll miss all the fun." Alice squealed and we were off before Esme could chastise our "sinful outfits", but if she brought out those guns, I would have went to the family album. She and Carlisle were just freaky when they were younger. She didn't want to start with me.

We all got into cars and I made sure to hold onto Selena so that she didn't fall. That was her biggest concern and she dug her nails into me the whole time we walked out of the house.

I decided to switch the BMW out for the Aston Martin this week and helped Selena in. Alec jumped in the back of the car.

"I like this one the best." Selena smoothed her hand over the soft leather of her seat, looking sexy as hell in that bunny suit.

"I do to." I started the car and if the lights hadn't come on, I wouldn't have even known it was running. The engine was so smooth as I pulled out of the driveway.

"When can I learn to drive?" Alec poked his head up front. The large hat on his head fell over his face but he picked it back up.

"When you're thirty and don't touch my cars." I replied as I blasted out onto the road.

"I want to drive a motorcycle like Jasper." He commented.

"Charlie always says that motorcycles are the devils play things." Selena laughed.

"I have two." I muttered under my breath.

We made it to Plasma in record time and the freaks really did come out on Halloween. I had forgotten how weird this night was and I couldn't remember the last time I did anything like this.

I drove into the back parking lot of Plasma and the music actually thumped the car.

"Geez, what's going on in there?" Selena opened her door.

"This is not a good night to be out." I said through gritted teeth; just remember the kinds of shit that went down, "The both of you, stay away from the liquor." I pointed at Selena and Alec.

"Can I still have candy?" He asked.

"We could go to the grocery store if you want candy?" Selena wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"I guess but I wanted to dress up too. Alice said you had to go out on Halloween."

"Just make sure you don't go too far." We joined the rest of the group who were going into through the back.

The club was so packed it almost bordered on suffocation and there was a thick haze that floated into the air.

Sweaty, costumed bodies were grinding on each other, lights were pulsing, bartenders were working overtime and security was busy trying to keep everything under control.

"This is the best year yet." Jasper rubbed his hands together.

"Just get us a table." I shouted at him.

We were lead through the crowds towards a corner where a glass booth was already fixed with bottles of booze and empty seats.

We squished into the thing and I kept my hand in Selena's as I saw creeps looking at her. I was determined to not blow up.

"This is incredible." Selena said into my ear when we sat down.

"It will only get worse as the night goes on." I said back.

Alcohol was passed around the table and I skipped it over Selena and Alec while they both pouted. They just got juice for the night.

The minutes passed to hours and I was trying my hardest not to walk out but I had to admit that it was kind of fun watching everyone make a fool of themselves.

Rose and Emmett went off to dance of course. Jasper took Alec to receive his first lap dance upstairs from some girl, which I wasn't too sure about but I was already fucking like a rabbit at that age so I couldn't say anything. Alice was happily throwing herself over the gay dudes who seemed to love her and Selena tried to convince me to dance but I wasn't going on that floor even if a gun was put to my head. We just sat and talked.

She seemed to be enjoying herself and I was surprised that I was too.

About three hours in, I heard the screech that I never wanted to hear again.

"Justin!" Vienna's despicable whinny voice sounded even over the music, "Oh my God, I knew you'd be here." She bounced over with some kind of slutty cheerleader outfit on.

She sat right on the other side of me, ignoring Selena.

"Vienna." I said and pulled my arm from her grasp.

"I've been calling you for a month." She pouted.

"I know. I've been ignoring. Did you forget our last conversation?" I scowled.

"Oh, you were just kidding." She swatted my shoulder. I could tell that she was kind of fucked up off of weed. I could smell it.

A huge man came up behind her and just stood there with a hard face.

"Oh, that's just my bodyguard." Vienna said when she noticed me staring, "You know Aro but anyway, what's wrong? I want to have some more fun with you."

"I don't think that would be the best idea. This is my girlfriend, Selena." I replied, actually happy that I could claim some other girl besides Vienna.

"Nice to meet you" Selena extended her hand but I heard a 'slut' at the end.

Vienna just looked at Selena and then started laughing uncontrollably, "Yeah right. This has to be a joke. You don't have girlfriends, Justin."

"I do now."

"Oh my God, this is too much for me to handle." She pulled on my hand, "Come dance with me."

"I would rather not." I snatched it back, "I told you that I never wanted to speak to you again."

Vienna turned around and just looked mean. That was the only way to put it, "Are you serious? You chose that over me?" She spat.

"He doesn't like trash." Selena shrugged and I almost choked on my gin.

"Bitch!" Vienna reached across the table but I knocked her away before she could even take a step.

"Touch her and I'll snap your wrists in half." I spoke lowly so that Selena wouldn't hear and stared Vienna down.

"Get off of me." She stumbled backwards, "I hate you." She screeched and ran away crying. It was pathetic.

I sat back down when her bodyguard followed.

"That was the same girl you were with at Carmel that night." Selena accused, "I thought she got the message?"

"Obviously not. She's psychotic to put it lightly." I gulped down the rest of my gin.

"Family friend?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

After that horrible incident, I kept a look out for Vienna but she never showed up again.

Around midnight, I couldn't take all the sloppy, drunk, people watching so I asked Selena to come outside with me for some fresh air. We walked down the street, not far but far enough to dull the sound of music.

I smoked on a cigarette as we continued, "How's your first Halloween in Chicago?" I asked her.

"Well between this outfit that's chaffing my ass and your crazy ex-girlfriends, it's been fun." She actually laughed.

"Sorry about that."

"It wasn't your fault and I knew that your shit was going to come back to haunt us. I can't wait to meet the other ones. I have such good burn lines for when they test me."

"I bet you do." I snickered.

I looked down to put out my cigarette and when I looked back up, Selena was gone. There was no sound, no warning and it took less than a second.

"What the hell?" I looked around, thinking that Selena was playing a trick on me.

I walked back quickly towards the left and down a street but she wasn't there. I re-traced our path but not getting too freaked out.

When it came on the two minute mark, I was about to blow up the fucking city.

I knew shouting wouldn't be any use because there was so much noise from cars and music and people so I just kept running down back alleyways that were close to the club. I had pulled a gun out of nowhere and had it at the ready because something wasn't right.

"Selena!" I tried screaming but didn't hear a reply.

A bottle rolled across the pavement down another alleyway.

"Selena, is that you?" I walked slowly, holding my pistol at the ready.

There was no answer.

A saw a swift movement in the small light of the next alley and ran full speed ahead.

I saw a big body carrying something over his shoulder and I saw the red of Selena's costume in the beam of the street lamp.

I sprinted like a fucking beast and ran through a puddle or two but I didn't care.

Once I got a clear shot, I fired and heard a groan of pain as I hit the piece of shit in the back of the knee. He dropped to the ground and Selena rolled off his shoulder. She had a piece of cloth over her mouth and her feet and hands were bound.

I noticed that the fucker was the same bodyguard that Vienna was sporting a couple of hours before.

Before I even had the chance to think about what to do, I shoved the butt of my gun so deep into his skull that I heard it crack.

He let out a roar of pain and even though he was probably three times bigger than I was, he had a bullet in his knee and a broken head so I was winning this.

I was on top of him and just started throwing punches and his face. There were no words from him or me as I continued to beat the shit out of whomever it was. I grabbed the first thing that I could see on the ground. It was heavy and it was metal so I struck the bastard with so much force that blood sprayed my face but I kept bringing the rod down on his body.

He kept screaming and fighting but I was determined to end his life so he wasn't doing much good.

The animal in me wasn't stopping and I counted fifteen blows to his skull before I had some form of brain function back.

His entire face was a pile of road kill and his head was almost completely severed from his neck, through and through. Besides for the hole in his knee, he didn't have any other bodily injuries minus the problem with his head.

I was winded and the fucker was still, deader than a doorknob. So for the second night this weekend, I had injured a man over Selena and I was okay with that.

I stood up, my clothes and skin ruined with blood and brain matter. I dropped the metal tool on the ground with a clang.

My chest was heaving like I had just ran a marathon.

The first thing that came to my mind was Selena.

She was huddled against a far wall, not crying but had the look of shock on her face. Her eyes were wide as saucers and I approached slowly.

"I won't hurt you Selena." I held up my bloodied hands and crouched next to her, untying her bindings, "Are you alright?"

She nodded without saying anything and blinked a few times, "He just…grabbed me."

"I know." I wanted to hug the shit out of her right now but I didn't think that would be appropriate, "I won't hurt you, I promise."

She looked at me for a quick second and things seemed to snap in her mind.

"That's what I do." I pointed behind me, "I kill and I'm sorry." I still wanted to hug her just to feel her.

Selena took care of my dilemma herself by flinging her arms around my neck, "What the hell was all of that? I don't even know who he is."

"Don't worry about it." I buried my face in her hair, "Nothing was your fault."

"I'm not scared of you." She pulled me closer.

I lifted her up and carried her away from the bloody, dead body on the wet pavement.

[sudsybear]

touching

Depression and compassion

  Postmark Oct 24 1985 Cincinnati, OH

 Hi Suzin.

           Boy, were you depressed on Sunday. Depressing Letter. And you sounded depressed last night (wed). I wish there was something I could do to help. Is there? WORK. This week is going so slow. I wish I had some time to go Pintoing. This weekend, however. I will 1) college search 2) do the apartment 3) work on a lot of homework.

After the weekend, things should be significantly easier. Well, I’ve got tons of work to do, so I must get started and mail this letter.

Talk to you soon.

 Love,

Bok

 P.S. I miss you. I love you.

           (Forgot to say those elsewhere.)

  I did terribly in my classes, I felt incredibly guilty about how much money my parents spent. This was one of the most expensive schools in the country, and we didn’t qualify for financial aid or scholarships – I never even filled out a Financial Aid Form. I started a job washing dishware in one of the research labs across campus. I lasted all of two hours. I didn’t bother showing up anymore. I never got a paycheck.

 I had zero motivation to do my required reading or homework. Instead I spent my time skulking around looking for stereos to listen to music and socialize. I was awake all hours of the night, I slept through classes, and I missed Ross like crazy. I couldn’t stand to be alone. Stephen Paul and Jim and others flirted with me constantly, and to win companionship, no matter how temporary, I flirted back; sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes the flirt rang hollow. My moods changed quickly then. I missed Ross, and my floor-mates tried very hard to help me.

 Jim stopped by my room on Sunday mornings, dragging me to Christian worship services. I met caring people there. Jim’s roommate Lawrence was really good to talk with, and we became close friends. Jim’s suitemates, Craig and Bart made me laugh, and Keith was just Keith –  fun to tease.

 Others echoed Ross’ concern about the depressing letter I sent. Mother wrote, “Thanks for the nice letter – I won’t say more or I’ll cry.” And she included some money in the envelope. I asked if we could gather the family to escape to Green Knob for Thanksgiving. When Jack was struggling at Wake Forest, Dad and I met him at Green Knob for a week to sugar the maples. It was a time for Dad and Jack to share hard physical labor, time to be away from distracting influences and meditate. I wanted similar. I called Jack in Allentown to chat. Jack was busy with Pennsylvania Stage Company, putting together the next stage show. Dad was still traveling for work, and Mom also had to work. No one had the time or the inclination to go to Green Knob that year. I reached out to my familiars, I wrote letters, I made phone calls. No one had time to help me. I was left to my own devices. I didn’t do very well on my own.

 *          *          *

 In 2002, I told my couch-guy, “I want a “do-over”.” At any point since August 27th, 1985 I want to change a decision and do it all over again, and see what might have happened. Should I have told Mom and Dad, “I’m not going, and you can’t make me!” Should I have insisted I come home for my grandmother’s funeral? And then stayed? Should I have refused to return to Rochester after October break? But parallel universes and time travel exist only in fiction – unless you want to discuss Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, and even then, time travel isn’t particularly practical.

 What do I think would happen in that do-over? Do I want a different story? A different ending? Is my present life so terrible? Do I think I would be happier? I don’t know. But like George saw in It’s a wonderful life, I wish an angel could show me how my life might have gone. As it is, I’ll never have the reassurance that the decisions I made were the right ones. I’ll always have the nagging feeling that I made a very wrong decision that ultimately resulted in disaster.

 *          *          *

 I continued my nocturnal lifestyle from summer. By this time it was just that – a lifestyle – some might call it a rut. I was rarely asleep before one or two a.m. I dragged myself out of bed in the morning to go to classes. Then I found a comfortable napping situation in the Welles-Brown Room during the afternoons. The couches were quite nap-worthy and I took refuge there many an afternoon. Thus refreshed, I would be once again awake until the wee hours of the morning.

 It wasn’t hard to find companionship after midnight – whether I pretended to work on a paper that was due, or fought with Calculus, someone was always around to distract or encourage me. And between buying rolls of quarters for the washing machines, my sewing kit and the toolbox, there were a lot of visitors to my room. People had a reason to stop by. Another quote that Stephen Paul kept fits in here, “I like sleeping in my room. I’m never sure who I will wake up with.” That came from the comfort people felt even if I didn’t share it. Roz and I furnished our room with comfortable carpeting and pillows. Any given night, a group of us chatted ‘til all hours, and one by one people fell asleep – some stumbled back to their own rooms, but not always. I woke up in the morning (the clock radio blaring Starship’s, “We built this city.” That song received entirely too much airtime on Rochester radio in 1985) and found someone asleep on the floor who wasn’t there when I fell asleep.

 One night, I decided to get drunk. I never was much of a drinker. I can’t stand the taste of beer, don’t like the fuzzy feeling I get in my head, don’t need the empty calories, hate the morning-after scum in my mouth. I’m still not much of a drinker, although a glass of wine or whiskey does go down smoothly on occasion. That night I guess I felt drunkenness was necessary, another way to escape the emotional upheaval. As I recall, Chris prepared some sort of flaming concoction on the desk in his room. It was a layered drink served in shot glasses, in which the final step was to light the top layer on fire. I did not care to drink flames...so the guys, Chris, Stephen Paul and Mike willingly and enthusiastically found an alternative. Perhaps it was peppermint schnapps? Cool and refreshing, like mouthwash. But packed a powerful punch when you drank enough of it.

 I sat on someone's lap in Chris' room and tossed back several shots. And the handwriting tests began. As a geek test of my sobriety, the guys had me write a sentence every fifteen minutes or some such nonsense. (That endeavor ranks high on the geek scale.)  I got the giggles, and then when the room was spinning and I had to pee, I wandered back to my room to sleep it off. Not a very satisfactory drunk. My handwriting didn’t even suffer too badly…

 *          *          *

 Two days before Halloween I had a terrible cold – probably the flu. I was achy, feverish. It hurt like hell to swallow anything. I felt miserable. I hiked up the hill to University Health Service but all they did was a lousy job of taking a throat culture and told me to rest. What a waste of time that was. I just wanted to be home. It didn’t help that I didn’t have a winter coat. It was silly really. I wore my jean jacket with a down vest over it. I layered – turtleneck, sweatshirt or sweater, jean jacket and vest. It was cold…but I refused to wear a winter coat.

 The Student Association sponsored a band to play at a costume party at the student center (Wilson Commons, designed by world-renowned architect I.M.Pei) Stephen Paul and Jim persuaded me to go with them and the guys from Jim’s suite – Bart, Lawrence, Craig, Keith. I wrapped a box that Mom shipped with some of my things from home, using birthday wrapping paper and ribbon that I paid too much for at the campus bookstore. I put on a long sweater and some tights and voila! A Birthday present - instant costume. No make-up or mask required. After the costume contest at the party, I took off my box and danced with the guys of the 7th floor.

 *          *          *

 One early November evening we had a floor meeting, and after business was done floor residents wandered off to their other commitments – homework, rehearsals, social engagements. Those of us left in the common area chatted until time to retire. Eventually Chris and I were left sitting alone together.

 Introspective, quiet, reserved, not one to seek the center of attention, Chris was an observer of human interaction. A physics major, he found elegance in mathematics, but loved the logic and ponderings of philosophy. And like Ross, he worked hard. They both had that same drive and self-discipline to complete the task set before them. For Ross it was writing computer programs, for Chris it was solving equations. They both loved language as well - the language of music and the beauty of the written word. He was from “NOT New York City” - Eastern Oregon, an area of the country I was somewhat familiar with having been driven through the area several times. And like Ross, Chris listened to excellent music. It was similar to the music Ross listened to with the same passion and the same appreciation for the finer details within an album. So much of him was familiar, and I desperately needed familiar.

 Lost in my own turmoil of desperately missing Ross and home, awed by the power I held over Stephen Paul, and intrigued by the comfort and guidance offered me by Jim. My world was upside down and inside out. That night Chris offered me his hand. I took it. There, in the quiet of the night, while friends slept in the rooms around us, we held hands. We were silent together. We didn’t talk much, if at all. We didn’t need to. Occasionally a floor-mate walked off the elevator and saw us together. We nodded an acknowledgement, offered a greeting and said goodnight. And still we held hands.

 I leaned my head back against the wall and drifted in and out of sleep. At one point I rested my head on Chris’ shoulder and dozed. And still we held hands. I woke, briefly rested, and holding only our hands together we were tender, erotic and sensual. We made love there in a way. Silently, sitting in the semi-darkness on the benches in front of the elevator. The cheerful rainbow mural around us was a stark contrast to our melancholy. Each lost in our own misery, we comforted each other. Fully clothed, sitting side-by-side our only physical contact was the gentle and comforting touch of our hands. The hours wore on, our eyes grew heavy and the time came for us to return to our respective beds. We may have kissed briefly, I don’t recall.

 We never spoke of our encounter, but I cherish the memory. That night I learned the healing power of touch. I internalized that intimacy is a state of mind that goes far beyond physical attraction. As I hope Ross did, I wonder if Chris ever found peace and happiness.