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thatsthetriick · 3 years

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Y/n looking at Jojos as competitions/rivals (hcs)

Summary: You consider the Jojos a rival, and competition when it gets to grades and all, they never did anything to you but you’re just generally annoyed at them because you think they’re better than you and you’re annoyed that they are better than you, you’re not jealous just annoyed that they exceeded you. (basically enemies to lover for short) Inspiration: Based on real life thoughts with a person honestly lmaO I really think they are a compeition(they don’t know) but in the end it’s just a friendly thing. Disclaimers: Underage smoking (Just because this action is being done here it doesn’t mean you should do it too, for both my adult and teen audiences i rlly don’t recommend this and just because I used it in this fic doesn’t mean you should do it as well) , and mentions of violence, or implied violence, drugs are also mentioned( i repeat i do not encourage these behaviours in real life) Header: Orange Other writings: Masterlist/Taglist Requests/questions: Ask/Request Box

Jojos as your Rivals

Jonathan Joestar

✧ God. To you he was really annoying, teachers praised him and he was a top student in the rankings and a teacher’s pet, you’d never see him complain, cry, or anything at all.

✧ Of course he was the class president and a student council so it annoyed you more since he was kind of like a mary sue in your eyes, the fact that he got good grades and doesn’t seem to have a hard time in the things he does really annoy you.

✧ You were in the top 3 top students except you’re in 3rd place and you could never beat Jonathan, moreover he’s also an athlete and you were bothered that girls were practically drooling to him. But despite this you’ll never do anything to seek revenge, you won’t embarrass him or frame him because you still have morals.

✧ Though you were just grumpy and passive agressive to him sometimes whenever the teacher asks him to help you, you really didn’t like receiving help from him because for you, you think that’s a sign of weakness.

✧ Of course you get parterned up with him a big project that was considered as your examination and you hated it. You treated it more of a individual work, but after knowing him a bit from that project you kinda like how he acted, polite, kind and patient.

✧ Everytime he sees you struggle and you decline for help he’ll just go behind you or besides you and either guide your hands to fix it or he’ll fix it himself and he’ll just smile afterwards, it was really cute and you’ll mentally slap yourself for liking him, were you forgetting he was rival?

✧ He’ll slowly consider you as a friend and he would really really feel guilty for assuming that you were a rude person base on you act towards him but he eventually thinks that you’re a kind person in the inside but a bit stubborn and he finds that cute.

✧ If it’s a love story you and him will secretly date and its not obvious to the world that you two are dating, you were never touchy with him in public, you two still acted the same honestly, a bit stubborness coming from you and stubborness from Jonathan because he’s really willing to help you with everything, eitherway you two only have playful fights and a few REAl arguments here an there but you two eventually make up again a few days later.

✧ If it’s a platonic relationship you two would be the bestest of friends and you two would have playful arguments and some people would literally ship you two because of your friendship.

Joseph Joestar

✧ This guy was intelligent but lazy and yet he still gets 1st place in the class as a top student with A+ grades, and you found it also annoying that he was naturally talented and effortlessly got them, you sometimes wonder if he cheats.

✧ And because you think he cheats you go out of your way to site his essays and public works to see if he uses references or anything, but no this guy is just naturally talented and you felt like he didn’t deserve especially with his laid off attitude.

✧ Now you don’t show your passive aggressive side to him because you know better not to make him think that you’re literally angry at him, for you he’s just a competition and another boss level to defeat, it’s not personal just a fun thing you do so you don’t take out your anger out on him.

✧ He is also an athlete, of course the Joestar bloodline and legacy literally revolves around the sports they take, so it was no surprise, you on the other hand is also an athlete and you would most likely take the competition seriously whenever there’s a boys vs girls basketball game, you were the MVP let’s just say, sports was like your whole life.

✧ Of course there’s an annual event that the high school hosts where as every student will be competing against each other, the remaining 4 players will be the ones set out to compete to another sports festival in a different school. They will choose 4 players per sport.

✧ Of course you chose to marathon since you were honestly swift and that was more on your main sport, running. And it was Joseph’s as well and you two had to compete with each other among other students, he’ll say something cocky to you that is enough to motivate you to defeat him.

✧ Eventually you and Joseph were one of the 4 people chosen to compete in another school, and though it took awhile for you two to agree on things you two won the tournament with teamwork and ever since then your friend consists of constant and non stop teasing and playful banters.

✧ “What do you mean? I clearly made our team win!” he’d say and you’d just roll your eyes at his cockiness. Though you’d retort with something cocky as well.

Jotaro Kujo

✧ You honestly don’t know why this guy was even a top student he often gets into fights and the teachers just shrug it off, you find it annoying he gets to answer everything before you and finish quizzes before you and you get so pissed and can’t understand why is he quick and he doesn’t seem like a type to review.

✧ He’s pissed at every fangirl he has and he is pissed at you sometimes as well because you try avoiding him, yeah he’s aware of your competitiveness and he doesn’t really care that much.

✧ But you do so you basically you’re like legit pissed at him and you think that he also doesn’t deserve his intelligence since he’s just wasting it away by smoking cigarettes at the back of the school and fighting people it was honestly annoying and you wish you had his intelligence at the same time.

✧ Unlike the others maybe in this one you’re being constantly pressured by high grades so you started smoking as well to relieve your stress, you’d somberly sulk at the back of the school as well smoking your problems away it made you feel calm for some reason. ✧ He sees you there and mumbles a “Tch” while he adjusts his cap and walk near you and light up his cigarette and doesn’t say a word, he doesn’t honestly care what you were doing, anyone was allowed to do anything they want to do so he left you there. ✧ Honestly he started getting concerned of you when you were often doing it, even he knew that too much is too much. “ That’s enough” he’ll say and take your cigarette pack away, “Touche” you’ll just roll your eyes and walk away. He’d always stop you from smoking, you were getting addicted honestly and it’s not helping since every minute you were getting stressed out. ✧ When you’re not listening to him he’ll agressively tell you to “cut it off bitch.” or something along those lines, and you didn’t really know he was a person who hid his feelings so you snapped and scolded him that you were a mess because of him and took out all of your anger and left honestly. ✧ He couldn’t care less what you said about him and tried to accompany you at the back of the school or in the rooftops everytime it’s break or the end of classes, he didn’t speak that much but he was a good listener and constantly listened to your problems, eventually this is a routine and you treasured every second of it. ✧ It became a thing that you two basically sit on the rooftop talking to each other, from then on he’d accompany you outside of school as well and you two would hangout and it would be nice quiet moments when he’s around, he’s also a very protective friendship. Josuke Higashikata ✧ This guy really doesn’t care about his grades and yet he gets high score it was also annoying that teachers adore him, and that every girl adores him as well. Unfortunately you two were partners for a spelling Bee. Only professors were allowed to choose who participates, and though Josuke might not be accurate with his english pronounciations and spellings he still had high grades and it annoyed you that he got to participate his weak subjects just because he has high grades. ✧ Honestly he’d hate it as well and would just play games all day long instead of studying or anything, and during the spelling bee he didn’t help at all and you were pissed at him. Even though you were softly and passive agressively scolding him he didn’t get mad back and just said a “Okay okay! I’m sorry.” he’ll apologize and try to study but he’ll get distracted. ✧ Teachers still continued to praise him and gave no praise to you at all even though you carried your partner to the finish line, that’s why you hated Josuke, he was loved by everyone and you never understood why, was it his personality? Smarts? What was it? ✧ From that then you’ll break into his house with no permission and catch him playing video games. You’ll scold him to study the words and act like a strict teacher towards him, he dozed off a lot and was laid back and distracted, yet he was still able to answer some of them. ✧ This is why you didn’t like him he was too laid back and didn’t seem to take things seriously, because of this you suggested a break and he went back t o playing his video games and getting frustrated, and even though you were tight while teaching him he was kind enough to still offer you to play with him. You were going to decline but you still accepted it. ✧ This is where you saw his true personality, he talked about a lot of things and you two ended up having fun as you two play, you didn’t mind this moment and you’d want it to treasure it forever honestly. You brought up your personality as well to him, you started showing your true colors and he really liked the fact that you weren’t an overbearing person at all. ✧ ever since then you two manage to win the competitions and manage to play at the same time. You two became the bestest friends which was unexpected since you considered him as a rival, though you’re still annoyed because everytime you ask him to teach you he’ll teach really badly and you wouldn’t understand anything from him. Giorno Giovanna ✧ This guy was a quiet yet smart type, he often sits at the back of the class dazing off the window and yet still able to answer questions of the teacher even when not paying attention. ✧ Though you compete with him you know not to mess with him honestly, though a lot of really negative rumours constantly spread about him. Like his family problem and things like that so you pity him at some times. ✧ Girls adore him, something about the Joestars getting fangirls annoys you a lot. They baby him, and even though sometimes he gets annoyed and straightforwadly tells them to go away sometimes he’d entertain them and be kind. Teachers always saw him as a role model student it makes you barf. ✧He’ll also probably hangout with his school gang, nobody knows what this gang does honestly, the teachers just leave him be just because they want to just leave him be and they’re too naive; thinking that it’s just a normal innocent gang where it’s a group of kids hanging out. ✧ You caught up his ‘gang’ beating up someone and since you were a witness he saw you as a immediate threat(or so you though) and this quiet kid did a whole 180 with his personality and looked at you menacingly. ✧ You don’t know how to approach him that you won’t tell anyone you’ve witnessed and always ran away everytime he approaches you or everytime his gang approaches you. Now your rivalary and competiting against grades is now ruined because this guy could always beat you anyday when it gets to physical fights, or so you thought. ✧ You always ate lunch at the rooftop so he kind of took this opportunity to calmly sit besides you and talk to you about what you saw, he just wanted to give you context so that you wouldn’t get the wrong idea. Apparently that guy was an adult selling drugs to a bunch of graduating elementary kids. ✧ You were relieved he wasn’t gonna beat you up and put you in the sewers, you took this time to also talk to him to actually see he was a nice guy, a gentle man and that you thought he was a cocky student because you always assumed him like that, not only that but you assumed him being a playboy as well since he gets so much attention. ✧ You confess all of this to him and he let’s out a quick chuckle and you just laugh as you confess all of your thoughts and competitiveness against him, he was a good listenered actually, and didn’t take it really personally, he knew deep inside that you were a good person even though before you used to give him a scary glare when you two didn’t talk yet. ✧ From that day on you start catching up to him in the hallways and talk and all his fangirls would practically hate you and give you glares as you two are having a good time. ✧ He’ll make sure you’re out of his school gang businesses and arguments with other gangs, he may not say or sometimes express it but he always cares for you and tries to be supportive in littliest ways such as listening and remembering to every detail you tell him. ✧ you’d still playfully compete with him and if he wins you’re okay with it unlike before

Thanks for reading! Reqs are open! My only requirements is no nsfw and probbably not part 5 yet since im not there hihi.(P.s I do canon x oc :) ) Sorry for not uploading for awhile

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cheemerthelizard · 3 years

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Nothing Else Like it: Chapter 1

“So, Jojo really got himself in trouble this time, huh, Mom?” a young girl asked.

“Yes, he did,” Holly answered the girl, who had long, jet black hair, a short stature, and a school uniform on. “He’s in jail this time.”

“I thought the day would come soon,” the girl sighed. “I mean, I still feel bad for him, kind of, but at this point, he kind of deserves it.”

“Don’t say that!” Holly scolded. “He’s your brother, and he’s protected you from bullies before!”

“I don’t need his protection,” the girl answered nonchalantly. “I can survive on my own. And it’s his fault for beating up anyone who looks at him the wrong way.”

The two of them stayed silent for the rest of the car ride, until they got to the police station.

“Yes, Jotaro is definitely my son,” Holly told the police officers.

“And who’s this beside you?” one of the officers asked.

“This is Jotaro’s twin sister,” Holly answered, “Yo-”

“Thank you, Mom, but I can speak for myself,” the girl told Holly, bowing to show she meant no ill will with that statement. “My name is Yorokobi. Yorokobi Kujo.”

“Yorokobi, huh?” the officer said as they walked down the dark hallway. “Have you ever seen Jotaro get in fights before?”

“Oh, plenty of times,” Yorokobi chuckled. “I’m surprised it took this long for him to get in jail.”

“And what about you? Have you been in any fights?”

“Only if I’m provoked,” Yorokobi answered. “The police have arrived at some fights I’ve been in before, but all of them have been out of self-defense, so I haven’t been charged with anything.”

“You don’t look like the type to be able to beat someone up,” the other officer said.

“Don’t underestimate me just because I’m a girl,” Yorokobi growled.

“Anyway, your son is right down this corridor, and he’s free to go, since this was also in self-defense,” one of the officers told Holly. As soon as he said that, she dashed down to Jotaro’s cell, calling his name.

“Shut up!” Jotaro yelled. “You’re so annoying!”

“Okay!” Holly chimed.

After her answer, Jotaro laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes.

“Hey! Wake up, Jojo!” Yorokobi yelled. “The police are letting you out of jail. Let’s go home, alright?”

Jotaro looked over at Yorokobi, then looked away again. “Mom, Yorokobi, you’d best go home. I’m not leaving this cell for a while. I’ve been possessed by an evil spirit.”

Yorokobi paused, and took some time to comprehend what Jotaro had just said. When it finally settled in, she burst out in laughter. “That’s the worst joke anyone has ever told me!” she exclaimed. “Come on, just get out of there already.”

“You think I’m joking?” Jotaro asked. “It took all of my power to stop the spirit in that fight. I’m not letting it anywhere near you two.”

Yorokobi’s laughing got a little less hysterical, but she was still in tears. “You’re so awful at making jokes,” she wheezed. “It’s so bad that it’s funny.”

“Fine. If you don’t believe me, I’ll just have to show you.” Jotaro walked up to the cell bars, tossing his hat to the side. Yorokobi’s laughter halted completely.

“O… okay, Jojo, the joke has gone too far now,” she nervously chuckled. “It wasn’t funny, so just let it rest.”

Jotaro continued walking up to the bars, and stuck his hand out. From his hand, another purple, transparent hand extended further. It grabbed the gun from one of the officer’s holsters, and brought it to him.

“Jojo, y-you’re scaring me,” Yorokobi shivered. She grabbed onto Holly’s shirt.

“Good,” Jotaro replied. “Maybe you’ll take this spirit seriously, then.” He cocked the gun, and put it to his head.

“Jojo, stop!”

He fired the gun, but when it was pulled away, he was completely fine. The spirit dropped the bullet to the ground, and returned the gun to the officer.

“Like I said, there’s an evil spirit possessing me,” Jotaro said. “I’m not getting out of this cell until it leaves.”

Yorokobi looked to her mom, who was just as lost about what to do as her. They both slowly walked out of the cell room.

“What are we going to do?” Yorokobi asked her mother.

“I’m going to call your granddad for help,” Holly answered.

The next morning, Yorokobi and Holly went to the airport.

“Papa!” Holly called. She ran over to a burly man, with a thick, white beard and a brown coat.

“Holly!” he yelled. Both of them ran over to each other, and Yorokobi followed.

“Granddad!” she exclaimed. Both of them enveloped each other in a big hug.

“Hey there, Yorokobi!” Joseph laughed. “I missed you!”

“I missed you, too,” Yorokobi replied as she buried her face in his shoulder.

After their cheerful greetings, Joseph calmed down and lowered his voice. “So, you said Jotaro has been possessed by a ghost? And you could see the ghost?”

At those words, Holly broke down in tears again. “Oh, my poor, poor Jotaro. Yes. The officers said they couldn’t see it, but I clearly saw a separate hand.”

“And what about you, Yorokobi?”

“Yes, I saw it, too,” Yorokobi answered. “When he shot a gun towards his head, the spirit caught the bullet before it could hurt him.”

“But nothing has happened to either of you?”

Both girls shook their heads.

Joseph sighed. “Thank goodness. Well, don’t you worry about Jotaro. I’ll get him out of jail in no time.”

Holly insisted that Yorokobi stay home while she and Joseph went to try coaxing Jotaro out of his cell, much to her dismay. Instead, she was given the mundane task of watching over the house. Something about Jotaro’s spirit being “too dangerous” and she “might get in the crossfire between it and Avdol’s spirit.” A bunch of baloney that basically meant they were afraid she was faint of heart and would hate to see her dearest brother get beaten half to death.

No matter. She would just have to do some chores around the house. After all, there was a guest, and her mother would be very unhappy if the house was in its current state when he arrived to spend the night.

“I should make some food tonight, too,” Yorokobi said to herself. “I think some soup would be good.”

Before she knew it, everyone had arrived back home, including Jotaro, who was literally burned in some places.

“Did someone actually put up a fight against you, Jojo?” Yorokobi taunted. “Is your perfect win streak ruined now?” Jotaro and her had their fair share of sibling fights, but even she couldn’t beat him. It was nice to see him actually harmed for once.

“No, it was a draw,” Avdol answered. “I didn’t want to kill him, I just wanted to get him out of that cell.”

“And what about that ‘evil spirit’?” Yorokobi asked.

“It’s still there,” Jotaro shrugged. “Although it’s not an evil spirit, just a ‘Stand’ or whatever the old man called it.”

“Oh,” Yorokobi said. “Well, I made everyone some dinner while I was cooped up in the house instead of watching Jojo and Mr. Avdol fight,” she added, almost snarkily. “Eat up!”

Everyone grabbed a bowl, and started eating in silence.

“So, I’ve decided to tell you all right now, so Yorokobi will hear it, too,” Joseph said. “You see, there’s a reason why Jotaro’s Stand has appeared so suddenly. It has to do with some events that happened 100 years ago.”

He then proceeded to tell Holly, Jotaro, and Yorokobi all about his grandfather, Jonathan Joestar, his adopted brother, Dio Brando, the stone mask, the star birthmark, and Jonathan and Dio’s fight that would continue down for generations of Joestars to come.

“And now, Dio has taken over Jonathan’s body, using it as his own!” Joseph exclaimed. “And he won’t stop tormenting us until he’s defeated every last Joestar!”

Yorokobi nodded. “And how do we stop him?”

“Are you serious?” Jotaro asked. “I’m not going on a long trip just to find this guy, and you’re not either. We’ll let him come to us, if he’s that persistent on killing us.” He took another bite of soup, using his Stand to bring the spoon up to his mouth.

“Good idea,” Yorokobi replied.

After her input, the table went back to the sounds of chewing.

“You like it, don’t you?” Yorokobi asked Jotaro.

“I never said that.”

“But you haven’t criticized it at all, either,” she smirked. “The more you like what I make, the less you criticize every little detail. When you’re completely silent, it means you love it.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you had a degree in not minding your own business,” Jotaro retorted. “Let me eat my food in peace.”

Yorokobi hmphed, but did nothing more.

“Not you too, Yorokobi!” Joseph whined. “You and your mother need to have more of a spine and stand up to Jotaro!”

“Oh, I’m not finished standing up to him,” Yorokobi shrugged. “I just have different ways of fighting back. I knew he was going to say something like that to me tonight, so I snuck a little surprise into his bowl.”

“Something spicy?” Joseph asked.

“Something electrifying,” Yorokobi grinned.

Suddenly, the soup in Jotaro’s bowl started to make a huge bubble right in the middle. Around it was an electric yellow glow. When the bubble completely fit in the bowl, it popped, spewing soup all over Jotaro’s face. Yorokobi doubled over in laughter.

“Serves you right!” she cackled.

Joseph stood back in awe. “Yorokobi… how did you do that?” He had a feeling he knew what it was, but he wanted to make sure.

“I don’t know, really,” she answered through small giggles. “I’ve just had this power since I was little.” Yorokobi sent a little spark through her arm. “Mom said you had it, too.”

Joseph started giving a hearty laugh, and hugged Yorokobi tightly. “My granddaughter is a Hamon user!” he exclaimed. “I thought I was the last one.”

“Yeah, and she’s used it to inconvenience me for the majority of her life,” Jotaro mumbled.

“Oh, don’t act like you didn’t punch me for it!” Yorokobi snapped.

“I’ll punch you right now for splattering me with soup!”

“Jotaro! Yorokobi!” Holly exclaimed. “Settle down!”

“Yes, Mom,” Yorokobi muttered. Her shoulders slumped. Jotaro huffed and snapped his head away from Yorokobi, but did nothing more. Both went to their rooms and closed the door.

“They’re actually really sweet most of the time, I promise,” Holly told Joseph and Avdol. “They love each other very much. It’s just… you know how siblings are.”

Both men nodded. “Well,” Joseph shrugged, “they have a point about not pursuing Dio. After all, if he wants us dead that much, he’d either give us a reason to hunt him down or come hunt us down.”

“I think we should stay here, just in case Dio has any plans to do either of those,” Avdol advised.

“I was thinking the same thing,” Joseph smiled. “Well, Holly, if you need anything, we’ll be in the guest room, wherever it is.”

Then, after a couple of hours, the house was dark, and everything was quiet.

Except for Yorokobi tossing and turning in her bed.

“Out of all nights, it had to be tonight,” she whispered to herself. “I have a test in the morning, too.”

“Hey.”

Yorokobi jumped. “Jojo? What are you doing in my room?”

“With my new Stand, it’s easy for me to hear when your insomnia is really bad,” he murmured. “You know you have medicine for that.”

“I’m on the medicine,” Yorokobi grumbled. “It’s not working. Again.”

Jotaro sighed. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to stay with you until you fall asleep.”

Yorokobi gave him a knowing smile.

“If anyone figures out about this, I’ll kill you.”

“I got it, I got it,” Yorokobi chuckled. “Wouldn’t want anyone figuring out that Jotaro Kujo actually has a soft spot, or anything.” She paused for a moment, then continued talking. “So, what are you going to do about…” she waved her hands in his general direction, “that guy?”

“Ignore him, probably,” Jotaro shrugged. “It seems like he’s only good for fighting, and last time he helped me, I went to jail, so I should probably not use him.”

“You should give him a name.”

“What a dumb, childish idea. No.”

“I’m not referring to him as ‘that guy’, or ‘my brother’s Stand’. If you don’t give him a name, I will.”

“If I give it a name, I’ll grow attached. I don’t want this thing.”

“Then I’ll grow attached for you. Hi there, Toto!”

“Toto? Like the band? That’s the stupidest name I’ve ever heard.”

“Okay, what name ideas do you have?”

Jotaro remained silent for a while, then grumbled, “I’m not naming him anything.”

“Then Toto it is.”

“I’m going to bed.”

“Wait!”

Jotaro stopped walking away.

“Please.”

“No.” He continued going back to his room. “Plus, you’re actually starting to look tired. I don’t want to keep you up even longer.”

Jotaro was right. . Yorokobi was finally settling down. Her eyes were getting droopy, and she couldn’t focus on talking as much as when she was awake.

“Goodnight, Yorokobi.”

“Night, Jojo.”

#jjba #jojo's bizarre adventure #oc #oc insert #sdc #stardust crusaders

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ma-sulevin · 4 years

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Things? Are happening?

Pairing: Sharky Boshaw/Female Deputy Rating: E Warnings: Canon-typical violence, but nothing particularly explicit I don’t think Word Count: 6269, chapter six of thirteen (probably).

Read it on AO3 instead and say nice things.

—

“I got a sneakin’ suspicion,” Sharky says as they walk into the main intersection of Fall’s End to find it absolutely abandoned, “that the peggies ain’t takin’ too kindly to our escapades.”

Mattie makes a little humming noise as she looks at someone’s empty dresser at the corner. “What gives you that idea, Shark?”

He clutches his shotgun a little tighter, keeps swiveling his head back and forth to see what’s waiting for them. With the way Boomer’s trotting happily between them, though, Mattie knows there aren’t any peggies nearby.

“Just a wild guess,” he mutters, and moves in a little closer.

The only building in Fall’s End that looks like it has people inside is the church, and that’s only because John’s really fucked it up. Mattie and Sharky stand on the other side of the street and stare at everything: the bliss flowers, the arch, the crows nailed to the siding, the literal red carpet that John’s rolled out for her.

“Yeah, that’s real creepy,” Sharky says. “Told you John wants to fuck you.”

Mattie elbows him instead of responding, but she has to admit the decorations make the church look a little… matrimonial.

Finally, she draws in a deep steadying breath. “Fortunately, he’s not on my to-fuck list,” she says, and then she forces out the rest of her thought before Sharky can ask who is on the list, because that’s not really something she’s ready to think about when facing a recaptured Fall’s End and a church full of hostages. “Stay out here, stay hidden, and if you see anything weird or hear anything weird, call for backup, okay?”

“Dep, I don’t--”

“I know you don’t want to wait, but I need you to be able to call for help.” She turns to him, tugs on his sleeve a little. “Can I count on you?”

He sighs, he fidgets, he looks away, and then finally he sighs again and makes eye contact. “You can count on me. Just… just be safe, okay?”

She winks at him with levity she doesn’t feel. “Always.”

They bump fists once before she squares her shoulders and passes under the arch to get to the church. She can hear low murmuring inside, but she’s still surprised when she pulls the door open and a peggie slams the butt of his rifle into her forehead.

---

It says something about how much Hope County has changed over the last few weeks that hunting a human man across the mountain doesn’t feel wrong. Instead, she’s painfully calm, laser-focused on finding John before he can regain consciousness and run back to Joseph.

She saw him jump out of his plane just before she jumped from hers. She saw Nick make one last strafing run, aiming bullets from Carmina toward his already limp body and his parachute. She doesn’t blame Nick for that, not after what happened in the church, not after all the bad blood between John and Nick specifically, and really it means her next step should be a little easier.

When she finally finds John, the front of her tank and the remains of her flannel stained with blood from her angry WRATH tattoo, he’s still stubbornly trying to get away even though his injuries are almost overwhelming him. His coat with the little planes is torn, covered in blood and mud and who knows what else, and the sight is enough to make her pause when he looks up at her.

“It isn’t too late,” he says, trying to charm her until the end. “You can still say Yes, save yourself, come with us into Eden’s Gate.”

He coughs, and it’s bloody. He wipes at his lips and slips in the mud, landing hard on his hip as his feet slide out from under him. He groans and doesn’t try to get up, just takes deep, rasping breaths.

She holsters her pistol and walks over to kneel at his side. He blinks at her, hands in his lap, and she sighs, her Wrath warring with pity at his obvious pain.

“It’s not too late for you ,” she says, finally, not really believing the words or thinking he’ll accept them, but she makes the offer anyway. “I can take you to town, get you medical care. You’ll be under arrest, but it’ll save your life.”

He laughs at her, a full laugh, and sprays blood into the air when it fades off into another wet cough. “You say you want to save my life, but you would damn it at the same time. What if Joseph is right? Did you ever stop to think about that? Everyone thinks he’s crazy, but he’s not.”

Okay. Well. She gave him a chance.

She loses patience, that little blossom of pity finally choked out by her blooming anger, and she reaches out to grab for his key anyway. He grabs her wrist once her fingers are around it, holding on with enough strength to bruise if she pulls away too hard.

They’re at a stalemate. She won’t let go of the key; he won’t let go of her.

“Look around you. This world is on the brink. You can feel it in your bones. Look at the headlines! Look who’s in charge!” He laughs again, coughs, then somehow tightens his grip even more. “You want this key because you think you’re saving people, but they are already safe. We had a plan .”

His breath catches in his throat, his eyebrows drawing together, and even this close and with him this hurt, she can’t tell how much is him being serious and how much is him acting to draw her in. She pulls him closer with the key and puts her free hand on his cheek without thinking about it, not sure what to do when he leans into the touch.

“You don’t understand. You don’t believe! You don’t care! ” He pushes her away with both hands, and she slips in the mud and falls to a seat next to him.

The cord holding the key around his neck breaks, and the only thing holding them together is his death grip on her wrist.

She bares her teeth to him, the instinctive warning sign of her anger that she doesn’t know how to stop.

He doesn’t care. He just takes another rattling breath, and this close she can see his eyes starting to lose their focus. He’s not quite looking at her anymore; he’s almost looking through her when he says, “May God have mercy on your soul.”

His hand on her wrist goes slack; his fingers slip away and he falls to the side, breathless, lifeless, empty before her as though he never had any life in him at all.

She pushes two fingers against his still-warm skin, expertly searching for a pulse.

She doesn’t find one.

He’s gone.

She could -- she should, according to the law and her training and the gut instinct that drove her to become an EMT and then a police officer -- perform CPR, radio for help, get his heart beating, save his life, make him answer for his crimes. Her eyes prick, burn with unshed tears that she refuses to let escape. She will not cry over this man.

He doesn’t deserve her tears. He doesn’t deserve her pity or her grief.

She has the key. She needs to get Joey.

Her hands are shaking when she pulls her radio to her mouth, her voice steady as she says, “You still up there, Nick? Have time for one more run with me? Over.”

It only takes a moment for his voice to come back. “ Just tell me where. Over. ”

---

Sneaking into John’s bunker is easier than sneaking out of it. She still gets horribly turned around and dies three times, all in different spots, and it’s not until she’s made it into the bowels of the bunker where someone (she assumes John) has corpses strung up and turned into gruesome sculptures like he watched one too many episodes of the Hannibal TV series and decided that was the kind of aesthetic he needed in his bunker that she finds what she’s looking for.

Joey Hudson, Hope County native, Mattie’s supervising officer and friend… already free, moving under her own power, and trying to gut Mattie with a knife probably liberated from the first peggie who got too close to her.

If she wasn’t afraid for her life, she’d be so proud.

They struggle, Mattie simply trying to keep the knife away from her skin, not even attempting to disarm Joey in case that made her lose it even more. How long has she been down here, killing peggies one at a time as they got too close? Running on adrenaline and nothing else, praying for John to come back so she could slit his throat?

Mattie manages to gasp out Joey’s name, one more time, and that seems like enough to pull her attention back to the present, to Rook’s ruined flannel, to her face , and the fight just wilts out of her.

“Rook? It’s you? Oh, God...” Joey sits back, already starting to shake, and Mattie follows her to take the knife away. “I didn’t think you’d come back,” she says, voice shaking, and just that is enough to make exhausted tears come to Mattie’s eyes.

“Oh, Jo…” Mattie reaches out, following her instinctual need to pull Joey into her arms, but Joey flinches away.

“Something started happening ,” she says instead, bracing her hands against the metal floor like she’s going to push herself to her feet. “All the, all the fucking peggies started scrambling around, all the doors started closing and locking us inside,” she gasps for breath, the terror flooding back to her like it’s still happening and she’s not on the verge of freedom. “I thought I was gonna be down here forever…”

She gasps again and a tear slips free despite her obvious effort to hold it in, and Mattie reaches out for her again, tears of sympathy and rage and guilt welling in her own eyes. Joey allows the contact for as long as it takes her to catch her breath, just a moment before she pulls away and uses Mattie’s shoulder to push herself up to a standing position.

Mattie follows, hands out to catch Joey in case she trips, but Joey shakes off that attention too.

“It’s all because of him ,” Joey says, voice trembling but this time in rage instead of fear. She points her knife at one of the portraits -- honest to God portraits -- of Joseph that dot the bunker, this one in the lap of a dead peggie. “That fucking, that fucking piece of shit !”

Mattie has to cover her mouth to stop from crying out when Joey picks the portrait up and slams it into the floor, shattering the glass with a grunt of effort. She can’t stop the tears that come from seeing her friend so hurt, can’t stop the flinch that shakes her whole body when Joey falls to her knees by the broken frame.

“He would come down here, and he would just stand there and watch.” Joey’s voice breaks, and she shakes her head a little as if to clear it as Mattie forces herself closer, hand dropping to her side and a deep discomfort radiating from her chest. She wants to gather Joey up in her arms, but that’s not what she needs right now.

She just needs Mattie to listen.

“We were begging for mercy,” she says, glancing up at Mattie as her voice breaks again -- not into tears this time, but into laughter, “and he would just fucking watch.”

She laughs until the laughter turns into a sob, and she shoves the portrait away. Mattie tries once more to comfort, putting her hand on Joey’s shoulder, and this time… it seems to finally work. Joey takes a steadying breath, pulling her emotions back in check with the same determination that makes her such a good deputy, and starts to push herself upright.

“The others… there were other people down here with me. We’re going to get them out.”

She’s so strong, so fierce, and Mattie remembers the woman she met on her first official day with the department, the woman who had teased her and made fun of Staci and offered to take the lead on Mattie’s training since Mattie should learn from a real cop.

Mattie finds herself nodding, because she can’t say no.

---

Mattie slips away from the party as soon as she can, a little buzzed, sore all over, the memory of how far gone Joey was rattling unpleasantly in the back of her skull. The music is loud, but the cold night air dulls it as the door to the Spread Eagle swings shut behind her. She exhales sharply and rests her beer bottle on the porch railing while she pats her pockets down for a cigarette.

“I got you, chica.”

Sharky appears at her side, grim faced, a fresh pack in his outstretched hand. She swipes it from him and leans against his side as she pulls the cellophane off and waits, trusting, for his lighter to appear in front of her. Tears fill her eyes when it does, and she blinks hard to send them away.

This is a time for celebration, not for tears.

“What number you up to now?” He holds her left wrist in one hand and pushes at her long sleeve with the other, trying to expose enough of her skin to see how many black marks now mar it.

She allows the touch even though she knows he has no chance of seeing enough, enjoying his warm, dry hands on her skin. She wants to sink into the touch, let it consume her, warm her all over so she can think about something other than the shit show that is Hope County. She takes a deep drag on her cigarette instead, then turns her head to the side to exhale two lungfuls of smoke and poison.

“An even forty.”

He stops pushing at her sleeve and just holds her instead, waiting until she looks up at him. He's already staring at her, eyes boring into her soul, and she falls silent and still under his gaze.

He sighs. He doesn't like whatever he sees. “C’mon, there's a fire over here’ll warm you up.” He turns but doesn't release her as he starts to move, dragging her through the cheery streets of Falls End. Everyone is out celebrating, and here she is letting Sharky boss her around because she can't bear the happiness for another second.

True to Sharky's word, there is a small (and actually fairly well contained) fire in the backyard of an empty house. There are two chairs facing the flames, a cooler between them. Her breath catches in her throat -- he planned this.

He set this up; he started the fire, he found and moved the chairs, he filled the cooler… He found a fresh pack of cigarettes because he knew she'd be out and would want one after everything, even though she's constantly complaining about her own bad habit.

He releases her wrist and sits in one of the chairs, and she floats along behind him and sits in the other. She can't feel the cold of the night air, just the warmth of the fire and the warmth of his gaze on her face.

“You do all this for me, Boshaw?”

He ducks his head as he's digging through the cooler, embarrassed, and doesn't quite meet her eyes when he hands her a beer. “I just thought you'd like some peace’n quiet. You're, uh, you're kind of my best friend. You're doing all this for all of us, and someone has to look out for you too.”

It's too much. It's too much. She can't handle this.

“You're still gonna be my friend after all this, right? It was kinda lonely without you.”

Okay. Okay. This is enough.

She puts her unopened beer on the ground and flicks her half-smoked cigarette into the fire. Sharky lifts his brows at her, but doesn't have time to say another word before she climbs into his lap and presses her lips to his.

He gasps and grabs for her waist as his lips part, and she matches his expression by opening her lips too. She sinks into him, into his warmth and gentle caresses, so at odds with how he faces every other situation. He slides his hands up her back, tickling her spine, until he can bury his fingers in her hair.

He pulls her away, just enough to break their kiss, and she rests her forehead against his. She rests her hands on his shoulders, fingers slowly curling into the soft material of his hoodie.

“You… uh, you feelin’ okay?” His voice is low and hoarse, and she shivers before she can repress the urge.

“Mhm…” She trails off and sits up, but she doesn’t let go of his hoodie. “I just… you’re so sweet, Sharky, and I…” She bites her lip, suddenly uncertain even though he’s still holding her just as tight as he was when she climbed in his lap. “I couldn’t not kiss you.”

He’s staring at her lips. “Oh. Uh. Yeah. Okay. Why, uh, why though?”

She licks her lips and he tightens his grip on her hair, just a bit, like he can't help it. “I wanted to.”

He blinks and looks back up at her eyes, and her breath catches in her throat when she sees the firelight dancing orange across his skin.

“You did?”

“Yeah. I mean, I do .” She releases his hoodie and slides her hands up to cup his jaw. Her fingers rasp through his days-old stubble and tilt his neck up just a little. “You're great, Sharky. You care about me so goddamn much, and I…” She barely stops herself from saying too much, from scaring him with how deep her affections are already running, how fast she’s fallen in love. “Can I kiss you more?”

He nods, fast, like he's not sure if she’s going to change her mind or not, and then she’s kissing him again and it feels so good she's not sure what to do with herself besides lean into it.

It’s everything she could have asked for, better than she ever expected it to be. His body is warm against hers, his kisses eager, his tongue almost delicate where it brushes against hers. She leans into him, settles more heavily into his lap, and he moves his hands down her back to her hips and back up, slow soothing motions that make her melt.

He's holding her like she's the most precious thing he's ever touched, even when she weaves her fingers through his hair and tugs. He moans, a quiet wounded noise into her mouth that she happily swallows, and then she pulls away just enough to slip her hands under his hoodie so she can touch his warm skin.

It feels right, being curled up around him, the heat of him against her front contrasting with the heat of the fire against her back. His goatee scratches her chin, his callouses tickle her waist as he mirrors her and slips his hands under her shirt. She moans into his mouth and he echoes her, a feedback loop of pleasure building between them until she has to tear her mouth free to catch her breath.

Sharky doesn’t let her go far, pulling her hips closer to his and moving his mouth across her jaw and down her neck. He catches her skin with his teeth, tugging with just the barest of pressure before moving on to the next spot, smiling against her when she squirms in his grip and lets out a too-loud moan.

He kisses back up to her ear, licks the spot just underneath it, tries to whisper without really lowering his voice at all, “You’re so fuckin’ hot. I’ve been thinkin’ about this for weeks.” He nips at her earlobe, tugs a little, groaning right back at her when she shivers.

“Really? Weeks?” The arms of the chair are pinching her knees, making her thighs hurt, but she moves her fingers up to tangle in his hair. She tugs, too hard, and his hips fruitlessly jerk up into hers when she pulls his face away so she can see him. Interesting. “We’ve only been hanging out for weeks .”

He shrugs and grins at her, smile lopsided and beautiful. There’s no embarrassment in his gaze. “I guess I just know what I like.” He tries to kiss her again, but she won’t let him move. He shivers and bites his lower lip, and she smiles.

She can work with that.

“And what do you like?”

He doesn’t hesitate, the truth slipping from his lips with ease. “You.”

She can’t stop herself from kissing him again, and she doesn’t want to. He wraps both his arms around her, holding her close as his tongue slides against hers, the kiss deep and wet and intimate. He holds her as tight as she’s holding him, gives as good as he gets, until she feels like she’s going to die if she doesn’t feel his skin against hers.

“Sharky, do you, mphm-- ” He kisses her again mid-sentence, cutting her off, and she laughs against his mouth, too delighted to remember anything else. “C’mon, baby. Where are you staying in town?”

He groans and nuzzles against her neck, unwilling at first to break away to answer her, but finally he sits back and takes a deep breath of the crisp night air. “There’s, uh, there’s some empty houses around the corner? I put our stuff in one of them.”

“Want to show me?”

He nods, then, and she pushes herself off of him, grunting when her legs unfold from under her weight. She picks up the cooler of beer and waits until he stands too, trying and failing to hide her smirk when he carefully shifts his weight from side to side and tucks one hand into the deep pocket of his jeans to adjust his erection.

She slips her hand into his free one before he can get embarrassed, chewing on the inside of her lip as she waits for him to lead her in the right direction. He does, but not before leaning down to grab one more kiss from her. He’s not so tall that she has to reach up on her tiptoes, but she does have to tilt her neck back to get the angle right; she’s suddenly sure, standing here in the middle of Fall’s End, that she should have started kissing him when they were still in the Henbane, back when he sat on the floor and held her hand while she cried in her sleep.

He pulls away when he remembers what he’s supposed to be doing, tightens his hold on her hand like he’s afraid she’s going to change her mind before they make it to the house he’s claimed on the edge of town. She vaguely remembers the family who used to live here, good people she hopes made it out of the county before everything went to shit, but she tries not to think about them as she leaves the cooler on their kitchen counter and lets Sharky pull her up a winding and narrow set of stairs to get to the upper floor.

The lights are already on like Sharky’s been here and left, and she has enough time to notice old sheets in the corner and fresh ones on the bed before Sharky pulls her close and tilts her face up to his with her jaw in his hand. She smiles up at him, slipping her free hand under his hoodie to press against the warmth of his stomach. He twitches under her touch, flexing a little, and her smile grows.

“Were you, uh, hoping for something here?” She’s teasing, she always teases, but he just glances over her shoulder at the bed before his cheeks flare red.

“No, uh, this was for you? I was gonna sleep down the hall. Just thought you deserved somethin’ nice after everything. You know -- a good fire, cold beer, clean sheets? A night of peace finally.”

Her breath catches in her throat and tears prick at her eyes again, just like they did when they were still outside, and she steps away before she can stop herself. She can’t handle this much affection right now; it threatens to overwhelm her, pull her good mood down into tears.

She pulls at the hem of his hoodie instead, pulling it up. “Take this off,” she says, voice rough, and he obeys without question.

By the time he’s dropping it on the floor, she’s out of her flannel and tank, standing before him in just a bra and jeans, but he stares back at her like she’s hung the moon. It makes her want to climb inside of him, to consume whatever’s making him look like that.

Instead, she shoves him backwards toward the bed, smiling when he drops on the mattress with a soft thump. She crawls over him, pushing him until he’s flat on his back with his hands on her bare waist and his mouth attached to her neck like he’s never going to let her go.

She doesn’t want him to.

She moans and arches into his touch, leaning her head back and vaguely hoping he doesn’t leave a hickey even though she doesn’t particularly care, not when his big hands are sliding down her hips and under the waist of her jeans. He’s warm against her, stoking her own fire hotter, and she reaches behind her to undo the clasp of her bra with just a flick of her wrist. She pulls it free and drops it off the side of the bed, but the movement only serves to catch Sharky’s attention.

He releases her neck -- and, yeah, she’s definitely going to have a mark there, but who does she have to look professional for these days? -- and hauls her up his body so he can kiss farther down her chest and take her right nipple in his mouth. The movement pulls at the fresh tattoo on her chest, the wounds that are just scabbed over and definitely going to scar into something ugly, but it’s like Sharky can’t even see it. She ignores the pain and closes her eyes, focusing on the good she can feel, the way he’s making her forget every fucking thing she’s been through since the helicopter crash.

He teases her with the same enthusiasm he uses for everything else, surprising a cry out of her that he eagerly returns against her skin. She threads her fingers into his hair and holds on tight enough to hurt him, holding his face against her chest like anything short of a gun to his head would make him pull away now.

He doesn’t pull away. If anything, he pushes closer, sitting up and switching from her left breast to her right, paying that nipple the same dedicated attention he had the first one. It’s overwhelming; she aches to have him inside of her, and when she settles her weight against the hardness she can feel still trapped in his jeans, he moans brokenly and moves to capture her lips with his.

This kiss is messy, rough. She bites at him and he bites at her in return, the sharp pricks of pain muddling her brain until she can’t think about anything else, but that’s just the way she wants it.

She yanks the ratty old tanktop he’s still wearing up, stretching it almost to the point of tearing, releasing it only when he finally leans back and pulls it fully off. She pushes him back down onto his back when she has room to move, scooting back to sit on his thighs so she can pry his belt open and try to shimmy his jeans down before he latches his teeth back into her skin.

He’s still wearing his boots, so he has to pull away to undress himself. Again, she takes advantage of this and shucks off her jeans and boots too, self conscious, just for a second, that she hasn’t had time to take care of her body the way she always has. She starts to blush, to cover herself, suddenly back in her head and keenly aware of how her first boyfriend had insisted she stay shaved if they were going to have sex, but Sharky…

Sharky’s eyes are dark and his cheeks are pink and his cock is standing proud and hard between his thighs. He’s hairy too, across his chest and a thin trail down his stomach that thickens at the base of his cock. He’s staring at her, one hand wrapping around himself, the other reaching out until she moves back into his space on the bed.

“Do you know how fuckin’ hot you are?” His voice is low, rough, and she shivers as his calloused fingers skim her waist. “I can’t believe you’re really here.” His hand moves steadily higher, cupping her breast as he adds, almost like he’s accidentally voicing a thought, “Is this a Bliss dream, or what?”

She answers by capturing his lips with hers, biting again, one hand steadying herself on his waist as the other wraps around his cock. He groans into her, both hands moving to cup her jaw, a heady kind of desperation in his clutching fingers.

He stops kissing her and just rests his forehead against hers as she pumps him, steady movements and a firm grip making him shudder and twitch against her.

“Please,” she rasps, “ please tell me you have a condom.”

It takes him a minute to answer, but his words are like music to her ears. “There are, uh, actually some in the bathroom. Guess they didn’t make the emergency packing list.”

Relief flows through her even as she traces the tips of her fingers over the tip of his cock, a teasing touch over silky skin and beading precome. He groans deep in his throat, holding her almost too tight against the teasing pleasure of her skin against his, and it takes him several full seconds to realize she’s trying to get him to move when she says, “Go get one, then.”

When her words sink in, he practically throws her off him and onto the mattress so he can scramble past her out into the hall. She laughs, delighted at his enthusiasm, and stretches out on the sheets with her head on the pillow. It smells of unfamiliar detergent, but it’s the cleanest thing she’s slept on in days.

She stretches out on the clean sheets, joints popping as she forces them to their limits, and then she relaxes with her hands above her head and her lower lip captured between her teeth. She can hear Sharky bumping around the bathroom, each of his movements too loud and enthusiastic to be confined indoors, and she smiles.

Under any other circumstances, she would have laughed at the idea of her and Charlemagne Boshaw spending any time together at all, much less sneaking away from a town celebration to have sex. Everything else just adds to the uniqueness she’s facing -- where would she be if she hadn’t tried to arrest Joseph in the church? Where would she be if she had stayed dead any of the times she should have stayed dead?

Sharky comes back before she can get stuck in that line of thought, snapping her back to the present moment with a wolf whistle and the shuffle of foil-wrapped condoms shuffling around in a half-empty box.

Her eyes open and she smiles at him, considering for half a second before she draws herself up on her knees to reach for him. He lets her direct him to sit against the headboard, lets her take the condoms from him, opens a package and rolls one on when she hands it to him while she leans in and bites at his neck.

She doesn’t wait one second longer than necessary before she moves over him, bracing her knees on either side of his hips and holding onto his shoulders to steady herself as she begins to lower herself down. He works with her, one hand on her waist, the other holding himself steady, and then… he’s inside of her, inching slowly deeper, stretching her and filling her and she really can’t remember what took her so long to kiss him.

“ Holy shit, Mat.” Sharky draws out the holy until he bottoms out, then the rest of his words come out of him in a rush. His fingertips dig into the flesh of her hips, holding her still. His eyes are squeezed shut, deepening the lines around them, and she brushes her fingertips over the lines until he relaxes.

He opens his eyes and meets her gaze, giving her a wide, dopey smile. Their lips meet again, gently, though she’s not sure which of them leaned forward first, then they rest their foreheads together with twin smiles.

“Good?” She clenches around him on purpose, just to make him moan when he starts to answer.

“Fuck. Yeah. Oh my God, yes.” His fingers tighten on her hips, urging her up just enough to catch her attention. “Shit. Can you, uh, can you just…”

He trails off as she starts to move, pushing herself up higher on her knees until he’s barely inside her still, then sliding back down at the same painfully slow pace as before. Sharky groans and tilts his head back against the headboard, flexing into her like he can’t help it but not doing anything to actually make her move faster. He just waits, desperate little wimpers leaving him with each slow movement of her hips.

She clutches the headboard with both hands, using it as leverage to help her move faster against him, her movements more sure. Each drag of his cock against her makes her ratchet higher, goosebumps breaking out on her skin even as sweat gathers on her scalp, behind her knees.

Sharky opens his eyes and stares up at her, that beautiful blue dark and hungry. He slides his hands up her side as she rides him, fingers seeking out her breasts once more. He squeezes as her long thrusts turn to hard twists of her hips, grinding her clit against his pelvis and sending sparks of pleasure up her spine.

She closes her eyes first this time, overwhelmed as his rough fingers press against her nipples with more gentleness than she would have expected when they first met. It’s too much and not enough all at once, and her rhythm stutters as she begins to come.

“Fuck, Sharky, I’m…” She trails off, grabbing for his head to bring his face against hers so she can kiss him, whining the rest of her cry into his mouth. He surges forward, tongue against hers and hands back on her hips to keep her moving against him even as she shakes and forgets everything except the feeling of him against her, inside her.

He breaks their kiss and presses his face to her throat instead, growling against her skin, goatee scratching over where the bruise he left behind is still darkening. She wraps her arms around his shoulders, clutching him tight, holding him against her as he shudders through his own orgasm.

He doesn’t let go of her and she doesn’t let go of him. They cling together as they catch their breath, then Sharky’s kissing up her neck and across her jaw to her lips.

She laughs against him, loose, happy. This is exactly what she needed, and she wants to tell him how much she appreciates him, how good he’s been to her, how much she needs him now.

What comes out of her mouth, still pressed against his, is, “I love you.”

Sharky laughs, a low rumble, and shakes his head. “What? Nah.”

She pulls back enough to grab his jaw, holding his face still to look in his eyes. His face is flushed, his hair mussed, his eyes bright, and this time it looks like he believes her when she repeats, “I love you. I’m in love with you.”

It takes another second, but his smile widens until it’s blinding. “Aw, hell, Mat. I love you too.”

He kisses her again, softer, reverent, and then she has to physically push him away to give herself enough freedom to climb off of him and go clean up. She hears his heavy footsteps pass by the door, then back again a minute later, and he’s stretched out in the bed with the lights off when she makes it back to him.

She climbs in next to him, shivering a little in the autumn chill, and he pulls her body flush against his. This is better than the times they’ve fallen asleep together before, because this time they’re resting skin to skin and she can feel his heartbeat quickening as she traces her fingers up and down his side. He also has his face pressed against her hair, a smile on his lips, and she thinks she hears him repeat I love you as she’s drifting off to sleep.

#sharky boshaw #sharky x deputy #far cry 5 #oc: mattie covington #my writing

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ofgrveyards · 4 years

Text

Hey angels, I’m Faye, and I’m extremely excited to be apart of this group with you all! I’m 22, I use she/her pronouns, and I’m in the EST timezone. This intro is....a whole ass mess and it’s too long, but I’m throwing it @ you anyways! My discord’s fuck ya chicken strips !#2658 if anyone would prefer to plot there!

─ *✧ [ DANIELLE CAMPBELL. CIS FEMALE. SHE/HER. ] little hollow welcomes you, JOSEPHINE HAMILTON. an/a TWENTY-FOUR ( 500 ) year old known for being a PARAMEDIC, have you settled in yet ? i’m sure as a VAMPIRE you’ll have no problem fitting in but your COMPASSIONATE + RECKLESS personality might have something different to say. residents have described you as candles burning in the dark, daydreaming about a different life, & open windows at night, i wonder what that means ? [ faye. 22. est. she/her. ]

PAST,

Born in 1519 to a seamstress and a blacksmith, Josephine Hamilton’s early life was spent indoors, shielded from the death and decay that played such a prominent role in London’s history.

Her mother, Agatha, was taken by the plague when she was just 10 years old, leaving her with just her father and younger brother.

The next fourteen years of her life were spent fighting tooth and nail to build a better life for herself and her aforementioned brother. Their father, Joseph, spent more time drinking than providing for his two children, and as a result, became quite belligerent and abusive.

This was, in part, because of his children’s magical abilities passed down from their mother’s side, to which he refused to attempt to understand and instead forced them to suppress.

Just before Jo’s twenty-fourth birthday, the stress of containing her powers combined with her fear of her father becomes too much and she blows, quite literally. The windows in their flat explode and the entire block is lit aflame shortly thereafter, leaving nothing but ashes in her wake.

After deciding to leave their father to fend for himself in the burning building, she grabs her brother, any belongings they can easily carry, and sets off into the night.

With no surviving relatives in the immediate area and little to no money to their name, they begin their commute to France to visit their mother’s great aunt.

While waiting to catch a boat in Folkstone, Josephine has another episode, resulting in flooding in the town surrounding the docks. This is where she meets the vampire who turns her, who takes pity on the woman’s declining mental stability and lack of bodily control.

That very same vampire, who takes herself and her brother into their home, helps her acclimate to life as a vampire for a few years. This time is spent learning how to feed, control her urges, present as a human in public, and how to compel.

The final of the four is not something she often used, as she found it to be manipulative to the point of losing what was left of her humanity. She also refused to force feed, and other than her first year, has only ever fed on consenting parties or through other means.

Her brother is turned by them a few years after her, as she refused to be the one to do it to her own flesh and blood. Once he was acclimated to life as a vampire, they set off on their own and travel around London aimlessly.

In her spare time, Jo studied everything she could get her hands on to become a doctor. But as it was a profession society deemed unfit for women at the time, she had to wait.

She went from hospital to hospital working as an aid to patients, biding her time. Eventually, in 1862, when learning about a school in Boston for Women to be professionally trained in the medical field as a physician, she drops everything to head to the states.

The siblings live there from 1863-1874, during which she also attends a school for nursing. Not long after, they return to England, where she works as a nurse until 1892 when women are officially allowed to practice medicine.

With the help of her brother and another doctor at the hospital she’d been living at, she opens up her own clinic in a more rural part of England. This is where she stays until the mid 1900′s, when she and her brother part ways.

Josephine then moves to the states in attempt to continue her practice without raising any red flags. She starts out in Boston where she received her training, then moves on from there, going state to state every few years.

PRESENT,

It was six years ago to date when Jo moved to Little Hollow, originally intending to open her own practice like she has in so many other cities, but she decides to postpone it when she realizes just how significant the supernatural population is in the town.

Due to the considerable fortune earned through the many facilities she’s built over the years that are still in her name, she buys herself a nice house in town with a white-picket fence and a dog. The life she lives behind closed doors may be unspeakable to most, but she does her best to be relatively normal in spite of it.

Continuing working even though she doesn’t need to is a decision that’s made due to her innate desire to continue helping people to the best of her ability. `

Becoming a Paramedic felt like the best option for her, considering she never spends very long with any of the patients, so not only are they unable to get fully acquainted with her, there’s always a change of pace.

Being so settled has become a foreign feeling, though she’s grown to thoroughly enjoy having a home, feeling like she belongs.

She’s fairly active in things around town, known to donate to charities and help the homeless. She also dips into the hospital blood supply on occasion for vampires looking to stray from feeding directly from the source.

When it comes to inter-species politics, she tries to stay out of trouble with the other supernatural people in Little Hallow, instead opting to attempt to keep the peace.

Of course, this doesn’t always go over well, considering she’s got such a big heart and wants to keep everyone happy.

PERSONALITY,

Kind, gentle, soft, dedicated, passionate, thoughtful, stubborn. She’s also enthusiastic, eager to please, and wildly ambitious; both at school/work and in her personal life.

She’s a certified Mom Friend™ and proud of it.

Would literally go to any length necessary if it means keeping those she cares about safe.

Josephine’s got to be one of the most attentive people when it comes to her friendships and loved ones. She is always taking time to spend time with them no matter how busy she may be, will stop whatever she’s doing if they are in need, and gives the best gifts. Her philosophy is that if she’s got to spend her money somewhere, it may as well be on others.

She tends to see the best in people, even those who don’t deserve a moment of her time.

Honestly??? She’s the softest vampire ever, probably much too soft to have survived as long as she has.

Is very, very protective of the less fortunate, be that financially, physically, or in minorities. She doesn’t believe in violence as the answer, but hates any prejudices people may have even more. If she sees anyone being mistreated, she definitely steps in ready for a fight.

MISC,

MBTI:

ALIGNMENT:

CHARACTER TROPES: The Idealist, Nice Girl, Running Gag, Workaholic, there are more but I’ll never get off the trope site if I keep going.

CHARACTER INFLUENCES: Leslie Knope, Kimmy Schmidt, Peggy Carter, April Kepner, Phoebe Buffay.

WANTED CONNECTIONS,

Friends, friends, all the friends.

Frienemies/ex-friends ( this is so hard for her bc she tries to see the best in people, but if they’re a hateful person, she’s not against writing them off ).

A best friend would be super cool, lord knows my girl needs someone to confide in and to turn to when things get rough.

The vampire who turns her and her brother is definitely a wc!

An old friend she’s known for centuries, someone who has seen her grow through the ages.

A neighbor, or maybe a roommate she’s asked to live with her, because the house she bought is so big and she gets lonely lmao

ex fwb maybe???

Enemy turned friend!

Yeah, idk, these are all super random and probably lowkey shitty, but I’m down for anything !!!

#blood.intro #this is so bad YIKES!!#abuse tw #parent death tw #I think that covers it but if I missed any pls don’t hesitate to lmk

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thefloorisbalaclava · 6 years

Text

Wayward - Part 8

A/N: You finally find yourself at Joseph’s compound. You two have dinner and things become much more complicated for you as you fight your own confusing emotions.

1/2/3/4/5/6/7

Warnings: none Words: 2,785

It had been a little over a week since you agreed to move to Joseph's compound. You hadn't told anyone at the station yet and you wouldn’t until you actually got there. Things seemed to change, though, and not for the better.

The first thing you noticed was your phone signal. Any calls you made were constantly being dropped and sometimes you weren’t even able to place a call. You shrugged it off as just being in the middle of nowhere but told yourself that your phone had been working fine not too long ago.

Secondly, there appeared to be more of cult presence in the area around your house. They never bothered you but they were always there as if they were waiting for something or…someone. You were brave enough to go out and talk to them one day. You asked why they were there and if there was any danger. The answer shocked you.

It appeared they had been sent by Joseph to watch over you and make sure nothing bad happened.

“What is he expecting to happen?” you asked but the cultist walked away to answer a radio call before you could get an answer.

Today was the day you had planned to go but you didn’t know how to get into contact with Joseph. The knock on your door told you that there was no reason for that anymore.

You opened the door and smiled anxiously. “Joseph…”

He smiled but it fell when he noticed the nervous one you were giving him. “Oh, my dear…you’re scared…” You let him inside and closed the door, leaning against it.

“A lot of…things have been happening.”

“Things like what?” He appeared concerned but chanced were he knew exactly what you were talking about.

“My phone has been dropping calls constantly and I’ve noticed a lot more of your…people around here.” You tried not to look into his eyes. Even behind those yellow lenses, he had a way of capturing your soul.

“I’m afraid I can’t help with the phone signal but not to worry. You won't be needing it much anyway.” He smiled and put his hands behind his back.

“I…but I have people that will worry if they don’t hear from me. They need to know that I’m okay.”

“And you will be, child.” He held his hands out to you and you found yourself walking over to him. No, not walking. Floating. You felt as though you were in a trance that it was impossible to get out of. You were in his arms before you could think straight again. “There is no reason to worry. Don’t you trust me?”

That’s when you did the thing you had been telling yourself not to do. You looked into his eyes and nodded slowly. “Yes. Yes, I do.” You shook your head and looked away. “And what about your people…did you really tell them to watch over me? Is something bad going to happen?”

“No and I won’t let it.” He tucked his fingers under your chin and lifted your head so you were looking at him again. “No harm will come to you so long as you’re with me. I promise.”

You felt the sudden and urgent need to kiss him and you could see he felt it too. His thumb traced your lower lip and he leaned in as though he couldn’t resist but then he pulled away with a hiss, turning his back to you. He mumbled something and you reached out to touch him.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“It seems I have a hard time controlling myself around you,” he confessed.

“Yes, you told me that before.”

He turned to you again but kept his distance. “I never knew an angel could be so…tempting.”

You scoffed. “I wouldn’t exactly call myself an angel. I don’t think I deserve…”

“You deserve only the best in life and you will get just that.” Why was he speaking as if he knew you, as if he knew this would happen?

“You certainly have a lot of faith in me.” You smiled shyly and he smiled back.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight,” he said quietly. “Are you ready?”

“I have the more important things packed and ready to go. I guess I can come back for the other things at another time.”

“I’m afraid we can’t take too much at one time anyway. We have to travel by boat for a little bit.” So, you really were going to be stranded with this man. “That doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“I just…is this really a good idea?”

“You’re having second thoughts. I understand. You will be perfectly safe with me. If it's your friends you’re worried about, we'll find a way to contact them so they won’t worry.”

“Are you doing this so that John won’t get me first?” You looked down at the tattoo on your chest. “Well…get me again…”

“I must admit, I was afraid that he would chase you away for good. I am grateful that you came around.” He wrung his hands nervously. “I’m not completely sure what John's intentions with you were but I assure you mine aren’t the same.”

You shook your head. “I believe you.” You wanted to ask just what his intentions were but thought better of it. You would find out sooner than later.

“Shall we go? I will tell my men to get your things.”

“I…have a question?” You wrung your hands nervously as he looked at you, stared into your soul. “Where am I going to stay? Am I…are we staying together?” You had lived with a man before but he was certainly nothing like Joseph.

“You will have your own place to stay. I want to make this as easy as possible for you.” You looked around your small living room once more. You hadn't been here for long but you would miss it. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” He took your hand and you almost snatched it away. Somehow it felt more intimate than a kiss.

Joseph felt you stiffen and let go of your hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…”

“Its okay. I’m just not used to so much…affection. Are you like this with all your followers?”

He blinked slowly then made sure he looked directly at you. “No.”

The trip to Joseph's compound didn’t take as long as you'd expected and the boat ride was quite invigorating. You had closed your eyes and let the wind blow through your hair, giggling like a child. When you opened your eyes again, Joseph was beaming at you. He said he loved to see you smile.

Now that you were here, you were more nervous than before. The other followers looked at you and tried to figure you out and when Joseph stood by your side, they seemed to accept you almost right away.

These people looked worn down and dirty but none seemed to complain. They were just happy to be in the presence of their Father.

Joseph introduced you quickly and led you to a small house that you assumed would be your new home. He opened the door and let you step inside first.

“You should find everything you need here and your other things should be here soon.” He seemed to not want to leave you by yourself. “I promise you’ve made the right decision. I can protect you.”

Your head snapped up and your eyes furrowed. “Protect me from what?”

He smiled reassuringly and walked to you, placing his hands on your shoulders. “Nothing you need to worry yourself with right now.”

“Oh…”

“I want to give you something…” He walked back to the door and opened it, speaking quietly to the man who was standing there. When he turned around again he had a book and was handing it to you. “I would love for you to read this.” You flipped it open but Joseph placed his hand on top of yours. “Not while I’m here. I’m afraid I’d be…embarrassed.” He chuckled and it was…adorable.

“I’ll get right to it…once you’re gone that is,” you joked.

“I know it may take you some time to settle in but everyone here will make it a little easier for you. Especially me.” He walked to the door again and opened it but you stopped him.

“Is there a way for me to contact my friends…just so they know I’m okay. I don’t want them sending the army after me.” You laughed but hoped you hadn’t said too much. Pratt would literally do that.

“We mainly use radio around here. Would your friends be able to talk to you that way?”

“Yes. Yes, they would.” Once again you hoped you hadn’t given anything away.

“Good. I’ll see that you have one brought to you right away. Are you hungry?” You nodded. “We'll eat soon and so you’re not alone on your first night here, you can eat with me.”

“I wouldn’t want to impede…”

“Impede? If you haven’t noticed, I quite like your company. It would be a nice change for dinner.” He looked down at his clothes then scoffed. “Speaking of change, I should get cleaned up.” He left the house and you stood there unsure of what to do. You can’t believe you agreed to this.

The signal on your phone was completely gone now and you could only imagine what would be going through Staci's mind if he was trying to call you.

You were about to explore the house a little more when someone knocked on your door. When you opened it, there was a scruffy looking guy on the other side. “The Father told me to bring this to you right away.” He handed you a small radio and you thanked him. “Father Joseph also told me to tell you that someone will escort you to his house for dinner around 7.” Without a farewell, the man turned and walked away.

You closed the door and looked down at the radio in your hand. You knew which channel to use to get in contact with the precinct but chances are someone would be listening. You would have to be careful.

“Pratt, come in,” you whispered then waited for a response.

“Rook? Is that you? What happened to your phone?”

“I'll explain later. Right now, I need you to listen. You have to follow the same rule as before: let me contact you first. And I have a new rule: don’t mention anything about our…jobs.” You couldn’t think of another way to say it.

“What? Why?”

“I’m…I’m at Joseph's compound and I need to tread carefully.” You pressed the radio to your head and closed your eyes knowing that you were about to get an earful.

“You’re where?! Why are you there?!” He was in full on panic mode now.

“I have my reasons but I can’t say right now. Just know that I am safe.”

“Yeah but for how long, Rook? You know what he's capable of…what they’re all capable of.”

“Joseph won't hurt me. I think he actually kinda…likes me.” Pratt was quiet for a while and when he spoke again you could hear the frustration in his voice.

“Don't get suckered in like the rest of those people. You’re better than that.”

“Am I? Never mind. I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay. My phone no longer works so I’ll contact you this way from now on. I’ll contact you, got it?”

“Yeah…yeah. Please take care of yourself, Rook. Please…” His voice cracked and you had to blink away the tears the threatened to fall.

“I will. I always do. Talk to you soon.”

Silence. It was deafening.

For the next few hours, you busied yourself by exploring the house much like you had done not too long ago in your other new house.

You freshened up and changed into one of the dresses that had been hanging in the closet. It was a plain, light blue dress that fit you perfectly. You didn’t want to think of why or how anyone would have clothes that fit you here already.

You began to read the book Joseph gave you and became so engrossed that when someone knocked on the door, you jumped.

You opened the door to find the same filthy man from earlier standing on the other side.

“Hi,” you greeted and he nodded once.

“I’m to take you to Father Joseph.” He gave you time to put your shoes on then escorted you to another house on the far end of the compound. “Goodnight,” he said before leaving you standing in front of the door.

“O…kay.” You lifted your hand to knock but the door swung open before you could.

“Good evening,” Joseph said happily, struggling to keep his eyes on your face. “Please come in.” Once inside, he walked you to his dining room and pulled out a chair for you to sit in.

“Thank you.” You watched as he sauntered to the chair opposite you.

He looked at you for a moment before speaking. “Shall we pray?” You nodded and he began and you hoped your stomach wouldn’t protest at the wrong time. “Amen,” he finished.

“It looks delicious.” You began to eat and when you looked up again you saw that you had been the only one doing do. Were you supposed to wait for him? “I…”

“Is it good?” he asked.

“Yes…thank you.” You felt some relief as he forked some of the food into his mouth. “I started the book you gave me. It’s quite compelling.”

“My life is story is a compelling one,” he admitted. “Did you get the radio? Were you able to reach your friend?”

“Yes. He shouldn't worry too much now.”

“Good.” The silence stretched on and you stared down at your plate knowing that Joseph was staring at you. “Do you know why you are here at the compound?”

“You said that I'd be safe here…that you want to protect me.”

“I have seen you in my dreams long before I met you,” he confessed making you drop your fork on the plate. “Fate brings you hear. Destiny. God.” He looked up as he spoke the last word.

“I see…and what is it you’re keeping me safe from again?” You swallowed hard and kept your eyes on him as he stood and walked to you.

“The people who would harm you. The people who would take you away from here…” He crouched down so his face was level with yours. “I’m protecting you from the end.”

You were scared…right? You should be but with Joseph so close you felt a bunch of other things. This is when you had finally noticed that his glasses were off. When did he take them off? His eyes were blue. So blue. He smelled of the earth before and after it rained. He smelled like…Joseph.

He reached out and touched your face and you closed your eyes to his touch. Why did you do that?

“You feel it too, don’t you?” he asked and you nodded in the agreement. Why?

“Joseph,” you sighed and pressed your forehead to his. All too soon, he had moved away and taken the sense of calmness away with him. How?

“Let us finish dinner then we'll talk more,” he said, taking his seat again. You should have said that you wanted to go home but one look at him made you want to stay. His reassuring smile had you smiling back.

You sat at the table long after eating and talked. Well, he did most of the talking.

And you listened. Enraptured by his words. Again, you understood how and why people found it so easy to follow him. He spoke with such passion, his hands moving, his expressions changing.

Then he was crying and you were by his side in a flash.

Why?

“Its okay,” you told him. “You’re okay now.”

“Am I?” be asked and you nodded. “Not only did God want you to be saved…he also wanted you to save me.”

“I don’t think…”

“Thank God for you,” he cried. He grabbed your hands and kissed them, wetting them with his tears. You should be pulling away.

“I’m here,” you found yourself saying. “I’m here.” You held him against you, his head against your chest, and let him cry. One tear rolled down your cheek and landed in his hair and he sighed as though he could feel it.

“I am here,” was all you could say and your wayward soul seemed to settle down in that moment, reined in by his emotion, his words, his touch.

By him.

#Joseph Seed #Far Cry 5 #FC5 #deputy!reader #headcanon

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thepenisparker · 6 years

Text

OBSCURE ◍ PETER PARKER X READER

description:

“DO I EVEN MATTER TO YOU ANYMORE? JUST ANSWER ME THAT.”

“…YOU DON’T.”

pairing:

MCU!PETER PARKER/SPIDERMAN X READER

read it on wattpad!

table of contents:

one. two. three. four. five. six. tbc

SIX.

"You got bit by a spider?" Ned asked as he and Peter walked towards the Deli Shop on their way to the subway station. Secretly Peter detoured just to see if (Y/N) might be outside her apartment. Last night he was able to send a DM to her Instagram, in a desperate attempt to tell (Y/N) why he couldn't go last night and that he saw her on the news and wished he would've been there with her. But she didn't respond. He understood, it was late and she was busy.

It was hard for him to separate himself like this, he did see her. He literally saved her from that closet and she talked about how much she supported Spiderman on the news but she couldn't know it was him and real him looked like a dick for ditching her. This was confusing.

"The spiders dead, Ned." Peter sighed, noticing his best friend was still going on about the spider that bit him. Readjusting his books in his hands since he didn't have a backpack anymore, they came up to the horrific sight of the Deli Shop. It looked so much worse in the daylight.

"Woah." Ned stopped, Peter stopped too, replaying last nights events in his head last night. He wanted to know what he could've done better, "You were here?"

"Yeah." Peter swallowed.

"You could've died." Ned finally realized, as cool as Peter's powers were, he is so much more in danger than ever before.

"So could've (Y/N)." Peter whispered, looking up at her apartment building that was next to them. He wondered which one was her window. Not that he wanted to look at her changing or anything creepy, he still just worried about her.

"Do you lay eggs?" Ned asked randomly, breaking any tension.

"What? No-o." Peter chuckled, thinking of how ridiculous that would be.

"Hey!" A female voice called from up above, "You losers going to school?"

Peter looked up to see (Y/N) with a bit of bed head on the second story of the apartment complex. This was exactly what Peter wanted, but unfortunately, now he was extremely nervous about seeing her since he had officially decided he'd have a bit of a crush on her.

"Yeah! You wanna walk with us?" Ned asked. She looked back into her window and then back down.

"I think I'm gonna be late today. After being in a burning building I think I deserve it." (Y/N) called down, "I also have to think of a better way to phrase than the Avengers blew up my homework."

"Th-that's funny." Peter said, quieter than he thought.

"That's a good enough excuse for me. Lunch then?" Ned asked for the both of them.

"Yeah, I'll come at Lunch." She said, "See you then."

"See you!" Ned waved.

"See you then." Peter said after she had shut her window. He had no idea where the confidence in his body went.

"Dude, you can fight off 4 bank robbers and save people from burning buildings but you can't talk to girls." Ned made fun of Peter.

"Shut up.."

◍

Peter could barely get himself through the first half of school that day. Only feeling cooler as the news segment all about (Y/N)'s heroic night with Spiderman and she wasn't even here to get the street cred yet.

He felt himself get more and more anxiety thinking about talking to her as Peter now and about having held her so close to him and she had no idea. Bouncing his leg and trying his best to take good notes so he could give them to (Y/N). It was made especially hard with Ned in his ear the whole day.

"Can you spit venom?"

"Can you summon an army of spiders?"

"How far can you shoot your webs?"

All of which the answer is no and I don't know. When the bell rang for lunch Peter could barely handle waiting for Ned to pack his things.

"Relax." Ned smugly put his things away, knowing Peter wouldn't leave without him, "You'll have plenty of time to flirt with (Y/N)."

"Shhh.." Peter looked around, "Someone'll hear you."

"Yeah, who cares? It's not like anyone pays attention to us anyway." Ned shrugged finally getting out of the classroom.

The two got themselves through the lunch line as fast as they could and sat at their usual table awaiting the girl Peter so desperately wanted to talk to.

(Y/N) had just gotten to school that day, still tired from the previous nights' events. She pushed a hand through her somewhat put together hair and outfit. She tried readjusting the bandages on her palm as they would keep getting caught in her binder.

She figured today would be no different than any other day, still had only talked to like 5 people, just now she looked injured and lazy with her bandages and sporting a new midtown sweatshirt under her jean jacket.

Walking toward the cafeteria, (Y/N) finds herself thinking about what she was going to do the rest of the day. She had a study period after lunch, she wondered if she could get a referral to PE so she could make up this mornings class that she was supposed to be in. Already behind in so many classes, being behind in PE doesn't sound fun.

(Y/N) finally reached the cafeteria, making eye contact almost immediately with Peter, who had been watching the door. But someone else had been watching the door too,

"Hey, I almost thought you'd forgot." Joseph had strolled up to (Y/N), causing Peter to frown.

"Forgot?" She asked, crooking her head before remembering very clearly, "Oh! To study for the English quiz. Yeah, sorry, I had a really crazy last 24 hours."

"I bet, my dad saw you on the news. I was really happy when I got to say 'that's the girl I asked on a date today, she knows spider-man.'" Joseph said, his attractiveness going down the more he opened his mouth.

"Date?" (Y/N) opened her mouth,

"I thought you'd never ask." Joseph said, slinging an arm around her shoulder to walk her towards the library.

"That guy is a—a—?" Peter couldn't muster the word from their table.

"A dick?" Ned finished his sentence.

"Yeah. A dick." Peter settled on, chewing on the inside of his cheek, "I mean what does she see in him?"

"He's good-looking, popular, varsity basketball, pretty funny, too, I mean if we're being honest—" Ned started,

"Rhetorical question, Ned." Peter shut it down.

"Maybe after she hangs out with him, she'll realize he sucks." Ned tried to patch up Peter.

"I hope so."

◍

It did suck. All Joseph did was sit there and talk about how cool he was and how he had this whole school wrapped around his finger. That she was lucky he asked her to study because of his status. When in reality, he was just using her Spider-Man cred and she knew it. Which was ridiculous since she didn't think that existed.

She did end up coming to PE during her study period, hoping to walk out her frustrations. She came into the room in her PE uniform just after everyone was dismissed from watching the Captain America video she thought was too funny. But all went downhill when she saw Peter, the last thing she wanted was to have him watch her doing exercise. That was just a nightmare, only made worse when she noticed Flash and Liz were also in this period. Liz would probably capture all his attention anyways. And of course, Joseph who sat next to Flash in the front row with his sleeves rolled up like the biggest douche there ever was.

"(Y/N), hey. You just following me around now?" Joseph ran up to her. Peter had sat in the back and was scrambling over others to get to (Y/N).

"What?" She ripped your eyes off of Peter to face Joseph who was right in front of her, "No, no. I just missed my PE period this morning so I'm here to make that up."

"Oh, well. I could help you out then, be in our group? I can teach you some basketball." He offered, but she began to notice that people around her were pointing or whispering. How did she manage to get so much attention so fast?

"Hey! (Y—(Y/N)!" Peter stuttered, finally making over to her.

"Hi, Peter." (Y/N) perked up, and Joseph noticed.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to be partners with me? And Ned, of course, you know three of us. Not just me." Peter said, and Joseph didn't seem to like that.

"Beat it, Parker. (Y/N)'s already my partner," Joseph said, his voice deepened and his back was straighter.

"Oh, uh." Peter looked at you.

"Your sure you don't want Flash as your partner?" (Y/N) looked at Joseph, "He looks pretty butthurt about it."

Peter figured out what she was doing, she was so nice about it and it gave him some hope. Lucky for Peter's face, and unlucky for (Y/N), Joseph didn't.

"Nah, Flash is fine." He smiled, "Don't worry about him. Let's go play some basketball, yeah?"

"Uh, ok." She caved, not wanting to really stir up trouble now in front of everyone. Especially if it meant Peter was going to be beat up later, "Next time, Peter. I promise."

"Okay, yeah. Next time." Peter said after her, clearly disappointed.

So instead Peter had to suffer from Ned barbarring him with questions about his double life as the web-slinger, while (Y/N) was being lifted and actually laughing with some of Josephs friends. And it was true, you did find some of what Josephs friends said was funny. One of them, Robbie, she actually found to be a great and fun guy. But when he would put his hands on hers to show her how to dribble an shoot, Peter found himself boiling.

"You tried, Pete." Ned said, "It's okay."

"No, man." Peter said frustrated.

"Looking good, Parker." Their gym coach, Coach Wilson, intervened, causing Peter to remind himself to slow down. He's never been in shape, he has to act like he isn't.

"It's not okay. For once I thought maybe I'd have a shot with a nice and pretty girl and now it's all over." Peter sighed, "And it's not even like a nice guy, you know? You know what that guy does,—"

"Yeah, I know. But (Y/N) can make her own decisions. And really, can you blame her?" Ned asked, "It'd be like if Liz came up to you right now and decided to ask you out on a date."

"Whoa, whoa. That's not the same thing at all." Peter defended himself.

"How? Joseph is one of the most popular, good-looking, and involved guy at this school. Lis is one of the most popular, good-looking, and involved girls at this school."

"But, Liz is nice." Peter defended his crush.

"Could I be your guy in the chair?" Ned asked, obviously bored with the current conversation.

"What?" Peter asked, continuing to fake straining his sit ups.

"Yeah. You know how there's that guy with a headset telling the other guy where to go?" Ned offered, "Like, okay, like if you're stuck in a burning building, I could tell you where to go because there'd be like screens around me and I could swivel around and then I could be your guy in the chair."

"Ned, I don't need a guy in the chair." Peter said rather harshly, already upset with how his day was going.

Up in the bleachers, a curious conversation was happening, especially and almost exclusively to the two best friends doing sit-ups on the ground.

"Now see, for me it would be F Thor, marry Iron Man.. and kill Hulk." Betty Brandt named off her picks for an infamous game of Marry, F, Kill to her friends Jason, Liz, and Sam.

"Well, what about the Spider-Man?" Sam asked, leaning back.

"It's just Spider-Man." Liz said, Peter's ears perked up, "I mean did you guys see the bank security cam on YouTube? He fought off 4 guys!"

"Oh my god, she's crushing on Spider-Man." Betty said, Ned's mouth flew open. Peter's chance, he thought.

"No way!" Sam said, rolling their eyes.

"Kind of." Liz jokingly chewed on her nails.

"Oh, gross!" Betty cringed, "He's probably like 30."

"You don't even know what he looks like." Sam added, "Like what if he's like seriously burned?"

"I wouldn't care. I would still love him for the person he is on the inside." Liz defended her choice in Avenger.

"Peter knows Spider-Man!" Ned said a little louder than anticipated. Peter panicked, his whole body going into a fight or flight mode his mouth agape in shock that Ned would ever say that. He was pulled directly out of his trance on Liz on hearing anyone talk about his alter-ego like that. Practically everyone stopped, even Coach Wilson stopped. You could hear a pin drop, and (Y/N) perked up.

"No, I don't!" Peter was quick to step up and make ammends, "No— I—I mean—I—"

Peter stumbled to find the words. Flash on the other hand, had plenty of words to say.

"They're friends." Ned saved, trying to get through to Peter what a huge opportunity this would be for him.

"Yeah, like Coach Wilson and Captain America are friends," Flash said, landing on the ground from his rope climb. He strolled over to the scene of his favorite activity of the week: making fun of Peter Parker. A few laughs went over his classmates, Betty and Sam found it funny, and Liz seemed intrigued by what may come out of Peter's mouth next. She never knew what to expect with him.

"I've met him, yeah. A couple of times." Peter tried to find the medium, "But it's through the, um, Stark internship."

(Y/N) couldn't watch anymore from the back of the gym, feeling so embarrassed for Peter now. She knew how much he liked Liz and could imagine how uncomfortable this is for him. Liz seemed to share the feeling as Flash kept coming forward with a grin widening on his face. Joseph was laughing, too.

"Mhm. Yeah. I'm not really supposed to talk about it." Peter said the last part through his teeth towards Ned. Ned gave an expression that he didn't really register what was happening yet.

"Well that's awesome. Hey, you know what?" Flash pointed, feeling how perfect his plan was in his head. Considering he was already so angry from Joseph ditching him, it only motivated to make some fun for himself and Peter was the perfect target, "Maybe you should invite him to Liz's party tonight. Right?"

"Yeah, I'm having people over tonight." Liz put her hands together, "You're more than welcome to come."

"Speaking of that party—" Joseph turned to (Y/N) but shushed him before anything else he said.

"You're having a party?" Peter's voice croaked out.

"Yeah, it's gonna be dope!" Flash said, "You should totally invite your personal friend, Spider-Man!"

"It's okay." Liz said, having covered the fact that Peter couldn't breathe, "I know Peter is way to busy for parties anyway, so.."

"Oh, c'mon. He'll be there. Right, Parker?" Flash got into his face a bit, passing by him as the changing bell rang. Everyone got up and walked past him as Peter got visibly upset and ran back to his best friend.

"What are you doing?!" He asked,

"Helping you out!" Ned said, proud of himself and turning them in the direction of the locker room, "Did you not hear her? Liz has a crush on you. "

Peter went through a couple stages of trying to understand all of that. She said she had a crush on Spider-Man, who in turn was technically Peter, even though she didn't know it was Peter. But she did say she would still love him for the person he was, which was Peter?

"Dude, you're an Avenger! If any of us have a chance with a senior girl, it's you."

"Peter!" (Y/N) cut their conversation short, pulling Peter back to reality.

"(Y/N), hey." Peter tried to keep cool.

"Hi, Ned." She added, and Ned gave a smile and a wave, "Look, um, I don't really know what just happened. But if you do actually know Spider-Man—"

"Well, I mean—"

"just if you could tell him thank you? It doesn't have to be a lot, just if you see him at your internship. What he did for me and Mr. Delmar was— I just don't remember if I said thank you." (Y/N) looked up at him with such sincere eyes. He wanted to melt in them, the way she talked about it was way different than everyone else. Oh, he was in it now.

"Yeah." Peter swallowed hard, "Yeah, of course. I'll do that."

"Thanks." She smiled, "And be careful tonight, Joseph looked a little too happy you two were going to Liz's party."

"Don't worry, (Y/N). Tonight is going to be legendary." Ned said his optimism oozing.

"I bet." (Y/N) said, happy being back with these two, "Just don't put too much pressure on yourself. Spider-Man is super cool and all, but not really for high school parties."

He was really in it now with this girl.

I HOPE YOU ENJOY AJIKEJFAILD

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cheemers-writing-archive · 3 years

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Nothing Else Like It: Chapter 1