#would have quite literally thrown up in the street and gone home

[dontmeanyoudontmissit]

The real reason you should never date anyone from your hometown is because when you date someone from your hometown and are awkward af you still desperately want to avoid them a decade later so then you have to consider not going to things they might be at

#my high school ex might go to a thing that I want to go to #which there would be enough people there to avoid him like crazy but that's rude and unnecessary #but also avoiding him is the key to my own personal survival #he would be polite and lovely and introduce me to his wife (who like idk is probably pregnant. I could be wrong on that.) #and it would be FINE #but I still feel so bad about breaking up with him and then basically hiding in a hole after and avoiding him #and then I fucking emailed him 2 years after we broke up to apologize #ANYWAYS SOMEONE DELETE THIS EXPERIENCE FROM MY BRAIN PLEASE #I want to go to my event in peace but I can only do that if I know he won't be there #I'm down to say hello to the rest of his family but I don't want to do the whole #'hi high school bf meet my current bf. Oh this is your wife? yes your sister and my mom told me all about her!' #that is not the christmas spirit I seek #some of my EEK about this is also just like. Every since I had MY heart broken for the first time like 5 years ago or whenever #I really realized what kind of crazy emotions our break up spawned for him #and like honestly good for him that he went and saw me two days later because if I had had to see my ex two days after he broke my heart I #would have quite literally thrown up in the street and gone home

[corroded-hellfire]

Attend the Tale - Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Eddie proclaims to theatre nerd!reader that musicals are too happy for him. You then tell him the tale of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Note: This is partially because Gaten is currently in the show on broadway, yes, but also because it is one of my favorite musicals of all time and I myself am a huge theatre nerd.

Warnings: spoilers for Sweeney Todd, which has dark themes including bloody violence, murder, and cannibalism.

Words: 2.3k

Hawkins High School likes conventional. It likes when things make sense. For instance, it made sense when Chrissy Cunningham was nominated for Prom Queen, and Jason Carver for Prom King. It made sense that Nancy Wheeler was on track to give the valedictorian speech at graduation at the end of the year. What didn’t make sense—at least from an outsider's perspective—is you and Eddie.

Eddie Munson was all metal, band t-shirts, chunky silver rings, long wild mane, and tattoos. You are not metal. You are costumes, makeup, rehearsing lines and practicing songs for an audition. A theatre nerd, essentially. At night, Eddie blasts Metallica in his room, while you’re playing Andrew Lloyd Webber and attempting to hit the high notes in Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. The two of you looked like opposite sides of the spectrum. But in reality, you were two sides of the same coin. Both passionate about the music that moves you, embodying the looks of your respective niches. 

When you met, there was an initial clash between the two of you over use of the drama room. Yes, it was used for Hellfire meetings, but it was the drama room and Eddie shouldn’t have thrown a fuss if you had to come in and grab a costume that had been left in there earlier. Once the original ire cooled, the two of you found you gelled together quite nicely. Only someone else who has that deep appreciation for music can understand what it’s like to feel the music in your very soul, in every beat of your heart, and every breath you take. 

Though there wasn’t a crossover appeal with each other’s music, both you and Eddie could appreciate and respect the other’s taste. Eddie would blast metal in the van on the way home from school, so you’d come to learn some of the songs and point out your favorites to your boyfriend. When the two of you were at your house, a Sondheim or a Rodgers & Hammerstein record would be playing in the background as you makeout on your bed. 

Eddie had seen you in the last musical Hawkins High had put on—Into the Woods. The dark take on multiple fairy tales had drawn Eddie in more than he thought it would. Obviously, he had only gone to see you—dragging Dustin along because the curly haired boy was the only one willing to accompany him—but he ended up being honestly impressed by the talent and hard work it takes to put on a show. Hearing you sing as Cinderella had almost moved Eddie to tears, something he would never admit to a soul. But Dustin had noticed and told you when Eddie had gone to the bathroom after the show. You recognized the same dedication and effort in Eddie when you saw him performing with Corroded Coffin.

After you begged Eddie to play The Sound of Music cassette you just bought while you’re driving around one weekend, he comes up with a thought that astounds you.

“You know, musicals are just too happy for me. Everything is always okay in the end, and everyone sings and dances and it’s happily ever after.”

You’re staring at him for a good minute before he notices. He raises an eyebrow at you in question.

“That is so not true!”

“Babe,” Eddie says, knocking the rings of his right hand against the van’s radio. “We’re literally listening to a show that has singing nuns and nazis. And guess what? Everything ends tied up with a bow.”

“First of all,” you say, flopping back in your seat with a huff. “This is based on a true story. So, sorry that the real Von Trapp family escaped the nazis. Secondly, there are plenty of dark musicals. You saw Into the Woods!”

“Yeah, it was dark for fairy tales. I listen to metal. The witch cursing a family doesn’t quite cut it as ‘dark’ for me.”

“West Side Story? It’s tragic!”

“Tragedy and darkness aren’t really the same thing,” Eddie says with a shrug. “I mean, they can be. But they literally have gangs prancing down the street. Sad story, sure. But I wouldn’t say dark.”

You purse your lips in the way that Eddie finds adorable as you look out the window. A cheery song about favorite things playing isn’t helping you come up with any dark musicals.

“Aha! Phantom of the Opera,” you say, turning towards Eddie. “Kidnapping, murder, disfigured character. Dark enough for you?”

“Eh,” Eddie says with a shrug. “The opera part kinda cancels it out for me.”

Just as Eddie’s pulling into your driveway, your face lights up with an idea. Eddie notices it as he pulls the keys out of the ignition, the jingling of them breaking you out of your mini trance.

“Sweeney Todd.”

“Who?” Eddie asks.

“Sweeney Todd!” you repeat, as if just hearing it again will make everything clear to Eddie. Both of you get out of the car and you fumble to get your house keys out of your bag. “The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

“Did we switch subjects, or…? Should I know this Todd dude?” Eddie asks as he follows you inside. He kicks his shoes off next to the door just as you do, and you toss your bag onto the closest chair.

“It’s a Stephen Sondheim musical,” you say. “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

“A demon barber?” Eddie asks with a laugh. 

Spinning away from him and his dismissive chuckle, you stroll over to your collections of records. Nimble fingers pick through them until you find the one you’re looking for. Eddie just watches as you move to the record player and load up the album. The opening notes start slow at first, then gaining volume, with a haunting quality to the melody. It sounds eerily like music you would hear at a funeral. Then a piercing noise—a scream? a scrape? —slices through the air, startling Eddie. He won’t let you know it just yet, but this already has him intrigued. 

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd

His skin was pale and his eye was odd

He shaved the faces of gentlemen

Who never thereafter were heard of again

“Hmm,” Eddie hums, a smile curling on his lips. “Okay, you’ve got my attention.”

“It’s bloody and gory,” you say, jumping onto your couch. Eddie chuckles as he watches your socked feet move over the gray overstuffed cushions. You hold your hands out in front of you, fingers splayed as you begin to summarize the show in a melodramatic voice. “Sweeney Todd—who is actually named Benjamin Barker—returns to London after being wronged by a judge many years ago. Judge Turpin stole his wife and daughter. Like, literally stole. Not like he seduced her or something, he straight up took her and had her husband sent away.”

Eddie wrinkles up his nose and crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s creepy as hell.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” you say with a devious smile. As you continue on with the tale, the music playing in the background, you keep walking across the couch, jumping to the adjacent couch as well when you come to the edge. Eddie watches you, an adoring look in his eyes. “So, Sweeney stays with this lady, Mrs. Lovett, who has a pie shop. And he starts up as a barber again, with the goal of getting the judge to come in so he can…” You run your finger across your neck, imitating the slitting of your throat. 

“Does he stick the bastard?” Eddie asks, jumping up on the couch you just vacated. 

“Hold on, hold on,” you say, shooting him a smirk. “This other dude comes in and recognizes Sweeney back from when he was Barker, so Sweeney kills him. When he and Mrs. Lovett are trying to figure out what to do with the body, she comes up with an idea! But is it too much? Never, for this twisted pair!”

Eddie laughs as he listens and watches. Your eyes are wide, a crazed look there as you describe the warped tale. Even if he wasn’t genuinely enjoying this debauched plot, he would’ve been thoroughly amused by your performance. 

“They decide to get rid of the body by grinding him up and putting him in the meat pies!”  

“Ugh,” Eddie groans, face full of disgust. “That’s morbid.”

“Told ya,” you say with a proud smirk. “But they don’t stop there. Every man who comes to Sweeney’s shop becomes the new flavor of the day. And the people love the meat pies. They keep selling out of them.”

“Okay, okay,” Eddie says, holding his hands up in front of him. “I concede. This is a dark musical.”

“Thank you,” you say, offering him a dramatic bow. “The dead bodies do not just come out tap dancing or some other cliche, cheesy shit you accuse musicals of. Although now that I’m thinking about that, it would’ve been cool.”  

“So, how’s it end?” Eddie asks, jumping over to the couch you’re on.

“Oh, no, no, no,” you say, shaking your head and backing a step away from him. “You’ll have to listen. Wait! See! They’re about to tell you.” You hold your finger to your lips, telling Eddie to be silent so he can hear the final lyrics of the song.

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd

He served a dark and a vengeful god

What happened then, well, that's the play

And he wouldn't want us to give it away

Not Sweeney

Not Sweeney Todd

The demon barber of Fleet street

Eddie steps forward and tugs on your waist until you’re flush up against him. “You seem to really enjoy this creepy shit.”

“I haven’t even told you the rest,” you say, cupping his face in your hands. “There’s the judge wanting to marry the daughter he stole as well. A beggar woman who goes around asking men if they wanna fuck her. And then there’s Antony and Toby who are precious boys.”

“Jesus,” Eddie says with a laugh. “Might just have to borrow this record.”

“I thought you’d like it,” you say, a satisfied smirk on your lips. “I know my boyfriend’s taste.”

“Yes, you do,” he mumbles as he leans in and presses his lips against yours. The two of you share lazy kisses for a few minutes, just standing there on your couch in the middle of your living room. When you finally break for air, Eddie rests his forehead against yours and lets out a small laugh. “Who would’ve thought I’d find a girlfriend who can match my theatrics?”

“I think I outdo your theatrics, thank you very much,” you say. “In private, anyway. I know I can be my true, authentic weird self with you.”

“I love your weird self,” Eddie says, hands roaming down to your ass. 

“And I love you.”

Eddie grins and presses a few more kisses to your mouth. 

“Are there any duets in the show?” Eddie asks. “Could learn it and we could sing it together.”

The way your eyes light up at his words has his heart stuttering in his chest. He’d never admit it, but he’d memorize all of Sondheim’s compositions if you wanted him to. Anything for you. 

“Yeah,” you say, voice the quietest it’s been this whole time. Before continuing, you clear your throat and blink your eyes a few times. “My favorite song from it is a duet. It’s the one where they decide to put the men into the pies. It’s called A Little Priest.”

You quickly hop off the couch and stop the record. Carefully, you turn it over and place it back down. Your eyes scan the track list printed on the record’s jacket to find the right spot. Placing the needle back down, a surge of pride flows through you as you hear it start playing exactly where you want it to. 

Seems a downright shame…

Turning back towards Eddie, you try to emulate Mrs. Lovett. Kind of crazy, but even crazier for the man in front of her. That part you have down perfectly. The fond look Eddie is giving you makes your tummy all fuzzy and your head all light. Knowing that not only can you be completely and unabashedly yourself around Eddie, but that he actually loves you like that still boggles your mind. 

The song is funny, filled with puns and jokes, and you sing through the lyrics with ease. As the long song comes to its end, you step up on the coffee table and use it as your stage. Closing your eyes, you throw your arms in the air dramatically as if you’re riding a roller coaster. 

We'll not discriminate great from small! 

No, we'll serve anyone, 

Meaning anyone, 

And to anyone

At all!

Eddie claps as you finish belting the last note, and your face warms at his praise. A shy giggle escapes you as you curtsy on top of the table. Your boyfriend hops down from the couch and wraps both of his arms around your legs. He flops backwards so he’s lying on the couch, pulling you along so you’re on top of him. 

“You’re so damn cute,” Eddie says.

“Takes one to know one, Munson,” you say, finger coming up to boop the tip of his nose. 

“I feel like I’m gonna have to take you to Broadway as a graduation gift,” Eddie muses.

“Baby,” you whine, shaking your head. “You don’t have to do that.”

“You don’t wanna take a trip with me?” he asks, jutting out his bottom lip in his most adorable pout. The big cow eyes only add to it. 

“Of course I do,” you say. “Not letting you buy me a trip for graduation, though!”

“Fine,” Eddie says with a sigh. “What if it’s a gift for both of us? We go up together over the summer? Huh?” He grins and tucks a piece of hair behind your ear. “You, me, whatever shows you want, then a nice big hotel bed at night. I won’t pay for everything, I promise.”

A giggle bubbles out of you and you rest your head in the crook of Eddie’s neck. “Sounds perfect, Eddie.” 

“I love you, my little theatre nerd.”

“I love you, my adorable metal head.”

#eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you #Eddie Munson x theatre nerd!reader #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fic #eddie munson fan fiction

[murder-cookie-dust393]

Eugh- marching band has been kicking my ass- but anyway, here's the little Rockstar cookie brain rot

Tw: kidnapping, your address is no longer private, restrained, obsessive behaviour, *read with caution bcs I put these TWs for a reason obviously*

Okay let's go back to the time he was poor bcs poor hungry musician evokes more emotion I think-

He's literally barely living, so far from his home, and honestly without his undying love for his guitar, he probably would have just quit his dreams.

But then you! You showed up! Your little smile as you listen to him play his improvisation made up of him slinging random notes and chords together. Sure, other people have smiled during his busking before, but at the same time, something about your eyes just filled his heart with hope.

From that day, he got better at his shitty improv, and thought more deeply about his songwriting.

And before he even realized it, he was a big star.

Ever since he's been wondering how you've been. Have you listened to his music now? Have you bought his albums? Have you gone to his concerts? Hell- do you walk around with a shirt with his face on it?

At one point, he just had to see you again, so he hired an investigation to find you and tell him everything about you.

And to his luck, you're still his big fan! His very first fan...

As soon as he knows where you live he will haul himself over there, and randomly perform in the street (a little bit away so it's not obvious) It doesn't matter if you live in a big city or a farm in the middle of nowhere, he just randomly perform. Just like the first day he met you.

He knows you'll come out to see him.

And god is he happy to talk to you in person again.

He just talks about how he remembers you back when he was a poor hungry musician, and how he just wanted to appreciate you.

...

But then you ask how he knows where you live, and before you know it, you're being thrown into the backseat of the car, your wrist handcuffed to his.

"Sorry babe! I just didn't wanna leave you here without me, cuz that would make me so sad!"

The once-poor musician just wants to show his undying appreciation for you.

(Literally I wonder if one of the crazy Rockstar fans sees this and asks for more- and honestly I will deliver, man's pretty ngl.)

#yandere #yandere x reader #cookie run #crk #cookie run kingdom #yandere cookie run #cookie run x reader #crk x reader #yandere crk #crob #ovenbreak #yandere ovenbreak #ovenbreak x reader #rockstar cookie #rockstar cookie x reader #blurbs

[lfcthelovesofmylife]

how i think different football players would behave on a night out

Declan Rice - 

Would 100% be the one to propose a night out for the boys (and you). It hasn’t even hit 10 o'clock and he’s already passing around tequila shots and apple sourz. You already know you’re going to be left trying to drag him away from the bar and make sure he gets home safe. You won’t let a repeat of the last night out happen where he was found asleep on his driveway at 4 in the morning. 

Aymeric Laporte - 

Literally one of the weirdest guys ever on a night out. First of all he wasn’t even invited, he’s meant to be in Manchester not Bond Street. All he does is sit in the corner of the club and quietly observe everyone. You know he’s judging you but realistically he’s the most harmless guy in the world.

Kai Havertz - 

You’ve never properly spoken to him before but he saw you have an alcohol induced breakdown in the corridor by the toilets and he sat with you for a good 15 minutes to make sure no creepy guys would try and crack on with you (Laporte). You then felt bad so you bought him a pint and he promised not to tell anyone about your instability. 

Mason Mount - 

He’s cute and you have a fat crush on him. He has a fat crush on you. He keeps asking you if you want another drink, or if you need water or something to eat. Every time he asks you feel like crying because he’s arguably the nicest guy there. He’s also almost as drunk as you so you know without a doubt neither of you will remember this night and you’ll forget that you made out on the balcony while John was singing Valerie. 

Phil Foden - 

He’s not actually underage but he keeps getting refused service so he has to ask John or Jack to buy him drinks. Jack keeps buying him vodka quads and pretty soon Phil is absolutely hammered. He keeps trying to dance with you and you have to be restrained by Mason because you almost punched Phil in the face. Phil starts getting really stroppy and won’t talk to anyone so Mason makes you apologise to him before the night gets ruined. 

Jack Grealish - 

He disappears halfway through the night. You won’t be surprised if you find out he’s gone on another drunk joyride in his new Range Rover. Him and Phil are inseparable and insufferable. You all have to pretend to not know him because otherwise you might get thrown out by the bouncer. The guys behind the bar are already sick of him asking for vodka quads every 15 minutes so they put him on a ban. John ends up buying more quads. 

John Stones - 

He’s usually fairly responsible until these nights out. Jack’s on a quest to get him drunk as fast as possible because it’s the only way John does karaoke. Pretty soon he’s up on the stage and you can’t get him back down. He sings Valerie while you’re outside making out with Mason and as soon as you’re back inside he forces you to sing Wonderwall with him. He did make it quite a fun night so you can’t hate him.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 

Absolute life of the party. He’s taken over the DJ booth and is playing non-stop R&B bangers. He’s also put on a hell of a lot of Little Mix songs but no one has the heart to tell him that ‘Salute’ isn’t exactly the right vibe for the club. Is non-stop bantering Trent and at one point you had to tell him to leave Trent alone before he got annoyed and left. Is also very responsible for bringing out shots. You spent a good 15 minutes at the bar with him slamming jagerbombs before you got taken away by Hendo so you wouldn’t get hammered at 10:15. 

Andy Robertson -

You two would have been inseparable. You’re like the better version of Jack and Phil. Ant and Dec have nothing on you two. You barely see each other in normal time so you’ve spent the whole first hour at the club catching up. As time’s gone on and he’s gotten more drunk you can tell his Scottish accent is getting stronger. He tries to do a bit of stand up comedy but no one wants to listen to his jokes apart from you and Trent and everyone’s throwing limes at him until he gets off the stage. 

James Milner - 

He offers to buy you a drink because he’s really old and still does that kind of thing, but he leaves before you can tell him what drink you want. 5 minutes later he’s back with either 2 pints of Guinness or Stella Artois. He challenges you to a race to see who can down their pint the fastest. He thinks that’s what the ‘young kids’ do nowadays. They don’t, but you don’t have the heart to tell him that. After that interaction you didn’t speak to him for the rest of the night because you were afraid you’d have to drink Guinness again.

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 

Surprisingly quiet for a night out with his friends (and Laporte). You’ve noticed he’s been avoiding Ox so you try and talk to him a bit and manage to convince him to have a few drinks to loosen up a bit. Soon enough he’s dancing and having the time of his life. Ox has been filming the whole thing and you already know Trent’s never going to hear the end of it. He’s also a bit mad at you because he thinks you’re taking his best friend (Robbo) away from him. 

Jordan Henderson - 

Stone cold sober. He feels responsible for making sure absolutely everyone’s safe and not too drunk. He calls Declan an Uber at 11:30 because he’s already out of it. You keep trying to get him to have a drink or two but he shuts you down every time. Everyone makes fun of him for being the dad of the group, but he shrugs his shoulders and says ‘it’s what any good captain would do’. Ends up sitting in the corner and listens to Alicia Keys through his earphones so no one else will bother him.

#mason mount #declan rice #kai havertz #phil foden #jack grealish #john stones #alex oxlade chamberlain #andy robertson #jordan henderson #mason mount imagine #declan rice imagine #kai havertz imagine #jack grealish imagine #john stones imagine #trent alexander arnold #trent alexander arnold imagine #jordan henderson imagine #keira's random writing x

[mlwritersguild]

Sent Back in Time, by @halcyyonn

AO3 link; Time Travel, Historical

Summary:

After an akuma battle, Ladybug and Chat Noir find themselves thrown back in time with no idea how to get home.

From the prompt: "Chat Noir and Ladybug are misplaced in time-- meaning Marinette and Adrien are in the past, and another pair are in their place.”

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

The first sign that something was wrong that Ladybug noticed was that the buildings surrounding them didn’t look like that five minutes ago. And then, that the bus that had been thrown at her and Chat Noir during their akuma fight was completely gone, rather than just set back in its normal place. All around them, things were different to how they had been only a few minutes ago.

The second sign was that both of their suits had changed. Gone were the skin-tight outfits, replaced with corsetry, bustles, and suits that Marinette would usually have squealed about for their historical accuracy. Even now, the only thing stopping her from examining her new outfit was the fact that she and Chat might have been lost in time. They might even have ended up in a completely wrong era, which would be an issue.

For starters, who was protecting their Paris? Had the heroes they were currently replacing in the modern era, dealing with yo-yo phones and cameras everywhere? And how were they going to get back to their time?

“Are you seeing this as well?” Chat walked over to Ladybug, flipping his hands over to look at the sleeves of his new suit. And it was a suit, quite literally. Instead of a gold bell and a tail, Chat was sporting a golden bowtie and a black tailcoat. It made sense, at least.

“Yeah. I don’t know what happened. The magic ladybugs should have reset everything that was damaged in the akuma fight, not send us back in time. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m sure we’ll find a way to fix everything. We always do. We’re the cat and bug dream team of Paris!” Chat posed dramatically, drawing the eyes of some of the people walking nearby. The past Ladybug and Chat Noir must not have acted this way. They would have to be more careful to blend in until they could get back to the future.

Ladybug looked around, trying to work out where they could go. Staying out in the street was out of the question, but she didn’t have a clue where this Ladybug lived or who she was beneath the mask. Her earrings beeped, a warning that her transformation was going to wear off soon. “We should find somewhere to transform back. I’m running out of time.”

Chat offered his arm, copying the way others around them were walking. “Where should we go first? I don’t think either of our houses will exist yet.”

“Anywhere with food for our kwamis. If our miraculous got us here, they might be the only thing that can send us back.” Everything would be fine. She and Chat had gotten out of worse, and they would probably face worse in the future. Being sent back in time with no idea how it had happened didn’t mean they were stuck here forever, just that they were here for a little while. It was like they were sightseeing; they were just doing so a century and a half in the past.

There was no reason to panic. Nothing at all. Just the fact that she had no idea where to begin to fix this problem, and she was about to lose her transformation, and she didn’t know where she could hide, or get food for Tikki. On top of that, she didn’t know how this Ladybug lived, and the Ladybug in her place didn’t know about Marinette’s life. Either of them could do something wrong and reveal their identities, or let their miraculous fall into the wrong hands, or just about anything else could go wrong.

The thought almost stopped her in her tracks. She and Chat had no idea who they were fighting here. Was there an equivalent of Hawk Moth, or was someone using another miraculous for evil? Neither of them had actually seen an akuma, so they couldn’t be sure. “Who do you think this Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting before we arrived?”

“I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough if we stick around.” As they walked, people on both sides of the street stopped to look at them, some whispering between themselves. Did they realise that their normal heroes had been replaced with strangers? Were the people in their time doing the same?

“We should try to get back as quickly as possible. We don’t know what’s happening in our Paris, and this could have something to do with Hawk Moth.” The stares were beginning to get unsettling. While she was used to people watching her fight akumas, this was something else. Every stare felt like they were judging her as Ladybug. There was no way she was staying here longer than absolutely necessary.

“I agree. The longer we’re here, the longer Hawk Moth has to send out new akumas. Do you have any ideas about how to fix this?”

“Maybe if I use my Lucky Charm, I can call the magic ladybugs and everything will go back to normal.” Her earrings beeped again. They were running out of time. “But we need to find someone to transform back before I can do anything.”

“There.” Chat pointed to a small shop, wedged between two much fancier buildings. It wasn’t much to look at, but it had the same symbol as the boxes their miraculous had come in. “Maybe that’s the Guardian for this era.”

Ladybug nodded and the heroes crossed the street. A bell chimed when they walked into the shop, and an old woman looked up from where she worked behind a counter.

“You are not Ladybug and Chat Noir.” Ah. It was obvious, then.

“No, we are, we’re just from the future. We don’t know how we got here, but we need some help.” Ladybug didn’t like the suspicion in the woman’s eyes.

“And a place to transform back because we’re almost out of time.”

“That too, if you don’t mind.”

The woman sighed, standing up and leading them through a door behind her. The small room had another two doors leading off it. “Use those rooms. I assume your kwamis eat the same food in the future, and we’re going to need them to get you back to where you belong.”

Ladybug and Chat thanked the woman and rushed into the rooms, the last beeps signalling their transformations loud in the quiet room. The doors were barely closed behind them when their suits disappeared, leaving normal civilians behind.

A knock came a few seconds later, and the woman handed a small plate to each hero, full of food that their kwamis quickly devoured.

“Do you know how to get home, Tikki?”

Tikki shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like this. Maybe something on this side caused it.”

“Maybe. Ready to transform again?”

A few minutes later, both Ladybug and Chat Noir were standing in front of the old woman as she looked them up and down. “You look similar to our heroes, but not quite exact copies. Regardless, I’m sure you want to be getting back.”

“Do you have any idea about how we got here? I called for the magical ladybugs to clean up after a fight in our time, but when they cleared, we were here.”

“There was an akuma here that was sending people back and forth through time. I think he sent our heroes forward, which sent you back as a replacement. The timing just happened to be perfect enough that your magical ladybugs fixed everything here, including the akuma.”

The heroes nodded, but Chat spoke first. “Shouldn’t the ladybugs have sent us back, as well?”

“I don’t have an explanation for that, but calling the magical ladybugs again is worth trying.”

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug threw her yo-yo into the air. A clock dropped from the air, its hands slowly ticking backwards. “That’s weird.”

Chat looked over at the clock. “Maybe that’s a sign that the akuma messed time up.”

“Maybe.” Shifting the clock in her hand, Ladybug tossed it up into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

As the ladybugs surrounded them, everything began to shift and blur. Chat yelled a quick ‘thank you for your help’ before everything around them changed.

The first sign that they were back was the sound of cars in the background, a marked difference from the quiet of a shop’s backroom.

The second sign was the flashing cameras surrounding them, accompanied by journalists yelling questions about where they had been and who the mysterious replacements were. Unfortunately, all of their questions would have to go unanswered because neither hero knew for sure what had happened. They were just glad to be home.

#ml writers guild #december event 2021 #halcyyonn #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug fic #ml fic #mlb #miraculous #ladynoir #ladybug x chat noir #ladybug #chat noir #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir

[lucyhalearchive]

Coffee Breath (N.R.)

It has been awhile! Sorry for being gone, but I have been thrown into schoolwork, and this is the first time I found some extra time to write this thought I had in my mind recently. Please forgive for writing so much about Natasha, but I just love her so much. Also, I bought Red Dead like a month ago, and I’m almost done with it. I refuse to finish because I know the ending, and I am too attached to everyone. 

Warnings: none that I can think of :)

Word Count: 1k

Summary: Natasha meeting someone who doesn’t understand the meaning of love at first sight. 

You never understood the idea of love. Was it just a deep infatuation with someone? An obsession they couldn’t help? It all seemed very possessive, and that just didn’t peak your interest. Then again, maybe you haven’t met someone that has made you feel that protective. You’ve had friends you cared dearly about, and you would gladly take a bullet for them; however, you wouldn’t sit all day at home pacing and worrying if they were alright.  Maybe your idea of love was wrong. 

At first, you didn’t think too hard on the matter. You were simply curious. You’d see couples hugging on the street, holding onto each other as if this day were their last, and you were perplexed. Surely people understand that they will see each other eventually. Why stress about it so hard? As time went by, now being the middle of Autumn, more and more couples were in the city, and you became more than inquisitive. 

You learned that love made you crave another person’s presence, made you want them to notice you. Amongst other poetic garbage you couldn’t care for. It made you want to take an interest in what they found entertaining even if you didn’t like it. When asking your friends about love, they said you can not approach it logically. It is a feeling. You weren’t a monster or a robot. You’ve seen love before, you can grasp the concept of it. You just don’t understand why it makes people do such illogical things. 

Until you were leaving a coffee shop on the way to work and you saw a flash of red hair walk by you. She held the door for you to exit along with a line of people behind you, but once you exited the doorway, you couldn’t help but stare into the store like a stalker. She was gorgeous. You couldn’t explain the thumping in your chest, the urge and longing to walk back inside and ask her what her name is, and it scared you almost. Is this what they were talking about?

The friend she was with tapped her shoulder and pointed to you, signaling her to look your way; you feel your cheeks heat up despite the colder air. She turned towards you as you found quite literally anything else to look at, and she muttered something to him quickly before pushing past the line behind her. When you realized that she was walking towards the door, you tried to walk away, but the current of the city foot traffic pushed against you. You had no choice but to put yourself on the bench outside of the windows. 

“Do you know me from somewhere?” She asked when she finally made her way. You shook your head at the ground, and you heard her sigh from above you. Your hands held onto each other strongly as you tried to ground yourself. 

“I just saw you from out here, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know what was happening.” You admitted. You felt no need to lie to this woman; after all, you were the one staring at her from a distance. You owed her the truth, or were you just telling yourself that?

“Are you alright? Do you feel better?” She asked, and the pure concern she showed for you, a mere stranger, made the back of your neck and ears burn. You could only shake your head. 

“It feels stronger than before.”

“Perhaps it’s me?” She mentioned. You just stared at her in amusement. Did she also feel her chest tighten when she saw you staring at her? Did she imagine what it would feel like to have her hug you as if life were ending? Did she feel the extremely overwhelming feelings trying to drown her?

“What could you mean?” You asked her as though you had no idea what the implication could mean. This was not a good idea for your aching heart because she brushes a thumb over your warm cheeks with a taunting smile. 

“Do I make you nervous?” She said close to your face. So close, in fact, that you could feel the air off of every word hit your nose. Once again, your whole body tensed and heated up.  You didn’t know what to do in this situation. Your usual nonchalant persona is gone. 

“You make me extremely nervous.” For a moment, the world is still. If this were a movie, this is the moment where the background noise drowns out and the people begin to blur away except for you two. Her eyes were telling you that she was trying to figure out her next play. Her friend made her choice for her by walking out of the store with her belongings. He slips her the coffee while whispering in her ear. He gave you a taught smile before walking down the street alone. 

She looked irritated at the interaction, but she passed you a small, paper bag with a scone inside. Before she could rush off with her friend, she gave you an apologetic wave. You looked sadly at the bag, and you played with the material, savoring the crinkle under your fingers. You turn the bag over to rip the seal and grab the treat inside, but you notice the black market writings over the logo. 

Call her xxx-xxxxxx

---

I’m so excited for Autumn. Like it’s still around 90 degrees here, but when it rains, I feel a sort of excitement in me. I love the fall time so much. 

I’ve already bought the candles, wax melts, and air fresheners. Is that too weird?

-Lucy <3

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanov #natasha romanov x reader #marvel

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Into The Unknown, Part 10

First

Previous

Grocery store trips were weird. Tim had never taken them before, and now here he was buying food for the three of them regularly. He’d thought it would be harder, for some reason. But, no, it was just boring.

Tim rolled his eyes as Damian pointed to the nearest brightly colored object -- a bag of Not Cheetos… holy shit they were called Fritos this wasn’t allowed he has never been so vehemently against anything in his life.

He sighed as the baby yelled at him for the bag. This was his fault. He shouldn’t have gone in the chip aisle.

He looked down at the kid in front of him with an apologetic smile.

“No, kiddo. See, I would love to get that for you but, unfortunately, Mari said I can’t buy you any more random sweets. Blame her, not me.”

Damian was, apparently, too smart for his tricks because he banged his fist on the front of the cart and babbled at him angrily.

Tim sighed and leaned forward until his forehead touched the cool metal of the cart, thinking.

And then he got back up and handed the kid the bag of chips. Damian didn't know that it was food, Tim was pretty sure, and he had nothing against… ‘Fritos’ (outside of their name, obviously). So, why not? He could eat them. It was better than dealing with a tantrum in the middle of a store, at least.

Damian lit up and hugged the bag to his chest as if it was a soft stuffed animal and not a plastic bag filled with air and maybe a few chips.

Tim smiled faintly and pressed a kiss to the top of his head and then continued on his way, scanning over the list idly.

Oh. Marinette had added something. He squinted down at her messy scrawl, bringing it close to his face as if he could will the words to make sense.

And it worked. Ha. Take that everyone who didn’t believe in him.

Okay. So, she needed ‘pads’.

Sure. No problem.

He walked over to the aisle.

Hm. Okay. There might be a tiny little problem.

Why were there so many different brands? And sizes?

He stared around at them all helplessly. Sure, he had glimpsed the box a few times but he certainly hadn’t paid it much mind -- it wasn’t for him, why would he?! But now he was standing in an entire aisle full of products and there were way too many of them. And why did they all look the same? Shit!

He looked at Damian, who was biting the edge of the chip bag and giggling about the crinkling noises it made. But, once Tim turned his gaze on him, he looked up at him with wide eyes, attentive.

“Any chance you know what type Mari uses?” Tim joked softly.

Damian popped off the chip bag so he could babble at him. It was very helpful.

He considered, very briefly, just standing there in the aisle with the same helpless expression until some kind-hearted person took pity on him and he could avoid the embarrassment of calling Marinette at work to ask what types of pads she used… but, no, the idea of asking some random person for help was way worse. He had to just suck it up and do it.

He pulled out his phone and called Marinette. He was pretty sure it was lunchtime for her, anyways.

She picked up within a few rings, voice slightly muffled as she answered with a simple: “Problem?”

Tim didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or amused that her first thought when he called her was that something was wrong.

But he quickly alleviated her fears: “No, everything’s fine.”

He could hear the phone shift slightly as she assumedly went back to eating. “Right, then what is it?”

“Nothing bad, really…” Tim started awkwardly. His face reddened without his permission. “Just wanted to know what brand you used for, um, hygiene products.”

“... hyg --? Oh.” He heard her laugh at him and his face only reddened further. “What, the world's greatest detective couldn’t figure it out?”

“That’s my dad!” He mumbled a little huffily.

She snickered a little longer before finally saying: “I think the brand is called ‘Forever’ here.”

“See! You don’t even know!” He said even as he pulled down a box with the word written across it in elegant script.

“That’s because the name changed when --...” She seemed to remember she was at work -- or, at least, that there were other people around -- because she cut herself off suddenly before she could admit to being a dimension hopper in a world that likely wouldn’t even believe in the multiverse. “When… I switched brands! Yeah. Heh.”

(Tim swore he heard her mumble ‘technically not even a lie’ but he wasn’t quite sure.)

He started to put it in the basket but then he paused.

“There’s a lot of sizes.”

“Um… I think a four?”

“Yeah, no, they have letters here.”

“Fuck, right, hate that, um… D, I guess.”

He switched out the Cs he had gotten and smiled as Damian reached for him. He clearly wanted out of the cart -- Tim wondered, vaguely, if it was uncomfortable -- but that wasn’t going to happen so he decided to distract him:

“Want to talk to Mari, kiddo?”

The kid blinked up at him a few times before lighting up. “Mar-ree!”

He pressed the phone to Damian’s ear with one hand until the kid took it himself and then motioned for him to go ahead. “Takalam maeaha.”

“... marhaba?” Damian said, giving Tim a look that seemed to scream ‘you’re weird for making me talk into a box’.

Marinette must have said something back, because the kid’s eyes went wide. Damian looked around wildly for a few moments, clearly trying to figure out where Marinette was, before he realized that her voice was coming from the box. He gasped a little and pressed the phone against his ear even harder and started to ‘talk’ to her. It was a weird mix of Arabic and a few English syllables thrown together haphazardly, Tim was just glad he was learning.

Tim started on his way through the store again, sure he wasn’t going to get his phone back anytime soon.

He’d gotten all the necessities and they had money left in the weekly budget...

He headed to the kid’s aisle, head tipping from side to side as he considered what to get. Maybe a new book? Damian had taken a liking to them, though Tim was pretty sure that was more because he thought the English language sounded kind of funny rather than any real passion for stories.

He picked up a book about letters and looked down at Damian. He sounded annoyed now.

He looked at Tim with an annoyed expression and shook Tim’s poor phones a few times. “Mar-ree!”

Ah. She must have hung up because her break was over.

How was he supposed to explain how phones worked to a baby? Especially since he knew phones so intimately thanks to his time working on the model he was using.

He gently pulled the phone from the kid’s hands. “Mari’s at work. You can see her later.”

“Bu…” Damian pouted.

Damn it. How dare the kid be cute? Tim was about five seconds away from walking to Marinette’s job so the kid would smile again.

He hesitated before reaching behind himself and grabbing the first soft thing his hands landed on. He pulled it out and squinted at the stuffed cat. It was cute, he supposed, but he didn’t know why it was rainbow-colored.

Whatever.

He offered the plush to Damian and the kid seemed to instantly forget about the phone.

(And the chips. But the kid had put it in his mouth so it looked like Tim was buying that anyway.)

He pressed a kid to the top of his head and then continued on his way.

… and that was when he heard it:

Haha, someone got called a DILF.

… wait a minute… he was the only person with a kid around here…

His head whipped around so fast he would have gotten whiplash if he was old -- which he wasn’t -- to see two girls in their mid teens. And they were definitely looking at him. They even tried to hide behind the next aisle in order to avoid his gaze once they realized he had heard them.

Tim didn’t know what to do about this. Someone had actually called him...

He was 19! He couldn’t be that yet! How?! No!

And, sure, the logical part of him knew they were technically right. He was attractive (he hoped) and, when it came to the ‘dad’ thing… if Damian never got his memories back, then Tim would pretty much be the only dad that he had ever known. He would be a dad.

But, again, he was 19-years-old, he didn’t want to think about this.

So, to ward off the impending crisis, he looked around the aisle he was in wildly for some kind of ‘kid’ thing.

He found some marshmallow guns and grabbed two. Then he got some marshmallows because those weren’t included for some reason. Whatever.

He looked down at the basket, aware that he was now over budget, and eventually decided to put back the book. Who needs to learn?

(Besides, if Damian really wanted to just hear people talk, Tim could totally do that. He had so many random facts in his head thanks to random rabbit holes he had gone down while sleep-deprived, he could just rant about those if the kid wanted.)

So, he checked out, loaded up with all the bags and the baby, and started walking home.

… he was totally going to learn to drive. Even if Gotham streets were safer -- especially when he had a baby on him -- it was a pain to carry all the groceries even the few blocks to their apartment. Literally. The bags dug into his skin. He swore he could taste blood.

But he had an end goal in sight, so he went faster than usual that day.

He set up the guns, leaving Marinette’s on the kitchen table and then took a seat on the couch with Damian. They spent the few remaining hours playing games (Tim was pretty sure, he had absolutely no clue what Damian was saying but the kid seemed to have fun and that was all that mattered) and watching TV.

Tim heard his door click and looked up.

He quickly reached for the marshmallow gun and turned to point it at the door.

Damian watched him in silence, perfectly still as if he understood that this was something that they needed to be quiet for.

Usually, this kind of worried Tim. They always gave Damian to Kaalki and Tikki when they sparred, but Damian had always been… shockingly well-behaved? Not in the good way, either, he was far too still and quiet. Tim was starting to suspect that, at the very least, the kid remembered the first year of his life in the League. He hoped that the trauma would fade away with time. Kids forget things that they experienced as babies when they grew older, Tim himself couldn’t remember anything from before he was three, so hopefully this would be the same.

… but he really wanted to get Marinette with a marshmallow gun. So, he swallowed down the slight bit of anxiety rising in his chest and looked through the scope as Marinette finally managed to open the finicky door.

Damian’s eyes widened and he made a quiet ‘ah!’ sound.

Tim jumped at the sudden sound and pulled the trigger. The marshmallow gun made a fmpf sound as it fired off the shot.

The marshmallow bounced off of Marinette’s forehead harmlessly. Because, y’know, it was a marshmallow.

She blinked a few times and then knelt down to pick up the fallen marshmallow. She scanned it over a few times, eyes narrowed.

Tim hardly paid attention to her, looking over at Damian. The kid looked very confused, eyes darting between the gun and Marinette and the marshmallow on the floor repeatedly as if he wasn’t sure what he was seeing.

And then he flopped back on the sofa with a quiet whimpering sound.

Marinette and Tim frowned at each other. He could see confusion and concern knitting her eyebrows together, meanwhile all he had was dread coiling itself in his gut. Because… what if Damian did remember his first year with the League? Or, even worse, what if he would slowly regain all his memories? No kid deserved that...

Tim felt something hit the side of his head, snapping him out of his daze. Oh. Marinette had grabbed the other gun and promptly gotten her revenge.

Damian didn’t see this, at least, just staring at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Marinette sat on Damian’s other side, gently picking him up and nuzzling her nose against his cheek. Then, she sat him back down between them, sidling close so the kid could curl into her side. Tim, after a few seconds, scooted closer as well.

“Want some marshmallows? They’re yummy,” she tried hesitantly.

She shot one into her hand and, after tearing it in half just in case, handed it to Damian.

The kid took a hesitant bite, still looking a little put out, but then he gasped a little. He happily chewed away at the marshmallow, the event easily wiped from his mind in favor of the yummy thing in his hand.

Tim sighed in relief, reaching behind himself for the marshmallow bag so they wouldn’t have to shoot any more. Just in case.

“Quick thinking,” he said, which was kind of a compliment if you squinted.

She smiled and leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek. “It’s what I’m known for.”

There was a few seconds before she sighed just a little, gently combing her fingers through Damian’s hair. The kid reached out and gripped Tim’s shirt in his hand, surely getting it messed up thanks to the marshmallow on his hands but whatever, and tried to tug him closer. He obliged. Marinette rested her head on his shoulder absently.

“What would I do without you?” He mused.

“Probably starve on the streets,” she said bluntly.

He scoffed a little. “The minute this kid goes to sleep I’m going to shoot another marshmallow at you.”

“You can try. Only reason you even got me last time was ‘cause I didn’t know you were going to do it.”

“The element of surprise is a totally valid tactic!” He pretended to whine.

She grinned at him. “But it won’t work again.”

He wrapped an arm around her lazily. “We’ll see.”

~~~~~

Next

@unoriginalmess @hammalammadamdam @astrynyx @laurcad123 @927roses-and-stuff

#pads..... of paper?? #nearly made tim go #do with this information what you will #into the unknown #maribat #tim drake #ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #red robin #timari #timmari #timinette #shutterbug

[novamirmirsblog]

So stay with me

Word count: 1957

Request: Yes

Genre: ANGST

Warnings: DEATH. SADNESS. Like there is literally no silver lining.

A/N I've done the foster system based off how it is where I live. I don't know what it's like for other countries so I apologise if it isn't quite the same for where you live :3 ALSO I'm going to put the request elsewhere because in order for the full unhappiness, you must experience it like this 😈

When you first entered the S.H.I.E.L.D training programme, you had been hand picked by Fury himself. You were bouncing from foster home to foster home at the time, causing general trouble by stealing, fighting and lashing out at anyone and everyone. You had no real direction. You knew you were most likely to end up on the streets - sure your social worker would still check in occasionally after you had aged out of the system but there were more and more kids being given up. Realistically, you knew you were on your own. When you reached 13 you knew that no one was going to adopt you. Especially when there were babies and young children available. Deep down, you had figured it out when you were around 9 but you clung to the naive hope that you were wrong.

~~~~~

Fury found you when you were 15 but didn't take you in until you were 17. It was the day after your 17th birthday when he turned up at your foster parent's door. He said he wanted to take you for a military programme and you packed your bag before he had even finished his speech.

You went through years of intense training and passed top of your class for everything. It was surprising considering you had never been first before. What was more shocking was the need for praise. You had always believed that you didn't need it. You had never had it before, so why is it a necessity. You realised how wrong you were when Maria took you to the side and told you that you had done well. The comment replayed in your head for months.

~~~~~

You were 23 when you first joined the Avenger's initiative. 23 when you first met Natasha. The two of you didn't hit it off to begin with, Natasha didn't like how reckless you were and you didn't like how far the stick was shoved up her arse. Truth was, you both liked each other a little more than just friends but neither of you knew how to deal with these emotions. Let's face it, Natasha grew up being told 'love is for children' and you grew up in the system where the cracks were so big elephants fell through them. The team could see it though.

"Just ask her out." Wanda told you while sitting on your bed painting her nails.

"Who?"

"You know exactly who. I can read your mind and your thoughts are very loud."

"No. Your information is wrong." Wanda grabbed your hand, painting the left one first.

"Y/n just ask Natasha out. She'll say yes."

"I hate her. We're enemies."

"Some say you have to love someone to hate them and besides" Wanda paused, gauging your reaction "You wanting to bend her over a table doesn't sound very enemy like."

Heat rose in your cheeks and you prayed nothing gave you away. "Untrue. I want to do that in an enemy way."

"Sureeee..."

From then on, you were extremely careful to keep your thoughts quiet. Especially when you had to watch Natasha train.

~~~~~

It was Natasha who asked you out. At first you thought she was joking and very nearly laughed but then you saw how she was standing, how she said 'will you go out with me' with such nonchalance that it was as if she was asking you to pass the ketchup. No one could be that cool and collected. It was the way she even played slightly with her fingernails that showed you she was nervous. You of course said yes.

That was the beginning of your relationship and you had been going strong for a good five years. The nausea and tiredness however, started three years into your relationship. Natasha used to joke that maybe you were pregnant when it had first started happening, the others laughing at even the thought of you cheating on Natasha. The jokes died down when after a month and a half of running to the bathroom, it finally affected your missions. You were sent right off to Dr Cho and no one would have anything else said on the matter. You had tried to fight them, of course - it really wasn't that bad. All you needed to do. was take some anti-nausea medication and you would be fine.

Leukaemia

You knew that one little word would do so much damage to your strange family if they ever found out. You sat in silence as you formulated a plan, Dr Cho just watching you, letting you process. What was the point in telling your family and causing them pain if the treatment plan Dr Cho had lined out for you worked? There wasn't. That's why you kept it a secret. Why you brushed off any comments about your increased nausea, or your lack of hunger. The only person who knew was Fury.

~~~~~

"Are you cheating on me?" Natasha had cornered you after a particularly tough session of chemotherapy. All you wanted to do was sleep.

"No. Why would you think that?" Words were hard to say when you had to put all your energy into just standing up.

"You go out at all times of the day and night, you're too damn tired to do anything and you never talk to me anymore Y/n... If you wanted to break up you didn't have to cheat."

You knew this day would come eventually. It was a year into your treatments and none of them seemed to be working. Natasha wasn't stupid. It's why you kissed her on the head and pulled her into the tightest hug you could muster.

"I would never do that. I love you Natasha Romanoff. I'll explain but let me get everyone here." You asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to call everyone down to the living room.

Once everyone was settled on the sofas and chairs, you sat on the coffee table, no longer being able to hold yourself up.

"I have leukaemia."

At first, you couldn't bring yourself to look at the others. You didn't want their pity but you knew they wouldn't be able to show anything else. You looked at Natasha first. You knew she wouldn't have a pitying look on her face.

You were right.

Natasha looked furious. How dare someone who didn't even want you in their lives give you a horrible disease. She knew your chances of survival weren't good but there were treatments that could help. She had more than enough money to get whatever treatment necessary.

Tony spoke first. "I'm going to my lab. FRIDAY, contact Dr Cho. I need Y/n's medical details."

Bruce followed quickly behind him. The others gave you sad but hopeful smiles. You couldn't bring yourself to tell them there was little hope.

~~~~~

Natasha had been gone on and off for 6 months. You knew your time was coming to a close but she still hadn't given up. She was always in some country following a lead for some experimental drug to try and cure you.

But there was no cure.

Not for this. Maybe one day there would be a cure, but not in your lifetime. The cure wouldn't be able to save you.

You were almost hesitant to let Natasha come back. It had been a while since she had seen you and now you looked like paper. You were thin and fragile and your skin had lost it's colour and took on a grey tinge. Your cheeks were hollow and your lips were constantly chapped and the only thing you could stomach were tiny meals and energy drinks.

You were dying.

Everyone had come to terms with it. Tony and Bruce never stopped trying to find a cure, it just wasn't for you anymore. Wanda tried her best to keep you as comfortable as she could with her powers and Steve would come and tell you stories of before he was put in the ice to entertain you. Clint would bring his kids until it got too painful for them to see you turn from the scariest, coolest person they knew into a hollow shell.

The only person who hadn't come to terms with it was Natasha.

"Nat she needs you." Steve told her when the team were all eating.

"I know. I really think this time this lead will be the one. Then she can be fixed and-"

"Natasha." Wanda cut her off, her voice dangerously low. She had heard this speech so many times that it was painful to hear it again. "She needs you. She's dying and you need to accept it. You don't have much longer left with her and you're abandoning her when you should be with her 24/7!" Wanda's eyes glowed slightly red as she thought of all the times she had to watch her best friend realise the love of her life wasn't there with her. The cutlery began to shake a little and something fell over in the kitchen.

The crash that you heard woke you up. Maybe it was Natasha. You hobbled out of what was supposed to be your shared room, and made your way to the kitchen. By the time you had reached the kitchen, everyone was fighting. There was food being thrown, knives being grabbed and glasses shattering everywhere. You just stood there as your best friend and your girlfriend attempted to kill each other.

"guys stop." Your throat hurt from hours of throwing up so your voice didn't carry.

"guys really..." You tried again, tears forming in your eyes. You didn't want to spend your last days watching your loved ones fight.

"FRIDAY tell them to stop. please."

"Miss Y/l/n would like you all to stop. Now."

Everyone turned to the doorway where you were standing, horrified that you saw them fighting.

"Y/n, you need to get to bed sweetie." Wanda walked over to you, wrapping her arm around your waist.

"Don't touch her." Natasha stormed over, taking your other side.

"Ladies there's no need to fight. You can share right?" You let out a soft laugh and watched as they both melted. Just because you were dying, it didn't mean you lost your sense of humour.

They both took you back to your shared room, Wanda leaving to give you and Natasha some privacy.

"Please don't go anymore." You laid with your head on Natasha's chest, her hand stroking your hair.

"But I'm so close. I can cure you Y/n."

"Natty please. I can tell I don't have much longer left and I don't know if I'll still be here for when you come back if you leave again."

"But I can't lose you." Natasha whispered, scared that if she spoke any louder, some other power would hear her and take you away from her too soon.

"So stay with me."

~~~~~

It was strange, you thought, lying on your bed; you had always thought you would die doing something spontaneous, or maybe in the field. Not because your cells were abnormal. Natasha had spent every moment with you since she returned 5 months ago. You had planned everything; your funeral, little messages to each of them, where to bury you. Everything was sorted. All that was left now, was to die.

It was an ordinary Wednesday afternoon when you felt the last drops of life drain from you. You knew it was time and so you turned to Natasha who had you wrapped up in her arms, placing a hand on her face, the rest of the Avengers all sitting there quietly.

“When the time is right, we’ll be together again. I’ll always be with you.” You then let your eyes drift shut, never to open again. Not in this world, anyway, but perhaps in the next.

A/N pt 2: NOOO BUT WHY AM I CRYING. THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT WAY AROUND. We've got some Peggy Carter fluff coming up soon tho :)

Also here is the request:

A Natasha x fem!reader. Reader was one of THE best shield agents and a great member of the avengers, but sadly had genetic cancer. After fighting for two years, with nausea, pain, and no improvement, reader knew she was dying. She didn’t want to admit it, especially after all the team has done to help her, especially her girlfriend, Natasha Romanoff. No amount of treatment or amount of money or technology Tony had was gonna save her. In the end, reader comes to terms with it. But Natasha doesn’t want reader to give up. Reader get through to Natasha that she wants to spend her last moments with her without putting more strain on her body. Natasha then comes to terms with it. Eventually, on readers death bed, surrounded by the rest of the avengers, Natasha is holding reader in her arms as reader says goodbye and looks to Natasha and says “When the time is right, we’ll be together again. I’ll always be with you” (GO NUTS AND MAKE IT ANGSTY)

#natasha romanoff imagine #natasha romanoff x you #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha x reader #natasha x you #natasha romanov x reader #natasha x y/n #natasha romanoff #natasha romanov #natasha romaoff angst #Natasha Romanoff angst #black widow x female reader #black widow imagine #black widow x reader #black widow x you #black widow #angst

[skywardscroll]

divine intervention | venti

✧ word count: 2.5k

✧ summary: baring witness to world can become wearisome. venti, though you don’t really know him, wants to help.

✧ warnings: really angsty with some fluff thrown in! the reader has depression / there is self-deprecation. reader is also afab!

✧ a/n: this is so sweet >-< . i’m really proud of this one! also, writing klee is literally the funnest thing ever lol. <3 hope you guys enjoy!!

Teyvat, as you’d come to learn through your years, was a dangerous, merciless world. Every day, people lost their fathers, sisters, friends, and lovers. The world was full of greedy bandits and vicious monsters, and it only seemed to be getting worse as the days went by.

This last adventure out to Liyue had really taken the optimism out of you; Growing weary from traveling, you returned to your home in Mondstadt quite exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. Was there any other facet of you that could be exhausted? Because you were sure that it would also be stricken with strife.

You told the Adventurer’s Guild that you were temporarily retiring from your work to take a well-overdue vacation from fighting and the ever-arising political strain you witnessed every time you left the City of Freedom. You just wanted to enjoy your safe corner of the world, at least for the summer.

The (admittedly strange) way you decided to do this was by staying indoors with your books, sometimes going entire days without once stepping into the sunlight. It was a pleasant way to spend the time, but you knew it was unhealthy.

Your books, when the main characters shared similar habits to you, called this behavior ‘depression.’ Though, you willfully ignored this, pretending that this was normal of someone with a heavy heart (just a heavy heart. Not all the other symptoms that you were falsely denying you had, like an aversion to engagements with friends, or a neglect of hydration.)

It was one of the hottest days in July, you remembered, when you heard a knock on your door. You contemplated answering it, thinking that maybe the Adventurer’s Guild would want you back to work prematurely. This was quickly disproven, though, when a small voice called from outside the door:

“Miss Y/N? Oh, Miss Y/N~! Please come out!”

Klee’s sweet voice seemed to somehow wrap itself around your heart and pull you towards the door.

“Miss Y/N?”

You hesitated, knowing that once you saw that endearing child’s round eyes, you would be forced to play outside with her for as long as she wanted you to. You loved Klee dearly, and would do anything for her, even if you didn’t necessarily wish to go along with it. But you really didn’t feel like leaving your house, knowing that the Freedom Festival was currently in full swing.

“Y/N? Are you in there?” You recognize a second voice to belong to Grandmaster Jean.

Inhaling deeply, you opened the door to see Klee’s face light up as she excitedly pulled on Jean’s hand.

“She opened the door! She did! I told you Y/N would open the door!”

“Y/N!” Jean said, obviously surprised by your appearance. “It’s so good to see you’re well.”

“It’s good to see you two, as well.” You said with full honesty. You hadn’t realized it until you saw them before you, but you had certainly missed seeing your friends.

“Y/N! I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the Freedom festival with us! There’ll be food, and music, and I overheard Rosaria saying something to Kaeya about special drinks!”

“Oh… I don’t know…”

“Come on! It’ll be fun! They have this game, and it has a prize that looks like a biiiig dodoco! I want it but if you come you can have it!” Klee’s excitement makes a smile appear on your face.

“You should come, Y/N. It would be good for you, I think.”

You sighed a little, looking back at your book which sat with the pages down against the cushion of your reading chair, waiting to be returned to. But as if by design, the wind carried the smell of food into your door and your stomach rumbled. Besides, Klee’s eyes were bearing into your heart just as you predicted, and you could see Jean’s hand clasp onto Klee’s a little tighter in hopes that she wouldn’t be disappointed.

“Alright, I’ll come.”

If you were to be frank, you had no idea what the difference between the Windblume Festival and the Freedom Festival was. To you, it just seemed like another concocted excuse to party. Which, in your youth, you never complained about, and you weren’t inclined to complain now, either, as Sara handed you a particularly delicious-looking chicken and mushroom skewer. You hadn’t eaten something like this in a month, and it was very welcome in your stomach.

“Over there! It’s Venti! Venti!” Klee went running ahead of you and Jean, who were idly speaking to one another as you finished off your food and threw the stick away.

“Klee! Don’t run off!” Jean called out, running after the young girl while you walked a bit behind, enjoying the scenery of Mondstadt decorated in flowers and it’s streets lined with vendors.

“Hi Klee!” You looked up and saw a man hug Klee tightly (a boy? He was quite short, but you were pretty sure he was an adult.) It was hard not to notice the golden lyre in his hand and how the strings seemed to be luminescent. You’d never seen anything like it before, and accidentally stared at it in clear awe.

“Do you play?” He asked, a smile that seemed to lift your heart was directed to you after the question left his lips.

“No… Not anymore. I tried to learn when I was a child but…”

“That’s alright. It takes a lot of practice, yeah?”

You let out a breathy laugh and nod, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Jean scooped up Klee into her arms before she could run off again. “You two haven’t met before?”

“Sadly no.” Venti said, placing his hand over his heart. “I would’ve remembered such a beautiful face, surely.”

Bard’s and their sweet words. You thought to yourself. Out of kindness, you only laughed in response to his compliment.

“I’m Y/N.”

“Ahh! I’ve heard of you! The exceptional adventurer!”

Why does this guy say everything so enthusiastically? Is this what you used to sound like? His way of speaking, though you felt guilty for it because you knew he couldn’t help it, grated against your nerves. You weren’t in the right mindset for his optimism. Or, perhaps, it was that you were jealous that he still had a hold on his, and so easily too, while it had been so long since you were excited about anything.

When you didn’t say anything, there was a small look in Venti’s eyes that told you he could see right through you, or that he was at least aware that something was wrong with you.

“Well, I ought to be on my way back home.” You said, causing Klee to whine out.

“Y/N~! You can’t go yet! What about the giant dodoco?”

You frowned, feeling guilty for letting Klee down, but feeling too exhausted for any more socialization.

“At least stay for a song, Y/N?” Venti offered with a quieter tone of voice, pointing to a chair that was left unoccupied by the gathering crowd around him.

“Yeah! Just one song~?” Klee pleaded.

You bit the inside of your cheek before eventually nodding and sitting in the chair. Klee let out a cheer of celebration as Jean sat down beside you, letting Klee sit in her lap. You noticed how Jean had been particularly silent throughout this. Did she feel bad for you? Or did she, too, want you to stay for some reason?

“I’ll sing a very special song for a new friend!” Venti announced to the audience, to which you blushed a little at the attention and rolled your eyes. Though, once Venti’s fingers started gracing the strings of his harp, all feelings of discomfort and irritation floated away.

“Sit here closely, let me tell,

of the young maiden’s heart who one day swelled.

The once frozen walls, the once salty tears,

Now gone with a kiss that she wished had lasted years.

In the times of old, long before the gods were bold,

there was no remedy for a heart gone cold.

The young maiden wandered, hoping for peace

from the heartache and unrest the world did unleash.

Did she find it, you ask? Did she find it? I’ll tell.

She found it in freedom, from freedom it fell.

For Barbatos did bless her, from under the Windrise tree,

She only had to meet him in the morning at three.

The warmth she had searched for, that unlike she had ever known

was hers, finally, to own.”

The crowd clapped for Venti as he finished his short song, one that was unfamiliar to you and unsettled you to no end.

What was his motive?

You weren’t stupid. You’d read enough of your books in the last month and been on enough adventures with a multitude of twists and turns to know that he had just come up with that song for you. As beautiful as it was, you felt uncomfortable with the stranger being able to see through you so well.

Yet, when he flashed you a cheeky smile while he reveled in the applause, you felt that he had good intentions. In fact, you wondered if he could do any wrong. He just didn’t seem like the type to do anything evil… Ever.

“Did you like it, Klee?” Venti asked, bending down to talk to the girl who wriggled excitedly in Jean’s lap.

“Yes! It was sooooo pretty! I’ve never heard it before!” She gushed.

“A very lovely song, indeed, Venti.”

“Thanks Jean!” Venti flashed her a confident grin.

“Well, Y/N! Thanks for staying for the show!” He said, standing back up and turning to you. “I hope I can see you again soon!”

“Yeah. See you soon.” You replied with a half-hearted tone.

You were entirely conflicted. Your mind was telling you no; You shouldn’t go out there tonight. It was dangerous and you were significantly out of shape to be dealing with slimes and hilichurls. Besides, it was just a song… What if you were reading too much into it? And what if… You just wanted him to be singing about you and him?

Your heart wanted that to be true. It’d be like the books you’ve been reading, where the prince comes up with some elaborate way of asking the maiden to meet him in secret. You were, no matter how hardened you became, a hopeless romantic at heart. Something about Venti made your heart soar from the pits of depression you had fallen into. You… Trusted him.

You could do with a late-night walk, you supposed.

It took longer than usual because of the festivities, but the city eventually fell silent as everyone either rested in their beds or in a tavern. You found walking in the empty city strangely comforting. Rather than being shut away from the world out of fear of pestering others, you could now walk freely without a single care, if you so pleased.

You took your time walking out of the city, smiling at every stray cat and even stopping for a moment at the bridge to admire the water. You missed how, when you were a young girl, you used to look at the lake and dream about visiting all the other lakes in the world. You’d seen a lot of them, now, but this one still held a special place in your heart.

Windrise, though it had been years since you visited the Archon Statue, was as beautiful as ever. The tree looked even more alive in the moonlight, if it were possible.

You were raised to believe that you were under the protection of Barbatos, though you never would call yourself devout. That title belonged to the sisters of the church, who were truly faithful to Barbatos. But you would feel comfortable saying you were a believer. You liked that Barbatos was so just, and his famous story of his liberation of old Mondstadt was a tale you frankly would never tire of.

Regardless, as you sat in front of the statue, you saw no signs of the charming bard from before. You wondered if he memorized that tale of Barbatos; A part of you wanted to hear him tell it.

“I’m a fool, aren’t I?” You said, talking to the statue (not talking to yourself.) “A silly, odd, hermit of a fool. One who shuts themselves away and avoids all their problems. How cowardly can I be?”

A peculiar phenomenon began: The words started pouring out like an uncontrollable waterfall. Once the self-deprecation started, it didn’t seem to want to end.

“My family was so proud to hear I was a part of the guild. They said that you – that Barbatos – had blessed me with the life of an adventurer – a life of freedom. Am I selfish to despise it? I don’t feel free. I feel heavy with all the troubles of the world. Outside Mondstadt it’s… Well, you’re a god, you know how it is.”

You hadn’t spoken much to anyone in over a month. You didn’t even know if anyone was listening. Was he listening? Did he see the tears starting to run down your face and did he hear the cracking in your voice?

“I feel like a joke. A witness to trouble without the power to make things right. It’s so… Frustrating. I hate myself because I hate the world. I’m so useless… So useless.”

And you cried, your head leant against the statue of Barbatos. The months of pain finally bubbled over and bared itself for the world and the gods to see. You were ashamed, and angry at yourself, but you let yourself cry. You cried up to the heavens, to Celestia. Was he watching? Listening?

“Y/N?” A voice softly spoke your name, but your sobs turned into wails immediately following and you couldn’t make yourself stop even if you wanted to.  You felt a pair of arms wrap around you and you hugged Venti back, breathing in his scent of Cecilia. He was so warm compared to the cool summer breeze that blew through the leaves above.

“I’m sorry.” You cried against his shirt; the words muffled but still understandable. There were so many apologies you were making with the single phrase: Sorry for crying, sorry for being rude. Sorry for shutting everyone who cares about me out. I’m sorry for being ungrateful. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

“You don’t have to hide your tears from me, okay?” His voice was so soft and gentle as he pulled your head away from his chest and wiped away your ever-flowing tears from your cheeks.

This went on for a while, him running his thumbs over your cheeks every few minutes and catching the tears. You felt so awful that he was witnessing you like this, he barely knew you. But something in you was saying that this was right. Trust him, this is where you’re meant to be.

You calmed down enough about an hour later that he felt he could speak.

“Everything will be alright, Y/N.”

You let out a jagged exhale. At this point, your jaw was numb, and you were developing a headache. Still, being in Venti’s arms brought you comfort unlike anything you’d ever experienced. It was… Divine.

“Do you think he heard me? That he’s watching over me?”

Venti gave you the most assured, comforting smile you think is humanly possible. Brushing your hair from your face, he replied.

“I’ve never been so certain of anything.”

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin fic #genshin fanfiction #genshin fanfic #genshin imagine #genshin x reader #genshin impact imagine #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin impact fanfic #venti #venti imagine #genshin scenarios #genshin impact scenario #venti fanfic #venti fanfiction #venti scenarios #venti scenario #genshin headcanons #genshin impact headcanons #venti headcanon #genshin venti #genshin impact venti #romance #cute #fluff #angst #aesthetic #writing #skywardscroll

[lovemeleo]

Please write one were Asher has an allergic reaction and Sirius and Remus freak

Um so hi, surprise. I finally wrote something again. This prompt has been sitting in my ask box for god knows how long and I finally wrote it. Sorry it took so long, anon, but I hope you all enjoy. The SW world and it's characters belong to always fantastic @lumosinlove!

If you haven't read the rest of my Asher series, here's the link for tumblr and AO3!

cw: allergic reactions, talk of medicines, IVs, and hospitals

It started as a normal day, as most days tend to do. Remus got up first, doing some yoga in the living room before turning on the coffee maker to run while he was in the shower. He had this routine down pat so of course, he was ready with Sirius’s cup of coffee when the taller man came up behind him, nuzzling into his neck.

“Morning, mon loup.” Sirius mumbled, his voice still rough with sleep as his arms wrapped around Remus’s waist.

A soft smile spread across Remus’s face as he pressed the steaming cup of coffee into his fiancé's hand, “Good morning, Pads. I can get Ash ready for Lily’s if you want a shower before practice.” Remus said quietly, already hearing movement from the toddler’s bedroom.

Sirius answered with a kiss to his shoulder, looking up at him with a grin, “You’re the best, babe,” He said as he pulled away, cheekily slapping Remus’s butt before making his way to their bathroom. Shaking his head fondly, Remus turned to start getting Asher’s breakfast ready, the oatmeal cooking on the stove.

Just as he was about to go check Asher was awake, a small pair of arms wrapped around his legs from the side. Asher rested his head on his Papa’s hip, letting out a loud yawn. Remus couldn’t help the chuckle he let out, their son so much like his daddy, it was ridiculous.

“G’Morning, Papa.” Asher murmured, rubbing his eyes as he tried to wake up.

Remus picked him up, resting the toddler on his hip as he finished up his breakfast, “Good morning, mon chou. Sleep well?” He asked as he put the oatmeal into a bowl, topping it off with some berries before getting him set up at the table.

The little boy hummed happily, sipping his milk as he waited for the hot cereal to cool down, “Yep! I had a dream that Harry and I were wizards and we got to battle a bunch of bad guys and we won of course and it was so cool.”

Remus chuckled, sipping his coffee as he listened to his son’s dramatic retelling of his dream, “Of course, you won. Most powerful wizards ever, obviously.”

Nodding happily, Asher started in on his breakfast as he continued to fill his Papa in on the wizarding world from his dream. He had quite the imagination and it definitely came through his dreams.

When he had finished, Remus helped him wash up and get dressed before Sirius came in with his bag for the Potter’s house. Lily always watched Asher during their practices, letting him and Harry tire themselves out together. They were the best of friends, constantly attached at the hip. When they pulled up to the Potter’s house, Lily and Harry were already waiting on the front porch, the boy already jumping excitedly as he saw their car pull up.

As soon as Asher was released from his booster seat, he was running as fast as his little legs would take him. And Harry, not one to be outdone in the dramatics department, met him halfway and slammed him into a hug.

Lily laughed, coming down off the porch to give the two men a hug, “Sorry, I’m not gonna sprint up to you two,” She said, giving them both a tight squeeze.

“Wow, I see how much our friendship means to you!” Remus teased, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Now, where’s that husband of yours? Still doing his hair?”

A loud laugh came from the doorway, James appearing with his bag thrown over his shoulder, “Yeah, you know me. Very much worried about my hair when I’m putting a helmet on.” He said, throwing his bag into their car before giving Lily and Harry a kiss goodbye.

After saying goodbye to their own little munchkin, the three men were off to practice. Today consisted of some dry land training for warm-ups before moving on to some drills. They were about an hour into their drills when Coach Weasley blew the whistle from the sidelines.

“Black! Lupin! You’ve got a call!” He yelled across the ice, his eyebrows furrowed as he held out the phone.

Knowing that calls weren’t allowed during practice unless there was an emergency, the two men were to the bench in seconds, Remus quickly grabbing the phone, “Hello?”

Lily’s frantic voice was on the other side of the phone, already talking, “Remus, I’m sorry, I literally looked away for a second, and then he was screaming. I didn’t even see-”

“Lily, take a deep breath. What’s going on? What happened?” Remus said, trying to keep his voice calm.

A shaky breath came through the speaker before she continued, “I took the boys to the park across the street like I always do, and they were on the playground. It was fine then all of a sudden, Ash let out a really loud scream. I got over there as soon as I could, but he had already hives. Harry said he had a bee on his arm and got stung. I called an ambulance, and we’re at Gryffindor hospital now in the ER. I’m so sorry, I didn’t even know he was allergic.”

Remus was already unlacing his skates, the phone held between his shoulder and ear, “It’s not your fault, Lils. We didn’t know he was allergic either. We’ll be there soon.” Quickly handing the phone back to their coach, Remus and Sirius ran back to the locker room.

In less than 5 minutes, the two men were back in their car, racing towards the hospital. “Fucking bees,” Sirius muttered, quickly pulling into the parking lot.

As soon as they were parked, both of them quickly ran into the ER, their hearts pounding in their chest as they reached the front desk, “W-We’re here for Asher Lupin-Black.” Remus said to the receptionist.

She pointed them down the hall and they were off, seeing Lily waiting in the hallway outside of the room. Lily met them halfway, Harry on her hip sniffling quietly, “The doctor is in with him right now. God, I’m so sorry. I had just gone to grab my phone to take a picture of them, Harry said they were chasing the bee. I didn’t even realize there was one by them.”

Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of her head, “Lily, it’s not your fault. He’s a kid, these things are going to happen. You got him here as soon as you could and got him help, and we’re so so thankful.”

Sniffling softly, Lily wiped at her face, “I was so scared, all I heard was him screaming. The hives spread so quickly.”

The door opened as they stood talking, a doctor coming out of Asher’s room. His eyes widened at the sight of the two hockey players, probably realizing who’s child he had been working on before giving them a small smile, “Hi there, I’m Dr. Johannis. You must be Asher’s dads.”

“Yes, how’s he doing? Is he ok?” Remus asked as he stepped forward, already itching to get into the room and see his son.

Dr. Johannis was nodding before Remus had even finished, “Asher is doing fine. He came in with anaphylaxis from what appears to be a bee sting. Luckily, due to your friend’s quick actions, we were able to get him in the ambulance and give him a shot of epinephrine. He’s doing much better already, the hives have begun to fade. We do have him on oxygen at the moment as a precaution.”

Remus and Sirius both let out a breath as if a weight had been lifted directly off their shoulders. Asher was okay.

“Can we see him?” Sirius asked, his eyes flickering to the closed door behind the doctor.

Smiling, Dr. Johannis nodded, “Yes, of course. My nurse is just in there, double-checking his vitals. We want to keep him for a little bit longer to keep an eye on him but you should be able to take him home tonight.”

After thanking the doctor, Lily urged them on without her, “Go on, he was asking for you both. I’ll text Coach so he can let the team know. I’m sure they’re all worried.” Nodding, the two of them quickly made their way into the room. Asher looked so small on the hospital bed, an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth as he watched the nurse fiddle with the monitor. He quickly turned to the door as soon as it opened, eyes quickly filling with tears when he saw his dads.

“I’m sorry!” Asher cried, his voice muffled from the mask. Remus and Sirius were next to him in seconds, pulling him as close as they could without tugging any wires or IVs out.

Running a hand gently through his hair, Sirius pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “Oh mon chou, it’s okay. You didn’t know that was going to happen.”

“We’re just glad you’re okay, bub.” Remus said, running his hand gently over the little boy’s back.

Sniffling quietly, Asher rested his head on his Daddy’s side, “We thought it was a bumblebee, and Uncle James said those are fluffy and they don’t sting and they’re nice. But it wasn’t fluffy and it was not nice.” He huffed, wiping at his face.

Sirius couldn’t help but chuckle, pulling Asher closer, “Well now you know which ones to stay away from, right?” He asked, feeling the toddler nod before he let out a loud yawn.

“Sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to give you a heads-up. The medicine we gave him through the IV might make him sleepy,” The nurse said from next to them, as he headed to the door. “Let us know if you need anything.”

Remus nodded, pulling the blanket over Asher’s legs as the little boy began to doze off, “Of course, thank you so much.”

Then it was just the three of them, the only noises coming from the monitor and Ash’s soft snores.

“Well. That was fucking scary.” Remus whispered, leaning over to rest his head on his fiancé's shoulder.

Sirius snorted, his head falling onto Remus’s, “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Thought my heart was gonna fall out of my ass when Coach said we had a call.” Remus nodded in agreement, remembering the moment he heard Lily on the other side of the line.

“The team is gonna spoil the shit out of him. Like he isn’t going to have to walk anywhere for months,” Sirius continued, his hand moving to run through Asher’s soft curls.

Rolling his eyes, Remus glanced over at Sirius, “You act as though they don’t already spoil the shit out of him. Leo carried him on his back all around New York last month. Nado sneaks him treats constantly. And if Dumo brings him one more toy, we’re going to have to move to a bigger house.”

Sirius couldn’t help the large smile that spread on his face because Remus wasn’t wrong. Asher was spoiled. The team loved him, and he loved them all right back. They were so lucky to have such a supportive chosen family, and Sirius didn’t really believe in God but shit, he was grateful to whatever deity gave him this life. He had a loving fiancé, a fantastic son, and the best damn family a man could ever ask for. There was nothing better.

And when their entire house was filled with hundreds of “Get Well Soon” balloons and an entire hockey team when they got home that night, all of the worry was entirely worth it to see their little boy’s face light up the room.

#asher pascal #asher pascal series #fic #coops #wolfstar #wolfstar fic #sweater weather #lumosinlove #cw: allergic reaction #cw: hospital #fluff #kid fic #anon prompt #prompt fic #mentioned: #leo knut #jackson nadeau #pascal dumais #gryffindor #gryffindor lions #lumosinlove sweater weather #wolfstar dads

[wesimpforxiao]

Say My Name and I’ll Be There: 8.2; Lantern Rite Part 1

You never had the chance to push Childe for answers on his vague statement, even after the two of you arrived in Liyue on the afternoon of the Lantern Rite.  It was as busy as you remembered, though it was nothing compared to how it would be once the sun set.  You weren't new to the festival, as you had gone a few times with Granny when you were a child, but that was a long time ago.  You were around twelve years old the last time you had joined the festival.

Being here again was like a breath of fresh air.  

It was a shame that breath of fresh air turned stale when Childe continued to prod at you.  "So, ojou-chan, what will you be doing after dark?"  He had intentionally turned it into a suggestive question, his smug brow raising slightly even after you glared daggers at him.

"I'm going to walk around, of course," you replied without giving him an inch.  "And I'm going to find Aether and Zhongli, too."

"Oh? Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"What I do in my free time is none of your business," your jaw tightened.  "You, Tartaglia, are literally a child.  Why don't you step aside and let your elders do what they want?  I am older than you, you know."

"I see you've picked up Signora's attitude," he moped and finally dropped the subject.

Perhaps you had, even though you hated her with all your life force after the trick she pulled at Angel's Share.  Even so, you couldn't help but bite the harbinger that fed you after he made strange offhanded comments about his own behavior, or his self-proclaimed 'apology' gift, or the way he held you the first time you felt Xiao's suffering.  You still couldn't figure out what was going on with him, and quite frankly, you could care less.  That's what you told yourself, anyway.

Was he an ally or an enemy?

"Earth to Mezzetin."  He rudely poked at your forehead.  "Is everything alright?  You've been obnoxiously loud all day and now you're quiet."

"You do realize you're equally as obnoxious?"  You met his eyes head-on after pulling away from your thoughts.  "I'm hungry."

"Ah, thought so.  Here," he handed you a heavy sack of mora without warning.  "I'll be at Northland Bank if you need anything."

"Eh? That's it?"  You watched him begin to walk off, expecting much more of a threat to your life if you so much as thought about running.

"You said it yourself ojou-chan, you're an adult," he called out over his shoulder.  "I'd expect you to act like one in these circumstances."

"Wha--!"  You scoffed at his shrinking figure as he climbed the stairs to the Snezhnayan bank.  "Ugh, whatever." Your gaze fell to the mora pouch in your hands.  Maybe I'll stop by the funeral parlor first and find Zhongli.

When you did, the archon paled at the sudden surprise appearance.  "How did you find yourself in Liyue Harbor?"  He scanned your body as if you were to be handled with care.  "I was under the impression you would remain at Zapolyarny Palace until further notice.  How did you happen to gain the Tsaritsa's trust so quickly?"

"Eh, you'll have to ask Childe that."  You didn't notice Zhongli's eyes narrow with contempt.  "He won't tell me why they decided to have me accompany him here," you answered without skipping a beat.  Though the archon was certainly thrown off guard, the two of you appeared to start right where you had left off like none of the events in the past two months had ever occurred in the first place.  It was refreshing to be with a friendly presence again, and you sighed in relief, hiding a wince from the sharp pain in your ribcage.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by Zhongli.  "Ah, yes...Allow me to brew you some tea.  The leaves I've gathered recently have exceptional pain-relieving qualities, though they don't compare to that of Xiao's medications--"

"How is he?"  Your interruption stopped the man in his tracks.  "Is he okay?"  If Zhongli knew you were feeling Xiao's pain, that meant the yaksha had been in contact.

"He's as well as he can be, given the circumstances he's been burdened with.  Do not worry yourself with him.  Please, take a seat."

You watched Zhongli's graceful movements as he prepared a kettle and brought the water to a boil, dropping the leaves in when it was hot enough.  You were oblivious to the thoughts that ran through his mind as he sent a wry smile your way.

That day, I made a grave miscalculation, Zhongli thought back to the group's encounter with Childe in Fontaine.  A guilty sigh escaped his lips as he poured the tea into two ceramic teacups.

.....................

Deception.  Maybe Zhongli was a little too good at playing the part of an innocent bystander, if he had succeeded in fooling Aether not once, but twice.  But this route would be the only way to ensure yours and Xiao's sanity...The archon grit his teeth as he parried Childe's relentless blows in the pouring rain.  The harbinger didn't hold back even though this was all for show.

How long did the fighting go on? Twenty minutes? Thirty?  An hour?  Childe gave the signal to Zhongli as he summoned his fifth and final narwhal using the rain that fell around them.  Most of the group was worn out from constantly changing tactics as the harbinger switched between his vision and delusion.  Childe was so much stronger than the first time he faced off with Aether...but so was Aether.  Zhongli understood the only way to make this plan work would be to sacrifice his two closest allies in one way or another.

"Retreat!"  Zhongli gave the order and an exhausted trio followed it without question.  Well, except for Aether.

"We can't leave Xiao!"

.................

He had hoped he gave Xiao the push he needed to seal the bond, but it apparently was not enough..."Here is your tea," he placed the teacup in front of you before sitting at the opposite end of the table.  "Tell me, have they remained true to their word and put an end to your experiments?"

You blew at your steaming cup before taking a small sip.  "Yeah...They've already begun testing on Fatui agents, but every single one of them dies.  It's funny, actually.  Dottore still can't figure out the correct ratio for my blood.  I've watched hundreds die."

"And how are you?"

That question was loaded, but you swallowed the nervous chuckle that had bubbled in your throat.  "I'm just glad to be so close to home." To him, you meant, even if the two of you never actually met up during your stay here.  Your eyes trailed to the window, and Zhongli noticed the sadness in the depths of your gaze as you watched people decorate the buildings with xiao lanterns.

"Xiao will be especially busy today, fighting off the demons that rise from the festivities," he answered your looming question.  "But I am sure he would find the time to meet you if he knew you were here."

"You know, I hold most of his memories, but I can never seem to know what he's thinking."  Your low voice captured the archon's attention again after a few silent minutes.  You were saying it more to yourself than to spark a conversation, eyes still gazing out the window.  "Maybe I am chasing after a fruitless dream."

"Your love for Xiao is strong."

"Eh?" Your head snapped back to the present moment.  "H-how did you--did he--?"

Your flustered composure drew out a low chuckle from Zhongli, and he set his teacup aside.  "I've lived for six thousand years; I know a thing or two about human concepts and emotions.  The entire group has known for quite some time."

"I was that obvious?" An insane amount of heat rose to your cheeks and you buried your face in your hands.  "So did he know before I...?"

"Xiao may be a few thousand years old, but he understands humans less than I do.  I can confidently say you caught him off guard."

You peeked out from behind your fingers.  "Hm?"

"It is not my place to say anything more on the matter," his lips tugged into a friendly grin as he brought the teacup to his lips once again.  "But I would not call it a 'fruitless' dream."

.................

The lanterns that lit the streets of Liyue illuminated the bustling crowds of people that were focused on getting food, souvenirs, and lanterns that were to be released later that evening.  You had parted ways with Zhongli in an effort to find Aether, with no luck in locating the boy even after nightfall.  Despite this, you navigated the festival alone in hopes of running into him as you eyed the food stalls.

That is, until the voices grew louder.  You swayed on your feet from the unexpected wave of nausea that overcame you, and grabbed onto one of the support beams next to the stairs.  Xiao was fighting something again, wasn't he?  You had felt the damned creep up on you as the day progressed, but nothing prepared you for the jarring pains that were too similar to the first time you had felt this side effect.  You nearly puked from the overwhelming sensation, coughing into your hand only for it to be splattered with blood.

Not again, you stared in horror as you hastily blinked away the splotches in your vision.  A quick glance around confirmed that there were children in the immediate vicinity, and you didn't want to scar them with the sight of you on what was supposed to be a happy night.  Your eyes flit to the distant building that housed the Northland Bank, and you were determined to make it there even if it was a bit too far for you to walk at the moment.

You stumbled through the crowd on unsteady feet and shallow breath until you bumped shoulders with a boy and tripped.  "Ngh!"  The impact worsened your dilemma, and your eyes caught those of the person you ran into.

"Sorry!  Wait, are you okay, ma'am?"  The white-haired boy retracted his outstretched hand and instead knelt at your side to offer his shoulder.  "You..."  This energy....could it be that I can finally...?

"U-um, excuse me."  You struggled to your feet and tried to make your way to the bank again.  This time you were immediately halted by the boy.  

"Ma'am, are you by any chance experiencing paranormal activity?"  His hard gaze made you hold your breath without realizing.  When he saw your eyes flash as if someone had held a lantern to your face, his grip on your shoulder loosened ever so slightly.  "My name's Chongyun.  I'm an exorcist.  Do you mind if we speak in private?"

He brought you to the docs, which were a little less crowded than the main area of the harbor.  Chongyun watched as you sat down and steadied your breathing while attempting to sneakily wipe away the blood that dripped from the corner of your mouth.  

I finally haven't scared them off, the boy thought as he stared at you in wonder.  Why now, though?  "Ma'am, can you tell me what's going on?"

"I-I appreciate your concern," you ground your teeth together while another wave of pain consumed you, "but I d-don't need your help."

"When did you start feeling this way?"  Chongyun sat with his legs crisscrossed in front of you, and summoned a deck of cards from his pocket.  Anger boiled as you watched him shuffle them in his hands and set them in the space between you one at a time.

"I wouldn't do that," you growled while your thoughts grew hazy.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt you."  He started mumbling some sort of incoherent verses before flipping one of the cards.

"I said DON'T!"

Chongyun caught your hand before it could swipe the cards away from the pier's surface, and he locked eyes with you.  He took a deep breath before speaking as if you were the one agitating him.  "Those are the evil spirits talking.  I can tell you're not that far gone.  Sit patiently, and I can help you."

You blinked for a moment and regained some control over yourself, relaxing your shoulders once he let go of your wrist.  "What is it you're trying to do?"

"Purge evil; it's my job.  We exorcists have protected Liyue for generations," he flipped another card over, noting your tension rising again before dying down.  Whatever he was doing with those cards seemed to piss off the voices in your head.

"Like adepti?"  You grimaced when he replaced one of the cards with another.  

"Yes, much like the Guardian Yaksha of Liyue," he replied calmly while testing your reaction with another card.  "I have much respect for him, but--"

"Xiao?  Have you seen him?"  Your hand burned when you grabbed his, but you ignored it once you caught his attention.  "Have you seen him recently?"  

"You know him by name?"  Chongyun was as confused as you were.  "That's odd, I thought we were the only ones who--"

"Hey!"  A high-pitched voice interrupted the conversation, and the two of you turned your heads toward the sound.  Paimon was flying towards you, Aether running right behind her.  "What are you doing here?! Are you okay? Did you escape? Did you kick Childe's butt?"

"I--" Aether stopped himself from hugging you when he saw the dried blood on your hand, his relieved smile fading into a concerned frown as his feet came to a halt.  "...Are you okay?"

"You know each other?"  Chongyun looked between the trio and summoned a new set of cards.  These ones held terrifying symbolism of demonic entities you didn't wish to know the name of, and he placed them over the other ones that sat on the ground.

"Ngh!"  A hand covered your eye in an attempt to put pressure against a sharp pain.  "You can't help me! Enough of this!"

"...W-what's wrong with her?"  Paimon trembled slightly when she heard the uncharacteristic aggressiveness in your voice.  "Is she...possessed?!"  

"Not quite," Chongyun returned his eyes to you in deep thought.  "I've never seen this before..."

"Wait, your positivity didn't scare them off?"  Aether suddenly looked a lot more concerned, and he moved so that he sat beside you.  Chongyun scared every spirit away...if that didn't happen this time, it must've been a bad sign.  "What happened to you in Snezhnaya?"  His voice was a mix of both guilt and anger.

"Zhongli didn't tell you?"  It took all your strength not to attack the three of them as Chongyun put another card down.  

"The group went their separate ways after you..." Aether shook his head and put a hand on your shoulder when he noticed the malice in your stare.  "What did Childe do to you?"

"It's just another side effect," you growled and pushed his hand off.  "I'm not possessed like this guy is saying."

"Is this true?" Paimon's skepticism antagonized you further, but you bit your tongue.

"We should take you to Zhongli," Aether pulled you to your feet without hearing your objections.  If your words were accurate, then there was no way the exorcist could help.  "Sorry, Chongyun!  She'll be fine!"

"W-Wait! Ah-"  Chongyun already lost them in the sea of people that were getting ready to release their lanterns.  It was almost time to fill the sky with the light of human prayers and wishes to the adepti.

..............

Once out of Chongyun's vicinity, the voices dispersed as if nothing had happened.  "What the hell--"  Your confused grumblings caught the attention of Aether as he guided you through the crowd.  "This is so stupid."

"So you're able to feel Xiao's mental distress?"  He glanced back at you for a brief moment once he figured out what he had witnessed.  "At least now, he has someone that can understand a little bit of what he's going through, right?"

"I don't know," interjected Paimon.  "Didn't Zhongli say the yakshas fell one by one from karma?  Wouldn't feeling Xiao's karma kill you?"

"Probably."  Your uninterested answer brought both of them to look at you, only to find that your eyes were surveying the crowd with expectation--or was it hope?  Your companions exchanged knowing, but glum glances.

"He won't be here."

Aether's words went through one ear and out the other.  "Yes he will."

"Um...Paimon doesn't think so.  Xiao doesn't like crowds, remember?"  You were so different than a few months ago...Each sound seemed to startle you or make you wince, and you had a peculiar distant look in your eyes.  Your friends were growing more and more concerned about you.

Xiao, I'm here, you called out in your heart, not fully aware of it.

..........................

Coming up:  A long-awaited reunion.  The fears of a yaksha.  A display of trust.

#genshin impact #xiao genshin impact #genshin impact xiao #xiao x reader #genshin x reader #lantern rite #xiao lantern rite #genshin impact lantern rite

[xpeachesncream]

hi my dearest nikki <3, for Valentines season, Idk if someone already requested this but I wanted a Tae x y/n vacation somewhere abroad with some spicy steamin' lovemaking and a marriage proposal perhaps? hahaha i am forever in love with these two and your playlist in PW is my everyday playlist,just a tmi :)

perfectly wrong | drabble [12]: when the love is real, and right.

word count: 2.7k

warnings: cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, sweet taehyung, unprotected soft sex as you try and cater to your man, straddling, some breast play, nothing too bad really - this drabble is meant to be cute af! (highly recommend music linked above lol)

note: imma make ya’ll cry with this one. lmfao, jk 😂 please don’t cry! happy valentines, loves! you are all beautiful and strong ❤️ you’ve come so far, please don’t ever give up! keep on keepin’ on, baby! i’ll always be here rooting for you!

update: please read this announcement!

School graciously provided another week of freedom in February, which so happened to fall right by Valentine's day. You were excited to relax and sleep in, be lazy with Taehyung and do absolutely nothing.

Except, not. Because all of a sudden, your man is rushing into your apartment, telling you to pack your things so you could make it in time for your flight later that evening.

"We gotta go, love." He pulls the luggage out of your closet and starts throwing your undies and bras from your drawer into it.

"Taehyung, please. What are you doing?" You looked over your covers, too lazy to move and do anything about it right now. You watched as he started rummaging through your pajamas and your socks, for whatever reason. "Tae, hello?"

"Come on, you need to pack. We have a flight to catch."

"Says who?"

"Says me." He smiles toothlessly, his bread cheeks poking out from either of his face as he holds up two airline tickets. Because you have terrible eyesight, you can't even make out the destination on the tickets and you don't even try to. It would be useless.

"Where are we going? I thought we were just going to stay home all week."

"I mean, that's always nice, but I saw that flights were cheap so I just bought 'em."

"So you just bought 'em? Really?"

"Miss girl, I don't have time to answer all of your questions right now. I can do that on the flight." He tilts his head and starts motioning for you to get up. "Come on, pretty please? It'll be worth it, I promise." You slightly whine, but you get up anyways and start to get ready for whatever this was. You throw on some comfy sweats and Taehyung's hoodie, then begin to pack your things. He says it's a tropical area [but 'not really,' he also says?], it's mainly humid and you'll be going into the water majority of the time. So, you pack a few bathing suits, a few light kimono type cardigans, shorts, crop tops and light jackets and call it a day. You've left whatever pajamas, underwear, socks and bras Taehyung had throw into your luggage cause at this point, you've learned that he does pay attention to what you pack and bring along.

And so that's what happened before you found yourself in a 1-bedroom Villa overlooking the ocean in Disney Aulani 8 hours later. You began to think this was planned all along, being that Taehyung had snagged a fancy room, with an ocean view and a fat bouquet of roses just waiting for you on the king-sized bed. Happy was an understatement.

Taehyung had made sure your entire week was filled with things to do, being that you both didn't know when you could go back to Hawaii like this. He rented out a jeep, driving you around the entire island of Oahu within the week's time, sight seeing, taking tons of pics together, stopping at food trucks, shopping small towns, and pulling random, small hikes together. He even made sure to take you to the Dole Plantation so you could grab that dole whip you had been raving about for so long and to the flea market to grab tons of cheap, fun souvenirs. He knew just what you liked, and he knew what would make you happy. He was happy to see you happy. Some days also were more lowkey, where you'd spend it at the various pools in Aulani's backyard, going snorkeling or paddle boarding, or even just going down the street at the ABC Convenience Store to binge on the cheap hot food [like $2 spam masubis!] and milk tea.

If it was easy to just snap your fingers and live somewhere else with Tae, it would be right here. Days moved so slowly on the island and you loved every minute of it. People really appreciated taking things slow here. Just imagining your life with Taehyung on an island like Oahu was *chef's kiss* - imagining your man in his shorts and fluffy hair in a loose shirt, waking up to the sounds of the beach every day. God damn. You truly loved him, and you'd go anywhere with him.

And Taehyung felt the same exact way, which is why he had one last thing planned before it was time to head back.

He had gone downstairs to grab some things as he says, but he had asked you to get dressed so he could take you on a fancy, romantic dinner. He had thrown on some slacks and a button up short-sleeved shirt tucked in, his curls messy but also not? Whatever you call it, he was fine as hell and you wanted nothing but to eat him up. Truthfully. You sat on the couch in a simple black, off the shoulder, mesh-like dress, which Taehyung also wanted nothing but to eat you up with the way you were swaying your hips in that dress. On everything, he almost wanted to call dinner quits just so he could have you instead.

But, he needed to stick to the plan for specific reasons. You sat on the couch, flipping through the channels when Taehyung had walked in and straight into the room. He had something tucked under his arm but you couldn't figure out what else he was fiddling with in his hands. Then, you heard him on the phone, faintly responding behind the walls with a 'sounds good, thank you!' before he opened the room door with a smile on his face.

"Ready for dinner?"

"Sure, weirdo." You laughed as you walked towards him, getting on your tippytoes to plant a kiss on his lips. He took your hand and led you inside the room, only for you to see the balcony lit with candles and a table for two set up, with a simple rose in the middle as decoration and soft music playing in the background. You had placed your hand over your mouth, speechless as to how he even did this right under your nose.

The best part [besides Tae himself] was the view of the ocean with the sun slowly setting in front of you.

"Welcome to Maison de Taehyung." He giggled with that deep, nerdy giggle of his that you love so much, making you playfully shove him away. Before you could make your way to the balcony, there was a knock on the door. Taehyung had welcomed Room Service in, allowing them to wheel in the food to the balcony and set the rest of the finishing touches before leaving you both to your privacy.

"Baaaaabe." You whined, almost in tears. He pulls you close, his large hands cupping your cheeks as he plants a kiss on your forehead. Your nose. Your lips. The butterflies.

He leads the way, pulling out your chair before sitting himself down. The food was amazing, the main course being a specialty the chef had whipped up just for Taehyung pulling his charm downstairs with the front desk. Typical Tae, really. You didn't need dessert, being that the main dish was super filling, but you ate it anyways because fuck it - you're in Hawaii with the love of your life and it was a bomb ass chocolate cake. You don't skip on that.

You sit on the bed as room service is quickly cleaning out the balcony, taking the plates and the table cloth along with them. You were full and satisfied, and you couldn't wait to just be in bed in Tae's arms. Dinner was special because not only did you get to eat this food with that view, but you got to talk to Tae about everything and anything. He indulged in every minute of it, giving you his undivided attention while the colors of the sunset bounced off of your skin. He loved you more than you even knew. He loved that he was here with you, and that you had taken a chance on him because this is where he wanted to be. This is the life he wanted, and this is the person he wanted to share it with.

"I'll be right back, baby."

"What are you up to now?" You giggled.

"Mmm, it's probably best you just wait." You nod silently as you watch him walk out of the room.

You stepped out into the balcony again in hopes of Tae joining you when he gets back, getting the last few bits of the sun right before it sunk into the horizon. Your phone began to buzz in your hands, signaling a call coming in.

"Jeon Jungkook." You answer his facetime call.

"Let me see Hawaii."

"You're too late, the sun literally just went down." He clicks his teeth.

"Maaaan. I would have liked an invite."

"Don't get mad at me fool, I didn't even know we had a flight until Taehyung busted into my room trying to pack my things." He laughs.

"What a guy."

"What do you want?"

"Jeez, that's no way to talk to your bestfriend."

"I'm on vacation, you should be lucky I didn't send your ass to voicemail. What do you want?"

"I just wanna talk to you guys. I'm bored."'

"Where's Hobi and Yoongs?"

"Being boring at their own homes."

"Jin?"

"Cafe."

"Jimin and Namjoon?"

"Jimin is home, Namjoon is downtown."

"Then sucks to suck, loner."

"You're a real piece of work, even in Hawaii." You laugh. "Where's Tae?"

"I don't know, he ran off again. He's been busy trying to surprise me with things left and right."

"Has he now?" Jungkook bites his bottom lip, knowing full well what's about to happen next. The whole reason Taehyung stepped out was to call him and calm his nerves. Was this Taehyung's bestfriend, or yours?

"Yeah, he's the best." You say, smiling to yourself as you fiddle with the top portion of your dress. You hear the front door close, assuming Taehyung had gotten back from whatever he was doing. "Uh, I think he's back, I should--"

"No, can't you just talk to me for like 5 minutes, Y/N?"

"Why are you so needy?" You chuckled.

"I just told you I was bored. I wanna say hi to Tae."

"Well when he comes here, I'll let you say hi."

"What else did you guys do today?"

"Uh, we took it pretty easy and played around at the beach."

"Cute."

"Baby, can you help me find something?" You hear Taehyung's voice right behind you.

"Sure." You say, keeping your eyes on Jungkook, who's chuckling to himself. You furrowed your brows at the camera. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing. Go help him."

"Okay, hold on." You say, putting the phone down by your hip. You turned, only to jump back in surprise. "Taehyung!" You gasped, your hand over your mouth. Taehyung had been behind you the whole time, his 100 watt smile shining as he bent down on one knee, holding out a small case that held a fancy diamond ring.

"Look, you know I'm pretty bad with speeches but I think you already know how you make me feel. I just, I--" He did a slight head tilt as he chuckled and took another deep breath. "I really, really love you, Y/N. It's always been you. You've become my better half and I truly can't see my life without you." You begin to cry heavily, forgetting Jungkook is still hanging on to dear life by your hip. It all makes sense now.

Why the hell would Jungkook call you at this time?

"Will you spend the rest of your life with me?" He asks, tears welling up in his eyes watching you cry in front of him. Your words can't escape your mouth because you really don't even know what to say. You're speechless, and you didn't even expect this to happen right at this moment. You knew you loved him, and you knew you were set with him. But to have him propose on a night like this in Hawaii? Unbelievable.

You nod and he shakily slips the ring onto your ring finger before you wrap your arms around his neck tightly as he hugs you. You pulled back to kiss him, only to be startled by all the screaming coming from your phone. Taehyung laughs as he holds you and watches you bring the phone back up to your view, seeing Jimin, Namjoon, Hobi, Yoongi and Jin all in one frame with Kook.

"You fucking liar!" You yell at Kook, making him laugh his loud, elmo laugh.

"We love youuuuuuuuu!" Jimin yells from his position, with Jin blowing kisses into the frame.

"You planned this all along." You turn and say to Taehyung softly. He just nods and shrugs, making you bite your bottom lip as to how attractive he was for pulling all of this shit right under your nose. "I'm gonna have to call you guys back later."

"Ooooooh, ew." Yoongi says before you abruptly hang up the call and jump into Tae's arms.

He brings you into the room, you tossing your phone onto the dresser, causing Taehyung to laugh into the kiss. He sits on the edge of the bed as you grip his face softly, your tongues fighting each other for dominance as the kiss intensifies. You feel his hands start to unzip your dress from the back, causing you to bite his bottom lip and gently pull back. He lets out a small moan as he fiddles with the rest of your zipper and successfully gets the dress to fall from your shoulders, exposing your breasts from underneath. You arch your back slightly, allowing Taehyung to plant kisses down your neck and to your breasts, using his tongue to toy with each nipple one by one. He sucks on it gently, pulling back with a pop before he blows onto them, goosebumps rippling through your body. You quickly unbutton his shirt as he's kissing your neck, causing you to let out a small hiss feeling his tongue against your skin.

It doesn't take long before both of your clothes are scattered across one side of the room, Tae holding you close as you continue to straddle him. You grind your hips into his, feeling his hardened member rub against your throbbing pussy.

"Fuck." He whispers. "I can feel how wet you are." You bite onto your bottom lip as you position yourself onto his hardened member and slowly sink yourself down. You watch as his head tilts backwards, eyes shut while his mouth is slightly opened to let out a moan. You began to slowly rock your hips into his, his arms wrapping tightly around you. You loved feeling his warm skin against yours and his strong arms holding you close. "Baby." He moans. "God, I love you." He says as you start to pick up your pace, rocking your hips a little  quicker.

"Nnnnng--Tae." You let out a breathy moan, tilting your head back in pleasure. Your back slightly arches along with it, allowing Tae to let his hands roam up your back while he kissed you softly along your chest, down to your stomach and back up to your breasts. He loved every bit of you, and he wanted to show you. Every. Single. Inch.

"If you keep moving like that, you're gonna make me cum." He whispers, nibbling onto your earlobe while his hands guide you, pushing you to ride him faster. In which, you do. You grant your man's wishes and pick up the pace quite a bit. The least you could do is cater to him after what he's done for you this week. He's moaning your name, calling you baby and whispering how special you are to him in your ear, making it incredibly difficult for you to keep holding on while he does so. "You're so beautiful."

"Babe, I'm close." Your nose is touching his, his eyes locked onto yours. "Fuck, babe. I'm gonna cum." You whine the more your hips are working his cock. You feel every inch of him inside of you, tickling your core enough to send you hurdling over the edge in a matter of minutes. "Ohhhh, fuck!" You yell, your body tensing up as he holds you close with your hands tangled in his hair. It's not long before he fills you up, your walls pulsating around his member being the cherry on top for him.

"Mmmmmshit! Baaaaby." He elongates his moan, no other noises coming out of him as the sensation completely takes over his body. You wrap your arms around his neck while regulating your breathing, his member beginning to soften within you.

"I love you." You whisper in his ear.

"I love you too, fiancé." He says, causing you to giggle as he places a kiss on your shoulder before allowing you to get up and get cleaned up.

So, we're really doing this thing, huh?

This thing called life with Kim Taehyung.

Absolutely, yes. 100%. 

You'd do it over and over again, just as long as he was by your side.

#bts #bts fanfiction #taehyung fanfiction #taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung x reader #kth x reader #writing #perfectly wrong #perfectly wrong drabbles #kth series #taehyung fluff #bts fluff #kim taehyung fluff #kth fluff #taehyung smut #bts smut #kim taehyung smut #kth smut

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

"Home of the Lost: Chapter 14"

Let me know what you think! 💜

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

Summer, 1891

"Do you think we can ever return to London?"

Marko looked up at the girl sitting across from him. Her face held a look of guilt - after all, she had been the main cause of their rapid decision to move.

"Maybe in a few decades when everything is forgotten."

She nodded, twirling one of her curls between her fingers. "Marko?"

"Hm?"

"I didn't mean to let the - to let it go that far."

"I know, love. We got out of there alive, that's the important thing."

She nodded, taking her red notebook from the table before writing in it.

She had always wondered how the two of them could be so similar yet so different. Her sires, brothers, surrogate parents - whatever was best depending on the situation. When she had been changed back in 1887 - which now seemed centuries ago - she hadn't had the best control over her thirst. She still hadn't, but it was getting better.

A lack of control meant several things. One: one had to feed often. Two: The killings were more brutal. Eleanor had tried to control the hunger, listening closely to whatever Paul and Marko told her. Yet back in 1888, when they had allowed her to hunt alone, it had all gone wrong.

She used to hunt in White Chapel, and as her murders grew more gruesome, the newspapers began to name the killer "Jack the Ripper."

Paul had found her at the body of the second victim and had decided to help her. He had written the notes to Scotland Yard, taunting the police. It had thrown the cops off their trail, but many people were so terrified that the streets were deserted and they could no longer hunt. When Marko found out he was angry. Eleanor had endangered their existence by killing so violently, and Paul had only stimulated her. It had created a slight drift between the small family, and the relationship between Eleanor and Marko still wasn't the same.

So, at the beginning of 1889, they moved. First to Ireland. Then to New York. And now they lived down in the west, in a small town that had never been given an actual name.

"Will you teach me how to paint?"

Marko looked at her, closing his eyes for a bit. "I promised you I would. Come on, if we leave now we can still buy you some equipment."

Eleanor grinned, hugging him tightly. "Thank you!"

He nodded, grabbing his coat. The two vampires walked out the door, taking a carriage to get to the other side of town. There, on the corner of the street, was a small art-supply store.

They were in and out in minutes, having bought not only some canvasses and paint but also an easel and several high-quality brushes. "Can you teach me how to paint a sunset? Or a sunrise? I hardly remember what they looked like."

Marko looked at her and decided right then and there he couldn't stay angry. He had been like her once too, yet he had been alone. "Let's just start with learning how to paint."

She smiled, taking his hand as she stopped walking. "I'm really glad you two found me, you know."

"No need to suck up to me, Elle. Go on, if you want to hunt, you can go alone this time."

"Really? Oh, thank you! I promise, no more unwanted massacres!"

He laughed, taking the supplies home, as the younger girl stayed behind. She wandered the streets for a bit before stopping in front of the hospital. Hospitals were easy places. Many people came out, and when they found a teen in need of some help, they'd be more than willing to do just so.

"Look at that," a cold voice said from behind her as she just finished her - for lack of a better word - meal. Startled, she looked up, her red eyes staring at the two men standing behind her. "I told you there was another fucking bloodsucker here."

"Wh- who are you?"

"You got the stakes?"

Eleanor froze. Hunters. She looked around, realising she was quite literally driven into a corner. She cursed under her breath, jumping up in hopes of flying away. She stumbled, falling down. Laying on the ground, she realised she had probably just sealed her fate. "Please, please don't -"

She felt silent as the two men began to laugh. In the moonlight, she could see their fangs, and her fear made place for confusion.

"Fuck, you really are a newbie, aren't you?" said one of them, while the other apologised for scaring her.

"What- who are you?"

"My name's David. This is Dwayne."

"Im-"

"Kid, are you okay?" Eleanor looked up, glad to see Paul standing at the alley entrance. She nodded, although she didn't seem to be sure. "Let's go home."

"Not so fast," David stopped Paul, his hand resting in his shoulder. "This is no way to treat your friends."

"We ain't friends."

"We will be."

Dwayne hadn't listened to the conversation, not really anyway. David always had this habit of showing off and acting tough - and tonight was no difference. Instead, he turned to the girl. She couldn't be older than seventeen, and even that was a guess. She was young, in both human and vampire years. Dwayne knew what David's intention was. Forming a bigger 'family'. More vampires meant more protection. Younger vampires were often more impressionable, and therefore easier to manipulate into joining a family. The vampire David was talking with, however, seemed way older. Older than David even. Dwayne knew right then and there, somehow, that they would probably join the family - or at least become friends. Right then and there, he decided that no matter the outcome of tonight, he wouldn't let the girl become a victim of whatever would go down between the other vampires. Vampires were messy, and she deserved to live a life in which she wouldn't get dragged into their messes.

Eleanor woke up, startled by the feeling of someone holding her. The memories of earlier that day came flooding back to her. She was no longer alone in her painting.

"Paul?"

He woke up. "What's up?"

"I just really want to go home," she murmured softly as she hugged him.

#the lost boys #marko #david #paul #dwayne #the lost boys 1987 #tlb #star #tlb 1987 #home of the lost #long post

[fandomfindings]

Doughnuts

Pairing: (Five Hargreeves x Reader)

Word Count: 1.8K

Warning(s): A few swears

Summary: A Five Hargreeves imagine where he sneaks you out of your house to spend the night with him and his siblings at a local doughnut shop. 

A/N: In this story I imagine Five to be a bit older. While I am aware he time jumps when he is 13 I can’t see him being interested in having a significant other at that age. Of course you can imagine him how you please, but I thought I should make my idea known as the author. Please enjoy the story.

----------

"Are you sure you can't come with us tonight? I think it'll be fun," Five said as he begrudgingly walked you out of his room so you could head home.  

"I think so too but you know how my folks are," You replied as you both descended the stairs. "They barely want me around you guys, let alone sneaking out at night to do so."

Five rolled his eyes, knowing the dislike your parents had for his family to be real. "It's just some harmless fun."

"I know, but they don't see it that way, Fivie," You tried to explain, turning to face him as you reached the entrance of the mansion.

"We can get Allison to rumor them," Five plotted.

"We are not getting Allison to rumor my parents! Are you crazy?"

"Yes," Five answered shortly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, making you roll your eyes in response.

"I've got to go," You stated bummed, you, of course, wanted to go, but you knew your parents wouldn't have it. You were lucky to spend more than a few hours with the Hargreeves and be dating Five.

"Stay," Five said, moving you closer to him by pulling at your arms.

You smiled sadly at your boyfriend, "You know I can't."

"But- the fuck you looking at?" Five began in a soft tone but quickly shifted once he caught sight of his brother Klaus. Klaus was walking by when he caught a glance of you two, making kissy faces. Five didn't like that.

Klaus said nothing. He merely raised his hands in mock surrender, with a face to match. You did find it interesting that Five still didn't like showing some of his softer qualities to his siblings sometimes, but you knew that's just who he was as a person.

You chuckled at the interaction between the siblings, you then placed a quick peck to Five's lips before telling him goodbye.

----------

A few hours had passed since you left the Hargreeves residence. In that time, you made yourself do random tasks to keep your mind off the adventure you'd be missing. You even succumbed to doing your homework despite it being the weekend.

As you finished up the last of it, you heard a small thud coming from your window. You ignored it, not thinking much of the noise, but then you heard it again and again.

Deciding to check out the repeated sound, you went to your window only to see your boyfriend. A smile quickly appeared on your face. Five smiled as well as he tossed another pebble at your window.

"You're literally throwing rocks at my window," You said with humor once you finally opened the thing separating you and Five.

"Romantic aren't I," Five commented, dramatically outstretching his arms and raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, sure." You replied sarcastically, causing Five to smile even more. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm busting you out," Five explained spatial jumping into your room. It made you jump in surprise a bit, for Five was previously in front of you but now behind.

"What about my parents?"

"They've been asleep for a while now," Five reassured, shoving his hands in his pocket with a half-cocked smile.

"How long have you been out there?" You wondered out loud, not even realizing your parents had already called it a night.

"Long enough, now come on."

You hesitated, glancing between your bedroom door, Five, and the window. It didn't take you long to make up your mind. "Fine," You said, quickly slipping on a pair of shoes.

You looked to Five ready to try and sneak your way past your hopefully sleeping parents and out of the house. However, Five had other ideas. He outstretched his arm to you, even though you were confused at first you took it.

"Hold on," Your boyfriend instructed, lapping his hand over the one you had placed on his bicep.

Before you knew it, you had gone from your bedroom to your front yard in seemingly no time. Your stomach instantly churned, your body obviously not use to the sensation.

"I think I'm going to be sick," You said dramatically, reaching for your stomach, releasing the tight grip you had on your boyfriend.

"Save it for the doughnuts," Five quipped back, taking hold of your hand and whisking you away from your front yard.

You two hadn't gotten far, maybe to the end of the street when you realized something.

"Oh shit, I forgot to grab my wallet. Can you take me back?" You asked Five, stopping him from walking any further.

"Our dad's a billionaire I think money is the least of your problems," said a sudden voice as an arm wrapped around your shoulder.

You looked over and saw that the rest of the Hargreeves siblings stood there, waiting for you and Five. The arm that was now rested upon yours was Diego's. However, it was speedily removed thanks to Five moving you just out of Diego's reach, eyes squinted.

Ignoring your boyfriend's actions, you asked aloud, chuckling, "What's the most?"

"Deciding what donuts your gonna get," Ben said with a smile before walking in front of everyone else, signaling the start of the late-night journey.

----------

The trip to the doughnut shop was quick. It was called Griddy's Doughnuts. You remember Five and the others mentioning the place in passing, but this was the first time you would be joining them, and you were excited.

You all entered the shop, it appearing more like a diner. The joint was lively, but not too much for a Saturday night. Soft music played from a jukebox, and patrons chatted among themselves. You got lost in the atmosphere for a bit before felling a tug at your waist. Five was directing you in the direction his siblings had walked off to in your temporary absence.

It was a small spot by the windows. The siblings had already moved two tables together as if it was second nature to them. All eight of you sat down in no particular way. You ended up sitting between Five and Vanya and across from Allison.

Not long after you all sat down, a waitress came over; she seemed nice enough; you didn't catch her name though. You were already too engrossed in a conversation with Ben about a book you had recently finished.

You realized Luther had requested the waitress bring an array of doughnuts to the table, not really caring about the flavors. Despite the large number of doughnuts, Luther had ordered, the waitress was not surprised; she was used to the Hargreeves.

Conversations followed, along with doughnuts and laughter. You had never heard so much from the siblings despite knowing them for so long and dating Five for quite a while. You were having the time of your life. It was nice to spend time with your close friends and boyfriend, especially without them at each other's necks. Well mostly.

"So who's going to be the first to puke?" Diego questioned, slinging his arm across the back of Ben's chair.

"Vanya," almost everyone besides yourself said in unison.

"What? No. Don't act like you guys haven't before," Vanya objected, setting the doughnut she had in her hand down.

"Yeah, but Vanya, it's usually you," pointed out Luther.

"Maybe it'll be Five," said Vanya.

"Yeah, right, I've never -," Five began but was interrupted before he could finish his rebuttal.

"Yes, you did. Remember last year when you -," Ben started, but like Five was also interrupted.

"That was one time!" Five shouted, not letting Ben finish his story. You would be sure to ask one of them about it later.

"He's just trying to act cool because (Y/N)'s here," Diego remarked, smirking.

"Oh, I'm not acting asshole."

"Maybe it'll be (Y/N)," Allison interjected, trying to stop her two brothers from arguing any further.

"No way, my baby's tough," stated Five as he tightened the grip of the arm he had around your shoulders.

"Get a room, you two," Luther said, rolling his eyes jokingly.

"Oh, we will," Five challenged, squinting his eyes at his brother.

"I think it'll be Klaus. I mean, look how green he is," like Allison, you changed the target, blushing at Five's statement.

"I'm always this green," Klaus tried to deflect once he heard his name get thrown into the debate.

"Yeah, uh-huh." You said, clearly not believing your friend.

The discussion continued for a bit longer, everyone having their own opinions. You stuck with your guess of Klaus, Vanya agreeing with you. Allison and Diego voted for you since you were the newbie, and everyone else voted for Vanya. After a little more than an hour of banter, you all decided to leave.

Quicker than you all had thought, you got your answers to the puking debate. You and Vanya had won. Klaus rid his guts of the many doughnuts he had consumed in the past three or so hours, causing everyone to look away in disgust.

You said goodbye to all your friends as you and Five left for your home, you only gave Klaus an air hug for safe measures.

The walk at first was quiet; you both content with the silence as you walked hand in hand. A smile was placed upon your lips; it hadn't left since you entered the shop. Five noticed the whole time, and it made him happy.

"I'm guessing you had fun," said Five, interrupting the silence.

"You would be correct," You replied, the smile growing even wider if that was possible.

"I'm glad."

"Thank you for busting me out," You joked, referring back to the words he had used a few hours ago.

"It was my pleasure," Five responded, bringing your hand up to his lips and kissing it softly.

Unfortunately, you had reached your home too soon for your liking. You wanted to spend more time with your friends and Five. They brought much happiness to your life, especially today. You knew you would see them again, hopefully soon, but you knew today would hold a special place in your heart.

Five jumped you and him back up to your room, much like how the night began. Your stomach churned again, but you were a bit more prepared for it, so it wasn't as bad.

"How'd you do that?" You questioned Five realizing you hadn't earlier in the night. Tonight was the first time you had seen him teleport with someone else.

"A little trick I've been working on thought it'd come in handy," Five smirked.

"Handy as in sneaking me out of my house?" You asked, already knowing the answer.

"Exactly."

"We'll have to use it more often then," You smiled, tugging at the tie he was wearing and bringing him in for a kiss.

----------

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this imagine as much as I enjoyed writing it. I finished watching season two about a week ago and I have been wanted to write a Five imagine, him being my favorite character. Who is your favorite Umbrella Academy Character? Anyway please let me know what you guys think!

Lots of Love <3

#tua #tua2 #tua x you #tua x reader #tua imagine #the umbrella academy #the umbrella academy x you #the umbrella academy x reader #the umbrella academy imagine #five #five hargreeves #five hargreeves imagine #five hargreeves one shot #five hargreeves fanfiction #five hargreeves x reader #five hargreeves x reader imagine #five x reader #five imagine #five one shot #five fanfiction #number five #number five x reader #number five imagine #number five one shot #number five fanfic #number five fanfiction #number five x you #five hargreeves x you #five hargreeves x reader one shot #five hargreeves x reader fanfiction

[amazingphanisnotonfire-imagines]

Sweet Pea, Fangs & Toni//you left me no choice but to stay here forever

Request: Hey, can I request the reader dating Toni, sweet and fangs? Where they break up with the reader because she doesn't want to join the farm and she's go to Archie's house and they kiss but someone sees them and blackmail her when she gets back together with lover three lovers and she tells them what happened and they forget her and only if you feel comfortable writing this and btw I love your writing

hey! i hope you like this! it’s angsty, but with a happy ending! 

It’s weird to think back to before. 

Before The Farm took over Riverdale. Before it stole your neighbours, your friends even some of your family. 

Before it took them. 

For months The Farm had just been a lingering threat, something that ran in the background while you got on with the rest of your life. And yeah, every so often you would see a neighbours house packed up, or a classmate wouldn’t be at school for a few days and then they’d turn up in all white, but for the most part it didn’t bother you. 

You hadn’t been directly affected by Edgar Evernever and his cult, you just knew people that had. You watched Betty try to desperately save her mother and sister from the clutches of the people who seemed to kill with kindness. You would watch her and notice how she never seemed to breathe properly, even during class her breaths were always half what they should be. 

You never thought it would happen to you, and then it did and it was far worse than you’d ever imagined. 

Sunday the 7th of March was supposed to be a great day. The sun was shining, birds were singing and there was a light breeze blowing through Riverdale, which was surprising for the season. Usually it’s still quite chilly this time of year, but you could leave with just a light jacket thrown over your t-shirt. 

As you said goodbye to your mom, your mind was too busy thinking of other things. Toni, Fangs and Sweet Pea were the only things you could think about as you closed the door behind you and did one last check of your pockets to make sure you had everything, and a small smile ghosted your lips as you thought about what the four of you would be doing today. 

Maybe you would spend all day at Pop’s. You’d steal Fangs’ fries or Sweet Pea’s milkshake while Toni distracted them. The four of you would argue about who was paying, despite knowing that in the end it would be split between all of you. 

Or maybe you’d go to the quarry and build a bonfire to light when the sun sets. You’d stop off at the store first to get supplies for a picnic and you’d spend the day underneath the sun, surrounded by your favourite people. 

And then when the sun set and the temperature dropped, the four of you would walk through the dark streets, huddled together for warmth but none of you would really feel the cold anyway. You’d be too busy laughing at Fangs’ stupid jokes or your realisation that you had homework due the next day that you hadn’t even started. 

However, as soon as Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni turned up on your front step, all dressed in white and making you jump about three foot when you turned around and they were just staring at you, you knew that whatever plans you had imagined, would not be happening...maybe ever again. 

As soon as you saw the matching white outfits and the same distant stare in their eyes, you knew. Your heart sank as you tried to force a smile, but you’re sure it looked more distorted than you’d wanted. Your lips were pulled too tight, your eyes a little too wide with fear. 

“Oh, er. Hey guys.” You forced out, almost dropping your keys in the process and you quickly scrambled to catch them up. 

When you looked at them again, it was like staring at three strangers. The people you’d grown up with and fallen in love with were long gone, instead replaced with empty vessels whose only purpose was to spread the message of The Farm. 

You now knew how Betty felt, and soon you found it difficult to breathe. 

“Why are you crying?” Toni was the first to speak and you hadn’t even realized you were crying until she pointed it out. 

“This is a good thing.” Sweet Pea smiled and placed a hand on your shoulder. His smile was fake and his hand was cold so you shrugged it off and the two of you watched as his hand fell back to his side. 

“We’re going to be healed.” Fangs added. 

“None of you need healing.” You’d argued, despite knowing how pointless it was. Over a day it seemed they’d been sucked into The Farm with false promises and fake kindness. 

“Sure we do.” Toni smiled. “And you can be too.” 

“Yeah. You just need to join us.” Sweet Pea said and your eyes widened. 

There was no way in hell you were joining them. Either this was some huge unfunny joke, or they had actually been brainwashed because the Toni, Fangs and Sweet Pea from a few days ago, knew your opinions on The Farm. And they knew you would never join, no matter what. You thought they felt the same, bu clearly you didn’t know them as well as you thought you did. 

“I’d rather not.” You shook your head. “Why don’t you guys come in and we can talk about this?” You tried and motioned back to the door. The three of them shared a look before staring back at you. 

There was once a time when you would look into their eyes and feel like you were coming home. But when you looked in their eyes this time, they just felt cold. Like there was nothing familiar left.

A whole lifetime together was just gone. All past memories now felt tainted, and any hope for a future together had just died a slow, horrible death right in front of your eyes. If you concentrated hard enough you could see the remnants of your relationship lying limply on the floor, while members of The Farm kicked it.

“No.” Fangs said and you stared at him in disbelief. 

“Why not?” You’d argued. “I really think we should talk about this.” You remember being able to feel your heartbeat in your face and you were sure at one point it was going to explode. 

Who knows what they were doing there. Betty had mentioned something about floating babies and sadistic rituals, and you weren’t sure about the rest of the Riverdale population, but you sure as hell knew that you did not want that to happen. Not to you or anyone else.  

“No.” Sweet Pea had cut you off and you stared back at him annoyed. 

“We need to go now.” Toni added and took a quick glance around. “It’s for the greater good.” 

“The greater good?” You’d repeated. “Who’s?” 

“Yours.” The three of them had said at the same time and you felt your blood run cold. 

“Please.” You’d begged. You would have done literally everything for them to turn and tell you that it was a joke, or even for them to suddenly see sense and think ‘what the fuck are we doing?’ But they didn’t. Instead they just stared at you, eyes unblinking and faces unresponsive to you crying. 

Normally you could’t let one tear escape before at least one of them noticed and was on top of you, squashing you in a gigantic hug that only grew as the others joined. 

“We can talk about this. I promise. Just please don’t go back.” You pleaded. Fangs’ lip wobbled but he soon recovered and instead just averted his gaze. 

Sweet Pea and Toni did the same thing, before Sweet Pea took a deep breath and stepped towards you. 

You were so sure he was going to wrap his arms around you and pull you into his chest, and you were sure if he did you’d never leave. He’d just be stuck with you like this and you’d make Toni and Fangs join and that’s just how the four of you would be known. 

Its a hell of a lot better than whatever the hell this is. 

“It’s over.” He said and more tears rolled down your cheek. 

“What?” You asked, your jaw slack as you tried to grab onto them. You needed to make them stay. If they stayed you could help. You could figure out why they felt like they needed to leave. 

Why did they need to join a cult?

Maybe it was your own fault. Maybe you hadn’t been paying enough attention to them. Maybe they’d been crying out for help for months now but you didn’t notice and now it was too late. 

“We’re sorry.” Toni whispered and pulled her arm from your grip. 

You watched them walk away, and no matter how hard you tried to will yourself to follow, you just felt yourself sliding down onto the dusty ground.

You don’t know how long you stayed there for, just staring at the dead flowers surrounding the front door. You just remember the sun setting, casting the Southside in shadows, all of which seemed to follow you wherever you went. 

They left you, so you did the only thing you could. You ran. 

You ran through the cold and grey streets of Southside, until you found yourself outside the house of the only other person that knew you almost as well as they did. 

Archie Andrew’s. 

And for a good five minutes you just stood outside and stared at the front door, listening to the movement coming from inside the home. The light flicked on behind the door and Archie’s frame came into view. You couldn’t quite force yourself to look at his face, so instead you looked at Vegas who was happily bouncing up and down at the possibility of being cuddled by someone that didn’t live with him. 

“Hey Y/n. What are you doing?” He asked and a sob escaped your lips. His arms wrapped around as he pulled you inside, and slammed the door shut behind you. And then you followed him up the creaky stairs, Vegas running behind the two of you. 

“I’m so stupid.” You sobbed once inside his room. You hoped the dull lamp would hide just how sad you were, but you had a feeling Archie knew from the moment he saw you. 

The smell of freshly washed laundry made you feel a little better as you looked at the pile of clothes sat on Archie’s bed. You knew he wouldn’t put them away until at least Tuesday, he always did. Archie wrapped his arms around you, pulling your gaze from the clothes. 

His sweatshirt felt soft against your skin and you could feel your tears dampening the material. “A part of me thought it would just die down. That I wouldn’t be affected. But now it’s taken the three most important people away from me and I don’t know what to do.” You cry, your words mixed and stumbled into each other and you’re not entirely sure how Archie managed to even understand you, but somehow he did. 

“What do you mean?” He asked and stroked the top of your head. 

“The Farm. Sweet Pea, Fangs and Toni joined The Farm and broke up with me.” You cried and you swore Archie’s heart skipped a beat. 

“Wha-at?” He stuttered and pulled away from you. “They’re at The Farm?”

“Yeah.” You nodded and let out another loud sob. A breeze from the open window made the curtains flutter a little and the warm tears rolling down your cheeks turned cold. 

“I’m really sorry Y/n.” He sighed and pulled you in for another hug. “You’re not joining though are you?” He asked, a hint of panic in his voice as he looked at you, his eyes full of concern and something else that you couldn’t quite place. 

“What? No!” You replied, almost offended that he’d think something like that. 

“Good.” He sighed. “I don’t know what I would have done if you’d joined.” He’d added and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. 

He was acting weird and a part of you was terrified that he’d also joined. You don’t think you could have coped if he’d gone too. When you look back, it just feels like something that was slowly getting close to you. 

First it was someone that went to the same book club as your mom. And then it was a neighbour from down the road. It was a girl from school that you sat beside in Chemistry, followed by a closer friends mom. And then it was a cousin, and now it was them. 

“I don’t know what to do.” You sighed and looked at Archie. You’re probably looked completely and utterly broken, to be honest, you felt like that too. So what compelled Archie to do what he did was beyond you. 

One minute you’re crying because one you’ve just been broken up with, and two the people you loved the most had broken up with you to join a cult. They’d chosen Edgar Evernever over you! 

And the next thing you know, Archie’s warm lips are moving against your own, and for some bizarre reason you were kissing him back. Your eyes widened when you realised what you were doing and you soon pushed yourself away from him, forcing the two of you to stare at each other with matching expressions. 

“Shit Y/n, I’m sorry. I er, I don’t even know why I did that.” He rambled quickly and looked around his room, desperate for a distraction...or a time machine. 

“No, no.” You shook your head frantically. You didn’t want to lose anyone else. “It’s fine. It’s already forgotten about.” You added and forced a smile making him chuckle awkwardly and rest his hand on your shoulder. 

“I’ll get you some ice cream and then we can start planning on how to get them back.” He replied, his red hair catching the moonlight streaming in through the window and you nodded slowly, trying to get your thoughts in order. 

Ice cream, plan, save them. 

It sounded easy enough.

But that was then, and this is now. 

This is after. 

The dust has settled, leaving behind the remnants of a life once lived. The Farm is slowly falling apart, yet there’s no sign of any of them leaving, and so it’s just you left alone to live out your life as if nothing has happened. 

You go to school and if they’re there, they ignore you, but it’s not like you could even get close to them anyway. You pretend you don’t see them when they sit together at lunch, and thankfully they do the same. It still hurts, but it would hurt more if they looked at you. 

At least this way you can pretend that they’ve been brainwashed to forget you, instead of them just choosing to ignore you. 

It’s been grey since they left, or at least it’s has been to you. The sun no longer shines and the birds no longer sing. It’s just a whole lot of nothing. You go through the day feeling empty, but pretend you don’t. 

You force laughs and smiles when Archie says something funny, and when he smiles at you, it does make you feel a little better. Because at least he’s no longer worried about you. 

A knock at the door forces Archie to pause his boring TV show and you silently thank whoever is outside. He huffs and stands and you fake a pout before following him downstairs. You’ve been craving popcorn since the moment you got here, and now seems like the perfect excuse to get some. 

Plus, you’re hoping that either whoever is at the door is going to be a while, or if that fails, making your food will take at least half an hour. 

“Do you want anything?” 

“Nah, I’ll just steal whatever you have.” He grins in reply and you roll your eyes at him. 

You grab the bag of popcorn Archie hid in the cupboard and start pouring it into a bowl. The door opens and you hear hushed voiced making you frown in confusion and spill some of the food on the counter. 

You curse and quickly pick it up, shoving a few of them in your mouth before grabbing the bowl and heading back out to where Archie is stood. 

He glances back at you and you’re about to tell him that you’re gonna go back upstairs, and if he’s not up there within the next two seconds you’re putting something else on to watch, when you hear someone you never thought you’d ever hear again. 

“Y/n?” Sweet Pea asks quietly and you freeze. The bowl of popcorn you were holding falls to the floor with a loud clatter and popcorn spills out.  Archie looks back at you, an unreadable expression on his face and you stare at him wide eyed. 

“Do you want me to get rid of them?” He whispers and you shrug lamely. You honestly don’t know what you want. If this was a few months ago, you would have thrown that popcorn bowl to the floor, shoved Archie out of the way and thrown yourself at all three of them. 

It wouldn’t be a pretty reunion with tears and snot and everything, but it was the only thing you could think about. For a while it was the only thing that kept you going, the hope that they would come back to you and the four of you could go back to normal. 

You could resume your endless texts and phone calls until the early hours of the morning, all of you whispering as to not walk anybody up. You could continue to sneak out once your parents had gone to bed, and the race to sneak back in before they woke up. 

The days nights spent at the Wyrm watching Fangs and Sweet Pea beat newbies at pool while you kept Toni company during her shift and she’d sneak the three of you free drinks for the night. Only to revoke that rule when Sweet Pea or Fangs would act far too big headed for their own good. 

You would have given anything to sit underneath the bleachers in the bitter January cold, bundled in jackets and hats while carving stupid stuff into the wood and kicking dirt around. 

But now, you don’t know. Because even if you could get back to that. Even if by some miracle, you could forget about everything that had happened between the four of you. If you forgave them for leaving you behind, you don’t know if you could. You don’t know if you wanted to. 

After all, they did leave. 

You don’t know why they joined, it all happened so quickly you’re not sure if you missed the warning signs or not. Maybe it was your fault, and if it was, did they deserve to be with someone that would miss a collective cry for help? 

No, they didn’t. 

And so you pushed down that gut feeling of seeing them again. Seeing them properly. You pushed away the daydreams of the reunion and you pushed away any plans you had for a future with them. 

It wasn’t fair on any of you. 

“Yes.” You whisper and he nods before turning back to face them.

“She isn’t here.” He starts and you don’t have to see Sweet Pea to know he’s rolling his eyes. 

“Please dude.” Fangs starts and you hold back a sob. 

“We just want to talk to her.” Toni adds and your expression soften. Some of the ice surrounding your heart thaws and now you can’t help the second thoughts creeping into your mind. 

What if you can get back to how it was? You’ve known them for as long as you can remember, that’s got to mean something. Even if you can’t go back to loving them (who are you kidding, you never stopped) you could maybe get back to some sort of friendship, and then who knows what could happen.

“It’s fine.” You force yourself to speak and Archie stares at you surprised. 

“Are you sure?” He mumbles and you nod quickly. You’re sure you’re walking in slow motion as you make your way towards the door. It’s 3 steps if that, but it feels like 300, and then finally when you manage to grab onto the door and swing it open, Sweet Pea, Toni and Fangs stare back at you, sorrow and guilt swimming in their eyes.

Sweet Pea shoves his hands in his jean pockets, Toni puts hers in her jacket and Fangs just stares at his. None of you know what to say. 

You’re hoping that if they came here, they at least knew what they were going to do. But then again, after the countless of possible reunions you’ve imagined in your head, you’re just as clueless as to what to do as they are. 

So instead you just stare at them, and will yourself not to cry. Archie shifts awkwardly behind you and places a comforting hand on your shoulder and you feel yourself relax a little. 

Since they left, there’s barely been a time that he hasn’t left your side. He’s been constantly trying to cheer you up or helping you plan on how to break the three of them out. None of your plans have worked, but it’s the thought that counts. And at least he can make you smile, even if some of them are fake. 

He was already your best friend before all of this, but now it’s like you’re even closer. It’s the only good thing that has come out of this, and you hope that now they’re back, they two of you can remain close. 

“You’re mom said this is where you’d be.” Toni is the first to speak and everyone looks at her. She shrinks under the pressure, and you watch as she shakes her head and whispers something to herself before standing up straighter. 

“Okay.” You nod and she looks at Sweet Pea and then Fangs. 

“We wanted to say we’re sorry.” Fangs tries to help, but even that comes out a bit flat and he sighs. What do you say to someone after coming back from a cult? 

“Okay.” You repeat and look around. 

“We are really sorry Y/n.” Sweet Pea finishes and you finally force yourself to look each of them in the eye. 

No matter how hard you try, you can’t stay mad at them. You don’t think you could even if you wanted to. Yeah, what they did sucked, and it hurt like hell. It always will. But they’re back and they’re standing on Archie Andrew’s doorstep for you. 

“We can’t even to begin to explain how sorry we are. We have no idea what even happened. It all happened so quickly and I guess well, I guess that’s what they just do. They pull you in somehow and then the next thing you know you’re wearing matching outfits and having nightly meetings with half the town.” Toni rambles, and Sweet Pea and Fangs nod along. “We’re sorry we left, and we’re sorry we asked you to join and we’re so sorry we broke up with you.” 

“It’s fine.” You say after a deep breath, and surprisingly you actually mean it. Despite everything, they are still your friends no matter what happens between you all. “Really. Clearly there was a reason why you thought joining a cult would solve all of your problems, and I must have missed it somehow.” You add and they stare at you confused. 

“I love you.” Toni says and wraps you up in a hug. You’re a little taken back, but accept it anyway. It’s nice to be wrapped in her arms again. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say it back. I’ve just missed you and I’m so glad we’re back.” 

“I-er. I love you too.” You stutter. “All of you.” You look at Sweet Pea and Fangs and they look down shyly. “It’s just, there’s something I need to tell you firs-” 

“Aw, isn’t this a nice little reunion.” A tall man claps slowly, as he approaches the five of you. You and Archie stare at each other confused, while Sweet Pea, Toni and Fangs look around nervously. 

The man who you can now tell is dressed in white stands at the bottom of the steps, his white t-shirt looks a little grey in areas and he hastily tucks it into his jean, his smile only growing when he makes eye contact with you. 

You shift uncomfortably and the four of them automatically step further in front of you. They share a confused look and Archie soon drops their gaze, instead deciding to stand beside you. 

“What do you want Albert?” Toni asks and her eyes narrow at the tall blonde standing in front of you. 

“Just let it go. The Farm is gone.” Sweet Pea rolls his eyes. 

“Actually.” His smile grows and his eyes narrow as he looks straight past them and at you instead. “I’m not here for you. You three are weak anyway. You ran at the first sign of trouble.” 

“No, we left when the FED’s came.” Fangs mumbles making you stifle a laugh and he looks at you pleasantly surprised to have made you laugh. He’s missed that sound, they all have and they all really hope they’ll be able to hear it every day again. 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” He pinches Toni’s cheek and taps Sweet Pea’s as he makes his way up the stairs. “I’m here for her.” He says and stares directly at you. You swallow thickly, but the lump in your throat remains and you quickly look at the rest of the group. 

“Me?” You ask confused. “Why?” Your voice shakes, no matter how hard you try not to sound scared. 

“Yeah, why her?” Archie asks and Albert switches his attention from you to him. 

“I’m so glad you asked!” He grins gleefully, it’s concerning how much this guy is smiling, especially considering everything that is happening to his home. “I’m here to ask her to kindly persuade you guys to come back.” 

“And why would I do that?” You narrow your eyes and stand up straighter. 

“Because if you don’t.” He starts and leans in towards you. “I might have to tell them about a kiss you shared with a certain red-head, not even 8 hours after they broke up with you.” He whispers in your ear and your eyes widen. 

He laughs and steps backwards, making sure to look at each of you individually before looking back at you. His eyes glint in the sunlight but there’s nothing welcoming about it. 

“So, what are you going to do Y/n?” He asks making you sigh and look at the floor. 

You regretted it as soon as it happened and you have been regretting it ever since. 

“Me and Archie kissed.” You blurt out and everyone stares at you. “But it only happened once and it was a huge mistake...no offence Archie.” 

“None taken.” He nods.

“I was upset and it was the day you left and I didn’t know what to do. So I came here because I didn’t want to be alone and I genuinely just wanted to hang out with a friend but I was crying and sad and a bit angry and he kissed me and I kissed him back. But I stopped after like a second and we’ve never done it since. We haven’t even talked about it.” 

“Y/n?” Sweet Pea places his hands on your shoulders, forcing you to look at him. 

“It’s fine.” He nods. “I think it’s the least we deserve.” He adds and looks behind him. Toni and Fangs nod in agreement and you feel yourself calm down. 

“Now dude, you’re really upsetting our girl, and you’re annoying the hell out of me. So can you leave?” Fangs asks, and shoves the guy down the stairs. He stumbles and falls but quickly stands up again and huffs at you all. 

“We made the mistake of following you once. We’re not going to do it again.” Sweet Pea adds and sends a small smile to you. 

His fingers reach out towards you nervously and you find yourself having to suppress a smile at seeing a nervous Sweet Pea. It’s something you’ve only seen a handful of times and it’s very cute. 

You close the gap between your fingers, giving his hand a squeeze and his smile grows. 

Fangs has practically kicked Albert back into his creepy white van that he came out of and the five of you wave him off. 

“I’ll see you around Y/n.” Archie glances at the other nervously before quickly disappearing back into his house and a slightly awkward silence surrounds the four of you. Suddenly you feel like you did when you first started dating. 

It was new to all four of you. It’s hard enough to balance a relationship with just two people in it, but four? How the hell were you supposed to do that. All you know is that you liked all of them and they liked you, and so that was enough. 

Maybe it’ll be enough now. At least just for a little bit. Of course there’s going to be long talks and tears and definitely some trauma. But you’ve done all of that before, so maybe you can do it again. 

“Sorry if I was out of line calling you our girl.” Fangs quickly apologises and kicks a few stones around on the ground. 

“You weren’t.” You reply and cup his cheek. “That’s what I am. I always will be.” 

support my writing! if you want! 

#sweet pea #toni topaz #fangs fogarty #sweet pea imagine #sweet pea x reader #sweet pea x you #sweet pea x y/n #toni topaz x reader #toni topaz imagine #toni topaz x y/n #toni topaz x you #fangs fogarty imagine #fangs fogarty x reader #fangs fogarty x you #fangs fogarty x y/n #riverdale #riverdale imagine

[rosemaidenvixen]

A Secret’s Worth

Chapter 19: Toby

Ao3

Toby's chest hurt so bad it actually felt like someone was literally stabbing him in the heart. Still he didn't slow down, if anything he pedaled even harder. 

The girls were riding neck and neck with him, in just as much of a hurry to reach their destination.

He shouldn’t have flipped out at Jim yesterday. He shouldn’t have thrown back what he knew about the scars on his ankle just because he was pissed. Now this whole thing was ten times worse and it was all his fault.

It had been so hard, watching Jim go home every day for the past month and forcing himself not to say anything, even when Jim started to look more and more anxious every day. But you know who had it even worse? The guy doing the actual suffering.

Toby had heard the phrase victim blaming before, but he never really got it until now. He’d just been so insanely furious hearing Jim yell at them for lying when he hadn’t said an honest thing to them in months, and when they’d been doing everything they could to help him he hadn’t responded right--

The guy’s mom locked him in the basement and slashed up his ankle; what the hell was the ‘right’ way to act after that?

Now Jim was hurt really bad and he’d had to go to the hospital and he wasn’t in school today and he wasn’t answering his phone--

Toby needed to see if Jim was ok.

A throbbing pain that had nothing to do with the strain of pedaling uphill stabbed through his chest.

Or if not ok, alive and kicking.

He skidded to a stop on Jim’s lawn, stumbling off of his bike and running up to pound on the front door “Jim you’ve got about ten seconds to open this door before I’m breaking it down!”

Ok maybe that was the wrong thing to start off with considering he was there to apologize, but Toby would just add it to the list of things to grovel for forgiveness for after he saw that Jim was alright.

And just when he was about to make good on his threat, a hand grabbed his shoulder and started tugging him away. Toby jerked around to see who it was.

“Don’t try to stop me Darci,”

Her expression was soft in a way that made him feel even worse “I’m not, but Toby, I don't think anyone's home. All the lights are off and the car’s gone,” 

He snapped back around, heart plummeting when he saw that she was right. 

Jim and Dr. Lake weren’t here.

“And your Nana’s watching,”

Toby whirled, spotting Phil, one of Nana’s chess buddies, sitting in his car in their driveway with Nana stepping into the passenger seat. He stood there frozen for a few seconds before darting around Darci and sprinting across the cul de sac.

“Nana, wait! Stop stop stop!”

Phil, clearly startled, stopped the car in the middle of the street, Nana rolling down her window and poking her head out “Toby? What on earth is the matter?”

Besides the fact he didn’t want Nana witnessing him busting into Jim’s house, just because Jim had gone radio silent on them didn’t mean that Nana had stopped talking to Dr. Lake. So there was a chance she knew something they didn’t.

He slowed to a stop, panting “Have-- have you- have you heard what’s going on with Jim?”

Immediately her face shifted from confused to contrite “Oh yes Barbara told me, so sad that he got hurt, but he’s doing much better now,”

Toby heard the girls scurry up behind him.

“Do you know when they’ll be home from the hospital?”

“Didn’t Jim tell you?” Nana glanced at Phil, who took the hint and put the car into park before Nana turned and faced them again “They came home about two hours ago, but left for their spring break trip right away, Barbara and Jim won’t be back for about ten days,”

Toby actually felt his jaw drop open.

“B...But…” Claire stammered “Are they seriously going backpacking in Yosemite with Jim being all busted up?”

“I was surprised to, but Barbara said that Jim really didn’t want to miss their vacation, so they’re going to San Francisco and staying in a hotel instead,” the corners of Nana’s mouth tugged downwards into a frown, eyebrows drawing together “Did Jim not tell you any of this?”

Ok she had clearly picked up on the fact that things weren’t ‘Ok’ between Jim and them, and normally Toby would be trying to reassure Nana that everything really was cool, but right now he was too busy concentrating on not puking. 

They were gone. For ten days. Ten whole days Jim and Dr. Lake would be gone.

Plenty of time for another 'animal attack'. 

After an uncomfortably long silence Nana leaned back in her seat and redid her belt “I need to get to my cardiologist appointment now, but we can talk more when I get back,”

With that she nodded at Phil, who looked incredibly uncomfortable, but restarted the car and pulled away, leaving the four of them alone in the cul de sac, with nothing to do but slowly pick up their bikes and trudge into Toby’s garage. 

They’d screwed up. He’d screwed up. He’d screwed up so freaking bad. Yeah Jim was being a gigantic freaking hypocrite about the lying, but his mom locks him in the basement every other Tuesday. Of course the guy wasn’t acting rationally. 

He could still see the terrified look on Jim’s face while they yelled at him yesterday crystal clear.

And just because Jim was being a hypocrite didn’t mean that it wasn’t a dick move to lie to him about calling CPS.

And what they did yesterday….

Toby swallowed back another wave of nausea. Just thinking about what he’d done was enough to make him sick, he wanted to go back in time and smack some sense into himself.

He’d let his anger win out over everything else and started firing back at Jim, and then the girls had followed his lead. Pushing Jim so far over the edge that he went and started a fight with Psycho Steve of all people, who put him in the freaking hospital. Now Dr. Lake had taken him out of town and he wasn’t answering his phone--

His train of thought flew off the rails and crashed to a halt.

Jim and Dr. Lake were gone, and wouldn’t be back for over a week. Which meant that their house was going to be completely empty for that whole time.

Before the idea had even finished forming Toby knew what he had to do.

Immediately after propping his bike up against the wall Toby strode over to the toolbench and grabbed the items he was looking for. A doorstop, an unraveled wire coat hanger, and the biggest pair of bolt cutters Nana had been able to find at Home Depot.

Darci was the first to notice him “What are you doing with all that?”

“Snooping,”

Now Mary and Claire were looking at him to “What do you mean?”

“Jim and Dr. Lake are gone for spring break, and I think we all know that Jim is going to ignore any texts or messages we send. So I’m going straight to the source, I’m going into their house to get some real answers,”

The girls all shared an uncertain look “Toby…” Claire said slowly “You know that if you break in they won’t be able to use anything you find as evidence, right?”

He wilted a little, but tightened his grip on the bolt cutters at the same time “I know, but this might be the only chance to find out what’s really happening to Jim. And if I can figure that out, maybe I can figure out how to get Jim to let us help him,”

Toby turned and then hesitated, dragging the toe of his shoe on the concrete “I won’t ask you guys to come with me, but I need to do this,”

Knowing that if he waited any longer he was going to chicken out, Toby raised his foot and strode out of the garage, making a beeline for the Lake house. After a few seconds he heard footsteps behind him as the girls started to follow.

And even though he knew he’d do this alone if he had to, it felt really really good that he didn’t have to.

Once he got to Jim’s garage, Toby pulled a trash can up to the door and stood on it. Boosting him up high enough to wedge the door stop between the garage door and the frame, reaching in with the coathanger until he snagged the cord and pulled it down within arm’s reach. Cord in hand, Toby yanked until he felt it give, allowing him to slide up the garage door with ease.

Stepping down and picking up the trash can, Toby turned to go put it back when he saw Claire, Darci, and Mary staring at him with big eyes.

“Toby…” Mary said slowly “How did you know how to do that?”

“Oh, uh…” he felt his face heat up “Nana showed me how when Meow Meow PI got locked in our garage, then she made me promise not to tell anyone….so please don’t tell anyone,”

“We won’t but you are going to have to teach us that one,”

Once the trash can was back in place they headed in, Toby pulling the garage door shut behind them “Where should we start?” Darci whispered, even though it was only the four of them in the deserted house.

Toby glanced around, tool bench, picnic coolers, spare fridge, chest freezer-- He froze, eyes locked on the chest freezer pushed back against the far wall. The one that was always kept padlocked for reasons he’d never questioned until now. The only reason he could think of to keep a freezer locked would be--

He shoved the idea away before a picture could form in his head. 

But now he needed to see for himself to make sure that the thought he was desperately trying not to think about wasn’t true.

“Here,” he strode over, and with only slightly shaking hands, cut the metal U of the latch off with two snaps of the bolt cutters, the unopened lock clattering to the floor. It was actually easier than he thought it would be, of course the bolt cutters were ginormous compared to the latch.

The girls gathered in close as he popped the now empty latch and slowly lifted the lid.

First off there weren’t any dead bodies staring back at them, so that was good. It looked like the freezer was just stuffed with regular plastic grocery packages. But why put a lock on ordinary food? Maybe they really were worried about racoons, those were a menace in this neighborhood. 

Despite that perfectly rational, reasonable explanation, Toby couldn’t shake the feeling that something looked off about the food in front of him, something that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

It only took a few more seconds of staring for him to figure it out. He didn’t recognize any of the labels on these packages. And he and Jim had done a lot of grocery shopping together. Jim going on and on about all the subtle differences in flavor between different items and different brands.

That’s how Toby knew with absolute certainty that this stuff wasn’t anything you could buy at any grocery store in Arcadia Oaks. Because in all of their trips shopping together, they’d never bought any of the items in this freezer.

Reaching past him, Claire gingerly picked up something shrink wrapped in blue and yellow plastic “Beef sweetbreads?”

Toby eyed the package suspiciously “Bread doesn’t come from beef,”

“Sweetbreads aren’t bread, they’re organ meat,”

“Ew,”

“Hey they’re actually pretty good when you cook them right,”

Even more curious now, they all started reaching in and rifling through the frozen packages in front of them.

“It looks like this is just a bunch of meat,” Darci said while holding up a bag of beef bones by the corner between her thumb and forefinger.

Mary wrinkled her nose at a package of chicken livers “Yeah, but I’ve never seen Jim cook with any of this stuff,” she peered in Toby’s direction “Have you?”

His mouth went dry, nausea creeping back in “No, I haven’t,”

They kept digging, plastic packs of meat piling up on the floor around them, and the deeper they went the weirder things got. Eventually hitting what looked like whole small animals, cleaned and skinned and sealed in shrink wrap. Toby lifted one of them out, guts squirming in his belly “Guys, what are these?”

Claire leaned over and read off a tiny label on the corner of the package “It says whole rabbit,”

This kept getting freakier and freakier, Jim had never cooked rabbit meat before, let alone roasting them whole. 

Darci and Mary cleared off the rest of the rabbits to uncover a massive package at the bottom, one that would have taken all four of them to lift out, bright red of raw muscle showing clearly against the white of the freezer. But unlike everything else in here, this one had clearly been opened and resealed multiple times, with chunks of meat taken off, proving that someone was taking stuff out of this freezer and using it on a regular basis 

“This one says whole bison leg,” Darci said quietly.

A chill went through him, and not because he was standing in front of an open freezer.

“Oh my god, I just can’t--” Mary darted away, running to the wall farthest away from the freezer and slumping against it, gasping and shaking. Claire immediately ran over and put an arm around her shoulders, leaving Toby and Darci standing in front of the freezer.

“Toby,” Darci’s voice was a monotone, her eyes locked on the frozen leg in front of them “Are you absolutely sure that Jim never cooked with any of this stuff,”

“Positive,”

“Then...what do they do with all this?”

Toby’s stomach shrank in on itself “I don’t know,”

Were they trying to bait racoons or something? It was the only thing Toby could think of, but if they were, why? And he was pretty sure there was a lot cheaper stuff out there they could use for racoon bait. But if they weren’t using it as bait then what they hell were they doing with all this weird meat? And why the lock?

Pulling in a deep breath through her nose, Darci slowly started putting the packages they’d taken out back in the freezer “Ok, we’re not going to find anything else out here, we need to clean up and keep looking,”

Fighting past the painful tightness in his abdomen, Toby grabbed a rabbit and joined her. Claire eventually came over to help them, but Mary stayed far away until the lid of the freezer was shut.

“Um, Toby…” she said, walking back up to join them “How are we going to put the lock back on when you cut it off?”

“Easy,” he walked over to the toolbench and picked up a small bottle “Instant set Gorilla glue,”

And with two quick dabs of glue and Mary holding the pieces for him, the lock and the latch looked nearly as good as new. The latch did look a little funky from where the cutters had gone through, but Toby was pretty sure Jim and Dr. Lake wouldn’t notice it.

Now time to search the rest of the house.

Toby headed through the side door into the main house with the girls just behind him, pausing just inside the hall while he tried to figure out the best place to search first.

“Let’s look in Dr. Lake’s bedroom,”

All three of them slowly turned towards Mary.

“I mean…” her cheeks filled with red “If she’s hiding something chances are it would be in there,”

Claire nodded at that “You’re right, let’s go,”

The girls headed towards the stairs, but Toby hung back. Darci paused at the foot of the stairs, glancing back at him “Everything ok Toby?”

Even knowing what he knew, about the basement and the scars and all the other strange stuff. There was a part of him that still thought of Dr. Lake as….Dr. Lake. His friend’s fun, sometimes goofy mom, the one that took them to theme parks and gave the best presents on birthdays and holidays, who was never too busy to talk and always happy to see him. Going into her room and snooping through all her stuff felt...wrong.

All the girls were looking at him now, seeing what the hold up was.

Toby clenched his jaw and raised his head.

But no matter how bad he felt about it Toby couldn’t let his guilty conscience get in the way. Dr. Lake….Dr. Lake wasn’t who he thought she was, and Jim was in real trouble. This was the only way he could help him. That meant he had to suck it up and follow through.

He’d come this far already.

“Y-- yeah I’m fine, let’s go,” Toby forced his feet to move and followed them up the stairs into the back bedroom. His throat tightening when he saw Mary dive straight into going through her dresser, even as he set aside his tools and got down on his knees to join her. 

They spent nearly two hours going through the room from top to bottom. Searching the closet, every drawer in the dresser, under the bed and in the nightstand, every single nook and cranny in the room, even under the mattress. But they didn’t find anything. Just clothes, jewelry, and books.

Toby glumly replaced the socks back in the drawer he pulled them out of. If there was anything hidden in the house it wasn’t in here. So all they’d managed to accomplish was violating Dr. Lake’s privacy. But if there wasn’t anything in her bedroom then where else would--

“Toby,” Claire spoke up, startling him “Do you know if this house has a crawlspace, or an attic?”

He paused with his hand halfway out of the sock drawer. The Lakes had both a crawlspace and an attic. He’d seen the crawlspace, a small cubby in the basement full of their Christmas decorations, but the attic--

Dr. Lake had only mentioned once that they did have an unfinished attic, even shown him where it was.

And then said that he should never ever go up there.

“Their crawlspace is full of Christmas decorations, but I’ve never seen inside the attic. Dr. Lake said it was off limits,”

That got the girls’ attention.

Mary got to her feet “Where is it?”

“Closet, in the ceiling,”

Immediately they all made a beeline towards the closet, Mary pulling open the doors and revealing the square cut out of the plaster in the ceiling. 

Claire frowned “How is one of us supposed to get up there?”

“I’ll do it guys,” Darci stepped forward, shoulders square and mouth set in a firm line “I’m the tallest, just give me a boost,”

Positioning themselves directly under the hole, Mary and Claire each grabbed one of Darci’s legs and lifted, allowing Darci to push aside the cut out square of ceiling and poke her head into the darkness of the attic beyond.

“A little higher guys, I need to get a good grip to pull myself up,”

Claire and Mary obliged, raising Darci until she was waist deep in the attic, allowing her to kick off from the palms of their hands and vanish into the dark hole. After a few seconds Toby saw a small light, which had to be from Darci’s cellphone, blink on, illuminating the bare wooden beams of the unfinished space. 

“You see anything Darc?” Mary called up at her.

The light bobbed around in the small space above them, ceiling creaking under her as Darci moved around “Nothing so far, there’s a lot of fiberglass insulation so I have to be careful not to…”

All of a sudden the creaks stopped, the light staying frozen in one spot.

“Darci,” Toby forced the strangled word out “What’s going on?”

Things were silent for a few more seconds before they heard her voice again “There’s a box here guys, and it doesn’t look like Christmas decorations,”

With some tricky maneuvering, Darci managed to push the box down the hole, where Toby and Claire caught it. Quickly moving it off to the side so the three of them could catch Darci as she jumped down. Once she managed to untangle herself from them they all turned their attention back to the box.

Toby pushed it out of the closet so there was enough room for all of them to huddle around it. The box was about the size of a microwave, dark metal and surprisingly heavy for its size. It looked like one of those heavy duty water/fire/apocalypse proof boxes, and fortunately it wasn’t locked, meaning they wouldn’t need the bolt cutters. Trembling, terrified of what he might find, Toby popped the latches and lifted the lid. 

Part of him was worried that when they opened it they wouldn’t find anything but boring adult papers, bills and insurance stuff like that, but one look and he knew that wasn’t going to be the case.

Inside were two black bags, a large plastic one and a small felt one, and some kind of weird plastic rectangle. Mary reached in and pulled out the small bag first.

They all watched her tug the drawstrings open, not even daring to breathe as she turned the bag over and dumped the contents out. 

A bunch of loose teeth and a bundle of black hair in a rubber band tumbled onto her hand.

Just when Toby thought this couldn’t get any more confusing “What the hell is all that?”

Claire poked at one of the teeth sitting in Mary’s palm “This looks like stuff from an animal,”

It certainly did. That hair could easily be fur, and those teeth would have been right at home on a bear’s mouth. Big and sharp and clearly from a meat eater.

A locked freezer full of strange meat, animal parts hidden away in the attic. Toby still couldn’t put the pieces together, but it wasn’t shaping up to be anything good.

They spent a good minute staring at them before Mary poured the teeth and hair back in the bag “We aren’t going to learning anything by staring at teeth, let’s keep going,”

Claire grabbed the large bag just as Mary was replacing the small one, setting it in front of her and untying the straps to peer down inside.

Toby crawled closer “What is it? What’s in there?”

“It looks like...bath bombs,”

“What? No way,” Darci scooted up to Claire’s side and glanced down at the open bag “Huh, it does look like bath bombs,”

It took Toby a few seconds to realize they weren’t talking about actual explosives “Bath bombs,” he said incredulously “You mean like those fizzy scented things you put in the tub, those kind of bath bombs?”

Claire got to her feet “Only one way to be sure, follow me guys,,”

They tailed after Claire down the hall into the bathroom, where she promptly started filling the tub. Once there was about a half a foot of water inside she reached into the bag, pulled out a grainy pink ball, and dropped it in the water.

As they gathered in close and watched, a cloud of pink bubbles fizzed up around the sphere, filling the tub with pink foam and the scent of--

“Huh,” Toby sniffed “Roses,”

Mary reached a hand into the water, swirling it around before emerging slightly pink “It looks like they are just bath bombs,”

Ok this was getting really weird. Bath Bombs and animal parts weren’t exactly criminal, but what were they doing locked up in a secret attic box?

For a long time Toby had thought that the curfew and the locking in the basement was because of what Nana told him. That Dr. Lake was so scared of losing Jim she’d started doing some messed up things in order to keep him.

But after learning about the scars he started wondering if that was actually true. And now after seeing the meat and the animal parts and the bath bombs…

It was starting to look like all of this was just scratching the surface of something a lot bigger.

And there was still one more thing to check out.

After draining and rinsing the tub, they all went back to the bedroom and gathered around the box again, where Toby picked up the final item inside it, the plastic rectangle.

He turned it over a few times, trying to figure out exactly what it was when it clicked, filling him with a jolt of exhilaration.

“Guys I think this is some kind of book,”

Books meant data, information. Maybe even the answers behind the bath bombs, teeth, and weird meat.

Mary kneeled down next to him “Can you get it open?”

“I’m trying, but there’s a combination lock, and the thing’s completely sealed so I can’t just bust it open with the bolt cutters without destroying it, and--”

They all jumped as a deafening chime rang through the house.

The doorbell.

Toby’s heart shot up into his throat like lightning, beating hummingbird fast as the bell kept ringing again and again. 

Hearing the sound shattered his focus like a harsh slap, forcing Toby to remember exactly where he was and what he was doing.

He was in someone else’s house.

They’d come in without permission by breaking into the garage. 

They were breaking and entering.

They were committing a crime.

If they got caught it wouldn’t be extra homework or detention they had to deal with.

If they got caught they would get in real trouble.

For the first time Toby knew he wasn’t being melodramatic when he imagined getting arrested and sent to juvie.

Toby shot his head up and saw that the girls had the exact same panicked, horror-stricken looks on their faces that he knew he had on his. From down below the doorbell kept ringing again and again.

The locked book slipped from his hands and fell to the carpet with a dull thunk.

Oh fuck. 

“Guys we need to get out of here now!”

They all simultaneously jumped to their feet, Claire practically throwing the bag of bath bombs back in the box, and after fumbling with it for a few seconds Toby managed to toss the book in after it, Darci slamming the lid shut while muttering ‘oh god’ over and over again.

Frantically dragging the box back towards the closet, they figured out really fast that getting the box up was going to be a lot harder than getting it down, especially considering they were all freaking out. After running around like idiots for a few seconds, they got it together enough to hoist Darci up to the attic again, and then raise the box to where she could grab it and put it back, before dropping down from the attic herself. 

Meanwhile the doorbell continued to ring over and over, each chime practically giving Toby a heart attack, as they raced around the room, replacing items and shutting drawers and removing every trace of their snooping.

“Claire what the hell are you doing!?” Mary hissed.

Toby glanced over to see Claire standing in the doorway staring down the stairs to where the front door was “C’mon Claire we have to hoof it before Jim and Dr. Lake come in!”

“But...why would Jim and Dr. Lake be ringing the doorbell of their own house?”

Toby, Mary, and Darci all stopped dead

Claire was right, if Jim and Dr. Lake were back they’d just come right in without even touching the doorbell. But then who was ringing it? If it was just a salesman or something wouldn’t they leave as soon as they figured out no one was home? Whoever this was had been ringing the doorbell for nearly five minutes with no sign of stopping.

“New plan!” Mary piped up, voice a full octave higher than normal “Sneak out the back, then circle around through the bushes, act like we’re just out walking and see who it is,”

Toby nodded shakily along with Claire and Darci, leave it to Mary to come up with a plan under extreme pressure.

After double checking and making sure they’d gotten rid of all evidence of their break in, Toby grabbed his tools and ran to the stairs “Quick guys, go go go!” 

Not wasting a second the girls scampered down the stairs on light feet, Toby following after, the unrelenting doorbell even louder on the first floor.

They made a beeline for the back door, Toby going out last and locking it behind them. Following them, he ran over to the fence and, in a feat only possible to the insane amount of adrenaline shooting through his veins, hopped it in two bounds and dove into the shrubbery, joining the girls. 

“Everyone ok?” Darci whispered, crouching low in the undergrowth.

“Yeah,”

“Uh huh,”

“Yep,”

It was all Toby could do not to collapse, gasping for breath and quivering all over from equal parts relief and leftover panic. 

They’d gotten away with it. He was pretty sure they’d gotten away with it. No one had seen them and they hadn’t left any evidence behind. Although they hadn’t had time to wipe their fingerprints off of everything, or get rid of their DNA, hopefully Jim and Dr. Lake wouldn’t realize that their house was broken into at all. And even if they did there was no reason for the four of them to be suspects.

They were fine. No one was going to get arrested.

Although now that the adrenaline was starting to fade, Toby was pretty sure he was going to have some wicked bruises from his landing. 

Mary sank lower the the ground, perched on her hands and knees “Keep to the plan guys, let’s sneak around to the other side,”

They all followed her lead, Toby forcing his breathing to slow and become quieter, crawling through the bushes until they emerged on the sidewalk around the corner. Standing and shaking off the leaves and branches, Toby tucking the cutters, hanger, and stopper in a bush to retrieve later. 

“Let’s go,” Mary took the first steps towards Jim’s house. A few months ago Toby would have thought she was completely relaxed about the whole thing, but now he could see just how on edge she was.

Toby walked after her, along with Claire and Darci, trying to be as casual as humanly possible without completely overdoing it. 

Nothing to see here. Just a group of teens out walking around, as teens did. No criminals here.

He had to try especially hard to act normal as they were heading around the corner of the block, breath catching in his chest as Jim’s house, and the mysterious bell ringer came into sight. 

It was some scruffy looking guy, messy looking beard and jeans and a jacket that had certainly seen better days. Not a particularly scary looking guy, but it certainly didn’t look like he was there to sell anything.

Feeling bolder now that they were out in broad daylight and not at risk of being caught mid-felony, Toby came right up to where the front steps met the sidewalk, the girls stepping up next to him, with scruffy standing less than ten feet away. Fidgeting and pressing the bell every ten seconds or so, face crimped in frustration.

Of course this close they should have realized it was inevitable that the mysterious scruffy man was going to notice them.

“Oh hey!” he jogged across the porch towards them, causing them all to shuffle backwards involuntarily “You kids know the people who live here?”

“Why do you want to know?” Mary said warily

“Oh-- I heard from my buddy that CPS has been sniffing around, and Barb took Jim out of the hospital without checking him out yesterday, so I’m trying to see if they’re ok,”

Instantly uneasy, Toby glanced over at the girls, the three of them looking just as tense as he felt. The whole leaving the hospital without being checked out was news to him and definitely not good. But even more alarming was the fact that although this guy apparently knew Jim and Dr. Lake, Toby had no idea who he was. And by the looks of it, neither did Darci, Claire, or Mary.

“So do any of you know when they’ll be back?”

Claire took half a step forward “Sorry but...who are you again?”

“Oh! Well I…” scruffy trailed off, letting out a gusty breath and running hand through his hair “You see I’m--” all of a sudden he cut off and looked over at them sharply, Toby flinching as the man locked eyes with him.

“Toby! Come on, you know me, right bud?”

His heart stopped, blood running cold. From the corners of his vision he could see the girls pull around him protectively “Who are you, how do you know my name?”

“Come on,” the man grinned, as if they were all old buddies “You know me, from back when I used to live here,”

Toby just kept staring at him blankly. Used to live here? The only person he could think of that used to live here was--

No. It couldn’t be.

He looked at him again, really looked, comparing the shape of the jaw, the scraggly beard to the ones from his murky, half faded memories.

“Hang on,” Toby slowly raised a finger to point at the stranger who might not be a stranger “You mean that you’re--”

“That’s right,” he flashed them a smile, painfully familiar now that he could see the resemblance “I’m Jim’s dad,”

#tales of arcadia #Trollhunters #A Secret's Worth #rmvwrites #fanfic #toby domzalski #darci scott #mary wang #claire nuñez #nana domzalski #nancy domzalski