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gaygryffindorgal · 3 years

Text

hphm fic: 'til tonight do us part

fandom: harry potter: hogwarts mystery

pairing: mc/merula snyde

word count: 2.2K

summary:

A party in the Slytherin common room leads both Verna and Merula to confront some things about themselves...

“You don’t know shit,” was what Merula spat back at her and Verna didn’t know what she said wrong this time. “You prance around like you own this school and think you’re so damn special!”

“That’s fucking rich, coming from you,” Verna arched an eyebrow at her nemesis. “You’re the one proclaiming to anyone who will listen that you’re the most powerful witch at Hogwarts.”

warnings: underage drinking, swearing, merula being mean

author’s note: no proof-reading, we die like men! aka i wrote this thing at 3am in my notes app and english isn’t my native language.

hphm fic: 'til tonight do us part

“I’m not sure about this,” Ben Copper said and caught up to Verna. He had been tailing behind her and Charlie for the past several staircases. “Maybe I should’ve stayed in the common room studying with Rowan…”

“Cheer up Ben, this is gonna be fun,” Charlie attempted but Ben still didn’t look convinced. He had been trying hard to step out of his comfort zone with varying degrees of success.

“Hush the both of you, we’re almost there.”

The three of them were approaching the Slytherin common room entrance in the dungeons and the utmost care was needed. Parties in Hogwarts were notoriously difficult to organize if you wanted anyone but your own house members to attend. This one had coordinated times at which someone from Slytherin would let students belonging to other houses in. Barnaby had agreed to open the door for Verna, Charlie, and Ben at 9.30.

“Why are we even going to a Slytherin party…?” Ben asked as they reached the entrance.

“Because Barnaby invited us and I can’t say no to him, it’d feel like kicking a puppy,” Verna answered and glanced around to make sure no one else was in the corridor. “Besides, I think all of us need to let out a little bit of steam.”

“You are aware that most Slytherins think we’re the worst?”

“Yeah, that’s part of the fun,” Charlie said as the door to the Slytherin common room swung open.

“Verna! You guys made it!” Barnaby greeted them with open arms, spilling a bit of the contents of his pint.

“Well Ben almost stayed behind to study but I’m very persuasive!” Verna announced and dragged both of her friends inside past Barnaby.

“Don’t say the S-word Verna, it’s forbidden,” he said with a grimace.

“Oh shit, sorry.”

They had all been extremely tied up with studying for their O.W.L.s for the past weeks and it did sound appealing to just forget the exams for the night. The common room was dark and illuminated by a green glow. Verna wasn’t sure what its source was, but it did create certain menacing flair for the party. The music was loud, and many of the attendees were dancing to its beat.

“So, where’s the fire whiskey?” asked Charlie and Barnaby pointed them to the direction of the drink selection before going off to talk to some of his friends.

“See, Ben, no worries, there are plenty of people from other houses in here,” Verna said observing Tulip and Tonks chatting with some 6th year Slytherins, as well as Penny and André sitting on a couch, heads close together, obviously deep in conversation.

“Is that… a thing now?” asked Charlie.

“Last week I asked André if he was seeing Penny and he said no,” Verna muttered.

“So, you think it’s a new thing? Or is André just full of shit?”

“Guys… I hate to interrupt your gossip club but…” Ben yanked Verna’s sleeve to get her attention. She turned to look where Ben was glancing. Merula Snyde was walking towards them, looking like a storm cloud.

“Oh, here we go…” Charlie whispered, and Verna gently punched him in the arm.

Merula stopped short in front of Verna and glared at her. She seemed taller somehow and Verna noticed she was wearing platform shoes. “What the fuck are you doing here, Malinda?”

“I came to party.”

“Nobody wants you and your loser friends here.”

“Barnaby invited us,” Verna said simply and waved at Barnaby, who waved back, smiling.

“Lee couldn’t read a room if it punched him in the face with a book made for toddlers.”

“Don’t be rude Merula, we’re just here to get drunk and hang out with our friends.”

Charlie saw this as an ample opportunity to poke the hornet’s nest and added: “At least we have some of those.”

Merula snapped her death glare to Charlie. “Shut up Weasley.”

“Anyway! We were just about to go talk to Penny, so I’ll be seeing you Merula!” Verna interjected, handed Ben and Charlie drinks, and ushered them towards Penny and André. “Just pretend I don’t exist, if you can,” she added with a wink, grabbed a drink for herself and followed her friends. When she glanced back, Merula was still standing there, staring daggers at her back. Verna couldn’t help but be amused.

It turned out both André and Penny still vehemently denied being involved with each other romantically in any shape or form, so Verna let it slide. They spent a good couple of hours drinking, talking, and dancing. Verna hadn’t realized how much she needed a night off until she finally got one. Between her studies, detention, and trying to find the Portrait vault, her free time was sparse.

“Vernaaaa… can you bring me a glass of water?”

She was called out of her thought by Penny, who had, to be fair, downed quite a few drinks by then.

“Sure, sit tight,” Verna got up and navigated to the table filled with various drinks. Penny had not been herself ever since her sister got trapped in the portrait and Verna knew she was frustrated by how long it was taking to break the curse.

As she was filling a cup with water, she heard a familiar voice behind her: “Water? That’s weak.”

“Hi Merula…”

“Don’t tell me you can’t hold your liquor,” Merula mocked as Verna turned to face her. Her makeup had smeared just a little in the corners of her eyes.

“It’s not for me,” Verna tried to move past Merula. The latter stepped in front of her to block her path.

“Maybe you should take Haywood to sleep, she looks like she’s about to pass out any second now.”

“Maybe you should mind your own damn business,” Verna suggested and started to feel annoyed.

“What? I’m just worried about my fellow students.”

“You’ve literally tried to kill me.”

“Bygones,” Merula smirked and took a sip of her drink.

“Maybe after you apologize.”

Merula had the audacity to laugh, she truly was infuriating. “Don’t hold your breath, Malinda.”

Verna had had enough and pushed her way past Merula, ignoring her grunt of protest. She was beginning to think Merula enjoyed pissing her off.

“Did Merula give you trouble?” asked André once she got back.

“No more than usual.”

“Maybe we could curse her hair to fall off or something,” suggested Charlie lazily, having taken up most of the couch for himself, leaving just a small spot for Penny to sit in and sip her water.

“Chaz, as much as I would love to do that, I think we’re better off just keeping away from her tonight. After all, I’m actually supposed to get along with her for professor Rakepick’s sake.”

“Aren’t the both of you prefects…?” André asked, amused.

“Well yes, but that doesn’t really mean anything, I mean Merula is a prefect too!” Charlie protested.

André shook his head and returned to his conversation with Ben. Something about his gobstone collection.

“Guys… I feel a little sick…” came a quiet voice from Penny’s direction.

“Shit, don’t throw up on me,” Charlie quickly sat up and pulled away from Penny’s immediate vicinity.

“Okay, maybe you should call it a night,” Verna said and set her drink down on one of the tables. “C’mon, I’ll walk you back to your common room.”

“Oh… you don’t have to…”

“Shush, it’s no trouble… c’mon,” Verna took Penny’s hand and pulled her up. She swung on her feet for a second or two but seemed to be able to walk at least a little bit. “Charlie, can you tell Barnaby to let me back in in like… 10 minutes?”

Charlie saluted her and said: “Sure thing.”

That meant there was approximately 50% chance he’d forget and Verna would have to miss the rest of the party.

Getting Penny to walk in a straight line was a bit more difficult than Verna originally thought, but they managed to get out of the Slytherin common room and headed towards Hufflepuffs’.

“I don’t think I should have gone to that stupid party…” Penny mumbled. “I feel guilty enough as it is doing anything other than researching the vaults…”

“We’re doing everything we can, Rakepick is trying to find a way to break the curse right now,” Verna said, trying to sound confident but honestly, she wasn’t sure which one she was trying to comfort, herself or Penny.

“You don’t understand, Bea is all alone…”

Verna bit her lip. She knew Penny was taking this hard. “Penny, I get it. My brother is missing, I want to find the Portrait vault just as much as you.”

Penny let out a stifled sob. “Merlin, Verna I’m sorry. I didn’t think…”

“I know, I know it’s okay…”

Verna managed to get her friend safely to the Hufflepuff common room and started to make her way back to the party. She felt a little bit drunk and, being absolutely honest with herself, she would’ve preferred to feel a lot drunk. Before she could make it halfway back, she heard another pair of footsteps in the silent hallway. She was expecting to see other people heading to bed from the party, but instead it was Merula Snyde, who rounded the corner.

“Are you following me, Snyde?” Verna asked.

Merula’s face transformed into a scowl. “Stop flattering yourself, Malinda.”

“Well, I just think that you mysteriously run into me a lot these days…”

“Shut up.”

Verna lifted her hands in the air as a sign of surrender. “Suit yourself, can you let me back into the party since you’re out here?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I despise you.”

“Okay.”

“Okay? Is that what you have to say?” Merula asked and her hands balled into fists.

“I don’t really care, honestly. You’ve been on my case for four and a half years, I know you hate me,” Verna explained. She was fed up with Merula’s constant provoking.

“That’s fucking rich, coming from you,” Verna arched an eyebrow at her nemesis. “You’re the one proclaiming to anyone who will listen that you’re the most powerful witch at Hogwarts.”

Merula blushed and that made her even angrier. “I don’t do that anymore!”

“Sure, but you used to, while I’ve always just wanted to mind my own business.”

Merula took a few quick steps closer to Verna. “You think you’re better than me, huh?”

“That’s so not the point.”

“Then what is the point? Please enlighten me, illustrious Verna Malinda.”

“The point is, that you’re mean. And arrogant. You go out of your way to make people feel bad,” Verna made sure to stress each point, so they’d maybe sink in. “I’ve tried to be your friend more than once.”

Merula let out a mocking laugh. “I don’t want to be your friend.”

“The what the devil do you want?”

Something blazed in the purple of Merula’s eyes at the question, and before Verna could react, the other girl had pushed her against the wall. Vaguely, Verna thought about how easily she could free herself from the grasp, but she found herself not really wanting to. Oh.

“Merula what- “

“Shut up,” Merula grumbled. “Just shut up, you’re ruining everything!”

Confused, Verna studied Merula’s features. The colovaria-spell keeping her eyes purple had started to fade out the littlest bit and if you looked closely, you could see specks of brown. Merula had tiny little freckles dotted across her cheeks and nose that Verna had never noticed before (If her gaze also dropped down to Merula’s lips, then that was neither here nor there).

“I don’t want to fight,” she told the shorter girl. Merula’s expression remained unchanged. Verna sighed. “Just let me back into the party, I promise I won’t bother you.”

“No.”

“Fine, I’ll go to bed then, this isn’t worth it.”

That seemed to change something for Merula again, because she moved, grabbing Verna’s shirt to pull her closer. Verna tried to ignore the excitement in the bottom of her stomach, but it turned out she didn’t have to, because Merula didn’t hiss out any more thinly veiled threats or insults. Instead, she kissed her. There was something ferocious and hungry about the kiss that made everything inside Verna twist into knots. She pulled Merula closer by her waist and found herself not giving a damn if someone happened to walk by right then. For a blissful moment, Merula had her hands in Verna’s hair and was kissing her like she actually wanted to be there with her, and then just as quickly as it started, she pulled back again. The girls stared at each other in the silence of the corridor. Verna’s heart was beating its way out of her chest.

“Barnaby’s gonna open the door for you,” Merula only said and then turned her back to Verna, hurrying to the opposite direction along the corridor. Verna stood there for several seconds, dumbfounded. She raised her fingers to her lips and wondered whether she’d just imagined that. Slowly she forced her jelly-like legs to walk back to the Slytherin common room.

Like Merula had said, Barnaby was there to let her in, as cheerful as ever. Verna went back to her friends who had migrated to talk to Tonks, Tulip, and Liz. Charlie handed her abandoned drink back and assured her no one had messed with it. Verna wasn’t feeling particularly up for the party anymore. Her mind kept wondering to the dark corridor, messy mascara, and hot, fire whiskey-laced breath on her skin.

fin.

if you read the whole thing i’d love to hear what you think! this is the first time i’m actually publishing any of my fics, despite having written them for years so this is kind of like a moment for me, personally :’)

#hphm #hphm fic #hogwarts mystery fic #merula snyde #mc x merula #verna x merula #verna malinda #*my writing #i'm TERRIFIED #i've never published any of my fics before but apparenty that's #gOoD fOr YoU or whatever #so here i am #im rly sorry about the nonexistent british 80s slang i rly didnt even try #*oneshot

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averagesmw · 3 years

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Penny Haywood x MC- A risk far too great

Game: Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery

_____________________________

My stay at Hogwarts so far has been... interesting, to say the least

Unwillingly, I became responsible for breaking the horrible curses that came as a result of the Cursed Vaults. All in pursue of my missing brother, Jacob.

Not that I didn't want to save everyone or find my brother, but I didn't know it would be this difficult

However, when we entered the third vault and broke the sleepwalking curse, I thought I was getting the hang of it

...And then came the fourth curse

Not only was it difficult to understand, but this one got quite personal

See, this curse kidnapped students and trapped them inside the various portraits that decorate the school's walls. One of the victims happened to be the first-year Hufflepuff, Beatrice Haywood.

As in, Penny's adorable little sister

That is no way to be introduced to Hogwarts, I should know

But what weighed on me the most was Penny's reaction to this, she was devastated and obviously not the little ray of sunshine I knew and loved

Our adventures together were by far my favorite thing about all these years. We've grown to know each other so well, she even picked me to go with her to a dance

She provided all the happiness that I needed, but now, she was the one that needed happiness

Regardless, it served as a strong motivator to break the curse as soon as possible, which led me to this very moment...

Joined by Merula, Bill, and the new faculty member, Professor Rakepick, I was discussing the next step in our plan to enter the fourth vault. We were in the Courtyard as to not raise any suspicions

However, our plans would soon collide with my personal goals, and not for the better

...

"Now, who shall we take into the Cursed Vault with us?"

Rakepick asked us, making my mind start racing with possibilities

"Well, there are pros and cons to anyone we pick..."

We looked around at the people present in the courtyard. From Badeea to Tonks and even Barnaby, we discussed who could bring more to this table

Eventually, the sight of beautiful, blonde hair caught my attention. There she was, Penny Haywood herself trying her best to go on with her day

Always so resourceful and determined to help others, even now that she was the one that needed the help. Oh, Penny...

It was true that she could help but I...I just couldn't sentence to go into such a place, what if we lose? Or worse...

No, there was no chance I would risk bringing her along this time. I had to find someone else that could assist us

In my mind, I was already narrowing down the best candidates, although I didn't want to put any of them in danger, especially--

"What about Haywood? We could use her potion knowledge"

Merula's voice broke my concentration, I immediately turned to her upon hearing that

"Merula is right, Penny could help us brew a potion if we need it at the vault if we need it"

Bill added. The sole mention of her name in this conversation was enough to send shivers down my spine

I could even feel my breathing getting a bit erratic at this. But before anything else could happen, I threw a quick counter-offer

"B-But what about Charlie? He knows about dragons far more than any of us. W-We could use his knowledge more!"

Merula looked at me strangely. I subtly shook my head to her, telling her to back off on that idea with my eyes filled with worry

She seemed to pick up on this and gave me a subtle nod, putting her hand on her chin

For the last months, Merula and I had grown closer together as well. She might not admit it until earlier today, but we were good friends

In fact, she was likely the only person (besides Rowan) that knew about my umm... My opinion on Penny, hence why she understood my signals so quickly

"Now that you mention, he could help us defeat the dragon first. After he squeals at the sight of it"

For a split second, I felt relieved to have her on my side...then Rakepick talked

"While that is true, I agree that Miss Haywood could help us the most in this case"

She was quick to shoot down the idea, but why? Why send Penny into something so dangerous without even giving her time to prepare!

There was NO way I'd send Penny off like that, not her, especially after everything we've been through

"I don't think that's a good idea, professor. Penny has been quite unstable since the beginning of the year, she won't concentrate"

I responded with the first thing that came to my mind, just desperately trying to change their mind

"Or she could be perfectly motivated to give her best to save her sister"

"Hasn't Penny helped you with the other vaults before, Y/N? She has more experience in dealing with them"

Bill was not helping. Of course Penny tagged along a few times, but mostly when we knew that it wasn't incredibly dangerous like now

It's a dragon we're talking about! Not a Boggart or an Ice Knight

"Bill, we're not bringing her with us"

My friend noticed the sudden change in my tone and looked at me with a confused look

"Why not? Is something wrong with that?"

What!? Of course there was, Bill! You'd have to be blind not to notice!

My worry found a shield in the form of anger, but it was quickly released as I yelled out of pure emotion

"WE'RE NOT SENDING PENNY OUT THERE, THAT'S IT!!"

All three of my allies were taken back by this, even Rakepick. Taking a quick look at the rest of the students that were also there I noticed that they had all shut up and were now staring at me...even her

I couldn't deal with all of those eyes, not at the same time. What was I even supposed to say after such a display?

"I...I have to go. I'll be back for tonight, I promise"

Following what both my heart and mind were screaming me to do, I ran away back to the castle without looking at anyone

The place was awfully silent for a couple of seconds, but the chatter resumed shortly after, only a bit less intense this time

"Was it something I said? I've never seen Y/N have an outburst like that..."

Bill felt guilty, but he didn't even know why. Of course, it was always awful when you made someone react like that without knowing the reason

"Miss Snyde, you said before this conversation that Y/N is your friend, right?"

The teacher caught the attention of Merula, who was still looking at the door

"Yes?..."

"Do you mind explaining what was that all about, then?"

Merula was silent for a moment. She wouldn't tell the exact reason, but she was clever enough to coat it while technically not lying

"Well...I reckon to have one cursed Haywood was too much for L/N, maybe they don't want to get the other one killed. It would stain their pride"

"Y/N has been lacking sleep since this all began, too. They don't want anyone else involved in this" The Weasley added

"You may be right...Do you think you can talk some sense into them?"

Merula then spotted a certain blonde running into the castle, going in the same direction. Under a mask of carelessness, a genuine smile grew

"That won't be necessary, professor"

...

My instinct brought me to the Artifact Room, where I immediately closed the door upon entering and just got to my knees when my body was unable to continue

My hands rested on them as tears started to form on their own, despite my best attempts to stop them

Why was it so hard to understand that Penny was off the table?

Why was it so hard to understand that she was the last one I wanted to get involved?

Just...why?...

I felt my breathing adopt a slightly faster pace, but only for a couple of seconds. I was too busy fighting with my thoughts and just trying to make any sense of it to realize that someone had opened the door

By the time I knew it, someone was handing me down a potion

"Here, drink this"

That voice...

Not wanting her to see me like this, I looked over my shoulder to confirm it. Those beautiful blue eyes, the braided hair, the worry in her face...

I took the potion but didn't open it

"Penny? What's this?"

"It's a calming draught, I always have a spare one just in case"

"That's very considerate of you, b-but really, I'm fine"

Then she placed a hand on my shoulder, giving me a sympathetic look

"I heard you scream my name in the courtyard, Y/N. You can trust me"

Of course lying wasn't going to work, I made a mess back there

Reluctantly, I removed the cork and drank the calming draught. Just by feeling it go down my throat, I could feel my thoughts become clearer and my breathing was slowing down on its own

"Thank you..."

I said handing her the potion, but then Penny sat down in front of me, trying to get a better look at me

"Do you want to talk? You know you can trust me, Y/N"

I sighed before nodding slightly. Taking a quick glance at her before immediately trying to look away

Might as well tell her now. This was about her after all

"W-Well...Professor Rakepick says she found a way into the Cursed Vault, it's a portkey that will activate tonight"

Her gasp made me look at her, she was visibly surprised by this

"Tonight? But those are wonderful news!"

"They are. Rakepick says we should take someone else with us, but then everyone started leaning towards you and--"

"I'm in"

Upon hearing this, I felt my heart take the hit, quickly reminding me of what I was fearing just a second ago

Despite being under the influence of that potion, distress was beyond visible

"What? No"

Penny gave me a puzzled look. Never before had I prohibited her to come with me on an adventure

What was particularly concerning was how quick I was to brush her off

"Why not?"

"Penny, it's far too dangerous! Even a bloody dragon will be there"

She picked up on my increasing anguish, but her own emotions were just as strong at the moment

"And yet you're still going, Y/N! That's no justification"

"Yes, because we've been chosen and trained specifically to deal with this! There's no telling what could happen if you go!"

"I want to go, I need to see it for myself when the curse is broken. Plus you could use my help!"

I shook my head in denial. I knew she of all people had a reason to go, but the risk was far too big for a reward that was still uncertain

"There are plenty of ways you can help us from here"

The Hufflepuff was growing frustrated by my attempts at persuading her out of this mission, maybe to the point of getting personal

"Why don't you want me to go? I need to save my sister!"

It hurt to see her so angry at me, but as I felt the effect of the draught vanishing, I too adopted a similar gaze

I felt the hairs on my arms raising once again and the heartbeat increasing, even my face was heating up

"You're too valuable to lose!"

"Oh? And why am I the one who's too valuable? Why isn't it Bill? Or Merula? Or--"

Blood rushing

Tears escaping

Voice raising and suddenly

"BUT I DON'T LOVE THEM LIKE I LOVE YOU, OKAY!?"

Silence

Pure and suffocating silence

It quickly took over the room as soon as my voice stopped echoing through

I myself couldn't help but cover my mouth in shock by what just happened. Not just because I raised my voice against Penny, but because of what I said

Did I really just?...

Oh no

Beyond shocked, I looked at her. She was speechless with her eyes staring at me in disbelief

"You do?..."

"I have to get out of--"

Once again, I tried to run from it, but it didn't work. My arm was stopped by her hand and her startled voice

"N-No, it's okay! Really"

I turned around to see her yet again, not able to even think of a word for her. For sure she would turn me down, or worse

But her smile, that gentle, warm smile was there. The same one she showed me whenever we were goofing around or brewing something together

It was there

And so was that soft gaze she had whenever I had done something stupid and she was trying to help me like...well... right now

But this time, it hit different

"I want to hear it from you, Y/N. Please" Her sweet voice practically begging for me to stay. I didn't find myself to be strong enough to deny her request

And so, against everything my mind told me, I stayed behind, with Penny

She asked me to carry on with what I said before trying to escape. Sighing, I complied

I figured that it could help her understand why I didn't want her to go, but also...I think I owed her an explanation for well, everything

I gathered my strength until finally, words started to come out

"The truth is that I...I fancy you, Penny. I've done it for quite a while now and not only am I doing this to dave Bea and the others who fell victim to this curse"

My eyes, while looking down at first, were now focused on her. I didn't care if she saw how bad I looked at the moment, I was talking straight out of my heart, throwing myself in the void and hoping for the best

"...I do it because I can't stand to see you so depressed, it breaks my heart"

"Y/N..." The sole mention of my name by her was almost enough for me to back off, almost

But she needed to know

"If I can't see you like this, imagine how I felt when everyone started leaning towards you to follow us into the vault. I can't bear the thought of something bad happening to you"

Before I knew it, Penny wrapped her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug as she hid her forehead in my shoulders. At first, I couldn't believe it, I just stood there with her warmth and allowed that familiar feeling of security and care wash over me

A heavy, broken breath left my body, felt like a weight had been pulled off

At least until I heard her voice again, still buried in my shoulder

"...If I go to the Cursed Vault, would you be by my side?"

That question caught me off-guard, making me end the embrace to look at her. Although I think I heard her protest this

"Of course I would. I wouldn't leave you to yourself" I answered almost automatically

"Then I have nothing to fear"

The way she smiled after saying that, was disconcerting

"Penny..."

"I'm going to trust you with a secret of mine, one that I've never told anyone before"

She motioned me to come closer, which I did. It took her a bit to talk, seems as if this was a heavy subject for her as well

"It's bad enough to have my sister trapped in a portrait like that, it's horrible"

Penny was the one to sigh after that, her fists clenching as well before those blue orbs of her stared me down

"...But it's even worse to see the one I love risk their life for all of us every single year. I can only pray that you come back in one piece and so far you have"

The one she...what?...

Now I was speechless. Her cheeks turned a shade of pink when she noticed my reaction, but it didn't take long for a small smile to return to her

"This time, I want to help you the way you've helped us. It doesn't matter if it's an Ice knight, an Acromantula, or a bunch of Bogarts..."

Then, I felt something reaching out for my hand, it was hers

This gesture provoked our eyes to meet one last time

"As long as we are together. There is no such thing as an impossible challenge"

The determination in her, so familiar. Now I understood what Dumbledoremust've felt when I ignored his pleas for me to stop chasing the vaults

"And when we return from this, we'll talk. I promise"

What came after was still something that I'm struggling to process

Penny pulled me towards her a little and then closed the distance herself, leaning in towards me. I felt a pair of soft, tender lips kissing my cheek

"Thank you for opening up to me. I mean it"

There was no butterbeer or oversized sandwiches that could persuade the blonde to leave this mission, I understood that now. She would get to experience the end of this curse herself

And as we stood along with Bill, Merula, Rakepick, and even Ben, I made my new mission to protect her from whatever lurked inside that vault

But as we approached the portkey and her hand wouldn't leave mine, I understood that even in the face of incredible danger...

...She too, would have my back

#mc hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery jacob's sibling #penny haywood x mc #penny haywood x jacob's sibling #Year five

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dfel-exe · 5 years

Note

Can i request for the angsty reactions of the boys when the mc gets bitten and they have less than an hour together before she turns 👀

wow, so so sorry for not getting to this earlier! ive been kinda holding myself off from requests cause i was busy playing the blue lions route of fe3h and schoolwork’s been crazy. but, here you go anon! hope you enjoy~

dfel boys when their s/o gets bitten:

Lawrence:

it had been a seemingly normal day for Lawrence

except, he was exceptionally sick

but hey, that’s what stress will do to you. he had been so held up with his responsibilities lately, he forgot to take care of his own health

because of this, he was out of commission when it came to the much needed supply run

after months of going with the others on supply runs, he trusted that you all knew the route well enough to get there and back safely

so he decided to send you out with a few others

he quickly regretted his decision when you walked into his room with tears streaming down your face

after a quick moment of him calming you down and evening out your breaths, you rolled up your jeans to show a nasty zombie bite

“the others don’t know,” you hiccuped out, tears once again leaking out of your eyes

“how long ago did you get bitten?” he questioned

you shrugged, bringing your knees up to your chest and hugging them close. “i don’t wanna die, Lawrence…”

the heartbreaking realization that he wouldn’t be able to spend the rest of his life with you finally washed over him

and to say he was overwhelmed was an understatement

he was trapped in his thoughts, and he quickly became unresponsive

maybe if i had gone on the supply run, this wouldn’t have happened

it’s all my fault

Harry:

patrolling with Harry was probably your favorite part of the day

i mean, you got to have alone time with your boyfriend, why would it not be your favorite? alone time was hard to come around

and so it happened, the two of you had started your nightly patrol

you were assigned to the front of the school

you and Harry split up to get the ground covered faster, and you just so happened to finish faster, so you made your way over to him

if there was one thing you were not expecting, it was to find a zombie lurking behind a very distracted Harry

you called out to him, yelling at him to move, but unfortunately, your words fell upon deaf ears

so you did the most illogical, but heroic, action that a loving partner would do

you jumped in front of him right before the zombie was about to take a bite

the zombie’s jaws clenched down onto your arm, and at the sound of your grunt, Harry finally turned around

he rushed over to you as quick as he could and quickly beat the zombie down

you were in shock at the fact that you were still alive, but moreso at the fact that you were going to turn in about an hour

Harry picked you up and ran to his room as fast as he could

the only thing keeping you from breaking down was the sound of his heartbeat as you rested your head on his chest, your arms wrapped around his torso

but your calm demeanor could only stand for so long, and as soon as the doors to his room shut, the walls tumbled down

the both of you were suffering at the realization that you only had an hour left with each other

Harry had experienced an immense amount of joy when he met you, you were something he could live for

but now, that joy was stripped away from him

the light of his life was going to die

the fact that the cause of your death was you saving him pained him

and he had to live with that for the rest of his life

Eugene:

after the loss of every single one of his friends except you, he made a promise to himself

he promised that he would never let you go unprotected m and that you would love th rest of your life unharmed

but that promise was short lived

the two of you had finally managed to find the safe zone, and both of you were relatively unscathed

but you didn’t know that it had been overrun by the undead

so without this knowledge, the two of you walked inside

Eugene was a little suspicious at the lack of people, but you looked happy, so he shut up about his speculations

as you both walked further into the empty safe zone, you were relieved to find a bathroom

you had been trekking for a few days now, and with no real bathroom to use, an actual one was a sight for sore eyes

you turned to him and told him to wait, so he reluctantly agreed

the wait was short lived as he heard a loud scream come from the bathroom

he ran over fast and tried to open the door, but it was locked

he started shouting for you, ramming the side of his body into the door

when the door finally opened, you stood in a corner, an plain look on your face

your mouth was slightly agape, your eyes lidded and zoned on something far away

Eugene saw a dead zombie on the ground, but he was more focused on your bloody left leg

“Eugene…” you called out once you noticed him standing at the entrance

he just shook his head, closing his eyes. “don’t say it.”

“Eugene, we don’t have a lot of time left. you of all people should know what needs to happen.”

he stepped forward, hugging you close as he cradled your head, voice breaking with his next words

“let’s spend the rest of our time together in the best way possible, kay?”

Zion:

Zion has known you before the apocalypse had begun, and even better, he had been dating you before it happened

but after the incident happened, he was sure he had lost you like everybody else

so he was extremely shocked to run into you on a supply run

but you weren’t exactly in prime condition

in fact, you were in the process of mustering up the courage to hack off your leg

of course, Zion was extremely shocked to see this

he was already shocked from meeting up with you after so long, but seeing you try to inflict harm on yourself hurt him

it wasn’t until you had explained the situation that the dread had set in

you had been bitten moments before (hence the dead zombie by your side) and were hastily trying to figure out a way to stop the infection from spreading

“Y/N, cutting your leg off will only make you bleed out.”

“better than turning into one of them, right?”

you were strong, you always had been. that was one of the reasons he was attracted to you in the first place

but seeing you so desperate to save yourself put him in a hole filled with despair that he had never experienced before

so, he sat next to you and held your hand, explaining that there wasn’t a way to fix the virus

“should’ve known that i would’ve bit the dust first, eh?”

the fact that you could make jokes in this situation made him sadder

he spent the last moments with you cherishing past memories

you wanted to end it fast, you would rather go to hell and back before turning into one of them. but you weren’t cruel, nor were you weak, you could handle your own problems

before you held the gun up to your head to end it, you gave him one last passionate kiss, gently pushing him out of the convenience store you had been sitting in

as he walked away, he flinched at the sound of the gunshot, tears pricking his eyes

Ethan:

Ethan had been with you the moment you got bitten, and it was the scariest moment of his life

you had convinced him to go to the bottom floor with you, and he reluctantly agreed

he knew that the bottom floor was dangerous, but he beleived in his ability to protect you

but he should’ve had known better, nothing ever went the way he wanted

you kicked the zombie away as he rushed forward, smashing the zombie’s head before kneeling next to you

you were surprisingly calm. in fact, he was the one panicking

he was quick to realize the short amount the two of you had left

so he did his best to make you comfortable. he brought you to a secluded room that nobody used, and cuddled with you

he wasn’t sure what else he could do, but you reassured him that it was alright and that you couldn’t imagine a better way of spending your last moments

as your time came to an end, the both of you realized that there were two options

because of the lack of secondary weapons, he could end it for you, or he could leave you in the room for you to turn

yknow… i’ll leave it up to you to decide. so, dear reader, what will it be?

#dangerous fellows #dangerousfellows #dangerous fellows ethan #dangerous fellows eugene #dangerous fellows harry #dangerous fellows imagines #dangerous fellows lawrence #dangerous fellows x reader #dangerous fellows zion #dfel #dangerous fellows headcanons

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heyyyharry · 5 years

Text

Chapter 3: Handcuffs

(from the Flatmate Trilogy: Two Hearts, One Home)

...in which Niall can only think of one way to solve his best friends’ conflict.

Warning: overusing of the word ‘fuck’, and mentioning of kinky sexual activities lmao.

Word count: 6k

Chapter 2: Boss - Y/N deals with more problems at work, and Harry makes a life changing decision.

Wattpad link

"Janet, can you email me the event timeline? Linh, raise the target to five hundred for me, you can do better than that. Jay, that email—"

"Mrs. Styles, coffee for you."

Y/N looked at the new intern who smiled at her and offered the coffee cup with both hands. Her name was written on it, so it couldn't be a mistake. But she would've remembered ordering black coffee, for it was one thing she could never swallow down half of her throat.

"From Mr. Coleman."

Of course it is. Y/N thought. She thanked the intern for the drink then brought it straight to Jack's office. If he wanted to keep them both alive in the same company, he needed to stop with these overfriendly gestures.

"You know I hate black coffee."

Jack looked up when she placed the cup down on his desk. The way she stood with a grimace and her arms crossed put a smile upon his face. He pointed the pen he was holding to the cup, not taking his eyes off her. "You might need that if you're gonna pull an all-nighter again."

Y/N's eyes went wide at that answer. "How do you—"

"Let's see, I sent you a text at 2AM, asking you to edit the MC script for me, which would take around an hour or two. Then I received that script via email at around 3:45. So my guess is that you either woke up at two in the morning or you didn't sleep at all." He paused to breathe before continuing. "But you once mentioned that quote from How I Met Your Mother in a meeting, though literally nobody asked, and I almost kicked you out for interrupting me." Y/N scoffed when Jack scrunched up his nose to tease her as he went on, "the quote says, 'when 2AM rolls around, just go home and go to sleep.' That means..."

Now he pointed the pen at her, and she did what he wanted her to do. "I pulled an all-nighter." Complete his sentence.

"See?" He chuckled, slightly tapping the pen on his forehead which made her laugh again.

"Wow, you're a detective now huh? Maybe you should quit this job and go solve some criminal cases."

"I just promoted you last week and now you already wanna get rid of me?"

Y/N shook his head, trying to hold back another smile, even though she knew she couldn't.

"Thanks for the coffee by the way," she told him, lifting her cup and reached for the door handle. "I hope this will be the last time you buy me anything without my consent."

"Wait, Y/N!" Jack spoke up right before she could leave. So she turned back to him, both eyebrows raised. "Congratulations on your husband's new company."

That wasn't something she'd expected to hear.

"My husband's what now?" Her eyes expanded even more as her mouth fell opened. Definitely not the reaction Jack was hoping for, because he seemed a bit taken aback.

"Styles Corporation?"

"Which belongs to his dad and in San Francisco."

"Shit," Jack cursed under his breath which clearly didn't sound like a good thing. Never had Y/N doubted her husband until this point. She marched towards Jack, forgetting he was her boss as she slammed both hands on the desk top, eyes narrowed at him.

"What do you know that I don't, Jack?"

Jack swallowed hard. He leaned back a bit to keep a distance between them two. He didn't want to be the first person she heard this from, but this wasn't the right time to wonder why Harry hadn't.

"Devlin Styles was gonna sell the company to my family...But then Harry changed his mind, and wanted to keep it."

"But he didn't want to move to San Francisco. I kept telling him—"

"Y-Yeah. That's why he's relocating the company to London."

Y/N's jaw dropped as soon as she heard those words. It almost felt like an ice bucket splashed into her face. She was hearing this big news from her boss, and not her husband, the closest person to her. And now she was furious.

This was actually the first day since Y/N started working here that she left the office early. On the taxi ride home, she'd already come up with twenty different ways to kill her husband. What was he thinking? Keeping something like this from her?

Always be honest to each other my ass.

"Congratulations Mrs. CEO!"

"Fuck!" Y/N shouted out, causing Nam to jump in shock. A lady standing nearby quickly covered her child's ear then urged him into the lift. Y/N just ignored that look she was given and turned back to the doorman. "Did he tell you too?"

"Harry? No, Layla did." Nam flashed her a smile.

Okay, so Layla knows which means Niall also knows. He'd rather tell those two before me. How lucky am I?

"Are you okay?" Nam asked as he picked up the yellow cat at his feet and put him on the counter. Y/N recognized the creature immediately, he was Mason and Stephanie's pet. Great, now she had to share a catsitter with those obnoxious people. But wasn't Treasure supposed to be here as well? Y/N remembered leaving her with Nam this morning. Hurriedly, she looked around, searching for her white fur ball which Nam noticed, so he spoke, "Layla took her already. She and Niall are hanging out with Harry in your flat. But seriously girl, are you okay?"

Y/N rested her arm against the counter as she heaved a sigh. But right before she could open her mouth and vent about what had happened, Stephanie walked in. The evil blonde had this enormous grin on her face when she saw Y/N. Either Stephanie forgot to take her medicine, or this was only a trap.

"Hey, neighbor! I heard about Styles Co.!"

"Of course you did!" Y/N scoffed sarcastically. "Everyone did. Why hasn't this been on the news?"

"It has," Stephanie answered to the other girl's surprise. She thought Y/N might not believe her so she pulled out her phone to open the article. "Many business newspapers are already talking about this. See?"

Y/N pressed her lips together as she threw her arms in the air. She had absolutely nothing to say about this situation. Now that she knew the whole world had heard about this except for her, it felt like a slap in the face.

"Bye, Nam. Gotta go."

"Wait!" Stephanie seized Y/N's arm right when she turned to the lift. With an artificial grin, the blonde told her, "Let's forget all the misunderstandings we had in the past. We're neighbors after all. Maybe Tiger and Treasure can have a playdate this weekend!"

Y/N was already fed up with Harry, she didn't have time to deal with Stephanie's pretentious kindness. She shrugged her neighbor's hand off her arm and straight off denied the offer. "I don't think that's gonna happen, Steph. Treasure may like Tiger, but I don't like Tiger's owners. Sorry."

When Y/N marched towards the lift and heard Nam chuckle, she could imagine how humiliated Stephanie looked. That made her feel much better about having to deal with Harry later. Now she could only hope her husband had a good explanation for this.

"Harry Edward Styles!" She shouted from the moment she stepped into the hallway. Harry and their two friends probably heard it too. Because once the door flew opened, they were already staring at her in fear. Harry's face went pale as he caught her dead glare.

"You relocated a whole fucking enterprise, and became the CEO but your wife was the last to know?!"

"I was gonna tell you tonight," Harry confessed as he sat up straight. But Y/N's expression hadn't softened, not even a little bit.

Sitting right beside him, Niall retreated into his own arms and Layla pulled Treasure to her lap, slowly sinking into the couch. Neither one of them expected to be dragged into this mess. But unfortunately, Y/N didn't spare a single living soul.

"I give you one chance to be honest with me," she said, pointing to the other couple. "When did Harry tell you about this?"

"Harry didn't—"

"Right after you told us about your promotion," Layla spoke fast, and received looks of shock from both her fiancé and his best friend. "What? You idiots know I'm always gonna pick her."

"I'm proud of you," Y/N mumbled to her best friend and turned right back to Harry. "Well?"

He sucked in a deep breath before rising up from the couch, walking straight towards his wife. She turned away, taking a step back when he attempted to hold her. He couldn't charm his way out of this, not again.

"I'm sorry, baby. I never wanted you to find out from those online articles."

"No, I didn't," she said, raising both hands so he would back off. "Jack told me. I found out from my freaking boss, Harry!"

Y/N didn't expect this reaction from her husband who took a step back immediately. The look of regret he'd had earlier had been replaced by a grimace. With both hands on his hips, he said, "so that's why you're so upset."

"Of course that's why! I heard it from my boss when I could've heard it from you!" She cried out, but he shook his head no as if to deny her words.

"I don't think it's the only reason," he said. His voice was dangerously low. "You wouldn't have reacted this way if you'd heard it from Niall and Layla. But because it's Jack—"

"Are you kidding me?! What are you implying?"

"You were the one who told me to take over Styles Co. and now you're mad because I agreed to go for it," he raised his voice a bit louder now. That was how she knew he was just as pissed off about this. It was ridiculous. He had no right to be angry after hiding something like this from her. "Did he say something to you? Ask you to make me change my mind? I know his family is upset about the deal."

"No, Jack's not the problem here. You are." Y/N scoffed. She could faintly hear Layla say "oh no she didn't" in the background, still she ignored that and went on. "We're married. You cannot make such a big decision without me."

"So you don't want me to accept the offer then?"

"Don't twist my words." She stabbed a finger at him. "I would've dropped my job to go with you to San Francisco, but you didn't trust me enough to talk to me about it first!"

"We're not going to San Francisco anymore!" Harry clenched his hands into fists as he squeezed the air out of frustration. "I did this all for you, and I already apologized. Why are you so mad about it?"

"Because you apologize while pointing the gun at me, Harry. You're raising your voice at me too. That's not fucking sorry!"

Y/N rarely cursed. Whenever she did and couldn't stop, she must be mad as hell. Niall and Layla had now turned invisible in their eyes as they were too caught up in their argument. Neither one paid attention to Niall, who was now standing right next to them.

"Can't you see you're making a big deal out of nothing? You get to keep your job. We're getting a company of our own. I'm doing us both a favor here."

"That's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about? Jack?"

"Don't bring Jack into this! He has nothing to do with—"

Click!

The couple froze in an instant when they heard that familiar sound. They turned to look at Niall and followed where his eyes were hinting at to find the biggest shock of the day. Their wrists were now linked together with...a pair of handcuffs.

"What the fuck, Niall?!" Harry cried out, attempting to grab his best friend. But Niall was quick to run across the room and Harry nearly fell head over heels when Y/N pulled him right back.

"Work things out and I'll let you go," Niall said with a big smile on his face. Meanwhile, on the couch, Layla was trying her best to contain her laughter.

"Where the fuck did you even get these handcuffs?!" Harry's reaction made Niall laugh.

"Treasure found them in your drawer."

"Good girl," Layla told the cat while stroking her head. The innocent little creature didn't understand what was going on between her parents. So she purred happily and seemed so proud of herself.

"I have dinner with the Colemans and my dad tonight!" Harry freaked out, gripping his own hair. Ironically, he was the one who had come up with this idea to have dinner with Jack's family. He thought it'd be a nice way apology for the broken deal. They hadn't signed any contract or violated any terms, but this was for the best if they were gonna do business together in the future. It was probably too late to call it off now.

While Harry was worried as hell, Y/N tossed her head back and burst out laughing. Apparently, Jack had forgot to tell her that as well.

"Why am I not surprised that I'm not invited?" She said sarcastically, making Harry scoff.

"I had to kiss my father's ass for you. Don't try to be smart here."

When he snarled at her, a part of him could see it wasn't the right thing to do. She wasn't the entire reason he was mad. It was everything. He'd been living under stress in the past week, trying to convince Devlin to relocate the firm. He didn't receive any help so he had to take care of the paperworks and figure out everything on his own. The least thing she could do for him was try to understand why he'd done it and kept it from her. But instead, she turned on him too.

And then came the thing with Jack.

Harry always knew she had a soft spot for Jack. And he only turned a blind eye to it because they were married now. But when she said Jack told her about Styles Co., the situation came to a head. She was supposed to be on his team. He made one mistake and she chose to blame him instead of work on this with him. So yes, Harry was mad, really mad.

"Where do you keep the key?" He turned to ask his wife, who seemed rather startled as she shook her head fast.

"What makes you think I have the key?"

"The last time we—" Harry stopped in the middle of his sentence as Layla and Niall both raised their eyebrows at him. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat and turned back to Y/N, his face screwed up in concern. "So...you don't know where it is?"

"Jesus Christ," Y/N muttered under her breath. At this point, she was so done with freaking out. The last time they got stuck in a pair of handcuffs together, she actually went insane and expected only the worst. But now after five years living together, she wasn't even surprised that they would end up in this situation again, non-voluntarily.

"Wait, you guys don't know where the key is?"

"What the fuck, Niall? Is this a game to you?!" Harry raised his voice.

Layla was trying not to laugh as she didn't want to add fuel to the flames. Niall, however, puckered up his lips, his face darkened in guilt. He really should've considered this outcome the moment he came up with the idea.

"This went south a bit faster than I expected," Y/N mumbled to herself, rolling her eyes. "I guess I'm coming with you to that dinner."

"No, you aren't."

"Seriously, H? Now isn't the time to—"

"I don't want my dad to say mean things to you, alright?"

That statement left Y/N speechless. She licked her upper lip as her facial expression softened, like the look in his eyes when he stared at her. That was the moment she knew her Harry had returned. Who was she kidding though? He'd always been her Harry. He might've got mad and said something he didn't mean, but she hadn't been right either.

"I don't care. This is the least I can do for you." She pressed her lips into a smile then reached out to intertwine their fingers. They temporarily forgot about the big issue right under their noses, until Niall broke the silence with a loud 'aww'.

"But look on the bright side," he said. "If I had the key, I would release you guys already."

"Shut up, Niall!" The couple screamed at the same time, causing their friend to quickly run and hide in the kitchen. They would've killed him already, but they needed to get out of these handcuffs first.

"How much time do we have until the dinner with your dad?" Y/N asked her husband, staring at the clock on the wall.

"Uhm...half an hour, maybe less."

"Okay. We've got half an hour or less to look for the key."

"What if we still can't find it?" Niall questioned, poking his head through the kitchen door. The nervous couple looked at the metal cuffs linking their wrists together. They didn't want to say it, so Layla had to.

"Then Mr. Harry CEO Styles has to see his dad and the Colemans in his ugly band tee."

Accidents happened all the time, and that was always a great excuse for something that didn't go as planned. However, showing up at a five-star restaurant in an old t-shirt while being handcuffed to your wife, just wasn't the case. Who would believe something like that could be 'an accident'?

"But it is!"

"Really, Harry? Really?" Devlin huffed as he glanced from left to right. He wanted to make sure nobody paid attention to his son's appearance. "You expect me to believe you rolled out of bed and fell into these handcuffs with your wife?"

"No, but—"

"Please sit down. If you cannot show up looking like a CEO, at least act like one."

Harry and Y/N shared a look when Devlin stormed back to his chair. Without another word, they joined the man at the table. Y/N noticed Harry's frown and leaned in to whisper to him, "at least he called me your wife, so yay?"

Her little grin left one on his face as well. Somehow she always managed to make the best of a terrible situation, but Harry knew this relief wasn't gonna last. He nodded slightly, yet said nothing as the waiter arrived with their menus. Neither one of them was hungry anyway, so they just let Devlin order whatever he wanted for them both. The waiter noted it all down, then shot Harry a judging stare before walking off.

"Even that waiter could tell what a mess you are."

Normally when Devlin said something like that Harry would apologize and ignore. But this was a different time now. He was trapped in a handcuff, as if it wasn't bad enough. He didn't have any energy left to act as his dad pleased.

"How can I take off this shirt with these handcuffs in the way?" He scoffed, resting his chin on his knuckles. "I'd prefer a better suggestion than having my own hand cut off. Thank you very much."

Devlin was taken aback by that response. It was actually the first time Harry had talked to him like that. And of course, he wasn't tolerant of such disrespectful attitude from his own son.

"You shouldn't have got yourself handcuffed in the first place!" He lashed out. "You're almost twenty five and you're about to lead a company. But here you are, looking like a college student with a rock band living in his mother's garage!"

"Please shut up."

This time, Devlin's eyes almost popped right out of his head. Y/N also turned to her husband with a wide-eyed look. She never would've expected him to say something like that. The Harry who had lived his entire life looking up to his father wasn't there anymore.

"For once." He lifted a finger, eyebrows creased as he looked straight into the man's eyes. "For fucking once, I just want you to be a normal dad."

That one sentence put Devlin to silence. He sat there in disbelief, mouth slightly opened. Still Harry neglected his father's expression as he carried on. "When we stepped in here in this situation, you didn't even ask how it happened. All you cared about was that I was here to embarrass you, and you couldn't stop talking down on me for it. To prove your fucking point. But guess what? I'm in charge of Styles Co. now. So if you cannot respect me as your son, you're gonna have to respect me as the CEO of your firm."

It wasn't until Harry had finished his last sentence that he realized what he'd just said. He was paralyzed, but so was Devlin. Judging from the look on his old man's face, Harry assumed whatever he'd blurted out must have worked. Y/N flashed him an encouraging smile, and now he felt more powerful than ever.

Five minutes later, Jack showed up. Both Harry and Y/N were relieved to find out he'd come alone. Apparently, Jack's father was in New York for an urgent meeting, and couldn't make it back tonight. If he'd come, he would've had a heart attack to see the future CEO of Styles Co. dressed like this to a fancy dinner. Not to mention the handcuffs. But thank God it was only Jack. This man had already been to their wedding. Nothing could shock him more.

"I've got the same Gun And Roses shirt at home. Yours looks great." He chuckled, pointing to Harry's black t-shirt. Devlin's reaction to that compliment was just priceless.

"I got it from a thrift store. Pretty sick, right?" Harry chuckled as Jack sat himself down. Now that he was here, the atmosphere had really lightened up. They (except for Devlin) shared a good laugh when Harry and Y/N explained the handcuffs. The couple made sure to leave out the reasons for their fight, not wanting Jack to feel like it was his fault.

Once the food had been served, they topic was switched to business. Y/N couldn't be more surprised by how her husband took charge of the conversation like a pro. He was usually a man of few words around Jack — someone he'd always considered his competition. Seeing him like this, so confidence, so sure of himself and what he wanted for his company, Y/N was over the moon. All she did for the rest of that evening, was sit there with her chin on her knuckles, and admire her husband with massive heart eyes.

As for Devlin, Harry's previous words kept replaying in his head. After sitting quietly throughout Jack and Harry's discussion, it occurred to him that he'd really underestimated his own son. He always knew Harry was smart, which was why he wanted to pass on the company to his boy. But what he seemed to forget was, Harry wasn't a boy anymore. He was a man. And now a boss. Maybe it was time for Devlin to take a step back and accept that his empire was in good hands. And maybe, it was also time he finally learnt how to be 'a normal dad'.

"Harry," he spoke after Jack had already left. Now they were standing right outside the restaurant, and it was raining a little bit. Harry and Y/N didn't have an umbrella so they had to cover themselves with Harry's jacket. They seemed to get quite impatient when Devlin began to stutter.

"Uhm, can you hurry up?" Harry áked, glancing skyward. "We kind of need to walk home."

"Well...I...uh..." The older man struggled to find the right words to phrase his thoughts. He was fidgeting with his car keys and Harry noticed right away. It was something he took after his father. The Styles men could never hide their true feelings, and they both found it hard to communicate how they felt. Harry had improved so much thanks to Y/N, but for someone like Devlin. He needed more time.

Without a warning, Harry wrapped his free arm around Devlin's shoulders, pulling the man into a hug.

"It's okay, dad," he said. "I forgive you."

Devlin was as stiff as a pole, but Harry refused to let go. So eventually, the older Styles had to adjust to the unfamiliar affection and lift an arm to pat Harry on the back.

"Hope to see you at work sometimes." Harry smiled as he pulled away and took his wife's hand. Y/N said nothing more than a goodbye to Devlin, but all it took was her soft beam to melt his almost stone cold heart. As Devlin watched the happy couple walk away, hand in hand, his chapped lips curved into a subtle grin. He couldn't deny it anymore. What he'd seen, had got to be true love.

"What you did back there was so hot!"

"Yeah?" Harry's face lit up at his wife's compliment. They kept on walking with his jacket above their heads to cover themselves from the rain. He leaned in to kiss her cheek. One simple peck was enough to keep them both warm in this awful weather. "And what did I do exactly?" He asked with a cheeky grin.

"You showed up looking like a mess, but when you started speaking, you were a boss," she told him, resting her head on his shoulder. "You also put your dad in his place. God, you were so hot."

"When we've finished with the relocation process, you're gonna see boss Harry everyday, baby."

"I can't believe you just called yourself that."

"That's so hot, right?" He mocked her voice, making her dissolve into laughter while clinging onto him.

The rain was heavier now, but the couple were too full of joy to even care about their hair gradually getting soaked. They had grown used to the feeling of the cuffs and almost forgot they were there, until Harry moved his constraint hand to hug her waist, accidentally bending her wrist.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry, love! You okay?"

"I'm fine." She hissed, glancing down at their little problem. "Ugh, I cannot wait to get out of these. Do you think Niall and Layla already found the key?"

"Yeah. It has to be in our bedroom somewhere. I mean, the last time we—"

"Stop!" She quickly covered his mouth as both of them started to giggle. He removed her hand quickly and raised an eyebrow. It was funny how fast her face turned red though they were the only two people there.

"I was gonna say the last time we got stuck in these handcuffs five years ago. What were you thinking about?"

"No, you weren't, liar!" She glared at him, smiling for she knew he knew exactly what he was talking about. "But yeah, that was a fun experience."

"Ha!"

"I was talking about five years ago!" She scoffed, smacking him on the arm.

"Jokes aside, I agree. That was one of the happiest days of my life," Harry broke the silence which only lasted for a few seconds. Y/N turned to him, eyes sparked with joy as she asked him if he was serious. She'd always thought he used to hate her then.

Nodding fast, Harry said, "believe it or not, I had like the biggest crush on you and I didn't know how to ask you out...without actually asking you out."

"So you intentionally handcuffed yourself to me?" Y/N dropped her jaw, pointing a finger to her face. She looked so freaked out that it was impossible for him not to laugh.

"No! That was an accident, I swear!" Harry guffawed. "But I've never regretted it. I'm gonna tell our kids I married their mother because I handcuffed her to myself."

"Honey, only one of us is allowed to be the bad parent. Don't compete with me," Y/N joked, laughing along with him.

As they kept on walking, the rain kept falling harder. At this point, Harry's jacket had become useless, but they were too carefree to mind water dripping down from their head to toes.

"Wanna hear the truth?" she asked, holding on to his arm by her side. Harry didn't even know what that truth was about, yet he nodded so fast his head might just fall off. Y/N flashed him a grin and went on, "you thought you needed the handcuff to spend time with me, but all you needed to do was ask."

"Really?"

"Yup. I also had a huge crush on you." She covered her face shyly, making his heart flutter and his mouth spread into the brightest beam.

"I was such an idiot," he said.

"I agree." Her response made both of them chuckle. Quickly, she added, "my point is that, our marriage is not different from these handcuffs."

"Wow, it's that bad for you?"

"I'm trying to be serious here." She snorted and he quickly apologized and told her to continue. "Where was I? Oh right, marriage and handcuffs. So, our marriage is also like these handcuffs, right?"

"Right." He nodded, pressing his lips together to hold back another joke, otherwise she'd kill him.

"Even though we're trapped together and cannot easily escape, it doesn't mean without this link I will walk away from you. Even if we weren't husband and wife, I'd still be there for you through it all. We're in this together, and no matter how bad the situation is, we're gonna work through it. Together." She raised both eyebrows at him. At this point, he finally saw where she was hinting at.

"I'm sorry, love," he told her with a guilty smile. "I thought if I'd told you the truth you'd leave your job for me. So I decided to persuade my dad to let me relocate the company. I was gonna tell you when everything was done, but...you heard it first from someone else. And...I'm really sorry."

"It's alright." She nodded slowly. "But never again, kay? From now on we make all decisions together."

"Definitely." Harry was so happy that they'd got everything figured out. But he was wrong to think she would let him off the hook that easily. It only took her a five second pause to bring up what he hope she'd forgot.

"Why were you so angry about me hearing it from Jack?" She arched a brow, sticking up her nose.

"B-Because his family wanted the company and—"

"Cut the crap, I know when you're lying," she said, pressing a finger to his cheek. "When you lie you bat your eyelashes a lot."

Harry didn't even notice until Y/N pointed it out. Now he wondered how long she'd kept that from him. Last week, he told her he'd already given Treasure a bath, did she know it was a lie too? Did she let him get away with it? Jesus, how many times have I been played? I didn't lie that much, did I?

"Harry!" Y/N snapped her fingers in front of his face to pull him back to Earth. Harry blew up his cheeks, now that it'd come to this, he had no choice but to tell her what he hated to admit to even himself.

"I don't know...I always feel like...like Jack is a better version of me..."

"What? That's silly, H!"

"It's just..." Harry groaned, tossing his head back. "He's older and more successful...and...ugh...you seem to like him a lot."

"I—"

He quickly pointed a finger to her nose, squinting his eyes right at her. "Don't lie and say there's not at least one second that you actually had feelings for him."

Y/N stayed silent, taking Harry's hand and pulling it away from her face. All of a sudden, Harry wished he'd never said anything at all. The last thing he wanted to hear was—

"You're right."

No, no, no...

"There might've been a few moments that I felt something there," she said, watching anxiety clouded his features. He thought his heart might break. But then she stopped walking and pulled him closer. The rain had lessened and was coming to a stop, so they didn't mind anymore. "You know why?"

He pouted, trying not to look at her as he mumbled, "because he's so—"

"He's so much like you, that's why." That answer had got Harry's full attention. His eyebrows snapped together and his mouth fell opened. Now he was just gawking her. "At first I was scared because I thought I was catching feelings for someone else, but when I found out the reason, I was actually happy. I realize I'm always gonna see a bit of you everywhere I go. That's how much I love you. And even though you and Jack have so much in common, he's still Jack. He's not my Harry. He'll never be my Harry."

Y/N watched the grin grow on Harry's lips as she ran her fingers through his wet locks, pulling his face down to kiss him slowly. The wind was cold against their skin but the fire within already kept them warm.

"You're right, we do have a lot in common," he spoke once they pulled away. "I mean, he did compliment my t-shirt."

Y/N couldn't help but cackle at how fast his mood had changed. "Wow, should I be worried you're growing too fond of my boss?"

"If you're not worried about me cheating on you with Niall, then you shouldn't be worried about anyone else." It came out as a joke, but Y/N was the only one laughing. The smile dimmed on Harry's face the second his best friend's name left his lips. Immediately, he took Y/N's hand and dragged her along, giving her no time to question for she must hurry up to catch up with him.

Harry had only two things on his mind now. First, they’d get out of these handcuffs. Then, he’d kill Niall.

"All credit goes to Treasure. She found the key under your bed, you kinky sluts," said Layla who unlocked the handcuffs and tossed them onto the couch. With two hands on her hips, she gave them both a smile and asked how the dinner went.

"It was great!" Y/N said even though she was standing in the middle of her living room, dripping with rainwater. "Jack's father couldn't come so only Ja—"

"Niall, you have five seconds."

The girls turned to Harry as they were both confused by his words. Niall, on the other hand, knew exactly what his best friend meant. He quickly hid behind Layla, trying his best to come up with a good argument to defend himself.

"Think about it! If I hadn't done this you two would—"

"Four...three..."

"Are you serious?"

"Two."

"What the fuck happened to one?!"

Niall screamed and ran as fast as he could while Harry chased him around the flat. Both of them nearly tripped over a table before they made it through the door. From here, Layla and Y/N could hear Niall screaming in the hallway, and also Mason shouting at them "do you know what time it is, you fucking psychos?!"

"Aren't you gonna do something?" Y/N asked her best friend who looked even calmer than she was.

"Nope." Layla popped the 'p' sound in an amusing way. "Niall's been with me long enough. He'll survive." Then she turned to Y/N, her nose wrinkled as she finally realized something. "Shit. I can't believe your manchild is gonna run his own company."

Y/N could've sworn her jaw hurt from smiling that big.

"Yup." She nodded proudly. "That's my manchild."

#flatmate!harry #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfics #harry styles fanfictions #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles writing #harry styles series #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #husband!harry #ceo!harry

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choicessa · 6 years

Text

Three Minutes (Drake x MC)

Pairing: Drake x MC (Elizabeth)

Summary: Elizabeth discovers that she can’t fight her feelings anymore and decides it’s time to confront Drake and find the truth about his feelings…

Words: ~3700

Note: Prepare for a long introduction! So I read about kind of a ‘test’ where two people hold their hands and look deeply into their eyes and if after three minutes their heartbeats will synchronize, that means they’re in love. I’m not sure if it is even true BUT it gave me idea for this fic, so here we are! It takes place somewhere in trr book 1, where Drake didn’t admit his feelings for Elizabeth yet and he just keeps on pretending he dislikes her.

This is my entry for the angst prompt of the April Challenge hosted by @laniquelove <3

Disclaimer:

I do not own any of the characters here, just borrowing them. All rights go to Pixelberry Studios. Tagging my dearests: @mariawalkerwrites; @the-everlasting-dream (I think you’ve waited long enough for this xD) and @chantelle-x0x (because she was the first one I shared my idea with and she convinced me it’s not as stupid as I first thought) <3

It’s a stupid idea, Liz… Really stupid idea…

Elizabeth bit her lower lip and suddenly stopped in one place in the middle of the corridor, hesitating again. It was a stupid idea. She wasn’t even sure if what she had read was true and scientifically proven or was it just a bunch of rambling created by someone bored, to mess with minds just like hers. But even if it wasn’t true… It didn’t hurt to at least try, did it? She straightened her back and took a deep breath before she started to walk again.

Liar… Said persistent voice in her head. You’re lying to yourself, of course you do care if this is true. Otherwise you wouldn’t want to prove it so much…

She once again stopped, this time cursing under her breath. Whom was she trying to deceive? Of course it was never meant to be just for fun… She moved hands through her hair and started to play with endings of them, biting her lip again. What if he won’t want to take part in it? What if he’d think it’s just a stupid idea?

“It will be okay, Liz, it’s just a stupid test, nothing more. Okay?” She said to herself, taking a few deep breaths before she decided it’s time to walk again. “You will be fine, time will come when you’ll just laugh at this whole situation…” She murmured before stopping in front of the door leading to Drake’s room and she knocked.

Shit, she did it…

Her first reaction was to run away, hide somewhere behind those thick curtains covering windows but as she started to take a step back, ready to cowardly retreat, the door opened and a surprised face of Drake appeared in it.

“Harris? What are you doing here?” He asked, raising his brow.

“I… Uhm…” She looked around, almost like she was hoping for any kind of help, appearing to rescue her, until finally she sighed knowing there was no way out now. “I know it may sounds stupid but… Can you do something for me?”

His brow drew even higher when his unreadable sight seemed to pierce through her and Elizabeth swallowed hard, once again thinking how stupid she was for even thinking it would be a good idea.

“Sure.” He finally said, shrugging and making place for her to come inside.

Liz smiled nervously and stepped into his room, hearing the door closing behind her back and Drake’s steps when he approached her.

“So? What is it?”

Elizabeth turned around to face him and nervously smiled to him, not really knowing where to start. And how to do this?

“Well…” She finally cleared her throat. “I… There is that stupid bet I made with Maxwell and… I thought you could help me with that…” She finally blurted out, selling him the lie she came up with earlier. Please, tell me you buy it…

“A bet? Hell, Harris, what did you get into?” He almost groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, it’s not so bad, it’s just… embarrassing.”

“Okay, I must admit you have my curiosity. Shoot, Harris.”

“So… We need to sit in front of each other, hold hands while looking into each other’s eyes. For three minutes.” She murmured, holding her breath and looking up at him.

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it, well, his eyes only widened a bit while his brow raised again.

“Wait, that’s it?”

“Uhmm, pretty much?”

“So why can’t you just sit here for a moment and come back to Maxwell, telling him you did it?” He shrugged. “That’s what I’d done.”

“Hey! I do have my honor!” Elizabeth crossed her arms, shooting him offended glance. And because it’s not exactly about the bet but I don’t have guts to admit it so…

“Yeah, yeah, okay, got it…” Drake moved hand through his hair. “Why did it have to be me?”

“You know Maxwell, probably he thought it’d be hilarious…” She sighed, shrugging. “So? How it will be?”

“This is the most stupid bet I’ve ever heard of…” He sighed before frowning. “What is this bet even about?”

“It’s even longer story…” She laughed nervously, clearing her throat. Why did he have so many questions she didn’t prepare answers for? “So shall we?” She added quickly, before he would come up with another question.

Drake shook his head, murmuring something under his breath incoherently and he pointed to the chair standing not so far away. Liz sat down, crossing her ankles when she placed hands on her knees.

Okay, Elizabeth, you got that far… It’s no looking back now, you have to try it. It’s now or never.

She swallowed hard when Drake sat in front of her, sighing heavily. His face was saying it all just how much he didn’t want to do this and Liz thought that if she could, she would take everything back. But she said nothing, breathing heavily, feeling heart in her chest started to beat faster when he pulled chair closer to her, their knees almost touching now.

“So what now?”

“Now you have to grab my wrist, just like that…” She reached out to him, placing right hand on his wrist, her fingers wrapping around it, sensing his quickened pulse under touch of her fingertips. Could he be nervous, just like her? For a moment he didn’t move, his eyes locked on their hands until finally he also closed fingers around her wrists, his rough fingers brushing her skin.

“Huh, you nervous, Harris?” He asked with a smirk, probably sensing her own heartbeat under his fingers.

Of course she was. Elizabeth was stupid enough to develop feelings for him and now she was thinking that he might feel the same way? The higher level of being naïve and stupid… He hated her, of course he did. He was always less than friendly, making her feel like she was barely tolerable... And yet she managed to fell for him, despite all of his efforts to push her away. God, how did it even happen? And was she really so deep into him that his single touch could make her feel so much?

But she just shook her head, smiling to him.

„Ha, you wish” She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Shall we?”

Drake nodded and Elizabeth reached to her phone, setting timer for three minutes. Holding her breath she pressed start, putting two fingers on her neck, finding her own pulse under them. So now they had to wait…

She took a deep breath and raised her face, finally finding enough strength to look straight into Drake’s eyes. And as soon as she did, she simply… drowned in them. Those brown orbs she couldn’t stop thinking about, eyes that haunted her late at nights, eyes that she wanted to look into so often and yet didn’t have enough occasions to actually do that. And now he was sitting so close, their eyes locked on each other and suddenly Elizabeth realized that his gaze, always so unreadable was… different. She couldn’t name it and yet she saw something in his eyes, something new. The faint trace of emotion, when his eyes never left hers, when for the first time since she met him she felt like he was looking at her, not through her, not avoiding her eyes but right into them, almost like he could finally see her.

Elizabeth blinked several times, trying to shake this feeling off when suddenly she started to realize something else. She didn’t know how many seconds has already passed but she realized that pulse of a man sitting in front of her started to quicken. Barely at first, until after a few seconds it completely synchronized with beating of Elizabeth’s heart and her eyes widened as soon as she noticed that. She blinked several times, still waiting, making sure that it wasn’t just an accident, that she truly felt it.

“It worked…” She whispered to herself, her voice breaking the silence and that strange moment between them.

“What did work?” Drake murmured.

“The test. It… Our heartbeats synchronized!”

“Heartbeats… synchronized?” Drake raised his brow, looking at her questioningly. “What the hell are you talking about, Harris? What does it mean?”

“It means that you love me…” She whispered, words leaving her mouth before she had a chance to rethink them.

She knew that wasn’t the best idea, she knew that those words should have never left her lips. But she couldn’t turn back time, she couldn’t pretend nothing happened and could only look at Drake, with her eyes wide opened waiting for his reaction.

And in that moment his face drastically changed. His eyes widened, leaving him shocked, a disbelief spreading through his face, when the meaning of her words finally hit him.

“What the hell are you talking about?” He snorted, immediately taking his hands away, getting up from his chair, looking away from her, avoiding her eyes, avoiding her to not let her see what was hiding in his own eyes... The confirmation that what she has said – was true.

“When two people hold their hands for three minutes, looking deeply into each other’s eyes and their hearts synchronize their rhythm, that means they’re in love.” Those words left her lips almost on one breath when Liz got up, coming closer to him.

Drake stopped in one place and slowly turned around.

“I thought it was just a stupid bet...” He said slowly, his voice full of anger when he took a step closer to her. “And now you’re telling me it was just a test? A… A trap to expose my feelings!?” There wasn’t just anger in his eyes, but the pure hurt when he looked at her. “I can’t believe it, Harris… How could you?”

Cursing under his breath he stormed off the room, slamming the door behind his back. Liz needed just a moment before she ran after him.

“Drake, wait!” She shouted, seeing his figure just few steps ahead of her.

“What else do you want, Harris? I think you’ve done enough!” His eyes narrowed and Elizabeth took a step back, realizing that’s the first time she sees him angry like that. No, not angry, furious.

“Drake… Wait! I’m sorry I lied to you… It just happened and…”

“Yeah, right…” Drake snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. “At least you could have enough strength to admit that you were planning that, that you were lying to me from the beginning! And what ‘just happened’, Harris? Huh? Taking that test? Did you accidentally come to my room tonight? Accidentally intended on mocking me because of its results?”

“It’s not like that! I never meant to mock you! I just wanted…”

“You wanted what? Find a way to make my life even more miserable? To show how big fool I am for having feelings for my best friend’s girl? That’s what you wanted? Because then you did a marvelous job, Harris…”

“Drake, I said that I’m sorry!”

“Sorry won’t fix this!” He snorted, turning around until Liz grabbed his arm, holding him in one place.

“I think you’re forgetting about one thing, Drake.” She said, her voice raising when all those emotions she was trying to hide slowly started to take control over her. “You forgot that it takes two people to have a positive result of this test. Two, do you understand!?”

It took him a single second to realize what she was telling him. His brows raised in a shock, his mask of indifference crumbling once he understood the weight of her words. Two… So did it mean… That she? That both of them…?

“Harris…” He started, looking at her once again, anger suddenly disappearing from his voice. “What are you… What do you…”

“That’s why I wanted to try it at first place.” She said, taking a step towards him. “It was never about the bet, I had to know.” Another step closer when Elizabeth took a deep breath. “I care for you, Drake, I have for a very long time. I don’t know how you do want to call these feelings but… There are here and I just didn’t know what are you feeling…”

“And you thought that this test was best idea?”

“It did work out, didn’t it? Asking you wouldn’t get me any answer, so…” She shrugged. “It’s not like I had a better option…”

“And why the hell did you have to know? Does it change anything!?”

“Yes, it does! Of course it does, Drake! At least now I know I’m not a complete fool for falling for you!”

“Damn you, Harris!” He cursed, running hand through his hair. “How could you even develop any feelings for me? Just… how?” He looked at her carefully, almost like he still couldn’t believe that.

A girl like her, the one he tried so hard to push away, for his own sake, for her own sake, was now standing in front of him, her eyes full of hope, almost like she was waiting for the reassurance of his reciprocated feelings, the confession he could never give her. The girl he fell so hard for, despite his best efforts not to. He was trying so hard to hate her, to at least make her hate him but… he failed. How could anything of this happened? Just… how?

If only Elizabeth knew the answer to that question… To be honest she had no idea, he was nothing but mean and distant and yet there was something that made her coming back to him again and again, stubbornly trying to get through the layers of his armor, something attracting her, like a light attracting the moth who is coming right into the trap. And before she could realize what was happening, she was already in that trap, in the trap of her own feelings, unable to run away.

“It just happened…” She finally admitted, a sigh escaping her lips. “Somewhere along the way…”

“Shit…” Drake cursed, once again moving hand through his hair. “It wasn’t supposed to happen…” He murmured to himself. “You were never supposed to know…”

“So it is true then? You do care about me?” She asked, carefully taking a step towards him.

“Do you even need to ask anymore?” He murmured, once again moving hand through his hair. “We both know the answer to this question now…” He sighed, his eyes looking for hers, his gaze locking on her face.

Oh, the look he gave her… The look of a man who was tormenting for too long, who was struggling so hard to hide his feelings, unable to give in to them, the look of a man who was denying the cravings of his heart for such a long time, the look of a man trying so hard not to feel anything. And that’s when Liz realized how deep he was hiding all of his feelings, how desperately he was pretending that he didn’t care about anything, about anyone when the truth was he cared so much. Maybe even too much.

Elizabeth blinked several times, unable to stand his sight anymore and she swallowed hard, slowly taking another step towards him. What was she supposed to do? How to behave?

“So what are we going to do about that?” Elizabeth asked.

Drake looked at her, another strange expression appearing on his face for a brief moment. He opened his mouth and Liz almost involuntarily held her breath, part of her afraid of the answer, of the words he was about to say. But his mind was blank, unable to form any sentence, unable to even think of one rational thought why shouldn’t he give up? Why shouldn’t he give in to her? Why was he always supposed to be the responsible one? He closed his mouth, feeling that silent anger boiling in his veins. He was always the one sacrificing his life, his happiness, for others and once in his life he was tired with it. And in that moment Drake made his decision.

In a moment he was in front of her, grabbing her waist and crashing his lips against hers. Elizabeth stepped back under the pressure of his body, not expecting that ever, and especially now, Drake Walker would kiss her. And oh, the way he was kissing her… There was something desperate in the way he was pressing her body closer to the wall, when he was possessively grabbing her waist, closing her body in his strong embrace, his passionate kisses making her breathless. And at the same time something gentle in the way his right hand stroke her back, pulling her closer to his body, the way his left hand was caressing her cheek, slowly tangling into her long hair, making her moan softly when he gently pulled her head back. When he parted from her, she didn’t let him, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pulled him closer, closing space between them again, not having enough, never wanting to have enough. Finally the lack of air was too much and they parted, breathing heavily, hands and arms tangled around each other, none of them wanting to move away. At least not yet. Drake’s lips twitched, hardly resisting the urge to raise in a smile when he was tenderly looking at the girl standing in front of him, the girl he loved so much and the girl… that belonged to his best friend. That anger he was feeling moments ago, that feeling of having her in his arms, the crazy beating of his heart when she was next to him – everything disappeared, leaving him only with guilt, his conscious eating him up from inside, reminding him his place, reminding him that he was never the one to have her…

“The thing is…” Drake finally spoke up, his warm breath brushing her lips, when he was still so close to her that one step would make their mouth meet again. “We’re not going to do anything about it, Harris.” He finally said, against himself, knowing that he would probably regret those words until the end of his life, but… What choice did he have? “We’re going to pretend that this kiss never happened, that this test never happened. And you don’t know anything about my feelings…” He murmured, his thumb gently caressing the skin on her cheeks, almost like in denial to his words he still wanted to hold her in his arms as long as he could, like he wanted to delay the moment of releasing her from his embrace.

“Drake, how can you…”

“I’ve seen it often enough to know that it doesn’t have a future. Star-crossed lovers? Cursed by the universe, never able to be together… should I continue?” He asked, once again shutting himself, putting up the walls consisting only of sarcasm and all-day act of not caring. And it hurt. It hurt to see him like that again, especially now when she had a chance of getting a glimpse of real Drake, the one he was trying to hide so deep inside him.

“We could at least try…” She whispered.

Drake shook his head, for the last time brushing skin on her cheeks, longing so visible in his eyes, almost like he was fighting every inch of his body, his every cell drawn to the girl standing in front of him.

“No, Harris. No matter how much I want to… We can’t… Maybe in another life, in another dimension…” He sighed, taking a step back, reluctantly releasing her from his arms and Liz almost painfully felt the lack of them.

“Drake, please, wait, can we…” She reached out to him but he was taking another step back, and another, trying to distance himself, making a gap huge enough to help him resist the urge of kissing her again, of closing her in his arms and never letting her go.

“We can’t, Harris. We’ll never be able to. We’re cursed…” With that words he turned around and left her, not shooting even one last glance into her direction, his footsteps fading away in the long corridor when he was leaving, taking away the memories of his scent, his kisses, taking away all of her hopes and dreams of ever being together.

Elizabeth was only capable of watching him, his silhouette slowly fading in the distance, almost like a ghost who has never been here. He did feel the same way about her but did it change anything? She loved and was loved, the thought of her feelings being mutual should fill her with joy and yet it was leaving her broken hearted. Everything was wrong, so, so wrong… Suddenly her vision began to blur and Liz realized that it was all because of the tears, slowly gathering in her eyes. She was supposed to be strong, to fight the cravings of her heart, she was even ready for rejection but… But she wasn’t prepared of getting a glimpse of how it could be, how they could spend the life together and then having it ripped out almost immediately after. Elizabeth helplessly looked around, suddenly feeling lonely, so lonely, like she had never been before, her eyes almost looking for some kind of help, of consolation. But she was on her own. She put her own arms around her body and slowly slid down on the floor, the tears streaming down her face, the ones she couldn’t stop anymore. She was so afraid of rejection before but now she realized that being loved and knowing that you could never be together hurts even more… Her happy ending was almost within the reach of her hand, but yet slipping away, still so far away… Her whole body was shaking from the sobs taking over her, her whole body curled up against the cold, hard wall and one sentence that Drake said kept on coming back to her, echoing in her mind, refusing to fade away from her memory, a sentence so true, reminding her of a harsh reality she was in.

Because he was right. They were cursed.

#drake x mc #drake x mc fanfic #the royal romance #april challenge #angst #choicessafanfic #choicessawrites #I'm not sure what happened here #but I was so hyped about that idea so I hope you will like it?#and also I had to add some slow burn #because I can't resist one and sometimes I miss good old times of drake x mc slow burn...#anyway #enjoy?#drake x elizabeth

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dissonants-13 · 6 years

Text

Darkest Before The Light

An It Lives In The Woods Story

Pairing: Dan x MC (Anna)

Story Notes: 8,000+ words, sexual situations.

Soundtrack

+ Oceandust: Hands Like Houses

+ A Tale of Outer Surburbia: Hands Like Houses

+ Developments: Hands Like Houses

+ Shapeshifters: Hands Like Houses

It started innocently enough, on that dark and desolate night in the woods, when Jane had taken possession of Dan’s body and used him as a mouthpiece for her sick revenge. Everyone plays together. The words would never leave him; they were burned onto the inside of his eyelids and tangled in the dark places in his soul. Somehow though, he’d been able to see Anna through the haze of darkness, the roiling shadows in his own head, but the real Dan had been trapped in that horror, in Jane’s insidious shadows. Anna came after him, fearless, catching him in the clearing. Her eyes, an eldritch, violet-blue that had always startled Dan, had held his gaze, and her long, black hair looked wild, her skin as pale as starlight. The real Dan had noticed all these things, but could do nothing as the monster Jane had made him taunt Anna.

But then she had begun to speak. Her voice was soft and husky, familiar and soothing as she spoke of memories. And Dan felt himself - his real self - stir in his mind. A tiny hope flickered to life - could he fight Jane? He had wrestled with the shadows in his head, while Anna’s gentle tone tugged him back to her, prying the darkness from his eyes. He felt like he was losing - Jane was so strong, so angry - but then Anna had stepped up, unafraid of him, and put her arms around him. It was the kind of hug where one of the huggers’ arms slides up to the back of your head and their other arm tightens around your waist, and they just hold you while you fall apart. Dan could smell the vanilla and raspberry scent of her conditioner, and that’s when he’d realised he could beat Jane - because before that, all he’d been able to smell was wet dirt and decay. He’d felt the shadows seep from his skin; he was unchained, awoken, and then he’d felt a strange and beautiful tingling as the warmth returned to his body. Anna’s skin felt like the beach on a summer evening, and Dan held her tighter, his face buried beneath soft black locks and his skin drinking in her warmth.

In the ruins, he’d looked directly at Jane as he shouted her down, even though her eyes crackled and burned the way they did in his worst nightmares. Though his gaze never left Jane, in his minds’ eye he saw Anna, imagined himself looking into her oceanic eyes; she’d been so brave for him and she’d always believed in him. She’d come to save him every time he’d reached out desperately in the darkness of Jane’s possession, never concerned for her own safety. She’d cheered for him at all his football games - he had noticed every time - even after their group had splintered. Staring into the red, hot hatred in Jane’s eyes, Dan had known it was real, and had believed he could be brave for Anna and their friends. He could face his fear, the spectre over his entire teenage life, and never let Jane use him to hurt the people he loved again.

When he’d beaten the game and landed with a thud and an oof on the damp, dewy forest floor outside the ruins, he’d felt no relief - just a raging, blood-boiling anger that Jane had done this to them, and that Anna was being punished for not being able to protect Jane from a monster when she was just a child too. The corners of his vision blurred red with fury as one by one, his friends were ejected from the ruins…all except Anna. She was still trapped in there with Noah and Jane, and no matter how hard they all tried, none of them could penetrate the ruins.

“Noah!” Dan snarled, throwing himself against the invisible barrier, to no avail. Dan had never been an angry kind of guy, but when he had seen Noah holding a knife to Anna’s pale throat, the wicked blade pressing just hard enough to break the delicate skin a little and send a trickle of red blood down the hollow of her throat, he’d felt a wave of rage crash over him like an avalanche. If he hadn’t been trapped by Jane’s sorcery, Dan felt he would have tackled Noah, would have fought and clawed and punched until he made Noah hurt, the way Anna was being hurt. The panic of waiting, of being unable to get into the ruins to help Anna, who would and had literally laid her life on the line for all of them, had been amongst the worst moments of Dan’s life.

By contrast, the moment she had stumbled from the ruins - bloody, bruised, but beautifully alive - was amongst the best. Before Dan even knew what he was doing, he had gone to her and crushed her in a hug, as tight as she had held him in the clearing, feeling her arms around him again and the fluttering heartbeat in her neck, against his cheek. He’d murmured in her ear, his voice husky with fear and relief, “You’re okay, you’re okay, I’ve got you.” Then he had stepped back, keeping a hold of her hand and had asked, “Anna, what happened down there?”

She had explained, and oddly enough, Dan had felt a twinge of pride - their girl was so strong and so brave. She was their warrior, their protector. Even after all she’d been through, Dan could still see that fierce light in her blue eyes - Jane and Noah could never, ever break that. Dan felt an intense rush of love for all of his friends, and he found he couldn’t look away from Anna, unwilling to let her out of his sight again, even later at the hospital.

The doctor was a kindly but harried looking middle-aged man, who blinked slowly when Dan stood up without even thinking to go with Anna into the triage room.

“Are you a relative?” The doctor asked brusquely, looking Dan up and down.

“I want Dan with me,” Anna had said quickly, quietly, reaching down to take his hand. Though she was gentle, her tone left no room for arguing. The doctor had shrugged and beckoned them, and Dan had gone to let go of Anna’s hand. She squeezed his fingers gently, the corner of her lips curling minutely, and she threaded their fingers, leading him. He let her pull him forward, smiling when she wasn’t looking. He held her hand throughout the doctor’s poking and prodding, and the smile he was rewarded with when she got the all clear and was ushered out the door made his heart contract unexpectedly.

And then, the ‘healing’ began, which looked wildly different for each of them. They had to go back to their senior year, and Cody was still dead, and they were changed forever. Things were different, but they had to cope somehow. Lucas threw himself back into the presidency and worked through his trauma by literally working - student government, committees, college applications, and even part time work at the pet store in town. He claimed the kittens calmed him.

Ava was as snarky as ever, and had taken to researching Cora and the more mystical history of Westchester, but it was when she was inexplicably nice that the group rallied around her especially hard, because that was a clear indicator she was having a bad day. Lily was remarkably well, filled with an optimism that their ordeal was behind them. Anna whispered to Dan with a grin in English one morning that she was pretty sure Lily was just happy because of a certain new arrival in town, a junior by the name of Shannon.

Andy attacked his rehab with the same single-mindedness with which he’d approached his training after transitioning, as he had aimed to make the basketball team. But his treatment also kept him out of school for a long time - there was talk of him re-doing his senior year. Andy didn’t seem to mind too much - “Means I can go out for Captain,” he’d said with a wink, when Lily asked him if he was upset about repeating. Trying to steal the olives off Anna’s pizza and blaming it on being a kind-of cripple - not for the first time, either - had merely earned him a quick smack upside the head though, which made Dan laugh.

Stacy resumed her mantle as cheer captain, with a much more docile Britney and Jocelyn in tow, and could often be seen around town, making an effort with her parents and her brother. More often than not, she’d be seen sharing a trademark Stacy Green eye roll with Connor, when their parents were total dorks - which was frequently.

For his part, Dan threw himself into trying to take control of his own head - getting to know his PTSD, studying counselling and mentoring outside of school and doing mini-courses. Some days Dan felt totally lost in the knowledge that he was the sickness and the symptom and the cure, and his skin kept the world out, yes, but it also kept his body and his mind and his soul in. There was football though, which helped - there was nothing like the clear-headed bliss that came from exercise. He liked to run, and whenever the white noise in his head got too loud, he was in his track pants and sneakers before he knew it, and would let his legs carry him until his lungs burned and the taste of salty sweat erased the memory of the scent of decay for a while. More and more often, he found himself ending up at Anna’s place on the forest edge. She seemed to have a sixth sense about him turning up - half the time she was opening the front door before he’d even crossed the street. She always greeted him with a curling half smile; it was cheeky, and made him glad he was already red in the face from his run for unknown reasons. He knew why he kept going to her though - Anna was the only one who could make the noise in his head stop.

They watched movies together - sometimes Anna would have the movie picked, and Netflix loaded and ready to go before Dan even arrived. Somehow she always knew when he needed her and would be jogging up on her doorstep. Dan liked the movies; he liked burying themselves under the plush fabric of Anna’s polar fleece throw, under the cozy, sloping roof of her room, with just the glow of the TV to light them. It always made Anna’s eyes look glacier blue. She made him popcorn too, which he liked, and they fought playfully over the most buttery pieces. Often, Anna’s head would end up at the junction where Dan’s chest met his shoulders - she just seemed to fit so perfectly there - and he had lost count of the number of times he’d realised halfway through a movie that his hand was resting on Anna’s thigh. She never seemed to mind.

One night, he was out running late, unable to sleep, even though it was close to midnight. He’d pounded the familiar path that took him to Anna’s, without even realising it, and had stopped when he’d noticed her bedroom light on and her curtain open. For a moment, nothing had happened, and then… Dan swallowed heavily - Anna had just walked past the window, her dark hair wet and loose, a navy towel wrapped around her. She disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared. Her back was to the window, and Dan could make out every lean muscle of her back and shoulders under bare skin, and the hollow of her spine all the way down to mint green pyjama shorts, which sat high over the gentle curve of her waist. He knew he should look away, should keep running, should stop the sudden thoughts of touching that bare, soft looking skin…skin that belonged to his best friend… Dan turned on his heel and sprinted home. His mom looked surprised to see him back so soon, but he jogged through the kitchen and down the hall to his room before she could question him.

Anna’s smile that Monday when she saw him at school was like the sun rising, and Dan found his breath coming quicker when he saw her. He flashed her a grin though, and leant his shoulder against the locker next to hers.

“I missed you on Saturday night,” she said, stacking her books into the arms he held outstretched to her for that exact purpose. “My movie buddy never showed up after his run!”

Dan shrugged, trying to play it cool. He was the QB for crying out loud - he’d never gotten this…fluttery around a girl before. It didn’t help that Anna wore a deep necked Led Zeppelin singlet, and his eyes were immediately drawn down the sharp angle of her shoulder blade.

“Dan?” she asked, startling him out of his reverie. “You okay?” One long-fingered hand slid onto his neck, beneath the soft brown hair that curled there, and Dan met the big, violet-blue eyes that searched his gaze.

“Great,” he said, hoisting her books. “I’ll make it up to you - Avengers on Friday night? Gotta get ready for Infinity War to come out.”

“I love the way you think, Pierce, but maybe Saturday? Stacy is having a party Friday.”

Stacy’s parents were going on a couples retreat before the re-election campaign, and they’d even given Stacy permission for her party - as long as Connor kept an eye on things. Most of senior year were going, plus plenty of juniors and the whole group had promised to be there. By ten o’clock, Dan was lightly buzzed, and watching Ava draw on Andy’s moon-boot, but Anna had yet to arrive. He tried to stop himself glancing at the door every few seconds, but he just couldn’t help himself. Every person who came into the house who wasn’t Anna was a disappointment.

“Markov!” Connor’s voice boomed across the lounge, as the front door quietly swung open. “Nice of you to join us!” There was a whirl of red material and black hair, before Connor set the laughing Anna on her feet again. She smoothed down the lush velvet material of her dress, and then spread her hands apologetically in Connor’s direction.

“I’m sorry I’m late, my mom and dad insisted on family dinner before they go to Europe.” She smiled the kind of smile that would have made it impossible to be mad at her, even if she’d come in announcing that classic rock sucked, Trump was a good president and universal healthcare was a terrible idea.

Connor was speaking, but Anna’s eyes were searching - Dan raised two fingers in a small salute when her gaze landed on him, and her smile brightened, the corners of her eyes crinkling with genuine happiness. Within moments, Lucas had appeared, pressing a red cup into Anna’s hands and at least half a dozen kisses to her face, but her eyes found Dan’s again and as he watched, she pushed her way through the crowded room to him. Everyone else was blurred and slow-moving; it felt like Anna was the only one in technicolor and true motion.

“Hey dork,” he greeted her, clinking his cup against hers. Ava looked up and grinned, and Andy stretched his hand out for a fist bump. Anna indulged him.

“Hey noodle,” Anna said, sliding into the space next to Dan on the couch. She tucked one leg up under her, and her knee rested lightly against his thigh. The nickname ‘noodle’ had followed him since middle-school, when he’d gone from five-feet-ten to six-foot-two almost overnight, and had strongly resembled a pool noodle in terms of grace and athleticism.

“Is that a pentagram?” Anna asked mildly, peering at Ava’s artwork. Andy looked down, apparently surprised.

“Yeah…but like, not the derivative kind. But no upside down crosses, I’m no cliche.” Ava grinned wolfishly, adding shading to her - surprisingly good - portrait of Tom on the shin of Andy’s boot. The four joked for a while, joined briefly by Stacy, before she was whisked away again for a game of beer pong. Eventually Anna was called off by Lily and Shannon to help with a round of flip-cup, and she stood up to follow them, squeezing Dan’s knee lightly as she left. Ava was stretched out on the floor by this time, listening to Tom and Andy’s basketball chat with her eyes closed and her hands behind her head.

“Why don’t you just make a move?” she asked suddenly, nudging Dan’s shin with the toe of her boot.

“What?” Dan exclaimed, nearly upending his (spiked) punch on his lap.

“She won’t be single forever, and you’re dumber than old mate Ben over there if you think being ‘just friends,’ is enough for you.” Ava was expressionless, but Dan thought he could detect a hint of a sparkle in her dark eyes.

“You don’t know me,” he teased, trying to deflect. He dug his own toe into Ava’s lower ribs, where he knew she was sensitive. She squirmed a little, before fixing him with a mischievous grin.

“Oh coz you’re so hard to read, Mr Football Star. You pine for her like that stupid adorable cat she found. But…” Ava sat up and stretched luxuriously. “If you wanna keep denying it, then your loss. Maybe I’ll have a crack?” Ava winked, before wandering in search of a fresh drink. Dan watched her go, then looked for Anna, but she was nowhere in sight. Squaring his shoulders, he heaved himself off the couch and headed towards the backyard, where a thronging mass of his classmates were grinding and dancing to the R’n’B playing through massive speakers that had been ‘borrowed’ from the band room at school. After a moment, Dan spotted Anna twining sinuously with Stacy in the midst of the crowd, her arms above her head and her chest glistening with a light sheen from exertion. Stacy’s hands were on Anna’s hips, pushing and pulling with the beat of the music.

After a minute of watching, Dan could take no more - a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Ava nagged that Anna wouldn’t be single forever and all Dan knew was that his heart sped up when he looked her, and she filled all the broken spaces in him, and maybe that meant something important. He shouldered his way through the dancers, sliding an arm around Anna’s waist and lifting her off the ground.

“Dan!” she cried, throwing her head back as she laughed. She wound her arms around his neck and curled one hand in his hair, which made something in his gut twist pleasantly. “Dan, you’re dancing!”

“Miracles do happen,” he quipped dryly. Reluctantly, he set her down, but she slid her hands down his chest and kept him close, moving her hips to the rhythm.

“Are you calling yourself a miracle?” Anna teased.

“As if I’m anything but,” Dan scoffed, affecting an arrogant tone and arching a brow at Anna over the rim of his cup. She gave him a little smile, which produced a dimple in her right cheek - an ‘oh, you,’ kind of smile - and then she half-turned away from him as Stacy whispered in her ear, though her fingertips lingered on his hip. Anna was smiling as Stacy spoke, occasionally pointing subtly at a tall, handsome senior, who Dan thought might be on the school newspaper. Dan watched Anna, bobbing thoughtfully to the music as he did so.

Thinking back, there was the time Dan had sat down at the cafeteria table the group always sat at, arriving in the midst of a conversation about Anna - who was not at the table - being asked out by her new lab partner, who according to Lily had been following Anna around like a lovesick puppy since they had all come back to school. Something uncomfortable had twisted in Dan’s gut as he listened to that conversation, and sure, after that Dan had waited outside of the lab to catch a glimpse of this kid. He was a boring kind of handsome - nondescript blonde and brown eyed, densely freckled - and though Anna was smiling at something he was saying as they emerged, Dan could see her heart wasn’t in it, not like the way she laughed at his jokes. Her smile when she saw Dan waiting for her, however, was brilliant, and he felt a little spark of triumph. He slung an arm around Anna’s shoulders, and then jerked his head in greeting at the lab partner.

“Hey, I’m Dan.”

“I-I know who you are,” the guy said. “I’m Rob.”

“Cool, cool,” Dan said, already looking down at Anna. She wore a wry smile, but said nothing. “Movies tonight?” he asked.

They walked home together, companionably silent for the most part, until Anna piped up, “I said no by the way.”

“Huh?” he asked, but she just shook her head at him, smiling in a secret kind of way.

But none of that meant he was jealous, or that he liked Anna, Dan thought to himself as he lay in bed later that night. He was just looking out for his best friend - there was no way that guy was good enough for her. Right?

But if he was really being honest with himself, Dan knew he was pretty confused. Anna was very beautiful, it was true, and she was his best friend, the only person who could make him feel less hollow and barren inside. To be honest, he wasn’t used to chasing – Dan had struggled with his mental health too much to be too into dating before the return of Redfield, but then again, as the star quarterback he’d never had to try to get girls either – they were just kinda there. But Anna… Dan wanted to kiss her and more, the feeling wavering in his blood as his eyes traced the neckline of her dress along the soft flesh it hugged. A new hunger was waking in Dan – had been stirring since the other night when he’d seen her through the window, but really had been there much longer if he was honest with himself. Was that wrong? He wondered, his throat dry as Anna’s back pressed up against his chest, buffeted as they were by the dancing bodies around them. Their friendship was the most precious thing in the world to him, and what if she didn’t feel the same? He thought of Ava’s teasing, and of Lucas showering Anna in kisses, and Connor’s face lighting up to see her. She had options, no doubt. Why would she want the broken, damaged guy, whose PTSD was so bad some days that he couldn’t even get himself out of bed for school? It seemed inconceivable to Dan that she’d want him back.

And yet…

“Dan, come on.”

He looked down, finding his hand in Anna’s.

“We’re playing Mystery Bag,” Anna said, shooting him a bedroom smile over her shoulder. They followed Stacy down to the bottom of the garden, arranging themselves in a circle with the rest of the group near the fire pit. The grass was dry and soft, and Dan stretched his long legs out in front of him, crossing his ankles and leaning back on his hands. Anna sat next to him, despite Connor’s hopeful expression and the gap between him and Stacy. She was close enough that Dan got a toe-curling waft of vanilla and raspberries as Anna shook her long, dark waves back off her shoulders. Seeing the goosebumps rising on her arms, Dan quickly shrugged out of his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. His fingertips brushed her collarbones lightly, and she shot him a grateful smile.

Mystery Bag was a game of their own invention, an unholy mash up of all the best party games - truth or dare, never have I ever, spin the bottle, seven minutes, and so on. Lily appeared with Shannon in tow, shaking a large burlap sack which held the task cards for the game. Ava dropped two large dice in the middle of the circle, grinning rakishly.

“Seven,” she announced, adding the combined scores shown on the two dice. They went around the circle until everyone had rolled, leaving Andy and Lily both on twelve. They both rolled again, and this time Lily came out on top, with nine to Andy’s five.

“Yes, I go first!” Lily grinned, clapping her hands together. Ava held the bag up for her and Lily rustled around in it for a moment, eventually drawing a pale pink card.

“Ooooh,” Stacy said, rocking forwards on her knees. “Truth bomb right off the bat!”

“Okay, first to roll doubles gets to ask Lily the truth,” Andy said, handing the dice to Lucas first. Stacy rolled doubles first, and pondered for a moment. Lily looked mildly nervous.

“I kinda wanna ask about Britney, just out of sheer, morbid curiosity,” Stacy said thoughtfully, tossing her ponytail. “But I want - my truth is…how far have you and Shannon gone?”

Lily blushed, but to her credit, she didn’t miss a beat. “Third,” she said, wryly reciprocating Shannon’s high five. The game always moved to the right, so Tom was next. He drew a dare, and had to hold a headstand until the first pair of uneven numbers was rolled. When he was finally released, he was bright red in the face, the veins in his neck bulging, but Andy was looking at him, open-mouthed and impressed.

Lucas drew a spin the bottle card, and his spin landed on Ava, which resulted in the most hilarious and awkward kiss the group had ever seen. Ava was next; there was a collective intake of breath as she drew one of the rarest cards - a purple seven minutes in heaven card, which meant Ava had to send two people of her choosing to heaven. The red seven minutes cards were more common, and meant the owner had to chose someone to go with them.

Ava met Dan’s eye suddenly, her expression turning wicked. “Pierce, you’re up.” She winked, then her eyes scanned the group, pretending to consider everyone carefully. Dan’s heart thudded rapidly and, as Ava’s gaze lingered on Stacy, he snuck a look at Anna. Her lips were pressed together, her eyes following Ava.

“Anna!” Ava cried, grinning and pointing suddenly. Anna looked taken aback for a moment, before turning to gauge Dan’s reaction. He stuck his tongue out at Ava, then jumped up and offered his hand to Anna.

“You coming Markov?” he asked, silently praying she would go with him. She stared up at him for a moment that felt like an eternity, before one corner of her mouth curled in a wry little smirk and she allowed him to pull her to her feet.

“Use the big linen closet off the hallway!” Stacy called to them, over the hooting and cat-calling their friends were doing.

“Use a condom!” Ava added, and the whole group dissolved into hysterical laughter.

People were dancing inside, drinking and playing beer pong, and hardly anyone noticed as Dan and Anna slipped through the crowd. The linen closet was a walk-in, big enough for them to stand, but there wouldn’t be much distance between them. Anna went first, and Dan followed, switching off the light and setting the torch on his phone to soft. Once the door was shut, he clicked start on the timer he had set for seven minutes. He turned toward Anna in the dark, pretty sure his arm had accidentally brushed her chest in the darkness.

“Hey,” he said gently, his hand finding hers.

“Hi.” He could just make out the shape of her face and the movement of her long lashes in the gloom.

“Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?” Dan asked, somehow braver in the dark cupboard than he’d ever dare to be outside.

“I wouldn’t believe you if you did,” Anna said, laughing lightly. She punched him playfully in the chest, but Dan could recognise the tone of voice she used when she tried to play things down.

“Why not?”

“I’m not beautiful - Ava is beautiful, Stacy is beautiful…I’m just…plain old Anna.” Anna’s chin was low, her lashes downcast; Dan lifted his hand to tilt her head up.

“You’re an idiot,” he said, finding her cheek in the dark and brushing his thumb across it. “I can’t explain enough how wrong you are right now.”

They were silent for a good minute, watching the timer.

“How are you doing?” Anna asked eventually, shifting her weight.

Dan shrugged. “I have more good days than bad days, so I’m taking that as a small victory.”

“I’m proud of you,” Anna said, and Dan felt his heart take off at that statement.

“What about you?” he asked, leaning a little closer. “You spend too much time taking care of all the rest of us, that we forget to make sure you’re okay.”

He felt, rather than saw Anna shrug in the dark. “I’m fine.”

When she said no more, Dan prodded. “Annie… it’s me.”

She sighed, and almost absentmindedly slipped her hands past his elbows to rest on his hips. “I have my moments. Usually they’re right before you turn up on my doorstep after a run, like you’re psychic or something.”

“Does it help? Me being there?”

Anna was silent for a long, tremulous moment, before letting out a little huh of breath. “More than you could ever realise,” she said, so softly that Dan almost missed it.

“It’s the only time I feel whole,” Dan offered, resting a hand on her neck. He’d bare his soul to her there in the dark, if she wanted. “When I’m around you.”

“You don’t mean that,” Anna said doubtfully, but she leant in to his touch.

Dan slid his hand down her bare arm, finding her hand and pressing it against his shirt. His heart was pounding a drum beat against his rib cage; her head jerked up as she tried to find his eyes in the gloaming. “I’m so serious right now, Anna.”

The timer was at three minutes - Dan knew he had to do something now, or he’d never pluck up the courage. “I shouldn’t do this,” he murmured, taking one step and letting his hips press Anna lightly against the shelves. “You should stop me.” He tilted her chin up, his thumb finding her pillowy lower lip.

She let out another little huff of breath that made Dan’s heart stop momentarily. Her hands were on his arms; her lips parted as Dan got close enough that there were mere inches between them. “Dan,” she breathed, but it was more of a beckon than a halt.

“If you don’t want this, stop me now,” Dan said, his voice low and husky.

The hand on his chest clenched in his shirt and he crashed his mouth to hers, hard, like asteroids colliding; her lips parted for him, their tongues meeting as if they were born to do this together. Dan pressed her harder against the shelves, one hand reaching down to pull her knee up, and he kissed her fiercely, feverish, drinking in the heady slide of her lips and the taste of honey and whiskey and the way her leg trembled as his fingertips dug into her thigh.

“Dan,” she gasped, against his mouth, and his whole body throbbed. Anna’s hips rolled against his, her hand clenched in his hair. He kissed the line of her jaw and down her throat, his tongue briefly flicking the scar left by Noah’s knife.

“Dan!” Anna said again, this time in a husky kind of moan. “Dan, the timer alarm!”

Sure enough, when Dan regained control of himself enough to wrench his lips away from Anna’s skin, the timer alarm on his phone was going off. He stopped it, and turned to Anna, who was smoothing her dress back down her thighs. He reached for her, but she caught his hand, pressing a kiss to the tip of his index finger.

“If we don’t go the gang might bust in here…but TBC?” she said, breathless.

Dan dragged her in by the hands, pressing one last searing kiss to her mouth. “Let me walk you home tonight.”

“I wouldn’t want anyone else,” Anna said, leading him out of the closet.

Though Connor stared at them hard on their return to the group, as if trying to figure out what had happened, most of their other friends were distracted by Andy’s attempts to start the fire in the pit. It was a cool night, but not freezing, so it certainly was not imperative that a fire be lit and it seemed more like Andy’s struggles were too entertaining for anyone to want to intervene.

Dan resumed his place in the circle, stretching out again and trying to look more casual and less like his heart was still racing and his mind was lost in the darkness of the cupboard and the feeling of Anna’s skin, and a kiss that had been a thousand times better than anything he could have imagined. Anna sat down beside him, her cheeks prettily flushed, and he reached out without thinking and gently tucked a stray lock of her black hair behind her ear. When he looked up, he realised Ava was staring at them, her mouth even but her eyes betraying a smile.

Anna’s phone began to ring - Perfect Strangers by Deep Purple - and she looked at the screen. “Oh, it’s my parents, they’ll be at the airport. I’ll be right back.” She moved away to take the call and Ava pounced, jumping up and grabbing Dan’s arm, tugging him to his feet.

“Let’s get a drink,” she said, smirking.

Dan allowed himself to be dragged into the kitchen, and as Ava mixed them a wicked looking combination of whiskey and liqueurs, she scrutinised him. “So?” she prompted, when he volunteered nothing.

“So what?”

“Did you make a move?” Ava narrowed her eyes at him, annoyed at having to prise out the information.

“You’re very gossipy for someone who doesn’t conform to societal standards,” Dan teased. He leaned his elbows against the bench, not breaking eye contact with Ava, who was either trying to stare him down until he broke or put some kind of psychic witchy spell on him.

“Pierce,” Ava snapped, “I will kick your ass, don’t think I won’t.”

“Oh I know you will,” Dan laughed. “I kissed her, alright.”

“Yes!” Ava shouted, slamming a triumphant fist on the counter and making several nearby classmates jump and look around curiously. “And?”

“And that’s all I’m really willing to tell you, nosy,” Dan said firmly.

“Oh boo, you whore,” Ava said petulantly. She crossed her arms after passing Dan his finished drink, which he strongly suspected would absolutely knock him on his ass.

“Who would have thought you’d be our number one shipper?” He needled, reaching over to pinch Ava’s cheek. She hissed and slapped his hand away.

“Silence, heathen, I’m upset with you.”

“Ava, come on,” Dan pressed. “I’m grateful, okay?”

Her expression softened for a micro-second. “You’re welcome, jerk, you never would have had the balls without me, you just would have kept making lame heart eyes at her behind her back.”

“You’re probably not wrong,” Dan said, grinning cheekily.

Their conversation stopped as the rest of the group, Anna included, came to find them. As the night wore on and the party wound down, people slowly trickled out of the Green’s home, until only the usual crew, plus Tom, Connor and Savannah were left. They laid around the deck together; Lucas and Stacy on deck chairs, Lily, Shannon, Tom and Andy in a little circle on the floor, knee to knee, Connor and Ava mixing drinks for everyone on the outdoor dining table, and Dan and Anna on the grass near the deck. They lay with their heads close, Anna’s inky hair mingling with Dan’s soft brown, her bare shoulder touching his. An endless blanket of stars filled the inky sky, and Dan couldn’t remember the last time he saw a night so clear. Down by his side, his littlest finger touched Anna’s, and he tilted his head to look at her. She was talking about her parents trip in soft, husky tones, and when she felt him staring, she met his gaze. There may have a been a million and one stars out that night, but there were no brighter diamonds in the sky, than those embedded in the endless blue of Anna’s eyes.

Dan’s chest seized momentarily with the need to touch her, to feel her lips on his again, to give her everything, they way she’d given everything to all of them. But this time, he wanted all of her just for him. Dan was hyper aware of her body; although they were touching by the tiniest surface areas, it was as intense as electricity arcing between them. When their eyes met again, Anna was still looking at him. Her expression was indescribable, but Dan thought maybe she was looking at him like he was important.

Anna took a breath and opened her mouth, as if to say something, but stopped and a light flush spread across her cheekbones. Dan propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her.

“What?” he asked. She shrugged and looked away, biting her lower lip as she looked at the sky. “Anna…” Dan cajoled her, trailing his index finger up the inside of her arm, where the skin was soft and sensitive. She shivered.

“Do you…want to go?” she asked, pausing for breath as though it was taking her courage to get the words out. Dan’s heart fluttered.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

They said their goodbyes and Dan walked Anna home, grinning like an idiot the whole way. “What are you smiling at?” Anna asked curiously, looking at Dan like he might be a bit mad.

Dan shrugged. “Just happy.” He caught Anna’s hand and threaded their fingers together, swinging them lightly. “Is this okay?”

Anna nodded and Dan thought he spotted the corner of her mouth turning up, but her hair swung forward to conceal it before he knew for sure. At her door, he hung back, leaning against the wall while she unlocked. She opened the door and turned, and Dan smiled softly.

“Well…goodnight,” he said, wanting more than anything for it not to be goodnight. He wanted to kiss her, but he knew if he started, there’d be no stopping. He began to turn, and then he heard it; soft, barely more than a whisper; “Stay.”

He turned back to Anna, and stepped forward. He reached out and put his hand on her cheek. “Are you sure?”

Anna nodded, leaning in to his touch. “I don’t want to pretend anymore.” She stepped back, taking him with her as she did. A hand slipped over the waistband of his jeans, onto the small of his back, and Dan kicked the door shut behind them.

“Pretend what?” Dan murmured, tilting Anna’s head back and dragging his mouth down her jaw.

“That I…that I don’t…lo-”

Dan pushed her against the door and locked it, and they kissed fiercely. Every nerve ending he had was on fire - there was no version of the world in which he was close enough to her or touching her enough. His feelings were real, and he wanted to dive first in and feel her on his skin.

“You don’t what?”

“Dan.” Anna’s voice was firm; she used two hands in his hair to wrench his head back and break the kiss. Dan kind of liked the feeling. “I want you. Is this what you want - am I what you want?” There was a gleam of vulnerability in Anna’s eyes - Dan couldn’t really believe it. Not only was she telling him she liked him, but she wanted him, and she was nervous that he’d reject her. He looked down her body, then back up to blue eyes that belied the most beautiful heart and soul Dan had ever encountered - more beautiful than any external appearance.

“You’re all I want,” he breathed, reaching down her thighs and hoisting her up. She hooked her legs behind his hips, leaving her fingers buried in his hair. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted.”

No one had ever made Dan feel the things he felt when he kissed Anna; the feelings of his nerves exploding and his skin melting and his lungs burning, all with pleasure and desire. If he was the constellation, then the two of them together were supernovas meeting. He had to breathe but he didn’t want to; he pulled away barely an inch to suck in a ragged gasp. Anna’s head fell back, exposing her white throat to him. Dan buried his hand in her hair, tightening his grip to keep her still while he kissed his way down her neck and dragged his teeth across the ridge of her clavicle. His other hand was between them, on the skin of her inner thigh but searching ever higher - she hadn’t stopped him, and he’d thought of nothing more than his need and his hunger for her since they’d first kissed.

Dan lifted Anna away from the door and they stumbled their way upstairs to her room. Within seconds of the door shutting, Anna had shrugged him out of his light blue button down, and dragged his white undershirt off. She dragged him back and they tumbled onto the bed in a mix of limbs and fingertips and sliding lips. Dan’s weight pressed her down from above, and he moved his kisses down her neck and the soft swell of her breasts, until he ran into the barrier of her dress neckline. He paused, lifting his head up to look at her questioningly. She nodded breathlessly and sat up, and Dan pushed the hem of her dress up her thighs, leaving trails of kisses and feather touches on the skin in the wake of his movement. Anna raised her arms and he pulled the dress up and off her, her dark hair tumbling back down over her chest when her head emerged from the garment. Dan sat back a little, staring at Anna in unveiled wonder, and she cast her eyes down shyly, her lashes like black ink strokes against her cheeks.

“What?” she asked.

Dan just shook his head, his Adam’s apple bobbing - he didn’t seem to be able to form words. Anna looked down at herself, bare but for her undergarments - lacy and black, a matching set - and then back up at Dan.

“Am I not-”

“Shut up,” Dan said, shaking his head vehemently. He put his hands on her face, almost reverently, and crashed his lips to hers. “You’re perfect,” he whispered against her mouth.

Every sense Dan had was drinking her in as they kissed; the scent of her, the feel of her skin under his hands as they ran over her chest, cupping, eliciting gasps from her, the sound of his own heavy breathing in response to her mewls. She arched up against him and he rolled his hips downwards, wanting to get closer and moaning as their hips made contact, evidence of his desire flush against her.

Anna pushed blindly at the waistband of Dan’s jeans as they kissed; eventually he momentarily clambered off her to kick them off. When he turned back to her, Anna reached up to unsnap her bra, but Dan pounced on her, pinning her arms.

“Let me,” he said, with a cheeky grin. They divested each other of the remnants of undergarments, and then there was nothing but bare skin between them. Dan reached out, softly stroking across her cheekbone and down her neck. Anna was bolder, possibly still thanks to Ava’s drinks from earlier - or maybe she was just drunk on Dan - and she reached out to close her hand around him, drawing from him the most dark and desirous kind of moan.

Dan kept his eye contact with Anna, watching her pupils dilating, as he slid one of his hands down to touch her. Anna’s concentration was better than his; his shoulders began to shudder uncontrollably and he caught her wrist, stopping her. Before Anna could say anything, he kissed her harder and deeper than he’d ever kissed anyone before and then he was touching her again.

“Anna,” Dan murmured, not taking his lips away from hers.

“S-stop,” she managed to gasp, her whole body shaking.

Dan froze instantly, meeting her gaze, full of concern all of a sudden - concern that he’d done something wrong, that she didn’t like his touch, that she’d changed her mind completely. She reached up, touching his face and tangling her fingers in his hair to reassure him.

“I want it all Dan, I need-”

But he didn’t let her finish that sentence, moving to kiss her, and then trailing his mouth lower, over her chest, down the valley between the two halves of her rib cage and then further. Anna inhaled sharply and parted her knees for him. Dan squeezed her thighs with gentle, firm pressure as he worked his tongue on her, his heart turning over and his body throbbing when he heard her moan. She tried to stifle the end of the sound, and Dan jerked his head up to look at her.

“Don’t,” he said raggedly. “I want to hear you.”

Anna’s cheeks flushed and he throbbed with need for her. Dan lifted himself back up to kiss her and he bore down, rolling his hips and creating a soft friction that wasn’t enough for either of them. Anna pulled at him, her fingers insistent against his back, his hips, his hair, everything, and Dan pulled one of Anna’s leg up and hooked her knee over his hip so that he could finally, finally, slide his hips forward until there was no space at all between them anymore.

Dan stayed completely still for a long moment, his forehead resting against Anna’s collarbone as he sucked in heavy breaths. Being inside her felt better than he could ever imagine, and not just physically. His heart was exploding; he felt…whole.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, lifting his head to look her in the eye. Anna’s pupils were blown wide, just rings of blue around fathoms of black, and her lips were parted, wet and wanting.

Anna just nodded; when she tried to speak, all that came out was something that sounded suspiciously like ‘fuck’. Slowly, Dan started to move, not breaking his eye contact, and they both moaned. It had never ever been like this before; Dan choked on his own breath at the feeling of white hot pleasure spiralling inside him, coiling tighter and tighter. Anna gasped his name into his neck, and Dan nearly came apart at the mere sound of his name being said like that. He kissed her over and over, and then Anna tensed unexpectedly, her back arching up towards him, mouth opening in a last silent prayer, and Dan could hold on no longer. The world around them seemed to shatter like a pane of glass and he could hear nothing but white noise for a few seconds.

After, they lay together, in the muted blue glow of the TV as The Inbetweeners played through Netflix. Dan trailed his fingertips in lazy circles over a patch of skin near Anna’s hip, smiling every time he hit the sensitive spot that made her abs contract sharply.

“You’re pretty cute when you’re jealous, you know,” Anna piped up suddenly, shooting Dan a cheeky smile.

“I’m never jealous,” Dan said blithely.

“So that little show with Rob from Chemistry was just you waiting for a mate after class?” she teased. Dan trailed his hand up, walking his fingertips over her bare chest and drawing goosebumps to her skin.

“Just because I’m in love with you, doesn’t mean I’m not a bit of an idiot,” Dan said matter-of-factly. He looked her in the eye, challenging. “You got an issue with that?” He tried to stay cool as he watched her, but acidic anxiety was rising like bile in his throat, the kind that had been present like a shadow in his lungs since their first encounter with Redfield. “I can’t be just your friend anymore,” he added, earnestly.

Anna just smiled softly and touched a finger to Dan’s lips, stilling him. Her other hand found his, and applied pressure, the way she always did when he got himself worked up. “I love you too, Pierce. Let’s see what this is.”

#dan pierce #dan x mc #it lives in the woods #choices fanfiction #choices: stories you play #choices: it lives in the woods #ilitw #ilitw dan #itlitw andy #ilitw ava #ilitw lucas #ilitw lily #ilitw stacy #choices fanfic

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mikeyd1986 · 5 years

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MIKEY’S PERSONAL BLOG 161, June 2019

Last Saturday night, I celebrated my cousin Nathan Dunkling’s 21st birthday at The Comic's Lounge in North Melbourne. Social gatherings like birthday parties can often be huge anxiety triggers for me but somehow my anxiety was under control tonight even being in a large group of people and inside a crowded live comedy venue. Yes it filled up very quickly which meant that the volume levels of conversation gradually rose up and it was very difficult to hear what was going on even at my own table.

Some of Nathan’s friends were sitting at my table and so it was hard for me to engage in conversation with them. Thankfully I had a solution to this, pulling out my phone and playing Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery to curb my boredom levels before the show actually began. Some people might pull out the “anti-social” card but I really don’t care as I see it as a coping mechanism and way of feeling comfortable when I can’t connect with the people around me. Plus waiting for our meals did take a long time so I didn’t have much else to do.

Finally around 8.15pm, the MC for the evening Josh Earl began his comedy routine whilst I began chowing away at my entree, salt and pepper calarami. I also ordered an Atlantic salmon for mains which was really delicious. There were four comedians in total including an American lady named Eve, an Australian named Claire and the main headliner Dave Thornton. Honestly it was a very hit and miss affair for me. Plus I felt like there were too many breaks in between and it seemed to stretch the night out a bit too late for me (We were there for over 4 hours).

Admittedly, some jokes simply soared over my head perhaps because I missed the context of what they were talking about. Others I basically didn’t find funny at all. It’s not to say that I don’t have a sense of humour, more I can only stomach so many jokes related to Sex - poo, dicks, vaginas, masturbation, circumcision, vasectomies. Religion - Jewish people. Christian people, believing in God. Children - dealing with being a parent, being able to handle kids, changing nappies. I’ve pretty much heard it all. I think a lot of it depends on the delivery of the joke too. If it’s too forced, I’m most likely not going to laugh at it. Still it was an enjoyable night out and good value for money.

On Sunday morning, we checked out of our hotel room at Best Western Melbourne City Hotel - Formerly Pensione Hotel and had breakfast downstairs at Oliver's. Then we drove down to St. Kilda to visit the Esplanade Market and walked along the pier. Even though the air was fairly cold, eventually the sun broke through the overcast clouds and it become a lovely morning to check out the scenic views. I do get a little nervous when it comes to passing by stalls in a market which some sellers trying really hard to get my to buy something but it’s nice just having a browse and watching the people walking their dogs along the footpath.

On Monday morning, I had an appointment with my support worker Seb at Jamaica Blue Cranbourne. A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling pretty conflicted and disheartened about the service Mentis Assist was providing to me. There was a lot of being messed around with lack of communication and no confirmations being made over the past few weeks besides having one fill in support worker. Everything felt like it was in limbo. I sent a text message to Seb yesterday but I had no idea if he would even turn up today.

Eventually he did reply and things got back on track again today. What was alarming to me though was the fact that he wasn’t informed about what was happening with me over the past few weeks. Nobody at Mentis Assist told him that a replacement support worker would be organised for me or that my appointment would be switched to Tuesday afternoon. It was almost enough for me to pull the plug but honestly none of this is Seb’s fault, just the broken system that had left me hanging.

On Monday afternoon, I had my second last Creative Writing class at Balla Balla Community Centre in Cranbourne East. I have to admit that I was stuck in a rut of sorts after the last class and really struggled on the previous homework task of coming up with five different endings to a short story I began in Week 3. I was feeling a little uncertain about what I’d come up with but at least I gave it a go.

ENDINGS HOMEWORK EXERCISE

Ryan is determined to escape the trappings of his old life and even in these dire circumstances, he will make it to Fiji one way or another.

Ryan decides to build friendships with the locals in New Caledonia and eventually settles there.

Ryan sends a distress call back home to Australia in order to be saved from the ordeal he has been through. He managed to escape the plane crash with only minor injuries, however it has had a major impact on him psychologically. He makes contact with a counselor to find strategies to overcome his trauma.

Ryan ends up in a local hospital wired up to machines - life support, oxygen, heart rate monitor. The experience of the plane crash was too much for him and has taken a tool on him physically as well as mentally and emotionally.

Upon landing in New Caledonia, Ryan ends up getting himself captured by a tribe of warriors, clad with wooden spears and shields, deep inside the bushland. Will he manage to survive?

During today’s class, we looked into scenes vs. chapters, improving your draft, killing off your darlings and the habits of successful authors. Scenes are more complicated and more important than chapters. They are very specific building blocks within your story. They also need tension and conflict. Each scene can be divided into two parts: ACTION (Goal, conflict, disaster) and REACTION (Reaction, dilemma, decision).

Chapters are arbitrary divisions within a book. They impose order and create a certain sense of structure. Chapter breaks are more about pacing and must be placed strategically. They leave readers with a question or a reason to know more. Scene structure has nothing to do with chapter breaks.

Improving your draft. Your first draft is the writing equivalent of running a marathon. You need to take a step back, question the structure and the characters, ask whether all the characters want the same thing, does the story contain enough conflict. After draft two and beyond, you need to be a little more critical with your work. Hire a professional editor and get your manuscript copy edited. Then finally have the manuscript proof read.

Killing off your darlings. Cut out any elements that doesn’t serve to further the work as a whole, in order to enhance the story. Darlings can be words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs or characters. The main benefits of killing off your darlings are: it strengthens your characters and plot, improves the overall quality of your writing and refines your self discipline. Things to cut: weak characters, extraneous plot lines, backstory and prologues.

The habits of successful authors include write everyday, finish your stories, learn the rules, break the rules, create their own inspiration, don’t slack off on the hard stuff, follow their hearts and not the market, develop a thick skin, set their stories free, love what they do, write with joy and embrace fragments of writing.

On Monday night, I went to my Boxing small group fitness class with CinFull Fitness. Tonight was a very small group with just myself, Rodney Sack and Ben Milton. We each got our measurements taken before we actually started. It’s been something of a fleeting thought for me, particularly the scales and weighing myself. It’s not longer been an unhealthy obsession. In fact, I hardly ever weigh myself at all these days. I used to get really fixated on THE NUMBER but now I’m able to let it go more easily considering it’s not a true representation of how “fat” or “overweight” I am. There are so many other factors that go into it like muscle mass and water weight.

Tonight’s class consisted of drills and partner work, push ups, plank holds, ground and pounds, sit up punches, V-ups, Russian twists, star jumps, walking lunges and squat holds.

Being paired up with a hard-hitter like Rodney certainly got me out of my comfort zone. I was a little nervous about not being able to handle it (and be accidentally punched in the face) but I wasn’t going to let that fear stop me. I needed to release all of those negative labels that have been given to me in the past (weak, slow, incapable, incompetent, useless, a loser). I’m not any of those things. Sometimes I really do surprise myself in being able to overcome a struggle such as physical fatigue or being out of breath. I know that I’m not as fit as some of the others but that fact shouldn’t stop me from participating in the class.

On Wednesday morning, I attended the funeral of Rita Hartney at Tobin Brothers in Berwick. I knew Rita from a few years ago when she began hosting her radio program Hot Topics With Rita at Casey Radio - 97.7FM as well as her motivational talks and appearances at places such as Balla Balla Community Centre and U3A Cranbourne. She also ran a short course called Speaking Before The Public which helped me work on self confidence and oral presentation skills. It was only a few weeks ago that I learned of her decline in health and subsequent passing on Facebook.

After signing the guest book and taking a copy of Rita’s book It’s Time For Women to Take Control, Mum and I made our way into the main service room which was packed with Rita’s family, friends and other guests. We were really lucky to find a couple of spare seats to sit down in. It was a really beautiful service which highlighted the many strengths and achievements that Rita had gained over the years. She really had a significant impact on many people’s lives.

The speeches were both funny and moving, painting Rita as a strong, determined woman trying to make her mark in a male dominated world. The music selection was very fitting as well, reflecting Rita’s colourful and flamboyant personality. Songs included Elvis Presley’s Devil in Disguise and Helen Reddy’s I Am Woman.

Attending someone’s funeral seems to give me a gentle reminder about how precious life truly is. That you really do need to be grateful for what you have and make every moment count. It also forces me to think about my own funeral. Not just the kinds of arrangements that I will have but questions like: Who will be attending? What will I be remembered for? What kind of mark will I leave behind? I never used to be this philosophical about funerals until more recently when I realised how important it is not to let my life go to waste.

On Thursday morning, I decided to take myself off to Casey Smiles Dental Clinic after experiencing more annoying dental pain, this time on the right hand side of my mouth. I was really hoping that the pain would subside with some simply remedies but after having a restless night with this agonizing toothache, it was time to face the music and the dentist once more.

The good news was that I didn’t have to get my x-rays done like last time as they were already on my patient record. It was also easier to explain to Dr. Mohamed where abouts the pain was coming from and not simply guess which tooth it was. He gave me two options: first would be to exact it like last time, which would be easier and more cost effective. The second option was to have a root canal done in order to potentially save the tooth. However, he warned me that he could cost me up to $1500. So obviously I went with option one.

Thankfully the process was a lot quicker this time around. There was a young female dental assistant doing some training and learning about all the different surgical instruments and how to use the suction hose. It provided a nice distraction for me. Dr. Mohamed reminded me to keep breathing as he applied pressure to the decayed tooth. It was over and done with within a few minutes. The anesthesia needle probably hurt more than the actual tooth removal did. Plus it only cost me $160 as it was a basic tooth removal and it didn’t need to be surgically removed like last time.

https://caseysmiles.com.au/dr-mohamed-massaud

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