#not sure if this post will pass the tumblr taste test of 'hmm too many external links' but let's give it a shot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[belligerentbagel]

Originally posted by @the-aila-test​ (here), edited to add descriptions of each website and update the links. 

Native-owned businesses to buy from. Taken from the North American Indian Association of Detroit.

For text searching, some of the major categories used are: Food, beverages, clothing, accessories, jewellery, home goods, hygiene, beauty, books, sporting goods — but there are also many items that didn’t fit neatly into those categories, so try ctrl+F / cmd+F for whatever product you have in mind! 

https://www.sweetgrasstradingco.com - Food, beverages (coffee & tea), skincare and grooming, beauty products from a wide variety of different Native-owned brands. The closest thing to a one-stop shop you will get. 

https://nativeharvest.com - Food (maple syrup, jellies, coffee, cereal, soups), jewellery, books and stationery.

https://byellowtail.com - Clothing (stylish af hoodies, swimsuits, cardigans and jackets, tops, scarves, dresses), jewellery, candles, beauty and hygiene (soap, lotions, lip balms) from a variety of Native designers.

https://trickstercompany.com - Clothing (tees, sweatshirts, crop tops, leggings, dresses), accessories (sunglasses, keychains, zipper pulls, headbands, beanies, ties, umbrellas, tote bags, pins), paper goods (stationery, books, prints, stickers, home goods and decor, sporting goods (basketballs, longboards)

https://www.salishstyle.com - Clothing (tees, hoodies), accessories (beanies, some really cool backpacks), stickers, pins, blankets, thermoses

https://hutxh.com - Clothing (tops), accessories (necklaces, hats, bags)

https://furandhide.com - VERY COOL leather and fur products! Drums, flutes, bells, rattles, shells. Also a selection of skulls, bones, claws, teeth, quills, feathers, and obsidian items. 

Continued below the break.

https://www.wapatobeads.com - Loose beads for crafting, finished beaded products, and various other items (blankets, aprons, purses, robes, hats, wallets)

https://www.cultureshockjewelry.com - Jewellery (necklaces, earrings, bracelets)

https://aylelum.com - Clothing (printed dresses, tunics, ponchos, tops, jackets)

https://shop.dancingbearindiantrader.com - Fabric, beads, buttons, Mehron face paint (!!!), jewellery findings, sewing notions, rhinestones, and craft tools. 

http://mohawklacrosse.net - Sporting goods (lacrosse sticks).

https://www.thentvs.com - Clothing (super cool shirts, jackets, socks, hats), accessories (bracelets, backpacks, pins), home goods (lip balm, prints). Here’s a pull quote for attention, because you *need* to look at the pop culture on this site: Our mission is to teach the youth the importance of embracing culture and history while building a Native American clothing company. We use art and streetwear mixed with our culture to create one-of-a-kind designs that embrace our Native American culture and heritage.

https://bisonstarnaturals.com - Hygiene (liquid soap, bar soap, lotions).

https://cheekbonebeauty.ca - Beauty (Sustainably-sourced makeup! Lipstick, lip pencils, lipgloss, eyeliner, eyeshadow). 

https://www.indigecos.com - Beauty (makeup) (07/04/2021 currently on vacation, reopening 07/12)

https://www.quwutsunmade.com - Beauty (lotions, salve, fragrances, lip balms), pins, stickers, limited edition hoodies.

https://sistersky.com - Hygiene (body mists, shampoo, body wash, body bars, bath bombs)

https://urbannativeera.com - Clothing and goods with the “you are on native land” slogan (hoodies, tops, hats, socks, patches, stickers, pins)

https://www.lnukclothingco.ca - Clothing (07/04/2021 new website & currently under construction)

https://www.oxdxclothing.com - Clothing (tees and hoodies), prints, stickers, cut-and-sew original pieces.

https://sequoiasoaps.com - Hygiene (soaps, bath bombs, body and face scrubs), beauty (lotions, mists, lip balm, fragrances), candles, incense.

https://www.blackbelteaglescout.com - Albums from musician Katherine Paul.

https://birchbarkbooks.com - Books by and about Native Americans (Ojibwemowin-language books and materials for other Native languages, NA fiction and poetry, Native studies, memoirs and biographies, young adult, children’s books)

https://redplanetbooksncomics.com - NA comic books, graphic novels, children’s books.

https://kotahbear.com - Jewellery (rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, hair sliders and hair clips), home goods (blankets), assorted accessories (bolo ties, belt buckles).

https://bedrechocolates.com - Food (Chocolates! Bars, chocolate-dipped potato chips, chocolate-dipped nuts, chocolate sauce)

https://redlakenationfoods.com - Food (wild rice (a VAST selection), mixes and batters, jellies and syrups), beverages (tea, coffee), home goods and decor, jewellery.

https://shop.tankabar.com - Food: “A real food meat bar with a delicious smoky and slightly sweet flavor, made with grass-fed bison and tart-sweet cranberries.“ Nut-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

https://thunderislandcoffee.com - Beverages (coffee).

https://www.indianpueblostore.com - Assorted gifts (jewellery, music, paintings and prints, pins, mugs, food, watches, sculptures). Another one-stop shop representing different Native craftspeople. 

https://www.totemdesignhouse.com - Clothing (tees, hoodies, there is Star Wars), jewellery (earrings), home goods (pillows, tea towels), hygiene and beauty (soap, joint cream, candles, bath bombs, lip balm)

https://www.shenative.com - Leather handbags, jewellery (earrings), clothing (tees).

https://www.manitobah.com - Shoes (mukluks, moccasins)

https://www.gourdjewels.com - Jewellery (07/04/2021 currently closed, but their Facebook page (here) is seeking artists who would be interested in selling with them)

https://ginewusa.com - Clothing (jackets, jeans, tees, coats, vests), accessories (bandannas, hats), jewellery (cuff bracelets, earrings, pendant necklaces). They got a Vogue feature yoooo

https://etkie.com - Jewellery (beaded cuff bracelets). Featured in NYT and Elle.

https://www.aconav.com - Handbags (wristlets, crossbody bags, totes, bucket bags, shoulder bags), clothing (tees, bandannas, uhh also some made-upon-order fashion week runway gowns).

#4th of july #buy native #indigenous #july fourth #not sure if this post will pass the tumblr taste test of 'hmm too many external links' but let's give it a shot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #it's july fourth; give money to an indigenous person today #(and all other days; but especially today) #i'm circling back around to sweet grass trading co because some of the tea looked nice! also they have the internet-breaking ioway honey #and then i'm going to PARK myself on the ntvs site because I WAS NOT EXAGGERATING; THEIR STREETWEAR IS SUPER COOL #i can't say any of this without feeling like an extremely Old Millennial (though. UGH. millennials are Old now >:| ) but #these are hip clothes. they are wry and stylish and things i would genuinely casually wear #this was an ENDEAVOUR TO COMPLETE because i had to reformat each link (the originals were inconvenient facebook redirects) #and actually haul through the catalogs to figure out what they were carrying #because otherwise this is a pretty daunting list to look at!

[f33itan]

💛⚜️Pᴀʀᴛ 1: Tᴏʀᴛᴜʀᴇ ɪs Gᴏʟᴅᴇɴ⚜️💛 (From my Wattpad)

A/N: Ok, this was something a mutual of mine said here on Tumblr, and I decided to write a oneshot about it. Might be very VERY slight angst, nothing bad enough to actually be put under that umbrella though, anyways, enjoy this, and ty for the reads! :)

CW: MENTIONS OF RAPE, DEGRADATION, AND MORE FOUL WORDS THAN USUAL. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

B/N: Your Mother's boyfriend's name

M/N: Mother's name

꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂꧁꧂

"Oi, Y/N! Go get me another pack of beer from the store!"

"Yes father!" Damn that pig looking bitch. I'm just some fucking girl, trying to protect her mom from this demon of a person! Heck, he's not EVEN a person! He's the devil himself!! Man, I wish dad was here...

When you were in about 7th grade, your real father got killed in a massacre a couple cities over. He was not only a police officer, but a great father and husband as well. He treated you and your mother amazingly, and you thought life couldn't get anymore perfect, but soon that all went down hill. After his death, your mother's health depleted and she felt empty inside. She needed somebody else to make her complete. She decided to call an old friend from high school, and next thing you know he moved in. He seemed like a nice guy at first, but soon enough he was beating you guys mercilessly, enough to leave large bruises and scars whenever you didn't do exactly what he asked, in your eyes though, it was more of an order. You hated being ordered around, but you hated your mother getting beaten around even more. It seemed like a blessing that he hasn't tried to rape her, but god knows what he'll do, he's unpredictable

With all of this happening, you decided to tell him you were doing some "extra curricular" classes in college, but what you were actually doing was taking the Hunter's Exam and learning nen. Your biological father was kind-hearted and fun to be around, but he was also strict and sometimes a bit harsh, though he always meant well. Before his passing, all three of you would go out on the weekends to train, exercise, or do something that would enhance your body power and brain power. Because of this, all of you were exceptionally smart, and bodies all well toned. Sometimes your excursions would be going to a park and practicing a sport, driving to the snow and sledding, skiing, snowboarding, and every once in a while going to another state to zip line, try animal encounters, or take a family friendly class in that state's heritage and customs.

Since you were accustomed to hard core training and events, you thought the Hunter's Exam was quite fun, and was a test to your skills. After that, you were scouted out by a strong nen user by the name of Biscuit Krueger. You and her had lots of fun training, and with her pushing your limits to the utmost best, you turned out to be a specialist.

(Whenever I imagine myself in Hunter x Hunter, this is always my nen type and stuff LMAO)

Your power was called, Black shadow. You could have up to 10 weapons on hand, completely subjected to doing your bidding. These weapons were linked to you through blood, and they were surrounded with a substance that appeared to be black mist. The weapons you most preferred to practice with and use were your katana, blood string, and scythe. You could also make a weapon yours by cutting a fingertip and letting the blood drip onto the weapon, altering the appearance then gaining that black "mist", showing that it was now yours. The downside to this technique was that those "shadows and mist remnants" were your sleep. The darkness in your mind and the shadows all around you were taken and used for that power. In turn, you were always tired, yawning, and had bags under your eyes. Another plus side though was that you had a nen created chamber that had every weapon you owned. A girl can have some fun toys, can't she? You had tools for torture (whenever you took an opportunity to try it), many varieties of weapons, and of course, more snacks. But unlike B/N, you didn't have just fatty snacks. You had regeneration potions, healthy snacks, and special nen created "snacks" to help with different things, which all of these you had collected through pulling some strings. Your mother was worried, but you said it was all just college things. Yeah, just college things..

Ill make that pig bitch pay for what he has done to my mother!

Feitan POV -or whats going on with him- :

"What time, is it.."

"8 AM Fei!"

"Shut up, green eyes, too loud."

"Oh Fei don't be rude! It's mean!"

"That's, the point."

"Oh wait, Shalnark, what this?"

"What do you mean?"

"This... gold string?"

"OI SHALNARK, FEITAN, COME ERE' REAL QUICK!"

"Phinks, what, do you, want-" Phinks just ignored his question and pointed to the TV.

This is Channel 12, reporting live from York New City Town Square. People all over the city are claiming to be seeing a string tied to their left ring finger, leading them to some unknown destination! What is this string? Who put it there?-

"AY AY IM ON TV! THE STRING THINGY JUST LEAD ME TO THIS BEAUTIFUL GIRL AND NOW WERE DATING! SUPER AWESOME!"-

I apologize for the interference, but this string appears t be leading people to.. partners? Soulmates? Find out tomorrow morning, this is Amy Starwick from Channel 12, signing out.

"What. The. FUCK."

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOODNESS HOLY SHIT FEITAN YOU HAVE A SOULMATE!!"

"Nope-"

"YESS YOU DOOOOOOO"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP CHEERY BITCH-"

"No❤️" Since Feitan was on his last nerve with Shalnark, he decided to stomp over towards Chrollo in the main room, but Chrollo just chuckled.

"Wanna go find your soulmate? See if that things real?" Feitan just stared at the ground, lightly shifting his feet.

"Go ahead, I don't mind."

"Just, doing it, out of, curiosity."

"Mhm, curiosity, go find them." And with that, he was dismissed. Feitan wanted to say it was curiosity, but deep down he had this feeling there was something else, but what was it? It made his stomach tingle and he didn't like it one bit. He tried to ignore all of this, and just shrugged it off...

꧁꧂꧁꧂TimeSkip to Next Day꧁꧂꧁꧂

Your POV + some Feitan POV:

"Alright, today's the day, he'll be at his work, and on his break, i'll set the plan in motion.." Both me and mom don't like him, and I don't know about her, but I sure hate him, every ounce of him. The plan is simple: 1. Capture mom's boyfriend, 2. Take him to an abandoned building, 3. Torture him and get all of the answers I need, and 4. Kill him. His break is at 12, and he usually goes to get takeout every other Friday, what a pig. I'll give him a taste of his own medicine.

Time: 11:30 AM

Ok, I have everything ready. Fully energized to the utmost extent, Elixirs to bring him back in case he passes out too early, and- what? He's leaving for lunch early? PERFECT! You ran behind some buildings and hid in a two-way alleyway, waiting for him to pass by...

Here we go..

One..

Two..

THREE!

You covered his head with a sack, and took his phone out of his back pocket. Before heading over to your post, you laced the inside of the sack with some sleeping powder and pressed it against his nose and mouth. Within moments he passed out, and you typed in what you hoped to be his password, which was correct. Around 12:30, you were going to text one of his coworkers that he would be "going to a restaurant across town, and ditching work for a day, not wanting to see his stupid good for nothing girlfriend or his dumb daughter." You knew he called you both this because of going through his text messages when he wasn't looking or when he was sleeping. Little did you know that somebody was watching you from afar.

"Hmm... So, she, my, what do people, call it.. soulmate? Seems, interesting..."

Time: 12:00 PM

"Jesus, I new he was a fat ass but I didn't know he weighed this much!" You were tugging him from his legs through the back ways of York New. You wanted to find a secluded area, where once you were done with him you could just toss him somewhere for the birds and maggots to eat. After walking for what seemed like hours, you came across a set of abandoned buildings, specifically the one you laid out some extra things. A couple extra weapons, some towels, a change of clothes, a chair and some rope, a couple of flashlights, and of course, some snacks. Lucky for you, the douchebag you've been dragging around like a rag doll was still out cold, so you picked him up and tossed him on the chair, tying his wrists, ankles and neck to the chair.

"Maaannn, this is boring!! When the hell are you gonna wake up?!" As if on queue, you saw his eyes start to flutter open, and you immediately grabbed your box cutter. It wasn't a weapon used by your nen, but it was quite effective.

"What.. who.. wait- Y/N!? WHAT THE FUCK?! UNTIE ME NOW BEFORE I BEAT YOUR ASS!!" you didn't notice it, but Feitan was watching from the building over.

What, the fuck? Why she kidnap him? That pig? Why? Confusing, gotta keep, watching.

You shoved the box cutter into his left cheek, and you bathed in the glory of hearing his screams of pain.

"How does this feel, you bitch? Everything you've done to my dear mother, everything you've done to me, and heck, YOU WERE PROBABLY BEHIND MY DAD'S MURDER DURING THAT FUCKING MASSACRE!!" B/N noticed the tears in your eyes, and took this to his advantage.

"So what if I was? Both of your parents were pathetic anyways."

"NO THEY AREN'T! YOU'RE THE REASON WHY MY MOTHER'S LIKE THIS NOW! YOUR THE FUCKING REASON FOR EVERYTHING SHITTY THAT'S HAPPENED TO ME!!"

"Heh, hehe.. hahaHAHAHA! YOU KNOW GOD DAMNED WELL THAT ALL OF YOU ARE PATHETIC! WANNA KNOW WHY I GOT WITH YOUR MOM!? BECAUSE SHES HOT. AND SHE HAD GOOD MONEY FROM YOUR FUCKING DAD. YOU KNOW WHAT I WAS GONNA DO?! YOU KNOW WHY I TOOK OFF EARLY TODAY?! I WAS GONNA RAPE YOUR MOTHER AND MAKE YOU WATCH, THEN KILL BOTH OF YOU AND RUN OFF WITH ALL OF YOUR MONEY!! AND YOU KNOW WHAT'S IRONIC?! I DON'T HAVE ONE. SINGLE. FUCKING. REGRET. IF IT WASN'T FOR YOUR DAD, YOU SOULDN'T HAVE HAD THE NERVE TO DO THIS, YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABORTED!!"

You couldn't handle this anymore, tears were falling down your face rapidly as you grabbed the duct tape and closed his mouth shut.

"I don't give a fuck about what you say.. I'm going to kill you here. This is your grave. Someday, I'll join you in hell, and when I do, I'll torture you again, and the Devil will laugh. You just watch and ducking wait you, you.. PATHETIC WORTHLESS PIG ASS SLOPPY ASS NASTU FUCKING BITCH!" With that, you grabbed a couple super worms in each hand and shoved them into his ears. Even with the duct tape, you could hear his screams of agony as the worms dug deeper into his ears. You then got our your katana and slashed him across the stomach, and shoved even more worms into that open wound of his. Quickly, you poured a large bottle of the elixir you had brought over him to keep him from dying so quickly. Box cutter still in hand, you carved small lines all over his arms and legs, then ripped off the tape to hear his desperate cries. You imagined he wanted to be dead, but you didn't care. His pain and you pain mixed together and you just started laughing. You through your head back and let yourself laugh. all of the pain this man has caused you and your mom will be repayed today.

But the pressure and stress was too much to handle. Your laughing of victory soon turned into screams and more tears, as you let yourself fall to the ground, not even noticing you didn't hit it hard, something had caught you, or someone..

What the shit am I doing?

Am I really going to kill him?

What's wrong with me?

What will mother think?

What would dad do?

What am I doing with my life?

You soon snapped out of all of those negative thoughts though, as you noticed something caressing your face lightly.

"Rest, now. He, won't die, so quickly. I'm, Feitan." You were a sniffling and crying mess, so all you could do was rush into Feitan's chest and cry. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around you and held you close. He had no idea what he was doing, for he had only seen this kind of skin on skin contact in movies. So, he did what those people in the movies did.

"Don't, worry... It's all, going to be.. okay."

Word Count (Including author notes, etc) : 2251

-Wrote February 3, 2021-

Unedited sorry about that lol-

Part 1...

#hxh #hxh oneshot #hunterxhunter #feitan #feitanportor #pov #feitanxreader

[lovingleehaechan]

I adore you. - Jung Jaehyun (Part I)

genre: fluff, angst(?)

word count: 1.8k

warnings: curse words

a/n: happy new year everyone! it’s been so long since i last posted on tumblr let alone post this first part T-T forgive me, it’s been so busy these past couple of weeks. but finally i’ve posted! i hope you like it and tune in for the next part, ba-bam!!! hehe

with all my love, summer x

Jaehyun checks the time on his phone. Eleven twenty-four. 

He can’t help but use the remainder of his energy to sigh. Exhausted is an understatement as to how tired he felt. All day he had been working on an assignment one of his professors dumped on his class last minute. And as much as he loves going to university, it’s one of those days where he feels particularly low and ambushed by the universe. 

He grudgingly gets himself prepared for bed, dragging his feet along the carpet floor. With another helpless sigh he picks up his toothbrush but immediately halt his slow movements when he hears your distinct ringtone blast from his phone. Jaehyun’s ears perk in attention. He wonders why you were ringing so late in the evening, did something happen? Were you hurt? Where the fuck where you? 

His mind urges him to answer quick causing him to drop the toothbrush in the bathroom sink. He couldn’t care about his dirty toothbrush right now. He’s too busy worrying what happened to you. 

“Hello?” 

“Hey…” you answer hesitantly. 

“You okay? What’s up?” he asks in concern. 

“Yeah, I’m just-- a little…” 

Even without finishing your sentence, he knows exactly how you feel. He is never wrong when it came to his gut instincts. Jaehyun knows that you’re craving  for company tonight but your boyfriend isn’t there to provide it. 

“Do you want to go out for a drive?” he interrupts you.

“Hold up-” your voice immediately picking up in tone. “You got your driver's licence and you didn’t tell me!?” 

He shyly chuckles. “I’ve been meaning to today, but this bitch of an assignment didn’t let me.” 

You laugh loudly on the other side, “I’d love to go on a midnight drive with you Jae.” 

He shouldn’t feel butterflies in his stomach when he hears you say that yet he does. His heart is swelling with a good type of emotion for the first time that day. “Get ready, I’ll be at your place in ten.” 

“Okay.. See you in a bit.” you say, hanging up the phone. 

Jaehyun exhales the breath he didn’t realise is holding. He completely scraps his night routine out the window and proceeds to get dressed for your spontaneous adventure. It would be his first time taking a friend out for a drive since passing the test but since it’s you, it makes a whole difference. 

Quickly grabbing his wallet from the top drawer, he quickly makes his way to the car. The winter months were soon approaching with the light winds that blew through his jacket. Being it already past eleven, he takes notice of the amount of cars out. Only a couple every few seconds, unlike during the early hours of the day where they would be bumper to bumper. Once he’s inside the car he connected his phone to the car and blasted some new tunes from Lauv for the short drive to your house. 

It’s quite obvious that Jaehyun had only recently got his driver’s license, though he practiced a lot, he’s still unfamiliar with some of the functions the car had. Nonetheless he arrives at your house without a problem. He reaches for his phone by the clutch and calls you. Within three rings, he hears your, “hello?”, his heart rate racing immediately. 

“I’m here dummy. Right in front.” he says. 

He sees you peek from the living room window to check if he were really there. He chuckles on the mic causing you to laugh lightly. 

“Had to make sure, you’ve fooled me too many times Jung.” you reply, strolling to your front door closing it once you’ve stepped outside. 

Jaehyun hangs up the phone and watches you walk towards the passenger side of the car. You naturally smile at your friend at the driver’s seat, you couldn’t help but make a comment about how he looked like a grown-up. 

“Wow, you really did pass. Congrats friend!” 

“Is that all I get? A congrats? No, I’ll treat you to a meal since you’re driving?” he teases. 

“Alright fine, since you are driving, I’ll buy us food this once. Where are we going?” you ask curiously. 

“Hmm… I’m feeling a little hungry and all I can think of is Mcdonalds at this time. Their chips man, you know how much I love those greasy potato sticks.” 

“Oh! Now that you mention it, I’d love to have them too. Go! Go! Go!” you pointed towards the road with a childlike smile. 

He couldn’t help it but smile with you. After all the work he’s done for his assignment, you were definitely his happy pill. The highlight of his day- no doubt. You notice the songs he has on in the car and take his phone to play some music that you thought were more suitable for your spontaneous adventure. Though you loved Lauv too, his songs didn’t seem to fit well with the atmosphere at that moment. 

“Sure go ahead, take my phone, change the music. It’s not like it’s my car.” he rolled his eyes while he smiles at you. 

“Oh shut up, you know I have good taste in music. I love Lauv but listen, there are songs perfect for night drives.” you explain to your friend. 

He ponders for a while at your reply, after only a couple of seconds, he begins to nod his head in agreement. “You’re right. But make sure you include that one song of his that’s always good to listen to at night.” 

“I know exactly which one, Paris in the Rain?” 

“I didn’t even need to give you hints.” he laughs out loud. 

“I’ve lost count how many times you’ve said you want to have that song playing in your car while you drive at night. You specifically said night.” emphasising the word to remind him that you know him a little too well.

Jaehyun merely chuckles at your reaction. Any time he’s with you, he becomes soft. His tough exterior is broken down with your presence and he knows exactly why. You have no idea you have his heart in your hands. How could you though? Having a boyfriend erases thoughts that your best friend even has feelings for you. 

You both talk about your day like usual, never getting tired of hearing what normal and boring things you did. Jaehyun talks about his frightening driving instructor for his test as well as that last minute assignment his lecturer gave his class a few days ago. You on the other hand couldn’t help but rant about the few small things that bothered you throughout the day, like people walking too slow on the sidewalk or when you notice that people chew with their mouth open. 

Jaehyun couldn’t help but laugh loudly at your description of a couple of strangers eating their food at a restaurant you work at. While you on the other hand couldn’t resist laughing along with him. His dimples popped out with his smile and your automatic reaction was to poke it. That caught him off guard causing him to stop but he chuckles instead. 

Pulling up to the drive-thru of the Mcdonald’s you googled earlier, he asks you what you’d like to eat. 

“Bro, you already know I want nuggets and chips with a whole lot of barbecue sauce.” 

“How many nuggets do you want?” 

“Maybe… 20?” 

“Jeeez 20? Are you sure you can finish that?” he pretends to be surprised. 

You hit him on the shoulder, “bitch just get me my nuggets and we won’t have a problem.” 

A pleasant chuckle resonates from his mouth and shakes his head accordingly. 

Jaehyun orders the food and when its time to pay he looks at you expectantly. 

“Oh right, I said I’d treat.” you grin sheepishly. 

“Ye-huh,” he nods and takes your debit card from you and handing it to the staff over the window. 

You both wait for your food in the following window which comes rather quite quickly and thank the lady as Jaehyun drove off somewhere undetermined. You’re distracted by the food to take notice of where he was driving to, but it didn’t matter because you trusted that he would choose a location you both loved. 

There was a viewpoint on top of a hill by the motorway that allowed cars to park and look at the night skyline. It was one of the many places you both talked about driving to years ago and now that one of you finally got their drivers licence, what else is there that could stop you? 

As you munch on your third nugget and chips, you look up when he says that you’ve arrived. Your jaw dropped. The nugget you were holding also dropped to the floor of his car and your eyes widened in awe. 

“Jae..” 

“If I asked you where we should go, you wouldn’t have known so I figured why not here.” 

“Damn, this is beautiful.” 

Jaehyun was tempted to tell you that you were more beautiful but his heart held him back. You couldn’t peel your eyes away from the view and he couldn’t take his eyes off you. Looking at you and his heart swelling with emotion, it was almost too unbearable. He can’t hold you close. He can’t kiss your forehead and tell you just how much he felt for you. 

You turn to him abruptly, making him look at the bags of food he ordered. 

“Are we gonna be able to finish all this?” he asks, inspecting each bag. 

“Of course we are. If we don’t I can take it home. My boyfriend is getting off work soon and he’s always complaining that he’s hungry after.” 

“Right, that’s fine.” in his monotone voice. 

You’re unaware of the change in tone but you distract him by shoving a nugget in front of his face, urging him to eat. 

His dimple makes another appearance when he smiles and takes the piece from you. You grab his phone once more and play another song that fits the setting. 

The night goes on with endless conversations and eventually empty paper bags, once filled with warm treats. You yawn as you look out at the city lights and Jaehyun doesn’t fail to notice your eyelids falling closed slowly. 

“Do you want to head back?” he suggests.

“I think that’ll be the best. It’s already-- what? Fuck it’s already four am. I should really head back now. My boyfriend must be wondering where the heck I am.” 

“Sure thing. Seatbelt.” he reminds you. 

You buckle your seatbelt and he starts the car. 

The drive back was quiet and fast. Jaehyun glances at your sleeping figure next to him, fighting the urge to reach out and caress your cheek. 

If only he wasn’t driving you back to the apartment you shared with your boyfriend. 

If only he can take you back to his house and hold you to sleep. 

If only he can kiss you goodnight and wake up next to you. 

If only he was able to tell you how much he loves you. 

#jung jaehyun #jung yoonoh #nct jaehyun #nct yoonoh #nct jung jaehyun #nct 127 #nct u #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct fluff #nct angst #nct series #jaehyun scenarios #jaehyun imagines #jaehyun fluff #jaehyun angst #jaehyun series #jung jaehyun scenarios #jung jaehyun imagines #jung jaehyun fluff #jung jaehyun angst #nct 127 scenario #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 angst #lovingleehaechan #summer writes

[mushroommouth]

The Good Mourning Part II

A/N: So…I would like to formally apologize for this chapter.

When I post it on Ao3 I’ll have a more detailed author’s note about a couple cut scenes, decisions about this chapter, why some characters are distinctly OOC and junk, but I wanted to get this to you guys hot off the presses.

It, uh, got out of hand. There will be one more chapter after this one, and  it will not be nearly as long. This chapter does not follow my happy ending guarantee because it’s the middle part. And, uh. You might want to get the bummers tag ready for this one, Em. 

Also, it ended up being, like, 10k words. Tumblr messed up the spacing, but it it was too long to fix and still let me sleep tonight. (This morning?) RIP. 

Donna still doesn’t have rights. Enjoy!

-Skye (👻)

—

“So…who is Aaron exactly?” 

After the diner, Dan had called it for the evening. Cody was dropped off at his home, and Dan and Milo had returned to a painfully silent house. Dan’s mom had gotten back to them, frantically asking if everything was okay because Jake was not there either. 

  Dan had to explain in hushed tones over the phone that everything would be alright, that Jake just… wasn’t home. 

Milo went straight to bed, thinking he was too emotionally and physically exhausted to have nightmares. Instead, he woke up gasping at the crack of dawn, with a scream dying in his throat. Milo tried to sneak down the stairs but instead found Dan still sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the television. 

  Milo suspected that Dan didn’t sleep at all. 

  The two wordlessly got into the car and began the second road trip in two days, this time to a town a few hours out. The only break in silence was Dan ordering breakfast at a fast-food joint for Milo and one large coffee for himself. 

  There was still the unanswered question, though, that Dan never really answered the night before. Now that it was spoken out loud, without any hesitance, there was clearly no way out of it. Dan sunk a little in his seat, not taking his eyes off the road. 

  “Aaron is… Jake’s brother,” Dan started carefully. 

  “Jake has a brother?” Milo whipped his head around to face Dan so quickly that the seat belt locked.

  Dan chuckled slightly watching Milo struggle to try and get it to loosen again, mentally making sure to choose his words very carefully. 

  “Technically, yes,” Dan said slowly. “He wasn’t- he isn’t a…good person, though, Milo.  He used to hurt Jake. A lot.” 

  “Oh.” 

  “…Yeah.” Dan took a long slurp of his coffee. “I’m not his biggest fan, and that’s putting it lightly. Luckily, Jake and I went to school fairly far and I thought we’d never see him again. I was hoping for that, at least.” 

  There was another moment of silence as Milo finally gave up and unbuckled himself to try and fix the seat belt. After a few attempts, it finally was gliding correctly, and Milo slumped back to get more comfortable. 

  “So why are we looking for him?” Milo asked. 

  “What?” 

“Why are we looking for him if he’s like… a bad guy?”

  Dan drummed the steering wheel for a moment, thinking. 

“He’s still the only person that knew Jake first. As awful as he was to Jake, he still might have some ideas worth looking into.” Dan carefully chose to leave out the whole ‘vengeance’ part. “Aaron might know things we don’t.” 

  “How do you know where we’re going, anyway?” Milo asked. 

  “Oh,” Dan snorted in response. “He, uh, came up in the paper awhile ago in a segment about, uh, fostering kittens.” 

  “Is that something you’re making up to make me feel better? Because that sounds fake.” 

  “Scout’s honor.” Dan turned to look at Milo out of the corner of his eye. “I thought it was fake, too.” 

  “I didn’t know you were a Boy Scout,” Milo yawned. 

  “Yep!” Dan smiled briefly at the memory. “How about you get some shut-eye? It says we’re supposed to hit some more traffic here in a minute.”  

  Milo nodded sleepily before leaning his head against the window. He watched trees blur past for awhile before ultimately dozing off.

  —

  Milo woke up to Dan gently nudging him. 

  “Hey, kiddo. We made it.” 

  “Wuh…” Milo sat up, rubbing his eyes until the bleariness went away. 

  In front of them was a somewhat-gaudy bakery. A sign in a cursive too curly to read glistened in the early morning sun. It hung above a striped pastel green balcony which fluttered in the breeze. The wooden door swung open. A customer walked out, holding a cake close to their chest, grinning ear-to-ear. They called something back to whoever was inside, presumably the baker. 

  It seemed… pleasant. 

  “Are we at the right place?” Milo asked. 

  “Yep.” Dan got out of the car and stretched before walking over to Milo’s side. He opened the car door and offered his hand. “Do you want to come in or stay in the car.” 

  “Come in,” Milo said without hesitation. He unbuckled and took Dan’s hand.

  They walked hand-in-hand to the door. Dan hesitated with his free hand over the knob for a moment, taking a deep breath. Milo squeezed his hand tighter, not looking up. Dan took that as a confirmation. With a deep breath, he swung it open. 

  A bell chimed from the door, getting the attention from the woman behind the counter. She glanced up for a second before logging the receipt. 

  “How can I help y’all today?” She asked, moving over to fill the gap in the display from the earlier customer. 

  “We’re looking for Aaron,” Dan said cooly. 

  The woman froze, before pulling back from the display to face the two fully. She fidgeted with her hands for a moment before speaking again. 

  “Uh, I know he is pretty popular for cake requests, but you really need to do any reservations online or over the phone. The cupcakes in the display are for sale, though!” She smiled sheepishly, showing off a mouthful of braces. “…My boss got me in trouble last time for doing that, and I need this job to help pay for school.”

  “We completely understand.” Dan smiled warmly. “We just need to talk to him about a family matter.” 

  With that, she perked up, smiling brighter. 

  “Oh! Okay then. He’s out back taking a smoke break. If you guys want to wait here, he shouldn’t be much longer, but-“ 

  “That’s okay. We don’t want to interrupt you.” Dan took a step back toward the door before pausing. “Actually, can I get a cupcake?”

  —-

  The two sat in the car for a moment, waiting for a moment for Dan to regain his bearings. 

  Milo ripped the wrapper off and eyed the pumpkin-flavored cupcake. It seemed harmless enough, but when he went to take a bite, Dan held up one hand to stop him. 

  “One second.” Dan said. 

  He handed Milo the stack of napkins he stored in the console (a result of being an older sibling; Dan always grabbed more than enough for three people “just in case.) Dan then dug in the change potion of his wallet before producing a small pill wrapper. 

  “It’s Lactaid.” Dan explained. “The cashier said they use cream cheese icing.” 

  “Oh! Thanks.” Milo grabbed pill and the water bottle from the cup holder. “I always find these in weird places.” 

  Dan snorted. 

  “Yeah,” he said. “Jake sticks them in random places he knows we’ll always have on us because you’ll eat…whatever it is anyway. He said it’s so we are ‘never caught without them.’”

  Dan watched Milo take the pill and begin eating for a moment. Then Dan rubbed his face and leaned against the car. Aaron hadn’t emerged from the back yet, meaning they still had time to go talk to him, but… 

  It always was a foreign feeling. Dan, all these years later, still felt the shrapnel of frustration and, despite his mother’s gentle reassurance and pleading, hatred for the Pierlys and how they hurt Jake. Dan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to swallow back down his anger. 

  The drive wasn’t as long as he’d hoped. The cupcake bought him a couple minutes. He couldn’t waste many more or the two might lose their chance. 

  Dan felt tired. 

  (Was this how Jake always felt?) 

  “Hey, Dad?” 

  That snapped Dan back to reality. “Hmm?”

  “Do you want to try it?” Milo had broken off a piece and held it out to Dan, though Dan wasn’t sure how long Milo had been offering it to him before he spoke up. Something in Milo’s expression made this seem like a test. 

“Sure?” Dan took the piece hesitantly. He only chewed it enough to swallow it; he was sure it was nerves, but it just tasted like ash. “Are you ready?”

  Dan seemed to pass the test. Milo relaxed ever-so-slightly before nodding. The two got out, and, though Milo didn’t take Dan’s hand this time, he followed Dan so closely the two were almost touching at any given moment. 

  Dan lead them to the back of the store, which seemed ultimately unremarkable when compared to the front. A dumpster was slightly overfilled with boxes from a recent shipment. A handful of wooden and plastic crates were littered across the ground. 

  A few were stacked as if to make them more comfortable to sit on. Perched on top of this throne of garbage was a man smoking a cheap cigarette. 

  He was lanky, almost spider-like in proportions when compared to Dan or Jake. His dark, somewhat greasy hair was slicked back into a messy bun, exposing the row of piercings on his ears. The dark work-shirt had cat hair sprinkled across it, though he didn’t seem to either know and/or care. The apron had been discarded, likely left inside. 

  He looked up briefly at Dan and Milo before glancing down at the cigarette. He ashed on the ground before clearing his throat and speaking. 

  “The store entrance is the other way,” he said. “If you want a reservation, you need to do it online or over the phone.” 

  Milo blinked in surprise before tugging on Dan’s sleeve, who had ceased all movement. 

  “Wait,” Milo asked. “That’s Aaron?” 

  That seemed to get the man’s attention. He stiffened a little in his seat. 

  “Can I help you?” 

  “We’re Jake’s family,” Dan said cooly. “We wanted to talk to you for a moment.” 

  That seemed to do the trick. All the color drained from Aaron’s face as he shot up, stumbling back over the crates. He dropped his cigarette and tried to regain his balance using the lip of the dumpster. He bust out laughing for a second, nervously slicking his hair back. 

  “What is this?” Aaron asked. He bent over and fixed the crates before sitting back down shakily. “Is this some kind of sick joke?”

  “You’re Jake’s brother right?” Milo grabbed Dan’s arm with one hand, leaning forward (but not wanting to step closer) to make his presence clearer. “We’re looking for him.” 

  “Oh, so this is some kind of a sick joke.” Aaron clenched his fists, before shaking his head as if to clear whatever he was thinking out of his head. “Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops.” 

  Milo winced a little, tightening his grip on Dan’s sleeve. Dan simply glared at Aaron, not taking moving his gaze. 

  “And tell them what, Aaron?” 

  Aaron winced and wrapped his arms around himself. 

  “I…” He let out a dry laugh. “If I tried to run, you could just snap me in half, huh?” 

  Dan didn’t respond one way or another, still boring his eyes into the younger man. Milo tugged at Dan’s sleeve to respond. When more silence followed, Milo let go of Dan’s sleeve and stepped in front, redirecting Aaron’s attention. 

  “Listen, it’s been a long couple days. I…just want to know what happened,” Milo said quietly. Tears were beginning to bead in his eyes.  “I’m just finding out about— well, all of this, and I want to know what happened to him.” 

  Aaron sat for a moment thinking, before slowly unwinding his arms from his torso. He finally sighed and grabbed one of the crates and kicked it to Milo. The plastic scraped against the ground, skidding to a stop by Milo’s feet. 

  “Fine. Go ahead and have a seat, kid” Aaron said. “And you guys owe me a cigarette.” 

  —

  “So, what do you want to know?” Aaron seemed to completely ignore Dan and instead diverted his attention to Milo. 

  Milo shrugged, fidgeting his hands. Dan had a hand on Milo’s shoulder as if getting ready to yank Milo away from Aaron at any moment. 

  “I don’t know…just-can you tell me about him? About you guys?”  Milo looked up at Dan, who just squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. 

  Aaron snorted. 

  “Well, kid, I’m afraid I can’t help you much there. We fought a lot. Then one day, he left. And then he-“  Aaron swallowed, digging in his pockets before pulling back out the carton of cigs. “If you’re really his family, you know what happens next.” 

  Aaron was not telling the whole story. That means…

  “Tell me.” Milo said, without any room for questioning. “The last couple of days have been some of the worst in my life and I want to know what happened to Jake.”

  “I’m sick of people not telling me what’s going on.” Milo stood up, shaking off Dan’s arm. His felt his face heating and tears beading up in frustration. 

“I want to know the truth!”

  Aaron blinked in surprise, his eyes widened in recognition. 

  “Oh god,” Aaron murmured. “You were that kid, weren’t you?” 

  “What kid?!” Milo cried. “What happened?” 

  “Milo…” Dan warned. He reached out, but Milo whipped around and knocked his hand away. 

  “Dad, I just- I just…I’m just so tired of this, and all these secrets, and…” 

  “I know,” Dan said quietly. He slowly and gently reached back out and tugged Milo into a hug. “You’ve been very brave so far.” 

  Milo froze before sinking into the hug. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath, holding onto Dan like a lifeline. 

  “I’m not dumb.” 

  “I know, Milo.” 

  “If you guys had told me, I’d…” 

  “We know.” 

  The two stood like that until Milo’s breathing evened back out. When Dan glanced back up, he was surprised to see Aaron intensely watching the interaction. 

  He had paled, clutching the hem of his shirt with his free hand. Something flashed in his eyes—something like yearning or craving, even— before he blinked and it was gone. 

  “Your name is Milo, then?” Aaron asked quietly. 

  Milo turned slightly, peeking out of the corner of his eye at Aaron. 

  “It’s my fau…I killed Jake.” Aaron said. “That’s what happened.” 

  The immediate silence was deafening. Aaron swallowed before continuing, eager for anything but. 

  “I didn’t mean to, I swear. I just—I used to…hurt him, and I’d hurt him a lot. When he left, and it was just me and our mom, I just got angrier. If I’m not a good person, our mom was…” Aaron just shook his head. He pulled out another cigarette from the carton, looking it over. 

  “Anyway, he left. Things got worse.  And I found out where he lived. So, I packed a bag of things to get revenge, make him hurt as bad as I did—or something. I don’t really remember the details other than I was angry.” 

  Aaron lit the cigarette, taking a drag. 

  “So I showed up that afternoon. I was going to make him hurt. But soon after he answered the door, before I could do anything, he just…” Aaron cleared his throat. “You came running out, and I realized just how badly I screwed up.” 

  “I was there…?” Milo asked quietly. Dan said nothing but tightened the hug, seeming to be more for his sake than Milo’s at this point. 

  Aaron just nodded. 

  Milo began shaking slightly from within Dan’s grasp, but he had to ask. 

“How did he- how did he die then?”

  Aaron let out a dry laugh. “His heart gave out. Right there, pretty soon after I walked in. I didn’t even do anything yet, but it didn’t matter. I didn’t call for help, part because I was freaking out too bad and part because I didn’t want to get in trouble.” 

  “‘Cardiac arrest,’” Dan recited under his breath. “‘Caused by the combination of lack of treatment, physical stressors, and shock in seeing his allegedly estranged brother.’” 

  “Beefcake over there got to your house and called for help, but it was too late. That’s it.” Aaron took one last drag of the cigarette before putting it on the ground. He stood up and stomped on it, smothering the remaining embers. “That’s the end of the story. Sorry you came all this way to hear it, but I gotta get back to work.” 

  Aaron shrugged off any looks he was getting, bumping into Dan’s shoulder in the way back to the building. He made it to the door before 

  “Wait!” Milo said. Milo looked up at Dan, who instead took over. 

  “Jake’s…not gone.” Dan stated carefully. 

  Aaron stopped with his hand on the doorknob. 

  “What?” 

  “He’s not, but he might be soon.” Dan took a step forward, finally letting go of Milo. “If you feel bad at all about what happened, help us. Please.” 

—-

  Aaron set Dan and Milo up in the shop as he wrapped things up. He talked briefly to the cashier before calling his boss. After a few minutes, he returned to the two at the table. He began to re-do his bun before speaking. 

  “Okay,” Aaron began. “I’ve got to finish icing a few cakes, but the owner is coming in early to cover for me for the day. I’m going to use one of my sick days, so you better be serious.” 

  “Dead serious.” Dan said sternly, before all three cringed. “Okay, bad choice of words. But as soon as you finish up, we’re getting out of here.” 

  “Whatever.” Aaron rolled his eyes. “I just need to get back by tonight. I didn’t hire a cat-sitter.” 

  “You have cats?” Milo asked. 

  “I have one. I’m fostering some kittens though, too, for the time being.” 

  “What’s your cat’s name?” 

  “Her name is Tom. She’s sixteen now.” 

  “That’s kind of a dumb name.” 

  “Hey!” Aaron slammed one hand on the table, pointing with the other at Milo. “It’s a great name. Get it? Like a tomcat? Listen, she’s a delight. You, meanwhile, wouldn’t get it of course, because you’re just a little—“ 

  Dan cleared his throat before Aaron could finish his statement, causing Aaron to jolt in surprise. 

  Aaron took a breath to collect himself before slicking his hair back again. 

  “Ugh. Whatever. Yes, I have a cat. She’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me, so watch your fucking mouth. Just tell me when it’s time to go.” 

  Milo and Dan watched Aaron storm back to the kitchen. After some clanging around and grumbling, Aaron seemed to be re-focused on the task at hand. 

  “He’s a bummer.” Milo grumbled. 

  Dan laughed quietly, covering his hand to stifle it. 

  “Oh, you have no idea.” Dan replied. “This is actually the best mood I’ve ever seen him. He…” 

  Dan’s voice trailed off. 

  “..He’s kind of a super jerk.” He finally finished. 

  Milo snorted. “Yeah, I can see that. Do you think…do you really think we can trust him?” 

  Dan watched Aaron intensely detail the cake he was working on for a minute. 

  “…I don’t think we really have a choice, Baby Shark.” 

  “Dad, please don’t call me that.”

  —-

  It took awhile for Aaron’s boss to show up. He didn’t look or address Dan or Milo at all. Rather, he went straight to the back to talk to Aaron. 

Dan wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t to see Aaron’s eyes light up at the sight of his employer. 

  The two bantered back and forth for a moment before the boss turned to look Dan and Milo over. He pulled Aaron aside and their conversation became hushed. 

  After a moment, though, Aaron emerged sans apron.

The boss stepped out slightly, leaning against the kitchen entrance. He pointed at Dan. 

  “You. Bring him back in one piece or you’ll personally cover the price of every cake he misses. And Aaron?” 

  “Yes sir?” 

  “Get a goddamn haircut before you come back to work.”  

  Aaron snorted, trying to stifle back a smile. “You wish, old man.” 

  He turned around to face Milo and Dan. The smile and light from his eyes faded like a deflating balloon. 

  “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.” Aaron went to the door, opening it and gesturing the two out. 

  Milo took it gladly, ready to get out of there and continue the search for Jake. He began walking to the car, which Dan unlocked from the store entrance. 

  “Uh, Milo?” Dan called. 

  “Yeah?” Milo asked, already opening the passenger door. 

  “…Can you clear some space in the backseat? I need to talk to Aaron for a minute.” 

  Milo looked the two over and frowned. Aaron seemed just as confused, but Dan gently nodded Milo on. So, hesitantly, Milo agreed. He shut the passenger door and instead climbed into the back. 

While clearing out the junk from the early morning trip in the backseat, Milo snuck a glance up at the conversing adults. 

He met eye contact with Aaron, whose intense glare was unwavering for just a moment. Then Aaron sighed, broke it, and said something to Dan. 

  Milo jumped and hurried up, climbing into the front seat before the adults returned. He saw Dan and Aaron nod in agreement before heading toward the car. He sprawled across the passenger seat, trying to seem as unsuspicious as possible. 

  Dan scratched the back of his head as he began to climb in the front.

“Hey, kiddo.” 

  “Nothing.” 

  Dan chucked at Milo’s response as he buckled. He stuck the key in the ignition and stopped, looking up to watch Aaron climb in the back.

  Aaron grumbled under his breath, trying to adjust his legs so they weren’t pinned against the back of the front seats. The grumbling turned into mild swearing as he struggled more to get comfortable. Finally, he gave up and laid across the back seat, leaning against the window. Aaron caught Dan’s eyes in the mirror and scowled. 

  “You ready?” Dan asked. 

  “What does it look like?” Aaron snapped. Dan shrugged and started the car. 

  Dan pulled out of the parking spot and drove until he came across the first gas station. 

  “Okay, so we need to fill up before we hit the road. I’ll be just outside the car filling up. If you need anything, let me know. Last stop for bathrooms, too, until we’re on the road.”

  “Okay!” 

  Aaron didn’t respond. Dan tightened his grip on the steering wheel. 

  “Milo, if you need anything, I’m right outside the car-“

  “I know, Dad.”

  Dan sighed and pulled up to a pump, taking out the keys and leaving the door cracked behind them. 

  Aaron stirred again from the backseat. 

  “So, a ghost, huh?” 

  Milo jumped slightly, turning around. 

  “Jake’s a ghost now?” Aaron clarified. Milo nodded, so Aaron continued. “What does a ghost even look like? What, is there a white sheet or something?” 

  “I dunno.” Milo said. “He just looks like Jake.” 

  “Hmm.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t even realize— I didn’t even know he was dead. He just…looks like Jake.” 

  Aaron paused in thought for a moment. 

  “I didn’t even-hm. I don’t even believe in ghosts or whatever. What made you find out he was a ghost then?” 

  “What made you decide to become a baker?” 

  Aaron looked Milo over before chuckling. “I asked first.” 

  “We…” Milo slunk in his seat a little. “I found out on accident from some cleaning stuff. We got in a fight. He disappeared.” 

  “Well, I know a thing or two about fighting with Jake.” Aaron turned to watch Dan pump gas from the window. “Welcome to the club, kid.” 

  “Not like that!” Milo unbuckled entirely to turn around, holding the back of the car seat. “We just got in an argument. You hurt him!” 

  “Ah.” Aaron smiled lazily up at Milo, not getting up from his sprawled position. “That’s the funny thing about hurting someone. You can do it so much better without ever laying a hand on them. Our ol’ mom was a natural at that.” 

  “I-“ Milo looked at Aaron with a blank expression for a moment, face flushing, as a sudden swirl of emotions tried to fight its way to take the front. 

  “I wouldn’t worry about it, though,” Aaron continued. “You guys seem…close. He didn’t, I don’t know, poof away sooner. Jake’s always been good at leaving. But he stuck with you two.” 

  Aaron looked back out the window, leaving Milo to stare at him. Milo swallowed harshly, his face still feeling warm. 

  “Your turn. How’d you get into baking?” Milo asked quietly, eager to change the subject. 

  “I didn’t mean to,” Aaron said. “I actually applied to become a cashier, but one day my boss was overwhelmed with reservations, so he showed me some tricks so I could help out for the day.” 

  “That’s it?”

  “Nah,” Aaron laughed. “It turns out I was really fuckin’ good at it. My boss is thinking about paying for me to go to culinary school when I’d never really cooked a day in my life before. I just had a knack.” 

  “Huh.” 

  “Of course, it helped that I was good at carving the fondant, cutting the tips of icing bags as to not let too much ooze out,  using a torch to caramelize… just. Precision.” Aaron looked back up Milo through the corners of his eyes. “Turns out we both got something out of Jake, huh? You, what, a father figure? For me, practice for my future career.” 

  All the flushing— all the color— drained out of Milo’s face in an instant. Aaron forced a grin, watching as Dan climbed back in the car. 

  “Okay, so—Milo? Are you okay?” 

  Milo whipped his head around, staring at Dan wide-eyed. Dan reached over and felt his forehead. 

  “It doesn’t feel like your fever came back. Are you feeling alright?” 

  “I…” Milo looked back over at Aaron before sitting  back down in his seat correctly. “I just want to find Jake.” 

  Dan sighed. 

“Seconded. Where should we head first?”

  “Depends,” Aaron said from the back seat. “Where have you guys been so far?” 

“Uh…” Milo tugged at his hair slightly to focus on the task at hand. “He’s not at our house or Dan’s parent’s house. We stopped by a gross old bar where he played apparently, his school, and a bad restaurant.” 

  “We also visited his grave.” Dan added. 

  Aaron snorted. “Well, there’s your problem.” 

  “What?”

  Aaron finally sat up correctly, ignoring his knees knocking on the back of the front seats. He stretched slightly before continuing. 

  “You went places that are happy for him,” he said. “You didn’t go anywhere that he would have clung to in a bad way.” 

  “But we went to his grave-“ Milo started. Aaron just held one hand up to cut him off. 

  “Yeah, and that’s sad and all for you guys, but that’s the biggest sign of how loved he was. It was meant for him. It wasn’t even, like, just a ‘RIP’ message.” Aaron leaned forward. “You gotta go somewhere that sucked and he could never move on from.” 

  “Do you know where that is?” Milo asked. 

  Dan sighed as Aaron burst out laughing. 

  “The house he-“ “-we-“ “-grew up,” they said simultaneously. 

  “Didn’t it burn down?” Dan asked. 

  “Haha! Nah,” Aaron laughed harder. “Not on its own! Besides, they rebuilt the place but made it newer ‘n shit to boost ‘curb appeal’ or whatever.” 

  “Wouldn’t Jake have already gotten to Donna then?” 

  “I wish. She sold the property— hoo, I haven’t laughed that hard in a bit— before construction could begin.” Aaron wiped the stray tears out of his eyes. “Last I heard she’s living in a one-person apartment somewhere and some newlyweds are living in the new place.”

  “Wait,” Dan turned around slightly to look at Aaron. “Are you not- do you not talking to her anymore?” 

  “Ha! No.” Aaron’s smile fell momentarily before forcing it back to where it was. “It’s hard to do that when she put a restraining order on her only living son, but—god, but it really is for the best.” 

  “Hm.”

  “Is that where we should go then?” Milo asked. 

  “It’s your best shot,” Aaron said.

  “But there are people living there now, and—“ 

  Dan rubbed his face with his hands, thinking for a moment. Finally, he slammed his hands back down on to the steering wheel. 

  “Okay. Okay. Alright. Let’s go find Jake.” 

  —

  The drive was entirely unremarkable. Aaron was silent almost the entire time, spending most of the trip sleeping. Milo took turns playing on his phone and listening to the radio, trying to preserve his battery to the best of his ability. 

  Dan sat tensely, not taking his eyes off the road. In the long lull of the highway, he occasionally drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Milo tried to strike up conversation with him a few times, but Dan was too lost in thought to notice. 

  It wasn’t until Milo fell asleep (though he wouldn’t admit it) that Dan finally spoke up. It was hoarse from the brief period of disuse, soft and sad. 

  “Hey, we’re here.” 

  Milo jolted up immediately, looking around trying to see where this house of horror was. Instead, in front of them was…

  “This is Cody’s house.” Milo said. Only silence followed, and Milo felt his stomach begin to sink. “Dad, is it-is it near here? Are we just picking up Cody, or walking to save gas or something? Are we-“ 

  “You’re going to be staying with Cody until we get back.”  Dan interrupted. 

  “No- no, no no no.” Milo reached over and tugged at Dan’s sleeve. “You can’t be serious. Dad, I thought we were in this together.” 

  “We are.” Dan turned his head slightly to face Milo. “When we get back with Jake—“ 

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it!” 

  Dan sighed. “I know.” 

  “Milo,” he continued. “I don’t know how Jake’s going to be…feeling when we find him. There’s a chance he’s not going to be himself, and I’m sure he wouldn’t like you to see him like that.” 

  “Then what was all this for?” Milo cried. He began tugging at his hair, frustration bubbling over. “Why’d you take me along if- If you were just going to ditch me-“ 

  “Milo!” Dan grabbed Milo’s hands, holding them firmly but gently. “Milo, this wasn’t part of the plan until I realized Jake probably isn’t looking to talk.” 

  Milo froze, trying to pull back out of Dan’s grasp. 

“…What does that mean?”

  “I’ll explain it when we get back.” Dan let go, pulling his hands back and settling them in his lap. “And we will be back. Jake, me-“ 

  “Preferably not me.” 

  The two jumped at the sound of the third voice. Aaron leaned forward, frowning tiredly but clearly had been listening to the whole thing. 

  “I’ve got to get back to my cats, remember?” 

  Dan let out a breathy laugh. 

  “See? It’s just for a bit.” 

  “Dad…” 

  “Milo, we’ll be back—after I drop Aaron off, I guess— and we won’t come home without Jake.” Dan forced a smile. “I promise. Just stay here where it’s safe just in case. Please.” 

  Tears began to bead up and steam down his cheeks as Milo looked at Dan intensely. After a moment, he unbuckled and flung himself at Dan, hugging him tight. Dan froze, surprised by the sudden movement, before relaxing into—and returning the hug. The two stayed like that for a moment, silent except Milo’s quiet sniffling. 

  Aaron cleared his throat. 

“Again, we’re on crunch time, guys.” 

  Milo finally pulled back and wiped sloppily at his face. 

“I’m still really mad at you.” 

  “I know.” Dan wiped some of Milo’s tears away. “But we’ve got to ‘get on the grind,’ right?” 

  Milo laughed a little, but he didn’t take the bait to make fun of Dan and change the subject. 

  Dan watched Milo climb out of the car, grabbing the stuff he packed for the morning road trip. He forced a smile again in Milo’s direction, waving slightly. 

The car was filled with a suffocating silence as Milo walked to Cody’s door and knocked, and Dan let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

  He readjusted the rear view mirror to get a better look at the backseat—and now only—passenger. 

  It had been one week since the Pierly house burned down. 

  Jake was sitting on the couch, clutching his head and taking quick, shallow, and ultimately  unnecessary breaths. Dan was sitting next to him, rubbing his back. 

  “I can’t keep this up.” Jake wheezed. “I can’t- God. I can’t-“ 

  “I don’t know what you mean. You’ve been doing great so far! It’s not like Milo really knows any better yet, but you’ve been able to hold most drinks and-“ 

  “No, Dan. You don’t understand.” Jake glared up from in between his arms, his irises now a flaming red. It was odd to see that expression, though it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. 

  Dan’s hand began burning. Steam pillowed up from his palm, so he ripped it away, quickly rubbing the burn. He recoiled further as Jake’s whole body glitched in a showy display, though Dan made sure to be never out of reach. 

  “They’re still out there.” Jake murmured. 

  “Who?”

  “My mother. Aaron. Dan, Dan, I can’t-“ His form glitched further, and Jake clamped his hands over his mouth to cover an anguished groan. 

  Dan could have sworn, just for a second, Jake seemed skeletal. 

  Dan paused before reaching back out, ignoring the burning, simply to lay a hand back on Jake’s knee. They sat there for a bit, waiting for Jake’s breathing to even out. Once it did, Jake leaned back on the couch and laid his head on Dan’s shoulder. 

  “…What if…Hey, Dan?”

  “Hmm?” 

  Jake counted his breaths, still leaning against his best friend. He laid a hand on each knee, palms facing the air. 

  “When I came back, I was just…angry. I was angry at them. I was angry at myself. I wanted to hurt them for what they did to me. Dan, I still do—more than anything, just, like…I don’t know. It’s like…sometimes I can’t focus, and all I can do is feel and…” Jake swallowed. “Dan, what if, one day, that’s just it?” 

  “What do you mean?” 

  “What if one day I’m just…angry? I chase it, or, more specifically,  I chase them. And that’s it, I’m not me anymore at all. I’m gone, and nothing but anger.” 

  “That’s not going to happen.” 

  Jake laughed dryly. “How can you be so sure?” 

  “Because I’m going to drag you back, whether you like it or not.” 

  Dan sighed, forcing a smile at Aaron, restarting the car. 

“You ready?” 

  “As much as I can be.” 

  “You…could probably move up here if you’d be more comfortable.” 

  “Nah, I’d rather not sit next to the guy using me for ghost bait.” 

  Dan shifted the car into reverse but did not take his foot off the break. 

  “What?” 

  “C’mon, you think I haven’t seen Scooby Doo? Or literally any ghost movie?” Aaron smiled back  lazily. “I might be dumb but I’m not stupid. As soon as you pulled me aside to say you didn’t plan on taking the kid, I knew you’re just going to throw me in there and hope for the best. Am I wrong?” 

  “…No, but! I have a plan.” Dan turned back to the road pulled out of the driveway. “If he’s looking for you, then we get you inside. You distract him long enough for me to salt a circle around the house, and then we talk to him and convince him to come back home.” 

  “It doesn’t seem very thought out.” Aaron fiddled in his pockets before producing his lighter. He flickered it a few times. “It also sounds like you’re setting me up to be killed.” 

  “I’m not. He’s just…angry with you.” 

  “Oh, it’s okay. You can say it. I, along with my mother, ruined his short and miserable life, and were the reason for his life being so short and miserable. It’s pretty much all over your face, anyway.” Aaron looked out the window. “I can’t blame him.” 

  “Why are you going along with it then? If you knew this whole time…” Dan trailed off, trying to remember how to get there based off of memory alone. 

  “Mind If I smoke in here?” Aaron asked. 

  “Actually, yes-“ 

  “Too bad. Consider it my last meal on death row.” Aaron lit his third cig of the reunion period. “And to answer your question…I don’t know.” 

  He took a drag before continuing, cigarette still in his mouth. He talked out of the other corner of his mouth. 

  “I keep telling myself I’m on my way to be a good person. I have the chance to make amends of any kind, even though it’s…weird. If I don’t take it, can I really call myself a better person, much less a good one?” 

  Dan looked at him through the rear view mirror. Aaron immediately turned red, shrinking in on himself for the slip of the tongue. 

Dan was quiet for a moment, rolling down a window to air out the smoke filling the car. 

  “It’s not your last meal on death row. Unless you try something—in which case you have to worry about me coming after you— nothing’s going to happen.” 

  Aaron just laughed and rolled back up the window. He took out the cigarette out of his mouth and glanced in Dan’s direction. 

  “You make a lot of promises, big guy. Do you think you can keep all of them?” 

  —-

  The new house was charming. It was a quaint blue suburban with a well-kept yard. The driveway was empty and all the lights were off but the ones outside the door, seeming to welcome in any visitors that might come its way. 

  It was hard to imagine a furious blaze that destroyed its predecessor. Or, even before that, the screaming matches, the blood and tears shed that painted the halls. 

  “Damn, you weren’t kidding.” Dan and Aaron sat in the car, parked at the street. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

  “I’m positive,” Aaron said. “The real question is how we’re going to get in. Are we just gonna, what, waltz up to the door? ‘Hey, we’re looking for a ghost of one of the guys that lived here when he grew up. Don’t worry, he didn’t die here, but I was the one that burned it down!’”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to try.�� Dan shrugged. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s at home, though.” 

  Dan reached and grabbed his pre-packed backpack. 

  “Okay, I have kitchen salt and walkie-talkies and I think those have full battery.” He tossed one to Aaron who looked at him blankly. 

  “Why the fuck do you have these?” 

  “Because I’m an adult and I can. Make sure yours is on channel 2.” 

  “Okay, but-“ Aaron flipped his between his hands. “If I’m inside and you’re salting the outside or whatever, wouldn’t it be easier if I just. Y’know. Yelled?” 

  “Maybe, but we’re guests. It doesn’t look like anybody’s home, but I don’t want to wake up the whole neighborhood.” Dan got out of the car, looking back over his shoulder at Aaron. “Besides, this way lets me get back to you right away.”

  “Okay, okay. New question,” Aaron said as he climbed out of the car. “What if he’s not even here? This was just a hunch, and it’s not like me and Jake were the closest. This was a bad idea. What if-“ 

  With that, the sound of a guitar strum filled the air, the vibrations of which seeming to shake Aaron to his core. The sound caused the front door to crash open and the porch lights dimmed before turning to a brilliant cyan. 

  Aaron took one horrified look, but before he could climb back in the car, Dan clamped a hand on his shoulder and closed the door behind him. 

  “No, I’m pretty sure Jake’s here.” 

  —

  “…And they just left you?” 

  Milo, laying face-first on Cody’s bed, just groaned in response. 

  “Why?” 

  “Too dangerous.” Milo lifted his head up just enough to talk. “Dan said something about Jake ‘not being himself’ or whatever.” 

  Then Milo slammed his face back down on the comforter and groaned again. Cody sat down on the edge of the bed, patting Milo’s back. 

  “Want to talk about it?”

  Milo shook his head, but pulled himself up and scooted  to sit next to Cody. Milo sniffled, laying his head on Cody’s shoulder.

  The two sat like that for a moment, Cody thinking. Something was off about this, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. 

  “Did Dan go by himself?” He asked. 

  “No.” Milo replied. Cody kept looking at him expectantly, so Milo sighed before continuing. “He went with Jake’s jerk brother.” 

  “Huh.” 

  The room was silent for a moment. 

  “Did Jake or Dan ever tell you what happened in the haunted house? With the demon?” 

  “No. I don’t really remember anything about it really except waking up in the hospital.” Milo said. “Jake didn’t visit me because he was si-Wait a minute. That was a lie too, wasn’t it?!”

  Cody just laughed nervously in response. 

  “Ugh. So. What did I miss, then?” 

  “Well, I mean. You were tossed from the third floor, so I guess it makes sense that you don’t remember. But…after we moved you, Jake got really quiet.” Cody absentmindedly touched the nicely-healed scar on his forehead from the flying debris. “He told me to keep us out of danger? I guess?” 

  “Yeah?” 

  “Yeah. Then he kinda. Blew up? I guess? His skin-“ Cody shuddered. “He became a skeleton and his clothes changed to this suit. He yelled ‘no one hurts my family,’ and then he…ripped the demon apart, piece by piece.” 

  Milo was quiet before lifting his head off of Cody’s shoulder. 

  “Jake did?” 

  “Yeah.”

  “The blonde one.”

  “Yes, Milo, I can tell apart your dads.” 

  “…Sorry. Continue.” 

  “Okay, so-“ Cody began. “The house caught on fire a little bit because Jake was on fire and he was burning the…remains. That’s when Dan showed up.” 

  Cody fidgeted with his hands for a moment. 

  “Jake turned back to normal, but he used too much energy.” Cody continued. “Then he was…gone. Dan picked you up and helped us get out.” 

  “Why’d didn’t you tell me that…?” 

  “Jake is a ghost?” Cody shrugged. “I thought about it, but I thought it was something he should say. Besides, once he was back to normal, he looked really sad and…scared?” 

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I think part is that he was worried about what you’d think,” Cody said. “And part because it was scary to see him mad. It was like he couldn’t focus on anything but beating the demon. I think he burned up a lot of energy;  it took him a long time to reform.” 

  The room was quiet for another moment before Milo spoke. 

  “Dan and Aaron are going to the house Jake grew up in because it’s somewhere that would make him upset still,” he said. “Do you think…”

  “That he might be vengeful?” Cody swallowed a lump in his throat. “Maybe. Probably, if it’s somewhere upsetting enough trigger that mode.”

  “Wait,” Milo paled. “Do you think Dan’s in trouble?” 

  “…Maybe? I don’t- oh! I know! Do you know the address?” 

  “Uh, no.” Milo shrunk in on himself slightly.  “But I think they said the town.” 

  “Dang. Well, I guess that’s a place to start.” Cody got up went to the computer. “Okay, so we can look through 9-1-1 logs online. If the people living in that house called the police, the transcript should be here. And so if they called the police-“

  “Jake isn’t acting like Jake.” Milo finished. 

  “Yep!” Cody sat down on the office chair, typing some stuff in before freezing. “This…might take a bit, trying to narrow it down to the address.” 

  “Wait- the house is new I think. Aaron said something about somebody burning it down.” 

  “That helps! If I look up the town and arson- do you know when that happened?” 

  “I don’t know. Jake said he died about 10 years ago, and Aaron said their mom put a restraining order on her only living son, so maybe it was about the same time?” 

  “Okay…so if we narrow it down…” Cody trailed off, furiously typing and clicking through the pages. “Oh! I think this is it. House burned down…suspicious in origin… ’Donna Pierly could not be reached for comment at this time.’ Aaaaaaand- here’s the address!” 

  Cody opened a document and copied and pasted the address. 

  “Okay, so now let’s look through the 9-1-1 logs.” Cody was silent for a moment, digging through some files. He seemed to find it and froze, before turning around and forcing a nervous smile at Milo. 

  “Okay, do you want the good news or bad news first?”

  “Good news,” Milo said. 

  “Good news is, Jake was there at least as of last night. Bad news? He’s almost certainly in vengeance mode and Dan (and Jake’s brother, I guess) are probably in trouble.” 

  —

  Aaron was in trouble. 

  Dan cracked open the salt as the two stood on the doorstep.

  “Remember, if you need me, use the walkie-talkie. As soon as I’m done, I’ll be right inside to talk to him.” 

  Aaron simply glared at Dan as a response. Dan gave a thumbs up. Aaron looked away, sighed, and took a step inside. 

  The door immediately slammed behind him. 

  The house was dark. Pictures lined the walls of complete strangers. 

A young couple was featured in most of them. Some were of their families; seeing all of them smiling, pictures hung with nothing short of careful thought and love made Aaron’s stomach churn in jealousy. 

  As Dan earlier suspected, the house was empty. The lights were all off, though there was faint music coming from the direction of where Jake’s room once was. 

Aaron took out his phone and turned on the flashlight feature. He turned it around, looking around the house. 

  More pictures. Some plants. The house’s layout was different, but it was still the cleanest Aaron had ever seen it. It was charming. Aaron’s eyes caught a painted portrait of the Virgin Mary. It was set up in the living room with a frame painted gold. 

  Aaron went to take a closer look, when he felt breathing on the back of his neck. Aaron whipped his head around. No one was there, though blood suddenly splattered the hallway where Aaron was moments before. 

  Aaron gasped and staggered back, into a solid form. It grabbed his shoulder before spinning him around. 

  A skeletal form was standing there. Its- no, his- blonde hair was the only real recognizable feature. His features were sharp. He was wearing a sharp suit, though slightly decayed at the ends. 

  “You.” 

  Aaron broke into a cold sweat, immediately taking a step back. The ghost didn’t move, simply glaring daggers. 

And, as such, Aaron took off running toward the door. The specter made no approach.

  Aaron began furiously wiggling the knob, which had locked itself sometime after Aaron entered. As he went to unlock it, a searing pain shot through his fingers. Aaron recoiled, stumbling backwards. 

He looked at his hand, seeing the start of a burn. Blisters were already beginning at the tips of his fingers. 

  Aaron swallowed, clutching his injured hand. He sighed, trying to muster up as much courage as he could, before turning around. 

  “You can’t run back to Donna this time,” the ghost said. “You don’t just get away with what you did.” 

  “…Jake?”

  “Don’t play dumb.” Jake vanished before reappearing a few feet in front of Aaron.

  Aaron backed up, pressing against the door. Aaron hissed in pain as the door knob, still scalding, pressed into his lower back. Aaron sidestepped to try and move away from the door, inching toward the living room. Jake watched him. 

  “Hey…bro…” Aaron said, trying to change the subject. How long does making a salt circle take, anyway? “How have you been?” 

  “Funny thing about that,” Jake started. 

  The skeleton form began to shutter, his joints jerking sporadically. It glitched a few times before Jake’s skin reappeared. It really did look like Jake, though he was still wearing the suit. 

  And his eyes were glowing red. 

  “I’ve been dead, Aaron.”

  It took a second for Aaron to register that he was looking up at Jake. Jake was hovering a couple feet off the ground, closing in the distance. 

  Jake picked Aaron up by his shirt, holding him up. 

  “You already forgot? Because I think it goes like this-“ Jake turned around and threw Aaron, leaving him skidding across the floor. “You showed up. You came to my home to hurt me again.” 

  Aaron swallowed harshly and forced himself to a mostly-sitting position. 

  “It wasn’t enough when we were little. You came back that day, to what? Finish the job? I’m dead. I have been for a decade.”

  Cyan flames began rising behind Jake. It didn’t seem to burn the furniture, but Aaron was able to feel the heat already. He began scooting back, shaking a bit in fear. 

  Jake watched Aaron’s slight retreat for a moment before exploding. Embers went flying, scattering across the room. Some landed on Aaron, which he quickly tried to brush off and put out. 

  “Say something! Say anything!”

  Aaron cringed before realizing he’d have to speak. He racked his brain but said the first thing that came to mind. 

  “I’m sorry.” 

  Jake froze as Aaron forced himself to continue. 

  “I hurt you, Jake. Mom and I- you shouldn’t have had to deal with that. With us. But this isn’t you.” 

  Jake glared at Aaron for a second before lowering so his feet touched the floor. Despite the fiery color of his eyes, his glare was icy. 

  “You wouldn’t know.” 

  “You’re right! I probably wouldn’t. But I was with your family all day. And they never stopped talking about you or looking for you.” 

  Jake’s eyes softened for a moment before his form shuddered. His back arched before his upper body lurched forward marionette with cut strings. 

  “My family? Dan tried to get rid of me. Milo hates me. And you…” 

   Jake took one step toward. His form glitched again, this time appearing…younger. He looked like he did when he left home, wearing baggy clothes and hair dyed black. Bruising covered half of his face. However, this form seemed completely deadpan. 

  “You made me become this.” Jake’s hands caught on fire. “How’s that for family, Aaron?” 

  “Jake-“ Aaron felt his pockets for the walkie-talkie but came up empty. 

He whipped his head around the room, and instead saw it toward the door. It must have fallen off when he was thrown. Aaron looked back up at Jake wide-eyed. 

  “We never had to be alone, we never had to deal with Mom. It could have been us against the world.” Jake glitched again, briefly appearing as a child with broken fingers wrapped in a homemade splint. As soon as it was there, it was gone again. “But you decided a broken toy would be more fun.”

  Teenage Jake grabbed Aaron by the leg with his still-burning hands. Aaron yelped in pain; it didn’t burn the fabric of his pants at all, but he felt the burning underneath.  

  He dragged Aaron back toward the living room before dropping him. 

  “Listen, I’m sorry-“ Aaron tried again. 

  “Quit saying that!” Jake cried. 

  “No! I-I’m not. Jake, it’s okay to be angry.” 

  Jake froze. 

  “Listen, I hurt you. Mom hurt you. I’m trying to become a better person and, my therapist made me realize something.” 

  Jake’s form shuddered again, though he didn’t approach Aaron further. 

  “You can be angry. What you went through-what we went through. It only makes sense to be angry.” Aaron pulled his injured leg back slowly, trying not to get Jake’s attention in doing so. “But if we let it consume us, we just hurt the people we care about.” 

  “But Mom-“ 

  Jake finally showed emotion again. It was an expression that Aaron had only seen for seconds at a time. It was a look of panic and pain. Seeing it on the younger Jake, bruised and battered all these years later was almost too much. 

Almost. 

  “Jake, I haven’t seen Mom in years.” Aaron forced a laugh and pulled back more of his hair to show off his ear piercings. “I took a page out of your book. I got out and- and I could do anything I wanted! I got these done because I knew she wouldn’t approve. Not to mention the tattoo-“

  Jake glitched and raised an eyebrow. 

  “Your point.” 

  “Oh! Right. I finally went to therapy. And, Jake…it’s now like I instantly became I better, or-whatever, because that’s not how therapy works.” Aaron slowly began getting himself up, trying not to set off Jake. 

  “But I realized just how bad our Mom was. And how bad I was. Of course you’re angry. I’m angry too, a lot. No one asked you to forgive me. If you let it consume you, you just…repeat the cycle.” 

  Aaron stood up fully, trying not to put pressure on his burned leg. 

  “This isn’t Donna’s house. I burned it down years ago. This is just some random strangers’ place now.” Aaron held out a hand. “Just because it wasn’t us against the world then doesn’t mean I don’t care about you, too. Or that I’m not sorry.”

  Finally, Jake’s form glitched until it was back to his adult form, though he still had the expression of a distrustful child. His eyes flickered cyan for a moment, looking at Aaron’s hand. 

“I-“

“Jake, your family is waiting. They miss you want you to go home.” 

  Just as Jake began reaching for Aaron’s hand, the walkie-talkie went off. 

  “Aaron, I’m almost finished setting up the salt circle. I’ll be in in a minute. Over.” 

  Jake looked at the walkie-talkie and back at Aaron before grabbing his hand. Aaron screamed in pain as Jake’s hand ignited, fire running up his arm. 

  The fire retreated after a moment and instead spread across Jake’s body, bringing back the skeleton form. His eyes were solid flaming red as he glared at his younger brother. 

  “‘Go home’, Aaron?” Jake asked. “I should have known this was a trap. I can’t believe I actually trusted you.  Well…” 

  A circle of fire sprung up, trapping Aaron though never searing the floor below. 

  “If I’m going out, I’m taking you with me.” 

  “…Shit.” 

  —

  “We need to get there now! But how do we…” Milo trailed off, beginning to pace the room. 

  “By car would make most sense.” Cody said. 

  Milo gasped. He stopped and walked over to grab Cody by the shoulders, looking at him with starry-eyes. 

  “We steal a car!” 

  “No, we’re not stealing a car. First off, neither of us know how to drive. Second, that’s pretty illegal.” 

  “But-“ 

  “Milo, we’re not taking a car.” 

  “Fiiiine.” Milo groaned and let go of Cody. “What do you suggest then?” 

  “Well, how okay are you with getting grounded?” Cody asked. 

  “Joke’s on you,” Milo grinned. “I’m already grounded. What’s your plan?” 

  “I know my dad’s Uber log-in.” Cody smiled. “We order a ride, sneak out and head that way immediately.” 

  “I knew there was a reason I kept you around.” Milo nudged Cody in the ribs, grin only growing larger.

Cody just burst out laughing. 

  “Bold of you to assume I’m not the one that kept you around. You’re pretty much feral, Milo.” 

  “Yeah, yeah. Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s save my dads!” 

  —-

  Making a salt circle around a house was a lot harder than Dan thought it would be. 

  The first obstacle was trying not to run out of salt early. Dan thought he bought a lot when he picked it up from the store, but apparently he was cutting it close. 

  The second major obstacle was the fence. The owners had locked it, and Dan circled the perimeter. There was no other way to get it other than climbing the fence. 

  Dan thought suburban houses were nice. But the tall fencing was suddenly the bane of his existence. Despite the fact that Dan would consider himself to be pretty strong and relatively in-shape, trying to heft him up over slick wood was distinctively Not Fun. 

  After that, he had to figure out where to continue the salt circle. The house was silent, and the walkie-talkie hadn’t gone off. Dan carefully continued the salt circle from each end, about to meet in the middle. 

  The house was still silent. That sat in Dan’s stomach like a rock, so he took out his walkie-talkie. 

  “Aaron, I’m almost finished setting up the salt circle. I’ll be in in a minute.” Dan said into the device. Leaving it there felt odd, so he hesitated before adding an “Over.” 

  As Dan finished the circle, a shriek came from inside. Dan dropped the container instantly and took off running into the building. 

  —-

  Flames were licking everywhere. Even though it didn’t burn the house and remained smokeless, it still ate up oxygen. 

  Jake watched Aaron cough as the circle of fire slowly closed in. He had collapsed to his knees sometime earlier. Various burns were scattered across his body already, though Jake just watched as his coughing grew heavier. 

  Once he seemed sufficiently dazed, Jake waved away the fire surrounding Aaron.

  Jake held out one hand and summoned his guitar. 

  Aaron barely had the time to look up as Jake swung the guitar directly at his head. 

  Suddenly, the world seemed to topple over. 

  —

  Dan rushed in, watching Jake get ready to swing his guitar at Aaron’s head.

  Dan didn’t really have time to weigh his promises to Milo and Aaron, so he took off running. 

  He managed to shove Aaron out of the way, but the body of the guitar caught him full-speed in the side of the face. 

  And 

  the 

  anchor 

  cracked 

  and 

  broke

  —

“Thank you!” Cody called to the driver. Milo already took off running for the door. 

Technically, he leapt out as the car was still moving, pulling into the driveway. He stumbled a couple times, but nothing could stop him after he saw Dan’s car. 

  “Milo, wait-“ 

  Milo wiggled the door knob, crying out in frustration when it wouldn’t open. 

  “It’s locked!” 

  Cody waved quickly to the driver before running up to the door. 

  “Check under the mat.” Cody instructed. 

  Milo with shaky hands lifted the welcome mat and produced the spare key. He tried to unlock it, but his hands were shaking too badly. Milo dropped the keys and cried out again. 

  Cody just scooped it up and unlocked the door for him. Milo rushed in, but almost toppled over skidding to a stop as he took in the scene. 

  The room was still hot. Aaron had dragged himself in one corner, nursing some of the worse burns on his arm. He seemed barely conscious . 

  Milo whipped his head around before seeing Dan on the ground. Kneeling near him was a flickering, translucent Jake. 

  “-ilo, I’m -oRry-“ Jake looked up at Milo with wide and panicked brown eyes. Tears were streaming down Jake’s face. 

  Milo took a shaky step closer. As he approached, he realized Jake was trying to cradle Dan’s head, but Jake was phasing through him entirely. 

  “MiLo…”  Jake held out a hand, though it vanished. No glitching. No light show. His hand just disappeared. 

  Piece by piece, the same thing happened to Jake’s form. He was disappearing. Jake looked himself over before trying to force a reassuring smile to Milo. 

  It was entirely unconvincing, though, with the waterfalls cascading down his cheeks. 

  Milo fell to his knees, shocked and unable to bring himself to approach more. Tears began trailing down his cheeks too, but Milo didn’t immediately realize it. 

  Jake’s legs disappeared, then his torso chunks at a time. It began occurring quicker, until Jake was essentially  just shoulders and a head. He looked at himself again, and then back to Milo. 

  “I lOve yoU.” 

  And like that, Jake faded away entirely. 

  Milo didn’t process Cody running over, turning over Dan. 

He didn’t process Cody gagging at the swelling already occurring on the side of Dan’s face, or Cody telling him that Dan’s cheek or jaw was almost definitely broken. 

  He didn’t process the slight blood trail dribbling down Dan’s lips from broken teeth, or Cody moving rolling Dan on his side. 

  He didn’t process Cody calling for help, or sitting next to him to hug him tight and say whatever reassurances came to mind. 

  No. 

  All Milo could focus on were the pieces of Jake’s guitar, from the broken neck to the fractured body, a faint cyan glow still  illuminating it in the dark room. 

#LOOK HOW HARD I CAN CRY #LOOK AT IT #HHHHHHHHHFNNNNNNNNN #i have no words im so upset #hHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH #im gonna have to come back and ramble about this but im SO UPSET MY BABIES.... #friend art #fics #mico #milo #cody #dan #jake #aaron #ghost jake #submission

[sapphicscholar]

A/N: I haven’t been posting the letters here, since I’ve been traveling, so if you’re only following on Tumblr, make sure you go catch up first! 

Letter 64

March 9, 2012, 5:03pm

Dear Alex,

I know I don't have to, but I enjoy writing to you. And you're not bad at it, trust me. I think...I don't know, the beginning of any relationship is a little awkward, and with both of us being new to the long distance side of it, that makes it so much harder. But I still love getting your emails. And responding is a nice chance to sit down after a long day while pretty much everyone else is spending time with their families.

I'm sure you and the head librarian normally get along perfectly, so I doubt one snort will jeopardize that relationship. But if it does, she can take up any and all complaints with me. Also, it's sort of adorable that you thought they deserved play time. Probably for the best that you found them all, though.

Practical loopholes are the best! And no, I don't imagine I'll ever get that confession. It'll always be pinned on Kara, right?

Really...you're gonna tease me for Snoopy when you want to make your dog the laughing stock of the dog park? Gertrude is the name of, like, the single old lady who lives next door and has tissue lint-covered butterscotch candies in her purse. And you're gonna be out there with some big-ass German shepherd barreling toward you as you yell, "C'mere, Gertrude!"

Anyway, I think it's awesome that you and some of the other volunteers have been learning a bit of ASL. We didn't offer it beyond the beginner level at my school (you had to go take classes at another university, but financial aid wouldn't cover them—anyway, it's a long story and basically boils down to: bureaucracy sucks), but one day I'd also like to learn. I've often wondered whether it might not be a better "universal" language for communicating with the majority of off-worlders who've landed in the States, many of whom don't have many of the same sounds as English does. Then again, I'm sure there are plenty of morphology-related issues that could make signing equally difficult. Perhaps if we made both…who knows! I'm rambling at this point.

And of course you'd be into da Vinci's lab. Well, if you ever end up in Italy, you could go visit plenty of da Vinci museums. Personally, though, I prefer the testing site for his flying machines up in Fiesole, one of the hill towns outside of Florence. I went running up there while I was in Florence, and it's absolutely beautiful. Also, the woods in the area have all sorts of signs warning about attack pigs (okay wild boars, which I know are much more threatening, but I enjoy the thought of attack pigs more because then I can focus on being amused instead of frightened). I'd definitely recommend it as a less tourist-y spot!

I…I'm refraining from making a whole lot of inappropriate comments about the phrasing of your request for my help in making food. I would like some credit for my will power here. Please and thank you. Now that I've gotten it out there, yeah, I'm happy to help. I don't know how much help I'll be from afar when our video feed often freezes every few minutes, but dammit, I'm down to try. Also, you think my recipes are bad? You should see the ones passed down through the generations. "Boil the potatoes until done. Mash potatoes and add egg yolks…etc." Literally nothing is specific and everything is to taste. But once you've got a sense of how things should taste in a general sense, you can start figuring out how you most want them to taste, and that's a pretty cool thing.

You've got me so intrigued about this news! Good luck with whatever it is!

Last but not least, your questions!

1. What TV series to do you keep coming back to and re-watching? -Okay…honestly, I've rewatched The L Word more than I should. It's awful and overly dramatic and everything, yes, but it's also representation. And we don't die (RIP Tara). Okay, lies! One very important character dies (okay also another one, but she’s still in every fucking episode, and that was a betrayal of the deepest sort), and I'm still bitter, but in case you haven't seen it (I assume not…) and want to one day (that's up in the air), I won't spoil it. It's nice to have a show that, for as bad as it was, normalized women dating/loving/fucking (should I do the whole theme song?? No, it's okay, you probably won't get that joke) other women. And, even though I totally bashed on it a sentence or two ago, I do love a good Buffy rerun. I'm especially partial to the dark Willow episodes when I'm annoyed with the world.

2. What are some things everyone should try once? -Oooh, so many things! I think everyone (who can afford to) should try to live alone and/or travel alone at least once. I get the joy in being surrounded by others, but I think being alone for a somewhat extended period of time breeds a level of self-sufficiency and self-awareness that can be really healthy and helpful. You can't lean on everyone around you, and so you learn what your strengths are and where you struggle, but you also learn how best to deal with your weaknesses, and I think it makes you stronger, even if it's hard at the time. And there's also something a little freeing about being on your own--you get to do the things you want to do on the timescale that you've set for yourself. Want to spend an entire day in one room of an art museum? Fucking do it! There's no one telling you about the "right" way to do things or live.

3. What would a perfect morning be like? -Great question!! I'd love a morning with no alarm. I probably couldn't sleep in too late, but being able to wake up naturally is a wonderful feeling. And then I'd love to have a free day in front of me. And then, okay, two possibilities! Option 1: Sunny, warm day. I'd get up and go for a short run to one of those outdoor yoga classes. I'd come back, shower, and then go out for breakfast at someplace that serves really amazing coffee and has a patio so I could eat outside. I'd love to do the breakfast (and really the rest would be cool too) with someone. Could be a friend or a date—either way—someone to enjoy the day with. We could go to a farmer's market or walk around for fun without any real goals in mind. I'm also partial to people watching, so maybe get more coffee or tea and sit outside and watch the people go by.

Option 2: Cold, rainy/snowy day. Sleep in a little bit later. Waking up with someone I like there could be pretty great too. I'd love to have big windows to watch the rain or snow coming down. And if it were snow, a fireplace would be amazing! And then we could make breakfast together, and since it could be a sleepy morning, maybe we could do hot cocoa instead of coffee (or mix them together for a homemade mocha type thing). We could eat by the fire and do the crossword together. Maybe even be bold and use pen! Later, we could put on a movie. For some reason, when it snows, I always want to watch Harry Potter, especially the first one. It feels right. Maybe afterward there's a hot bubble bath involved or something nice and warm.

Hmm questions from me…this is tricky, ya know? There are lots of things I want to know about you, but sometimes it feels like…like maybe I know them too early? Or I'm missing something important. Like…if we went out on our first date in person, would we have done the whole back-and-forth about which one of us should pay? Would we have split a dessert, or are you someone that doesn't like sharing food? Would we have held hands? Or would it have been that awkward moment where it doesn't matter that, say, you already drunkenly groped each other in a bar bathroom, because now you've still got first date jitters and don't know if a hug is even appropriate. Not talking from personal experience at all. Would never… But you know what I mean? Would we have gone off script? Would the date have gone on for hours with neither one of us wanting it to end? Would we have kissed at the end of it? Would it have been great or totally awkward and something that we'd laugh about later? I get that it's part of the territory of doing anything long distance, but it comes with a unique set of frustrations (not with you! with, you know, the situation). Sorry, I don't mean to hate on what we're doing or anything like that. And I know the questions were my idea, so I'm certainly not saying we should stop or anything! I don't know what I'm saying.

But okay, questions. Umm…let's think. If you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be? Slightly different: what do you think your superpower would be (as opposed to the one you'd choose)? What's your worst habit? And, hmm…any embarrassing high school moments?

Can't wait to talk to you on Sunday morning (for me)! Maggie

#sanvers #fluff #letter fic #long distance relationship au #maggie sawyer #alex danvers #co-authored fic #fanfic #ao3feed