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skiyoosmi · 4 years

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if fate permits

⤷ chapter nineteen: when it's too late

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YN'S POV

ATSUMU'S POV

TWO DAYS LATER...

[THE FOUR IDIOTS’ APARTMENT, 6:55PM]

Kiyoomi only watched as your eyes became melancholier, as if it were not already in the first place, the longer you stared at the screen of his phone. Probably rereading his conversation with Atsumu, he thinks. Initially, he wasn’t really planning on showing it to you but just like any other day, you decided to be the whipped soulmate (or more like an idiot, at least to him) you were, all while saying “Atsumu is important to me, should I really leave this apartment while not making amends with him?” He almost retched, is this girl really fixated on becoming a saint? How could someone be this lenient? He has no idea. And so, he showed you– that even after all this time, the piss-haired boy will remain as he is; that no matter how many years may pass, Miya Atsumu will be Miya Atsumu.

And he was the exact opposite of you: he was self-centered, conceited, prideful, juvenile, and so many more that it would take Kiyoomi more than a day to list all the things he detested from the boy. He can only remember how much he loathed the boy upon their first proper meeting; not that he likes meeting new people anyway. Kiyoomi was no genius but he knew, right at that moment, that Atsumu was far from being the ‘knight-in-shining-armor’ soulmate his dearest sister was so engrossed to have.

Kiyoomi also knew that he was not the best brother in the world; hell, he is way too far from being a good one even. He couldn’t care less if you have an admirer from afar (like that Iwaizumi who seems to be around you all the time these days), nor when you finally get yourself a suitable boyfriend, not even when you finally get wedded to someone. He wasn’t overprotective... or at least that’s what he believed. But he was only human, after all– now that he contemplates about it, he realizes that he isn’t really fond of seeing you cry.

“Stop hurting yourself over and over again, you fool of a sister,” he said, clicking his tongue afterwards and grabbing your bags after hearing your father call from downstairs, “Know your worth a little, will you? It’s kind of painful for me to watch you get hurt too, you know. It’s not just mom and dad.”

And with that, he left the room, leaving you to tend to your other belongings and perhaps, say goodbye to this little house that managed to etch itself to your heart. Compared to your childhood home, it wasn’t enough to make you sob your heart out dry. But for some reason, tears still found its way on the corner of your eyes as you remembered the fond memories you’ve made here with your boys – the moment you stumbled upon this house when you four were trying to find a place to stay, the smile on your face when you decided that this was the one (cue Atsumu literally hauling you three towards the agent to settle the down payment), the moving day when Kiyoomi and Osamu brawled for the first time in their lives because they both wanted that bedroom that was the only one downstairs, “to be away from the idiot disease” as what they said. You can only wonder if you could make new memories as happy as those in your future home.

“Ah… you really are a fool of a sister, YN,” you whispered to yourself, wiping the tears away and getting the last of your things before proceeding downstairs, finding your father standing by the front door, arms crossed with a face mask adorning his face (you never really questioned where your brother got his traits, it was as clear as the day), “Kiyoomi is already in the car but I think you should bid Osamu-kun a proper farewell first. He’s in the kitchen. We’ll be waiting so just take your time.”

You nodded before proceeding to the said area, finding the gray-haired with his arms already wide open. Your lips quivered before jumping at him, “I’m gonna miss you.”

“We’ll still be seeing each other at school, you damn gorilla,” he chuckled before burying his face in your neck. You clicked your tongue, pouting at his very much realistic reply, “But it’s different! Eating breakfasts together, going to school together, going home together… and drinking wine until we’re brains out! I’m pretty sure my dad won’t let me do that at his house!”

He cackled, releasing you from his hold and flicking you on your forehead, “what an alcoholic woman! Are you sure you’re going to be a student in a prestige university abroad? You’ll be left behind by your classmates if you keep on prioritizing your wines before your studies.”

“Hah! You’ll see, Osamu. Those red wines will be the reason I even become one of the most famous writers in the world. You better wait and I’ll release an autobiography saying a man named Miya Osamu used to bully me to death,” you huffed, smirking after you saw him stare at you in disbelief. Your smile gradually disappeared upon the realization that the center of your heart was not home… even when I’m already leaving, huh?

Osamu frowned as well, scratching the back of his neck because of the sudden silence that indicated your little recognition, “I’m sorry. I told him to go home before 7 but…”

“It’s fine, Samu. We’re still not in the best terms so it’s probably better this way – a more peaceful way of farewell, you know? No fighting or anything else. Besides, I couldn’t tell him anything about my moving, scholarship, and so many things,” The lad didn’t miss the way you quickly wiped your tears away though. Damn you, Atsumu, why are you always making her cry, he thought.

“I’ll see you at school then, Samu. I’ll miss the dinners you cook,” you smiled, walking quietly outside, and shutting the front door. At the same time, a chime resonated from your phone that was in your pocket. Opening it, you released a long sigh… of relief? of anxiety? You didn’t know.

[Haji, 7:15PM]: I did it, YN. My thread, it’s… black.

You looked up at the night sky, finding stars twinkling as if they were gazing back at you.

Should I start moving on too, Haji?

[TOKYO UNIVERSITY GYMNASIUM, 7:20PM]

For the umpteenth time this week, Atsumu heaved yet another deep sigh, hands weaving itself with his hair to ruffle it out of frustration. Today, he couldn’t care less about the girls lurking around the university gym… because for the umpteenth time this week as well, his twin brother expressed his disappointment towards the boy, leaving him in the said place with the same words he had uttered yesterday and even the day before that, accompanied by a threat this time: “You’re such an immature asshole I wouldn’t be surprised if YN finally gives up on being your friend. You better come home before 7PM or else, I will drag you by your feet with my own two hands.”

Clicking his tongue, he grabbed another ball, gripping it so hard his nails almost left a dent on it. 7PM? He only scoffs. No, he won’t go home yet. He doesn’t care if Osamu gets furious at him and drags him nor if you give up on your friendship; all he thinks right now is that he wants to spike this ball straight onto the other side of the court, make it burst if it was even possible. It wasn’t his fault he got mad at you, he’s entitled to his feelings; he’s right, Kiyoomi’s mistaken… you shouldn’t have promised something you would just break in a span of less than thirty seconds. You shouldn’t hav–

But is it really her fault though? A voice in his head refuted him, or is it just because you’re really an immature asshole who can’t be happy for her?

Of course, it’s her fault, he argues. Immature? Him? He’s almost twenty-two, for god’s sake! He has been living in this world for more than two decades, how could Osamu call him underdeveloped? He swears he’s going to give his twin brother a good punch or two once he gets home.

… But she’s just trying to reach for her dreams, why are you not supporting her? She always does that when it comes to you, doesn’t she? Or have you already forgotten?

And at that, everything went perfectly still. The sound of the ball falling from his hands resonated throughout the quiet gym. Even with just hearing words from something or someone he can’t even identify, Atsumu felt as if he was hit on his head with a ton of bricks.

“E-eh…? W-why… why am I crying?” He whispered, fingers going up to touch his cheeks and furrowing his eyebrows when he felt the dampness of the said area.

Because you know you don’t deserve her. You know that it’s your fault. It has ALWAYS been your fault.

“Shut up,” he said to no one, plopping down the floor while he clutched his ears this time to shut the voice out. As it kept talking, he tried hitting his head with his hand, tried talking over it, tried retorting savage remarks back; however, everything was futile for it kept talking, kept torturing his mind with nothing but the truth.

You hurt her, then apologize, then do it again. What are you playing, a tug-of-war? How selfish of you, Miya Atsumu! Are you really her best friend?

“Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!” He screamed, his throat feeling as if it was getting scratched from the rawness of his voice. There was no way he was gonna have a voice tomorrow.

You’re so aggravated whenever you think about losing YN, are you sure you’re not in love with her or something? Yanno… have you never thought about the fact that maybe she’s your sou–

“Atsumu-kun! Wake up!” A voice yelled while grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him awake, finally bringing him out of his… dream? Was that even considered a dream? Because Atsumu was sure as hell that what happened was just plain torture to him.

“Are you okay, Atsumu-kun? You were having a nightmare,” turning to the girl who kept her hold on him, he finds Yui, who was looking back at him as if he lost the screws in his head. He starts to believe that he, in fact, did after all that weirdness. After all, who in the world would randomly just fall asleep in the middle of an empty gym then proceed to have a nightmare while on it. Surely, there would be no one except for him. How in the world did it happen anyway? As far as he could remember, he was just practicing his serves and tosses a while ago.

“Yui, why are you still here? It’s getting late,” he asks the girl whose eyes just lit up, for some reason, at his question before lifting her hand up and showing… what? She continued to smile though and waved the same hand right in front of Atsumu’s face, much to his slight annoyance. He wasn’t really in the best mood to play guessing games right now, so he only sighs exasperatedly, “Just get to the point, Yui-chan. I’m feeling the exhaustion now.”

“I told you before that I could see my thread, right? Well, it turned black! Me and my soulmate met up a while ago and turns out, he was a Moira, so we performed the mini ritual, which is so weird by the way, before cutting it. He said one of us has to ‘affirm’ their desire to cut the thread, so I did! As far as I know, based on my previous researches about soulmates, it doesn’t really matter because the ‘gods’ know the deepest desires of our hearts but you know, I don’t really care because I’m free!” She exclaimed, squealing afterwards, and flinging her arms around Atsumu’s neck to give him a hug. But the boy stayed still and gaped because how can someone afford to be happy at this situation? His arms remained motionless at his sides, confusing him; wasn’t he just itching to have this weeks ago? In fact, he was just dreaming about it about three days ago. So why? Why couldn’t he bring himself to hug her back?

“Your soulmate cut it. How can you be happy, Yui-chan….?” Before he knew it, his mouth spoke for him faster than his brain could process. He removed himself from the girl’s embrace, watching as confusion begin to form on her face; though it only took her milliseconds before an odd smile showed up on her face once more.

“Because that means I could finally date you without feeling guilty for my soulmate, silly!”

Atsumu felt like a hundred years had passed in just a single night and yet again, he sighed. If anyone sees him right now, they will probably laugh at his rather pathetic-looking state. Never in his life has he felt this exhausted, not even when Kita Shinsuke would force him to do an unreasonable number of receives and then make him clean the whole gym with the said captain; no, not even that could beat this fatigue and strangely, it makes him miss the captain.

Maybe he should’ve just gone home before 7PM, like Osamu said. He then shudders as he remembers that he still has to face his twin’s wrath.

“Can’t I just go back to being a toddler… like the brats that have no problem in the world?” He whines to himself quietly, relief spreading throughout his whole body as he sees your shared apartment; can already smell the meal Osamu cooked for you four; can visualize the disgusted look your brother will give him once he enters the house, all sweaty and gross-looking. Though, he thinks it’s odd that upon looking at the window of your room and Kiyoomi’s, he finds that they weren’t lit up unlike the usual. Maybe they’re already asleep, he shrugs given that you both love getting your beauty rest as much as you can. Twins, you are.

As careful as possible, he opens the front door, wincing when it makes a sound that would possibly wake up the very sensitive ears of Sakusa Kiyoomi from his room downstairs.

“Don’t bother trying to be quiet, Atsumu. You’re not going to wake anyone up in this house,” The voice of Osamu startles him. Fastly recovering from the mini-scare, he turns to his twin to glare while clutching his chest in hopes to calm his heart down, only to stop when he finds his brother glowering at him with a much worse scowl on his face.

“Samu, I’m sorry. I just got caught up with som–”

“You know, Tsumu, it’s kind of ironic, don’t you think? You always come around when it’s already too late,” Osamu speaks, trying to find the right words to say, “YN and Kiyoomi… they left and went back to their parents’ home. They will be staying there until YN and her mom leaves for abroad which would be in less than a month, right after this semester ends.”

Miya Atsumu was self-centered, conceited, prideful, juvenile, and so many more that it would take Kiyoomi more than a day to list all the things he detested from the boy. He didn’t care if you gave up and break off your friendship with him… at least that’s what he believed. But like Sakusa Kiyoomi, he was also human – and at that moment, as his brother stares at him and waits for a reply, he only stays still. Why is it that instead of the volleyball he was holding at the gym moments ago, it’s his heart that’s about to burst?

⤷ notes. we didn't have internet connection for a whole day and phew.. this was the result of me being bored out of my wits, i guess? and i apologize in advance for the pain that i keep on giving and WILL keep on giving :>

#haikyuu smau #haikyuu x reader #atsumu smau #iwaizumi smau #atsumu x reader #iwaizumi x reader #haikyuu headcanons #atsumu headcanons #iwaizumi headcanons #miya atsumu #iwaizumi hajime #haikyuu

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andilovetowrite · 3 years

Text

Ms Matchmaker

Peter Parker x Teacher Assistant! reader

(ft. Morgan Stark)

Summary: Morgan Stark has always loved her assistant teacher at school, Ms Y/N...but when she sees Peter talking to her beloved teacher, she knows that she must do everything in her power to get her two of her favourite people together, even if they didn't necessarily ask for her help! But what could she say? They just needed a push in the right direction ;)

Here is the request it's based on!

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: Nothing but alot of fluff

My Masterlist and my requests are OPEN!

“Peter Peter!”, a small voice called out as a little girl came running at Peter. Slamming into him, Peter laughed, picking up Morgan.

“Hey Little Stark, how was your day?”, he asked, smiling down at the brown-haired girl. She started wiggling in his arms, too excited to tell Peter what she had recently discovered. Jumping down, she pulled Peter’s arm, hopping excitedly. “What? What happened?”

“Ms Y/N!! She is the best Peter, she wears huge hoop earrings and has a big bookshelf at the back of the class. Oh, and she wears such pretty dresses...and she has a golden dog! And you won’t believe what she said about my artwork!”

“That was amazing?”, Peter asked out loud, thinking about what Morgan’s first-grade teacher might say to her.

“That was ama- yeah! How did you know that?”, Morgan asked, her head cocked to the side.

“Uh, um...Ms Y/N and I ar-are friends…”, Peter said, caught by Morgan when he saw her give a coy smile.

“Oh, really Peter? Well, tomorrow I’ll talk to her about you! Does she know you are Spiderma-”

“NO! No, she doesn’t Morgan, but-uh, how about I drop you at school tomorrow? S-so I can see Ms Y/N?”, he asked, moving her to the kitchen, hoping to distract her with some food. Nodding, Morgan walked over, her tiny mind already picturing Peter and Ms Y/N side by side.

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“C’mon Peter! Let's gooo ....”, Morgan said, her foot tapping against the car as she waited for him, clutching her backpack tightly. Peter chuckled, running up to her.

“Coming, coming!”, he said, as Morgan waved at Pepper before she ran off with Peter’s hand in hers. Together, they entered the brightly colored, cute elementary school. Children bustled in and out, and Peter clutched Morgan’s hand, feeling weird since he was the only one taller than 3 feet. “Wh-where’s your class M?”

“Um, right here”, she said, pulling him towards the back of the school. Peter almost gasped as he saw the place. Roses and different flowers were blooming all over the place, and ornaments of all kinds littered the space. Artworks hung from above, and there was a multi-coloured cubby in the back. Peter could see about 8 other kids running around, bags on their back-

“Okay, line up!”, a stern voice shouted, as an old lady hobbled out of the class. Her greying hair was pushed back in a braid, and thick glasses rested on her frowning face. Her sharp eyes searched around for kids as all of them ran quickly to the front of the classroom.

As Peter looked at her, he could feel his heart dropping. “Oh god”, he whispered under his breath. How was he supposed to “be friends” with this lady? She reminded him of every mean teacher he had ever had at school. But for the sake of (lying to) Morgan, he sucked it up and walked over, awkwardly putting out his hand.

“H-hello Ms Y/N, I’m-”

“That’s not Ms Y/N!”Morgan shouted from behind, making the other students laugh out loud. Peter turned red, staring down at the floor, but suddenly, he heard the laughter stopped. Either the old lady had whipped out a stick, or some type of miracle had saved him… It was definitely a miracle when he saw you.

“Hey, guys! What’s all this ruckus? Ms Jo, how about you go get a cup of tea, I’ll handle these little monsters?”, a sweet voice called out as you came up behind Ms “Jo”. Suddenly, Peter understood why Morgan was so smitten with this teacher.

Your face was practically glowing with a smile as your earring caught in the sunlight. You were wearing a red and blue dress, and it felt like it was just for him. You smiled at the students, ushering them in while giving each of them a high five. Peter didn’t know what to do, as he stood there, staring at you. As the last kid ran into the classroom, you turned to meet his eyes, your hands on your waist.

“Aren’t you a bit old to be in first grade?”, you asked, eyes twinkling. Peter’s mouth dropped open, and he didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds as his mind caught up with what you said.

“Uh no-um, I’m here with Morgan- um...Morgan Stark. Just came to drop her off”, he said, blushing under your gaze. You didn’t seem much older than him, looking like a college student as well.

“Well, Mr-?”

“Peter. Peter Parker”

“Well Mr Parker, I would love for you to drop Morgan off every day...I’ve never seen her so excited”, you explained, grinning at the flushed boy.

“Uh yeah, I-I can. My first class starts pretty late and I also have enough time to get back to the dorm-”, he stopped, embarrassed. “Sorry I’m rambling”

You let out a soft laugh as you looked at him. “Not at all, I think it’s quite cute-”, now it was her turn to blush, making Peter laugh. Peter would’ve loved to keep talking to you for the rest of the day, but simultaneously, his phone started ringing as voices from the class started getting louder.

“Well, duty calls. I hope to see you soon Mr Parker?”, you asked.

“Please, call me Peter...and I will come back. For sure”, Peter said, biting his lip as he saw you smile at him and walk back into the classroom, his heart beating 10x faster….

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So Peter decided to come back to Morgan’s school. Based on Ned’s advice, he should have gone back in a week, to not seem like he was too forward. But somehow, he ended up back at her school by the end of the next day….

“Peter? Where’s mom?”Morgan asked, her little face splitting up into a smile as she ran out of class and hugged him. Peter scratched the back of his head, smiling awkwardly.

“Um- I thought I could pick yo-you up? And by any chance...is Ms Y/N around?”, he asked softly, but he knew he was screwed when Morgan smirked, looking back into the classroom.

“Yeah, she is in there. Also, I asked her today if you two were friends-”, Morgan explained, and Peter’s heart skipped a beat, “-and she said you two were absolutely best friends!”

Peter sighed, nodding his head as he imagined you saying that. “Y-yeah, she um, she said that?”

“Yup”, Morgan said, running behind Peter, and pushing him into the room. “There she is!”

“Wait Morgan-”

“Oh hey Mr Peter Parker!”, your voice called out. He turned around to see your smug expression, as he looked like a fish out of the water.

“H-hey Ms Y/N”

“Back so soon?”, she asked mischievously.

“Uh, sorry, I just-um-”, he tried to make up an excuse but she just waved her hand, giggling.

“No no, it’s great! Not a lot of brothers drop their sisters to school and pick them up…”

Peter shook his head, smiling at the idea. “No no, Morgan isn’t my sister-”

“Yes I am!”, a little voice said as Morgan came up beside you. “My dad calls Peter “son”, so he is my brother…”

“Well Morgan-”

“Yeah, well if Mr Stark says I'm your brother, then I guess I am”, Peter said, winking at Morgan.

You cock your head as he mentions Mr Stark. “How do you know Tony Stark?”, you ask.

“Oh, I’m um his apprentice. I’m part of the Stark internship”

“Daddy says Peter is very smart!”, Morgan exclaimed, trying and failing to wink at Peter. Peter started stuttering, a bright blush making away up to his cheeks as he tried to cover that.

“Wow! Tony Stark says you are smart Mr Parker… you must be very proud!”, you say, smiling at the embarrassed look on his face.

“Oh, dad also says that-”

“Okay M! I think we can stop there. Why don’t you wait in the car? I’ll come in a couple of minutes?”, Peter asks, hoping Morgan wouldn’t say anything else that makes him look like a loser.

“Oh okay… you want some privacy to ask Ms Y/N on a date?”, Morgan asks innocently.

Peter gasps, as you start blushing at the thought. “NO! Um, no-”

“Well, if you aren’t gonna ask, then I’ll do it!”, Morgan exclaims. She pushed him back, walking forward. “Ms Y/N, yesterday when Peter dropped me off, I saw him smile at you the same way he smiles at his tests-”

“Oh god”, you mutter, but Peter interjects.

“Uh, I like tests and quizzes”, he says, a tiny smile appearing when he sees you slip your hands into your embroidered pocket.

“So, I asked my mom, and she said, you only look like that when you like someone… like my mom likes my dad!”

“Uh, I’m really sorry for her-”, Peter starts, but you shush him, wanting to hear if your brown-eyed boy felt the same sparks you felt the day before.

“Uh-huh, so Morgan...anything else?”, you ask sweetly, glancing at Peter.

“Yes! He also was talking to his friend last night, the one who likes Lego-”

Peter groaned, knowing he sounded like a full-on nerd.

“-and I heard him say you were the prettiest girl he had seen, and he would have loved to ask you out-” She paused, punching Peter lightly in his stomach, “if he had gotten the guts.”

“Well, I would love to go on a date with Peter”, you said wistfully, winking at Peter as his brain went into overdrive.

“Great!”, Morgan said, elbowing Peter. “So anyway, today morning, in the way to school, Peter and my mom were talking, and mommy said that Peter is a great catch-”

“Wow! Is he really?”, you asked, teasing.

“Yes, he is! I saw him changing the other day, and he has so many lines on his stomach! It’s like steel Ms Y/N”, Morgan says shrugging.

“Oh my god!”, Peter groans as your eyes widen.

“So anyway Ms Y/N… do you think you and Peter could do well together?”

“What do you think Ms Stark?”, you ask acting seriously.

“I think you two should get married”, she announces, but sighs. “But since Peter has to ask you that himself… I can just ask him on your behalf on a date” She concludes this, patting Peter on the back as he is rendered speechless.

“So, do you wanna go on a date Ms Y/N?’, Morgan finishes, her hands twiddling together. You sighed, acting sad. You kneeled down infront of her.

“Sorry Morgan, I actually have a date tonight…”

Morgan gasps and looks at Peter, who suddenly has a great interest in the shoes outside the class.

“Yes, uh sorry Ms Y/N, we will leave now. I’m sure you have a lot of work to do.”, Peter says in a rush as he holds Morgan’s hand, moving out of the classroom.

“Wait… where are we going tonight?”, you ask out loud, making Peter stop.

“Wha-”

“Well, I mean, you did ask me on a date, did you not?”, you ask, sly.

“Uh um, yeah-yeah...That sounds uh oh god, good!”, he says, a dopey smile coming on his face. You walk over, kissing his cheek as you whisper to Morgan.

“Thanks, Ms Matchmaker!”

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This was such a cute idea! Thanks for sending this in anon, and I hope you enjoyed this! My requests are closing today, so if you wanna send anything in, please do it soon. Thanks so much for reading this :) Until next time! Taglist: @idkatee @eternalscribblesforthesoul @loudbluepancake @poisondevotion @scram1326 @t-hollanderr @305weasley @starknik22 @marvelfansworld @lou-la-lou @lomlparker @marvelfansworld @wowitsel @vanteguccir@fullcheesecakeengineer @ladykxxx08 @allegras-sunflower@a–1–1–3

#peter parker fluff #peter parker x bestfriend reader #peter parker x reader imagine #peter parker #peter parker angst #angst #fluff #tony stark #morgan stark #teacher #requests

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tsarisfanfiction · 3 years

Text

End of Blue: Chapter 1

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Angst Characters: Gordon Tracy, Scott Tracy, Tracy Brothers

Thunderbird One’s dead in the water. Scott Tracy isn’t responding. Rescues never feel the same when it’s one of their own they have to save.

~~~ Once again, you can all thank, or blame, the wonderful @gumnut-logic for this thing. Two seemingly unrelated vague conversations have ended up culminating in one of my specialties - yup, another Scott!whump, as though I haven’t written enough of these already (no such thing as enough!). Not sure how frequently this is going to be updated - or how long it’ll be. I know what Chapter 2 is going to do and I know there will need to be at least one more chapter after that, but muses do weird things. Title has been snaffled from Beast in Black’s “End of the World”, make of that what you will.

“Gordon!”

John appeared in front of him, looking not quite his usual calm self. For John to be showing that, even to a brother who’d learnt to read his nuances, meant that something was very, very wrong.

Gordon’s hands inadvertently tightened on the controls of Thunderbird Four as he held the sinking ship steady while Alan did the evac in Thunderbird Two. This sounded like terrible timing.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, skipping all the quips he’d make if it was just a regular check-in. The loss of John’s fantastic poker face and resulting prickles down his spine told him it was far from one.

“How long until evac’s done?” his space-residing brother asked. An unusual question from their Eye In The Sky, but with Thunderbird Five under annual maintenance, the ginger didn’t have all his usual data. Not even half of it. Maybe that was causing the panic, but it was just that – annual. Nothing unusual, if universally disliked.

“Alan’s clearing the last of them now,” he said. “But I’ve been asked to hold the ship steady until the GDF get here; they’re suspecting something’s-”

“Screw the GDF,” John interrupted, and woah something was really niggling him if he was getting that obviously frantic. “The first instant you can let go of that ship, get the hell back to Two.”

That was not John-typical at all. Gordon’s squid sense almost exploded.

“What’s happened?” he asked. “John, where do I need to be?” He was running through scenarios but he couldn’t think of a single reason John would be hurrying him like this. Not unless-

“Thunderbird One’s down.”

Shit. “In the ocean?”

“North Pacific.”

That was the other side of the world. Two hours, easy, until they got there, and they didn’t even have Virgil to get all the juice out of his ‘bird, what with the collection of broken bones he’d acquired on the last rescue. Gordon forced his hands to relax before he inadvertently gave Four a command he didn’t mean to.

“Scott?” Thunderbird One was watertight, she should be able to hold out as long as she wasn’t too deep. As long as whatever had taken her down hadn’t compromised that… What the hell even took her down?

“Not answering.” John always looked a shade or two off through the holograms, but Gordon suspected that this time the too-pale skin wasn’t entirely a trick of technology. “Too much of Thunderbird Five is still offline; I don’t have telemetry. Brains and EOS are working as fast as they can, but it’ll still be a few more hours before she’s fully back online.”

Gordon was just grateful enough of her was online to register One’s crash.

“Have you told Alan?” he asked.

“He knows you need to get to the North Pacific yesterday,” John answered. “Not why.”

Alan was going to be furious at being left in the dark, but Gordon understood why. He’d have to fill him in on the flight over.

“We’ll get there,” he promised, because there wasn’t another option. They had to. “Give me updates as you get them.”

“F.A.B.” It was a reluctant acknowledgement, but they both knew John was almost useless until Five was fully online. “I’ll update Tracy Island.”

Gordon did not envy him that task one bit. Virgil was going to freak out. Badly.

“That’s the last of them, Gordon,” Alan broke in. “John says-”

“On my way,” Gordon interrupted – okay, so he was a little frazzled, too. Sue him. It wasn’t every day he had to rescue his eldest brother from an unplanned watery landing. “John told me. I’ll fill you in on the details when we’re on the way.” He released the ship and shot back towards his floating module as fast as Thunderbird Four could handle. “Don’t wait for me to get out of Four. Grab the module as soon as I’m docked and go.”

“What about the crew? We need to drop them off, remember?”

Gordon had forgotten about the crew. “Any of them need the hospital?” A high-speed spin and he was in position for the cable to draw Thunderbird Four up the ramp.

“No, but-”

“Then they get a joyride in Two.” Clunk, and the docking began. Maybe he shouldn’t be authorising a nice round trip for a bunch of sailors, but it was already a two hour journey and they had no idea how badly Scott was hurt, or what sort of damage One had taken. Gordon had salvaged downed planes before.

They weren’t pretty.

“Gordon, what-”

“Module’s ready for retrieval,” he interrupted, mostly because he didn’t want to answer the inevitable question just yet. “Haul me up and punch it.”

“F.A.B.” Alan sounded far from happy, but the familiar noises and rocking sensation of module retrieval began.

Despite his instinct being to run straight to the cockpit and fill Alan in, thereby making sure he was indeed going as fast as Two could go, Gordon took his time with his post-dive checks. Thunderbird Four needed to be in top condition for the next rescue, and he refused to jeopardise Scott’s safety by fluffing the checks on the ‘bird that was going to save him.

She was, thankfully, just fine. No warning lights, no errors, scratches or scrapes. Thunderbird Four was more than ready for the rescue.

Now they just had to wait until they got there.

“Explain,” Alan ordered the moment he entered the cockpit. The rescued crew were also looking at him attentively, although thankfully none of them seemed to mind the detour. Gordon ignored them as he sidled into his seat and began checking their flight data.

Alan was a good kid; he’d heard punch it and taken it for the order it was. Thunderbird Two was travelling at top speed, hurtling through the skies towards her drowning sister with everything she had.

Still, there was always room for a little more, and Gordon flicked a few switches.

“Gordon!”

“Thunderbird One’s down,” he admitted. Behind them, he heard the unified gasps of shock from their passengers. “John can’t raise her, and we have no telemetry.”

“In the ocean?” Alan asked. He didn’t sound like he believed it. Gordon just hoped he wasn’t going to go into shock when it sank in. Hell, he hoped he wasn’t going to go into shock when it sank in.

“Yup. No more data, no idea why, no contact. We just know she’s down.”

Despite already reportedly being maxed out, Thunderbird Two sped up. Gordon knew Virgil hated it when Alan or Scott treated her like their own ‘birds and pushed the limits, but he suspected they might get a pass this time.

Speaking of their grounded older brother…

“Gordon, Alan!”

Virgil looked awful. The pyjamas and general ‘injured person’ vibes – including at least one visible cast and general mummification by bandages – aside, it was entirely too obvious that he’d been filled in on what little they knew.

“Receiving you, Virgil. Any way this girl of yours can go any faster?” he answered. “Alan’s trying, but he’s not you.”

“Hey!”

“Make sure you get there in one piece!” Virgil demanded.

“That’s the plan,” Alan promised. “Anything from Scott?”

Virgil’s face tightened, panic and frustration both clearly etched onto his face. It hurt to look at – Gordon knew he wanted nothing more than to be where Alan was right then, getting every last scrap of speed out of his ‘bird. Gordon wanted him there, too, and not just for piloting. Virgil would have a plan, but most importantly, Virgil had the best medical knowledge. If Scott was hurt – not really an if if they weren’t getting any contact from him – Gordon wanted the best man for the job.

The best man was currently stuck in the infirmary with too many broken bones to be of any practical use even once they got Scott home. Gordon and Alan were just going to have to make do with their lesser qualifications.

“Nothing,” Virgil growled, as though the word physically pained him. It probably did.

“Maybe he’s just out of range while Five’s down?” Alan suggested hopefully. They all knew that wasn’t likely, but Gordon wasn’t going to be the one to shoot it down. Not when he wanted to believe it, too.

“I’ll try pinging him from Two,” he said instead, both for something to do and in the vain hope that Alan might be right – never mind that geographically they were further from Tracy Island than Thunderbird One was and their comms were working fine.

“Is there anything we can do?” the ship’s captain asked from behind them. “I know we’re not you guys, but if there’s anything…”

Gordon was so glad they weren’t kicking up a fuss.

“Accept our apologies for the extended trip,” he shrugged. “Otherwise, there’s not much anyone can do until we know more.” He opened the line to Thunderbird One.

It connected. Normally, he’d call that a good start. Now, it just filled him with dread, because it meant comms weren’t down.

“Thunderbird One from Thunderbird Two,” he called. “Scott, are you receiving?”

Silence.

On the other line, Virgil looked almost as pale as John’s normal holographic visage. Whether that was the pain from his injuries, or something less physical, Gordon didn’t dare guess.

“Scott!” he tried again. “Thunderbird One, do you hear me?”

Nothing. Not even a flicker of visual or a semi-conscious groan of pain. Nothing at all.

The thought crossed his mind that Scott wasn’t even in her.

“John, how soon before you get the cameras back online?” he asked. The ginger head popped up to accompany Virgil’s over the dashboard – Gordon’s earlier observation had been right. Their faces were both the exact same pallor. It wasn’t a good look on either of them. Beside him, Alan wasn’t looking too hot, either. He didn’t dare think about his own appearance. “If we can’t raise him, we can at least try and see what we’re dealing with.”

The line had connected, and he hadn’t heard water. Hopefully that meant she wasn’t leaking and Scott was still comfy and dry, but Gordon wanted to be sure.

Needed to be sure. The rescue would be a lot more complicated without that sort of information.

“Cameras are online, but Thunderbird One’s are turned off right now.” John’s face was the picture of frustration, and he wasn’t doing a very good job at hiding it in his voice, either. “It’ll take a little longer before I can access them to turn them on, but EOS is making it a priority.”

Scott never let any of the rest of them turn their internal cameras off. From now on, Gordon was going to enforce that rule for Thunderbird One, too. If John and Virgil didn’t beat him to it.

Beside him, Alan was sitting in silence, staring ahead as though if he glared at the world hard enough, he could discover the secrets of teleportation. Gordon really wished it worked that way.

Sadly, teleportation didn’t exist, and they were having to do things the slow way. Not that Two was slow, but she certainly wasn’t fast enough. Not today.

The minutes crawled past like hours. With Alan firmly in control and channelling Scott’s inner-speed demon as much as the big green ‘bird would allow, there was little for Gordon to do except periodically try to hail Scott, getting ever more concerned as silence persistently responded. He could understand a black-out for a few minutes, but it was – he checked the time – at least an hour since John had contacted him and there was still nothing on the other end of the line.

Virgil was still there, hovering in his bed-bound state and periodically throwing his own frantic calls Scott’s way. Gordon hadn’t even tried to tell him to leave it to them, reminding him that there was nothing he could do.

No-one knew that better than Virgil, after all, and his frustration at his helplessness was steadily mounting the longer the silence persisted.

With no solid information on what they were going to find – external access cameras, which Scott hadn’t turned off, were merrily showing nothing but water and the occasional sea life investigating the strange intruder – Gordon turned his time towards planning. Plans for an intact Thunderbird One, plans for a leaking Thunderbird One, plans of extraction depending on the severity of Scott’s condition. He might be going in blind, but he wasn’t going to be going in unprepared.

“Coming up on the co-ordinates now.” Alan broke through his planning – this scenario involving Thunderbird One somehow stuck and unable to be airlifted – to give him the heads’ up. His younger brother had been far too subdued the entire flight, and Gordon just hoped he’d be able to keep it together a while longer. Thunderbird Five wasn’t online enough to have remote control access yet.

And she still didn’t have telemetry, which John was panicking over more and more as Scott continued to be non-responsive, or control over Thunderbird One’s internal cameras.

“F.A.B.,” Gordon responded automatically, getting up from his seat and heading straight for the module and his Thunderbird. She was just as he’d left her – fully prepared for the next dive – and he settled into the cockpit with ease of experience.

This was just one more rescue. One with limited information and a brother’s life on the line, but still just one more rescue. He could do this.

He had to do this.

Pre-dive checks were completed, all systems green and raring to go. He wondered if she was as anxious to get to her sister as he was his brother.

“Ready for module deployment,” he reported, and barely a moment later they were falling, crashing into the water and rocking for a moment before they stabilised. “Alan, see if you can get a scan of Thunderbird One’s condition.” It wouldn’t be as good as a Thunderbird Five scan, but immediately overhead, Thunderbird Two should be able to get something.

Thunderbird Four slid out of the module and under the surface to the tune of his brother’s “F.A.B.” Nose pointed down and sonar active, he pushed her as fast as he dared towards the location they had for the downed Thunderbird. It wouldn’t be exact – Thunderbird Five’s maintenance downtime crippling the accuracy – but Gordon had enough faith in it to trust that he was at least in range.

Sonar registered the craft just as Alan called him.

“Scans show one life sign,” he said, and Gordon knew he wasn’t imagining the relief in his younger brother’s voice – mostly because he felt it, too. One life sign meant Scott was alive. Whatever state he was in, he was alive. “But Thunderbird One’s been taking on water. Scans suggest she’s half-flooded.”

That was not such good news. It had to be a small leak, if it was only half after two hours, but with Scott still not responding, he had no idea if his brother was wearing his helmet.

Flooding also meant she was going to be heavier to lift, but the amount of water meant it would be too risky to deploy the tube to link the two craft and attempt to evac Scott into Four. He sent one more ping at the downed Thunderbird, hoping against hope that Scott would answer this time.

He didn’t.

Getting visual on her was a muted sort of relief. On the one hand, Scott was found, but on the other, Thunderbird One was not supposed to be nestled on the seabed. It just wasn’t right.

Her wings were still closed, implying she’d been supersonic, and the nose cone was crumpled from the impact with either the water or the sea floor. Perhaps both. Gordon suspected that was the source of the leak, but he was more interested in the way she wasn’t entirely belly-down. Rolled ever so slightly on her side, he should be able to get some sort of visual through the viewing window.

“I’ve got eyes on her,” he belatedly reported. “Her nose is damaged but otherwise she doesn’t look too bad. She’s not quite belly-down, so I’m going to go EVA and see what I can see through the viewing window.”

He just needed to see Scott. See that he was okay, see if he had his helmet on and if it was intact.

“Be careful,” John warned. “Your suit won’t hold for long at those depths.”

That was normally Virgil’s line, but Virgil had gone silent. Gordon would worry about that later, once Scott was safe.

“I just need to check his condition,” he said, tipping backwards into the airlock. “I won’t be long.”

Compared to Thunderbird Two, Thunderbird One always seemed small. Somehow, in the wide expanse of the ocean, she looked big. Crashed machinery instead of sleek ‘bird. The thought made him shudder as he pushed through the water, heading straight for the panel of window he could see.

Thunderbird One’s emergency lighting was on, dim and shrouding most things in shadow.

It was enough to see that Scott was slumped in the pilot chair. Definitely unconscious, and also not wearing his helmet, because that would have made Gordon’s job too easy.

It wasn’t enough to see why.

He banged on the glass, in case the vibrations could do what persistent comms couldn’t and rouse his brother.

Nothing.

The water was up past Scott’s boots; Gordon couldn’t see how far but his brother was at least partially submerged.

“Alan, we’ll need the lifting bags.” There was no way he could safely get Scott out until they were on the surface.

“Coming down to you now.” It was Virgil who responded, deep voice full of determination. Gordon suspected he’d demanded the remote controls for them. “How is he? Can you see him?”

“I can see he’s still in his seat,” Gordon answered. “Not wearing his helmet, so I can’t evac him until she’s lifted with all that water in her, and still not responding to anything. It’s too dark to see anything else.”

“Any sign of what brought them down?” John asked.

“Nothing,” Gordon admitted, and that concerned him, because what could bring One down – especially with Scott piloting her? “Only damage I’m seeing so far is from the landing.”

“Lift bags incoming,” Virgil warned, and he looked up to see the yellow bags descending.

With one last look at his unmoving brother, eerie with the emergency lighting playing over the water inside, he peeled himself away from the viewing window and swam up to meet them, making sure they were firmly attached to the Thunderbird. No room for error.

“Ready to deploy.”

He swam back to Thunderbird Four, slipping back inside and into the cockpit to watch as the bags inflated and slowly, slowly, peeled the downed ‘bird off of the sea floor.

The ascent seemed to take forever, and Gordon kept pace the entire time, peering through the viewing window as best he could to keep an eye on his brother. There was no movement at all, no reaction to the way his Thunderbird was rising back up to the surface.

If not for Alan’s report of a life sign, he would have been fearing the worst. As it was, he was still terrified that something was badly wrong, although with Thunderbird One mostly intact, he wasn’t sure what. There shouldn’t have been anything to knock him out. Certainly not for this long.

The moment they breached the surface, he latched on to her with Thunderbird Four’s arms and once again left his ‘bird. Gecko gloves gave him the grip he needed to scramble up to Thunderbird One’s dorsal hatch, and with a quick manual override – that thankfully worked – he dropped down into thigh-deep water inside the Thunderbird.

“Scott!” he called, ignoring frantic demands from his brothers that he update them. He’d update them when he knew what was going on himself. Thunderbird One rolled gently with the water she was floating on, somewhat stabilised by Four but not entirely. Not until clanks told him Alan had fired grapples to lock on.

He waded his way towards the pilot chair, eyeing the way Scott was slumped and already mentally running through all the possible reasons for his unresponsiveness. A hand on the shoulder of the seat – not his brother until he knew injuries – and he pulled himself the rest of the way until he was in front of Scott, and-

Oh shit.

He must have said it out loud, because suddenly there were three brothers in his ear – loud and frantic – but he only had eyes for his white, white brother. None of his theories, his suspicions, had been right. Not even close.

Blood-soaked bandages wrapped around Scott’s abdomen, but it wasn’t those that had Gordon’s teeth grinding in a mix of fear and fury. No.

It was the knife buried hilt-deep.

tbc...

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds are go fanfiction #tsari writes fanfiction #gordon tracy #scott tracy #john tracy #alan tracy #virgil tracy #end of blue

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lilikags · 3 years

Text

Take My Hand | Kita Shinsuke

ೃ‧₊› about this post ° ➮ Pairing: Kita Shinsuke x reader ➮ Oneshot ➮ Tags: death of a character, angst, comfort (?), a little bit of fluff at the end ➮ Word Count: 2452 ➮ Lyric Prompt: Sinking, falling into despair, a hand reached out and broke through my fears [part of my Promise oneshot series]

Midterms- something you, and everyone else dreaded. It was one of the two major grades that mattered, and if you messed up, you were pretty screwed. Everyone was scrambling to study, including you. You ran throughout campus, from one end to another, while trying to review the notes and study guides you had made in preparation. There was only a couple of weeks left to study before the tests, and there was way too much to study.

You were just getting to class, when you heard your phone vibrate. It was a call; you’d probably answer later. What if it was something important? No, you’re just anxious because of midterms… you know what? I’ll see who it is first.

When you saw who it was, your eyes widened and you instantly pressed the accept button. Your heart raced as you heard the voice which the phone was connected to. You didn’t know who it was, or what their name was. However, you knew what they were saying was most likely true, but you hoped it was a lie. You hoped it was a dream. It needed to be. You couldn’t go to class. It wasn’t like there was a presentation anyways; anything else comes after.

You hated that the person’s voice sounded like they’d said this a million times before. Well, they probably have. It was their job after all, to bring people like you this news- news that would make their heart tremble and render everything which previously seemed to be important irrelevant.

“I have to go…” you told your friends, and you rushed off to the parking lot, where you had parked your car earlier this morning. You were scared- definitely. Suddenly, you started worrying about all the things you usually didn’t bat an eye about. It was definitely at least paranoia, but you couldn’t help but feel it. It might just be more, more than paranoia, perhaps a mixture of panic, overthinking, and worry.

“Mom, Dad-” you couldn’t figure out what to say. You were all thinking the same thing; it didn’t need to be said. You hugged the two of them. You were all experiencing this, and there was nothing more important than (sister’s name). She had gotten into an accident- on her way to work, she’d been hit by someone- they were also in the hospital. A T-bone accident, apparently.

It wasn’t rocket science to figure out it was deadly; the sides of the car were less protective than the front or back. It was probably negligence, but you couldn't help but feel that the person who hit her was at fault. In fact, it was a fact in your mind. They caused your sister this pain, and they should pay for it. You didn't even know who it was, what their name was, or who they were- you didn’t care. Someone who caused your family this pain didn’t deserve a second of your thoughts.

There were chairs near her room, and you and your parents waited there. Every second felt like a minute, the tears from your parents eyes never stopped. You didn’t know why you couldn’t cry; you wanted to, so bad. Maybe it was a sign, that she’d be alright and you didn’t need to cry. Or maybe you were just hopeful, that she’d survive and everything would be fine and the way it was, that this event didn’t make an impact on your life.

“I’m sorry, but (sister’s name) didn’t make it,” you heard a nurse stop by, with a disappointed look in her face. You could see the guilt in her eyes; she must’ve tried her best. But that didn’t matter. Whether the doctors tried their best or what, it was the results that matter. What they were supposed to do was save (sister’s name)’s life, and they couldn’t do it.

The tears made your eyes red, but you didn’t care. It would be weird for you if you couldn't cry, after hearing that. You put down your phone- in fact, you turned it off. You didn’t want to be near anyone but your parents. The three of you cried for each other, and eventually you went back home.

It was after dinner that you turned your phone on again. Dinner was (sister’s name)’s favorite food, something that your mom had to make. You couldn’t blame her, everyone missed her already. You hadn’t even said goodbye to her this morning; you were too busy looking over your notes. You regretted that. You should’ve told her, “Good luck,” when she left- maybe that would’ve saved her. Who knows. But you couldn’t turn back time- what happened can’t be reversed.

It started to feel lonely. You had your parents near you at home, in their room, but you didn’t want to disturb them. You didn’t know, maybe they needed some time for themselves. Maybe you needed time for yourself. You didn’t really know anymore. When you logged into your phone, you could see the notifications. You were hesitant to tell them about it. Maybe it was best to keep this to the family, but they’d find out anyways, sooner or later. You didn’t know, but you felt you needed someone to talk to.

Some of your closer friends knew (sister’s name). She’d hung along sometimes. You’d viewed it as somewhat annoying- this was your time with your friends, so why did she have to come along? Nonetheless, it was still quite a fun time for you. In fact, your friends really liked your sister. She wasn't much older than you; she was only a couple of years older.

Speaking to someone who didn’t really know you sounded really appealing. They wouldn’t pry; it’d be rude of them to. They wouldn’t get super emotional either; you didn’t want that. You just needed someone to listen to you, and say something, like they kind of cared, but they weren’t distressed by the situation. Making them distressed would only make you guilty, after all.

You: Hi, Kita.

Kita Shinsuke: Hello, (Y/N).

You were glad that he didn’t question anything. Perhaps he didn’t know what was going on. Or maybe he didn’t care that much, but you already started the conversation. When your phone buzzed while you were thinking of what to say, it seemed he wanted to start the conversation instead.

Kita Shinsuke: Are you alright? Everyone’s worried about you.

You: … i don’t know

You: i don’t think i’m ready to tell everyone yet about it

Kita Shinsuke: If you don’t want to tell everyone about it, that’s fine. If you feel comfortable telling me, I won’t tell anyone. Don’t feel bad about it.

You: thanks

You: think we could call?

Kita Shinsuke: Of course.

You were a little unsure about this, but you already asked to call him. You knew you needed to talk to someone about it, and you don't know why you chose Kita. Perhaps it was because he was next to you in each class you took, but you never really talked to him. Maybe that’s why you felt he knew you and you felt you knew him, but you knew you didn’t really know any facts about each other. It was just a feeling you felt that he kind of understood you, but he didn’t really know you- and that was what you needed at the moment.

You hovered over the call button, and you finally pressed it. It didn’t take long for him to answer at all.

“... Hey.”

“Hello, (Y/N).”

“So, uhm…” You took a moment of silence to gather your words. Now that you were actually telling someone, it took a bit of courage to actually say it. It wasn’t easy to tell someone this right away; there were other people who deserved to know before him- but you didn’t want to deal with their grief until you were better, even just a little better.

“(sister’s name) died today… she’s-” you took a moment to correct that, “she was my sister.”

“I’m sorry for yer loss.”

You didn’t know why you were disappointed with that reaction. What else was there to say, though? There wasn’t really anything else though, unless they knew the person. He couldn’t say “Oh, she was a great person”, because the two of you know he never knew her. In fact, he’d never met her, so you were absolutely sure.

“She got into an accident- a T-bone, apparently,” you continued. You continued to tell all about her. You couldn’t have pictured yourself talking about (sister’s name) this way even yesterday. You had no idea she’d be gone in such a short amount of time, and the thought had never come to mind.

“And I should’ve said ‘Good luck’ this morning to her- maybe that could’ve helped her-” your voice became more and more desperate as you kept talking- you’d switched from what was great about (sister’s name) to what you should’ve done- what you’d regretted.

“(Y/N),” Kita interrupted. He was never the type to interrupt anyone, so this took you by surprise, and it even made you just a little hurt. You were talking, so he shouldn’t interrupt you.

“Yer not at fault here.”

You didn’t know what to say to that. There were so many things you could’ve done that could’ve possibly prevented it- wasn’t it your duty to protect the things you had, before they were gone?

You listened to Kita talk, and you couldn’t say anything back. It all made sense; there was no way you could have possibly known. That night, you went to sleep with just a little emotion. There was maybe something you needed to do, and you’d be able to do it tomorrow.

The sticky notes on your desk reminded you that you had midterms to study for, and you dragged yourself out. The emptiness returned when you remembered you couldn’t see (sister’s name) rubbing her eyes as she walked out of her room.

“Morning…” you greeted your parents, with a bland tone, which in the same tone they responded with. All of your eyes were still puffy from tears, and no one could blame you. You made a bit of breakfast that day, and you headed out to school, taking just a little with you.

“(Y/N)! Are you okay?” your friends asked you. You saw the group chat messages sent yesterday, and it warmed your heart that they were worried about you, that they cared. Of course, you felt a little guilty not telling them. They could also see from your eyes that you’d been crying, and that was a bit of an alarm- something definitely happened, and there was no hiding it.

“Mhm… I’ll tell you after class… don't worry about it,” you responded to them.

“Are ya okay with telling them?” Kita asked.

“Mhm… I feel guilty not telling them. She was their friend too…” you responded, not even paying attention to the professor. You felt a little guilty for that, as you were paying for that, but you just couldn’t at the moment.

“How- how do I tell them about it?” you asked. You were unsure of how you were going to break it to them, and you couldn’t remember how you told him about it last night.

You spent the entire class period talking about it, rather than paying attention. This seemed more important anyways.

You met your friends outside, and since there was some time before your next class and your friends had a bit more time than you, you decided to go to a place with not many people.

“So, (sister’s name) got into an accident,” you told them up front.

“Huh-” you heard your friends’ surprised reactions.

“She didn’t make it…”

You could see your friends tear up, and all of their faces turned pensive. You could tell they were sad about it, and you’d be lying to yourself if you thought that you weren’t jealous that they wouldn’t be as affected as you. Of course, it was natural, though.

You cried too, and you were grateful that Kita had brought tissues with him. You ended up using his entire package, which surprised no one. Later, though, you bought him a pack of tissues as a thanks, and he said you could keep it. He insisted, so you just kept them.

So, over the next few weeks, your friends got more protective of you. They noticed that your parents weren’t doing as well either, and they often came to your house to cheer you up- there were some sleepovers and a party for surviving midterms, which helped a lot. It relieved your parents that you had friends who would do this for you, and they were happy for you.

Kita often accompanied you home, as being alone just felt too lonely. Your thoughts were the only ones with you, and you didn’t need them at the moment. You appreciated that a lot- and you figured that he was just nice enough to help you out and spend time with you. Perhaps he pitied you. You didn't mind; you knew you were kind of pitiful in your state at that time. He was more helpful that you thought he would be when you first texted him. He was actually great at advice, and you were eternally grateful. He was even extremely kind to your parents as well, and they enjoyed having him around. Meeting him at college was definitely something you never regretted.

So, you and your friends went to loads of places to try to cheer you (and themselves) up. You smiled much more during that time, and you were happy that you were able to have fun. You certainly did miss (sister’s name), but you couldn’t be hung up on her forever. There was nothing you could do to bring her back, but at least she’d live on in your memories.

When you thought about it, the years passed by pretty quickly. You couldn’t imagine yourself really far in the future, probably because you didn’t want to feel old. However, this was a day that you had been waiting for. It was a lot of people’s dreams, and you were experiencing it. Lots of people did too, but it was special for everyone.

Growing dependent on someone is something that happens gradually. For you, it happened over the course of college. You were glad that it happened, because he got you through it- your parents too; he was supportive of your parents too, and they really came to appreciate that as well.

It was really Kita Shinsuke who brought you out of the dark, whose hand reached out and broke through your fears.

Taglist: @nachotrash

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A/N: also, lmk if I didn’t tag right v_v

#haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #haikyuu angst #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu fluff #kita #kita shinsuke #kita x reader #kita x you #kita x y/n #tw death #fluff #kita fluff #kita angst #kita comfort #haikyuu comfort

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thiswasinevitableid · 3 years

Note

Winter prompt fill 67 for sternclay? Doesn’t have to be a wedding I just love the 2nd half of this prompt. nsfw would be great

Here you go! It is indeed NSFW

67. you were supposed to have a beautiful winter wedding but you were ditched during the vows and my idiot sibling/best friend just cracked a joke about how maybe I’d finally tell you how I feel about you and you h e a r d

“She’s not coming.” Joseph whispers over his shoulder.

“Joe, for all we know she got hung up in a dress emergency or something?” Lily, the best woman and Joseph’s sister, squeezes his shoulder.

When the groom turns his blue eyes on Barclay, the groomsman does his best impression of someone who thinks things will be fine.

“It’s only been five minutes.”

“Her entire wedding party is here without her. And they look as confused as we do.”

Barclay spots a member of the event staff slip in a side door and hand a piece of paper to Indrid, their friend who’s acting as an usher.

“I, ah, have some bad news.” The pale-haired man joins them at the front of the church, “it seems the bride has had a serious change of mind and will not be joining us.”

Joseph grabs the paper, reading it over as the bridal party crowds around him. The upshot of all the commotion, and the arguing that follows the commotion, is that the bride has indeed called off the wedding and is en route to an airport.

As the family confirms she’s alright, Joseph picks up the microphone.

“Obviously this is a, um, unexpected turn of events. It’s safe to say no one is getting married today, but everything is still in order for the reception and we’re all dressed up so, um, if people want to stay and take advantage of that, you’re welcome to. You’re also welcome to leave if you want.”

Several groups break off towards the reception hall, and Barclay pulls Joseph aside.

“Joe, are you sure? I mean, yeah, we’re all here, but I don’t think anyone is gonna hold it against you if you want to send everyone home.”

“It’s important to be flexible.” Joseph replies blithely. Barclay knows his best friend hates when plans change and is unlikely to suddenly lose that piece of his personality at the same moment he lost his fiancee.

“Besides, I’d hate for that menu you helped us pick out to go to waste.” There it is, the Joseph Stern Professional smile ™, a sign that Barclay’s hunch is right.

“Screw the menu, man, I’m worried about you.” Barclay sets a hand on either of his shoulders. Joseph’s gaze snaps all the way onto him, and he knows he is losing this argument.

“It’s still my wedding, Barclay. That means I get to run it in whatever way I think best.”

“Right, yeah, sorry.” He steps back, brushes lint from his arm, “you go on ahead. I join you in a sec.”

Joseph nods, turning to stride though the room in his dark suit, while Barclay watches the love of his life walk away.

-------------------------------------

“Uh, hi, I’m Barclay. You must be Joseph?” Barclay stands in the door of the dorm room, his backpack in his arms.

“Yes. Um, nice to meet you.” The other guy stands, black hair and well-fitting X-Files shirt making him look like Agent Mulder on his day off.

“I didn’t choose a side yet, it seemed fair to wait until we were both here. I’m partial to the left but that’s more habit than anything else.”

“I’m cool with that. I, uh, I don’t have a ton of stuff to unpack so, uh if you need help let me know.”

“Thank you.” Joseph smiles, taking his face from cute to heart-stoppingly handsome, and Barclay decides he hit the roommate jackpot.

Barclay didn’t fall for Joe so much as cliffdive, throwing himself after the feeling he got whenever Joe laughed at a joke or told him a secret or talked for fifteen minutes about the methodology flaws in Ghost Hunters. Yes, Joe was hotter than convection oven and Barclay wanted to fuck him on the floor of every space they ever lived in, but more than that Barclay was so happy with him, and his friend felt the same way.

The problem was, Barclay had a shy streak and was far from the only person to see Joe as a catch. And so they dated other people, sometimes happily and sometimes not, but never each other. By the time Joe met Iris, Barclay’s unrequited love had been thrumming in him so long it was no more than background noise. So when Joe ran proposal ideas by him, announced the weddings, asked Barclay to stand up with him, Barclay felt genuine happiness for him and the woman he loved. There’s no rule that says one cannot feel joy and knife-in-the-gut sorrow at the same time.

He’s only gotten better with age he thinks as Joe works the room, fielding condolences with ease. Barclay helped him choose the suit, black with blue lines in the stitching, because it flattered but did not flaunt the well-maintained figure beneath. The last time Barclay saw him in just his underwear was when they lived together after college, and he fumbled his phone when he saw him at the beach last summer. He can picture it so clearly, what that body looks like under those clothes, and it makes him want to scream

“This whole day has been full of surprises.” Indrid sits down next to him, glass of soda in hand.

“Kinda figured you and Duck would head home.”

“Most of our friends are here, and the food looks good. Not to mention we’re both worried about-” Indrid nods towards Joseph.

“Yeah, me too. I mean, I admire his holding it together but, like, what if Duck had left you at the altar?”

“I’d have turned into a hideous red-eyed monster and flapped screeching into the night.”

“......”

“That was a joke.” Indrid grins.

“Right. Man, hard to tell with you sometimes.”

“While this is an upsetting situation, there is a bright side; maybe now you will finally tell Joseph how you feel.”

A crash makes them both turn in their seats; Joseph is wiping his dropped (plastic) cup up with a nearby napkin, well within earshot.

“Indrid I swear if he heard-”

“Oh, I am certain he did.”

“Dude” Barclay hisses as Joseph steals an unreadable glance at him.

“For goodness sake, you two are a good pair. A pair you’ve been dreaming about for years. Tell him.” With that the other man stands, leaving Barclay alone with his thoughts. His thoughts are no help, so he joins Indrid, Duck, Aubrey, and Dani for some cake.

As the venue finally empties, he realizes he hasn’t seen Joe in an hour and panics until he finds him standing (swaying, really) in the staging room.

“You, hic, know, hic, this explains, hic, why she didn’t want to move until hic, after the wedding.”

“Seems like it’s for the best, going home to a place where all her stuff is would fucking suck.” Barclay puts an arm around him only for the shorter man to slump most of his weight into his chest.

“The hotel’s paid for, and I have a week hic of vacation and a packed car.”

“You’re not driving anywhere. I can and will lock you in a closet if you try.”

“Or you could, hic, come with me.”

“On your honeymoon?” Thank god Joe is too drunk to notice his voice creeping up.

“On my it’s this or be miserable t home trip. Please, Barclay? We can hic, swing by your place to get your stuff.”

Barclay says yes. Purely to help a friend in need and not because of how said friend feels pressed up against him.

They’re an hour out of the city when Joseph fumbles with his phone, “Change of plans, were going here instead of the hotel?”

“I thought the whole point was the hotel was paid for?”

“It is, by her family, so fuck it. I’ve always wanted to go here and it’s the kind of place she’d never let us stay.”

They take the next exit and find the highway North rather than East. By the time they reach the massive pink building with an airplane in the field out front, snow is falling and Joe is half-asleep, mumbling “okay” when Barclay says he’ll go get them a room. The clerk welcomes him, shows him a list of available rooms, and he notices a high number of them have heart-shaped bed, “tubs for two,” and the word “fantasy” in the name.

Just as he’s wondering what the fuck Joe’s gotten them into, he spots the perfect room at the bottom of the list.

“Got a surprise for you.” He helps Joe from the car and unlocks the door. His friend takes in the silver and green decor, the posters, and the UFO-shaped bed.

“This is the exact one I was hoping for.”

“I know, you giant nerd.”

“Be nice, big guy, or you’re sleeping on the couch.” Joe stumbles to the bed and starts stripping, at which point Barclay zips back outside to get their bags. By the time he’s back, Joe is under the covers and out cold. The king bed does look comfy…

Barclay sleeps on the couch.

-------------------------------------------------

Joe remains dead to the world until almost noon the next day, so Barclay works on his cookbook edits and sends yet another thank-you email to Mama for letting him take his vacation with such little notice. He grabs breakfast, including a sandwich for when Joe wakes up and some aspirin to go with his coffee.

“I hate myself.”

“Good morning to you too.”

Joe rolls over, dragging the pillow atop his head, “I didn’t mean to get so drunk, it’s just the only way I could get through all those conversations yesterday was to take a drink every time I felt like crumbling.”

Barclay sits on the bed, petting his head, “It’s okay, man, getting me to drive you to a weird sex hotel is not the worst thing you’ve done drunk.”

“I threw up in a mixer one time.”

“And I’ll never forgive you for it.” He laughs when Joe whacks him with a pillow. In the silence that follows, he remembers Indrid’s comment, and wonders if Joe does too.

“...Is this really a sex hotel? I just thought it was kitsch aimed at couples”

“Go look at the tub.”

Joe groans, stepping out of bed in just his--god help him--silk boxer briefs. They must have been under the suit.

“Are these...they are, there are handcuffs hanging by the tub. Well, weird as that is, I’m taking a bath.”

The day goes in an oddly non-awkward direction after that. They’ve lived together often enough that getting dressed and clean in close quarters is nothing new. Joe votes for hiding from the world bit longer, so they settle in on the very squishy bed and watch a silver plated T.V, Joe laughing whenever Barclay yells at cooking shows they way other people yell at football games.

He still sleeps on the couch that night.

The next day Joe is up bright and early, suggesting they drive to a nearby tourist trap, using his phone to pick out a breakfast place that serves Barclays favorite local coffee blend. They follow that same process the next two days; find some strange roadside attraction or nearby bookstore, eat, and return back to the motel to lay side by side on the bed and to read or watch T.V.

It’s as they’re wandering around a strange, knock-off Carhenge that Joe sighs, “I sort of saw it coming, you know? Iris leaving. I proposed because I cared about her, but she was the one who brought it up, and every time we were visiting her family or she got off the phone with them, she’d bring it up more forcefully. I think she was under more pressure to settle down than I grasped. If our places were switched, I might have run too. Lord knows I wouldn’t want to marry me.”

Barclay crunches to a stop in the snow “Why the fuck not?”

“Because I’m exactly the kind of guy you’d want to bring home to your family but not spend your life with. My job has weird hours and travel, my non-work clothes have cryptids on them, I can be too particular, and I’m not that exciting for someone whose job is special agent-”

“No, fuck that, you’re a catch.”

“You’re just used to me, big guy. Your objectivity is in question.”

“Yeah, well, you’re even more used to you, so I’m really the more objective one here.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Joe stares at his footprints, then elbows the cook, “come on, lets go get lunch.”

Barclay is still full and happy, having warmed up via a soak in the tub (where he thought of four different ways to use the cuffs and then had to calm down his cock enough to get out), when he comes into the main room and finds Joe staring at his phone.

“Oh shit, did she get in touch?”

“Yes. Iris, um, is on a cruise ship. As a yoga instructor. She says it’s something she’s dreamed of for years, that she’s sorry for hurting me, but that marrying me would have been a step in a life she did not want to lead. So. That’s that.” He puts the phone face down, cards his fingers through his hair, “Lord almighty I wish she’d just said no when I asked.”

“Me too.” Barclay imagines a different past, where Joe asked him instead, where he said yes because it’s what he’s been dreaming of since he was twenty-two. Where Joe is sitting in front of him, not sad-eyed and tired, but happy as can be.

---------------------------------------------

This hangover is somehow worse than the one the morning after his non-wedding. Then again, he drank more in a shorter period, hoping to drown out the memory of the words on the screen.

Or the words he overheard at the reception.

“Tell him how you really feel”

He’s had his suspicions about Barclay from time to time, most frequently when they were younger and he felt those deep brown eyes on his ass every time he turned around. But Barclay never took a chance; there were times after break-ups when Joe is certain anyone who was interested would have taken advantage of him being vulnerable and available, but instead Barclay cheered him up, the same way Joe did when Barclay’s relationships ended. Stern concluded neither of them wanted more.

He would have taken more in an instant. His love for Barclay walked the line between romantic and platonic, and he would have crossed it the moment Barclay asked him to.

Now, he’s bathing with his eyes shut because any light is murder on his skull, his best friend waking up on the couch where he’s insisted on staying because clearly Joe’s lost his appeal. Who’d want to sleep with someone who got roaring drunk and needed babysitting?

He pops aspirin, drinks water, and lays down with his sleep mask over his eyes. Barclay moves around the room, talking softly in that gentle baritone that, not for the first time, makes Stern wonder what he sounds like when he cums.

“You want me to run and grab breakfast?”

“No, I can get it for both of us. Lord knows you’ve done enough for me this week.”

“You gonna go downstairs blindfolded?”

“For you, I’ll risk a headache OW, owow.” His back locks up just as he tries to sit upright.

The bed sags, “Holy shit man, you’ve got a huge knot right here.”

“My back always does that when I’m stressed, it’ll be fine.”

“Nuhuh, lay down and let me see if I can get it out.” Barclay nudges him onto his stomach and he flops willingly, mask still on.

“You don’t need to Ohhhhhhhhhnnn, I forget about those bakers hands.”

“Gonna knead you like dough, babe.”

Stern blushes at the name; he was always a little jealous when his friend called his boyfriends that.

When thumbs pass below his shoulder-blades he moans, arches at the second of pain, “That’s it, that’s the epicenter.”

He can’t stop sighing as Barclay runs his hands over him, can’t stop wiggling his hips at every burst of relief. He pushes his ass up without meaning too, and a bitten-back whine reaches him.

Fuck it. Even if he’s about to make a huge mistake, he wont have to look Barclay in the eyes.

“What did Indrid mean? At the reception.”

“Uh.” Barclay’s hands still, “uh. That I was worried about you.”

“Try again.” He grinds his ass back deliberately.

“Joe, please, I’m hanging on by a fucking thread here. You’re underneath me shirtless and I am not gonna do this a dumb way.”

“Do what?”

“Tell you that, that I, no nope, I’m gonna do this back home, at the Lodge or something, make you dinner first and be all romantic so that you don’t think I’m talking with my dick when I say I love you.”

Barclay’s whole body tenses. Joe flips onto his back, regrets the sudden movement, and lifts his sleep mask. He takes one of his frozen hands from the air.

“I love you too.”

“Really?” Barclay sounds like a teenager whose crush just said yes to prom.

“Really. And I don’t think it’s just your dick talking. Although if you wanted to bring it into the equation I wouldn’t mind.” He sends a pointed stare at the half-hard shape under worn denim.

Barclay’s breathing is picking up, his posture trapped between movements.

“Do you, um, do you want to kiss?”

His friend drops down in reply, smashing their lips together and parting his own imploringly until Stern slips his tongue between them. His big hands cup Stern’s face and his hips grind like he thinks his parents will be home any minute.

“I love you, I love you so fucking much, Joe, ohgod, babe, please, please let me be good to you” the kisses on his face and neck are messy and the sweetest sensation he’s ever felt.

“Barclay, you’ve always been good to me.”

“I meant this” he drags their dicks together, “kind of good.”

“Ohlord, yes okay, good point. Get your clothes off and bring me the purple bag that’s in my suitcase.”

Barclay grabs the bag, upends it and sends several sex toys, his strap-on underwear, and lots of condoms onto the bed, undresses as Stern sets one of the toys into the harness.

“I need to put this back on.” He lowers the mask and hears a soft whine.

“I like seeing your eyes.”

“You’ll see them plenty, big guy, I promise. Now, open yourself up, please.”

“Oh hell yes.” A rip of foil, a pop of lube, and then Barclay straddles him, grunting delightfully.

“Tell me when you get to three, that should be enough for this toy.”

Pre-cum drips just above the waistband of the underwear, and he gets a thrill remembering the few times he’d caught an accidental glimpse of Barclay’s dick. It’s big, that much he knows, and he’s going to have a lot of fun with it once he’s done reducing the man above him to tears.

“T-three, babe.”

“Get my dick wet and then get to it.”

When he gets the gasp that tells him the toy is in, he smile and reaches to the underside of the base, “Remember that new dick I was excited about?”

“The vibrating one? OHFUCK, fuckyeahbabe” Barclay jerks and moans, his movements erratic even as he sinks all the way down. Stern echoes him, the pressure of the other man’s body makes the vibrations hit all the right spots.

“Here’s how this is going to work, big guy; I’m going to get off while I fuck you, and if you can hold off on coming until I’m done, I’ll let you fuck me.”

“God yeah, Joe, fuck me, please.”

He thrusts up and there’s a thud of Barclay’s hands hitting the headboard. The movement is rough on his stomach but he doesn’t care, grabs hold of thick thighs and fucks him, the other man working his hips in an attempt at rhythm.

The mask catches on a pillow, letting him see Barclay from the neck down. Lord, he looks good like this, big (Stern’s always loved how big he is), letting out the most appealing grunts and growls, dark hair covering most of his softly muscled body…

Wait a minute.

He claps a hand over his mouth, laughing.

“Whats, aAAhnnn, what’s so funny babe?”

“Remember when you found that Sasquatch dildo and bigfoot romance novel in my stuff?”

“Hard to forget.”

“I just discovered the source of the fantasy.”

“Are, are you saying I look like bigfoot when I fuck?” Barclay is shaking with laughter.

“Kind of?”

“I’m putting that on a sign in my den.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

“Too late AHHhhnnnfuck, fuck, baby, pleasepleaseplease say you’re close.”

“Why? In a hurry to fuck me?”

“After ten fucking years? Yes.”

He focuses on rubbing off on the toy, holding Barclay in place to keep it at the right angle, orgasm building sudden and swift when he works his hips just right and Barclay starts whimpering.

“Shit” he bites out as it ripples through him, aftershocks jerking his hips and making them both groan.

Barclay climbs off and he wiggles the underwear off and kicks them off the bed.

“Okay, big guy, now you can fuck meSHIT, lordalmighty you feel good.”

“Fucking knew it would, knew you were fucking made for me Joe, fuck you’re incredible.” The hand that’s not balancing him on the mattress is shoving Sterns left out and up so he can drive deeper, shaking the walls on each thrust. Stern wonders if there’s a way recreate ten years of pent up desire so that Barclay will fuck him with this same furious affection every night of his life.

He’s limp post-orgasm, happy to let Barclay manhandle him to his hearts content. When the other man sits up, dragging his hips into his lap, he moans louder than he had in years.

“That’s it babe, lemme hear how good it is, fuck, no one’s ever looked this good taking my dick, c’mon, take it all the way, take me all the way while I cum in you.”

“Ohlord.” his toes curl weakly as bucks into him faster and faster.

“Fucking years, years I’ve wanted cum in whatever hole you’d give me, now I’m gonna and you’re gonna feel it for weeks, fuck, babe, that’s it, ohhhnn Joe, Joe” there’s a final growl as Barclay holds his legs open, the last jolts of his orgasm making his fingers dig into his skin.

As he’s coming down and pulling out, Stern slips off the mask, blinking at the sight before him. Barclay, flushed and slick with sweat, staring at him like he’s a prize he’d never thought he’d see.

“Barclay?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you be my boyfriend?” He winces at how childish it sounds. A week ago he had a fiancee, for gods sake.

“Yeah, hell yes, wait, Joe, you just got out of an engagement. You, you sure you don’t want some time alone or to, like, explore other options?”

Stern crawls over to him, beard scratching his palm when he turns his cheek, “Barclay, I’ve always been one step away from falling in love with you, and it turns out this was the step. I trust you, I get along better with you than anyone else, and apparently we work well in bed. If, um, if you don’t want this, if it’s too late, I understand. But if you want to be together, I want that too.”

Barclay blinks. Then he blinks again. And then he’s crying and Stern pulls him into the hug.

“Oh lord, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-”

“Joe, don’t apologize. I’m so fucking happy, I’ve wanted to hear this for so long it’s just” a shaky breath, “just didn’t expect it to hit so hard. I love you, Joseph, and nothing would make me happier than being your boyfriend.”

They stay like that for awhile, talking in confessions and professions of feelings. Then Joe kisses him, and pulls him towards the bathroom to clean up (and maybe use those cuffs) before heading out to lunch.

----------------------------------------

Indrid opens the message on his phone, smiles, and texts four words in reply.

I told you so

#Sternclay #agent stern/barclay #winter fills #pining #taz amnesty

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heyyyharry · 4 years

Text

Chapter 10: Truth or Truth

(from the My Girl Trilogy: Stay Mine)

…in which the truth comes out.

Word count: 6.6k

AU: actor!Harry, older!Harry, younger!Y/N, (4-year age gap).

Wattpad link (Thea as Y/N)

Well, this is one crazy chapter 👀 Let me know what you think because I’m thirsty for feedback. But also don’t be to harsh on me I’m fragile.

The last Sunday of the month. Laura Hilfgard’s flat. Y/N’s book was almost finished and ready for submission, and she was at the top of her game. She’d been putting off everything else to write, and for the first time in her life, everything was happening according to plan. Last year’s Y/N would’ve spent every passing moment waiting for something to go wrong. The writer-to-be Y/N, however, was living her best life.

“Are you sure you want to omit the confrontation scene in chapter ten?” Laura asked once they’d stopped for a tea break.

Y/N stirred her tea slowly, still contemplating her handwritten notes. “You don’t need drama in every chapter. It’s not realistic.”

“It’s fiction,” said Laura. Y/N glanced up with an eyebrow lifted, and the agent exhaled as she raised her hands, palms out. “Sorry, ma’am. Your book.”

Blowing into her tea, Y/N closed her pink notebook and took a sip. “Sorry, it’s just the story is based on what happened to me.”

“Oh?” Laura blinked, sounding both surprised and intrigued.

“I changed a few things,” Y/N said. “But yeah, my boyfriend used to be my neighbour. We met in his treehouse twelve years ago.”

“Your boyfriend is Harry Styles, right?”

“You know him?”

“Everyone does.” Laura stopped stirring her tea to add more sugar with the same spoon. She’d been stirring and adding sugar for the last five minutes, which made Y/N wonder if she was going to drink at all. “I’ve heard so many stories about you two. You make a fine couple.”

“You’ve heard stories about us?” Y/N carefully set down her cup and smiled questioningly at the woman. “From whom?”

“Everyone,” Laura said and finally brought the cup to her red lips. Y/N watched Laura take the first sip of her overly sweet tea, and the only thing that came to Y/N’s mind was the likelihood of a connection between Laura and Harry.

Impossible. Harry would never have interfered. Not after their fight about John Conall. Besides, Blake had been the one who’d suggested her to Laura, not Harry. So how could Harry have possibly done anything?

Or could he?

What if he’d contacted Laura right after Blake had given the manuscript to her? No, Harry would never lie to Y/N. Harry, of all people, would understand how much this meant to her, that she’d accomplished everything on her own without his help. Harry, of all people, would believe in her.

Once she got back to her flat, she found herself pacing back and forth in her living room, clutching her phone to her chest as she tried to decide if she should just call and ask him. Him saying he had no connection to her literary agent would put Y/N out of her misery. But that would prove that she didn’t trust him, and he’d be so angry, and they would fight again. Things had been going so well recently she didn’t want to mess it up. Although there was a tiny part of her doubting everything, mostly herself…

Her phone rang, and she jumped. It was Harry. Biting her nail, she slid her thumb across the screen to answer and tried her best not to sound like she’d been overthinking. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey, are you working?”

“I just got back from Laura’s.”

“Is the book done?”

“Yup. We’ve submitted it to some publishers, and all we have to do now is wait.”

“That’s my girl.”

The question about Laura was on the tip of her tongue. She bit her nail instead and took a seat on the couch as he went on, “Don’t hate me for what I’m about to say, okay?”

“Okay.” She kept her tone light and neutral while unconsciously picking at a thread on her skirt.

“I forgot that I’d have dinner with my dad. I know I said I’d take you out tonight–”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” she said quickly and sat on her hand to stop her fidgeting. “You’ve been spending quite a lot of time with your dad.”

“Yeah,” he sighed contentedly. “Now that I don’t have to hide it from my mum or Gemma anymore, I can support Dad and Emi without feeling bad about it.”

“Support? As in...financially?” She hoped she didn’t sound too judgy.

He was quiet for a full second. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Harry…”

“No, hear me out. They owed the bank a lot of money because of the accident. I only helped them pay their debt. It’s not like I’m buying them a car or a house.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled. “You’ve been giving them so many expensive things, and Isaac told me you’ve also been helping Emi get back to acting.”

“ ‘Help’ as in I got her to castings. She still needs to audition like everyone else. I don’t ask directors to give her roles that she’s incompetent at, if that’s what you’re implying.”

“I’m not implying anything.” Maybe she was. “It’s just...you can’t live their lives for them, Harry.”

“I don’t. I’m only trying to help.”

“You can help, and you should. Just don’t overspend on them.”

“They’re family.”

She almost told him ‘not really’ and ‘I still don’t trust them’, but then let it go once he fell silent. “That wasn’t a fight, was it?” she asked.

“Of course not, kid.” His low laugh brought her a sense of relief. She straightened before leaning into the couch, staring at one of the cracks on her ceiling.

“I gotta go now. Talk to you later?” he said cautiously.

So she kept her tone light. “Sure. Have fun acting.”

“Have fun writing. Love you.”

She giggled as he kissed the phone.

“I love you, too.”

Since Gemma ran an online business and therefore wasn’t tied to a desk and a chair, she had decided to stay in London for a couple of days. Those couple of days had turned into two weeks and felt like two freaking months. Time slowed down when she was with Isaac; not that she complained.

She’d been with him constantly since they’d left Holmes Chapel. She wasn’t sure what they were. Friends? Way past that. Lovers? Not quite there. Friends who kissed? Well, sure, that might be a suitable label for their ‘relationship’. Gemma hated labels anyway, so it didn’t matter.

“Have you spoken to him?” Isaac asked, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. They were at his house, curled up in his bed, watching Netflix. Almost like a happy couple.

“Harry?” Her eyebrows furrowed as one of the characters was being brutally murdered on the screen. Isaac leaned forward and pressed pause right before the dead body collapsed.

Gemma gasped, “Hey!”

“You’ve already watched this,” he chuckled and removed the laptop from her lap before she could resume the movie.

“Still, that’s the best scene!”

He shook his head, placed the laptop on the other side of him and turned around, facing her. “Have you spoken to Asher?”

“No. He’s probably forgotten about me.”

“Gem…”

“Can we not mention my ex at this moment?”

“He’s not your ex yet, and you don’t want to mention him at any moment.” Isaac took her hand and brought it to his lap. “You need to break up with him.”

“He already broke up with me.”

“He said it was a break.”

She groaned and hugged a pillow to her chest. “He said it so he could hook up with whoever he wanted. He’s done this before, disappeared for a week or two. I was pretty sure he was hooking up with his secretary at the time, then he came back and acted like nothing was wrong. I just...I was stupid and I was in love with him. But not anymore. I’ve had enough.”

“So you’re just gonna wait until he reaches out to you, and then break up with him?”

“Yes. I want it to hurt.”

Isaac screwed up his face. “Why?”

“What do you mean why? After all that he’s done to me?”

“Do you still have feelings for him?” He tried to sound unbothered but she could see right through him. “Is that the reason why you’re so determined to make him feel equally bad?”

“No!” She shook her head, squeezing his hand. “I just don’t want him to think he’s so important. I’m not gonna reach out first. Now can we please get back to the movie?”

“Fine,” he huffed and brought the laptop back to his lap.

As she snuggled up to him and he draped his arm around her shoulders again, the buzzing of his phone on the nightstand interrupted them. She groaned when he withdrew himself from her.

“It could be Lee,” he said. Lee was his manager.

But it wasn’t Lee. She could see it on his face as he put down his phone as soon as he’d read the messages.

“Who’s that?”

“Your half-sister,” he said, drawing her back into his arms.

She lay her head on his chest, her eyebrows pulled together. “She’s still your model?”

“We had our last shoot yesterday. If you’d come, you could have met her.”

“It’s so weird that I haven’t.” She tilted her head up to look at his face. “Do you think she’s scared of me? Because I’m not as easy-going as Harry.”

“Probably.” A grin stretched his pink lips as she weakly hit his chest.

“Did you ever fancy her?” She arched an eyebrow so he mimicked her expression.

“Are you jealous of your own sister?”

“Half-sister.”

Her irritated tone got him laughing. “I mean, she is pretty.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, gazing at the ceiling. “Maybe a little.”

Gemma poked his side and he jerked away, doubling over and protecting his sensitive spots from her tickling. They nearly fell off the bed from laughing too hard. Somehow he ended up on his stomach and she on his back, their cheeks together.

He whispered, “Do you think Harry would like the idea of us?”

“Should we call and ask him?”

“Gemma.”

She giggled as his face turned serious. “Of course. You’re his best friend, right?”

“I don’t know about that. He didn’t talk to me until Y/N and I broke up.”

“That’s because she’s Y/N. He didn’t let me come to the treehouse because it was ‘their place’.” She rolled her eyes. “But it was mine first. Dad built it for me.” When she caught him gazing at her, she returned a look just as bemused. “What?”

“You said ‘Dad’. Not Winton.”

“Oh.” She rolled onto her back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Isaac flipped over to lie on his side, his head propped up on his hand. She waited for another question, but he didn’t ask, so she went on, “I still won’t visit him or even talk to him. But I guess there was a time when he was good, and I should give the old him some credits. It’s easier to do that, now that I no longer have to deal with the consequences of him leaving.” She turned to smile at him. “Now that I’ve found someone who really cares about me.”

“Who’s that? Is it me?” He acted shocked and she shoved him away, cackling.

“Come on.” She sat up, grabbed the laptop and beckoned him over. “We still have to finish this terrible movie.”

A week later, Y/N came to Laura’s office after she’d finished two classes in the morning. Laura’s assistant told her Laura had taken a day off because she was sick. “She’s rescheduled the meeting with the publisher this afternoon,” said the assistant. “I was gonna call you but Ms Hilfgard said she’d tell you herself. She’s probably forgotten.”

Weird. Laura never forgot. She was like a machine when it came to business stuff, and Y/N had always wondered where that woman got all that energy. Laura must be very sick. Y/N normally would stay away from other people’s business, but she’d been inseparable from Laura recently, which gave her a sense of responsibility for her agent. She should probably check in on Laura.

“Is she at her flat today?” she asked the assistant, who seemed unsure.

“I think so. Would you like me to call her for you?”

“No, thank you. I’ll do it myself.”

Y/N adjusted her bag on her shoulder, wished the woman a good day and ambled out of the room. She tried calling Laura when she got into the lift, but Laura didn’t answer the phone. A throb in her stomach led her to believe something was wrong.

Everyone got sick once in a while so Laura couldn’t be an exception; she was human after all. But Y/N’s gut feelings were always correct. And if she chose to ignore them, it’d be her fault when something actually happened to Laura, who lived all by herself and had no close friend or family, none that Y/N knew of.

“Laura! It’s me, Y/N!” Y/N banged on the door after she’d rung the doorbell many times and there was no answer. “Laura! Your assistant told me you were sick. I came to check on you.”

Just as she imagined herself kicking down the door like those badass heroines in movies, she heard the sound of it being unlocked, the handle turned, and the door was opened. Her chest caved when Laura appeared, holding the door just wide enough to reveal half of her face. She was in her bathrobe without any makeup on, her skin marked with freckles, her lips dry, her eyes dark and weary, and her hair wasn’t pulled up into a neat bun like it always was. She looked like she’d gone through hell and back.

“Are you all right?” Y/N asked and immediately realised how stupid she’d sounded; of course, Laura wasn’t all right. Look at her.

“I’m very sorry, Y/N. You shouldn’t have come here.” Laura sounded spacey. The smell of alcohol on her breath was too strong. She held Y/N’s gaze, expecting Y/N to leave, but once she was sure Y/N wasn’t going anywhere, Laura stepped aside and opened the door a bit wider, just enough for Y/N to slip in.

The door was closed. They were standing in the semidarkness; there was still a bit of light coming through the dark blue curtain of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The evident of Laura’s despair was lying on the white carpet in the middle of the room – empty bottles after a wild alcohol-binge. She wasn’t sick. She was drunk.

Laura brushed past a bewildered Y/N and careened toward the sofa. The sofa legs creaked ominously under her weight.

“As you can see, I’m pretty much alive,” she said to the ceiling, an arm placed over her eyes. “You may leave now.”

Y/N wanted to leave. Whatever Laura was dealing with had nothing to do with her. She’d only come to make sure her agent was still alive, and Laura was just drunk for some unknown reason, but that was all Y/N should know. She should leave. Her brain told her to leave, but her guts told her Laura needed help.

She huffed and came to stand at one end of the sofa. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

“It has nothing to do with you, Y/N.”

“You rescheduled a meeting with the publisher without asking me – your author, and then lied about being sick when you’ve been drinking your arse off. So yeah, it has a lot to do with me.”

As Laura didn’t answer, Y/N picked up the woman’s arm and tried to haul her out of the sofa. She resisted the effort, weakly pushing Y/N away.

“Fine. I’m leaving.” Y/N folded her arms over her chest. “Call me when you’ve sobered up.”

“I now see why he’s crazy about you.”

The words froze Y/N to the spot. She slowly turned around and backed away from the front door to return to her previous spot beside Laura. He? Who was he?

Laura’s eyelids fluttered like she was going to fall asleep, but then she continued, “He chose you over me because you’re young and beautiful and ambitious and kind…He chose you over me because...I’m the opposite…”

Y/N’s heart, head, and stomach pulsated at once. “Who...who are you talking about?”

“Blake.”

The name left her in shock. She blinked at Laura, feeling disoriented for a second. She hoped Laura was only messing with her. Laura and Blake? No fucking way.

“He ended it because of you,” Laura went on despite Y/N’s startlement. “We weren’t really together, but he made it clear that we’d never be anything.” She laughed loudly and mirthlessly, her thick dark hair bouncing on her slim shoulders. “You have a boyfriend, and he still chose you over me. I would call him stupid but what would it make me?” Then she glanced up, her glossy eyes filled with wondering and desperation.

Meanwhile, Y/N was stuck in rearranging her thoughts. Everything made sense – Blake had been their connection since the beginning, and Laura had heard so much about Y/N and Harry – but Y/N couldn’t bring herself to believe any of it. She clutched the strap of her handbag and took in the sight of Laura, trying to look for the badass woman hiding underneath.

“I think you should go,” Laura said to her feet and gestured toward the door. “I’ll call you once I’ve sobered up.”

“Do you have anyone else I can call–”

“I don’t need anyone, Y/N. Leave!”

“Okay,” Y/N murmured as she squared her shoulders, gripped the strap of her bag, and marched to the front door.

Thud Thud Thud

“Blake! We need to talk, Blake!”

Blake opened the door and sprang back before Y/N accidentally hit his face with her fist. “Did you sleep with Laura?” she bellowed before he could question, and he blinked as if she was speaking alien language.

“Laura Hilfgard,” her voice dropped, “My fucking agent. For fuck’s sake! Did you sleep with her?”

He still didn’t answer but the look on his face said it all. He couldn’t admit something so horrible.

“Goddamn it, Blake! Fuck!” she roared into her hands, her chest growing hot. When he tried to touch her, she pushed him away and stabbed a finger at his face. “You lied to me!”

“I’m so sorry, Y/N. I’m so sorry–”

She held up a hand to stop him. “Oh, don’t fucking apologise to me. I’m not gonna accept it. Apologise to Laura.”

“We’re over.”

“Doesn’t fucking matter, Blake! It’s fucking sick that you slept with her so she would sign me! Fuck you!”

“Y/N!” He caught her wrist and she whipped around to fight him, but his fingers were quick to clasp her other wrist.

“Let me go!”

“Listen to me!” He shook her to get her to stop, and she did, panting and glowering at him. “I didn’t sleep with her so she’d sign you. Yes, I’d...I'd been sleeping with her before. That was how I knew her. I asked her to read your book and she loved it.”

“She only ‘loved’ it because she loved you, Blake!” Y/N yanked her hands back, tears welling up in her eyes. “You broke her and she cancelled the meeting with the publisher. She’s gonna drop me!”

“She won’t. I’ll talk to her–”

“I don’t fucking need your help, Blake. Just…” Y/N stepped back, holding up her hand to stop him from getting any closer. “Just don’t fucking talk to me again.”

“Y/N, please, hey.” He strode forward and got between her and her door, his desperate grey eyes begging her to hear him out. “I swear to you I didn’t do this on purpose. I just wanted to help. You were so desperate and I wanted you to be happy.”

“I was desperate but I wasn’t miserable,” she said through her gritted teeth. “You want me to be happy but what you did was awful, Blake. You made me feel like a talentless piece of shit, that if my boyfriend doesn’t get me a job, then my ex-boyfriend has to sleep with someone for it. God, what is wrong with you?”

“At least I gave your story to Laura and made her read it. Your boyfriend just fucking told John Conall to sign you. He doesn’t even care.”

“Don’t talk about Harry that way. He’s a thousand times better than you.” Then she froze. “How do you even know about Conall?”

“Laura knows him,” Blake said to his feet. “They talked.”

“Fuck this.”

She pulled out her keys and gestured him to get out of the way, but he refused to comply, shaking his head. She had never seen Blake Roman so despondent, and she didn’t like this side of him at all.

“I still love you, Y/N,” he said despite the fact that those were the last words she wanted to hear right now. “I’m sorry I left, but in the last three years, I couldn’t stop thinking about us, and how we could’ve figured out a way to be together instead of giving up. Then I met you here, and...and I–Listen, I’ve been trying to make it up to you–”

“Blake, please…” she breathed, her eyes tight.

“I know you still have feelings for me, Y/N. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have spent so much time with me. You rarely mentioned him when we were together. We have so much in common and we fit.”

“You’re wrong.” She stared dagger at him and unclenched her fists, taking a deep breath. “I rarely mentioned him because I didn’t want to hurt you. I knew you still had feelings for me. I guess I was wrong to want to keep you in my life as a friend when you don’t belong there anymore.”

“I do, Y/N. I do,” he fretted while she kept shaking her head.

“You don’t. You just...you just felt like childhood, which I can’t keep dwelling on anymore. Both of us need to grow up.” She inclined her head, arms wrapped around herself. “I’m sorry, Blake. I don’t think we can be friends anymore. Not after this.”

“Y/N.”

She didn’t look at him and rushed down the stairs, hoping he wouldn’t go after her. And he didn’t. She came dashing out of the building, her eyes prickling with tears. She couldn’t believe she’d doubted Harry and trusted Blake. She felt like such a fool. She hated herself.

Stopping on the side of the road, she fished her phone out of her handbag to call Harry. But then her screen flashed on with the notification of ‘11 missed calls from Laura H’. Her chest throbbed. She called Laura back.

Laura didn’t answer.

When Gemma stepped out of the lift, fumbling around in her bag for her room key, she almost didn’t notice the man waiting for her in the hallway.

“Gem.”

His voice froze her to the spot. She shot her head up, her heart rate increasing as Asher walked up to her holding a rose bouquet. He was dressed in a fine ocean-blue suit, his dark hair pushed back, the strong scent of his cologne so unbearable. He looked like he was here for a photoshoot or a red carpet event. When he cracked a smile, she responded with a grimace.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off the flowers. The last time he’d got her flowers had been their first Valentine’s Day together; things had gone downhill after that.

“I came to see you,” he said. “To apologise.”

He held the flowers toward her with both hands, and she pushed them right back to him, shaking her head.

“I don’t need your apology,” she said. “You made it clear that day on the phone that this was over and I’m thankful for it.”

“I said ‘a break’.”

“You don’t get to call a break and come back whenever you feel like it,” Gemma said in annoyance. “That’s not how a relationship works.”

She gently pushed right past him to unlock the door. Right as she opened it, he slipped straight into her room. She stared at him, speechless. “Asher, leave.”

“I want to talk, please.”

Frustrated and annoyed, she slammed the door behind her, stormed toward the bed and flung her bag on it. He stood by the door with that stupid bouquet, waiting for his chance to speak.

“I can offer you a deal,” he blurted as she turned around. “You don’t have to get back with me. We can go separate ways after this.”

“Or we can go separate ways now.” She gestured to the door.

He pretended like he hadn’t heard that. “My father really likes you,” he said. “He thinks you keep me grounded. So I think...if you ask him for the investment, he’ll most likely say yes. I'll pay you. Please help me, Gem.”

“No!” Gemma put her hands on her hips, her mouth quirked in annoyance. “You’ve got some nerves to ask me that. We are not getting back together. Go find someone else dumb enough to help you.”

Asher’s mouth fell open. He must have come here thinking she would burst into tears and run into his arms the moment she saw him and forgive him like she always had. If so, he was destined for disappointment.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked. “Why are you like this all of a sudden?”

“Why do I have common sense all of a sudden?” She cocked her head. “Maybe I’ve finally found someone who appreciates me, and is not only with me because he can use me for his own benefit.”

Asher was shallow but he wasn’t stupid. Realization soon dawned on his face. “Have you been cheating on me?”

Before he’d come here, she’d imagined this moment to be extremely awkward, but now she was full of rage. “You and I are not together anymore, Asher,” she snapped. “But well, I did kiss him once when we were ‘together’.”

“You fucking bitch,” Asher bellowed as he threw himself at her. Everything happened so quickly her brain failed to catch on. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor, gripping the edge of the table, her head in pain. She spotted the horror on her ex’s face before he broke into a run out of the room, so she reached for her head and looked at her own fingers.

Blood.

He’d pushed her.

Shocked and dizzy, she held the table for support to stand up and hobbled into the bathroom where she grabbed a hand towel, wetted it and tried to clean the wound on her forehead. That was when she heard the door open and close. She spun around, horrified. It was just Isaac.

“What happened?!” He rushed toward her, held her face between his cold palms.

“Asher came here…” was all she could say while shaking her head, feeling herself going unsteady.

“Did he fucking hit you?” Isaac ground his jaw, his eyes turning dark.

She shuddered at the thought and felt hot tears in the wells of her eyes. “I think he pushed me,” she mumbled.

“Fuck!”

She fisted his shirt, afraid that he might run after Asher, who must have been long gone by now. But Isaac didn’t bother to ask about the arsehole. He inspected the wound on her forehead and encircled his arms around her. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“Can I see her?” Y/N asked.

“Not yet,” the nurse answered.

“Is she okay?”

“She will be,” the nurse told Y/N while scribbling something on the clipboard. She’d asked Y/N a bunch of questions about Laura, most of which Y/N had answered with “I don’t know”. She didn’t know if Laura was a regular drinker or if she often drank to drunkenness. Y/N only knew what she’d witnessed – Laura blacked out on her bedroom floor with empty bottles scattering all around.

Laura had been taken to the emergency room where they gave her fluids. The doctor had briefed Y/N, saying Laura had got alcohol poisoning from her alcohol binge, and if Y/N hadn’t found her – if she’d locked the door after Y/N had left – then something terrible could have happened tonight. Y/N wasn’t sure if Laura would be okay, but things could have gone worse and she was grateful it hadn’t.

“Is there any family member that we could call?” asked the nurse, who was finally making eye contact with Y/N.

“I-I don’t know. I’m just her client,” Y/N said, rubbing her palms together nervously. “Maybe uhm...maybe I can call her assistant.”

“It’s fine. She’s in a better condition now. We’ll just get information from her when she wakes up.”

Y/N thanked the nurse and sat in one of the chairs in the hallway. She thought of calling Harry but didn’t have any motivation to do it, so she sat with her head against the wall, watching the nurses’ station while she waited for better news.

She didn’t know what time it was. She was already fatigued. She felt herself drifting away when a voice pulled her right back.

“Y/N?”

She looked up. Isaac and Gemma were just as shocked to see her. Gemma didn’t look like herself; she was wearing an oversized black hoodie with the hood on, covering her forehead. Y/N didn’t want to assume the hoodie was Isaac’s, but something told her it wasn’t Gemma’s.

“What...are you guys doing here?” Y/N slowly rose from her seat, her eyes switching back and forth between Isaac and Gemma. “Together.”

Isaac worked his jaw, unable to get any word out as he looked over at Gemma imploringly, and she heaved a sigh. Y/N was losing patience with the suspense when Gemma pulled back the hood to reveal her bandaged forehead.

“Oh my God, what happened?” Y/N gasped, pushing past Isaac to grab Gemma’s shoulders. “Did you get into an accident?”

“Y-Yeah.” Gemma looked unconfident, her eyes searching for Isaac’s again. Something was wrong, and neither of them wanted to tell Y/N what it was. She would have been mad if she didn’t have her own problems to worry about. What a crazy day it had been.

She was going to ask Isaac why he’d been the one to take Gemma to the hospital, but he went first. “Why are you here?”

“A friend of mine got into trouble,” she said. It was only fair that she got to be ambiguous too.

“Alice?” Gemma looked concerned.

“No.”

Isaac grimaced. “Eddie?”

“No!” Y/N rolled her eyes at their surprised reactions. “You guys really assume I have only two friends in London?”

“You do have only two friends in London,” Isaac said, beaming, “Besides us.”

Y/N assumed he meant him, Niall, and Harry. He wasn’t entirely wrong, but she wasn’t going to give him that.

For the second time, she meant to ask why he’d taken Gemma here, but right as she opened her mouth, a nurse showed up with a clipboard.

“Miss Styles," she called.

“Yes?” Gemma whipped around as the nurse sauntered right past her like she wasn’t there.

Confused and surprised, they all watched the nurse head toward the end of the hallway, where sat a brunette with her headphones on. Her hair was covering her face as she was looking down at her phone. The nurse had to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. She glanced up, eyes popping out the moment she saw them. Y/N, Isaac, and Gemma looked like they’d seen a ghost.

“Emilia Styles,” repeated the nurse since Emilia wasn’t looking at her. “You can see your mother now.”

Y/N glanced over at Isaac and Gemma, who looked as if they’d seen a ghost. The nurse said something else to Emilia and went into one of the rooms. Emilia told the nurse she’d be right back as she shoved her headphones into her tote bag, got up and made way toward Y/N, Isaac and Gemma.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said with a pretentious smile; it was the same smile she always wore, but it was only until this moment that Y/N realized how pompous it was.

“Drop the act,” Y/N snapped. “Are you gonna fucking tell us why you’re here? Or should we go ask your mum who is still ALIVE?”

Isaac held her back by the arm before she could even consider doing something to Emilia. She didn’t want to get violent; she wasn’t that type of person. Not yet.

“Fine.” The fake smile disappeared as Emilia stood taller despite having been exposed. “My mum’s alive,” she calmly confessed. “She has cancer, and my dad doesn’t work anymore so I have to take care of them.”

“With Harry’s money?” Gemma snarled. Y/N believed if Gemma’s head wasn’t hurt, she would have already torn Emilia to pieces.

“I didn’t take anything Harry didn’t want to give.” Emilia crossed her arms and lifted her chin, which made Y/N more shocked than angry; she didn’t know it was possible to be this shameless.

“So everything was fake?” Y/N asked. “You made up a nice little story calling your mum crazy for burning down the house and–”

“It was my dad,” Emilia said with her eyes closed as she sucked in an unsteady breath and opened her eyes at the long exhalation. “He was drunk and he set the house on fire. That was after my mum had been diagnosed with cancer. He was very upset because we didn’t have enough money for the treatment. I had to drop out and use my college money for it.” Then she swallowed and looked over at Isaac, who’d been speechless the whole time. “I’m sorry, Isaac. But when we met I recognised you right away. I knew you were Harry’s friend, and I saw you as an opportunity. We had to lie because Harry didn’t trust us at first; he thought Dad was a terrible man–”

“No decent man would lie to his own son to steal his money!”

“We weren’t stealing!” Emilia half-shouted at Gemma then frantically looked around. A few nurses stared at them with concern but no one attempted to interfere. Emilia turned back to Gemma and lowered her voice, “We were gonna tell him everything.”

“When?” Y/N scoffed. “When your mum gets better? Or when you finally become a successful actress living off Harry’s fame?”

“I started with a lie and I had to go through it.” Emilia huffed, her forehead creased. “Things have got so much better since Harry came into our lives. He paid off our bank debt, for Dad’s medicines, for our food. We never asked him for more money. We simply sold the expensive stuff he bought for us as gifts to pay the hospital bills for Mum. I still have to go to work, but now I can also go to auditions. And Harry doesn’t lose anything. He loves Dad, and he’s rich anyway.”

“Harry worked for everything he owns now,” Gemma hissed. “Your dad doesn’t get to live on the money of the son he left and tried to steal from.”

Emilia’s lips quirked in a scornful manner. “You’re just bitter because Dad doesn’t love you.”

Y/N’s gaze jumped to Gemma, whose face was white with shock. She didn’t expect that. None of them expected that. It was so hurtful. Because it was the truth...

“It was my plan. Dad just went along with it,” Emilia went on despite Gemma’s fists shaking as she refrained herself from tackling Emilia to the floor. Emilia knew Y/N and Gemma couldn’t do anything to her in a hospital hallway, and Isaac would never lay hands on a woman. She considered Gemma’s face. “He just wanted my mum to get better. We knew Harry wouldn’t help us if he had to go behind yours and your mum’s back, so I had to reach out to you first. I had to gain your approval.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Gemma sneered and waved her hand when Emilia gazed at her alarmedly. “Do go on. When will we get to the part where you’re forgivable?”

“Say anything you want, but I did it for a reason,” Emilia murmured, her eyes piercing at Gemma. “What are your reasons for cheating on your boyfriend and sleeping with your brother’s best friend?”

Gemma growled and launched herself at Emilia, who jumped right back as Isaac dragged Gemma away. A few nurses had gathered to watch them, unsure if it was necessary to call security. The four of them weren’t really fighting or being loud, but Y/N wasn’t sure how long they could maintain peace.

“Did I say something wrong?” Emilia looked at Isaac, whose eyes fastened on Y/N’s face at once.

“You two?” Y/N stared at him and Gemma in disbelief.

“Asher and I are over, Y/N,” Gemma said, reaching for Y/N’s hand. Y/N let her hold it, only because Y/N was too shocked to move.

“Does Harry know?” she asked quietly. Gemma and Isaac both shook their heads.

“Guess I’m not the only one who lied to Harry after all.”

Isaac shot Emilia a glare even though his features were incredibly calm. “Why haven’t you told him?”

“This isn’t a game of Truth or Dare,” she told him. “I’m not gonna blackmail you into doing something for me in return for my silence. I’m not a good person but I’m not that awful. I just wanted to help my mum. I don’t care what it takes.” Her voice suddenly dropped as she took a step further from them. “And I really liked you, Isaac. I’m sorry.”

Y/N could tell Isaac had a lot he wanted to say to Emilia, but he kept his lips tight because she wasn’t worth it. From the way Emilia was looking at him, she must regret lying to him the most. What about Harry? Harry didn’t deserve this. He’d been nothing but kind to her and Winton.

“Miss Y/L/N?” a nurse interjected. She was the one who’d spoken to Y/N about Laura. “Your friend is awake. Would you like to see her?” she told Y/N, who sighed in relief. At least this night didn’t go all the way down a pit of despair.

“I have to go,” she told Isaac and Gemma.

Isaac caught Y/N’s elbow before she could follow the nurse. “You’re not gonna tell Harry, are you?”

“I’m not gonna do the hard work for you three,” she said, giving all of them – even Emilia – a disappointed look. “You’re all going to tell him tomorrow. Not tonight. I don’t want his night to be ruined as well.” Then she fixed her eyes on Emilia, whose face was blank; either she hid her emotions really well, or she didn’t feel like any normal person would. Y/N stabbed a finger at Emilia, her voice rough, “You and your family better stay the fuck away from my boyfriend, or you’re gonna have to deal with his lawyer, and it won’t be pretty.”

The other nurses looked scared when Y/N caught them watching. She couldn’t even work up a smile as she mouthed the word “sorry” and marched right past them.

#my girl series

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apoguecalledjj · 4 years

Text

Fixation (Chapter 4)

Series summary: Eleanor is new to the outer banks, and the pogues are quick to take her in. But so are the kooks, and as she grows closer with Rafe, trouble emerges. Trying to balance her relationship with the pogues and the kooks, as well as dealing with her own personal problems, Eleanor falls into a hole she may not be able to dig herself out of.

Chapter Word Count: 2842

Chapter Warnings: Underage drinking, fighting, drug use

Previous Parts: Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5

“JJ. No. Absolutely not. No no no.”

After giving JJ a ride home, he had told Ellie to drop her uncle's truck at her house, assuring her that he could give her a ride.

She was starting to regret listening to him, because he was currently sat next to her, on a dirtbike.

“Come on. It’s not that bad. I’m gonna give you my helmet.” JJ proceeded to take his helmet off his head, not that it was doing much anyway because he didn’t even have it strapped on.

“You need to wear that.” Ellie tried to make excuses and tried not to stare at the gorgeous boy in front of her shaking out his messy hair.

“I never wear it anyway. Brought it just for you!” He held out the helmet, a wide grin spread across his face. Ellie sighed and took it from his hands.

She climbed on the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around his waist. She could feel his abs through his shirt, but she did her best to ignore it. “I’m gonna get you back for this, Mayb-” But her statement was cut off with a squeal as JJ squeezed the throttle and they shot off.

After a couple of minutes, Ellie got used to the feeling and found herself enjoying the feeling of the wind against her face and blowing through her hair. She also enjoyed being so close to JJ.

JJ tried to ignore the feelings burning through him as he made his way towards the chateau. All he could focus on was Ellie’s arms wrapped around him and her chest pressed against his back. He couldn’t help but smile at her various squeals and giggles as he drove around turns or slightly sped up.

They soon pulled up to John B’s house, and Ellie could see the rest of the pogues sat outside, along with Sarah Cameron. She climbed off the bike and passed the helmet to JJ.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” He asked, placing the helmet on the seat. “No, I guess it wasn’t,” Ellie said, smiling at him.

“Guess I’ll have to bring you for another ride sometime.” JJ began walking towards his friends, and Ellie followed, not responding to his last comment even though she knew she’d love to. She wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to have her arms wrapped around him again.

Sarah was sat next to John B on one couch, his arm wrapped around her. Pope was on the other couch, Kiara sat on the floor by his feet. JJ immediately flopped down next to Pope, so Ellie sat down next to Kiara, next to JJ’s legs.

“Hey, Ellie! I didn’t realize you knew the pogues,” Sarah said.

“Yeah, I met them the first day I was here.” Ellie smiled at Sarah, the girl had seemed nice when she met her the first time and she was excited to get to know her better.

“Wait, how do you know Ellie?” John B asked Sarah, who Ellie assumed was his girlfriend.

“I’m her cover-up story so she can stay over with Rafe.” Sarah wiggled her eyebrows at Ellie teasingly.

She felt JJ shift slightly. “You’ve spent the night with Rafe?”

“Uh, yeah, a couple of times,” Ellie said slowly, knowing the pogues didn’t like Rafe or most kooks in general.

“They sure know how to be loud too!” Sarah added, giggling at the glare Ellie shot her way. “You must be good in bed because I’ve never heard Rafe like that.” The look on her face turned to one of disgust as she realized she was talking about her brother.

Luckily, Ellie had her back against JJ so she couldn’t see the look on his face. His mouth was turned down in a scowl, his hand gripping the side of the couch tightly as he thought about Ellie with Rafe.

Pope shoved him and mouthed at him to stop, and JJ tried his best to relax. Ellie noticed the way John B and Sarah were staring at the boy behind her, so she turned to face him. He sent her a smile, convincing her that everything was okay.

“You should be careful with Rafe, Ellie,” Kiara warned. Ellie just nodded, not exactly knowing what to say.

“I agree. Even though he’s my brother, I won’t hesitate to say he’s nothing but trouble,” Sarah added on. Ellie smiled awkwardly, and the topic quickly changed, the pogues realizing that they were making Ellie uncomfortable.

Soon, they all had beers in their hands, and a joint was being passed around, curtesy of JJ. Kiara passed it to Ellie, but before she could even react, JJ snatched it out of her hand.

“Hey!” She exclaimed, turning around to look at him.

He just gave her a look, biting his lip gently, and she smiled, not bothering to argue with him. He didn’t know that weed meant nothing to her anymore, that she had done much worst, and he didn’t need to know.

None of the others questioned it, just assuming JJ was being weird, and they continued to pass it around, this time skipping over Ellie.

Ellie enjoyed spending time with the pogues. She had a lot in common with them, and she greatly enjoyed their company. They quickly accepted her, treating her like an old friend and she appreciated that.

Their constant banter made her chuckle. For the first time in a while, she found herself not thinking about her problems at all. Her new friends done a perfect job of distracting her, and she truly felt as if she had finally left her old life behind.

“Wanna play truth or dare?” John B asked after a while of just sitting around and talking.

“We’re not 11-year-old girls at a sleepover, John B,” Kiara said.

Ellie shook her head, laughing. “Let’s do it!” She was starting to feel the alcohol now, the buzz rushing through her, giving her that feeling she loved.

Nothing like cocaine though.

She pushed that thought away as she focused on the game, learning that Pope was still a virgin and Kiara’s first kiss was with a girl.

“That shouldn’t be a shock to you guys! You know I’m pan,” Kiara argued after the boys acted shocked about her reveal.

“Truth or dare, Ellie?” John B asked her.

She thought for a minute. “Hmm, dare.” She answered, knowing it was the first dare of the night.

John B sent a smirk in JJ’s direction. “I dare you to go skinny dipping. You can jump off the dock.”

JJ immediately spoke up. “You don’t have to do that.”

Ellie glanced around at the pogues. “Fuck it.” She wasted no time pulling off her shirt, her breasts falling out due to the fact that she hated bras. JJ and Pope stared, shocked that she actually was doing it. John B tried his best not to look, instead focusing his gaze on his girlfriend.

“Liking what you see?” Ellie flaunted her body as she stepped out of her shorts and panties, not caring that she was naked in front of a group of people she had known only a couple of days.

For once JJ was speechless, his mouth slightly agape as he took in his body. Ellie winked at him, practically sending him over the edge as she turned and ran towards the water.

“You’re fucking hot!” Kiara yelled after her as she jumped off the dock.

Ellie resurfaced with a shout. “Wooo! The waters great!”

JJ stood up. “Might as well,” He stated before pulling off his shirt and making his way down the dock, his shorts and boxers coming off soon after. He plunged in the water, and the pogues could hear Ellie scream at him.

“Do we wanna ruin their moment?” John B asked, looking towards the water.

“Screw 'em,” Kiara said, standing up. “I’m drunk and want to go skinny dipping.”

Shortly after, all 6 of the teens were in the water, splashing around without a care in the world. As JJ scooped Ellie up in his arms, their bodies tight against each other, huge smiles on both of their faces, she finally admitted the truth to herself: She was developing a major crush on JJ.

--- Elli woke up to a crash. She opened her eyes, immediately spotting John B and Sarah stood in the tiny kitchen. John B’s eyes met hers and he grinned sheepishly. “We’re trying to make pancakes.”

Her eyes wandered to the pan on the floor in front of him. “Looks like it’s going good.”

Glancing around, she realized she was on the pull out couch in John B’s living room. JJ and Kiara were both occupying the couch with her, how the three of them fit comfortably she didn’t know.

Pope made his way out of the bathroom, way too cheerful for a morning after a night of drinking. “Good day for fishing!”

JJ, who Ellie hadn’t even realized was awake, tossed a stray pillow at the loud boy. “Shut up, Pope,” He mumbled, barely conscious.

Ellie stood up and made her way over to where John B and Sarah were attempting to mix up the pancakes. “I can do it,” She offered. “I’m a pro.”

She used to make pancakes for her sister every morning, and making them for the pogues made her feel at home. JJ and Kiara were now fully awake, and the pogues rushed around getting ready for a day of fishing while Ellie finished their breakfast.

“COME GET YOUR PANCAKES!” She hollered, looking for some syrup. JJ was the first to the table, snatching up four pancakes and slathering them in the syrup she had just found.

“Mhm. You’re a pancake god,” He mumbled with his mouth full.

Both Sarah and Pope spoke at the same time.

“Goddess.” Sarah corrected.

“Don’t speak with your mouth full.” Pope scolded.

It didn’t take long for the pancakes to disappear, all 6 of them satisfied with their breakfast. Kiara turned to Ellie and asked, “Are you coming fishing with us?”

Ellie stopped to think for a minute, but she had no plans for the day, so she didn’t see why not. “Yeah sure, but I don’t have a bathing suit to wear.” Kiara offered her a bathing suit, and she pulled on her shorts from yesterday. She went to pick up her shirt, but JJ stopped her. “Here. It’s a bit chilly out today.” He handed her his sweatshirt, the one she had seen him wearing yesterday, and she didn’t hesitate to pull it on. She liked the way it smelled like him.

They made their way out to the HMS Pogue, and Ellie quickly realized JJ was right. It was cooler than normal, a slight breeze blowing through the air. It was a nice change from the usual blistering heat.

The boys and Kiara immediately got to fishing, excited to see what they could catch. Ellie sat back, not interested in their hobby. She relaxed, just enjoying the time on the water until she saw another boat nearby.

It was Rafe, Topper, and Kelce. Topper and Kelce just stared at her, clearly wondering what she was doing with the pogues. But they were close enough so that she could see the look on Rafe’s face, and it wasn’t good. He looked pissed, glaring at the pogue’s backs, and it scared Ellie.

She tensed, wanting nothing more than to get away from the kooks. She was terrified they would come closer and hurt JJ, John B, or Pope. Luckily for her though, they turned and sped away, yet Ellie couldn’t bring herself to relax.

“Hey, El, you okay?” JJ turned and noticed her, moving towards her and speaking quietly so the others wouldn’t hear. He sat down next to her, examining her face for confirmation that she was fine.

She smiled at him, trying to make it as convincing as she could. Deep down inside, she was worried, worried about how Rafe would react, worried he wouldn’t give her any more of what she longed for the most. But she shook those thoughts aside, instead focusing on JJ.

“Yeah, thanks JJ. I’m good,” She muttered, knowing he could see right through her. It wasn’t that hard.

“El, what’s wrong?” He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her gently into his side. She finally relaxed, the feeling of being next to JJ comforting her.

“I’m okay, JJ I swear,” She said, leaning into him slightly. He inhaled deeply, ready to say something else, but then decided against it. The last thing he wanted to do was push Ellie.

The rest of the day was better. JJ managed to get Ellie up and fishing, teaching her everything she needed to know. He boasted about his skills while John B teased him, assuring her that JJ wasn’t as good as he made himself out to be. Ellie had a good time, the pogues easily taking her mind off Rafe. They spent the day joking around, drinking, and she even managed to catch a fish, thanks to JJ’s help. It wasn’t until they dropped her home that afternoon that she realized she still had his sweater. --- “Rafe please stop. It’s not that big of a deal,” Ellie told him. She was sat on his bed, watching him pace back and forth around the room. Not long after she had got home he had texted her, asking her to come over. She had pushed away her fear from earlier and agreed, but now she was regretting that decision. He was fuming, and she wasn’t entirely sure why. He had no right to get mad at her, but yet here he was.

“Fucking hell, Ellie, it is! They’re dirty, no good for nothing pogues!” He yelled at her, stopping his pacing to finally look at her. His face was red, screwed up with anger, and she sunk back into his bed.

“Rafe,” She started but he cut her off.

“Shut the fuck up Ellie.”

She winced at his harsh words, but blinked away her tears and stood up. “What the fuck Rafe?” She shouted at him. “You have NO right to get mad at me for having friends! You don’t fucking own me! You barely know me! I’m not yours, so grow up!” She got right up in his face, pissed off that he thought it was okay to act this way.

He grabbed her shoulders roughly and shoved her against the wall. “You bitch!” She gasped, her eyes filling with tears as he stepped back and stared at her in shock, not fully believing what he had just done.

He ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck Ellie, I’m sorry, I don’t know...” He trailed off, staring at her with tears in his eyes. The sight of him so upset tore Ellie apart, despite what he had just done to her.

He bit his lip. “I’m sorry.” He repeated. “I just hate seeing you with the pogues... I don’t want you to give up on me Ellie, to stop hanging out with me for them. I- I really like you,” He confessed, taking a step closer to Ellie.

She didn’t move back, instead, she closed the distance between them, pressing her lips to his. Her mind was screaming at her, images of JJ floating through her head, thoughts of his hands on her waist instead of Rafe’s, his lips on hers...

She pushed those thoughts aside, instead focusing on the way Rafe kissed her, the way his hands gripped her tightly. She knew he was high, she could tell the minute she walked into his room, and the thoughts of cocaine flooded her head. Deep down, she knew that was why she gave in so easy, letting him get away with what he had done to her. Ellie was desperate for the drug, desperate for the feeling it had given her. She knew that she would do anything to get it, and that realization scared her.

But then Rafe pulled away, motioning towards his desk, and she nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. All logic went away as he prepared a line, the voice in her head telling her to stop silenced as she leaned down to inhale the powder.

Rafe was dragging her into things that would ruin her, and she had no intention of stopping him. She knew that no matter how strong her feelings for JJ got, no matter how much Rafe scared her, she would never drift away from him because he had exactly what she needed, and JJ didn’t.

Ellie was tied to Rafe, any thoughts of JJ and the pogues pushed away by the drug clouding her brain. No matter what, she couldn’t leave Rafe. She felt slightly guilty as he pulled her close, moving her towards the bed. She had no feelings for the boy, instead, in love with the drug he provided her.

But she could pretend, as long as it kept her close to what she needed the most.

Taglist: @prejudic3 @margaritatimebaybee @drewxxrudy @outerbankslove @bricksatanakinswindow

Let me know if you want to me added to the taglist!!

#outer banks #outer banks fic #outer banks one shot #outer banks imagine #obx #obx one shot #obx fic #obx imagine #obx netflix #jj #jj maybank #jj maybank one shot #jj maybank fic #jj maybank imagine #outer banks jj maybank #jj x OC #jj maybank x OC #rafe cameron #rafe

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emcon-imagines · 3 years

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Let Each One Hear Her Own Thoughts

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words: 1665 notes: based off of this post I made after the Wandavision finale. for those of you unfamiliar with my OC Willow featured in this story, you can read about her here, or just dive right in and enjoy this little post WV fic! Willow and Wanda share a sister-like relationship after meeting at the compound years ago, when Wanda took Willow under her wing pre-Civil War. summary: Wanda receives a regular visitor at her cabin, someone repaying a favor they owe her from years ago.

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It was still sunny when Willow cleared the mountains and started over the lake, the late afternoon light casting golden shadows on the waves down below. She hadn’t heard a quiet like this in a long time, perhaps in five years, and back then, the quiet was more suffocating. This one wasn’t. It was freeing.

She could see why Wanda had retreated here.

On the opposite shore, the cabin came into view and Willow began her descent, her back aching from the long flight and her heavy backpack. New York City felt a long way away—try as she might, she could never make the trip in a single day. Maybe it was for the better. Time spent in the city was chaotic, busy, full of responsibilities she didn’t feel ready for yet. She still felt herself looking to someone like Natasha for the answers, only to remember that she wasn’t there.

Wanda was sitting on the porch, cup of tea in one hand and the other shielding her eyes from the sun as Willow approached. Her feet hit ground, the grass just poking through the melted snow, the air smelling like spring and dirt. “Hey,” Willow said, stretching her wings out one last time before folding them in, though not all the way. Another reason she appreciated the cabin. There was nothing to hide here, no strangers spying on her every move. Her wings could touch daylight.

“Hey,” Wanda said, standing and turning towards the house. “I hope the trip—”

“It wasn’t bad,” Willow answered quickly. “It’s nice to… you know… get away from everything right now.” She followed Wanda into the cabin, the smell of dust and pine had almost become a comfort to her. On the table, she set down her backpack, unzipping it and pulling out several plastic bags. “I think I got everything—except for the cereal, they didn’t have that brand, so I went to another store, and even asked but they didn’t have it either.” She passed a box to Wanda. “So… this is similar?”

“You didn’t have to do all that,” Wanda said, and the corner of her mouth lifted as she set the box down. “I’m not picky.”

Willow shrugged. “I am.” She nodded at Wanda. “You know, in case the roles are ever reversed, the brand does matter to me…”

“I get it.”

“Bread,” Willow said, handing the bag to Wanda. “I hope it’s not squished. It got bumpy over the mountain pass.” She pulled a few more plastic bags from her backpack. “Oh! And look!” She held up one of the bags so that Wanda could peer inside. “I forgot which spices you said you needed, so there’s like… an assortment… there.”

“What’s in here?” Wanda asked as she searched through one of the bags with produce. “Are these… baby carrots?”

“Yup.” Wanda gave Willow a questioning look and Willow rolled her eyes as she zipped her backpack up and slid it against the wall. “Oh, come on. The Scarlet Witch or whatever still should eat a vegetable once in a while.” The joke rolled off her tongue easily enough, and she hoped it would be received that way as well.

“Now you sound like Natasha,” Wanda said, and she began to put away the items Willow had brought.

“Well, someone has to,” Willow said, the weight of her own words settling uncomfortably as she thought over the last few weeks. “Anyways…”

“You all right?” Wanda asked, turning back around from the cabinets. Willow had taken to wandering the cabin, tucking her wings in further as she navigated the small space.

“Well, you know. It is what it is.” Willow paused, trying to put what she was feeling into words. “It’s a weird time to be alive. You?”

Wanda didn’t respond, half-smiling as she shut the cabinet door, though there was no joy in the smile, just exhaustion. Willow sat down on the couch, wanting to say more, and yet not knowing what to say. She stared out the window at the darkening sky, the mountains disappearing into the clouds and the purple horizon. Where do we go from here?

Willow leaned over the back of the old couch to face Wanda, who was still heating a pot of water on the stove. “You know you can talk to me, right?” Willow asked.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Wanda said with a sigh.

“Oh. Oka—”

“No, I’m— sorry.” Wanda looked up at Willow and leaned back on the sink, tucking her hands into the sleeves of her sweater as she thought. “I’m pretty sure I used to tell you the same thing, a long time ago. I know you’re just trying to help.” The pot on the stove began to simmer and Wanda turned her attention back to it, opening a box of pasta that Willow had delivered the previous week, and dumping enough of the shells into the pot for the both of them. “I’m glad you’re here,” she finally said. “After everything… you still…”

“You’d do the same for me,” Willow said. “You did the same thing for me. Remember when I first showed up at the compound?”

“Mm. It was like trying to tame a feral cat.”

Normally, Willow would have a retort back, but she only smiled at the memory, and then started laughing. “Yeah. I was really… scared, actually. When SHIELD found me, I thought my life was over.”

“How are the others?” Wanda asked. “I… well… I’m not sure they’d…” She gestured around at the cabin and shrugged helplessly.

“No, they’re just busy,” Willow answered. She laid her head in her arms as she continued to lean across the back of the couch and yawned. “Sam is with Bucky… I haven’t even begun to look into what they’re doing and honestly, I’m not ready to. But I have a feeling it’ll catch up to me eventually. It always does. Rhodey’s still at Stark’s, helping them sort through things. Clint’s home. Same with Scott, he’s home too. Remember Scott? He was at the airport. He was the one who came up with the whole time travel thing. Sort of. So, I’d say things have quieted down, but I don’t want to jinx it.”

The pasta finished and Wanda carefully used a spoon to hold back the pasta as she strained the water out before splitting the shells into two bowls and opened a jar of sauce on the shelf to pour over each one. “Cheese is in the fridge,” she said, and Willow got up to get it, also getting out two forks and two cups from the cabinet.

They sat on the floor, in front of the fireplace on the other side of the room, the cabin lit by a warm glow.

“You really just buy the cheese for yourself, huh?” Wanda asked as Willow screwed the top off of the bottle to shake out the Parmesan cheese faster. “I’m pretty sure you’ve gone through two of those in a month, and you’ve only been here for a few nights.”

“I’m pretty sure it’s called living deliciously,” Willow said.

For a while, the two of them ate in silence, the only sound the scraping of their forks against the bowls and the occasional press of wind rocking the cabin. It reminded Willow of the late-night dinners they used to make at the compound, long after everyone had gone to sleep, as they tried their damn hardest to not burn anything or set off the smoke detectors, which happened a few times too many.

“I saw a rat drag an entire burrito across the street the other day,” Willow said suddenly, finally tiring of the quiet.

“What?” Wanda asked.

“A rat. Like the size of a rabbit. Dragging a burrito across the street in Hells Kitchen. A fully wrapped burrito, filling and all. And it didn’t spill even a little of the filling. I stood there and watched the whole thing; I mean it took this rat like five minutes and cars were coming both ways.” She paused to scoop up a clump of sauce and cheese.

“Well?” Wanda said. “Did he make it?”

“Oh, he did,” Willow said. “I mean, it was close, the burrito got grazed by a tire once or twice, but he got it across the street. At one point he started rolling it on its side… now that was really something. It was like I was watching evolution in real time.”

Wanda smiled for the first time that day, a real smile, and it made Willow’s heart swell just a little, proud of the victory, no matter how small. “Hmm, we’re going to see that rat signing the Accords in a few weeks then,” Wanda responded with a small laugh.

“Yeah, right after the pigeon I saw take what I’m pretty sure was a deliberate poop on a cop car yesterday.”

They finished dinner and Willow cleaned up, washing the bowls and utensils in the sink and leaving them out to dry on the counter. She was exhausted, exhausted from the flight, the past week, and she was almost certain that if she wasn’t doing the dishes, she’d fall asleep standing up. She heard the crackle of static as Wanda turned the radio on, beaming in a signal from a lonely public radio station somewhere in the mountains. With a yawn, Willow climbed back over the top of the couch, plopping down and stretching as she tucked one of the pillows under her head.

“Oh, there’s no way you’re going to be able to stay awake for ten,” Wanda said, referencing the time their show started, some true crime radio show that they had been tuning into in lieu of a television and their usual fight over sitcoms, reality television, and documentaries, the latter which usually won out.

“No, I’ll make it,” Willow said. “Creature of the night and all.”

“Have you still been having them?” Wanda asked, laying down across the armchair that cornered the couch.

“What? No,” Willow said. “Not in a long time.”

“So, you’ve been sleeping?”

“Yeah.” Willow knew she didn’t sound convincing, but Wanda didn’t say anything else on the matter, the two of them sitting and listening to the radio as fuzzy alternative music came gently through the small speaker.

In Willow’s mind, there were plenty of other problems beyond stray nightmares, and besides, she knew she’d sleep just fine that night.

#wanda maximoff #marvel #mcu #scarlet witch #wandavision

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Reviewcaps: Amphibia: Swamp and Sensibility / Wax Museum

This week Anne tries to treat life like a ABCFamily Original Movie with predictable results while Kermit the frog cameos and the rest of the family wonder into a few possible Jordan Peele Movies. Then Anne stumbles into a Gravity Falls Homage and Frog Stan nearly murders her because that’s our boy. That’s our boy right there. Be warb under the cut.

Wooo hoo! While this one’s a little wait both due to work on another review for a certain episode, this was a decent episode to cap off our long road trip. We’re now one week away from Marcy debuting and also Keith motherfucking David.

I have no idea what enlisted is or what the hell is going on here but it’s keith david casually laying on a bicyle in full uniform. How could I not?

Before we get to this week here’s last week’s recap, as tumblr ate it for reasons.. as you can also see if you click on my blog I tided up my subpages, so amphibia reviews can now be found in the general disney section along with ducktales and star vs. Now that’s out of the way our last episodes before marcy and keith, i’m a day behind, let’s a go.

Swamp and Sensiblility

I”m also going to try going a bit looser.. still recapping what happens but not beat for beat as it’s gotten tiring and I sometimes strain for jokes especially when tired. So this week The Plantars find themselves stranded in Ribbiton, the most expensive city in amphibia after betsy breaks her reigns and, not having any other options are forced to stay with Hop Pop trying to keep the kids from getting distracted by the luxury. Thankfully they find an old friend: It’s One Eyed Wally!

Actually got an outside gif to work! Also hooray! But I did really like wally after his spotlight episode last season and his insane plan with the explosives that wound up paying off.. that’s some Wolverine level thinking.. no really he once cut the wires open in a sewer during a rainstorm so when the water inevitibly hit them it’d cause a blackout and hopefully help the x-men when it did if things had gone sideways.. which by the time it did, it did and they had. So good on you guys. Anyways turns out Wally’s a rich boy but he’s gone too far because he know it don’t matter anyway.. and has been hiding his true self from his family, so the plantars showing up really dosen’t help. Thankfully he’s able tos top them from talking or correcting his father assuming their the help and our family takes lord rich asshole up on his offer to stay the night at their mansion, which in what I assume is a nod to gravity falls has peacocks on the lawn, though this being Amphibia their giant and deadly and you shouldn’t look right at them.

Once in their fancy guest room, Anne wonders...

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Wally explains, as I did he’s hiding himself. Anne sees parallels with a movie she was watching at the start of the episode from point to pop and lock which looks like my own personal hell.. aka an abc family original movie back before it became freeform, which is a more fitting name for what the network horrifcally mutated into over time so fair enough. It’s better than say keeping the names MTV or TLC long after either of those acronyms is at all accurate.. and at least with MTV they have almost 40 years of brand recognition to justify it with. But yeah it’s about a ballerina who wants to hip hop dance, you’ve seen the story a million time.. and a plot repeated here about a kid wanting to live their dreams but worrying their family won’t accept them or knowing they won’t, with wally, while not carrying for the money, not wanting to loose his family or his beloved bug... which reminds me of that Pokemon episode with James and his growlithe only without a carbon copy of jesse trying to use bdsm to make james obey which is not how that works Jessebelle. That’s not how any of that works. What.. what even was that episode.. I mean somehow it was really good and makes me question why Jesse and James never hooked up but still, what WAS that.

Anyways, while Anne decides to interfere, the Plantars get a great montage of wondering into various creepy shit with toad saunas, rich people smashing things, and one frog in a peacock outfit among actual peacocks.. just.. yeah.. real Jordan Peele/Blumhouse “Rich white people are fucking terrifying” shit.. which is accurate. Thankfully instead of getting trapped in their own bodies or forced to star in the boy, our heroes make it back to Anne. At dinner Anne outs wally as a frigging weirdo with predictable results. Yeah the one flaw I can find with this episode is it’s REALLY predictable up to this point: Anne watches a movie, is obviously going to encounter someone with similar problems, then tries using that movie as real life, it fails but then somehow workso ut in the end or dosen’t but the person is happy anyway. What does spice it up though is the final act, as Wally decides fuck it , he’s going to take control of his own life and issues a family challenge against his dad to do so, something Anne, and me honeslty, had forgotten about from last season as that was 30 years ago and one of the less memorable episodes. Still nice bit of continuity. But with wally lacking a mount because his dad’s a prick, Anne pitches in to fix her screw up and we get a decently shot sequence, and amontage, as Anne and Wally play rich polo against wally’s dad. Oh and of course the more notable part of this, Kermit the Frog here, if sadly the minty fresh matt vogel one instead of the sadly fired Steve Whitmire.. still not over that but oddly Vogel does a better job here than on muppets now as I genuinely could not tell it was him so it works. But yeah, it’s not Vogel doing a voice but Kermit DOING voicework for amphibia, because Muppets get wonderfully meta and Disney wanted to keep this gimmick going. yes going, as last year Fozzy did voice acting for Big City Greens... I fucking love this and hope disney keeps doing it for all their shows. Do Owl House next.

Anywho Kermit commentates and it’s okay, they don’t do much with him but the sheer novelty of Kermit playing a thinly veiled copy of himself that still looks like a muppet still kinda works. Anyways wally ends up winning via hair accordion (”How long has that been in there?” “At least a full season”) and his dad dosen’t want Wally to leave the family.. which neither does he, he just wants to be accepted, his father accepts him, reveals he also likes music, happy end. Final Thoughts: As you can tell I kinda breezed through this one but unlike other just okay episodes lately i’ts not half bad and while using a stock plot, it does use it cleverly, and to help flesh out a character we like.. it’s still very by thenumbers but the neat setting of the rich people mansion, the plantars journey through it’s creepy bowels and kermit the frog cameoing all really help boost what otherwise would’ve just be “the episdoe before the gravity falls homage” it still was but it was enjoyable enough. It’s just in a day where disney said gay rights and i’ts sister episode is again an homage to one of Disney’s greatst shows in it’s storied animated television history, it’s also easy to forget. If nothing else it was nice to have Wally back. I do think that helped. As you can probably also tell these road episodes have been wearing on me.. while their not BAD, and some are infact quite excellent, a few like this one, quarallers pass, and the acting and western episodes, are just.. eh. The character flaws they bring up are only one episode and they don’t really felsh out the charcters enough. Even here while it’s nice to get more dimension to wally i’ts not really by much. They just feel fairly stock in a show that while using some stock plots usually can do so creatively. I think that’s the core problem: it’s not that these are TERRIBLE it’s just I expect better form the show in a typical episode, and from the interesting setups the road brings, especially since it DOES deliver on them in other episodes and i’m kinda glad this stretch is finished next week. That being said it does go out on one hell of a note..

Wax Museum So after weeks of anticipation, our road trip ends on an episode that was hyped up before the season even began.. a weird move given this is week 5 and i’d of saved the interviews for closer like Disney does with ducktales, but regardless, this one was worth the wait. First my quick, since I tend to go overboard on my thoughts on shows, thoughts on Gravity Falls: It’s fucking excellent. I stand by calling it one of disney channels best shows and while certaint hings could’ve used more time, like Dipcifica seriously I have no idea why tease that and then do nothing with it when they still had plenty of time left int he series even with Ford. But yeah a few minor quibbles aside the series was really good, left us wanting more which after seeing other shows sputter into flames at the end, hello Star Vs, I can live with. So yeah I was hyped for this one, especially since Amphibia creator Matt Braley not only worked on Gravity Falls but got Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch’s blessing.. and of course, Alex being a peach of a guy, just yesterday he proudly cooed over the fact Dana Terrance actually got Disney to have a bisexual lead character after he struggled to get anything remotley LBGTQ into gravity falls. He’s a good guy. And a weirdo but he’s my kind of weirdo. But being so nice, he naturally agreed to return as stan expy the curator and frog soos. While that is all we get, I do get not wanting to shohorn 80 refrences to the show in or get a ton of voice actors to come back for a cameo, nor try and include the twins due to the plot of this episode really not working with them around, thougH I WOULD have appricated frog mcgucket, but eh, you can’t get everything you want. Said plot is again simple but really intresting: The Plantars stop in a small town and are dead broke, but Anne casually taking off her hood and being reminded she’s seen as a freak ends up as a lucrative buisness opprotunity as naturally small town yokels are fine with gawking. So with the plantars now having actual money to see the sighs Anne settles on the curosity hut, our mystery shack for the evening. The rest of the plantars, especially Polly who sees some eyes move, are utterly unverved byt he place and by it’s owner, the curator, our stan pines.. or stan ponds if you will. I mean if the series has a chuck and other normal names here an there, including Polly, then it’s not a stretch to say his first name stayed the same. Anyways, Stan shows the family around, including Air Mantis, because hell yes and some gnomes and other callbacks to gravity falls.. but I like how theirs only a handful to gravity falls monsters. There’s plenty of refrences but the episode wisely goes more for the FEEL of Gravity Falls: The creepy setting, weirder monsters (even if amphibia dosen’t shy away from weird , last episode had sheep bugs and all), and spooky vibe from the curosity hut all feel like the tone Gravity Falls went for, which is similar enough to amphibia the two mesh well. Plus the curator is basically a SLIGHTLY more evil stan pines... SLIGHTLY., and Braly naturally having worked on the show nails the character in writing while Hirsch steps back into the roll like it was just yesterday. It feels like a love letter to what the show was rather than just “hey remember this cool thing from it”, with still plenty of nice nods here and there.

Anyways back to the actual plot, the rest of the Plantars decides to leave because this place gives them the creeps as does Stan, but once htey leave Anne finds something: A skipman! Which is a great name for a portable cd player.. seriously I had one of those early in high school, the skipping really was constant hell. If anyone ever complains about mp3s, smack em. I do not miss that era. Have a bit of nostalgia for it sure, but I do not actually MISS it.

Anyways, yeah this is a big deal and it’s nice that even in the homage to it’s parent show, we get a rather big plot point: something else came from Earth and given Anne dosen’t recognize it as Marcies, though It still could be but I highly doubt it, it didn’t come with the three of them, meaning there were humans BEFORE.. possibly centuries in amphibia time given what we’ve seen so far. After all a great calamity had happened, it somehow invovles the box that brought anne here... no one says time travel can’t be involved. And it’ll raise even more in a minute. But first Stan offers a million coppers for it. not being made of money Anne instead bargins on her weirdness: One day of performance in exchange for the discman. Sounds good Stan. He certainly doesn’t have any evil plans. Wink... he’s telling you he’s winking because one eye’s under an eyepatch. Naturally Stan has less than good intetions and ominously plots to frog soos.. which I absolutley love how they just call him frog soos, who postulates on multiverse theroy because he’s apparently been licking himself agian. Oh that soos... I always knew he was on something. Also while he dosen’t get a high from it I don’t doubt human soos also licks himself for unrelated reasons.

Anyways the rest of the family are skpetical of Anne meeting stan at night.. which is fair. I wouldn’t want my nieces or nephews, and one of the nephews is around anne’s age, around stan alone for any length of time. I mean he’s fine with his own family but I know i’d find them in a child size armadillo suit having been fed questionable canned meats after having to dance for gawking yokels. Plus stan has resting “Call the police fan” so HOp Pop wants to just discuss it in the morning first before remotley trusting this guy. But anne impulsively decides to just sneak out when their asleep. More on that in a bit. Naturally trusting the strange man she just met who presumibly traffics ladypugs in this reality and constnatly looks like he wants your wallet goes poorly as Stan traps Anne and plans to incase her in wax like the other exibits. The plantars realize anne is missing and rush in with Polly trying to face her fear and ending up freeing ah orrifying monster “This is way worse’ indeed. Meanwhile Stan is annoying anne who’s praying for the wax to get her in one of the best bits of the episode.. because of COURSE stan would talk inncoently to someone he’s kdinapped while eating canned beef. To me it’s another nice touch: While the caretaker IS more of a villian than stan, for obvious reasons, given he’s put a random person behind glass just for not buying things, dressed his own grandson up in a humilating wolf suit and had soos use a fucking boiler for his employee break room, it’s not a hgue stretch to say a pre-character development, i.e. pre dipper and mabel to convince him to be slightly better, Stan would kidnap a bunch of freaky wax creatures. It’s also why i’m okay Jason Ritter and Krystin Schall didn’t return. Their great and I woul’dve loved to have dipper and mabel back.. but the episode just dosen’t work with them in it even as a cameo, and they could easily show up in a followup later if they choose to bring this character back. Probably not but hey stranger things have happend. Stan does however reveal something important: He got the discman from newtopia.. where a bunch of OTHER artifacts are. Thankfully before that information becomes useless to Anne, Sprig and Hop Pop show up to the rescue and Stan fights them thinking their cops as he dosen’t want to go back to frog jail. And even once he finds out their not, he still wants a new attraction because this is stan and again, as good as he is by series end, or at least marginally better, I still wouldn’t put it past him to put sentient creatures in wax. This however backfires as once Polly frees the creature above sprig and hop pop free the rest, and the giant throng of monsters drags Stan off, with blood popping up.. though he assures us it’s just wax so he could show up again. Probably not. He also offers htem 10 perecent, and goes up to 11.5 but that’s as far as we go. Goodbye again stan. I’ll miss you buddy. Seriously I absolutley loved the character and even with a shifter copy it was really nice to have him back for an episode. The family carts Anne off and back at the campsight Anne bemoans not getting the skipman.. luckily Sprig grabbed it on their way out, because h’es a good friend, but Hop Pop and Pollly are annoyed at anne for once again recklesly endangering herself without considering them and forcing them to save her (As polly pefectly puts it I”m tired of facing my fears anne) And that’s why I saved that: this episode deconsturcts anne’s tendency to act before she reallyt hinks or consult anyone else and actually has the family confront her on it, though she does genuinely apologize so hopefully it’ll stick. But yeah now newtopia offers even more promise and anne offers hop pop an accidental laser to the eye vai the skipman to close out the episode. Final Thoughts: As you can probably tell If reaking loved this one. Instead of just apping gravity falls, as I pointed it out i more felt like a gravity falls episode in miniture, mixed with Amphibia to still feel like it belonged in amphibia, and with Stan back just slightly more evil. Slightly. Alex Hirsch was as always a massive delight and it was a treat to have him back, and it was a really damn good note to close the road trip out on after some middling episodes, toadcatcher excluded. Not much else to say, it was really damn good, easily the seasno’s second best after toadcatcher. Next Time: MARCY. KEITH DAVID. Ants? Good times. Until then you can find more disney reviews under the disney tab on my blog including the entire season of amphibia thus far and season 3 of ducktales thus far. Until we meet again, courage.

#amphibia #gravity falls #wax museum #swamp and sensiblity #anne boonchuy #reviews #recaps #disney channel #alex hirsch #matt braley #stan pines #soos #frog soos #the curator

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crystalninjaphoenix · 4 years

Text

New Places

A Stitched Story

JSE Fanfic

Bit of a simple concept, really. With the truth revealed, Jack, Chase, and JJ have to regroup. And meanwhile, Schneep has to deal with his own magical crisis, and things get crazy fast. I don’t want to say too much because of spoilers, but I think it’s fun ^-^ Also google Rot13, Atbash, and Base64 for some fun easter eggs that might just be enjoyable to me but I’m including anyway because screw it it’s my writing. Anyway, even if there’s not too much happening and it looks longer than it actually is, hope you guys enjoy!

Tagging @septic-dr-schneep for inspiring this AU with this post.

Read where it started: Stitched Together | Season One

Also I’m finally starting a taglist for this dfajklfh: @bupine @violet--majesty

It was a lovely morning to be waiting on a doorstep so you could ask the house’s occupants if you and your friends could stay there because the place where you’d previously been staying had been found by the demon who’d been hunting you.

This thought passed through Chase’s head just before he rang the doorbell for a second time. He couldn’t help but laugh, the sound almost hysterical.

Are you okay, Chase? JJ asked. He was leaning heavily on Jack, his ankle still injured.

Chase shook his head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Guess I’m a little...frazzled.” And who wouldn’t be? He’d just found out the monster chasing them was actually their dead friends fused together, then one of his friends turned out to have magic and proceeded to disappear, and now they’d been run out of Jack’s apartment, where they’d been staying, and he’d turned to the last relatively-safe place he knew. Assuming that she’d let them stay, of course.

The door swung open. There was a woman standing in the doorway, blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She was wearing the uniform of the diner she worked at, so she must’ve just gotten off a shift. For a moment, she just stared at the three men on her doorstep. And then she gasped out, “Chase?!”

Chase coughed awkwardly. “Hi, Stace. It...it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“You’re damn right!” Stacy’s tone wasn’t angry, just bewildered. “Wh—what are you doing here?! What are they doing here?!”

“Long story,” Chase sighed. “Can...can we come inside first?”

Stacy silently stood aside, letting the group enter the house.

The suburban house was relatively small, but it was very neat and tidy. There was a couch pressed against the window, a television against the opposite wall, an armchair, a coffee table, and two tiny bean bags in the corner, one yellow, one pink. Jack guided JJ over to the couch, where they both immediately collapsed.

“What the hell is going on?!” Stacy asked. “I don’t see you in person for months, your friends say you’ve disappeared but won’t tell me what’s going on, then next thing I know you’re back, and whenever you call me you won’t tell me what’s going on or why you can’t see our kids!”

“I told you, it’s dangerous,” Chase said tiredly.

“What—okay, I-I understand that, but if that’s the case, why are you here now?” Stacy spluttered. “If you’re in danger, why’re you bringing it here? The place where there’s a five-year-old and an eight-year old?!”

“I know, it’s stupid, I’m sorry,” Chase mumbled.

Stacy paused. Chase normally would’ve been more defensive. There was something wrong here. She looked around at the group. “Where’s your doctor friend?” she asked.

Chase flinched. “You, um, noticed he wasn’t here?”

“Well, yeah, the other two are here, and you guys almost always travel in a group,” Stacy said. “Is...is something wrong? Where is he?”

“He’s...we don’t know where he is,” Jack piped up. “It’s a long story.”

“You keep saying that,” Stacy sighed.

“Well it is,” Jack said. “Look, I’m sorry, Stacy, but our last safe place has just been...found out. We don’t know where else to go.”

“...huh.” Stacy ran her hand through her hair, and loosened her ponytail.

“If you kick us out, we’ll find somewhere else,” Chase said.

“I’m not gonna kick you out,” Stacy scowled. “Not now that you’re here. I just—”

“Mom?”

Everyone in the room paused. Standing in the doorway connecting the living room to the rest of the house were two young girls. The taller, toffee blonde one was holding the hand of the shorter, sandy blonde one. Stacy smiled at them. “Hey sweeties.”

The shorter one was holding a plush doll in one hand. Her eyes widened. “Daddy? Is that you?”

Chase waved. “Hi, Lily. Yes, It’s me. Hello, Moira. It’s good to see you.”

“What’re you doing here?” Moira asked, squeezing her sister’s hand.

“It’s complicated, honey,” Chase said. “Me and my friends are gonna be staying here for a while.”

Lily gasped, suddenly looking delighted. “Yea!” She broke free from Moira’s hand, running over to Chase. She threw her arms around him. Chase froze, stiffening. His eyes darted around the room, landing on every adult. Lily was totally unaware of her father’s distress.

Moira, however, wasn’t. “Lils, come on, let’s let them talk for a bit.”

“Aw, okay.” Lily let go and retreated back to the hall, and she and Moira disappeared back into the house.

Chase went and sat down in the armchair, covering his mouth and shaking slightly. Jack stood up and took another seat closer to Chase, though he didn’t move to touch him.

Stacy stared at all of this in silence. “This...this is all so confusing,” she said. “Chase, what...?”

“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” Chase said, the sound muffled by his hand. “Just...can we have some time?”

Stacy nodded slowly. “Alright. You can explain to me later, if you want to. I’ll...I’ll be around.” And she turned and left.”

After a long moment of silence, Chase took a deep breath. He straightened. “Okay. I think we need to decide where to go from here. For starters...” He looked at Jack. “How’d you just instantly come to the conclusion that Anti was Jackie and Marvin? Just...h-how?”

“Um...well...” Jack shifted on his seat. “Me and JJ were talking about this yesterday. I, uh, apparently have magic vision now.”

“What?! Since when?!”

“Since JJ replaced my eye.” Jack tapped the skin under his right eye, the one that was brighter blue than the other. “We’re still not sure why, but it...it means I can sea people’s souls.”

“You can what?!” Chase could only gape at him.

“Yeah. They look like glowing balls of light in people’s chests.”

Chase folded his arms unconsciously, over his chest. “Can...you see mine?”

“Yeah, it’s yellow. And it has these...” Jack shook his head. “I-I don’t know, these groove things. I think it’s because of what An—anyway.” He coughed. “How I knew they were him, was that...I looked at Anti’s soul, and it was a bunch of red and blue...shard-like things. Held together by that green string. You remember that? I-I saw it, and I reached forward, and I pulled it out...and then Anti disappeared and we found Marvin and Jackie. Later, I-I looked at them with this soul vision, and they...didn’t have...normal soul lights. They both had red and blue shards.”

There was evidence that Marvin and Jackie preformed a transference spell before they died. JJ said. It’s black magic. Very black magic. It takes apart people’s souls and switches the pieces around, then enhances them. It will give the two participants special abilities, but at a cost. It must’ve gone wrong, and somehow Anti is the result.

Chase laughed. “Okay. Cool. That’s fine. What...what do we do about that? Ho-how do we get them back?”

Jameson froze. Chase...he signed slowly. I don’t think there’s a way to get—

“Shut up!” Chase shot to his feet. “Of course there’s a way! There has to be a way! They—they’re probably stuck in there! We have to get them back!”

Chase. Jameson leaned forward, trying to be gentle. If their souls were torn apart—

“There has to be a way!” Chase repeated insistently. “I mean, if magic is real, then we can fix this! I-I know maybe you’ve never heard of one, fancy magic man, but you’ve never heard of something like Anti, either! So there’s got to be a way!” He looked at Jack. “Right?”

“Wh—I mean, yeah, of course,” Jack nodded. “That makes sense. Besides, we’ll never know if we don’t try.”

Jameson shank back, looking a little ashamed. I’m sorry. The signs were small. I suppose you two are right. I was just trying... He stopped. You’re right. We need to try.

“Yeah, but first, we need to find Schneep,” Jack said. “What...what happened to him?”

“I dunno, I guess it’s his magic. That he suddenly has. For some reason,” Chase mumbled. He sat back down, shrinking into the cushions of the arm chair.

“Yeah, what is that kind of magic anyway? Where did it come from?” Jack wondered.

Jameson shrugged. I’m unsure for that latter question, but for the former, it appears Henrik can teleport, somehow. Or maybe it’s that he somehow affects the world around him to make regular walking easier for him. Like wormholes.

A hint of a smile drifted across Chase’s face. “Yeah, explain it to him like it’s wormholes, he’d like that more.” The smile faded away. “So, he freaked out and teleported away. Where did he go? How would we find him? He didn’t have his phone on him, so we can’t even take the risk of Anti finding us to call him.”

“I guess we’ll have to find him the old-fashioned way,” Jack figured. “By looking around and walking for him.”

“That could take forever!” Chase gasped.

Yes, but it’s the best we can do, JJ said. He winced. Or rather, it’s the best you can do. I’m afraid that I’m still in no condition to walk around. I do appreciate that you two helped me here, but I would just slow down your search.

“It’s okay, JJ,” Jack reassured him. “It’s best if you just stay here and heal up.”

“Should we start looking for him now?” Chase wondered. “I mean, the sooner the better, right? But we did just get here. Would it be weird to leave right away?”

“I don’t think it would be,” Jack shrugged. “We can just tell Stacy where we’re going, and when we’re gonna be back.”

Yes, I think it would be better to start earlier, JJ added. Who knows where Henrik could be now? He could have gone a long way, and be getting even further.

“No time to waste, then,” Chase said, nodding. He stood up again. “C’mon, let’s get going.”

— — — — — — —

With no further ado, Chase and Jack went back out onto the streets of the city. The morning was clear, with a few wispy clouds high in the sky. It was an average morning, with people strolling out along the streets, going about their various business. Chase and Jack would occasionally stop one of them, asking if they’d seen a man who looked similar to the two of them. None of them had.

They stopped for a break around noon, the spring sun high in the sky. They sat down on the curb of the sidewalk. “Should we get something to eat?” Jack asked. “We’ve been out for a while. And we didn’t exactly have a good breakfast.”

Chase shrugged. “I dunno. Whatever you want.”

“Well, I don’t want to go somewhere just for me,” Jack said. “So are you hungry?”

Chase just shrugged again.

Jack stopped talking, looking at Chase and frowning. Something was up, he could tell. Chase was being pretty...passive. “Are you okay, dude?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Chase balled his fists, scrunching up his pants.

“You don’t look fine,” Jack pointed out.

“Well, I am.”

“No, you’re not,” Jack insisted. “C’mon, you can tell me what’s up.”

“You wouldn’t care about what’s up!” Chase suddenly burst out. He gasped, hand flying to cover his mouth.

Jack was left speechless. “...what?””

Chase suddenly stood up, quickly walking away, down the sidewalk. Jack didn’t hesitate to follow, rushing to catch up.

“Chase?! Chase!” Jack called after him. Chase didn’t turn around, pushing past people on the sidewalk as he rushed away. “Chase! Slow down!” Jack picked up the pace until he was able to reach out and grab Chase by the shoulder. With a yelp, Chase spun around, pushing away Jack’s hand. “You can’t just say something like that! Of course I’d care!”

For a moment, Chase looked like he wanted to keep running. Then he slumped. “I know, I know you would, I-I don’t know why I said that. I just...you have all your shit going on, it feels stupid to bring you into mine, too.”

“No, it’s not. It’s exactly the opposite of stupid. Bring me into your shit. Tell me what’s going on!”

“No, it’s stupid, it really is.” Chase folded his arms, looking down at the ground.

“Well, I’m not gonna drop it until you tell me what’s going on,” Jack said. “So might as well get it over with.”

Chase looked around. There weren’t a lot of people around, and definitely none in earshot. He sighed. “It’s just...you have a cool power, dude. JJ has magic. Schneep has magic, apparently. And then I’m just...here.” He blinked furiously, eyes watering. “I don’t do anything. All that I’ve done is get kidnapped, possessed, get un-possessed, and now I can’t handle anything! I can’t even fucking let my own daughter give me a hug without freezing up! And you guys are doing great! You’ve all had to deal with shit, and you’re not like this! So why am I—just—worthles—” He choked up. And he realized tears were leaking from his eyes.

Jack took this all in, staying silent. His expression was hard to read. And then he stepped closer to Chase, taking care not to touch him. “Chase Brody, never say that you’re worthless.”

“Okay,” Chase said automatically.

“No, I mean it. You think we would’ve gotten this far without you? No! You remember when you shot Anti, despite him still having a hold on you? That was the most badass shit I’ve ever seen! And that was you! You’re amazing!”

“But you guys—”

“No no no, stop it,” Jack said firmly. “Stop comparing yourself to the rest of us, we’re not all the same. You’re right, we’ve all had to deal with shit, and it’s all been different shit. You notice how Henrik avoids going to sleep? Or how I couldn’t leave the apartment for two whole months and outside still kinda freaks me out? None of us are doing great.” Jack shook his head. “And even if it was the same shit, we still would’ve reacted differently. Because we’re different people, and comparing yourself to others only hurts. If there’s any comparison you should be doing, it’s to yourself. And Chase, you are doing so much better. Think of how you were doing a few months ago. You’ve been improving. And yeah, maybe you don’t have magic, but you’re still strong. And don’t you forget it.”

Chase’s tears were still flowing, but for a different reason. “Thanks, Jack.” His voice cracked. “I guess I needed that.”

Jack smiled. “If you ever need it again, just tell me.”

“I-I’ll keep that in mind.” Chase wiped his face on his sleeve. He took a deep breath. “Alright. So, we keep going, then?”

“We keep going.” Jack nodded. “We’re bound to find Schneep eventually.”

Yet, the sun lowered in the sky, the blue faded to pink and then purple, the hours passed, and they still hadn’t found him. They returned back to Stacy’s house, agreeing to look again tomorrow.

— — — — — — —

He didn’t know where he was.

He didn’t know how he got there.

He’d been back in the apartment. Anti had appeared. Anti had taunted them, telling them that he was the other two. And somehow, he knew this wasn’t a lie. Marvin and Jackie had been acting so odd once they’d returned, and he couldn’t...he couldn’t feel where they were, like he could with other people. Now, he wondered if that ability to feel people had anything to do with...what else he could do.

He didn’t know how to describe what happened next. He wanted a weapon, so he reached over and grabbed one. He wanted to attack, to be at the front of the action, and all of a sudden Anti was right in front of him. And so he fought. He fought for the two who’d gone and the three who remained. But it was too much. Things were spiraling out of control. He’d take one step, and suddenly the room reoriented around him, and he was somewhere else entirely. It was spinning around him, he was one place and then another. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t steady himself. His head was swimming. It hurt. He screamed, and then he was somewhere else.

It was a strange place, he knew that much. The texture of the walls were unfamiliar, the furniture in unexpected places, the sound of a construction crew nearby completely different. He couldn’t hear or feel anyone nearby. Maybe it was a living room. In a house he’d never been in.

His vision was different. Well, it was still effectively gone, but that static that he’d been seeing ever since coming out of the Nightmare had disappeared. It was instead replaced with plain blackness. Alright, that was a slight improvement, but why?

He tripped across a wrinkle in the rug, falling to the floor with a cry. He didn’t stand up again. There was probably other things to trip over.

After what felt like an hour, he heard the muffled sound of footsteps. Someone was coming, he could feel it. That got him to climb to his feet. He headed for the nearest wall, feeling along the perimeter of the room. There had to be somewhere to hide, or somewhere to get out, somewhere to get out—

And then the wall disappeared. The sound of construction was replace by tweeting birds and a cool breeze. He stumbled as the floor under his feet became uneven, turning into soft dirt.

“What the fuck...?” He muttered.

“Hey!” Someone shouted. He cried out, turning towards the sound. Someone was coming closer. “This is private property!”

“I-I am sorry, I-I do not know how—how I got—” he stammered.

“Speak proper English, please,” the someone said dismissively. “Stay here while I call the police.”

He yelped, backing up. He felt the prickly branches of a bush dig into his back. No no no, this place wasn’t good either, get out—

And as he was backing up, he tripped over something else, falling over what felt like a wooden chair and landing hard on a carpeted floor. Suddenly, there were a lot of voices. And he could feel a lot of people nearby. They felt different.

“What the hell?!” “Jesus, that scared me.” “Um, Ms. Mae? I think—” “Unauthorized teleportation—” “—supposed to have a smoke effect?” “What’s up with his eyes?” “—don’t recognize him.” “Sir, are you alright?”

Too many people. He tried to stand up, and somehow rammed his head into something. He yelled, withdrawing.

“There’s a bookshelf there, sir,” said one of the voices. “Are you alright? Can you...wait, can you see us?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. Not here, somewhere else, not here, somewhere—

And the world shifted again.

And again.

He wasn’t sure how much time was passing, but it had to be a significant amount. He’d stay in each place for as long as thirty minutes, or as few as thirty seconds. Never anywhere he recognized by touch. Sometimes he’d get his bearings enough to try and find the room’s exit, or walk down the sidewalk, or figure out exactly where the hell he was. But the world always shifted again, even if he didn’t want it to.

Sometimes there were people. He tried not to stay there too long. They’d think he was crazy. Sometimes it was a room, sometimes it was outside. Once there was water lapping around his ankles.

Where was he?

Where were the others? He had to find them. He had to find out if they’d gotten away from Anti, or if he needed to rescue them. Not that he was sure he could, with the world constantly changing. Sure, he’d managed to stab Anti once or twice, but that might’ve been beginner’s luck. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t try, though.

He was outside again, on a sidewalk. The air had cooled down significantly, and he could feel less people around. The sound of the cars passing by were less frequent. Time had passed.

No, he was in a noisy building, people shouting, dishes clattering.

No, he was in a wide-open space, instruments playing discordantly.

No, somewhere boiling hot—

No, somewhere with the ground kicking up sand—

No, somewhere quiet—

Somewhere loud—

Somewhere soft—

Sweet-smelling—

Grassy—

Cold—

His heart was about to pound out of his chest. His mind was swimming, a lightheaded feeling. There were swirls of colors swimming before his eyes. Patterns of phosphenes.

Ticking—

Crashing—

Dizzy—

Heavy—

Too much, too much, too much—

Something broke.

He saw a hospital room, a single bed surrounded by medical equipment. There was a man in a snap-back cap, sitting on the floor like he’d been knocked down, and another man in a ragged white coat, staring down at him. His expression was a combination of shock and anger. “I do not you would forget so easily,” the man in the white coat said. “But maybe I am mistaken. If what I have seen you doing is what I think it is, then maybe your mind is missing entirely.” “Wha—no, I—oh my god, you’re alive.” The man in the cap stood up, looking a bit dazed as he looked the other up and down. “We all thought the worst—I mean, we never gave up hope—well, ░▒░▒░▒ got close, I think, but maybe that’s just the pessimist in him. And there was that fucked up postcard back in March…but you’re back now. You’re back.” He smiled, a small expression filled with relief.

He was in the middle of a dark field, city lights in the distance. They were close enough to make out buildings but too far to walk to. A man in a black cape and purple and white mask was walking. His hand was held up high above him, blue crystallized lights dancing around his fingers, illuminating the area. He spun around, looking for something. He said something under his breath, and the blue light flared, shooting out. Something laughed. “You talk too much,” said a voice, seeming to come from everywhere. The man spun around, blue light twirling away. Shuffling movement in the darkness, and then there was something, something gray and smiling and with blackened sharp nails, tackling the man to the ground. Something red splashed.

he was standing behind someone, a young man in a button-up shirt, who was holding a ceramic mug in two hands. the man was in the doorway of a living room, watching two other men talk. They appeared to be arguing. “i don’t own a green t-shirt, ░▒░▒░!” this man had his hair pulled back, waves falling down his back. “you know i don’t like them! you can go look in my closet and hamper if you want,i don’t have anything like that.” “well, who was it, then?” this one had a snap-back cap and a dirty jacket. “what, are you saying that someone was pretending to be you—” the man in the doorway suddenly paled. he dropped the mug he was holding, and it shattered upon the floor with a loud crash. the other two turned to look at him. “░▒░▒░▒░? are you alright?”

Ur jnf yvfgravat gb na nynez evatvat guebhtu gur nve. Gur juvgr-jnyyrq unyyjnl jnf yvg hc bayl ol erq rzretrapl yvtugf naq n fgenatr terra tybj. Gurer jrer gjb svtherf va gur pragre bs gur unyy, bar ylvat ba uvf onpx, gur bgure xarryvat arkg gb uvz. Gur bar xarryvat jnf cerffvat qbja ba gur bgureâ€™f fgbznpu, jurer n qnex fgnva jnf fcernqvat npebff gur oyhr fuveg. â€œFuvg, unat ba, whfg unat ba,â€ gur bar xarryvat fnvq. â€œV xabj fbzrbar jub pna uryc, jr whfg arrq gb svaq uvz.â€ Gur bar ylvat qbja tebnarq, naq bcrarq uvf rlrf. Fbzrguvat jnf tybjvat juvgr. â€œFghcvq nynezâ€¦â€ Ur ernpurq hc, unaq gerzoyvat. Fgenaqf bs juvgr yvtug pheyrq nebhaq uvf nez, gura fubg njnl, jenccvat nebhaq n obk ba gur prvyvat. Gur zrgny pheyrq nf vs vg jnf pynl orvat gjvfgrq. Gur nynez fgbccrq, naq fbzr bs gur erq rzretrapl ohyof ohefg, envavat qbja tynff naq yrnivat gur fgenatr terra tybj nf gur bayl fbhepr bs yvtug.

Sv hzd z uzhg ullw ivhgzfizmg, nlhgob vnkgb. uoflivhxvmg ortsgh org fk gsv yfrowrmt, z xlmgizhg gl gsv wfhp lfghrwv gsv drmwldh. Z nzm dzh hrggrmt rm z yllgs rm z xlimvi, dizkkvw rm z xlfkov ozbvih lu xolgsrmt vmwrmt rm z tivvm qzxpvg drgs ufi zilfmw rgh sllw. gsviv dviv yzmwztvh zilfmw srh mvxp zmw z kzgxs levi srh vbv. sv dzh hgzirmt zg hlnvgsrmt zxilhh uiln srn gszg ollpvw orpv z nzm rm z ivw sllwrv, yfg gsviv dzh hlnvgsrmt...dilmt. Rgh uzxv dzhm’g erhryov. “Blf pmld, dv ivzoob hslfow hgzb lfg lu gsrh, ĵŀ½ýªś,” hzrw gsv gsrmt rm gsv ivw sllw. “Bvzs, r urtfivw gszg lfg dsvm gsv wlxgli gsrmt prxpvw nv lfg lu rgh xrgb,” gsv nzm nfggvivw, iloormt srh erhryov vbv. “Gdrxv.” “Yfg.” Gsv gsrmt uozhsvw z hnrov. gsv gvvgs ollpvw...dilmt. “R dlm’g orv, r ivzoob dzmg gl hvv rg tvg rgh wfv. Xzoo rg pzinz, ru blf dzmg.”

SGUgd2FzIGluIGEgc21hbGwsIGNyYW1wZWQgcGxhY2UuIEl0IGxvb2tlZCBsaWtlIGEgY2F2ZSwgd2l0aCB0aGUgcm91Z2gtaGV3biB3YWxscywgZmxvb3IsIGFuZCBjZWlsaW5nLiBCdXQgaXQgd2FzIHBhY2tlZCB3aXRoIGZpbGVzLCBhIGNvcmtib2FyZCBtb3VudGVkIG9uIGEgd2FsbCB3aXRoIHBhcGVycyBwaW5uZWQgdG8gaXQuIFRoZXkgbG9va2VkIGxpa2UgcG9sYXJvaWQgcGhvdG9ncmFwaHMsIG5ld3NwYXBlciBjbGlwcGluZ3MsIGFuZCBzdGlja3kgbm90ZXMuIFRoZXJlIHdhcyBhIHdvbWFuIHN0YW5kaW5nIGluIGZyb250IG9mIHRoZSBib2FyZCwgaGFuZHMgb24gaGVyIGhpcHMuIEhlciBoYWlyIHdhcyBkeWVkIGJsb25kZSwgaGVyIGdyZWVuIGhvb2RpZSBvbGQgYW5kIHRvcm4uIFNoZSBsb29rZWQgb3ZlciBoZXIgc2hvdWxkZXIsIHN0YXJpbmcgYmFjayBhdCBhIG1hbiBhbHNvIHN0YW5kaW5nIGluIHRoZSBhcmVhLiBIZSB3YXMgd2VhcmluZyBhIGhvc3BpdGFsIGdvd24sIHRoZSBzY2xlcmEgb2YgaGlzIGxlZnQgZXllIGJyaWdodCBncmVlbi4K4oCcV2XigJlkIHJlYWxseSBhcHByZWNpYXRlIHlvdXIgaGVscCwgZmlndXJpbmcgdGhpcyBhbGwgb3V0LOKAnSBzaGUgc2FpZC4KVGhlIG1hbiB3YXMgc2lsZW50LCBleWVzIHN3ZWVwaW5nIHRoZSBib2FyZCBhbmQgc3RhY2tzIG9mIGZpbGVzLiBBIHNtYWxsLCBlbGVjdHJpYyBncmVlbiBzcGhlcmUgZGFydGVkIG91dCBmcm9tIGJlaGluZCBvbmUgb2YgdGhlIHN0YWNrcywgY2lyY2xpbmcgYXJvdW5kIGhpcyBoZWFkLiBTb21lIHNvcnQgb2YgZXllYmFsbC4g4oCcSSBjYW4gdGVsbCB5b3Ugd2hhdCBoYXBwZW5lZCzigJ0gdGhlIG1hbiBzYWlkIHNvZnRseS4g4oCcQnV0IEkgY2Fu4oCZdCB0ZWxsIHlvdSB3aGF0IHRvIGRvIG5leHQu4oCd

“Stop!”

He gasped, and suddenly everything was still. Very still, in fact. Almost unusually still. He couldn’t hear anything nearby. He couldn’t smell anything nearby. He couldn’t feel anything other than the ground beneath his feet. But he could feel something...someone? Were they the source of the voice that shouted “stop”?

“Gods, was not expecting that. What’re you doing? How’d you get here?” The voice sounded familiar...but also different.

“I—I—” He couldn’t answer either of those questions. “I do not know. I-I am sorry if I upset you.”

A short burst of laughter. “You didn’t upset me—well I mean, I am kind of busy right now, but I can take a break to figure out what the actual fuck you were doing.”

“Doing? What—where am I?” He realized he was shaking a bit. Nerves, maybe. Or exhaustion. From whatever that had been.

“Hmm. You can’t see, can you? Otherwise you’d be having a stronger reaction than that.” Footsteps approached him. “Here, let me just—”

He felt hands on his head, pressing fingers into his temples. And then he felt something else, some kind of tingly, static sensation. He yelped. And then suddenly, he saw himself. Not from the perspective you would expect, but like he was looking through someone else’s eyes at himself. He could see the scars under his eyes for the first time. Then the perspective changed, like someone was looking to the side. And he saw...lights. Tiny green orbs of light, extending off in all directions, for forever, against a black sky. They were reflected across the horizon, but he wasn’t sure if that was because the floor he was standing on was reflective, or if the floor was transparent, showing a void all around. He gasped, and the hands were withdrawn. “Where am I?” He repeated, in a hushed voice.

“...how do I explain this?” the voice muttered. “Alright. Do you play video games? You likely have a few friends who do.”

“Um...yes, I have friends. I play a few games, I suppose.”

“You know how a level of a game has a map? The map makes up the environment, and it’s made of all the various assets the game has.”

“Yes.”

“You know how, in some games, if you do just the right thing, you can glitch outside of a map and into the empty space beyond? Where you can see the whole map from a new perspective.”

“I...yes.”

“Well. Welcome to the empty space around the map, Henrik.”

Schneep gasped. “How do you know my name?!”

“I mean, I guessed you were one of them.” The voice sounded casual. “The accent gave it away.”

Schneep shook his head, backing away from the voice. “Is—is this real? Am I having a hallucination?”

“Why, do you have those?”

“Someti—that is none of your business!” Schneep snapped. “How do I get back to where I was?”

“Good question, normally you wouldn’t be able to.”

“What?!”

“But the fact that you were glitching outside and looking at other ones is a good sign that you’ll be able to. Though, judging by your reaction and recent memories, this is a new thing for you.”

“You looked inside my—?!” This was too much. Schneep fell to the ground, collapsing to his knees. He covered his mouth and tried not to hyperventilate.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have done that, should I?” The voice asked. “I just thought it would be helpful if I understood where you were coming from.”

“How is this happening?” Schneep whispered weakly. “Jameson, he told me I had magic, b-but I did not think—! It would be like—! Wh-why do I even have this? What happened to make it?”

“Another good question.” The voice lowered, like he was also sitting on the floor. “Well, it sounds like this isn’t something you had your whole life. Were you exposed to any kind of magic for an extended period of time? Say, a few months.”

Schneep immediately started nodding. “I-I got stuck. In this place called...the Ni-Nightmare.” He shuddered. “It was for months.”

“Well, shit. You have to get your soul ripped out to go there.” The voice fell silent for a while. “So, I’m no expert, but I can give you my best guess. Your soul probably got used to being outside your body, and while it was in the Nightmare, it began to adapt to the new environment. Once it was returned to your body, it settled back in, but the properties it picked up started to seep into your body as well. It would probably lay dormant for a while until you needed it to start acting weird, probably triggered by stress or something. And now, I’m guessing everything’s hit the fan for you.”

Schneep nodded. “It was like...everything around me was changing. I could not control it.”

“Of course you can control it.” He could practically hear the voice rolling his eyes. And moderation, of course, so you don’t end up glitching too far. I mean, eventually you would’ve drifted off, bouncing between other worlds. You’re lucky I stopped by.”

Schneep paused. “Who are you?”

Laughter. Chillingly familiar, yet somehow...more relaxed. “If I told you my name, you’d probably recognize it. But I probably shouldn’t, in case the me in your world isn’t as nice. Never mind that, though.” A shuffling sound, like the voice was standing up. Then the voice grabbed Schneep’s arm and pulled him up. “I think it’s best if you don’t stay here. Just in case there are more effects.”

Schneep shook his head. Everything was moving fast. “H...how would I get out of here?”

“Well, you got in, didn’t you? You can get out, if your powers brought you here. You just need to control them.”

“How?” Schneep asked in a small voice.

“You start by not controlling them.” Schneep’s expression must’ve shown, because the voice chuckled. “Abilities like this are part of you, if they’re anything like mind. As much as your arm is part of you. Do you make an effort to ‘control’ your arm? No, you just think about what it’s supposed to do, and it does it. Glitching to other places is just an easier way of walking. Think about where you want to go, and go there.”

“What? It cannot be that easy.”

“It is. You might need to practice, though. But for now, just relax. If you freak out, it’s likely that your powers are gonna freak out too.”

“I think I figured that out,” Schneep grumbled.

“Yeah, that’s probably how you ended up here, huh?” The voice sounded like he was smiling. “Just take a deep breath, and think about using your powers to get back where you came from.”

Schneep hesitated. “What if it goes wrong? Are...are you going to give more advice?”

“If you don’t go back to your world, yeah. But once you’re there, I can’t follow you. I can access the In-Between, and my own world, but nothing else without concentrated help. It’s one of the few rules I follow.” The voice shifted, now sounding a bit irritated. “Now can you hurry? I said I was busy, and unless I want some black magic kitty causing havoc, I gotta get back to that.”

“Okay, okay.” Schneep considered asking about that, then decided it was a better idea not to. He took a deep breath. Just think about it, huh? Alright. He wanted to go home. He imagined a doorway opening in front of him, and on the other side was where he wanted to go. He took a step forward—

And ran his shins into a coffee table.

He cried out, jumping backwards. Okay. Alright. This was better. He wasn’t in that weird...place anymore. He reached forward, bending down to feel the surface of the coffee table. It was wood, felt fairly big, and there was an indent right in the middle.

Schneep froze. That wasn’t just an indent. He recognized the feel of the knick in the wood. He ran his fingers over it a few more times, awakening a long ago memory. One time, Marvin had visited his apartment, but neglected to tell him he would be practicing throwing knives. He dropped one right on the living room coffee table. Schneep had ranted his ear off that night about how the blade had left a knick in his table.

How many times had he ran his hand over that dent in the wood? Especially after he’d thought his friend had died...he wasn’t about to forget the feeling of it, no matter how long it had been.

But he had to make sure. Schneep stood up, feeling around the edges of the room. Yes, there was the glass wall to the balcony. There were the houseplants in the corners, now dried up and dead from neglect. There was his second coat hanging off the hook near the door. He’d ended up home.

Schneep sat down hard on the sofa. So. Maybe that voice’s advice wasn’t too bad.

It had been...a long, long day. An absolutely insane day, in fact. He needed to process all this. He lay down across the cushions, staring into nothing. His vision was back to blackness. Which he didn’t mind, in comparison to the static. If that was part of his new abilities, he’d take them all.

Okay. Start with processing the simpler-to-understand stuff. Anti was back. Doing alright so far. Anti was actually Marvin and Jackie—nope, that one needed more attention.

Some part of Schneep knew they’d always been dead. He’d seen their bodies. He’d examined their bodies. You don’t come back from that. And even if they somehow magically recovered for a bit, he knew they weren’t the same. He’d figured out by now that he could feel people, which must’ve also been part of his powers. But he could never feel them. They weren’t people anymore. They were ghosts. Remnants.

Schneep wiped away at the tears suddenly trickling down his face.

And now, all that was left of them was Anti. Anti, the worst parts of each of them, now hell-bent on tormenting them. Maybe if they got rid of Anti, Marvin and Jackie could finally have some peace. In whatever came next.

He reached vaguely to the side. He needed a weapon, something suitable for defeating Anti. And surprisingly, his fingers wrapped around something. He pulled it back, feeling the item over with both hands. A pair of...scissors? Odd, but he supposed they were just a pair of knives attached together. He tried again, reaching to the side, this time thinking about a knife. And this time, he grabbed a kitchen knife. Huh. Apparently, he could summon things now, too. Though...was he actually just reaching through some kind of wormhole to grab something from somewhere else...?

Schneep shook his head. He’d figure it out later. For now...he was tired. And again, he needed to process this. He set the scissors and the knife down on the nearby table.

They needed a plan. They needed to be together. And Schneep needed more time to adjust to these new abilities.

So that would be what he’d do next. He’d figure out how to use these powers to their best, find their strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. Then, when they came for Anti, he wouldn’t know what hit him.

With a sigh, Schneep closed his eyes. Yes, he’d be prepared for that day. It was coming soon.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #chase brody #jameson jackson #dr schneeplestein #antisepticeye #stitchedstories #fixing stitching #brigid writes fanfiction

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recipeforme · 4 years

Text

C10: My Self-Worth's Fragile Like An Egg

Book: A Good Kid

I groaned when I woke up, remembering what happened yesterday. How could I break down like that? Now that they knew I was vulnerable they were going to stop being so nice. I just know it! My only hope was to act like nothing had happened.

I threw on some clothes, slapped on my eye shadow and headed down stairs for some food. I slipped into the kitchen to see Thomas making himself coffee when he saw me he gave me a huge grin.

“Good morning Virgil!” He greeted “how are you?”

I shrugged and opened the cabinet to find some cereal “why are you acting so weird?” Thomas was a pretty cheerful guy but he could be really…. Touchy in the morning when he hadn’t had his coffee yet.

“I’m not acting weird!” He said, still smiling. I gave him a look before moving to the table with my cereal. “Anyways,” Thomas said, grabbing his coffee and sitting down across from me “I wanted to talk to you about last night.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Really?” Thomas turned serious “because you burst into tears last night.”

“I’m fine” I muttered, I could tell Thomas was hesitating to tell me something. “Look, whatever it is just tell me.”

The man took a deep breath “okay well, I signed you up for therapy last night.”

My head shot up “what?!”

He winced “look, I think it would be good for you to talk to someone.”

“No way man! I don’t need some shrink trying to pick my brain apart.”

“Well.” Thomas gave me a look “you’re going.”

I stood up, breakfast abandoned “well, you can’t make me!” My heart rate increased at the thought of seeing a therapist, even more so than denying my guardian.

Thomas looked up at me calmly “actually I can. And I’m sorry if you don’t want to but you’re going. It’s already been paid for. It’s one session, if it doesn’t work then you don’t have to go back. But you do have to go to this session.”

“Fine.”

“Great!” Thomas said “we leave in an hour.” I just huffed and back stormed upstairs.

------

I glared at Thomas from my place on the couch in the therapist’s office, the man rubbed his eyes and sighed. I won’t go into detail but it was a struggle to get me here.

“Look. I know that you don’t want to be here but will you please give it a chance?” He asked, practically begging at this point. I just glared at him silently with my arms crossed. “Fine,” He sighed “well, I’m going to go. I’ll be back in a hour.”

Thomas left and I glared at the wall, in any other situation I would make a run for it but I had a feeling that Thomas was going to sit in the waiting room just to make sure I didn’t. I sighed and looked around the office, which was decorated with toys and posters of Disney and Cartoon characters. Great, he was a children’s therapist. Not only was I going to have my brain picked, I was also going to be downgraded like I was a five year old.

I jumped when a voice said “it’s the moment you've been waiting for!”

My head snapped towards the door as I could see someone’s arm and…. Were they singing a theme song? I didn’t recognize it but it sounded like a theme song. Finishing his ‘intro’ the man walked over and plopped down in his chair. The man had dark(ish) pink hair and glasses. He wore a light blue sweater vest with a long sleeved, pastel, collard, yellow shirt with a light pink tie.

“Hello,” he said, “do you how do?”

“What?”

“Ah well my name is Dr. Picani, and you are?”

“....Virgil… but shouldn’t you know? Cause of paperwork and all that?”

“Yes, but it helps a patient feel more comfortable when they introduce themselves.” I groaned, great it’s been five seconds and he’s already trying to shrink me. “Is everything alright?”

“No.” I declare “I’m not doing this.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Look man, no offence to you or whatever but I didn’t choose to come here. The only reason I am is that Thomas thinks that just because I had a little breakdown last night I’m all of the sudden ‘mentaly unstable’ or whatever.” I said, using air quotes around the words ‘mentaly unstable.’

“Well, alright.” Dr. Picani said “if that’s how you feel. But if you don’t mind me asking. Who’s Thomas?”

I sighed, already annoyed “Thomas is my foster dad.”

“Oh, so you're a foster kid?”

“Yeah,” I raised an eyebrow “you got a problem with that?”

“Not at all. Now before we start I should ask if you have ever been to therapy before?”

I sighed again “let me guess, you are not going to just let me sit here until this is over.”

“No, I’m afraid not.” Dr Picani smiled at me.

“Fine, I’ll answer your questions if you answer one of mine.”

“Of course!” He said “go right ahead.”

“If I share stuff with you are you going to tell Thomas what I said?” I figured that I might as well get this over with. Especially if the guy wasn’t going to leave me be. But if he was going to tell Thomas what I say… then I would much rather keep quiet.

“No, not without your consent.” He said “but if you are hurting yourself or others then I will but if you aren’t then everything said here will be kept private.”

“Fine, I’ve only been to therapy once. About a year ago when my dad went to jail.”

“Really? And how was that?”

“Which one? The therapy or the dad thing?” I asked.

“Therapy” He clarified.

“It sucked.” I said “she didn’t do anything besides tell me that I’m a screw up, which I already knew.”

Picani frowned and wrote something down. “Now, why was your dad arrested?”

I let out a dark chuckle “let’s see… child abuse, neglatance of a child, edangerment of a child… I think there’s a few more in there that I don’t know about.”

“I see… now you don’t have to answer this but I’m guessing you were the one he was abusing?”

I shrugged and looked down “mostly me yeah I mean, I get why.” I pulled the hood of my jacket up and said, “I deserved it.”

“Now hold on, why do you think that?”

“Cause I’m a no good, useless, rotten screw up who will never find love and everyone hates.”

“Hmmm you remind me of Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

His words broke me out of my spiralling thoughts and I looked up at him “who and what now?”

“Prince Zuko from the show Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It is a show about a world that is divided into four nations. The Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads. Each of them are represented by an element for which the nation is named.” Picani explained. “Benders have the ability to control and manipulate the element from their nation.”

“Only the Avatar can master of all four elements. The Fire Nation wants to conquer the world but the only bender who has enough power to defeat them, the Avatar, has disappeared. Later in the show two siblings, Katara and Sokka, find the Avatar who is a young airbender named Aang. Aang must now master all four elements in order to stop the war and bring peace to the world.”

“I see… and who’s this Zuko guy?”

“Zuko is one of the main antagonists for a good portion of the show. His sole mission, right from episode one, being to capture Avatar for the sake of the Fire Nation.” The therapist chuckled “and he is always grumpy.”

“Wow, I’m feeling so good about myself at this comparison right now” I said sarcastically.

“Just hang on a Momo, over the episodes, it becomes clear that Zuko is after the Avatar for more than just the sake of the Fire Nation.” He explains “there are moments where Zuko withholds information from and even sabotages the efforts of other members of the Fire Nation. All so he can be the one to hand the Avatar over to his father, Fire Lord Ozai, and regain his honor.”

“Regain his honor?”

“Yeah he ‘lost it’ after speaking out of turn in a meeting. Stating that sacrificing a whole Fire Nation troop as a simple distraction in a battle plan was not a good idea. What an offence, amiright?” He said with a touch of sarcasm “his father punished him by facing him off in combat, burning and permanently scaring his face, and banishing him from the kingdom until he could return home with the Avatar.”

“That uh… sounds like a bad dad.”

“That sounds like an understatement.”

“I’ve never seen the show man, give me a break.” I muttered, my hood falling off. “Look, I don’t understand why you're comparing me to this guy. I mean, yeah my dad hurt me but he never left any scars.”

“While that may be true one thing Zuko struggled with is wanting to make his father proud.” Dr Picani said.

I glared at him “and you think I’m the same. No effing way man, I couldn’t care less about what he thinks!”

“Okay, okay. I apologize, I didn’t mean to offend you.” He said “so you don’t care too much for your father. But what about the rest of your family?”

I sighed “well there was also my mom and older brother. Mom…. died several years ago, I don’t like to talk about it, and Janus…. It's complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

“When we were young Janus and I were pretty close but after mom died and dad started drinking and stuff he started bullying me at school. Dad loved it.” I said the last part under my breath but I knew the doctor heard me say it.

“Well if that’s the case then you’re much more like Zuko than I thought!”

I looked up at him “What? How?”

“Like you Zuko had a sibling who tended to bully him. His younger sister, Azula, she was constantly being praised by their father for her talents while Zuko was pushed aside.” Dr Picani said “tell me, how did your mother treat you?”

“Um… it’s been a while since.. You know.. But she was amazing.” I let a small smile fall unto my lips “sometimes it feels like she was the only one who actually cared about me. And now, no one does.”

“Well, I’m sure that is not true. After all, your foster father brought you here. Don’t you think that’s a sign that he cares for you?”

I hesitated, a month ago I would have said no. That Thomas was just trying to make himself look good by taking in some helpless foster kid. But… I have had foster parents who were like that, even if they were trying to make themselves look good they would still give me up around the three week to one month mark. “I don’t know.” I admitted, looking down in shame and a little bit of panic. If Thomas wasn’t using me for some kind of personal gain, then why did he take me in?

“Now, I know that you said you don’t care about what your father thinks.” Dr Picani said “but do you think that you still judge yourself based on what he thinks of you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you mentioned earlier that you thought yourself to be a screw up. Is that something that your father ever said to you?”

As I thought it over I realized it was true and I nodded “among other things.”

Dr Picani wrote something down and began to talk about this Zuko character again “one of the main issues Zuko had trouble with was that he believed his father that he was the only one that could give Zuko his honor back.” He said

“And that gave him a lot of problems with his self worth. But if he had realized sooner that worth didn’t stem on what his father thought of him. If only he learned to trust the words of his mother who he lost when he was a child or the words of his loving uncle, who was always there for him. Then maybe it would have saved him a lot of internal struggle.”

“Did he ever get better?” I asked. Despite not wanting to come, here this man compared me to a fictional character that was in a similar situation to me… helped.

“Yes. He did.” Picani said “but he didn’t get there alone, it was through the efforts of his uncle that he was truly able to start a new path for himself.”

“But I don’t have anyone like that.” I said.

“What about your foster dad, Thomas? From what it sounds like he’s truly trying to help you in whatever way he can.”

“I don’t know… It’s… hard to trust people. Especially adults” I explained.

“Well, is there anyone else you can think of that you can go too?” Picani asked.

“Well, I mean, there’s my foster brother, Patton.” I said “I don’t really trust him a whole lot yet… but I guess I can try.”

“That’s great! Finding people you can rely on is always a good thing.”

-----

After the session finished I walked out to the waiting room where Thomas was sitting on his phone. When he entered he looked up and stood as I walked over to him.

“How was it?” He asked.

“It was nice…” I looked down “thanks.”

I didn’t need to look at him to tell that Thomas was smiling “you’re welcome.” He hesitated “if you want I can sign you up for another session.”

I paused, an hour ago I would have said no… but Thomas was right. It had been nice to talk to someone. Even if he were a little strange.

I looked at Thomas. “Okay.”

#A GOOD KID #isabel's books #thomas sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #sander sides #sander sides fanfiction #foster care #foster family #dr emile picani #Emilee picani #cartoon therapy

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sourwolf-sterek32 · 5 years

Text

Unforgettable Memories ( Daryl Dixon x Reader )

Summary: Y/N Grimes is Rick’s younger sister. You used to be in the military and have enough PTSD to last a lifetime. With Shane’s help you created the quarry camp and came across the Dixon brother’s in the woods. You bought them back to camp, but after that everything changed and you were still trying to figure out if that was a good thing or not.

Pairings: Daryl Dixon x Rick’s Sister!Reader

Word Count: 3.8k

Warnings: Blood, guts, language (just usual twd warnings)

Chapter 7-

Once again you woke up with barely any sleep, but you were used to it by now. After what had happened during your first tour in Afghanistan sleep was like a foreign concept to you. But luckily your body still seemed to function properly when running on only a few hours sleep otherwise you would have been screwed.

Nobody was in a chatty mood this morning, everyone sticking to themselves and packing up their gear into the vehicle's. You weren't really a morning person, so you were glad that everyone else was keeping to themselves.

You glanced around watching the others struggling with their large complex tents and you were suddenly relieved that you had your military backpack which contained a small tent and sleeping bag. They easily fitted inside the backpack and you still had enough room for your other gear, it was perfect for the apocalypse.

"Hey." Rick called out, walking over to you as you finished rolling your sleeping bag up and began pulling your tent down. You glanced over your shoulder, spotting him walking over towards you in his usual sheriffs uniform. You would have thought it'd be weird seeing him still in his uniform, but for some reason it just seemed quite fitting. "Need a hand?"

You looked over at your tent that was already half dismantled before you glanced back at Rick raising your eyebrows at him. "I can take down my own tent." You replied, turning back around as you continued taking down your tent. You knew Rick was only trying to be nice, but you were just exhausted and the vivid nightmares you had been having about the incident in Afghanistan for the past few nights weren't helping.

"I know you can. But I also know when my sister is struggling." He replied from behind you as he grabbed your shoulder. You flinched at the gentle touch and Rick quickly removed his hand. "It's just me." He whispered, carefully placing his hand back on your shoulder.

"I know." You sighed, closing your eyes for a few seconds. It's been over a year since you got back from that first tour, it shouldn't affect you like this still, but it did. You had nightmares more often than not and still struggled with human contact. Outside of the army, only Rick knew about what had happened during your first tour, although you suspected that Lori and Shane might know a bit of it from Rick.

"Hey, look at me." Rick said softly as you opened your eyes and lifted your head to find him now standing in front of you, his hand still on your shoulder as he looked at you worriedly. "If things get too bad come and talk to me, alright?"

"I will." You replied with a slight nod as Rick pulled you into a hug.

"Now, I know you can do it yourself, but I want to help. So, lets get your tent packed up." Rick said after a few seconds as he pulled away and you gave him a small smile before the two of you began pulling your tent down. You glanced over your shoulder towards Lori and Carl who were busy loading up one of the cars, but you didn't miss Daryl standing by his truck glancing towards you and Rick before he went back to strapping Merle's motorcycle securely in the bed of his truck.

Daryl hadn't spoken to you since the incident with Jim yesterday and seemed to go back to avoiding you again, but there was nothing you could do about it and frankly right now you didn't really care. You just wanted to get to the CDC and crash for a week, if you were being honest.

"Aunt Y/N, are you riding with us?" Carl asked as you followed Rick over to him and Lori by their car, your backpack slung over your back and assault rifle over your left shoulder. You glanced over at your nephew with a smile, but before you could respond Carol walked up towards you guys.

"Would it be okay if Sophia and I carpooled with you guys? I don't really want to take Ed's car by myself and you could siphon the fuel out of it and put in your vehicle if you'd like?" Carol asked, now standing beside Lori, holding Sophia close as she glanced between Rick and Lori.

"Of course, let me help you with your bags." Lori replied as she walked around to the back of their car and began packing the Peletier families belongings in the back.

You looked over at Rick who seemed about to apologise, but you quickly shook your head. "It's cool, I'll be fine on my own. Carol and Sophia shouldn't be alone. There's a spare car anyway, I'll take that."

"I could go with you." Carl spoke up and you smiled softly at him but shook your head.

"I would love that, but I need you to stay here. Sophia just lost her father yesterday, she could use a friend. Can you do that for me?" You asked quietly as you knelt down in front of Carl who quickly nodded and you smiled before pulling the young boy into a hug.

You glanced around camp, making sure nobody had left anything that might be useful before you began walking towards the small red hatchback by the other vehicles. You weren't entirely sure who's car it was, it might be Jim's but he was definitely in no condition to drive, so you might as well use it.

"Sorry Y/N, we've already siphoned the fuel out of that car, didn't think anyone was gonna use it." Glenn suddenly called out, just as you were about to open the boot of the car to put your backpack in. Just your luck.

"You can come in the RV with us, it's a bit crowded but there's enough room for you." Dale added as you glanced over at the two of them as they stood by the RV and you sighed. The last thing you wanted was to be stuck in the RV surrounded by everyone, no offence to them or anything, but you just weren't in a very sociable mood at the moment. Maybe you could go with Shane, he was taking his Jeep.

"She can come with me." Daryl's voice suddenly called out as you spun around to find him leaning against the side of his truck now wearing a flannel shirt which he had obviously ripped the sleeves off, but it suited him. "I got room, if ya want." He shrugged and you nodded, giving Glenn and Dale an appreciative smile before you walked over to Daryl's truck.

"Thanks, I didn't really wanna be stuck in the RV all day." You replied, pulling your backpack off your shoulders as you threw it in the back of his truck, beside Merle's motorcycle.

"Figured that." Daryl muttered as he double checked the tiedowns on the motorcycle before you all hit the road. The Morales family decided to head to Birmingham instead of the CDC, they had family there apparently, but you still didn't like the idea of the family being out there on their own, but what could you do?

You sat in the passenger side of Daryl's truck, your assault rifle facing down at the ground leaning against your seat beside Daryl's crossbow. Neither of you spoke as he drove and you were glad for that.

You were only driving for two hours before the radiator in the RV died, but between Dale and Glenn they eventually got it working again with a shit load of duct tape. Although Jim had taken a turn for the worst and wanted to be left on the side of the road and again you didn't like that idea, but what could you do about it? It was his choice in the end, even if you didn't like it.

"M'sorry 'bout earlier." Daryl suddenly said as you looked over at him in surprise, not expecting him to actually start a conversation with you. He was biting his thumb nail, his other hand on the steering wheel as he focused on the road. "How I was actin'... I shouldn't have said what I did."

"No, you shouldn't have." You replied, catching Daryl's eye as he glanced over at you for a second before he turned back on the road. "But I get it. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry about your brother." You said quietly and Daryl grunted in response as you leant back in your seat, resting your head against the window.

"Get some sleep. Ya look like ya haven't slept in days." Daryl muttered, as you felt him glance towards you as you stared out the passenger side window and chuckled.

"That your way of saying I look like shit?"

"Nah, my way of sayin' ya look tired. Still got a few hours of drivin', get some sleep." Daryl replied as you looked over at him to find him already looking at you and sighed.

"Wake me up if anything happens or if you need a break." You said and Daryl nodded, but didn't say anything further as you leant back in your seat and closed your eyes.

Daryl knew he shouldn't have been acting how he was yesterday. They had just lost half their group and if it wasn't for Y/N then they would have lost a whole lot more, but it was just easier to be angry instead of letting himself feel sad about Merle. He knew his brother probably got himself in that situation and that it wasn't anyone's fault but his own, but it was just easier to get angry at the group for what happened than to face the fact that his brother was an asshole sometimes and that was all it boiled down to.

He shouldn't have been avoiding Y/N either, she was the only one in the group who seemed to actually want him around and for some screwed up reason she still did, even after how he was acting.

When Y/N had found him and Merle in the woods he never would have thought he'd end up caring so much about her. He shouldn't care this much about her, but as he glanced over towards her sleeping form in the truck beside him, he knew he did and it scared the hell out of him.

She was in the military before all this and that alone said a lot about her. She wasn't like the other women around camp. She was strong, brave and didn't take anyone's shit. She even went up against Ed for crying out loud and had never once complained about the large bruise along her cheek bone which was still highly visible and looked painful to touch.

There was something about her that Daryl couldn't quite put his finger on. There was something hidden beneath her. She walked around like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders and he had a sneaking suspicion that something had happened in her past to make her that way, but he had no idea what it was. He saw the way she flinched when Rick grabbed her shoulder this morning, the sudden panic spreading across her face before she realised who it was and how she had to take a second to compose herself afterwards. He wasn't too fond of human contact either, but he doubted it was for the same reasons.

He glanced over her sleeping body for a second hearing her mumble something in your her sleep and he found himself smiling slightly at how relaxed she was when sleeping, he got the feeling that she didn't sleep much.

Whenever he was on watch duty she was always awake, her lamp was either on in her tent indicating that she wasn't asleep or she would be sitting by the campfire by herself in the middle of the night or sometimes joining him on watch. He didn't understand how she could function without much sleep, but he understood how bad nightmares could get. The amount of times he'd wake up with images of his father beating him, images of his childhood house burning with his mother inside and now images of walkers flashing through his mind whenever he closed his eyes. He knew how bad nightmares could get, he was no stranger to them and he had a feeling that Y/N wasn't either.

"No. No, no, no, don't. Not again. Please." Y/N mumbled, stirring in her sleep as he looked over at her in confusion before he realised that she was dreaming. Her once relaxed expression now painted with terror and pain as she squirmed in her seat. "Leave me alone. No. Don't touch me. No. No." She whispered, her voice so faint that he almost missed what she said, but he heard it and he a sinking feeling in his stomach at what her nightmare might be about.

"Hey." Daryl called out, glancing over at her beside him, but it was clear she couldn't hear him as she continued mumbling and stirring in her sleep. "Hey, Y/N. Ya gotta wake up." He said a bit louder, his eyes flashing back to the road for a second before he looked back towards her.

"Y/N!" He shouted, grabbing your shoulder gently as he shook you slightly when suddenly your eyes flew open as you quickly sat up right. Your breathing coming out short and fast as you tried to calm yourself down.

You could hear someone talking from beside you and it took you a few solid moments to realise that it belonged to Daryl. It took you a few more seconds to actually put his words into context and to realise that the hand gripping your shoulder was his and not someone trying to hurt you.

You knew Daryl was asking if you were okay, but you didn't trust your voice in the slightest at that moment as you turned towards the passenger window and quickly wiped your eyes, not even realising that they were laced with tears.

You took a few deep breaths, eventually calming yourself down as the realisation of what just happened connected in your mind. "Shit." You sighed, realising that Daryl had just witnessed the whole thing and you were stuck between feeling embarrassed and feeling grateful that he was there to pull you out of it.

"Ya good?" Daryl asked removing his hand as he glanced over at you for a moment before looking back towards the road, clearly trying to give you some privacy.

"I'm fine." You replied quietly, pulling your knees up to your chest as you wrapped your arms around them, trying to make yourself as small as possible. You knew that you were safe -well not safe, nobody was safe in this new world- but you were safe from the horrors that happened in Afghanistan, but deep down that fear never disappeared.

"Mmm." Daryl hummed, clearly not believing you in the slightest as he glanced over at you with a slightly worried expression before he turned back to the road. "We're nearly there." He commented and to your relief he didn't ask any questions about what just happened as you rested your head on top of your knees and stared out the window.

It only took another 10 minutes before Daryl began slowing the truck down, indicating that you had probably arrived, but when you heard the quiet curse leaving Daryl's lips your head quickly shot up from your knees as you tried to figure out what was wrong and that's when you saw the CDC.

The building seemed to be fine, but that wasn't what you were focused on. What you were focused on was what used to be the army blockade. There military vehicles, trucks, tanks and sandbag barricades scattered around the CDC that were there to protect the building, but by the look of all dead corpses in army uniform on the ground, they died trying. Not a single soldier was left standing and you could feel tears stinging your eyes, but you quickly wiped them away as you stared at the area in pure shock. Your friends, your teammates, they had been deployed to the base outside the CDC and it was gone.

You glanced over at Daryl as he parked his truck behind the other vehicles before turning to look at you with an almost sympathetic expression as gave him a small nod before you both climbed out the truck, grabbing your assault rifle as he grabbed his crossbow.

You slung the rifle over your shoulder and pulled out your knife that Lori had given back to you earlier, knowing that if you fired one shot this close to the city you might as well shoot yourself too because it was a death sentence. The others all quickly climbed out their cars, staring at the CDC and dead bodies in shock.

"Y/N-" Rick began to say as he walked towards you, but you quickly nodded and cut him off.

"I'm fine. Let's go. Stay behind us and stay together." You ordered, glancing around the group while taking a mental note of who had weapons and who actually knew how to use said weapons before you began leading everyone towards the large building.

You tried not to look at the corpses on the ground, afraid that you might recognise some of them so you kept your eyes up and scanned the area making sure there weren't any walkers. You continued walking towards the building while trying your best to breath out your mouth because damn those bodies stink!

You could hear the others coughing and gaging at the smell as you glanced over your shoulder to find most of them covering their noses, but they all seemed to be listening and followed behind you and Rick closely as you reached the building.

Rick and Shane quickly tried to open the roller shutter doors, but it was clear they weren't going to budge. "Nothing?" You questioned, glancing at the two of them as Shane shook his head and banged on the door.

No, this couldn't be it. You and Rick bought the group here, it was the God damn CDC, it would still be running. It had to still be running.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog said from somewhere behind you, but you weren't really listening as you scanned the building trying to find a way inside. The doors were down and that meant they were protecting whatever was inside, there had to be people inside!

"Walkers!" Daryl shouted, catching your attention as you quickly looked around to find a few stray walkers stumbling your way as Daryl fired his crossbow. Trusting that Daryl and the others could handle a few walkers, you turned back towards the building and that's when your eyes landed on the security camera on the wall above you.

"You led us into a graveyard!" Daryl's voice yelled and you had no idea if he was yelling at you or Rick or someone else, but that was the furthest thing from your mind right now as you focused on the camera.

"They made a call." Shane responded.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl argued, his voice much closer now and you knew he was standing somewhere close behind you, but you were too busy looking at the camera to check or even care. Something was off about the camera and you couldn't pinpoint what.

"Shut up! Rick, Y/N, this is a dead end. Where are we gonna go? Fort Benning is still an option" Shane stated.

"On what? No food, no fuel. We can't being this close to the city after dark." Lori responded, fear evident in her voice and that's when it clicked. The camera. There was a little red dot shinning above it which meant the CDC still had power. Hell, that building had enough backup generators to last for months, which meant there were still people inside. If there wasn't anyone inside to switch the generators over when they'd run out and this place wouldn't have power and that red dot on the camera would not be on!

"We'll think of something." Rick tried to reassure, but it was clear he was starting to panic.

"Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here. Back to the cars." Shane suddenly yelled as he began ushering everyone back towards the vehicles when suddenly the camera moved, following their movement.

"The camera!" You called out, speaking up for the first time as you glanced back at the others who were staring to head back to the cars, but stopped hearing your voice. "It moved."

"You imagined it." Dale responded, but you shook your head.

"It moved, I saw it too." Rick stated and you glanced over at him to find his eyes glued to the little white camera on the wall, obviously having come to the same conclusion as you did.

"It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on." Shane said, but you shook your head.

"I know you're in there! Open up the doors!" You yelled, staring up at the camera as Shane quickly stood in front of you and Rick as he grabbed your shoulders and began pushing you guys backwards. "Y/N. Rick. Guys, just listen to me. Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick. Y/N, there's nobody here!" He hissed, but you shook your head and shrugged his hand off your shoulder, which was easier than you thought since he was trying to hold Rick back as well.

"I know you can hear me! Help us! Those soldiers sacrificed their lives to protect this place, I know you're in there!" You yelled as you kicked the shutter door, not taking your eyes off the camera. You could hear the others shouting in panic, yelling that there was nobody there, that you had to get back to the cars, but you weren't listening. There were people inside, there had to be, it didn't make any sense.

Suddenly, Rick was by your side, having broke free from Shane's grip as he banged on the shutter door. "We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left. Please, we're desperate. If you don't let us in, you're killing us!" Rick yelled, before Shane quickly grabbed him again as you felt a set of hands wrap around your stomach and began pulling you back as well.

"Y/N, c'mon. We gotta go." Daryl's deep southern drawl muttered in your ear, but you shook your head as you fought against his grip. Rick doing the same with Shane to your left as he shouted 'you're killing us' at the camera.

"There's someone in there! I know there is!" You argued, staring at the small camera. "Open the door! God damnit! We have nowhere else to go! Open the door!" You yelled, as Daryl and Shane continued to try pull you and Rick away when suddenly the shutters rattled slightly before the sound of gas hissing filled the air and the shutter door began to open. Well shit, it worked.

NEXT CHAPTER

A/N: I know some of you might be confused about what happened back in Afghanistan, but don’t worry you’ll get that full story very soon and everything will make sense. Other than that, I hope you are all enjoying this fic, if you are please let me know in the comments below, I love hearing your thoughts and knowing that at least someone likes my writing.

The next chapter will be up in a couple of days, so until then stay safe everyone and have a great day xx

#Daryl Dixon #Daryl Dixon x Reader #The Walking Dead #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon imagine #twd #the walking dead fanfiction #the walking dead imagine #Norman Reedus #Rick Grimes #Shane Walsh

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lilikags · 3 years

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Take My Hand | Kita Shinsuke

You: Hi, Kita.

Kita Shinsuke: Hello, (Y/N).

Kita Shinsuke: Are you alright? Everyone’s worried about you.

You: … i don’t know

You: i don’t think i’m ready to tell everyone yet about it

Kita Shinsuke: If you don’t want to tell everyone about it, that’s fine. If you feel comfortable telling me, I won’t tell anyone. Don’t feel bad about it.

You: thanks

You: think we could call?

Kita Shinsuke: Of course.

You hovered over the call button, and you finally pressed it. It didn’t take long for him to answer at all.

“... Hey.”

“Hello, (Y/N).”

“(sister’s name) died today… she’s-” you took a moment to correct that, “she was my sister.”

“I’m sorry for yer loss.”

“(Y/N),” Kita interrupted. He was never the type to interrupt anyone, so this took you by surprise, and it even made you just a little hurt. You were talking, so he shouldn’t interrupt you.

“Yer not at fault here.”

You didn’t know what to say to that. There were so many things you could’ve done that could’ve possibly prevented it- wasn’t it your duty to protect the things you had, before they were gone?

“Mhm… I’ll tell you after class… don't worry about it,” you responded to them.

“Are ya okay with telling them?” Kita asked.

“How- how do I tell them about it?” you asked. You were unsure of how you were going to break it to them, and you couldn’t remember how you told him about it last night.

You spent the entire class period talking about it, rather than paying attention. This seemed more important anyways.

You met your friends outside, and since there was some time before your next class and your friends had a bit more time than you, you decided to go to a place with not many people.

“So, (sister’s name) got into an accident,” you told them up front.

“Huh-” you heard your friends’ surprised reactions.

“She didn’t make it…”

It was really Kita Shinsuke who brought you out of the dark, whose hand reached out and broke through your fears.

Join my taglist for this series here!

Series Masterlist

A/N: Repost because either I messed up the tags or tumblr had a stroke.

#kita shinsuke #kita shinsuke x reader #haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #kita shinsuke angst #kita shinsuke fluff #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu angst #kita x you #kita x y/n #haikyuu x you #haikyuu x y/n

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tehri · 4 years

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personal stuff ahead

Yesterday feels like a weird dream. I know it happened, but it just doesn’t feel real. And still I’m waking up today, sunny morning after an autumn storm, and wonder if I haven’t just slept for a very long while.

My mom texted me yesterday around half past 5pm just to check in and see how I was. Told me she’d visited my maternal grandpa, since it was his birthday, and said that his health has been a bit up and down but he seemed to perk up when she was there. I answered that at the very least he perked up during her visit, that should mean he’s doing alright.

Roughly an hour later, around 6:38pm, mom called me.

Yesterday, sometime between mom’s visit in the afternoon and 6pm, my maternal grandfather passed away. He went to lay down for a pre-dinner nap as he liked to do, and he died in his sleep. Painless and quick and quiet, according to the ambulance personnel that were called when my grandma couldn’t get him to wake up.

Grandpa had a lot of health-problems from when I was little and until now. Most notably he was diagnosed with mouth cancer when he was about 64 years old, so around when I was 8. But he was treated for it, and it never came back. He had problems with his back and his legs on and off, and had to have titanium screws put in his hips around maybe 6-7 years ago. He had to have those replaced last year because they were loose and chafed and hurt, and I guess he never really came back from that. Besides that his hearing also started going when he was in his 60′s and he was very nearly deaf towards the end and couldn’t hear anything at all without his hearing aid - and even with it, it was poor.

Despite all the health-problems, grandpa was absurdly active all his life. Even before he met grandma, he would regularly go on hikes in the mountains to look at birds and enjoy nature. And when he met her, they continued that together, and they brought their kids along sometimes when they had them. Grandpa never took to the Just Being Idle habit until he was well into his 80′s. He was always doing something.

If he wasn’t tinkering with his model planes, which he used to compete with until I was in my teens, then he was out biking or walking - even when he could barely get around and moved extremely slowly. Up until his late 80′s, it wasn’t uncommon for my oldest brother to see grandpa close to where he lived - about 8km from grandpa’s home in town and almost always on his bike.

He liked to drive. Even when he wasn’t really allowed to continue to do so. Doctors started telling him when he was in his 70′s that he shouldn’t keep driving, that it wasn’t safe. Grandpa thought that was ridiculous - he could still see, so what was the problem? Of course, he didn’t drive much in town, but it used to be he who drove himself and grandma all the way down to the summer-house in grandma’s childhood village. Mom put her foot down about that after what the doctors said, and decided that she’d be taking them there from then on. Grandpa was a bit grumbly about it, but he accepted it. He didn’t fully accept the “no driving, period” bit until he was in his late 70′s or early 80′s, and then he only accepted it because he decided to give the car away to one of my siblings.

He liked snaps. So to the point that he started making his own, and taught both my mom and my dad and my sister how to do it. He made so many different ones, and he had a cupboard full of them. He liked wine, too, especially a white wine called Koonunga Hill. He always had a bottle or two of it at home. Whiskey was a favourite too, and the fondness for that was also passed to my mom and my uncle.

He loved birds. He was a bit of a hobby-ornithologist, and he had so many books about birds. I think it hurt a bit for him when his hearing started going and he couldn’t hear them singing anymore, but he still liked to look at them. He taught my sister a fair bit about birds too.

He never got along with his mother, when she still lived. See, his family had come into a bit of money, and his mother decided that their behaviour had to reflect that. Grandpa was not happy about it, he didn’t like putting on airs like that. His dad, my great-grandfather, wasn’t very keen on it either, but he didn’t argue. I don’t know the details of what happened, but grandpa didn’t like to talk about his mother at all. Mostly he would either sit quiet if she was brought up in conversation, or he would leave the room altogether in silent protest.

And still it’s partially because of his mother that he even met my grandma. Great-grandmother had arranged a trip down to Scania, to a small seaside village that had become something of a tourist-destination then, and she had insisted both her husband and grandpa should come. Grandpa was very annoyed about it, because of course he had to come - they couldn’t drive, so he would have to drive them all the way from Stockholm and down there, and he’d have to be there with them. Which meant he couldn’t go to the mountains for a hike he had planned to go on. This is how he met my grandma. Her mother gave these Stockholmers a place to stay while they were in town, and told my grandma when she came home that “this nice couple from Stockholm” were staying with them, and that they brought “a very sullen young man” with them. The sullen young man was my grandpa. And my grandma thought he was a bit weird at first, when she first caught sight of him walking past her window. He much preferred looking at birds over other things. But still, of course he came along to various outings - including ones where my grandma and her sisters and mother were invited along. They visited a café in the area, both families together. And when they came back from the café, grandpa asked grandma if she wanted to come for a walk with him. And that was that. They started exchanging letters after he’d gone back to Stockholm. In the end they were engaged and married, an editor at a magazine and a fisherman’s daughter.

Grandpa had this way of speaking that sounded like an oldtimey school teacher reading from a book. I loved it, especially when he would tell stories. Mostly the stories were about his own life, things that had happened, and we all knew the stories; but everyone always listened, always smiling, because they were good stories and grandpa’s slow and methodical way of speaking just drove the point home better.

I miss those stories now.

I miss that voice now. And I’m scared of that day when I won’t remember his voice anymore.

I miss him jokingly and purposefully mispronouncing Danish words. I miss him talking about birds, or about various kinds of snaps or wine, or music.

I miss him, and I’m sad because I didn’t have the chance to go home to visit before the time came.

I love you, grandpa. I love you, and I miss you.

Sleep well.

#tehri's daily life #family stuff #My family #RIP grandpa

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takeiteasypeasybaby · 4 years

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Save Me: Chapter 39 - Try

~Hey guys! Chapter 39 is out now! We’re almost up to 40 chapters of Save Me!! I can't believe it, it feels like just yesterday that I started this blog :) I hope everyone is doing well and enjoys this chapter~

Both Molly and Negan are learning to trust outsiders again. While Negan tries and struggles to open up to anyone who isn't Molly, Molly is trying to put the past behind her and find a new reason to carry on, which come in the form of new arrivals at Hilltop.

I reached Hilltop with a renewed sense of clarity regarding Negan.

I think it took me until now to realise that the past, while hard to swallow, is the past for a reason and it doesn't mean that he is the same person as he was back then.

Seeing the Sanctuary in ruin was what I needed to realise that what happened to me there is completely behind me and the man responsible is long since dead.

I think now I can finally learn to forgive him for his past crimes, after all we have all done things to survive and protect those we love.

I don't expect anyone else to forgive and certainly not forget, but perhaps just simply acknowledge that there is more to him than his past actions.

When I rocked up to the gates, my mind turned back to the attention of Tara's new people she had brought to us.

She had radioed me and told me that she found them in the woods just outside of Oceanside and thought that they would be of use at Hilltop.

'Mol!' Tara yelled happily as she waved while she ran into my arms.

'Agh! I've missed you so damn much!' I said squeezing her tightly and burying my face into the crook of her neck.

'So...who are they?' I said as she pulled away.

'Well, there are five of them. There were six, but he died en route' she said softly.

I just nodded, looking in the direction of the group she had just described who were standing around outside the house.

I exhaled, 'alright, let's get this shit done' I said enthusiastically, smiling at my sister who led me to meet them.

'Hi, I'm Molly. I am co-leader here at Hilltop' I said warmly as I shook hands with all of them.

There was one guy and the rest were women.

All extremely capable looking.

'I'm Yumiko!' a kind looking woman said smiling while she adjusted her bow on her shoulders.

A woman with sharp features glared at her when she did that, I guessed that she was the leader of this group.

'What's your name?' I asked softly to the leader.

'Magna' she said hastily.

I just nodded with a slight smile.

'I'm Luke, lovely to meet you by the way!' a large set man with soft features and kind eyes said as he shook my hand for the second time.

I just smiled and chuckled at his awkwardness.

'Great to meet you' I replied as I shook his hand.

Next, were the final two women who seemed to remain silent and very much bonded together which I could tell by their close proximity to each other.

'My name's Kelly, this is my sister Connie. She's deaf, but I can sign to her and translate' she said smiling.

I smiled and nodded to Kelly.

I then looked to Connie and signed to her 'It's wonderful to meet you Connie, I hope you will like it here'.

They all looked at me in wonder and Connie's smile seemed to widen at this.

'I learned to sign when I was at school. My cousin was deaf' I said verbally and with sign so that everyone could listen.

I wanted them to trust in me and I hoped I had done just that.

'We usually like to ask a couple questions to new citizens of the Hilltop community. Would that be okay?' I said, again also signing.

They all nodded, Magna was hesitant at first.

'Great, what were your occupations before?' I asked while Tara wrote down their answers.

'Gas station attendant' Magna said looking down.

'Lawyer' Yumiko answered while making direct eye contact.

'Music teacher' Luke said enthusiastically.

Kelly used ASL to ask Connie who replied that she was a Journalist and that Kelly was in High School.

I nodded to Tara, impressed by each of them.

'Who are you now?' I asked seriously.

'Survivors' Luke answered sternly.

'Good' I responded, 'well then, welcome to Hilltop' I added.

'So...whatcha think?' Tara asked me as she linked her arm through mine as we walked through the fields after the interview.

'I like them, they seem like genuinely nice people' I answered.

'I am a bit worried about Magna' Tara said nervously.

'She seems hesitant to be here' she added.

'You said they lost somebody before you brought them here right? No wonder she's unwilling to trust right away, I mean you wouldn't' I said reassuringly.

'You're right...as always' Tara said rolling her eyes.

I just chuckled as I said 'yep'.

We suddenly spun around to look towards the gates when a loud exhaust noise sounded from that direction.

It was a motorbike.

Daryl came driving through and parked up outside the gate.

'It's Daryl' I said tapping Tara on the arm for her to follow me as I ran down to see him.

'Hey!' I shouted as I came closer.

'Hey, just came to some equipment for Eugene's new radio thing' he said barely looking at me as he marched towards the house.

'That was odd' Tara said as we watched him leave.

'Yeah, that was weird. Fuck he must be mad at me' I said in realisation.

'It could be me?' Tara asked.

I just shook my head and chuckled saying 'he's never mad at you'.

I told Tara that I would meet her later but first I needed to talk to Daryl.

I followed him up to the house where he was placing down the equipment.

'Daryl...can we talk?' I asked anxiously as I peered around the door frame.

'I dunno, can we?' he answered with annoyance running through his voice.

I looked down, yep he was definitely mad at me.

'Why are you so pissed at me? I thought we worked everything out when we searched for Rick all those past months' I said furrowing my brows in confusion.

He sighed and stood up.

He pointed at me and said 'you're a real piece of work you know that' as he walked past me.

I opened my mouth in disbelief.

'What? what are you talking about?' I asked in confusion.

'You know what. Negan' he said as he carried on placing stuff on various surfaces.

'What about Negan?' I said looking away from his gaze.

'You two best buddies now? that all square?' he asked sternly.

'It's complicated' I answered so softly that he barely heard me.

He scoffed at this, 'the guy is an asshole and you're acting like he's hot shit' he answered.

'I believe that he can change, I believe he has changed, so does Michonne by the way and I don't see you attacking her for this. Why me, huh?' I said gaining more confidence as I walked slowly towards him with every word.

'You can do better' he grunted as he walked out of the room.

My eyes widened as the realisation of the meaning of his words hit me.

Negan's POV//

'You are here, aware of yourself' Gabe said softly as he tried to perform some meditation shit to get me to relax.

I had my eyes closed as I sat on the floor of my cell, Gabe on the other side.

'Just let it go' he added.

'Don't judge the distraction, accept it' he said, his voice muffled by the sound of children laughing and playing outside.

'Scaredy cat, scaredy cat!' the children chanted outside my cell window.

'Consider it, then release it' he continued.

This wasn't fucking relaxing at all. I scrunched up my face in frustration.

'Just let it wash over you' he went on.

'You know what, screw it. Mind never empties anyway, generally I go straight to that place which would blush the collar right off of you' I said as I opened my eyes and sighed.

'Although, now that you and Rosita are a thing, maybe I'm wrong...I mean, hot damn!' I said smirking and bouncing the ball off the concrete wall.

'I wanna understand why you do this. You clearly want help, I can see you trying' Gabe said softly.

I scoffed.

'Yeah, maybe we cooked it up, chewed it up and shat it out already. Maybe this is all we get' I said deflecting his statement.

'You don't feel like you're getting any benefit to our sessions?' he asked with a smile which screamed of annoyance.

'Well, I am reminded that another week has passed, but other than that...' I said continuing bouncing the ball.

Gabe sighed, frustrated with my response.

'Ah, don't take it personally Gabe, I know I'm never gettin' outta here. I do appreciate you coming down here and helping me when that was touch-and-go for me. But, now I got everything I need. This little window right here is just like a damn TV and I loved the shit outta TV when that was a thing!' I said enthusiastically.

'Acceptance is an important first step, but a life needs to have meaning-' Gabe started to say before I cut him off.

'Funny thing about this window right here, people stand out there and they talk. It's like they don't remember that I'm here, and that, well that is when I get the really good shit. You know just the other day, Rosita was out there chattin' up a storm. She said some things that you would find very interesting' I teased.

'I don't need you to tell me how Rosita feels about me' he said smiling falsely.

'Now who said she was talking' about you' I said smiling and catching the ball in my hands.

'We'll try this again next week' Gabe said tiredly.

'It's your world boss' I answered.

Judith's POV//

I sat on the stairs in my PJ's as mom locked the doors for the night.

'Judith Grimes!' she said sternly as she saw that I was holding my dad's gun in my hand.

'You said dad would've wanted me to have it, to protect myself and the people I love' I replied questioningly.

'He would've, but I'm the one whose supposed to be protecting you' mom replied softly.

'Is that why you don't want the new people here, because I think dad would've thought differently' I said.

Mom smiled as she said 'he would've and he would be so proud of you, your brother too'.

'Then why won't you help them?' I asked.

'You'll understand someday' she replied.

I hated when she said that.

I got up, walked down the stairs and said sadly 'I know you talk to him sometimes, to Carl too'.

I set down my favourite figurine on the step, which mom said looked like my dad.

He wore a sheriff's hat and pointed a gun.

'I'm starting to forget their voices. I'm not trying to, but they keep fading away' I said as I started to cry.

'I hope you can still hear them' I said sadly before I ran back up the stairs to my room.

Somehow Negan now felt more like my dad...

#negan #jdm #jeffrey dean morgan #negan's thirst squad #negan x original female character #twd #the walking dead #twdromance #smut #maggie #daryl dixon #judith grimes #mollychambler

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