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cakesunflower · 4 years

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No Need Convincing Me [Tattoo Artist!Calum AU] Part 4

Summary: Elodie Banks hadn’t expected to get so caught up in her best friend’s tattoo artist. But all it took was one meeting with Calum Hood for Elodie to feel herself drawing towards him and the ink on his skin. Maybe once she was rid of a miserable relationship and the insecurities that came with it, she’d allow herself to realize that Calum was just as wrapped up in her.

A/N: a part of this chapter is pretty self indulgent, if i do say so myself. y’all will know why while reading---keep in mind that i work at Calvin Klein hehe

All Parts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5 | Part 6

Part 4

“The house feels so empty without you.”

Elodie let out a light laugh at her mother’s words, looking up from her chicken alfredo. When her mom called her up and asked to meet up for lunch, Elodie was more than happy to join her. It had been almost a week since she moved out of her home and into Dominique’s—their, as her best friend corrected—apartment and as someone who had spent her entire life living with her parents, it was something to adjust to. But Elodie would be lying if she said she wasn’t already enjoying living with Dominique.

“You’ll adjust,” Elodie told her as she picked up her glass, sipping at the red wine as her mom let out a scoff.

“A mother never gets used to not being around her child,” her mom said matter-of-factly, though a gentle smile slipped onto her lips. Elodie was an exact copy of her mother’s; from the honey colored hair and button nose and always smiling lips. The only difference between them were her mom’s dark blue eyes, Elodie’s own brown she inherited from her father. In this moment, Mrs. Banks’ eyes were taking in the sight of her daughter, watching her, observing her, before she let out a breath. “But you do seem happy. More so than I’ve seen you in a long time.” With a raise of an eyebrow, she inquired, “Is it because you’re not under our roof or does this have something to do with the end of your relationship with Nathan?”

Despite the fact that her parents were close friends with Nathan’s, Elodie didn’t feel the need to hide the contentment from not being with him from her mom. But that didn’t mean she didn’t feel nervous confiding in her mom about feeling as though she was finally free from being wrapped in Nathan’s unyielding grip. Sugar coating the details would be the way to go in this situation.

“A little bit,” Elodie conceded, licking her lips and tasting the wine. At her mom’s encouraging raise of eyebrows, Elodie continued with a sigh, “I know you love Nathan but I just. . . I couldn’t breathe when I was with him. And I know that probably sounds dramatic, but—”

“It doesn’t sound dramatic, honey,” her mom cut in with a shake of her head and frown knitting together her eyebrows. She folded her arms on the table, the single diamond pendant she loved wearing glinting against her neck. “If I’m being honest, I had a feeling you weren’t too happy with Nathan. You looked. . . Free in London and when we got back you just looked deflated.”

A wry smile quirked at Elodie’s lips. “Like a balloon?” she joked, her mom scoffing out a laugh. Honestly. Nathan just popping her like a balloon wasn’t a far off comparison.

“I hope you don’t feel guilty for breaking up with Nathan,” Mrs. Banks said, raising her eyebrows as a way of trying to get her own thoughts across. “If you weren’t happy with him, then ending that relationship was the best thing for you. I don’t love Nathan nearly as much as I love you. As long as you’re happy, that’s all I care about.”

Elodie had no idea how much she needed to hear that. Sure, her mom didn’t truly know the extent of terrible things Elodie had to listen to that Nathan would throw her way, but Elodie didn’t see any point in divulging that information. It was over. It was done. Elodie had a feeling if she told her mom about it, then she would either confront Nathan or his parents about it, maybe both, or tell Elodie that it happened in the past and there was no point in bringing it up now. Elodie couldn’t be quite sure what the reaction would be to the truth, and she wasn’t entirely sure which would be worse.

Her grip on the fork tightened. She kind of hated that she second guessed everything because of Nathan.

As she and her mother waited for the waiter to bring by the check, Elodie’s phone buzzed with the text, and she fought the smile from tilting at her lips when she saw Calum’s name.

Calum 2:03PM

Just a heads up—I might kill Dom for inviting me to this thing her parents are throwing.

—

Elodie 2:03PM

Do you at least have a reason for your murderous intent?

—

Calum 2:04PM

Dunno who she thinks she is assuming I’ve got any suit other than my Halloween one lying around. And I hate the mall.

—

Elodie 2:05PM

You just need a good guide. I’m more than happy to offer my services :-)

—

Calum 2:05PM

Where are you? I’ll pick you up.

After her mom slid into the back of her car and left with a hug and a kiss to Elodie, she walked over to where her own car was parked and waved her hand at Flynn, her driver, to keep him from getting out of the car. He shot her a quizzical look as she got to the driver’s side and he lowered the window. “All good, Ms. Banks?”

“Yeah,” Elodie nodded, hugging her denim jacket closer to her body. It was particularly chilly today. “I have a friend coming to pick me up, so you don’t have to stick around. I’m good for the day.”

Flynn nodded, offering her a kind smile. “Whatever you say, Ms. Banks. Have a good day—call if your plans change.”

She waved him off, watching as the town car drove off, and Elodie stepped back towards the restaurant and leaned against the wall as she waited for Calum to arrive. Arms crossed over her chest, Elodie let out a breath as she watched the cars drive by in the seat in front of her. Her cheeks felt warm, the glass of wine she had with her lunch being the cause of it, but the flips of her stomach definitely were because of the fact that she was about to hang out with Calum—go shopping with him. Elodie would be embarrassed by her bold behavior of inviting herself along if it weren’t for Calum instantly telling her he’d pick her up.

Elodie found herself thanking Dominique’s parents for throwing whatever gala they were hosting—at this point, Elodie just went to these parties without much thought over what they were for. And she was also grateful for Dominique inviting Calum and everyone else. Elodie couldn’t help but think it would be refreshing to have them there among the usual faces she saw at these kinds of events.

She pushed aside the thought of Nathan being in attendance.

And it wasn’t hard, when a black Range Rover pulled up in front of her, her heart jumping at Calum holding his hand up in a greeting wave from the driver’s seat. She took a breath as she walked around towards the passenger door, feeling her smile return when Calum leaned over to the center console to open the door for her, the gesture a bit too sweet for her to handle.

“I appreciate you helpin’ out a lost cause,” Calum chuckled as Elodie settled, strapping in her seatbelt as Calum began driving once more. The car smelt like the citrus freshener dangling from the rearview mirror alongside an Evil Eye pendant, as well as the ever so familiar scent of Calum’s cologne.

Elodie shot him a quick smile, trying not to focus too hard on the leather jacket and black cargo pants he somehow made work. “No, I’m more than happy to,” she told him, leaning back into the seat as her gaze dropped for a moment, eyebrows raising at the familiar small box sitting in the small compartment under the stereo system. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

She noted Calum glance at her before looking down at the package and then returning his gaze out to the road. “Only when I’m stressed,” he told her as the song playing through the car changed into one by Coldplay. Elodie had a feeling the playlist in the tattoo shop was one of Calum’s making. She wondered if she imagined a nervous tinge creep into his voice when he added, “’M sorry if it smells—”

“No, no,” Elodie interrupted, not wanting him to think she had some kind of issue, and she didn’t want to insult him, either. “My dad smokes, so I’m used to the smell.” With an embarrassed chuckle, she added, “I kind of like it, actually.”

At that, Calum let out a laugh, the sound raspy and breathy and a bit too adorable for Elodie to handle. “Really?” he questioned, the amusement apparent in his tone.

Elodie waved him off, feeling her own grin pull at her lips as Calum made a right turn, one hand on the wheel while the other rested on windowsill. She tried not to stare. “Yeah, yeah, I know it’s strange. Don’t judge.”

Calum snorted, throwing a glance her way. “You’re helping me with this suit shit. No judgement here, doll.”

If the shopping trip consisted of him dropping any more cute little terms on her, Elodie wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to make it.

When they arrived at the mall, Elodie’s eyes took in the various store fronts as she asked Calum, “Is there a specific store you wanna check out?”

“Um, honestly,” Calum sounded, looking lost in thought for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and glancing down at her. “I think I’ve got the shoes and shirt part covered—I just need, like, a suit jacket and pants to go with ’em. ’M not picky; something nice and not flashy that I can wear again for some other occasion, I guess.”

Elodie hummed in acknowledgement, trying to think of the many stores she knew to be in this particular mall. “What about Calvin Klein? They’ve got some cool stuff.” She also kind of wanted to check out their new sweaters. And needed underwear—though Elodie doubted she was gonna buy some right now.

Calum puckered his lips and put up his hands with a shake of his head. “Hey, I’m followin’ your lead, El.”

She decided she liked the sound of him saying her nickname.

They entered the store, the music mixing in with the chatter of customers, and Elodie’s gaze instantly drew over to the suits, and before she could think twice, her hand grasped Calum’s and she was pulling him along. Elodie didn’t allow herself to think of her bold move, instead absently admired the warmth of his touch and the coolness of the few rings he wore as they weaved past people and tables and displays.

There was an entire section dedicated to dress shirts, suit jackets, and different styles of pants to go with them. Elodie glanced at Calum, watching him look up at the jackets hanging up higher than she could reach, and asked him, “What color were you thinking?”

Calum let out a scoff of a laugh, raising a single eyebrow at her. Elodie admired how much taller he was than her, almost an entire foot. “I only have two dress shirts, sweetheart. A black and a white one. Whatever will go with either.”

The suit options the store had were black, navy blue, and grey, and Elodie pulled her lower lip into her mouth as an image of Calum in a particularly colored ensemble flashed through her mind. Would it be self indulgent to pick out an outfit for him that she would like to see him in? “I think a black suit would be best,” Elodie told him, listening to the thoughts running around in her head. When Calum’s dark eyes met hers, she added quickly, “It goes with everything and I think it’d be pretty on brand for you.”

At that, Calum laughed with a raise of his eyebrows, the amusement glimmering in his eyes as Elodie mirrored his smile. The sight of the crinkles by his eyes had her heart jumping. “On brand?” he repeated with an all too knowing smirk.

Elodie’s cheeks flamed, breaking their gaze as she tucked some of her hair behind her ears. “You know what I mean,” she mumbled before clearing her throat. “Suit jackets shouldn’t be hard to pick—pants are the main thing.”

Calum sucked at his tongue, turning his head to look at where the various styles of pants were hanging in divided sections. Elodie followed him as his fingers danced across the tops of the hanging pants, gesturing to one of the sections and glancing at her questioningly, “What ’bout these?” She moved around him, looking at the labels on the pants before twisting her lips to the side. Her gaze lifted to look at him, her expression one of hesitance that had Calum’s shoulders dropping and asking defeatedly, “What?”

“These are classic fits,” she told him with a gentle laugh, hand finding his leather clad bicep almost automatically as she steered him over to the pants to their left. “You wanna go for slim fit. They’re more fitting and better for suits.” Calum rolled his eyes with a huff, though there was no real annoyance present as he gave a shake of his head with pursed lips. When his lips quirked ever so slightly, Elodie knew he wasn’t really bothered by her words. Though, she was bothered that she needed the reassurance, thanks to Nathan. She pushed thoughts of him out of her head as she asked Calum, “Do you know your pants measurements?”

Calum hummed, stepping forward as he looked at the numbers on the labels. “Yeah, I know my waist,” he told her as he sifted through them. “Length always comes up differently.”

Elodie waved him off. “Just grab whichever ones you think are closest. Try as many on, we can figure it out.”

She watched as Calum looked through the pants, and she took that moment to look at the suit jackets. Fortunately, the tags with the sizes were attached to the sleeve, dangling from the material, and so Elodie looked through them trying to figure out which size would best fit Calum. He had broad shoulders and muscular arms—she looked at the tags towards the end where the few larger sizes were.

“Alright, I guess I’ll try these on.” Elodie turned around to see Calum holding three pairs of pants, all carefully hanging from their hangers.

She hummed in approval before nodded towards the jackets. “Which do you think will fit you best?”

Calum blew a raspberry as his dark eyes flickered up to them, prompting Elodie to laugh gently as he pursed his lips thoughtfully. He looked at the tags before nodding. “I can try those two on—they’ll probably fit best.”

He looked at her then and Elodie recognized the expectant expression he wore, before she let out a laugh with a raise of her eyebrows. Her voice still soft, as always, she asked, “You think I can reach up there?”

Calum’s dark eyes flickered between her and the hanging suit jackets, before realization softened his features and Calum snorted. “Right,” he laughed before offering her the pants.

She took them from him and took a step to the side, eyes watching as Calum easily reached up and hooked two hangers between his fingers and pulled them off the rod. Elodie felt her throat tighten as she drank in the sight of the expanse of his neck, the chains peeking out from under his clothes, as well as the sharp line of his jaw. Not for the first time, Elodie found herself admiring just how gorgeous he was.

When he retrieved the jackets, the two of them walked through the store towards the fitting room hallway, where one of the associates unlocked a room for Calum. He hung the jackets on one of the hooks and Elodie stood in the doorway, holding out the pants for him. As he put them down on the little bench and stood straight, Calum raised an eyebrow at her. Elodie could tell he was fighting a smirk as he asked, “Want me to do a fashion show for you?”

Elodie smiled, crossing her arms over her chest as the associate opened another room for someone else. “It’s the only reason why I’m here.”

Calum scoffed and Elodie took a step back as he closed the door. She leaned against the opposite wall, gaze dropping to where she could see Calum’s feet under the door, watching as he took off his Doc Martens and pushed them to the side. Elodie busied herself on her phone then after pulling a thread out of her floral denim jacket, trying not to think too much of the man behind the door, until it swung open a few moments later.

When she looked up, she couldn’t stop the short giggle from escaping her, fingers coming up to worry her lips as she looked at Calum—and at his bemused expression. “I’m gonna go with a no on these ones,” he deadpanned, head dropping to look at the way the pants went to his feet. They were too long.

“No, no, I think those are perfect,” Elodie teased, feeling a bit lighter in his company. He still tickled her stomach, made her skin flush excitedly, but despite all of that, every moment which past that she spent in Calum’s company, she grew more and more comfortable. And it didn’t scare her or make her anxious—it made her excited and nervous, but in the good way. In a way she didn’t mind feeling again and again when it came to him.

“Fuckin’ hilarious,” Calum grumbled, looking down and kicking at his feet almost childishly, which only widened Elodie’s grin. She had to admit—even though the pants were a bit too long, the sight of Calum in dress pants with an emerald green shirt and leather jacket was pretty.

Elodie grinned, tilting her head charmingly. Where this rush of confidence was coming from, she wasn’t sure. But Elodie wasn’t going to lie—she’d never felt more like herself. “I know.”

Calum shot her a mocking, derisive close mouthed smile, complete with narrowed eyes and pushed up cheeks before he shut the door once more, the action followed by Elodie’s giggles. She waited for him for a while, watching as customers came and went in and out of the fitting room, and the longer she waited, the more furrowed her eyebrows got.

She took the few steps towards the door, arms crossed and head ducked to listen after she asked, “Calum? Everything okay?”

The response came in form of the door opening, and Elodie looked up to see Calum standing there in a new pair of pants and one of the suit jackets. Her brown eyed gaze took in the sight of him, in his socks and dress pants and green shirt and suit jacket, and felt her heart jump into her throat. It was unfair how he made the outfit work. Maybe he should just wear that to Dominique’s parents’ party.

Calum held his left hand out as a show of displaying himself, the other one holding the door because it would otherwise close on them. “So?” he asked, glancing down at himself. “These fit pretty well. What d’you think?”

Elodie used the excuse to take in the sight of him, approaching him slowly and without much thought. Calum was right—they did fit him pretty well. The black suit jacket hugged his arms and spread over his shoulders nicely, and the black pants hugged his thighs snugly and comfortably as well. He had tucked in his shirt into the pants and Elodie fought herself from biting the inside of her cheek because it looked good.

“Yeah, they do,” she said truthfully, her gaze lifting to meet his eyes as she found herself in the room. Calum’s gaze never left hers. As she gestured to him subtly, she asked quietly, “You mind if I—”

He didn’t let her finish, giving a shake of his head with his raised eyebrows. “Not at all.”

Elodie flashed him a quick, nervous smile, highly aware of his burning gaze on her as she stepped towards him. The scent of his cologne was ever present and subtle as her nimble fingers fastened one of the two buttons on the jacket, hands automatically going to smooth the material against him without much thought. Her gaze was on the jacket, feeling her throat working because of their proximity like it always seemed to do, and Elodie was aware of the music playing in the store gradually fading out as the drum of her heart grew more prominent with each passing second.

“There,” she said, voice coming out as a whisper as she briefly pressed her lips together. The button was glimmering under the lights of the fitting room. Elodie smiled, not yet meeting his gaze as she spoke softly, “You look good in a suit.”

The compliment slipped out without much thought, flamed her cheeks, but it was an honest one. Sure, he was still in socks and a T-shirt with no tie, but Calum still looked undeniably good. Honestly, if he showed up like this to the party, Elodie wouldn’t mind at all.

She felt him move a bit as he scoffed lightly, hearing the smirk in his voice as he replied, “Just wait until I’m in the entire monkey suit.”

Elodie picked an invisible piece of lint off the jacket. She had a feeling if she looked Calum in the eyes, she wouldn’t be able to keep herself standing. But that didn’t stop the words from tumbling out of her lips, as if she suddenly had no filter. “You’ll blow everyone away.”

She heard and felt the slow breath Calum released, the sound soft and quiet, just like his raspy voice as he said, “There’s only one person ’m tryin’ to impress.”

His words effortlessly lifted Elodie’s gaze, her brown eyes widened a bit because of the unexpected statement, while Calum looked completely at ease with his warm eyes watching. But Elodie picked up on the slight hesitance within his irises, like he wasn’t sure if his confession was welcome, and all Elodie could bring herself to do was stare at him. Because what if she was misinterpreting what he was saying? What if she was reading into something that wasn’t meant for her?

God, she needed to stop doubting herself.

They were silent, only the music from the store and vague sound of people chatting infiltrating their space, except Elodie couldn’t bring herself to care about anything other than the man she was standing in front of. Calum was looking down at her, taking in her doe eyes and stilled breath, and Elodie’s skin was flushed pink as she ended up stammering out, “Really?”

He smiled, soft and sweet and completely stealing Elodie’s breath as he sucked in his lower lip briefly before confirming, “Yeah.” Calum tilted his head ever so slightly, gaze running over her in admiration, in a way no one has really looked at her before. A slow breath escaped him, almost as if he was holding something back, confirming so when his voice dropped an octave as he said, “And ’m tryin’ real hard to be a gentleman and not kiss you.”

“Don’t.” The word escaped Elodie before she could help it, a rushed and desperate whisper as she looked at him. When she saw something flash in Calum’s eyes, Elodie swallowed the excited lump in her throat, the fire bubbling in her veins, silencing the demonizing thoughts in the back of her head that sounded a bit too much like her ex as she expressed, “Don’t be a gentleman.”

Calum’s jaw tightened ever so slightly at Elodie’s words, watching her, studying her, as Elodie found the confidence to keep her gaze level with him. Her heart was pounding in her ears, drowning out the sounds of anything else, as she waited. There was no room for doubt, not when Calum had said what he said, but Elodie felt her nerves jittering with excitement, with impatience, wondering if he was going to listen to her. Wondering how the hell they got to this point, but not at all questioning it because she wanted this. And she deserved giving herself what she wanted every now and then, didn’t she?

There was a change in Calum’s expression when he realized Elodie meant what she said, blinking once to allow for the softness of his features to set as his lips parted ever so slightly. They stared at each other for what seemed like a stretch of minutes, brown against brown, and there was a subtle movement on Calum’s part as he allowed for his arm to drop, the action followed almost immediately by the sound of the fitting room door shutting behind Elodie. Now it was just the two of them in the small space of the fitting room, secluded from the rest of the store, and the fluttering in the pit of Elodie’s stomach intensified as Calum took the smallest of steps towards her, which was all that was needed.

This was happening. This was really happening. Elodie found herself tilting her chin up slightly, wanting to do something to get to the point where she wanted to be, breath hitching in her throat when Calum’s hands lifted to cup her cheeks. His touch was warm, rings cool, fingers tangling a bit into her hair, and Elodie had never felt such a fire simmering in her veins than she did in the moment of when Calum tilted her head up a bit and his thumbs gently grazed her skin.

His touch was so soft, holding her carefully, and Elodie watched as Calum’s gaze dropped to her lips softened with pink lipstick. Her heart thundering, Elodie watched Calum’s throat work briefly before he was leaning down and Elodie’s eyes fluttered shut as his lips pressed against hers in the softest kiss Elodie had ever experienced. His lips were plush against hers and it was enough for a jolt of electricity to shock through Elodie’s body, feeling her entire body yearning to melt into Calum’s immediately.

But the two of them pulled away too soon, except that it wasn’t the end of the kiss. Calum’s hands remained cupping Elodie’s face, noses tucked together and their breaths sounding over the music and their pounding hearts as if they’d just ran a marathon. Their eyes opened together, though both of their gazes dropped to the lips they’d just touched before looking at one another at the last second.

Elodie met his gaze through her eyelashes, his dark eyes sending a thrill down her spine, noting the question swimming in them. Noting that he so badly wanted to do it again, but was looking for her approval. God. That was hot.

She tilted her lips forward, giving him her answer.

Calum’s lips met hers once more, though this time more firmly, more boldly as he sucked at her lower lip, and Elodie was opening her mouth to him almost immediately. He tasted like mint gum as she felt his tongue tease hers, and the sensation of his scruff tickling against her skin only had Elodie melting into Calum, wanting to completely submit herself to him as her arms slid around him, feeding the desire of wanting him close.

His warmth seeped into her wonderfully as he kissed her, the electricity sparking her blood like fuel to a fire as Calum moved them so Elodie’s back was pressed against the wall and her front against Calum’s as his lips continued to work against hers. She felt his hands lower from her cheeks, palms brushing the sides of her neck as his thumbs grazed the line of her jaw on either side. He kissed her feverishly and Elodie was consumed by him; by his touch and lips and his cologne enveloping her as warmly as he did. Kissing him was everything she thought it’d be and more; he kissed her like he meant it, like he enjoyed it, like this was all he wanted to do. She hoped he knew it was mutual.

The sound of a phone ringing in proximity had their kiss breaking far earlier than either one of them would’ve liked, breaths heavy as Elodie leaned her head back and watched as Calum’s head dropped as a frustrated huff escaped him. It was his phone.

Elodie wondered if her face looked as red as it felt warm, felt her lips tingling as Calum dropped one hand from her to reach for his phone sitting on top of his clothes on the little bench, his other hand still on the side of her neck. She wondered if he could feel her racing pulse beneath his fingers.

Calum’s dark eyes met Elodie’s, the breath she’d barely gotten ahold of hitching in her throat when she noted his lips pinkened with their kisses and her lipstick. Her stomach was in excited knots. “Yeah, Luke?” he answered the call, his voice gruff and raspy and sexy. She kept her eyes on him, felt the smile tug on the corner of her lips when Calum’s thumb brushed along her jaw once more. His touch was a never ending thrill of shocks running through her body. Calum gave a roll of his eyes at whatever Luke was saying on the other end, mocking him to get a gentle giggle out of Elodie. “Yeah, I’ll be back in about twenty.”

When he hung up with an almost defeated sigh, dropping his phone back on the pile of his pants and leather jacket, Elodie allowed for her smile to widen just a bit. “Back to the shop?” she asked knowingly.

“Yeah,” Calum sighed, the corner of his lips tilting ever so slightly in a smirk when his thumb not so innocently grazed along her lower lip and Elodie’s throat worked at the action. It sent a shiver down her spine, unsurprisingly. Raising an eyebrow, he asked, “Wanna come by? If you don’t already have plans.”

His thumb gently pulled at her lower lip and Elodie was going to need him to stop doing that unless he wanted her to collapse on unsupportive knees. The way he was watching her wasn’t helping, either. “I’ve got no plans.”

Calum grinned, pretty and breathless, and for the next few minutes he changed back into his clothes while Elodie wandered into the main area of the store, heart rate slowly returning to normal and the flush in her cheeks dissipating as she walked over to the women’s section and picked up two pairs of different colored sweatpants in her size. She shopped at Calvin Klein enough to know what size fit her best.

When Calum wandered out of the fitting room, holding only the pants and jacket he wanted, the two of them stood in the short line in a mutual and comfortable silence until it was their turn. And once Elodie placed her sweatpants down on the counter after returning the cashier’s greeting, she promptly picked up Calum’s clothes from his arms and placed them down as well. “Hey—what’re you doing?” he asked in bewilderment, stepping up to push his things away from hers.

Elodie swatted his hands away, noting the amused smile on the cashier’s face as Elodie told him, “I’ve got this.” Looking at the cashier, she told her, “These are all together.”

“Elodie,” Calum spoke up, the protest obvious in his tone as she looked up at him. She saw the frown knitting together his eyebrows as the cashier rung up the sweatpants and then his items, which were obviously more expensive. Calum gave a shake of his head as the total came up to nearly three hundred dollars with the four items together.

Before he could add on, Elodie cut him off with a pointed raise of her eyebrows, pulling out the credit card from her wallet while her free hand grasped Calum’s wrist, feeling the metal of his bracelet under her touch. His eyes met hers and she smiled, sweet and genuine. “Let me do something nice for you.”

The words were obviously familiar as they clicked in Calum’s head as the ones he’d said to her after he pierced her nose, and Calum let out a scoff of a laugh as he shook his head down at her. Elodie noted the amusement mixed with exasperation in his expression as he braced his hand on the counter to face her. “The piercing was, like, a sixth of what you’re tryin’ to pay.”

Elodie shrugged, putting the chip end of her credit card into the reader and ignoring the breathless protesting sounds of “El, come on—” that escaped Calum.

It was paid for and Elodie was handed a bag with her sweatpants while Calum’s suit jacket and pants were hung up and put in a proper garment bag before handing it over to a reluctant Calum. “Thank you,” Elodie smiled at the cashier before the two of them walked out of the store and into the mall, glancing up to look at Calum. A startled laugh escaped her, surprising them both, as she took in the sight of him, amusement coloring her tone as she asked, “Are you pouting?”

Calum instantly flattened his lips, chin lifting as they kept walking towards the mall entrance they’d come from. “No,” he denied almost childishly, which only prompted another laugh from Elodie. He was totally pouting and Elodie found it exhaustingly adorable.

But then as they got into his car, a thought crept into Elodie’s head, as loud as the sound of the car door shutting and echoing in the parking garage. Elodie felt her chest tighten as she settled into the car and strapped in her seatbelt, eyebrows furrowing as she looked towards her knees because the thought in her head, belonging to a voice not her own, wondered fiercely and loudly if she somehow. . . Insulted Calum.

Nathan—he hated whenever Elodie offered to pay for something when they were out. And she knew it was because of that superiority complex and that control he liked to have over Elodie, and her paying for something for both of them definitely stung his manhood. Even if that wasn’t Elodie’s intention—God, she’d only wanted to do something nice. Her stomach twisted, briefly wondering if her paying for the clothes rubbed Calum the wrong way, even if she tried to silence that twisted voice in her head with the reminder that Calum wasn’t Nathan.

Her throat was tight, but the words slipped past her lips anyway. “I’m sorry if I overstepped.”

Calum had started the car, the engine of the Range Rover humming quietly, and instead of pulling out of the parking spot he paused. Elodie could feel her gaze on him, feeling the heat of it on her cheek as he asked, “What?”

The sound of her nails clicking filled the car, and Elodie wished she could stop the action right away, but she bit the inside of her lower lip as she watched her deep red nails click together and spoke, “If I crossed a line. . . I’m sorry.”

“What’re you—El, hey.” Calum shifted in his seat, body facing Elodie’s as his hand covered both of hers, effectively stopping her clicking nails. She sucked in her lower lip, gaze on his hand on hers, before finally looking at him despite being hesitant to do so. His dark eyes were on her, eyebrows knitting together not in annoyance, but in reassurance, features soft. She wondered what he saw when he looked at her, but there was a flash of realization across his face as he leaned towards her, raising his eyebrows. “That voice in the back of your head that sounds like Nathan? Tell it to shut up.”

Her eyes widened, gaping at him in dumbfoundment because apparently Calum could read her frighteningly well. Elodie’s lips parted, ready to say something her brain hadn’t come up with yet, before pressing them together once more and swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. The fact that Calum just knew the insecurities taunting Elodie in her head sounded like her ex had her heart jumping, but she also felt a familiar warmth flurry in her stomach. The look in his eyes, inviting and understanding, easily erased the doubt that had sprouted in Elodie’s head, loudly telling her that he wasn’t at all feeling the way she had feared.

Elodie pulled her lips into her mouth before exhaling softly, gaze dropping in sheepishness as she mumbled, “Sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, doll.” Elodie pressed her lips together, quirking them up in an apologetic smile which had Calum letting out a small huff of laughter. His eyes watched her, took her in, before speaking up, “Wanna know something?” Her eyebrows quirked ever so slightly, silently prompting him to continue. Calum leaned in even loser, the gap between them minimal as Elodie kept her eyes on his, and Calum tilted his head ever so slightly, causing his nose to brush against hers. “You don’t ever have to doubt yourself with me, alright?”

Her heart was practically floating in her chest at Calum’s words, the heat rushing up her neck and spreading across her cheeks. He somehow knew the right things to say, and he meant them when he said them, which only had Elodie falling for him more quickly. And she didn’t mind, because he was not Nathan. Calum was better.

“Alright,” she repeated in a murmur, smiling adorably, before feeling that gentle confidence came back and she asked, “Can you kiss me again?”

Calum grinned, not even being able to hold the smirk as her request excited him unexpectedly, and merely hummed in affirmative before closing the distance between them and pressing his lips to hers. The electricity crackled between them in the closed space of the car as Calum’s free hand cupped her cheek. She liked that he did that when he kissed her. She liked his kisses. God, she liked him.

And the way he kissed her, unabated and like he never wanted to do anything else, let her know it was completely mutual.

*****

When Calum slid into limousine—an actual stretch limo that pulled up in front of his apartment building—the first and only thing he noticed was Elodie amongst his friends. Her coat covered the top of her dress, but Calum noted, in the blue light of the limo, that it was a deep emerald color, the expanse of her right leg shown through a slit, and he felt his throat tighten as he settled against the leather seat.

So Calum nudged Michael, who was sat between Calum and Crystal. But both Michael and his girl were separating Calum from Elodie, so he looked at his friend and said, “Switch.”

Elodie couldn’t fight the smile as Michael blinked at Calum before realization dawned on him, snickering as he got up, figure bent because they were in the back of a limo. He settled in Calum’s space once he had gotten up as well, and Crystal scooted away from Elodie and towards Michael as Calum finally settled into Crystal’s place. He ignored the immature and teasing whistles and whoots from their friends as his left arm dropped around Elodie’s shoulders, pulling her into his side and murmuring into her ear, “Hi, sweetheart.”

“Hi,” she returned, just as gently, quelling the fire in her cheeks as she saw the smirk Dominique sent her way. Elodie allowed her hand to brush along his thigh, taking a soft breath as she glanced up at him, “The suit looks good on you.”

He smirked, looking down at himself briefly. He’d gone for the all black look, borrowing a tie from Ashton and bringing out one of the two pairs of dress shoes he had. The last time he’d worn them were to his sister’s college graduation, Calum was glad they still fit and looked new. “I had a lot of help,” he told her as the sounds of their friends chattering mixed with the music playing. Apparently Luke had the aux cord that the driver offered them. Calum’s own gaze dropped to Elodie’s dress, fighting the urge to run a hand along the exposed skin of her leg, instead using his free hand to run a finger along the dress. He smiled at the soft and smooth material. “Velvet, huh?”

She smiled, innocent but not at all, and Calum couldn’t help but think she would be the death of him.

They arrived to the hotel where Dominique’s parents were hosting their event, a party thrown just to prepare for the holiday season coming up even though November just started, and Calum eyed the paparazzi gathered outside, taking pictures of the guests arriving and heading inside. An attendant opened the door and Michael stepped out, and Calum knew he had to keep it moving as he followed Crystal. The paparazzi wasn’t too loud, though their cameras continued flashing as Calum fastened a single button on his jacket and held his hand out to Elodie, who stepped out of the car with her bare leg flashing gorgeously before she ducked out of the car, a smile lighting up her face as she looked up at Calum.

“A lot of photographers,” he observed, not distastefully, as her arm linked with his so naturally, so unafraid of the pictures being taken. Not that Calum was afraid of them—he just couldn’t help but wonder how Elodie and Dominique could be used to this. He would get dizzy after just seconds against the flashes.

Elodie rubbed at his arm as they walked, her voice gentle as she said, “We’ll be inside in a second.”

As they walked up the steps and entered the hotel, doors opened by the doormen, Luke let out a small huff of laughter and murmured to Calum, “Nothing like being in the city’s elite entourage, huh?”

Calum chuckled at that as he gave an agreeing shake of his head. If he was being honest, he sometimes forgot both Elodie’s and Dominique’s families belonged to the richer side of the city, mostly because neither of them truly acted like it. They sometimes dressed the part, but other than that, it was a fact of their lives that Calum often forgot. Except when Elodie bought him the suit he was now wearing and he accidentally made her feel guilty about it. For that moment, he kind of hated himself for making her feel that way.

Before they entered the hall where the event was taking place, they went to the coat check so the girls could take off their jackets, and Calum felt his breath hitch in his throat as Elodie shrugged hers off. Her dress was spaghetti strapped with a deep yet elegant cut, and the velvet dress hugged her beautifully. How he was supposed to keep his hands off of her throughout this party, Calum had no idea.

As she tucked in her little ticket into her purse, Calum stepped up to her, his front against her back, ducking his head to brush his lips against her ear as he whispered, “You’re killing me, doll.”

Elodie let out a breathless, almost sheepish laugh as she looked up at him with glimmering eyes, and Calum had a feeling she knew exactly what she was doing. He fucking adored how some of her innocence seemed to slip away when it came to him. Calum watched as her brown eyes took him in, from his shoes right up to his eyes, and he felt his chest tighten to see her so openly admiring him. “Now you know how I feel,” she hummed before Dominique ushered for them keep moving.

Calum let out a laugh as he followed her, eyes taking her in appreciatively, admiring every single aspect of her. She was gorgeous and Calum had no idea what to do with himself.

But about an hour and a half later, after Calum and everyone else were introduced to Dominique’s parents—apparently Elodie’s were out of town, though she had made sure to let Dominique’s parents know they send their love, to which Dominique’s mom laughed and said she knew given that she was on the phone with Elodie’s mom just hours before—Calum could feel a heated gaze on him, one he hadn’t been able to shake off as he took in his surroundings.

The hall was decorated in white and reds and greens, a band playing Christmas songs on stage and several beautifully decorated Christmas trees were placed around the room. One of those walk-in cloud-like photo booths was in one corner, and in another was an area to take pictures with Santa, probably for the kids Calum saw running around. He bet Dominique’s parents would regret bringing along Santa when someone who’d sipped too much eggnog happened to fall into his lap.

Calum sipped on his whiskey, grabbing it from the bar as opposed to the champagne being carried around by the waitstaff, dark eyes looking over the rim of the glass and catching sight of the guy towards the other side of the banquet hall. So far, Calum had been perfectly fine at this event, sipping his drink and mostly sticking with the boys and Sierra and Crystal. They didn’t feel out of place, enjoying each other’s company and the drinks, while Dominique and Elodie did their rounds to greet people they knew—alongside Ashton, who was dragged by Dominique. Calum had smirked into the glass at Ashton’s mildly bewildered gaze. He’d been boyfriended.

About damn time.

“Is that Elodie’s ex that keeps staring at you like he wants to spit in your drink?” Calum looked at Crystal, who was raising her eyebrows and looking past Calum’s shoulders.

Calum lowered his glass and the group of them looking over, and he felt his teeth automatically grind together at the sight of Nathan. He stood by a table with a bunch of people, nursing his own drink, and staring at Calum with a look dangerous enough to kill—it barely tickled Calum. So he just stood, taking another long sip of his burning whiskey as his eyes locked with Nathan’s. His glare intensified, and all Calum did was eye him coolly despite his own irritation brimming.

“Yeah,” Calum turned to look back at his friends, their gaze shifting back to him as he smirked. With a single shrug, Calum mused, “It’s cute that he thinks he’s being intimidating.”

Michael snorted, one arm around Crystal as he told Calum boredly, “You should’ve broken his arm when you had the chance.”

Crystal swatted at him, though no real malice or disapproval was present, as the rest of them laughed and Calum sucked at his teeth. “Not in front of Elodie,” was all he said, and it was reason enough. Sure, after what he saw Nathan do and say, Calum had no problem setting him straight. But doing so in front of Elodie wasn’t at all on his agenda. Calum wasn’t a violent person, but Nathan was lucky as hell Calum didn’t make good on his promise of breaking his arm.

“I heard my name.” The smile tugged at Calum’s lips as Elodie stepped up to his left, Dominique and Ashton also stepping into their little circle as he looked down to see Elodie.

She smelt like expensive perfume, fruity and pleasant, and Calum reveled in the feeling of her fingers intertwining with his, their joined hands hanging between their bodies as she smiled up at him. “Just wonderin’ where you ran off to,” he told her, not wanting to unnecessarily bring up Nathan.

Elodie let out a breath as their friends dissolved into conversations of their own. Her gaze dropped briefly, the pretty fake eyelashes she wore only accentuating her eyes as she looked up at him again. “I’m sorry about that—as the only one from my family I have to, like, make my rounds and greet everyone. So boring.”

“Don’t apologize,” Calum told her, a smile tugging at his lips as he said, “You were like a social butterfly. ’T was cute.”

“It’s boring,” Elodie repeated with an airy laugh, leaning her temple against Calum’s arm as the rings they both wore gently scraped together in their joined hands. The smile remained on Calum’s face as he looked down at her as she listened to whatever their friends were talking about. It comforted him to know how comfortable she was becoming in his presence.

It had been a few days since they kissed in that dressing room, and between now and then, the two of them hung out a couple of times. Whether it be Elodie dropping by the shop after classes or Calum visiting her apartment, they enjoyed each other’s company. He watched as she became more and more at ease with him, and Calum never wanted her to feel anything but that. If Nathan treated her worse than what Calum had witnessed, Calum wanted her to know what it was like to be looked at, to be spoken to, and to be treated by someone who truly appreciated her, liked her, wanted her. Who would never even think of speaking to her the way Nathan did.

So Calum kept her attention whenever he could as the group of them sat down at a table with their drinks, all of them chattering and taking pictures and enjoying the party Dominique’s parents were hosting. They even walked by the table at one point to talk with Calum and all the friends their daughter brought by they weren’t familiar with, and Calum liked them. They seemed like nice people—not that he assumed otherwise. Rich people only caring for their fellow elites and looking down at others wasn’t a kind of group Dominique and Elodie belonged in, in Calum’s opinion.

Eventually, they found themselves in the photo booth, taking turns in taking couples pictures and groups pictures, sifting through the table of props. When Sierra and Luke were about to finish their pictures, Calum and Elodie looked through the props to see what to pick up. “Oh, here,” Calum smirked, picking up the arrow sign that said naughty and handing it to Elodie while picking up the nice one for himself.

Elodie laughed, holding it by the stick before picking up the Santa hat and handing it him. “Wear this,” she said while picking up the reindeer headband and putting it on, and Calum snickered while doing as he was told. Her adorable grin was worth it.

They stepped into the booth and as the timer went down after Elodie clicked on it, Calum pulled her to his side and the two of them held up their signs, making sure their own pointed at one another’s, an angelic grin on Elodie’s face while Calum wore a smirk, chin tilting as he looked into the camera. Briefly, he admired how she only just reached his shoulder even in her heels.

Calum couldn’t remember the last time he took photo booth pictures—maybe it was when he’d gone to Six Flags with the boys and they all crammed themselves in a much smaller space—but he found himself enjoying doing this with Elodie, especially because she was so into it. They changed poses for the second picture, dropping the signs on the floor as Calum pulled her in front of him, her back against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist as he rested his chin on top of her head, his face in the space between her reindeer antlers that only made her laugh in the picture while he grinned.

The last picture consisted of Calum pulling out a prop he had swiped from the table at the last minute, Elodie’s eyes catching sight of the fake mistletoe hanging loosely from the top of a stick. “Smooth,” she commented, her grin wide as Calum held it above their heads.

The mischievous look glimmered Calum’s eyes, wiggling his eyebrows down at her and adoring the pink flush in her cheeks, and Elodie gave an amused shake of her head before her hand rested on the back of his neck to pull him down for a kiss. Calum returned the kiss just as fervently, unable to fight the smile that slipped to his lips as his free hand wrapped around her waist and held her close. She tasted like the champaign, and he knew he tasted like whiskey, but neither cared as their lips moved together and eventually the familiar sound of the camera shutter went off.

“Come on,” Elodie giggled against his lips, her hands gripping the lapels of his jacket and trying to pull away. She wasn’t very convincing of it. “Let’s see our pictures.”

Calum groaned lightly, not even bothering to hide the pout on his lips as Elodie pulled away from him, head tilting back as her hand grasped his free one and he turned to follow her out after they picked up the dropped signs. Once they stepped out, taking off their head gear, Elodie took the two strips of pictures from the photo booth runner’s hand and just as she was about to hand one to Calum, it was snatched out of her hand.

Calum’s jaw tightened when he looked from the offending hand to take in the sight of Nathan in his clean cut dark grey suit. Elodie tensed next to him as Calum muttered, “For fuck’s sake.”

“Aren’t you two a happy couple?” Nathan derisively mocked, raising his eyebrows at the photo strip before scoffing and lifting his gaze. He ignored Calum and the severity of his scowl, looking straight at Elodie as he jeered, “You left me for this bullshit?”

Calum felt Elodie’s hand grip his arm, and he was proud of the steadiness in her voice as she responded, “I didn’t leave you for anything. I left you because of you.”

Damn fucking straight.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed at her, jaw set as he thwacked the strip against his finger. Calum’s gaze was sharp; if he wrinkled the picture, Calum may just break his finger. Or his entire arm.

Tilting his chin, Nathan scoffed. “When’d you get a mouth on you?” The contempt was flaring in his green eyes, and Calum felt his muscles tighten at the look he was giving Elodie. The party continued on in the hall, but Calum was aware of their friends stepping over, ready to jump in if they needed. Calum hoped they didn’t have to, for Elodie’s sake. Nathan’s tone was patronizing as he continued, “I liked it better when you kept it shut.”

Calum’s teeth gritted, a rush of fiery heat sizzling through his veins because he was two seconds away from shoving the Santa hat in his hands down Nathan’s throat for the way he was speaking to Elodie. She broke up with his pathetic ass, she shouldn’t have to deal with this any longer than she already did. It was increasingly becoming difficult to not make good on his promise of some broken bones.

He chanced a glance at Elodie, noting her pursed lips and tight expression, feeling only some relief when he didn’t see her brown eyes glass over. The fact that Nathan didn’t seem to have the power of making her cry anymore was a step forward, and Calum would be damned if he let Nathan try to push forward.

But before he could say anything, Dominique strode over, tall and purposeful as she snatched the photo strip from Nathan’s hand and snapped, “And I liked it better when you weren’t a part of our lives.” She came to stand on the other side of Calum, her own scowl fierce. “Walk away before I beat Calum in breaking your nose.”

Calum noted the way Ashton’s eyebrows shot up at Dominique’s firm words, looking nothing but in awe of her, and Calum would be too if he wasn’t so focused on keeping his sharpened gaze fixated on Nathan. But the man no one wanted around scoffed, looking at Elodie once more as he asked, “You have other people fight your battles now?”

Calum felt Elodie’s grip on his arm tighten, but then he also felt her free hand grasp his own, giving it a squeeze. He returned the gesture earnestly, jaw set and eyes narrowed at Nathan, and he felt Elodie take a breath as the band on stage began playing Drummer Boy. Elodie’s voice was calm, steady, and the gentleness in which she spoke had only the slightest bit of an edge to it, but her words were sharp as she responded, “There’s nothing left to fight, Nathan. I think it’s time you understand that.”

“And I think it’s time you walk the fuck away,” Dominique started. Calum had a feeling she had been waiting for this since her and Nathan’s animosity started. Her tone was icy, not to be messed with, as she continued, “Leave before I have security kick you out. I don’t give a shit if our parents are friends—it’d be worth it to see you land on your ass outside in front of all the paps.”

Nathan’s gaze went from Dominique to Calum, who was fighting the sneer that threatened to escape as his scowl remained tight on his features. He saw the hatred in Nathan’s eyes towards him, fierce under the fire that was simmering, but Calum didn’t waver in the slightest. All he felt towards Nathan was a mutual hatred for how he treated Elodie; for the time Calum knew her and however long their relationship lasted.

And then Nathan looked at Elodie and Calum didn’t know why it surprised him when he noticed the way Nathan’s gaze didn’t at all soften when he looked at his ex-girlfriend—as if she was the one in the wrong and he was the victim in this situation. There was no love lost between them, it seemed, and while Calum knew that to be true on Elodie’s end, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting from Nathan. The guy was a control freak with an anger issue—no doubt he was more pissed about losing someone to have a grip on than a girlfriend who cared about him until she couldn’t anymore.

Nathan gave a click of his tongue. “Not worth it,” he scoffed before turning and walking away, not looking back as the distance grew between him and everyone else.

Before anyone could say anything, Dominique held the picture strip out to Calum and said, “Here—it’s probably got Nathan germs on it, though.”

Calum took it from her just as Elodie let out a gentle laugh at her best friend’s words, and the sound was enough to loosen Calum’s muscles, especially his jaw. His teeth had began to ache from how hard he was clenching it. “I’m probably the one with the most Nathan germs, to be fair,” Elodie commented, making Dominique dramatically shudder as Ashton stepped up to her.

As Elodie’s words registered in Calum’s head, his face scrunched up, giving a shake of his head as he sounded through a quiet groan, “Oh, jeez, gross, El.”

She giggled softly, her body relaxing now that she was no longer in the presence of her ex, squeezing Calum’s hand once more. “Sorry, sorry,” Elodie hummed, letting go of his arm to look at the strip in her hand. “These are cute,” she added in a soft murmur.

Calum finally looked at the pictures in his own hand, taking in the three images as a gentle smile curved at his lips. He felt Elodie’s warmth seep into him, but the heat that ran through him because of Nathan dissipated and transformed into a welcome heat spreading through his chest, comforting. The pictures were cute, but Calum gave that credit to Elodie, who was grinning without care in them. Happiness looked good on her.

“They are,” Calum agreed. It wasn’t lost on him how happy he looked in the pictures, too. He liked it. This was definitely going up on his fridge or something.

“Thanks for sticking by my side,” Elodie then said, her voice soft once more as she tilted her head up to look at him, and Calum noted the appreciation dancing in them.

He realized in that moment that he hadn’t even said anything to Nathan when he interrupted them, instead just hoped his eyes would show the murderous intent. His lips curled upwards once more at the sight of her bright eyes and pink cheeks. “You don’t have to thank me, doll,” he told her, before his smile became an impressed smirk. “’M proud of you for putting him in his place. You’re pretty badass, Elodie Banks.”

His compliment had her grin widening happily, the flush in her cheeks darkening adorably as she rolled her eyes to the ceiling and shrugged in mock modesty. “I have my moments,” she giggled before reaching up, because even in her heels she wasn’t nearly as tall as Calum, but he got the message and ducked his head to meet her lips with his halfway.

Whatever the two of them were, it was new and fresh. But even though it was unexpected, both in the fact that she was kind of with Calum and the fact that he wanted to be with her, Elodie knew at least one thing to be true: being with him made her feel more like herself than she had in a long time.

tags: @irwinkitten @sweetcherrymike @meetashthere @valentinelrh @softforcal @astroashtonio @hereforlukescruff @novacanecalum @captain-what-is-going-on @angelbbycal @singt0mecalum @hopelessxcynic @lfwallscouldtalk @bodhi-black @findingliam-o @softlrh @calntynes @calumsmermaid @erikamarie41 @quintodosuniversos @longlastingdaydream @babylon-corgis @lukehemmingsunflower @imfuckin10plybud @pastelpapermoons @conquerwhatliesahead92 @rotten-kandy @metangi @neigcthood @ohhmuke @old-zeppelin-shirt @5sos-and-hessa @trustmeimawhalebiologist @vxlentinecal @pettybassists @vaporshawn @lu-my-golden-boi @visualm3nte @isabella-mae13 @dontjinx-it @lifeakaharry @neonweeknds @antisocialbandmate @ixcantxdecidexwhosxmyxfave @calpalbby @grreatgooglymoogly @sunnysidesblog @gorgeouslygrace @cocktail-calum @miahelizaaabeth @madelynerin @dramallamawithsparkles @theagenderwhocriedwolf @kaytiebug14 @hoodskillerqueen @bitchinbabylon @empathycth @xhaileyreneex @inlovehoodx @calistheloml @aestheticrelated @bloodlinecal @sublimehood @madbomb @raabiac @britnicole11 @outofmylimitcal @fluffsshawn @bloodmoonashton @vxidhood @tea4sykes

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imnotwolverine · 4 years

Text

The marriage pact - Family dinner

Henry Cavill x OC Alice - multi-chapter

< Part 5 | Part 6 Family dinner | Part 7 >

Disclaimer: some strong language

Author’s note: I took a few days off from work because this wretched heat is killing me (go go heatwave). Now, let’s hope my writing muse is strong. 🤓

Word count: 1.450

(Link to my Masterlist)

[ Alice.in.writing.land ]

Dear readers,

You must be wondering why my previous blog was so terribly short, so please let me indulge you. A chocolate cake appeared on my door step and he has left me so very satisfied indeed. Mind you, it was a chocolate cake I knew well, so please keep your quiet gasps and judging glares to a bare minimum as we all wait out and see if there is more cake to be baked or not.

And now.. enough with the cake references! My mini-me happened to be a most successful sheep herder and we had a most delightful day with our wooly friends. I even received some balls of wool, so who knows, maybe I will teach myself how to knit. You know, just in case I do really become an old spinster. And IF that will be the case I’m sure I will be the coolest home-knit wool stocking wearing auntie any kid could wish for.

Then in other herding news; today I will be divesting my time in herding a flock of pots and pans in my parents kitchen, because I have agreed to cooking them and our neighbours a dinner. So once more; please keep your horns and fingers crossed and let’s pray to Bacchus that the rich flowing wine will hide any cooking imperfections.

Your gracious cook for tonight,

Ali

‘MOMMYYYYYY!!’ Alice quickly spurted off to the front door as she heard the door unlock, leaving me alone on the carpet with a set of building blocks - we were just about to build a fairy hotel for her dolls. I slowly pushed myself up to a standing position, waiting for the squealing to subside before making my appearance in the hallway.

‘Oh Ali! I heard what a wonderful time you had.’ Maddie smiled from ear to ear, her jacket still on as she kept Alice close in her arms, the toddler fiercely grabbing onto her mom’s neck.

‘Hi Mads..’ I looked behind Maddie, seeing an exhausted Frank as he shoved the suitcases back inside. ‘..hi Frank.’ He half-smiled, nodding at me. ‘So how’d it go?’ Maddie asked, brushing a hand over Alice’s back.

‘As good as any other time. Truly Mads. We had a great time. Didn’t we, mini-me?’ I ruffled a bit through Alice’s blond curls, making her chuckle sweetly. ‘Mhm.’ She nodded quietly, her face still hiding in her mom’s neck. ‘And of course she missed you TERRIBLY!’ I winked at Maddie, seeing her face gleam with happiness to be back with her baby pea.

I felt a pang of jealousy crush through my warm heart, like a tiny needle pin, burrowing itself deep in my flesh, every breath causing a strong sharp pain to run through my chest. I chewed on the inside of my lip and willed myself to stop those silly thoughts. I was not a mom. Perhaps would never be a mom. I had to just..

Smile.

Smiling kindly I drank some tea with Maddie and Frank, before leaving their house and returning to my parents to start cooking that dinner and write a bit for my newspaper articles. The twinge of jealous pain however, didn’t leave until well after the pots were bubbling and boiling.

Ugh, I wanted to be a mom so bad.

—

‘Henry! What a pleasure to see you!’ My mom’s voice sounded from the hallway after the doorbell rang, my hands quickly reaching for a wiping cloth to clean up my hands.

‘Hello Lorrie.’ His warm voice spoke, ‘Is Alice in?’

‘Yes, yes. She’s in ..eh..haha…the kitchen.’ I could just hear the shyness drip through my mom’s voice. Sure, Henry was a very handsome man, but my mom really couldn’t cope with being around him. She’d become this blushing school girl whenever he got anywhere near her, and it made for truly entertaining scenes - and yes, I hadn’t mentioned to her just yet that I had invited Henry for dinner.

It sure would be a blast.

‘Hey you.’ Henry stepped into the kitchen, the fumes of boiling legumes and roasting herbs and meats permeating the air. ‘Hi.’ I smiled, slightly surprised when I felt him brush his lips over my cheek.

So very..domestic.

I felt a blush creep up my hot cheeks as I turned down the stove knobs, my eyes not daring to look at him as he roved over my handiwork. ‘How are you?’ He asked, leaning into the kitchen counter as he watched me work. ‘Ah..you know..’ I shrugged, turning to move some fresh cut onions into a frying pan.

‘..I don’t know Ali. Tell me.’ His voice was sweet and gentle, so very unlike Chris my ex, who always just shrugged and walked out. He never truly bothered to dig a little deeper, but Henry did, apparently. I felt that terribly stupid pang in my heart again and before I knew it a tear escaped my eyes, the salt rolling fat and shiny over the creases of my terse face.

‘Hey hey..’ Henry stepped in, one hand turning down the stove of the frying onions, the other cupping my cheek. And then there were these knowing blue eyes looking straight into my soul.

‘I just got a little stressed is all.’ I lied, shrugging. Henry sighed. ‘Then let me help you. It’s not like I have anything else to do today.’

I frowned, blurry eyes looking back at him. ‘Now we’re both lying.’ I muttered.

‘What?’ He asked, frowning.

‘How does a busy man like yourself first have to rush from one event to the other, and then all of a sudden he is here for at least another week, without any obligations or engagements.’ I wiped my tears and looked at him, fearing my words had been to harsh or reproachful, but not willing to take them back either as I saw him bite his lip. He was thinking of an answer, his eyes first looking at the food in the pans next to us, then finally at me.

‘I eh..called in a time-out.’

‘A time..out?’

‘Yea. Like. I worked a certain arrangement into my contract, so I can take a time-out when it just really gets too much. When I feel I need some time for myself. Before I get sick or anything.’

‘Do you feel..sick?’ I asked, my terse face melting into gentle worry, my tears drying quickly on my large brown eyes.

‘Hehe. No, don’t worry dear. I’m not sick. Not yet, though the fact that I didn’t even recognise some people dear to me anymore, and didn’t know what day it was or where I was exactly..are tell-tales that I need to slow it down. And so I did.’

My brows furrowed at his words, realising how stressful his life probably was. ‘Oh I’m so sorry Hen.’ I pulled him in for a big momma bear hug, his chest rumbling with mirth as he gratefully leaned into me, nose dipping into the crook of my neck. He hummed in quiet delight.

‘So what were you lying about?’ He asked after a few more moments, his face still buried in my hair.

‘Oh eh..gosh..I don’t even know if I want to tell you.’ I gulped.

‘Tell me.’ He said, leaning back slightly so he could look me in the eye, his hands still wrapped around me. I sighed quietly, hearing the slow bubbles of the pots besides us, my mom’s feet shuffling in the hallway.

‘Mom! Don’t eavesdrop! I know you’re there!’ I admonished, hearing her feet quickly shuffle away. Henry chuckled. ‘That’s what moms do.’ He shrugged, amused. ‘Well, they should mind their own business. And..so should I. I mean. I got a little jealous is all. Maddie and Frank got back today and seeing them and little Alice being such a sweet happy family, it kind of ..hurts.’ I frowned, trying to turn away from our hug but finding Henry’s arms holding me down even tighter.

Our eyes met again.

‘I’m sure there will be plenty of chocolate cake.’ He smiled, making me blush furiously.

‘OH MY..’

‘Yea..I might have found your…blog.’

‘Oh my…’ I felt my cheeks burst with a redness that fiercely matched the tomato sauce in one of the pans, my eyes widening in pure horror.

‘Haha. That’s quite alright. I found it very amusing..and..insightful too. Your nan must have been a truly wise woman.’

‘Oh this is so embarrassing.’

‘No more embarrassing then your mom during tonight’s dinner party, I’m sure.’

I snorted and we both burst out giggling.

‘Oh gods Hen.’ I poked his shoulder. ‘You are the..-‘

‘Sexiest?’ He grinned.

‘Incorrigible Cavill. In-corrigible.’

We laughed aloud, the kitchen echoing with shared joy as we rolled up our sleeves and cooked the most wonderful family dinner we could possibly produce.

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calumance · 4 years

Note

hehe get to this when you have more time obvs!! but since aiden is such a ladies man, trying to woo one of the band members s/o!! and getting jealous if their uncle is getting too close to his crush 🥺

I mean, Auntie Sierra is absolutely beautiful, who could blame the little guy??? 💕💕💕💕💕💕

Summer parties had become much more frequent once all the kids got bigger and started to grow close. Which was great in your books, because you loved having everyone around. Just as the guys were Calum’s best friends, the girls were your best friends. You had just finished getting ready when the doorbell rang. Aiden came busting out of his room and looked at the front door. You looked at him, confused on why he seemed so excited. “Is it Auntie Sierra?” He asked, trying to play it cool.

You looked between him and the door and shrugged, “It could be, do you want to answer the door and find out?” Aiden nodded furiously so you moved out of the way allowing him full access to the door.

His tiny hand wrapped around the door handle, a large smile plastered on his face. He opened the door and the smile immediately faded. “It’s just Uncle Ashton.” Aiden’s voice was coated with disappointment.

Ashton stepped through the door as Aiden walked away, laughing, “Well, hello to you, too, Aiden.” Ashton shrugged and pulled you in for a welcoming hug.

You wrapped your arms around him and squeezed. “He was hoping you were Sierra, which is a new thing. Never seen him so disappointed to not see Sierra.” You let go of Ashton and turned towards the kitchen where Aiden was sitting at the table, eating the snack Calum had prepared for him. His head was in his hand and his feet were somberly shining back and forth. He looked absolutely depressed.

Ashton chuckled, “Little guy’s in love with Sierra, huh?” You shook your head, thinking that maybe he was just excited to see her, since it had been a while since everyone got together. That theory was quickly laid to rest after he became more and more disappointed by each person who wasn’t Sierra showed up.

Everyone was sitting outside, there was some music playing and everyone had a drink in their hand. The kids were off playing in the grass, but suddenly Aiden comes running up to you and firmly plants his hands on your legs. Your eyebrows stitch together as you look at him, tears nearly forming in his eyes. “Is Auntie Sierra coming?” You wanted to laugh at how cute he looked, but you resisted.

Instead, you grabbed your phone and checked to see the last message she sent you. “Auntie Sierra said they were on their way five minutes ago. She and Uncle Luke will be here soon, buddy.” You set your phone back on the table and ran your fingers down his cheeks as he nodded and ran off to continue playing with the other kids.

The doorbell rang, and Aiden wasted no time to run into the house to answer the door. There was only one person who it could be, after all. You shot Calum a look and stood to follow him inside. When Aiden opened the door, his face absolutely lit up. He opened his arms as Sierra greeted him warmly and scooped him up into her arms. He held onto her like she was the only thing he had to hold onto. You laughed and greeted Sierra and Luke before walking them to the backyard.

Aiden had zero intentions of letting go of Sierra, which Sierra didn’t seem to mind, but you were starting to wonder what was going through Aiden’s mind. “Why is our son suddenly so attached to Sierra?” You asked Calum even though you were still watching Aiden.

“I don’t know, maybe he has a crush.” You looked over at Calum and you both shrugged. Maybe Ashton had been right, but at this point, it was too cute to split up.

The only time Aiden had let go of Sierra was so that he could go to the bathroom, and half of the time he asked her to go with him. Being that Sierra loved Aiden, she always said okay and went with him. It wasn’t until he had asked you to go with him, that suddenly everything went downhill. When you returned from the bathroom, Luke was handing Sierra another drink. Just as Aiden looked up, Luke pressed a soft kiss to her lips. Aiden immediately let go of your hand and ran up to Luke giving him a swift smack on the leg. “No, Uncle Luke!”

Everyone wanted to laugh, but the seriousness in Aiden’s face made it hard to laugh. You reached forward and grabbed Aiden, lifting him onto your hip and swiftly carrying him inside and into his bedroom. Calum, Luke, and Sierra all followed behind you. Once you were in Aiden’s bedroom, you shut the door and set him on the bed. You squatted to be eye level with him and rested your hands on his knees, “Why did you hit Uncle Luke?” The hitting was the first thing that needed to be addressed, the crush could be addressed later.

“He kissed Auntie Sierra!” Aiden exclaimed while pointing at Sierra. Sierra then exchanged a look with Luke, her cheeks flushing.

You shook your head, “Aiden, it is never okay to hit anyone, ever. Tell Uncle Luke you’re sorry.” Your voice was stern, it made Aiden back down a bit. He ducked his head and mumbled and apology to Luke. Luke accepted the apology and then you swallowed thinking of a way to address his crush in the best way. “Aiden, Uncle Luke and Auntie Sierra are like me and daddy. They love each other very much, and they love you, but not in the same way. Does that make sense?” You cringed, hoping that Aiden was going to take that explanation. He nodded and looked up at Sierra.

Sierra took a step forward and squatted in front of him, running her fingers through his hair, “You’re always going to be my favorite little guy, though, don’t you ever forget that.” Aiden’s face lit up again and Sierra stood up, holding out her hand, “Let’s go swim in the pool together.” Aiden grabbed her hand and hopped off the bed. Sierra passed by Luke, kissing him, and the pulled Aiden through the house and to the pool. Aiden definitely was a ladies man.

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

Tag list: @mantlereid @notinthesameguey @viiirg0 @wheniminouterspace @thinkofmehlgh @another-lonely-heart @limer-encia @itsmytimetoodream @babyoria

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baroquebucky · 4 years

Text

chemistry

part 5

a/n: thank you guys so much for 700 !! I don’t know why y’all follow me but thank you all sm <33333 this one is a long one so get ready !!! if you guys have any requests let me know !! okay enough talking hehe enjoy! (Sorry for any typos !)

part 4

Some time passed after you and peter almost kissing and you tried to push it to the back of your mind, not wanting to think too much of it. Esmeralda continued to talk to you about peter during lunch, telling you about things that had ‘happened’ during morning rehearsal. You however took things with a grain of salt considering what peter had told you that night.

Your orchestra concert was quickly approaching, only two days until the concert and until you played your solo. You were nervous, partly because you always got nervous for concerts- mostly because you knew peter was going to be there. You had heard peter play during football games when they played the part of the show with his solo in it. He had never heard you play, and during FaceTime calls when he heard you talk about the pass offs you had to do, he encouraged you to practice for him, but you never took him up on the offer.

You walked into English with a smile on your face as you waved hi to peter and sat in your seat across from him, pulling out whatever work you had done last night, ready to half pay attention on how to write the essay, you would end up winging it anyway. You snuck glances at peter, blushing when you would make eye contact with him. As you listened to the announcements, your ears perked up at the announcement of homecoming spirit week, deciding you would participate in one day, your favorite musician or band.

You pulled your phone out and messaged sami a grin on your face as you typed out your brilliant thought.

im wearing my one direction hoodie Thursday and you can’t stop me

You giggled as you saw that she read the message, immediately replying with a facepalm emoji and an “yeah i figured that much.” You looked back up from your phone and saw peter looking at you, a look on his face, some would even say jealousy. You furrowed your brows at him as a way to ask what was wrong. He shook his head and turned back to the screen at the front of the class, half listening to the news, mostly thinking about what made you so happy.

As you both walked out of class making conversation, you smiled at the curly headed boy, blushing slightly as your hands brushed while the two of you walked down the hall, pushing through the other students. As you approached your history you quickly realized that he had passed his classroom a while ago. “Pete your class is back there, you’re gonna be late!” You told him, glancing up at the clock, smiling as the boy rolled his eyes at you.

“oh cmon it’s right down the hall, she won’t count it against me” he smiled at you. Shaking your head you waved him off, saying a small bye and rushing into class, you could see peter bolting for his class as the bell rang. A blush settled onto your cheeks, a smile plastered on your face, you bit your lip as an attempt to hide the smile on your face, especially because Esmeralda would surely be there to question why you were so happy.

“hey y/n! how are you?” the girl spoke from besides you and you gave her a small smile. “Pretty good actually, how bout you?” You glanced at her, you could tell she was judging you but you didn’t really know why. “im good” she replied curtly, focusing back on the work before her. There wasn’t much conversation after that.

As the bell rang you gathered your things, smiling at your other friends in the class as they said bye to you. Quickly you swung your backpack over your shoulder and headed towards the stairs, not thinking twice to look to your side.

“y/n wait up!” you whipped your head around, smiling brightly as you saw peter jogging towards you, running down the stairs slightly to get next to you. “hey parker” you smiled, keeping your eyes focused on the stairs so you wouldn’t trip.

“what class are you going to?” he asked, moving closer to you as to not bump shoulders with the other people as they rushed past the two of you. “uh PE right now, i really hope she gives us a study hall” you sighed, looking up at the fluorescent lights above you before looking at peter. “isn’t your class like all the way over there?” you questioned, your eyes narrowing at the now flustered boy.

“well yes but i just wanted to talk to you! how do you where my class is anyway?” he spoke, smirking as you began to grow red, he heard your heart rate pick up, your steps got faster before saying a rushed ‘bye!’ he smiled and turned on his heel, walking fast and weaving through everyone to avoid being late again, but it was worth seeing you any chance possible.

Much to your dismay there was no study hall, you walked into the locker room and quickly changed into your gym clothes, going to sit with the two friends you had made in this class.

Class seemed to go by quickly the rest of the day, and finally you saw peter again during chemistry. You checked yourself out in a window while you walked to chem, trying to make sure you looked good. You entered class smiling, at your teacher and sitting in your seat next to peter.

“long time no see” peter spoke up, a smile on his face and you rolled your eyes, turning to face him. “much too long for my liking, miss me much?” You joked, your heart beating out of your chest as he laughed. You both stopped talking when you heard the intercom come on, interrupting everyone’s small talk.

“good evening students and teachers, today we will be doing an earthquake drill, teachers please play the video we have emailed you, we will come back on when the drill is over”

You and peter shared a look, a small smile playing at both of your lips before you faced the projector and watched some elementary students stuff themselves under desks.

“how would we fit under desks? they’re like 3 feet tall!” You heard charles snicker from across the room, causing everyone to laugh and mumble an agreement. “You won’t be going under the desks, you guys can go under the lab tables and hide there” Ms. Patrick spoke up and you all went to the back, squishing you against each other. Of course peter made sure he was right next to you.

You hugged your knees, smiling at the curly haired boy next to you. “all this gum under here is so gross” you spoke, your nose scrunching up as peter looked up. “yeah it is, but look at all the writing under here” he smiled as he pointed at one that read: stan + beck = <3

You smiled slightly, wondering who they were and what they were doing now. “That’s kind of endearing, they left their mark on the school” you smiled, looking at peter who looked like he just uncovered all of the galaxies truths. “let’s leave our mark then yeah?” he smiled as he took your pencil from your hands, wiggling so he could write on the table, looking up and twisting his arm so the writing was legible.

y/n + peter = epic

Your face flushed at the small writing, wondering who would see that in a couple of years. “absolutely perfect” you smiled, your neck hurting a little from looking at the top of the table you were all under. Peter smiled at you, whispering a small “yeah.”

Soon the announcement came on and class continued as usual. “are you wearing different Halloween socks?” Peter questioned as you packed up. You looked down at your feet, ghosts and black cats covered your ankles. You smiled at him, “of course i am! It’s October 7th, so close but yet so far” you sighed dramatically. Peter laughed at you and you blushed, seeing him jump slightly at the bell like he does during English.

“see you around parker” you smiled, swinging your bag over your shoulder and falling into step with sami. “don’t think i didn’t see that whole under the table thing” she spoke, keeping her eyes in front of her and a smirk on her face. You blushed and shoved her slightly. “oh please it was nothing” you smiled, even you didn’t believe what you were saying.

“if you’re so confident bet me the $500! he’s gonna ask you before Christmas break i just know it” you both turned the corner and went down the steps to orchestra, peter and Ned opting to take the elevator as usual. “oh shut up, he won’t” you protested, slapping her hand away from you, a smile on your face.

The orchestra concert was tomorrow, Thursday and you were slightly terrified, you wondered if peter would still go, he said he would so what would stop him right? You smiled at the thought of him sitting in the audience and cheering you on like you did during his band performance. You had yet to tell him that you had done color guard during the summer your freshman year at your old high school.

As you practiced your solo in a practice room your phone dinged and you got a message from your best friend back home, Ximena.

there’s this white boy in my class that has a crush on me but i don’t know if i like him help

You giggled at her message quickly replying with something along the lines of ‘just wait it out and see what happens’ not wanting to give her too much advice that could backfire. Five minutes before class ended you trudged back to the orchestra room, packing up and deciding to catch a ride home with sami.

Ximena had messaged you asking you to FaceTime the moment you got home which you happily agreed to. You set your bag down in your room, saying hi to your mom as she cooked, telling you your dad would be working late tonight. You gm gave her a quick hug before going back to your room and calling your best friend.

“tell me everything right now” you spoke up, a smile on your face as you pulled out all the homework you had to do tonight.

“so i told him i don’t know what im feeling right now and get this- he said he’s willing to wait however long for me!” she squealed and you were so happy for her, she deserved someone nice and caring. “xime that’s so good! get to know him better and see what happens after that!” You beamed at her through the phone and she nodded, quickly asking about you and peter and you updated her, trying your best to water down everything because you didn’t want to over romanticize anything.

“who knows honestly, i mean like you said just go with the flow and see where it takes you” she smiled at you and you nodded, telling her a quick goodbye as your mom finished cooking.

Soon after the two of you finished dinner you went back to your room to finish your homework. You were humming along to your music when you got a notification from peter.

this time tomorrow my ears will be blessed by the screeching of the orchestra

You smiled at his message, quickly putting your pencil down and typing out a quick response.

ah yes, the sounds of angels themselves, not to b confused with the odd blaring of whatever the hell a metal twisted noodle is

Peter rolled his eyes, smiling brightly as he read your text, he knew you loved the band.

oh please, if you didn’t like the bad you would go to football games

I’ll have you know i actually like football

please you don’t even believe it urself

no balls ?

no balls

your heart rate picked up as you pressed the FaceTime button, keeping a complete straight face as peter answered, a giant smile on his face.

“i actually do enjoy football” you spoke, not being able to keep a straight face when you saw peter purse his lips and shake his head at you. “y/n you know i can see you during games right? you only look up when the horn blares announcing we made a touchdown” you opened your mouth then closed it. “checkmate” peter spoke, smirking at you.

“i actually have a lot of homework to get through and i would appreciate you not interrupting my studies” you spoke, a smile on your face as you grabbed your phone to hang up. “OKAY I’m sorry!” He squealed, not wanting you to hang up yet. You giggled and set your phone back down, making small talk and enjoying the company of the two do you doing your homework together.

“I’m gonna go now, Ned said he would come over to help with the millennium falcon tonight” he spoke, a blush rising to his cheeks, he faceplamed himself. Why would he say that?

“huh I’ve never actually watched Star Wars now that I think of it, have fun with ned!” You spoke and peter was shocked, okay maybe you had one flaw. Peter swore to himself he would get you to watch all the Star Wars movies no matter what.

As you hung up you quickly finished your homework and texted ximena, readinf screenshots she had sent you of conversation between her and jonny. You felt something was off about him but you chose to ignore it, not wanting to upset her.

After watching tv with your parents you decided to go to sleep, you had been texting peter all night and you sent him a quick goodnight text to which he replied with a ‘goodnight sweet dreams’ adorned with many emojis. You smiled and changed, washing your face and drifting off the sleep.

When you woke up for school the next day you were filled excitement and nervousness, your orchestra concert was today and peter would be in the audience watching you. You quickly made it to school, meeting up with sami in the cafeteria and eating your breakfast together, the two of you talking about a show she has found while scrolling through her feed.

“I heard there’s gonna be a fire drill today during 1st, maybe you can get some flirt in with your boy” she smirked at you, causing the wrapper from your breakfast bar to weakly hit her arm. “I’m just saying as cute as the football games are, you gotta get some real contact time in you feel?” she winked at you and you snorted.

“what the hell am i supposed to do?” You looked at her, an amused look on your face. “i don’t knkw touch his hands or something” she shrugged and you shook your head in disbelief. “how do I do that? Play sticks with him?” You laughed, the bell causing you both to stand up and say goodbye quickly, heading in opposite directions to class.

You say in class, waiting for the alarms to go off. You weren’t gonna play sticks with peter, he’d think you were 7. How else could you flirt, you were so deep in thought you jumped when the alarms went off, quickly following the rest of your classmates out the door and into the cold October air.

Peter wiggles through the high schoolers and stood next to you at the front of the school, watching everyone pour out of the building. “I wish they’d give a warning or something, those alarms make my head hurt” he spoke up next to you and you nodded. “I just think they’re annoying.”

You stood there for a while, looking down at your shoes before looking up at peter. “wanna play sticks?” You smiled shyly and he blushed, nodding as he extended his hands out and the two of yo began to play.

“okay no that’s cheating” you began shaking your head and you hit peters fingers a little harder than usual. “I’m not cheating you just really suck at this game” peter laughed and you shoved him slightly, putting your hands in the pocket of your hoodie. “I hate this game” you huffed and he laughed, “maybe next time choose a game you’re good at- i mean if there is any” he spoke, and you looked at him in shock.

“quite the trash talker for someone who can’t beat me at cup pong” you retorted, a smirk on your lips and peter opened his mouth in shock. You noted all the students starting to go back in the school and you turned to peter, “shit talking is a two way lane buddy, learn how to drive first” you smiled at him, patting his shoulder and walking into the school, leaving him flustered and way more attracted to you than before.

You felt your hands shake slightly as you walked away, a nervous smile on your face as you looked at the ground, you pulled your phone out to text sami, upset that her plan worked but happy that it actually did work.

The rest of class flew by and soon you found yourself walking with peter to your next class, and then the next, and the next, and the next. By the time chemistry arrived peter had walked you to most of your classes, except for your small animal class which was outside. He did however send you the walking emoji and said “pretend this is me.”

The two of you didn’t talk much during class, mostly because you had a test and so you were pretty focused on your work, you hoped that peter had understood all the work that he had always asked your help for. Everytime he would call for help on the homework, the two of you ended up goofing off and laughing.

As the bell rang sami and ned walked together, laughing at something he said and you walked next to peter, listening to him as he explained to you why you should watch Star Wars with him.

“how do you think you did on the test?” you asked after he finished his argument, looking at him with a small smile. He looked at you confused for a second, “i think i did pretty good why?” You furrowed your brows and laughed. “I mean you made me help you all week with the work! I didn’t know if you understood it or not.” His eyes went wide, he understood the material the moment it was presented, he had called you for ‘help’ all week just to have an excuse to call you. “Oh yeah! Well duh I understood it thanks to you” he smiled, nudging you with his shoulder and you blushed.

“I’ll see you at your concert later yeah?” He spoke, turning the corner into the band hall with ned. You nodded your head, “don’t you dare be late!” Sami snickered as the two of you waved goodbye to each other. “I still think by Christmas break, maybe even thanksgiving break.”

Before you knew it, you were sitting in the audience of the auditorium, watching the freshman orchestra play. You sat next to sami, making jokes here and there and searching the audience for your parents. “Have you seen peter?” You asked her and she looked around, shaking her head. You shrugged it off, you guys played last anyway so it’s okay.

Peter ducked as the robber swung at him, making some lame joke as a way to stop himself from freaking out. He quickly checked the time on the wall of the store, he was already late to your concert. The robber swung at him again, landing a hit on his face causing peter to wince. He quickly webbed his hands to the counter, returning the stolen goods to the store owner and running out the moment he saw the police arrive. He landed in the all good familiar alley, changing into his school clothes once more and spraying cologne all over himself.

The JV orchestra just finished their second piece and there was no sign of peter. You felt your heart fall as you realized he probably didn’t care enough to come. You were so stupid to think he actually cared about you that much. You grew lost in your thoughts and before you knew it you were going up on stage, setting up your stand and flipping to the right sheet of music. You looked out into the audience once mkre and saw the doors swung open, revealing a very flustered and out of breath peter. A giant smile spread across your face and you quickly took your seat.

You saw peter take a seat near the middle of the auditorium and give you a thumbs up. You quickly looked at your teacher as you all began playing the first piece. As you finished playing the first and second piece your teacher moved towards the mic stand to announce how you had a solo in this piece and the usual ‘she’s worked so hard and I’m so proud of her.’ You saw your parents holding up their phones recording and you saw peter looking at you with the biggest grin on his face.

As the song began, you mentally prepared yourself, putting in every ounce of emotion you had as you began your solo. You didn’t notice peters mouth falling open and a gasp leaving his lips. You didn’t see how he looked at you in awe. You didn’t notice how he fumbled to pull his phone out and record a snippet to post later.

As the song finished you stood up and bowed slightly like your teacher had told you, looking at you parents and waving slightly. They cheered you on and gave you a thumbs up, a giant smile across both of their faces.

As everyone finished packing up and taking their instruments back to the orchestra room, you saw peter waiting for you in the hall down the orchestra room. You rushed over to him a smile on your face.

“you came!” You spoke, looking at him with joy. “I told you i wouldn’t miss it for the world” he spoke, shoving you slightly. “You did amazing! This whole time you’ve been holding out on me” he pouted slightly. You rolled your eyes, your face red at his compliment. “It was okay i guess” you shrugged your shoulders, biting your lip to hold back a smile but you failed.

“it was way mkre than okay! you’re smart and talented? what else are you hiding from me” he joked narrowing his eyes at you. You laughed and shook your head looking at him for a second. The two of you held eye contact, not knowing what to say. Your mind was screaming at you to lean in a kiss him, risk it all right now. His mind was screaming at him to lean in and kiss you, risk it all for you.

You let out a soft cough, tearing your eyes away from his and looking at the clock on the opposite wall. “I’m gonna go ahead and uh go, my parents are waiting to me” you spoke up, smiling at the boy softly. “oh no yeah! Go ahead i was about to go myself, good job again with your solo!” He spoke as you smiled at him, waving goodbye as you walked past him to go meet your parents.

Peter stayed in the same spot for a couple seconds, scrunching his face up and squeezing his eyes shut, cursing himself over and over again for not shooting his shot. Again. He turned on his heels and walked towards the exit, ready to go home and sleep.

It wasn’t until much later that you got home from dinner with your parents that you scrolled through Instagram and saw that peter had posted on his story. You quickly pressed on it and saw yourself playing on the stage. In small text under where you were was an“i know her >:)” and a Star Wars gif.

You slid up and typed out a response.

“I think i know you too, also I’m still not watching Star Wars.” You sent it, locking your phone and heading to go shower and change for the night.

By the time you had gotten out of the shower you were beyond tired and just wanted to sleep. You replied to sami’s message and texted Ximena back, she had decided today that she liked jonny and was gonna tell him tomorrow. You still had a bad feeling but continued to push it aside. You replied to peters text and told him you were gonna go to sleep, he replied in a few seconds with ‘sweet dreams’ and cute emojis. Your head hit your pillow as soon as you plugged your phone in and you were out.

There was a football game today and you of course you were going. It took sami a bit of convincing but she finally agreed, mumbling about how she wouldn’t mind seeing Ned while you and peter flirted up a storm under the bleachers.

As the day passed things with peter seemed to fall in routine. Pass notes during first, walk you to class almost every period, text whenever you could, and talk most of chemistry. It was nice, knowing that you always had peter there, and of course it didn’t hurt that you had the biggest crush on him. You knew he didn’t feel the same, considering he had friend zoned you before but you couldn’t stop liking him all of a sudden. You kept trying to stop yourself but it was t working, so you decided to just go with the flow instead.

So as you say next to the boy of your dreams in chemistry, he turned to you with a smile on his face. “are you going to the game tonight? I think we can win this one” you giggled softly and looked over at sami who winked at you. “uh yeah i may make an appearance to support our courageous football team.” He smiled at you and nodded “cool cool cool” you looked at him confused, “i started watching this show, he says that a lot” he spoke, flustered.

By the time class ended you and peter had made a truce, you would only watch Star Wars if he watched game of thrones. He immediately agreed, sayinf he would go to any length necessary to get you into the best franchise possible.

The bell rang signaling the end of the day and you decided to go to sami’s place to kill time before the game started. You said hi to her mom and chatted for a bit before her dog, Hazel attacked you with love.

“well if it isn’t my favorite girl!” You cooed at the dog, picking her up and petting her. “okay ouch” sami spoke, hanging you a sandwich and a water bottle. “oh please, you didn’t think I actually prefer your dog over you? because if you do, you are absolutely correct!” Hazel barked at sami causing you to burst out laughing.

“anything new with Esmeralda?” Sami spoke between bites. You groaned and slouched into the couch. “She’s always brining up peter. ‘Peter and In this ‘peter and i’ that. Like i don’t give a flying fuck! Peter already told me they have nothing and i trust him so i don’t know why she’s so obsessed with him” you ranted, biting into your sandwich.

“God she’s so annoying, there’s something off about her, I can’t quite place what though” Sami state’s, scrunching her face up in thought before ignoring it and finishing her sandwich. “You ready to go?” She asked, glancing at the clock, not realizing how much time had already passed. You nodded and finished the rest of your sandwich, downing the water bottle and thanking her as you recycled your bottle. Her mom quickly came out of her room and grabbed the keys, making a comment about one of you needing to learn to drive soon.

As the two of you settled on the bleachers you hugged your windbreaker closer to you, a feeble attempt to stop yourself from freezing. Your eyes scanned the sea of band kids, immediately landing on your favorite curly haired brunette boy. You both smiled at each other waving before you pulled your phone out to record him, zooming in on him as he gave you a thumbs up.

everyone’s fave band nerd >:)

you quickly posted it and put your phone in your pocket, pulling your sleeves over your hands. You and sami made fake commentary on the game, acting as if the two of you were ESPN commentators, the two of you breaking into fits of laughter when you had no idea what you were talking about.

Esmeralda stood on the stands, taking note of your friendship with sami, she hated seeing you happy. She deserved peter not you. He would see that soon enough.

You and sami were so caught up laughing and enjoying yourself you didn’t realize the band was about to preform. You quickly searched the field to find peter, giving him two thumbs up as he waved at you.

As the preformance began you smiled watching him march, a blush spreading across your face as you thought of him teaching you to march if the two of you ever dated. You quickly pushed the thought away, you were only friends.

You cheered loudly with the rest of the stadium as they finished their performance, smiling at peter as he took off his shako, shaking his head and fixing his hair. God he looked so good in his uniform, his hair was messy and his nose was slightly red from the cold, his curly unruly and a grin on his face as his gaze met yours.

“sami im in deep, i have to get over him now” you pleaded, turning to your friend as she snorted. “you aren’t serious are you?” you looked at her confused. “dude he so likes you!” You rolled your eyes and she groaned. “fine whatever i guess I’ll help you, but let the record show i am very opposed to this.” You glared at her and she shook her head. The two of you sat out the rest of the football game, considering your team was winning and it was a very rare occurrence when that happened.

You tried to ignore peter but you couldn’t, continuing to wave at him and have some form of communication. The two of you giggling and smiling at one another like love sick puppies.

As the game ended you said bye to peter and motioned for him to text you, sami pulled you away before you could keep the conversation going.

“getting over him huh?” She laughed as the two of you walked out of the stadium and searched for her moms car. “okay in my defense it would’ve been rude to ignore him” you shot back, crossing your arms over your chest. She smiled at you and shook her head, she wasn’t gonna try that hard to get your crush to cease, she had a good feeling about this one.

The weekend rushed by, much to your dismay. Before you knew it you were seated in English, smiling at peter as you threw a piece of paper his way, effectively hitting his face causing you and your friend next to you to laugh. As the bell rang class settled down and your teacher walked in, dressed as none other than Snow White. It was homecoming week, today’s theme being dress as your favorite fairy tale character.

You and Peter shared a look, keeping in your laughter in as she taught as if nothing. Class went on as usual and you and Peter kept stealing glances at one another and blushing. He was wearing a black hoodie and light blue jeans, even though it was simple he looked so good in it.

Your face flushed and your heart rate picked up as he flashed a smile at you. He could hear your heart rate beating faster than usual and he felt himself get more confident, he loved knowing he had that effect on you.

As the bell rang he followed you out the door, smiling at you and asking you why you hadn’t dressed up. You smiled back at him, “why didn't you dress up as a prince?” his eyes went wide and you flushed as you realized what you said. “so you think I look like a prince?” you opened your mouth to say something before you looked away from him. “oh! there’s my class I have to go bye!” you rushed away from him, leaving him with a smile as he turned on his heel and headed to his class.

Class passed pretty quickly, you had a study hall so you decided to get ahead on your homework, not wanting to have to do it at home when you could be doing anything else. You dreaded seeing Peter during passing period considering you had basically called him a prince. Your walked out of the gym and were greeted by a happy peter. “how was class?” he asked, stopping his stride and starting again so that you took the same step. You smiled at this and looked up at him, “pretty good, we got a study hall, and yours?” He shrugged his shoulders, “same old same old.” It was quiet for a while before the two of you spoke up at the same time. You both turned red, he motioned for you to speak first. “are you excited for homecoming?” he looked at you and fiddled with his fingers, “eh, not really I don’t plan on going” he shrugged his shoulders and you nodded. “I was gonna say did you do the chem work, I forgot it was due today” oh yeah I just finished it, I’ll send you a picture of it, don’t worry” you smiled at him before saying goodbye and entering your classroom.

The day seemed to fly by, Esmeralda seemed distant today, you didn’t mind though considering she had been getting on your nerves lately.Chemistry came and went, you spent the class period copying notes from Peter because you kept drifting off.

The week continued on like this, it was the same routine as always, you would facetime Ximena when you got home, she seemed less interested in your days and only talked about jonny, you pushed it aside listening to her talk about how sweet he was being. She updated you on all your friends back home and you made a mental note to text them to see how they were doing.

At school you and Peter would hang out during passing periods and talk during class when you had the chance.Before you knew it, Thursday arrived and you slipped on your old one direction hoodie, smiling as Sami’s eyes widened when you sat across from her in the morning. You smiled at her, bursting into laughter as she sat there speechless.

“I can’s believe you actually wore it” she smiled, sinking back into her seat and eating her breakfast bar. “I told you I would, these are my boys” you smiled proudly, looking down at your hoodie. “hehe, five directions” she laughed and you rolled your eyes, throwing a napkin at her.

You had a test in English so you couldn’t really tell what Peter’s reaction was, or if he even noticed the sweater, either way you were nervous to see what he said. He didn't walk you to class today considering he had been late all of last week and May scolded him for it, he had texted you after hoping you would side with him but of course you didn’t.

By the time chemistry rolled around Peter was already in his seat and his face brightened up when he saw you. “no way, you like them too?” he spoke, excitement lacing his voice. Your face lit up, “yeah, wait do you?” you smiled at him as he nodded his head, could he get any better? “whats your favorite song from Made in the AM?” you paused for a second, “I really like Wolves, what about you?” he looked at you for second. “I love walking in the wind” you smiled at him nodding your head.

“ah a man of taste I see” you joked and he laughed. “Do you like any of their solo music?” You looked at him and he nodded. Before the two of you could continue the bell rang and class started.

You continued talking here and there about the band, you both listened to all of their solo music and you so excited to know you had simliar music taste beside one direction too. When class ended you both walked out, almost forgetting about your best friends, Bed and Sami hadn’t noticed though, too caught up talking about who knows what.

“So when are you starting Star Wars?” Peter looked at you, a small smirk on his face. “When are you starting Game of Thrones?” You retorted, and he nodded his head, “touché.”

As the two of you went down the stairs towards the fine arts hall you turned to him. “Saturday?” He smiled at you, nodding his head. “I’ll start watching season one today I guess” he spoke, faking disgust, you shoved him and he smiled at you, pushing you a little back.

As the day ended, you headed home, you opened your window for a little bit, taking in the cool air for a bit before closing it once more. It felt nice outside so you decided to take a walk, you didn’t have homework and you decided you had nothing to lose. You quickly popped in your headphone and headed out the door, choosing a playlist as the elevator dinged and you headed out your apartment complex.

You walked around the neighborhood aimlessly, taking roads you never knew existed and getting lost for a second before finding your way back to a road you knew. As you continued to walk you found a small park, one you never saw before, it was getting dark so you made a note in your phone as to where it was and headed back. You looked around for any sign of your spandex wearing friend but he was nowhere to be found, it had been a while since you had talked to him.

As if on cue you heard a small thump behind you and you turned around. A smile on your face, “spidey!” You smiled, running over to hug him. “long time no see y/n” he spoke, peter cringed as he heard himself speak.

“how have you been? anything intense lately?” He shook his head and you smiled at him, thankful he hadn’t gotten hurt. “how about you, how’s your boy problem?” You smiled at him, explaining your situation with peter.

“I mean i take everything with a grain of salt of course” you ended and he cocked his head to the side. “it seems like he’s really into you though” you shook your head. “nah, he friendzoned me a while ago so” you shrugged your shoulders and turned the corner, ending up in front of your complex.

“I missed talking with you spider-man” you said, giving him one more hug before saying goodbye, before you could enter the building he grabbed your wrist and pulled you back towards him. You looked at him confused as he pulled you away from your building.

“I think he really does like you, just give him some time, maybe he’s just building up the courage to ask you out” he began, mumbling nervously. You looked at him confused, why was he so on peters side all the time?

Your feeling of him being Peter resurfaced, you pulled your phone out, about to click on Peters contact to call him when Spider-Man’s head whipped up. “I have to go, there’s a robbery in progress, I’ll see you soon yeah? Give peter a couple more weeks!” He spoke before swinging off. You stood there in shock. Had you told him peters name before? You couldn’t remember, you looked down at your phone, texting peter.

hi :~)

You locked your phone and headed back inside, making your way back to your apartment to go to sleep. Tomorrow was the homecoming game and sami told you to not miss out, it was the only other game that got packed besides the first game of the season. You didn’t protest, anything to see Peter in his band uniform.

As you drifted off to sleep you got a bad feeling about tomorrow, something was feeling off. You didn’t know what, but you suddenly felt less excited about the game.

taglist (let me know if you’d like to be added!) :

@savedbystark @hphmincorrectquotes @squirtsquirtjigglejiggle @sonicisnotsober @qrangr @ghostiinparker @acenright @ksmy-99 @mutuallynotmutual @holland-tingz @martinafigoli @jackiehollanderr @hemoglobin-s @tyemmamarvel @Mia-mayels @nochillsavv @frenchfrostpudding @vlogsquad-wannabe @sapphireorchid @laurel-not-lorel @abitofeverythinggg @spaghetittiesbcimgay @teenageeggsneckpasta @broken-hearted-barnes

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker one shot #peter parker fluff #soft!peter parker #flirty!peter parker #marching band!peter parker #peter parker angst #peter parker x you #chemistry #baroquebucky

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nicolewrites · 4 years

Text

jack of hearts

this is absolute nonsense. i make no apologies. @tsunnychan you went to bed too early hehe

Day 6: AU / First Time

Rating: G Genre: Romance, Friendship Characters: [Sylvain Jose Gautier & Ingrid Brandl Galatea], Ashe Ubert, Claude von Riegan Words: 2,104

“I don’t think any of those kids play chess,” Ingrid pointed out.

Sylvain shrugged. “A few of them do. The others are there just to be there.”

OR: Teachers AU

AO3

“Class dismissed!”

Ingrid shifted her weight and pressed a finger against her lips to hide a smile as she watched Sylvain jump off the desk he was sitting on, closing the textbook he was holding. The bell rang loudly overhead and Ingrid stepped into the classroom so that she would be out of the way of the students who bolted for the door at the end of the period.

Sylvain didn’t notice her immediately as he headed back to his desk in the corner of the room, mumbling something to himself. Ingrid stepped back and knocked against the doorframe of the classroom and his head snapped towards her.

A grin spread across his face immediately when he saw her. “Miss Galatea! To what do I owe the pleasure?”

She crossed her arms and tipped her head, giving him a hard look. “I believe you borrowed something of mine in first period. I do need that back for Model UN.”

Sylvain snapped and turned, grabbing the rolled-up UN poster off his desk. “Thanks, Ingrid, it was very helpful.”

She looked between the poster and his desk where she had a funny feeling it had sat for the entire time he had borrowed it. She took the poster from him and tucked it under her arm. “I’m sure it was,” she said knowingly.

Sylvain leaned back against his desk and gave her a charming smirk in response. He knew exactly what he was doing and he was just waiting for her to call him out on it. Ingrid shifted and glanced at the clock above the door in the government classroom.

“You headed to the lounge?” she asked after he seemed partly content just to stare at her.

He scratched the back of his head. “No, actually, we have-”

He was cut off by something flying past Ingrid into the classroom, headed straight for Sylvain’s face. He managed to get a hand up in time to knock it away, but not catch it. He batted it aside and then he and Ingrid both stared at the yellow pool noodle now lying on the classroom floor that had come sailing through the air.

“Heads up, Gautier!” Claude von Riegan called cheerfully as he burst into the classroom, carrying three more pool noodles.

Sylvain rolled his eyes. “Chess Club,” he finished, for Ingrid’s sake.

Ingrid opened her mouth to question the projectile, but by the smug look on Claude’s face and the resigned humour on Sylvain’s, she found she really, really didn’t want to know what the senior Chemistry teacher and the Government and Politics teacher were going to do with four pool noodles when they were supposed to be leading the school’s Chess Club.

She shook her head with a smile and headed for the entrance of the classroom, still holding her UN poster. “I’ll see you later, Sylvain.”

“Bye Ingrid,” Claude called teasingly as she left.

Ingrid rolled her eyes and headed back to her own classroom in the English wing. Ashe was standing outside her classroom as she approached, his nose in a book that was bursting with yellow sticky notes.

She raised an eyebrow at her fellow English teacher. “Ashe?”

He jerked his head up and smiled sheepishly. “Hey, I just wanted to see if you had any spare copies of the Moonlight Knight. I’ve had two more kids switch into my class and the English office doesn’t have any more copies of it.”

Ingrid thought about it. “I think I might have a couple of copies from AP Lit that aren’t getting used,” she said. She strode past Ashe into her classroom and went to the bookshelf behind her desk. Sure enough, she had four copies of the Moonlight Knight that didn’t have names in them. She pulled them off and offered them to him. Ashe grinned and took them.

“You’re a life-saver, Ingrid, thanks!” He glanced at the UN poster she was holding and confusion flashed on his face. “It’s Thursday today. Don’t you usually have Model UN on Mondays?”

Ingrid sighed and placed the poster down on her desk. “Yes. Sylvain asked me to borrow it for some lesson he was teaching to the Gov 12 kids today.”

Ashe frowned. “Gov 12? I didn’t know they would be at the UN unit already.”

She grabbed her lunch bag from behind her desk and rolled her eyes. “They’re not. I have no idea why he wanted the poster. Are you headed to lunch?”

Ashe shook his head. “No, I’ve got Writing Club with Bernadetta today. I am headed to the Art Room though so I’ll walk with you.”

“Great!” Ingrid led the way out of her classroom, locking her classroom after Ashe and she had both exited the room.

They walked through the hallway and Ashe made a quick stop at his classroom to drop off the extra books. When he emerged, he was holding a folder that probably contained the stuff he needed for Writing Club.

“Have you had your one-on-one with Seteth yet?” Ashe asked, referring to their faculty administrator.

Ingrid nodded. “Yeah, we met yesterday before school.” She grinned. “Medieval Lit is mine next year.”

“Oh come on, Ingrid! This is my first year with it in three years.”

She laughed. “I know, I know. I’m happy with AP, don’t worry. At least I get to read better essays.”

Ashe’s shoulders slouched. “It’s a Grade 12 elective English course,” he bemoaned. “Why are they still such bad writers?”

Ahead of them in the hallway, Petra’s door banged open suddenly and the Spanish Teacher poked her head into the hallway. She spotted Ingrid and Ashe and immediately emerged fully from her classroom and practically jogged towards them.

“Do either of you speak French?” she asked hurriedly.

Ingrid blinked. She knew some basic French from her high school days and the intro course she had taken as an elective in her undergrad, but she was far from fluent. Beside her, Ashe shook his head.

“No, sorry, Petra.” Petra frowned. “Have you seen Ferdinand?”

Ingrid shook her head. For once, she hadn’t seen Garreg Mach’s resident everything-man. “I think he might actually be sick for once,” she admitted. “Lorenz?”

Petra shook her head. “Helping Annette with the boy’s sectional in Choir today.”

Ashe winced. “That’s unfortunate. Is this an International Students Connection thing?” Petra nodded. “I have a Belgian girl who speaks very little English and even less Spanish.”

“Wait,” Ingrid said suddenly, an idea striking her. “Sylvain speaks French. He’s running Chess Club with Claude right now, but I’m sure he can spare a bit of time.” Petra sighed in relief. “Can you be fetching him? I have two Spanish kids needing a translator.”

Ingrid’s stomach rumbled, but she nodded. “I’ll go get him.”

Ashe smiled at both of them, his cheeks flushing a bit when Petra returned the grin, “I’d come with you Ingrid, but I shouldn’t leave Bernie hanging. I have all the poems from last week anyways.”

Petra hugged Ingrid tightly before she bounced back and disappeared back into her classroom. Ingrid sighed to herself and pivoted, heading back to the humanities hallway where both hers and Sylvain’s classrooms were located. Her lunch could wait, as much as she didn’t want it to.

She heard eager chatter as she approached Sylvain’s classroom and she steeled herself for whatever the hell was going on inside the room. The door was slightly ajar so she pushed it open fully, taking in the scene.

Claude and Sylvain were sitting across from each other at Sylvain’s desk, a chessboard in between them. There were nine girls and three boys crowded around them, watching as the two teachers moved pieces back and forth in a deadly dance. There were no real stakes in a chess game, but every teacher at Garreg Mach knew that pride was on the line every time that Claude and Sylvain played against each other.

She stepped into the classroom and not a single eye in the room flickered to her. Half the girls in the room were staring at Sylvain and the other half were staring at Claude. Only two of the kids were actually looking at the chessboard that was the subject of both male teachers’ undivided attention.

Ingrid cleared her throat. Eyes darted to her and Sylvain’s head snapped up. Claude glanced back over his shoulder and smiled lazily at her.

“Miss Galatea,” he said.

“Miss Macneary needed a favour, Mr. Gautier, if I can steal you away,” Ingrid explained, switching to the formal names for the sake of the students in the room.

Sylvain looked between Ingrid and the chess game in front of him. He pointed at Claude. “Don’t touch my pieces, von Riegan. We’ll finish this later.” He smiled pleasantly at the watching students and gestured at the other chessboards sitting atop desks in the classroom. “And I guess you all have to actually put those skills to good use now.”

He stood from his desk and crossed the room to Ingrid, smiling broadly at her. Ingrid’s stomach flipped against her will at the charming smile and she immediately turned away from Sylvain to leave his classroom. He kept pace with her easily on his long legs as they strode through the humanities hall back towards Petra’s classroom.

“I don’t think any of those kids play chess,” Ingrid pointed out.

Sylvain shrugged. “A few of them do. The others are there just to be there.”

Ingrid laughed. It was obvious that the gaggle of girls were literally only in Chess Club because of the staff sponsors. Sylvain and Claude were notoriously the two most popular male teachers amongst the young, hormonal teenaged students (male and female alike).

“And what does Petra need?” Sylvain asked as they walked.

“A French translator,” Ingrid answered.

Sylvain nodded. “Well, that I can do. I was worried you were going to say Italian.”

She looked at him. “Don’t you speak Italian?”

Sylvain shrugged, but he was smirking. “Not fluently.”

She shoved his shoulder. “You’re the worst.”

He bounced right back and said something to her in what sounded like Japanese. Ingrid stopped in her tracks and stared at him. Sylvain stopped walking a pace ahead of her and looked back at her, looking a bit startled.

“Japanese? What the fuck?” she exclaimed.

The trio of tenth graders nearby giggled at her foul language and Sylvain laughed. “You can blame Fe for that one.”

She rolled her eyes. “What did you even say?”

Sylvain’s smug smile loosened into a much more casual grin. “Don’t worry about it.”

She grabbed his arm and dragged him to a stop, staring at him. “Sylvain.

“Nothing bad, I promise,” he assured.

Ingrid sighed, but released him, continuing the trek to Petra’s classroom. Sylvain glanced between her face and the lunch bag she was carrying.

“You never made it to the lounge I’m assuming?”

“No,” she grumbled. “I haven’t eaten yet.”

He hummed under his breath. “Well, it’s a good thing we’re getting take-out tonight.”

“We are?” she questioned.

He winked. “Sushi on me.”

She laughed, but couldn’t help smiling. “What’s the occasion?”

“Thought it might be fun.”

Sylvain’s smile was warm and genuine in ways that made her stomach lurch and her heart flutter. He was a charming man, that was for sure, but it wasn’t often that he truly attempted to turn his charms on her. It was almost flattering.

“What did you use the poster for?”

“An excuse to come bother you,” Sylvain admitted freely.

Ingrid laughed out loud before she could stop herself. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting you to just admit it.”

Sylvain stopped walking outside of Petra’s classroom and looked her in the eye. “I’ve kind of been sticking my foot in my mouth every time we have a conversation that’s longer than 20 words recently, so I figured interrupting your class would be an easy way to keep it short, but necessary. Plus, then it meant that I would get to see you twice in one day because you’d have to come and get the poster.”

Ingrid’s mouth opened, but no words came out. He was flirting. He was definitely flirting and all of her coherent words had abandoned her quite succinctly. Sylvain grinned at her one last time. “Go eat your lunch, Miss Galatea. I’ll come by with sushi at eight.”

He turned to walk away to enter Petra’s classroom and Ingrid desperately willed her brain to say something–ANYTHING–to him.

“Sylvain!” she called.

He glanced back.

“What on earth did you need pool noodles for in the Chess Club?”

Sylvain smirked again. “See you later, Ing.”

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ask-john-massacre · 3 years

Text

The Origin of the Massacre

Chapter 1: Another Morning

In a town in Louisiana, there was an orphanage which housed children who would act out of the ordinary for their ages. Children that were pushed out from their parent’s life, abandoned from their relatives, mysteriously placed there without a trace, or were put here by keeping them away from irresponsible parents are now being taken care of at this orphanage. Kids that live here in particular show signs of improved development or unstable conditions. Improvements range from increased intelligence, good perception, behavior changes, and committed discipline. Unstable conditions are categorized as kids who remain immature or undisciplined when they were supposed to be learning these skills at the time they grow to a certain age. Out of everyone that ever lived there, there is one peculiar boy that stood out from the rest. He was only 10 years old, but acts as he’s mature as a young adult. He cannot show happiness, excitement, or even a sense of joy. He always acts cold for his age, in which he’s not surprised if other kids would bully him for it. This boy does not know why he acts the way he is, but he doesn’t make it a concern as he believes there’s other worse problems to face.

He was sleeping soundly in his bed. All cozy in his own room in which it’s not really decorated as he has no interest in making it stylish. Almost every night however, he has nightmares that would involve a man with a fiery tone. A man that would push the boy in his dream to let go of his hatred toward this world and do something about it. He would be scared every time he saw this man, but he managed to forget about it every time as well. Then suddenly someone opened the door to his room and knocked on it to wake him up.

“Rise and shine. You don’t want to be late for school.” The person said in a soft, sweet voice as she opened his door. It was a redhead woman that was wearing an orphan nurse uniform which was all white with hints of grey on some parts of the clothing. She had been volunteering at the orphanage for at least 4 years. She’s 24 now. In those times she would always like to take care of John because she specifically wants him to feel included when no other nurse would do the same.

“Ok ok. I’m up now.” John said as he yawned a bit as well and sat up.

“Breakfast is served now downstairs. I hate to see you getting the scraps..” The nurse said with a light chuckle and a smile.

“Mhm. Thank you Nurse Annie.” John said to her as he was about to get dressed.

“Hehe. Anytime.” Nurse Annie said as she closed his door. Giving him time to get ready for school. John took his time to find his usual attire for school. What he always likes to wear is a casual T-shirt that has an image of his favorite characters from various TV shows that he watched. Whether the show was anime, live-action, cartoon, or anything else as those topics. He always likes to wear baggy shorts as he feels very comfortable wearing them. He then goes up to his desk that has a large mirror facing towards him. He tries to make himself smile as he sees his mouth trying to perk up. However, he stops suddenly as if it’s a hard thing to do. He sighs to himself as moved away from the mirror now.

When John was all ready, he headed out of his room and walked to where the stairs were and walked down to where the dining hall would always be at. As he headed down the stairs, 4 kids that were two or three years older than him were walking up the stairs being all loud and rowdy. John kept his head down as he was casually trying to walk past them. Suddenly, one of them glanced up at John and smirked. The kid then extended his leg out and tripped John down the stairs and he landed on his stomach, since he was only at the last three steps he wasn’t that hurt.

“Oops. Sorry Johnny boy.” The one kid said and the other three laughed at the sight.

“W-What is your problem Nick?!” John yelled back at him as he was still on the ground.

“Oh come on now. You gotta like his jokes from time to time.” The other kid said sarcastically to him. The other three kids were named Jacob, Brian, and Steven as they were Nick’s friends and bullies to John. For the boys' ages, they always like to wear different colored polo shirts and jean shorts to match their attire as it displays them as some sort of imaginary gang. It was clear that when Nick was wearing a hat, he was the leader of the group.

“Let’s just go guys. We know he just cries on the inside.” Steven said as the others chuckled and nodded in agreement as they continued to walk upstairs.

John sighed to himself as he slowly stood up and looked around to see if anyone noticed. In which he saw that no one saw what had happened, as always. He continued walking to where he’ll find the cafeteria. He came across a set of double doors and he opened one. He sees almost everyone in which the kids, teenagers, and the orphanage staff were all receiving the same meals and the same respect. However, little kids were sitting on one side of the cafeteria, teenagers sitting at the far end, and staff sitting in the middle aisles. John headed to the line along with everyone else to get his breakfast. It was seen as when everyone else is talking to each other, John was just there in line with no one else to speak to. Once he grabbed his tray, he walked back into the dining hall and tried to find a place to sit with the other little kids. As he walks around, he’s noticing that none of the kids were giving him space. John then decides to do what he normally does and walks over to where the staff sits. He thinks that Nurse Annie would always save him a space just in case that he would not find any seats to sit with the other kids. John eventually found Nurse Annie and she noticed John right away. She pats at the empty seat next to her and John casually sat next to her.

“Hey there John. Couldn’t find another seat again?” Nurse Annie said as she was properly eating an egg white omelette.

“Um. Yeah hehe. I guess a lot of their friends are kinda scooted together.” John said as he was casually eating his pancakes and sausage.

“Well John...someday you gotta socialize with kids your age. You won’t gain much friends later when you turn into a teenager or even an adult.” Nurse Annie said as she caressed his back to comfort him a little.

“I know. You’re right Nurse Annie, but um...I guess I’m just scared a little.” John said as he was starting to eat a bit slowly now. Showing that he deeply feels anxious about the idea of talking to any more kids.

“You don’t need to be scared John. As I said to you before, not all kids are the same. Some may have a lifestyle as you and you don’t even know it.” Nurse Annie said.

“Y-Yeah. You’re right on that too.” John said as he was only finishing halfway through his meal.

“Look. Remember one thing about people in general. There are always good people and bad people in the mix. It’s up to you to pick up the right bunch. As you grow older, you’ll soon realize the right bunch you’ll pick up. You know what I mean yes?” Nurse Annie said in her soothing voice to John as he nodded back.

A few minutes later into breakfast, people started to leave as it’s 7:30 in the morning now as their daily lifestyle is about to start. John hugged Nurse Annie closely as he said goodbye to her for now. He rushed back out with a few of the other kids to where the lockers were and was grabbing his school supplies. As he did so, the headmaster walked in to see if the boys inside the lockers were behaving correctly. The headmaster was wearing a brown linen blazer, worn jeans, and tan loafers as he was casually walking around each corridor in the locker room. John was gathering his supplies quickly as he was stuffing the things he needed for the school day. John then picked up his backpack and tried to rush a bit to get out as he kinda fast walked out of there. Suddenly, he bumped into the headmaster and stumbled back a bit. The headmaster looked down at him as he chuckled a bit.

“Watch where you’re rushing John. You don’t want to cause an accident like the last time, right?” The headmaster said as had his hands behind his back.

“Y-Yes. Headmaster.” John said shyly as he was about to walk past him. Suddenly, the headmaster tapped his shoulder and stopped him for a bit.

“John. I know about your behavior in the last few months. I’m aware it’s not improving as much as I hope it would in terms of being social as the other kids. So I want you to know that you are one of the bunches here. A family if you think of it that way. So I want you to be free from this bubble of yours and get yourself out there. Understand?” The headmaster said to John. John nodded in response as he quickly walked out of the front double doors.

John was walking along the sidewalk as he was not far from the elementary school he goes to. As he walks, he observes cars passing by him as parents were driving their kids to school. He even sees other kids walking with each other as some were walking in groups. When he sees this, he realizes that he is still that one kid who walks alone most of the time. He always kept his head down as he finished looking at his surroundings. Deep inside his conscious, he knows that the kids around him were looking at him funny because of the reputation he currently has at school. The one that is different from the other young kids. The one that rarely laughs, rarely shows any joy, and rarely smiles. By the time he walks up to the front gate to the school, he sees parents saying goodbye to their kids for the day as they walk into the school grounds happily. He feels as if that feeling is rare for him to feel. Knowing that he doesn’t know about his parents and will never feel the comfort from a mother and a father anytime soon. During recess when John is at the playground, he would stay near his classroom door as he doesn’t feel any joy to join in with the other kids playing around and laughing to their excitement. As he sat near the door, a ball was rolling next to him and it caught his attention.

“Hey! Can you pass that ball back?!” A kid’s voice called out to him and he looked over, seeing that a few kids were looking at him with the ball that rolled over to him. When he stood up to kick the ball back, another kid came out of nowhere and kicked the ball back to them instead.

“Sorry John. You can continue to sit there if you like.” The kid said as he made a small chuckle as he ran to the other kids. John frowned a little at this and then went back to sit down near the door.

Suddenly, he heard the bell ringing for the day of classes to start. He quickly stood up as he was now the first in line to get into his class. Moments later, his teacher walks up with a smile on her face and proceeds to unlock the door. Her name is Ms. Peterson. She was wearing her usual outfit as John noticed, a black and white polka dot shirt with an army green sweater and khaki pants. She was even wearing her distinct gold necklace as it’s a prized possession of hers. From what John can see as well, she was Caucasian and even looking quite young for the job she has as a fifth grade teacher. John first walked into the classroom while the other kids behind him were piling into the class like a bunch of tumbleweeds. Ms. Peterson chuckled to this as she walked to her desk to set herself up. Meanwhile, the kids were then sitting at their tables as some were continuing to talk to each other while some others were playing miniature games like rock paper scissors. However, John was sitting there in class as he was not moving a muscle from his seat. He was only looking down at his desk as he was dozing off a bit. Suddenly, John felt a paper airplane hit the side of his head as he quickly snapped out of it. The kids laughed at him a bit when it happened and he was looking back down with a sad expression. Ms.Peterson quickly stepped in as she saw this.

“Stop it now! All of you!” Ms. Peterson said as she looked back at John. “Are you ok John?” She said in a polite way.

“Y-Yeah. I-I’m ok.” John responded to her as he sounded quiet.

“Are you sure? I can let you go again if you want.” Ms. Peterson asked kindly as she knew what kinds of trouble John had gone through.

“No Ms. peterson. I can stay here still.” John said as he remained seated.

“Alright. Just let me know if you ever change your mind.” Ms. Peterson responded as she went back to her chalkboard to start class. John brought out his pencil and paper as he was ready for the lecture.

A few hours had passed by, it was the end of the school day as all the kids were coming out and heading to their parents or the school buses. John was heading out of the school and he kept on walking on the sidewalk to the orphanage as always. When he got back, he saw Nick and his little gang going inside first as they were laughing and play fighting with each other. John slowed his pace when he saw them and eventually started walking fast again as they were going inside. When John stepped inside the orphanage, he quickly ran into his lockers to put away his school stuff and quickly ran to his room. Nick and his friends saw John being quick about what he’s doing and they laughed at him rushing. As this was happening, Nurse Annie was seeing this and watched John running up the stairway. Feeling bad about this, Annie was then walking up the stairs to find where John was running to. She then sees that John ended up in his room as always as he knocked on his door.

“John? Are you in there?” Annie asked as she knocked. She heard no response yet. “John? Can I come in? We can talk again if you want?” Annie asked again.

“It’s open. Nurse Annie.” John responded as he knew who was behind the door. Annie then opened the door slightly and saw John reading a book while lying on his bed.

“John. I saw you rushing up here again. Did something happen at school?” Annie asked John with concern.

“No. Nothing much. It’s just that um...the other kids keep on teasing me.” John responded sounding a bit sad. Ann sighed a bit as she walked over to sit next to him.

“Life will not be easy as you grow up John, but from what I can see, you’re doing a great job at keeping your awareness up.” Annie said to him as she was smiling while walking.

“My awareness? I’m only aware that I’m not normal.” John stated as he hung his head low.

“No no John. When I mean aware, I mean that you know the right thing to do. That’s why it’s good that you’re different from everyone else.” Annie explained to him as she gently caressed his hair to keep him cheered up. John looked up at Annie as he slowly nodded.

“Thank you. Nurse Annie.” John thanked her as he hugged her close. Giving her a tight grip as he appreciates her being there for him once again. Annie smiled back and hugged him too as she didn’t mind the grip.

“You’re strong and smart John. Always use your mind for good deeds. Not a lot of people growing up are willing to keep that in mind.” Annie said to John as she looked down at him.

“I um...I will.” John said as he almost had trouble to speak while he kept hugging Annie.

It was now the next morning. John once again was in his morning routine as he was getting ready for another day at school. As he was heading out of his room, he was casually heading down to get his breakfast as usual. He headed into the cafeteria and looked around to see if Nurse Annie was at her table again. However, when he glanced at where her table was, she wasn’t there. He looked confused as to where she might be because she would always be at the table before everyone else. He shrugged it off before getting his breakfast anyways. Once he got his tray, he looked back at the dining hall knowing that he might have to eat where the kids are. He then walks to one table that happened to have an empty spot as he casually sits to eat his breakfast. As John was eating, he was hearing every kid his age around him being loud and ecstatic as they were talking amongst themselves. John was only looking down at his tray as he continued to eat normally. He happened to glance back at the table to where Nurse Annie usually sits and he saw that her chair was still empty. He can only wonder what happened to her and why she was not there eating breakfast with her co-workers. He assumed that she was maybe sick and can only hope for the best. A few minutes later, John finished his breakfast and was already heading back to his room to get ready for school. Suddenly, he stopped around the corner to overhear a conversation coming from a few caretakers and the headmaster.

“Headmaster. We have been trying to call Nurse Annie a few times now. We still haven’t heard from her.” One of the caretakers said to the headmaster.

“Are you sure that she’s not being late? Try calling again.” The Headmaster responded to him.

“We have been trying Headmaster, but she’s not responding for the last 10 times.” The other caretaker said as he had his phone out.

“Well keep trying. We have known her for a long time to know that she won’t bail on us like that. Probably send someone over to see if she’s ok.” The Headmaster reassured them as he said with a bit of a worry. John felt worried about this when he was hearing them about Nurse Annie. He tried to ignore it now as he then ran back up to his room.

Before he knows it, it would be the next morning. He took his time yesterday to just doze off and to play with the toys he has as usual. Once he was woken up properly, he would be on his daily routine as he gets dressed up for school. However, he noticed that Nurse Annie was not there to greet him. He tried to shrug it off as he headed out the door and to grab his things from the locker room. When he was walking there, he stopped at the headmaster’s office to see his headmaster sitting at his desk with his hands covering his face. He looked like he had seen his loved one passed away, but it’s not the case. He turned to John’s direction and only waved at him. John finds that odd as he then continues to walk.

He walks slowly on the sidewalk as he notices Nick and his friends further ahead. He wasn’t in the mood to be in another drama as he can’t get the feeling out of his head as if something was wrong. As he walked into school, he was about to head past front office when suddenly, he heard from the TV inside about a murder. He stopped in his tracks as he peeked in to see some teachers and faculty shocked about what was saying.

The news played as the reporter explains about a murder occurred yesterday about a man breaking into someone’s house. It was explained about how the intruder broke into the person’s house and proceeded to chop the person into pieces. The murderer soon committed suicide afterwards as it was indicated that it was the victim’s ex-boyfriend who happened to be a serial killer. The reporter revealed the victim’s name, Ann Lusen Mia, a nurse that works at the orphanage from where John stays at.

John couldn’t believe what he had just heard. His body started to shake in anger as a tear shed down his cheek. He was panting while trying to calm himself as he then bolted away.

He ran all the way back to the orphanage as he didn’t bat an eye to anyone he ran by. He ran into his room as he slammed the door shut as he covered his head into his pillow.

“WHY?!?! WHY DID SHE DESERVE THAT?!?!?!” John yelled out as he started to cry uncontrollably as he kept the pillow to his face. “I HATE THIS PLACE!!!! I HATE EVERYONE!!!!!” John yelled out again as his emotions are uncontrollable at this point. He doesn’t know what to do now. He feels the only defender he had has left him to suffer. He feels an empty void in his head that cannot be filled. At this point, he knows that he can only defend himself from the world he is now left in.

#creepypasta #creepypasta fan reboot #horror #creepypastas

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post-itpenny · 4 years

Note

✠

Arriving at my muse’s house at three am.

I hope you don’t mind but I wanted to use this as an introduction story of sorts to my characters in the Slasher AU. Also I mentioned it in another post but Magpie and Peregrine go by their human aliases in this AU.

It goes without saying there is a bit of gore.

3am

or alternatively titled-

“Cookie?”

The tired policeman at the front desk looked up as a plate of chocolate chip cookies was placed on the desk in front of him.

“Hehe, thanks Miss Blackwood. You know I can’t say no to your baking.”

Meave Blackwood smiled, “I’m so happy you like them Charlie.This one is a favorite recipe of mine.”

Another officer stopped by, snatching a cookie off the plate, “yeah but what’s the recipe. You're my aunt, you're supposed to share these things.”

Meave smirked, nose scrunched as she snatched the cookie out of her niece’s hand. “It’s not my fault you wouldn’t listen when I tried to bake with you as a child. Also you’ve already had four, save some for the rest.”

Juno rolled her eyes but didn’t complain, she was late meeting someone anyways.

Meave smiled as her niece left, pulling out her phone to send a quick text message to someone and moving on with her plate of cookies.

Pembroke Blackwood looked up at the sound of knocking, his sister standing at the doorway of his tiny office. A plate of cookies that also balanced a tea cup and full coffee mug.

“Brother dearest,” Meave chimed, “you should take a break.”

Pembroke sighed, gratefully accepting the coffee Meave offered. “Yeah but this one is a tough nut to crack. Let me toss this scenario out at you huh? Guy walks home taking Pine Street. Guy stops and drops dead of a bullet wound to the throat. No witnesses cause it’s like 3am. All shops down that street so no residents.”

“Hmm,” Meave hums to herself with one finger tapping her lips. She slides into a chair and looks over the files scattered on her brother’s desk. “Well it had to have been someone he knew to stop him at that time of night.”

“Yeah I thought so too, but any suspect has a water-tight alibi.”

“Oh but it must be someone he knew!” Meave insisted, “think about it brother dearest. Knows his work schedule, knows the route he would walk home, knows how quiet that particular spot is. Does he usually walk home with anyone?”

“Yeah his roommate, they do night shift at the same place but the roommate was out of town visiting his sick mum.”

“Oh! Have we called mum since Mother’s Day?”

“The UK one? No I guess we need to. Back on topic Magpie.”

Meave made a face that could only be described as a cross between a smirk and a teasing scowl at the nickname. One from childhood that really everyone in the precinct was familiar with. Magpie Blackwood, whose mind was sharp as a knife but distracted by a thousand different things at any given time.

And just as mischievous.

Pembroke reached out to grab a cookie only for his sister to slap it out of his hand.

“Not that one Peri sweetheart,” Meave ordered, “try one from the otherside of the plate. Juno seemed to enjoy those.”

Pembroke arched an eyebrow in confusion before a cold dread broke out down his spine.

“What did you-“

“Did you know it was Charlie who was stealing my lunch out of the break room fridge?” Meave asked with a cheerful smile.

Pembroke jumped out of his seat, running out the room. “Damnit Meave not again!”

Meanwhile, the laxatives in the cookie Charlie had eaten were starting to take effect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 2am and there was a man running for his life.

An hour before he was heading to bed when he noticed the figure standing outside in the corner of his backyard, petting his dog.

Two minutes later the power cut and in the darkness of the house he could not find his cell phone to call the police.

Five minutes later and the thing was inside, the man scrambling for the front door and down the dirt road his house resided on. His nearest neighbor was away on vacation. The next closest was a mile away, but in the darkness of a cloudy night he accidentally stumbled off the road and down a random side track.

He slowed to a stop, hopping his eyes would adjust to the darkness.

Behind him a twig snapped, followed by a giggle.

The man took off running again.

The cycle seemed to continue on and on. Until finally he had no energy left. Terror being the only thing keeping him going as he stumbled onto some form of civilization at long last.

It was a small junkyard. One he recognized as being a part of the bottom corner of a neighbor’s property. He had accidentally ran to where he was wanting to go anyway.

In the distance he could spot a small pinprick of light he knew to be the lamppost set up by his neighbor’s workshed. The man sighed with relief, falling to his knees in exhaustion.

“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry sweetheart, did I run you ragged?”

The man flipped around in panic. Behind him stood a small lady with stark-white hair. Her outfit old-fashioned looking, skirts and boots coated in mud. She had a satchel over one shoulder and a kitchen knife in her left hand.

“Wh-who are y-“

“Shush, shush now. You need to catch your breath.” The woman insisted as she pulled something from her satchel. “Here we are, are you hungry?”

It was a bag of cookies, the woman took one to eat herself. The man, eyeing her knife the whole time, timidly accepted one as well.

“Do you like it? The secret is a small dash of crushed cornflakes. Adds an extra crunch to them.”

The man didn’t know what was stranger. The woman or the fact that chocolate-chip cookies with crushed cornflakes tasted so good. He looked at the knife in her hand again, could he wrestle it off her

“Now may I ask your opinion? Man is walking home from work at 3am and is shot at close range in the throat. Who would do that?”

The man looked the strange woman in the eye, edging just a little towards the knife. “Uh… s-sounds like some shit my ex would do.”

The woman hummed, finger tapping her lips. “There is an ex but she was at a friend’s house that night.”

“Bull”, the man responded. Inching just a little closer to the knife. “Friends can cover for you. Ex probably called him a liar for something so she shot him in the throat.”

“And did you lie to your ex?”

The man stopped, “n-no! Did that bitch send you? I’m telling you I-“

“Thank you so much for your help dearest. I truly appreciate it.”

The woman took a step back, snatching up a pole from a nearby junk pile and throwing it like a javelin.

The pole went clean through the man’s stomach, knocking the air out of him as he started to fall forward only to be caught in the arms of the stranger.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to try this. Do you mind?”

With inhuman strength the woman hoisted up the pole till it was standing up like a pike with it’s victim at the top. The man made a strange gurgling sound as he slowly slid down to the ground.

The woman frowned, yanking the pole out of his body and tossing it aside. “I was hoping you would stay up longer but own well.” She sighed as she pulled a gun and silencer out of her satchel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meave arrived at her own home at 3am to find a figure standing in front of her garage.

He wore a dark casual suit, his white hair slicked back and a black medical bag sat on the ground next to him. He was smoking a cigarette as he watched the car pull up on the drive.

Meave grinned as she saw him. “Oh Vespers darling! I was worried when you didn’t answer my text earlier.”

The young man shook his head as he dropped his cigarette and crushed the embers under his foot. “You know, most people like to sleep at this time of night auntie dearest.”

“Ooh I know! I hope you don’t have any early appointments tomorrow.”

“No it's fine, luckily I don’t have to have anyone ready for a funeral until one.”

Meave gave her nephew a hug before turning the pull open the garage door. “Why don’t you sleep in the guest room tonight then. I can make pancakes for breakfast! Oh, and be a dear and get the body from the trunk?”

Meave’s garage had a rather large and strange assortment of tools for a woman who looked like she could not tell the difference between a wrench and a screwdriver. She carefully stretched out a sheet of butcher paper on a workbench for Vespers to lay the body down on.

He switched on a nearby lamp before giving a low whistle. “You sure like to keep me on my toes don’t you aunt Pie huh? May have to just hide this one.”

Vespers looked up to find his aunt was not paying the slightest bit of attention. Meave was busy admiring the blood that had soaked into her silk gloves.

Vespers shook his head, turning to pull on a pair of latex gloves of his own and getting to work. Poking and prodding the body here and there before coming to the man’s face. It took some work but eventually he managed to pry the man’s mouth open and pull out his tongue, giving a cautious sniff.

“Rigor Mortus has already started kicking in, if you have a power outlet nearby I can do some quick electrical stimulation on him to relax the body again… Aunt Magpie?”

Meave was now frowning down at her muddy clothes.

Her nephew sighed, “if you want to go change I can do this part by myself. Also, if you still have that whisky dad left when you had us all over for dinner last week it would be great if you could bring it.”

Meave was quick to leave, coming back ten minutes later wrapped in a pink silk night robe. A cup of tea in one hand, coffee in the other, and a half empty bottle of whisky tucked under her arm.

She watched in fascination as Vespers had already removed the bullet from the man’s neck and shoved a small metal rod through it. He was now taking hold of the man’s ankle, giving a sharp twist. A soft “pop” echoing through the garage.

“You broke his ankle?”

“No, sprained it.” Vespers replied as he took the whisky bottle and poured it’s contents down the dead man’s throat. “I could smell the alcohol left on his tongue. There’s an overpass in town that goes over a construction site, so it should be quiet this time of night.”

“He was drunk and stumbled off the overpass.” Meave speculated.

“Why go through the trouble of hiding a body when you can put it in plain sight?” Vespers offered with a smile. “Could you help sit him up for a moment?”

Meave compiled as Vespers grabbed a cement block from the corner of the garage and placed it down on the table before taking the body from his aunt and slamming it down.

Vespers’ work took another hour, the construction crews would be arriving at the worksite soon so he decided to dump the body for his aunt before coming back to help clean up.

He came back to the garage to find Meave absentmindedly pushing a finger across the bloodstained workbench like a child playing with finger paints. He looked over her shoulder at the small flowers and hearts she had created.

“By the way,” Vespers casually observed, “I know you don’t normally like guns.”

“Hmm? Yes well I was testing out something close range for a case your father was stuck on. Our friend also provided some verbal insight as well.”

“And?”

“And I do believe I want to personally interview the victim’s ex tomorrow.”

“No I mean the pole, and what about the pole.”

“Oh! Yes well,” Meave smiled with a glint in her eye, “I just wanted to see what would happen.”

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sylph-of-limebloods · 5 years

Text

Thirty Minutes More

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Fandom: Venom (Movie 2018)

Relationship(s): Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote

Warnings!: Description of Panic Attack

Summary: "Tell me," Eddie asks as Venom encompasses his body as they stare towards the Life Foundation, "What really made you wanna stay here?"The answer is instantaneous. "You. It was you, Eddie." -- What were the events that changed Venom’s mind? Or: what if we saw thirty minutes more from the movie.

The sun’s started to rise by the time they’ve escaped the goons’ radar, black skies turning to pinks and purples when they suddenly turn, still running, into one of the alleys that Eddie’s mind registers as the southside of San Francisco. It’s there that Eddie and his “passenger” come to a sudden stop, their lungs heaving and heart racing as they quickly look around to take note of the open-ended alleyway, the chain-link fence some 20 yards down splitting the residential (where they stood) from the business back entrances, and the fire escape stretching all the way up towards the roof. Good.

“Don’t sense those assholes anymore,” Eddie’s throat rumbles. “Safe now.” The black sinew of the alien—of Venom—ripples against his skin before shrinking, absorbing and disappearing into Eddie’s body as control of motor functions is suddenly thrust back to him and, oh god, he thinks as he nearly trips over cobblestone and his own two feet,

“No need to thank me.”

Oh, god.

Eddie lets out a noise like hyaaaaann as he stumbles and slams his back into the brick-and-mortar building behind him, not feeling the distant surprise of falling nor the muted not-pain between his shoulder blades as hysteria bubbles up soda-pop and prickly through his chest and throat. He swallows, hard, before trying to speak. “Oh well gee that’s fan-fucking-tastic that we – I – fuck, we? What even––you know what, whatever, I just fucking OUTRAN CARS!! Outran. Fucking. Cars.” He goes to rake fingers through his hair but whoops he doesn’t have hair nor fingers his body’s still fucking ENCASED AND SMOTHERED IN TAR AND DARK THINGS—!

“Not a ‘thing’," is spit into Eddie’s mind, black still rippling against him and fuck didn’t it just disappear!? “Venom is who we are,” Venom says, a twisting sensation like indignation in Eddie’s stomach as his skin prickles, crawling from his back to his front, and he realizes Venom is moving across his body, (always moving), claws dissolving into normal fingers as the alien coalesces as a vest against his chest and arms, hidden by his hoodie. “We are one and the same, Eddie. We do not ‘smother’ anything of you.”

His now-human fingers and hands are shaking. “Yeah well,” Eddie feels dizzy, that fizzy feeling now turning to spikes in his stomach, stopping just below his diaphragm, fuck— “I-I for one do-don’t quite agree so wouldyoupleasegETOFFME–”—and he’s trying to rip and tear it off off OFF—!

The black whiplashes back into his skin lightening-fast and settles like a rock in his gut, tight and hard and unmoving, confusion and hurt rumbling somewhere in Eddie’s head, and fuck okay he is NOT confused—as he claws at his chest—okay he knows exactly going on he’s being hunted down—the clawing isn’t working—and he managed to run away from cars—he starts pulling at his hair instead—and slashed at vans—his chest is feeling tight but he grabs his hair harder and the pinpricks of pain help but—and fucking hell he ate another person, jesus!

He faintly hears–something, he doesn't know what, but it’s rumbly and distant, like the cobblestone at his feet (when did he look down), and the rumbles make him think of cars—

“Eddie?”

—oh god, cars, are they back?, did they find him, he needs to leave he needs to go but his limbs feel like lead—

"Eddie?!”

—and his throat feels tight and why does he feel lightheaded—

“EDDIE!”

Eddie strangles out a gasp as he snaps back to the present, eyes wide, the sensation of sight and sound of the alleyway almost overwhelming him despite the quiet dawn. Panic nearly grips him again when he thinks his diaphragm is paralyzed, but–oh. No, not paralyzed; it’s held still by his body-buddy. Before survival instinct and more panic kicks in, however, he feels it–Venom–slowly let go, and he can practically "see", in his mind’s eye, all of a sudden how uneasy and skittish Venom is but still trying to help. (Reminds him of awkward childhood hugs with his aunt, all hovering and doesn't know how to deal with a thing. So awkward, hehe. Fuck.)

“Breathe, moron; you creatures need oxygen to survive on this stupid planet.” Eddie tries to do the thing, the breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, but his heart’s just not into it, especially since it hasn’t calmed down since they stopped running; adrenaline, it’s a bitch. “Okay, that’s it. Let us,” he hears (never realized it tickles when Venom talks, at the base of his skull, never noticed), and Venom is oozing through him, Eddie feels it as Venom hitches his heart and eases it back into normal heart rate range while tensing and easing Eddie’s lungs into breathing slow, before Eddie’s able to join in. In; hold; out.

In; hold; out.

In...hold...out….

Eddie slumps against the building wall, strength leaving him on the last exhale and adrenaline spent. Fuck, he thinks, legs jelly, I haven’t had one of those in a while.

“What was that,” Venom demands as he materializes near-instant off Eddie’s shoulder (like he did--fuck, mere HOURS ago, what the hell), startling enough to jostle Eddie a bit; his “eyes” squinting and..brows? are dug close on his ever-grinning face; he’s confused–no, perplexed Eddie realizes as Venom says, “We escaped. Killed. Survived. And yet your body went haywire just now.” Venom gets closer to Eddie’s face, head doing some sort of small, jerky movements that Eddie has seen many times with others—with humans—to know that the alien’s doing a worried once-over, and if Venom had hands, he thinks stupidly, they’d be hovering over him. Eddie feels a twinge of something below his ribcage, but he doesn’t have the energy to look into it. “Explain.”

Hehehe, say please, Eddie giggles as he sing-songs in his head, giddy-tired. God, he’s on a hair trigger. Venom just gives him a proverbial question mark and another, sharper pang that, ah, is Venom’s poorly concealed panic. Ow, that actually hurts a bit. “Okay, okay, easy; that was, um. God I can’t believe I’m explaining this to an actual fucking ALIEN—”, he gestures to the air, arms flailing and nearly missing Venom’s disembodied head before unceremoniously dropping back to his sides, momentum having him bump into the wall with another, gentler thump. He hopes this building’s not residential, and he’s not smacking against someone’s bedroom. He doesn’t need to add disturbing the peace on his list of ongoing personal offenses, too, along with being a bounty for a corporate entity, assault and battery, and several traffic offenses. Oh, yeah, and eating a guy.

Fuck, right, explaining shit to a literal alien. Symbiote, rather, he thinks distantly.

“H’okay,” he says, allowing himself to finally slide down the wall to sit on the dewy-wet cobblestone, and sure his ass is going to be soaked through but fuck it. Venom still stays hovering, unusually patient. “How to explain this…” Fuck but he’s tired; brain, why no work. “Well, humans would call that a panic, or anxiety, attack. It, um,” he exhales through his nose, hard, and lips pursed as he cards his hand through his hair, gaze looking anywhere other than the other’s eyes. “It can happen when the mind is stressed. Can happen from little things to big things.” Eddie snorts, shakes his head and taps his temple. “Big thing, right here for me. For any human honestly; jesus,” he laughs, throat feeling scratchy, tasting the hysteria in the back of his throat again, but luckily there’s no energy left in him to feed it. Now it’s just a sharp twang at the back of the tongue.

Eddie glances up after a moment of quiet, and Venom’s just watching him, silent, observing. Eddie lets the silence be a moment of reprieve to lean back, to close his eyes and blank out his mind for just a minute, and only a minute, he tells himself. But so much has happened over the course of one night, he can’t blank out, just sees flashes of sparks and flame, the smell of burning rubber and car paint, seeing those men’s faces as he–as they had went to counter-strike, knocking out all of their stupid shocked faces in mere minutes. Eddie has to laugh at that under his breath, as messed up as it is—if he doesn’t laugh, he’ll cry, and he really doesn’t feel like having another kind of breakdown. Two in one night? Probably not good.

“Surviving should not give off fight-or-flight,” Venom states, voice close enough to rumble-tickle Eddie’s ear and startling him to jerk and open his eyes. “We know this.” Venom is still staring, though now more off to the left, looking almost...contemplative. “Felt it before.”

“Yeah, well, not everyone–. Wait,” Eddie blinks, confused, “you’ve felt what before?” He now tries to look Venom in the eye, though the other stays firmly looking away. He notices another twisting sensation, this time in his gut, and it feels like guilt.

“Panic.” Eddie can feel the Symbiote start to move under his skin, a tidal wave of gooseflesh, almost, heading towards his neck. “Fear.” Eddie blinks in muted surprise as Venom curls around his neck like a black, gooey snake, closer but still looking away. “Defeat.” The phantom guilt he feels is eating away at him, and Eddie doesn’t like it. He reaches to pet Venom’s head, hesitates. Then Venom continues to talk, “They all were like that.”

And he starts petting Venom. The other stiffens as he asks, “The other people you bonded to?” He doesn’t know why he’s asking, maybe he’s just exhausted enough to not giving a shit about getting dragged into all this, for now.

“Not bonded,” Venom says after a pause, a hesitance, before settling onto Eddie’s shoulder, into the scritches, “but yes.”

“Right,” Eddie says, resting his head back, gaze distant as he stares through the fire exit ladders across from him, tone airy, as he continues his scratching, “because all those people at the lab were ‘willing participants’, right?” He can only imagine the horrors those poor people experienced; locked up, forced to absorb the blobs of oily specimens…

“NO!” Venom snaps and Eddie jerks his hand away, Venom turning to face him fully with bared fangs, and Eddie feels that tightness of emotion in his side again, lava-hot and burning as the other says, growling, “I did not want it! I didn’t have a choice but to go to those humans, Eddie. Can’t exactly live well here, asshole.” Then Venom shifts, something rippling against and under Eddie’s skin and up his spine to the base of his skull, and then—

And then—

Now Eddie sees something different in his head than what he was imagining, a different perspective of the lab; a memory. He’s confined in a space with barely room to shift, like he’s in a box, and he’s starving, going to die soon, and then the room opens and he can’t ‘breathe’, can’t survive, but something’s there that could help, jumps on and in the creature, the ‘human’, and tries to reach out for help but he’s just so hungry and he can’t stop eating and it continues again and again until he can’t tell what’s who and who’s what.

It was a terrible fate for both human and symbiote. Eddie has to bite back the bile suddenly in his throat, clutching and massaging at his alien-tight side.

“I’m sorry,” Eddie chokes as he blinks rapidly against the afterimages of the memories. Venom moves back a bit, the alien-tightness suddenly lax as Eddie both sees and feels the blink, blink-blink of...astonishment? coming from Venom. He’s surprised too, honestly, at the genuineness. But. He swallows against the lump in his throat. “No creature should have to go through that.”

Venom just looks at him, unblinking and seemingly stoic, but Eddie knows better; he can’t even begin to comprehend the many things, the feelings, he feels going all around his body, Venom’s emotions going haywire it seemed. Surprise, shock, something soft that tickles his stomach that he doesn’t want to address.

“What?” Eddie asks, confused.

“We,” Venom starts after a moment, slow, as he eases himself back to laying across Eddie’s shoulders, “I’ve never felt another be sorry for us. Never felt apologetic, either. Couldn’t, not with Others.” That’s all he says, and Eddie just nods in somewhat understanding. At first he thinks ‘others’ was in reference to other humans, but the way it formed against their tongue sounded different. For once, though, he doesn’t ask.

“You never got any sympathy from anyone, huh? I know the feeling.” Eddie feels Venom’s attention shift to inward, to their mind, and Eddie shows him bits and pieces of himself. He remembers his earlier years of his life in New York, the mess of investigation with The Globe, the other, more minor fuck-ups he did when he was much younger and high off life and potential. He thinks of his more recent fuck-ups, with the way he handled that Life Foundation interview that truly fucked his life over, with Anne and how selfish he’d been. His younger self should’ve gotten sympathy, he thinks; his recent past, not so much. Doesn’t regret a thing, though, save for Anne. He doesn’t think he’ll ever forgive himself for breaking her trust like that.

Venom pipes up to interrupt his brooding. “Humans don’t like each other much, do they?”

Eddie snorts. “Yeah, we can be madder than a pit of vipers at one another,”—he feels Venom raise a proverbial eyebrow at the phrase—“but then you find yourself someone or a group of someones and you click? You’d die for them.” He suddenly yawns, waves of exhaustion hitting him again as he lifts his head up to the sky, Venom copying him in both actions (yawns are even contagious to aliens, apparently, huh). It’s becoming light out for sure, the purple-yellows of sunrise already fading to gentle blue, and they hear the city start to stir; average Joe’s going on to live their average jobs, and the world keeps on turning.

“You’re different than other humans, Eddie,” Venom says with a lilt, leaning into the scratching that Eddie unknowingly continued, his sternum now alight with a buzzy-bubbling sensation. He feels a happy-something tug at the corner of his mouth; immediately tramps it down by covering with a yawn, though turns real halfway through.

“Yeah?” He glances to the other. “I sure hope so; I don’t wanna suddenly croak on ya,” he says, chuckling, hoping a bit of nihilism would lighten the mood; beginning to feel a little too intimate for his tastes anyway. Fuck, his eyelids feel heavy.

“I have said it before and I’ll say it again, idiot,” Venom growls, the bubbles turning spikey with offense down his ribcage, again, ow, “You die? I die. And like hell I’m going to let that happen.” He nips at Eddie fingers, but he doesn’t draw blood, so Eddie doesn’t react.

“Alright, Alright, I get it. It was just a figure of speech anyway.” Eddie looks down where he came from, sees a few pedestrians and some bikers and says, “Y’know, I think there’s a park nearby.” Venom looks at him and he shrugs. “I mean, we could probably chill there for a bit, take a nap.”

“Nap?”

“Yeah, to recharge the batteries.”

“...Oh. You mean to rest,” Venom deadpans once the metaphor is processed.

“Well ye-whoah!” Venom disappears back into Eddie’s body, no longer visible but the strength and the foreign tingling is still prickling under the skin. He still ends up patting around his chest and sides to try and find the other, though. “Besides, those fuckers wouldn’t think twice about making a scene in the middle of the day at a park. Or, well, I don’t think they would.” He really hopes what he’s saying will be true, though; any more action and he really would croak, Symbiote parasite or no.

“Let’s go, then. Your energy levels are low.” Venom has him stand up with a hey! , strength most definitely not his own. “And not a parasite. Dumbass.”

Eddie doesn’t fight the smile this time as he laughs, walking out of the alleyway and squinting against the sunlight. “Uh-huh, sure.”

“I will take you back to those hunters, don’t see that i will.”

“Aww! Can I get that nap first, though?” Eddie sticks out his lower lip in a pout despite Venom not being able to see it, he’s sure the other would be able to feel it.

A pinch of strange emotion at his side again, then, with a tone sounding like an eyeroll, “Fine.”

#venom 2018 #eddie brock #venom symbiote #venom movie #missing scene #alternate scene #sylphy writes #i have no clue how to tag lol

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yuki-setsu · 6 years

Text

[Extra Fic] Stay With Me (Lance Whump)

[edit: lmao i can’t tumblr and accidentally deleted my original post so here i am reposting it sorry aklsfjaklfj]

hello writer’s block for my current WIP is kicking my literal ass so please take the original story i’d written for Day 5 of Lance Whumpmas :’) i finished this story, but then the actual story i posted for Day 5 came into my head and i ended up liking that one better so this has just been sitting in my folders oops;; the theme for that day was Burns hehe

The mission had just been to scope out an abandoned Galra site, to see if there was any useful information they could scavenge and make sure there weren't any covert operations still going on. With almost all of the rooms in the hideout rummaged through, Lance was starting to relax. They'd all split up to finish the task faster, and no one had run into any stray Galra soldiers. Pidge even mentioned finding some new information on a Galra supply route she'd been tracking. So far, so good.

Lance peeked into another room filled with darkened screens. It was pretty empty, save for a few abandoned Galra guns on the ground. Everything looked like it had been inactive for a while. He stepped inside, bayard still out just in case. Probably wouldn't find anything in here either, though.

“Pidge, did you get everything you need?” Shiro asked through the comms.

“Almost. A few more ticks.”

Lance sidestepped another fallen gun as Shiro spoke. “Sounds good. We'll regroup and leave once Pidge is done. Great work, everyone.”

Hunk cleared his throat. “I finished my section of the base, so I'll just... start heading back towards the exit.”

“Same here.” Keith added.

Lance hummed, light and soft. “Bet I can beat you both to my Lion even with the headstart you guys have.”

“Oh really?” There was a smile in Hunk's voice. “Challenge accepted.”

Lance peered at the broken screens and control panel, deciding to give them a few more seconds just out of the goodness of his heart. He wasn't a fan of the eerie quiet, but he'd take that over dealing with hostile Galra at this point. Hunk's footsteps echoed through the comms, and Lance waited one more tick before he started towards the door. He'd been so focused on the ambient noises in his helmet that he almost missed the low beeping that crept into his ears. But even when he stiffened up and focused his hearing, he barely heard it. He whipped around, eyes landing on an object the size of a volleyball sitting on the ground a few feet away. The slight glow around it—which definitely wasn't there before—intensified with large crackles of electricity, and Lance only managed one step backwards, bayard raised to cover his face, before he felt it explode.

When Lance came to again, he was on the floor, his entire body feeling like it had been electrocuted. He couldn't even tell if he passed out, his mind hazy with pain. His body jerked as he tried to take in a full breath, each inhale not quite making it all the way. Any attempt he made to move his body failed miserably, but the effort hurt too much and he gave up trying.

“—at happened, was that Lance?!” Allura's voice crept in past the ringing in his ears, muffled and distant.

“He's not responding. I'm heading to him right now.” Shiro said, the urgency in his tone spiking up Lance's anxiety. He tried to speak—tell them he was fine, just a little dazed. But words failed him as he started to panic, the air starting to feel more like mud as it tried to pass through his lungs. His stomach burned every time he tried to take a deep breath. Breathing. He needed to focus on breathing right now.

A bunch of other voices rang out, overlapping in a way that made any sentence impossible to decipher. He heard his name a lot, though. Lance bit back a groan, trying to figure out what hit him. Something like a bomb, obviously. He figured his armor took most of the damage, but shit everything hurt.

“Shiro,” Lance gasped out, hearing the comms immediately peter off into silence.

And Shiro responded, his relief nearly palpable through the comms. “I'm here, Lance. I'm on my way. So are the others. I need you to tell me what happened.”

Lance tried to focus on the conversation, his vision blurring every few seconds. “Bomb... I think.”

“Bomb?!” Hunk cried out, panicked.

Had it been a bomb? Suddenly, Lance wasn't sure anymore. Another spasm drowned out any coherent thought he'd been gathering, waves of pain stabbing at every inch of his body. “Buncha electricity.” Lance groaned, hissing out a breath. “I can't—can't move. Hurts too much.”

“Don't move, I'm almost there.” Shiro said. He sounded calm, in control. Lance clung to it desperately, his mind needing a steady tether to grip onto. “Where does it hurt?”

Lance tried to move a hand, stopping at the jolt of pain that shot through when he did. “Everywhere.” An even bigger pain, this time near his torso. “Stomach.”

“I found him.” Shiro piped up, and Lance it took a moment of confusion to realize he was speaking to the others. “Give me a moment.”

A hand touched his shoulder, and Lance jerked in surprise, hissing when another flood of pain blinded him. The hand disappeared just as quickly.

“Sorry, I'm sorry, Lance.” Shiro spoke, his voice filling Lance's ears with surprising clarity. His vision cleared enough to catch Shiro crouched above him, face awash with worry. “It's me.”

It was a relief, to say the least, to see Shiro. The tension in his shoulders loosened just a bit, and he worked on getting air into his chest while Shiro continued to talk into the comm. Whatever Shiro and the others were saying was lost in Lance's head, all of the sounds melting into distant mumbles. Shiro's gaze kept alternating from him to something to the side of the room—probably at whatever it was that exploded. Lance felt a weight against his side as Shiro looked back at him, clearly speaking to him this time, and Lance did his best to try to focus back on the conversation.

“—n you hear me, Lance? I need you to stay awake, okay? Stay with me. The others are almost here.”

Lance nodded—or tried to. His body felt unbelievably heavy, like something big decided to take refuge on top of his chest. Exhaustion was probably starting to kick in, and Lance just wanted to close his eyes and sleep. But Shiro had asked him to stay awake, so he tried his best to push that feeling away.

“... 'm I dying?” Lance mumbled, feeling a bit regretful for asking the question when he saw Shiro's expression. Why would he even ask something like that? It was a terrible question.

“You're not dying.” Despite how he looked, Shiro's voice was surprisingly calm and confident. The weight against Lance's side grew a bit heavier. “Once we get you in the pod, you'll be fine. Just focus on breathing, kiddo.”

So he did. Shiro glanced up at the rumble of footsteps, and Lance suddenly saw Hunk and Pidge crowd his view of the ceiling. They glanced at him and then somewhere further down his body, the panic blatantly evident on their faces. He spotted Keith just a bit to the side talking to Shiro, although his expression didn't look too good, either. Despite what Shiro said, everyone sure looked like he was dying.

Hunk suddenly leaned over, so close their helmets nearly bumped. He smiled. “Hey, buddy. I don't know if you heard the comm, but Coran had a few questions. Are you able to move your neck?”

Lance nodded, turning it side to side at Hunk's request, albeit limply. Hunk looked relieved at that.

“Where's it hurting the most?”

Lance considered it for a second. He couldn't tell if the pain had receded anywhere. At least the spasms had stopped. “My stomach...”

Hunk nodded, grim. “You got a pretty nasty burn there, dude. But we can fix that. Can you breathe okay?”

The weight on Lance's chest hadn't gone away, his breaths still shaky as they rattled down his throat. His body burned with each inhale, the injury on his stomach probably irritated whenever he breathed in. “A little. It's hard.”

Hunk glanced at Shiro before he finally leaned back, the worried look back on his face. “We can probably move him, right? I don't think there's a spinal injury.”

Shiro nodded. “Get ready to head back to the ship. We're gonna go fast.” He glanced back down, looking a bit apologetic. “Lance, I'm gonna carry you, but it'll probably hurt.”

Lance had expected as much, anyways. He huffed out a breath, bracing himself. “Kay.”

Shiro straightened, and the weight against Lance's side disappeared. Oh, Shiro had been holding his hand. Lance couldn't really ponder much on it before Shiro scooped him up, and the pain in his stomach rippled through his body in furious waves.

Maybe he screamed, because Shiro muttered out an apology before sprinting. Everything was a blur during that time, and Lance honestly wasn't sure if he blacked out. But when he came to, he felt himself lying back on the ground, someone propping him up. He blinked the white spots out of his eyes, hoping that his now-frantic breaths weren't as loud as they sounded in his ears. They were in the Black Lion, from what he could tell.

Someone gently tugged his helmet off, and Lance was grateful for the open breathing space, his head falling to the side and against something hard. Paladin armor, he realized. Fingers carded through his hair, almost methodical in their movements.

“You're gonna be fine. Stay with me.” Hunk's voice drifted into his ears, and Lance felt himself relax a bit. Hunk mumbled little words of encouragement the whole ride back, and Lance could only lie there and listen, fully exhausted at that point. Before he knew it, they must've arrived, because Hunk suddenly moved to pick him up, the pain greeting him full force once more.

This time, Lance did pass out.

Lance woke up falling, although he felt someone catch him before he could instinctively panic at the realization. Sleep was still heavy on his eyelids, and he was glad that whoever was hugging him was basically holding up his entire weight. They finally pulled back, and Lance caught Hunk's beaming face, the others crowded up behind him with equal looks of concern and relief.

“Man, am I glad you're awake.” Hunk sighed, his hands still firm on Lance's shoulders. “You feel all better now? Not that I doubt the pods or anything, but...”

The fog in Lance's mind started to clear up, and he glanced down, catching the white of the healing pod suit. Breathing was fine now, the pain he'd felt before now a distant figment of his imagination. He looked up, a smile on his face. “All good, my dude. Maybe even better.”

It was like all the tension melted from the room, and the group stepped back a bit to give some more space. Lance straightened up, shifting his weight from side to side. “So, what hit me?”

Coran was the one who spoke up. “It seems to have been a Galra-crafted explosive. Set to detonate electricity should any intruders come after the base had been abandoned. For all we know, there could be more scattered around the base, but that was only one we detected.”

Lance huffed out a laugh. “Guess I was the lucky winner.”

Someone lightly punched his arm, and Lance caught Pidge scowling at him. “That's not something to brag about.” Her expression softened. “I'm glad you're okay, though.”

The smile on Lance's face grew before he reached out and tugged Pidge into a bear hug. “Aww. C'mere, you.” Pidge resisted for a half a second and then caved, returning his hug with surprising enthusiasm.

“We should get you something to eat after you find a change of clothes.” Allura piped up lightly. “Everyone can take the rest of the day to relax. We all need it. Especially you, Lance.”

“She's right.” Shiro said. “We can meet you in the kitchen after you're dressed.” He reached out, giving Lance's shoulder a quick squeeze. “You did great today.”

Lance flushed a bit, the embarrassment tickling at his stomach. “I didn't... really do anything.”

Pidge disentangled herself from Lance's grip as the group began to move towards the medical bay doors, although she still stuck close to his side. Hunk laughed, “Just take the compliment.”

Lance could barely think of a retort before another thought hit him. “Wait, I won the challenge right?”

Hunk blinked. “Challenge?”

“I bet Shiro and I reached the Lions before you or Keith did. So I won.”

Keith looked over at him, face scrunched in disbelief. “What? I can't believe you're thinking about that challenge after what happened.”

Lance clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “Don't try to pretend like this win didn't happen, dude. Life—or-death situation or not, the facts stay true.” He glanced at Shiro. “Did we get to the Lions first?”

Shiro contemplated for a moment before he slowly nodded. “We... did. It was an emergency, so I ran pretty fast.”

Lance beamed, triumphant. “Haha! Winner winner, chicken dinner. Take that, Mullet!”

Keith didn't look at all convinced. “That definitely didn't count.”

“Did so.”

“The challenge should only count when any of the participants aren't actively dying.”

“Dude, just accept it. You lost. I won.”

Pidge groaned, grumbling under her breath. “I seriously can't believe you two are arguing over this.”

A few more seconds of bickering later, they agreed on a rematch in the near future, and Lance headed to his room to change, his chest lighter than ever. Despite the chaotic end to that mission, he felt happy and his heart felt full.

His stomach, on the other hand, felt pretty empty. Food couldn't come soon enough.

#voltron #vld #lance #shiro #keith #hunk #pidge #allura #coran #my writing

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cutegirlmayra · 7 years

Note

Here's a sad Sonamy AU: Years later, Amy has move on from Sonic and only sees him as a close friend. While he just does his own thing, he ends up falling for her, but nobody knows this and he fakes his way through. He helps Amy and she ends up marrying, He's sad but still can pull off a smile. She asks him to dance but he despises slow dances, she offers to teach him and he gives up. Some blushy moments later and he accidently confesses his love for her. What's next is up to you. ;) (Not Boom)

(x) Thank you to @mangaanonymous for her amazing preview image! :D You are amazing! And a great friend :’)

AU Prompt:

It all started when she turned 18…

I was off doing my own thing, you know, fighting Eggman’s old butt-tastic schemes again, only to notice her face on billboards and signs a lot.

That was the first time I found out she was the ‘logo girl’ for some candy brand.

I wasn’t much into sweets, but I found myself buying some anyway. I don’t know, support her maybe?

Then she wrote a book. A pretty decent book too, I might add. I don’t really know where it started, but while reading the book, I tended to find myself buying more candy.

Amy wanted to see me a lot, but I never knew how to make time for her. I wasn’t that I couldn’t, I just didn’t know if I should…

She started seeing him around a year later…

I felt awkward being around her after that. We had one smoothie and admired an old favorite spot of ours together- One where we first hung out so many years ago.

But then… her smile started to change. She was less girly and more womanly. I didn’t like that, the change anyway. But Amy was Amy, and as long as she was happy with whatever his face was, then so be-

Then I heard he proposed.

I think that’s when I started seeing her more. I couldn’t help it. I got… jumpy? I followed her to work, talked with her down the avenue of the rich places she was staying at for some signing deals. You know, the fancy gigs where people come and want your autograph? I wasn’t sure why. How big was Amy at that point?

Then she called. I kinda was thrilled, to be honest… Tails said this was my last chance, whatever that means. She had told the guy to wait on her, that she needed to think about it… I wasn’t gonna let her think long.

She wanted to write a biography of my life. What?

I thought you were gonna confess you’re undying devotion to me… I didn’t want to sound arrogant, but I guess I did. I was expecting her to want me back or something.

That whole interview, I was… well… salty.

I crossed my arms, my legs, even my teeth crossed the other in agitation at her strictly focusing on the details of my life.

Then it hit me.

“..Um.. this is where I come into your life… isn’t it?”

It was almost sweet the way she paused.

My eyes widened, and I straightened up, looking up as I began to think it through. “Oh, yeah..” I had no idea where we were in the conversation, too fixated on the picture of her and this new guy she’d been seeing. “I guess it was.”

“Ehem.” she fidgeted, moving her tight pencil skirt to the side along with her long legs over like a professional. What happened to her acting like a princess?

“I.. I would understand if you don’t want to answer this.”

“I’ll answer it.” I really wanted too.

“Do.. excuse me, but-”

“Not so formal, Amy. Geez.” I slightly mocked her, starting to relax more.

This was my last chance.

Tails’s words never rang so profoundly deep in me before, but I was trying to relax back in the chair, play it off that I wasn’t nervous.

“Well,… could you recount that time? What impact my friendship had on your life?”

That night I was tossing and turning, hitting barks of trees and scaring little critters from their homes. I couldn’t help it. I knew I blew it. I acted cool. I tried to be smooth- but the second I tried to go deeper… tell her how I was feeling about then to now… I just choked.

I… I let her go.

She was married the following May. What’s with May? Spring is always a good time for anything, but she had constantly- no, BEGGED me for a June wedding. Something about June making you a bride forever or something.

Did she not want to be a bride forever now?

Now I can’t help but smile at her picture on streets or postboards. Can’t help but grin at seeing her in her first movie. Can’t but let the sweet sorrow sink in when I see a robot wielding a hammer and know that Eggman misses her a bit too, in his own way.

Knuckles constantly says he misses her energy, that it’s too quiet now that she never visits him or the chao with picnics. I remember spontaneous picnics… Amy would try to hand feed me, and it always made me uncomfortable. But for some reason, I wouldn’t mind her hand lifting up with her mouth slightly dropping in hopes I would let her do something for me. That makes a sad smile too.

Or when Tails mentions Amy hasn’t spoken to him for a while, but he still gets a new book edition free from her agency. He told me the romantic scenes made him laugh, cause he knew she still pined for me. I didn’t know if he said that to trigger me out of my fake persona or was trying to make me feel better, knowing I would fake-it-till-I-made-it everytime someone mentioned her name.

What really bites is that I can’t seem to help but want to run out and still fight for her.

But what’s left to fight for? That rich dude’s got spontaneous picnics, hugs, affection 24/7. He’s living a life with what most would suggest is the perfect wife. But the second a news channel mentioned a possible baby I smashed Tails’s t.v… I never really knew why I spin-dashed so hard into it.

Tails says it could be that I don’t want it to be permanent. And a baby would mean Amy isn’t coming back to me. To me?

I just wanted Amy back. Whether this was love or not, I wondered if I should have bought that first candy. I wonder if it would have made a difference to tear down all the billboards, all the posters, smack any man that looked at her funny from the signs, but that really would be crazy.

I wondered if I was going crazy…

Missing Amy Rose…

I missed her so much.

It’s like that feeling when something in your life goes off course, makes you stumble, almost unable to fully remain calm anymore. A nagging in the back of your mind that things could be better if you had that one thing…

Tails says If there is a baby, I needed to really step away.

Tails says a lot of things.

Can you really miss someone so much that your dreams start replaying the past?

But I acted differently in my dreams. I held her back. I put my arm around her more. I was confident when alone, and strode with a proud look of certainty when she came running for me… and I went to her.

I hated sleeping.

That wasn’t normal.

Hehe, who knew, eh?

The one girl that was always a no-brainer, a dead give away, would end up falling out of orbit and running off to do her own thing… and leave me behind.

Destiny, she called it.

Was that what this was? I felt guilty for some reason. And… strangely upset.

I tried to not go into town anymore, Eggman said I needed to chin-up, whatever that means. But it worried me that he could tell something was off with me too…

Maybe it was the lack of sleep.

Then I get a call from Vanilla, telling me Amy has invited everyone to a big ball event for some red carpet treat.

How big was Amy again?

Her husba-…ugh.

Her dude friend was paying all expenses, and apparently, leaving for some hotshot gig somewhere fancy.

Amy wanted me to come.

I came.

With the most itchiest and tight suit that Tails could find for me. Rented. Of course, it was rented. I wasn’t gonna take any money from Mr. Fancypants, that’s for sure.

Then I saw her.

Beneath the sweat from my new clothes, and the warmth of the lights, the intoxicating aroma of high-society, Amy walked in with a bright pink dress, sparkly and addicting.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her and mentally cursed for myself for not being able to.

Amy was a woman now, years had gone by and she had transformed herself into something jaw-dropping. But my mouth remained shut as Fort Knox.

Amy…

I gazed at her while I strode aimlessly through the crowd of dancers.

Amy…

She would float along the crowd, a beautiful smile, but not her true smile, I knew better. She was wearing her ‘enjoying but mellow about it’ smile… not my favorite, but a pleasant one at most.

Her eyes were bright with the glasses of drinks all toasting up around her, teeth as white as snow, and her dress flaring up at the ends as she pranced up to her friends and would gently touch their arms in welcome.

Then she turned to see me, and the world shut us out.

Sounds were cut from their strings.

Time halted and stepped back to let her through.

I even saw light pause to admire her before trailing on in its course.

My dreams were flooding the gates of my emerald eyes, and memories of a small, pretty young girl jumping into my arms flinched an impulse to catch her before she fell.

But she wasn’t running to embrace me.

Not this time…

“Sonic!”

Her voice!

Good heaven! Did she swallow an angel’s music box!?

What happened to squeaky and high-pitched?

Chaos, help me. I thought the movies exaggerated it.

It was deeper, fully matured, and rolled with a tumble that caught the ears of men into an endless loop as it repeated slower and slower in their minds…

“I’m so happy you finally made it!” she grinned, there it was… a smile I’d missed so much. But it faded when I didn’t reply fast enough.

Did she take my silence the wrong way?

“I-um…” to be honest, I didn’t know what to say.

I dream of you! I don’t buy your candy anymore! Or your books!

That wasn’t really what you should say in moments like these…

Besides..

I already lost my last chance.

I looked away then, I hadn’t fully realized till she was standing right in front of me but…

I had lost everything.

Even my fame was fleeting.

She looked longingly sorrowful to me, as if worried before she turned to the music and instinctively smiled, getting a crazy idea.

That was the face anyway… for crazy ideas…

“Come dance with me!” she giggled, though, with a voice like that, it sounded flirtatious.

She wouldn’t be flirting with me anymore...

She swayed her body back and forth, before extending her arm out, pressuring me on.

I stared… wanting too.

“I don’t do slow dances.” but I only folded my arms when another thought came to mind. “And besides… You’re a married woman now.”

“He knows I’m asking you to dance right now,” she stated, her head held high. “I told him specifically that at the stroke of midnight, the second slow dance, I was going to the dance with you.”

I didn’t know how to take this.

But my eyes shot down to her hands and my arms immediately unfolded.

“Just one?” I couldn’t believe what was happening…

“Em-hmm.” She nodded, pursing her lips in.

I took her hand,… and she led me to the dancing peacocks all in their colorful and silly arrays.

I felt awkward, but this meant I could…

I could hold her again.

We did dance, although with great difficulty as I knew nothing of dancing this waltz nonsense. But it was fun to twirl her, fun to hear her laughter again, and even better when she got dizzy and had to sit down once I picked up the dance move better.

“Haha! I figured I had to lead for a while but you pick up fast! haha!” We escaped to the balcony for fresh air.

I was enthralled. Not only was the fresh, cool air of the night now loosening my constricted muscles and lungs, but I had my old self back.

Amy just made me feel younger, I guess. More myself. My real heroic self again.

I wanted to do something crazy and stupid, tell her to come away with me, fly off into the night while I stole Knuckles’s emeralds, one more adventure.. just one more...

But I realized that wasn’t enough, I wanted more, and I wanted her to know what I was feeling.

Then, as I pivoted to say something stupid in the moment, I saw her grip her head.. and then her stomach.

My entire flighty being was silently resolved. My foolish, youthful smile faded. The red in my cheeks from the heat of the party was now cooled with the air of reality.

I looked away, “Sorry... I didn’t realize… I should have been more careful.”

“Huh?” She looked up, as if unsure of what I was referring too.

“…I mean, it’s been a while..” I kicked the sleek balcony floor beneath me, not wanting to talk about this further. “Congratulations… Amy.” I looked out spitefully into the darkness.

That’s when her smile faded and she stood up. “I’m not pregnant,” she concluded.

My head bounced on my shoulders, eyebrows rising.

“…We… we tried but…” she looked away, “I don’t think he can medically… I would have to use other means and… And I’m scared of that.” Amy held her sides with her arms, and I suddenly scolded myself for letting newscasters get the better of me.

“You’re not..?” I turned around, it was more tender than I wanted it to be, but she seemed thankful of that.

She shook her head to me, “No. I’m not.”

“…Ever?” I moved a little closer… something sparked. My face burned again, my arms twitched for her, and I couldn’t help but breath and think fast.

She seemed a little uncertain by my response and looked down and away. “Not by natural means… I don’t think so. He can’t. Anyway…”

I got excited! I couldn’t tell why!

“Amy!” my body moved on its own, right up next to her, my hands only seconds away from being able to hold her again… this time… maybe for longer.

“I… The answer! The real answer is-!”

“H-huh?”

“I-!!! That first time… you entered my life, I-!”

I … I had too.

“I was conflicted!” I gripped my chest, my heart was out of control. Something about this all seemed plausible, like Destiny was still on our side, although… I wasn’t sure if Amy saw it that way anymore or not.

“Becuase I didn’t know what it meant. I liked you, but I didn’t feel anything for you. Then I met you again and again. You caught me in your killer-hugs and chased me no matter where I went! I… I fell for that… Amy… and I felt betrayed when you left me for him.”

I ducked my head, eyes turning to coal, and mouth being locked in my swallow.

Her eyes shook, and I knew what I did was wrong.

“…Left you?” she gasped out.

I turned away, “Sorry. Forgive me. I didn’t mean to-”

She grabbed my hand, “You left first! You never were around anymore! I got so popular, thinking you would like someone who had the same fame as you. Someone who was a woman, not a child! I thought that I could all these things, make you notice me, forced to see me everywhere you went! You still never came… you still didn’t seem to care… so I … I found someone. I wanted you to tell me to stay, not to get married, not to be famous anymore! But you were happy... you said you were happy for me!”

I stopped her, gripping her arm and pulling myself towards her. “I never… said that.” My eyes showed the serious sincerity of that.

She started to tear up, dropping a little as her knees seemed to be giving out.

“You… You never said anything against it!”

“I never said anything at all!”

“Exactly!”

“Because I thought you wanted to live this way! You wanted to be rid of me! Of the way I lived my life!”

We both were a mess, falling to the ground and holding one another. Amy sobbed while I scanned the skies.

How could a miscommunication get this bad?

“…Do you love him?”

She gripped my shoulder and nodded as she squinted her eyes as shut as she could manage.

“…Do you still love me?”

She wept loudly.

The divorce never happened.

Because Amy’s husband never came back.

There was an accident and Amy was left with no explanation to why the limo driver pulled him off at a drug dealer’s mafia site.

Amy remarried though.

She had a couple of kids.

Never seemed to complain.

And honestly?

Neither did I.

#sonamy #sonic #sonicxamy #amy rose #sonamy prompt #sonic au #sonamy au #au sonamy #sonic prompt #amy rose prompt

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chikarikotranslations · 7 years

Text

Distant Sunset

Summary: Chika and Riko are in a long-distance relationship after high school. Despite the distance, they attempt to have a sunset date.

For ChikaRiko Week Day 1: Distance/Sunset

Rating: General audiences Word count: ~3700 words

Read on AO3

Hi everyone! I’ve had a really long day with school, but I’m happy to finally share my fic for the first day of ChikaRikoWeek! This is my first writing a fanfic ever, so I’m not too confident about it. But anyway....I hope you enjoy it!

Riko’s cellphone rang abruptly on top of her piano, and the song she was practicing came to a jarring stop. She eyed the phone and wondered if she should answer, while her ringtone continued to blare in stark contrast to the pensive classical piece that was just being played. Finally, with a sigh after a moment of indecision, Riko lifted her hands from the ivory keys and picked up the phone.

The caller ID read Chika-chan. She swiped to answer.

“Hello?”

“Riko-chan!” Chika’s cheery voice came from the other side. “How’re you doing? Um, are you busy right now?”

“Well, I was in the middle of practice…”

“Oh, you were? Sorry...”

“No, it’s ok! What is it?”

Chika was quiet for a second. When she finally spoke, her voice was small, and hesitant. “You didn’t…forget about our date, right?”

“What? Of course not!” Riko answered. “I even had an alarm set so I would end practice 20 minutes before I needed to go. And speaking of which, it should be going off any minute now.”

“Oh, really?” Chika gave a forced laugh, embarrassed. “I guess I was just a bit scared that you forgot, so I called, ehehe.”

Riko’s smiled, imagining the sheepish grin on Chika’s face right now, and inwardly her chest tightened. Chika was always a bit of an airhead, but the fact that she was worried about it that much just showed how much she cared.

“There’s no way I’d forget,” Riko said, at the same time switching off the alarm on her phone that she had set earlier. “We made a promise, didn’t we?”

“Yeah…”

As they lapsed into silence, Riko danced the fingers of her free hand over the keys of her piano, silently playing the left half of a song. It was something she did often when she and Chika had lulls in their conversations, which occurred at the piano more frequently than Riko would have liked. Although Riko was always happy to talk to Chika, she would have also loved to have just two uninterrupted practice sessions in a row.

But today, she didn’t mind as much.

Today was different.

It was after high school. After mulling over it for months before graduation, Riko in the end decided to leave Uchiura and enroll in a prestigious music school in Tokyo. Chika stayed behind and helped at her family’s inn, in the meantime trying to figure out what she wanted to do next. It was hard on them both to separate from each other, and they knew that they’re relationship would be strained due to the long distance. But they were both determined to make their relationship work.

They texted and called each other often. They video chatted with each other on weekends, and streamed movies together. Occasionally, when time permitted, they would visit each other in Tokyo or back in Uchiura. They did everything they could to get around the distance, to feel as close as they could be to one another…including dates like the one they had planned today.

“I want to watch the sunset with you,” Chika had said, in a phone call a few days ago.

Riko’s heart skipped a beat, and her mind began to swirl with all the scenarios of sunset dates she had read in her doujins, such as…

Sitting together on the cool sandy beach of Uchiura, holding hands as the last of the sun’s rays disappeared, staying just a bit longer afterwards, cuddled up together against the sudden coldness, and finally, sharing a secret kiss in the darkness…

She was getting dizzy. Her shirt was sticking uncomfortably against her skin, and her heart was beating as if it were trying to force its way out of her chest.

A sunset date with Chika-chan…, Riko thought, sighing, and her vision fogging.

“Uh…Riko-chan?”

Riko quickly snapped back to reality. She shook her head clear of those fantasies.

“Chika-chan…I would love to,” Riko said, her sensible side slowly returning. “But I can’t travel all the way out to Uchiura just to watch the sunset. I’ll have to skip my afternoon class, and then I’ll have to spend the night there and probably miss my morning class.”

“No!” Chika quickly responded, almost a shout, making Riko pull the phone back from her ear for a second. But her voice immediately softened. “I wouldn’t make you do that! But…maybe you don’t have to!”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe we can just…be on the phone with each other at the same time, and talk, while we watch the sunset from where we are?”

“Oh…hmm…does that really count as ‘watching the sunset together’?”

“It does!” Chika answered emphatically. And then, less emphatically, “It’ll have to do for us…right?”

Riko frowned. It always hurt her to be reminded of their long-distance relationship. Part of her wanted so badly to just forget about her classes, take the next bullet train to Shizuoka, and hop on the quickest bus to Uchiura. The urge to get up and rush straight to Chika was so strong she had to get up and pace the room, just to feel like she was moving, to stave off the need.

But at the same time, her music studies were also important to her, and she knew how much Chika wanted this for her as well. She was always telling her to “chase her dream”, and to “shine”. And as long as she knew Chika was supporting her, cheering her on from wherever she was, she can put up with the distance for the time being.

I really shouldn’t be complaining either, she thought. After all, the things they could do “together” were already quite limited. Riko took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Yes,” Riko said finally, bringing back a smile to her lips. “It sounds nice, Chika-chan.”

“Ok, then! Um, how about Friday?”

“Friday’s good.”

“Great! Oh, and I looked it up, and the sun usually sets around 7:30 around this time. I’ll head to the beach maybe 20 minutes before. And you can…”

Chika stopped in her tracks, realizing that there were no beaches in Tokyo.

“It’s ok!” Riko said, reading Chika’s thoughts. “I can get to the roof of my apartment. It’s a high-rise apartment building with a pool on the roof. I should be able to see the horizon from there.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Chika sighed in relief, and Riko chuckled in response. “So then…it’s a date!”

“Yeah,” Riko smiled again. It wasn’t her ideal picture of a sunset date, but as long as it was with Chika, she was happy. “It’s a date.”

“Promise not to forget, ok?”

“Going by our past dates, if anyone’s going to forget, it’s you Chika-chan.”

“Heey! I’ve gotten better about these things!”

Riko laughed, and soon Chika was laughing along too.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

And so, the appointed time came.

At her piano, Riko’s silent song slowly came to a stop. It was probably time to go. She checked the clock hanging on the wall to confirm.

“Chika-chan, I’m going up to the roof now.”

“Ah, ok!”

“You better start heading to the beach, too.”

“Well actually…I’m already there, hehe.”

It was only then that Riko heard the sound of waves rolling up the sand.

“Geez, Chika-chan…” Riko sighed, but despite herself she was grinning.

“Haha, sorry…”

Riko wondered how long she’s been there. Chika-chan must have been really looking forward to this, she thought. Riko felt light-headed again, almost as though she were caught up in one of her doujin fantasies again. She was dizzy from how much she loved Chika, and from how much she knew Chika loved her back.

“Ok, I’m heading there now.”

As quickly as she could, Riko threw on a thin jacket, grabbed her keys and purse, and left her apartment.

On the beach of Uchiura, Chika stood barefoot, digging her toes into the cooling sand and breathing in the ocean breeze. There were few people on the beach that evening, and even then, they were at a distance, on the other end of the shoreline. Chika was practically alone, and she had made sure of that by coming early to claim a spot for herself.

The sun hung low in the sky, bathing her in swathes of orange light that tickled her face with its warmth, even as the ocean wind chilled her. Her phone was clutched close to her ear, and Riko’s voice on the other side pulsed in her head, and spread like ripples through her whole body. She loved hearing Riko’s voice, and after not having heard it in a few days, all she wanted to do then was drink it all in.

“Ok, I’m heading there now,” Riko’s said.

“Yay! Hurry, ok?” Chika answered excitedly, bouncing a bit.

“I’m hurrying, don’t worry.”

“Tell me when you get there, and how it looks from your end!”

Riko hummed a yes. Chika then heard the sound of Riko’s keys jingling and of her door slamming shut.

“So…” Chika asked, trying to prolong their conversation. “How was your day?”

“It was pretty good. Why do you ask?”

I like hearing your voice, Chika thought to herself.

“I just want to know,” she said instead. “I can ask, right? I am your girlfriend.”

“Well…yes,” Riko’s voice came back in a squeak.

Ahh, I bet she’s blushing, Chika thought to herself again, a grin forming unwittingly on her face. She still wasn’t used to that word being said aloud, and still turned bashful whenever Chika used it in public. I want to see her blushing face.

But Chika had to make do with her imagination.

“Well, I woke up a bit late,” Riko continued. “I was almost late to my music theory class, but somehow I made it in the end.”

“Oh, that’s good!”

“Yeah. And in composition, Professor Nagasaki complimented my changes to the new song.”

“Wow, that’s rare! He never compliments.”

“I know! And I thought I was going nowhere with that song. There was this one phrase I kept changing over and over, and…”

Chika sat down on the sand, hugging her knees close to her chest, settling in to listen to Riko talk. When Riko started talking about composing, she could go on for a while. And although Chika didn’t understand most of what Riko said, she still wanted to hear.

“….and there I use the parallel major instead, which is somewhat unusual considering….”

“…then the lyric second theme is accompanied by the main motif in the first theme, but in bass counterpoint…”

“…I don’t know, should I make that part more expressive? Or should I stick to the form?”

Chika laughed and scratched her head. “I get that it’s all very complicated.”

“Or maybe I should…oh, I’m here Chika-chan!”

Chika sat up a little straighter. Through the phone, Chika could hear the creak of a rusty door give way, and the sudden noise of wind blowing.

“Aah, this reminds me of being on the roof of Uranohoshi,” Riko said, fondly reminiscing about their days as school idols. “I wish UraJo had a pool on the roof, too. It would’ve made those summer days much more tolerable.”

“How does the sunset look?” Chika asked. On the roof her apartment building, Riko walked to the edge, leaning against the metal guard rails and looking out to the horizon. A horizon made of skycrapers, signal towers, and large electronic displays of advertisements.

“It’s…probably not as beautiful as the beach of Uchiura. But it’s not bad! The cityscape is pretty amazing. I do wish there was water, though.”

“Ehehe, Uchiura is pretty great, huh?” Chika said proudly. “I think the water is extra sparkly today! Like stars in the daytime!”

“I guess I’ll have to settle for the lights from people’s windows,” Riko laughed.

“The sky is really beautiful too.”

“Yeah…it is.”

They both stopped to take in the view. Chika stretched out her legs and leaned back, planting her hands behind her to steady herself as she tilted her head back to look straight up. Riko likewise directed her gaze away from the city buildings and to the sky.

The sky was illuminated with bands of orange, pink, and violet, and ribbons of smoky gray clouds swirling within. It was a sea of colors that tumbled and danced together, combining and separating into every hue in between. The sun itself seemed to be throbbing as it cast its rays out into the surrounding sky, making the air around it shimmer like a mirage, or a dream.

“I’d really like to paint this,” Riko said, sighing at the sight before her.

“You still have about five minutes,” Chika joked.

“By the time I go down to get my brushes and come back up, I’ll have missed it.”

“Ahaha yeah, don’t do that.”

They fell into silence again, watching the sun sink slowly, until it was just above the horizon line, and the oranges and pinks in the sky became even more vibrant.

“The sky kind of reminds you of us, doesn’t it?” Chika asked.

Riko gave that half-sigh and half-laugh that she reserved for entertaining Chika’s crazy ideas and antics. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, they’re our image colors! Y’know, during lives? There’s mikan-orange, and there’s sakura pink!” Chika said with a puffed-up voice, obviously really taken by her own cleverness.

“I think they’re just regular orange and regular pink, though.”

“Aww come on, Riko-chan, you’re no fun.”

“Okaay,” Riko chuckled, “I’ll play along.”

Chika curled up and hugged her knees into her chest again. The sky did remind her of the two of them, but because it did, it was also painful. Chika felt her heart squeeze, like it was being wrung like a washcloth, and she hugged her knees even tighter. She thought back to when Riko first confessed to her. The scenery was just a bit different, it was a sunrise, not a sunset. But what Chika remembered the most was the warmth of Riko’s body when she hugged her, the softness of her hands as they held them together, and the tenderness of her voice when she said, “I love you.”

“It’s makes me…sad.”

“Eh?” Riko voiced, growing uneasy by Chika’s sudden change in tone. “What…do you mean?”

“I can’t really explain it well but…the oranges and pinks in the sky…the way they mix and blend and can just…be together…I wish we could be like that.”

“Chika-chan…”

“I want to be next to you. I don’t want to hear your voice through a phone. I want to see your face and your eyes when we talk.”

“Chika-chan, I–”

“I want to do lots of things with you!” Chika quickly said, cutting Riko off. Her voice slowly rose in volume as she rushed out her next words. “I want to cook with you and go shopping with you! And I want to hold your hand, and kiss you, and cuddle with you! I want to fall sleep together and get tangled in blankets and wake up next to each other in the morning! I want to do…so many things with you. Actually with you.”

“Chika-chan, stop, don’t say anymore.”

“I know it can’t be helped,” she continued anyways, her voice trembling as she spoke. She put her head down and squeezed her eyes shut, not even bothering to look at the sunset now, as it started to dip its edge below the horizon. “I know we said we’ll wait till after your music studies to be together, but I don’t know if I can wait much longer. And I know we visit each other sometimes, but every time you leave to go back to Tokyo it hurts even more, and I want to see you even more!”

Her whole body quivered as she tried to push down the sobs rising in her chest. She gripped her crossed arms and squeezed as hard as she could, as though it could stop herself from shaking. Her nails dug into her skin until it hurt.

“I…miss you…” Chika said, her voice a cracked whisper.

“Chika-chan…I…”

Riko was fighting tears of her own. Everything Chika said struck her like blows, since she had felt those exact same things. The words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat. But she couldn’t not say it. Chika had opened herself up to her, and so, no matter what, she had to tell Chika her feelings, too. Taking a long, shaky breath, she forced the words out.

“I miss you too, Chika-chan.”

At those words, Chika finally broke down into tears. They came gushing out like a broken dam, spilling down her face and clouding her vision. She could barely breathe, the sobs racking her body making the breaths she took stuttered. Frustration, exhaustion, desire, longing… months of bottled-up feelings, feelings which she didn’t know she was holding back, were finally let out.

Over the phone, and above her own choked cries, Chika could just make out Riko crying as well, and somehow that made her cry even more. They cried together long after the sun had already set, but neither of them noticed.

Chika and Riko’s eyes were puffy and their cheeks stung. When their tears finally stopped, neither could say a word, their crying had left both of them exhausted. All either could hear of each over the phone was each other’s soft breathing, and the occasional sniffle when they wiped their noses.

Chika finally looked up, and was met with the dark expanse of the water at night. The darkness wrapped around her like a blanket, so thick it weighed her down and prevented her from moving. Or maybe that was just her own depression.

“Chika-chan,” Riko suddenly said, her voice coarse and shaky.

“Yeah?” Chika answered.

“I…I’m glad we had this date. I’m glad we were able to let our feelings out. Although we still can’t do anything about it, I’m glad that I was able to tell you how I felt, and that you told me how you felt”

In that moment, another memory surfaced from the depths of Chika’s memory. When Aqours had their first major event, a performance in Tokyo, and had lost with zero votes, Chika had held in her frustration as well. Her confidence was shaken, and she was at a loss as to whether they should continue as Aqours. Hoping to find some answers, she jumped into the water at the beach, but all she saw was the darkness beneath the waves.

And then Riko had come, frantically shouting her name, her voice calling her out of the water. She wrapped her arms around her, and told her it was ok to be frustrated.

“I’m so glad. You’re finally letting it out.”

“But if I cry, it’ll make everyone feel down, right?” And then, she felt the softness of Riko’s hands holding hers as she told her again, that it was ok.

“Don’t worry about it. Whatever you’re feeling, just let it all out.”

It seemed so long ago. But now, as Riko spoke, the warmth of her voice and the softness of her breaths over the phone brought it all back to her, and it was as though she could feel Riko’s arms wrapped around her again, and the comfort of Riko’s warmth against her back, and the tenderness of Riko’s voice whispering in her ear. It was just like before.

“I’m glad we had this date,” Riko said.

Chika’s lip trembled, and she felt like crying again. “Me too, I’m glad too.”

Chika took a deep breath and stood up. Slowly, the soft light of the stars emerged from the blankness of the sky, and suddenly the night didn’t seem as dark, and the darkness didn’t seem as heavy.

“Riko-chan,” she said. “You know what?”

“What?”

“I think we can make it through this.”

“I think so too, Chika-chan.”

On the other end of the phone, Riko leaned her elbows on the guard rails in front of her, taking in the sight of the city lights at night. It was a shame she couldn’t properly see when the sun actually set. Her tears made it all too blurry.

But at the moment, even with her eyes red and her nose running, she felt happier than she had in a long time. She felt so light, like a great weight had finally lifted, and that the night wind ruffling her clothes might just carry her off.

“I think we should go back inside now,” she finally said, breaking the silence. “It’s getting pretty cold.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Chika replied. “Sorry for making things so…emotional.”

“It’s ok! Thanks for asking me out to see the sunset.”

“Ahaha, we didn’t even see it though...”

“Still, thanks.”

“Yeah…”

Riko turned around to start heading back to her apartment, but then stopped in her tracks. There was one more thing she had to say, something just as important as the feelings they had admitted to each other tonight. And Chika must have been thinking the same thing, because although she had planned to say it first, Chika beat her to it.

“Riko-chan, I love you.”

Riko felt her face flush just the slightest. “I love you too, Chika-chan.”

“Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

“Ok, then…goodnight!”

“Good night, Chika-chan.”

Riko pulled the phone from her ear, her finger hovering over the end call button. She didn’t want to press it and end her connection to Chika. The fact that the call still hasn’t been dropped meant Chika was hesitating too. The corners of her mouth turned ever so slightly upward in a small smile. It was always like this, at the end of their phone calls.

Riko sucked in a quick breath and quickly pressed the button.

It definitely wasn’t her ideal sunset date. There was no hand holding, no cuddling, and it didn’t end with a kiss. But her heart felt full. Riko took one last look at the city lights, and headed back inside.

#ChikaRikoWeek #Love Live! Sunshine!!#love live sunshine #ChikaRiko #Riko Sakurauchi #Chika Takami

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