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neonthewrite · 3 years

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Washed Up Winchesters 8 (Final)

The mystery is solved and the case closed! It seems the Winchesters didn't quite expect things to go this way, but when there's a giant involved, all kinds of things go differently!

Cowritten with @nightmares06, the writer behind the @brothersapart multiverse!

( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) ( 4 ) ( 5 ) ( 6 ) ( 7 ) -8-

Story Tag

Read Time ~10 minutes

~~~~~

Chase pushed himself up and shook his head. He was more used to being swept up in a giant hand, but toppling over a few times had winded him. He frowned over the edge of the hand, then over at Sam. “What?”

Jacob’s other hand lifted to be level with them. Minnie was clinging to his thumb and scanning the flock of sheep warily. They were all still milling around, keeping a tight group, several of them aiming disdainful baaas up in the air. Dean’s defiant stand over their heads certainly had not gone unnoticed. Minnie had never seen sheep act like that, certainly not in the shadow of a giant. “Sam?”

"Th-the sheep!" Sam gestured in the direction of the hostile flock. "We're chasing skinwalkers, not werewolves! They can be any type of animal, so long as it's what the pack started out as!"

The confusion on Dean's face cleared. "So you're saying this flock is the people we've been chasing the whole time?"

Sam nodded at the silver knife in Dean's hand. "One way to find out for sure."

Jacob frowned pensively. Even after hearing about how dangerous the skinwalkers were, he could hardly imagine the flock of fluffy sheep before him causing much trouble. Mostly they milled around among each other, all keeping tabs on Dean with his glimmering knife. It was weird that they didn't even want to run from Jacob, but he hadn't made any moves against them.

Even Chase and Minnie had been mostly spared. Chase had only fallen over because he kept trying to pull Dean up.

Jacob decided to throw in his two cents. "I mean, they're… they're not really doing anything," he pointed out.

"Except yelling at us," Chase agreed, waving a hand at a ram that bleated insistently up at him.

"Wait," Minnie chimed in, her brow pinching with confusion. "Do they understand what we're saying when they're in their whatever-form?"

Sam circled a hand through the air aimlessly, trying to gather his thoughts and what he knew of their current enemies. "Skinwalkers aren't like werewolves, who give in to their more... animalistic side when they transform. They maintain their regular consciousness and memory. The main danger is that they can transfer their ability with a bite, increasing the size of their pack... or flock." Sam gave the flock of sheep a strange look. He'd never encountered supernatural creatures in the guise of herbivores like the sheep. This case was shaping up to be unique in more ways than one.

"That means," Sam continued, "they know just who we are, and anything we said while we were here. Which is why they were so quick to lunge at me and Dean. They already found us once on the ship, when they were in their human forms. We couldn't stay under cover, and ended up tossed overboard."

Minnie frowned critically over the side of Jacob’s hand, even as the giant lifted everyone slightly higher. If those sheep really were skinwalkers, and at this point they certainly weren’t acting like normal sheep, they’d just let the group wander among them. She’d patted their heads and tried to click at them like she did with her lambs back home and everything. The feeling that wormed into her gut was something like betrayal.

“So these guys might be the reason I found you floundering out in the waves,” Jacob echoed, a disapproving frown on his face.

“Well what do they--” Chase began, asking Sam first before looking over the side of the hand at the nearest sheep bleating up at them. “What do you want in Lilliput then?!”

For a long moment, it appeared as though Chase's demand would go unanswered. The sheep milled restlessly around, giving Jacob's feet a wide berth as they bleated.

Then, the ram that had given Dean a runaround when he was on the ground stepped out into an opening that formed in the flock. It cocked its head, fixing one eye on the hand that held Chase, Minnie, Sam and Dean. Its expression was impossible to read as it looked them over, one by one.

There was a shift, and then the ram's horns appeared to melt away. Several cracks could be heard as its back shifted to an upright position, and the hooves split into four fingers and a thumb.

After less than ten seconds from when the shift started, the ram stood there as a regal and distinguished looking man, dressed in a simple white shirt and dark pants. He frowned at the people in Jacob's hand, then up at the giant himself.

"As I recall," the man said, "you were the ones to smuggle onto our ship when we had done nothing to you in turn, stinking of silver and gunpowder."

Seeing the transformation had been more than enough to leave Jacob, Minnie, and even Chase speechless for a hesitant moment. Jacob’s mouth opened slightly, as amazed as he’d been the first time he met Chase. He had never really thought about tiny people existing anywhere before. He definitely hadn’t imagined them having the ability to turn into tiny sheep. “Uh. Wh… what,” he muttered.

“I mean. I guess that’s technically true,” Chase finally admitted, sending an uncomfortable sideways glance at Sam and Dean. He frowned down at the apparent leader of a flock of sheep skinwalkers. “So … are skinwalkers usually dangerous, or not? ‘Cause I feel like that would clear up a lot, knowing what you actually plan to do in Lilliput, right?”

The man’s lip curled in disgust. “Oh, please,” he said disparagingly. “Unlike our more… wolf-ish cousins, we have no interest in anyone’s hearts.”

Next to him, a second sheep transformed back. This one was shorter, and he had very mousy features in comparison to the ram’s dignified look. “But we like Romaine hearts,” he stuttered out insistently. “Right? Right?!”

“Please, Jerimiah,” the ram said. “This situation is delicate enough without your help.” He turned to look up at the Lilliputians and Blefuscians held in the giant’s hand. “Haven’t you ever heard ‘The grass is greener on the other side?’ We are here in search of better pastures. Nothing more.”

Chase’s mouth opened in a delighted grin over the bad pun. Before he could try to chime in with his own, Minnie slapped his arm with the back of her hand. In her opinion, she had enough to deal with without her brother adding to the pile. She’d thought this was a poor lost flock of sheep. Not an intentional group of … magic shapeshifting squatters. “So are Sam and Dean the only ones you hurt, or …?”

Jacob heaved a slow sigh. Minnie had a point. If they had left behind more than just Sam and Dean, it would be dangerous having the shapeshifters around Lilliput too. “Yeah, I mean. I’m pretty sure I can outrun you guys, but what’s to stop you from sneaking along later and trying something again? Are Chase and Minnie here in danger because they know your secret?”

The ram’s mouth twisted in annoyance. “All we want is green fields and calm waters,” he explained. “Any Blefuscans that we ran into, we ran off, nothing more. These… hunters that followed us were the most persistent, and I couldn’t risk the safety of my flock. Throwing them off the ship was only done as a last resort.”

Looking over the rest of the flock, and a brief glance at the twitchy Jerimiah, the ram shook his head in doubt. “Perhaps it was merely a pipe dream to find a place free of warmongering, but we had to try.”

“So…” Sam tentatively leaned forward. “Your main plan is to get as far from civilization, and stay there?”

“Sammy…” Dean started, but was ignored.

The ram nodded. “It seemed like a more likely situation to find in Lilliput compared to Blefuscu. Such an idyllic land…” He turned to Chase and Minnie. “No one here is at risk from my flock, I give you my word. Even if we get sent back to Blefuscu.” The last statement was said with a sideways glance at Dean.

The guy seemed genuine enough. Having lived in Lilliput for a bit, Jacob knew the locals to be fussy but harmless. They would likely be too caught up in their own drama to notice an extra flock of sheep up past the hills, especially since no one really wandered this far anyway. He decided that he believed the stern little guy.

It wasn't really up to him, though. He lowered his hands a bit, not enough to put his passengers at risk but at least to bring them more level with the ram. "Whatcha think, Chase? Minnie?"

"It's weird," Chase said, practically bursting for an opening to speak up. "Sheep-people .... sheepshifters!"

Minnie smacked his arm. "How is that helping?" she scolded, before addressing the ram again. "I don't think anyone uses these pastures so you won't get anyone upset. But will you even be safe out here? From wolves and things, I mean?"

The ram looked down his nose at her. “Wolves have been our problem since the start,” he said with a sharp look sent in Dean’s direction. “We haven’t been able to shake them yet.”

Sam stepped between Dean and the ram with an arm to separate them, before thoughtless words could be thrown. “If we leave you be, does this mean you’ll leave the Lilliputians alone?” he asked, trying to keep the focus. “We’re only here to deal with threats.”

The ram sighed. “We won’t bother a soul, you have my word. So long as we have our pastures.”

Sam put his arm down. “I think our job’s done then,” he said. “They’ll just need a safe place to call home now.”

“This works,” Chase agreed, gesturing at the current pasture. Aside from Jacob looming over the field with several people standing on his hands, it was a simple, idyllic view. The area was lush, if a bit wild, and unbothered by Lilliput or Blefuscu. “We even have Jacob here to come check on you sometimes if you need anything.”

Jacob rolled his eyes at being volunteered so easily. It was his lot in life anymore, to have Chase suggest him for any task that needed doing. “I have a pretty easy time getting over here,” he agreed anyway. “If you need supplies.”

Minnie glanced over at Sam and Dean. Sam seemed mollified, though Dean looked as ready for a fight as ever. Looking back at the sheep, she gave them an exaggerated shrug. “Looks like everyone’s okay, so … it all worked out? This time?”

The ram gave Minnie a stiff half-bow, looking uncomfortable with the unfamiliar gesture. “We will hold up our end of the bargain,” he promised.

With a quick shift, the man again turned into a ram. Large, curving horns came out of his forehead first before he fell forward onto a new set of hooves. By the time he hit the ground, he could have blended in with any herd of sheep and proceeded to walk amongst the others. Jerimiah followed suit next. Then, a slowly stirring wave expanded throughout the herd until they were all heading in the same ambling direction.

Sam sighed, blowing out his bangs. “Case closed.”

“Weirdest case ever,” Dean complained. “Almost as weird as running into the actual giant in the lands.” He sent Jacob a side-eye. “Maybe next time we’re in Lilliput, we can enlist some extra help again?” Despite his usual gruff tone of voice, the interest in having a giant helper shone right through.

Chase drew himself up proudly, though he still stood notably shorter than either brother. “We’re totally ready to kick some ass, anytime we’re needed.”

Minnie rolled her eyes. “Preeeetty sure they were asking for Jacob,” she pointed out, nudging Chase with an elbow.

“Hey! I helped!”

Jacob smirked. He’d gotten somewhat used to the surly attitude from Dean. It seemed the little folk over in Blefuscu could be just as excitable as the Lilliputians he’d come to know. Chase and Minnie’s antics were practically a given. “I’m basically a glorified taxi,” he warned. “But I’ll be here.”

#mywriting #collab #washed up winchesters #chase in lilliput au #chase lisong #minnie lisong #sam winchester #dean winchester #jacob andris #supernatural fanfiction #gullivers travels fanfiction #g/t #g/t handheld #it's over .... just like that

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voidstilesplease · 3 years

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command me to be well

(a Beacon Hills Academy for the Supernaturals ficlet)

~•~

Supernatural creatures are known and accepted in society, and they have their branch and section in everything - the government, religion, court justice, health, food production, etc. They coexist with humans. There are still supremacist groups on both ends of the spectrum, but as a whole, supernaturals and humans share the world in equal.

In Beacon Hills Academy for the Supernaturals, mages (magic wielders) and shapeshifters (werewolves, werefoxes, were-coyotes, etc.) study and learn about themselves, strengths, and weaknesses, and adaptation in the human world.

Stiles takes both mage and shapeshifter classes. His mother had been a fire werefox, and his grandmother a mage. The magic ability stays dormant in between generations, so Stiles received the spark that skipped his mother. Stiles's dad is the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, Homo Sapiens division. (It's not what it's called, but Stiles uses the term to annoy his father.)

Every werefox can shift to their animal forms since birth. Their blood has no infectious components like werewolves, to turn an existing creature into one. So their kind only reproduces through procreation, but the power comes only between the ages of eighteen to twenty and never predictable. There are thirteen classifications of werefoxes: Heaven, Wind, Spirit, Fire, Earth, River, Ocean, Mountain, Forest, Thunder, Time, Sound, and Dark. And they all have to study every single one element through simulations and a weird practice called internalization. It's like the Buddhists' enlightenment when they have to "seek within themselves the core of their being" or whatever crap like that.

His mage classes are much worse. As a werefox, his reading skills are for shit, even with his human blood. His kind takes time to make sense of written symbols -it's called dyslexia in the human tongue- and so it proves to be a problem in his magic lessons.

"Stiles!" Kira, also a werefox and his non-biological sister, appears at his side after class. "Come over this afternoon and have dinner at home. Dad is making sushi."

The mention of sushi makes his mouth water, but he curls his lips downward. "I can't. I'm on my way to solitary study."

She winces sympathetically, "Yikes."

The solitary study is another word for detention in the Supernatural school. The students are put into confinement to reflect and read. It could be for an hour up to five -their offense and the amount of hate the teacher has for them decides the length of the stay. It doesn't sound bad when you hear of it the first time, but the stillness of being alone in a white room, being forced to think, drives everyone crazy. Stiles is probably the one person in the school who has seen those walls the most.

"What happened?" She asks, hoisting her backpack, forehead creasing intently.

Stiles shrugs, "In my mage class, we were practicing an incantation. I mispronounced a word because the symbols were flying all over the page," they stop walking when they reach the hallway that will separate them; Kira to the exit, and Stiles to his punishment. "All the light bulbs in the room broke simultaneously, and the shards went everywhere, mostly lodged in my classmates' and teacher's faces."

"Ouch,"

Stiles hums, curling his lips. "My incantation teacher hates me, just as much as I hate him. Every mistake I make is an excuse for him to send me to solitary. He also thinks I'm doing it on purpose. He gave me five hours today, and I'm expecting another tomorrow for the potion I fucked up earlier in another of his class."

"But that's unfair," Kira says, indignant for Stiles. "We're dyslexic. Every teacher should consider the limitations of each of us."

Stiles purses his lips but doesn't say anything. He doesn't mention to Kira that when the symbols rearrange in his mind, it's not always a gibberish mess. Sometimes, they're also perfectly readable -and quite harmful, depending on the caster's intention. He doesn't mention that more than half the time, he purposely utters curses and adds the wrong ingredients to concoctions. Stiles only does it for fun, though, to ruffle his teachers and enemies. He's a school jester; everyone knows that. He doesn't mean to cause pain to anyone -not all the time.

He's not vicious or vengeful. He swears he's not.

He's only a playful fox, curious with the less explored potentials of his power -even its violent capacity.

~•~

But it gets worse. It becomes an inclination more than a mere curiosity, especially when Stiles meets him.

In his fourth year in the Supernatural school, the management opened a program for the underaged supernaturals in the custody center. They're the young, homeless lawbreakers abandoned to the care of social workers after countless encounters with the law enforcement and their family's depletion of funds to cover the fines for damages they have caused.

The program grants them one term of attendance in the school instead of being instructed by tutors at the center, and a second one if the first term yields positive reports.

There are eight of them, and all are shapeshifters. There are three werewolves, a kanima, a wendigo, a chameleon, an electric eel (Stiles doesn't want to know how this kind came to be), and a were-coyote. All of them have criminal records, of course, but one has a count for murder - and his sister, no less. And Stiles knew him before his lock-up. They had not been friends because of Stiles's mistrust of canine shapeshifters, but he recognizes him right at first sight in years.

But while werefoxes prefer to stay away from the dogs, the latter doesn't have such urge to keep scarce, especially one among the outlaws: Theo Raeken.

He's taken one look at Stiles and decided to torment him. Witnessing Stiles do illegal magic did not help the case. Instead, it invited Theo more. Theo stalks him (as much as he can inside school grounds), stares at him, vies for his attention, pushes all the wrong but right buttons. Stiles feels repulsed by the way his blood thrums in Theo's presence. He's disgusted with himself for getting excited by his challenge. Stiles reminds himself daily that it's Theo -the one who murders their blood, and will probably have no qualms on staining their hands with someone else's. But Theo keeps provoking him, daring him to let go of caution.

One day, Stiles does.

He unleashes himself and leaves Theo bloody, beaten-up, broken, and exhilarated, and himself satisfied for the first time. Theo stops prodding him after that. He starts tempting him: We can run. None of them listens. Their truth is the only truth. And Stiles thinks he's right.

He's almost eighteen. His fox's element should be manifesting -and it looks like it is.

~•~

"What happens if I turn out to be the wrong kind?" Stiles asks Kira one night, in the middle of video game night at her house.

Kira is focused on the screen, but she echoes Stiles. "The wrong kind?"

"A dark fox,"

That pulls Kira's attention away from the screen quicker than they can run. Her eyes are wide with alarm when she presses pause and turns to Stiles. She opens her mouth but speaks nothing for a long time. It seems she's too shocked for words. Finally, she shakes her head. "You're not."

Stiles sighs, putting down his controller. "There's one out of thirteen possibilities that I am. It's little, but it's there nonetheless."

Kira scoots closer, holding Stiles's arm, her clutch tight. "Yes, but," she stammers, "there hasn't been one in a long time."

"Of course, there isn't," Stiles agrees, looking at Kira. "They're exterminated as soon as they present to snuff out any chance of gaining power and growing a second tail."

"But you're not one," Kira says forcefully, eyes suspiciously moist.

Stiles replies softly, "I enjoy causing mayhem."

She shakes her head hard, "We all like trouble, Stiles. That's sort of what we are,"

Stiles can't look at her eyes when he admits his truth, so he turns away. "I inflict pain," Kira freezes in her touch. "and like it. The sight of blood makes me sick but with pleasure. I-" he pauses, wipes the sweat that gathered in his nose. He swallows. "I want to get into someone's head and twist their mind. I have done it, and I want to do it again."

Kira draws uneven breaths beside him. Her scent has turned sweet with fear -and though it makes his stomach twist, Stiles inhales it, savors it.

Kira's voice quivers, "If you learn to suppress it-"

"If it can be suppressed and controlled, there would've been no vulpine law authorizing the killing of a nogitsune."

Kira bows her head in defeat, sniffing.

"My magic," his whispering voice is loud in her room, reverberating in its four walls. He's been coming here since he was a child. Who knows when and if he can have the chance again. "It knows what I might be. It flows in my veins with my blood, rushing when I'm doing what I shouldn't be."

They're silent for a long moment; Stiles refuses to meet Kira's eyes, and Kira strives to calm her racing heart. She doesn't recoil from her touch, even when she was afraid. Now that the fear has subsided, she moves to kneel in front of him and takes his face between her small hands, prompting him to face her. When he raises his head, Kira's eyes are glowing, fiery around the black. Stiles flashes his in response.

"If you are," Kira says, tone final and sure. "I'm with you. You're my brother, and I love you."

Stiles knows she will stand by her words, but he doesn't wish her to. Kira has a whole life ahead of her that she can't spend hiding a nogitsune or running with one.

Because Stiles will run, damn if he won't. He's not going down, and he won't let them catch him.

He leans his head against her hand, kissing the soft palm of it. He rubs his nose on the residual unease still clinging underneath her skin. "I love you, too."

And then he will come back invincible.

~•~

#steo #steo au #steo fic #steo ficlet #stira #stira brotp #teen wolf #teen wolf au #teen wolf fic #stiles stilinski #theo raeken #kira yukimura #BH Academy for the Supernaturals #supernatiurals are known au #stiles x theo #stiles and kira are bffs #void stiles #fics tag

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fuckallthegood0nesweretaken · 3 years

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New World CH. Three

Title: The Barn

Words: 1,887

Warnings: Strong language, canon-typical violence, SOFT Daryl

A/N: Chapter three is here! Hope y’all enjoy!

If you’d like to request something, send me an ask. I’d love to write for you!

If you’d like to support me, I have a Ko-Fi!

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

Daryl Dixon Masterlist

Walking Dead Masterlist

Masterlist

~~~~~~~

[Y/n]

Once Sam and Rick got back from talking to Hershel, you started talking about where to look for supplies.

“Where have you looked so far?” You asked.

“All over this area here. Maggie says the town has basically been picked clean but there are other houses and farms we can search too,” Rick said.

“Are you going with us?” Andrea asked.

“I’d like to.”

“Rick,” Hershel said, approaching you.

“Hershel. We just have our guns out because we’re planning on going on a run,” Rick said.

“Before you do that, I could use your help with something. Sam too. Shouldn’t take more than an hour, maybe two.”

“Count me in,” Andrea said.

“Just Sam and Rick. But thank you.”

“I’ll be down at the barn, keeping watch until you’re ready,” Andrea said.

“I’ll keep looking at the map. See if there’s anywhere else we can look,” you said to Rick.

“Don’t go wandering off,” Sam said to you.

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” You bent over the map again after kissing Sam’s cheek.

---

Sam

Sam and Rick followed Hershel and Jimmy through the woods and to a little bog. Two walkers were stuck in the water and Sam frowned as he walked up.

“That’s Lou Bush,” Hershel said.

“You knew him?”

“Lou as in Louise. She has a farm just up the road and grew sweet corn mostly. Worked at the bar in town on the weekends. The man I don’t know, but I recognize the coveralls he’s wearing. I’ve been to where he worked.” Hershel looked at Rick and Sam. “How many have you killed?”

“Too many to count,” Rick said.

“Me too,” Sam said when Hershel looked at him.

“Could you stop?”

Rick and Sam shared a look, Rick making eye contact with Hershel after. It was clear that both the men were hesitant in saying something and Hershel knew it.

“There are people out there who haven’t been in their right minds. I think that they can be restored.”

“You’re not talking about the walkers, are you?” Rick asked. Jimmy handed Hershel a snare pole, getting it ready.

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t think the same or if you even see them as human beings anymore. But if you and your people are going to stay here, that’s how you’re gonna have to treat them. My farm, my barn, my say.”

Hershel handed Rick the pole and after glancing at Sam, Rick took it.

---

[Y/n]

It had been a few hours and the two of them still hadn’t gotten back from the errand with Hershel. You were getting a little worried and was pacing around the porch. Adeline and Sophia were sitting with Carl and Beth, Beth playing a game of chess against Patricia. Andrea, Dean, and T-Dog were walking up from the barn. Looking up when you heard them, your brow furrowed.

“What’s going on?” T-Dog asked. “Where is everyone?”

“You haven’t seen Sam or Rick?” You said, worry in your voice.

“They’re still somewhere with Hershel. We were supposed to leave hours ago,” Andrea said.

“Yeah ya were. What the hell?” Daryl said, coming up to the house, Carol in tow.

“He said they’d be back soon, two hours at most. It’s been almost four.” You were chewing on your lip and Carol rubbed your back soothingly.

“Fuck!” Daryl said. He was upset and when he looked out towards the field, he spotted Shane. “Oh here we go.”

You looked up too and saw that Shane had the gun bag in his hands.

“What’s all this?” Daryl asked.

“You with me, man?” Shane said. Daryl nodded and took the rifle Shane handed him.

“Time to grow up.”

“What’s going on?” You asked.

“I thought we couldn’t carry?” T-Dog said.

“We can and we will. It was one thing sitting around, picking flowers when we thought this place was safe. But it’s not.” Shane looked at Glenn. “How ‘bout you? You gonna protect yours?”

Glenn took the gun with a nod and Shane turned to Maggie.

“Can you shoot?”

“Can you stop? You do this, my dad will make you leave tonight.”

“We have to stay, Shane,” Carl said. Lori came bounding around the corner of the porch and you made eye contact with her. You shrugged your shoulders, just as confused as she was.

“We ain’t goin’ anywhere. Now, Hershel, he’s just gotta understand. He- He’s gonna have to.” Shane knelt down in front of Carl and held out a gun. “I want you to take this. You take it and keep your mother and the girls safe. Do whatever it takes.”

“What the fuck are you thinking?” Lori seethed, grabbing the pistol and getting in between Carl and Shane. “You can’t just give a gun to a twelve year old! And Rick said no guns. This is not your call! This is not your decision to make.”

You were looking between Lori and Shane before T-Dog said something.

“Oh shit.”

Looking where he was, you saw your brother, Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy leading two walkers towards the barn. Shane took off running, you and everyone else close behind.

“Shane!” You yelled. You were hot on his heels, trying to catch him before he did anything stupid.

“What the hell are you doing?” Shane yelled as he crashed through the gate.

“Shane, back off!”

“Why do they have guns?” Hershel asked Rick.

“You’re kidding me! You see what they’re holding onto?” Shane was in an angered frenzy.

“I see who I’m holding onto.”

“No, man, you don’t.”

“Shane, just let us do this then we can talk,” Sam said, raising his hands.

“What is there to talk about, man? These things aren’t sick and they’re not people. They’re dead! Ain’t gotta feel nothing for ‘em ‘cause all they do is fucking kill!” Shane was basically frothing at the mouth and you put your hand on the gun in your waistband. Looking behind you, you saw Lori had a hold of both Adeline and Carl.

“They killed Amy! They killed Otis! And they gonna kill all of us.”

“Calm down, Shane!” You said. One of the walkers got a little close to you and you pulled out your gun, pointing it at the walker.

“Hershel, lemme ask you something. Could a living, breathing person survive something like this?” Shane cocked his gun and proceeded to shoot one of the walkers in the chest.

“Shane, stop!” Rick yelled.

“That’s three rounds to the chest. Could someone who’s alive take that? How is it still fucking standing?” He shot again, and again, before shooting it in the head.

“Enough risking our lives for a ‘safe place to live’! Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to fucking kill us! Enough!” Shane walked closer to the barn and turned to Rick. “Rick, it ain’t like it was before! If y’all want to live, to survive, you have to fight for it! Right here, right now!”

Shane ran to the barn and cut the chain holding it shut. Rick was begging Hershel to take the snare-pole, but he was still on his knees on the ground. He seemed to be in shock. Everyone was yelling at Shane to stop, but you knew he wouldn’t listen. When Shane threw away the last thing holding the walkers back, you readied your gun, standing next to Daryl and Dean.

When they started walking out, you started shooting them down. Even though you knew this was the wrong way to go about it, you wouldn’t let anything hurt your family. Behind you, you could hear Maggie and Beth sobbing. You felt bad for killing their family a second time, but if you had to do it to make sure your daughter stayed alive you would do it again in a heartbeat.

After the final shot rang through the air, you heard Beth let out a sob as you approached Lori to grab a crying Adeline from her.

Beth had managed to get out of Jimmy’s arms and had ran to her mother. You heard voices tell her not to go near them, but she ignored them all. Crying, Beth turned her mother over and knelt by her head. She wasn’t dead yet and Beth screamed, trying to get away. The walker had her by the hair and everyone went to save her. Andrea stabbed it in the head and Beth was safe in her father’s arms.

“I can’t believe Shane did that,” you muttered to Dean while you calmed down Ada. “It could’ve been handled differently.”

“You’re right. But what’s done is done. You should get some rest.”

“Can’t. Need to make sure Adeline’s okay.” You looked at your big brother. “I’m worried about the kids growing up in this new world. Ada already would’ve grown up with carnage around her, but Carl, Sophia, and Beth shouldn’t have. This isn’t a good world for children to grow up in.

“It’s not. But what can we do?”

“They need to be able to act like a normal kids. Their childhoods are being stripped away and I feel helpless in knowing there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Shaking your head, you walked off towards the house as your brother watched you go, worry in his eyes.

---

Later that day, you had a small funeral for Annette and Shawn. You had helped dig the graves and when it was time, you had the service.

At the funeral, you stood in by your brothers, hand held tightly by Sam. Adeline was in your arms, head tucked into the crook of your neck. When it was over, everyone went their separate ways. Adeline stayed with Carol and Sophia, and you found yourself walking to Daryl. He had started setting up his camp away from everyone else and you couldn’t say you blamed him. Things were getting hectic and you found peace in the quiet away from everyone. You sat down next to him and the silence was broken after a few minutes.

“Thank you,” you said softly. Daryl looked at you.

“For what?”

“Bringing me back to my family. I really appreciate it.” The atmosphere was slightly awkward, but you looked at him nonetheless.

“It was nothin’.”

“But it was something. I’m practically just a stranger to you but you helped me out anyways. So, thank you.” Hesitating slightly, you kissed his cheek and stood up. “If you need anything, just let me know.”

As you started walking away, he grabbed your wrist. Stopping abruptly, you looked back at him. Daryl stood up and cupped your cheek. Eyes fluttering shut, you basked in the softness of his touch. He got closer to you and he kissed your cheek softly.

“The same ta ya.” With that, Daryl walked away and you knew the conversation was over. Smiling to yourself, you walked back to the house and about half way there, you saw Lori running towards you.

“Daryl over there?” She asked you.

“Yes, why?”

“Beth collapsed from shock and Hershel’s missing. Rick took Dean and Glenn to go get him but they’re not back yet.”

“Beth in the house?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go see what I can do to help.”

“Thank you, hun. Now I gotta see if Daryl will go out to find them.”

“Alright. Good luck.��

#daryl dixon x reader #daryl x reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #the walking dead x reader #the walking dead fanfiction #supernatural x reader #supernatural fanfiction #daryl dixon #The Walking Dead #twd #supernatural #spn #x reader #xreader #reader insert #winchester!reader #New World

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rhosyn-du · 3 years

Text

Never make a mess when a total catastrophe will do - Chapter Eight

Pairings: Jimon, past Clace, background Clizzy, a bunch of other minor background pairings Rating: Explicit Art: @cor321 Beta: @all-thestories-aretrue Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, fake dating, oh my god they were roommates, friends with benefits, idiots to lovers, pining, miscommunication, holidays, drinking games, mistletoe, symbolically significant Oreos, domestic fluff, brief mention of past character death, Jace’s self-worth issues deserve their own tag Summary: What do you do when you find out your sister is not only dating your ex and love-of-your-high-school-life but is also bringing her home for Christmas? Bring your annoying, hot, annoyingly-hot roommate as your fake boyfriend to show them you're totally fine with it, obviously! There's no possible way this could backfire. Link: AO3 , Tumblr Master Post

Chapter Eight

“If you’re taking me to a strip club, I’m walking out and crashing Magnus’s bachelor party.”

“Dude, have a little faith.” Jace grabbed Alec’s elbow and helped him out of the car.

“And stop scrunching your nose to try to see through the blindfold,” Izzy said from Alec’s other side. “We can see you doing it. Besides, do you really think there aren’t going to be strippers at Magnus’s party? Have you met Catarina and Ragnor?”

“Yes, and I trust their taste in strippers more than I trust yours.”

“I think I’m supposed to be insulted,” Izzy said, opening a door so Jace could usher Alec through, “but honestly, I kind of just want to ask Cat if she knows any good strip clubs I can take Clary to for our next date night.”

Alec made a pained sound. “Can I request a moratorium on anything that involves strippers and any of my siblings?”

“You can request it,” Jace said, “but it doesn’t mean we’ll listen. Mind the gap; you’re about to step into an elevator.”

“Isn’t my bachelor party supposed to be about things I like?”

Izzy pushed the button for their floor. “No, it’s supposed to be about doing things with your friends and siblings before you get married and forget all about us.”

“Iz, I meet you for drinks literally every week. I’m not going to stop just because Magnus and I are married instead of engaged.” A slow smile spread across Alec’s face. “I’m marrying Magnus tomorrow.”

“Yeah, you are.” Jace patted Alec’s shoulder as the elevator doors slid open. “Almost there, buddy.”

They led Alec out of the elevator and down the hall.

“Okay stop,” Izzy said when they reached their destination. “You can take the blindfold off now.”

Alec made a show of keeping his eyes squeezed shut as he pulled off the blindfold, opening one eye slowly as though bracing for something horrible. Jace saw the moment Alec recognized where he was, his shoulders relaxing all at once.

Alec glanced between his siblings, unimpressed. “This is the door to our loft. I live here.”

“I told you I was going to plan you the perfect bachelor party,” Jace said. “Did you really want to spend your last night as a single man somewhere else?”

“Your party awaits, big brother,” Izzy said, swinging the door open.

“Alexander!” Magnus met them at the door, smiling broadly. “I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to show up.”

“We had to drive around enough that he wouldn’t know where we were going,” Jace explained. “You know what his crazy sense of direction is like.”

Alec gave his fiancé a questioning look. “What happened to separate bachelor parties being an important part of the tradition?”

“Ragnor and Catarina reminded me that some traditions really aren’t that important,” Magnus said airily. “Especially when breaking them would make you happy.”

“He means he sulked and whined about having to spend all night away from you until we suggested a joint party,” Catarina said, handing Alec a martini and Izzy something dark and fruity with far too many cherries. “And then he pretended like it was all our idea.”

“It was pitiful, really,” Ragnor added. “At one point, he actually languished on my couch to moan about it like some discount gothic heroine.”

“And on that note,” Magnus said, taking Alec’s arm, “my fiancé and I will be going to join our friends who don’t intend to spend all evening mocking me.”

“That’s really sweet, you know,” Alec said as he let Magnus lead him away.

“Well,” Ragnor said, “it’s my duty as Magnus’s co-best-man to make sure he is sufficiently mocked this evening, so I suppose I must follow.” He looked at Jace and Izzy. “I believe Clary and Simon are in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes.”

Jace threw Izzy a questioning look. “Cupcakes?”

Izzy shook her head. “Must have been something Ragnor and Catarina planned. Let’s go see.”

The cupcakes, it turned out, were dick-shaped. And because it was Clary decorating them, they were very accurately dick-shaped.

“Oh yeah,” Izzy laughed, “this was definitely Cat’s doing.”

“Cat was in charge of baking, I’m in charge of decorating,” Clary confirmed, eyeing the cupcake she was working on critically. “Devil’s food cake with a chocolate-and-whiskey ganache filling and a variety of different icings. We’re calling them cock-cakes. Simon, pass me the lemon buttercream?”

“You got it, boss,” Simon said, grabbing one of the many pastry bags lined out on the counter and handing it to Clary before stepping over to Jace and greeting him with a warm smile that made Jace’s insides melt. “Hi.”

“Hi, yourself.” Jace couldn’t help his answering smile, couldn’t help drawing Simon into a soft kiss that felt easier than it probably should. “If I knew you were going to be creating culinary dick art without me, I would have made Iz drive Alec around on her own.”

“I’m mostly just assisting.” Simon leaned into him, stealing another quick kiss. “Clary’s the real artistic genius behind this masterpiece.”

“It’s true, my girlfriend is a genius,” Izzy agreed happily, walking over to wrap her arms around Clary’s waist from behind.

“Right now, this artistic genius is being distracted from finishing her cupcakes by too many people in the kitchen. You two,” she gestured at Simon and Jace, “take that finished tray out to the table.”

“Wait, how come we have to be the ones to leave?” Simon wondered. “Izzy’s being way more distracting than we are.”

“Because she’s cuter than you are,” Clary said without looking up from her cupcakes. “Go.”

Jace looked at Simon. “The lady has spoken, I guess. Come on, let’s go watch Alec pretend he doesn’t think these cupcakes are hilarious.”

~~~

Jace couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this happy. He wasn’t sure he ever had been this happy. The joint bachelor party had been a rousing success—cock-cakes, a stripper who was definitely not better than he would have hired, and all—and Jace was so glad he and Izzy had been able to help do this for Alec. And it had been amazing to see Alec so joyful and so obviously in love, to see Izzy and Clary and how happy they made each other. To feel the possibility of a love like that for himself every time Simon took his hand, to see it every time Simon smiled at him, to hear it every time Simon said his name.

It was enough to make him want to be a little reckless. Maybe even reckless enough to tell Simon that he was more to Jace than a fake-boyfriend-with-benefits, that Jace wanted them to be more. It was hardly a new thought, but Jace thought that maybe he was finally ready to say the words out loud.

“Hey, there’s something I want to talk to you about,” Simon said, as if reading his thoughts. “When we get back to the hotel,” he added, throwing a pointed glance at their Uber driver.

Jace smiled at him. “Sure. I actually wanted to talk to you, too.”

“Cool.” Simon sounded nervous. Jace could relate. Now that this was actually happening, he felt like he had an entire kaleidoscope of butterflies in his chest.

Jace’s butterflies hadn’t calmed down any by the time they made it back to their room, and he could practically feel the nervous energy radiating off Simon as he kicked his shoes off and started pulling out his clothes for morning.

“So,” Jace said, leaning against the wall with an affected casualness, “what did you want to talk about?”

Simon squared his shoulders, turned to face him. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Jace’s whole world rocked sideways. “What?”

This was not how this conversation was supposed to go.

“This whole fake dating thing. It was a mistake. I probably shouldn’t even have suggested it in the first place, but I thought—” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I was wrong, and I can’t keep pretending with you, so.” He took a deep breath, obviously steeling himself. “So, this is has to be it. After the wedding tomorrow, no more pretending.”

“Oh.” It was all Jace could find it in himself to say. He reached for the bravado he would normally wrap around himself in a situation like this, but it had deserted him entirely. “I can’t keep pretending with you.” It had all been pretend for Simon. And Jace didn’t even have any right to be hurt by it, because it was what he’d agreed to.

“It’s just,” Simon continued, “seeing Alec and Magnus so happy tonight, and seeing the way Clary and Izzy are together, and even the dumb text Becky sent me earlier about how excited she is to see Maia tomorrow, it all made me realize just how much I want that. I want it with someone I love who loves me back, and you—”

“And I’m not a relationship kind of guy,” Jace finished for him. He didn’t actually need to hear all the reasons that would never be him. He was aware of his own failings.

“Right.” Simon’s voice was barely above a whisper, all his nervous energy having drained away.

“I get it.” Jace forced a smile. Maybe he couldn’t be someone Simon wanted to really be with, but he could at least pretend he wasn’t devastated by that fact. “You deserve that kind of happiness, maybe more than anyone I know. I hope—” He drew in a sharp breath. He would not let his voice tremble. “I hope you find someone who can give it to you.”

He turned away, unable to maintain the facade any longer. “I’m going to hit the shower before bed.” He wasn’t proud of having to hide the bathroom with his feelings, but he couldn’t stay here with Simon, not now.

Jace spent a long time under the shower’s spray. Until he was sure Simon must have fallen asleep. Until he was sure all his tears had washed away.

~~~

Best man duties were almost enough to distract Jace from his own problems for most of the next morning, and he threw himself into making sure everyone in the wedding party was where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be, keeping Max away from anything flammable, and keeping Maryse and Robert away from each other. In the thankfully rare moments of downtime, he forced himself to put on a lighthearted demeanor. He wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of Alec having a perfect wedding, especially not his own stupid feelings.

He should have known that Alec would see right through him.

“You okay?”

Jace glanced up from the mirror he was using to fix his bowtie. Everything was set, everyone was in their proper places, and Jace had nothing left to do but keep Alec company and wait for the ceremony to start.

“I’m fine. I’m not the one getting married in,” Jace checked his watch, “twenty-three minutes.”

“Don’t deflect. You’re doing that thing you do with your eyebrows when something’s really bothering you, and I’m not doing anything for the next twenty-three minutes if you want to talk about it.”

“What I want,” Jace told him, “is for you to stop worrying about other people and get your ass married.”

“Fair enough,” Alec agreed. “But I’m here when you do want to talk about it. I know I’ve been completely wrapped up in wedding stuff for a while, but you’re still my brother and my best friend, and I don’t want you to think you’re any less important to me now than you always have been.”

Jace walked over and put a hand on Alec’s shoulder. “The only complaint I have about you being wrapped up in wedding stuff is how sappy it’s apparently made you.”

Alec chuckled. “Oh god, that was really sappy, wasn’t it? Shit.” He wiped at his eyes. “I think I might actually cry out there. You’re not allowed to make fun of me if I do.”

“Buddy,” Jace said gravely, “as your brother and best man, it is my solemn duty to make fun of you for it for the rest of our lives. But I’ll wait until you’re back from your honeymoon.”

Alec didn’t cry during the ceremony. Jace noticed a few moments when he had distinctly watery eyes, though, and filed those away for future teasing. Then Alec and Magnus were kissing and the ceremony was over and Jace had absolutely nothing left to distract him from his thoughts.

Especially when the subject of those thoughts was waiting for him in the reception hall, looking as hot as Jace had ever seen him in a perfectly tailored black suit. Jace had managed to avoid looking for Simon during the wedding, and seeing him now hit like a punch to the gut. His emotions were still too raw to deal with what had happened the night before, and there was only one way he was going to make it through this. Luckily, it was the thing he was supposed to be doing. Namely, pretending his ass off.

So he greeted Simon with a warm smile and a kiss to the cheek before settling into his seat. They were at a table with the rest of the wedding party, along with Clary, and it was all so familiar that Jace had no trouble falling back into his role, teasing the hell out of Alec and congratulating the happy couple. Simon made it easy, not acting any different than he had before their conversation, never hesitating to offer small touches and gestures of physical affection, even moving his chair closer so they could lean into each other once they were done eating. It would have made Jace a little sick if he let himself think about it, which he pointedly did not.

Jace let himself get lost in it. It was stupid, and probably a little selfish, but if this was the last time he would ever get to be with Simon like this, he was going to enjoy it.

“Dance with me.” He didn’t mean to say it, but apparently he’d had enough champagne that he wasn’t quite thinking before speaking anymore. He knew as soon as he said it that he’d overstepped. After all, look what had happened the last time they’d danced together.

“Oh.” Simon looked genuinely shocked by the suggestion. “I, uh...”

“I mean,” Jace backpedaled, “if you want to.”

“I believe I might fancy a dance, myself,” Ragnor said. He extended his hand to Madzie, the flower girl and Catarina’s daughter. “Might I have this dance, young lady?”

“Can we do the twirls?” Madzie asked, jumping up from her chair and spinning around to demonstrate.

“Obviously,” Ragnor told her seriously. “After all, what’s the point of dancing without twirls?”

Madzie didn’t bother to give a verbal answer, just grabbed Ragnor’s hand and skipped off toward the dance floor.

“With any luck, that will help her work off some of the sugar buzz from all that cake.” Catarina gave Magnus a long look. “I can’t believe you gave her a second slice.”

“My dearest Catarina, it’s my wedding day, and I will spoil my goddaughter if I want to.”

Catarina scoffed. “You say that like you don’t spoil her every day.”

“It’s true,” Alec agreed. “We might need to give her a third slice if we want to spoil her extra today.” He managed to keep a straight face right up until Cat’s napkin hit him in the face.

“I think I might need to dance off my own sugar buzz,” Izzy announced, grabbing Clary’s hand. “Come on, hot stuff. Let’s go shake our booties.”

Clary laughed. “I can’t exactly say no when you’re offering to shake your booty for me.”

“You know what?” Simon said suddenly. The look he gave Jace was challenging. “I do want to dance.”

It was Jace’s turn to be shocked, but he recovered quickly. “Okay.” He met Simon’s challenge with a smirk. “Let’s dance.”

Jace’s bravado was shaken slightly when the music transitioned to a slow love song right as they made it to the dance floor. But Simon didn’t hesitate, stepping onto the dance floor and drawing him close.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke, rocking gently to the music. They danced close enough that Jace could hear Simon’s breaths, feel them against his cheek. It was too much and not enough all at once, and Jace had to say something or he was going to go crazy.

“Thanks, by the way. For, you know, all of this. I don’t think I ever said that.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for.” Simon’s voice was low and intimate. “This was as much for me as it was for you.”

Jace wanted to say that it couldn’t possibly be, that if any of this meant half what it did to him for Simon, then he wouldn’t be able to give it up so easily. But that would have been deeply unfair, no matter how true, so instead he just said, “Well, thank you, anyway.”

Simon pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, and Jace didn’t understand why he looked so sad. “Thank you.”

And then they were kissing, slow and gentle, and Jace didn’t even remember moving, but he must have or how else could they have gotten here? All the longing and heartbreak he’d been pushing down all day rose up, threatening to break him open and spill out all over the dance floor. The only things holding him together were Simon’s arms around him, Simon’s body pressed against his as they swayed to near-forgotten music, Simon’s mouth on his.

When the song ended and Simon pulled away from him, Jace stumbled and had to force himself upright.

“Come back to the hotel with me,” he said urgently. He couldn’t just let Simon go, he realized, not without at least trying. They could go back to their room, and they could talk, and Jace would somehow find the words to convince Simon to stay. “Please.”

Simon closed his eyes and visibly steeled himself. When he opened them again, Jace knew he’d lost before he even had the chance to put up a fight.

“I already made plans to hang out with Becky and Maia tonight. You know, sibling and sibling’s-maybe-girlfriend bonding. Maia’s going to give me a ride back to Boston in the morning.” He took Jace’s hand and lifted it to his mouth to place a gentle kiss on his knuckles, then pressed something small and metal into his palm before letting go.

Jace couldn’t do anything but watch him walk away, the weight of his father’s ring heavier than it had any right to be in his hand.

~~~

The apartment was quiet when Jace got home, and he was both relieved that he wouldn’t have to face Simon yet and disappointed because, as much as he hated that he would have to box his feelings away, he missed Simon, even though it had only been two days since they’d last seen each other.

He found the note pinned to the refrigerator, held in place by the Spider-Man magnet that he’d gotten Simon as a “congrats on surviving a horrible lab partner and not failing chemistry” gift last year.

Staying at Bat’s for a while. -S

That was all. Nothing about why Simon had left or when he was coming back. If he was coming back. Jace’s fingers almost itched with the need to text Simon to find out exactly what the hell was going on, but the fact that Simon had left a note instead of texting suggested he didn’t mean for this to be a discussion.

Not that Jace actually needed a discussion. Simon had made it very clear that things were over between the two of them, that he didn’t feel the same way about Jace that Jace did about him, and instead of accepting it and moving on like a good friend would have, he’d kissed Simon at the wedding. He’d been on the verge of begging Simon to give him a chance. Of course Simon didn’t want to see him right now. He wouldn’t want to see him, either.

For half a second, Jace considered taking Alec up on his offer to call if he needed to talk, but Alec was on his honeymoon, and Jace might on occasion be a self-centered asshole, but he didn’t want to be that much of a self-centered asshole. Instead, he grabbed his half-empty package of Double Stuf Oreos and took them to the couch, where he turned on Return of the Jedi and bundled himself up in the fleece blanket Simon always used when his feet got too cold in winter.

When the movie was over and the Oreos were long gone, he dragged the blanket into Simon’s room and curled up on his bed, on top of the covers. Sleeping on top of Simon’s bed wasn’t as pathetic as sleeping in Simon’s bed, he reasoned. Especially if no one was there to see it. And if the fleece blanket kept any tears from getting on Simon’s comforter, then he wasn’t really crying.

#shadowhunters #shmb2021 #jimon #jimon fic #jace wayland #simon lewis

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bnhablessings · 5 years

Note

Would you possibly do another Aizawa requests ☺️ R is a student of class 1-A and when they asking parents about letting students come to the dorms he and all might go to her house and they realise she actually lives alone with her dog and younger brother or sister and Aizawa decides to take them both under his wing and one day R just suddenly turns around and calls him bad accidentally

This sounded too cute to pass up! Apologies for me taking forever to get to it! :’) When it comes to Dadzawa content I like to go all out (that means it’s probably messy) so hopefully, you enjoy it, anon!

I named the reader’s brother Haru because I adore that name

(Dadzawa) Aizawa Shouta x Female!Student!Reader

Warnings: Just a smidge of angst (Fluff that will giveyour heart a dose of love)

Words: 1,914

“Aizawa-Sensei and All Might-Sensei? What are you doinghere?” You question softly a bit too surprised by their current appearance atyour house.

All Might is the one to speak, “We have been speaking to allof our students’ families about an important issue. May we come in to speakwith your guardian?”

Oh no. This is not happening to you. You are desperate intrying to come up with an excuse that you don’t notice their concerned gazesfrom your unusual quietness. You are after all one of their most enthusiasticstudents so it worries them that you are quite the opposite right now than youwould be in school.

“(Name)! I finished! Can you look it over?” A childish boy’svoice calls for you snapping you from your thoughts.

The nerves are eating at you as you ask in vain, “Is there achance that you can call or stop by some other time?”

“Negative. This needs to be taken care of,” Aizawa statescalmly.

With a defeated sigh you let your teachers enter your house.They take their shoes off the door per your request and they follow you to yourkitchen where your little brother, of the age five, waits. They’re surprised tosee that it’s just him and an old Shiba Inu, whose tag reads Fluffy, in thehouse so far.

They are quiet as they observe you look over your brother’shomework. You give your brother the biggest smile and say, “Nice job! You didit perfectly! As promised you can go ahead and watch TV. But first, would youlike to meet All Might and Eraserhead?”

At the question, the poor boy freezes before he shakes withexcitement for finally noticing the older males in the room. You laugh lightlywith joy from seeing your brother happy.

“Aizawa, All Might, this is my little brother Haru. He’s abig fan of both of you. He’s kind of like Midoriya in that sense,” You murmur.

You hold in your giggles as Haru bows repeatedly beforemaking a dash straight to the living room.

“Seems like a sweet kid,” All Might says with a smile.

You just nod absentmindedly as you place Haru’s homework inhis backpack on the counter. The two teachers stare at you surprised at yourcalm demeanor. You seem so much more mature compared to when you are in class.

However, you also look… fatigued. It just raises furtherquestions between the two.

“(Last Name), where are your parents?” Aizawa says thequestion you’ve been dreading.

You let out a heavy sigh as you pick up a few postcards thatlay on the counter and simply hand them to the man. Its multiple postcards froma few states in America. Aizawa and All Might look through them and notice thesimple note on the back that just says ‘Love you’.

“How long have they been gone?” Aizawa questions as AllMight looks saddened.

You shrug your shoulders as you reply, “A few months now.We’re fine if that’s what you’re wondering. They send us money and they stillpay the bills and have our neighbors check-in on us.”

This isn’t fine and you know it. Aizawa lets out a heavysigh as he shares a look with his colleague. They understand why you seem somature now. You have to be for Haru.

“I can give you their number but they may not pick up. Theneighbor would probably be able to get a hold of them,” You murmur.

All Might is completely baffled as he asks, “You don’t getin touch with them, like at all?”

“Nope, they’re out seeing the world instead of being with us.All we’ve gotten are postcards and words from them through the neighbor. I needto get dinner started soon… Would you guys like to stay for dinner?” You ask asyou easily evade their stares by grabbing ingredients from the kitchen.

They do, but not before they speak to each other and callNezu outside your house.

The dinner felt light-hearted with a hint of seriousness inthe air as All Might carries the conversation mostly with Haru. Aizawa staresholes into you while you try to eat in peace. When all is done and the twoadults had finished their food they merely observed you and a now sleepy Haru.

Haru who’s been sweet for you since your parents left, doesthe thing toddlers do when they want to be held. He lifts up his arms outtowards you and you easily lift him up and hold him, his face resting on yourshoulder. He’s out within the minute.

“Sorry about him. He usually passes out after dinner likethis,” You explain feeling a bit embarrassed that your teachers have seen somuch of your vulnerability.

All Might hesitates to ask, “Does… does he usually fallasleep like that?”

“Sort of? He’s been needing to be held by me or cuddled byFluffy before he sleeps. He’s afraid I’m going to leave him as they left us,”The disgust for your parents is evident in your voice.

Aizawa and Yagi are just surprised by it. However, they canunderstand why you feel that way. You’re practically raising your littlebrother, despite being a kid yourself, for them. It disgusts them as well ashow easy your parents could leave you guys like that. This is too much forsomeone as young as yourself.

“Young (Last Name), since you are a unique circumstance,Principal Nezu has requested that you-“

Aizawa cuts him off, “Stay with me. Both of you can’t beliving by yourself.”

All Might gives his colleague yet another look but this onehas a hint of confusion on his face.

~*~

“Is… Is this really okay?” You ask softly as you hold yourdog Fluffy in one arm and a bag of essentials in the other.

Aizawa doesn’t say anything as he sets down your littlebrother on the couch gently. He takes off the little kid backpack and sets thaton the floor. When he doesn’t say anything you frown.

All Might who helped escort you guys to Eraserhead’s home afterthe conversation is the one to speak. “It’s perfectly fine, Young (Last Name)!Thanks to Aizawa’s thinking this turned out to be much better than the originalplan.”

Ah, yes. The original plan thanks to Nezu being informed ofyour situation was that you and your brother would’ve been separated. You would’vegone to the U.A Dorms as originally planned but your brother would’ve beenplaced into a distant relative’s home or with a foster family do to yourparents’ negligence.

As of now, they are deemed unfit parents and you’ll bestaying with Aizawa. Feeling tired from the whole prospect of moving, you laybeside your brother, while Fluffy claims a corner of the room for himself. Theteachers notice how tired you are and bid you goodnight before stepping into anotherroom to speak.

In truth, Aizawa couldn’t even think of splitting the two ofyou up as a possibility. He saw the way you looked at your brother as if youwere his parent. The pride in your eyes as he did his homework correctly. Yourbrother looked at you as if you were his protector, it was obvious he adoredyou. It would’ve shattered the both of you if you were to be forced to split upand that’s not what he was going to let happen.

All Might knew this the moment Nezu said to bring it up(Nezu totally knew Aizawa is a softie and that this would happen). All Mightfelt the same way but since Aizawa is your homeroom teacher the feelings aredeeper with him. The grump of a teacher needed to take responsibility for you.

“Aizawa… what about your cats?” Yagi whispers to the grumpyman.

Aizawa shrugs and states in monotone, “They haven’t made abig deal so they’re fine. Besides, my cats can totally take down that dog ifthey need to.”

Yagi freaking has a heart attack and a nose bleed at thesewords. “THAT DOG IS OLD. Your cats don’t need to be murdering Young (Last Name)’sdog!” Yagi whisper yells.

~*~

You sigh as you text the parental figure that has beenwatching over you these past couple of weeks. He’ll be home a bit late but thatworks perfectly for you.

Surprisingly, it’s been a smooth transition and Haru loveshim. You live in the dorms with the rest but you get to go home with him on theweekends while Haru and Fluffy (who actually gets along great with the cats muchto Aizawa’s surprise) live with him indefinitely. With the unique circumstance,the other teachers help Aizawa take care of Haru while you are living in thedorms.

Overall, you are grateful for him, especially when youoverheard from All Might that he took both of you in when he didn’t have to.

It’s been feeling like home. To thank the man for all he hasdone, you and Haru decided to go all out on this weekend night and make hisfavorite dishes. Towards the end of your cooking adventure, you check on Haruwho had opted to make cat-shaped cookies.

“Looking good, little man,” You state admiring his work.

Haru looks up with happiness before a frown lands on hisface. You immediately ask him what’s wrong.

“Is Aizawa our new daddy?” His voice is meek upon askingthis and seeing your confused expression the poor boy continues, “It’s justthat… I don’t want to see our old mommy and daddy. They don’t love us. I wantShouta as my new daddy!”

WHAT IS THIS FEELING IN YOUR CHEST? Your little brother literallyjust killed your soul with this cute yet sad declaration. Even so, you completelyagreed with him.

“Hey, watch the food brat.”

A harsh sizzling sound, the scent of smoke, and Aizawa’ssudden appearance override your senses and you quickly apologize, “Sorry, Dad!”

Your face feels like it is on fire with embarrassment as yourealize you just called him dad. You hurry to set the food aside to cool downand clear out the slight burning smell before you turn to the male who appearsto be in shock.

“Aizawa?” You call out.

His normal grim expression is back on his face as he says, “Goahead and set the table.”

You go to turn to do what he said but caught the male unableto hold back a smile anymore. All tension in your body leaves as you realize he’shappy that you accidentally called him dad. When the table is set and you areall sitting, Haru curiously looks at the laid-back tired adult.

Aizawa gives the boy a glance and finally indulges him, “What?”

“Does that mean we can call you dad?” Haru for the love oflife doesn’t have a filter but you are grateful for it.

Aizawa is elated but it doesn’t show on his face, “Go forit.”

“If you’re our new daddy who can we call mommy?” Haruquestions.

Without missing a beat you answer, “All Might or PresentMic.”

Aizawa glares at you but says nothing else. The feeling oflove and happiness fills the air as it had been doing since both of you movedin with him. You can bet he’s doing everything he can do to adopt you.

#boko no hero academia #dadzawa #aizawa shouta #dadzawa x reader #bnha #mha #fluff #x reader #fanfiction #anime #manga #reader insert #request #oneshot #my hero academia

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jjdoggies-fanfics · 3 years

Text

Day 6: Endings/Beginnings

Link to Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27429154/chapters/67049683

@fivevanya

Title: Written On These Walls Are The Stories That I Can’t Explain

Chapter 1 of 4, the rest will be posted on Ao3

Klaus watched Allison do some final touches on the very natural makeup onto Vanya’s face, having it that had been approved by their sister roughly a month prior. He could see the nerves on who he’d always considered to be his little sister’s face; evidently the reminders from the few other people that had been flittering in and out of the room that Five and Vanya’s wedding was set to start in less than an hour wasn’t helping.

As Allison took a small step back, examining her perfectionist work, Klaus joined his older sister’s side, looking over his own work on Vanya’s perfectly pinned and twisted hair, paired with the flowered headband and white veil pinned to the back, if he does say so himself. Five had given him, in mostly secret, meaning Vanya didn’t know about it but the rest of them did, that he wanted Vanya’s hair to be pinned back and out of her face, as she had no reason to hide behind it at her own wedding. And Klaus and Allison, the unofficial hair and makeup team, heavily agreed, as did their other siblings.

For the most part, the siblings had unanimously agreed that their assigned numerical order basically implicated them as Luther being the oldest, although now that title belonged to Five, and Vanya as the youngest with Klaus being the true middle child. And because of this unspoken notion that Vanya was the youngest, each of the siblings felt varying degrees of protectiveness towards each of their siblings, but Vanya in particular. In part due to the first nearly thirty years of their lives believing that she was born without powers, which was a lie, obviously .

In this new timeline though, within a month of Reginald Hargreeves, once again, killing himself in hopes of ‘reuniting the Umbrella Academy’ not knowing that they had never broken up in this timeline, only separating themselves from him, Five and Vanya were engaged and had roped Allison, Klaus, and Ben into helping plan the event.

Back to the issue at hand, despite basically everyone around them knowing that Five and Vanya had practically been made for each other, Klaus could practically see his sister shaking with nerves, a previous lifetime of a lack of self-confidence rising to the surface. He carefully reached a hand out and took a hold of one of Vanya’s hands, rubbing little circles into her hand in reassurance. “What’s got you so stressed Vanny?” he asked, “Is it Allison? Because we can kick her out, we don’t need her anyway.”

He’d pretended to whisper the last bit, not lowering his voice at all, if anything getting louder, but the giggle that Vanya gave him was worth the soft glare Allison gave him for it. Klaus could see the slightest bit of tension ease from Vanya’s shoulders, as well as the small tremors nearly ceasing. “No, no, no.” Vanya said, “Nothing like that, it’s more, I just, I’m a. I’m just feeling a little, I don’t know-”

“Scared?” Allison guessed, “because it’s perfectly normal to be a little scared right before your wedding. That’s how I felt before I married Raymond.”

“Not Patrick?” Klaus teased.

Allison laughed shortly, ending it with a sigh before explaining that, “My marriage to Patrick was very different from my marriage to Raymond. Patrick and I’s wedding was very big, and extravagant, and public, and I knew like none of the people there. And the ones that I did were self-centered assholes. While Raymond and I’s wedding was small and private, I still didn’t know that many people there all that well, but I'd rather talk to them than those at Patrick and I’s wedding.”

“So being Mrs. Chestnut was better , than being the A-List Mrs. Wilson?” Klaus asked, “How is that possible?”

“I didn’t say it was better!” Allison hissed, albeit the bite in it was lost by the barely contained laughter behind her grin, “I just said they were different.”

Klaus muttered to Vanya, “Different, different she says. You believe that?” Once again getting Vanya, and Allison, to laugh a bit, before he asked Vanya, much more seriously, “What about marrying Five, the little bastard that he is, is causing you to feel scared?”

“Um, well, it’s not so much that I’m like, scared.” Vanya said, “It’s more that, it’s more like, I’m just, I don’t know, nervous I guess. Because like, what if we’re making a huge mistake and once we’re married then we get into an argument or something and then we want to get a divorce, and we wouldn’t be able to be in the same room as each other, and our divorce leads to you guys all having to pick between me and Five, and then my half of the family wouldn’t talk to Five’s half of the family and that this wedding is what caused the entire family to be split in half all because Five and I got into some stupid argument.”

Allison and Klaus exchanged quick glances while Vanya worked herself up, again, before Allison took the lead in calming their sister down, again. “Vanya, not that any of us think that you and Five would get into any kind of argument that would lead to you guys getting a divorce, but even if you did, something insignificant like a divorce would not cause our weird, dysfunctional family to be broken up.”

Some of what Allison had said had gotten to Vanya, but not quite enough for her to completely be reassured that her wedding wasn’t going to ruin their family. Klaus added, “You know, I don’t think I’ve seen two people more made for each other than you and Five, Vanya.” He paused, reveling in the odd looks Vanya and Allison, more so Vanya as Allison was annoyed he’d used a line from her speech later, before laughing, continuing with, “God that was cheesy. Anyway, the point is Vanya, that couples and people argue. That’s normal. But, at least to me, and most of our siblings, as far as I know, it seems that you and Five are destined to be together, as siblings, best friends, or married. Hell, he’s learned how to time travel to get back to you.”

“He came back for all of us Klaus,” Vanya said, “not just me.”

Rather than point out to her that Five had quickly switched from killing whoever caused the apocalypse to just stopping them and helping them when he found out it was Vanya, Klaus did however, take note that she didn’t disagree with the rest of what he’d said.

Before anyone of them could say another word, there was, thankfully , a knock at the door of the makeshift dressing room momentarily paused any more talking. Klaus helped Vanya not trip over her dress, wearing white flats and not the short heels Allison and Klaus had tried talking her into wearing, while Allison answered whoever was knocking, pulling open the door to find Ben, crisply dressed in his grey top tux with black pants that matched Allison’s rose gold, with silver detailing, dress.

“Ben,” Allison started, glazing back at Klaus and Vanya before continuing, “we weren’t expecting you so soon.”

Their brother let out a short laugh, telling them that, “As much as I would love to be able to give you guys a few more minutes, Allison and Klaus are needed for line up.”

“Already?” Klaus asked, there was no way it was already-

“Yes, already.” Ben answered, “It’s quarter ‘til nine, and I am not going to be the cause of any delays and face the wrath of Five. So, if I were you, I’d go get lined up before Diego has to come look for you.”

“Diego?” Allison questioned, “Not Five?”

Ben shook his head, a small smirk on his face, as he told them, “Five is oddly superstitious about not seeing His Bride until it’s ‘time’ and Diego has more time than Luther does, so Diego.”

Without anymore convincing needed, Allison and Klaus both quickly left, giving their sister a few more quick, encouraging words before slipping out of the room, leaving Vanya with Ben. As they left, Klaus muttered something quickly to Ben as he passed.

As much as Vanya wanted to finick with her hair as she looked in the mirror, if only in an effort to avoid facing her thoughts (and Ben), the hair spray and Klaus’s previous reminders to ‘stop messing with your hair Vanya, or it’ll never be done in time’ kept her from doing so. And instead, she tried to tuck the little curls, that her brother and sister had gotten her up at 6am to burn into her hair, behind her ears, but they kept falling back out from behind them. She was still trying to avoid talking to, or even looking at, Ben, knowing she’d have to face the music.

God, she’s acting like she did something wrong.

Inevitably, Vanya turned from the mirror to face her brother, who was giving her a rather knowing look. “Vanya,” Ben started, “it’s okay if your a bit stressed. It’s-”

“Normal?” Vanya guessed.

“I was going to say reasonable. But normal works too.” Ben replied. He placed a gentle hand on Vanya’s arm, “Are you ready? Or do you need another minute or two?” Before Vanya replied, he pulled her towards the door, saying that he needed to show her something.

They walked the opposite direction of where the ceremony was going to be taking place in roughly ten minutes at that point, and instead Ben lead her towards the reception area. “Ben? What are we doing?”

Her brother said nothing, just kept leading her towards the reception area, which was still getting the final details set up. There was a pair of wooden doors in front of them, the only thing separating Vanya and Ben from the reception area.

Ben pushed open the doors, and pulled Vanya into the semi-lit room. As she walked into the room, Vanya nearly immediately noticed the many, many, many pictures covering the walls, filling various frames, and littering the spaces left on the tables, most of which she didn’t remember being taken. There were an array of pictures, all of which had her and Five, most featuring their siblings, and several others featuring their friends and tolerable coworkers.

Vanya looked through a small portion of the pictures, being transported back to the memory attached to them as she did, for several minutes, not noticing that nearly all the nervousness that she’d felt before had disappeared. And when Ben asked her, one last time, “Are you ready?”

She simply replied, with a soft smile “Yes.”

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supercasey · 4 years

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TF2 RED Headcanons by an idiot that can’t pay attention well enough to read the comics

Back on my bullshit, because I apparently can’t shut up tonight. This is gonna be a big, possibly in-cohesive mess, and will probably have more focus on Scout, Pyro, Sniper, and Spy since they’re my favs, but I still felt like writing down all my dumb headcanons/ideas regarding everyone’s favorite mercenaries (at the moment at least; I might make another post like this later on, hopefully after I’ve read the comics)! Sorry if any of these seem OOC, I’m just goofin’! (Putting this under a readmore because WOW this got LONG)

Every Sunday afternoon, Scout, Pyro, and eventually Sniper when he tells everyone that he's a trans guy, hold a makeshift “Trans Buddy Club” meeting, which mostly consists of Scout mindlessly rambling about drama on base, Pyro nodding along, and Sniper occasionally adding his two cents/spilling tea as well.

Scout can speak fluent French, on account of his mom making sure to teach it to him so he could have more of a connection to his dad, but no one found out until a little after Spy told Scout he was his dad. It wasn’t long after this that Scout revealed that this entire time, he’s known every single thing that Spy's ever said to him in French, but he didn't say anything because he thought it would be funny to keep the ruse going (also because he really liked being praised in secret). Cue Spy freaking tf out because oh no, now his kid knows that he's secretly a huge softie for not only his son, but his whole team.

Sometimes Spy and Scout talk shit in French right there in front of the team, but no one has any fucking idea what they’re saying and to be honest it’s pissing Soldier off the most, much to the father and son duo’s amusement.

Pyro secretly has a little black rabbit named Lucifer (Lucy for short) in their bedroom, which they only take out to get some fresh air and hop around very early in the morning, before anyone else is awake. The only people who know are Medic, Spy, and surprisingly enough Soldier, whose raccoons became friends with Lucy.

Sniper has a goldfish in his RV, but it died three months after he joined the team; he has no idea though because Miss Pauling replaces it every time one passes away, so now Sniper is convinced he has the world’s oldest goldfish.

Scout and Soldier both really want a dog, but they're not allowed to have one on-base. :(

((Heavy plans on sneaking a dog in next Christmas and no one can stop him. It’s gonna be a Border Collie named Bandit, and it gets the most attached to Scout and Heavy.))

Demo is no longer allowed to make mixed drinks for parties; the last time he did, he got everyone so shitfaced that they had to cancel work for three days in a row in order to recover from it.

Continuing off of that: drunk headcanons.

Demoman: Unassuming drunk. Acts like he usually does, unless he’s gotten particularly shitfaced for a party/event, in which case he’ll be slurring so bad that no one can understand him anymore.

Pyro: Giggly drunk. Is just laughing the whole fucking night at nothing in particular, which scares anyone who’s still sober. If they’re too far gone, they’ll start mumbling something that sounds like it’s in Spanish.

Spy: Party drunk. An absolute fucking mess, he’s trying to impress everyone and keep their attention on him, which usually leads to him standing on tables and dancing until he falls and passes out.

Sniper: Sleepy drunk. Out like a fucking light at the slighest bit of alcohol. If he wakes up and keeps drinking though, he’ll just be slurring like Demo, only with a lot more anger in his voice. Let him sleep, or he’ll fucking stab you to death.

Scout: Clumsy drunk. Bumps into anything and everything; eventually has to be given a sippy cup for his alcohol because he dropped three glasses in a row. Talks even faster than usual, until he accidentally fucking pukes on someone.

Soldier: Calm drunk. Instead of getting loud and aggressive like most would think/fear, he’s just… chillin'. Just watches the shitshow as it happens, not even laughing when people get hurt/fall down. Kinda terrifying if we’re being honest here.

Engineer: Depressed drunk. His depression goes through the roof if he has too much, so he doesn't drink more than a few beers if he can help it. If he does accidentally drink too much, he'll be sobbing his eyes out in no time flat.

Heavy: Cuddly drunk. It’s very, very hard to get him drunk, since he’s really good at holding his liquor, but if you do, he’s gonna be hugging and carrying everyone he can get his hands on; you can expect him to have Medic and/or Pyro on his lap once he’s drunk enough.

Medic: Angry drunk. He wants to start fights with fucking everyone, all his rage coming out once he’s had a few too many; god help anyone who tries to stop him. Luckily for all involved, Heavy is more than capable of holding him still until he tires himself out.

BONUS Miss Pauling: Dumbass drunk. With too many bottles in her, she’s gonna be the one shouting and encouraging Spy to act reckless, while also encouraging Engie to drink more because quitting is for losers. Will pass out within an hour or so of downing her first drink.

BONUS The Administrator: Stereotypical drunk. Slurring, stumbling, she’s got the whole nine yards, but she’ll be damned before she let’s anyone see her that messed up. Secretly sips wine at work.

Okay, back to my rambling.

My personal headcanon names and ages for Scout’s older brothers, going from oldest to youngest: Grant 34, Timothy 32, Jacob 31, Arthur 31, Patrick 30, Malcolm 27, Curtis 26, and Jeremy (Scout) 23.

((Also, I’mma go off on my headcanon personalities for them, which are based off of how I’ve tried portraying them in my "Jeremy" fic.))

Grant - 34 years old - Bisexual - Occupation: Veteran/Construction worker - Personality: the oldest of the bunch, he takes it upon himself to keep his little brothers in line/help Ma out as much as he can. Enlisted in the Air Force after he graduated high school, and still takes a lot of pride in his veteran status after serving overseas three separate times. The family peacemaker.

Timothy - 32 years old - Homosexual - Occuptaion: Cartoonist - Personality: the gentlest of his brothers, he often gets roped into helping Grant keep the pack from running too wild. Bit of a softie; loves his husband and loves his job. Closest relationship is with Scout. Doesn’t approve of Scout being a merc but is too scared to say so. The family heart.

Jacob - 31 years old - Heterosexual - Occupation: Freelance guitarist - Personality: the firstborn of the only set of twins, Jacob is a lot more abrasive and instigating than his twin brother. Can’t grow a beard for shit, which pisses him off. Doesn’t get along well with Timmy, despite them both being talented and devoted artists. The family sword.

Arthur - 31 years old - Pansexual - Occupation: Carpenter - Personality: the second born of the only set of twins, Arthur is far more outgoing and nonchalant than his twin brother. Has a beard and loves it more than life. Secretly has a boyfriend, but is too nervous to come out. Gets along better with Jacob after they’ve become adults. The family shield.

Patrick - 30 years old - Heterosexual - Occupation: Hairdresser - Personality: probably the least social of all of the brothers, he prefers staying out of sight and out of mind tbh. Used to practice cutting everyone’s hair when they were kids. Doesn’t talk to his brothers that much, mostly due to being busy/forgetting to call more. The family shadow.

Malcolm - 27 years old - Heteromantic Asexual - Occupation: Wrestler - Personality: the most aggressive and physically competitive of his brothers, there’s nothing he won’t do to win a fight, save for using weapons/lethal force. Hard to get along with, but he still loves his brothers to bits, and was overprotective of Scout when they were younger. The family instigator.

Curtis - 26 years old - Heterosexual - Occupation: Bartender - Personality: was a total fucking mama’s boy growing up, and constantly got in trouble with his brothers for tattling on them. Still argues with Scout every time they see each other. Wants to make Ma proud, but it’s hard for him to keep a job for very long. The family drifter.

Jeremy - 23 years old - Transmale Pansexual - Occupation: Mercenary - Personality: (This is mostly for how he was as a kid) was constantly following his brothers around (especially Malcolm) in hopes of getting in on the fun. Was always treated as the family baby, so everyone was a bit scared to wrestle/fight with him for fear of getting him hurt. Very close to Timmy and Ma. The family runt.

No one on RED team can fucking drive well, save for MAYBE Sniper, but even he hates doing it. Spy gets so goddamn mad within two seconds of driving, Pyro can't stop swerving, Scout drives like a 16 year old who hasn't realized their own mortality yet, Medic jumps at every little inconsistency on the road, Heavy shouts at other drivers for being too slow/fast, Demo's depth perception is shit, Engie drives like a 90 year old grandmother, and Soldier is fine except he will literally shoot at other drivers for tailgating him/cutting him off.

The whole team has designated “Team Bonding Days” thanks to Miss Pauling, which involves playing board games, card games, and video games (in a slightly more modernized AU) together… this, of course, goes badly sometimes. The worst incident they ever had was a bad game of Monopoly that almost ended Heavy and Medic's friendship.

Uno is forever banned from Team Bonding Days. No explanation is needed.

Off the battlefield and in the base, Miss Pauling had the team set up a chore wheel, which is only occasionally followed. Engie is the most dedicated to following it, while Demo and Sniper try everything in their power to avoid cleaning the base.

Spy sometimes disguises himself as other teammates in order to get out of doing his chores, which has led to a lot of shouting matches that ended in Spy being forced to admit it was his fault.

Spy's favorite teammates to disguise himself as are Engie and Scout. He likes being Engie because he gets to be more affectionate with people without being found out, and he can act as Scout incredibly easily due to knowing him so well (tbh he's so good at masquerading as Scout that it's scary).

For Halloween, everyone put their names in Soldier's hat, then proceeded to pull out other teammates’ names to dress up as for their Halloween party. I dunno exactly who would be who, except that Scout traded around to get Spy, steals one of Spy's suits, and just goes around the party bonking people with a plastic baguette he bought online and speaking in a purposefully bad accent.

Spy: Mon fils, you can speak perfect French and you fucking know it. Please stop making a fool of ton père.

Scout: Hohoho, wee wee, I am a fucking frog that gets pegged by baguettes, hoho!

((Spy is this fucking close to committing filicide.))

Everyone can actually cook pretty well, but only very specific things for each merc: Demo can mix and blend drinks (not just alcoholic ones) like it's nothing, Pyro and Heavy like baking, Medic can barbecue anything, Scout knows how to make a lot of shit from scratch (thanks, Ma), Spy and Engie can grill like the true dads they are, Soldier will deep fry every piece of food he eats, and Sniper makes the best soups and stews imaginable.

In order of least to most messy bedrooms: Spy, Heavy, Engie, Sniper, Pyro, Demoman, Medic, Scout, and Soldier. You'd think Scout's would be the worst, but Soldier's room looks like a literal fucking war-zone.

Even when they're not working but get injured in some way (namely from shenanigans/horseplay), people will straight up kill themselves in order to respawn without the injury. The pettiest thing anyone ever respawned off-duty for was Medic suiciding over a tiny ass paper cut.

Demoman is scarily competent at the weirdest of times. For instance, Engie was once trying to figure out how to fix an issue on one of his turrets, only for Demo to stumble over, completely shitfaced, and point out the problem as well as the solution, before passing out under Engie's worktable. Demo doesn't remember this at all.

The first time Engie swore in front of the team in excess (due to dropping a hammer on his foot while he was tinkering), everyone was absolutely horrified because they had only ever heard him say “fiddlesticks” and the like.

Medic's room may not be the messiest, but goddamn is his office a fucking bomb waiting to go off 90% of the time. No one but Medic can find anything in the mess, which is just fine by him.

Heavy likes to sing (mostly just to Sasha) when he's cleaning her in the locker room. The others try to be within hearing range when he does this, because holy fuck, Heavy is a very good singer! He mostly just sings soft songs/lullabies, so his singing is sometimes used by the team insomniacs to help them get some much needed rest.

Okay, another group one. The mercs during shopping trips together:

Demoman: Sneaks a shit ton of alcohol into the cart when no one's looking. Starts complaining if he has to be at the store for too long; will try and sneak away to go home at least once during the trip. Accidentally bumps into a display case and makes a huge fucking mess.

Pyro: Sits obediently in the cart the whole time, occasionally nabbing candy and stuffed animals off of nearby shelves. Will puppy-dog eyes their way into getting everything they grabbed, no matter how much it is.

Spy: Somehow managed to steal an employee uniform and he pretends to work at the store the whole trip; the other mercs keep accidentally falling for it and asking for his help. This all goes to shit when a Karen starts shouting at him over something he didn't do, and he straight up slaps her.

Sniper: King of forgetting wtf was on the list and just grabs shit on the grounds of “Doc said we needed milk, right?” and other such excuses. Knows where everything is despite never having come here before.

Scout: “Gimme the list, I can get everythin' in, like, ten minutes!” Wants to speedrun grocery shopping due to years of shopping with his mom and brothers. Will run loose if left unsupervised and accidentally bust ass on some spilled milk.

Soldier: The one who spilled the milk that Scout busts his ass on. Insists he knows where he's going, but doesn't. Gets into a fistfight with a soccer mom while everyone's waiting to check out; the soccer mom won.

Engineer: Has a full, printed list of everything the team needs, which is organized by aisle number. Is the one who gives into Pyro's begging. Team Dad; keeps an eye on everyone and stops the soccer mom from murdering Soldier.

Heavy: Pushes the cart the entire time. Spends way too money on stuff in the protein shake aisle. At one point runs the cart down the aisle and let's go because Pyro wanted him to, and it ends up crashing into Demo.

Medic: Argues with the pharmacists at the pharmacy counter. Got lost with Soldier until they found Scout unconscious, so he had to perform CPR in the dairy aisle and a fucking paramedic criticized him the whole time; the paramedic hasn't been seen since.

BONUS Miss Pauling: Tries to more or less chaperone this shitshow of a shopping trip. Starts out cheerful and happy, ends up threatening to put child leashes on every last one of these dumbasses.

After Spy taught him how to dance in Expiration Date, Scout goes to him occasionally for advice, such as how to change a tire, how to cook certain things, how tf to do laundry, etc. Spy secretly loves that Scout does this, and tries to help him as much as he can.

Everyone on the team has called Engie “Dad” at least once, even Spy and Medic. No one comments on it.

Medic has been known to go on hour long tirades about anti-vaxxers, with Engie sometimes joining in.

Heavy buys Pyro stuffed animals during his trips to visit his family, which has started a tradition of everyone buying Pyro stuffed animals/toys when they go somewhere without them. Pyro's room is starting to look like a preschooler’s dream bedroom.

Scout calls his mom every other Friday, and he’ll occasionally let his teammates talk to her. Soldier always goes on and on about how good a soldier Scout has been (Scout cries like a baby), Medic tells her about Scout’s latest injuries (Scout damn near chokes him over it), Sniper is just glad to talk to a mom who won’t scold him for the whole phone call, Pyro hums music while Scout’s Ma sings the lyrics for them, Heavy talks about living in huge families with her, Demo asks her how she’s doing and if he can help her out at all, Engie is polite and also praises Scout, and Spy just tells her he’ll call her later before hanging up (Scout punches him for being rude to his mama).

Spy calls Scout's mom on the Fridays that Scout doesn't, mostly to check on her and sometimes to get into some, uh, “steamy” conversations over the phone. Sniper overheard a conversation between them once and now he can't look Scout or Spy in the eyes anymore.

And that's all I've got for right now! I hope you all liked my stupid headcanons!

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tetsuroyaoyaoya · 4 years

Text

A Crow Without Wings

tsukishima kei x reader - part eight

previous | masterlist | next

A/N: Ushijima is the Elon Musk of anime. Fight me.

“We’re here!” Indeed you were, and it was strange to be here.

That same gymnasium that you all currently stood in front of was the very place that your life came crashing down around you almost a year ago now. There weren’t many things in life that scared you anymore, but you couldn’t help the erratic beating of your heart in your chest as you stared at the building, having not seen it since that day.

The sound of screaming drew you away from your thoughts and you weren’t surprised to see Hinata already sprinting towards the entrance, your brother not far behind him.

“They’re like insects.” Chuckling at Tsukishima’s comment, he glanced down at you, not having realised he’d somehow ended up stood next to you. He noticed as you tensed all of a sudden and followed your gaze over to see that the fiery-haired spiker had bumped into another team. Typical.

The boy he had bumped into recognised him immediately and wasted to time in pushing the smaller player to the side to wave at you enthusiastically.

“Hey, cutie! Make sure to give me your number today!” You rolled your eyes, resisting sending him a very rude gesture when you felt an arm fall around your shoulders. Looking up, you saw Tsukishima taunting Terushima with what looked like his usual smirk at first glance, but as you felt his grip on you tighten slightly, you realised that it was a much darker expression than normal, as if he was actually annoyed.

It was almost as if he was staking his claim over you in a stand-off with Terushima, and you couldn’t help but blush at the action.

On your other side, two very rowdy second years were practically growling at the captain, and you couldn’t even get a word in before they were rushing off to presumably attack the poor boy.

They were promptly stopped, however, by Johzenji’s female manager, who seemingly apologised immediately for the player’s actions.

“Oh, they stopped.”

“They’re frozen in mid-air. That’s amazing.” You felt the rumble in Tsukishima’s chest as he chuckled, seen as he was still holding you close to him.

Terushima gave you one last wink and you watched as Tsukishima struck his tongue out at him before he disappeared into the building.

“That was childish.” He glanced down at you, shrugging his shoulders, but he never moved his arm away. You weren’t complaining, and let him keep it there, ignoring the curious looks from some of the other team members.

You wouldn’t say it aloud, especially not in front of the rest of the boys but having him this close to you was oddly comforting, and you felt your bundle of nerves slowly disappearing the longer he was next to you.

You may not have been able to play anymore, but with a team like this beside you, you would definitely be winning once again.

No matter what.

~~~

“Where’s Hinata?” You held his water bottle in your hand, but couldn’t see the boy it belonged to anywhere, and you hadn’t even noticed that he had separated from the group in the first place.

“Bathroom.” A sigh immediately left your lips and you ran a hand down your face. You were well aware of what happened whenever Hinata disappeared off to the bathroom before matches, and there was no doubt that the same thing would happen today.

“I’ll go check on him.” There were many things you had experienced in the past few months that you never expected to have to do, and more or less babysitting a small, ginger volleyball prodigy while he went to the bathroom was definitely one of them. You sighed once again as you made your way through the crowd, having forgotten how packed the venues really were come tournament time.

Nevertheless, you still managed to spot the familiar tuft of red hair stood near the men’s bathroom.

“Shouyou!” His head shot over to look at you and only then did you notice how terrified he looked. You felt a wave of dread rush through you as you looked at him and then realised exactly what – or who – he was terrified of.

Oikawa Tooru and Ushijima Wakatoshi.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”

Note to self; avoid bathrooms at tournaments.

Swallowing heavily, you slowly made your way over to the group, attempting to stay as calm as possible.

“It’s nice to see you, Kageyama.” You bowed your head towards Seijoh’s ace as he addressed you, trying to avoid eye contact with the other star ace stood next to you.

“It’s been a while, Iwaizumi-senpai.” You could feel your heartbeat in your throat and resisted the urge to wince as you felt the forthcoming headache brewing at your temples.

“Well, it was nice to see you. Hinata, just don’t be too long, okay? The match is starting soon.” He merely nodded at you, too afraid to speak, especially with your sudden darker demeanour. As you turned to leave, a hand caught your wrist, forcing you to stop and look back at whoever it belonged to.

“Can we talk?” Ushijima’s eyes bore into yours, and it was unbelievably difficult to refuse under his stare.

“Only if it’s quick. I have a team to look after.” His stoic expression remained as unchanged as ever, and the lack of reaction really struck whatever anger you still held inside of you.

“Have you been doing well? With the articles and everything?” Your lips parted in surprise, and your arm fell from his grip. You wished that you could say yes, that everything had been fine, but in reality, that wasn’t the case.

As far as you knew, none of the boys were aware, but that one article they had seen a few months ago wasn’t the only one out there. It was the only one that garnered that much attention, but every now and then little snippets of details about you, your life, and your career were released to the public for the world to see.

Semi was the one that kept you up to date on the situation mostly, as you opted to try and ignore it as much as you possibly could but ignoring it didn’t stop the judging looks and whispers that you would hear at school almost every day. There was no line between the truth and a lie anymore, because you were the only one who truly knew which was which.

He took your silence as an answer and frowned.

“Don’t worry. I’m handling it.” Furrowing your eyebrows, you glanced up at him.

“Handling it? Does that mean you know who’s doing it?” No matter how much you raked your brain and reflected on the past few years of your life, you couldn’t think of anyone who knew those details about you that would possibly even think of hurting you the way they had.

“I have suspicions.” Well, it was better than nothing. You nodded, a ‘thank you’ at the tip of your tongue, except, you couldn’t actually bring yourself to actually say it.

“Rei-chan?” It seemed that Hinata was finished with the Aobajohsai boys, and you let out a quick breath of relief. With one last bow towards Ushijima from the both of you, you made your way back to the team.

You didn’t look back, and Ushijima was left staring at your back as you walked away once again.

~~~

You felt your hands tremble as you carried the boys’ water bottles, walking carefully so as not to drop any. No matter how much you tried not to, you couldn’t stop thinking about your run-in with Ushijima and how… empty you felt afterwards.

It had been the first time seeing him since you caught Tobio and Hinata snooping around the Shiratorizawa campus, and your first real conversation since your breakup.

And yet you felt nothing.

You had expected to be sad at least, or even angry, but it was just… hollow.

He had been your best friend for over ten years, and now you were practically strangers. It had been a long time since you had found yourself missing him, and from what Semi mentioned every so often, Ushijima was too busy with volleyball now to care about you anymore.

What a shame.

Placing the bottles down, you smiled at Kiyoko, who smiled back at you warmly. Remembering that you were at a tournament, you cracked your knuckles, trying to calm yourself down.

Although, that clearly wasn’t going to happen straight away, seen as the minute you turned away to go and get some air, you bumped into someone.

“Sor-“

“Rei? What’s wrong.” Whoever you had managed to walk into quickly grabbed your arm to prevent you from running away. Looking up, you saw Tsukishima’s face a lot closer than you had expected it to be and your breath hitched, your eyes avoiding his.

“Nothing. It’s fine, I just need a minute.” His grip never wavered, causing you to look back at him. As soon as your eyes met his, you could tell that he didn’t believe you, and you cursed yourself for being so readable. No matter how much he struggled to figure you out on the court, off of it you were practically transparent.

“We ran into Oikawa and Ushijima earlier.” Hinata popped up out of nowhere, and you felt Tsukishima’s grip on your arm tighten slightly at the mention of your ex-boyfriend.

“You what?” He was staring at you with a look you had never seen of him before, and you couldn’t help but find it attractive how scary he looked right then.

You noticed Hinata slowly backing away from the two of you out of your peripheral, clearly having noticed the sudden tension in the air as well.

Tsukishima sighed, his hand sliding down your arm to carefully take your hand in his, fiddling with your fingers.

You swallowed as you glanced rapidly between your hands and his face, him being too busy staring at your fingers to notice the panic on your face.

What was he doing?

“Are you okay?” He finally looked at you, his rage completely untraceable, as if it had never been there, his soft gaze holding yours.

You had to be dreaming.

This was too good to be true.

“Y-yeah. I’m good.” You couldn’t help the raging blush currently taking over your cheeks as he smiled at you softly, placing a hand on your head to ruffle your hair. He left you completely speechless as he dropped you hand before turning and walking away.

There were quite a few members still hanging around, meaning that they had just witnessed everything that had just happened and were now gaping at you in disbelief.

Sugawara even looked slightly frightened as the blocker’s shift in behaviour, and you couldn’t blame him.

“What… was that?” You stood frozen in place; mind completely blank.

“I… I don’t know.”

~~~

Smiling down at the court, you rested your forearms on the railing of the balcony. Although, your mood was slightly dampened by the feeling of someone’s eyes on you constantly.

Scanning the court, your eyes landed on none other than Terushima, smirking up at you. As he noticed you finally looking back at him, he winked at you, causing you to roll your eyes. The word ‘no’ really wasn’t enough for some people, was it?

Tsukishima caught your attention as soon as you looked away from the other end of the court. Even from so far away, you could see that his brows were pinched together in annoyance, and you gave him an ‘okay’ sign with your hand. You watched as he relaxed a bit, but he still sent a glare over to the other team, particularly their captain.

Soon enough, the match was starting, and you could already sense that the drums Johzenji’s cheerleaders were abusing were going to be ringing in your ears for the rest of the day. Although, their chant had absolutely nothing on Shiratorizawa’s, especially at an important match.

You cheered as Asahi served, smirking as Johzenji’s libero barely managed to bump it, throwing their formation out of synch. However, that smirk quickly disappeared as you watched Terushima spring to the back end of the court, hitting the ball from just before the end line and scoring the point.

You had heard that this team didn’t exactly have the most conventional way of playing, but that was insane.

It only continued as one of their receives hit the net, the blocker saving it with his foot, allowing them to score again. You hated how genius their playing style was.

Even when they made a mistake, like hitting a serve into the net. They didn’t seem all too concerned, preferring to play around rather than follow the rules. It didn’t feel like an official match when it was like this.

Their normal attacks were just as good, allowing them to score more points than you were comfortable with.

Their next serve clipped the net, tipping into Karasuno’s side of the court. Tanaka dove in to save it and got it up in the air, but it was way too high, and you were worried if they’d be able to connect it comfortably.

Although, as always, Hinata came swooping in to prove you wrong as he leaped for the ball, using his forearm to get it back into play. He succeeded, but he had jumped way too far, and looked as though he was about to crash into the wall.

You winced in anticipation for the impact, but it never came. Instead, the boy rotated his body as much as he could, his feel landing flat on the wall as he used it to propel himself back into the court. Your mouth fell open in shock as he landed back on two feet like it was nothing as Noya hit the ball over the net. It thankfully landed in the back corner of the court before any players could reach it, scoring them the point, but you were more impressed by whatever Hinata had just managed to do.

It seemed that your playing styles weren’t exactly conventional either.

You kept your eyes trained on the court as a rally began between the two teams. Both had strong receives, meaning that it was down to the attack to decide who scored the point.

Hinata sprinted to the right of the court and you really tried your best not to look smug as he leapt into the air, arm reeled back, ready to hit the ball. Tobio’s fingertips grazed the ball and then it was in Johzenji’s side of the court, rebounding off of the floor.

For once, Terushima looked shocked, staring at the duo with wide eyes and a slacked jaw.

The game progressed fairly quickly, with Karasuno managing to keep up in points, and Johzenji was still messing around, despite it being almost halfway into the set. You rolled your eyes as two of the players collided but couldn’t help but feel that slight tug in your chest once again. Even if it was the opposing team, someone getting injured was an unthinkable situation for you still.

Your nerved didn’t stick around for long, thankfully, and you giggled to yourself as one of the opposing players got caught up in the net.

It seemed that they weren’t really trying to stop the freak quick either, allowing Karasuno to score a decent amount of points with it.

Griping the railing, you eyed the setter as he jumped for a dump, Tobio not far behind, reaching as high as he could as the player swung. It looked like he managed to block it, the ball bouncing back towards the court floor, and he definitely blocked it alright.

Just with his face.

You burst into uncontrollable laughter as he turned back around to face the team, your eyes already filling with tears. Blood ran down his face in streams and you could help but laugh even more, causing a few of the players to look up from the court and resist a smile.

Genuine tears ran down your face as you struggled to breathe, Tobio scowling up at you as Takeda called for a time out. You were tempted to run down and join them, knowing that he would be taken to the medical office, but you physically couldn’t calm yourself down.

Instead, Yamaguchi escorted him out of the gym, looking up at you one last time to see you still giggling away at Tobio angry frown, now hidden behind the mound of tissues he held against his nose.

The game continued, and you found yourself furrowing your brows as Hinata was called to be subbed out of the game. You couldn’t think of a reason why he would be, but you guessed that the coach had something in mind.

Not long after, it was obvious why. Narita had such good chemistry with Sugawara, even more so in a match than in practice. It allowed the team to have more solid attacks, even without the freak quick, showing the crowd proof of how much they had evolved recently. They no longer had to rely on the insane attack to win, and even players that weren’t on the regular line up were clearly essential to the team.

You scoffed as your brother walked back into the gym, only to be put straight into the substitution box. The coach was clearly giving the lesser used players a chance to shine and it was a nice changed from the usual pace of playing. It most definitely wasn’t as stressful to watch.

“Chance ball!” Narita sent the ball over to Sugawara and all of a sudden, all four spikers were moving at once. You smiled as you watched, having now seen the synchronised attack used in a match in what seemed like forever.

Daichi slammed the ball over the net, scoring Karasuno the point and bringing them up to set point.

Narita served the ball, and it was nicely received by Johzenji’s libero. As soon as it was up in the air, all four of their spikers ran towards the net, in a mirror image to what the boys had just done.

One by one, they all jumped, until only Terushima was left. He reached back to spike the ball and…

…missed.

The ball barely brushed his fingertips.

You snorted, trying to hold in your laughter. Had they really just tried to copy that with no practice? At set point?

How stupid.

At the start of the second set, they returned to their original line-up; with Tobio and Hinata on the court and Sugawara and Narita back in the substitution box.

The duo were quick to pull out their attack.

Only for Hinata to completely miss the spike.

Hinata reached out to try and save it, but Daichi was already there to get the ball over the net, as if he had expected them to mess up that first shot.

Johzenji also managed to receive the ball and set it up for Terushima to spike. However, Daichi was ready and waiting, and received the ball with ease. Terushima’s feet had barely even touched the ground before Hinata was in the air, slamming the ball over the net and onto the floor.

You had always known that Daichi was a great receiver, and yet somehow he always managed to impress even you with how good he actually was. He had amazing stability, both physically and mentally, and you knew that was why he was such a great captain, especially with how mismatched the boys were.

The game continued pretty smoothly, with Karasuno taking a decent lead in points. Although, it seemed that Johzenji was getting pretty frustrated with the way the game was going, and after a flubbed serve and an out spike, their coach called for a time out.

However, it wasn’t long before they were all back on the court, a new atmosphere surrounding them. Whatever their manager had told them must have really struck deep, because now they were more than ready to play.

This is where it got serious.

They began with a few strong attacks; a feint and a back attack, and it looked as if they were going to catch up soon if they carried on like this.

You cheered as loud as you could manage when Tsukishima completely blocked out one of their spikes. You shot him a wide grin and two thumbs up when he glanced up to you, earning you an eyeroll and a half-smile.

The freak quick was the next attack to be used, although, you were pleasantly surprised when the opposite team decided to not even try to block it. Instead, they were already in the position to receive, increasing their chances of getting it back into play.

And it actually worked. The libero managed to bump it, but it didn’t have much height, meaning that Terushima had to try and save it with his foot as the last second, it went up, and another spiker slammed it into Karasuno’s side of the court.

The point gap was slowly reducing, and you could see from your position that Hinata was getting especially frustrated with how his opponents were handling his attacks.

The duo went in for a quick again, and this time, Hinata managed to aim his spike at a spot with less players, meaning that it landed at the back corner of the court, the libero missing it by mere inches.

Since it worked so well the first time, he tried it again, but Terushima was expecting it this time, and tossed the ball into the air from close range, allowing them to score another point.

You cursed at him slightly. Even he was a completely and utter dick, he was actually quite smart.

Hinata jumped once again for a spike, and it looked as though he was about to do the exact same thing, but at last second, adjusted his attack power and opted for a feint instead. The other players couldn’t react in time, and so the ball landed on the court floor without any obstruction, scoring the point and bringing them to match point.

One more.

Your eyes widened as Johzenji attempted another synchronised attack. It was risky, but they seemed to have a different air about it this time, and it seemed you were right, as Terushima actually managed to spike the ball this time. You held your breath as it flew across the gym, not giving Hinata and Tanaka a chance to react before it hit the floor.

Out of bounds.

The whistle blew one final time and you sighed in relief. Karasuno had won by five points. They had just beat a team that was in the top four of the prefecture last year in two straight sets.

Maybe they really did have a chance at winning.

~~~

“You did it!” You jogged up to the boys as they made their way out of the gym.

“Yay!” Tanaka jumped up to give you a high-ten.

“Yay!” But so did Noya.

“Boys!” You didn’t have four hands and they were already in the air. Bracing your impact, you squeezed your eyes shut… but it never came.

Opening one eye cautiously, you saw that both of them had been grabbed by the scruff of their necks, and you sighed gratefully, opening your other eye and straightening up.

“Thanks, Chikara.” He smiled at you and placed the two boys back on the floor.

“I only have two hands, boys. One at a time please.” They glanced at each other in realisation, but were still excited none the less, and so took it in turns, Chikara even joining in.

“Well done. All of you.”

~~~

Karasuno’s next opponent turned out to be Wakutani South, another of the top four schools in Miyagi. They really had back luck getting two top teams in a row right at the start of the tournament.

“Hey!”

“Oh, Shimada-san. Alone today?” The man took to standing in the spot next to you, looking over the rail to observe the court.

“Takinoue has work today. He said he might swing by in the afternoon though.”

“Man, this psyches me up!” Looking to your left, you immediately noticed Saeko, making her way over to you both.

“Nice to see you, Saeko-san.” She swung her arm around your shoulders in the same way that Tanaka liked to do and laughed. You hadn’t seen her since the very first training camp, and you had forgotten how alike her and her brother were.

“Ryu! I came to cheer you on!” She easily caught the attention of the second years, who all turned to wave back at her.

Soon enough, both teams were lining up, and the match was ready to begin.

Karasuno started off with the freak quick, which the libero was unable to receive. Everyone cheered, but you frowned at how the opposing team didn’t even seem phased by the attack.

“It seems that we’ve gained a new reputation.” It was impressive. They had all taken a bad situation and completely turned it around in a matter of months. If a team like WakuNan knew what Karasuno played like, that meant the boys had to be pretty well known by now.

This was going to be trouble.

You gaped at the court as the opposing libero managed to bump Tobio’s serve like it was nothing, allowing one of the players to rush in from behind and score the point.

Their tactics continued as you noticed one of their spikers deliberately aiming to the edge of Hinata’s hands as he blocked, causing the ball to spiral up out of control and land in the stands. You groaned, running a hand down your face.

“They’re smart, I’ll give them that.” You had missed attacks like this; ones that focused on actual thinking rather than just pure power or height. It just wasn’t as fun when your team was the one they were being used against.

All through the first set, both teams remained neck and neck, one team never pulling more than one point away from the other.

You giggled as you noticed Tsukishima’s sour expression as he watched from the side-lines. The opposing captain’s spiking techniques were clearly getting on his nerves like they were yours.

Hinata was jumping at his highest today, and you chuckled as the blocker’s line of sight was met by his chest. Even people with quick reactions struggled against the small spiker, and the shock on the blocker’s face was highly amusing.

It only got even more fun to watch as Asahi completely broke through the two blockers that attempted to stop him. It took a whole lot to block out Asahi, and that seemed to ease the team’s nerves a bit.

Although, WakuNan’s blockers didn’t look so calm when they were broken through again by his next spike as well.

And then when their spiker was completely blocked by Tobio and Tsukishima, finally giving Karasuno a two-point lead.

However, it didn’t seem like the opposite team was about to give in that easily, leading to the beginning of a rally between them. The ball was received again and again, both teams desperate for the point.

Daichi and Noya had to rush out of the court to reach the ball, and your captain was quickly back on his feet, diving back to the court to send it over the net.

But so was Tanaka.

The ball clipped the net and landed on the court floor before WakuNan’s captain could reach it.

The two next to you cheered, but you gasped, bringing a shaky hand up to your mouth as you stared at the court.

“Oh, fuck.” Daichi was laid completely still on the court, seemingly unconscious.

Without a second thought, you sprinted through the stands, Tsukishima just managing to catch sight of you before you disappeared. You rushed down the stairs, apologising as you bumped into a few people on the way. If he really was unconscious, it meant that he wouldn’t be able to play for at least the rest of the match. If it was any more serious than that, he wouldn’t be able to play for the remainder of the tournament.

You reached the court just in time to see Daichi spit out a tooth into his hand, blood training down his chin. He noticed the terror on your face and tried his best to smile at you to reassure you, but it wasn’t working.

“D-Daichi.” Your eyes shifted over to Tanaka, who looked as though he was about to cry. Your expression softened immediately, repressing your anxiety for the sake of the team. Making them panic because of you wasn’t what they needed right now.

“I’m sor-“

“Sorry, Tanaka!” The spiker looked up from his bow in surprise.

“I saw you coming in to cover, but my body had a will of its own and plunged in.” Even with the reassurances, Tanaka didn’t look any less guilty, and while Daichi had a quick word with the rest of the team, you stepped forward.

“Ryu?” You placed your hands on his shoulders, making him look at you.

“Daichi will be fine, okay? It isn’t that serious, and it’s not your fault. He’ll be back and ready to play by the next game. So now, you need to stay calm and win. Win, so Daichi can play another game.” He swallowed, and straightened up, still looking upset, but not as guilty. He nodded, and you gave him a smile, before turning to walk out of the gym with Daichi and Ukai.

You caught Tobio’s eye, and you silently assured him that you were fine, but it did little to ease the concerned look plastered on his face. You just hoped he would get too caught up in that big brain of his while you and his captain were gone.

All they needed to do was win.

~~~

Luckily, Daichi wasn’t too injured, and would only have to sit the rest of this game out, just as you had anticipated. Ukai returned to the game, and Daichi left to watch the rest, but you couldn’t bring yourself to go back to the game.

Your heart was still beating out of your chest, and nothing you tried to distract yourself with was working. Making your way outside, you took a deep breath, enjoying the freshness of the air compared to in the gym.

Sighing, you rested your head in your hands as you leant back against one of the pillars.

You just couldn’t have one normal tournament, could you?

“Kitten?” Lifting your head out of your hands, you grinned as you noticed your best friend stood not far from you.

“Pinch? Oh, thank god” You rushed over to him and he immediately welcomed you with a hug, chuckling lowly.

While you had seen him over the summer, this was definitely the happiest you had ever been to see him. He had appeared at the perfect time.

“You okay?” You pulled away from him and nodded, but like Tsukishima, he could see through you. He raised an eyebrow and you gave in, running a hand through your hair.

“There was a collision on the court. Our captain got injured.” He winced, and you sighed once again.

“He’s fine. He can play in the next game.” Semi shook his head, and expression of worry and concern visible on his usually soft features.

“But are you okay?” Smiling weakly, you nodded.

“I’ll be fine. It was just scary.” He ruffled your hair and you whined, bringing your hands up to your head to swat him away as he laughed at you.

“Semi-senpai?” The both of you turned, finding two other students from Shiratorizawa looking at you curiously.

“Aw, is this your new first year?” The taller one blushed as you nodded in greeting to Shibaru, already knowing him from the team last year. Semi had mentioned that the team had a few new solid players, and it was exciting to meet one of them. He hummed in confirmation.

“My name’s Goshiki Tsutomu. Are you Kageyama Rei by any chance?” The first year squeaked, and you laughed as he fumbled over his words, having forgotten his honorifics.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about all that stuff. Yeah, I am.” He looked positively starstruck, and you giggled at how innocent he looked.

“Ushijima mentioned he bumped into you yesterday.” You turned your attention to Shibaru and frowned. You had forgotten all about that, actually, and found it strange that he would mention your encounter to the team.

“What?” Apparently, he hadn’t told the whole team, and you placed a hand on Semi’s bicep to ease the angry expression making its way onto his face.

“So, you go to Karasuno now?” There was a slight hostility in his voice, and you couldn’t blame him. You had left Shiratorizawa with pretty much no notice and hadn’t contacted him since. You’d be pissed too.

You nodded and he scoffed.

“We’re going to kick your asses in the final. If you even get there, that is.” Rolling your eyes, the challenge brought a smirk to your face, your nerves from earlier having completely dissipated now.

“I’m going to love watching you try.”

~~~

From: Tsukki :/

We won, where are you?

Your phone continued to buzz with notifications as the team all messaged you to see where you had run off to. Rushing through the venue, you cursed yourself for even leaving the game in the first place. You should have been there to watch them win, not hear about it through a damn text.

Rounding a corner, you spotted the team straight away, and Tsukishima came rushing up to you, enveloping you in a hug. You hesitated in surprise but wrapped your arms around his torso as he held you, burying your face into his chest.

All of a sudden, you felt something wet running down your cheeks, and realised that you were crying. You gripped the back of Tsukishima’s jersey in your hands and began to sob.

“I’m a coward. I ran away.” Tsukishima pulled back from you slightly, and you kept your arms around his waist as he moved his hands up to cup your cheeks. You tried your best to calm yourself down as he brushed the tears away from your eyes with his thumbs.

“You are one of the strongest people I have ever met. I wouldn’t have been able to play the way I do now if it wasn’t for you and everything you’ve done for me. No matter how much of an ass I was to you, you stuck with me, and I appreciate you for that. So much.” You stared up at him in awe. Tsukishima wasn’t one for inspiring words or encouragement, and there wasn’t even a single insult or backhanded compliment in anything he had just said to you.

Speechless, you took a step back, his hands falling from your face and yours from around his waist. You had finally stopped crying, and Tsukishima looked at you in confusion.

“Rei?”

“I like you, Kei.”

Admin J: The next few chapters might be extremely long seen as it’s the Seijoh and Shiratorizawa matches so pray for us all. Also, I have something new in the works that I might tease soon, so keep an eye out for that ;)

taglist: @iamthepenguinwhosearseisonfire, @loreblackthorne, @tchalameme, @lorentime, @influxencer, @enagmaticether, @nerdstuff1994, @ewwis, @keikink, @flwrjxx, @centinoahs

#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#tsukishima kei #tsukishima #tsukishima x reader #tsukishima kei x reader #karasuno #tsukki

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princecharmingmendes · 4 years

Text

Paris | Day Eight

When your parents decide to travel with your best friend’s family that you haven’t talked to in a while, who you have a massive secret crush on, what could go wrong, right? Right?! (best friends to lovers)

*Word Count: +1.8K

*Warnings: cursing, fluff, and I guess that's it.

*Posted: January 23rd, 2020

-*-

When the phone started buzzing due to the alarm we did set to wake us up for Disneyland Paris and I wanted so bad to press the snooze option, but I just didn’t had the strength to move, I was so damn comfortable it was insane. But suddenly I felt something move and the sound stopped. That’s when I actually noticed that I was practically on top of Shawn, with his arms engulfing me in warmth and his scent, and then it hit me. We slept in the same bed and cuddled. FUCK.

“Baby?” He mumbled lightly, stroking my hair gently.

“Hm?”

“Why are you so tense?”

“Oh, sorry, I don’t know” I lied completely, I guess I just, I don’t know”

“Okay, weirdo” he said chuckling lightly, making my stomach do flips, why did he had to be so perfect “we still have fifteen minutes till we need to get up and change”

“Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent, do you want a massage or something? Today is a long day, honey”

“I don’t feel like moving, I’m actually quite comfortable” I said nuzzling my face on his chest, not wanting to move at all, but mostly because I don’t think I’m ready to have him on top of me rubbing my back.

“C’mon, don’t want you in pain, and you can sleep here again tonight if you want, I wouldn’t mind”

“I’ll think about it”

“Lay on you tummy for me, baby” he said gently taping my lower back and I did as he said.

Suddenly I felt the bed dip on both sides of my hips and something pulling my T-shirt up.

“Shawn?”

“Just relax and trust me, okay?” He asked and I nodded, suddenly feeling his calloused hands rubbing the whole expense of my back, trying to soothe all the knots I might have and applying just the right pressure, and it was so so so good that I didn’t even think about it when I let a little moan scape my lips, freezing instantaneously when I noticed “baby, it’s okay, just relax and don’t think about it too much, can you do this for me?” He asked in a low tone, making me shiver and nod quietly.

He resumed to his work, sometimes gently kissing my head when he knew it would hurt a little as a form os soothing the pain. When I was starting to melt into the mattress I decided it was enough.

“Hey, Shawn, it’s okay, I’m already better, thank you”

“Are you sure?” He asked stopping with his hands on my waist.

“Yeah, thank you” I said as I rolled my shirt back down and felt him getting up and laying beside me, so I just turned my face in his direction to see him.

“It’s okay” he said placing my hair behind my ear and I bit my lower lip, turning my face to kiss his hand gently, making Shawn smile.

“Thank you, Shawnie, for last night and everything else”

“Oh, you don’t have to thank me, darling”

“No, I mean it, you know that’s not something I tend to do, I hate talking feelings and stuff, but I just, you mean a lot to me and I don’t even know why I’m talking about it right now, I’m just, I don’t know, okay? I just really like you and really missed you”

“Hey, it’s okay, honey, I love you so much and missed you more than anything, okay?”

“Okay”

“Wanna get ready?”

“I don’t, but I have to” I said and he chuckled

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to”

“I want to, I just wish I could get up and go, you know?”

“I do, want me to carry you to yo ur bedroom?”

“Nah, I can do that” I said kissing his cheek and getting up “just go to my bedroom when you’re ready”

“Okay” he said as I closed the door between our rooms.

I changed quickly and we went downstairs to have a nice breakfast before we had to leave and spend hour in lives for attractions, after all, we’re going to Disneyland.

Arriving, we got in kinda fast and ran to the main attractions so that we could be free to shop and take some nice pictures during the afternoon and wait for the fireworks at midnight. I grabbed the opportunity to talk a little bit more with my sister since I’ve been a lot more with Shawn this past few days, so we took some nice pics, ate some ice cream and laughed so much. Lyiah and Shawn did the same, eventually separating to do some family stuff but at the end, we were stuck together.

Around six we sat down on the sidewalk to the main street near the castle so we could relax for a bit while we waited for the parade and the final firework show. We were all pretty tired and filled with bags with tones of Disney products on them. Shawn said he needed to see something alone, so just me and the girls were sitting there.

“You and my brother are closer than ever, right?”

“I guess so, this trip was nice for us”

“I’m not talking the past days, but today specifically”

“Really?”

“Something happened? Did you tell him?”

“No! Nothing happened and there’s nothing I need to tell him!”

“Tell who what?” Shawn said approaching and taking the place beside me.

“No one, did you find what you’ve been looking for?” I asked turning to him.

“Uh?”

“You said you needed to find something” Flo said looking at Aaliyah.

“Oh, yeah, found it” Shawn said smiling and placing his hand on my thigh.

“So... what is it?” Loyal asked eyeing him curiously.

“Not your business, young lady, and also... not for you”

“Come on! You gotta tell me!”

“No, I don’t, is there any water left?”

“Here” I said fishing my water bottle from my backpack and handing it to him.

“Thank you, honey, do you want me to buy you another one?”

“No, I still have one left”

“Okay” he said giving it back to me and leaning back into his hands.

We spent a few more moments just enjoy Ning each other’s company and chattering about random stuff. When the parade started, we got up and Shawn’s hand bumped with mine, and seconds later I felt his fingers lacing with mine gently. That warmth that only he provided started rushing through my whole body. I’m officially going insane.

The fireworks started sooner than I imagined, making me jump scared lightly and Shawn chuckle lightly, wrapping one arm around my shoulder. I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down my face. First of all, it’s Disney in Paris, second, I’m literally being held by the love of my life who’s my best friend, and last but not least, I’m overly sensitive. Shawn soon noticed and placed both of our bags at our feet and wrapped both of his arms around me, and I did the same around his middle.

He quickly started petting my hair, combing through it with his long fingers and placing light kisses in my hair line. I just layer my head on his chest while he rocked me back and fourth and hummed along some Disney melody on the background. As soon as I calmed my breathing, I placed my chin on his sternum, feeling his heart beating calmly on his chest and looking at his gorgeous face being illuminated only by the colorful lights that came from the castle.

“Whatcha looking at?”

“You?”

“Me? Why?” He asked with a boyish grin on his face.

“Because you’re beautiful”

“Then I should be staring at you”

“Stop being silly, I mean it” I said tapping his chest lightly.

“So do I, you’re the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen, and you’re right here in my arms, in the middle of a crowded park and a show, I’m the luckiest man alive”

“You’re something, aren’t you?”

“Me? No, honey, I’m just me” he said resting his forehead in mine and the hand that was previously petting my hair, was now on the back of my neck, holding my head in place.

“I know, that’s exactly why”

“God, I wish I could do something” he mumbled breathlessly, and he was so close that I could feel his breath on my lips, making me go dizzy.

“Do it”

“Right now?” He said lowering his gaze to my lips and I simply nodded “are you sure, baby?”

“Mhm” I said wrapping one arm around his neck feeling his lips brush against mine and then the fireworks started, Making me jump slightly and bump my forehead on his “ouch, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Shawn”

“It’s okay” he said laughing and kissing my forehead where I hit him “I’m sorry, but you should have seen your face”

“Oh, shut up” I said pushing him gently and he pulled me back to his chest, hugging my tight and taking me off my feet.

Over his shoulder I saw my sister and Liyah just starting at us and smiling like freaks. I just shook my head and they showed their phone screen with a picture of our almost... incident. I just shook my head again and squeezed Shawn even tighter, kissing his temple and looking up to see the actual show.

Back at the hotel, Liyah didn’t say anything else, just kept starring at us, so we said goodbye and went to his room. I placed the bags down and turned to him, but he was already taking his shirt off along with his shoes. I told him I was going to take a shower and come back as soon as I was done. At his bedroom again, I was with my arms wrapped around my self with goosebumps covering them.

“Honey, here, grab my hoodie” he said stretching it in my direction.

“It’s fine, I just came here to say goodnight and ask about tomorrow”

“Aren’t you going to stay?”

“Am I?”

“Didn’t you say in the morning that you liked sleeping with me and that you’re going to think about tonight?”

“Yeah...”

“Never mind, I just thought you’d stay”

“I can stay if you want”

“No, what do you want?”

“To stay” I said grabbing the piece of clothing he was still holding out for me and putting it on, being engulfed by his scent.

“Them come lay down with me” he said making grabby hands in my direction, leaving me no other choice other than to lay on his chest, being held tight to him by himself, not that I was complaining.

“I’m so tired” I said suppressing a yawn.

“Then sleep, let’s wake up naturally tomorrow, have a nice breakfast and meet our parents for launch at three, and at night I can take you somewhere nice if you let me”

“I’d love that” I said nuzzling my face in his neck and relaxing against his warm form while he petted my hair.

“Great, now sleep, baby, we can talk in the morning” he said kissing my head and I dozed off right there.

-*-

*Please reblog or like this post if you liked it so I'll know if I'm supposed to keep posting this series thing.

*I'm sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.

*Please do not repost this without giving me the credit, this is a completely original piece and I do not give permission to copy this!

*Hope you guys enjoyed it!

*xoxo*

-🌙

@fivefeetapartt

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pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles · 4 years

Text

You Don’t Know Me

Not smut just some very soft oblivious Luke

You knew something was wrong. Luke didn't always text you back right away, but in the entire time you'd know him he'd never left you on read. You knew sometimes he was too busy to check his messages for hours, especially if he was on the road. You expected that, and never worried or got irritated if he didn't text you back, but that was before the disaster at Calum's party.

The weekend had been rough. Saturday night there had been a crazy party at Calum's house and everyone was getting wasted. You'd seen Luke show up with his girlfriend per fucking usual. You hated that it bothered you, after all they'd been together six months, Leila considered you a friend. You had tried to like her but the more you saw them together, the more it got under your skin. They argued constantly these past couple months, and lately you never saw Luke without her around. The party was no different, you'd barely gotten to talk to Luke for two minutes before she was dragging him away to hang out with her friends.

When they'd started arguing yet again something in you had snapped. You'd started downing tequila shots like you were trying to drown your emotions in liquor. The alcohol, instead of extinguishing the flames, just made them burn brighter. Sure enough you'd ended up in the upstairs bathroom tearfully confessing your deepest secrets to Calum when you weren't heaving your guts up.

Calum was sympathetic, rubbing your back and trying to calm you down. You claimed to love all the guys as if they were your brothers, and with Calum that was particularly true. He'd been the first to call you on your feelings months ago. Calum saw the connection you had with Luke and it was obvious it was more than just friends, but you tried to play it off. Luke only liked a certain type, tall and lean, and much hotter than you could ever hope to be.

Still, you were the one he came to when he and his girlfriend had problems. It was you he confessed his fears to late at night when he was homesick from being on the road. You were the one he sought advice from, and the person he trusted most. He was like a brother to you, or at least you pretended that was the case, until the Patron came right back up along with your feelings.

Luke came to check on you and Calum ran him off. You'd heard shouting between the two of them before they were separated. Calum came back to you followed by your friend Eva and the two of them got you home.

You crawled to your couch, not able to make it up the stairs to your bedroom, plus the bathroom was nearby. They got you set up with a towel, some water and Advil before Eva took Calum up to your room. Their moans were the last thing you heard before you passed out.

When you woke up you were in your bed in last night's clothes but on fresh sheets. Your phone was plugged in and charging next to a bottle of coconut water. Your throat felt like sandpaper so your chugged the bottle almost choking halfway through when Luke walked into your bedroom.

"What are you doing here?" You sputter trying to remember the previous night.

"Came to check on you." He sat down next to you on the bed sliding over so you're leaning against his chest. "You were wild last night, what got into you?"

"Tequila mostly," you groan, squeezing your eyes shut at the memory.

"I noticed." Luke sounded annoyed but when you looked at him, he smiled down at you. "You seemed upset about something, were you mad at me?"

Fear shot chills through your entire body as you remember why you'd started drinking. You had been angry with him, but it wasn't his fault. You were angry because you were jealous, horny and frustrated from denying your feelings for him. You were pissed at yourself for not being able to say anything, because you knew he didn't feel the same way. You were like a sister to him and you didn't want to destroy what you had.

"I can't remember anything except getting sick, I barely remember getting home," you lie, closing your eyes to avoid looking at him.

"Can you get me another water please?"

You could feel the tension in his body ease for a second as he gave you a little squeeze, "of course, do you want some food or anything else?"

Your stomach twisted at the thought and you shook your head, and you saw the tight expression return to his face. He was clearly annoyed by the whole situation, but dutifully returned with two bottles of coconut water, a Powerade, animal crackers and a banana.

"Wait where did that come from? Did you bring that all with you?" Your brain hurt trying to remember the last time you'd gone grocery shopping.

"Yeah, I thought you might need it. You probably should change, you good on that?" He blushed and busied himself arranging your snacks for you.

You realize you're still in your jumpsuit that zips up the back, worse the room is still swaying.

"Please," you manage to squeak out. "Can you grab my big purple t shirt and I have a pair a grey shorts in my second drawer."

He got your clothes and you put the shirt on over your head letting it rest on your shoulders as he stood you up. You wrapped your arms around him as he unzipped your suit and unclasped your bra. The feeling of his fingers grazing your bare back made you gasp, and you hoped he didn't notice. He pulled back and lowered the oversized shirt as your clothes fell to the floor. He sat you back on the bed and got your feet into your shorts and the two of you worked together to get them up your legs.

"Are you ok?" Luke suddenly looked concerned.

"I'm gonna be sick, I'm sorry," you whispered.

He carried you to the little bathroom connected to your bedroom and held you as you heaved and coughed. You could hear him muttering to himself behind you.

"I'm gonna kill Calum for letting it get this far. He shouldn't have let you drink that much."

"Hey," you protested weakly, "it's not Calum's fault I'm an idiot. He shouldn't have to babysit me. I can handle myself."

"That is obviously not true, look what happened," he scoffed. "Come on, let's get you back to bed."

"Well we can't all have hot girlfriends, that we're constantly fighting with," you complained as he got you settled in comfortably.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were jealous," he teased. "I thought you two were friends."

"Uh we are, it's just that you two have kind of been fighting a lot lately." You tried to walk it back.

"Don't," he sighed, clearly annoyed again. "Last night we were arguing about you so you weren't the only one pretending. Why can't people just be honest?"

"Was that a dig at me?" You pout at him, getting irritated yourself.

"A little bit, I heard some of what you said to Calum. It sounded pretty serious, but you refused to talk to me. I had to leave because Calum was getting super aggressive, and wouldn't let me see you. He wouldn't let anyone near you actually, except Eva. What the hell was that all about?" Luke's jaw was clenched tight and he was scrolling through Netflix on your bedroom TV, refusing to look at you.

"I don't know why Calum was acting like that," you told himand he shook his head. "Maybe I feel like hot garbage right now and don't want to analyze everything. I'm not even sure why I got so upset. It really is kind of hazy," you used your baby voice and he couldn't help but smile. He put a pillow on his lap and let you rest your head as you started watching TV. He played with your hair and rubbed your back until you were practically purring.

Suddenly you remembered, "wait why were you two fighting about me?" You sat up quickly and regretted it just as fast. Luke steadied you and laid you back down gently. "She thinks we're too close. She never had a problem before but now she says it's different."

"What did she say?" You were fighting sleep and he knew it.

"Get some rest," his fingers grazed your skin, his voice low. "We can talk later, I'm not going anywhere."

When you woke hours later you could hear Luke downstairs in the kitchen and you could smell bacon. Your stomach growled and you reached out for the cookies he'd left for you. Nibbling on them helped but you decided you wanted to try whatever he was cooking. You reached for your phone to text him when you saw several missed calls and messages. Plenty of your friends were at the party and wanted to check up on you but you scrolled down to Eva first.

How's everything with Luke? He was pissed when he showed up this morning. He made me change your sheets before he carried you upstairs, and then made me take them home and wash them. Wtf even happened last night? You were fine and then next thing I know Calum is coming to get me because you're fucking wasted. You were saying some crazy shit last night. If you really feel that strongly you need to tell him bc I heard them fighting. His girlfriend thinks you like him and doesn't want y'all hanging out anymore. Cut that bitch off at the knees babe hmu later so I can tell you about Calum

You texted Luke below he could come back upstairs

Idk what you're cooking but it smells amazing. Can I have a bite? Please?

He answered quickly

I was hoping you'd be hungry. I'll make you a little plate. Drink water

You smiled, letting yourself enjoy being domestic with Luke for a day. You quickly scroll back down to check the texts from Calum.

You owe me big time. Luke almost swung on me twice. He's furious I let you drink too much and was worried I had a thing for you. Good thing I had Eva walking sideways 😝😝😝

You need to talk to him, there's got to be a reason he's so overprotective. Hmmmm

His gf is looking for him, he's ignoring her to take care of you. Lucky you have such a good friend right?

You answered Calum back listening for Luke

Yeah he's mad at me too, it's not just you

Did he leave? I thought he was staying there?

Yeah he's downstairs making us food

Oh yeah he sounds really pissed lol tell him I said hi

You heard Luke coming up the stairs

Not a chance, gotta go, he's coming

You put your phone back on the charger and scrambled back onto the pillow before he came back into the room carrying two plates. He'd made bacon and eggs for himself but you hated eggs so he'd made you tater tots covered in bacon and cheese with ranch dressing on the side. He was trying not to eat carbs, but always stole bites off your plate insisting those calories didn't count. You put queer eye on Netflix and you sat side by side, propped up with pillows against the headboard while you ate. He claimed not to like the show, but you knew JVN and Karamo were his favorites. He always laughed at you because you always cried watching this show but he also got choked up a bit from time to time. Your leg was pressed against his and your felt his phone vibrating, text after text, call after call and he ignored them all.

"Are you just gonna let everything go to voicemail?" You asked.

"Told you I didn't want to talk about it, got some thinking to do," his voice was hollow and he was really starting to worry you.

"Why won't you talk to me Luke? I don't understand what's going on." You ask finishing your food.

"I don't either," he sighed. "Why didn't you tell me you like someone?"

"What are you talking about?" You decide to admit nothing until you know what he knows.

"One minute you're hanging with Calum and Mikey, dancing and having fun. By the time I see you next you're in tears and crying to Calum about how you can never get him to notice you. That he doesn't look at you that way. How can he be so sexy with those eyes, his body, the way he moves across a room. Why didn't you tell me?" Luke turned big puppy dog eyes on you and your entire body is hot with embarrassment. You don't remember saying that, but you knew exactly who you meant. How are you going to explain yourself?

Luke surprises you when he keeps talking,"I don't want to tell you what to do, but you know how Michael is with women. He's one of my best friends, my brother, but he only wants one thing and you're worth more than that."

You start laughing, unable to believe Luke is so clueless to think you're after Michael. Not that you'd mind a hookup, you'd heard the rumors about how good he was in bed. You were also aware Michael never caught feelings and soon grew bored with any girl he took to bed.

"I'm not into Mikey like that," you told him. "He was going to be a distraction but I got too drunk."

"So who were you crying over, I want to know who's ass to kick." Luke looked relieved but still concerned.

"It's not important now," you tell him. "He has a girlfriend, and he doesn't see me that way."

Luke frowned, opened his mouth to speak before snapping it shut and closing his eyes. He looked back down at you, "if he doesn't see how wonderful you are, then he definitely doesn't deserve your tears." He reached over and squeezed your leg and it jolted through your entire body. You grabbed his empty plate and swung your legs over the side of the bed. It was only when you stood up and the entire room swayed your remembered your pounding head. Luke was up and next to you in a flash.

"No no no sweetie easy," he took the plates out of your hands and sat you back down. "I'll take care of that, drink some water for me." You nodded and complied, feeling your head ease up a bit.

"I need to take a shower," you insisted.

"Fine, I'll do the dishes so you can have some privacy." Luke walked you to the bathroom and made sure you had towels and your big fluffy robe. You were still a bit woozy but slow deliberate movements kept it mostly at bay.

The water felt like heaven against your skin. For several moments you just let it pour over you, hoping it could wash away your feelings. It didn't work, especially when soaping yourself down you imagined for a second not being alone in the shower. What it would be like to have him pressed against you, his hands on your wet skin.

You groaned in frustration because you felt too awful to get yourself off but thinking about Luke in the shower left you incredibly horny. You finished your shower and shut off the water. Wrapped in your robe and with a towel on your head you sat on the edge of your tub to think about everything. You couldn't deny your feelings for Luke any longer, but had no idea what to do about them. You were starting to suspect he was a little conflicted himself. You decided to test that a bit, and made your way back to your room. Despite it being just after six pm you dug through your pajama drawer finding a matching grey tank and shorts set that was girly cute but not obviously sexy, with a pink lace bralette and purple boy shorts underneath. Sitting on your bed you got the bralette and tank top on just fine, but bending over to try and pull up your panties was not happening. You texted Luke downstairs

I need help getting dressed

He came back upstairs quickly his eyes going wide as he realized your predicament.

"Can you please just hook them on my feet and pull them up where I can reach?" You tried sounding irritated but you were super nervous. So was he from the looks of it, he nodded and swallowed before kneeling and carefully looping the underwear over your feet pulling them up until your hands met his just below your knees. The whole time not looking up at you but his eyes fixed on the hem of your shirt as it grazed your thighs. You saw him blink back to reality and abruptly stand up and turn around. You pulled the panties over your hips and sat back up.

"You can turn back around now." You teased him, handing him the shorts when he did. Same thing only this time he let his hands reach your thighs before he stopped, and when took the fabric from his fingers they lingered hovering before brushing the inside of your thigh with the back of his knuckles.

"Your skin is so soft." You barely heard him and you saw him flush red when he realized what he'd said. He stood up just as you leaned forward and smacked his head into yours.

You both yelped in pain and shock before collapsing onto the bed. You lay there almost in tears until Luke started giggling, which is contagious and soon you're both cracking up.

This doesn't help your headache and when he sees you wince he stops laughing and pulls himself over next to you. Resting on his side on one elbow he inspects the small knot forming at your hairline. He presses a kiss to the spot and you look up at him and return the favor, smoothing his curls away from his forehead and ghosting your lips across his skin before lying back down. You feel the tension in the air and you decide to make a move. Until your stomach growls breaking the spell. Luke laughs and pats your belly, "Let's get some dinner and watch a movie."

He carries you downstairs on his back and puts you on the couch so you can order takeout. You already had his order memorized, grilled chicken wrap, no cheese, extra chicken add avocado. You got a chicken pita, extra feta because he always stole some of it. Luke let you pick the movies grumbling when you picked Aladdin yet he always sang along to every song. You would sing with him on the silly songs like "Friend Like Me"and "Prince Ali" , but left the "A whole new world" to him alone, sometimes closing your eyes and just listening to his voice.

The food arrives just as he's finishing the song.

"Ugh I'm starving," he pushes off the couch to answer the door.

He comes back with the food and gets everything set up, winking at you as he immediately stole a big chunk of feta.

The two of you got quiet as you ate, randomly throwing out lines, by the time the movie was over you were both finished and full.

You were getting a bit sleepy so he put Moana on next and laid your head on a pillow in his lap.

As you watched the movie you became distracted by a loose bright yellow thread in the inseam of his shorts. Rubbing your finger along the seam trying to figure out where the pull started you didn't realize what you were doing until Luke snapped "can you just watch the movie?"

You were taken aback by the harsh tone until you felt him reach inner the pillow to adjust himself. Then you decided to push it up a notch toying with the hem of his shorts before resting your hand on his thigh and giving him a little squeeze.

"Thank you for taking care of me today, I appreciate it," you keep your voice low and stretch your legs out a bit letting your shorts ride up. After a few minutes of you moving around Luke finally taps your shoulder.

"I gotta go to the bathroom," he tells you and you sat up, noticing the bulge he tried to hide in his shorts.

When he got back you saw it was gone and he seemed more relaxed. Luke checked the time on his phone.

"I should go before I fall asleep here, and really get myself into trouble." He grins at you and helps you to your feet for a hug.

"Make sure you keep drinking water and no more drinking like that ok. I don't like seeing my girl upset like that, he doesn't deserve it," Luke tilted your chin up to meet his eyes. He looked at you with such warmth and caring you didn't want him to leave but you couldn't make yourself tell him that. "And no Michael, no Calum, you're off limits and they know this "

"You're not my daddy," you pout sticking out your tongue at him. "What are you gonna do about Leila? She knows you've been here all day and she's pissed," you asked him.

His face darkened, "how do you know that?"

You realize Luke hadn't told you that, Calum had. Your expression tells on you and Luke nods, "I'll deal with him tomorrow. You need to get some rest, can you get back upstairs?"

You nod, "yeah I'm feeling better, you make a good nurse."

"Anything for you sweetheart." He wraps you in a hug again kissing your forehead. "You know you're like family to me "

"Yeah that's the problem." The words are out of your mouth before your realize it and for a second you think they were too muffled for him to hear.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luke pulls back from you. His eyes searching yours, and you can't believe he's that surprised.

"Break up with your girlfriend and we'll find out." You blurt out the words and instantly want to take it all back. You pulled back and turned away from him, but he stepped up behind you, just like he has a million times before, and squeezed your shoulders while kissing the top of your head.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." Then he's gone.

You text Eva and she rushes over. The next two hours are a rehashing of every second with Luke as well as more information than you needed about Calum's big dick.

That all happened Sunday. Monday you hadn't heard a word from anyone until Calum texted you after your got home from work.

They broke up, and he's still not talking to me. He even got into it with Michael today telling him you were off limits. What has he said to you?

Nothing, once I told him I didn't want him to think of me like a sister I haven't heard a word. I fucked everything up

You said something? Haha No wonder he's freaking out. I don't think you fucked up, but you definitely hit a nerve. You'll hear from him soon

That was Monday, it was now Wednesday and he still hadn't contacted you aside from liking your posts on social media. You'd even texted him yesterday

Heard what happened, hope you're doing ok. Lmk if you need anything

He'd read it almost immediately but hadn't replied. Michael ended up DM'ing you that night to ask you what happened, and why Luke was trying to warn him off. You had to admit you'd told Luke you found him attractive and thought he'd make a nice distraction from your current problems.

Radio silence stretched until Friday. By the you were a nervous wreck trying to stay busy and not think about it. That just made you think about it more until Luke finally texted you

Hey sorry, I've just been dealing with a lot lately. Tell your mom I said happy birthday, miss ya

You blinked back tears, not because you were hurt, but because you were pissed. What kind of half assed message was that? After what went down Sunday, not to mention waiting five days to contact you in general.

Thanks I'll let her know, going out this weekend, hope to see ya

Prob not but will see

You were stunned at his answer and Calum agreed he was acting like a bitch. Calum and Michael had already convinced you to come out to the club with them Friday. Luke was mad and wouldn't go so you could have fun without worrying about Luke and whatever was going on between the two of you.

You and Eva showed up to the club that night and gave your names at the door. Calum put you on the list for VIP so you went all out. Your black halter top and a silver sequin mini skirt must've looked decent on you given the wicked grin Michael gave you when he saw you. You took a shot from Calum's hand and raised a toast, "to moderation," and you both laughed taking the shot. It was then you saw Luke, sitting in the corner and glaring at you.

"What is he doing here?" You hiss at Calum who shrugs.

"He found out you were coming and suddenly he had to be here. He's mad at us so we're not fucking with him right now. Ignore him, have fun with us."

Eva pulled her onto the floor and they danced together feeling the guys watching them. After a couple songs you wanted a glass of water. Michael was right there, handing you water and flagging down the server so you could order something stronger. You got a tall vodka and cranberry and cozied up to Michael. He was whispering to you and cracking jokes to make you laugh while never getting too handsy or flirty. Calum and Eva were all over each other and you caught Luke's eye as Michael murmured something in your ear. Luke glared at you and you responded by blowing him a kiss.

Luke almost smiled but he looked away, determined to be difficult.

You rolled your eyes and let Ashton lead you out to the dance floor. Music was blasting and you were a decent dancer, and Ashton knew some moves. It was sensual, but not too sexy and you felt he was holding back.

"I thought you were supposed to have hips," you teased him as he turned you three times before bringing you back into him, his fingers lightly resting on your hips.

Accepting the challenge he rolled his hips, thrusting a bit more aggressively against you. Calum noticed and began to cheer you guys on as you danced closer together. You saw Luke stand up. Michael held him back, trying to talk him down, but Luke pushed past him towards where you were.

He cut in and Ashton gave you a wink as he backed away. You kept dancing as if you didn't notice. Luke's fingers dug into your hips as he pressed himself against your back, rocking his hips in time with yours, with his breath hot on your neck. Your fingers entwined with his as you followed familiar steps with your favorite dance partner.

"Come on now, Ashton? What are you thinking? He's worse than Mike. I don't want you being just another one of his girls," Luke snapped.

"You haven't talked to me all week." You shot back. "How am I supposed to know what you want? Besides you're not my father, my brother or my boyfriend so you don't really get an opinion."

"We can work on that." He spun you around, your chest pressed to his staring down at you.

"What's that supposed to mean?" You ask, unable to stop staring at his lips.

"Kiss me and we'll find out." He winked just before his mouth was on yours. His arms circled your waist as your hands crept up his chest feeling his heartbeat race as he kissed you.

You were interrupted seconds later by Calum hugging the two of you, jumping around screaming "I knew it, I knew it."

"Fuck off Calum," Luke snarled and you laughed.

"No way, I'm a fucking matchmaker and I want credit." Calum was smiling at you proudly. "I knew you guys would be perfect together."

Luke laughed and pushed Calum out of the way so he could kiss you again.

@kiiiimberlyriiiicker1995 @ghostofmashton @5sosnsfw @irwinkitten @sexgodashton @maluminspace @kchillout

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soundofseventeen · 5 years

Text

Train of Thoughts (Kim Mingyu)

Hello! Here’s a post from Erin! This ended up a little longer than I had planned, but enjoy! (I also have 5 of my requests left to do so that’s my next goal to finish!)

Mingyu sighed, turning to look at you. You were asleep leaning on the window, the scenery outside passing you by and rain hitting the windows. He wasn’t sure when your eyes closed, but it made him happy that you were calm enough around him to just fall asleep on a train back to Seoul.

He always knew it would be dangerous to fall for you, but he did it anyway. He knew it wouldn’t always be simple for you two to be together, but he tried anyway. He knew the odds of this lasting were slim, but he wanted it to anyway.

When he first met you, he couldn’t actually believe you were a real person. He had to get smacked by Seungcheol when Joshua introduced him to you so he could remember how to speak. Every single member, with the exception of Joshua and Jihoon, teased him forever at how flustered he got talking to you. He couldn’t help it, you were basically an angel to him.

Originally, he had no plans to even begin to pursue you. With promotions and working to make a name for himself and the team, he knew there wasn’t time to start a relationship. He got used to just seeing you when you came to visit Joshua and tried not to make a big deal out of it even if his heart said otherwise. He always felt a little bad whenever you would try to talk to him and he would cut the conversation short, figuring the less he knew about you the easier it would be.

Joshua had to have a conversation with Mingyu, thinking that something about you bothered Mingyu, which Mingyu denied very quickly.

“So what is it then?” Joshua had looked at him, beyond confused as to why Mingyu was acting like this. Mingyu’s eyes shot to you, in the middle of a game with Jun, heart beating a little quicker at the giant smile on your face as you laughed at Jun. As Mingyu opened and closed his mouth, trying to figure out how to explain this, the pieces clicked in Joshua’s head. “Oh my god. You like them, don’t you?”

“I mean… I just… They’re um…” Mingyu could feel his whole face turning bright red, not helping his situation. Joshua looked between you and Mingyu, a slight smirk on his face.

“You know, they are cute.” Joshua said, then leaned towards Mingyu, “They also might have mentioned that you were cute too. Oh, and they happen to be single.” Joshua winked, walking away and leaving his younger friend watching you and Jun, still flustered. It only got worse when you happened to look in his direction and saw him staring right at you two.

Once Jun had walked away to get something to drink, Mingyu built up as much courage as he could and made his way over to you. That was the day Mingyu had his first actual conversation with you, and it was the day he definitely knew he was in trouble with you.

Slowly but surely, you two began to talk more and more, eventually getting to a point where you talked to Mingyu more than you did Joshua. When Mingyu would get out of practice or recording, the other boys would always smirk at the way he full on puppy grinned at his phone, quickly reading the random texts and messages from you. Your friends even got suspicious when you were checking your phone more, smiling like an idiot when you had something new.

But Mingyu still swore he wasn’t going to let the relationship build too much. Being friends with you would be enough, he couldn’t let it get more complicated than that. As he got to know you more, it only reaffirmed the idea that he couldn’t hurt you like that. He knew what dating in this industry did to people, and he refused to do that to you.

One day when the boys all had off, you had come over after your shift to watch a movie with some of them. Joshua had managed to set up the seating arrangement so that you and Mingyu shared a couch, which Mingyu silently cursed him for the whole movie. He tried so hard to focus on the movie, he really did. You happened to just be in his line of vision, causing his eyes to constantly drop down to you. He liked watching your face change as you watched, from the small smile on your face when something sweet happened to the little gasps you made for something unexpected. Every boy in the room still wonders how you never noticed the way he looked at you.

That also meant he noticed when you slightly shivered, rubbing your arm slightly.

“Are you cold?” Mingyu whispered, catching your attention for the first time since the movie started.

“Oh, no I’m fine.” You muttered, going to turn back to the screen. Mingyu sighed, watching you try to pull the sleeves of your tshirt down, not hiding the goosebumps on your arm. He leaned forward, pulling off his hoodie and holding it to you. You looked at it for a second, then back at Mingyu, who wasn’t looking at you.

“Mingyu I’m really fine-”

“Just put it on.” He muttered, looking at you quickly then back to the screen. You looked at him for a second more, slowly reaching out and taking the sweatshirt. He put his hand over his mouth to try and hide his smile as you adjust the hoodie on yourself, leaning back into the couch. He couldn’t get over it. He did pretty well with focusing on the rest of the movie, until he felt something touch his side. He looked down and saw you leaning against him, eyes shut.

He officially lost all hope after he kissed you. He didn’t mean to. It just… happened. You had all gone out after a long rehearsal, and it was something everyone needed. Throughout the night, members slowly started to crash, leaving in small groups. It eventually got down to you and Mingyu, then Joshua and Jeonghan. Joshua went to take Jeonghan back to the dorms, leaving Mingyu to be the one to take you home.

He couldn’t help but notice how quiet you got. Around everyone else you were your normal self, now all of a sudden you didn’t seem to want to talk. Every once in a while you would start to say something, but then you changed your mind and went back to being silent.

“Y/N, is everything okay?” Mingyu eventually asked, tired of the weird air.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” You said, playing with the sleeve on your coat.

“You’re quiet.” He said, and you looked at him, sighing.

“Okay well… There’s this… thing I’ve been thinking about. I think I might… Well, there’s this guy.” You said, looking at the ground. Mingyu’s heart stopped.

“R-Really?” He looked at you, feeling his heart drop a bit. He scolded it, knowing that being friends with you meant he’d have to be there when you found someone to date.

“Yeah, and it’s just… Okay, he makes my heart do that thing? And it’s stupid because I have… basically no chance with him so I don’t even know why I’m focusing on it because I should just let this stupid crush pass. But for some reason I just… I can’t, you know?” Mingyu nodded his head.

“Yeah I get that.” He sighed, you looking down at the sidewalk again.

“It’s just… God I don’t know. I’m just so happy when he’s around, you know? Even when we’re hanging out with all his friends, I almost swear that he looks at me like I’m the only one there. But he can’t be. There’s no way.” You shook your head, a small laugh escaping. Mingyu looked at you.

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t they be interested?” He countered, almost upset that someone couldn’t see how amazing you were.

“He’s just… He’s so out of my league. There’s no way he looks at me and feels what I do, you know? He’s just… so tall and handsome, and I swear his skin actually glows when the sun isn’t even shining. And he has this beautiful smile he shows the world, but my favorite is when he does this really big dumb goofy smile because he just looks like… a giant happy puppy. He cares so damn much about everyone in his life. He’s kind of a klutz, but in like a cute way? Like a way that you couldn’t actually be upset over him breaking something. And he’s so talented! Every time I hear him rap… I mean, just… Do anything, really, I can’t believe how easy he makes it look…”

Mingyu froze. He almost didn’t want to believe when his head was telling him.

You couldn’t be talking about him.

“...I don’t know, his life is just… so complicated. I don’t think I can even tell him how I feel because I don’t want to stress him out even more than he already is. He doesn’t need to worry about some stupid crush his friend has on him. It’ll go away eventually.”

“What if… What if he feels the same way?” Mingyu asked, testing the waters a bit. You looked up at him, then cleared your throat, looking away.

“I’m almost positive he doesn’t-”

Mingyu couldn’t take it anymore. He took a step towards you, placing a hand on your cheek and pulling you in towards him. You jumped a bit as he kissed you, surely thinking you were right. But Mingyu wouldn’t have kissed you if he didn’t feel the same thing you did. After several seconds, he pulled away a bit, remaining close to your face and still holding your cheek in his hand.

“Mingyu…”

“Y/N, please tell me you meant me.” Mingyu said, feeling a shred of doubt as you looked up at him. He watched you closely as you stared at him, hardly breathing. He finally let out a sigh as you gave a small nod, leaning forward to kiss him again.

In that moment, Mingyu’s heart was as big as he had ever known it.

The two of you kept it a secret for a while, the other members hardly noticing as Mingyu would randomly disappear for a couple hours. Joshua was the first member you told, considering he was your friend prior to this. Mingyu remembered the embarrassed and humored look on your face as Joshua gave Mingyu the ‘big brother speech’.

The public was still kept in the dark. When you two would go in public, you would still meet in mostly private places. You would even arrive and leave separately. A lot of your dates ended up being at either the company, the dorm, or your apartment. Mingyu personally liked being at your apartment the best, since then he could cling to you as much as he wanted without teasing (unless you felt particularly goofy). He just loved how warm he felt being within the same place as you.

But every time you would go out, Mingyu would be terrified. He didn’t want to be, he wanted to be strong and calm for you. But it scared him so much the amount of things that could go wrong. You would end up being the brave one for him while he just worried, hoping nothing too bad would happen. You two had managed to keep it platonic enough in public that no one managed to catch wind that you were together, with the exception of a couple tabloids that most fans wrote off anyway.

While it terrified Mingyu to go out in public with you, some days that’s all he wanted to do. He just wanted to come pick you up and take you out for the day, showing the world the person who had grown to mean the most to him. But he knew he couldn’t, because the day he did that would be the start of your downfall. Then you would have to get used to fans and sasangs and comments and all the negativity that would come your way. You swore to Mingyu that you would be able to handle it, but he knew better.

He knew it would get to you, and it would lead to the end of your relationship. So for selfish reasons, Mingyu wanted to keep you to himself just a little bit longer.

Mingyu’s thoughts came back to reality as he saw your eyes flutter a little bit, but not too much. It almost looked like you had woken up, but then your eyes shut again. He smiled to himself, taking in just how cute you were. Mingyu slowly reached over, putting a hand on the side of your head and slowly adjusting you so that your head rested on his shoulder instead of the window frame. You barely woke up, moving a little bit once Mingyu let go. His heart burst at the fact that your adjustment was to wrap an arm around his.

His thoughts came to today. He knew you were getting stir crazy with the cold weather and wanted to go do something. He had a rare day off, and decided that dammit, he was going to go do something with you. He got train tickets to take the two of you out of the city, all the way over to the sea. It was cold, and you were both bundled up like crazy, but it was the best day Mingyu had had in a long time. He was so happy to be able to walk up and down the beach with you, occasionally throwing sand and publicly reaching for your hand. You both shared all the stories you hadn’t been able to tell each other in a while, Mingyu feeling accomplished when he got you to laugh so hard you snorted.

You found a small restaurant to have lunch in, which had the best homemade food either of you could imagine. You almost swore your own parents were in the kitchens. He actually couldn’t believe just how content he felt just sitting with you, you laughing at the fact that he just watched you with that big goofy grin of his. With full stomachs, you went back to the beach, watching the waves until it started to rain. You hid out at the train station then, laughing as you both had ran as fast as you could to escape the cold rain. Mingyu couldn’t help but feel disappointed that it was already time to go home.

His phone dinged, seeing a message from Seungcheol asking when he was coming back. Mingyu grinned to himself, seeing a photo of the two of you that you took that day. He had set it to his background almost immediately. As he was typing a message back to Seungcheol, he heard you murmur something.

“Hm?” Mingyu said, turning his head to you. Your eyes were now open, but you hadn’t moved from his shoulder.

“You alright?” You asked again, eyes looking up at him.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” He replied, flashing a grin.

“You’ve been really quiet.”

“You were sleeping.”

“I was not. I was just…” You grinned, knowing Mingyu had caught you. “Resting my eyes.”

“Sure sweetheart, whatever you say.” He chuckled, putting his phone back and resting his head on top of yours. “Just…”

“...Yeah?” You said when he stopped talking.

“You know how much you mean to me, right?”

“I think I have a good idea.” You smiled, taking a deep breath. There was a mix of his cologne and the beach, and you were pretty sure it was your new favorite smell.

“But… No matter what happens between us, no matter what the future holds, I want you to know that. Because you mean so much to me, and I’m really happy that I get to be lucky enough to have you in my life.”

“Gyu, where’s this coming from?” You asked, feeling him taking a deep breath.

“I don’t know. I just… I need you to know that.” He nearly whispered, and you sighed, nodding your own head.

“I’m pretty lucky I get to have you in my life too.” You commented, your hand finding his and squeezing it, letting your eyes shut again. Mingyu took another deep breath, looking at the scenery outside slowly turn from the countryside to more industrial areas.

Maybe this could last a little longer. Maybe this could work.

Maybe.

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winchesterbrotherstan · 4 years

Text

Teen Wolf- Second Chance at First Line (1.02)

Pairings: Stilinski siblings, Scott McCall x Allison Argent, lowkey Scisaac

Summary: Scott’s powers grow out of control, the siblings begin to worry, and the situation causes tension between Isaac and Lupus.

Warnings: blood, fighting, mentions of abuse, cursing

Word Count: 10,004

I tossed Gabe’s gear at his feet before going off to find Stiles. The boy’s locker room smelled horrible and there were half-nude boys all over the place, but I was growing used to it with each passing year. I was starting to wonder how Scott handled it with his newfound wolf senses. I saw Stiles stop, leaning against a row of lockers.

“Did you apologize to Allison?” He was asking.

I neared and saw Scott leaning back against his locker, a distant look on his face.

“Yeah.” He said.

Stiles sighed, obviously frustrated by Scott’s behavior.

“So is she giving you a second chance or…?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Alright! So everything’s good!” Stiles exclaimed before starting to walk away.

Something was very wrong with Scott, and I had a feeling it was more than just the fact that he was no longer a hypothetical werewolf.

“No.” He shook his head softly.

“No?” Stiles repeated, a confused smile on his face.

“Remember… the hunters?”

I nodded, signalling for him to continue.

“Her dad is one of ‘em.”

Gabe must’ve appeared somewhere behind me, because he did a spit take that sent water flying everywhere. Stiles froze before speaking.

“Her dad?”

“Shot me…”

“Allison’s father?” Gabe questioned.

“With a crossbow.” Scott finished.

Stiles’s eyes were wide and his mouth dropped open.

“Allison’s father-” He repeated Gabe’s words.

“Yes, her father!” Scott shouted.

I looked around and sighed with relief when I realized that the locker room was mostly empty besides us four. I praised the heavens that Isaac was nowhere to be found.

“Oh my god.” Scott started to pant.

“No, Scott. Snap back.” Stiles rushed to his side.

Scott started to cry.

“You alright? Hey, you okay?” Stiles slapped him a little.

“He didn’t recognize you, right?” I stood in front of them.

“N-no. N-no-no. I-I-I I don’t think so-”

“Does she know about him?” Gabe asked, taking a seat on the bench.

“Oh yeah.” Scott looked at us, “I don’t know. What if she does? This is gonna kill me, man.” He started to cry again and Stiles tried to calm him.

I heard the whistle from outside and muttered a curse.

“Okay, just focus on lacrosse. Okay? Here, Scott.” Stiles took his gear and shoved it into his chest. “Take this.” He forced his stick into his hand.

I motioned for Gabe to go get his ass on the field.

“Take this and focus on lacrosse for now, okay? That’s all you gotta do, yeah?” Stiles hit Scott’s shoulder.

“Lacrosse.” Scott repeated weakly.

“Here we go.” Stiles hit Scott’s shoulder with each word before turning and tripping over the end of the bench.

“Come on, Scott.” I ruffled his hair before running out onto the field.

***

Practice was seeming to be more hellish than usual. I wasn’t sure whether it was due to Scott’s problems or the fact that Coach let Jackson use a long stick. Scott was next to shoot, but he seemed out of it. Isaac kept shooting him weird glances, then looking over at me. He wanted answers.

I couldn’t give them.

“McCall! What’re you waiting for? Let’s go.”

He had to go through Jackson to make the shot, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t be a problem for him. Jackson seemed wary, but he was quick to push it aside. He slammed Scott to the ground, no problem whatsoever. I felt it in my bones when Scott hit the floor, and Gabe and Stiles both cringed. Isaac sucked in air through his teeth, a grimace on his face.

“Hey, McCall. Hey, McCall.” Coach approached him, laughing.

Jackson said something to him before walking back to his original spot. Scott was still on the ground and stayed there until he felt Coach walking towards him. He got up, leaning over his stick.

“My grandmother can move faster than that.” Coach laughed by his side.

He said something about her being dead and then lowered his voice to a menacing whisper. I probably would’ve felt somewhat threatened if it wasn’t for the fact that Coach was the most harmless adult we knew. Jackson stood there, grinning as he stared Scott down. I couldn’t see Scott clearly, but I was sure everyone could feel his anger.

Scott stood straight and Coach patted his helmet.

“McCall’s gonna do it again! McCall’s gonna do it again!” Coach mocked.

Scott jogged back to his original place at the start of the line. Jackson crouched. I stood in anticipation, ready to have to call an ambulance. Coach blew the whistle twice.

“Let’s go!”

Scott started moving, faster than before. This time around, Jackson was the one knocked square on his ass. Scott stopped before making the shot, however, and fell to his knees, grabbing at his head. Coach made his way to Jackson, but Stiles, Gabe, and Isaac ripped their helmets off, running to Scott. I stood between them and the crowd of boys surrounding Jackson.

“Scott, are you okay?”

“Yeah, hey, whoa!” Coach put his hands up so that nobody would touch Jackson.

Isaac looked up at me as he knelt by Scott’s side. He and Stiles were holding him back by the shoulders.

“I can’t control it.” I heard Scott hiss. “It’s happening.”

Isaac’s eyebrows furrowed. I ran over and eased him off, shaking Scott. “Scotty, don’t.”

“What? Right here, now?” Gabe shook his shoulders.

Scott didn’t answer. Stiles pulled him to his feet. “Come on. Get up, come on.”

I pulled Gabe aside. “Stay here. Make sure nobody comes to the locker room, okay? Especially Isaac.”

“I’m gonna help Stiles get him to the locker room, alright?” I brushed past Isaac without giving him a chance to respond.

Stiles and I led Scott back into the school, to the locker room. Stiles dropped him onto the ground and I made sure to shut the door.

“Scott, you okay?” Stiles tried to get his attention.

“Get away from me!” Scott screamed, looking up.

I could see that his canines had turned into fangs, and his brown eyes were glowing golden. Stiles and I scrambled to our feet, running to hide anywhere. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from Scott. His behavior, albeit dangerous and deadly, was intriguing. It was like he didn’t realize what he was doing. Like he wasn’t himself and the animal was taking over.

Stiles yanked me behind a row of lockers. Scott easily jumped to the top of it. Stiles pulled me to my feet and we tried to find another place to hide, but between the fear Stiles was emanating and the growls coming from Scott’s mouth and the fact that he had fangs, I was completely lost. He kept going after Stiles, who was now crawling across the floor, trying to find somewhere safe. Scott leaped over a few pipes, but seeming to have lost Stiles, turned and focused on me.

Shit.

I didn’t know where Stiles had gone, and I didn’t want to lead our now murderous friend to my brother. I made my way through another row of lockers, only to be pulled back by Stiles while Scott received a faceful of fire extinguisher. I pulled Stiles out into the hallway as Scott crashed into a bench, growling and moaning. Stiles was breathing hard, holding the extinguisher close to his chest.

“Stiles.”

Scott, who now sounded like Scott, called from inside the locker room. Stiles grabbed me and shook his head. For all we knew, the animal was still the one there and this was a trick.

“Lupus?”

I raised an eyebrow at Stiles, who only sighed before letting my wrist go. I jogged into the locker room, kneeling next to him on the bench.

“What happened?” He looked up, a sad, lost puppy.

Stiles walked in behind me, sighed with relief when he realized Scott was Scott again, and dropped the extinguisher. He ripped his gloves off and threw them aside.

“You tried to kill us.” He took a seat in front of Scott, who looked around, confused.

“It’s like we told you before. It’s the anger. It’s your pulse rising. It’s a trigger.” Stiles was still panting.

Scott looked from Stiles to me and shook his head, “But that’s lacrosse. It’s a pretty violent game, if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Well, it’s about to be a lot more violent if you end up killing someone on the field.” Stiles sighed.

I looked up at Scott. “You can’t play Saturday, you’re gonna have to get out of the game.”

“But I’m first line.”

I shook my head. “Not anymore.”

***

I was lying on Stiles’s bed, a book about Lycanthropy open by my side. I rolled over, bored out of my mind. Stiles was researching on his laptop, again, and Gabe was at his desk doing his math homework.

My phone rang, pulling me out of my almost sleep. I instantly picked up, expecting Isaac, who I had been avoiding since today’s practice. In retrospect, I’m glad it wasn’t him, because I don’t know what I would’ve said.

Hey, sorry I’ve been ignoring you, it’s just that Scott McCall is a werewolf now and I’m trying my hardest to not get you involved.

“Stilinski.”

“Coach. How’s Jackson?”

“It’s not too good. He’s got a separated shoulder.”

“Ouch. How long until he gets better?”

“Doctors said it could take up to six weeks. We’re hoping it won’t take as long. We just started the season, we can’t lose our captain.”

“Yeah…I can go see him tomorrow, and I’ll round up the team. Maybe some moral support can help him.” I scratched at the back of my neck.

“That sounds great. Thanks, Stilinski.”

“No problem, Coach.”

The line went dead and I looked up to realize that both boys were sitting at the foot of the bed with wide eyes and heads in their hands.

“He’s got a separated shoulder.” I said.

“Who, Coach?” Stiles asked.

Gabe rolled his eyes, “Jackson, stupid.”

“Oh. Anyway, I was about to call Scott.”

“Cool.” I mumbled before tossing my phone aside.

Stiles hit Scott’s contact before sitting back in his chair and waiting for him to pick up, toy gun in hand. Scott answered, rubbing at his eyes.

“Hi Scott, bye Scott.” I waved at the camera, only to receive a small yawn and a tiny wave in return.

I left the boy's room and went to my own. I pulled my shirt off before I realized that my favorite pajama shirt was in the wash. I sighed, searching for a comfy shirt to wear. I finally settled on going through Isaac’s stuff and stealing a sweater.

I would give it back later, but it was mine now. Now, I know what you’re thinking. I wore Isaac’s shirts all the time. He was my ‘best friend’. He left stuff at my house, in my room. I called him nicknames. I couldn’t lie to him. But Isaac and I were friends. Best friends who would kill for each other.

My phone buzzed.

It was a text from Isaac. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve smiled as I unlocked my phone. Now, the prospect of having to spill the truth was making me sick. I dropped onto my bed as I typed a reply.

I sighed a breath of relief. Things at his house were always on edge. His older brother, Camden, had died only a few years back while serving in the military. A year before that, Isaac lost his mother to cancer. His father had become cruel and abusive. When it got really bad, Isaac stayed with us.

I found my shoes at the foot of my bed and picked them up by the laces, swinging them as I ventured to the boys’ room.

“Sti! Gabe!”

“What?” Stiles called back.

I swung through their doorway. Stiles was focused on his computer screen, and Gabe was laying on his stomach, reading through a book about wolfsbane.

“I have to head out.” I dropped onto the floor and pulled my shoes on.

“Why?” He leaned back, and Gabe looked up.

“Isaac.”

“Gotcha. Be careful.” Stiles turned back to his screen.

Gabe shot up with a huge smile. “Can you bring home food?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“Curly fries?” Stiles gave me puppy eyes.

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the smile from etching itself onto my face. “Yes, Sti, curly fries.”

***

“Hey, bud.” I grinned as I pulled up in front of the Lahey house.

He pushed himself off the steps, tightening his jacket around himself. It wasn’t very cold, but he was out the entire afternoon at work, digging around his father’s graveyard. He got into the passenger seat, leaning across to kiss my cheek after tossing his bag at his feet.

“Ah, you’re cold.” I rubbed my cheek before grabbing one of his hands between mine and rubbing it gently.

He chuckled. “Thanks, mom.”

I pulled back with a grin. “No problem. The boys wanted me to stop for food. Is that okay?”

He nodded, pulling his hood on before looking at me again as I took off.

“Are you wearing my sweater?”

“All my pajamas are dirty.” I shrugged.

He hummed and shifted, then looked back to me with a mischievous grin. “Is this the part where I tell you that you should wear my clothes more often?” His voice deepened and his eyebrows furrowed.

I laughed as I drove, shaking my head. “Yeah, only you’re like a brother to me and you’re the gayest person I know.”

“Besides Stiles?”

I giggled. “Besides Stiles, who is the biggest closeted bisexual to ever exist.”

He grinned as we pulled into the drive-thru line, waiting for it to move.

***

“Could you get the door?” I asked as I kicked my car door shut.

He fished the keys from my pocket and took the tray of drinks from me as he went for the door. He pushed it open and put the tray down on the table, turning back and taking one of the bags of food from me.

“Boys, we’re home!” I called as I set the last bag down before locking the door.

The heavy thudding of teenage feet on the stairs was audible from the kitchen as Isaac and I pulled the food out from the bags.

“Hi Isaac.” Gabe waved.

“Hey.”

“Hello food.” Stiles drooled over his hamburger and made heart eyes at his curly fries.

I dug my elbow into his side and motioned to Isaac with my head. Stiles rolled his eyes before faking a smile.

“Isaac.”

Isaac snorted and mumbled a greeting back. They hated each other, but Isaac tolerated him because he was my brother. Stiles didn’t even try, and he was only courteous when I made him be.

We ate in silence, each sixteen year old totally engrossed in their meals. The boys went back to their room afterward. Stiles was talking with Scott about werewolf business, and as much as I wanted to be part of the conversation, I wanted to spend time with Isaac more.

***

I brushed my teeth as Isaac pulled his pajama shirt on, joining me in the bathroom. I washed my face and yawned, wiping away the tears that came with it. There was a knock on the door, and I looked over to see Dad walk in. I dried my face off and let out another yawn. Isaac spit out his mouthwash, and I turned with a smile.

“Hey, Dad.”

“Hi, Sheriff.”

“Hey, kids. You already eat?”

I nodded. “Got burgers. There should be some for you in the microwave.”

“Unless Stiles ate it.” Isaac mumbled.

I elbowed him lightly. “Be nice.”

“How was your day, Sheriff?” Isaac asked with his prize-winning grin.

“It was alright, how was your day, kids?” He spoke to both of us, knowing we were probably stuck together at school.

I tugged a brush through my hair.

“It was alright.”

“Long. I dug a lot of graves.” Isaac stood behind me, snooping through my bookcase.

Dad let out a laugh.

“If I didn’t know you worked at your father’s graveyard, I would be a bit concerned hearing that.”

Another bright smile. Dad returned it before winking at me as I pulled my hair into a ponytail. It was a wordless conversation that ended with a proud smile stretched across his face. I grinned back, and Dad let out a long sigh.

“Alright. Sleep tight, kids. No funny business.” He eyed Isaac, even though he knew full well that the boy was gay.

“Yes, sir.” He saluted as Dad walked off.

“Okay,” I yawned. “I’m tired.”

“Me too.” Isaac stifled his own yawn.

He crawled into the bed and curled into a ball. I flicked the lights off and scrambled to the bed, pulling my feet under the covers.

“Scared of the dark?” He teased.

“Shut up and share the blanket, dumbfuck.” I plugged my phone in.

He turned back to me and let go of the blanket. I curled up next to him, resting my head on his shoulder. I settled in, making myself comfortable. Something jumped at the foot of the bed, and we both froze before realizing that it was just the cat, who curled up with us.

I relaxed back into the bed, one arm falling over Isaac’s torso. We laid in silence, and I began to drift off. I jerked back up with a grumble.

“You okay?” Isaac whispered.

“Got vibe checked.”

He chuckled, and I looked over to see that his eyes were still wide open, and he was staring at the ceiling fan.

“I don’t know how you sleep with noise.”

Realization set in as I slowly stood on the bed and turned the fan off. “I don’t know how you sleep in silence.” I teased back.

A laugh, and the joke was over as I got back in bed. It was a lie, I knew why he slept in silence. There was a reason for almost everything Isaac did.

The abuse of his father.

He sighed and turned onto his side, staring at me in the dark.

“What’s up?” I mumbled.

“I wish I was shorter.”

I smiled. “Come here.” I scooted up and pushed the blanket down.

He shuffled down, resting his head against my shoulder, arm wrapped around my waist. I threaded a hand through his curls.

“Hey, Lu?”

I hummed as I let my eyes fall shut.

“Thank you.”

I smiled and ruffled his hair before slinging my arm around his shoulders. “Any time, Ise.”

***

“Coach, can I talk to you?” Scott asked, pulling Coach from his conversation with Jackson and Danny.

Isaac tugged off his cleat and sent me a look.

“I can’t play the game tomorrow night.” Scott said.

Isaac grimaced as Scott and Coach left.

“That’s tough. What’s up with him?”

I tossed his uniform into his locker and passed him his bag.

“He’s just going through it right now.”

Isaac shut his locker with a rough laugh. An uneasy feeling grew in my stomach. That laugh was never a good sign.

“I’m always going through it. Never stops me.”

I shrugged and glanced back at Coach’s closed office door. “You and Scott are different.”

Very different.

“When are you gonna tell me the truth, Lu?” He grabbed my hand as we walked out into the hallway.

My heart leaped out of my chest. I hated confrontation, and he knew it. But then again, he hated being lied to, and I knew that better than anyone.

“Isaac, I-”

He cut me off, “We’re best friends. We’re supposed to tell each other everything, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then what’s going on? What, is he on drugs or something?” He whispered.

“No!” I recoiled, looking around to make sure that people hadn’t heard.

“I don’t get it, Lu. What’s up?”

I sighed. “Scott got himself into something, okay? It’s messy and dangerous. I’m trying to keep you out of it.”

“Dangerous?” He echoed.

“Isaac, please.” I tried to tug him toward an empty class.

“Lupus, just tell me the truth.” He pleaded as we moved.

“Isaac, I want you kept out of this.”

“Out of what?” He asked as I shut the door behind us.

“I can’t tell you.” I groaned.

“So you’re just gonna keep lying to me?”

The door opened, and we turned to see Mr. Kent glaring at us. We both mumbled apologies before scrambling out of the room.

“Why can’t you just tell me? What is it? Drugs? A gang? Did he kill someone?”

I sighed. “I cannot tell you, Isaac.”

He shook his head and pulled back. “I don’t even know you anymore.”

“Isaac-”

“We’re supposed to be best friends, Lupus!” He hissed. “And now we’re standing in a hallway fighting over Scott fucking McCall?” He sighed. “Just leave me alone.”

He stormed off, and I sighed, shutting my eyes. I could feel other kids staring at us, and I turned to see Scott and Allison looking at me too. I clenched my jaw as I brushed past him and down the hall.

***

Gabe and I were standing at the board, chalk in hand as we solved the biology problem. He was far behind, but it might’ve been because he was staring at me with a worried face.

“Stop staring at me and do your damn work.” I growled at him.

I wasn’t in the mood for anybody, and the only person I could stand to talk to was probably Stiles. It should’ve been Gabe, since he was nicer and he liked Isaac and he didn’t wanna lie to everyone, but looking at him made me think about the lacrosse team and when I thought about the lacrosse team I thought of Isaac playing and Scott suddenly being good and it all went to hell again.

So I picked Stiles instead, because when I looked at him I thought of happy things, like sitting out on the lawn at night to watch stars and pranking Gabe and watching TV and eating pizza.

“What happened between you two?” Gabe asked, finally getting started on his problem.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” I grunted.

“Lup-”

“No, Gabe.” I glared at him as I finished my problem, dropping the chalk back into its tray before going back to my seat and dropping into it with a sigh.

Scott’s issues were now my issues, and that was going to be hell.

***

“Hi Dad.” I smiled as I passed him and one of his deputies.

“Hi Lupus.” He patted my head before turning to the principal.

I began to stop at Isaac’s locker, and a rush of dread pushed its way through my system. I kept walking. I realized that Dad and the principal were talking in hushed whispers. I ran off to find Stiles, only to run square into Scott, who was being pulled along by Stiles.

“Dad’s talking to the principal.” He informed me as Scott leaned his head in to listen to the conversation.

“I know, that’s what I came to tell you.” I mumbled, hanging onto his backpack as he leaned over Scott.

“Can you hear ‘em?” Stiles patted him, only to be shushed.

Scott turned around after a few seconds. “Curfew because of the body.”

“Unbelievable.” Stiles sighed.

Scott looked at him.

“Dad’s out looking for a rabid animal while the jerk-off who actually killed the girl is just hanging out, doing whatever he wants.”

Gabe appeared from the mass of people in the hall, “Well we can’t exactly tell Dad the truth about Derek.”

Stiles turned to include Gabe in the circle. “We can do something.”

“Like what?” Scott asked.

“Find the other half of the body?” I offered, my voice painted with sarcasm.

Stiles grinned and I groaned. “Seriously?”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him, leaving Gabe and Scott standing there confused.

“Are you kidding?” Scott called after us, but Stiles was too wrapped up in his idea to go back.

***

I groaned from my spot on the bed as Stiles sat next to me.

“I’ve been telling you this from the start, Lu. Isaac’s bad news.”

I groaned louder. “Sti, I wanted to talk to you because I thought you’d help. If you keep making me feel shitty I’ll lock you out of my room.” I huffed.

He patted my head. “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

I was about to say something about how he didn’t really think I was right and he was just being nice when his phone rang.

“Hold on, it’s Scott.” He picked up.

I rolled my eyes and curled up tighter, pulling the covers up to my ears.

“You did? Really? Where?” Stiles held the phone between his shoulder and his ear as he tugged me up from the bed.

I huffed, but followed him out of my room, out of the house, and into the Jeep.

“We’re on our way!” He shouted into the phone before hanging up and tossing it into my lap, starting the car and driving off like a madman.

“Stiles!”

“Scott found the other half!”

“What?” I asked, turning around to confirm my suspicions that he had ran a red light.

“Scott. He found the other half of the body.”

Oh great.

***

“Stiles, slow down!” I called after him as he sprinted into the McCall house and up the stairs.

I took my time, drained and ready to cry. I reached his room and nudged the door open, taking a seat on his desk chair.

“I found something of Derek Hale’s.” Scott said, sending me a small smile.

I sighed.

This wasn’t his fault. If anything, he would be more helpful than Stiles had been.

“Are you kidding? What?” If Stiles opened his eyes any more, they would pop out of his head.

“There’s something buried there, I could smell blood.” Scott explained, looking from him to me.

“That’s awesome! I mean, that’s terrible. Who’s blood?” Stiles rapidly fired, and I found myself wishing Gabe were there to balance the Stilinski equation.

Scott popped to his feet. “I don’t know. But when we do, your dad nails Derek for the murder.” He grinned at me.

“And then you two and Gabe help me figure out how to play lacrosse without changing. Because there’s no way I’m not playing that game.” He tossed his newly rethreaded stick on his bed before walking out with Stiles.

I followed close behind.

***

“Are we sure this is the best idea?” Gabe asked from beside me.

Scott shrugged.

“Probably not.”

“Great.” I mumbled.

“Oh, quit complaining and come on.” Stiles jumped out of the car.

We entered the hospital quietly, looking around to make sure Scott’s mom wasn’t around. Stiles pointed Scott towards the morgue.

“Good luck, I guess?”

Scott shrugged before disappearing behind the door.

“Look, I told Coach I’d visit Jackson in the hospital, so I’m gonna go do that. You two stay out of trouble.” I patted a shoulder on each boy.

Gabe caught my wrist, “I’ll go with you.”

I sighed.

“Alright. Stiles, be careful.”

Stiles nodded before venturing off.

“Can’t believe I’ve gotta look at Jackson fucking Whittemore in my spare time.” I scoffed as we approached a nurse’s station to ask where Jackson was.

She told us and gave us directions. He was here for an appointment, so telling Coach that I would visit him in the hospital wasn’t a lie.

“Hey.” I waved.

Jackson’s head popped up and a false smile spread onto his face. “Hi guys.”

“We can’t stay long, we just wanted to check up on you. See how you’re doing.” Gabe tossed an arm around my shoulder.

“Oh. I’m doing good. I’m gonna play tomorrow. Not at my best, but it’s better than nothing. No offense, Stilinski.”

I faked a smile, but Gabe’s face twisted into a rude expression and his mouth opened. Jackson was an asshole by all means, including when it came to dragging his only friends down. I put my foot on Gabe’s and shifted all my weight to his toes. He quickly faked a grin.

“None taken.”

“Just be careful tomorrow. We don’t want anyone else to land in the hospital.” I smiled.

“I will be. Have fun.” He waved as we walked towards the door.

“You too.” Gabe smiled, poison in his voice.

We walked back out to get Stiles, only to realize that Jackson was close behind us. I mentally cursed when I saw that Stiles was sitting near Lydia. I dropped into the seat by Stiles. Gabe snorted and pulled the paper from his hands.

“Didn’t know you were catching up on female problems.” He teased with a grin.

Stiles snatched it back before looking back to Jackson, who was now kissing Lydia. He narrowed his eyes, obviously unhappy. Scott snuck up, ripping the paper from Stiles’s hands. He jumped in his seat as Gabe and I laughed.

“Holy god.”

“The scent was the same.” Scott dropped the paper on a nearby table.

“You sure?” Gabe asked.

“Yes.”

Stiles rose to his feet. “So he did bury the other half of the body on his property?”

“Which means we have proof he killed the girl.” Scott said.

Stiles let out a breath. “I say we use it.”

“How?” Gabe asked.

We followed Stiles as he started to walk off, only to stop as he turned and pointed to Scott.

“Tell me something first. Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek, or because you wanna play in the game and he said you couldn’t?”

“There are bite marks on the legs, guys. Bite marks.”

The three of us shared a look. Gabe nodded slightly. I clapped a hand on Scott’s back.

“Okay.”

“Then we’re gonna need a shovel.” Stiles pulled him along, Gabe and I following.

***

“Alright, he’s leaving.” Gabe observed.

I popped up from the seat and was met with the taillights of the camaro, now in the distance. Stiles drove up closer to the house, headlights off. We piled out of the car, shovels and flashlights in hand.

“Something’s different.” Scott noted as Stiles shone the light over the burnt house.

“Different how?” Gabe asked, huffing in the cold air.

Scott led us towards the impromptu gravesite.

“I don’t know.”

He dug his shovel into the ground, “Let’s just get this over with.”

Stiles set his flashlight down before starting to help him out. Gabe sighed before digging up dirt. I tossed my flashlight aside and bumped Gabe aside, putting all my weight on the shovel.

After digging for half an hour at the very least, Gabe’s jacket had been tossed aside, joined by my flannel. We were in a hole up to our knees.

“This is taking way too long.” Scott panted, dumping another shovelful of dirt aside.

“Just keep going.” Stiles ordered, wiping at his face with the back of his hand.

“What if he comes back?” Scott’s distress was obvious.

“Then we get the hell out of here.” Stiles irritation was also obvious.

“What if he catches us?” Scott asked.

“I have a plan for that.” Stiles argued.

Gabe’s dirt fell from his shovel and he groaned in frustration, shaking his shoe out. I gathered the loose dirt and tossed it over my shoulder, which was proving more and more difficult with each passing minute.

“Which is?”

Stiles straightened himself out, and in the blinding light, the dirt and sweat were visible on his face.

“I run left, you run right, Gabe runs in his direction, and Lupus runs directly away. Whoever he catches first, too bad.”

“Hey!” Gabe flung dirt at him.

Stiles wiped at his face, sputtering in an attempt to get the dirt out of his mouth.

“I hate that plan.” Scott grimaced, chucking another pile of dirt behind himself.

“Oh, stop, stop, stop.” Stiles put his hand out as Gabe dug his shovel back into the ground.

Stiles tossed his aside, and the rest of us followed suit. He dropped to his knees, brushing away at the dirt until rope was revealed.

“Hurry.” Scott whispered, anguished.

Stiles scoffed, “I’m trying, did he have to tie the thing in like 900 knots?” His long fingers tugged at the rope.

“Let us help.” Gabe leaned forward, tugging at a second knot.

Scott and I undid one each, done by the time my brothers were. We untangled the ropes, and Gabe and I pulled the green canvas our way. Scott and Stiles both screamed, jumping to their feet and scrambling backward until they were out of the hole. Gabe and I fell back onto our butts. I grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, his face hidden in my shoulder as he shuddered.

“What the hell is that?” Stiles asked, pointing to whatever was in it.

Come to think of it, neither Gabe nor I looked. We just got scared because Stiles had screamed. I slowly leaned forward. A black wolf, fluffy coat covered in dirt, eyes glazed over and pale, tongue frozen within her mouth as she stared endlessly.

“It’s a wolf!” Scott exclaimed.

“I can see that.” Stiles retorted, rolling his eyes.

“I thought you said you smelled blood, as in human blood.” Gabe whimpered, pulling away from his hiding spot.

Scott sighed, “I told you something was different.”

I wearily rose from my spot, a sudden feeling of overwhelming guilt and disrespect awakening in me. I pulled Gabe along as I sat on level ground.

“This doesn’t make sense.” Stiles gestured wildly with his hand.

“We gotta get outta here.” Gabe offered.

“Yeah.” I agreed.

“Okay. Scott, help me cover this up.” Stiles said, seeing that Gabe had been shaken and I wasn’t too happy.

Scott rushed to help him, reapplying the canvas to the dead animal. Stiles suddenly froze. The atmosphere tensed up as we all got ready to run, somewhat in agreement with Stiles’s earlier plan.

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked, hands still working.

“You see that flower?” He pointed.

Our eyes followed the line his finger made.

“What about it?” Scott asked, now stopping.

Stiles’s jaw was dropped, and he shakily lowered his hand.

“I think it’s wolfsbane.”

“What’s that?” Scott asked, irritated and ready to leave.

Stiles made a face at him, and I squinted in the light, only to realize that he was right.

“Haven’t you ever seen the Wolfman?”

“No.” A subtle shake of his head.

“Lon Chaney Jr.? Claude Rains?”

Scott dropped his head.

“The original, classic, werewolf movie?” Gabe asked Scott, now alert as to where this conversation was going.

“No, what?” Scott raised his voice.

Stiles and I sighed. “You are so unprepared for this.”

He stood and walked around us, a pat to each of our heads before pulling the plant up, roots and all. There was a rope tied to the bottom of the plant. Stiles cocked an eyebrow. I shrugged. He was quick to start pulling at the rope, following the path it had been wound in. It led in circles around the grave of the wolf, larger each time he went around.

Gabe stared off into space as Scott and I trained our eyes on Stiles. I saw that his flannel was dirty and rolled my eyes. I was gonna have a hell of a time trying to get all the new stains out. Scott suddenly tensed as he stood.

“Stiles.”

Stiles walked back to Scott’s side. I peeked, the canvas obstructing some of my view. I yanked Gabe up and shoved him behind me. I didn’t want him to start crying.

“Holy…”

A young woman, no more than 25 or 26. Her arms were curled in on herself, and her eyes were open wide with her mouth open. My guilt made sense now. I had been literally walking in someone’s grave. Gabe whimpered from behind me.

“Lupus, I wanna go home.”

I pulled him into my side and rubbed circles on his back, trying to calm him. It didn’t matter that he was a tough lacrosse player or that he was a Stilinski triplet and a good friend of Scott McCall. He had not asked for this. None of us had.

***

“Come get me if you need to, alright?” I brushed Gabe’s hair out of his eyes.

He nodded bashfully, now embarrassed.

“Hey.” I pushed his shoulder.

He looked up at me.

“I mean it. What we saw out there…” I sighed.

“It wasn’t natural?” He offered.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and hugged him, still standing between his legs as he sat on his bed.

“No. It wasn’t.” I ruffled at his hair.

He pulled back and patted my side. “I’ll sneak into your room if I need to. I promise.”

I eyed his shit-eating grin before smacking the back of his head. He let out a laugh.

“Goodnight, Gabe.” I kissed the top of his head.

“Night, Lu.”

I closed his door behind myself, staining my ears to hear the conversation Stiles was having with Dad. We voted him to tell Dad, as Gabe was innocent and I was not the golden child of late. Dad wasn’t happy that Stiles we had dragged Scott out into the woods were a body was found, much less to a murder suspect’s front lawn. Literally. But we had found the body, which meant that Derek Hale could be charged for it. I gave up after only hearing mumbles. I dropped myself onto my bed, letting my phone bounce aside. I really wanted to call Isaac, but what would I say?

Hey, I’ve been lying to you because Scott is a werewolf and he tried to kill me?

That wouldn’t go over well.

An apology wouldn’t work without the truth. I couldn’t give him the truth without dragging him into the mess.

My head pounded as I tried to come up with something, anything that would save my friendship with the blue eyed boy without putting him in the same position Gabe had been in not too long ago.

I flicked the lamp off and snuggled under the covers, suddenly overwhelmed with a sickening empty feeling. Isaac had slept over practically every day for nearly two years. At this point, I probably needed him more than he needed me. I squirmed around, trying to find any comfortable way to sleep. It wasn’t working out for me. I grabbed at air, growing more and more frustrated. I had even tried pulling one of his shirts onto a pillow and cuddling into it.

I didn’t sleep that night.

***

big brother 🌯: ye

I sighed, and Gabe squinted at me as I dialed the one of the new numbers I knew by heart.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Are you an idiot?” I hissed into the phone.

“Why are you asking that in such a menacing tone?”

“Why the hell are you texting me while you’re driving? And how in the hell did you lose Scott?”

“I told you, he ran out of the car.”

I rolled my eyes. By now, Gabe was sitting on my bed as I paced back and forth across my carpet.

“Stiles, would it really be that hard to hear him open the car door and run?”

He groaned loudly over the phone. “You know what, you really aren’t helping.”

Gabe grinned, “Has he checked with Allison? Maybe Scott went to her place.”

“Gabe asks if you checked Allison.”

Stiles sighed. “No, I didn’t, but it’s fine because he just texted me.”

“Alright. Can you swing by to pick us up before the game?”

At that, Gabe left the room.

“Yeah, I’m on my way.”

“Awesome, thanks. Be careful.”

“Yeah, no problem. I will be. Text ya when I’m outside.”

“Okay. Do you have your gear or should I get it for you?”

“It’s in my room.”

“Alright. See ya soon.”

“You too. Love ya.”

“Love you too.”

As soon as I hung up, Gabe walked back into the room, his gear in one hand and Stiles’s in the other. I grinned.

“He probably needs this.” Gabe held it out towards me with a small smile.

***

“Stiles, come on. We’re gonna be late.” Gabe hissed in the backseat.

“I can’t go any faster.” He shot back.

“You’re barely going the speed limit.” I gestured to the speedometer as the car moved along.

“Stiles, seriously! You two have to help Scott and I can’t be late again or Coach is gonna kick me off the team.” Gabe groaned.

“Yeah, and the team manager has to be there, Sti.” I sighed.

Stiles grumbled before speeding up, running the light. Gabe and I groaned in unison, throwing our heads back onto our seats.

He parked horribly in the back lot, and Gabe practically shoved Stiles out of his way. He grabbed his gear and tossed it over his shoulder.

“Go ahead, we’ll catch up.” Stiles grabbed his bag and shut the trunk.

Gabe eyed me wearily before running off, tugging at his flannel as he went. I sighed. Stiles had shooed Gabe off so he could talk to me.

“What do you wanna say, Stiles?”

“You and Isaac need to make up.” He started walking.

I snorted loudly. “I thought you said he was bad news.”

“He is. But you’re sad and I hate it.”

I laughed, “And what, do you just want me to tell him everything?”

“Yeah, why not? I’m sure Scott would be fine with it.”

I stopped walking and shook my head, arms crossed over my chest. “No way.”

“Why not?” Stiles turned to face me.

“It’s dangerous!” I hissed back.

Stiles made a face.

“I’ll tell him that there’s something going on that I can’t tell him about because it’s not my business to tell.” My voice cracked and I cleared my throat.

Stiles’s posture softened. “Are you gonna cry?”

I shook my head. “I just don’t like fighting with him.”

Stiles slung an arm around my shoulder and we started walking again. “Nobody likes fighting with their best friend. You’ll be alright.”

***

After Coach yelled at us for being late and Gabe eyed us before going back to changing, Stiles was quick to run off. I looked around for Isaac, but I didn’t find him. I would have to see him on the field anyway.

“Hey, Lupus. Can I talk to you?” Jackson jogged up to me, stick in hand.

I looked up from my clipboard to him, “Yeah, what’s up?”

He dropped next to me on the bench.

“Have you noticed anything … off about McCall?”

I snorted, “You mean aside from the fact that he’s good all of a sudden?”

Jackson nodded, serious. I groaned internally at the thought of Jackson becoming involved with the werewolf business. I bit at the inside of my cheek and shook my head.

“No, not really. Why?”

“Well … he’s been kind of aggressive lately. And he seemed to get his skills overnight. I’m thinking that-” He looked around to see if anybody was listening to our conversation, “I’m thinking maybe he’s on steroids.”

I laughed bitterly. “You let Coach and I worry about Scott.” I gave his good shoulder a rough pat and went off to find the boy in question.

I bumped into Isaac on the way to Scott’s locker. His face lit up at first, only for a scowl to grow rapidly.

“Um, Isaac?” I scratched at the back of my neck.

He raised an eyebrow while glaring down at me. I squirmed uncomfortably. His height was usually comforting, but right now it was suffocating me.

“Do you think maybe we could talk after the game?”

He rolled his eyes, “If you’re just gonna lie for Scott again, don’t bother.”

I shook my head, “No, I-” I let out a breath, my shoulders drooping. “I wanna talk to you about that.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Fine.”

He walked away, and I caught myself before I could grab his wrist. Touching him when he was off guard was a no.

“Isaac?”

He sighed before looking at me over his shoulder expectantly.

“Thank you.”

He only nodded before continuing on his way. I found Stiles standing at Scott’s locker.

“If I don’t play, I lose first line and Allison.”

Gabe walked to my side, bumping hips with me.

“Allison’s not going anywhere! And it’s one game that you really don’t need to play.” Stiles said.

Scott looked up from his shoe. “I wanna play!”

Stiles sighed.

Something about the way Scott’s voice sounded and his face looked reminded me of a little kid.

“I wanna be on the team, I wanna go out with Allison. I want a semi-freaking normal life. Do you get that?” His voice faltered.

Stiles nodded.

“We get it.” I spoke.

Stiles sat next to Scott. “Just try not to worry too much while you’re out there, okay?”

Scott nodded.

“Or get angry.”

“I got it.” He nodded again.

“Or stressed.”

“I got it.”

“Don’t think about Allison being in the stands.” Stiles shook his head.

Gabe and I rolled our eyes.

“Or that her father’s trying to kill you. Or that Derek’s trying to kill you.”

I slapped the back of his head as Scott tensed even further. It didn’t seem to stop him.

“Or the girl he killed. Or that you might kill someone.”

Scott was staring at him now, eyes wide with panic.

“If a hunter doesn’t kill you first-”

I clapped my hand over his mouth and avoided eye contact with Isaac as Gabe accidentally met the judgemental gaze of Cole.

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop.” He let out a breath when I uncovered his mouth.

Scott grabbed his gloves, eyes still the size of the moon.

Probably not the best comparison.

“Good luck out there.” I gave Scott’s shoulders a squeeze before making my way out to the field.

I shivered, even wrapped in Isaac’s oversized lacrosse hoodie. Gabe and I sat on the bench in front of the bleachers. He checked the sturdiness of his net before tugging his gloves on.

“God, I hate playing against them.”

A sharp breath escaped my nose as I glanced at the opposing team.

Marble Falls High.

Their players were always big and scary looking.

“There’s no way those kids are all high schoolers.” I huffed, rubbing my hands together.

“Do I really have to tell you to bring a jacket every time, Lupus?” Hands clapped onto my shoulders.

“Hey Dad.”

I looked up, “Hi Dad.”

“Where’s the other one?”

Gabe looked out and pointed to the incoming Stiles and Scott.

“Alright. I just wanted to say hi. I’ll be sitting back there.”

“Okay. Have fun.” Gabe grinned.

“You kids too. Be safe out there.” Dad patted his head before kissing the top of mine and walking off.

“You alright?” Gabe looked over at me.

I shivered again, and something told me that the hoodie wrapped around me was probably half the cause of my goosebumps.

“Lup?”

I shrugged and scooted closer to him, watching as Lydia spoke to Scott and Stiles made his way towards us.

“I’m gonna talk to him later, but I don’t think it’s gonna be easy to get him back to normal. He’s never gonna trust me again.” I whined, thumping my head against Gabe’s shoulder pads.

He patted my knee and kissed the top of my head.

“He’s your best friend and you’re his. You’ll be alright.”

Stiles dropped next to me and sighed.

“How come Scott gets all the cool powers and he’s talking to Lydia Martin?” He whined.

“Because he got bit by a werewolf and now everyone is trying to kill him.” I patted his leg as Coach blew the whistle.

The other team was on their feet in seconds and running to the field, all screams and excitement. I wished Gabe good luck as our team made its way to the field. Isaac grabbed my hand and squeezed it as he passed by. I grinned at the back of his helmet clad head. Upset or not, traditions were traditions. Stiles chewed on the thumb of his glove as everyone positioned themselves accordingly. Dad came up and grabbed Stiles by the shoulders.

“Hey, kid.”

“Hey.” He reluctantly pulled the glove from between his teeth.

“So you think you’ll see any action tonight?”

Stiles’s eyes remained trained on Scott, whereas mine flicked between Scott, Gabe, and Isaac.

“Action?” He repeated.

If Scott wolfing out counts, sure.

“Maybe.” He shrugged.

Jackson got the ball first, and completely ignored the fact that Scott was open. Stiles grumbled beside me as Scott threw his hands up in the air. The game went on like that, until Scott almost got the ball. Jackson rammed into his hip and sent him sprawled across the floor. Stiles and I both winced, and I knew that wherever Melissa was, she had felt that one in her bones. Gabe faltered beside him, but a glare from Coach kept him going.

Jackson got the ball once more and scored. Everyone from Beacon High was on their feet, cheering. Stiles sighed in disbelief as I marked it down and rolled my eyes.

“That’s it, Jackson! Get fired up! Fired up!” Coach yelled, running along the sideline.

Jackson glared at Scott. Stiles groaned again, this time looking up at someone on the bleachers. I followed his line of sight and was met with Lydia and Allison holding up a poster encouraging Jackson.

Scott caught sight of it. Stiles flinched when he saw Scott’s face fall.

“Brutal.”

Oh god, that was not going to end well.

A group of the best players, Gabe included, was herded to the middle of the field by Jackson. Scott stared at them. It occurred to me that he could probably hear them. Danny shook his head before saying something to Jackson. Jackson patted his chest and they dispersed. Gabe sent me a look of concern before jerking his head towards Scott.

Shit.

***

A few seconds before the fourth quarter started, Scott was half bent over on the field, his lacrosse stick across his legs like a weapon. I whistled to catch a ref’s attention. I waved one over and pointed to Scott. He hadn’t caught a ball the entire game, and he did not seem happy.

“Can you just ask him if he’s alright, please?”

The ref nodded and I thanked him. He walked over to Scott and spoke to him. Scott only nodded his head slowly. The other players were now looking at him, and I saw concern in Gabe’s eyes. Isaac glanced at Scott and then me before shaking his head. The ref looked to me and nodded before walking to his place on the field. Jackson was staring at Scott, confusion painted on his face.

A player from the opposing team that had been standing behind Scott took a few steps back. Isaac went to take one forward, but Gabe stopped him, shaking his head. Isaac tried to send me a look, but I avoided it at all costs. Stiles bit down on his glove again, obviously worried.

The score was 3 to 5, and Coach was probably about to ride everyone’s asses. I saw that Scott looked up at something. Allison and Lydia were now holding up a different poster, but it was still glorifying Jackson. Something about Scott’s demeanor changed. The ref was starting the last quarter of the game.

Jackson struggled, and the ball was sent flying. They started actively playing when Scott began to literally jump over other players to catch the ball. I rose to my feet, my hands balled up in the pocket of Isaac’s hoodie. Stiles stiffened beside me. He was wolfing out, and someone was bound to get hurt. I caught Gabe’s eye and gestured toward Isaac. He nodded, agreeing to keep him out of harm’s way.

Scott dodged other people, ignoring opportunities to pass to anyone.

He made the shot.

I could hear Melissa cheering from here, but that only raised the tension. Stiles jumped to his feet, screaming and getting high fives from whoever he could. I knew I should go along, to fit the image and not raise suspicion. But if Scott wasn’t Scott, we were in danger. Jackson huffed in the cold air, visibly angry. Coach started barking orders to pass to Scott as Stiles screamed and jumped and danced next to me.

They set the ball and the opposing team got it. The guy was pretty close to making a play, but when he turned around to see Scott, he stiffened and tossed him the ball. Scott caught it easily. I wrote that down. Stiles bit down on his glove again, his leg bouncing up and down. Coach sat down next to him and looked at both of us.

“Did the opposing team just deliberately pass us the ball?”

Stiles nodded and pulled his glove from his mouth. “Yes, I believe so, Coach.”

Scott ran through the field, dodging opponents like it was nothing. I felt Stiles grimace as Coach spoke again. Scott shot, and the force of the ball blew a hole in the goalie’s net.

Holy shit.

I wrote that down on my arm, but not the clipboard. I would have to ask Stiles if he knew anything about the strength of werewolves. Stiles and Coach jumped up, walking onto the field and cheering. My feet were frozen to the ground, all senses on edge.

“Stilinski! What’re you doing, get out here!” Coach beckoned to me.

I scrambled to catch up with Stiles, who was still screaming with excitement. I noticed Scott looking up, fangs out and eyes aglow. I tensed. He ducked back down.

“What? The ball’s in the net!”

“Ball’s in the net!” Stiles repeated.

Coach and Stiles continued to argue against Marble Fall’s coach. I very narrowly escaped Isaac’s outstretched hand and swallowed the guilt it brought me as I neared Scott. Coach blew the whistle and put both hands up. Our school cheered. Scott looked at him, then the scoreboard. It was now 5 to 5, with 39 seconds left till the end of the game. I felt Isaac’s eyes burning holes into my bones. I ignored it as Coach called me back to the benches. Scott shook his head, now more normal looking than before. My leg was bouncing up and down wildly. Stiles was chewing on his glove again, but this time from excitement. Gabe caught my eye.

Are you okay?

I narrowed my eyes at him.

Do I look okay?

He only huffed and got back into his position, ready to play the end of the game. The ref put the ball down and blew the whistle. Jackson got the ball and passed it to Scott, who ran it towards the goal. Scott stopped and looked around. A low growling noise came from the field. I jabbed Stiles in the side with my elbow.

“He’s been like this since we started, Sti.”

“Oh no, no, no. Scott, no, no.” Stiles mumbled, standing up.

I followed suit, waving at Gabe and pointing to the other side of the field. I didn’t want him too close to this. Seven seconds left on the timer. Scott remained frozen. The opposing team cornered him in against the goal, charging at him from both sides. He shot.

He made it.

Beacon Hills won and so Beacon Hills cheered.

I groaned as Stiles threw his hands up.

“Yes!” He laughed joyfully. “Oh my god!”

Scott was running off the field, back into the school.

How was he gonna explain that one to Allison?

Actually… how would I explain any of this to him?

I noticed Isaac approach from the corner of my eye. The guilt of dodging him earlier came back and I ran to Gabe, throwing my arms around him even though he smelled awful.

“What?” He patted my back with his glove-clad hand.

“I can’t talk to him right now.” I hissed back.

“Alright. Come on, let’s go sit with Dad and Stiles.” He pulled a glove off and held my hand as we walked back to the bleachers.

Dad was on the phone, covering his other ear with his free hand. Stiles was sitting on the bench. He perked up when he saw us.

“Have either of you seen Scott?”

“He ran off to the school.” Isaac’s voice rang out before I could open my mouth.

My heart thumped inside my ribcage, and I praised the skies that he couldn’t hear it.

“Uh huh.” Dad mumbled into the phone.

I slowly shuffled on my feet to face the head of blond curls.

“Dad, what’s wrong?” Stiles asked.

The four of us turned to look at the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, who only put a hand up to pause Stiles right there.

“Are we gonna talk or?” Isaac looked at me expectantly.

I glanced at Stiles, who nodded. I grabbed Gabe’s shoulder.

“Let me know what Dad’s talking about.” I whispered.

He only nodded and patted my arm. I sighed and followed Isaac as he walked. I reached out for his hand only to stop myself. We stopped in the quad by the library. I sat next to him on the bench, picking at my fingers nervously.

“What did you want to talk about?”

I sighed, wondering how I would put this into words.

“Lupus?”

I let out a sharp breath.

“Look, the things that are happening with Scott…” I trailed off, licking over my lips.

“What about them? Is Jackson right? Is Scott on drugs, and you’re covering for him?” His tone was accusatory, and it hurt.

“No! God, no.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

“Then what, Lupus? I never thought you would lie to me like this, much less over Scott. You know how I feel and it hurts that you’re lying to me.” His voice softened at the end.

“Isaac, I-”

My phone rang, cutting me off. I pulled it out to cut the call short, but it was Gabe. I glanced at Isaac with pleading eyes.

“Two seconds.”

He rolled his eyes and nodded, “Go for it.”

I put the phone to my ear and resisted the urge to walk off. I was sure I wouldn’t want Isaac to hear whatever Gabe had to tell me, but if I walked away, regaining his trust would only get harder.

“Shoot.”

“M.E. said killer was animal, not human. Derek’s out of jail.”

“Fuck.”

“There’s more.” Gabe added.

“What else?”

“Dad id’d both halves of the corpse. Laura Hale. Derek’s sister.”

“Great. I’ll see you soon.”

“You too, be careful. I love you.”

“I love you too kid.”

My thumb slammed on the end call button. Isaac only looked at me with cold eyes, nostrils flared.

“I swear I will tell you what I need to tell you later.”

He nodded, lips a straight and colorless line. He stared straight ahead before grabbing his bag of gear and tossing it over his shoulder, going off into the dark. I groaned.

I made my way back to the locker room fairly quickly, passing by the lacrosse field on the way. It was empty, save for Jackson, who was walking towards the middle of the field. I ducked behind the bleachers, curious as to what he was doing. He bent down and picked up a spare glove.

He inspected it before shaking his head. I noticed another figure creeping from the shadows. He glared at me before stepping into a lighter area.

Derek Hale.

I was probably going to die tonight, too.

Jackson turned, eyes widening at the sight of Derek.

Practically everything within me screamed to run. The sheriff’s daughter in me was kicking, begging me to get out of there. But I stayed. They looked at each other for a few seconds before Derek turned and walked back into the dark. He sent me a passing look, but said nothing. I made sure Jackson wasn’t watching as I ran back to the school.

Trying to survive the next week was sure to be lots of fun.

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saltnhalo · 5 years

Note

Teasing -one word fic thing-

“Hey, pretty boy!”

Dean’s cheeks burn at the catcall, and he glares in the offending direction. To no-one’s surprise at all, Castiel Novak and his friends are standing against the corner of the building. All sharp blue eyes and ripped jeans, he’s infuriating and fucking hot, and Dean hates it.

“Fuck off, Novak,” he snaps as he walks past. A few of Novak’s friends ooh, but it doesn’t seem to faze Novak. He just leans back against the wall, the ghost of a smile curving his mouth upwards.

“Come on, Winchester. I just want to talk, don’t be like that.”

Dean takes a moment to think about it, then lets his feet carry him to a halt. Why would Novak want to talk to him? “Get rid of your posse, then,” he says, folding his arms across his chest and turning back towards them.

He’s fully expecting Novak to ignore him, or say no, or even laugh in his face.

Instead, he turns to the guys hanging around him and gestures with his head. For a few seconds, they just stare at him, unable to comprehend that their friend is telling them to get lost so the loner with the hand-me-down books and jacket several sizes too large will talk to him.

Dean can be tough, but he’s not dysfunctional family, motorbike-riding, Castiel Novak tough.

“Do I have to repeat myself?” Novak growls after no one has moved an inch—that’s all it takes to send them scattering, and in a matter of moments it’s just him and Dean, watching each other across the few feet that separate them.

Dean folds his arms tighter and tries to plant his feet. “What do you want?”

“Why don’t you want to talk to me?”

The answer to that one is easy. “Because you’re an asshole,” Dean says simply. The constant teasing, the joking catcalls, the way he looks at Dean sometimes like he’s not sure whether he wants to fight or fuck—it’s too much.

Best just to stay away.

“You wound me, Winchester.” Novak holds his hand up to his heart, a lazy grin tugging his mouth upwards.

Dean rolls his eyes and scowls. “Yeah, we’re done here,” he grits out, moving to turn away. He’s got shit to do—homework and dinner and making sure Sam gets home from the library okay—and he doesn’t have time for this bullshit, no matter how strong the pull of Novak’s orbit is. He steps back—

And Novak reaches out to grab his wrist. “Dean, wait—“

Fuck no.

Dean twists his wrist out of Novak’s grip, then fists his hands in the lapels of that leather jacket and shoves, pushing him backwards a few steps until his back hits the brick wall of the building. “I could kick your ass,” he hisses.

Novak’s eyes widen in shock, as though Dean has managed to catch him off guard, but as soon as the expression had appeared, it fades away again. He raises one eyebrow, a smirk lingering around the corners of his lips and his cocky façade rebuilding itself before Dean’s eyes. “Is that so?”

Fucking smug asshole. Dean pulls him forward and then shoves him back up against the brick one more time, just to get his point across. “What the fuck do you want with me?” he growls, clenching and unclenching his fingers around well-worn leather. Novak is so close, and he smells so fucking good, and it’s so distracting.

The smirk widens, until it feels like it’s melting Dean from the inside, rendering him totally powerless against this boy’s easy charm and the attitude that he just can’t resist.

“Well…” Novak draws the syllable out, and it sounds sinful rolling off his tongue. “I was kinda wondering if you wanted to go to prom with me.”

Dean stares, stunned.

Of all the possible responses, of every answer he could have been expecting… that was not one of them.

“You what?” he asks—for clarification, just in case he’s fallen by accident into some alternate universe where Castiel Novak is into him.

“You. Me. Prom.” Novak chuckles, way too relaxed for someone currently being pressed up against a wall. “Jeez, Winchester, I know you play dumb, but I didn’t think you were actually stupid.”

Dean narrows his eyes at Castiel—insulting him doesn’t seem like the best way to win over a prospective date. “You want me to kick your ass like I promised?”

“Alright, alright, calm down.” Novak raises his hands, palm out, in a placating gesture. Dean loosens his grip just a little. “I’m not fucking around, I swear. I like you, and I want to take you to prom.”

It’s still taking Dean a while for him to wrap his head around all this. He’d thought Castiel had hated him, and that all the teasing had come from… well, from him being different. For being the out-of-towner with a little brother and a perpetually absent dad, or for having a crush on the school’s bad boy. He still can’t fully let his walls down, not yet.

“And you thought teasing me and hitting on me like it was a joke was the way to get that message across?” he asks, raising one eyebrow.

Novak grins, all practiced confidence as he tips his head back against the brick wall and watches Dean. “It got your attention, didn’t it?

“…Shut up.”

Novak’s looks turns smug, the corners of his mouth curling upwards, and Dean decides then and there, in that very moment, to wipe the expression off his face. Before Castiel can react, Dean tightens his grip on Castiel’s jacket and leans forward, pressing their lips together in a kiss that is clumsy and inexperienced but makes up for it with sheer determination.

Castiel makes a surprised mmph sound against Dean’s lips, but after a second he relaxes into the kiss and begins to take back the reins. The kiss slows, gentles, becomes more of a give-and-take instead of just Dean’s determination to shock him. Fingers curl around Dean’s jaw, a blissfully electric touch, and he sighs against Novak’s lips.

When they part, he’s not sure who seems more surprised. Dean can hardly believe what he just did—kissed Castiel Novak. Castiel’s lips are still parted breathlessly, and he’s watching Dean like he doesn’t quite know what’s going to happen next, but there’s a definite smile in the curve of his mouth.

Novak is the one to break the silence.

“Is that a yes?” he ventures, and while he mostly sounds cocky and sure of the answer, there’s a hint of vulnerability beneath it.

Dean hums, thinking it over, then grins. He lets go of Castiel’s jacket and steps back. “I haven’t decided yet,” he says, even though he kind of already has. It’s worth it for the shocked look on Castiel’s face. “I guess I’ll see you ‘round, Cas.”

When Dean turns and walks away, it’s with a stunned grin on his face and Castiel’s gaze burning into the back of his head.

The next day, Dean tells Castiel that yes, he will go to prom with him.

Cas kisses him right there in the hallway.

#dean winchester #castiel #destiel #high school au #profoundnet #punk cas #bad boy cas #deancas #fic #emma's writing #spn

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skelezbian · 5 years

Note

I saw your thing on AO3 about requests and I was wondering if for any skeleton, any AU, if you could do a 'I came to a dance class because of my brother and now we have to awkwardly slow dance/tango/waltz together'. Thank you for your wonderful writing!

UGH this one is so good it’s haunted me since i saw it in my inbox. (i chose underswap papyrus btw)

ao3 link

Papyrus, if pressed, would’ve said that his second least favorite thing to do was move. His ideal day had him lazing about, sketching out some complex Rube Goldberg machine to move even less but with more complex hijinks involved. He certainly hadn’t been so low when he was younger, but growing up seemed to take the wind out of his sails, and the fact that his friend group extended to one person and his brother certainly hadn’t helped. He’d had big dreams- becoming a part of the Royal Guard and all of the romance that entailed. The suit of armor, the fancy outings, the prestige of it all, the hope for a future on the Surface… It had painted a very shiny and ideal future to a kid whose earliest memory was of his older brother panicking about finding them somewhere to live.

That future had dulled as he got older. Some dreams, he had supposed, were best left as dreams. He was slow and achy at only twenty years and those weren’t the kind of goals an achy skeleton got to have.

Unfortunately, Sans disagreed. He’d been the president of the Papyrus Fan Club the day that he’d become an older brother, and his optimism and hope for him never ceased to amaze Papyrus. He’d long since given up trying to get him to physically prepare for being a knight in the Royal Guard (giving Papyrus all of his sentry shifts so he wouldn’t have to move as much), but Papyrus had been naive to believe that his brother had forgotten about his childhood ramblings.

On the Surface, now, everything seemed limitless and possible, and Sans has fucking signed him up for a ballroom dancing class.

“i’m not going. you can’t make me.” Papyrus says, petulantly, childishly, sitting at their living room table. His fingers find a carved indention where he had tried to write his name in the wood when he was younger- ‘papiris’. “you remember what happened when you signed me up for a yoga class. what do you think is going to happen?”

“OH, DON’T GIVE ME THAT.” Sans turns around only briefly from where he’s scrambling eggs to roll his eyelights at him. “YOU DIDN’T DO THE WARM-UPS, IT’S NOT THE ENTIRE PRACTICE OF YOGA’S FAULT. BESIDES, BALLROOM DANCING IS THE LOWEST EFFORT DANCE LESSON I COULD FIND.” The spatula gently scrapes the bottom of the pan. “BESIDES. YOU USED TO LOVE THOSE CHEESY HUMAN ROMANCE SOAPS.”

“well, i’m about a decade and a half older than i was when i first watched ‘beauty and the beast’, so i don’t think that counts, sans.” He grumbles, slumping onto the table. Yoga had been a horrific incident- the humans were nice, the atmosphere was fine, but they’d done a simple move and his thigh bone had popped out of his pelvic cradle and the woman next to him had screamed and fainted. And then the instructor had called a human ambulance despite Papyrus’ protests, all while he tried to calm down enough to get his magic to reattach his leg. It was single handedly the most embarrassing moment of his life, even over the time Undyne invited her girlfriend over and had completely forgotten that he hadn’t left her house yet.

If he knows Sans, though, there’s no way around this because, “I ALREADY PAID FOR IT.” Then, to soften the blow, “IT’S ONLY ONE LESSON. WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN?”

“my leg could fall off again?”

“WELL, KEEP AN EYE ON THEM SO THEY DON’T RUN AWAY, THEN!” He starts building his plate- a slice of toast, several strips of turkey bacon, and his eggs (lightly salted). “I EVEN SPOKE WITH THE INSTRUCTOR ABOUT THIS- SHE SAID SHE’D PAIR YOU WITH SOMEONE EXPERIENCED SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THEM STEPPING ON YOUR TOES. JUST…” Sans hands him his plate, a small smile on his face, “JUST TRY TO HAVE FUN!”

Papyrus stuffs his face with eggs and tries to ignore how hard his brother is trying to make him happy.

Even though the idea of being over-dressed for this occasion was horrifying, Papyrus could only imagine how embarrassing it would be if he had ended up underdressed. When he was younger, he used to love fashion and his idea of what was ‘cool’ (usually, clothes that looked like they were covered in car decals), but he had been hard-pressed to find one dress shirt in his closet. Ultimately, he’d ended up borrowing one of Sans’ and tucking it into khakis he hadn’t worn in four years, which exposed his growth spurt and, incidentally, his thin tibias.

He walked into that auditorium room feeling like a class-a clown in the worst of ways. He couldn’t tell if it was a good or a bad thing that no one turned to look at him when he’d walked in, and the indecision had sweat beading on his skull. Was it too late to just bail? Could Sans afford for him to just leave and lose the money on this lesson? It was ballroom dancing, so it couldn’t have been cheap- what if he’d spent that extra money he was going to use for his vacation days on this? What if-

“Hi! Are you Papyrus?” He lurches, feeling someone’s hand touch his shoulder, disrupting his running thoughts. “Oh! Sorry to startle you!”

“oh, uh, um, uh.” He can’t physically return his eye sockets to how they were normally. He’s suddenly very glad that Sans had pressed his shirt for him, because you’re wearing a sleek black outfit that compliments you so well that he has to tell himself not to stare. “yes. papyrus. that’s me. and, um, you are…?”

“I’m your dancing partner for today.” You say with a smile, and introduce yourself. “You’re a bit behind with the lessons, so everyone’s a bit more advanced. Your brother, um, mentioned that you’d be a bit uncomfortable with having more attention on you than necessary, so we’re going to be practicing separately from the group to get you caught up. Is that alright?”

“yup. that’s alright, yeah.” Stars, why can’t he make his mouth say something, anything, cooler than that? The light sweat on his face still hasn’t faded.

You chuckle, just a little, and reach out your hand. It takes him a moment to realize you wanted him to hold your hand. For the dancing. Duh. He hesitates, fitting his hand into your’s slowly, a wobbly smile reaching his face when you flex your fingers on his. “Wow! You’re real solid.” Staring down at your joined hands, it takes Papyrus a moment to realize why his soul is racing in his rib cage- this is the first time in months that anyone other than Undyne or Sans has touched him. Stars, he’s a mess. Taking his pause for more hesitation, you try to amend, “We won’t be doing too much dancing today- it’s mostly about helping you find some rhythm and sync up with me. Just, um, let me know if anything makes you uncomfortable?”

You’re really nice and he feels super bad about this entire situation- he can only imagine how frail his brother must’ve made him sound. “don’t worry- i know you’re just doing your job. if anything’s sour, i’ll let you know.” He hadn’t noticed that you were tense until he’d finished speaking and saw your shoulders relax.

“Phew, okay. I mean, it’d get really hard to get you into rhythm if you’re not comfortable, so that’s our first obstacle.” You sway forward and, automatically, Papyrus leans forward to make sure you don’t fall. He then realizes it was on purpose, to test if he could take your weight. “Okay, Papyrus, talk to me. What kind of music do you like?”

“for this kind of stuff? i’d say blues.” You rest your other hand on his shoulder, and indicate for him to do the same. He feels your shoulders raise with a small laugh.

“That was a joke, right? ‘Rhythm and blues’? That’s cute.” You say it so genuinely that it pulls a chuckle from him. You begin to sway side-to-side- initially, the both of you are mismatched, but he falls into step easily soon, matching your pace.

“hey, i got a few more up my button-down’s sleeve. you ever heard the one about the old duck comedian?”

You got a silly smile on your face, as if you could guess the punchline. “Nope, never have. Is it going to… quack me up?” Your fingers slide more securely towards his neck, and he finds that holding you under your arm and around your shoulder blade is far more comfortable than locking his elbow straight to hold onto you.

“nah, but he’ll bill you for it later.” The punchline gets a small laugh from you, shaking your head. “hey, how long have you been dancing?” The two of you had fallen into an almost-natural sway, gently rocking to-and-from. You take one step to your right, and he immediately follows with you. Papyrus can suddenly see the importance of being familiar with your partner’s body language.

“Oh, not too long. About two years- I did a competition a little while back. Not much came of it.” He misreads you and steps forward, stepping on your foot. You simply take a step back, pulling your foot out. “The instructor’s a friend of mine- I help the newbies out. And don’t worry about my shoes- I always wear a scuffed pair for the first-timers.” You wink, and it sends his soul fluttering.

“that so? you know, i’ve never really looked, but i’m pretty sure i have two left feet, so i might wear a hole down on those shoes.”

“Now, that’d be a feat!” You look so proud of your little joke, your smile crinkling the edges of your eyes. He laughs and, for some reason, that little joke makes the rest of the evening go so much faster. It’s mostly swaying to the beat and chatting idly, you moving him and him being moved until he finally gets it and he can almost predict your next steps. You shoot him a wicked grin, “So, did you notice?”

“notice what?” To make sure, he looks down at his feet to make sure they aren’t scuffing your shoes again. You giggle at that, so he tries to crack a joke, “now, are you saying that my two left feet are making a right?”

You snort. “Actually! I just taught you the box step, so I’d consider that a right! Here, watch your feet.” You pulled him back, stepped to your left, then forward, then back into resting position. It wasn’t anything impressive, but Papyrus was somewhat amazed that he hadn’t noticed the both of you moving in a perfect square. “So? Not as bad as you were expecting, huh?”

“no, not bad at all…” He responds, almost surprised himself. Forward, right, back, return. All with your hand resting on the slope of his shoulder, all with you smiling up at him. “huh.”

“Yeah, ‘huh’.” You laugh and wink at him again, as if all of this was some elaborate plan on your part, to lull him into a sense of security and trick him into dancing. “So, you want to refine it a bit?”

“yeah, i think that’d make us square.”

When Sans comes to pick him up, he can’t conceal the smile on his face. You wave to him from amongst teenagers reuniting with their parents, partners sharing water bottles and dabbing sweat from their foreheads, and your grin is so wide it forces your eyes shut. Papyrus watches you from the passenger seat of Sans’ economic Nissan, fingers drumming on his pressed pants’ leg. “SO. HOW WAS IT? DID YOU… SHAKE A LEG?”

The joke startles a laugh out of him, “you know what? i shook two of them, and they stayed attached this time.” Sans lets out a mock gasp of surprise. “it was a lot of fun, sans. honestly, i didn’t think i’d enjoy it, but… well, i guess part of it is the partner.”

As hard as he tries to ignore it, Sans is giving him an ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ grin in his peripheral. “WELL, I GUESS THAT OLD DANCING SKELETON JOKE ISN’T TRUE ANY MORE.” He turns to wink at his younger brother, “I’M GLAD YOU HAVE SOME BODY TO DANCE WITH.”

#papyrus x reader #undertale imagines #reader insert #undertale #underswap #my writing #Anonymous

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quicksilversquared · 5 years

Text

There’s No Camembert in Tibet Outtakes: Chapter 7

Adrien: Future

Adrien loved having his mom back.

It wasn't all smooth and easy, not by a long shot. She had a lot to deal with in order to get reintegrated into the life that she had been pulled from. She wanted to spend time with him, of course, since she had been missing for a year, and she wanted to get to know all of his friends and other classmates, but she couldn't just do the fun stuff. She had to talk to police and tell them what had happened when she went missing, and catch up with what was going on with the company, and then deal with the reporters that kept clamoring to know what had happened.

And then, of course, there was the whole need to deal with his father. She hadn't told him what had gone down during her visit to the prison, but she hadn't seemed very happy afterwards.

But his mom was getting along with his friends really well, and she seemed to adore Marinette already. Adrien had definitely heard the two of them discussing how they might renovate the front hall area to make it not so intimidating, and she seemed to really listen to what Marinette had to say.

...Adrien was a little concerned that he and Marinette wouldn't get any time to properly relax together, between them simply spending time with his mom, meeting up with their other friends that they hadn't seen for the first half of the summer, and doing all of the shopping for the impending redecoration. His schedule had already started up again with fencing and basketball and piano and photoshoots, keeping him busy for several hours each day almost five days each week. His mom had agreed to not resuming his Mandarin classes as long as he spent some time chatting with Mrs. Cheng every week, so he didn't have that, but still.

At least she had agreed to let him continue going to public school. Otherwise, Adrien probably would have had tutors starting to come in on top of everything else, and his summer would be done for.

(To be fair, she hadn't even argued that one. It was just automatically a given that Adrien would be returning to school, it seemed.)

"Sitting around doing nothing isn't all it's cracked up to be," Marinette assured him one day as he was practicing piano and she was listening, perched on the bench next to him. "It gets boring. I know Nino was talking it up, but he probably lasted for all of one full day before needing to do literally anything else at all."

"He's not gotten his full day of relaxation, either. He texted me grumbling about it." In fact, out of all of them, only Chloe hadmanaged to sit back and fully relax. Alya had had to babysit her sisters, Nino had been put in charge of his little brother Chris, Master Fu had re-opened his business, Mrs. Cheng had been working in the bakery again filling in for a worker that had come down ill right after her return, Adrien had had his activities, and Marinette alternated between designing, helping in the bakery with especially large orders, and helping his mom with redesign and renovation plans. "Maybe once we're back in school we'll get a Saturday free or something."

"And we've had half days here and there to hang out," Marinette pointed out. "Even if there were some very noisy kids around."

Adrien winced at the memory of Chris, Ella, and Etta running around screaming at the pool on top of the Grand Paris on their last afternoon out. If it hadn't been for their connections to Chloe, Mr. Bourgeois probably would have tossed them out right away.

(If Chloe had actually been there and not on a shopping spree, she would have probably kicked them out herself, friends or no. They had gotten the kids to calm down after a bit, but they were still a bit splashy.)

"Maybe we can go on a date this week and have an afternoon and evening to ourselves," Adrien suggested, finishing up the song with a practiced flourish and sitting back. "Not to do anything fancy, but maybe pizza and a movie? Or go to the arcade and trounce everyone's high scores."

Marinette beamed at him. "Oh, I'd like that," she agreed. "We can maybe start with one and move to the other after dinner, depending on when shows are playing and how late the arcade is open. Will your mom let us be out that long?"

"She's being strangely lenient about me being out and about." It was surprising, really. Adrien had prepared himself to be coddled to the point of nearly being smothered, but instead he had nearly as much freedom as he had had with Nathalie and the Gorilla watching him. Nathalie had warned that it probably wouldn't last forever- his mom probably felt guilty about leaving him on his own and about all that he had had to go through while she was gone, and was still trying to figure out where to set new boundaries now that he had gotten used to more freedom.

Adrien was going to enjoy his freedom while he still had it. Once his mom set new limits, there was a possibility that some of the stuff that he had taken for granted over the past couple of months would be off-limits until he turned 18- or until after he had graduated university and moved out.

The sleepovers were already out-of-bounds, they didn't even need to ask to know that much- and Adrien didn't want hangouts in the park to be next, just because some fangirls (and fanguys) didn't understand the concept of leaving him alone and his mom was worried about them harassing him.

"Right, so let me check my calendar." Adrien pulled out his phone, hoping that his mom wasn't going to come investigate if she didn't hear piano music for a while. He knew that he was meant to be practicing, and he did have a lot of ground to make up after not playing much after his father's arrest and not practicing at all for the first part of the summer, but his girlfriend was right there. After being together all the time on the trail, their separation back in Paris was jarring. So sue him if he maybe wanted to set practice aside for a little bit to figure out when they could have another proper date before their evenings filled up with homework and projects again. "Ooh, it looks like most of my photoshoots have passed! I only have one this week."

"More fall stuff?"

Adrien winced at the reminder that he would have to get dressed up in clothes that were far toowarm for the hot Paris weather. "Ugh. Yeah. Promise you'll come rescue me?"

"I can bring iced lemonade again. Does that work?"

"That sounds purr-fect, my Lady."

"Oh, we're getting dirt all over the floor!"

Adrien grinned at his mom's distressed exclamation. "Mom, we have a broom. And a top-of-the-line vacuum."

"And mops," Marinette added, trying to push her hair out of her face without actually touching it with her dirt-covered hands. She wasn't entirely successful. "It'll all come up! We knew it would get messy! That's why we didn't put the rugs down yet."

"Oh, but still." Mrs. Agreste scanned the footprint-covered floor. "I know we wanted the entry hall to look lived in, but this is going a little too far."

Adrien caught sight of Nathalie peeking out of the office at the mess and wincing before vanishing back into the room. He grinned at that. Nathalie wasn't used to seeing the mansion in anything but perfect shape, and right now, in the middle of their redecorating, the front entry hall was anything but perfect. The couches, chairs, tables, and rugs that Marinette and his mom had found for the space on one of their little outings were shoved together and piled up in one corner, waiting to be arranged. Another corner was filled with their new curtains, the light, airy fabric draped over the banister of the stairs and trailing across the floor in anticipation of being hung later on.

And in the middle of the space, almost every centimeter of floor was covered by planters, pots of plants, and bags of dirt. Marinette had come up with the idea to replace the old planters, formerly filled with dark red plants, and replace them with a number of new ones, light and fun instead of dark and businesslike, and then fill them with a more playful arrangement of plants. Ferns and bamboos and palms and orchids and all sorts of plants Adrien didn't recognize were scattered around them, waiting to be planted and arranged around the room, making his mom and Marinette's vision for the space a reality.

Of course, before they could get planted, they needed to actually fill the planters up with dirt. That...was taking a while.

Mostly because Marinette was the only one out of the three of them to really be willing to get elbow-deep in dirt and fertilizer. Adrien was doing his best, he really was, but he wasn't used to the feeling of dirt under his fingernails, and his mom was fussing over the dirt that was getting on her clothes and on the floor. Apparently she was willing to put up with a little dirt while camping, but not at home in Paris.

Adrien could relate, honestly. He felt the same way.

Things got sped up when the Gorilla came in, saw Marinette wrestling with a heavy bag of dirt just as big as she was, and heaved a sigh before helping them get all of the containers filled properly in no time at all.

"Okay, arrangement time!" Adrien's mom said cheerfully once the empty bags were cleared away. "Marinette, dear, what were you planning on doing?"

As Marinette and his mom planned which plants would go where, Adrien became the muscle, rushing around to get the plants they pointed out and placing them in front of their designated planters. There was a bit of back-and-forth before they settled on their arrangements, making notes to go back and out and buy a couple more of certain types of the plants, and then it was time to actually remove all of the plants from their flimsy plastic pots and get them in the planters.

By that time, the Gorilla had managed to return with a couple hand trowels and gardening gloves. Adrien pulled his on eagerly, grinning at the cat pattern that ran across the back of the gloves. His mom cooed over her own ladybug-spotted gloved before diving into the work with renewed vigor.

"This place is going to look so nice once we're finished," Mrs. Agreste said eagerly as they started arranging things in the first of their planters. Now that they were past the step of wrestling with heavy bags of dirt, her cheerful mood had returned. "Just switching out the painting already has changed the mood of the room!"

Adrien nodded, glancing up the main stairs. Up on the landing, overseeing the entire room, the dark portrait of Adrien and Mr. Agreste had been replaced as soon as possible with a colorful painting of flowers and butterflies. His mom hadn't been sure about having butterflies in the picture at first, but Adrien and Marinette had eventually convinced her that not all butterflies were bad, so there was no reason why she should avoid them.

Besides, there were no purple butterflies in the painting.

"And then the electrician is going to come in this afternoon and switch out those ugly light fixtures," Mrs. Agreste continued, absentmindedly stroking the fronds of a fern. "And then- what else will we have to do, Marinette? There's so much."

"All of the rugs and couches and everything will get put out," Marinette reminded her, patting the dirt down firmly around a plant with trailing vines. "And the curtains will go up. It's not that much, really, it's just bulky."

"Can you really call them curtains if they don't really block any light?" Adrien mused, handing Marinette a plant with silvery leaves. "They have about as much substance to them as a wisp of a cloud. Not that I don't like them, of course, I trust your vision, but..."

Marinette giggled. "They're just for show. Fabric makes softer lines."

"We're all going to get a good night's sleep tonight, that's for sure," Mrs. Agreste announced. "And- oh, this plant won't come out!"

It took them nearly three hours just to get the planters all finished, though a couple had small notes on them with what needed to be added in the future. The three of them headed in for lunch with growling stomachs and dirty hands, and it was only Nathalie catching them at the door that made them remember that they had to wash up first.

As they ate, Adrien couldn't stop smiling. It never failed to make him amazingly, stupendously happy when he saw how well his mom and Marinette got along. He had worried about it at first, of course- if his mom would feel like Marinette was taking up too much of Adrien's time, or if she might not like Marinette simply because she felt that he was too young for dating, or- well, anything, really. He had read so many stories and seen so many shows where the main character had to deal with a disapproving family, and Adrien had been so, so worried that he might have to deal with something similar.

Thankfully his mom didn't seem to have any problems with him dating- she was quite supportive of it, it seemed- and she adored Marinette. The two of them had hit it off right away.

She would love Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng once she got to spend more time with them, of that Adrien was sure. They had only had time for a few short meetings so far, since both families were understandably busy, and, well, so far, so good.

Lunch went by too fast, and then they were back out in the front room, moving the planters into place. Thankfully they all had tiny wheels on the bottoms, making it easy- well, easier, the planters were still heavy- to get things into place. The white planters and colorful plants filling them hid a lot of the dark marble and filled in a bit of the empty space around the room, already making it feel a lot nicer.

"We were thinking of doing a hanging herb garden over that bit of marble so that the cook could use fresh herbs without having to get them from the store, but the hanger hasn't arrived yet," Marinette told Adrien as they maneuvered the last of the planters into place. "And there'll be air plants around the room, too, but we're still trying to figure out where."

"It'll be easier to tell once we have everything else in place," Mrs. Agreste told them. "There's no point in overdecorating and making the place feel cluttered."

Their maid appeared out of thin air to help them clean up all of the dirt on the floor, sweeping and vacuuming and then supervising Adrien and Marinette as they mopped up the last bits of dirt. She made sure that the floor was dry enough for them to not slip and fall before vanishing again, taking the cleaning supplies with her.

"Rugs next?" Mrs. Agreste asked. "Maybe the large one first?"

Wrestling the large entry run into place was a hard, sweaty task, but it was so worth it once it was settled. It covered the large black-and-white motif on the floor and made everything not feel so empty. There were a couple more smaller rugs, ones that would go under the tables and chairs, and one fun little mat that Marinette had made for their shoes.

That one got tucked behind the planters at the entrance, mostly hidden from view but still fun.

The rest of the day went by in a rush of sweat and sore muscles. The electrician came, switching the light fixtures in the entry area from straightforward and functional to more artsy and brighter, switching the light's tone from cold to warm. The Gorilla helped them hang the light, airy curtains, softening the windows. A few smaller paintings went up around the room, adding color to the space without tearing anything out.

Adrien's personal favorite, though, was the several comfy benches and chairs posted around the space, some obvious and others tucked away behind the planters. Near them, a couple tables had been arranged and decorated with warm lamps. Per Marinette's idea, baskets with blankets in them had been tucked under the tables, in case anyone wanted to curl up in a corner with a cup of tea and a book.

His mom had forbidden the two of them from using the hidden chairs to make out. Whether or not she was being entirely serious, Adrien wasn't sure.

"Well, I think we did a good job," Mrs. Agreste said once the last of the tables was in place. She pushed her hair off of her face. "I don't know about you, but I need a shower now. We have showers in the guest rooms," she added, looking at Marinette. "And Adrien has plenty of extra soap, or you can use some of mine if you want. Then maybe we can have some ice cream and plan what room to attack next?"

"Are you trying to steal my girlfriend away again, Mom?" Adrien joked. "Maybe I wanted to spend some time with her."

His mom giggled. "How about we keep the planning under an hour, and then I can give you money for the two of you to go out for dinner?"

Adrien pretended to think it over. "Hmm. I suppose."

"That sounds lovely," Marinette told Mrs. Agreste. She playfully poked Adrien in the side. "Adrien can share for a bit longer."

Adrien could only laugh.

Adrien had messed up.

He hadn't meant to freak his mom out, he really hadn't. But he had spoken without thinking, talking about his relationship with Marinette as though he were in front of Tom and Sabine instead of his own mom, who didn't know the whole picture. Who didn't know that he and Marinette had been close as Ladybug and Chat Noir before finding out each other's civilian identities. Who thought that Adrien and Marinette had only been friends for a couple months before they started dating, because that was what Nathalie had told her and several of their classmates had apparently said the same thing.

So yeah, in hindsight he could see where his mom would maybe not take him casually mentioning that he fully planned on marrying Marinette in the future well. But hindsight wasn't going to help him now.

Nathalie had warned him that his mom would likely get strict again, setting boundaries that he didn't much like because he was used to getting free rein. Adrien just hadn't expected the change to be so sudden, rules materializing overnight even though there hadn't been any issues before.

His door couldn't be closed if Marinette was over, and they were meant to do homework together in the dining room instead of his room. He had to let his mom know if he was going over to Marinette's house and for how long and if they would be supervised. She had to know when Marinette came over to visit him. Dates had to end right after dinner, and wouldn't it be fun if they did group dates instead of individual ones? When Marinette did come over, it seemed like his mom always just happened to get off work early to come home and watch them together.

In short, he was being heavily oversupervised.

His mom had apparently talked to Marinette's parents at one point, right after his accidental slip-up, but they had only had a few minutes to chat since the bakery was so busy. It seemed that their chat had only made his mom more anxious, though, since Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng hadn't seemed that surprised about Adrien's declaration and clearly had a bit more relaxed parenting style.

His mom didn't really like it when he went over to Marinette's house for exactly that reason, actually. She didn't think that they would be adequately supervised.

"My parents have Sundays off," Marinette told him as they ate lunch together on the school steps after two weeks of Mrs. Agreste's hovering. "Maybe she can sit down and have a proper conversation with them then? Because I don't think they gave off a very good impression that one time when they were super busy and your mom came over in a panic. I can ask them to invite her over this weekend, and then maybe you can have some of your freedom back."

"We can stop having her hovering over our shoulders, you mean?" Adrien dropped his chin onto the top of Marinette's head, giving in to the urge to cuddle despite the still-warm early fall weather. "Yeah, I liked it better when we could just hang out and she was encouraging us to go on dates instead of making sure that there was someone around all the time so that we don't rush anything."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. And maybe no more comments about getting married," she added, giving Adrien a Look. "Or else she'll still be following us around and making sure that we're behaving when we're in university. We won't get to do anything except cheek kisses ever again."

"I probably shouldn't tell her that you've already come up with names for our kids, then?"

"Adrien!"

Adrien and Marinette didn't get to sit in on the Sunday morning meeting between their parents. Instead, they were sent off to the park with a picnic basket of pastries and fruit.

It would have been easier to enjoy their breakfast if they weren't worried about what was happening in the Dupain-Cheng kitchen. Adrien was mostly worried about the Dupain-Chengs accidentally saying something that would make his mom really not trust them and not want him around Marinette any more.

If they let on that Adrien had slept over before, that would be it. He probably wouldn't be able to date again until he turned 18- or worse, until he was through with University.

"I wish she would trust us more," Adrien said quietly as they sat back against the trunk of a large tree- or, rather, as Marinette sat against the tree and Adrien reclined with his head on her lap. "Like, I can see where what I said might have freaked her out, and then Nathalie told me that it wasn't helping that your family was my main support network when I found out about Father."

Marinette frowned. "Wait, why?"

"Because I wouldn't want to break up with you and lose them, too." Adrien squeezed Marinette's hand. "But I know that your parents wouldn't just stop talking to me if we broke up, as long as it wasn't messy. That's just not their style."

"They adore you." Marinette rested against Adrien's side. "Hopefully they'll tell her that and she'll believe them. They'll probably still be more lenient with us than your mom will after their meeting no matter what, but she doesn't know about the kwamis. And the kwamis are why they're fine with us being in my room by ourselves."

"I don't mind keeping my door open. I understand that, and Nino and Alya both said that their parents enforce that as well. It's the constant supervision when we're just hanging out." Adrien groaned and stretched. "Constant parental supervision, that is. Tikki and Plagg are different."

"Yeah, because they're off doing their own thing half of the time." Marinette ran a hand through Adrien's hair, drawing a purr out of him. "I can understand where your mom is coming from, really, it's just..."

"She overreacted?"

"Yeah."

It was a full two hours before Marinette's phone dinged with a text to let them know that they could come back up. It didn't say how the parent meeting had gone, so both teens were a bit anxious as they headed back across the park towards the bakery.

They found three smiling parents at the door.

"See, I told you they wouldn't be long," Tom said with a laugh, reaching out to usher them in. "Don't look so worried, you two. We had a good chat."

"We cleared up a couple misunderstandings," Mrs. Agreste chimed in. "And came up with a revised list of rules."

Adrien and Marinette turned their expectant, hopeful looks on her.

"I'll stop hovering," she told them. "Though I still expect the bedroom door to be open when you both are in there."

Adrien and Marinette nodded in unison. They had expected that. It was fairly standard.

"And I still want you to text when you're going anywhere other than home or your regular activities," Mrs. Agreste continued. "Just to know where you are, in case you lose track of time or something comes up. That's just a safety thing."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah! That sounds reasonable."

"And we can discuss curfew times after dates later on," Mrs. Agreste told them. "We want to be reasonable, of course, but you're both young. It's not smart to stay out super late, we all agreed on that."

"In the past, we've always aimed to get home by nine," Marinette told her. "Unless there was a movie or concert that we wanted to go to that ran later, and then we discussed it with Nathalie and my parents beforehand."

Mrs. Agreste perked up. "Oh, that is very reasonable."

"And we made sure not to do late movies on nights when either of us had something we needed to be up for early the next morning," Adrien added. "And it's a once-a-week thing. We're not going to go overboard with it."

"I know." His mom reached out, pulling him into a hug. "You two are smart. I just- it's a lot to take in and adjust to."

Adrien nodded. He knew that. He could see the strain that everything was taking on her- from getting back into her job to getting to know his new friends to dealing with the whole deal with his father (the divorce, the new charges against his father's continued planning to get the Miraculous, all of the reporters wanting to get an inside scoop). Even if he didn't like it, it made sense that she might try to control what she could.

He was just immensely grateful that Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng could get through to her and talk her out of going too far with her overprotective parenting.

"It's a learning process as the kids grow up," Mrs. Cheng said fondly, patting Marinette's shoulder. "You want them to stay young forever, but they don't. All you can do is make sure that they have the support and the knowledge that they need to grow and fly."

"It's the letting go part of that I'm having trouble with," Mrs. Agreste said wistfully, though there was no disagreement in either her voice or her face. "I liked the ten-year-old stage. They're still cute but can take care of themselves, but there's no dating to worry about."

Adrien gasped, playing up the wounded look. "You don't think that I'm cute, mom? I'm hurt! Marinette, you still think that I'm cute, right?"

That broke any lingering tension and they all laughed. Mrs. Agreste shook her head as she giggled, ruffling Adrien's hair.

They stayed for another half an hour, chatting idly about what was going on at school and around Paris, and then Adrien and Mrs. Agreste had to leave to go meet up with an old friend of hers.

"See you at school tomorrow," Adrien told Marinette, dipping in for a quick kiss before pulling back. "I can send you my schedule tonight and we can figure out when we can get together with Max and work on our group project."

"That sounds good." Marinette returned the quick kiss and beamed up at him. "Can I text you later if I have any trouble on the Chem homework?"

"You bet. Even if you don't, we could Skype and work on it together."

Tom laughed. "You haven't already gotten it done? What were you doing for the past couple hours?"

"Breakfast in the park and worrying about what was going on up here." Adrien grinned cheekily. "We're expert worriers."

Sabine rolled her eyes. "You guys have no faith in us, honestly. There was nothing to worry about."

It didn't take long for them to get out the door, and then it was just Adrien and his mom again as they headed back up the street towards home. It was one of the last nice days of the season, so they had opted to walk instead of having the Gorilla pick them up.

"I'm glad that I had a chance to properly sit down with Marinette's parents and talk," Mrs. Agreste commented as they rounded the corner and headed past the park. "They're lovely people, and I would have hated to be at odds over me misunderstanding them before. We had never really talked about boundaries in your relationship before, just about... well, everything else."

Adrien nodded. That was understandable. He knew that his mom had been really concerned about what he had gone through and how he had grown so much over the past year. Figuring out the dynamics of what had initially seemed like a normal teenaged relationship was naturally pretty far down on the list of things to do. "And then I seemed too serious, too soon."

"Right. It didn't help that I was a bit anxious about what the effects of a break-up might be like," Mrs. Agreste added. "I've seen people get married young and then divorced shortly afterwards, and I've been finding out just how much a pain in the rear it is to get a divorce. It's not just a matter of signing a paper and being done with it."

"I'm not going to rush into anything," Adrien assured her. It was true, more or less. They weren't rushing at all, but to an outside view, it might appear that they were. "We didn't when we started dating, because we knew that there was no reason not to wait a month or so for everything to settle down and for me to be properly ready. It wasn't going to be healthy to get into a relationship when I was still coming to terms with- well, with everything."

His mom's smile grew. "Yes, I heard about that! I hadn't known about that before. Given the timeline I had been hearing about, I had assumed that you two had started dating either right before or right after Gabriel was arrested. And Marinette's parents said that they had already talked with you guys about not rushing into marriage?"

"Not rushing into marriage or anything else," Adrien agreed. Yeah, he wasn't going to forget that conversation any time soon. He was pretty sure that he hadn't been able to look Mr. Dupain or Mrs. Cheng in the eye for several days after that, but he couldn't deny that the conversation had been an important one to have, and was pretty informative to boot. "They said that it's important to build a good foundation instead of rushing to hit milestones. There'll be time for that stuff later on."

"They're very wise." Adrien could see the look that his mom was giving him out of the corner of his eye. "You seem to have paid attention to what they told you."

"Of course, they've been happily married for ages!" There was no doubt that Marinette's parents were excellent role models and had a stable, loving marriage. Adrien wanted to have a marriage like that- well, when he grew up and was old enough, that was. If they were willing to share any of their advice, Adrien was going to sit up, listen, and take notes. "They clearly did something right."

"What else have they told you?"

"Besides not to rush?" Adrien thought about it. "Communication! They're big on communication. Letting the other person know when something is wrong and then listening. Not waiting until something becomes a big issue to address it. Making sure that one person isn't putting in all the effort in- well, in the relationship, in a household, whatever- while the other person coasts by." He grinned. "They've been teaching me how to do things like dishes and laundry and cooking and cleaning. And baking, of course."

"You're probably a better cook than I am, then," his mom admitted with a laugh. "I haven't in years, since we have a chef."

"I can teach you! And Marinette can help. She's really good at stopping me before I can make too many mistakes when we cook together-" Adrien caught himself. Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng had suggested that part of his mom's concern might have stemmed from how attached he and Marinette were. They did a lot of stuff together, preferring to attack things that they had to get done as a team. It might be nice to have some things reserved for mother-son bonding only. "I mean, if you want to."

"I'll... think about it."

Things improved a lot after that. Mrs. Agreste was supportive of Adrien and Marinette's relationship, but not to the point where Adrien was wondering if the pod people had taken her over. She didn't hover, letting them have their privacy as long as they didn't abuse the privilege.

She didn't tease them like Tom and Sabine did- she still wasn't as laid-back about their relationship as Tom and Sabine were- but that was okay. It was understandable. She still had a different parenting style than they did, and she didn't know that they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, the Heroes of Paris.

That was okay, though. Mrs. Agreste was giving them enough freedom to have a comfortable relationship now, and she was talking to Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng on a regular basis. There wasn't any tension between her and Marinette like there had been after Adrien's marriage comment, and questions about their dates had gone back to sounding like a curious mom, rather than tense interrogation.

No doubt there would be shifts in the future, times when she felt like Adrien was growing up too fast and she would overreact about it, and he would have to push back. For now, though, they had found a good balance.

For once, Adrien could have it all- a parent who was there and present, a fantastic, supportive girlfriend, and a whole army of friends. It didn't matter that his father was going to trial again on continued conspiracy to steal the Miraculous and change the timeline to get out of jail, or that there were still reporters who occasionally tried to stop him or his mom on the street to get an interview. They were inconsequential details, really, unable to permeate the bubble of happiness that had surrounded Adrien in one form or another, ever since his mom returned to Paris.

And to think- it was all because Plagg had wanted more cheese.

#Miraculous Ladybug #My writing #There's No Camembert in Tibet #last chapter!!!

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