#I gotta do another one for him and Alice hanging out

[incorrect-yttd-headcanons]

#yttd #your turn to die #kimi ga shine #Sou hiyori #Shin Tsukimi #Sou draws in his old anime style and is really embarrassed #But nao compliments him and he really likes her realistic style #Reko and Joe get along like a house on fire and have a great time digging #And sou gets kinda carried away and embarrassed later about it #But they promise to do it again #Kanna and Gin bully sou into taking driving lessons from Sara who thinks this is hillarious #I gotta do another one for him and Alice hanging out

[boizandgurlzinthehouse]

𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍

fandom: alice in borderland

characters: chishiya shuntaro, banda sunato!!

summary: they meet you again in the borderlands, thinking they'll never see you again after getting there.

warning(s): medication, psychiatry, badly written feelings (i gotta get a hang of it, it's my first writing with them )):), past is in italics

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐘𝐀

word count: 1.682k

coming home to the beach after a game, he felt a little tired. nothing special happened, watching other survivors running around in the hallways of a building was quite interesting. 

suddenly, something got into his eyesight. on the beach, on his favourite place on the top of the building, someone stood. they didn’t notice him, they just stood there, looking down at the people without any movement. who was that brave to stand there? it was dangerous, they could fall in any minute, and it was only used by him and sometimes niragi —he knew he smoked some weed up there with his friends, he heard it when he wanted to go up there to think. this person wasn’t a scaredy cat, he thought. who were them? before he began to walk into the building of the beach, where the tárgyaló terem was, he saw the hatter sitting on one of the sunbeds, between pretty girls. maybe he knew, if he let them there. 

“hey, hatter.”

“chishiya, hey! come, sit here, there’s plenty of seats.” the girls beside hatter smiled at him, but he wasn’t affected.

—

before y/n, he wouldn’t think that he could ever feel flustered by a girl, or even a person. he merely knew other people’s reaction, sometimes even by just looking at them. but with y/n, he didn’t know what was gonna be her next move or words that came out from her mouth. she wasn’t even a normal girl, with abilities like hers she couldn’t even be simple. they got to know each other when y/n were at the psychiatry in the same hospital as him. he got to know that she went there with her little brother, but instead of her brother, it was her who needed help in the end. for the first time, he talked to his colleagues from psychiatry. it turned out that y/n had the highest iq in her age in the whole of japan, based on tests. but her emotional intelligence lacked things like guilt, or spaced out and slept for whole days. he got to know that she even skipped school just to sleep or be with herself in her room, generating conflict with her parents and her teachers from school. y/n loved one person and one person only; her brother. her love for him was stronger than anything, she always protected him and even bullied other kids in his brother’s class when she saw them bugging her brother, to the point that some of the kids needed to change schools because of their mental problems. not to say that she was beautiful too; sure, her mother and father were also fine-looking, but as she sat there, in the chair, like a statue of psychopathism, she was something else. 

the first time he met her, it was an accident. he wanted to get some snacks and to relieve stress with a little walk around the hospital. going down to the vending machine, he noticed somebody else. great, now he can wait for another clumsy being to pick out their snacks with high cholesterol and sugar intake. when he got there, he noticed that it was a girl, with the same h/c hair and the same body type. 

it was y/n. 

she waited for her snack to come, but then, the curled steel that could roll out the bag stopped. instead of doing anything, y/n looked at the glass window, trying to press buttons. she really wasn’t the violent type, instead, she analyzed the situation. but with a vending machine, there weren't many things she could do. chishiya walked up beside her, bumping the side of the machine. the snack fell down, so the girl could take it out. the perfume of her crawled up to his nose. her hair smelled good, it wasn’t the cheap shampoo the hospital gave to their patients, her hair was silky and shiny, like she didn’t just lay everyday on the couch of one of his colleagues. 

“it needs a little push.” 

y/n nodded, grabbing out the bag from under. as chishiya picked his snack, she stayed there, just watching him. glancing to the side to check if she still was there, and not just disappearing like a ghost, chishiya saw that she was still standing there, and she didn’t even look away when he caught her red-handed. her eyes were a little bit wide, and they were talking about her feelings. and now, they told chishiya that she was curious. 

“did you figure it out for a long time?” she asked suddenly, breaking the silence. chishiya looked at her, as she pointed to the side of the machine. it was full of handprints and little signs that he and his colleagues as well tried to get out their snacks in a way, until they found the right place to push. she really was smart.

“yes. i’m chishiya, pediatric cardiac surgeon.” he said, as he reached out his hand for her to shake. 

“i know.” y/n answered, shaking his hand. “it’s on your card.” she added. 

“why are you here?” he asked as they sat down. y/n looked away, like she was thinking. 

“my parents think i’m a psychopath. but i just don’t like anybody else other than my family… my little brother.” she said. she wasn’t keeping things from him, her speaking tone was clean and simple. 

“so you think you’re fine?” he asked as he picked a piece from his snack. y/n nodded. she was so small in the big building, yet he knew that she wasn’t there without a reason. sliding her snack on the table, she smiled a little bit. 

“do you want some?” 

a little after that, it came out that y/n was hypersensitive, and since his brother was the closest to her, she fixated on his feelings since his childhood. it was like some separation anxiety she couldn’t beat down when she was a child, and they had nothing to do with her smartness. 

“wait, why are you so interested in her?” his colleague, who y/n’s psychiatrist was, asked. chishiya shrugged his shoulders. 

“just never found anybody like her.” 

and it was true. 

—

“hatter, don’t you know who that person is?” he asked as he pointed up to the top of the building, still seeing his lover. hatter looked up too, nodding. 

“yeah, yeah i know her! she came today when you were at your game, but she didn’t say anything. she had four cards, gave them to us, and it contained two cards we didn’t even have! other than that, she didn’t even say her name. although she didn’t seem troublesome, she didn’t react to anything when niragi or aguni threatened her. niragi fumed and wanted to shoot her, but what could we do with a dead brain as good as hers? we agreed that as long as she stays, we have a better chance to escape from this world. can i ask you something, chishiya?” 

chishiya nodded, eyes not breaking from the girl’s form. 

“what would that be?” 

“please follow her or watch out for her. she didn’t promise that she would stay here, and i don’t want to lose her because of her brain and abilities. might give her a rank between us, but i want you to think about this too.” 

he nodded again. watching out for her is gonna be easy, and deciding that she would have a place between the leaders is gonna be easier. with y/n’s mind, they should watch out, but he didn’t worry. walking up on the stairs and opening the door, she was still there. the wind blew her hair, as she stood right before the sun, her figure curved out black. sure, he would notice if she walked down beside her, but just like their first meet, he wanted to make sure. stepping closer and closer to her, he knew she knew he was coming up to him, but she didn’t turn around. when he was only two steps away from her, she sighed. chishiya felt happiness. calmness. relief. that he can sleep again with her in his arms. that he can hold her hand if he wants to concentrate. that he can look at her for reassurance, as she always knows everything. that she remembered her, against the fact that they didn’t get here together. that she found him again. that he isn’t alone in this world, just like he was before he met her in the empty hospital hallway. before he could know everything about her, before he got to know that the only other person she can truly love is him. and that he can truly love him too. 

stepping behind her, his lips were beside her ear. her hair held the same pure, sweet smell he first smelled. 

“you found me.” 

turning around, he could finally look her into her eyes. they held happiness and the same relief he felt. grabbing a lock of his hair, she smiled a little before she kissed him. bringing y/n away from the edge of the top of the building so nobody could see them, chishiya brushed her face. in the next moment, soft lips crashed into each other, just like they used to, grabbing the back of her head and her waist, she held one of his hands with hers, the other held his face. he couldn’t get enough of her, only her movements and the way she hold onto him woke up the fire in him, what he thought he never gonna feel again as he was separated from y/n. 

“hatter told me to look after you and not to let go of you”, he said as they heavily separated from each other. y/n blinked. “but i wasn't planning on either. how long did you plan to stay on the beach?” 

the girl leaned into his hand that slid from the back of her head to her cheeks, looking up at him. 

“as long as you stay too. i don't go anywhere without you again.” 

—

𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀

word count: 1.954k

she was the craziest girl he ever knew. 

not in the fun and simple meaning of crazy, but crazy crazy. doing things without a second thought, laughing at serious situations from the deep of her lungs, not caring about the meetings with her psychiatrist, not taking her meds. they were friends since childhood, but when y/n moved away, they lost contact, the first meeting as two grown people was when banda’s friends dragged him to a party. there were around thirty people dancing to the music, drinking as much as they could, and doing usual things people do when they’re at a party on a friday night. banda knew he felt something for her even when they were twelve years old, beside that even then, she was showing the signs of madness –burning her skin intentionally, chewing violently at her nails, or doing dangerous things against her parents’ yelling and hollering. maybe this was the cause that she moved away, he didn’t know back then. and now that he saw her again, he couldn’t care less. banda was listening to his friends’ talk, but then, a blood-curdling scream sounded, and as he heard, a bottle clashed against something. 

“i said, that leave me alone, fucker!” a girl screamed, and everybody looked in the way of the noise. for a moment, everybody stopped. banda saw the same girl he used to know; her hair and makeup was different from the past, but it was the same way she carried herself, the same way she screamed, the same way she held something –now the broken bottle, beside her, a guy was lying with a bleeding head, moveless. so he was the one who tried to step over her boundaries, banda thought. y/n looked around, wiping her nose. “what? he… he tried to rape me! don’t look at me, just be busy with your own business, fuckers!” she yelled as she stormed out of the door. 

“that’s a crazy bitch” one of his friends said, sipping from his drinks. 

“yeah, maybe the sex could be good with her, sex is always good with crazy chicks. but i would be scared that she’d cut off my dick” another said, but banda couldn’t concentrate anymore. what if he can never see her again? disappearing into tokyo’s streets, he didn’t know her phone number, where she lived, or what she did. 

“i have to go now”, banda said as he ran after y/n. some of his friends shouted after him to have a good time and good luck with her, and to protect what he has to protect. he ran as fast as he could, hoping she stopped at some point of the street. he had luck; y/n stood in front of the crossway, trying to lit her cigarette. as she cracked again and again her lighter, she became more and more nervous. picking out his own, banda collected all his courage. 

“hey, uhm… do you want mine?” he asked, and y/n turned her head into his way. she nodded. 

“yeah, yeah… thank you” she said, as she accepted the fire and lit her cigarette. “what do you want?” she asked, like she was testing him. banda gulped; she was the only girl from the beginning who could make her nervous, but in a good way. 

“just… saw that you broke that bottle against that guy’s head, and… wanted to ask if we knew each other from somewhere.” he knew that his speech was curved to another way, but she didn’t mind. maybe because her thoughts were the same twisted ones. examining his face, y/n’s eyes began to get bigger. 

“you are familiar from somewhere… but i don’t know, sorry, the meds take away all my memories…” she muttered, holding her temple. banda furrowed his eyebrows. medicines? for what? was she ill? 

“i think… we know each other from the past, i think. childhood? i’m banda sunato.” 

“banda… banda… hmm… i think i know that name. were you the boy who gave me flowers that he stole from the cemetery?” she asked, grinning. banda took away her cigarette, blowing it into her face. 

“i think you forgot that like every other girl.” 

y/n shook her head, laughing, linking her arms around his neck as she took back the cigarette. 

“i didn’t even forget when you said that you love me.” 

later, the night was spent talking, eating, and after a couple of drinks, they ended up having the most mind blowing sex they ever had with other people. y/n scratched his back and clawed at his shoulders and waist, but banda didn’t mind it –after all, he was all hers and never looked after other girls, only for a quick hook up, but nothing else. y/n’s body and soul was eating him up, and he didn’t want to dodge her bites –instead, he wanted to crawl into her mouth to feel the constant tingling in his whole body. y/n slept away quickly, and until banda was awake at dawn, he brushed her hair, kissing her forehead and the crown of her hair often, like they weren’t even met tonight, but they were together for years. banda didn’t want anybody else, he wanted y/n with all of her craziness and little antics that she showed. his mother even asked him when he was going to settle down, but he didn’t say anything, only shrugging his shoulders. he saw the meds on y/n’s drawer, they were all kinds of psychiatric stuff that could control her mind. they were all half empty, but as the dates showed, the last pieces should have been taken a few days ago too. is y/n really crazy? those things that she had as a little girl didn’t get better, but worse? before he could type the names of the medicine into the search bar of his phone, he heard a little shuffle behind him. 

“are you gonna leave me because i don’t take them?” y/n’s voice was quiet, as she crawled up to him. her breasts pressed to his back. banda turned around, kissing him, tilting up her chin as her drowsy eyes drank in his sight. 

“no. but you have to tell me why you gotta take them.” 

— 

he was wanted for killing four women. that’s what everybody knew, as the ‘tokyo ripper’ hid in one of the empty hallways of tokyo at midnight. but the main reason was to see y/n in a sedated state. they come to get her, since she didn’t signed up at her psychiatrist’s session from months now on, and her doctor signed her up into the ward of the incurable. when he went to see her in visitor's hour, she only nodded and looked behind him as banda talked to her; like he wasn't even there with her. the glint and shining went out from eyes, and while yes, she was crazy, but now, she was just an empty body without a soul. banda couldn’t watch her any longer; he felt desperate, and felt the need to change this somehow, but he couldn’t know how. the killing of four women was meaningless to him, he wanted to do the same crazy things so he could get together again with y/n, if he tells the police that he did these things because of some sickness in his mind. without y/n, he felt emptiness that nothing could satisfy; not even murder. 

“i’ll come back, y/n” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead as she was in his embrace, only a white hospital dress covering her body. y/n tilted her head into the crook of his neck, brushing his neck and hair with shaky moves. 

seeing the red and blue lights of the police cars illuminating on the walls, he began to run again. banda hoped that he could see her again; maybe in the psych ward, maybe before his death sentence. 

—

after the game ended, banda went out to breathe some fresh air. a little blood remained on his shirt, but he didn’t mind it –he could be himself in this world; he could do anything with anyone he wanted to, even in game, even outside of games. as he headed to the next arena and to get some food, he heard little klicks, like when someone wanted to light the cigarette. he slowly walked there; maybe they had weapons, or they were just making sounds to stalk anybody they could find. 

“fucking lighter, again? fuck this!” he heard a murmur. banda’s heart began to beat faster –it was familiar, so familiar. wasn’t dull, but sharp and clear. stepping out from behind the wall, he saw her again. 

y/n was off meds, sparkling and full of emotions –not the very best emotions a person could imagine, but she was there again. her soul in her body. she was fortunately the complete opposite of what he saw as when they last saw each other. before his arrest, before her dictatorial medication, before this strange world. banda gave up the hope to see her, he thought that she stayed in the normal world, if the normal world even existed. as she noticed him, she turned around, grabbing her knife from behind her back, ready to strike. however, as soon as she realized who was standing in front of her, the knife fell out from her hand. 

she began to run, and stopped right before him, stumbling a little. lifting up her hand to reach his face, her hand was slow, like she didn’t believe he was there. banda took her hand, and made it touch the skin of his cheek, dragging it across his face, down to his pulse on his neck. he didn’t know he needed her touch so much; every little brush with her little fingertips woke up parts in him he thought he forgot long ago. y/n’s breath agitated; she gulped with teary eyes. 

“you came back to me.” 

she remembered what he said to her, when she was at her lowest. banda smiled, brushing the hair out from her face. banda felt as if his heart missed a beat at her eyes, full of hope, that only he saw when he promised her on their first morning after that he’s never going to leave her. never going to leave her by his choice. only life was cruel to them. 

“i promised you.” 

before he could say anything else, y/n pulled down his head to kiss him with full force; they were biting, licking and gasping into the kiss as banda gave in everything he could too. pulling her closer by her waist, he wanted to swallow more and more from the familiar, sweet feeling he felt every time he made love to her. 

in that moment, as they communicated with only touches, kisses, moans and gasps, they both knew they didn't want to get back to the normal world, the world they lived in before. y/n didn’t want to take meds, and banda didn’t want to see her again in that hopeless state. whatever tantrum or attack she gets, he’s gonna help her, as he did before. and banda, he didn’t want to get back because of the death sentence, and because this was the most beautiful world he ever lived in –with all its brutal rules and games. y/n didn’t want to be away from him too, they wanted to be crazy and bad together as long as death didn’t take them apart. 

they loved each other stronger than any law and boundary. and in this world, nothing could stop them from being together. 

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃.

author's note: hope you enjoyed it just as much as i enjoyed writin this little thing. requests are open for alice in borderland now, according to this post !! love y'all girliez xoxo

(ask for requests in comment or here)

#alice in borderland headcanons #alice in borderland x reader #alice in borderland #chishiya imagine #chishiya headcanons #chishiya x reader #chishiya shuntaro #chishiya x you #banda x reader #banda #banda sunato #nijiro murakami #chishiya x y/n #chishiya x fem!reader

[morallyinept]

The Blue Tie - A Dave York GIFLET

Uh, Jett, what the heck is a GIFLET??

Just a short, 500 words or less drabble, based on inspiration I got from a GIF. Simples.

Pairing: Dave York x F!Reader (No name or physical description of reader. It's you, bub.)

Word Count: 500

Scoville Smut Rating: 🌶 "Don't hurt me, cadejo."

Check out my Scoville Smut Ratings here

GIFLET MASTERLIST | MAIN MASTERLIST

Enjoy! 🖤

This GIFLET is inspired by the below GIF by @miguelo-hara 👇🏻

"Come on, help your sister. We'll be late," Carol packs up the lunch packs for the girls as she instructs Molly to help put on Alice's shoes.

"Mom, the buckle's all twisted." Molly whines.

"So untwist it, sweetie. You know how to do it. Dave, don't forget your tie. I left you the red one out. I can't find your blue one anywhere."

"Hmm?" Dave turns from the kitchen sink behind her, mug of coffee raised at his lips.

His phone is in his other palm, squeezing around it as the silent moving images on the screen sear themselves into the back of his cortex. For a moment, all he can hear is the white noise as he stares at the screen gritting his teeth and feeling his pants tighten.

It's you.

Legs spread, and the vibrator pressed tight against your seam that's gushing in the short clip. Your hands are tied above your head with the silken knot of his tie. The blue one that Carol can't seem to find.

"Your tie." Carol nods over to the table where a red one hangs over the back of the chair.

"Oh. Yeah. Thank you, honey." He steps forward towards the island counter as his phone buzzes again inside of his hand, and he sees a message from you pop up, but he refrains from opening it. Especially when Molly is now at his legs.

"Daddy, are you coming to see my play tonight?" Molly asks him.

Dave winces. "Ah, listen baby, I gotta work late. But mommy will be there and she's going to film your part for me, alright?"

Molly pouts, but soon giggles when Dave pushes wet kisses onto her face that she tries to wriggle away from.

"Go on, get going," Dave instructs softly.

The fracas in the kitchen soon dissipates as Carol grabs her keys, the girls backpacks, plants a kiss on Dave's smoothly shaved face as he swallows a mouthful of coffee to avoid her lips; the girls wave goodbye and the house falls eerily silent.

Silent except for the thudding whistle inside of Dave's ears.

With shaky fingers, he taps open the message and it's a short video clip of you with his fat cock inside your mouth, gagging on it.

Thick pools of your saliva slide down his hard shaft as you choke on it. Another clip he filmed on your phone that you've sent to rile him up.

It's fucking working.

Underneath the video is a short message:

Can't wait for you fill all my holes again tonight x

Dave puts down his coffee cup on the counter, adjusts his now straining cock on the outside of his slacks and types out a reply:

Good girl. Now, send me one of you fucking that toy I got you. Want to hear you scream for me.

A reply comes back quickly:

Yes, Daddy x

Dave smirks at the screen and glances over at the red tie hanging on the back of the chair.

🖤

#dave york equalizer 2 #dave york the equalizer 2 #dave york smut #dave york #dave york x you #dave york x reader #dave york fanfiction #dave york x female reader #dave york x f!reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal characters #jett's writing #jett's pedro boys #dave york giflet

[lu-vin-it]

Letters From The Living | 5

── ⋅⋅⋅ ────꒰ ୨ ♡ ୧ ꒱───────

Series Masterlist

Summary: You've always loved journaling. It's a hobby you keep even after the world turns upside down.

Pairings: Daryl Dixon × Reader

Pronouns Used: None

Word Count: 1,504

Warnings: Death, typical twd stuff

A/N: Thank you to @stqrluvr for proofreading this!! Ily!!

So… a lot to cover. A lot has happened. I haven’t been able to write in a while. Or maybe it hasn’t been that long and there was just a lot that happened, I dunno. Anyways, let’s start at the beginning. So.. after breaking everyone out of Terminus we met this pastor, Gabriel, and he took us to his church. He was sketchy as fuck. Daryl and Carol went scouting around the area and found a car like the one Beth took so they tracked it and then Daryl came back with some stranger instead of Carol.

 Carol was hit by a fucking car and was with Beth at some hospital. The stranger was a teenager named Noah who was also at the hospital. So the next day Rick, Tyreese, Sasha, Daryl, Noah, and I went to get Beth back. We were gonna kidnap two guards in exchange for Beth and Carol. Except one of ‘em escaped and then Rick killed him. We kidnapped another guard and did the trade but then the woman leading the hospital, Dawn, demanded Noah back too and we weren’t gonna let him go that easily so we refused. Then Beth stabbed her and she fired back and killed Beth. Then we left.

Daryl and Jenny are both extremely upset. Daryl is closing up, not talking to me. Jenny on the other hand won’t stop talking to me about everything but Beth. I’m at a loss. I dunno what to do. 

Also, while we were rescuing Beth and Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Carl, Jenny, Gabriel, Michonne, Tyreese, Abraham, Eugene, Tara, and Rosita (the last four came from a new group that we ran into) made their way to Atlanta too because the church was overrun.

The next day (Today), we went to Noah’s house to try and find his family alive. We didn’t and Tyreese was bit. We tried cutting his arm off like we did to Hershel’s leg but it didn’t work and we buried him a few hours ago. 

I don’t know how to feel. I’m overwhelmed. I’ll write to you again when I have something to tell you, but I need to think instead of writing right now. 

Carol, Jenny, Daryl, Gabriel, Rick, Carl, Judith, Maggie, Glenn, Michonne, Sasha, Noah, Eugene, Rosita, Abraham, Tara 

Big News!!!! We found a place to stay!!! Or.. it found us. It being Aaron. Maggie, Sasha, and I were sitting and talking yesterday morning when he approached us. We took him to Rick and one thing led to another and now I’m sitting in a bed writing in my journal in a house with electricity and warm water and really nice people. Okay well I don’t know if the people are nice but I think they are! Deanna (the leader), Aaron, and Eric, Aaron’s husband, are all very nice. Soooo, that’s gotta mean something. We all had to do an interview to get a place in Alexandria, but I didn’t mind. They taped it too, I looked crazy on camera. I could  barely recognize myself. Oh! Alexandria is the name of this place. I forgot to mention that. 

Jenny is sound asleep besides me, by the way. First time she’s slept since Beth died. She even took a shower earlier. 

Anyways, I’m excited to sleep on this bed sooo… gonna cut this short. Bye!!!!!

Same Survivors

I got a job. I’m the official record keeper of the town of Alexandria! I’m so excited. 

Also, Glenn got into a fight with the dudes who lead the supply runs. And then Daryl jumped in and helped and it was HOT. That man is mine, can you believe it? I can’t. He is FINE. 

Also, Jenny met this girl, Alice, and they’ve been hanging out all day. I’m glad she’s talking to people cause I was honestly scared that she was gonna shut everyone out here. I’m really happy she isn’t. I love her so much. 

Same Survivors

Rick, Carol, Daryl, and I found a walker with a W carved into its head. Weird right? Anyways, Rick doesn’t like it here. I get it, but I dunno, I’m liking it here. They threw us a welcome party. I didn’t go, though. I stayed with Daryl and we went to Aaron and Eric’s for dinner instead. And Aaron actually asked Daryl to start recruiting with him. I think he’s gonna do it but I don’t think I want him to. It scares me. Terrifies me in fact. He’s gonna be out there for a while and I’m not gonna know anything the entire time. I don’t think I’m comfortable with that, you know? But if this what’s gonna make him feel welcome in Alexandria, so be it. I want him to be happy. I really love him. I just worry so much. 

Also, we lost Noah. He was on a run with the other runners and the leaders were stupid and it cost Noah his life. It also cost Aiden, one of the run leaders, his life too. And another thing, Abraham is now the leader of the construction crew. 

Jenny has been hanging out with Alice a lot. Like a lotttt. Okay. Bye.

Carol, Jenny, Daryl, Tyreese, Gabriel, Rick, Carl, Judith, Maggie, Glenn, Michonne, Sasha, Eugene, Rosita, Abraham, Tara

So. Rick was almost exiled for beating up some abusive asshole. Except for at the town meeting, he showed up with a walker that got past the gates and the asshole, Pete, showed up drunk with Michonne’s katana. Pete tries to kill Rick but is stopped by Deanna’s husband. Pete slashed his throat and Deanna gave Rick the ok to kill him right there and then.

And!! While that was happening, Daryl got back from a recruit run with Aaron. They found another walker with a W in its forehead. They also found a huge herd of walkers and barely escaped with the help of Morgan Jones, an old friend of Rick’s. This man, Morgan, was the one who helped Rick after he woke up from his coma. Cool right? 

Anyways, work has been going fine. All I do is go over the interviews and make sure they’re all there. I also lend them to people when someone wants to watch one. It’s boring. Jenny is calling for me, got to go. Bye!

Same Survivors.

#the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead fic #the walking dead x reader #daryl dixon x plus size reader #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon series

[torotoro0]

⟬ Childhood Comrades ⟭

Henry Creel x Reader

•Chapter 3•

[Click this for the chapters]

Summary: What a fun fight you had fat Moris, should we play tag now? ㄟ(≧◇≦)ㄏ

A/N: Did I post chapter 3 too soon?

◄Henry's Pov ►

Summer Break.

Hawkins, Indiana

I never really wanted to make friends when we moved, It just so happens that she came and forced herself to become friends with me. But.. on the other hand, she could be a potential friend too.

¤——————¤

"Hi I'm Y/N L/N, I just live nearby"

"You gave your name to a stranger, how pathetic" I roll my eyes. So vulnerable, her parents must either hate her or only kept her because she looks.... AH! SNAP OUT OF IT HENRY!, I thought.

I glance at her while she slowly goes back to where she came from. "Henry" I called out.

"Henry Creel" I took another glance at her and her eyes were beaming, her aura was covered with the color yellow, the hem of her dress swaying back and forth according to the wind's direction, her lips forming a big smile looking like a toddler who just got her dream gift.

¤——————¤

"Why don't you hang out with me instead of this twink?"

"How dare you say that when you look like a fat clown yourself!" She yells. If a glare could kill Moris would have been dead on the ground burning. I secretly chuckle.

Suddenly Y/N got pushed away. The heck is this guy's problem?! "Hey leave her alone" I stood in front of her.

¤——————¤

"Henry? HENRY! Heenryyy!" I hear a voice beside me. "Ah, sorry, what was it your saying?" I look at Alice as she eyes me suspiciously.

"Your daydreaming about her do you?" She raises one of her brows. "What! No way that'll happen! Never ever in a million years!" I shot back. I think she has gone cuckoo bananas.

"Why so defensive? I didn't even say her name!" She giggles profusely. I was blushing so badly that my face started heat up. "I-I-, uhm-"

"I-I-I, I'm so madly in love with Y/N, Please marry me Y/N, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" She teases as she kneels of one knee.

"If your going to continue teasing me like this I'm gonna head inside now" I jump off the swing striding towards our shared home. "My brother is IN LOVE~~" She sings.

{Le Time Skip}

~Your Pov~

I can't stop laughing from what happened yesterday. I love how Moris' face changed when Henry hit him lol!

But back to my original scheduled program. Today I'm going to be visiting Henry again, {well, duh}. "I'm going now!" I bid Diane goodbye. "Be back before you get sun burnt!" she reminds. I don't know why, but Diane has this strange obsession with skincare routines, I can't help but laugh.

"Oh! Henry!" I beam as I approach their door. "Oh!" Alice exclaims.

"Henry! your girlfriend's here!" she laughs. "Do you really need to add the 'girlfriend' part? I'm his friend not his girlfriend" I chuckle.

"Well- should I call you sister-in-law now?". My cheeks went super hot like I was about to explode. "Stop Alice! your making her uncomfortable!" Henry arrives.

"Just the facts!" She rolls her eyes. "Back away" He pulls my wrists leading me to the playground.

"Sorry for that, She's so annoying" he dusts his pants. "Ah, that's ok, But I gotta admit, she is funny" I chuckle. "Funny, my ass" He rolls his eyes. "What shall we do today?" I tilt my head towards him.

"The usual, I read, while... you do what you do, I guess" He opens his book. Wow, what a good thing to start a day. He acts like a boring adult who just sits there reading newspapers and drinking bitter coffee.

"Your sooo BORING Henry" I tilt my head backwards. "No wonder I'm your only friend here".

"What! Your NOT my only friend here" He slams his book close, glaring at my direction. "Oh really? then tell me who is your other 'friend' here" I smirk. There is no way! He has any other friends here......... I think.

I mean- I've never really seen him with other kids, but he hangs out with me like, every single day! There is definitely no way!

"Well- I have Alice" She stammers. "No silly! She's your sister, I mean a friend, who is NOT related to you, like blood related"

"Well... fine you win." He admits defeat and continues reading his book. He is too persistent with his beloved books, I hate that.

"Hey" I lean unto the swing. "Can we please play something else? pleease" I beg as I don't want another week of doing the same routine every single time.

"Fine" yes! . "Want do you wanna play?" He closes his book, glancing at me. I smirk.

1st Game!

"Tag!" I beam.

"What's with the announcement?" He asks.

"Like the '1st game' thing?" He nods. "Ah, we'll play games you haven't experienced playing yet! So this is the '1st game' " he rolls his eyes.

{Time skip}

2nd Game! {Pretend the game "floor is lava" exists in this era}

"The Floor is Lava!" I beam.

"Floor is what?" He shrugs while panting.

"Yeah! remember? we'll play the games you haven't played yet!" I pant.

"I mean- the floor isn't lava so-"

"Let me tell you!" I shrug.

{Time skip}

After countless of games we decided to stop at the 5th one. It was so tiring especially with a person who doesn't know how to play them ಠ﹏ಠ.

5th.. Game..

"I'm.. so tired.." He pants sitting down.

"I know right, Especially with this hot weather" I fan myself with my hand.

"Oh well! Let us continue with the last one!" I jump excitedly.

"Can't we take a break L/N?" He huffs. "This is the last one! do you really want to let the excitement pass?" I know, I know, we are both tired, but we can't miss the best game out of all!

"What's the last game?" He looks at me.

"Hide n Seek!" I jump.

"Fine, fine but-"

"Your it!" I run inside his house hurriedly.

{Time skip after his counting}

"what was it I was supposed to say again?" He whispers. "Ah!"

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" I can hear him from upstairs.

I don't even know where I am but he wouldn't find me. I am hidden in their attic just above the entrance of it. "There is so many spider webs in here that it looks like a haunted house" I shudder.

I look around and see a small table filled with jars, very dirty ones.

"What the heck are these?" I gently touched them. "Ew! dead spiders!" I know Henry wants me to play with them but I didn't know he kept more!

He even has this drawings on the ground and candles, "What is all this..." I look around and notice that... The whole room looks like it was ready for a sacrifice or something.

I was about to open one of the jars that was filled with the only big spider in the room when someone barged in.

"What are you doing in here!" It was Henry, he looks like he was about to explode in anger. "I.. this was my hiding spot?" I nervously smile.

"Your not supposed to be here!" he grabs a hold of my wrists leading me to the outside. "Hey, hey, I'm sorry, no need to be harsh" I frown. It's only an attic but filled with creepy things, what's wrong with coming in there?

"Don't come back here EVER!" And with that he slams the door right at my face.

"The heck did I do wrong..."

A/N: This is a compensation for the short chapter last time.😊

#peter ballard x reader #peterballard #henry creel #henry creel x reader #st4 #stranger things 4 #stranger things season 4 #finn wolfhard #max mayfield #miles fairchild #enemies to lovers #001 x reader #001 stranger things #stranger things 001 x reader #torotoro0 #I can't find it so I wrote it #Can't find it so I wrote it

[civil-corps-wife]

1.0 spoilery stream of consciousness

Because I made a blog specifically for my random thoughts and opinions about My Time At games.

Why is the download speed 1MB/s? Why are you like this, internet old buddy old pal? It's also patching which is a bit faster but still additional time

There's taking a walk just like in Portia, I already love it. Even your spouse kinda leaving you in the middle of nowhere is accurate!

People come to your house to hang out! The first one ever was Owen. Sorry pal, gotta run and uncover new romantic possibilities

I kinda regret not going past the last update's mission spam on most of my saves, now I have to see the same cutscenes five times. I also keep walking into the Ninja Sword conversation trigger

Five people showed at my door. My Portia strat was to always hang out with Albert and without him, I don't quite know who to choose

Okay, I went through other guys looking for new content, now let's get down to business and let me adopt Andy

Logan and Andy are conniving. Is it gonna be The Brightest Star all over again?

OH NO, WILSON--

I love Burgess. He just when from total meltdown to absolute happiness in like ten seconds. I mean, look at him, how can you not love him?

I kinda wished for more poses, especially romance ones like in Portia. What do you mean my husband can't hold me?

I really love Burgess.

They've added a kiss on the cheek, it is so sweet

Ooh, the Rogue Knight topic arises!

"Have you ever been so mad you threw a school?"

They're referencing our fandom again, this time how mad some people got at Deputy Captain!

Well, I don't think Captain is the best deputy anymore

Unsuur's name didn't change to "Deputy Unsuur" and this is outrageous.

I saw a bunny at the Bend!

Jasmine and Andy helping Logan propose to the builder is my new favorite thing about the game

You can adopt Andy now. He counts as a literal, official child that will call you his parent. It's too much. I love this game.

You can make NPCs wear recolored outfits!?

My builder and Logan got married on Andy's birthday and I think it's perfect

My perfect wedding with Logan got spoiled by Unsuur saying that he loves me. I mean I love you too man, but this is exactly why I have six saves!

I just learned that DLCs dropped. Here goes my money!

I GOT A LETTER FROM MY DEAR, SWEET, FAVORITE HIGGINS! He wants to be my friend. My Sandrock life is complete now. There isn't another character I love quite as much as I love Higgins.

I love how I'm supposed to be a fair judge for the school project and yet it's obvious I'll vote for my son Andy. He doesn't need to try, he's the best anyways

You can go on play dates as a family! And I am still amazed that Andy works like your builder's own child so you can take him too! What am I saying, he IS the builder's own child now! I don't think there's a feature I love more.

Speaking of DLC, since I named the Meerkat after my favorite character, Higgins, I thought I'd name the Gecko after my another favorite, Albert. They also, uh, have similar eyes. For better or worse.

Also, for some reason the Gecko has Dan-bi and Rian in its relationships marked as family? Is it their child?

New Pablo's lines sound so good. Remember when he used to have a very attidute-y voice but people complained and they changed it to a harsher one? Well, he sounds softer again and I love it!

Pablo's designs are literally DLC clothes so him asking if I would pay for such clothes... uh-oh...

Alice from Portia got mentioned!

Rian sending a letter that his daughter was born warms my heart

And on top of this amazingness, Fang will treat Ginger!

Ginger and Gust are about to arrive and I might just faint. It's like falling for Gust all over again

Ooh, they made Ginger so pretty! Not that she wasn't before but she's even more now!

Gust doesn't look as salty as he used to which is a pity

Oh, also apparently Gust has the same VA as in Portia. This might be the end of my builders' faithfulness to their husbands

Fang and Gust interacting feels so surreal. They're so similar and yet so different

Gust is so darn mean. I'm into this.

I don't really like how he's treating Fang but I'm still biased. Gonna look the other way I suppose

Ooh, they made Justice interact with Gust! Two of my absolute favorite husbands talking is just the best thing that happened

What's the deal with my Portia husbands narrowly escaping death in Sandrock?

There are so many name drops! Dr Xu, Russo, Mars and Carol, Alice. I can technically play Portia and see them any time but it still hits hard

I got a Papa Bear shirt!

The fact that Ginger being healthy again is canon takes the cake today

#my time at sandrock #mtas

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Steph's Crew - Part 23: After the Afterparty

Intro:

Hey!!

So, this is still after prom. Things start to settle down... only to get even crazier lol. (Jk. Or am I...)

We're focusing more on Alice and especially Dylan this time. Gotta wrap up his family drama somehow, right? And what better way to do that than to give his family even MORE drama lol (you'll understand once you get into it).

And we're also getting a return from Ben! Woohoo! (I feel like we haven't seen him in a while. I've missed him a lot hahaha)

Enjoy!

Wrapping things up

(The crew are now back at Bret's place, since Dylan and Alice left some of their stuff in his aunt Rachel's car. They are all hanging outside, in the back garden)

Alice: I think now's a good time for some tunes, guys. Just to bring this night to a close. What do you say, Bret?

Bret: Sure. (gets out his guitar) Any requests? Should we do something fast or slow?

Elise: Ooh! I have an idea. (whispers her suggestion to Bret)

Bret: (smiles) That's a nice one. Super deep lyrics.

Elise: I know! And the harmonies are fun in it, too.

Stephanie: I seriously hope you don't expect us to sing along, El.

Elise: Wh- why not?

Alice: Are you kidding? I'm not singing!

Dylan: Neither.

Elise: Come on!

Bret: Can I start now, or…?

Elise: Oh, yeah. Go ahead.

(Bret starts playing "Heal Over" by KT Tunstall. He sings, and Elise harmonises with him. They glance at each other and smile)

Dylan: Yo, Steph?

Stephanie: Yep?

Dylan: Dance with me? (extends his hand towards her)

Stephanie: Aw, Dylan. (takes his hand) Thanks. I'd love to.

(The two stand up and start slow dancing to the music)

Dylan: So, you having fun?

Stephanie: (smiles) I am, you know.

Dylan: (smiles back) Yeah?

Stephanie: Yeah! I am. It's crazy how a night that started out so terrible can end up so… so-

Dylan: What?

Stephanie: Perfect. I mean, look around. I am so freaking lucky… I'm literally surrounded by love right now. Not everyone in the world has friends as amazing as the ones I've got.

Dylan: (Chuckles) True.

Stephanie: This is going to sound really sad, but I genuinely can't remember the last time I felt this happy. (pauses) And it's all thanks to you.

Dylan: Aw, Steph… that does sound really sad, oh my God. You ok, mate?

Stephanie: (shrugs) I don't know. I mean, I'm fine right now, obviously, but generally I just… (pauses, wells up with tears) I don't know.

Dylan: Want to talk about it?

Stephanie: (thinks for a moment, then shakes her head) No. No, no… Now's not a good time.

Dylan: (concerned) Are you sure? I don't mind.

Stephanie: Yeah! I'm sure. It'll just dampen the fun and lively atmosphere, you know? We don't want that.

Dylan: I guess. But if you ever do need to talk, feel free to call me any time. You don't need to keep this to yourself. Ok?

Stephanie: Ok.

Dylan: I'm always going to be here for you, Steph. If you need anything, I want you to know you can trust me. I care about you. We all do. We help each other out. That's what family does, you know? Or, chosen family, in this case… The point is, you can rely on us. Don't be afraid to let us in. All I want is what's best for you.

Stephanie: I know, Dylan. (leans in and rests her head on his shoulder) I love you.

Dylan: I love you, too. (kisses her forehead)

(Alice looks around her and realises that she's kind of the odd one out. Her prom date is dancing with another girl, and she can't even join in the singing, because she doesn't know the song very well. So she texts her sister Mary instead, asking her how she's doing. Mary responds almost straight away, saying: "I'm doing great!! Prom was so much fun. But I'm suuuuuuper tired lol. Heading to bed soon. When will you be home??")

Alice: Guys, it's getting pretty late. I think I'll make my way home now.

Dylan: Wait, now?

Alice: Yeah. I'm exhausted.

Dylan: Ok, then. (stops dancing with Stephanie) I should go with you. So you don't walk alone.

Alice: No, it's ok. You're clearly busy. I can get home by myself. (leaves)

Dylan: Ally, wait! (follows after her)

Bret: (abruptly stops playing the song) Couldn't this have waited until after the song was finished?!

(There's a bit of an awkward silence. Stephanie sits next to Elise and Bret)

Stephanie: You guys should do "Gangster's Paradise" next.

The journey home

Dylan: (following after Alice) Ally!

Alice: Thanks for the offer, but it really isn't necessary.

Dylan: Come on, Ally! Stop!

Alice: No!

Dylan: HEY! (catches up to her and steps in front of her, getting her to stop) What's going on? Why are you being like this right now?

Alice: I don't know, alright?! I just… (sighs) I just want to go home. Move, please.

Dylan: I'm going with you.

Alice: Dylan…

Dylan: No, it's ok. I'm going to the same place, aren't I?

Alice: You shouldn't cut your fun short just because of me.

Dylan: Walking home with you isn't cutting my fun short.

(Alice smiles at this. The two set off together. Eventually, the two are sitting next to each other on the bus. It starts raining outside)

Alice: (leans her back against Dylan and closes her eyes) I'm beat.

Dylan: (nudges her with his arm) Stay awake. We're almost there.

Alice: I'm so tired I'll probably forget to take my makeup off before bed.

Dylan: Wait… you're not supposed to do that?

Alice: No! It's like, horrible for your skin. Apparently. I don't know. I never wear makeup.

Dylan: Hmm. (suddenly his phone rings. He picks it up and finds that it's his dad. He ignores it)

Alice: Um… you're not going to get that?

Dylan: It's my dad.

Alice: Oh. Ok.

(Dylan then gets a message from his mum, which he also ignores. But then she leaves a voicemail, which he decides to listen to. He gasps when he hears what she has to say)

Dylan: Oh my God.

Alice: Dylan? Are you ok?

Dylan: Oh my God….

Alice: What's wrong?

Dylan: (welling up with tears) Sam. My brother.

Alice: (concerned) Yeah?

Dylan: He's missing.

Slowly making progress

(Dylan and his parents have teamed up to search for Sam. They were now out looking around the city, searching all the spots he's most likely to go. Alice is keeping connected with Dylan via phone calls and texts so that she can be informed on how the search is going)

Alice: Hey, Dylan. Any progress?

Dylan: (on the phone) Not really. But hey, you shouldn't stay up too late. Go to bed, yeah? I'll fill you in in the morning.

Alice: No. It's ok. Fill me in now.

Dylan: You must be dead tired.

Alice: I am with you, bro. Every… (yawns) every step of the way.

Dylan: (chuckles) Alright. We've just been to the library, the post office, the park… even that area in the town square with the water fountain. He often likes to go there and just stare at it when we pass it.

Alice: Me too. That place is gorgeous.

Dylan: (laughs some more) Yeah. No sign of him yet, though. (sighs) I'm really worried.

Alice: You'll find him eventually.

Dylan: I know… I just… I kind of feel responsible, you know? Like I've failed him somehow.

Alice: But you weren't even there, Dylan. It isn't on you.

Dylan: That's the exact problem. I haven't been there for him. That's my whole job as his big brother, isn't it? I'm supposed to look out for him, but I haven't been. I've just been thinking about myself.

Alice: Dylan-

Dylan: (voice breaking) That's all I've ever been doing… that's why I left home and moved in with you. That's why I've just been constantly fighting with mum and dad. I never think about anyone else, or how they might be feeling. I've just been focusing on me.

(Dylan is silent for a while)

Alice: Dylan… are you ok?

Dylan: (sniffles) Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. Look, I should get back to the search. Robyn's gotten my message and she says she'll let me know if he turns up at her place, so-

Alice: Robyn?

Dylan: Yeah. Sam used to love her when we were together.

Alice: You still talk to Robyn?

Dylan: Well, yeah. Sometimes. I just thought she might be helpful here, you know?

Alice: Uh, right. Yeah! That-that does make sense, right.

Dylan: You good?

Alice: (awkwardly) Absolutely! You go find your brother, Dylan. We'll catch up later.

Dylan: O-ok. Talk to you later, then.

Alice: (forced cheerfulness) Bye! (abruptly hangs up and sighs)

Mary: (in bed) What's wrong?

Alice: Nothing.

Mary: Don't lie.

Alice: It's stupid.

Mary: Spill.

Alice: Dylan. He still talks to his ex.

Mary: And that bothers you?

Alice: I… guess it does.

Mary: Hm.

Alice: What?

Mary: Nothing. It's just… that crap literally means nothing. I mean, look at me. I still talk to my ex. Hell, I even went to prom with him.

Alice: That's different, though.

Mary: How?

Alice: It just is!

Mary: …Ok. (pauses) Do you like Dylan, Ally?

Alice: What?!

Mary: Yes or no?

Alice: Shut up. I'm actually over this whole conversation. (slumps in her own bed)

Mary: I'll take that as a yes.

Alice: (groans) Stop!

Mary: I think he likes you too, by the way.

Alice: You do?

Mary: Yeah, I do. So does mom.

Alice: Elise told me that she thinks so, too. But I didn't take her seriously.

Mary: Why not? She's like, the only person in your friend group that has actual brain cells.

(Alice bursts out laughing at Mary's comment)

Lost and found

(After another hour of searching, Dylan and his dad split up at a corner. Dylan goes down an underpass and spots his brother sitting at the far end, waiting for the rain to stop. Dylan switches on his phone torch to get a better look)

Dylan: Sam?

(Sam turns around to face him, but doesn't move from his spot)

Dylan: Hey, bro.

Sam: What are you doing here?

Dylan: Could ask you the same thing. (calls his dad) Hey, dad. I've found him.

Dad: (on the phone) Really? Great, where are you two? I'll try and get to you guys.

Dylan: He's in the underpass. Remember where we were, at the roundabout with all the shops and offices on the right side of the street? Just take a left, go downwards, take the steps… you'll know where we are once you get there, there's tons of graffiti on the walls-

Dad: Alright. We're on the way. Stay put, yeah?

Dylan: Yeah, ok. Bye.

Dad: Bye, son. (ends the call)

Dylan: (to Sam) So, we should talk, shouldn't we?

Sam: Sure. How was prom?

Dylan: It was great. But you know that's not what I meant.

Sam: What did you mean, then?

Dylan: What is going on with you, Sam? Why did you run away? Why are you hiding here?

Sam: I don't know. Didn't think anybody would make this much of a fuss…

Dylan: Oh, come on!

Sam: What?! I mean, it's ok when you and mum leave, but not me? Talk about double standards…

Dylan: What?

Sam: We learnt about double standards in PSHCE. You'd know that if you tried harder to stay in touch.

Dylan: I have tried to stay in touch, Sam. You know that.

Sam: I meant with all of us, Dylan! Not just me. You just want to wreck everything with mum and dad, don't you?! You don't want to forgive them. You can't even be bothered to make up or move on… you just want to stay all angry and lonely forever!

Dylan: I am NOT lonely, Sam. Believe me.

Sam: Oh my God, Dylan. There's no point in being at home, is there?! Home just isn't home anymore!

Dylan: (taken aback) What do you mean?

Sam: Home isn't home. Our family doesn't feel like family. Everyone's just a million miles away! Mum's chosen this new random guy over us, you've chosen to stay angry with dad and live with the Johnsons… even dad's not being like himself anymore. Physically, he's here. He's the only one that stayed, and yet… well, he may as well have chosen to leave me too!

Dylan: Sam…

Sam: (welling up with tears) I'm just tired. Tired of everything… tired of living in a house that doesn't feel like home. I want our family to go back to when we all used to love each other.

(Sam starts crying. Dylan sits down beside him and wraps his arms around him)

Dylan: We do love each other.

Sam: Why doesn't it feel that way anymore, then?

Dylan: I don't know, Sam. But we can make it better.

Sam: Really?

Dylan: Really. I promise, bro. We're going to do all we can to make things right.

(At this point, their mum and dad come down the underpass and find the two boys huddled together on the other end. They call over to their kids and the family meet up in the middle, where they all hug)

The next day

(Stephanie and Ben are in the middle of a Skype call)

Stephanie: (laughing) Man, Dani's such a weirdo!

Ben: Yes, she is. We all love her for it, though.

Stephanie: Wow. Sounds like you're having a really good time there, Ben.

Ben: I am! This is a really great place to work, I'm loving everything about it.

Stephanie: (smiles) I'm glad.

Ben: So, how are things with you? How was prom? Pretty sure that was meant to have happened by now.

Stephanie: Yeah, it was yesterday.

Ben: How was it? Did you have fun with the others?

Stephanie: I did! I mean, I didn't go.

Ben: Really? How come?

Stephanie: I dunno. I was sad that I couldn't go with you. And anyway, I had other important things to do that night. But they came by afterwards and we hung out for a bit.

Ben: What did you have to do that was so important, Steph?

Stephanie: I… had to meet up with some people. Talk a few things over with them.

Ben: Who?

Stephanie: Just… people, Ben.

Ben: Babe?

Stephanie: What?

Ben: (firmly) Who?

Stephanie: (sighs) Look, I would tell you, but you'll be mad. I basically went against all your advice.

Ben: What advice?

Stephanie: Remember my nightmares about Mel?

Ben: Yeah.

Stephanie: We talked on the phone about it for a while, you gave me advice on how to deal?

Ben: Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie: You said that I should just move on with my life. That there's nothing I can do to change the past and that the only thing I can actively do now is try and be a better person and let go of the regrets of the past, or whatever… I can't remember what you actually said, but it was somewhere along those lines.

Ben: Right.

Stephanie: And I couldn't do that. I tried… but nothing worked.

Ben: What do you mean?

Stephanie: I mean, it isn't enough to just tell someone to "get over it." Believe it or not, Ben, "getting over it" is a lot easier said than done.

Ben: I know… that's not what I said, though.

Stephanie: It's what you meant, though. Isn't it?

Ben: Well, what DID you do?

Stephanie: I took active steps to achieve proper closure to my Mel issues.

(Brief pause)

Ben: Which means?

Stephanie: I went back to my old foster parents and had a deep talk with them about her.

Ben: (taken aback) You did?!

Stephanie: There, see? I knew you'd be mad.

Ben: No, no. I'm not mad, babe. I'm just… shocked. I didn't think you wanted anything to do with them anymore.

Stephanie: Well, I didn't. Don't. You're right about that. And now, they don't want anything to do with me, either. I completely ruined things with them, and now there's no going back.

Ben: Wow…

Stephanie: I know.

Ben: I can't believe this…

Stephanie: I can.

Ben: How fucking heartless can people be… how are you doing now, Steph? Are you ok?

Stephanie: I'm fine, don't worry. I just… I could use a holiday, you know? Just some time away from this place. The longer and further, the better. (sighs) Too bad summer isn't for a while yet. And I have exams and shit.

Ben: I can't believe you had to deal with all this on your own.

Stephanie: I wasn't alone, Ben. I had Dylan and Ally and Bret and El. Man, I'm so glad me and El made up…

Ben: You and Elise have been fighting?

Stephanie: Yeah. Well, not really "fighting" per say. We just had a period of not speaking due to an… (pauses, tries to think of how to phrase it) incident involving her boyfriend. Yeah.

Ben: Elise has a boyfriend?

Stephanie: Yeah, Ben. Bret. Remember?

Ben: OH! Yeah, right. I don't know why I keep forgetting that…

Stephanie: Is it 'cause they've been friends for so long that you only register them as friends in your head?

Ben: (chuckles) That's probably it, yeah.

Stephanie: Mmm. Yeah, they're in love now. They're super cute… they went to prom together and everything.

Ben: That's nice. I wonder who's going to fall in love next in the group…

Stephanie: I know Dylan has a thing for Ally, so who knows?

Ben: Really? Huh. I don't really see it.

Stephanie: Seriously?

Ben: Only because I know what Alice is like. I don't think she'd go for someone like Dylan, as great as he is.

Stephanie: Interesting… but you know, sometimes people can surprise you. Bret told me a while back that El's nothing like any girl he's ever been with, and look at them.

Ben: True. I guess only time will tell.

Stephanie: Yeah. (pauses) Well, I guess you're completely updated on what's going on at this end. I'm glad to see you're doing well yourself.

Ben: (smiles) Yeah, I am. I miss you a lot, though.

Stephanie: I miss you, too. But soon I'll be completely done with school, and then we can make plans to see each other again over the summer.

Ben: Already way ahead of you with that.

Stephanie: Oh?

Ben: It was meant to be a surprise, but since it came up…

Stephanie: (smiles) You've taken time off to come visit?

Ben: Yep. Could you do me a favour and try to act surprised when I show up, though? Just for me?

Stephanie: (nods) I'll try my best!

Ben: Thanks, babe.

Stephanie: I love you so much, Ben.

Ben: I love you, too.

There we go! Cute Bephanie scene to balance out all the Dylan family angst lol.

Dylan begins to realise just how badly his actions have affected the family when Sam starts getting stressed out. It is at this point where things start to go back on track, thank goodness (which means he's going to start thinking of moving back home real soon).

Alice also starts realising that she may be starting to develop feelings for Dylan herself (after seeing him dance with someone else and also finding out that he is still in touch with Robyn). Will they or won't they? Stay tuned to find out haha.

We're getting really, really close to the end of this series... but there are still a few good moments and surprising twists here and there that you won't want to miss!

#rickie-the-storyteller #writerblr #writing #steph's crew #original story #original content #stephanie smith and her friends #original characters

[astral-athame]

((Okay, so... it's officially the 23rd (And has been for 2+ hours here actually ^^;). With that said, I'm gonna give ya'll a little update for the remainder of the year:

Today (12/23): TONS of baking (I have 4 pumpkin rolls, a batch of kkwabaegi, chocolate chip cookies, mini apple pies, and mini chocolate cupcakes to make) both before and after the Christmas party at my grandma's. This is gonna be rough- I don't want to have to see my mom and my step-dad, but I do want to see my grandma because it's been 4 years and I miss her and I always regret not being able to go to my grandpa's funeral in 2020...

Tomorrow (12/24): Christmas at my sister's (which is why I have so much baking to do ^^; Only the kkwabaegi is for today's party, everything else, including the pumpkin cupcakes and the sugar cookies I already made, is for tomorrow). This is gonna be a fun one, but it'll probably be a long day.

12/25: Probably nothing too big. We might go over to our dad's for a few hours (though he'll be at the party tomorrow, of course) to hang out with him and our step-mom for a bit.

12/26: Possible Christmas at step-grandma's, it depends on how she feels. Even when she feels good, though, these parties are usually only 3 or 4 hours at most. Just some time to eat and chat and such. Nothing big.

12/27-12/29: I don't think there's anything going on those days so- freedom!

12/30: Christmas party at my Aunt's place. This is gonna be nightmare levels of rough because, again, I'm only going to this to see one or two people, but I'm REALLY not looking forward to seeing my Aunt Alice, her husband, or their daughter. They're judgemental as hell and give only the most backhanded of compliments (if they give compliments at all). I'll probably come home from this feeling drained and maybe even wanting to cry so... ya know. Not likely to be a good day. Hopefully it'll be short.

After that, I go back to work on the 2nd or 3rd (gotta wait for the call) to learn how to substitute in the kitchen (because I told them to put me anywhere except bus monitoring). Dunno how much I'll be subbing in there, but they want to get me trained which will be at least 2 or 3 days of short shifts. I also need to find time post-Christmas to make a phone call to cancel our internet service for our old place because APPARENTLY they didn't disconnect it despite me saying that we DON'T FUCKING LIVE THERE ANYMORE. So guess who just spent an extra $110 on wifi that I don't even have or use at a place that I haven't lived for almost 2 months now?? And then another $145 on top of that for the wifi service at our current address? Seriously, fuck corporations.

So, yeah. Busy busy busy. I'll try to be about when I have time, though! I hope you all are having a nice holiday season <3))

#ooc. #((I already feel overwhelmed from the holiday season ya'll. This is why I don't like the holidays...))

[legends-of-time]

Thorn Bush (Doctor Who Story)

Chapter 38: Daleks in Manhattan

Masterlist

Kathy, now one thousand four hundred, approaches Central Park in New York. She feels sombre as she looks out at the sight in front of her.

There are hundreds of tiny houses scattered about or rather shacks made out of whatever a person could find and place together to make a shelter to sleep in. Some are made out of tin scrap while others are nothing more than sticks and cloth strung together. There is a haze of smoke around the area as many have fires going either to help keep the chill of early autumn away or to cook a meal to eat. Hundreds of people milling around the fires or shacks, all wearing tattered clothing that appears to be something they have worn for days on end. Kathy glares up at the Manhattan skyscrapers that loom up above.

"Mrs Davis!" The children cry as they run over. She receives a few gapped tooth smiles.

Kathy beams at the group of children in front of her.

There's Marvin, the oldest of the group at the ripe age of eleven, with a very lanky body, mousy-brown hair that is slick to the side, a small cap on his head, and a dirty boy's suit jacket over his white button up shirt. Next to him is Philip. He is about as tall as Marvin but is younger by a year. He has on a pair of wired round glasses which had tape in the centre from being broken, a large cap on his head with his blonde hair tucked neatly into it and a dirty grey button-up shirt with braces over his shoulders keeping up his brown trousers. Then Charlie, the youngest of the group. He is only six, but rather scrappy in personality. He wears a cap that barely stays above his eyes, his brown hair is about the same always hanging around his eyes, and also a grey buttoned shirt that is always tucked in crookedly into his trousers. And lastly, there's little Alice, small in size at eight years old. Her dark brown curly hair is tucked into the large cap that balances on her head. She wears a brown buttoned shirt, braces over her shoulders and black trousers with matching boots along with a large navy-blue boys jacket that Kathy had gifted her to keep her warm.

They remind her of the Thin Ice crew she met and looked after over a century ago. She feels sad thinking about it.

"Hello! And I told you to call me Kathy!" She admonishes.

"No can do, Mrs Davis." Solomon rebuffs as he approaches them, sporting a warm smile. "We might have lost everything, but we still have manners."

Kathy smiles at him softly. "Of course."

"What do you have this time, Mrs Davis?" Marvin asks eagerly.

"Well, I thought you might enjoy some sandwiches, some of those 'band aids' you to enjoy, Alice," the little girl beams, "and The Story of Dr Dolittle!"

The children cheer and Solomon thanks her.

Kathy waves him off. "It's common decency. Everyone should be helping out."

"Hmm." Solomon glances over at the not-fully-completed Empire State Building. "You tell them that."

They're interrupted by some yelling.

"Another fight." Solomon sighs. "I gotta take care of that." He quickly leaves.

A tug on her arm causes her to look down to see Charlie and Alice gazing up at her, wide-eyed. Marvin and Philip have moved on, sharing out the food Kathy had brought.

"Can you read us a book, Mrs Davis?" Charlie asks.

Kathy's heart practically melts. It's strange to think Carlyle was this small and her lost grandchildren too. Her eyes water as she thinks of them.

She lets out a shuddery breath. "Of course!"

——

She's sitting down, reading to the children when she hears two familiar voices.

"I suppose that makes you the boss around here."

Kathy looks up to see the Tenth Doctor plus Martha gathered around the fire by Solomon's tent, talking to said man. Ah, she thought she had felt the familiar faint snap of the mental link she shares with the Doctor.

"And, er, who might you be?" Solomon questions.

"He's the Doctor. I'm Martha." The companion answers.

"I'm just going to say hi to some new people." Kathy tells the two children, stroking their hair. "I'll be back soon."

"You'll finish the book?" Alice asks.

Kathy sighs. "Maybe this chapter but then I've got to go." She knows things are going to kick off now the Doctor and Martha are here.

"But tell me. Doctor, you're a man of learning, right? Explain this to me." Solomon is saying, walking towards the opening in the trees where the Empire State Building can be seen clearly. "That there's going to be the tallest building in the world. How come they can do that, when we got people starving in the heart of Manhattan?"

"I wonder that every day." Kathy remarks. The Doctor and Martha turn around.

"Kathy!" The Time Lord grins.

Kathy grins back. "Hi Doctor," she turns to the companion, "Martha."

"Kathy... hi." Martha wraps her in a tight hug. Kathy blinks in surprise before returning it. She considers her and Martha good friends but not this close though she hopes that'll be the case. What happened? She can't think of anything significant. She had last seen the two with Shakespeare and then the Doctor is meant to have taken Martha to New New York before they come here, all under the pretence of just one trip as a thank you. Other than Jack sadly dying, which Martha didn't know it was him nor had she met younger Jack, so what?

Before Kathy can question, Martha pulls back and looks around them, frowning. "Do you live here?"

"No, Mrs Davis here comes by now and again, giving us some supplies. Food, medicine..." Solomon explains.

"Books too, which reminds me..." Kathy turns to see Alice and Charlie watching intently, "I've got a chapter to finish, just wanted to say high."

"Of course." The Doctor says, giving Martha a pointed look. Odd.

——

"We've got to tell her." Kathy hears Martha say as she goes back over to them. She slows down slightly.

Charlie and Alive had grumbled about not getting any more of the story but Kathy had told them that they could try doing some of the reading on their own and tell Kathy all about it when she next comes with supplies.

"We can't. I've told how the timelines work." The Doctor retorts.

"You said, but—" Martha pauses when she spits Kathy causing the Doctor to do the same.

Kathy plasters a smile on her face. "Tell who what?"

Martha opens her mouth but the Doctor interrupts, "Nothing!"

Kathy frowns at them suspiciously then shakes it off. If it's important, she'll find out. "So, Hooverville mystery pull you in?" Might as well keep them on track.

Martha glances at the Doctor, irritated, before flashing Kathy a brief smile. "Yeah, know anything about that?"

"Come with me." They approach Solomon again next to his tent. "Solomon, these two are wondering about the missing people."

"Is it true?" The Doctor asks.

Solomon sighs. "It's true all right." He gestures for them to follow him into his tent.

"But what does missing mean?" The Doctor questions as they follow. "Men must come and go here all the time. It's not like anyone's keeping a register."

"This is different." Solomon looks at the paper the Doctor had been holding.

"In what way?" Martha asks.

"Someone takes them, at night. We hear something, someone calls out for help. By the time we get there, they're gone like they vanished into thin air."

"And you're sure someone's taking them?" The Doctor asks.

"Doctor, when you got next to nothing, you hold on to the little you got. Your knife, blanket, you take it with you. You don't leave bread uneaten, fire still burning." Solomon counters.

"Have you been to the police?" Martha asks.

Kathy scoffs but not unkindly. "Trust me, we've all had a go, but they don't care. To them these lot are just deadbeat. Who cares if some of them go missing?"

"So, the question is, who's taking them and what for?" The Doctor wonders.

"Solomon!" Comes Frank's cry before the lad pokes his head through the tent. "Solomon, Mr Diagoras is here."

——

Mr Diagoras stands in the centre of Hooverville, gathering workers again, volunteers to go down into the sewers. Many scoff at him for the dollar-a-day pay, seeing the dangerous job as not worth it for the small pay.

"Any hints?" Kathy hears the Doctor ask.

"Be a volunteer."

"You don't need the work?" Diagoras retorts. "That's fine. Anybody else?" The Doctor raises his hand with Kathy following quickly. "Enough with the questions."

"Oh, no, no, no." The Doctor quickly replies. "We're volunteering. We'll go."

Martha raises her hand. "I'll kill you for this."

"Anybody else?"

Frank and Solomon join them.

——

"Turn left. Go about a half a mile." Diagoras instructs them once they have reached the sewers. They all gather around with torches in hand within the dark, damp, and filthy tunnels which run throughout the underground of the city above. Diagoras points down the direction they are meant to 'fix' the tunnels. "Follow tunnel 273. The fall's right ahead of you, you can't miss it."

"And when do we get our dollar?" Frank asks the man.

Diagoras gives the young man a cold stare. "When you come back up." He answers.

"And if we don't come back up?" The Doctor questions, giving the man an even and strict gaze.

Diagoras returns the stare, looking rather smug as well. "Then I got no one to pay."

"Don't worry, we'll be back." Solomon declares.

"Let's hope so." Martha murmurs as they begin moving off.

The Doctor and Kathy stare into Diagoras' eyes for a few moments, suspicious, as the others start down the tunnels. Gradually, both turn and follow after their group as they hear the man behind them retreat up the ladder to the city above.

Kathy walks silently with the group as Martha and Frank chat, the latter talking about how he arrived in Hooverville while the Doctor gathers more information about Diagoras. Her mind races, thinking over what she can and cannot change. She knows there is little she can change what is to occur this day. She hopes, however, that while she will be unable to save some lives, at least not all will be lost, and she might save some.

"Whoa!" The Doctor suddenly exclaims.

Kathy rushes forward to see, just as she expected, a luminous green jellyfish lying on the ground in front of them on the wet brick ground of the tunnels. The Doctor points his torch at it, crouching down to examine the strange object closely. Martha and Kathy come around to kneel next to him.

"Is it radioactive or something?" Martha asks curiously.

The Doctor sets his torch down. Placing on his glasses, he picks up the strange anomaly. It loses its green glow the moment it is pulled from the ground, going clear in colour. The Doctor ignores Martha's grumbles and Kathy's grimace and gives it a quick sniff.

"Shine your torch through it." He urges and Martha does so. "Composite organic matter. Martha? Medical opinion?"

"It's not human. I know that." Martha says, looking like she's about to gag.

"Nope. Defiantly not human." Kathy nods in agreement.

The Doctor nods. He frowns some in thought, standing up from his crouch. "And I'll tell you something else. We must be at least half a mile in." He notes. He takes off his glasses and glances around some. "I don't see any signs of a collapse. Do you? So why did Mr. Diagoras send us down here?"

"For something other than a collapse." Kathy tells them, shining her torch down the tunnels. "For something far more dangerous as well." She stands up slowly with Martha following the action.

"What do you mean?" The companion asks her.

"We'll see soon enough." Kathy mumbles. She starts forward, ready to keep them moving. They need to catch up with the time if events are going to play out right.

——

"We're way beyond half a mile," Solomon speaks up after some time as they continue walking. He leads the group currently. He points his torch around. "There's no collapse, nothing."

"That Disgoras bloke, was he lying?" Martha wonders aloud.

"Yep. Lying through his teeth and has been for some time now." Kathy responds, shining her torch down the tunnel and waiting to spot a certain creature.

"So, why'd he want people to come down here?" Frank questions.

"Solomon, I think it's time you took these three back. I'll be much quicker on my own." The Doctor instructs.

Kathy scoffs loudly. "As if." She retorts. She points her torch at him, frowning sternly. "We're not going anywhere, and you're an idiot thinking we'd ever leave you behind on your own."

There is a sudden loud squeal that echoes through the tunnels. All jump, startled by the noise. They gaze around the tunnels rapidly, searching for the source of the sound.

"What the hell was that?" Solomon asks.

Kathy turns her torch down a certain tunnel, slowly walking forward.

"Hello?!" Frank yells, trailing after Kathy. The other three hiss at him to be quiet. "What if it's one of the folk gone missing? You'd be scared and half mad down here on your own."

"Do you think they're still alive?" The Doctor asks.

"Heck, we ain't seen no bodies down here. Maybe they just got lost."

It is then Kathy finds the right direction and her torch lands on a huddled figure up ahead.

"Doctor." Kathy calls calmly, getting the Time Lord's attention. He walks down some to her, seeing the figure. The others point their torches down the tunnel, staring curiously.

"Who are you?" Solomon asks loudly, trying to get the figure to look up to them.

"Are you lost?" Frank asks kindly. The figure merely grunts some in response. Frank shifts on his feet, trying to move forward around Solomon. "Can you understand me? I've been thinkin' about folk lost down here." The Doctor holds out his hand, keeping Frank from moving any closer. Kathy, however, moves forward calmly.

"Kathy, just stay back." The Doctor orders.

"It's fine, Doctor. He isn't going to harm us." Kathy says.

The Doctor shifts forward, moving with her. They point their torch to the creature's face, and the Doctor sees it is no person. Or at least, not anymore. It is a pig creature of sorts. The body of a human, but the face of a pig. Its eyes are human and show deep sorrow and misery clouding them. It shifts some, looking nervous and frightened by their presence. The poor person that had once been had been turned into a pig slave for the Daleks. But even though their features changed, Kathy knows it still holds the person within.

"Hey, it's all right. We're not going to hurt you." Kathy says kindly, crouching down and holding the creature's hand softly.

The Doctor observed the creature closely. "Oh, but what are you?" He asks quietly as he crouches down as well.

"Is that, uh... some kind of carnival mask?" Solomon questions from behind them.

"No, it's real." The Doctor responds. He stares sadly at the creature. "I'm sorry. But listen. I promise we can help."

Kathy glances over, seeing the other pig slaves heading towards them. "Doctor, time to go." She breathes quickly. She gives the sad pig slave one last kind squeeze on its hand before standing up, dragging up the Doctor with her.

He stares down with her, seeing the army of aggressive pig slaves shuffling towards them. They both back up slowly to their group.

"Right, then." The Doctor says, keeping his torch aimed at the pig creatures. "Kathy, Martha, Frank, Solomon."

"What?" Martha asks in fright. The group back up as the pigs grew closer, staring threateningly at them.

"I think, um... basically... run!" The Doctor shouts, rushing them all back down the tunnels.

They run as fast as they can. The pigs squeal angrily behind them as they charge after. Kathy doesn't need to glance to know that they are close on their tails.

"Where are we going?!" Martha shouts in alarm when they hit a junction of tunnels.

"This way!" The Doctor tells them, rushing around the group to lead the way down a main tunnel.

They sprint fast, hearing the pigs close in behind them. Kathy halts the Doctor at one point, making them rush down another tunnel to where she knows the ladder will be.

"Over here! Ladder!" She yells. She whips out her sonic, the red light glowing in the tunnels. She climbs the ladder and aims the sonic at the manhole above. Getting it to open, she climbs up in a rush. She jumps out of the way immediately, making room for the rest.

The Doctor comes up. Followed closely by Martha. Then lastly Solomon. Frank is the remaining one. He tries climbing up quickly, but the pigs grab him. It is a brief struggle between the pigs, and Solomon and the Doctor pulling on Frank. But in the end, the pigs manage to capture Frank and drag him off.

Solomon pushes the Doctor away as the pigmen start to climb the ladder, slamming the lid shut. "We can't go after him." He states regretfully.

The Doctor slams his hands on the lid of the manhole. "I've got to go back down! We can't just leave him!" He shouts angrily.

Solomon pulls him back from the manhole. "No! I'm not losing anyone else!" He yells firmly. "Those creatures were from hell, from hell itself. If we go after him, they'll take us all." He pants some, looking grave and sorrowful. "There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry."

"Doctor, it's fine. We'll get Frank back later. I promise." Kathy assures him.

The Doctor stares at her quickly. "Are you sure?" He asks sceptically.

"Positive." She nods curtly.

Kathy hears shuffling feet just behind her. She turns around and sees Tallulah stepping out from behind a rack, pointing a revolver at them.

"All right, then, put 'em up." Tallulah orders threateningly. Everyone puts up their hands quickly. Only Kathy keeps hers down, smiling at her. Tallulah cocks the gun hurriedly, pointing it firmly at Kathy. "Hands in the air, and no funny business."

"Oh, no, wouldn't dream of giving you funny business." Kathy says lightly. She rocks on her feet, smiling away and keeping her hands down. "But, um, next time, find a better prop. You can see the chipped paint on the side. Just there." She points to a white patch on the 'revolver'.

Tallulah turns the prop to the side, seeing the white spot. She huffs, tossing the toy gun aside. "Fine, it's a prop." She states. She points harshly at them. "But I want to know what you schmucks have done with Laszlo?"

"Who's Laszlo?" Martha asks after her and the others put their hands down.

Tallulah blinks in surprise, looking around at them. "You don't know who Laszlo is?" She asks carefully. They all shake their heads. She sighs heavily, looking disappointed. "All right, fine. Follow me. I'll tell you." She turns and leads them out of the prop room.

——

She takes them to her dressing room. She sits down at her mirror dresser, staring sadly at her reflection.

"Laszlo's my boyfriend," Tallulah begins to explain before pausing for a second, thinking her words over, "was my boyfriend. Until he disappeared, two weeks ago, no letter, no goodbye, no nothing. And I'm not stupid. I know some guys are just pigs, but not my Laszlo. I mean, what kind of guy asks you to meet his mom before he vamooses?"

"What do you think happened to Lazlo?" Martha questions.

Tallulah huffs. "I wish I knew. One minute he's there, the next, zip. Vanished."

"Listen, ah, what's your name?" The Doctor asks.

"Tallulah."

"Tallulah—"

"Three Ls and an H." Tallulah cuts in.

"Right." The Doctor mutters, trying to get back on track. "We can try to find Laszlo, but he's not the only one. There are people disappearing every night."

"And there are creatures. Such creatures." Solomon adds.

"What do you mean, creatures?"

"Look, listen, just trust me. Everyone is in danger. I need to find out exactly what this is." He brings out the jellyfish thing from his pocket. "Because then I'll know exactly what we're fighting.

Tallulah grimaces at the sight of it. "Yuck."

Same Tallulah, same.

——

The Doctor and Kathy go to the back room; ready to begin to work on whatever device the Doctor needs building. Solomon follows along, but he remains lingering by the doorway. The man still seems haunted by what had occurred down below. Still upset that he had lost Frank. Martha stays behind with Tallulah, helping the New York girl prepare for another show that night.

Kathy starts gathering up different parts that she knows the Doctor needs. She wishes she could just tell him what exactly the blob creature's true identity is. But something tells her things will not go well if she speeds up the day's events. So, Kathy simply helps as much as she can.

"I forgot to ask, where have you've been to lately?" The Doctor asks as he examines a few parts. He gives her a curious glance. "Anywhere in particular?"

"Spoilers." Kathy remarks. "What about you? New New York, right?"

The Doctor pauses, flashing her a strained smile. "Yeah."

Odd...

He must be upset over the Face of Boe even though he didn't know it was Jack. Kathy winces at that, the thought of losing Jack. Not looking forward to it that.

"So... you need anything else?"

"Uh, no, no, I'm fine." The Doctor answers quickly, not looking at her.

Right...

Kathy moves to leave the room, giving a small smile to Solomon as she passes. She goes looking for Martha and Tallulah. Seeing all the hubbub and the scurrying around in red sparkling flapper outfits tells Kathy that the show's nearly starting.

"Hey, Kathy. Aren't you supposed to be helping the Doctor?" Martha asks, walking over to her.

"He had it covered. I came to hang out with you some." Kathy explains. Also, he was acting odd. "Besides, I wanted to see the show."

"Oh, you're gonna love it," Tallulah says brightly, skipping out of her dressing room, wearing her own outfit. More flapper angel than the devil costumes the other women are wearing. She grabs both Kathy and Martha's hands, leading them to the stage. She leaves them in the wings off the stage as she joins the others waiting in excitement for their cue to start the show.

Martha shifts on her feet awkwardly causing Kathy to glance at her. "Martha?"

"Kathy... I, um, can I ask you something?"

Kathy nods encouragingly. "Of course."

"I-if someone knew what was going to, erm, happen to you, would you want to know?" Martha questions.

Kathy sighs. "Martha, I'm guessing this is what you and the Doctor was talking about before and it's about me..."

"Maybe." Martha looks down.

"Look," Kathy puts a gentle hand on the companion's upper arm, "me and the Doctor don't always meet in the same order as you know. There's things about him I don't tell and there's things about me he knows but doesn't tell."

Martha frowns. "Doesn't that drive you mad? Wouldn't you want to know?"

Kathy contemplates for a moment, shrugging. "Sometimes but then if it was something terrible, would you really want to know? I don't because how can I enjoy myself with everyone I meet and the time I have when I'm thinking about how it's all going to fall apart or end or God knows what, you know?"

"Or the space time continuum is going to explode as the Doctor says." Martha rolls her eyes.

Kathy laughs. "Or that."

The music starts so Kathy and Martha turn to watch the performance. Nothing happens until suddenly Martha steps out, trying to sneak across the stage by hiding behind the dancing performers.

Kathy looks at her in bewilderment. "Martha?" She calls out to the girl.

Martha does not hear her over the loud music and the complaining performers when she steps on their costume's tails. She even manages to knock one woman over. Tallulah confronts her, demanding what she is doing on stage and ruining the performance. To which Martha then points towards the opposite wing and the women on stage scream with fright. That's when Kathy sees poor Laszlo. Only halfway formed into a pig. He had managed to fight off the Daleks and escape the full transformation. She had forgotten that he would make an appearance to watch the show.

Laszlo takes off with Martha giving chase. Kathy's eyes widen in shock. She tries to go after the girl, but Tallulah holds her back.

"What is that thing?!" Tallulah cries out in alarm. "Is that one of the creatures you guys were talkin' about?"

"Yes, but it's gone. It isn't going to hurt you." Kathy tells her, trying to calm the woman down. She has to go after Martha to make sure the girl is all right.

Kathy rushes off the stage. Tallulah follows since the show is ruined and has to be put on hold.

——

They all crowd around the backstage area. Kathy looks around, trying to remember where Martha and Laszlo had run off to.

The Doctor comes up to them quickly, looking panicked. "Kathy, where's Martha?" He asks in a rush.

"She took off when she spotted Laszlo." Kathy tells him.

"Wait, Laszlo? Laszlo was here?" Tallulah questions them.

They all turn their head down the hall when they hear Martha's terrified screams. The three of them run down the hall, rushing to save the girl.

They arrive back in the manhole area. The sewer grate is open, not having been put back properly. The Doctor quickly grabs his coat and throws it on. Kathy is already climbing down the ladder in a rush, ready to save their companion. The Doctor follows after her with Tallulah right behind.

"No, no, no, no, no way. You're not coming." The Doctor tells her.

"Tell me what's going on. What did she mean by Laszlo?" Tallulah demands from him, pulling a fur black coat around herself as she gazes at the tunnels around them.

"There's nothing you can do. Go back." The Doctor orders her, remaining firm.

"Let her come along, Doctor." Kathy says, trying to get them to hurry along. There is no time for them to sit around and argue.

"I'm not letting one else get hurt or taken." The Doctor responds sternly.

"It's her boyfriend on the line." Kathy replies. Plus, if everything goes right, Tallulah will be fine. She pulls out a torch, handing it to Tallulah. "She's coming along. End of discussion. Come on, Tallulah. Let's go get your Laszlo."

Tallulah grins and they begin to make their way through the tunnels, the Doctor grumbles behind them.

——

They travel through the tunnels quickly, trying to reach their destination in time. Tallulah had to skip every few steps to keep up with the two. It is hard for her to way through the sewers in heels.

"When you say, 'they've taken her,' who's 'they,' exactly?" Tallulah asks them after some distance. "And who are you two, anyway? I never asked."

The Doctor and Kathy shush her quickly when they see a shadow coming down towards them. A familiar shadow of a Dalek cast on the wall.

Both grab the woman hurriedly. The Doctor slaps his hand over her mouth to keep the woman from making a sound as they drag her back around a corner. They hide in a service alcove as the whirling machinery comes down the way. They all tense as they watch the Dalek pass by slowly. They wait until it is safely past and away before moving out of the recess.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." The Doctor breathes out in dread as he watches the Dalek go around a distant corner, glaring at it. "They survive. They always survive, while I lose everything."

"That metal thing? What was it?" Tallulah asks quietly, staring warily down the tunnel the metal creature at gone.

"It's called a Dalek." The Doctor says through gritted teeth. "And it's not just metal. It's alive."

"You're kiddin' me." Tallulah laughs in disbelief.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" The Doctor snaps at her.

Kathy stares at him carefully as he tightens his hands into fists, the build-up of his rage obvious. The Oncoming Storm fumes in his eyes.

She begins to feel uneasy as he continues to speak through gritted teeth. "Inside that shell, there's a creature, born to hate, whose only thought is to destroy everything and everyone that isn't Dalek, too. And it won't stop until it's killed every human being alive."

"But if that's not a human being, that kind of implies it's from outer space," Tallulah speaks up. The Doctor and Kathy stare steadily at her, unblinking. She gulps nervously. "Yet again, that's a no with the kiddin'. Oi! Well, what's it doin' here in New York?"

The Doctor remains silent, glaring off to the tunnels. The last time he had seen the Daleks had been at Torchwood. Kathy knows that was not a good day for him, for anyone and God knows how it'll go for her.

Kathy shifts, touching his arm lightly. "Doctor, it's worse than that." She speaks up quietly, making him look at her. "It's the Cult of Skaro." He tenses immediately, sucking in a sharp breath.

He turns around, staring angrily at her. "Why didn't you tell me it was them?" He demands. "And don't say spoilers!"

Kathy swallows thickly. "Because I couldn't tell you. You would have charged down here, guns blazing, and they might've killed you." She replies, keeping her gaze even to his. "Look, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we find Martha and stop them."

He reluctantly nods. He turns to Tallulah, grabbing her arm. "Right, you." He pulls her along the tunnels. Kathy doesn't protest as she follows. "Every second you're down here, you're in danger. I'm taking you back right now."

They round the corner and come face to face with a pigman who immediately tries to hide as Tallulah screams. Laszlo.

The Doctor angrily stormed over to him. "Where's Martha?! What have you done with her?" He shouts at him, demanding to know. He comes over to face the pig's face, pointing the torch light harshly at him. "What have you done with Martha?"

"I didn't take her." Laszlo answers quickly.

"Lay off him, Doctor. It's not his fault. He didn't know he was being followed." Kathy tells the Time Lord. She walks over, touching Laszlo's shoulder kindly.

The Doctor relaxes, looking at him curiously. "Can you remember your name?"

"Don't look at me." Laszlo begs.

Tallulah walks forward. "Do you know where she is?"

"Stay back! Don't look at me." Laszlo cries.

"What happened to you?" The Doctor questions.

"They made me a monster."

"Don't say that." Kathy says sternly. "You're no monster. The Daleks are the real monsters here, not you."

"The Daleks. Why?" The Doctor questions.

"They needed slaves. They needed slaves to steal more people so they created us. Part animal, part human. I escaped before they got my mind, but it was still too late." Laszlo sombrely explains.

"Do you know what happened to Martha?" The Doctor questions, giving the man a gaze of pity.

"They took her." Laszlo tells him. "It's my fault. She was following me."

"No, it's not your fault. You didn't know." Kathy says, rubbing at his shoulder. She wishes dearly to ease his woes in some way. But she also knows the only true person to do as such will be the human behind them.

"Were you in the theatre?" Tallulah asks.

Laszlo hesitates before speaking. "I never... yes." He answers her.

"Why? Why were you there?" Tallulah asks quickly.

Kathy can see she's beginning to clue into who this pigman really is. Kathy lets go of Laszlo's shoulder, stepping back to let Tallulah come up to him.

"I never wanted you to see me like this." Laszlo explains remorsefully.

"Why me?" Tallulah questions him. She slowly starts to go towards him. "What do I got to do with this? Were you following me? Is that why you were there?"

Lazlo hesitates but slowly turns around to face her. "Yes." He sighs in response.

"Who are you?" Tallulah asks, taking small steps toward him.

Lazlo stares at her with misery in his eyes. "I was lonely."

Tallulah's voice starts to break. "Who are you?"

"I needed to see you."

"Who are you?"

Laszlo simply lets his gaze drop woefully. "I'm sorry." He tries to turn around, but Tallulah holds him back.

"No, wait. Let me look at you." Tallulah makes him face her, so she can look deeply into those eyes. She brings his face more into the light, tears well up in her eyes. "Laszlo? My Laszlo?" She gently touches his face. "Oh, what have they done to you?"

"I'm sorry." Laszlo stares sadly back. "I'm so sorry."

The Doctor walks forward, gently. "Laszlo can you show us where they are?"

"They'll kill you."

"If we don't stop them, they'll kill everyone." Kathy argues.

"Then follow me." Laszlo reluctantly agrees.

——

They come around a corner to see a group of people up ahead surrounded by pig slaves, Martha and Frank amongst them. They then hear the command from a Dalek coming down the tunnels. Ducking behind a corner, the Doctor and Kathy peek around the wall to see the Dalek making the people form a line. Another Dalek comes up then, giving a brief report of what is happening back in the laboratory.

The main Dalek begins to gather prisoners for selection. Scanning each human brain, sorting through the lineup. Low intelligence will become a pig slave and high intelligence go for the final experiment. They can hear Martha yelling at the Dalek after it finishes scanning her and the others. The Dalek simply dismisses her, making the human group march to the laboratory.

They duck back around the corner, pressing their backs up to the wall as the group begins to move towards them. Laszlo makes Tallulah go back to the theatre and she reluctantly leaves. The rest of them stay behind, waiting for the Daleks to pass before jumping in line with the other humans and pig slaves. Kathy feels glad to see both Martha and Frank are safe. While she knows that should be the case, it feels great to see it confirmed.

"Oh! I am so glad to see you both." Martha whispers as they walk along.

"Are you all right, Martha?" Kathy asks her in a hushed tone. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, I'm okay. At least for now." Martha replies, looking frightfully around at their current situation.

"Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine. I promise." Kathy assures her, gripping the girl's hand to keep her calm. Martha nods in reply.

——

They come into the underground laboratory of the Daleks. It is nicer built than the sewers around. Clean concrete flooring and walls, with large steel beams holding up the ceiling. Kathy glances up, unable to actually see the ceiling. It is too high and dark to tell. She can see chemicals everywhere throughout the room. A genetics lab waiting to be used.

The Daleks don't seem to realise they have two extra prisoners as they begin discussing Dalek Sec. Said Dalek seems to be going through some troubles. The armour has smoke pouring out from within and it shakes constantly.

"Report." One member of the Cult of Skaro cries.

"Dalek Sec is in the final stage of evolution." The other replies.

"Scan him. Prepare for birth."

"'Evolution'?" The Doctor questions quietly.

Martha leans over to them so only the Doctor and Kathy will hear. "What's wrong with old Charlie boy over there?" She asks them.

"Ask them." The Doctor replies.

"What, me? Don't be daft." Martha scoffs.

"Kathy and I can't get noticed. Ask them what's going on."

Kathy is surprised by that. She's only interacted with them disparagingly, has she built up such a reputation? Or maybe that's yet to come.

She's only interacted with them a bit in the museum with Eleven, Amy and Rory and barely at all with Clara, Eleven, Ten and the War Doctor. Suppose her biggest is when she helped allow the flux to engulf an entire Dalek fleet.

"But say it forcefully, like an order." Kathy advises, pushing past her worries and focusing on the here and now.

Martha swallows before striding forward. "Daleks, I demand to be told. What is... this Final Experiment? Report!"

"You will bear witness." One answers.

"To what?"

"This is the dawn of a new age."

"What does that mean?"

"We are the only four Daleks in existence, so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again." It explains.

Kathy feels her stomach drop as Sec's shell stops smoking and the light goes out in its eye stalk, powering down. The casing opens to show a curled-up figure within. The figure is the body of Diagoras that the Dalek had used. It steps out, the casing shuts and the creature straightens.

It still holds the man's suit and physical body type. But the rest of the body has changed. The hands are withered and look like smaller tentacles. The head holds the features of a Dalek, having the larger tentacles around and above the mouth. The one eye sits in the centre of the head as a Cyclops. The brain can be seen sticking out on top in a hump shape.

It takes a deep breath and speaks with Diagoras' accent. "I am a human Dalek. I am your future."

Kathy only wishes that Dalek Sec, with his new humanity coursing through him, will succeed in this day in bringing a better life for the Daleks. A new path to make things right. No longer set upon death and destruction. But alas, she knows things will continue on course. There is no new path for the Daleks. Nor will there ever be.

——

A/N: Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

#doctor who

[arjaandsimoni]

Blood, Freely Given

The Wulfshead Club?

Nelen sighed, sitting at the bar of the club with a drink in his hands. “It… it just went to shit so damn fast… I mean, Al shows up, then he tells everyone about that damn thing with the baby, and now this…” he shook his head.

"Well, what did you expect Fullmoon? You could have refused Al’s offer you know…" came a voice to his left.

Seated at the next stool over was a creature of living blood, with a crown-like protrusion of boney fangs all along it’s ‘head.’

Nelen sighed, glaring at him, “Yeah. I could have refused Al’s offer and just tried to find a way to keep you from murdering half the people we met. I could have just jumped off London Bridge the minute we arrived in England too!” he snapped.

"Oh, don’t be an ass, Nelen! You know as well as I do that Al screwed us both." replied Merihim. Seated infront of the demon was a whiskey on the rocks. Merihim extended, for lack of a better term, a finger into it and the liquid level in the glass went down.

Nelen sighed, “You do realize I’m going to die, right? As soon as Al gets his hands on Drusilla’s baby… he’ll kill me out of spite.” he nodded.

He took a drink, then looked up thoughtfully, “… remember that thing I found a few years back? That one idea that might get us out of this mess? Both of us?”

Merihim suddenly loomed over Nelen, his body swelling like a crest on a wave. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODSDAMN MIND?!" he roared.

Nelen smirked, “Don’t give me the death glare Merihim. For one, it doesn’t really work if you don’t have eyes. For another, what have we got to lose at this point? Yeah, it might not work, and then we die… but either way we’re not seeing the end of this day without that happening.” he nodded firmly, “I’d say were out of options…” he said, then gasped and winced, “… especially since I just realized this is a dream, which means I’m regaining consciousnessowowowowOW ahfuck everything hurts…”

An Abandoned Coke-a-Cola Factory in New Orleans

Nelen coughed, spitting out another tooth and some of Merihim’s mass as he raised his head. He was hanging limply now. Held up by a pair of unseeing, unfeeling corpses, four more standing to his sides like a gruesome honor guard. “… fugh…” he tried to say, but his jaw was swollen, and several teeth were missing now. His glasses were gone, as was his ear clip, he had no idea where they’d wound up.

“Ah! Student. You’re awake. Good! I thought we might’ve lost you for a minute there.” smiled Al, leaning on his cane. “By the prickling of my thumbs your little friends should be here any minute now, which means you get the pleasure of watching me kill all of them before I go collect your child as per our agreement.” he chuckled.

Nelen glared at him as Al tapped his chin with the end of his cane, “Now… no falling unconscious again boy.” he said in a stern tone, lowering his glasses so Nelen could see his goat-slitted eyes, “You are going to watch this.”

Some ways up the road from the abandoned factory

“Can this blasted carriage not go any faster?” shouted Sammi, the fae princeling looking up from the backseat.

“Its not the ‘carriage’ fairyboy! It’s the roads! Unless ya’ll want me to drive through someone’s backyard we gotta follow ‘em!” shouted Aisha as the car sped along, Alice riding shotgun as the landscape whipped past.

Dawn was sitting in the back as well, her tail thrashing in anxiety. She knew what a being like Al could do to Nelen, and she was not dealing with it well.

High in the sky above them flew Simoni and Stephy. Arja was astride Simoni, as the vanara girl often was, but Stephy had no rider as Tex had stayed behind to help with Drusilla giving birth. After all, he did at least have some experience there, even if it was with cows.

Arja was worried, however. She had felt Al’s power… “When we get there, get Nelen to safety, and hit Al with everything we’ve got. I’m sure he must know we’re coming so we’ll have to hope that we can just overwhelm him somehow. Bust up anything he’s making, wreck his shop, and so on. We may not be able to kill him, but we can at least make sure that even if he finds another faerie’s heart, he can’t start this back up.” she nodded.

Simoni nodded to her as the treeline began to clear to reveal a rundown factory, the letters ‘Cok,’ ‘C,’ and ‘La’ still visible on the sign among all the ivy and moss growing on it. “Yeah, I just… I hope Nelen is okay… Al’s contract may not let him kill him, but he’s a Fullmoon so he can take a lot of…” she whimpered, shaking her head, and then she sailed downwards as Stephy joined her in her descent.

As soon as they land however the doors to the factory burst open and Al came striding out, flanked on either side by a dozen zombies each. “Hm… I thought you children would have had the sense to stay away after our last meeting… but if you’re really so eager to die then I’d be happy to oblige.” he grinned, watching as the car pulled into the lot.

As it enters the premises Al snapped his fingers, and a wall of purest shadow erupted behind it, shearing off the trunk and most of the back tires! The car screeched to a halt as the four inside jumped out. Sammi, Aisha, and Alice all drawing their swords once they could stand as Dawn hissed, flexing her claws.

“Couldn’t let me get the car all the way in could ya, dick?” she snarled, “That was my mom’s!”

Al ignored her as the wall of shadows encircled the entire factory grounds, forming a dome above it and plunging the entire area into twilight. “No hedge gates can be opened, Cheshires cannot teleport out. Nobody is leaving here alive.” smirked the demon as another group of zombies emerged, carrying Nelen between them.

“NELEN!” gasped Simoni as Dawn’s eyes narrowed in fear and fury at the demon. Nelen is a mess, his body covered in bruises, his face swollen, and several of his teeth missing.

“Fugh… shouldn’ta told Dawn where Iwuz goin…” he managed through his ruined mouth. All the fight beaten out of him.

Al smirked, “Oh don’t worry about him young lady… it’ll be nothing compared to what I’m going to do to you.” he replied, raising his cane, “Kill them, all of them.” he commanded as the undead monsters, as one, looked forward, then charged forth with a guttural roar!

The three sword wielders ran to meet them, Claiomh Solias cleaved a zombie in half as Alice’s blade hacked apart another, and Sammi’s rapier did what it could… but his sword was meant for dealing small but deadly blows to vitals. The undead monsters didn’t have to worry about a stab to their hearts or their arteries however! They weren’t alive to begin with!

Dawn tried to keep up with the others, but her powers were useless here! She couldn’t teleport out, and the zombies had no minds for her to confuse with her illusions!

Arja and Simoni teamed up, the two girls summoned their firebird and soared into the mob of zombies, setting as many as they could ablaze, but as they did even more burst out of the factory! No wonder Samedi was so furious! This was enough to fill an entire graveyard on their own!

However, the group was pushing forward. As they did Al smirked, then pushed outwards with his hand and said, “Mors Magicae.” As he did the air suddenly rang like a great frozen bell and everyone but Aisha and Alice cried out in pain!

Stephy and Sammi’s all but fell to their knees and Arja and Simoni collapsed out of the sky, landing in a heap in their human forms! Arja growled and tried to blast a zombie with fire… but nothing came out! Al had cut them off from their magic!

As they tried to summon their powers the zombies surged forward, pinning them down by sheer numbers before Al clapped his hands together. The zombies stood as one, lifting the group up with their arms in their grasp, then turned to face him as Nelen began struggling again, lisping curses. Even Aisha and Alice had been captured, the light of Claiomh Solias visible among the weeds where it had fallen.

“GODDAMMIT AL!” shouted Nelen, “LETTEM GO!” he gasped out as blood, well, as Merihim ran down his chin.

Al ignored him, walking towards the group, “I have really rather had enough of you. This mess has set back our plans by months if not years. I said in the swamp I was going to take the changeling’s hearts as punishment for their friend destroying Old Maggoty’s.” he unsheathed his sword, moving towards Stephy, “No time like the present…” he grinned, standing before the captive fae ‘princess’ as he raised the blade, the metal steaming in the air. “If you hold still this…” he paused, then smirked, “Oh why lie? This will be agony no matter what you do.”

As he did however Nelen snarled and calling upon every ounce of inborn Fullmoon muscle and Merihim’s own power he could he tore his arms free from the zombies, along with their arms! He stood there, swaying on the spot, and glared at Al.

“Dawn!” he shouted…

Some hours earlier…

“You’re going to do WHAT?!” shrieked the Cheshire.

“I’m going to go after Al. Now that we ran into him I can sense where he is. Either I can somehow stop him, or I can make him kill me… either way at least Drusilla and the baby are safe.” he nodded, standing at the edge of the Ghost Swamp.

“Dammit Dumbledore that’s insane! If he kills you then that means Merihim has to take you to Hell! I… I don’t want that!” she shook her head frantically, her eyes wide.

“Yeah, I ain’t thrilled about the idea either, but…” he looked up, “… I got one card left to play. There’s a chance the others will find out where I’m going and come after me somehow.” he looked at her, “Dawn, remember that one song you liked for karaoke so much back at the Wulfshead? That one Edguy one?”

Dawn blinked, then straightened up and cocked her head, “Love Tyger? What about it? Want me to sing it at your godsdamn funeral?” she asked.

Nelen looked out across the swamp, “If you guys show up, Aisha will probably be there. If I say ‘Love Tyger’ that means ‘Get me her sword, fast.’”

Dawn stared, “… you’ve lost your damn mind…” she muttered.

Nelen sighed, “Trust me on this one.”

The Abandoned Factory Yard

“… Love Tyger…” he nodded.

Dawn nodded hesitantly, then suddenly the zombies holding her were holding empty air as a cat streaked across the grass as fast as she could go!

Al’s head snapped around, “Dammit!” he snarled, “That shouldn’t work! That bloody cat never does what my magic tells it to do!”

Nelen grinned, “She’s a Wonderlander asshole. Rules don’t always apply to them…” he retorted.

Al raised his cane and a bolt of darkness lanced out, but Dawn shot to the side, then dodged another, making a beeline for the glow of Claiomh Solias as she dove for it, then reality inverted. The dome prevented her from teleporting outside it, but she could still move around inside it!

She reappeared next to Nelen, her paw on the sword, as he picked it up in his good hand, holding it up with a smirk.

Al glared, “Really, you Fullmoons are so damned stubborn! You. LOST. Now be a good boy, shut up, and wait your damn turn.” he scolded as Nelen stumbled, but stayed standing, the sword pointed at Al. “What, you really want another go?” frowned the demon.

“Just… somethin’ Nessa said… ‘bout blood, given willingly…” he grinned, then raised the sword, and Dawn let out a cry of shock as he turned it around in his grasp, pointing it towards his own chest!

“… fuck you Al.” he smirked, then pushed the blade home!

Al snarled, starting forward, then stumbled as there was a loud snapping sound, the demon clutching his head and glaring, “NO! DAMN YOU FULLMOON!” he roared in fury.

Nelen’s eyes were wide, the bloody essence of Merihim pouring from his mouth as Dawn stared in horror. “THAT’S WHAT YOU WANTED THE SWORD FOR?!” she screamed.

Nelen fell to his knees, gasping for breath as his body began to shake. Claiomh Solias had pierced his heart!

“NELEN!” cried Simoni, ���NO! NO NO NO!” she shouted, shaking her head frantically as she struggled against the zombies.

“I… dedicate… this death… to… Cer… nu…” he gasped out, then slowly he fell to his side, and his eyes darkened as he stopped breathing…

Al scowled, storming over the grass as Alice gasped in shock, “I… I can’t sense Nelen’s aura anymore… he’s dead!”

Arja stared disbelieving at the warlock’s crumpled form, “… h-he… killed himself?” she stammered.

Al snarled, “He didn’t kill himself you bloody idiot! He sacrificed himself!” he shouted, grabbing the warlock’s corpse, and pulling him up to face him, shaking him in rage. “WHO?! WHO DID YOU SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO DAMN IT ALL!”

Somewhere

Nelen stood in a vast black desert, above him the sky was filled with countless stars. He was at the edge of a cliff, and below him was Hell.

He could see it, in all its horrible glory. An endless crucible of pain and torments, crafted by Lucifer to punish those who dared defied Yahweh’s will and to terrify people into bowing the knee to Him.

Yet… there was no one dragging him down, no irresistible gravity pulling him into the pit.

“So… it worked then.” he said.

Yes. came a voice from behind him.

Nelen turned and standing beside him was a man shaped mass of light.

“No body?” he asked, cocking his head.

No, when Hell took me, they pulled my blood from my body and used it to create Merihim. My original body is naught but dust now. the being that was once Merihim replied.

“So… you need a body then…” he said.

Yes, I do. It replied.

Nelen looked him over, and as he did the light seemed to gain more definition… a pair of legs like those of a great stag, long strong arms, a face that was halfway between human and elk, and a rack of massive antlers.

“Okay, so… same deal as before, but on our terms this time. We share a body, tag out when we need to. I get to borrow your powers, you get to use my body when needed… and…” he swallowed, “If we defeat Al… when my time does come, my soul departs but you keep my body.” he nodded.

The creature thought, then nodded. These terms are acceptable… now speak my name Nelen Fullmoon.

Nelen grinned, then spoke the name of his god.

The Abandoned Factory

“WHO DAMN YOU?! WHO DID YOU SACRIFICE YOURSELF TO YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE SHIT?!” snarled Al in fury.

Suddenly, Nelen’s head snapped up and his eyes became like two massive emeralds. He growled and slammed his forehead into Al’s nose as hard as he could! The demon gasped in pain and stumbled backwards, clutching his ruined nostrils, then stared.

Dawn sat up, the Cheshire’s eyes wide as she saw this. Nelen’s broken and battered form slowly healed, the wounds inflicted by Al’s minions disappearing as if they had never been, and as they did two shining emerald antlers formed on either side of his head.

“Merihim?” the demon whispered, blood running down his face.

“No…” replied the being using Nelen’s body as it pulled Claiomh Solias free from his chest, the wound glowing the bright green of sunlight shining through leaves before closing. He jabbed the blade into the soft dirt next to him. Around him the plants and air seemed to shine with magic, the weeds and flowers growing larger and stronger as he reached up to an old, desiccated tree and snapped a branch off. There was a swirl of green light around it, and it extended into a long, sturdy wooden spear. “NEVER AGAIN! MERIHIM IS NO MORE!” it snarled.

Al stared, “It… can’t be… you can’t undo it! It’s not possible dammit!” he snarled in fury, raising his sword as Nelen charged forward. Al brought the sword down as Nelen parried with the spear, but despite it being wood the blade couldn’t burn it! In fact, Al seemed to be struggling against this newcomer!

“Whats the matter, Agaliarept?” sneered ‘Nelen,’ “Not feeling so good? Nelen did die because of you… you know what THAT means! Contract is broken and YOU have to eat it! Your powers are shattered!”

Al snarled, and as he did the others suddenly felt a tingle of energy! Al’s anti-magic curse had broken! Ajra roared and burst into flames, the zombies holding her igniting like they’d been doused in thermite as Simoni let out a massive shriek, a blast of wind slamming the zombies holding her to pieces as a tornado erupted around her. Sammi and Stephy nodded to each other, and the undead holding them flash froze as they broke free, then went to release the others…

As they did the being that was Merihim looked up, “AISHA!” it shouted, “There’s no more undead in the factory! That means whoever is in there now is ALONE! GO!”

Aisha looked up, then nodded and grinned before rushing towards the doors, yanking Claiomh Solias free of where it’d been left as she did, bolting into the factory. “Necromancer!” she called out, “Show yourself!” she demanded, raising the sword, but the interior was pitch black thanks to Al’s dome of shadows. As she shouted, she heard a gasp above her, then the sound of running feet on one of the walkways…

Back outside

The battle raged, the contract being broken meant Al's power was now a fraction of what it was before, and the being that Merihim had become could stand toe to toe with him! The rest fought back the zombies as Al clashed with the being possessing Nelen’s body.

As they fought Al suddenly let out a cry of pain as Arja leapt onto his back, digging her vanara claws in as deep as she could, and in that moment of distraction Nelen charged and slammed the haft of the spear into his throat, driving him back into the wall the dome had created! He raised his fist, and it swirled with emerald light as he brought it down once, twice, and then throwing in all his inborn Fullmoon strength and the power of whatever Merihim had become, he slammed his fist home HARD! There was a loud crash and cracks erupted all along the shadowy dome as Al fell to the ground, coughing and gasping. The area suddenly flooded with light as the shadowy barrier collapsed!

Inside the factory

Aisha made her way up the walkway, holding the sword out just so she could see the steps in the gloom, looking around. “C’mon, whoever ya’ll are… come out ‘n surrender. Baron Samedi doesn’t need you dead, he just wants ya’ll to stop fuckin’ with ‘em is all.” she called out.

As she did the dome shattered. Sunlight streamed into the building illuminating the walkways, including a young woman in a long trench coat who had been aiming a gun at Aisha.

“SHIT!” she swore, firing off three shots before scrambling away towards the factory office, but panic made the shots fly wild, none of them even came close to Aisha!

The DeLane woman charged the girl, easily outpacing her, and grabbing her arm, “C’mere you!” she shouted.

She got a good look at her then. She was barely more than seventeen if she was a day, with short spiky blonde hair, and had deep bags under her eyes as if she’d been sleeping badly. She had a sickly look to her that a lot of necromancers got, dealing with death as often as they did tended to be pretty horrible for them too.

She stared, wild eyed, at Aisha, “NO!” she shouted! The necromancer kicked out at her, then reached into her jacket, “YOU’RE NOT STOPPING ME!” she yelled, taking a syringe out of her pocket filled with the same chemicals that were cooking below.

“That’s… WAIT!” shouted Aisha, trying to stop her, but the girl rolled up her sleeve and jabbed the needle home! She pressed the plunger down, injecting Al’s modified Hyde formula into her veins as her eyes bulged red.

“I won’t let you stop me! I’m going to make this entire town pay for what they did!” she snarled, her body swelling and bursting out of her trench coat as she loomed over Aisha.

Aisha raised her sword, stepping back, “What? What did they do? Who did it? We can help you!” she tried, but the girl was already well on her way to becoming like the monster that Arja and Simoni had fought… she either didn’t understand Aisha anymore or was too full of wrath to care now.

Outside the Factory

However, the necromancer’s transformation had an unexpected effect. The zombies suddenly started to act strange, stumbling around and walking into each other before they began to fall over, one by one, returning to the dead bodies they were in truth. Hydes are excellent at destruction, but the transformation had robbed her of her ability to use necromancy!

Al glared around him, “Hellfire! I told her to use that as a last resort!” he snarled, raising his sword as ‘Nelen’ held his spear at the ready.

Back Inside

Aisha stepped back as the Hyde began forward, “Fuck fuck…” she looked around, then looked down. They were right over the vats of Hyde mixture, and the ropes holding the walkway up were very old.

“Dammit girl… I tried to save you…” she whispered, then slashed out with Claiomh Solias at the nearest two supports, running backwards as she did, and slashing at the next as well as the Hyde roared and charged… but midway towards her the walkway suddenly buckled!

The transformed necromancer gripped the walkway in both hands, snarling in fury, then there was a huge SNAP as the platform broke in half, the necromancer plummeting onto the production floor below, and landing in a boiling vat of Hyde with a loud splash!

She didn’t come back up…

Outside

Al sighed, frowning, “Well, there she goes…” then glared at the being that Merihim had become, “No necromancer, no Hyde, nothing. This has become one gigantic cockup of a situation.” he frowned, raising his blade, “What now Merihim? Want to finish our little duel? Try to send me running back to Hell?” he snarled.

The former demon smirked, “That’s not my name Agaliarept. Did you even know who I was before I made my deal with your master?” he asked, reaching up to a nearby tree and snapping a branch off it, the wood twisting and widening until it took on the shape of a hunting horn. “I was going to do this from the start if this worked, but I needed the barrier gone first.”

Arja looked at Simoni in confusion, “Do… do you know who he is now?” she asked.

Simoni shook her head, “No… I don’t…” she whispered.

The being once known as Merihim looked back, “Get in the factory and stay quiet. NOW.” he warned, then he took the horn and held it to his mouth, sounding it loudly. A huge deep booming sound echoed across the clearing and both Sammi and Stephy gasped as they felt two things. A swelling of glamour, and a horrible sense that something extremely dangerous was coming.

“Oh crap… Sammi! RUN!” he shouted as the prince nodded in agreement.

“GO! NOW! EVERYONE INSIDE! MOVE BLAST YOU!” Sammi called out, sheathing his blade and charging towards the entrance as the rest raced after him. Dawn landed on Alice’s shoulders and teleporting her inside.

Outside there was a shimmer in the air as two massive thornbushes burst out of the ground, growing tall and forming a natural arch, then there was a sensation of split time as the view from inside them changed from the swamps in the distance to the depths of the Hedge. From within the portal came the sound of hoofbeats, and the baying of hounds.

Sammi peered around the doorway to the factory, “… Oak and Ash and Thorn and… and… I-I don’t know what else! It… it can’t be…” he gasped.

From within the portal burst not one but FOUR faeries, mounted atop massive horse-like beasts. An impossibly tall man with antlers to outdo even the greatest of mundane animals, armor that seemed crafted from tanned hides (some of which had tattoos,) and a face that was like a swatch of night sky worn like a mask, glanced down towards ‘Nelen,’ and saluted him with a spear.

“Hail Huntmaster! We are pleased to see you returned to this world. Tell us, where is our quarry?” it asked, the voice not heard so much as felt. Around the legs of the horses several dog-like creatures made of brambles with all too human eyes barked and howled, chasing each other in their eagerness to hunt.

Nelen grinned, pointing at Al, “There! One of the Lightbringer’s, a tithe taker. His fangs have been drawn already, but he should still provide good sport for you and your fellows.”

Al took a step back, his eyes wide behind his glasses… and perhaps for the first time the demon looked genuinely afraid. This wasn’t some exile like Old Maggoty. They weren’t just Higher Fae even!

Whatever Merihim had become had summoned the Wild Hunt of Arcadia!

“Oh bugger…” he muttered, then he turned and fell to all fours, shifting into the form of a massive hellhound as he fled for the tree line. The mounted fae cheered and raised their weapons, then there was a crack of reins as their steeds snorted in response, charging off after him, their hounds roaring with bloodlust as they raced alongside the hunters.

Nelen watched them go, then nodded in a satisfied way and turned towards the factory, “They’re gone.”

The group emerged, staring at him, and finally Sammi spoke. “… you… you’re one of the Gentry… and… not just that… you’re the Master of the Wild Hunt?!” he gaped, looking up at the antlers shining in the sunlight. He then grabbed Stephy’s shoulder and forced him down into a bow, stammering, “I-Its an honor to be in your presence Huntmaster!”

The former demon looked at them, then sighed in an annoyed way and reached down, pulling them both upright in a rough way. “KNOCK IT OFF!” he snapped, “Nelen would never shut up if you kids kept doing that! I haven’t been the official Huntmaster since I left Arcadia and became one of the gods of old England, but I can still call them when I need to.” he rolled his emerald eyes, not just green but as if his entire eyeball was one glowing emerald sphere.

Simoni looked at him, “But… if you’re not Merihim anymore… who are you?” she asked.

He smirked, “Well, like I said, I used to be a god of old England. Even made it into the Bard’s work at one point! I was…” he paused, then grinned, “Well… I suppose I am once again…” he folded his arms over his chest with a nod, his shining antlers moving with his head, “… Cernunnos, God of the Hunt.”

Arja grinned a bit, “Hunting god… I like that. But… are you gonna give Nelen back? No offense, we’re all very glad he’s not dead, but I did promise Drusilla I’d bring him back and… today seems like a VERY bad day to break promises to her.” she glanced away, making an awkward expression as she did.

Cernunnos tilted his head, “Well, yeah. We’re still using the same body. Besides, I wanna see how badly Blinky is going to kick his ass when she finds out he was stupid enough to make Agaliarept that offer.” he chuckled, “Didn’t expect the ensorcellment to break when we did this though… Agaliarept. Agaliarept! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaliarept!” he cackled, then shook his head, “Fine fine, here’s your geek back.” he snorted, then shuddered as the antlers slowly vanished.

Nelen Fullmoon stumbled, then looked around at the group, squinting as he couldn’t see well without his glasses. “So… it worked?” he asked.

Simoni grinned, then ran forward and tackled him around the middle, hugging her brother tightly as Dawn grinned from Alice’s shoulders. “Yeah, it worked you idiot wizard.” she cackled, “You’re gonna live… though when we get back to the hotel Drusilla is gonna kill… you…” she trailed off, then her tail floofed out, “OH CRAP! DRUSILLA!” she yowled.

Arja and Simoni froze, looking at each other. “Oh gods!” gasped Arja, “After all that I almost forgot! She was going into labor when we got back to the hotel!” she gasped out.

Nelen went rigid, looking at her, “WHAT?! Wait, she’s already… I-I just said that to get Al to back off at the swamp!”

As he shouted however there was a loud rumble and a car peeled into the parking lot, Nessa sticking her head out the window, “GET THE FUCK IN THE CAR FULLMOON!” she yelled, “That girl is about to tear the whole damn hotel apart!” she shouted as Tex jumped out of the passenger side, running up to them.

“We came lookin’ for ya when ya’ll didn’t come back! Drusilla was already crownin’ when we left!” he said in a panic.

Nelen stared at Tex, then so suddenly they’d swear Dawn teleported him he was at the driver’s side door of the car, shoving Nessa into the passenger seat as Alice, Aisha, and Tex quickly piled into the back, “HOLD THE FUCK ON!” he snarled, gunning the engine, and peeling away, leaving twin tire trails behind him as he quite literally burned rubber back to the hotel!

Simoni and Stephy nodded to each other, transforming into their avian forms as Arja and Sammi climbed atop them, Dawn hopping onto Arja’s lap as they took off, flying as fast as they could back into New Orleans.

Nelen raced through the city streets, paying only nominal attention to traffic laws, lack of glasses be DAMNED, as the car shot back towards the hotel. When they arrived, there was a crowd outside and one of the beds was in the street with a rather bed-shaped hole in the wall about two floors up.

The former warlock triple-parked the car, ran to the front of the hotel, found a cop there trying to stop him as he talked about them investigating what was happening, earned himself a charge of assaulting an officer as he laid him out with a single blow to the chin, then ran inside and took the stairs two at a time!

He reached their room, kicking the door open, looking inside in a panic, “Drus?! I’m here!” he called out.

In response there was a terrifying roar. Drusilla was clearly angry, scared, and in extreme discomfort as she struggled with Loren.

Soon enough though, another roar came… and then a loud crying sound.

Simoni and Stephy landed on the roof, trying to avoid attention as the people below puzzled over why there was apparently a very pissed off grizzly bear in downtown New Orleans. Stephy froze the lock on the roof access door before Arja shapeshifted and kicked it open, then the five of them raced through the building and into the hotel room… and stopped.

The room was a shambles. The bedside table was a pile of splinters. Drusilla was on a mattress on the floor as the upper half of her bedframe was laying all around her and the lower half was halfway through a wall, the TV was simply no more, and Dusk was a little terrified ball of puffed out fur hiding in the corner… on the ceiling.

Nelen sat next to Drusilla on the floor, looking at a bundle she was holding in her arms as Loren held a bag of hotel ice over a blackened eye. The Fullmoon woman grinned as they entered, giving them a thumbs up.

Drusilla was breathing heavily, still red in the face, with her free hand punching Nelen’s arm, though at this point she was too exhausted to do any real damage. However, she was smiling, looking down at the bundle in her arms.

“Everyone… say hello to Scylla.” she said.

Slowly, the group walked over, and looked down.

In Drusilla’s arms was a newborn baby cyclops with a fuzz of black hair on her head. A bit larger than a human baby, but still so very small compared to her mother.

Slowly she opened her eyelid, and a large green eye stared up at the group with childlike curiosity. “Bbtpth?” said the baby.

“… oh wow…” whispered Simoni, slowly sitting down next to her, “Hi Scylla… I, um, I guess I’m your aunt?” she tried. Oh, that would take some getting used to.

Drusilla grinned as the others all drew close, the infant squirming in her arms as it’s eye swiveled to focus on each of them in turn, “Scylla, this is your family… they’re weird, and they do really dumb shit…” she smacked Nelen’s shoulder for emphasis, “ ‘n sometimes you’ll wanna crush their skulls for it… but…” she relaxed, “They’re good people… they’ll keep you safe when you’re too small to fight and stand by you once you’re not anymore. You’re a lucky child to have this many allies.”

Nelen glanced away at her words, rubbing his neck in embarrassment, then paused and looked at the bandages on his hand. “So… Al won’t be an issue Drus. Right now, he’s either back in Hell or close enough that he can see Lucifier waving to him… and…” he reached to his wrist, hooking a finger under the bandages and tearing them free.

There was no eruption of fangs and blood, no tendrils or teeth, just an ordinary hand with a very old scar in the shape of a demonic sigil.

Drusilla raised her brow, “Huh… I figured you wouldn’t be back if Al hadn’t been defeated, but what happened to your demon?” she asked.

“Well…” he began, tearing off the bandages from his other hand, then reaching a hand towards Scylla. The cyclops baby grasped his finger, then drew it into her mouth and started to suckle on it as Stephy gave a little squee at the sight. “I had to take a big risk to get rid of Al.” he nodded, “Merihim and I had an idea for a while about how we could both get out of the mess we were in. He didn’t want to go back to Hell, I didn’t want to go there when I died. The loophole in that is the pact I made as a teenager. I specifically sold my soul to him, to Merihim. When I’d die, he’d take my soul back to Hell with him and present it to Sathanus. That’s how demons work.”

“During our travels I got to thinking… He wasn’t always a demon, he was originally one of the Gentry and became a god of the old Celtic lands before Rome came and converted or killed their followers. So, if there were some way to undo what Hell had done to him, the contract I had with Merihim would be null and void. He can’t have a claim on my soul if ‘Merihim’ doesn’t exist, y’see. Problem was… there was no way to do it without a massive risk…” he sighed, taking his shirt off, then pointing to a new scar, just over his heart.

“Al had us all down and was about to kill the kids, I had to roll the dice and hope. Dawn got me Aisha’s sword and I… well… sacrificed myself to the god that Merihim used to be, and because Hell is getting weaker with Yahweh withering away my life was enough power for him to undo his demonhood and change back into a god again.”

Drusilla nodded, listening, then slammed her fist into his chest, knocking him onto his back. “So, you, with a baby coming, just tried this on a hunch, and if you fucked it up you’d be DEAD?” she grunted, “I’d be angrier with you Many-scars, but that took some serious balls.” she smirked.

Nelen sat up, rubbing his chest, “Look, I was out of options. If I didn’t come back, then at the very least I’d have crippled Al because of the contract breaking on his account since I did it because of what he was about to do. If nothing else, the others would have had a fighting chance. He was about to cut out Stephy’s heart, I had to do something!” he sighed, “But yeah, it worked. I would have done it ages ago but… well… I basically had to pull a Jesus here. How much you wanna bet you’d get that right on the first try? So yeah, Dawn got me Aisha’s sword and I did the deed…” he sighed, then looked around, “… wait, where is she?” he asked.

Outside the hotel

Aisha was having a well-deserved cigarette break after all that. As she sucked down her smoke a tall black man in a leather jacket, black jeans, and shiny leather shoes walked up next to her, leaning against the wall. He had a silk top hat resting on his head and an unlit cigar in his mouth. He grinned at her, a wide rictus grin, and asked in a nasally voice, “Ya’ll got a light for me, Miss New York?”

Aisha rolled her eyes, then pulled out her lighter and flicked it until it burst into flame, “Not even a ‘nice job with the necromancer,’ huh Samedi?” she asked.

He took a few puffs on the cigar to start it, then laughed, “Sheeeeeeeeeeeeit. Ya’ll got LUCKY! Funny thing though… gave her a stern talkin’ to when she arrived. Seems she ‘n yer warlock had more in common than ya’ll thought.” he grinned, “Turns out her daddy was some big po-lice officer here in Nawleans… ‘n he was also real fond of that one website, Stormfront…” he looked at her with a grim expression, “Ya’ll know which one that is?” he asked.

Aisha scowled, nodding in response. She knew it, yes.

Baron Samedi snorted, “Yeah, she had a boyfriend ‘fore all dis happened… fine young black man, but turns out daddy didn’t like that one fuckin’ bit. He ‘n a few o’ his buddies went ta have a talk with the young man, things got fuckin’ ugly…” he nodded, “They covered it up, cop buddies covered for ‘em… Fraternal Order of Go Fuck Yourself.” he snorted, smoke from his cigar blowing out as he did, “She wanted payback bad, REAL bad… dumb bitch shoulda come to us. We’d have shown her daddy why ya’ll don’t do what he do.” he sighed, shaking his head. “… but she went further south instead.”

Aisha sighed, nodding, “Job ain’t always easy, but it has to be done… I tried to save her, but once she used the Hyde there weren’t any other options.” she took a puff herself, letting the smoke flow lazily out of her mouth. “Still, a deal is a deal Baron. She’s dead by my hand.” she looked at him.

Baron Samedi smirked, “Ya’ll may be a cowardly little bitch who ran away from her duties…” he sneered, then shrugged, “But… ya’ll came back ‘n did right by us.” he took the cigar away from his mouth, then held his thumb to it and bit down hard. Blood welled up from the digit as he reached over, pressing the bleeding thumb tip to Aisha’s forehead. “There. Th’ keys ta our kingdom are all yours Miss New York… don’t fuck it up.” he cackled, blowing out a huge cloud of cigar smoke into Aisha’s face. When it cleared, she was alone, a single cigar stub sitting on the pavement next to her.

Aisha coughed, then smirked, “Mm, see ya later then, Baron.” she replied, dropping her cigarette, then stomping it out.

Later that evening

The group had to find a new hotel. It had taken some time. The concierge had apparently warned others about them, but eventually they had succeeded.

Dawn sat on the roof, looking up at the night sky as she did, and after a bit the door to the roof opened and Nelen emerged. “Thought you’d be up here.” he said, walking up and sitting down next to her. He wore a new pair of glasses with metal wire frames. Aisha knew where a good optometrist was in town.

Dawn looked up at him, then back at the sky. “You could’ve warned me…” she hissed in an annoyed way.

“If you knew you wouldn’t have done it Dawn.” he said.

Dawn frowned, “Yeah, I wouldn’t have… do you have any idea how it felt to see you do that?” she asked, growling angrily at him.

“It would have been worse to see Al kill all of you one by one, then come and kill Drusilla and the others before taking Scylla, and he would have made me watch all of it.” he replied.

Dawn nodded, “… yeah, yeah, he would have…” she mrowled.

“Besides, I kinda did tell you… the phrase was ‘Love Tyger’ remember… you’ve sang that song enough, you know how it goes…” he smirked.

Dawn blinked, then grinned and shook her head, “You fucking GEEK! ‘They call me Love Tyger, I’m gonna save your soul…’” she snorted.

Nelen nodded, “Well, that’s the only way to do it. No Merihim, no pact…” he looked up, “No Hell.”

Dawn nodded, “Yeah, no Hell…” she replied, “So… Cernunnos then?” she asked.

Nelen nodded, “Yep. Gonna be a lot different, and it’s a good thing that Aisha got Samedi’s power… because now I don’t have that protection anymore.” he replied, “My blood is just that, regular human blood, once again.” he sighed.

“So, no more games of ‘pop goes Dracula?’” she asked.

Nelen shook his head, “Nope, no Merihim means no blood magic.”

Dawn nodded, “Geez… well… you’re not dead. We’ll deal with that when it happens.” she replied, her tail swishing behind her.

“Yeah…” he replied, putting his arm around her shoulder, “We will.” he replied.

Dawn blushed, then leaned into his side, purring a bit in spite of herself. “I already thought I’d lost my mom you stupid wizard, I didn’t want to lose my dad too… don’t ever pull a stunt like that again.” she hissed.

“Hope I don’t have to.” he replied.

Next Story

Previous Story

#supernatural adventures #fiction #modern fantasy #lgbtq

[ravenlking]

What's your fav twst characters <333

i'm hope you're prepared for a long, long discussion babes

(contain spoilers! you have been warned!)

azul ashengrotto = really resonated with his character, like him, i was bullied and ostracized when i was younger but i couldn't do much about getting better (i became that smart kid in school, but it made the bullying worse. and i couldn't protect myself other than making a fake happy mask in order to make people "believe" who i was). but i admire azul for being able to overcome it and grow stronger (pre-overblot). i just love mafia themes too so azul is just the book definition of it. why can i imagine azul being so submissive and so much fun to dom over?

riddle rosehearts = i just queen of hearts. idk why but alice in wonderland themed stuff is just- amazing. riddle is also someone i resonate with a lot, since i, too, was forced to study constantly to get the best grades. so i pitied him when it was pre-overblot, but post-overblot him was a nice character development (no matter how small) to see. riddle's so cute too- he would be so much fun to dom over

cater diamond = he's so sweet! if he was my boyfriend/friend/best friend, he would be so fun to hang out with! i've always wanted someone to be invited to do "hey, u wanna hang out and do [insert] with me" (cue me constantly being thrown aside by my IRL friends), so i feel cater (if you've read his vignettes, you'd know he is quite perceptive and wise at times) would notice and invite me. plus- he's so cute!! like "cay-kun" or "cay-cay" is just mwa!

vil schoenheit = literally the epitome of "another day, another slay." vil could break me and i would stand up, dom over him and be like "no, i will break you." please- i just wanna dom this man so bad T-T. resonated a lot with his character, being in the middle of hard work vs talent is me. i was the one who studied for countless nights only to be bested constantly by talent. do u know how much it hurts?? to be beaten down and told you're always number 2 because there's someone who is always better?? vil schoenheit is inspiration: he never gives up and is willing to do w h a t e v e r it takes to be number 1. plus- the man's beautiful. the fairest of them all.

idia shroud = bro- i'm telling you facts. when i first began playing right, i barely paid him any attention since he was rarely spoken about in eng twst. but after ignihyde chapters??? hello, my heart is b r o k e n for him. also, when i first playing, u know who i groovified and upgraded the most? that's right - idia frigging shroud. idk why, but his cards were always the ones i used to fight with most, groovify most, etc. plus, u gotta admit there's something beautiful and cute about him and his unique personality! (i feel like idia would be so much help when it comes to gaming and helping me get those stubbon AF SSRs)

#ravenlking-replies

[ultraintrovertedgryffindor]

Disasterology - Tommy Slater (Part 2 of 3)

I cannot, for the life of me, get this boy outta my head

Warning: This one gets super dark and just, ugh, just painful

5.8k words🤙🏻

~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so you were crushing hard on Tommy...you were crushing so hard that you realized you actually really, really liked him.

He was the sweetest person you had ever met, it was almost too good to be true. Could a person be this sweet? He even helped you with cleaning up the hate messages painted in your cabin, and that was the moment that made you realize you liked him. Though, it was also a bit scary considering you'd never had a healthy relationship before.

You wondered if Tommy felt the same way about you.

It had been about a week since camp had started, and the whole being a counselor thing kind of grew on you, mostly because you got to work with Tommy. You still got called names every time you interacted with a Sunnyvaler, but it balanced itself out when you got actual support from a few of the Shadyside counselors.

You got along pretty well with Alice, even though Cindy disapproved of you hanging out with her sometimes.

You still hated being forced into the camp activities, and that hatred didn't lessen, even with the Color War coming up. But you and Tommy got stuck with cleaning the outhouse and mess hall before the event started.

"This is the second time in a week that Kurt has made us clean the fuckin' mess hall." You huffed, scrubbing the floor angrily.

"Really has it out for us, huh?" Tommy chuckled, clearly amused by your frustration.

"It's cause I fuckin' rejected him the other day."

You didn't see it, but Tommy frowned. "Rejected him?"

"Yeah," You chuckled bitterly, "asshole tried to get in my pants after hide and seek."

"Well, he is kinda good looking, wouldn't you say?"

"Kurt could look like he was crafted by God Himself and I would still reject him because he's a douchebag. Plus, he's not my type."

"Oh yeah? What's your type?" Tommy asked, making your face heat up when you immediately thought of him, but you decided to answer him anyway.

"Well," You started, setting down your scrub and getting up off the floor to face Tommy, "he definitely cannot be an asshole like Kurt. He's gotta be caring and kind, maybe taller than me, blonde haired and blue eyed." You smiled softly.

Tommy mirrored your smile, a light blush dusting his cheeks and you realized he knew that you must've been talking about him. You and Tommy both just stared at each other for a moment, and you took a few steps closer to him until you were right in front of him. You looked into his bright blue eyes and started to lean in, until you heard the floorboards creak from behind you. "Nurse Lane?"

You looked behind you to see Mary Lane, and she didn't look so good. You had known about her daughter, Ruby, who went crazy and killed her friends. You felt bad for her, it's always hard to lose someone you cared about, you couldn't imagine how she must've felt. Though, there was something unsettling about her expression.

"I'm sorry, but I can't save you." Mary spoke, shakily holding a large knife in her right hand.

"What're you doing?" You asked, suddenly very aware of the danger that she posed.

"I saw your name." Mary directed to Tommy, and you started to take slow cautious steps towards her, hoping that she wouldn't notice you trying to get to the knife. "I saw it on the wall. One way or another, you're going to die tonight."

"What're you talking about?" Tommy stuttered nervously.

You gasped when Mary lashed out, pushing you onto the floor before trying to stab Tommy in the chest. Thankfully, he was strong and forced the knife out of the nurse's hand.

As Mary wrestled Tommy to the floor, you quickly stood back up and sprinted to the knife, you weren't sure what you were going to do with it but you felt it was the right move. You turned back around, the knife firmly gripped in your hand, only to see Tommy had already knocked Mary out.

"Oh my god..." You said, breathing unevenly. Tommy touched the back of his head, pulling it back to see his finger covered in his own blood. You quickly raced to his side, helping him stand and ushering him out of the mess hall and calling for help.

The police were called and Mary was taking away by an ambulance, and of course the first things people said was she got possessed by Sarah Fier. This wasn't a fucking joke, Tommy was almost killed by this woman.

You and Tommy had to give separate statements about what happened, but you felt nervous leaving him by himself and quickly met back up with him as soon as the police left. "Tommy, are you okay?" You asked frantically.

Tommy nodded slightly. "Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. Just in shock, I think."

"I can imagine, what a nightmare. How's your head?" Tommy reached behind his head to touch his wound, flinching slightly and seeing less blood coating his fingers than when it first happened. "We gotta get that cleaned up, come on." You grabbed him by the hand gently and guided him to the infirmary, even though the nurse wouldn't be there now.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Y/n." Tommy tried to reassure, but you wouldn't have it. You had basic knowledge of first aid, having to clean yourself up after some of the more severe bullying that you had to endure, so you were positive you could help Tommy.

You sat Tommy down on a chair, silently getting one of the first aid kits and taking a seat behind him so you could get a better angle on his head wound. It wasn't that bad, but you'd be damned if you let it get infected.

"Ah-!" Tommy winced when you started cleaning the wound with an antiseptic wipe without warning.

"Sorry." You said softly, making sure to be more gentle.

"No, it's okay. I'm kind of a big baby when it comes to this stuff." He weakly chuckled.

You gave him a sympathetic smile, even if he couldn't see it. "You're not." You heard Tommy sigh heavily. "What is it?"

"It's just, I keep thinking about what nurse Lane said. Why would she say that? Why would she try to kill me? What did I ever do to her?"

You shook your head. "I don't know. Maybe she went crazy? I'd imagine losing a child might do that to a person."

"Something feels off about the whole thing, Y/n, I can feel it. Can't you?" He turned around to face you, a concerned expression on his face.

You frowned. Something did feel off, but you just figured it was the shock of the whole ordeal. Tommy was clearly not going to let it go so soon, but you weren't either. "You're right, but I don't know what it is." Tommy casted his pained gaze downwards, wincing at the oncoming headache in the back of his skull. "You should rest for a bit."

Tommy shook his head. "I'll be fine. Plus, lunch is in a couple minutes."

"Don't worry about that, I'll bring you something, okay?" You stood up, taking Tommy's hand in yours and bringing him to one of the beds in the main room of the infirmary. Tommy found that it was almost impossible to say no to you, and his head was killing him and figured some rest might do him some good before Color War started.

"Fine." He sighed, laying down on the bed. But before you could walk away, Tommy grabbed your hand. "Y/n?"

"Yeah?" You smiled.

"Thank you. For doing this, and for having my back, back there."

You blushed, simply nodding in response, then turning to leave the building so that Tommy could rest. You were thankful he didn't mention that fact that you almost ran at Mary with the knife, maybe he didn't notice? That was probably a good thing.

You sat through Kurt's horrible speech about Color War, you honestly just wanted to get Tommy's food and get out of there, which you would've done if Cindy hadn't stopped you. "How is Tommy?" She asked.

"A little shaken up, a small cut on his head, but he'll be okay. He's just resting in the infirmary right now, I was gonna bring his lunch to him."

"Do you think that nurse Lane could've been on drugs?"

You raised your eyebrows in surprise. "Uh, no? She seemed fine, but not high on anything."

"Do you think you could get the keys to her office? We might be able to find something that makes this make sense." You didn't really think Mary was on drugs, but Cindy looked so determined that you couldn't say no.

"I mean, I guess. But not right now. The first game is gonna start soon and I gotta make sure Tommy's okay." Cindy nodded reluctantly, letting you leave to go back to the infirmary.

You let yourself smile when you saw Tommy sleeping peacefully right where you left him, you almost didn't want to wake him, but you knew Kurt would be up your ass wondering where he was and why he wasn't working. "Tommy." You spoke softly, gently shaking him awake. He groaned slightly. "I know, but you gotta wake up. Gotta eat before Color War."

Tommy yawned as he sat up in the bed, giving you a sleepy smile as he took the plate of food from your hands, making your stomach flutter. "Thanks. I was actually having a nice dream."

You chuckled. "Sorry. What happened in this nice dream?" Tommy smiled to himself, causing you to roll your eyes. "Fine, don't tell me."

"Back in the mess hall..." Tommy voiced, "were you about to kiss me?"

Your face felt hot instantly, taken aback by his bold question. You were quiet for a moment, thinking of what to say. "Uh...maybe?" You stuttered, not sure if being a hundred percent honest was the right call. What if you were all wrong? What if Tommy didn't feel the same way?

"I was, uh, kinda hoping you were. Too bad nurse Lane interrupted...with a knife." You couldn't help but laugh, in turn, making Tommy laugh along with you. But there was a tense silence afterwards that had your heart racing, and his gaze on you wasn't making it any easier. "Ya know, I don't think anyone is gonna interrupt us now."

"And ya know, you still could be disoriented from that bump on your head." You joked.

"Maybe, or maybe I'm just stunned by your beauty."

"Gross." You replied, causing Tommy to laugh once more.

"No, but I'm serious. I think you're beautiful. I guess I thought there was no harm in trying." He huffed.

You ignored the rapid beating of your heart, sitting down beside Tommy, facing him with an anxious stare. This was far from your first kiss, but he was different, you actually liked Tommy and he seemed to actually like you too. You didn't want to mess this up.

You felt your heart jump when Tommy took hold of your wrist and pulled you closer so that you were face to face, so close you could feel his breaths mixing with yours. Your face felt like it was on fire as you looked into his eyes, his longing gaze back into yours so intense that you couldn't look away even if you tried. You were trapped, but you didn't mind.

You brought your hand up to his face, gently and slowly swiping away a strand of hair that covered his forehead. "You're beautiful too, ya know?" You chuckled breathlessly.

Tommy didn't respond, smiling softly as he looked down at your lips then back up to your eyes, leaning forward and rubbing the tip of his nose against yours, testing the waters to see if you'd back away, but you didn't. You closed the small gap between the two of you and connected your lips with his.

Tommy's lips were as soft as they looked, surprisingly soft. And he was so gentle, his soft but firm grip on your wrist moving up your arm to your shoulder, the hairs on the back of your neck standing up as deepened the kiss slightly, sighing heavily through his nose as his tongue collided with yours for half a second. You didn't notice his other hand on your waist until he squeezed tenderly. The fact that you almost let out a moan at such a simple gesture made you pull away, even though it was extremely difficult.

Tommy grinned widely as you rested your forehead against his, though not the passionate of kisses, you still felt you needed to catch your breath. "Fuck..." You breathed.

"Exactly what I was thinking." You smacked his shoulder playfully, causing him to laugh. "Kidding, kidding. But, yeah...fuck, that was incredible."

Before you could say anything, you both heard the front doors to the infirmary open, and in came Gary. "Hey, you guys-" He froze, seeing the somewhat compromising position you both were in. "Am I interrupting something?"

You looked back at Tommy with an embarrassed smile, barely holding in your snickers. "Uh, yeah, kind of, buddy." Tommy replied with a chuckle.

"Well, whatever you guys are doing, it needs to wrap up cause Color War is gonna start in a couple minutes."

"Thanks, Gary." Tommy waved him away.

"Do you feel okay enough to do this?" You asked.

"I do now." He smirked. Tommy's head still hurt, but he figured it's nothing some aspirin can't fix.

After a couple more indulging kisses, you and Tommy finally left the infirmary to help get Color War started. You wished you could've actually worked with him, but you had a responsibility to the Sunnyvale team, unfortunately. But from the way Joan and Kurt were eyeing each other up, you figured you didn't have to take it super seriously. Plus, you still had to help Cindy with her "investigation."

"Y/n!" You turned to see Cindy, an expectant look on her face and holding out her palm. "Keys, please."

You rolled your eyes. "Right. I gave 'em to Tommy, come on." You led Cindy to over where Tommy was with some of the Shadyside kids, but you quickly noticed how he just seemed to stare off into nowhere. "Hey," You placed a hand on his shoulder, recoiling when he flinched, "are you okay?

"Yeah, are you okay, Mr. Slater?" A young boy, Jeremy, asked.

Tommy quickly gave a smile. "Yeah, yeah! I'm good. Just, uh, go plant the flag. Go Shadyside!" He clapped, his smile falling as soon as all the kids ran off. "Ugh, my head is throbbing. She must've gotten me pretty good." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

"I thought you said you felt better?" You scolded, gently patting his shoulder in comfort.

"Yeah, I did. Guess being out in the sun made the headache come back. But I'll be fine. What's up?"

"Well, Cindy-"

"I need the keys to the nurse Lane's office." Cindy interrupted.

Tommy wasn't too happy when you told him about what Cindy wanted to do, he clearly just wanted to just forget about the whole thing, but he decided to go along with it because you were a little curious about what Cindy would find (if she would find anything at all), and he just wanted to spend time with you regardless of the situation.

"Come on, let's just forget it." Tommy whined, an annoyed expression on his face as Cindy rummaged through Mary's desk drawers.

"Aha!" Cindy called out, holding up a small bottle. "No label, half empty; she was on drugs." She smirked smugly.

"Proud of yourself, huh?" You rolled your eyes.

"We'll just have to get these to the cops, and then they'll tell us what they..." Cindy trailed off, distracted by Tommy ignoring her and picking up a book. "What is that?"

"A deal was made with the Devil." Tommy started to read aloud, to which Cindy just rolled her eyes as he continued. "Sarah Fier cut off her wicked hand on Satan's stone in exchange for enteral life, scarring the soil beneath with the witch's mark. bringing darkness upon the land."

Talk about creepy...

All three of you snapped your gazes in the direction of where a sudden glass shattering was heard. "Did you hear that?" You nodded in response as you started to walk toward the noise, only for Tommy to hold his hand out for you to stop. "Stay back." You and Cindy stayed in the office as Tommy walked back into the main entrance room of the building. "Hello?" He called out. "Hello, is somebody in there?"

Tommy gasped when Alice came out of nowhere and scared him, laughing at his reaction. "You should've seen the look on your face!" She guffawed, high fiving her boyfriend, Arnie.

"Come on, that's not funny." Tommy said, placing a hand over his heart and taking a sigh of relief. Usually, Alice was fun, but since Tommy got attacked, you felt slightly protective and shot a weak glare at her.

"Sup, L/n, thought I saw you sneaking in here too. You here for the drugs too?"

"Um, no?"

"Figures, if you're hanging out with the likes of Cindy Berman and Tommy Slater." She teased.

"Alice?" Cindy called out. "What are you doing here?"

Alice smirked as she saw the pill bottle in Cindy's hand. "Well, it looks like we're here for the same thing. Must really want us to scrub those toilets."

"This isn't for you." Cindy stashed the bottle away in her bag.

"Woah, Berman. I didn't know you were into that kind of thing." Arnie teased.

"They're not for me. I'm giving them to the cops."

"Oh, yeah, the cops." Alice scoffed. "Yeah, right, of course. No, what are you talking about? Now you're gonna snitch on Mary too?"

"No...that's not-" Cindy stuttered.

Arnie suddenly grabbed the book that was in Tommy's hand, "This for the cops too?" He giggled, tossing it over to Alice when Tommy tried to snatch it back.

"She emerged from the meeting house," Alice started to read in an overly spooky voice. "one hand severed, lost forever. We hanged the witch, body chained and buried but without her hand, her grip on the land holds firm. Ooo!" She laughed. "This is Sarah Fier shit!"

"Alice, come on." Cindy sighed.

"When she is near, blood will fall, and the curse will last until body and hand unite." While Alice was reading, you noticed Tommy closing his eyes and rubbing the back of his head, taking a seat on one of the beds in the room. You sat next to him with a concerned look, silently asking him if he was okay, only for him to wave you off with a fake smile.

"Alice, it's Mary's diary. Let's put it back." Cindy nagged.

"It's not just a diary. It's a map. Crazy nurse Lane made a crazy map." Alice set the book down on the bed next to the one you and Tommy were sitting on, kneeling down to look over the supposed map. "It's camp, but looks like she drew all over it. 1666 Union."

"Union, that's Shadyside. I mean, the settlement before it was divided into Shadyside and Sunnyvale."

"Really?"

"If you went to class-"

"So, the camp is built in the same place as the settlement?" Tommy asked.

"Woah, look, Sarah Fier." Arnie pointed at an area of the map.

"You think that's her house?" Alice smirked.

"What's all those X's?" You noticed.

"Only one way to find out." Alice closed the book and snatched Cindy's bag and ran off with Arnie, stealing a flashlight as well.

"Ugh!" Cindy shouted, running right after them. "Alice, bring that back! What are you doing?"

"It's called fun, Cindy Berman! You used to have it, remember? We're gonna find you, Sarah Fier!" Alice yelled and ran into the woods with Arnie, causing Cindy to quickly call out to you and Tommy to follow them along with her, but Tommy was trialing behind.

"Why should we go?" You asked once you joined Cindy outside the building. "You're the one who wanted to tattle on nurse Lane anyway." You crossed your arms, looking unimpressed.

"You really expect me to go out into the woods by myself? With them? They have the only evidence that could tell us why nurse Lane attacked YOUR boyfriend." Cindy shouted, making your face feel like it was going to burst into flames.

"Wha-...What-"

"Gary told me what he saw in the infirmary earlier today. And I think a normal person would wanna know why their partner got attacked by a supposedly normal nurse."

"Well, we haven't actually-"

"Tommy!" Cindy called out, "Come on, they took everything!"

Tommy looked to you and shrugged, and thankfully, it didn't seem like he heard what Cindy said. But he threw on his red and black plaid coat and gestured for you to follow Cindy. Guess you didn't have a choice but to go on a wild goose chase in the woods...in the dark.

You liked the woods, you liked walking through the woods, but not at night when you could barely see anything. Tommy was right behind you the entire time, but you hated tripping over every root and stick in your path, but you soon realized that there were other things that made you wish you were alone in the woods.

Alice looked back at you, Tommy, and Cindy walking together and slowed down a little. As soon as you saw her smirk, you knew she was about to get real annoying. "So, Y/n." She started, and you motioned for her to continue, but you quickly regretted that. "You and Tommy fucking now, or what?"

You almost choked on your own spit, your eyes widening like a deer in headlights, and you didn't even dare to see what Tommy's reaction was. But from the way Alice was laughing, you gathered that he must've had the same expression.

"Alice!" Cindy scolded. "Don't be so rude!"

"What?" Alice whined. "They've practically been eye fucking each other since camp started. It's kinda obvious...no offense. So, are you, huh?"

You had no idea what to say, just like when Cindy called Tommy your boyfriend. You two just had your first kiss that day, you didn't have time to discuss labels. You looked to Tommy in slight panic, and you could tell he was bright red, even in the dark. You two locked eyes, and it was like a switch turned off in his brain, he went from panic to complete serenity.

"Yeah." He answered Alice, but still looking into your eyes. "We're together." He smiled softly, an expression of joy mixed with relief washing over each of you as he took the initiative to make it official. It might've been too early to label things, but you couldn't care less when just simply looking at him gave you comfort you haven't felt before.

"Gross." Alice teased, going back to taking to lead deeper into the woods.

Eventually, Cindy got really tired of all the wandering through the woods. "Alice! Come on, it's disgusting in here!" She complained. You would've felt the same way, but you were a bit high on serotonin from Tommy's words, and his hand that was interlocked with yours.

"We're close, Berman, hand in there!" Alice called back.

"Alice! I swear to God-" Cindy gasped as she got caught on a low hanging branch, ripping a hole in her polo shirt. "Shit! Oh, it's ruined now!"

"Woah, did Cindy Berman just swear?" Tommy voiced.

"You want me to murder you?" She spat back at him, turning around to keep following Alice.

Tommy shut his eyes tightly, letting out a quiet sharp exhale. "Hey, are you okay?" You asked, noticing how he looked, like he had a fever or something. "We can go back-"

"No, no." He interrupted. "I'm okay, I'm fine."

You didn't have a chance to respond before you heard Alice yell out. "Alice?" You heard Cindy call out. You and Tommy ran to catch up with them, well, you ran and Tommy speed walked.

When you finally caught up to Alice, she was climbing out of a giant hole dug in the ground. "Watch your step." She said annoyed, wiping off dirt on her legs.

"Jesus, is someone digging a grave?" You asked.

"Graves." Alice shined her flashlight around, the light exposing many more holes in the ground.

"Mary." Tommy voiced, "Hey, where's the-" Tommy looked around and picked up the book that Alice must've dropped. "The X's, look. Look." He flipped through some of the pages while you and Alice stood beside him, craning your heads over to look at the book. "She was marking where she dug."

Alice flipped some pages, back to the passage that she read before. "The curse will last until body and hand unite."

"Maybe Mary was looking for the hand, to end the curse?"

"Yeah, the curse that made her daughter lose her mind."

"Guys, come on." Cindy scoffed. "This is silly."

"Yeah..." Arnie drawled out. "I gotta piss." And then he turned away and walked off.

"Hey, let me see that." Alice tried grabbing the book back from Tommy, until Cindy snatched it.

"You can have it, but first give me the drugs."

You sighed, rubbing your forehead at her persistence. "Cindy, come on. Alice and Arnie took them and they're not going crazy. It's probably nothing."

"Yeah, well, nurse Lane seemed fine before, so it could take awhile for the drugs to take affect. And if Mary took them and went crazy, then those drugs are very dangerous."

"Oh my god!" Alice laughed bitterly. "What happened to you? You remember when we used to have fun? Before you became a snitch?"

"Just let it go already."

"Oh, that's easy for you to say. You lying fuckin' Brutus."

"I found it!" Arnie yelled, interrupted Alice and Cindy's little spat. "I found the witch's house."

Alice and Arnie quickly ran in the direction in the "witch's house", the rest of you following behind, less enthusiastically. "Was I the only one expecting, like, I dunno, a house made out of candy?" Alice giggled.

"Maybe there's candy down here?" Arnie pointed out stairs that must've led to a cellar of some sort.

"Hey, Sarah, you got any candy down there? We're high and hungry. Sarah Fier!" Alice yelled into the tunnel.

"Okay, we've seen enough." Cindy voiced.

"Alright, then, go home, Berman. I didn't march all the way out here for nothing, okay?" Alice flipped Cindy the bird, then started heading down into the tunnel.

"Are you crazy? Alice!"

"Jesus, Cindy," You started, "stop being so uptight." You sided with Alice on this, you didn't march all the way into the middle of the woods just to get eaten alive by mosquitoes, might as well explore a witch's house. You followed Alice, raising your brows once you saw the hanging animal skulls and recently lit candles.

"Someone's been down here." Alice called out, causing them to follow in after the two of you. "Like recently. Look at all this witchy shit."

While Alice, Arnie, and Cindy were exploring, you noticed that Tommy looked even worse. It worried you. His breathing was heavy and you could see a thin layer of sweat coating his forehead. You didn't follow as Alice found another room connected to the one you were in. "Tommy?" You reached out, causing him to flinch slightly. "That's it, we're taking you back to camp."

"No," Tommy exhaled, taking a seat on the ground. "I'm fine, I promise. I just need to sit for a minute. You go on ahead."

"Tommy." You gently scolded, kneeling down in front of him.

"Y/n, I'm fine." He gave you a weak, unconvincing smile, leaning forward to give you a chaste kiss. "Go on, make sure Cindy isn't pulling her hair out because of Alice. And you know, be careful."

You did not have a good feeling about any of this. You felt like you had a pit in your stomach, like something bad was about to happen. But maybe you were just being paranoid, all that talk of devils and witches getting to you. You really just wanted to stay with Tommy, but Cindy, no matter how annoying she could get, was your friend even after just a week of knowing her and you did want to make sure she was okay.

"The hell?" You voiced when you saw the large symbol engraved into the ground in the middle of the room.

"It's the witch's mark." Cindy said.

"Well, this has been lovely, but let's get outta here, Alice. I'm pretty sure Joan might have some weed if we pay her." Arnie said, turning back to leave the room.

"Uh, Y/n?" Alice called out. "Cindy. I need to show you something. Now." She pulled you both with her, lighting up stones with names carved into them. "Cyrus Miller. Billy Barker. Ruby Lane."

"Mary's daughter." You realized.

"Yeah. Isaac Milton, Harry Rooker. You don't have to go to fuckin' class to know those names."

"The Shadyside Killers."

"Yeah, except one." Alice pointed down at the name at the bottom of the stone, and once you saw it, your heart dropped.

"Tommy?"

"Come on, Alice, this isn't funny." Cindy said.

"What? You think I carved Y/n's boy toy's name into solid stone with my fingernails? Someone else did this."

It was a joke. It had to be a joke, right? There's no way, but why would someone carve every Shadyside killer's names into stone along with Tommy's? Maybe some Sunnyvaler did this to prank you. But this was too much of an elaborate prank for those airheads. Oh god, what was going on?

You, Cindy, and Alice quickly crawled back into the main room of the cellar, only to see Tommy grabbing a double sided axe, moving towards Arnie. "Tommy?" Arnie said before Tommy lodged the axe into his skull. You all screamed and begged for him to stop as he swung the axe into the poor boy's skull two more times.

"Tommy, stop!" You screamed, slightly stepping in front of Alice and Cindy, but it seemed that it was mistake. Tommy turned to the three of you, gripping his now blood covered axe and taking slow steps toward you.

It all happened to fast. You ducked as he swung at you, missing you by just an inch and almost hitting the girls. It gave Cindy and Alice time to run back into the room with the witch's mark, while you threw yourself to the other side of the room. But Tommy chose to follow the two girls, knowing that the room was just a dead end and they wouldn't be able to escape, and you couldn't let them die.

It was a split second decision, but you followed Tommy into the room, seeing him already trying to get to the girls through another secret crawlspace that led to another room. You heard Cindy scream, and you realized he had grabbed ahold of her leg. You quickly grabbed onto Tommy's leg, trying to pull him off of Cindy. Then, you suddenly felt the earth around you rumble and shake, the crawlspace caving in and leaving you separated from your friends. But, Tommy somehow made it out in time, and now you were stuck in the room with him.

"Tommy." You cried as he stood back up, his axe still in hand. And for a moment, you thought he would snap out of it, but he only advanced towards you and tried to swing.

You screamed as you crawled back into the main room of the cellar, trying to make your way up the steps as fast as you could. But Tommy was fast, he grabbed your ankle and pulled on it hard, causing you to fall on the hard stone steps. You definitely felt it dislocate, but that couldn't stop you. You kicked as hard as you could, your foot making contact with his face, but that only increased the pain that was already started to build up. Thankfully, Tommy recoiled enough that you could make it up the final steps and out into the woods.

The fresh air felt nice, giving life to your lungs after spending awhile in a musty basement. But that feeling was short lived. All the breath got knocked out of your body as you felt the handle of the axe hit you in the center of your back.

You managed to flip yourself over, staring up at your boyfriend in terror. This isn't him...

You rolled out of the way as Tommy swung the axe down at you, forcing yourself to your feet and trying to run as fast as you could, but the pain in your ankle was so bad and he was so fast.

You let out a silent scream as you felt the axe cut into your flesh, it was only a cut but it felt like you had been ripped apart slowly. You leaned yourself on a nearby tree, trying to catch your breath as the pain surged through you. "Please, Tommy..." You panted. You knew you weren't faster than Tommy, you weren't stronger than him, so all you had were your words. "This isn't you." You cried out as Tommy landed a punch on your cheek.

You tried to fight, kicking, punching, scratching, screaming, to no avail. You kicked at his hand and somehow managed to get him to drop his axe, but he had two hands and he started to use them to strangle you.

"To...mmy...!" You choked out, tears and blood running down your face as you had to feel the person you genuinely cared about slowly drain the life out of you.

You grabbed ahold of his arms, his strong arms that made you feel so safe whenever they were around you. His hands burned into your skin, and you couldn't help but think of how tenderly he touched you during your first kiss. You stared into his eyes, those bright blue eyes you could spend a lifetime getting lost in. But these eyes were empty, soulless, you couldn't find a single thing in them that told you that it was Tommy. This wasn't him...he'd never hurt you, not like this.

You whimpered as his grip got tighter, feeling the blood vessels in your eyes start to explode as your vision got hazy. You were lightheaded, barely able to keep your eyes open. But you had to say something, anything.

"I...I know this...isn't...you."

The last thing you saw was Tommy's cold, stoic gaze as you slowly died in his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, I'm crying my eyes out but that's okay.

#fear street #fear street trilogy #fear street spoilers #fear street part two #fear street part 2: 1978 #fear street 1978 #tommy slater #tommy slater imagine #tommy slater x reader

[outofsstyles]

AU | Famous!Reader x Fashion student!Harry

☁️ FIC PAGE ☁️ PART 1 ☁️

word count: 20.3k

warnings: language

//

Sweet tea in the summer

Cross your heart, won't tell no other

And though I can't recall your face

I still got love for you

- Seven, Taylor Swift

//

“Can you bend your arms one last time, please?” Harry quickly angles his arms, holding them at chest height to show Marcus what he’s referring to.

He stands in front of Harry, dressed in his full Gaston outfit for the last fitting before opening night. The atelier has gone hectic again now that everyone’s gotten back from their lunch breaks, a mess of fabrics and papers taking over every surface in the room. There’s a low mesh of voices blending with Moyra’s playlist playing on a speaker that’s probably lost somewhere by now. Someone rushes across the room in a speed walk and almost bumps into Harry, muttering a quick apology before disappearing behind the doors leading to storage. 

As the week approached, Harry was warned by pretty much every single one of his coworkers about the chaos that it would be. After all, it’s the last week of rehearsals, and the first time the actors would get in characters with their full costumes. All arrangements have to be done by Saturday morning, is what Lisa said with her stern voice the previous Friday, with no space for wardrobe malfunctions. She meant it as a warning, but Harry took it as motivation, knowing he works better under stressful situations — which is not the healthiest working ethic, he admits, but it gets the job done.

On top of it all, your unprompted visit has surprisingly given him the boost he needed to finish up most of his work with an entire day to spare. 

It’s only been two days since you appeared on his front door with a Brit statuette and a promise to make up for the years lost in each other’s lives. Your suggestion to go out for a coffee quickly showed itself to be a bit more complicated than both of you thought it would; as neither of you expected the conflict in your schedules when making those plans. This was a busy week for Harry and an even busier opening weekend. The only time he’ll actually be able to catch a breather is by Monday, which, coincidentally, is the same day you’re catching a flight back to America.

Still, none of you seemed to want to wait another week to meet again. So he proposed to meet after his Friday shift. Which is why he spent the entirety of Thursday inside the costume studio, being the last one to leave just so he could wrap everything a few hours early to meet you back at his flat — by your request.

Even with a day cut short, however, there’s been barely enough time for him to focus on anything other than measurements and fittings. It’s a good thing when it comes to his nerves; the tight schedule giving him no space to let any butterfly drift on his belly. Without the anxiousness on the way and work to keep himself busy, it’s as if the clock has gone with a leap. He sewed back details that had fallen off an extra’s costume while swallowing back the salad he’d brought for lunch, made sure Lumiere’s candleholders were fixed in place, and that no feathers from Plumette would sweep around the stage. Now, after having to make an adjustment to Gaston’s shirt - thanks to an unexpected problem with the stitching - he’s finally able to allow his shoulders to relax a bit.

Marcus mimics the movement shown to him, keeping his arms still as Harry takes a step to examine the character’s signature red shirt with his fingers fiddling with the tip of the measuring tape hanging around his shoulders.

“Does it still feel tight around your chest?” Harry asks, noting how the stitching on the sides is not stretching anymore. “Or under your arms?”

“Nope,” Marcus answers with a pop, relaxing his arms back down when Harry turns to write something down. “Fits like a glove, mate.”

He clicks his pen down on the table. “Then we’re all good.” 

“So, I’m free to go?” He jumps down from the platform, loosening the black leather belt that’s fastened around his waist.

“You’re free to go,” Harry confirms after a double-check at the file sitting on the table, making sure there’s no other change that’s needed on his costume. “Just put everything back in the bag and hang it on the rack.”

“Yes, sir.” Marcus shifts with the curtains of the changing room before disappearing inside of it.

“And make sure the label is still stuck to it!” Harry calls over his shoulder, listening to the mumbled response before turning back to the files on his hands. 

While he waits for Marcus to return, he gathers everything he needs to leave. A quick look at his phone that was left forgotten on top of a roll of blue-dyed camel tells him it’s around four, meaning he’s just in time. Checking the pages he’s been focusing on, Harry walks to the rack, selecting the two bags carrying the costumes he still needs to make adjustments on, placing them carefully over his work table before making his way to fetch his backpack.

As soon as Marcus is out, he gives a double check to see if the label is still stuck to the bag he just hanged - not entirely trusting the cast’s attention to those details - before collecting his belongings and heading for the door. He bids his goodbyes on his way out, catching the attention of Alice, who’s standing on a platform near the door while Moyra works on the skirt of her yellow dress with a few pins placed between her lips.

“Going already, H?” She asks, her eyes big as she looks down at him.

He stops in his tracks with a hand on the door handle gnawing on his inner cheek as he turns to face her. 

As soon as he meets her gaze, he notices the subtle tinge of pink painting over her cheekbones. It’s something that Harry’s gotten used to by now when speaking with Alice. 

He could tell she was shy from the moment he got to meet the entire cast, always standing quietly to the side reading her script, keeping her chats restricted to the same two people (which is funny enough of a contrast with her stage persona, considering she has the main role). But with Harry, she’s always been especially timid, and it didn’t take too long for him to learn from Moyra that the girl had taken a fancy on him — if the blushing wasn’t a big indicator.

It’s sweet, he reckons. She’s lovely enough, from the limited amount of conversations they had, and Harry finds it that maybe if she opened up a bit it would be nice to get to know her. Julia’s the one that always pesters him about it, though urging for Harry to make a move from the moment he told her about the girl’s crush on him. She says his romantic side gets especially annoying when he’s lonely, and he knows she’s right, but would never admit it to her face. So he just brushes it off, saying he’ll take the time to talk to Alice.

Except now. Harry knows he’s on the clock if he wants to make it in time to meet you. The last thing he wants is for you to have to stand on the street because he got caught up in her mutters. 

So he keeps his grip on the handle, hoping it’s enough of a hint for the conversation to be cut short, as he motions his arm that holds the clothes’ bags at the crook of his elbow. “Yeah, I- Lisa let me work on these at home.”

“So you’re not having a drink with us tonight?” Alice rushes out, eyes darting up at him, and her blush gets a shade stronger. When her lips part again, her voice comes out a bit lower,  “It’s the last one before opening night, and you haven’t gone in a while...”

“Harry’s too cool to hang out with us.” Moyra barges in the conversation, glancing teasingly at Harry from over her shoulder as she takes the last pin from between her lips.

“Shut up, Mo.” He rolls her eyes slightly, grip tightening on the door as he prepares to leave.

Before he can do so, Alice speaks up, her eyes falling again to her fingers that poke at her nails. “You know, bringing work home sometimes can cause stress… And stuff.” She peeks up at Harry, shrugging slightly. “I read about it somewhere, anyway.”

“I think I’ll be fine, really, but thanks.” Turning the knob, he cracks open the door.  “Just got something today.”

Moyra doesn’t waste a second before blurting, “A date.”

“Don’t.” He warns with a sigh. “I’m seeing an old friend.”

“That’s nice.” Alice nods.

“Yeah.” He takes a step out, being painfully aware of how he’s a second away from being late. “Uhm, I gotta get going then.”

The girl looks up at him fully then, giving a small wave. “See you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, yeah, for sure.” He calls over his shoulder as he’s out the door.

The tube’s just starting to get filled again with people like Harry, who are likely on their journey back home. Shoulders tense and frowns scrunching their faces, they barely pay any mind to him as he finds a spot opposite to the exit doors — preferring to stay closer to them as to get off quicker. He leans against one of the many metal rails that outline the inside of the train car, his vans bouncing nervously as he adjusts the bags at the crook of his elbow, feeling as if today it’s traveling slower than usual. 

Picking up his phone to check the time once again, he’s met with a text. It’s not from you, as he’d hoped, but from Julia. A picture of her and Blake, faces squished together as they force a smile a bit too big for the camera, their hairs meshing together in a mix - Julia’s darker curls tangling with Blake’s shorter blonde locks - and Harry can just about make out the outline of a bright orange sofa from Blake’s living room behind them. The message that reads under it is short, yet playfully demanding.

Juls: impromptu movie night!!! bring chocolate!!!

He smiles down at the screen, but it quickly turns into a frown as he realizes that he won’t be able to make it. Biting down his bottom lip, his thumb hovers above the keyboard, not sure how to respond. There’s not a chance he can fully tell the truth to her, not over text. Even if he brushes over it, he knows his friend, and how nosy she can be sometimes — which has never bothered him before until he found himself in this position. He contemplates lying. A white one, there is. Just say he got caught up with work or something along those lies. Something he knows she’d understand. But the simple thought of it makes him feel guilty; as if he’s leaving her out.

So, he opts for the ladder, pushing the responsibility for his future self to deal with the interrogation afterwards when he sees her again. Maybe if he finishes the tv show she’s been nagging him to watch in time, it’ll be enough of a distraction so she won’t ask him many questions. His answer comes a bit slower than usual — not only due to his internal battle but also for finding it a bit tricky to type with one hand. By the time he clicks the send button, Julia has already sent enough interrogation points to cover half of the screen.

Can’t tonighttt got something...

Juls: what’s something

I’ll tell you later, send Blake a hug for me.

Juls: no :(

With a chuckle, he pockets his phone,  noticing he’s just a couple of steps away from his own. Once he’s out of the station, just a couple blocks away from his building, the bundle of nerves he’s been avoiding all day sweeps in. They’re not overwhelming, they don’t make his chest tighten or his palms sweat, no. They’re the nerves that give him a spring to his step, that make him take deeper breaths, and that speed his heart just the tiniest bit.

It’s a strange feeling to be going home with the sky still shining a clear blue, instead of the purple-pink that comes just before the sun hugs the horizon. A cloudless day. Thanks to the previous streak of rainfalls that washed away the angry greys. The colors painting his surroundings seem somehow more vibrant, more welcoming. The greens of the trees greet him with a gentle breeze. The maroons of the bricked buildings warm under the sunlight. Even the yellow and the pink of his dirty vans feel a bit brighter as he strolls around the corner of his block.

It’s almost like it matches the way he feels. And Harry knows that from now on, with spring at its peak and summer becoming more present, the weather is bound to become even more pleasant. He hopes it’s some sort of sign. Maybe the universe is getting gentler with him. He’d like to think that.

Part of him still dwells on the feeling the slightest bit, finding a strange sort of uncertainty over how quickly you’ve got at the palm of your hand again. He barely got any sleep after you left his house just thinking about it, actually. There’s no denying that your presence again has brought back the fondest memories of his teenage years. Ones he tried too hard to bury as to ease the ache in his heart that came with them for a long time. But now, having you back, it’s as if they’ve taken almost a hopeful feeling. The reminders of how close you used to be came crashing into him like a wave, enveloping him. That was the first time he ever opened up so fully to someone, after all. And that comfort of having someone that knows him better than he knows himself is something he craves so deeply within himself that, as soon as even the slimmest possibility of having it once again presented itself, he grasped it so quickly that now he’s afraid he’s letting himself dive too deep.

He’s so inside of his head, thoughts rushing inside his mind, that he almost glances over you when he finally approaches his building. 

Paying little to no mind to your cream trousers as you kneel on the sidewalk, a paper bag propped under your arm and a disposable cup holder in your hand hugging two paper cups, you focus on a collie that’s enjoying your hand caressing the fur down its neck. A gold pendant from your necklace reflects the weak rays of sunlight, glowing in a contrast with the black of the short-sleeved turtleneck you’re wearing, tucked under your trousers. 

It’s only when he lets his eyes focus on the company you have that he immediately recognizes the pup, as well as the older lady holding the leash while smiling down at you interacting with her pet.  

Margaret is one of the oldest residents of the building, taking a permanent spot at the very first apartment on the first floor. She was the first neighbor he got to meet, bringing him homemade jelly tarts on his first weekend at his apartment. They chatted for an afternoon and, after admitting he’s not the best cook, she vowed to bring him some of her dishes every time she could. And true to her world, around twice a week she knocks on his door with a warm trail and a sweet smile. Harry likes to visit her as often as he can, knowing she lost her husband a few years before he moved, and has no children to keep her company — that is, apart from her collie, Duchess.

“Harry!” Margaret is the first to acknowledge him with a grin, her voice causing your head to snap up from where you kneel. “You’re early today, my love.”

“Actually, I’m a bit late.” He chuckles, glancing at where you’re standing up while sweeping your trousers. “Sorry about that.”

“Oh! No worries, I just got here.” You brush it off, finding a place next to him before gazing back at Margaret. The older lady attempts to look discreetly between the two of you, brows arched, and Harry knows from the look in her eyes he’ll probably have to face another interrogation later on. Though, in this case, he’s sure she’s oblivious of your public image. “And, thankfully, I bumped into these lovely ladies who kept me company.”

“Stop that! You’re a very lovely lady yourself, darling.” Margaret reaches for Harry’s wrist as she smiles at you, giving it a squeeze, and he quickly nods, agreeing with her. She looks up at him, lips tight in a grin that’s enough for him to realize her assumptions about why you’re here, and, from the way you’re holding back a laugh yourself, he’s sure you’ve noticed, too. He clears his throat, gazing down at his shoes, trying to cover up the warmth that creeps up his neck, and that seems to be enough for Margaret to take a hint, letting his wrist go with another gentle squeeze. “I’ll leave you two be, Duchess and I still have to grab groceries before it gets dark.”

Harry scratches his nose in a nervous tick. “‘Ave a good day, Marg.”

“You too, Lovie.” She gives his hip a soft pinch before turning to you. “It was lovely meeting you.”

“Right back at you!” You answer excitedly, waving back as the older lady starts her stroll. “Have a nice walk! Bye, Duchess.”

For a second, you quietly watch the duo walk further away from where you stand. A faint hum of car engines can be heard, being cut only by the high-pitched voices of two children, seeming not much older than ten, as they appear at the other side of the street. The peek over your shoulder is quick before you turn your back to them, turning fully to Harry with a slight smile tugging at the side of your lips. 

He clears his throat again, adjusting the bags he’s still holding. “Hi.” 

“Hey.” You answer in a beat, nodding towards him. “Your hair is down.”

“It is, yeah.” His voice comes lower than he intended, the warmth still present on his cheeks, and he quickly motions towards the front door. While fiddling with the side pocket of his backpack in search of his keys, he picks up as you lean into the bricked wall next to the entrance.

“It looks great, really! Wasn’t expecting it to be this long.”

“Yea, I- Thanks.” He shoots you a look once he fetches the keys. “Have been growing it out for a few months now.”

You give him a knowing hum. “Any reason for it?”

The click of your boots against the wooden steps echoes around the narrow walls of the building’s staircase. Harry leads the way up, climbing the steps in a bit of an awkward position as he tries to look back at you.“Uh, not really, no.”  He shrugs. “Just having fun with it, I guess.”

“That’s how it’s supposed to be!” You exclaim. “It really compliments you, I mean it.”

“Thank you.” He rubs his nose, coming to a stop as both of you reach his front door. “You- Uh, I- You look very nice, as well.”

“Oh!” You look down at your outfit with a chuckle. “I rarely go around this fancy, but I had a meeting today.” You brush it off. “Which is also not an excuse for me to dress up but I didn’t know most people there so I had to make a good impression, or whatever.”

A dimple pokes at his cheek as you ramble, a habit you seem to haven’t lost. He unlocks the door with ease, pushing it in and motioning for you to walk in. “‘S nice, very pretty, I- I mean, your trousers are very pretty.”

Your smile grows as you support yourself on the wall while toeing off your shoes. If you notice the blush on his cheeks, you don’t mention it. “Thank you! Means a lot coming from you, you know?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, you’re the fashion student, after all.” He’s not sure why your answer comes in a bit of a letdown, almost as if he was expecting you to say something else. “By the way, I got us some goodies on the way. Didn’t know how you like your coffee, so I just took a wild guess. Here, try it— If you don’t like it you can have mine, it’s a cappuccino, very sweet.” You worry your bottom lip between your teeth, watching for his reaction as he sips on the hot beverage. “So...?”

“It’s perfect.” He takes another small sip of the cup you handed to him, trying not to make a face at the slightly bitter taste that comes with it (he’s still not the biggest coffee fan, if he’s honest). He makes his way to lay the bags that now have slid down his elbow at the arm of the couch. Noticing you’re still standing awkwardly by the front door looking around, he points at the counter next to him, quickly sweeping his arm over it to brush the stack of papers to the side.  “You can set everything in here, please feel at home.”

This is the first time you properly get to have a look around his place, which is weird enough of a concept when you take into consideration it’s not the first time you’ve come here (and the flash memory of that night alone is enough for you to fight back a cringe). You recall the path to your right leading towards the bathroom where you spent an hour sitting inside his bathtub before having to answer a not-very-pleased Sonia calling your phone. The rest of the place, however, is a bit of a blur in your memory, so you take this moment to take in his home.

Surely, the space itself is quite modest, but it doesn’t mean there’s not a lot to take in. From your position across from him, the island separating the two of you, you can still scan most of his living room. 

You like that it’s not completely tidy (those sorts of crystal clean homes always freak you out a bit). Upon a first glance, it’s clearly the residence of an undergrad. A couple textbooks pile on top of a center table. A shut laptop sitting next to the cushions on the navy blue couch. Even a few houseplants amongst picture frames spread on shelves and stands. It’s cute, you think, but you barely sweep your eyes over those details.

What calls your attention are the glimpses of the life you’ve missed on. It’s the magazines decorated with sticky notes. It’s the rolls of fabric peeking out from the couch arm. It’s a box of yarn tucked in the far corner, on top of other boxes that are shut closed. Those details seem to have replaced his canvases and paint sets. It makes you wonder if he still keeps them hidden somewhere. If there’s still anything left of the life he had the last time you saw him. 

Oddly enough, you smile at the thought. Somehow glad that he found his passion, even if you weren’t there to support him through it. And it brings you back to why you’re here in the first place. Make up for the lost time.

“Thank you for agreeing to do this here.” You speak up as you focus back on taking the sweets you so carefully picked out from inside the bag (you weren’t entirely sure of his dessert preferences now, which caused the slightest rise of panic as you tried to decide on what to pick from the vast array of options). “I know it’s weird to ask you to, like, have me at your house instead of just meeting at a cafe, but the one I usually go to is closed for renovations and I get a bit wary at, uh, public places.”

“It’s alright, I don’t mind having you here.” A small grin tugs at his lips, and it’s hard for you to ignore the warmth that comes to you with it. 

You clap your hands together, gazing around quickly before focusing back on him. “So! I finally get to properly see your place— sorry about that the other night, by the way, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

He chuckles. “It’s really okay, like I said, don’t mind having you here.” He repeats, clearing his throat. “It’s, uh, not that big but-”

“I love it, seems so cozy.” You interrupt before he can go on any further, hating the way he feels the need to apologize to you for something like the size of his home. “And it’s a perfect place to have just for yourself.”

“Actually, I-” His lips stay apart for half a second before he continues, blurting the next words out as if it’s a confession, “I have a flatmate.”

“Oh!” You blink in surprise, taking a second to process the information. 

Of course he does. Why did you even think otherwise? Most people share flats these days. Despite that, the possibility of him living with someone didn’t even cross your mind. It’s hard to ignore when it comes to you the riskiness of it. Whoever this flatmate is, you don’t know them, and the possibility of them spilling anything makes you a tad uneasy. It could easily ruin any possibility of a friendship with Harry before you can even get close to him again. 

There’s a wave of anxiety that hits you with the prospect of being the cause of his face printed on the cover of money-hungry tabloids, but, before you get deeper in your own nerves than you already have, you sum what’s left of composure within you to ask,  “Do they... Have you told them about-- well, me?”

He tears up a piece of banana bread, picking at it as he shakes his head, clearly unaware of your change in moods. “Not, really. She’s at her girlfriend’s for the week, so I haven’t been able to see her.”

You try to hide the way your eyes widen the slightest bit with the information that said flatmate is a she. “Is she a fashion student as well?”

“No, she’s a journalist. She works— well, interns for a music magazine, actually.”

Of course she’s a fucking journalist. When you think it couldn’t get any worse. “Anything that would ring a bell?”

“I don’t think so, they’re quite small.” He shrugs, sipping at his coffee.  “Don’t even have an office, they do most of the work online.”

“That’s interesting.” You nod, nails picking at a few crumbs dotted around the counter. Scrunching your lips, you try to consider how to word what you’re about to say. Knowing this conversation would have to be brought up eventually doesn’t make it any less awkward for you to have it. You peek up at him from under your lashes, only to find his oblivious state as he smiles back at you. “Harry… Can I ask you for a favour?” 

“Course.”

Inhaling deeply, you attempt not to let your voice come out as calculated as the words that roll out of your lips are. “Could you… Just for a bit, not mention anything about me to her?”

Harry’s expression falls to a frown. “What do you mean?”

“Just--” You pause, resting your cup down before turning to face him fully. “Just for a little while, I-- You have to understand that I would like to be a bit more private… About us?”

“Us?”

“Our friendship… I-” There it is again, the gust of panic. It makes you spit out the words before you can even process them,  “I wouldn’t want any headlines.” 

This only seems to worsen everything it seems, as Harry sits back on his stool, putting more space between you two. He shakes his head, “Julia would never do that.”

“I’m sure she wouldn't!” You rush, attempting to fix it. “It’s just… She could mention it to someone, and-- I don’t know, these things get out of hand really fast.” 

“So you want me to lie to her?”

“Not lie.” You chew at your bottom lip, sure that you’re a word away from getting kicked out. “Just, not to mention it… Just for a little while, it’s not like it can be a secret forever.”

“Right.” He slowly starts to nod, falling quiet for a beat too long. “Sure, yeah, okay.”

You exhale in relief, softening your expression. “Thank you.”

A silence falls between the two of you and, for the first time since your reconnection, it’s not much of a comfortable one. You have to swallow back the guilt that threatens to take over, knowing the awkwardness is mainly your fault for dealing with your request in such an awful way. Of course, you would have to have the privacy talk with Harry eventually, ideally being sooner rather than later. But asking him to lie and insinuating that his friend could use you to sell her magazine is most certainly the worst way you could’ve chosen to go about it. And there’s nothing to stop yourself from feeling completely stupid while picking at the brownie in front of you.

There’s a part of you, one that comes a bit louder now, that ponders if even bother continuing this in the first place; if it wouldn’t be better to spare him the burden that the simple association with you will bring into his life. You know it would be easier, better for him even, if you just collect your stuff now and walk out the door to never contact him again. If you excused this meeting as a lapse of rationality on your part. And just like that, you could let him go on with his regular life, having to come to terms with him painting a picture of you as another arrogant celebrity that just toyed with him for a bit before she got bored. It would hurt, sure, but this part of you tries to reason that it’s the best you could do for him.

Another part, though, a more selfish one that is, can’t bear the thought of standing up from your stool and just simply turn your back to this as if it never happened. No, you can’t bring yourself to do that. Not when meeting Harry again has brought you a sense of comfort you hadn’t even realized you’ve been lacking for months now. Not when he feels like the only person who doesn’t have an image of you shadowed by this big bright monster of fame — one that calls everyone’s attention before they can even take a proper look at you. You know he doesn’t need that, because of all the versions you present of yourself, he’s one of the few people that know which is the real one. 

This part of you makes you act thoughtlessly, letting your emotions speak louder than your brain. It makes you want to follow the immediate sense of relief that comes in knowing there’s no need to change anything to fit an imaginary narrative someone has made of you. There’s no need to do that with Harry. You’re so desperate to keep that ease that comes with being in his presence, that any thought of how it’ll eventually come crashing down on you is pushed to the back of your mind.

Worrying your lip between your teeth, you risk a glance up at him. To your relief, there’s not a crease between his brows like you expected. He doesn’t seem upset about your question anymore, his shoulders relaxed while he focuses on tearing a piece of the banana bread and shoving it into his mouth. The realization makes you straighten your posture, a sudden rush of determination flushing through your body. You’ve come here to get to know him again, and you’re not letting a poor start weigh you down. And, as your gaze falls to the costume bags lying across the couch arm behind him, an inquiry that has been floating through your mind comes back to you.

“So…” You clear your throat, leaning your elbow to rest on top of the counter as you rest your chin on your palm. Harry’s eyes shoot up at you, and you grin a bit as you point to the spot behind him. “Are you going to tell me a bit about that?”

His brows frown for a second as he looks back, finding the bags that called your attention from the moment you saw him on the sidewalk.  “What would you like to know?”

“Well, last time we spoke you were talking about working in a gallery.” You circle your cup in your hand, bringing it up to your lips but not yet taking a sip.  “And now, I have the information that you dropped out just a wee after; how did that happen?”

"It took a while for it to happen, actually.”  He crosses his arms on top of the counter, leaning in slightly. “Dunno if you remember but, uhm… This might be a bit awkward.”

Your brows raise towards your hairline, his words only enhancing your curiosity. “It’s okay, whatever you feel comfortable sharing.”

“I don’t mind it, just- well, after we broke up,” He starts, clearing his throat as his gaze searches for yours, eyes flickering between your own in search of a reaction. He was right. This is awkward. You try to remain a calm expression, nodding in encouragement for him to continue — although you want nothing more than to flinch at the words. “I was, uh, well, sad.” He lets out a quick chuckle. “A friend of mine- James, dunno if you remember them- they recommended a knitting group class kinda thing that they were in every Wednesday, told me it was quite therapeutic and calming, and stuff.”

“That’s cute.” You comment, trying to brush off the way your chest tightens at the brief mention of his feelings post-breakup, knowing how hard it was for both of you.

He smiles at you before continuing, “Got the hang of it pretty fast, actually. James was right being therapeutic. After a bit, I started going twice a week.” He reaches to brush his fingers over a napkin. You watch as his fingertips slide gently along its edge. “The lady that taught it, Laura- you’d ‘ve loved her, used to bake us biscuits every week. She had graduated in fashion, actually owned a boutique for a good fifty years.”

“Holy shit,” Your lips part in awe. “Can you imagine doing something for that long?”

“‘S exactly what got me thinking.” He peeks up at you, lips twitching up. “Around that time I was so confused about what to do with an art degree, and I realized it wasn’t really something I saw myself doing for decades on end.” 

Understanding, you give him a warm smile, toying with the lid of your cup as to not reach for his hand. Even though you weren’t around anymore at the time the events he’s describing took place, you still remember how confused he was right from the start. Harry’s always had an artist in him, and that’s something that wasn’t hard for anyone to see, but it was clear then how he wasn’t completely satisfied with his path. Back then, before you two parted ways, you recall thinking he was still adjusting with uni, and that eventually, he’d find his passion within the arts. It never occurred to you he might not be in the field he loved, after all. 

Looking back at it now, it makes sense.

“Laura helped me a lot during that time. She was the one that even introduced fashion as a possibility for me, we would talk for hours.” It’s hard to miss the fond smile that tugs his lips at the memory. “She even started inviting me for a cuppa outside of class hours, answer all my questions- even the stupid ones, she was really patient. Was almost like a mentor of sorts.” 

“She sounds like an awesome human.” Your voice is gentle, admiring how the words come out of him with an admiration that makes you warm all over.

“She was.” His eyes fall to his hands. Your expression softens, suddenly noticing how he’s been using the past tense when talking about her. “She told me once that sometimes making a career out of a hobby is not always the way to go, you know? Takes away the fun of it if you feel obligated to do it. It was then when I decided to switch.”

“Were you scared?” 

“Terrified.” You two laugh. “I was choosing a path that I’d never even considered before. It was so new, I was so scared I wasn’t making the right decision. It scared me that maybe fashion wasn’t also my thing, you know? Cause if it wasn’t, then what?”

“I get that.” You risk resting your hand next to his, sticking your pinky out to brush against his. He quickly interlaced them, smiling down at the gesture. “I’m glad it worked out, and you found something you’re passionate about.”

“Me too.” He replies, mimicking your position as he brings the hand that’s not enlaced with yours to rest under his cheek.

You smile, and he smiles, too.  

//

“Why can’t we just stay in tonight?”

The question leaves your lips in almost an annoyed huff. The third one in the last five minutes. Aya doesn’t spare you a glance this time, her eyes focusing solely on sweeping the white eyeliner over her eyelid as she finishes the last few touches of her makeup.

Her apartment is lit up with a golden glow, the lights having been lowered and the flame of a couple of green lavender candles helping set the relaxing energy of the room. It’s the primary reason you love staying at Aya’s; her place is always cozy, no matter which house of hers you’re in (even though you have a softer spot for her New York apartment). And it helps to have company, since your place has been uneasily empty lately. 

The original plan was simple: make dinner while catching up with the last Game of Thrones season. You’ve been looking forward to it all week. After days of hopping from long meetings to recording sessions, only to go home to your cold bed, reuniting with Aya was the one thing that kept you from catching the first flight back to London as soon as your errands were dealt with. So, it’s hard not to express your disappointment about having to attend some dinner party a good thirty minutes away from her warm apartment.

The thing is, the suggestion didn’t even come from Aya, but rather a surprise guest you weren’t even expecting to be here at the same time as you, Claire. 

And it’s not like you don’t like Claire, you do, well, you try to, which is the best you can do for now. She's been friends with Aya for a couple of months and, with Aya, it’s not that hard to become friends with her, if you’re honest. So you never really bother to keep track of the ones that come and go as quick as the pendulum of a clock. It’s something you’ve grown used to with the years of friendship. But unlike most of them, Claire seems to have stuck like an annoying piece of gum at the bottom of your boots.

In reality, you know it’s unfair to her to be annoyed when she’s really done nothing wrong. The sole reason for you two not mashing that well is more of a conflict in personalities than anything else. Usually, you manage to ignore that in order to keep at least somewhat of a friendly relationship with her during nights out -- more for Aya’s sake than yours. And sometimes you even enjoy her presence! When she’s not surrounded by big groups of people  (rare) and doesn’t feel the need to be obnoxiously loud for no reason, at those times when it’s just the three of you, she’s actually quite nice to talk to.

But now, you honestly wish you could glue her lips together and quite literally kick her out the front door. As she rushes around the place, - from the walk-in closet to the bathroom to the bedroom and so on - her voice so loud in attempts to speak over the playlist she put on just over two hours ago. The mesh of noises is so much you’d be sure no one heard your complaint if it wasn’t for Aya’s reply just a minute later.

“We stay in every day.” You watch as she bends over the sink, getting closer to the mirrored wall as she applies her lipstick carefully. With a smack of her lips, her eyes meet yours in the reflection. “I think it’d be good for you to go out.”

“Just two months ago you were complaining about how much I go out, and now you complain that I don’t go out enough?” You arch your brows, fully aware of how whiny you sound.

“Well, not my fault you don’t know how to balance your social life.” She focuses back on herself, opening a product you can’t make out what it is and tapping it against her cheekbones. “It’s either going out every single day to the point of no sleep or becoming a hermit inside your house.”

You pout. “I’m working, you know tha-”

“It’s cause she only goes out with her LA friends now, Meme.” Claire blurts out as she appears from inside the closet, holding one of Aya’s transparent coats. You keep a straight face as you turn to look at her, trying not to cringe with her nickname for Aya. She seems oblivious of your annoyance, though, making her way to lean on the archway leading to where Aya’s finishing getting ready. “Now it’s all about Dora and - what’s his name?”

Aya interrupts before you have the chance to bite back, “It’s not even that, C, think she’s found something more interesting keeping her in London.” 

The smirk she shoots you from over her shoulder makes you avert your eyes, a blush creeping up your neck, warming all the way to the tip of your ears. The knowing look on her face could almost make you entirely flustered, as if she knows exactly the reason you’ve been so comfortable staying in London by yourself — especially now that the sole thought of being alone sends a tight grip to your chest. But you know there’s no reason for you to be nervous about it. You haven’t told a single person about your reconnection with Harry yet, somehow feeling an odd sort of protectiveness over it. And you’re not sure why this new flame of happiness still feels so fragile to you, so delicate, that a simple, outspoken word to the wrong person could take it away from you. 

And oh, how scared you are of it being taken away as quickly as it came to you.

So you’ve kept it within your grasp for as long as you can. Away from prying eyes and greedy hands. It’s the one thing that you have now that feels just yours, the one part of you that no one else knows about. That’s the sole reason you even asked him to keep it a secret in the first place.

Still, that doesn’t mean that people around haven’t noticed the sudden change in you — as small as you thought it was, it surely didn’t go unnoticed by those that know you so well. Sonia was the first to mention it. When you couldn’t keep yourself from checking your phone every five minutes during a studio session, she had teased you about it. You brushed it off, and she made no more comments about it, thankfully. But you didn’t miss the looks she gave you every time you excused yourself to make a phone call.

With Aya, though, you know it won’t be as easy to get her to disregard your behavior. You hoped she hadn’t caught on when earlier in the afternoon she nudged you about being all smiley while reading a text (Harry had just sent you a picture of Duchess wearing a knitted vest he’d made for her and you had it open when Aya peeked from over your shoulder to see what you were looking at, so you just said it was a message from your sister before quickly locking the screen). 

However, after her comment, you’re sure she’s clearly aware that something’s up. And, knowing Aya, you’re aware she won’t drop this subject until you tell her exactly what it is that’s keeping you in London. Before she has the chance to poke further, you’re saved by none other than Claire, who did not pick up on Aya’s grin shot towards you. Barely registering the meaning behind her words at all, actually, as she makes her way to sit at the foot of the bed. “Well, whatever it is, I think I might have something to keep you here with us.”

Thankfully, Aya drops the subject, only widening her eyes slightly at you, almost in a warning at what’s coming. “Here it comes.”

You frown, glancing from your friend that stands opposite you to the girl that’s scooping closer to where your legs rest. “What do you mean?”

“I know you’re still having a hard time after Noah.” The words spill from her lips and you almost choke on your own saliva at her bluntness. There was a sort of silent agreement between you and Aya about not mentioning your ex by name. So hearing it being outspoken without expecting it surely comes in a bit of a shock. But Claire still seems oblivious of it, only reaching to grip right under your knee in what’s supposed to be a reassuring gesture, you guess. “But it’s been so long now! Maybe you need a little push with, like, getting over him.”

“A push.” It’s hard to keep the affronting expression that tugs down your lips.

“Someone.” A squeeze to your knee. You want to push it off. “There’s this guy-”

That’s it. You close your eyes with a deep breath. “Claire-”

“Before you say no, listen to me!” She holds out her hands, in a habit of gesturing her words when she explains herself. “There’s this guy, okay? He works with my brother at NYT and I met him a couple of times, and- Just listen! The whole time we were talking, I could only think of you! I was like ‘oh my god, she’s gonna love him’ cause he’s totally your type!”

You scoff, glancing over at Aya who’s clearly trying to keep herself occupied. “Is this why you’re dragging me out tonight?”

Her deer-in-the-headlights eyes meet yours in the reflection. “Hey, I have nothing to do with Mr. Perfect here. As I said, I just think it’d be good for you to go out.”

“Just meet him, okay? You don’t have to go out on a date or anything just-” Claire brings your attention back to herself. “Just talk for a bit, see if you click. I think it’ll be good.” Her voice gets softer, shoulder dropping. “I’m just trying to help.”

There’s not an ounce of you that wants to engage in any sort of small-talk filled conversation, having close to no patience in getting to know someone new at this moment of your life. The prospect of having to sit and pretend whatever this man is going to tell you about himself interests you for god knows how long is enough to make you want to swim all the way back to England in your stilettos. But it’s clear that Claire’s intentions with this are far from malicious in any way, and you can’t help but feel bad for lashing out at her. So you just sigh, letting the words fall from your lips before you think about it enough to regret them,  “Okay.”

Her face lights up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll chat with him.”

She squeals. “You’ll love him! I’m telling you-”

“Claire,” You interrupt before she can get ahead of herself. “You sound like you’re envisioning a wedding already. I agreed to chat. That's it.”

“Chat. Okay, it’s a start.” She nods, a smile too big for her face before squealing again, throwing a look over her shoulder. “Right, Meme? Don’t you think it’ll be good for her?”

“Please, I’m just the audience in this conversation.” She calls back, turning to face you after a second to motion to the coat sitting on Claire’s lap. “Is this the coat you chose?”

Claire jumps from her spot in the bed at the mention of it. “Yes! What do you think? Wait- I’ll try it on, see if you can still notice the pink details on my dress.”

The girl bolts towards the walk-in closet where there are larger mirrors she can see herself better on and, just as she turns her back, Aya shoots you a wink before following her. 

You relax back into the arrangement of pillows, another sigh leaving your lips as it comes to you what you’ve just agreed on. Sometimes you wish you weren’t so easily persuaded by a pair of puppy eyes, knowing the consequences of it almost always have to do with you doing something you’re not too comfortable with. Your eyes shut close and you have to refrain from rubbing your face as not to ruin the makeup Aya applied so carefully. The night has barely started and you already feel exhausted mentally. Not wanting to dwell on it further, you make a mental note to yourself: learn how to say no.

Turning your face, you pick up the phone that was left forgotten next to you during the chat with Claire. To your surprise, the screen lights up showing a text from Harry received just about five minutes ago. You try not to sit up too suddenly, as not to call attention to yourself, while you swipe your thumb over the screen to open the message. 

A smile tugs on your lips before you can even read what it says, simply reacting to the picture attached to it. The first thing you notice is his hair, poking out of his head in a messy mesh resembling somewhat of a mane. You bite back a giggle at the thought. His face is lit up, mouth parted in an open smile as he gives a thumb up to the camera. You take a moment too long looking at his face until you realize what the picture is meant to show. You. Next to him, on the screen of his telly, grinning with the blue sunglasses you wore to the music video shoot.

The text under it is short, but it causes the most beautiful flowers to bloom under your chest.

H: Found this cutie while browsing todayy

H: Looks familiar? ;)

//

“That’s definitely too much.”

You glanced back at Harry as your eyebrows shot towards your hairline, challenging. His own face mimicked your expression, peeking down at the cup of flour in your hands before meeting your eyes again. With his locks being pulled up with your hair tie, it’s hard to take him seriously after you’d teased him about resembling a sprout when he first walked into the kitchen, ignoring his protests to playfully sweep the tiny bouquet of curls with your finger.

“How many times do I have to tell you, this is the exact amount?” You replied, trying to keep a straight face.

“How do you know? You’re not even measuring it!”

“It’s a muffin, Harry, how difficult can it be?” You rolled your eyes in feign annoyance, turning the cup into the mixing bowl before he could protest it. “I can do it by eye just fine.”

“This is chaotic.” He scrunched his nose, shaking his head in disbelief at the cloud of flour that floated through the air at how abruptly you threw it. “Making a bloody mess, you are.”

“Yeah, yeah, now tell me what’s next.”

He exhaled a chuckle, secretly enjoying your antics, before turning to check the open recipe book that sat on the counter. His finger followed the words written in instructions, and you observed with amusement the crease forming on his face as he attempted to decipher your nan’s handwriting. It took him a second before he clicked his tongue, “We should’ve mixed the wet ingredients first.”

“Does it make a difference?” You bit back a smile, knowing your words would get a reaction out of him.

And, as you predicted, Harry’s face turned into an appalled expression. “Does it make a difference?” He repeated your question, astounded. “Of course it makes a difference!”

You giggled, reaching for the milk carton. “I’m sure the muffins will be fine if I put in the milk after the flour, they won’t even notice.”

“Christ,” He shook his head again, a few curls falling loose against his forehead with the motion. “Baking with you is going to make me go gray by the time I reach my twenties.”

This time you let out a full laugh, mouth falling open in fake offense. “You’re so dramatic!”

Harry smiled, then, both dimples poking deeply into his cheeks as he reached to take the carton from your hands. You two finished mixing the batter, taking a bit too long to get it inside the oven as you enjoyed pestering Harry in the process a bit too much. Every so often someone walked into the kitchen to pick up some drinks or leave dirty dishes by the sink, checking in on the both of you with that smile adults always give you when you’re with Harry (usually followed by some corny joke about young love that made you roll your eyes).

It was the day of one of the barbecue parties your parents always threw at the beginning of summer break. They would invite their closest circle of friends to spend the day in your back garden, usually followed by a ‘luau’ (as your dad called it, even though it was definitely not a luau) once your parents got tipsy enough to bring out the guitars and light up a fire. 

When everyone was a tad lethargic from lunch, relaxing back into their chairs as the sun felt hotter as it shone proudly on the cloudless sky, you had the idea of baking your nan’s recipe of blueberry muffins.

Usually, the tradition of baking a dessert to be freshly served in the afternoon was left to your mum and sister -- who was almost passing the age in which she wanted to have a hand in everything to call attention to herself. But you were faster this time, volunteering to do the task, and dragging Harry with you, as you were eager to have some time alone with him without having someone interrupting to ask him yet another football question that left you bored out of your mind.

So, you take advantage of having the kitchen to yourselves, bumping your hips against his as you two swept the counter quietly, cleaning the mess you’d made earlier. Your aunt had just left the kitchen after making one of those comments regarding marriage that are meant solely to embarrass both of you, and a faint blush was still visible on his cheeks. It made you want nothing more than to reach up and press your lips to them, only to feel the spot of his dimple deepening with a smile.

The air was smelling sweeter when you threw the dirty cloth inside the sink, leaning back into the island as you watched Harry crouch to peek inside the oven. You couldn’t help the grin as you noticed the muffins spilling out of their cases as expected. 

“Told you it would work out.”

“I don’t know how you do it.” He stood, resting a hand on the counter next to you, leaning into it. “Do absolutely everything wrong but still manage to make it work.”

“Hey!” You giggled, pushing him softly with your hand as you dragged out the word. “I did absolutely everything right just… In my own way.”

“Yeah?” His finger twirled on the hook of your jeans, pulling at it as he moved to stand in front of you, keeping a hand resting on the counter next to your waist. “The world bends its rules for you, it seems.” Pressing a peck at the corner of your mouth, he mumbled, lips close enough that you could feel every word caressing your skin, “Don’t blame it, though.”

You chuckled. “Oh? Do you bend your rules for me too?”

“Of course,” His nose tickled the apple of your cheek, causing you to shrug your shoulder slightly. You felt his warm breath as he exhaled a laugh, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek. “Would never let anyone else butcher a batch of muffins in my presence like you just did.”

“Harry!” You cried out, shoving him off playfully. “I’m never baking for you ever again, you can starve during lunch from now on, see if I care.”

He laughed again, leaning down to bite the tip of your nose before you quickly tried to push him away. “Stop, baby, you know I’m just joking.”

“Too late now, you already lost your dessert privilege.”

“Ouch.” Harry pouted, attempting to pull his puppy eyes to get you to budge, but you simply raised your brows at him, chewing your inner cheek to prevent a smile from growing on your face. He started to lean down to press his lips on yours but he could barely move before the doors leading outside slid open again, startling both of you, causing Harry to quickly step back.

Your sister’s face peeked up curiously from her spot at the door frame, a juvenile smile teasing at her lips at the scene she’d just interrupted.

“What do you want, Ly?”

Lyla shot you a condescending look from your harsh tone, “I’m not here for you, dumb face.” She took out her tongue, and you rolled your eyes — sometimes she’s too much of a thirteen-year-old. “Auntie Sue said you were done and Harry promised to help me with a project.”

“A project?” You raised your brows, glancing at the boy next to you who was already adorning a guilty smile on his face.

“I did promise that.”

“It’s a secret project!” Lyla’s voice raised to a higher pitch.

“Okay, then.” You sighed, looking between the two of them before setting your eyes on Harry again. The pout is clear in your voice as you speak up,

“Seems like your presence is being required.” You nod towards Harry’s vibrating phone that sits on top of the table behind the two of you.

“Oops, sorry.” He shoots you a guilty smile before reaching over his shoulder for the device.

You avert your eyes as he glances down at the screen, focusing on the sunrays that peek from between the leaves of your green fence, painting the tips of the grass gold. It’s been just over a month since your first coffee date (you only call it that for lack of a better word) and, with summer just around the corner, the days are beginning to stretch longer. The sun is still bright and proud as the afternoon meets the evening. There’s a warmth that’s not yet too insufferable, but more like welcomed after months of endless drizzle and sharp winds. 

It’s perfectly fitting for a nice lazy day like this one. 

This is the first time you got to properly have him around for the day. Despite Harry having wrapped his term just about a week ago and your agenda keeping you in London for the next few months, both your schedules only seem to have gotten tighter. You spend most of your time during the week inside the recording studio — the sessions dragging into the evening hours more often than not, as you find yourself too caught up with them. Meanwhile, Harry’s back to working his regular working hours now that Act One has officially started working on the productions for the summer season.

Surprisingly, though, you fell into a routine of sorts quite easily. You still chat every day, not limiting your communication to texting alone (though you still love receiving Harry’s random pictures throughout the day), but also making phone calls most days once both of you have finally settled in bed after long working hours. And it’s not like you’re not able to see each other with these scheduling complications, it’s only that those hangouts are limited to either weekends or early evenings. 

On the two-week mark, after you met again, you could finally take him to the proper coffee hangout that you’d promised. The cafe in question is one you’ve been going to for over a year now. A friend recommended it, and you instantly loved it for how hidden it is, and most frequented by an older audience — which means you’re able to sneak in and out with no hassle. You took Harry there on a Sunday morning, and it surprised you to find that the place is actually much closer to his flat than your house. So, after cups of iced coffee and shared muffins, you two walked all the way to his place, enjoying the laziness that allows people to sleep in as the week reaches an end.

That was one of your favorite days with him. It had been a long while since you allowed yourself to simply relax during a walk; forgetting how it feels to be aware of every corner you turn. That’s the easy thing about being with Harry, you’ve found the simple concept of relaxing. He allows you to let your guard down, to enjoy those things you’ve once taken for granted. The ones that bring a sense of normalcy that can easily be overlooked by those who don’t get to experience the other side of it. It’s something you’re sure Harry doesn’t even realize he’s brought back to your life, but you still show your silent gratitude in any way you can.

It’s what made you invite him to your house for lunch in the first place. It didn’t go unnoticed to you how most times you end up back in his flat and, as much as he repeats how he enjoys your presence there, it doesn’t stop you from feeling the slightest bit self-conscious about it. 

“Shit.” Harry mutters under his breath, his fingers tapping swiftly on the screen, a frown deepening on his face.

Raising your brows, you wait a second before speaking up, afraid of interrupting whatever it is that has him alarmed, “Everything alright?”

“Julia’s making dinner tonight.” He replies, eyes scanning the device in his hands before sighing. “Completely forgot.”

“Oh. Is it, like-” You pause, glancing down at your phone that’s left forgotten in your lap, pressing the home button to check the time. The screen lights up, letting you know it’s just around six, meaning Harry’s been over for just about seven hours now. “Shit, I’m so sorry, didn’t mean to keep you-”

“Don’t apologize.” He locks his phone, shooting a reassuring smile your way. “My fault, really. Just completely slipped off my mind.”

You nod, watching him gnawn at his bottom lip, brows meeting in a frown as he gets deep in thought. Parting your lips. You don’t let any word out at first, afraid that if you do, he’ll remember it's time for him to go back. There’s a selfish voice in your head that wants to ask him to stay a bit longer, to not part ways yet, to just call off on this dinner. But you know better than to say any of it out loud, opting to suck in your lips instead, as if the words could just slip out without your consent.

Harry sighs, and you can’t help but let your shoulders fall, knowing what’s coming. “I should get going.” He picks up his empty glass, pocketing his phone as he stands with a huff. “Julia’s not very happy that I’m late.” He chuckles. “Again.”

Laughing, you get up from your chair as well, patting the back of your thighs as you feel your skin a bit sore from sitting for so long. Before you can answer him, however, your attention snaps towards the opened door leading to your kitchen, as a small figure comes rushing towards you. You feel the soft fur against your legs before you can properly register the pup circling you. Once you realize what’s going on, as the familiar black spaniel greets you, you freeze in your spot, glancing from the dog that now jumps excitedly on Harry’s legs to the door where he came from.

“You didn’t tell me you had a pup.” Harry smiles, his voice getting a higher pitch as he kneels to pet behind his ears. “Hey buddy, where did you come from?”

“I don’t.” You reply, walking towards the house as you search for the owner who’s likely already found her spot in the kitchen.

“Huh?” You hear from behind you as you stride towards the house. 

Surely, as predicted, you spot her hiding halfway inside your fridge, back turned to you. You notice how Bella’s blonde locks are way shorter since last time you saw her — now stopping just above her shoulders. As surprised as you are, you don’t comment on it, simply staring at your intruder of a friend as you try to figure the situation in hand. 

This isn't exactly how you’d planned to introduce Harry to your friend group. Well, shit.

Bella doesn’t pay any mind to you at first, but certainly senses your presence as she speaks out from over her shoulder. “Hey, did you not buy any more greek yo- Oh.” She stops as she turns, just in time when Harry walks in with the dog cradled in his arms. Her eyes jump between the two of you as she pushes the fridge’s door to a close. “Hi.”

“Hello.” You shoot her a look.

Harry puts the pet down, “Hi.”

“Uhm,” You stand awkwardly, playing with the rings hugging your fingers. Bella raises her brows in a silent question and you sigh. It’s not like you can do anything now. “Harry, this is my friend, Bella. Bella, this is Harry.” You motion your arms between them as you introduce one another.

Harry clears his throat. And you can only suppose how confused he must be, considering you mentioned nothing about a friend visiting today. But it’s not like you were aware of it, either. Bellas and you are at that point in your friendship in which you don’t find the need to announce your visits anymore, simply making yourselves at home every time both of you are in town.

He glances at you for a second, before nodding at your friend. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” She grins politely. There’s a beat of quietness that no one really knows what to say next, and you can feel a silent pressure for you to break it. When you don’t, Bella points vaguely to a spot behind her, “Uh, I can come back tomorrow…”

Your lips part as you try to stop her, but before you can do so, Harry beats you to it.“You don’t have to, really. I was just leaving, actually.” He scratches his nose. “I don’t mean to intrude on anything you two have planned…” 

“Oh, no, that’s not it!” Bella rushes.

“We have nothing planned.” You assure him, glancing between your friends. “Bella just comes to visit whenever she’s in London.”

“Yeah, I was the one interrupting.” She backs you up, clicking her tongue. “Should’ve called first.”

"That's okay.” You tell her.

“Well, I hope you two enjoy the rest of your day, then.” Harry nods, eyes meeting yours as he mutters, “I really need to get going.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” You say, “I’ll take you to the door.”

With one last wave to Bella, he follows you as you guide the way towards the front door. You open it for Harry, allowing him to step out first before you let it close behind you — as to avoid the dog from running out. Leaning back against it, you shoot him a small smile.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know she was coming.” You point back. “She has the keys so…”

“That’s fine.” He reassures, hands hiding inside the pocket of his jeans. There’s a second of silence, as you two just enjoy each other’s presence for a little before having to bid your goodbyes. You can’t help but let your eyes fall to his shirt once again — although being a simple white tee, the words I spread like strawberries embroidered to it have been haunting you all afternoon. Once your eyes move up again, you don’t find his, as he glances down at his shoes, a cute reddish tone painting the apple of his cheeks. When he speaks up, he peaks up at you from under his lashes, “I had a lovely time, as usual.”

“Me too.” You bite down a smile, tilting your head. “As usual.”

He nods, looking over his shoulder before back at you. Chewing down the side of his lip, he asks, “I’ll see you?”

You try to think of a date to give him, knowing as summer progresses your schedule will only get tighter with the studio sessions. “Uhm, probably sometime at the end of the week, maybe? I’m a bit busy, but I’ll let you know.”

“Alright.” He nods, staring for a second before stepping forward to embrace you into a hug. “Take care, love.” His words come out a bit muffled as he squishes his face on the crook of your neck.

You giggle as the strands of his hair tickle the side of your face. “You too, H.” 

Pulling away, he steps backward, pointing at you in a playful warning. “Still owe me a lemon tart.”

“Gotcha.”

Taking a deep breath, you watch for a bit longer as he walks away, waving a last goodbye before disappearing back inside your house. You give yourself a moment to prepare for the wave of questions waiting for you as soon as you step back into the kitchen. 

You find Bella twirling on a stool propped next to the island, spoon in her mouth and an open package of greek yogurt sitting on the counter. As soon as you walk in, she stops, pulling the spoon out as her brows shoot towards her hairline. She doesn’t wait a second before questioning, “So…” A smirk grows on her face and she points vaguely with her spoon to a spot behind you. “Harry?”

You groan, taking a seat next to her. “You were not supposed to walk in on that.”

“Well, I’m sorry! How was I supposed to know?”

“I don’t know, maybe try calling?”

“I never call before coming here.” She challenges, and it’s true. Picking a spoonful of yogurt and shoving into her mouth, she watches you for a second. You simply glance back, aware of her expectant stare attempting to pry you to speak up first. You watch her swallow, lips quirking as you refuse to give what she wants. She raises her brows again, this time voicing her question, “Is he…?”

You shake your head at her implication. “No, he’s… A friend.”

“That was a pause.”

“Well, he was my ex before he was my friend.”

“An ex? Is he-” Bella frowns for a bit and you can almost see the wheels inside her head turning. “Holy shit! Is he The Harry?”

Now it’s your turn to form a crease between your brows, confused. You don’t recall ever mentioning Harry to her. “Don’t know what you mean by The Harry, but, yes, he was my first boyfriend.”

“You’ve told me about him before.”

“Have I?” You blink at her. “When?”

She thinks for a second before pointing the spoon in her hand at you.“Yes! It was in one of your Halloween parties- actually, right after it.” She looks over at you, only to find a confused expression still settled on your face. “The one we had a sleepover, and I broke your lamp.”

“That was two years ago, yeah, I remember.” As much as your Halloween parties have a tendency of meshing together in your memory (as they’re mostly the same apart from one or two remarkable occurrences), this one in particular you remember quite well as it was the first time Bella slept over at your house. In the middle of the night, she knocked on your room to ask you if she could sleep with you. Her words were coming mumbled because of the alcohol still affecting her bloodstream. The two of you barely slept a tick that night, as you spent hours whispering stories to each other and, at one point, she got so excited as she was telling you about some sort of vacation she had taken (you don’t remember it that well) that she elbowed your lamp causing it to shatter as it fell. You try to rack your brain to find any recollection of mentioning Harry that day, but all that comes to you is the two of you falling into a fit of giggles when you told her about a past hookup of yours. This only causes your frown to deepen. “The party, I mean. I don’t remember mentioning Harry.”

“You were drunk.” She shoves her spoon inside the yogurt as she speaks. “Was sitting at one of the patio chairs, scrolling down on your Instagram page and you saw a picture of him, think you said it was his sister’s profile? I don’t know. But you were whiny for like an hour because of it.”

“What?” So it was at the party? You have a flash of panic, wondering who else was there to hear you whine over your ex boyfriend. “I have absolutely no recollection of this.”

“It was cute, really.” She tries to comfort you, still focusing on her pot of dairy. “You didn’t say much- you weren’t making a lot of sense, really, but I remember you saying he was the first person you were in love with. Didn’t know he was your first boyfriend.”

You fall back into your seat. “Yeah… That’s him.”

“How long were you together?” Bella glances back at you, brows peaking in curiosity. 

“Almost four years.”

“What?” Her eyes bulge. “How come you never told me that?”

“Don’t know, was a bit of a sensitive topic, I guess.” You know it was. The only reason why you refrained from mentioning him to anyone for a long time was because of the tightness in your chest that followed the sound of his name. “But yeah, we started dating right after his fourteenth birthday.” The memory comes to you as a smile. “His birthday’s in February and he asked me on Valentine’s day, was really cute. I don’t think anyone thought it would last that long at the time.”

“That’s super sweet.” She whines, her shoulders falling as she huffs. “Ugh, I hate love.”

You chuckle. “Same.” 

“So you broke up when you were, what, eighteen?”

“Yup.” 

“Was it because of distance and stuff?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” You think back to the time you two started drifting apart, a thought you haven’t revisited in a long time. “We were already very distant even when we were together.” Shrugging, you try to push back the heaviness in your chest. “Guess we were just meant to go different ways.”

"That's poetic.” She nods. You assume she’s noticed the way your voice has taken a lower tone, as her own grows a pitch, shoving you as she tries to cheer you up. “But now you’re together again!”

Breathing out a laugh, you roll your eyes slightly. “We’re friends.”

“Right.” She doesn’t sound convinced. “But, you know, you went each your own way and somehow crossed paths again. Do you know what that’s called?”

You close your eyes, already familiar with your friend’s antics. “Bella…”

“Fate.”

“Oh my god.” You shake your head at her, hoping she doesn’t notice the blush that creeps up your neck.

“I’m just saying, if I were you, I wouldn’t let this opportunity escape.” She bites down her empty spoon to hide the smirk that grows on her lips. The way her brows wiggle before she says anything allows you to prepare for what's to come. “I mean, with all due respect, he is very fine.”

“I knew it was coming.” You pucker your lips to avert from smiling, trying to seem casual before confessing, “But yes, he looks really good.”

“The long hair? The tattoos? Girl!” Her eyes widen. “If he wasn’t your ex, I would’ve been saying some really inappropriate stuff right now.”

You groan, hiding your face behind your hands. “Please, don’t.”

“I said ‘would’!” She emphasizes the word as she tries to pull your hands away from covering your eyes. “I’m only thinking about it, relax.”

Rolling your eyes again, you nod towards her half-empty pot. “Eat your yogurt.”

//

The air inside the flat somehow is warmer than the outdoors. The large windows opposite the kitchen are wide open to have some sort of breeze flowing around to relieve the heat coming from the stove. A generic scent of fried dough dances around the small space with it. It’s one that Harry recognizes from past times that Julia’s made the dish, and it makes his mouth water as soon as he steps inside.

Julia’s at her spot in the kitchen taking care of the food, her back turned to him as she bumps her hips along with the beat of a song he doesn’t recognize. Next to her, Harry recognizes Mitch’s back reaching for the small pile of plates inside the cabinet with Blake standing right behind (he assumes because she’d asked for his help with the task, considering she usually has a hard time reaching the last shelves). 

Their voices mesh together as they seem too lost in their conversation to notice Harry’s arrival. Right as the door clicks closed, however, Blake takes the plates from Mitch’s hands, turning to catch Harry right as he toes-off his shoes.

“Look who’s decided to show up!” She speaks up, calling the attention of both friends that still stood oblivious of the boy that now sports a guilty smile. Blake raises her brows at him, setting the plates on top of the island counter. “For what do we owe this honor?”

“Finally!” Julia barges before Harry can even start with the apology he went over in his head during the entire tube ride. “I was completely outnumbered in this discussion. Tell them that our plates are nice!”

He stops right by the edge of the kitchen tiles, furrowing his brows at his friends’ request. “What?”

Harry tries to search for an explanation from Mitch, who simply leans back onto the counter with his arms crossed, and an amused smirk painting his lips as he nods towards Julia.

The girl has turned back to the stove, a colander spoon in her hand moving the pastries around inside the pan filled with oil. She huffs before she explains, eyes trained on the stove, “They’re being incredibly rude, calling our plates tacky!”

Without even looking at the plates in question, Harry chuckles. “Oh, is it the floral ones?”

He confirms his assumptions when glancing at the dishes set on top of the island counter. The collection was sent by her parents around the new years after her visit for the holidays — she’d told them about how they cracked most their dishes at the edges and they sent in a full set as a replacement. And, as much as both of them found the action heartwarming ly thoughtful, they both had a good laugh upon opening the box when it first came in. 

Because they were, after all, a bit tacky. 

Each has its edges painted with a different color, with matching roses circling around it. To make matters worse, the center of them have each a different phrase. Harry couldn’t make sense to them at first, as they’re written in Portuguese, but from what Julia’s translated it doesn’t go far from those catchphrases you can find at the Live, Laugh, Love side of Pinterest.

That’s something Julia very openly makes fun of her parents about; what she says is their lack of taste for just about everything. And Harry was very aware of the fact, not only by the way she teases them to no end about it but also by her choices of presents to send back home (for instance, that god awful umbrella -- may it rest in pieces). With their time together as flatmates, it’s almost become somewhat of an inside joke between the two of them. 

But, as much as both of them have taken the piss about it before, they still have a fondness heavily attached to them. So it’s understandable Julia’s annoyance at their friends’ tease, especially when both bark into laughs at Harry’s question.

“You’re not helping!” Julia throws him a look from over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to confirm!” Harry raises his hands in surrender as he watches the girl roll her eyes before focusing back on the pan in front of her. He pulls one stool next to the one Blake’s taken for herself, sitting on it before glancing down at the dish in front of him. He spins it slightly with the tip of his finger, watching the yellow roses move with it. “But Jul’s right, stop attacking our plates.”

“I wasn’t attacking them, if I have any right to a replica.” Mitch moves from his spot to take the stool in front of Harry. “If I recall correctly, I even said they were very charming.”

“Your sarcasm doesn’t impress me, Rowland,” Julia replies from her spot, not looking back. “Just say they're ugly already! Since you guys hate them so much!”

Blake shoots Harry a knowing look, a smile poking at her lips from being too used to her girlfriend’s dramatics. She pushes her stool back, standing before she walks over towards the grumpy girl who’s now focusing on taking out the pastries and laying them on a trail that’s covered with napkins. Embracing her from behind, she presses a kiss between Julia’s shoulder blades before whispering something just for her to hear.

Harry watches them for a second, not helping the part of him that wishes he could have someone like they do. It verges a tragedy, he thinks, to be a hopeless romantic and not be in love.

"Food is ready!" Julia speaks up, her voice this time taking a higher pitch. Harry doesn’t miss the look the couple exchanges before finding their seats across from each other.

Julia sets the trail in the center. The pastries take a half-circle shape and are organized neatly in two rolls, their golden crust looking very appealing, making Harry realize how hungry he actually is.

“So, explain to me,” Mitch begins, nodding towards the dish. “What are those guys?”

“These, my dear, are called pastel- you know, like the color shade,” Julia explains, picking up one of them. “They’re basically, like, a pastry. You can stuff them with anything you want, really. I made the most common ones which are cheese- the ones on this roll- and meat.” She points to the rolls showing where each one line. “We usually have them as, like, a snack, but I was really missing them so I made it for dinner. And we also eat it with sugarcane juice, but y’all don’t have it here,” She shakes her head. “Tasteless.”

“Sugarcane juice?” Mitch raises his brows.

Julia goes into one of her rants that Harry’s heard about a hundred times before by now — the ones that come up every time she talks about her country, which he finds rather cute how passionate she gets when talking about her culture. His head shuts off for a bit, though, already knowing the information by heart, as he focuses on his groaning stomach. 

For a moment, they just eat while having more of a casual chat. Julia rambles for a good portion of it about her life back home, and, soon enough, they all share their own experiences that make them miss their hometowns. It makes for a nice bonding experience, four people from different spots in the world that found themselves in London at the same time. All sharing a meal as they recall the parts of them they left behind when they choose to leave. For a moment, Harry forgets all about the apology he’d rehearsed on the way back from your house. 

It doesn’t even slip into his mind how he escaped any sort of immediate interrogation about his whereabouts. He’s even naïve enough to think that maybe Julia’s even forgotten about it as well, thanks to the plates’ discussion. 

Harry soon finds himself to be wrong, though. And the worst of it all, it catches him completely off guard.

The group has just quietened down from a story Mitch’s told from back in the days he used to work in a pizza place. Blake’s just offered to clean up the dishes, standing from her stool as she collects the plates. Harry hands her his, glancing at her as he mutters a quick ‘thank you’. He doesn’t notice the way Julia stares at him, eyes narrowed and lips puckering, as she leans into the counter. It only calls his attention once she speaks up, her words coming out slow but almost calculated, as if she’s been thinking about voicing them for a while, “So, H, are you gonna tell us what’s up?”

He doesn’t realize what she’s referring to at first, only furrowing his brows in his confusion. “Huh?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me, Styles, you’re hiding something.” She points at him and that’s when he realizes, breath hitching on his throat. “And I think that something’s actually a someone, so spill.”

He hears Blake chuckling from her spot at the sink. “Guess we’re going straight to the point, then.”

Harry tries to even his breath, holding back the urge to bite down at his bottom lip as not to show he’s nervous. “What makes you think that?”

Julia grins as if she’s been waiting for him to ask that. “Well, should we go over the list? You suddenly have a life outside, barely stay at home, you’re almost always late to hang out— and that’s coming from me, a Brazilian- oh! You’ve also been baking?” She puts out a finger at each topic on the list, emphasizing the last word as if it’s the most absurd concept to grasp. “And I caught you taking a selfie the other night, which would be odd on itself if I wasn’t sure that you sent it to someone right after.”

Harry nods slowly. “Okay. You kept a list.”

“So?”

“I-” He feels himself panicking, not knowing how to explain himself. On one hand, he hates lying, especially to people he loves. He also knows how upset Julia gets when people lie to her, considering honesty is one attribute she values the most in a person. So the prospect of not only going against one of his own principles but also letting down one of his closest friends, almost makes him sick. But he gave you his word that he would not tell anyone until you were ready to do so. And he wants to keep his word and respect your wishes, knowing that if he doesn’t, it could mean losing everything he’s gotten back these past months. It could mean losing you. So for a moment, he stays there, lips parted but not saying anything. There’s gotta be some sort of middle ground.  “There’s… Someone, and-”

A loud thud comes as Blake drops one plate inside the sink, turning around with wide eyes and soapy hands. “What?”

“I knew it!” Julia slaps her hand on the counter as she exclaims, her mouth dropping in the shape of an ‘O’. “I knew it! How do you get a girlfriend without mentioning it to me? I thought we were friends?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Harry blurts out.

“How could you keep this from us?” Blake comes to stand behind her girlfriend, her face still wide in shock before she turns to Mitch. “Did you know about this?”

“I did not have any involvement in this, no.”

Julia continues her inquiry, “Who is it?”

“Jul-”

She interrupts Harry before he can properly form a word, “Is it that girl from work? The one that had a crush on you? What’s her name again-”

“Julia, please.”

“Alice!” She snaps her finger, her grin widening as she looks at him as if she just solved an enigma. “It's her, isn’t it? Did you finally make a move? Oh my god.”

“I- It’s-” Harry’s fully panicking now, eyes moving quickly between his friends as they stare at him, waiting for a confirmation. Is this the middle ground he wanted? No, he thinks to himself. This will only make things worse. He should just say he wants to keep it private for now. It would annoy them, sure, but they’d have to understand, right? It’s the rational thing to do. But Harry’s not working with rationality at the moment, and his mouth works before his brain does, “Y-yeah, it’s her.”

Blake gasps. “Harry!”

“I can’t believe you!” 

He needs to fix this. “We’re not dating.” 

“Yet.” She points before squealing, reaching a hand over her shoulder to hold Blake’s wet ones while placing her other over her heart. “Look at you! They grow so fast…”

“Please, don’t.”

“Babe, let him breathe for a bit.” Blake breaks her hand from her girlfriend’s grasp, reaching for a napkin and using it to dry her hands. She smiles at him, “I would like to see a picture of her, though.”

Before he has the chance to answer, Julia’s already talking, “You should’ve invited her to come today! There’s enough food-”

“No, it’s… Uh, it’s not like that.” Harry tries to come up with something to explain himself as not to dig a deeper hole than he already has put himself in.

Blake frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Just-” He pauses, glancing between his friends. They all show different stages of confusion. “We’re taking things slow.”

Julia rolls her eyes, “Harry, you’re already the slowest person I know.” She states as a matter-of-fact, shaking her head at him. “With your pace, we’re getting this relationship announcement in five years.”

He huffs, the insistence annoying him a bit. Maybe it’s because he knows the more they keep this subject, the deeper the hole he can get himself in. So he simply avoids feeding more into it, choosing to ask her instead,  “Why are you so obsessed with the idea of me in a relationship?” His eyes meet Blake’s in a silent plea for an intervention.

“Because I want to have cute double dates!” Julia whines.

Mitch deadpans, “What’s this, then?”

“Okay! We have desert!” Blake seems to find her cue to barge in, clapping her hands together before continuing, “And it’s made of chocolate!”

Harry smiles at her, shooting her a look of gratitude. “Chocolate sounds perfect.”

“Sounds marvelous,” Mitch adds.

Julia, however, is not dumb. She narrows her eyes slightly. “You guys are changing the subject.”

Her girlfriend barely bats an eye at her statement, though, only squeezing her shoulder gently, “Babe, why don’t you tell Mitch about brigadeiro? I’m sure he’ll love to hear it.”

The girl sighs, shooting Harry another knowing look before giving up on the subject for the time being. He only gives her a small smile, watching as she begins to tell Mitch all about desert. 

Well, he really dug himself a hole with this one.

//

Harry loves Sundays.

This is funny enough of a statement, considering how he used to despise it when he was younger. Back when he knew it meant that he’d have to be up early the next day to walk the cracked sidewalk leading to his school, fighting to keep his eyelids halfway open. The entire day would feel like a countdown (just eight more hours until the weekend’s over!). The only thing that made the day the slightest bit enjoyable was that he used to visit his nan every Sunday right after breakfast. He still remembers how he and his cousins would sit in front of the telly with their toys scattered around them, the entire house adorned with the scent of vanilla.

He’s not sure exactly when the switch of opinion for the day happened, but he knows that you’re one of the main reasons for it. Sunday’s were your days. They were the only days in which you were sure to be free from babysitting duties with your sister, hence why there was a silent agreement that settled between both of you to spend it together. So you reserved Sundays for the two of you. And Harry’s sure some of his fondest memories with you happened on a Sunday.

So it was hard not to love the day when it brought you to him every time.

Although years have passed, his attachment to the day hasn’t faded. Especially now, when you seem to fit back into his Sundays just as perfectly as you used to. 

The cafe smells just like his nan’s house used to when he first walks in - the only major difference being the scent of coffee that meshes with the vanilla in the air. It’s the third time he comes with you here and, just like the previous ones, there’s a surprisingly low movement for it being mid-morning. Most of the customers that frequent it, as you’d informed him the first time you took him there, are elders. There’s a couple right at the door enjoying the cloudless day at the chess table that’s carefully prompted just outside the cafe that bids good morning as the younger pair passes by, not paying much attention to them. Meanwhile, inside, the other four or five customers that sit scattered around the armchairs barely bat an eye towards them as they walk in, focusing only on their newspapers or crossword magazines that sit in front of them as they quietly sip on their drinks.

Despite you not sharing loads with him regarding your public image, from what he could gather, it’s clear how much you value your privacy. So it’s easy to understand why you enjoy coming here, as your presence comes and goes as just another one. 

And he quite enjoys it too, especially noticing how carefree you get in a space you’re comfortable with. Usually, on other few occasions, the two of you go out to public spaces that you’re not as used to, it’s clear how alert you are, even if you’re enjoying yourself. You limit yourself to plain clothes to not call any attention, always with what’s become your signature big sunglasses shielding part of your face -- you even wore them when you went to the cinema to which, although Harry understood the reason for, he didn’t refrain from teasing you about it. 

But today, you abandoned the hoodies and large shirts in various shades of grey. Harry knows the riskiest part of your day in being recognized would be the short walk from his building to the cafe. Still, that thankfully didn’t stop you from going back to your usual wardrobe. Instead, you’re wearing a white dress with red stripes lining along your curves, the skirt flowing all the way down your calves, showing the white sneakers covering your feet. The sunglasses are still present, of course, but you quickly push them up as soon as you walk inside.

Harry watches for a second as your eyes scan the menu written on the wall behind the counter, chuckling to himself as he knows you’re still going for the same order as usual. Before you can step closer to voice your order, however, he says, “Go find a table, I’ll get your order.”  You glance up at Harry, brows shooting up, challenging. “Medium iced coffee and a chocolate muffin.” He grins proudly as he recites your order. “Anything else?”

“No, that's it.” You bite back a smile. “You’re not paying for me, though.”

Of course, you’re insisting, he thinks, already shaking his head. “You paid last time and the time before that and, if I recall correctly, you didn’t let me have a say in it when I tried to intervene in either of them.” Harry pokes your side, nodding towards the table area. “So, go get a table. I’ll be right there.”

Narrowing your eyes at him, you stay silent for a beat, clearly debating whether to keep insisting. “Fair enough.” You sigh, walking backward as you point at him. “But I’m paying next time.”

Chuckling, he keeps his eyes on you for a tick longer to catch where you’ve sat, his face warming the slightest bit once you throw him a wink as you settle back in the chair. Once he places the orders for the both of you, he notices some drawings stuck to the wall behind the counter as he waits for them to be done with. They all have a clear childlike trace to them, some more than others, and Harry assumes the more abstract one must’ve been done by a younger child. He smiles to himself, finding it an adorable addition to the place, even if it could easily go unnoticed by an inattentive eye.

“They’re from my granddaughter.” The barista smiles at Harry as he places two cups on top of the counter, nodding back towards the artwork that caught his attention. “Just turned eight. Loves drawing.”

“They look lovely.” 

“This one, actually,” The barista points to one that seems to be more recent, as it’s stuck on top of the others. It shows what looks like two girls holding hands; a smaller one holding a heart on her free hand, and a taller one with a star on top of her head. The man nods to a spot over Harry’s shoulder, “It’s her and your friend, she’s a big fan.”

“Really?” Harry’s lips part in surprise. “That’s very sweet.”

“It’s how I found out she was known.” The man lets out a low laugh, opening the display to reach for a muffin. “Millie was proper mad that I didn’t know who she was when she came to visit, but your friend was a sweet thing, signed her shirt and everything.”

Harry smiles at the story. “Sounds like her.”

“Sure does, seems like a lovely lady.” The man’s attention gets called as the front door opens with a ding. He shoots Harry one last smile, “Duty calls. Enjoy your coffee.”

Harry reaches for the cups with one hand, picking up your pastry with the other. “You too, have a good one.” He feels the words slip before he can register them and, as he realizes his mistake, he quickly turns to head for the table, eyes wide and a blush tainting his cheeks.

You lock your phone, setting it down as soon as Harry approaches the table. He sees a grin twitching on your lips as you glance up at him and he avoids your gaze, knowing it’ll only worsen the warmth on his face.

“What’s got you all flustered?” You ask, your voice verging a laugh.

“Stop.” He scratches his nose in a nervous tick. “Just told that man to enjoy his coffee.”

“Oh, no.” You burst into a fit of giggles and he peeks up at you, holding back a laugh himself as he shakes his head — he loves making you laugh. “C’mon, H, everyone does that. I’m sure he didn’t even notice.”

“Still embarrassing.”

“Just a bit.” Biting down at your bottom lip, you squint your eyes, pushing the muffin towards him. “Here, have a bite, you’ll forget all your problems.”

He breathes out another laugh, reaching to pick a piece of the sweet before shoving it into his mouth. Soon enough, his embarrassment gets lost in conversation, the rosy tone on his cheeks no longer making themselves present from shame but from laughing too hard from something you say. You two get lost in your little bubble for a good while, taking your time sipping on your drinks. Every so often, Harry steals a bite from your muffin — at first, he does it just to have a piece, but once he gets a reaction out of you, eyes narrowing at him adorably as you scrunch your nose in feign anger, he does it just to watch you.

There’s no better way of learning about you than watching, he’s found. One of the biggest changes that he noticed upon getting close to you again, is how you seem to have closed up in a way. And it’s difficult to catch on. He figures that someone who didn’t know you years ago probably doesn’t even realize how much of yourself you keep bottled up. You’re a rambler, that much is easy to pick up. But Harry’s realized that as much as that part of you remains intact, your chatters become much more superficial. You talk about specific events and memories but always narrate it as if you were a mere expectant. You rarely go into detail about your personal life all that much.

Apart from the day you were drunk on his bathtub, he’s barely got a glimpse of feelings regarding him. 

So, he resorts to picking up those bits and pieces you let escape without realizing. He enjoys noticing you (and he’s aware that’s a bit creepy of him, but he can’t help it). How you mention you light a candle before going to sleep cause it helps calm you down. How you refer to your friends with the fondest smile picking up on your lips (but also how you let slip out you only have a person or two that are close to you because getting to know new people makes you anxious). How you always smile at dogs whenever you are — sometimes you even wave at them. How you have the habit of circling your drink in your hand when you’re comfortable, much like you’re doing right now.

The last one always warms his chest. He’s realized you only do it when you let your guard down, allowing yourself to get lost in your world without having to be alert all the time. For all you know, the world outside this small table could’ve stopped spinning and neither of you would notice.

Maybe it’s why you don’t pay any mind to the two teenage girls that enter the cafe. Not until both of them stand right next to the table.

It’s the call of your name that snaps you out of your head. The girls barely blink as they stare down at you, their mouths agape in shock as they hold each other’s hands. “Is it you?”

Harry thinks there’s a flash of panic in your eyes, but it’s gone as soon as it comes. You smile as you stand, and he doesn’t fail to notice the way you turn your body slightly to shield him. “Last time I checked, that would be me, yes!” You chuckle. “What are your names?”

“I’m Lauren.” The taller one speaks up, her hand clutching her phone so tightly her knuckles are almost white. She looks down at the other one who simply stands there, wide eyes not leaving your figure for even a second. Once the other says nothing else, Lauren answers the question for her. “And she’s Georgia. She’s a bit nervous cause she’s a big fan.”

“That’s very sweet, thank you so much.” You tilt your head a bit. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“You too,” Georgia says, her voice trembling and the hold on her friend’s hand. “Uhm, do- could we- if it’s not too much of a bother, could we get a picture with you?”

“Uhm, I don’t think it’s the best time right now, I’m sorry, loves.” Your voice is soft as you talk to them, but it quickly takes a more joyous tone as you suggest, “But I’d love to sign something for you if you’d like?”

“Yeah, if you can! If not, it’s okay, really.” Georgia nods, the words all but stumble out of her mouth. “Sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s no problem at all! It’s a pleasure to get to meet both of you.” 

Harry tries to watch discreetly as not to call any attention to himself, recalling what you once said about not wanting headlines of the two of you. So he only peeks up when you turn to fetch a pen from inside your bag, meeting your eyes for a second before you turn your attention back to the young fans. You chat with them for a little as you sign their phone cases, and he can’t help the tug in his heart at seeing you being so attentive to them.

“There we go.” You say as you hand Lauren her phone.

“Thank you so much!” Georgia exclaims, and even from his spot, Harry can make out a glossiness in her eyes. You pull her into a hug. “You’re really, like, one of my favorite people.”

“I’m honored.” You giggle as you back away, giving her friend a hug as well. Softening your voice once again, you keep a gentle hold to the girl’s shoulder, “Just one more thing, I’m sorry to have to ask you that but, would you mind not posting about this location?”

“Of course!” They say in unison, and Georgia is quick to add, “I wasn’t planning to!”

“Thank you for understanding.” You nod with a smile. “It was really lovely meeting the two of you! Hope we get to see each other again. Enjoy your day.”

The girls bid their goodbyes to you, and you give them one last wave before retaking your seat. Harry observes how you keep an eye on them for a beat longer before meeting his gaze, an apologetic expression adorning your face.

“That was sweet.” 

You sigh, “That was unexpected.”

“Thought that kinda thing happened a lot.”

“It does, just-” You pause, frowning your lips slightly. “Never happened in here.”

You tap your fingers against the wood of the table in a nervous tick, bringing your other hand to your mouth as you bite down on the nail of your thumb. It’s clear how alarmed you’ve gotten now that the girls are gone, eyes scanning every bit of the room. Looking anywhere but to Harry’s own worried ones. He doesn’t need to be able to read minds to know that yours is probably rushing right now from a simple glance at your face.

He reaches for your hand on top of the table to call your attention. Once you snap your gaze back on his, you let your shoulders relax a bit. He gives your hand a gentle squeeze, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah! It’s just…” You try to brush his worry off, glancing back at the entrance before sighing again. “Do you think we could take this back to your place? Is Julia there?”

He shakes his head to your last question, “Of course, it’s not that far, anyway.”

“Thank you.” Your expression softens as you move to gather your belongings hanging from the back of your seat. “I’m sorry, I always do this.” Your shoulders fall, the edge of your lips frowning down.

“Hey, how many times do I have to tell you?” He bumps his arm against yours as both of you stand to get you to relax. “You don’t have to apologize, I understand.”

“I appreciate it.” You nod, but the crease between your brows doesn’t ease. “I just want to avoid a possible mob in case they end up posting about the location.” 

Harry tries to ignore the way his heart drops at your words. He wonders how many times you’ve been caught in a situation like this that ended up badly. “I get it.” 

The way back to his building is much different than when you were coming to the cafe a few hours ago. It’s noticeable that you’re tense as soon as you step outside, the sunglasses earning a permanent spot on your face for the time being. Even with your eyes covered, however, Harry still notices how you take in your surroundings almost cautiously. He tries to bump his hips against yours every time you do it, trying to distract you from your worries. It helps, as you shoot him a smile every time, bumping your hips back.

Screams from a nearby park call both your attention as you get closer to his building. As the day approaches the late hours of the morning, people have decided to enjoy the rare dose of sunlight that gave a break to the frequent rainfalls that cloud the city. On the other side of the road, children run around in a playground as their parents watch them from near benches. A few runners make their laps on the sidewalk lining the edge of the block as well as dog-walkers that take more of a stride sort of walk.

“Such a nice day.” You say, glancing down at the floor ahead to allow your hair to cover a bit more of your face. “It’s a shame we have to go back inside.” 

It breaks his heart to hear the way your voice takes a lower tone. He tries to meet your eyes, “Can tell you’re beating yourself up about things out of your control.” Harry pitches your arm, his next words coming out in a playful warning, stretching the word as to get you to smile.  “Stop it.”

“I can’t help it.” You let out a humorless laugh, coming to a stop at a corner to wait for a red light so you can cross. He looks down at you, but you keep your gaze trained ahead. “It is kind of my fault, you know?”

Harry frowns. “Except it’s not.”

“Thank you for trying to make me feel better about it.” You give him a small smile, shaking your head. “But in a way, it is. I know it is. And I don’t mean to complain about it or anything! Cause I’m aware of how privileged I am to get to live my dream and all that… It just-” You shrug. “It’s not always a field of flowers, I guess.”

“You’re allowed to not love every second of it, doesn’t make you ungrateful.” He argues, his hand meeting your shoulder as he gently turns you to face him. “Especially when it comes to all this privacy stuff, you deserve to have your space.”

“I know that but...Well, I signed up for it, you know? I knew my life would never be just mine once I started getting big.” You adjust the glasses on your face. Harry’s close enough that, if he focuses, he can see your eyes under the dark lenses. “And in a way, I’m used to it now, I’ve learned how to live with it.” You sigh, frowning at your lips. “What makes me uneasy when stuff like this happens- what makes me want to keep a low profile when we’re out, it’s not to protect me. It’s to protect you.”

Him? “Me?”

“Yeah…” Your voice is small, almost shy as the confession leaves your lips. Clearing your throat, you avert your eyes down as you quick some loose pieces of concrete from the sidewalk. “It’s the same with my parents or to Lyla or anyone that doesn’t have a life like mine.” You explain in a rush, trying to cover the timidity that warms your cheeks. But when you continue, it’s still clear in your tone, as the words come from your lips in almost a shame, “You don’t deserve to be exposed to all of it just because you’re part of my life. It’s not fair to you.”

It takes Harry a second to let it sink in. To understand the whole reason behind your uneasiness when going out. Why you’re so adamant about keeping your ties to him a secret. Why you try to separate him from your public side.

All this time. You’re doing it to protect him.

There’s no denial of how the confession brings a tightness to his chest. He knows it’s not what you mean to do. But he can’t help it when you sound as if you could be a burden in his life — when, in reality, it couldn’t be the furthest away from the truth. So his shoulders lump as he watches you keep your gaze away from his again, lips frowning down as he uses every ounce of self-control within himself to not pull you to him.

Instead, he ducks his head, trying to find your eyes under the lenses of your glasses. When he speaks up, his words are soft, to embrace you in a way he can’t physically, “Is this why you get so stressed about going out in public? Why you asked me to not tell anyone?” You look up at him at the question and he adds, “To protect me?”

“Of course.” You reply as if it was obvious all along. “W- Did you think it was… Something else?”

“I-I don’t know.” From his peripheral vision, he can see cars coming to a halt as the streetlight turns red, but neither of you makes a move to keep walking. The world around doesn’t matter right now. “I think I just assumed you didn’t want the media assuming…” He motions vaguely with his hand. “Anything.”

“Well, yes, to protect you from that.”

“You-” He shakes his head incredulously. There’s no denial of the bouquet of butterflies that bloom on his stomach at the prospect of you wanting to protect him. At how you say it as if it’s obvious that you’d do it in the first place. Almost treating it as if it’s your duty to do so. But he also can’t help but feel the slightest bit of guilt from it, knowing how this is the main reason that gets you anxious when you’re together. His hand reaches for your shoulder again, caressing it in silent gratitude as his expression softens, “You don’t have to do that, to stress yourself because of me. Do you know that?” 

“But I do.” You’re quick to argue. “You don’t know what it’s like, H. People are brutal. I won’t have them pestering you. I won’t have that.” There’s a clear quiver in your voice at the last few words, and Harry has to fight back the lump on his own throat at the sound of it.

“Love-”

You push up your sunglasses so you can fully glance up at him, “I’m serious.” Your eyes are set, stern, as you lock them on his. But they’re also getting glossy at the edges. “I won’t let them get to you too.” You whisper.

“It’s not your duty, love.” Harry insists, hating how you’re clearly beating yourself up for it. “I can take care of myself in case anything happens.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” The smile that tugs on your lips is weak, and you shake your head. “If you knew what it would be like...” You trail off.

“Is this why you don’t have any friends with- uh, a regular life?” Harry cringes at himself but doesn’t know how else to word this without making you feel abnormal.

You nod. “Pretty much, yeah.” 

“I understand where you’re coming from.” He says, eyes trained on yours as he wants you to take in every word that he speaks. “I do, but you maybe you shouldn’t allow those people to dictate your happiness.”

You give him a sad smile that twists his heartstrings. “That’s not what it is.”

“It’s what it seems like.” He argues, desperate to get you to understand where he’s coming from. 

The more he takes in the way your eyes water and your lips twist, shoulders falling almost in defeat — as if you’ve accepted the responsibility that you’ve weighed upon yourself — the more he has to hold back his own emotions. It’s clear the toll that this position takes on you; you’ve told him about it before. You’ve told him how you barely have anyone that you consider close — those in the industry being too worried about building their own careers on top of each other’s backs for you to be comfortable sharing any meaningful exchange (apart from very few exceptions). And now he knows why you don’t find these ties with people that have a life outside the spotlight.

 “Doesn’t it get lonely?” He questions out loud.

“All the time.” You let out a humorless laugh. “People don’t realize how lonely it can be to have a career like this.” It comes as a vent and you take a deep breath, your hand quickly coming up to wipe the sides of your eyes though there’s yet a tear to fall. “Like, yes, you have this big team with you, and everyone fawns over you everywhere you go, but-” You pause, exhaling. “After the shows, and the lights, and all that...In the end, when you go to bed, it’s just you and your pillow.”

Harry doesn’t stop himself now, taking the step to close the gap between the two of you, arms circling around you as he pulls you to him. “I hate that you have to feel like this.” He mutters into your hair, feeling you melt into him. Angling his head a bit so his voice doesn’t get muffled, he whispers, “From now on, you have me, yeah? If you ever need anything- anything, I’m just a call away.” 

You hug him tighter at the assurance, your own words coming in a breath that could have easily been missed if they weren’t spoken so close to his skin. “Thank you.”

//

“You should probably get that.”

Jack, your producer, nods towards your phone as it begins to vibrate on top of the wooden table again. You sigh from your spot on the couch, cursing silently whoever’s been blowing up your phone for the past ten minutes. Mondays in the studio are already hard enough to concentrate as it is - especially as you and Jack have been trying to get the guitar riff just right for the past hour - so to add your buzzing device to the mix feels like a cherry on top to your stress cake.

You shoot him an apologetic look as you reach for it. You wanted to wait until you were done to pay attention to whatever’s been going off so as to not lose your focus, but it seems like whoever’s been trying to reach out has been very adamant about your attention.

So you step outside, letting your eyes fall closed for a second as the outdoor breeze relaxes your senses a little. Jack’s balcony right outside his home studio is quite small and doesn’t stand very tall from the second floor, but you love how you can still have a view of a park close enough that the sunset in the back paints the full leaves of the trees gold. After a moment of peace, you sigh as you’re reminded of your duties once the phone in your hand vibrates once again.

Your brows all but meet as you take in the notifications on your screen. There are two missed calls from Sonia, and a couple of messages, not only from her but from your publicist as well. Opening up the chat, your tired eyes just give a quick scan over the words before falling on a link attached to them. Just before you click on it, you can feel your heart sink as you realize it’s a The Sun article.

“No, no, no, no, no.” You mutter to yourself as you wait for the page to load. When it does, you can feel every ounce you get cold as your dread shows itself to be true. What calls your attention first are the pictures, ones taken yesterday as you recognize your white and red striped dress. And you recognize the look of adoration in a click, perfectly timed when you took off your sunglasses. And worst of all, you recognize Harry, holding you close at the corner just before his building.

When you finally remind yourself to read the headline, you’re not sure how you don’t drop your phone all the way down at the words that stare back at you.

NEW ROMANCE? This year’s favorite breakthrough artist is spotted on a coffee date in London with a mysterious brunette!

//

AAAH It’s finally here!! I’m so sorry for taking so long with this one but I got very busy very suddenly at the end of the year but I promise next one will be here sooon!! As usual, if you enjoyed it please reblog and leave some feedback, I’m very excited to hear what’s everyone’s thoughts!! 

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles smut #harry styles writing #harry styles fluff #harry styles x reader

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 7x06 Wake Up Call

How would he know that was meant to be a scene from his book? It just looks like a regular photo. It’s not like the Storybrooke sign was behind them.

DO YOU CARRY A LUNCHBOX?

If you get that reference, I will give you so many cookies.

Ivy definitely put the wrong sugar in her mother’s coffee on purpose.

Tilly! Omg I missed her so much! I wish she’d been in every episode this season!

Hang on a minute! Since Rumple was shot in the land without magic, shouldn’t he have died? Like how Hook stabbed him with the dreamshade in the lwom. Or maybe the dreamshade would have been deadly to him even if he was stabbed in Storybrooke. It’s pretty dangerous stuff. 

I remember when everyone thought Tilly was stealing Weaver’s prescribed drugs here and thought she had a drug addiction but nope, it’s just a mini jar of marmalade lol. 

That one awesome fanart where Rogers wheels tilly down a hill super-fast. They looked like they were having so much fun. It’s definitely canon that happened.

I see you with that Lady and the Tramp reference! Recently saw the live action movie. It was pretty cool, but I still prefer the original. Can’t wait to watch all the classic Disney animated movies over the holidays!

Yeah, continuity error, I think. The tower is in good condition in 7x14 after Robin arrives in the NEF. But actually, that’s a problem with 7x14 because the tower should have been destroyed when Alice and Robin visited it, because the Troll destroyed it to free Alice. Maybe the troll put it back together, idk lol. Or, you know, after the rubble almost fell on Regina (despite her causing it to on purpose), maybe she fixed it after training Drizella that day. 

Flower monster! 

How were Drizella and Anastasia born with magic? I guess Marcus and Rapunzel were true love. I mean, Zelena killed her true love, and that relationship was pretty toxic, so such true love relationships aren’t unheard of. 

Regina is making such a huge mistake teaching Drizella to harness her magic but it’s understandable. She saw herself in Drizella, a girl trapped and controlled by her ruthless mother.

Who was Drizella stealing the magic from? Was it some of Gothel’s magic or that of another long-dead tree nymphs, considering a big plant was guarding it? 

Ha! Okay, I get it, nymph magic is powerful enough to transcend the land without magic’s limitations. That’s why Alice had to be given pills to keep her under the curse, because she’s half tree nymph. It all makes sense now! And Nymphs can do this because the tree nymphs were the beings supplying the lwom with magic before it lost its magic. Wow! How did I not figure this out before?! That’s actually quite clever of the show. 

Don’t tell her about the dark curse, Regina!

Regina is straight up ready to adopt Drizella here. That would have been a really sweet story, her saving someone with a similar life to her own from making the same mistakes she did.

Rogers (about Eloise Gardener): “Well, up until she disappeared a few years ago she was a normal kid.” How did he manage to get her age so wrong??

It’s so cruel. Gothel made it so that he’d be desperately searching for someone during the curse, misplacing his longing for his daughter on Gothel, of all people. Poor Rogers.

She changed the board around to the right side! 

Tilly holding his black rook: “What pieces do you have that you’re not paying attention to. Answer that and you might find yourself on a very different path.” The piece he has is right in front of him. It’s Alice. He’s just not paying attention to her. He’s on a whole different path.

Hey, Ella rhymes with Drizella hehe.

God, gotta feel for Drizella here, finding out her own mother wants to rip her heart out and give it to her sister, like she means nothing. That must be devastating.

Probably wasn't the best idea to tell her that, Regina.

Regina wants to help her so much.

Who killed that guy?

Omg, wait, it looks like Regina has a middle name on that adoption certificate, but I can’t make it out. I need to know so bad! Looked like maybe 5 letters at the most. Guesses, anyone?

Prince Gregor’s pretty hot, actually. It’s a shame she killed him. 

Poor Gregor.

Omg, wait a minute! Another sibling duo in ouat! The actor who plays Prince Gregor, Julian Haig is the younger brother of Georgina Haig, who plays Elsa!

Drizella: “...until everything you see, you breathe, you feel is pain.” It sounds like she’s talking about how she feels. Girl’s in a lot of pain. 

Regina should have grabbed her right there.

How comes true loves kiss didn’t work so many times this season? You’d think you’d need a Savior to break dark curses. I guess there were a lot of kisses in s1 that were from true love couples so it’s the belief that does it. I would have been so upset if Curious Archer had kissed and it didn’t break the curse though.

Regina’s heart is breaking over Henry’s cursed memories. She hates that her son has had these traumatic memories forced upon him.

#ouat #once upon a time #regina mills #ivy belfrey #alice jones #the evil queen #drizella tremaine #ouat s7 #ouat 7x06 #7x06 wake up call #ouat rewatch #ouat rewatch 2019

[headinthestaticsky]

Sanctuary With the Enthralling Moon, Jasper Hale x Fleur Swan.  Story 2, Chapter 1

AUTHORS NOTE: None of the character in Twilight belong to me. ALL rights go to Stephenie Meyer.

Summary: Another year has gone by, and that year was quite an eventful one. Bella moving back to Forks shook up Fleur’s life and yet, Fleur has never been happier. Her relationship with her sister might not be the best but... she is surrounded by love. Her friends, her father, and Jasper have all filled her life with happiness. But what happens when a incident occurs on her 18th birthday. Will the Cullens leave? Will Jasper stay in touch with Fleur? Or will she be cut off by them entirely?

LINK TO MASTERLIST

https://headinthestaticsky.tumblr.com/post/658474113276477441/sanctuary-with-the-enthralling-moon-jasper-hale-x

“Wake up in an ice-cold sweat And my skin starts to creep You're hovering above my bed Looking down on me Haunted house sound effects Dracula Teeth.”

Dracula Teeth by, The Last Shadow Puppets

I was getting softly shaken away by someone, I groaned and had turned the other way.

“I graduated... I don’t have to go to school anymore.” I mumbled.

“Wake up Petal, happy birthday.”

My eyes lazily opened, my dad was staring down at me, his eyes crinkled with happiness.

“Oh yeah... it is September 13th, it’s Bella and I’s birthday.”

“You forgot your own birthday?”

“I never know what the date is anymore dad don’t worry...”

“I got presents...” Dad said in a sing-songy voice... I could tell her was trying to persuade me.”

“Okay, okay I’m getting up.”

Dad had handed me two boxes, wrapped terribly but it was the thought that counts. The gifts were a new paint set and canvases and a new writing journal.

“Wow, these are great dad, thanks.”

“You’re welcome Petal.”

“You give Bella her presents yet?”

“Yeah, she freaked out on me for a bit... I joked and told her she had a gray hair. Speaking of gray hair... it looks like you have a speak there.” Dad joked.

“Ehh, gray suites me well.”

“So, what’d you plan on doing today? Were you going to hang out with Jasper?” He asked, he sat down on the edge of my bed

“Not until later on tonight, I thought we could something together...That steak at the diner sounds pretty good... or we could just take a long drive... both sound enjoyable to me”

“Sounds like a plan Petal. I luckily got the day off” He then got up and walked toward the door, leaving me by myself.

Graduating early had it’s perks... I had a lot more free time on my hands and I could do whatever I wanted with it. I got dressed eager to spend some one on one time with dad. Bella was already gone by the time I got up so Dad and I quickly made it to my car. We had been driving through the town for 30 minutes when he started a conversation.

“So, how are things with you and Bella?”

“Uh... it’s okay I guess. We don’t really fight but we don’t really talk at all if I’m honest.”

“Everything that happened last year in Phoenix got to you huh?”

“Yeah, it did. I guess it’s going to take some time for me to let it go.”

“I understand... I love that girl to death but I don’t even know if I’ve fully let it go.”

“I would understand if you hadn’t... she said some messed up stuff dad.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad stuff on your birthday.”

“Don’t worry about it you didn’t upset me, I get it, you were just curious.”

The rest of the drive was nice, quiet at some points but nice, we had gotten back into town at 4:30. Just in time to eat at the diner, then after that I would be off to the Cullens for the night.

“Ugh, that was good... but I think if I eat anymore I might explode!” I dramatized.

“Me too Petal, me too. We better go on back to the house, You said you had to be at the Cullens by 5:20.”

“Yeah... blame that on Alice, she’s very excited to throw Bella and I birthday party.”

I had driven back to the house quickly. My timing was immaculate, as soon as I had parked in the driveway, Jasper had pulled in as well.

“Chief Swan, nice to see you again.”

“Good to see you too, Jasper.”

“I hope you don’t mind me stealing Fleur for the rest of the night...”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.”

“Bye dad, love you! I had fun.”

“Love you too.”

Jasper and I drove off as soon as dad was in the house. I was buzzing with excitement Jasper of course, fueled that excitement for me.

“Happy Birthday Darling.”

“Thank you love.” I pecked his cheek.

“I gotta ask... how crazy did Alice go with this whole birthday thing?”

“She reeled it in... like 10% of the crazy back.”

“Well, you tried to calm her down... as long as cake is involved we won’t have a problem.”

“Yes, their is cake... glad it could persuade you into coming down for the night.”

“I’m glad we both reached an agreement... you have cake, I show up.”

Jasper chuckled and held my hand. I felt happy, turning 18 marked another year of my life. When we arrived at the Cullens house, Alice had jumped out of the house and ran to greet me at the car.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” 

“Thank you, I really appreciate what you did for me.”

“No need to thank me, come, come.” I was then dragged inside by Alice. I could feel the excitement radiating through her body.

“Hey short-stack, happy birthday!”

“Happy birthday, Fleur.” 

“Thanks Emmett, Thanks Dean.”

“Fleur, happy birthday.” Esme said her warm smile bring me even me joy.

“Thank you.”

“Happy Birthday Fleur! Rosalie said, she then pulled me in for a hug.

“Thank you, Rose.” I looked around after we broke apart.

“Where’s Bella at?”

“She’s late... as usual.” Alice said.

“Speak of the devil.” Rosalie said.

I turned around, I saw Edward and Bella standing in the living room. Neither of them looked very happy. I hadn’t seen Edward since everything that had happened with James. I couldn’t trust him much either, I felt uncomfortable to be around him now.

“Okay, Fleur, you open our gifts first.”

Esme and Carlisle had gotten a new phone, Emmett had gotten me seat covers and a new wheel cover for my car, Rosalie had gotten my a ring with my birthstone in it, and Alice had gotten me a new pair of black ankle boots.

“You’ve had your others ones long enough.” Alice stated.

“As nice as these are... you know I’m going to keep my other boots.”

“Of course, you’ve always been stubborn. Okay Bella, your next! ” Alice exclaimed.

Rosalie begrudgingly walked up to Bella and handed her a box.

“It’s a necklace... Alice picked it out.”

“Thanks.”

“Here’s Emmett’s.” Alice said

Bella shook the box, it was empty.

“Already installed it in your truck. Finally a good sound system for that piece of.”

“Hey, don’t hate on the truck.”

“Sorry...”

“Okay open up Esme and Carlisle next!”

The gift was in an envelope, before Bella could open it however... she got a paper cut. 

“Ouch, paper cut.” She said and stuck her index finger up showing everyone.

“Wow Bella, how smart... show off a open wound in front of vampires... some of those vampires haven’t had blood...” I couldn’t even finish my own thought, growling was coming out from behind me. I turned around, Deans eyes were pitch black, and he had dark circles around them. He lunged toward Bella, Jasper had pulled me back and held me against his chest. Turning me around so I couldn’t see what was happening. I heard a huge crash followed by the sound of glass. I then heard another loud bang, followed by the sound of what seemed to be someone stepping on the Piano keys. Jasper led me out of the room after that. Taking me back outside.

“I-I didn’t think that was going to happen. I’m so sorry.” Jasper said, guilt laced in his words.

“It’s okay, I’m fine... It’s wasn’t your fault.” I said, pulling him close to me.

He rested his forehead against mine and sighed.

“Nothing good can come out of this you know... Edwards going to try and do something heroic.” Jasper said.

“Yeah, I know, love.”

“I don’t care what it is, as long as I can stay with you.”

“Always such a smooth talker Hale.”

“I do try my best.”

“It’s an amazing effort.”

“I better take you home, I don’t think Dean can be around any humans right now.”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

Timeskip: Back to Fleur’s house.

“I’ll see you tomorrow love.”

“Okay, love you Jazz.”

“Love you too.”

I pecked him on the lips before leaving his car. I ran inside, eager to get warm. It was always cold in September in Forks. I went to bed, I had a unsettled feeling in my stomach. I knew something was going to happen, and I didn’t know if I could stop it. The next day was strange, Jasper hadn’t called or texted me all day. I was starting to get worried. Dad was at work and Bella was at school so I didn’t have anything else to do. So, I decided to pace, I walked back and forth, back and forth through my room all day it seemed. It wasn’t until later that I had finally seen Jasper. The look on his face proved my gut feeling to be correct.

“Jasper? Whats wrong.?”

“We.. we’re leaving Forks.”

I stood there, my eyes widened, this was the last thing I wanted to happened.

#jasper hale x oc #jasper hale x reader #jasper hale #rosalie hale #edward cullen #alice cullen #esme cullen #emmett cullen #carlisle cullen #bella swan #twilight #twilight saga

[shyvioletcat]

I’d like to place a request for Aelin singing Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars and Rowan overhearing it (you decide if it’s intentional or her singing in the shower or drunk karaoke hehe) in Striking Matches of course 😉 since that hasn’t happened yet

cont: Oops wait I always forget it’s technically by Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ my bad it’s a collab

I went with something different, but let’s be real... Aelin would just about sing this song every chance she gets.

So Timeline wise, this so just after they get together. It’s probably been a month and a half since he busted her door.

Striking Matches Masterlist

~~~~~

The fire alarm ringing through the school gym had the kids in a panic, it even took a few moments for Aelin to get her own feelings under control. But when her kids had flocked to her, their scared faces wide-eyed, she pulled herself together. When she had volunteered to chaperone the Halloween dance this is not what she expected. 

Her and the other teachers ushered the kids outside, not even a trace of smoke to be found but still they got all the kids out to the car park. It was soon apparent that some cheeky troublemaker, probably urged on by their peers, had pulled the alarm and there was no real threat of fire. But they had to follow protocol and that meant the greater portion of the student body from grades 4-6 were huddled in the car park —all in their costumes— waiting for the firefighters to turn up to give the official all clear. The poor things were getting cold in the brisk October air and still nervous after all the drama. Aelin wasn’t feeling particularly warm herself in her Alice in Wonderland costume, the striped tights at least were offering her some protection from the cold. 

So Aelin did the first thing she could think of. 

Turning her phone full volume she led a dance party in the empty spaces of the parking lot. She was dancing to hype the kids up, most likely looking like a dork as she did the sprinkler for the umpteenth just as the fire engine pulled up. The team unloaded from the vehicle very quickly, Lorcan barely gave the excited children a second glance, but Aelin’s students were thrilled to see Rowan again and he gave them a wide smile and a wave. Fenrys directed a thumbs up to her in approval of her dance moves before he waved to the kids as well, giving them some finger guns to top it off.

Another song played through and the whining of the alarm stopped and everyone cheered. Lorcan appeared again and went to clear things with the principal then the others started filing out. Out of nowhere an idea struck Aelin, a song that seemed too perfect to pass up in the moment. So she unlocked her phone, scrolling through until she found the song she wanted. 

The poppy vocalising at the intro of the song started and she made sure to keep at least one eye of Rowan as everyone started dancing. She saw the twins share a look and then they were laughing. Gavriel was just shaking his head. 

This hit, that ice cold

Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold

This one for them hood girls

Them good girls straight masterpieces

Aelin sang along and somewhere she heard Lysandra cackling. 

Stylin', wilin', livin' it up in the city

Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent

Gotta kiss myself, I'm so pretty

I'm too hot –– hot damn

Aelin pointed at Rowan who was trying his damndest not to smile. He was failing. 

Called a police and a fireman

I'm too hot –– hot damn

Make a dragon wanna retire man

I'm too hot –– hot damn

Say my name you know who I am

I'm too hot –– hot damn

And my band 'bout that money, break it down

Aelin wiggling her shoulders ridiculously at him had him breaking and he laughed. By then Rowan had reached and took her by the hand, spinning her a few times –– her apron and skirts fanning out. The kids, meanwhile, were going insane. 

When Rowan stopped the spinning Aelin’s hands landed on his shoulders. 

“Don’t you think this song is a little inappropriate for the little ones?” He said. 

“I suppose.” Aelin sighed and changed the song, a chorus of disappointed protests sounding. “But I just couldn’t resist.”

A terse Whitethorn came from the direction of the fire engine, making both Aelin and Rowan look over. The rest of the team was loaded back up ready to head back to the station. Aelin linked her arm with Rowan and handed her phone off to Lysandra so she could keep the party going while the executives decided what to do next. 

“Will you come by for breakfast tomorrow? I bought a fresh box of toaster waffles,” Aelin asked, leaning close to leech his warmth. 

“Those things taste like cardboard,” Rowan complained. 

Aelin just she rolled her eyes. “Fine, come for the company then.” 

“I think I’d rather eat the cardboard,” Rowan replied, the corners of his mouth betraying him as they quirked upwards. 

“Remind me again why I agreed to make us a thing?” Aelin said as she let go him and Rowan put one foot on the step of the turck then leaned in closer to her. 

“How about I remind you tomorrow morning,” he said, his voice little more than a purr. “And I’ll pick something up from a bakery on the way home.”

Rowan pulled himself up into the cab before Aelin could reply, but she was smiling as he rolled down the window. Then she stepped up onto the step as Rowan leaned out the window. 

“I like that sound of that.”

They were both smiling when their lips met but they managed. They broke apart when Fenrys’ wolf whistle startled them both, Aelin managed to refrain from flipping him of for the sake of the students and the reprimands it would get her if any of her superiors saw. 

“See you in the morning,” Rowan said, Aelin’s reply was a two fingers salute as the truck drove away.

Aelin watched it go until it had turned and she couldn’t see Rowan anymore. When she went to go back to the impromptu dance party she noticed one of her students, Benjamin, standing on the outskirts watching her, his mouth hanging open in surprise. 

“You okay there, Benjamin?” Aelin asked.

It took him a moment to answer and he looked past her to where the fire engine had been parked, then he beckoned her closer. Aelin rested her hands on her knees so she was just about level with him. 

“Miss G, did you just kiss Fireman Whitethorn?” He whispered. 

Aelin nodded. “I did.”

“But…” Benjamin’s brow furrowed. “You’re only supposed to kiss people who are you boyfriend or girlfriend. Is Mr Whitethorn your boyfriend?” 

The boy was so excited and perplexed he’d completely forgotten about the fireman bit. 

“He is,” she said simply. 

Aelin couldn’t wait to tell Rowan about the look of sheer delight that spread over Benjamin’s face when she told him. He spun around, no doubt to spread this new revelation amongst his classmates, she could practically see the ripple of excitement move through the crowd. Aelin just laughed and kept dancing until the parents started to arrive to pick up their kids.

~~~~~

I say it every time but... I miss these two.

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