#I wish i could hear her sleep chatter but if i take my headphones off I would probably disturb her

[fuckyourdumbassusername]

Just sitting on my bed holding my cat like a baby while she twitches in her sleep after she fell asleep in my arms. Love is this right here.

#cat #salem cat #i love my cat #I wish i could hear her sleep chatter but if i take my headphones off I would probably disturb her

[jay-in-chicago]

Know The Risk.

Summary: Jay knows sleeping with his CI is enough to get him fired, but when she’s needed for an job, Jay can’t handle it. Pairing: Jay Halstead x unnamed female character. Characters: Jay, Voight, Olinsky. Warnings: mentions of drug dealing, weapon threat (gun), the suggestion of sexual favours in exchange for work (incredibly brief and not in detail), brief mention of sex (with Jay). Words: 2092 A/N: I’m pretty nervous to be posting this, so I’ll hit post and then go and hide. While I’m not new to writing, I am new to writing for the Chicago world. Apologies if the characterisation isn’t correct, I’m still learning. Not BETA’d because this is my first time here, so all mistakes, errors and typos are completely my own.

This was a request from my patreon account.

Likes, reblogs and feedback makes me squeal with happiness.

______

Jay’s been on edge ever since she stepped out of the car and headed towards the meeting point. He’d personally wired her up as he’d tried to keep his cool. His fingers had worked meticulously, and he’d made sure the camera attached to her blouse button was hidden. They needed to see as well as hear but the thought of her going in there alone made bile rise.

“I thought you wanted to solve this case?” she’d questioned, staring him down as she’d ran her tongue over her teeth as she watched him fretting.

“I do but not at this expense.” He’d whispered back, thankful the mic wasn’t live yet. To the rest of the team, she was simply one of Jay’s informants, nothing more than that. He had a few, mostly men but there were a few women who he could call on for a favour, though she’s the only one who had managed to get under his skin. She’d left such an impression on him that he couldn’t get her off his mind.

“Admit it,” she’d grinned at him, “if you weren’t milking me for information every opportunity you have, you’d be trying to get something else out of me.” He’d held out as long as he possibly could before she’d been invited to his apartment, the two of them finally giving in to what has been building for months. Jay had taken her with such relish, desperate to savour every moment of it not thinking for a moment it would be repeated.

But it had. That first time had unlocked something within the two of them, making them unable to resist one another. They’d find a way to have the conversations at either hers or his, she’d tell him everything he needed to know with each swipe of his tongue. Jay made sure he learnt what she liked as quickly as possible. He didn’t have an ego outside of the bedroom and ensured that it stayed the same inside of it but he couldn’t help it. The more she gave him, the more he wanted to take. The more he needed to take.

She’d have given him the information regardless but the coaxing, slow drawing of it, the way she’d withhold details unless he gave her an orgasm was all part of their foreplay. And for every arrest made, every case closed thanks to her, she was rewarded with even more. When Jay reached out to her about this case, she had the right connections, provided details and information that proved to be vital. She’d managed to worm her way in, met their main suspect a few times and managed to get close to being trusted as an outsider could, enabling her to be able to slip between members without being stopped. Or at least not initially.

Which is why she was the perfect candidate for heading in there tonight. Jay sits with headphones on, eyes barely moving from the screen. He hates every word that comes from her mouth. He knows she’s putting it on, but the seductive tone to it makes his cock stir against his wishes, the words should be making him shrink back against the seat in which he sits. She’s flirting with whoever she needs, their faces show the level of interest in her, the way they lick their lips as they drag their gaze down her body and wipe their thumb over the corner of their mouth as they chuckle and click their tongue.

She slipped through the crowd, searching for the one who they’d shown her the picture of until finally he came into view on the camera. Jay felt his body tense up, watching everything unfold on the screen before him. He’d seen what happened to people who got in his way, they were either in the ground or in the morgue and one wrong thing said, one tone off, one nervous hesitation and he’d know. The last thing Jay wanted was to watch her be taken down in front of his eyes, recorded for evidence and to be used whenever needed. The thought of it turned his stomach, had him biting at his nails with anxiety until he was sitting forward, his eyes widening as Darius played straight into her hand.

Jay knew better than anyone how good she was. She played the part incredibly well, and though he knew how she appeared to others, he was the one who saw her for who she really was. The version playing out on the screen for the team to see right now, that was flawless acting. Olinsky and Voight have exchanged glances at one another, muttered under their breath no doubt not wanting Jay to hear but he has. They comment on the way she held her cool, how convincing she appeared and how if they hadn’t had a conversation with her prior to sending her in there, they’d have believed her act. Pride licks at the edges of the raw anxiety ridden wound that festered with each passing minute.

“So you’re the one I’ve been hearin’ ‘bout?” his voice could be heard over the music, the way he looked at her made Jay’s stomach turn.

“depends what you’ve been hearing.”

His tongue slipped over his lips as he’d opened his legs, his hand resting against his inner thigh, the opposite leg swings open and closed as he watched her. “that you know someone who can take twenty keys and make me a lotta money.”

“That’s enough, we can get her out now, right?” Jay asked, moving the headset from one ear to look at Voight.

“Not yet,” his husky tone remained steady as his eyes stayed fixed on the screen.

“He just adm-”

“He didn’t admit anything. We need something concrete before we bust in there and mess up the whole thing.”

Jay clenched his jaw, kept listening and waiting impatiently for Darius to say something which could be used. He wasn’t a praying man but sitting there, with the screen having his full attention and her safety fully on his mind? Yeah, Jay was praying.

“listen yeah? Imma let your guy sell 8. See how that shifts. See if I can trust him.” Darius talks slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. What he means by trusting her buying is also seeing if he could trust her too. Jay knows how this works. You tell a small secret, or a lie, see what happens with it. Build it up until you decide if you can trust a person. If she delivers him the money for 8 and keeps the money coming in, she can be trusted with more product. “After that, we’ll look at somethin’ bigger yeah?”

Darius’s gaze drops down her body, takes in the curves of her body, the ones that Jay knows too well. His blood boils but he forces his hand to remain relaxed. If he clenched his hand, showed his emotion which could be taken exactly for what it is, he’d be packing his desk in a box and walked out of the building before the ink had dried on his paperwork.

Come on you son of a bitch, give me one good reason not to land a punch on you the second I get my hands on you.

“Like what?”

“Look at you thinkin’ big.” He runs his tongue back over his lips as he watches her. “I like the way your mind works. How bout that mouth?”

“What about it?”

“Wanna taste somethin’ on mine? You gonna be sellin’ it, don’t you wanna taste first? See how good it is” he asks, the fingers of the hand that rests against his thigh drums over his clothes.

“You’re giving me a freebie?”

“Bitch, ain’t nothing free here.” He scoffs, unable to believe she really asked that. “You want my H? You gotta show me how much you want it.” His hand moves, fingers tracing over his belt, snapping it open in one fluid motion. The explanation clear.

“We go now.” Voight’s voice rings out behind Jay. His headset is snapped away from him within seconds and he’s on his feet, out of the van with the others following.

___

“Jay?” Neither have really said a word since they got back to the precinct. She wanted to, was desperate to fill the silence with mindless chatter like they would usually but the look on his face tells her he’d rather have this than talk. “Jay.” She tries again and only now do his light eyes flicker up to her face. His hands still work, removing her wires, her camera and anything else which could pick the two of them up. Anything which could be used against them. “Are you not going to say anything?”

“I will once my heart leaves my throat.”

“I did ok though, right? You’d use me again.”

“You terrified me half to death, that’s what you did.”

“But did I do ok?”

He sighs, locks his jaw and stares at her as his hands drop to his side, the devices tightly fixed in his fist. “You did and that’s the problem.”

Her brow furrows, “pro-”

“Yes, problem. Do you realise how convincing you were? If we hadn’t come in when we had? He could’ve-”

“but he didn’t.”

“But he could have.”

“I knew the risk when I agreed to do this.” She lifts her face, angles her chin defiantly at him.

“So did I but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about the way he was or how it was playing out.” Turning his back briefly to put the device into the box it came from, he can’t wipe the memory of the camera from his mind.

They’re downstairs, away from security cameras, away from mics; the only two in that area are the ones Jay has just disconnected and put away. Alone, with no footsteps approaching, she steps forward and pulls him into a hug. “I’m fine. You came at exactly the right time. Maybe if you came in minutes after? That could have been a different story. Look at me, he barely touched me.” She says, ignoring the way her head throbs at the memory of how he’d grabbed her hair so tightly she thought he planned to rip clumps from her scalp as he’d dragged her to her feet and held a gun to her temple, using her as a shield. Her heart rate had only just calmed but the intense way that Jay stared at her made it pick up a little more. “I’m ok because of you.”

“But if I hadn’t.” His voice cracks a little and that one sound? That one sound breaks her.

“Hey,” moving his hand, she presses it against her chest, “see, I’m alive because of you and your team. Don’t beat yourself up over what could be. I’m here. Unhurt. And I’d do it again if it meant I could be of use to you.”

“Your information helps enough. I don’t need you almost getting attacked or killed just so we can take someone down. There are other ways.”

“If it wasn’t me in that position Jay, it would have been someone else. Would you have felt better having someone else have that gun pressed against their head just because it wasn’t me? Because I wouldn’t.”

When he says nothing, just continues to stare at her, she nuzzles her nose against his jaw, over his throat before pressing her lips to him, feeling the rough stubble as it grazes against her soft skin. “You’re feeling this because you acted as you should.” she presses more kisses, up the underside of his jaw and finally over the curve of it, her lips dragging towards his lips until he finally moves, dipping his face to meet her lips with his own and kisses her with all the pent up emotion he’d been keeping in, now barely to hold himself back after just a taste of her again.

“We can’t do this here.” He groans, forcing himself to pull away from her. Her eyes are dilating, her chest rises and falls from the rapid breathing. “You know where the spare key is for my place right? I’ll meet you there. You need to go now before I take you into the supply closet and get fired.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure I’m naked.” She says, stepping towards him and pulling his lip between her teeth, nibbling on it just enough to draw a long groan from him before letting it go with a satisfying pop.

#jay halstead imagine #jay halstead fanfiction #jay halstead fanfic #jay halstead one shot #jay halstead drabble #jay halstead smut #chicago pd fanfiction #chicago pd fanfic #chicago pd drabble #chicago pd imagine #chicago pd one shot

[haleybellax]

Senior Counselor

I’m a sleep away camp counselor, we’re on a camp out, in the middle of the woods and the girls are starting to brush their teeth. There’s a song leader who came to sing them campfire songs, and I’m walking him back to his clay covered car in an attempt to flirt with him. I’m bitching about how late the kids are gonna try and stay up, I have no idea what’s in store. I hear them scream and I laugh, it must be another wasp.

Until I stumble through my walk back, butterflies in my stomach of the way he smiled at me, until I see our trip leader screaming into the phone, until I see my camper’s sobbing around the fire we just sang to, until a camper turned getting her toothbrush from her bunk into a suicide attempt.

I’m a high school senior. I don’t yet know where I’m going to college or what I’ll do with myself once I get there. I’m worried about an environmental science quiz, and the photos I have to take for the school paper. People are gossiping all through lunch, I put headphones in and ignore the chatter.

My science teacher looks at me like I’m repulsive. Like the very idea of me standing there makes her want to vomit, I’m confused, I haven’t cheated in this class, I turn my work in on time, I shouldn’t be memorable. I’m barely even sitting before they call me out of class, she walks me to the door and puts her hands on my shoulders before I leave; she watches me walk down the hallway. Until I reach the library I have no idea what's happening, until I see the tissues and the unfamiliar district guidance counselors, until I see my favorite teacher hysterical at a desk meant for student, until my friend became their statistic.

See but now, I’m a camp counselor. I’m their parent, teacher, friend, confidant, I’m all they have. My feelings are second priority to the 40 something girls sitting around a fire trying to get the screaming out of their heads. I don’t have the strength to tell them that this moment will be there forever.

They don’t teach you this in training, how could they? This is the one percent to their 99 success rate, this is the thing they promise parents won’t ever happen to their child. We’ll love and nurture them here. I wasn’t aware that pulling 11 year olds off of ledges they try to jump from was part of that.

And I remember sitting there as the guidance counselor pronounced her name wrong, and watching people start to cry and wanting to cry but not remembering how to and that’s the strangest feeling imaginable. I was in such shock I didn’t know how to cry.

Tears wouldn’t come for weeks until the funeral and then the movie I watched to forget the funeral and every movie I’ve watched since the funeral. Emotions have a funny way of working like that.

See but when I did my interview for this job I said that it had been a hard year for me. The woman on the other side of the line tried to care but how could she get it? She promised me camp had a lot of little problems, of lost water bottles and middle school disagreements. I was naive to forget the first time I had a friend hurt themselves was in the 6th grade. Since then, I’ve become almost numb to scarred wrists, hips, and stomachs.

But now that very same woman is telling me that these kids won’t be scarred from this. That eventually they’ll barely remember it. Part of me wishes that she, as a mother, could empathize with the idea of a child, the very same age as her own, feeling this pain, or witnessing it. But part of me hopes she never does, and as relieving as the sensitivity and respect would be, that part of me never wins out. No one should ever feel that pain.

But now I’m at this fire and I’m one by one dragging girls back up to the platforms their friend just tried to jump from, as someone else is holding her while she dry heaves, starting to feel the true meaning of the action she just attempted. I’m huddling with six girls I don’t even know the names of, but one of them looks at me with cracked glass for eyes and quietly asks me to sing. There are 8 other counselors trying to bring back the innocence in 8 other platforms as I close my eyes and start to hum. And maybe half way through the verse I’m not singing for them any more. But by the chorus the whole campsite is silent.

You couldn’t ask me what I sang, or how long I went from simple melody to simple melody, my pitch was off and overall shaky, as shaken as I was but in that moment, it gave them something to focus on. Hell, it gave me something to focus on.

And I remember she always used to play music so loud I could hear through her headphones. And when my government teacher played music she sang it just quiet enough that only me, in the seat directly in front of her, could hear. He stopped playing music. Told us in 20 years of teaching it had never been his desk left empty. I left the classroom, silence was deafening.

See I couldn’t let those girls fall asleep in silence that night. They deserved a comfortable blend of majors and minors, and that, that I could give them. The other counselors applauded me for thinking so quickly on my feet for a distraction. The girls thanked me for singing for hours. But to me it felt like seconds, felt like nothing, didn’t feel till the next morning when my throat was raw from belting. I didn’t feel the tears on my face that night, or the next night, or until someone else wiped them away.

And my therapist tells me I’m “doing so much better” and that “grief is a process.” I’ve been dying my hair for five years ruby red. Every time it processes and looks perfect, it eventually fades and grows and the process starts all over again. I ask myself if that is what grief is. I hope the answer is no. I can’t take the endless cycles of anger and acceptance. I can’t sing to make the pain go away anymore. The noise won’t cover her permanent silence.  

Maybe I should stop writing about her, it can’t be healthy.

See I wonder if my campers will one day be in a therapist's office sitting, pamphlet flipping, asking themselves why they’re still thinking about the moment when they watched her on a ledge. Feeling the warmth of their 11 year old self round a fire crackling into the silence of the camp site. I wonder if they will wonder about me, about the rest of their staff that they once saw as strong adults, understanding we were all just kids ourselves. Most of us are not old enough to get a drink, rent a car, not rely on our parents. I wonder how much this will truly affect them. I hope it doesn’t, that’s naive but pure.  

[wreckofawriter]

The Colors of Us

Pairing: Blaise Zabini x muggle!reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: tiny bit of swearing, drinking

Request: @prettylittlehiddles: Hey! I'm completely in love with your work! Could I perhaps request one where Blaise Zabini meets the muggle!reader in a cozy cafe and then their relationship grows, but after a month or so, he has to leave to attend to something in the wizarding world and returns to meet the reader again who has hopelessly fallen in love with him just by losing her mind over not being able to see him? Thanks!

A/n: tiny bit more angst than intended, mostly fluffy. Hop you like it!

    Blaise pushed open the door to the small cafe to find it surprisingly busy, it's usually quiet atmosphere replaced by one of chatter and laughter. He ignored it, heading to the counter and ordering a drink, turning to look for a place to sit after he did so. His eyes scanned the small room finding a few seats open, unfortunately, their tables were not. He began to judge the people sitting near each available chair. One was next to two girls a bit older than him who were laughing together over frappuccinos, another an elderly couple and the final small booth, a figure curled behind a book occupying one side. 

    As his name was called he grabbed the coffee and made his way towards the empty side of the booth. You had your nose buried in a book a pair of headphones on your head. Your knees were pulled to your chest, your back against the window behind you. You looked up as you felt a tap on your shoulder. 

    Blaise stifled a chuckle when your gaze met his, you looked like he had awoken you from a deep sleep your eyes wide, hair a bit disheveled as you pulled your headphones around your neck. 

    “Can I sit here?” He asked, “The rest of the cafe is full.” 

    You seemed to take a second to process the information he had just given you before nodding and grinning at him, “Sure.” 

    He smiled back, sliding across form you and taking a sip of his drink. “I’m Blaise by the way.” He spoke sticking out your hand. 

    You shook it, “Y/n, its nice to meet you.”  It fell silent as you pretend to read peeking over your book at the attractive man sitting across from you. You blushed when your eyes met cursing yourself mentally. 

    “What are you reading?” He asked cringing at his generic question but happy that the silence was gone. 

    You held the book up so he could see the cover, “Freiheit 451.” you responded before lowering it and stirring your own drink. 

    “A classic.” he grinned, “Have you read it before?” 

    “Yeah but it when I was really young so I had a hard time understanding it.” You explained, “It still makes me mad though.” 

    “It makes everyone mad.” he chuckled. 

    “Yeah, I guess that’s kinda the point.” You shrugged, “I take it you’ve read it.” 

    “I did last year I think actually but I much prefer The Long Rain, less popular but good never the less.” He explained.

    Your eyes shone a bit as he spoke, “I haven’t read that one, so it’s good?”

    “Definitely.” He smiled leaning forward o his elbows.

    “Okay, what’s your all-time favorite book?” You asked before smirking, “I feel like you would have sophisticated taste.” 

    “I do?” His grin widened, “Why’s that?” 

    “I don’t know.” You huffed, “You just..do. So what is it?” 

    Blaise hummed thinking, half about what his favorite book and half about what he would think would impress you. You, of course, didn’t know the difference. “I’m going to have to say Catch-22.” He decided, it was only a half-lie, he quite liked the book he just liked a few others better. 

    “Very good choice.” You smiled, “Mine’s To Kill a Mocking Bird, I wish Harper Lee wrote more than she did, one book isn’t enough.” 

    The conversation continued branching from books to bands to movies. Your own book was closed and in the seat next to you as you leaned forward towards the boy smirking across from you. You bit back giggles as he told you stories of his friends, your coffee long gone cold. 

    He glanced at his watch and clenched his jaw, “I’ve got to go.” He mumbled standing from his seat. 

    “Oh.” You attempted to mask your disappointment with a small smile. 

    Blaise smirked back, “Are you available tomorrow?” 

    “I think so.” You answered scrunching your brow, unsure. 

“Can you meet me back here at noon?” He asked placing his hands on the table and lowering himself to your level. 

“S-sure.” You stumbled over the simple word, he was close, too close. You could smell his cologne, something you were sure cost more than everything you were wearing combined, his breath was peppermint coffee. 

“Great.” He grinned, “I’ll see you then.” 

“Okay.” You breathed out, so suddenly infatuated you were sure he had cast a spell over you. Your cheeks burnt with firey blossoms, your mind seemed hazy. 

He stood up and walked away with a small wave. 

You squealed the second he stepped out of the door, slamming your hands over your mouth. 

Blaise pretended not to hear despite the widening smile that found his lips. 

The next day you awoke uncharacteristically early, you got ready in a flash despite still having an hour before you would even begin to have to make your ways towards the cafe. You busied yourself with reading, managing to finish Fernhiet 451 and suddenly wishing you could set it on fire all over again.  You left your house about 20 minutes before noon a new book, Cold Mountian, lodged under your arm, your wallet stuck in the back pocket of your jeans. You could not keep the boy from your thoughts. His everything remained in your thoughts as you boarded the bus and hopped off four stops later. You got to the cafe ten minutes early and was surprised to see Balise already inside, sitting at the same booth you had occupied yesterday. 

You took a deep breath, gathering yourself before entering. You walked over to the booth but before you could sit down he had risen, handing you a drink and practically dragging you from the shop. 

Bewildered you stopped after reaching the sidewalk, “Blaise! What was that?” 

He only smirked back his eyes sparkling, “We have to hurry, it’s a good thing you weren’t late.” 

“What?” you asked.

He reached into his pocket and removed two tickets, “My mom gave them to me yesterday after I met you and I thought it would be fun.” 

Upon closer inspection of the tickets, you gasped, “Holy shit! How did you get those?” 

He shrugged, “Come on we’ve got to go, it starts in like 20 minutes.” Then he stopped smile faltering, eyes falling, “I mean unless you don’t want to go, I didn’t really ask you or anything.” 

You laughed, “Are you kidding, you scored tickets to Phantom of the Opera and you think I’m not going?” 

His lips turned up again, “Then let’s go.” 

And you did. 

Day after day you met up with Balise, your summer went from a dull grey to splashed with vibrant colors you didn’t even know existed. Every day he would have some other amazing and over the top activity for you to do. He took you to Italy insisting his mother honestly did not care. You went cliff diving into the Mediterranean Sea, he took you to Greece, you saw the ruins of the Parthenon and in Rome you and eat at some far too expensive Italian restaurant before viewing the Colosseum. Blaise was like a deity that had been sent to make your life incredible. 

His bottomless amount of money confused you at first until you went to his house, or I guess you should call it an estate. His mother wasn't exactly fond of you but in all honestly, you didn't care all that much, Blaise was about as connected to his mother as you were. 

Three days before you began your final year of high school you and Blaise lay on the hood of your old Subaru tipsy on cheap beer as you stared up at the constellations. 

"How the hell do you know so many of these damn things?" You giggled as Blasie explained yet another group of stars you barely recognized. 

"Our school makes us take astrology." He shrugged. 

You laughed, "Of course it does." 

Things fell quiet. The chirp of crickets who would be dead in a few weeks echoing around you. The warmth of summer was dying and you were dressed in a light sweater and a pair of Blaise’s sweatpants cinched tightly around your waist. 

You yawned turning to look at the boy only to find his eyes already on you. You swam in the chocolate brown reflecting the stars above you. Your heart throbbed when he smiled at you. You could feel your cheeks begin to heat and you hoped he would blame it on the slight breeze that rolled through.

He didn't. 

You leaned closer to the Slytherin, his breath fanning across your face. He could smell your perfume, an intoxicating scent. His hand wandered around your neck, tugging you closer. Your eyes slipped shut and your lips met. 

The kiss was soft and slow, his lips slightly chapped, his breath was warm and inviting. You slipped your hand around his shoulder and his tongue slid across your bottom lip. Then suddenly, as if struck by something, he jerked away, sitting away from you. 

Your eyes snapped open, a shiver running through you, you felt suddenly cold without Blaise's heat. 

"I'm sorry y/n." He spoke quietly. "I shouldn't have done that." 

"Why not?" You asked desperately, just wanting to taste him again.  

He paused, "We're drunk." 

"I'm not drunk." You stated, "Are you drunk?" 

"No." He answered numbly, sliding from the hood of your car. 

"Than what's up Blaise?" You questioned standing as well.

"I just- ya know- I mean your-" he started multiple sentences as unsure what he was saying as you were.

"If you didn't want to kiss me Zabini you could have just told me." You explained, "I wouldn't have held it against you or anything." 

"No. It's not you. I wanted to kiss you I really did. It's just that-" he sighed biting his lip, "I mean I'm leaving for school tomorrow and I won’t see you for months and I mean your a muggle and everything, god this is so confusing." He groaned letting his head fall into his hands. 

"I'm a what?" You asked slightly annoyed at this point.

"Nothing." He mumbled. 

"Look if this is about your school, I can wait, I can write to you ya know, I mean after this year you're done right?" You said stepping closer to him. 

He let out a shaky breath, "I think I need to go home." 

You squeezed your eyes, tears threateningly close to spilling over but you bit your tongue, "Okay." 

You both got into your car without a word. The silence was suffocating. 

"Are you good to drive?" He asked hesitantly. 

"I'm fine." You snapped back, you knew you shouldn't be mad, it was his choice if he didn't want to kiss you, he had no obligation to you. Yet a fire burned, anger causing your jaw to tighten and your eyes sting. 

The drive back was silent, the only sound being of the tires on the road and the occasional tick of your blinker. You pulled in front of his estate and stopped, your grip on the wheel turning your knuckles white. 

"I'm sorry y/n." Blaise's voice was melancholy, it only made your throat swell, breathing becoming more and more difficult. 

You swallowed everything inside you and turned to smile at him, "It's okay." Your voice was overly cheery. 

He licked his lips, "I guess I'll see you later." 

"Yeah. Goodbye." You forced out. 

"Goodbye." He responded shutting the door and turning around. A small wave over his shoulder being the last thing you saw before tearing out of the driveway, tears streaming down your cheeks. 

You didn't even make it block before pulling over and breaking down at your wheel, sticky tears dripping onto sweatpants you would never be able to return. 

Blaise swore harshly slamming into his house. His own tears had gathered in his eyes, attempts to blink them away were fruitless as they spilled down his cheeks. 

His mother appeared a few doors away and made her way towards him, "Were you out with that filthy muggle girl again?" 

"At least I wasn't killing another husband." He spat back. 

She shot him a glare, smirking when she noticed his tears, "You ended it didn't you?" She grinned, "Good for you, I didn't think you had the guts." 

"Fuck you." He sneered before turning on his heel and heading towards his bedroom. He still needed to pack. 

Your senior year of high school had the worst start imaginable. You were already heartbroken and you hadn't even dated anyone. You supposed that was the issue. Your friends did their best to help you, they were good. You moved on, well you pretended you did. You didn't date anyone, you made out with one person at a party and immediately regretted it, you had thought it was Blaise for a second. 

The boy plagued your mind. His smirk haunted your dreams, his touch ghosting your thoughts. His laughter constantly echoed in your mind. It was almost psychotic how much your mind wandered towards him. You had had a summer which had been a daydream, the following school year being a nightmare only seemed fitting. 

You buried yourself in your schoolwork, applied for scholarships, plowed headfirst into your sports, took overtime at your part-time job. You didn't think of the handsome boy that you had spent your months of happiness with. Your world faded to grey as his colors were washed away by the hell of high school and the feeling of heartbreak.

The year was over in a flash, you were soon crying on a stage with your friends in a gown and black caps. You wiped your tears, sitting with three of your friends in the middle of the football turf. You laughed as one of them told you a story about her first attempt running hurdles. 

Your giggles stopped suddenly as someone appeared from behind one of the bleachers. Noticing your mood change your friends followed your gaze, she gasped,

"Is that the boy? Blaise?" 

You nodded numbly, in a daze. 

"Should I go beat him up for you? " she asked cracking her knuckles. 

You spared an empty smile, "I'm okay." You stood brushing off the pants you were wearing, having traded in the black gown hours ago. 

As you stood he suddenly broke into a run. You did the same and all too quickly you stood in front of the tall boy, his hair had grown longer, wrapped in tight curls. He had a small scar under his right eye. He looked tired. 

"Y/n, I'm sorry." He spoke quickly, "I should never have said what I did, I'm so so sorry." 

Your heart thumped anger and sadness washing out of you "You're lucky I like you so much." You whispered, "Now kiss me properly."

He did as he was told, sweeping you off of the ground his arms around your waist and tugging you towards him. You snaked your hands around his neck pulling him impossibly closer. You titled your head upwards allowing him to deepen the kiss as you opened your mouth. He tasted like peppermint and lime, so sharp yet so amazing. 

You pulled away and he set you back onto your feet. Ignoring the whistles and catcalls from your friends"I missed you like hell." You confessed. 

He laughed, his hands coming to cup your face, "Never as much as I missed you." His heart throbbed as your eyes began to gloss. "I'm so sorry for ever leaving you as I did."

You lunged forward, burying yourself into his neck, "I think I love you, Blaise." You whispered into his ear. 

"I know I love you." And your world was once again flooded with color. 

Taglist:

@accio-rogers

@roslea

@k3nz-doodl3

@theseuscmander

@sleepingalaska

Masterlist

#harry potter #harry potter imagines #harry potter au #harry potter imagine #harry potter ships #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter x reader #blaise zabini #blaise zabini x reader #blaise zabini imagines #blaise zabini imagine #blaise zabini fanfic #slytherin #hogwarts #muggles #draco malfoy imagines #draco malfoy imagine #draco x oc #draco fanfiction #draco malfoy x reader

[occasionally-writing]

Waiting Up For You

A/N: This is the first TharnType fanfic I have written in a long time! :O But I had a feeling to write for them, so I included them into my prompt ideas! Thanks for requesting a fanfic for these two anon! I really hope you like it <3

Summary: When Tharn gets talked into staying later at the bar, he texts Type to let him know he’ll be kind of late. Getting home, Tharn is welcomed by an adorable surprise that makes his whole night.

Word Count: 1131

Tharn knew that he was going to have a late night at the bar, playing with his band. At first he was going to politely deny the request of staying later and playing more songs, but Tharn found that he couldn’t disappoint P’Jeed for everything she’s done in the past for him so with a sigh, he agreed and told the band the plan as they all came together to think of what songs to perform. Sitting in his seat behind his drums, Tharn pulled out his phone and opened the text messenger, clicking Type’s name and smiling when he noticed the profile picture his boyfriend was using was the one he took when they were on their vacation at Type’s family resort. Shaking the thought from his mind, Tharn quickly typed what was happening and how he would have to stay later and sent it, holding onto his phone as his eyes circled around the bar. Feeling his phone vibrate, signaling someone texted him, Tharn typed in his passcode and smiled softly when he took in the reply from Type, telling him not to worry and not to play too hard. Chuckling softly, Tharn typed in three kissing emojis and sent them, cracking up when he quickly got a reply back and it was three middle finger emojis. Shoving his phone back in his jeans pocket, Tharn picked up his drumsticks and twirled them around his fingers, waiting for his band to stop their chattering so he could play and get back to his boyfriend already.

By the time they were finished, it was just past midnight and Tharn could not believe how exhausted he felt. He, of course, went against Type’s wishes and played the best he could be, feeling the high from the music around him starting to fade along with his energy. Getting shoved out of the bar by his bandmates who knew that he was eager to get back to Type, Tharn couldn’t even protest a single word as P’Jeed got involved too and banished him from the bar, telling him to say hi to his adorable boyfriend for her. Letting out an amused sigh as he looked at the closed door of P’Jeed’s bar, Tharn shrugged and decided not to fight the matter, after all, he did have a boyfriend waiting for him back at their condo. Plugging in his headphones so he could listen to something on his way back, Tharn hummed along as he took the familiar path back to the building, losing track of time as three songs passed by and he was finally back in front. Strolling into the lobby, Tharn wai’d politely to the desk attendant and pressed the elevator button. 

“Type? I’m home,” Tharn called out softly once he unlocked the door and stepped in, closing it behind him as he noticed the lights to the table lamps they had in their living area still on. Furrowing his brow, Tharn unplugged his headphones and buried them in his back pocket, kicking off his shoes as he entered further into their condo, hearing the television playing some football game echoing around the dim room. Cocking his head to the side, Tharn tiptoed a bit more into the room before he finally came face to face with Type, who had fallen asleep on the couch, holding a pillow to his chest as he slept. Biting his lip as he held back a small squeal that threatened to burst from his mouth as he took in the cutest sight his eyes had ever seen, Tharn took out his phone and quickly took a picture, wanting to keep this adorable sight in his phone for only him to see. Kneeling down once he was done, Tharn reached out and brushed his fingers through Type’s hair. “Type, I’m back. Why are you sleeping on the couch? Were you waiting for me to come home?”

“Tharn…? Dumbass, I wasn’t waiting for you. Don’t pride yourself too much. I was just watching the game when I fell asleep!” Type hissed sleepily, sitting up as he rubbed his eyes and tried to hide the blush filling his cheeks when his true intentions were caught. Chuckling at the pout that was taking over Type’s lips, Tharn leaned over and pressed a kiss to them, effectively pulling the pout away as Type kissed back eagerly, wrapping his arms around Tharn’s neck. Pulling away, Tharn kept their foreheads pressed together until he stood up, holding out his hand for Type to take so they could go sleep in a proper bed. Staring at the offered hand, Type huffed and refused to take it, crossing his arms against his chest. Furrowing his brow at the face Type was making, Tharn hummed and waited for his boyfriend to speak his thoughts. “I’m too tired. Carry me to bed...please?”

Snorting softly at the doe eyed look Type was aiming at him, Tharn rolled his shoulder before he nodded, positioning Type the way he wanted as he lifted him up, bridal style. Clinging to Tharn’s neck as he was lifted easily, Type buried his face in Tharn’s neck and sighed, keeping quiet as he was carried towards their bed and softly placed on it. Burying himself under the blankets as Tharn left to turn off the remaining lights and the television, Type kept his eyes on his boyfriend until the whole room was bathed in darkness, the only light coming through the window was from the full moon currently shining in the night sky. Climbing into bed, Tharn removed his old clothing, letting them stay on the floor as he just stripped to a tank top and a pair of boxers. Slipping under the covers, Tharn snuggled closer to Type and wrapped his arm around his waist, pulling him until his chest was pressed firmly against Type’s back. Intertwining their hands from where they were resting on his stomach, Type tangled their legs together as he willingly became the little spoon. Pressing a soft kiss to Type shoulder, Tharn buried his face in his boyfriend’s hair as the promise of sleep began to pull him into unconsciousness. 

“Sweet dreams, Type,” Tharn whispered as he fought sleep a bit more. Letting out a tired hum, Type twisted his neck around a little so he could press their lips together in a soft kiss. Smiling into it, Tharn nuzzled their noses together as Type finally positioned himself back to a comfortable position for his neck. “I love you so much…” 

Rubbing his thumb across Type’s hand, Tharn yawned and finally let his eyes shut, not being able to fight the wave of sleep any longer as he and Type passed out, their breathing coming out in soft puffs through the similar smiles on their lips.

#tharntype the series #tharntype #my writing #thanks for requesting!

[stuck-in-hawkins]

Of Boredom and Makeup

Fic request for @willbyersbowlcutisgay :)))

Will laid down, his headphones plugged into his stereo, listening to the ethereal strings of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” weave together a story in his mind.  He was close to an idea for a drawing.  He was getting a general idea of various pictures, but he didn’t have the thread to bind them together.  Something to make a coherent plot.  It didn’t matter if people couldn’t see the whole story from one painting.  He needed to know it first.

This drawing assignment was the only thing left to do.  The suspension for fighting would last the week, but the work had been done, at least for him.  The remainder of his days would likely be spent tutoring El.  She was wicked smart, particularily in science and math, but years in a lab hadn’t taught her the subtleties of the English language.  The party had tried to catch her up, taking turns tutoring her in one subject or another.  Now, it was just Will, Jonathan, and Joyce.  

Most of yesterday had been spent trying to help her with the workload.  But she  got easily frustrated and it had been a trying day.  Today, they were taking a break.  Will heard the crackle of the record as the brass in the song faded and listened as the sounds escalated and welcomed him to the machine.  An idea crawling out, haunting images from the movie Metropolis, pipelines and steam turning into a creature with an open mouth consuming, feasting.

He felt a shadow on his face.  He opened his eyes and saw El standing over him.

He gasped and threw off his headphones.  “Jesus, El!”

She seemed surprised by his reaction and immediately apologetic.  Will forgot sometimes how childlike she really was.  

He softened his tone, “Is everything alright?”

She held up the Walkman he let her borrow.  “Out of batteries.”

“Oh.  Crap.  Okay.  We’ll have to get some next time we go to the store.”  He popped it open and saw she was listening to the David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust.  A smile lit up his face.  “Do you like it?”

El nodded.  

Will took the tape out. “Do you want to listen to it in my room?”

El brightened at the idea, “Sure.” 

 He pressed the stop button, moved the needle off record, and took his headphones out.  He put the tape in the bottom section of the stereo that played cassettes and hit play.  The room filled with a dance between the piano and Bowie’s vocals.  Will’s grin hadn’t faded.  He got his sketchbook out at his desk.  

“I’m gonna draw for a bit.  You can bring whatever you want in here.”  

El got the magazines, mirror, and make up bag from her room.  She set herself up on the floor.  Will saw this out of the corner of his eye and stifled a sigh.  Just when he had thought they had something in common, he’d been reminded of how different they really were.  

He couldn’t understand her.  She had so many conflicting things.  She was this total badass but also sensitive like a child and then she’d do totally girly things that just drove him crazy.  What did Mike even see in her?  

And there was a pang, like a string out of tune.  There it was.  The underlying reason for it all.  Will hadn’t put words to it.  He didn’t want to.  There would be so much to admit.  So many ugly words he didn’t want to face.  He pulled out his charcoal and blackened his fingers in the tactile material.  He let himself get absorbed in the motions, the values, the dark shadows and gradients.

He didn’t bring his head up until he heard the click of the tape.  He realized it was probably close to lunchtime.  “Hey El,” he turned, “Do you want something to-”

But he didn’t finish.  He couldn’t.  Because when she’d turned, he saw the face of Ziggy Stardust.  Perfectly rendered.  The golden sun on her forehead, the red and gold on her eyes fading as they spread off her lids and into her bone structure.  His mouth hung open.  

“Does it look okay?” She asked.

He couldn’t fathom it.  She was every bit the badass he had thought.  And holy shit.  She actually WAS artistic.  She could draw little more than stick figures, it had been a creative outlet that had been stolen from her as a child, and she got much too frustrated with her lack of progress to try at all.  But, at putting on colored powder, she was a Van Gogh and Will admired her for it.  

He realized he hadn’t said anything.  “El… that’s amazing.  How did you do that?”

She held up a picture from a magazine: The Rolling Stones.  

“Just from the picture?  No tutorial or anything?”

She shook her head.  “Just the picture.”

“That’s incredible.”

She beamed.  

“Umm.. Are you hungry?”  He asked.

She nodded.  He scrubbed the charcoal from his hands in the kitchen and made them both PB&J.  But he couldn’t get an idea out of his head.  It was embarrassing and he didn’t want to say it.  He didn’t want to ask.  After lunch she grabbed a stack of napkins.  

Will tilted his head.  “What are you doing?”

“Wiping it off.”

“What?!  But you just finished!  You’re not going to keep it on?”

“I wanna try the other one.”  

Will straightened.  “The one with the lightning bolt?”

She nodded.  Will looked at the clock.  They had a while before anyone came home.  Long enough to… No.  No.  It was ridiculous to even think it.

There was an intense internal struggle.  But the idea of looking in the mirror and seeing Bowie looking back at him was too strong.  “Youcoulduseme,” he blurted.  

Her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion.  “What?”

Will averted his eyes, “You can use me.  For the makeup.”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise.

Will shook his head, looking away. “I don’t like make up or anything.  But you worked so hard on that.  And it looks incredible.  It would be like washing artwork down the drain.  And it’s only because it’s Ziggy Stardust.  I was thinking of being him for Halloween, anyway.”  

He stopped his ramblings, feeling like he was blabbering to an empty room.  When he looked back at El, she was practically glowing, “It’s artwork?”

Will nodded.  “Of course.”

She turned back still beaming.  He followed her to the bedroom.  A knot suddenly settling in his stomach.  All the things people would say if they saw.  But who was there to see?  It was less that others would see, it was that he would know what they’d say.  That maybe all those things they said would be right.  What if he enjoyed it?  Would that make him the fairy everyone thought he was?  

He sat down in front of El and looked at the magazine with David Bowie’s visage looking back.  He wondered if Bowie was ever called that.  What if he’d listened to them?  How much of his art would he have cut himself off from?  How much expression would he have silenced?  The thought was strong enough to ward off his worries.  The negative words still chattered, but he mentally told them to piss off. 

El picked up her palette and brush.  She held the colors up to his face and looked back at the picture.  Will watched her work.  She laid out all the cast off make up given to her by Nancy and began selecting her colors, moving them in front of Will.  She held out her hand to Will and he looked at her curiously.

She said, “I need your hand.  To try the colors.”

“Oh!”  He gave her his hand and she picked up a shimmery white and applied it to the back of his hand.  Her touch was warm and delicate as she held his hand.  He thought the sensation of the brush would tickle, but it didn’t.  It just felt nice.  He relaxed while she doused his hand in eyeshadow.  Once she was satisfied with the color selection, she moved onto his face.

“Close your eyes,” she said.

He did and felt his nerves ripple as she touched the brush to his cheeks.  He wasn’t used to his face being touched.  He realized how much trust this required and wondered if that was why girl friendships were so different than guy ones.  They had an open trust.  Not that he didn’t trust his friends.  But it was different.  If any one of the guys in their party sat down with his eyes closed, there was a 50/50 chance someone would fart or burp in their face.  It just was that way and Will had never questioned it.  But this was so… gentle.  

He felt like a canvas and it was a strange experience.  It involved a lot of waiting.  But the experience was overall pleasant and he didn’t want it to end.  At least until she got to the eyes.  

“Stop squinting.”  She said, annoyed.

He opened a eye.  “It’s kind of hard when-”

“Close them!”

He shut his eye again.  “When you are putting something directly on my eye.  It’s instinct to squint.”

“Raise your eyebrows and you won’t squint.”

Will tried and forced himself to keep his eyelids taut.  

When she got to his forehead, she clipped his bangs with bobby pins to the top of his head.  Having his hair touched just about put him to sleep.  He found himself wishing that it wasn’t just something assigned to girls.  He wished that guys had been allowed to do that stuff too, instead of having to wait for a haircut to have such affection to be bestowed.  He wondered if it was wrong to question that though.  

Her hands left his face and he opened his eyes.  She looked him over and nodded.  “I think… it’s done.”

Will sat up, excited and also a little nervous.  “Can I look?”  

She nodded.  He took his time getting to the mirror.  Will worried that he might look ridiculous.  Maybe it had all been a trick and his trust a slap in the face.  But when he got to the mirror and saw Ziggy staring back, he felt stinging at the back of his eyes.  He couldn’t help it. 

The trademark lightning bolt was striking across his face and the red glow flowing from his eyes seemed like some power had washed over him.  He felt stronger.  He felt powerful, like he had something no one could take away.  In that moment, he loved the person he was, wholly and completely.  The makeup was a mask, but it reflected more of himself than he’d ever let show.  In that moment he accepted himself exactly as he was.  

He knew the moment was fleeting and he’d go back to facing the demons in his mind.  He’d have to hear his mental record play the same discouraging songs about his shortcomings, his flaws, the things that made him believe he was broken.  But right now, none of it mattered.  In this moment, he knew he was stronger than all that.

“It’s perfect.”  He said.  He looked back at El in her Bowie make up and a thought popped into his head of her being his fairy godmother.  And he chuckled.  He felt happy and ridiculous and overwhelmingly grateful.  He wrapped his arms around her without a second thought.  

The affection surprised her and a warm smiled nestled into her cheeks.  She leaned her head on his shoulder into the embrace, thankful to finally have a brother.  

They played as many Bowie albums as they could while Will worked on a new drawing.  This one was filled to the brim with color.  He used colored pencils for general outlines of his own silhouette and filled it with color from his chalk pastels.  He drew bright streams of sun that broke through clouds, which looked like the nebulas he’d seen in his astronomy books.  There were streaks of lightning going to the edges of the paper.  He hoped it conveyed the strength he had felt, the beauty of the moment he’d seen in the mirror.  He’d have to ask Jonathan when he got home.  El wasn’t one for interpreting artwork but she was enthralled at watching his creative process.  

They didn’t take the makeup off until after both Jonathan and Joyce got back.  Joyce insisted that Jonathan take their picture.  When the pictures were developed, El kept one on her vanity and Will kept one in his drawer.  He’d take it out on dark moments when the inner monologue got too loud, when he needed to remember his own strength.  Sometimes it worked, but not always.  When it didn’t, he knew he could go into El’s room and he’d let her practice her craft on him.

#will #will byers #el byers #eleven byers #Jane byers #the byers #season 4 #stranger things season 4 #stranger things 4 #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fic #st fic #st fanfic #st4 #st3 #stranger things 3 #stranger things 4 fanfic #will and eleven #eleven and will #will & eleven #eleven & will #will el #el will #David bowie #starman #Ziggy stardust #1980s #80s #fic request

[dontmindthefangirling]

Catfish {t.h.}

part 8

gif by @peteparkrrs

Summary: What happens when you start to fall in love with a boy online, completely unaware that it’s Tom Holland behind the computer screen?

Warnings: angst, anxiety

part 7 | series masterlist

-

peter_king liked your post

You felt as though you couldn’t breathe, and suddenly all of the emotions that you were able to move on from came flooding back. Your chest was tight and your vision began to blur as you stared at that one notification, beginning to wonder if you were seeing things or if it was actually real. All you could see was red, and the words began to mold together as you felt a sob start to bubble in your chest. You closed your eyes tightly and forced yourself to hold it back so that you wouldn’t wake Jane, but suddenly you felt like shaking and crying and calling Tom and yelling at him over the phone because how dare he. How dare he like your post, knowing that you would see it and force these emotions to come back and how dare he still look at your posts and your account. 

You put your phone down and closed your eyes as you tried to steady your breathing. By the time you opened your eyes, you realized you had to get out of bed if you wanted to make it to class on time. You forced yourself to jump down from your lofted bed, and your legs felt like lead because all you could think about was Tom looking at your profile and liking your picture. 

Walking slowly, you trudged to your closet and pulled out a pair of leggings and a long-sleeved shirt before slipping on your Converse. Jane was still sleeping soundly, and you figured she wouldn’t be getting up for class for another hour, so you quietly slipped out of your dorm to brush your teeth before heading into the brisk spring morning. 

You put your headphones in, trying to drown out your thoughts with music, but it didn’t help. You were finally able to push Tom out of your mind and your life, only feeling pain when you saw his face on movie posters, but this was a whole new type of pain. This was like you were back in your room at home, crying on the phone while Tom tried to apologize to you, and you hung up on him before he could. 

You shook your head, turning your music up louder as tears brimmed your eyes. You had to focus on class, but so many different emotions were coursing through your body that you felt like you were going to explode. You quickened your pace, hoping that once you were in the academic building you could focus on your classwork instead of Tom. 

But as soon as you sat down in your seat of the large lecture hall, you felt suddenly and completely lost. Every guy who walked in, you were expecting it to be Tom, and you tried to pick out his distinctive English accent among the low murmurs of students, but when you realized what you were doing, you knew it was crazy. 

You ran a hand through your hair, tugging at it as you felt like you were going insane as Tom was able to have such an effect on you from one click of a button. The more you thought about it, the more pent up you got, and before you knew it you were shaking in your seat. 

You grabbed your bag and briskly walked out of the lecture hall. 

Once you were in the hallway you pulled out your phone and logged back into Tumblr, scrolling through your notifications to see if it was real or if you were imagining things, but once you saw the notification again, your heart began going through a gymnastics routine. 

You quickly clicked on his account, and wrote him a long and detailed message. 

-I don’t know what your angle is, but why are you going through my Tumblr? In fact, why are you even on my account in the first place? Didn’t you cause me enough pain and-

You froze your fingers when a group of students walked by, and their words caught your attention. 

“Did you hear that the new Marvel cast is doing a group interview in the city?” one of them said. 

“Yeah, I heard the Spider-Man cast is going to be there!” a girl exclaimed. 

“Wait you mean, like Tom Holland? He’s literally so cute,” another one chimed. 

“Yes! They’re selling tickets at the campus center to the first one-hundred students, and then they’re shuttling them to the city,” the first guy said. 

You froze as their voices got out of earshot and you stared at them. Tom was here. He was in your city and granted the city was an hour away from your campus but he was here. 

He was an hour away.

You practically ran to the campus center, disregarding the message you were in the middle of typing. 

-

“You alright, mate? You seem distracted,” Harrison said, coming up behind Tom as they sat in Tom’s dressing room. They were getting ready for the press interview that was taking place in a few hours, and by getting ready that mostly consisted of them lounging on the couches playing Cup Pong on their phones with each other. 

“Huh?” Tom asked, looking up at his friend. Harrison narrowed his eyes at Tom, watching him from across the room.

“Yeah, fine,” Tom murmured, swiping his finger as the fake ping pong ball flew through the screen. 

Harrison knew Tom was lying, but he didn’t know why. 

Tom knew they were in your home state. He knew you were in this state, and he hadn’t thought of you in days, maybe even weeks, but when the press tour was scheduled to be in your state’s capital city, he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe you’d show up. 

Even if you didn’t, Tom was pretty sure this was the closest he had ever been to you, physically, and he just kept wondering how far away you really were. He wished you were still in contact. 

He wished he never lied to you. 

“Bro, you suck at this game,” Harrison laughed as Tom missed every single cup he threw the ping pong ball at. Tom rolled his eyes and threw a small pillow at Harrison. 

-

You stared out the window of the coach bus filled with other college students as they were buzzing about potentially being able to ask questions to the cast of Spider-Man, but all you could think about was being close to Tom, seeing him in person, and yelling at him. 

You watched as the bus entered the city, and you looked down at your phone realizing that you had several missed texts from Jane asking where you were. You sighed as you told her quickly that you’d be back later tonight and you’d keep her updated.

You had no idea how you hadn’t heard about the promotion your university was doing for the Spider-Man cast, but you figured it had to do with your obvious and vigorous avoidance of anything even slightly Marvel related. 

As you watched the buildings grow taller and the trees get scarcer, you began to second guess your impulsive decision, and wondered if you could possibly run and hide. 

What were you thinking? You were probably going to see Tom in person and that was going to hurt your heart more than any like he could possibly give you on Tumblr. What were you possibly thinking?

You quickly called Laura, hoping she wasn’t in class. 

“Hello?” she picked up almost instantly. 

“Laura, I made a mistake,” you almost cried, leaning your head against the cold window of the bus. 

“(Y/N)? What’s wrong, what’s going on?” Laura asked frantically. 

“I...I, uh, I got on a bus,” you began. “To...to go see Tom.”

Laura was silent for a moment, and then you heard her let out a deep breath. 

“Could you explain more, please?” Laura sighed. 

“My school was giving away one hundred tickets to students to go into the city to a live group interview with the Spider-Man: Homecoming cast,” you said in one quick breath. 

“And you went?” Laura asked. 

“Yeah, I’m on the bus right now.”

More silence came from the other line and you closed your eyes as you were expecting Laura to yell at you and tell you how stupid you were for getting on that bus. 

“Why would you do that, (Y/N),” Laura said heavily. “You know it’s just going to hurt you.”

“I know,” you murmured. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“What are you going to do?” Laura asked. 

You inhaled sharply as you looked out the window again, realizing that you were actually now in the city, which meant Tom was minutes away. 

“I don’t know,” you said. 

The bus turned down a smaller street, and the chatter among the students began to become more excited as the bus began to slow down. 

“I have to go,” you whispered. “I think we’re here.”

“Keep me updated, please,” Laura pleaded.

“I will, love you.”

“Love you too.”

You clicked your phone shut and stood from your seat with the rest of the students. Your heart was hammering against your chest and you tried to steady your steps as you followed a line of students off the bus into the warm air. The skyscrapers loomed over you like they were waiting for your next move, and the wind pushed your hair out of your face. 

You looked up and read the signs promoting Spider-Man: Homecoming and that’s when you saw the crowd of fans standing outside of a tall building across the street. They were holding posters, calling out names of the cast members, and holding objects that they were hoping would get signed. 

You felt like you were walking through Jell-O as you crossed the street with your fellow classmates, and your legs suddenly felt like they weighed a hundred pounds each as you stepped closer to the building that held Tom. Paparazzi were to your left, their cameras ready, and that’s when you knew it was real. They were in that building. 

“I’m so excited, do you think Zendaya will sign my hat?” a girl next to you squealed. 

“I want Tom to sign my poster.”

“I want to see Jacob!”

Every voice became muffled as you stared at the doors. Apparently all the fans were going to wait to see the stars come out, they were going to say hi, and then everyone with tickets was going to go inside for the interview. 

Every time the door opened, revealing someone who wasn’t in the cast, your heart would pick up speed and then crash back down. You didn’t know what would happen when they walked out-

Suddenly, the screaming of fans was so loud that you couldn’t hear a thing. Zendaya walked out first, followed by Jacob. 

And then he was there. 

You felt yourself drifting through the crowd like you were in a dream, making your way closer to the front as your vision tunneled and all you could see was Tom smiling and waving to the fans. You couldn’t even feel the people pushing around you because you felt like you were in a trance. You didn’t even know if you were breathing, and your blood was pulsing in your veins being the only sound you could hear. Everything else was muted. 

He was right in front of you. 

-

A wave of euphoria washed over Tom as he waved to fans, saying an infinite amount of ‘I love yous’ as he walked towards them and signed some of the objects they brought.

He turned and a girl in the front caught his eye. She was staring at him, wide-eyes, and her mouth slightly ajar like she was in shock. From where he stood, Tom could see the way her fingers trembled along the fence. She wasn’t screaming his name like the others, she wasn’t crying, she wasn’t even smiling. She just looked as though she were in complete and utter shock. Almost like she was in a trance. 

He had never seen a picture of you during the time you two had been talking, but he knew in that instant, that had to be you.

Suddenly, everything else around him was drowned away by his own heart beat and he walked slowly towards you. 

As he got closer, the color drained in your face. The fans around you began crying and shouting louder as he approached them, but he was only focused on one of them. 

Once he was close enough, tears suddenly brimmed your eyes and you took a step back as he took a step forward. You were right in front of him. 

“(Y/N)?” Tom asked. He hadn’t spoken your names in months, and hearing it against his tongue felt so foreign but so right at the same time and when your face broke at his voice, he knew it was you.

“It’s you,” you cried.

Hearing your voice, hearing it in person, hearing it right in front of him sent a flood of emotions running through his entire body. How could he forget your voice? He fell in love with it. The rest of the world was suddenly blurred, and all he could see was you. You were more beautiful than he could have ever imagined. 

He opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t stop staring as you stared right back. The world was melting around the two of you, and your hearts were beating so loudly you were both sure the other could hear it even over all of the fans. He could still see your hands trembling, and now Tom’s own were shaking. In fact, his whole body felt like it was shaking. 

Tears suddenly began to fall from your eyes, and it broke Tom in more ways than one because he knew he was the cause of your tears. 

“Tom, we have to go inside,” Harrison said, coming next to him. Tom wanted to say no, he wanted to grab your hand and take you some place quiet and just finally talk to you. 

Before he could respond, security was whisking him away and into the building. But his eyes never left you until the door was shut behind him. 

-

You watched as Tom was brought to the door by security, but he stumbled over his own feet as he tried to continue to stare at you. Once the door was shut behind him, the yelling of the crowd began to simmer down as fans were lined up to enter the building. 

You were frozen. You felt like your feet were glued to the cement. He saw you. He saw you. And he knew it was you. He remembered your voice.

The way the look in his eyes changed so dramatically when he heard you speak just confirmed that he knew it was you. 

You were pulled from your dream-like state when one of the security guards asked to see your ticket to get inside. You fumbled to pull out the ticket from your pocket and handed it to him, but you felt so completely dizzy and not yourself that your vision was blurry as you took the ticket back. 

“Right this way!” one of the security guards said, leading the line of fans through the same doors that Tom had just entered along with the rest of the cast. 

You inhaled sharply as you tried to clear your mind, hoping that you didn’t look too out of it. You thought about calling Laura, but you didn’t think your fingers would stop shaking by then.

You took another deep breath and entered the building. 

-

whoop whoop they met :)

btw, I think I got everyone who asked to be on the taglist, but if I didn’t, just let me know and I’ll add you!

part 9 

taglist:

@slythxr // @greenarrowhead // @your-daily-dose-of-fangirl // @loxbbg // @didanyonesaybuckybarnes // @strang-ersclub // @roaringgoodshow // @skeletalwolfcat // @peterbrokenparker // @jackiehollanderr // @krispykreeme // @eye-of-the-owl // @  eternal-l-appel-du-vide // @lifeandloveandhappiness // @16wiishes // @snifelisnifsnif // @fxded-jackgyeom // @dxftprettyboys // @spookyconsultingcriminal // @yourwonderbelle // @too-much-spidey // @savethebabyseals // @apseventy // @starkslovebot // @binaruma// @lifeisabitchandsoareyou // @iloveyouthreethousand-o6 // @just-a-littlebit-of-everything // @sweetcoldpeach // @spideyyeet // @mlt2000 // @ being-your-average-fangirl // @asmilinghopelessromantic // @clairestarkparker // @ thedaydreamingwriter // @itsmejessicasstuff // @queenattentionseeker // @huiqingohuiqing // @thedanteofthe52ndstreet // @coach-vixen // @sweet-sunflower-ghost // @trust-me-im-joly // @stickyqueenbouquetsstuff // @americaswritings // @euphoniumpets // @gwiyomi-princess-trash // @pixiedustsupplyco // @nerdypisces160 // @yeahimcrying// @thenaturalbond // @cookinggurl43 // @rageyoudamnednerd // @bibliophilesquared // @stickyqueenbouquetsstuff // @justanormaltrashcan // @aestheticgaybish // @jackiehollanderr // @spidreling // @adi-angel // @multific // 

#tom holland #tom hollander #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #spider-man #spider-man homecoming #Spider Man: Homecoming #catfish

[theboyz-engup]

To All The Boyz I’ve Loved Before; Letter Four

Summary-

It was wonderful what a few little letters could do; they could make or break a friendship, cause someone to laugh or smile, make someone remember the time of their life or that moment they wanted to forget. Just some words on paper and poof, everyone knew the way your heart beat and workings of your brain. High school really did wonders on you, as did those twelve boys. Maybe they didn’t know it, but they changed your whole life with each smile, each wave, and each word you typed into paper. You made them permanent, and now they had to know why.

Word Count- 8.3k

Previous Letter - Next Letter 

Chanhee gave a swift wave to Sangyeon, who lived across the street from him and was sitting on his stairs. The two of them had never been the best of friends but they were always friendly and Chanhee remembered giving him half off plant products he bought for a girl he was into. Chuckling at it, Chanhee unlocked his door and called a little hello. As always, the house was empty and the mail that was fit through the door slot was scattered across his hallway floor.

“God, this is a mess,” Chanhee sighed, groaning a bit as he bent down to pick up the envelopes. Most were addressed to his parents and a few to his siblings but one was addressed to him. He hummed, not knowing mail still got shipped here for him. He moved out of here a year ago, despite still having a key and sleeping here ever so often.

Maybe it’s junk, he thought, placing it down on the table with the rest of the letters as he untied his shoes. Yeah, I’ll just toss it. Probably some weird advertisement for something.

The thought was enough for him to make up his mind, grasping the letter and taking it with him to his father’s office on the first floor. He stood above the shredder, looking at it as it whirred the second he placed his foot on the pedal. The sound bothered him, like he was making a mistake he didn’t know he was making. Whining a bit, he took his foot off the pedal and looked at the letter again.

The writing was foreign to him, absentmindedly walking up the stairs after plopping his worn, leather bag atop the letters that weren’t for him. Flipping it over, he found a little sticker- one he remembered having way back when- and smiled. Unsticking the envelope, he began his light read, taking it all the way with him through the house as he paced.

Dear Choi Chanhee,

I’m sorry if you ever read this letter. It’s going to be so long and complicated and I doubt you even want to hear it but I hope it can help explain. I never meant to upset you, not once, but I’m sorry because I know I did.

Early September, 2015

The door to your local plant shop squeaked open, hot wind rushing in with you to escape the summer sun. A bell ringing atop your head brought your attention to it for a moment before you continued on your way. The shop looked entirely out of place in your town made of wood and dusted colours. It was a shop made of rounded slabs of rock with clean squares and circles cut out to let sun stream in and stare at the assortment of colours in awe. Everything was grey and cool and smelled of black earth. You loved it, closing your eyes to take it in before continuing on your way.

There was some chatter in the shop so you hoped you weren’t being too loud as you spoke to Eric through the microphone on your headphones.

“So why are you going to the plant store again?” He sounded distracted and you figured he was probably doing some of his work ahead of time so he wouldn’t be too stressed during the school year.

As you spoke, you imagined him with his glasses on and hat backwards- he never studied without one. It was his ‘thinking cap’ as he would say jokingly, but you knew he tugged at his hair when he got stressed and he was convinced that was what’s been making him lose hair. You tried to tell him it was how often he dyed his hair but there was no reasoning with him sometimes.

“I told my mom I might want to start dating because I was talking about how Amalia went out on a date with this jock from the year above in the summer and she was all questioning- like asking me if I wanted to go on dates,” you started, rambling as you always did when you spoke to Eric. Your eyes scanned the plants mindlessly, reaching out to touch a few leaves before shaking your head and moving on.

“And?” Eric’s voice pressed for more, noticing the slight pause in your story as you got just a bit distracted.

Taking a breath and murmuring sorry, you continued, “so I was like ‘yes’ and and she gave me this whole speech about how I don’t have responsibility and to date, I need to have responsibility. When I brought up growing Barly, she told me that giving him the name Bartholomew wasn’t very grown up of me and I need to start from scratch, which would be a plant, apparently.”

Eric just started to laugh, pitch getting higher and higher as he started to fully take in what you said. “Y/n, that’s so lame, I-”

“Ha, ha,” you pouted, landing in front of an aisle labelled ‘easy to take care of’. With a smug smile, you marched down it to find a little plant you wouldn’t have to worry too much about.

“I’m sorry, I just think that’s so stupid,” he giggled some more, filling your ears with familiar bubbles, “if you want to date, you should. At least you told her about it, most kids wouldn’t.”

“That’s what I said but she said that she’s not growing up other kids, she’s growing up me and somehow that makes me different and incomparable to other kids my age.” You rolled your eyes at the thought, stopped in the aisle now and staring vacantly at a flower sprouting slightly from the middle of a round-leafed plant. Your hand reached out to touch the fuzz that grew on the stem of the little flower and you smiled.

“Think I found my plant though.”

“Nice,” Eric hummed, “take a picture of it when you get home, I want to see it.” If he was here with you, he would’ve put his arms around your shoulder and pulled you in, making a joke about how that was going to be your child. He wasn’t though, and it was a phantom arm you felt around your shoulders pulling you in for a hug you would’ve claimed to hate.  

All you did was make a sound to say yes, picking it up off the shelf gingerly in its cement pot. It had a little string bow tied around it, like it was wrapped and ready for you. Thinking of something else to make conversation about, you started to chatter on while keeping your eyes on your little plant.

“I want to name it something stupid again,” you admitted, a bit of an embarrassed chuckle coming through your teeth.

“Of course you do.”

“It’s against the rules but I’ll think of some anyways,” you decided, trying to amuse yourself. There was a click of a pen in the background of his audio as he suddenly got all excited.

Coming closer to his phone, he crooned, “ooh, I’ll start. How about we do something simple like Xerxes?”

It was hard not to laugh at his suggestion, the running joke between you two being that whoever had kids first had to name their first child Xerxes on a dare. The little burst of laughter was enough to make you lift your head as far as the cashier stand where a boy with black hair and a darker cap was standing. Well, he was more so leaning on the counter with his forearms pressed on the metal and hands stitched together- and his eyes were on you. He had a flicker of a smile on his lips the second your eyes met but you didn’t stare for long enough to see what he’d do after. Instead, you hurried to an aisle where you couldn’t see him and vice versa and exhaled deeply.

“What happened now?”

“D-do you remember the waiter guy from Jan’s who was only there that once because he lived far away and was just subbing for his friend?” you whispered quickly and under your breath. Suddenly your heart was in your throat.

“Uh, sure?” Eric was entirely confused, the conversation shift not natural and your voice weird. “Why?”

You just whined, holding your plant with shaky hands now. You probably looked so stupid just hiding behind an aisle to make sure you wouldn’t see each other. He was the only cashier at the store, of course you’d have to see him eventually. Unless he went on break but in that case, he’d most likely pass by you camping out and think you weird either way.

“Okay, wish me luck,” you whispered, steadying yourself. As it turned out, your desire to eventually date someone was greater than you fear of boys- well, cute boys, that is.

“What am I wishing you luck for, what?”

He was genuinely confused but you didn’t quite have the time to explain as you walked towards the front. You felt like plastic, entirely wobbly on your knees which seemed nonexistent  in the moment. The black-haired boy was finishing up another person, handing over a bag and smiling sweetly. The second his eyes landed on you, smile still taut on his lips, you felt your heart sink.

It wasn’t love at first sight but you definitely had some feelings, instantly in adoration.

“Just this today?” His voice sounded like crystals, slightly higher pitched than you expected but clear and kind nonetheless. It forced you to pay attention to him, though you apparently didn’t have a tongue to respond. All that came through was a nod as you placed the plant on the counter.

“I heard you on the phone earlier,” he started, cheery as he typed in the amount on his little computer and then relayed the price to you. You flushed a little, knowing what it was he was talking about and getting embarrassed. “Your mom sounds like a fun time.”

“Is he talking to you?” Eric asked in your ear, to which you made a little hummed noise to. It seemed to be good for both conversations, though Eric didn’t need more of a response and Chanhee, the name which you read off his tag, perhaps did.

��Y-yeah, she’s definitely a character, at least with me.”

“My parents did the same thing,” he admitted, giving you a sympathetic look as he wrapped your plant in some sort of tissue and placed it in a bag, “I wasn’t allowed to do anything and still aren’t but getting jobs and having closer friends helps.”

You were busy paying with your dad’s debit card for the moment, which he graciously lent you in exchange for getting him a chocolate bar on your way home. Desperately though, you wished he wasn’t lecturing you or giving you advice. You supposed that want forced your hand, giving you a reason to be bolder.

“I’m hoping junior year helps them realize I’m not that much of a kid anymore.” The words slipped past your mouth, the lie sounding weirdly natural. Eric hissed in your ear, asking why you lied immediately. Not bothering to respond, you only finished up paying and extended your hand for the bag.

Chanhee, instead, decided to lean against the high counter like before, chin propped up on his hands as he came forwards. “Really? You’re in the year below me? How come I’ve never seen you before?”

Shrugging, you shyly grasped at the bag ends, having to reach a bit but wanting to now get out of there as soon as possible. The reality of your lie was now hitting you as you realized- he also went to your high school. Oh gosh, he was going to find out eventually and that fear gnawed at you starting from that day.

“I- uh, I moved here just last year.” That came out smoothly as well but it wasn’t a lie and you felt better for it. Lying was something you could do well but you didn’t particularly like how heavy they felt- especially this one. This one started to lie in your stomach like cement the second the pride you had for pulling it off so smoothly dissipated into the musky smell of the shop.

“That’s so weird,” he deadpanned, expressive enough with his eyes and the outwards movements of his lips. You’d spent too much time in that instant just looking at those lips that you knew you needed to leave as soon as possible.

“But hey, if you go to Carr, it’d be cool to see you around sometime. I like having new friends, especially ones I get to know from scratch.” Your eyebrow notched up at the sentence and he furthered, “I’ve known everyone here from birth, basically. It’s really refreshing seeing someone new. It makes this place exciting for once.”

Did he just call me exciting? The thought rushed through your brain and caused heat to rise in your chest. As you mulled over his words, its suggestion brought giddiness into your spine.

It took some time for your tongue to work properly, some stutters and shyness existing deep in your voice but eventually, you managed, “t-then I’d lo- love to see you around and not just when I need a date plant.”

He chuckled at your joke, watching you raise your plant slightly as you spoke. His laugh was chimes in the wind, creating echoes in your mind and resonating deeply within you. Something about him felt so present as he asked your name and for your number- he was so real and was acting like someone out of a movie. It seemed almost too good for you until you realized, well, it wasn’t all good.

How was he going to feel when he found out you lied? Would it be a big deal? The questions that ran through your head as you left the store swarmed into a large mass that felt blinding.

“I hate that you made me listen to that,” Eric groaned, though he seemed to still be in high spirits.

“I’m so stupid,” you said immediately, free palm tapping against your head multiple times. You must’ve looked very offset, ranting to just about the only person who wasn’t going to judge you. Though, it was kind of funny as he giggled, little claps coming through your earbuds.

“Yeah, you’re screwed.”

Gosh, I can’t count the amount of times I went to see you at that store. It was like our own little hiding place where we could talk about anything and everything. We had so many little jokes too, especially starting then. You kept making fun of me and my date plant and I kept making fun of you for that video I had of you. Whenever you did fan service, just acting cute or doing something on a dare to get someone to buy a plant, I never caught it on camera except once. You would chase me around the store for that and outside and between the bleachers. I wanted to ask you to do something cute for me too, maybe a heart or a little dance, but I was always too shy to ask.

You were so whiny about it sometimes, but you made me so happy. You were my part time worker but full time cutie, as that one customer said it. Days like that, I remember very happily- days that my age didn’t matter. I hope you do too.

Mid-October, 2015

“Sunwoo!”

His name slipped through your lips, voice louder than you expected it to be but your laugh was even greater. He was running around with you on his back, howling and making noise just to cause a riot. Something about your second year of high school was having him extra excited but you didn’t know he’d be acting like this much of a fool with you on his back.

“Please put me down,” you laughed, though you were clinging onto him for dear life.

“Let go of me then,” he snipped back, turning his head a bit as he tried to look at you. He had to pull away as you leaned forwards, needing eye contact to threaten him properly.

“All right, all right,” Amalia announced, clicking her tongue, “go pull the hyenas apart so we can get our ice cream, Hyunjoon.”

The full-cheeked boy nodded, taking a step towards you and Sunwoo. The one carrying you simply let go of you and you shrieked, clinging onto him as Joon began to laugh a bit. He ran to try and help you down, nearly falling but somehow making it safely.

“You-”

Your sentence never finished itself, hands tapping on Sunwoo’s shoulder over and over again. Placing his hands up in the air to defend himself, cracking jokes with a ridiculous smile on his face. Amalia sweetly came up behind you and wrapped her arms around your body, giving you a little hug to spare Sunwoo.

Immediately, you seeped into it, pouting and muttering, “but he dropped me.”

She clicked her tongue, placating you but not exactly feeling bad for you. Her hand rubbed at your head, giving you slight pats to make you feel better. “I know, baby, I know. Now let’s get some ice cream, yeah?”

You nodded, pouting still but letting her coax you inside. Hyunjoon and Sunwoo followed closely behind, talking like crazy. Everyone had been in a good mood lately, you especially since you’d discovered Chanhee. You would visit his store sometimes, walking around and pretending you had grown a love for plants just to see him. Sometimes, he’d slip around his counter and lead you around, showing you his best sellers or his favourite plants. Most of the time, you wouldn’t remember it. You were just entirely in awe of him, of the way he smiled and pushed his lips out as he spoke. Everything about him gave you jitters, same as Jacob and Sangyeon, but so much more present because you felt like you were actually coming to know him better every day.

Walking in with a clamour, you found yourselves in a nearly empty diner. There was a man with a very long beard and a steaming cup of coffee who looked like he was just passing through for some late dinner to your left and a couple to your right. Nobody turned to look at you, not even the waiters who were talking amongst themselves. They clearly didn’t expect anyone to be coming in, much less rowdy kids who were besides themselves with happiness. An elderly lady made eye contact with you as your group found a booth and she grasped some menus to bring over.

“Anything to get you kids to start?” Her voice was high and sweet, stereotypical but comforting as she grazed her eyes over your little group.

Amalia took it upon herself to memorize your group’s ice cream orders, taking her rightful spot as group leader, as she liked to put it, and ordering ahead. Sunwoo leaned into you, whispering with a laugh on his tongue, “she’s so grown up.”

“Better her than me,” you hummed back, not caring much for the close proximity of your friend, who seemed surprised when you jabbed your finger in his chest, saying, “you could do with some growing up.”

“Don’t push him too hard,” Hyunjoon crooned, reached across the table, “his little brain can’t take too much responsibility at once.”

“Who?” Amalia asked as the waitress made her way to the back and Hyunjoon filled her in. Sunwoo seemed to want to protest but knew it would only dig him a bigger hole.

“Wait, is this progress?” you asked, gasping a bit. “Character development, maybe?”

“Our little baby,” Amalia hummed, wiping her hand under her eyes to catch nonexistent tears, “growing up so fast.”

Sunwoo’s lips came forwards, itching to say something but halfway through his defence (which no one was buying anyways), he stopped and huffed. Your head fell on his shoulder, arm snaking around his body to rub at his arm.

“Good thing is we still like you even though you’re a little dumb sometimes.”

Hyunjoon’s little smile grew for a second as he looked at you and Woo. Amalia snorted, telling you to speak for yourself. Sunwoo only cleared his throat and rubbed at his neck, suddenly meek and shy.

“Thanks.”

“Two chocolate ice creams, one mango, and one green tea,” the waitress announced lightly. She came behind Amalia, holding the styrofoam cups expertly and placing them down nicely on the table. Everyone reached for their own, telling her a sweet thank you before she took her leave.

“So, y/n,” Amalia started, looking at you over the rim of her cup, “how are things on the dating front?”

“Yeah, is your mom coming around since you got a plant and stuff?” Hyunjoon was quiet, though he looked genuinely interested as he dove into his cup. Sunwoo, who usually had much to say, stayed silent as he listened to you.

“i don’t know,” you admitted, feeling a bit down about it, “mum said the plant I bought was too easy to keep and whatever. I don’t know.”

It wasn’t that you necessarily had anyone you wanted to date, you just wanted the freedom and trust that went with it. All the people you had liked were too out of your league anyways, whether it be because of popularity or simply just age. You felt like a kid though, always having to tell your parents when and where you were going and with who. You just wished they’d sometimes maybe trust your judgement but there was no such luck on that front yet.

The ring of the front door nearly distracted you from Sunwoo’s question but you managed to pay enough attention despite the hushed laughter and snickers behind you.

“What about your dad?’

You shrugged. “You know him. It’s a team effort so if mom says no, dad says no too. They’ll have to agree on something together before I get any leeway.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not allowed either, so, you know.” Amalia’s lips turned down a bit as she kept her gaze down, spoon tapping at the ice cream.

“Really?” Hyunjoon asked, seriously concerned about that. The noises behind you grew into real voices, parts of sentences filtering through your ear.

“It’s not that, it’s just that…”

A little chuckle, “… like them and just don’t want to say it.”

“Shut up.” This one sounded much more familiar and it caused a hiccup to come through your lips. Sunwoo briefly glanced at you, murmuring, “you okay?”

A nod snapped you back to your present conversation, though you couldn’t help but think that maybe-

“- and you guys have met my parents. You know how much it means to them,” Amalia finished, biting the inside of her cheek. Reaching across the table, feeling entirely guilty about not listening to the whole story, you grasped her hand.

“Hey, we’ll figure it out,” you promised, pushing a smile for her. “We’ll convince our parents we’re worthy of being trusted. Going behind their backs will only make it worse so we’ve gotta do our best to stay honest.”

“Yeah, we’ll help you, if you need.” Hyunjoon seemed genuinely sympathetic, giving her an encouraging smile.

Sunwoo took his chance to be serious for once, hand resting on your forearm as a form of support. “Us four against the world, right?”

“Shut up,” Amalia giggled, rubbing at the corner of her eye to catch real tears this time, “you’re going to make me cry. Stop being nice, go back to making fun of Sunwoo.”

“Hey!” he protested, mouth open wide.

“Gladly,” Hyunjoon chuckled, at the same time. Only your hand was reluctant to let go of hers. The slightest squeeze from her helped you know she was okay.

“It’s on us this time, right?” Sunwoo fixed his jean jacket over his black t-shirt. He devoured food in seconds, always being the first one to finish. Amalia tried to protest but Hyunjoon pulled out his phone checking his notes.

Very quietly, he mumbled, “hold on, I’ve been keeping track,” and trailed off, focused now. His finger fell on his lips, which stuck out whenever he was focusing. Amalia leaned in closer, trying to see what was on the screen. Sunwoo leaned into you, eyes landing on your ice cream instead of a phone screen.

“Looks like its melting,” he stated plainly, giving you a nod. The second he opened his mouth to say more, you stuck your spoon with the rest of your ice cream onto his tongue, watching him clamp his mouth shut out of instinct.

“Not anymore.” Your smile was annoyingly smug, even for you, but you couldn’t help but chuckle at the little action.

“It’s actually a free for all this time,” Joon chimed, letting everyone know. Sunwoo, pulling the spoon from his mouth, exhaled dramatically and went on a tangent about how he’s broke anyways.

Amalia, pulling you up from the table with you, mimicked Sunwoo’s facial expressions perfectly as he spoke, eliciting all too many stolen laughs. Grasping her hand lightly, you came forward and whispered, “hey, are you sure you’re okay.”

She shrugged, giving you another squeeze and murmuring, “it’s really not that big of a deal. I’ll get over it eventually.”

As you reached the counter, everyone proceeded to pull out their money. Stupidly, you forgot most of your cash at home and were now digging around in your pocket for change. The ice cream was relatively cheap but a few cents short wasn’t something you wanted to deal with- especially in front of your friends who hardly had issues with money despite lightly joking about it.

Muttering under your breath, checking your pockets, you nearly whined. Hyunjoon asked if you needed anything but, upon looking for his own change, realized he had none. He apologized quietly, hand on your shoulder for comfort. Sunwoo, who thought he was going to cover everyone’s food, also came short, and Amalia never carried cash.

The second you tried explaining yourself to the elderly waitress, who looked entirely exhausted, a familiar voice traveled up the tiled floors to you.

“Y/n?”

You didn’t need to turn your head to know who it was, feeling bubbles in your throat the second your eyes made contact. Chanhee’s little smile was sweet but there were dark circles under his eyes and he looked weary. “Is something wrong?”

“N-no,” you instantly tried to explain, not wanting him to know you came short. It was embarrassing for you, especially when it was someone you were interested in like this. Heat formed on your skin out of shyness, mouth opening and closing but not much coming out.

“Y/n’s just adding something to her tab,” Amalia offered, attempting to make a joke. Her laugh sounded forced and awkward, as did the other two’s laughs. “You know how it is.”

“Can I help?” His hand was already reaching for his wallet, which was sticking out of his pocket and covered in ridiculously bright stickers. You wanted to tell him no but really didn’t see any other option. The waitress wasn’t exactly letting up either, saying she didn’t know you or your friends well enough to let you just walk out unpaid.

“I- I’m sorry,” you stuttered, eyes torn from his and focusing hard on the floor. He only chuckled, pulling out five cents and handing it over.

“What are you doing here?”

The sudden conversation shift seemed to shock him, his mouth halfway through a sentence poking fun at a five-cent difference. Lips pouted outwards and eyebrows that travelled up his forehead, he exhaled a small laugh and said, “I was with my friend but he went home early because of a homework call or something. You?”

“Us,” Sunwoo stated, sounding relatively calm. When you glanced back at him, he had his hands in his pockets and was rocking back and forth on his heels. His tongue darted out at you to get you to lighten up- you mimicked his actions.

“Oh sorry, right,” Chanhee hurried, looking a bit panicked that he hadn’t realized it. After finishing up his payment for his coffee, he quickly turned to introduce himself. His winning smile was now plastered on his face, the roundness in his cheeks adding to the softness of his look.

Names went around and then exchanges of plans for the next few moments. Everyone said they were going home and, while Hyunjoon seemed interested in asking publicly how the two of you met (which he already knew), it came to Chanhee’s attention that they lived in the opposite direction of you.

“Ah,” he drew out, nodding like he understood everything about the world now, “so that’s why I haven’t seen any of you at my store. It’s too much of a walk.”

You gave him a little chuckle, shy and entirely awkward in front of him and your friends. You knew it was up to you to be inviting and help him feel welcome but the situation coupled with your lack of funds simply made you turned off to everything that was happening. You became cold and unresponsive in a way that was adding tension, which made you want to withdraw more.

Amalia, noticing it easily, quickly found a way to excuse herself and the boys. “Well, they’re meant to walk me home so we’ll take our leave now, won’t we boys?”

She was very proper around people she hardly knew, adding an air of elegance to her as she led the two away. Hyunjoon waved to you, understanding what Amalia meant to do, while Sunwoo was a bit harder to convince. They looked like a parent and a child bickering with each other under their breaths before he broke and wished you a goodnight.

As the group split, you and Chanhee leaving the store and walking towards to left while the others went right, you felt some release. It was easier to be yourself around Chanhee because he seemed to care less sometimes. He was so light that he seemed to take that lightness with him and sprinkle it on the path he was walking on so anyone who walked beside him felt just as airy. As you stepped on clouds with him, you apologized.

“I’m sorry again, for the money and for making it awkward.” Your apology was coupled with nervous laughter but the boy beside you just shook his head.

“It’s fine. Though, I do expect a five cent donation at my store for saving you just then.”

“Deal,” you breathed, extending your hand towards him. He shook it, smiling deeply. The way his hand seemed to linger for just a second longer than it should have made you breathless. A side effect of floating was a lack of oxygen. He seemed to make you go higher and higher, making it harder to breathe along the way.

“By the way,” he started, going on a completely different line of conversation. HIs hands were now clasped behind his back and his gaze was forwards, somehow serious but trying to remain friendly. “I hope you’re not embarrassed about the money thing. It’s really okay to be short sometimes.

“They can be a bit crabby at times there but most places here are understanding. Trust me, you’re not weird or anything, I’ve been in that situation many times.”

You blinked, not fully understanding but wanting to. “Really?”

He hummed, making a low noise. He seemed to look at you from the corner of his eye before turning a bit to keep his gaze on you now. There was something serene about him, something that brought your heart rate down and relaxed you into your bones.

“I’ve bounced between almost all the jobs in this town and the next. My parents didn’t come from much and it’s been hard making a lot so I wanted to help. It feels embarrassing at first, sure. Makes you feel like everyone’s looking at you when you don’t quite have enough money- at least for me, that’s what to was like,” he admitted, nodding again to himself.

“It just motivated me to work harder, though. There’s no point in looking at things that put you ‘behind’, so to speak, in a negative way. It’ll just make you feel worse about it.” He used his fingers as quotation marks, somewhat exaggerated in his speech but saying rather thoughtful things.

“Turn what people think is bad and make it good,” you finished for him, wanting to let him know that you were paying attention. He nodded, coming a big closer to you so your shoulders touched briefly. The lights on the pavement kept him in constant illumination, not that he really needed it. He shone just fine on his own.

“There you go.”

You didn’t know what to say. Thanking him felt ridiculous and painfully obvious to do but saying nothing felt rude. Just as you were thinking up a response, he thought aloud, “you know, I don’t think I’ve told lots of people that before. About my parents, I mean.”

Eyes widening, you instantly began, “o-oh, I’m sorry if you felt pressured to-”

His little chuckle interrupted you, a shake of his head very exaggerated. “No, I wanted to say it. I- I want to get to know you better so I should share too.”

Well, that was forward.

Once again, you dropped your eyes to the floor out of shyness, though you did find yourself beaming this time. “O-oh.”

“I know your parents are still being weird about the dating thing so I’m sorry if that was too much,” he added immediately, also seemingly embarrassed. Your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest. It was unbelievable to you that someone so amazing was actually interested in you- a little grade ten that stayed cooped up in your room and had to get permission to do things even now.

“No, no,” you immediately protested, not realizing your hands as they reached out. One managed to grasp at his arm as you assured him, “it’s okay, I- I feel the same, I want that t-too.”

The words felt ridiculous to say but also freeing in a way, like keeping all of your emotions bottled in were what made you feel so heavy all the time. From then, Chanhee’s expression seemed to pick up. He grinned, getting excited as he decided to concoct a plan with you on your walk home. The way he smiled made your heart race, listening along to all he had to say and agreeing without thinking much about it.

I remember meeting you so much after that. We basically had little dates of our own and we talked all the time. I always felt so grateful whenever you took me out to food on your breaks even though I knew you needed the money or perhaps more time to work. You would never hear it though, clicking your tongue at me and telling me all these places we had to go together. You would even grasp my arm and skip, telling me to live a little when I wouldn’t play along right away. You made me so shy, you know? And telling you all of this seemed impossible until then- when you told me you were interested just the same.

After that, there wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think of you. I used to do my homework and wonder what you were doing. Did you ever think about me that much? I never built up the courage to ask, though I doubt I’d ever get a response. I just hope you know that you made me very happy, no matter what. Even though I know I disappointed you, I hope I made you happy- even if it was just once. That would mean I did something right with us, which was all I ever wanted to do. I just wanted to be right. I’m sorry it didn’t turn out that way for us.

Early November, 2015

You had planned to go on a date with Chanhee. You plotted and exchanged numbers and talked everyday. It was amazingly easy to speak to him, especially when he always had something on his tongue to say. Sometimes he would call when you asked for help on a problem you were stuck on, though he’d get suspicious of the work you were doing. Jokingly, he’d ask why you were doing easy questions. He loved to tease but he could take it just the same, mentioning how he’s usually the butt of everyone’s jokes.

“Not that it bothers me,” he murmured nonchalantly, the clock clicking past midnight as you both lay in bed, chatting away quietly, “it’s not like I think they’re meaning to be mean to me so it’s okay. It’s fun when I can turn it back on them too.”

His laugh would ring through your ears and lull you to sleep. The best nights were when he’d sing to you or send you videos of his recorded covers. The more you spoke and the few times you passed each other in the halls- the one time you ate lunch together on the bleachers even- the more you just wanted to be around him. It got to the point where Haymond knew and if Haymond knew, your parents weren’t too far behind.

“I won’t tell them,” Haymond promised, clicking away at his computer as he listened to your stories. He’d gotten more patient with you, always having an open ear and mind about these things but this was different. He seemed to genuinely be trying to be a good brother for you.

“But you will.”

You began to protest it but didn’t want to risk getting too loud and simply whined that you wouldn’t. He was right though. Eventually, you cracked when your mother asked who it was you were smiling at as you texted Chanhee the day of your date. You hadn’t realized how much you wanted to tell your mother about him that just her asking sent you into a fit of conversation; and gosh, what a long conversation that was.

She sat you down trying to be calm, trying to ask you who he was and how you met him. It was all okay and she even liked what she was hearing until you mentioned his age, and then mentioned that you lied about your age. From that moment on, the air shifted and she was disapproving, not to mention the date you were also going to lie to her about. Your father came and sat down beside her, perpendicular to you in the living room. Both had their hands folded and were leaned in towards you, concerned and asking you questions.

“Why did you lie?”

“Did he pressure you into anything?”

The list went on and on until you felt tears pricking at your eyes. You knew you were wrong and couldn’t believe yourself either but seeing it- hearing it from them- it changed everything. Now, you just felt like an attention-seeking liar and it was the thing you never wanted to be. After quite a lot of speaking, you picked up your phone, took a deep breath, and began typing.  

Y/n, 5:20 p.m: hey, I have something kind of important to tell you today.

Chanhee, 5:22 p.m: please don’t tell me you’re in love with me yet lolol

Chanhee, 5:22 p.m: it’ll be the death of me, we’ll have to get ~ married ~

The smile that reached your cheeks at that immediately made you upset. Would he still be as light and joke around with you after he knew. You stuck your fingernail between your teeth as your mum looked over your shoulder, urging you on.

Y/n, 5:23 p.m: nothing like that ~

Y/n, 5:24 p.m: swear not to hate me?

Chanhee, 5:26 p.m: no promises

Your mother looked at you, being very firm now but also trying to be comforting all of the sudden. With her hand on your lower back, she rubbed circles into it and murmured, “I’m sorry, honey, but you can’t start off lying to someone and expect me to be okay with that. I thought you were more responsible than that.”

“I am,” you tried to press, wanting to convince her but knowing that whining wasn’t helping your case. She gave you a quick look, complete disbelief on her face.

“It’s really not looking like it right now.”

Sitting down on your bed, you let out a little huff. Your hands dared to go on your face, palms pressing against your skin as you felt the severity of your little fib. Everything would’ve been fine if you didn’t lie, and age wasn’t really a big deal but keeping the lie for so long was. How many times had you mentioned how hard grade eleven was, or boasted about a mark you got and how happy you were that it’d go on your transcript for universities to see? What was worse was that you felt like he wouldn’t forgive you for it. He mentioned once he appreciated honesty over anything and there you were, standing in front of him, holding your tongue about something so stupid.

Chanhee was sitting in front of you, hands covered in mittens that had the fingers cut off, wearing a calm look. He had no idea what you were about to say, probably thinking it was another one of your jokes. As his fingers curled around his little mug of coffee, his lips curved lightly into a smile.

“You look really nice today,” he chimed, wanting to get it out before anything else. He pointed at your head, chuckling a bit before saying, “although your hair’s a mess.”

“Hey,” you whined, reaching up to try and fix it but knowing you couldn’t without a mirror. He only chuckled, bringing a little rush of wind with you. For the life of you, you couldn’t figure out why he chose an outdoor table in the middle of winter; but it was an empty patio and no one could hear you. That, at least, you were grateful for.

“Look, I feel really bad about what I’m going to say so I just want you to listen if that’s okay.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, embarrassed now but for a completely different reason. Finding yourself picking at your nails, somehow you managed to start. Your tongue exposed yourself quickly, thinking it would be easier to just rip it off like a band-aid. Knowing it didn’t seem like a big deal, there were worse things to lie about than age, you hoped he wouldn’t be too upset. The reaction you got wasn’t necessarily what you would’ve wanted.

“What about that time you talked about how scared you were for university applications? Why did you make that all up?”

He seemed to be picking apart every conversation you had, confused and conflicted. You watched him go through all the stages of understanding and anger but he finally decided to detach himself, saying he didn’t think he could listen to it anymore. Slowly and politely, he pushed his chair out and walked around to grasp his coat off the back of it.

“Chanhee, please, I’m sorry,” you attempted, getting up yourself. Kicking back so quickly caused the chair to fall, echoing off the walls of the store.

His mouth became slanted, like he genuinely believed you. The coat he had on was black and long, making him look like a figure painted into a grey sky. As he fixed his collar, he said, “I know you are. I just don’t know what to say. This just seems really childish to me.”

“That’s what my mum said,” you muttered, retreating further into your shell. Your back was suddenly concave, eyebrows pressed in and lips pressed out.

Chanhee laughed somehow, though it felt rather cold. “You would say that.”

“Are you leaving?”

“I just need some air, y/n,” he started, waving his hand around. The other was fixed in his pocket. “I know we’re outside, I just need to be alone.”

“Do you think-”

“No, I don’t think we should see each other like this,” he interrupted, being rather blunt but you appreciated it. Words like these didn’t hurt as much when they took longer to hear. You just nodded, not being able to look him in the eye. Slowly, you felt his arms wrap around your shoulders, bringing you closer to his chest.

Jokingly, he hummed, “I get it though. Why you lied, I mean. It’s real hard to resist, huh?”

You found yourself laughing at his joke, hugging him as tight as you could. The tears that fell down your face felt ridiculous and you wished he hadn’t seen them. His smile was so soft, as were the napkins he picked from the table and used to dab at your cheeks.

“I’ll see you around?” Your voice cracked as you asked, taking the tissues into your own hands. This time, when your hands brushed, no spark rose in your chest. You knew the airiness he’d given you- those little butterflies in your stomach- that was all long gone.

He nodded, telling you to come by his store again. “You know when I work.”

With that, he was off. His leather bag was secured firmly on his shoulder, working perfectly with his outfit. He looked slender and sleek walking away from you, not even daring to give you a look back. You couldn’t say you blamed him, though it did make you feel helpless. How were you just constantly making mistakes left, right and forwards?

Not knowing what else to do, you picked up your phone and dialled the only number you knew by heart. A few rings in had you worried but when he finally answered, you let out the breath you were holding.

“Y/n?” Eric asked, sounding slightly panicked. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” you whispered, picking up your chair to sit back down at the table. Your tears stuck to your cheeks as you spoke to the person you knew listened to you best. He stayed with you on the phone until you went home.

There’s no doubt that you captured everyone’s hearts when they came to your store. So many people came to see you and I just happened to be one of those few customers that caught your eye. I felt lucky enough to even be friends with you and everything else after was just a dream. I’m sorry for lying to you though. You deserved honesty from the start and I realize now that two years difference, especially for us, would have been too much. I still appreciate every time you talked to me after though there was a change. You pulled away and we eventually stopped talking and I didn’t fight it. You had every right to be upset with me or to distrust me.

The only thing I want to ask you is to not dislike me too much. I realize how awkward I was, how absolutely childish and ridiculous I acted. I’ll try harder from now on, I promise, so I don’t make this mistake again. If anything, just know that I’ll still pick up the phone if you call. I miss our little chats. I miss you.

From y/n y/l/n. On November 28th, 2015.

Immediately after finishing, Chanhee’s fingers found his phone. The sun streaming in through the store window caused a glare and he hissed, having to turn around to look for your number. He knew he had it. He never deleted it, not even after he graduated and went off to his college and job and new life. Other contacts around you he could let go of but somehow, he never could for you. Biting down on his lip, he realized he missed you too. Whether it was friendly or not, you always gave him a lightness in his chest that he felt he needed. As much as you said he swept you off your feet, you did the same.

“Come on, pick up,” he murmured, foot tapping impatiently against the floor. Hating the sound of that, he began to pace again, going in and out of his room. Just as he was about to hang up, the line connected and he held his breath.

“Chanhee?”

Your voice was crisp and sweet. He didn’t know how to place it but you sounded older and it made his breath hitch a bit. Then, suddenly, he could say everything he had been holding back.

“I don’t hate you, y/n,” he started suddenly, eyebrows crossing each other, “why would you say that?”

You chuckled nervously. The sound of cars was faint in the background of your call. “Chanhee, what are you talking about?”

“Your letter. The one you wrote me like three years back.” He was serious now, rather upset you didn’t seem to be understanding. You sent the letters after all, why didn’t you understand what he was saying now?

“W-what?”

“Your letter,” he repeated slowly, hating how condescending he sounded.

“Yeah, what? How did you get that?”

He blinked, stopping in his spot in the middle of his hallway. His free hand was still clutching the paper. “You didn’t send it?”

“No, I-” you began to stutter, like you would whenever you got super nervous. Not knowing what else to say, you quickly excused yourself and hung up, leaving Chanhee in shock. What he wanted to tell you was not even close to being said and honestly, he was more confused than before, especially after hearing the panic in your voice.

“Listen, Chanhee, I don’t know who sent you that letter b- but please don’t read it. If you see anyone else with those, please rip them in half, I- oh fuck, I’m screwed, I’ll- I- I’ll talk to you later.”

The dead line ringing filled his ears.

#the boyz #tbz #the boyz au #the boyz series #the boyz writing #the boyz imagines #the boyz scenes #the boyz scenarios #the boyz drabbles #the boyz angst #the boyz fluff #the boyz new #new #choi chanhee #admin zea #chanhee #tbz new #the boyz chanhee #*mine #tbz au #tbz fic #tbz fics #the boyz fanfic #the boyz fanfiction #the boyz fic #tbz angst #tbz fluff #tbz scenes #tbz scenarios #tbz series

[bellatrixobsessed1]

The Trail (Part 2)

Chapter Cryptid/Folklore Creature: Stick Indians.

This chapter is dedicated to my grandmother who is really interested in Native American lore and has been begging me to tell her 'a stick indian' story. I hope that I do justice to the Salish culture and their story.

Pacific silver fir and western white pine tower over them, creating what looked like an impenetrable wall of woodland. As if the forest isn’t dense enough already, black cottonwood and mountain hemlock fill the spaces between. It is a wonder to Zuko that they have managed to get here at all.

His mood had already been dreary before, with Zhao officially recruited and having rambled for hours, during their flight, about life on the Scottish highlands. Zuko stands before a large and crystal clear lake, littered with massive boulders and small stepping stones. Normally this may have lifted his spirits, but a light and billowing snowfall steals that away.  

He shivers, cursing his sister for renting a tent instead of booking a hotel. “I thought that you like to plan ahead.” He finally snaps.

Azula looks up from her work. “Zhao, prove your worth to this team and finish setting up camp.” And she turns to Zuko, “yes, this is part of the plan. Don’t you think that it will be easier to hunt down forest dwelling beasts if we are in the forest?” She shrugs. “Besides, I figured that we could save a little money this way.”

“I think that it’s easier to hunt when I’m not freezing my ass off.” He grumbled.

“When Ah was a lad…” Zhao starts and Zuko groans loudly, sorry that he had spoken at all.

“Try to relax a little.” Azula comments.

He only folds his arms over his chest, muttering, more to himself than her, about how she always has to have things her way. How they can never do what he wants, never mind that he had chosen the final say about their destination this time around.

Azula sighs, “come over here and look at this.”

For a spiteful moment, he thinks of ignoring her, but he comes to sit next to her on the log she has perched herself upon. “Ever hear of stick indians, Zuzu?”

“No?”

“Neither have I.” She replies. “According to uncle, there have been reports of them. Apparently, they’re becoming a bother tourists and locals around here…”

“And you want to look into it?” He asks.

“We’re here.” She replies. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t.”

“Because we’re here for the wendigo.”

“I think that we can handle both.” She insists.

“Ah shite!”

Azula flinches at the sound of the tent collapsing.

“You wanted him here.” Zuko remarks.

.oOo.

The snow continues to fall, it would almost be soothing if it weren’t so like the night their mother went missing. Azula rolls onto her side, thinking of Iroh’s notes. He doesn’t have much for her to work with aside from a basic rundown of what they are dealing with. They are supposedly hairy and not unlike the better known big-foot. They have a knack for trickery and leading people astray, if Iroh has his facts right. She rolls back onto her back and watches, from the nearest window as the snow falls around them. A gust of wind rocks the tent, but not jarringly enough for her to wake the other two. It is a wonder that Zuko sleeps at all. She supposes that he had spent all of his energy on pointless rage in the daylight hours.

She ought to be sleeping herself but for some reason or another, sleep doesn’t want to come to her.

Azula tries to analyze her own emotions; she doesn’t have angry or depressive thoughts to haunt her mind. She considers for a moment that she is afraid. Yet, that isn’t it either. Her heart doesn’t race, she doesn’t feel the need to look every which way.

Perhaps it has to do with the flight and a time change.

The wind whistles outside of the tent.

With no sign that her body wants to sleep, Azula gives in and grabs her camera, she doesn’t often take nighttime photography. As quietly as she can, she unzips the tent and slips from it. She makes sure to seal the flaps once more to keep Zuko from complaining about the cold.

She hears, again, the wind whistling against the tent. She wanders away from the sound and towards the lake. Under the moonlight it is ethereal. If not for the snow she know that its surface would be smooth and undisturbed. As things are, the snow puts a certain sparkle to the water. It is perfect, she lets the camera flash. Once and then twice more before she seeks out something else to capture.

She thinks, briefly, of climbing atop one of the large boulders and taking a photo from a new vantage point. She gets a rather vivid mental image of herself slipping on the slick snow and crushing her camera as she topples into the lake.

The whistle of the wind comes again, this time, a chill shivers down her spine. At first, she can’t place why. She tries to push the feeling aside, but the snow in her hair, the deeply quite woods, she remembers the feeling.

Remembers the look Ursa exchanged with Ozai.

She creeps away from the pond and towards her tent, the only thing keeping her at bay is the absence of an abysmal odor. They always have a scent. A truly wretched scent. But the absence of woodland chatter it wakes the most primitive of her senses.

She hears the whistle of the wind again.

This time it registers.

Her hair isn’t fluttering. She doesn’t feel the gust on her bare face.

With that realization she comes to decide that the sound itself is distorted. The next time she hears it, she can swear that it is as though the sound is being played in reverse.

Azula goes tense, it is near the tent.

And tenser still when the whistling sounds from behind her and then to the side of her. There are more of them now and they create a disorienting whir. She fights down the anxiety that they’ve managed to rouse.

She hustles back into the tent. As long as she doesn’t let them lure her out there she should be fine. Her dread doesn’t waver, not even slightly. “Zuko!” She hisses. He grumbles something sleepily gargled. “Zuko!” This time she offers him a sturdy kick.

She dodges a reflexive punch. “Christ, Azula! What?” He shouts, sending her nerves skyrocketing. She clamps a hand over his mouth as Zhao bolts up with a “wha’cha fussin’ aboot?”  She hushes him too.

She almost regrets having done so. She can hear, with more clarity, a scampering from outside. Zuko turns to her and mouths a soft, “what the hell.”

Azula simply points at Iroh’s notes.

“Ah’m gonna shoot ‘em.” Zhao proclaims.

“Take one shot and you’re fired.” Azula whispers harshly.

He opens his mouth for a voluminous protest. Azula throws a hand up, “one word and you’re going back to Scotland.” She threatens quietly. She has a hunch that they were going to have to wait this one out. She chances a peek out of the window, hoping to see the deep blue of approaching dawn. The sky is still inky and spotted with stars and flecks of snow.

She knows that the night will be long.

Any desire to ignore the outside chaos and sleep it off is sapped away at the sound of laughter. Its quality is uncanny, human but with an off-putting edge too it. Something that licks and plays with the most instinctual recesses of her mind.

“Ken Ah shoot it now?” Zhao asks, keeping his voice low.

Logic yearns for her to say yes, but the part of her that is off-put by the laughter speaks first, “you’ll only make it worse.”

She feels vulnerable, terribly so. More so than when she had been sinking in Loch Ness. At least then, she knew what and where her foe was. Zuko’s glower leaves her feeling worse. He had already been vexed by her choice to camp at all. She supposes that it is on her entirely if they tear through the tent and make off with one of them.

She hopes, for the sake of her conscience that they take her.

A stick hits their tent and Zuko jolts. She wants to day that she hadn’t flinched, but Zuko gripping her hand tells her that she did. She can’t remember the last time he had held her hand, but she thinks that it was when they were children.

Azula looks at her phone, it is only 3:14.

She swallows, suddenly four hours is dauntingly long.

Her eyes begin to droop at 4:00 and she fights to keep them open. Zhao snores softly, with his gun still in hand. Azula thinks that maybe he has it right. They can’t be lured out of their tents if they are asleep. Maybe she should just cave to her body’s demands. She can use the rest. Briefly she thinks of pulling out the novel she’d brought along and reading until sleep overtakes her. But she doesn’t want to attract attention with the light of her phone.

Instead she moves further from her brother and wraps herself up in her blankets, the uneasy flutters never leaving her belly. Zuko seems to follow in suit, but moves his sleeping bag closer to her. She wants to scold him for the loud shuffling noises, but there isn’t a point. The creatures already know that they are there.

Their eerie scuffling and chirping persists but the ruckus doesn’t come any closer.

It doesn’t make her feel any safer.

In fact, it only leaves her wondering why they aren’t attacking. Perhaps they are waiting for them to let their guard down. Perhaps they are toying with them. She digs through her bag for her iPod. She puts her headphones on, the noise will drive her insane if she doesn’t.

“Don’t pay them any mind, Azula.” The words play themselves back in her mind. “Some beings just like the attention.” She remembers smiling up at him and nodding as he tucked her in. She wishes that he were there. This chapter is dedicated to my grandmother who is really interested in Native American lore and has been begging me to tell her 'a stick indian' story. I hope that I do justice to the culture and their story.

#Avatar #Azula #Zuko #Zhao #Cryptid #Native American Lore #Stick Indians #Fanfiction

[fueledbysprite]

Nathmarc November Day 24: Stargazing

well this is fluffy and crack and fun. it’s also 3k words but you know, i feel productive

The bus ride was agonizingly long and uncomfortable. Chloe ditched the bus within ten minutes and called up a private ride instead when Mme Mendeleiev told her she couldn’t skip out on the field trip, and Marc was starting to wish he had the money for a private ride, because this was starting to really get on his nerves. The bus was noisy and crowded, and even though he and Nath had both chosen seats at the very back where they didn’t have to share with someone else, the smooth, paved roads were far behind them, and every bump on the road hit them with maximum force.

And yet Nathaniel still somehow managed to sleep through the whole thing. Marc had never found himself so capable of falling asleep anywhere, and the chances of him successfully achieving even a minute of shut-eye with all this noise were very near impossible. He could only hope that tonight made up for the ride. Marc dared to let his imagination race with the possibilities, reminding himself not to set his hopes too high and expect anything, but dreaming far ahead of himself all the same.

Wishing for the millionth time that he’d thought to bring headphones, he put in the one earbud out of the pair that still worked, covered the other ear and turned the volume all the way to the top. He turned away from the window, the cloudy skies and dark trees on his side becoming unbearable to watch, and shifted his body so he was sitting lengthwise on the bus seat, facing Nathaniel’s seat on the other side. Marc leaned back against the window and kicked his legs up so his shoe soles were almost against Nathaniel’s, then closed his eyes and relaxed, letting his imagination run free.

He’d almost forgotten about the rowdy mob of people occupying the rest of the bus, almost drifted away to the point he’d forgotten they were going somewhere at all, until his head painfully bounced against the window on one final bump, bus jerking to a stop. Marc winced, rubbing his head and pulling the earbud out, and sitting up so he could see what was going on up there as Mme Mendeleiev stood up to give them directions. He only glanced away to see Nathaniel getting up himself, looking around confusedly until his attention snapped to the front.

“Everyone listen up!” Mme Mendeleiev commanded. “You all know who your partners are, stay with your partner throughout the entire afternoon, you’ll have time to break apart and mingle later, but don’t dare go exploring unless at least one person is with you! Am I understood?”

Chants of “Yes, Mme Mendeleiev” echoed through the bus and Marc mumbled it himself quietly in accord.

“Good,” she said. “You know what to do, I should be able to trust you enough to exercise common sense and complete the tasks you have been assigned to do. You are all aware of what’s off-limits so please be smart and we can all have a safe and fun trip!” She smiled encouragingly, much to the caution and terror of the students, and descended as the bus doors opened.

Nathaniel sat up, stretching. “Here already, huh?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. Marc tried to ignore the sleepy flush in Nath’s cheeks and the adorable way he spoke when he still wasn’t fully in the moment.

“Er, yeah,” Marc answered. “You’ll be with Alix, then,” he said uselessly, wondering why he was trying to make conversation like this. Maybe because he liked hearing Nathaniel talk- no. There was no point of getting himself all worked up when the school trip had barely begun.

Nathaniel nodded, leaning back in his seat. Alix shouted for him from wherever she was at the front, and they both looked up to see. Marinette was waving at Marc to come join her, so he bade one last glance at the redhead before gathering his things and joining his partner.

Although Marc would theoretically ideally have partnered with Nathaniel, and Marinette with Adrien, he had to retrospectively appreciate he’d picked Marinette. Although it meant less time with the person he’d have liked to spend the most time with, there were things that had to be done before the day ended, and Marc was sure they wouldn’t have been able to get them done this efficiently and relaxedly if he’d been with Nathaniel instead. Plus, he and Mari didn’t often get a chance to interact like this, and he wasn’t going to complain about working with his good friend. Though that didn’t stop Mari from looking wistfully over at Adrien and Kagami.

“Plans for tonight?” Marc asked, half-teasing. That was another thing he would have never dared to do if Nathaniel had been there. Marinette laughed.

“I wish,” she admitted. “What are the chances a guy and girl’ll end up with their sleeping bags next to each other out of almost 50 people? What about you? Don’t you have certain hopes for this trip?”

Marc chuckled too.

“Well, I mean, you know,” he said, flushing slightly. “Probably not gonna happen, but uh, I have some hopeful dreams,” he shrugged vaguely. Marinette grinned at him impishly.

“Still more hope than me,” she said, studying the trip itinerary. Marc gaped at her for a subtle moment.

“How would you know what I wanted to do?” he challenged, only slightly wary.

“Mm...” was all she gave in response, not at all helping his nerves.

Was he that obvious? Marc shrank in on himself, feeling suddenly anxious. Marinette glanced at him and looked up.

“Relax, I’m just playing with you,” she assured him. He looked at her with uncertainty, and she smiled reassuringly.

“Whatever you say...” Marc mumbled under his breath, before his attention was diverted by the list of things that had to be done before tonight.

***

“Dude! You should have seen his face! It was freaking hilarious!” Alix told the group that had gathered around the campfire. Nathaniel sat next to her, nodding along amusedly while clearly attempting not laugh.

“What happened?” Marc asked, taking a seat next to Nathaniel and trying to act casual.

“Kim- I don’t even know what he was doing- he ended up in the lake somehow and good thing Ondine was there with Lila- Ondine had to literally go in and get Kim out,” Nathaniel explained, smirking slightly.

“But I thought Kim was a swimmer?” Marc asked in confusion.

“I know!” Alix said. “Apparently Max was using Markov to take a sample of lakewater for some test, I think Kim wanted to know if it was safe to swim in, but then it fell in and Kim tried to save it?” she finished with a laugh.

“Okay, in my defense, Max designed that piece of equipment himself! Who knows how much it was worth?” Kim countered, arriving at the site with a towel around his neck, shirt open.

“Did you figure out if it was safe to swim in or not?” Nathaniel smirked in spite of himself. Marc didn’t remember Nath being this energetic or confident before.

Kim glared at him.

“I did, actually. Ondine and I are going to have a race tomorrow after breakfast,” he informed them.

“That’s great, Kim!” Marinette told him encouragingly, sitting down next to Marc so he was squished slightly against Nathaniel. He flushed.

Adrien arrived after that, Alya quickly convincing him to sit beside Marinette, and Marc was squeezed even closer against Nathaniel. He squirmed slightly, shrinking in on himself, until Nathaniel noticed and moved slightly over on his own side to give him more space. Marc wasn’t sure if he was thankful or disappointed at the gesture. At least he still had his comfort in personal space, he supposed.

“Kay, guys,” Kim said, once the whole class plus some others had gathered around a recently lit fire. “Let’s play truth or dare.”

He was met with general discordance, and groaned.

“Come on, you guys are no fun,” he complained. “What do you wanna do, then? Play hot potato and sing songs around the fire? What are we, six?”

“That sounds like a great idea!” Alya said brightly, much to Kim’s chagrin, and they began a half-hearted chorus of Smelly Wolf and 99 Bottles. They were on bottle 69 when some immature boys started smirking, and the singing ended rather soon after that.

“Why don’t we play Never Have I Ever?” Kagami suggested. “It’s less wild than Truth or Dare but it’s not something boring a ten-year-old would play.”

The others seemed to agree with that. Marc feeling a knot suddenly growing in his stomach, but nodded along with the rest. Nathaniel didn’t seem to have a problem with it, and Marc didn’t want to look like a wimp.

“I’ll start,” Alix volunteered. “Never have I ever fallen into a lake on a school trip.”

Half the group laughed at that, Nathaniel included, and Kim glared, putting down a finger. Markov closed one of his metal digits, too, out of respect for Kim, justifying that it had been his own apparatus that had fallen and caused Kim to go down too.

Next was Nathaniel. “Never have I ever, uhh, been on the very top of the Eiffel Tower, I guess?” he shrugged. Some people nodded, a surprising number having to put down a finger for that. Lila looked annoyed.

Marc swallowed when it was his turn, felling the others’ eyes on him expectantly. “I, uh, never have I ever...” he searched his mind for ideas. “Drank a cup of something that wasn’t what I thought it was,” he decided finally. The others were initially confused, then broke out into groans and laughs and remarks.

“Dang, Marc, way to expose me,” Nathaniel whispered, and Marc felt his cheeks grow warmer in embarrassment.

“S-sorry,” Marc mumbled. “It just came to mind,” he shrugged.

“You probably know how many times I’ve accidentally drank paint water, huh?” he asked playfully. Marc swallowed- of course the first thing that came to mind would have been linked to Nath somehow. Typical.

“Okay, okay, but guys!” Adrien called out over the rest of them, and they quickly silenced, more or less. “How do you know you haven’t ever drank a spiked drink. How would you know, huh?” he asked, and they all broke into energetic chatter about conspiracy theories and whether or not milk was really milk or actually just water and some other foreign substance.

Marc sighed into his hand, wishing he’d picked something else. Now everyone else was discussing something else and he and Nath were both silent.

“What do you think?” Nathaniel poked him gently, and he looked up. “Is juice really juice? I water really water? Are you sure what you were talking about?”

“Who knows,” Marinette answered for him, leaning over. “It’s all just one big hoax perpetrated by the illuminati,” she whispered, and Nathaniel noded seriously.

Marc found himself awkwardly in the middle as they went off discussing some of the wildest conspiracy theories he wouldn’t have ever been able to imagine himself. What were those two even high on?

It barely felt like any time had passed at all until Mme Mendeleiev shouted over the group and informed them it was getting late and they should be getting out their sleeping arrangements before it got dark out. Nathaniel set off to locate his own bag, and Marc headed over to the sheltered structures to change into his sleeping wear, quietly praying he found a spot near Nathaniel before the site filled up. He ran back to the field just in time to catch Nathaniel rolling out a sleeping bag, and stopped, staring.

“What?” Nathaniel asked, noticing Marc watching him intently. Marc didn’t say anything, just watched him in surprise. “What, my pajamas? I’m a comic book fan, don’t you know me yet?” he smiled, slightly unsurely, Marc could tell.

“N-no, I think it’s awesome you still wear Marvel pajamas,” Marc said quickly before Nathaniel’s confidence disappeared and Marc was left forever guilty.

Chloe apparently didn’t think the same. She had stalked over with a rather pretty bag of personal items in one hand (Marc would never bring something that expensive on a camping trip), followed by Sabrina who was carrying a large uninflated air mattress and comforter. She took one look at Nathaniel and clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“What are you, ten?” she asked. “Who the heck wears those to a school trip? You’ve got some nerve, wearing those in front of the whole grade.”

Nathaniel looked down, Marc swallowing nervously, until both sensed Chloe audibly freeze.

“A-Adri-chou...” they heard her say, voice distant, and Marc’s gaze snapped up. “What are you wearing?!”

Nathaniel looked up too, and followed Chloe’s gaze to Adrien who was set up not too far away, wearing the brightest red and black-polka-dotted onesie any of them had ever seen. Marc stared.

“Something wrong?” Adrien asked unconcernedly.

Chloe gaped at him for a good thirty seconds before gathering herself and sashaying off to a different part of the site. Marc couldn’t help himself from giggling. Nathaniel looked at his own pajamas with a small smile, then at Adrien, who offered him a wink and a thumbs up. The redhead grinned.

They entertained themselves by observing the others’ interesting pajamas- mostly generic and typical of their age, but some truly iconic. Max’s night wear still had glow-in-the-dark decals that grew apparent as the sky darkened. Wayem’s pajamas were straight out of one of the Adrien advertisements all over Paris, but he was grateful not to find himself alone- at least four other boys were wearing the exact same ensemble. Juleka’s pajamas, although not looking very comfortable, were a level of gothic style that made even Marc envious. He wondered if he could pull off black lace as well as she did.

And then, it was too dark to even make out who was wearing what. The trees cast shadows as twilight neared, and Mme Mendeleiev finally re-appeared to shout at them again for not being calm and peaceful. Marc lowkey suspected she had been waiting for it to grow dark so no one would comment on her pajamas, and deal with the same as M Damocles suffered for his owl-themed pajamas.

Marc sighed happily, laying back on his sleeping bag, as more and more torsos dipped down and out of view, more and more students lying back to fall asleep. The stars were coming out now, and the sight was truly incredible- most of the students just wanting to lie back and enjoy the view. That was what they were here for, after all. Taking a break from the bright glare of the City of Lights, and appreciating the natural view for what it was. Marc thought back to what Mme had told them- this wasn’t even close to the truly natural, unadulterated night sky. If this wasn’t even comparable, Marc wondered how that must look. He glanced over at Nathaniel, expecting the redhead to have fallen asleep by now, but Nathaniel was wide awake. Marc partially sat up in surprise.

“You’re awake?” he whispered to the redhead. Nath blinked and turned his head.

“Yeah,” he whispered back. “I’m lowkey nocturnal, I sleep in the morning and the day, and then I’m wide awake at night and don’t fall asleep until like 3am,” he explained.

“Yike,” Marc said, pulling his blanket over his shoulders after a sudden unexpected breeze. “What do you do?”

“I usually draw my comics then,” Nath answered, supporting his head on one arm. “Some reason I work better then than during the day.”

Marc nodded in understanding, leaning back slightly.

“The stars are beautiful tonight,” he murmured, wondering suddenly why that phrase seemed so familiar. Nathaniel quietly smirked, looking at him with a mischievous look in his eyes.

“You know what else is beautiful?” he asked quietly, almost daringly, and Marc’s breath caught in his throat. He had to force his mind to go quiet, because this couldn’t possibly be heading where he thought- hoped- wished it was heading.

“Wh- What?” Marc asked, not daring to breathe.

Nathaniel hesitated for a moment (which didn’t help Marc’s nerves at all), smirk slipping slightly. Marc couldn’t read his expression very well in the dark, but Nathaniel’s eyes seemed to be darting nervously.

“Uhh...” Nath started.

“Y-yeah?” Marc asked carefully.

Nathaniel closed his eyes for a full five seconds, then opened them again, looking Marc dead in the eye. Marc’s stomach fluttered nervously.

“You,” Nathaniel breathed, and Marc didn’t even have to silence his mind because it abruptly crashed and shut down right then.

“M-me?” he repeated softly, sounding stupid even to himself.

Nathaniel barely nodded, as much as he could in this position. Their gazes were locked, Marc couldn’t break away even if he tried.

“Really?” Marc asked again, not at all believing him.

“I’ve liked you for a while, now, I just- uh….” Nathaniel said very softly, trailing off.

“Me too,” Marc responded, voice unusually steady. “I like you too.” He wasn’t sure why he kept repeating things but so long as he wasn’t messing up his words this time, he could give in to a bit of stupidity, he supposed.

“So...you like me...and I like you...and we’re here, camped out, under the stars, confessing to each other while everyone else is falling asleep,” Nathaniel summarized unhelpfully, for lack of anything else to say. Marc nodded mutely.

“Yeah, unless I actually have fallen asleep and I’m dreaming, that’s what we’re doing,” he said, willing himself to stop being repetitive.

Nathaniel didn’t say anything for a few moments, then broke into a wide smirk, all but laughing.

“We should make a comic book out of this or something,” he said. “Romantic goals, amirite?”

Marc chuckled quietly.

“I can’t tell if you’re being silly or serious right now,” Marc laughed in both humour and relief.

“Both?” Nath shrugged. “Neither? What do you say?”

“I’d say,” Marc said, poking Nathaniel gently in the arm, “this is all some crazy dream I’m having and I’ll wake up in the morning and none of this will have happened at all.”

“Do I feel real?” Nathaniel asked. Marc frowned, thinking.

“It’s crazy realistic, but for all I know, you could be one of the best dreams I’ve ever had,” Marc said honestly.

“Then why don’t we make it the best?” Nathaniel offered, leaning in and closing the space between them.

Marc pulled away after fifteen seconds, breathless.

“Did that feel real?” Nathaniel asked.

Marc shook his head vigorously, mouth hanging open in surprise. Nathaniel chuckled and sighed, picking up his pillow to swat Marc with it playfully.

“Go to sleep, dork,” he said affectionately. “Maybe when you wake up I can try again and prove it to you.”

But Marc didn’t fall asleep. Marc lay with the widest of smiles on his face, eyes closed, seeing stars.

#nathmarc november #nathmarcnovember #nathmarc #marcnath #marc anciel #nathaniel kurtzberg #fluff #crack #miracuclass platonic interactions too #hints of kimdine and kimax and stuff too #just a highly self-indulgent fic #nomnomnom

[builder051]

It just snowed again here lol so I feel the cold. Could you do a fic where Jason gets locked out of the apartment/apartment building (my apartment building has doors outside that you go through and if you don’t have the key you’re fucked) and Colby finds him? Maybe hypothermia for Jason?

The first day of the new semester is dedicated to working out kinks.  Jason knows that.  He doesn’t expect to receive any homework as he waltzes around campus, every class releasing early after a casual overview of the syllabus.  

One benefit of being a halfway through his junior year is the lighter schedule.  He’s only on campus twice a week now, but, as he’s quickly learning, the aforementioned lightness is subjective.  Tuesdays and Thursdays have him running from seminar to lecture to lab from 8 in the morning to 5 at night.  And those are start times.  It’s well past 7 when he finally trudges back to his car to drive home.  

“Flop day, my ass,” Jason mutters, turning on the radio and scanning until he finds something that isn’t a commercial.  He’d been irrationally proud of himself this morning, learning before the school day even commenced.  When I’m a teacher, he’d written across the top of the first page of a fresh spiral notebook, don’t start coursework on first day.  Set expectations.  Expect schedule changes.  Then he’d missed the professor’s introduction because he was too busy beating himself up over the two iterations of the word “expect” so close together.  

Jason can’t believe how tired he is.  Some of it is misinformation, his brain attempting to process his surroundings and doing it badly.  It’s barely past the dinner hour, but dark enough to be midnight.  He may not have any reading to do when he gets home, but he’s still been gone for more than 8 hours.  Exhaustion is a natural response, even if it isn’t helpful or expected.  

A flutter of panic runs through his stomach as he thinks of what’s in store for him tomorrow.  He’s starting his first run of student teaching, meeting his mentor and the principal of the local high school bright and early tomorrow morning.  Will he be able to get enough sleep?  It’s so late…

No, he reminds himself.  It’s not.  The car clock says it’s 7:26.  Twelve hours before he has to be somewhere again.  Twelve hours, what a relief.  Or should he be thinking only 12 hours?  Is that really enough time?  Does he have a shirt to wear that isn’t horribly wrinkled?  There’s enough time to iron, isn’t there?  Do they even have an iron?

And so it goes.  For almost half an hour.  Traffic is stop-and-go, a mix of late commuters and folks on their way to and from the smattering of restaurants ringing the campus.  Jason thinks about stopping to pick up something to eat, but he lacks the motivation to even pull into a drive-thru.  He’ll have to watch that.  make sure it doesn’t become a habit.

Eventually Jason reaches the parking lot of the apartment complex.  He pulls his Corolla besides Mike’s frosty Rav-4, proof that she’s been home for hours already.  If only he could count on her to cook dinner.  He laughs to himself, wishing Colby was the one who got off mid-afternoon.  But alas, his partner is stuck in the awkward phase of proving himself and working long shifts in between the holiday and regular retail seasons, while his stubborn sister is inside, probably reading with headphones on and oblivious to Jason’s imminent arrival.  Jason shakes his head.  At least Mike doesn’t take up much space.

He slings his bag over his shoulder and runs toward the building, skidding slightly on the ice around the edges of the lot.  He swipes the RFID fob on his keyring across the sensor situated on the other side of the glass door.  Jason doesn’t hear the requisite beep, but he assumes his chattering teeth have just drowned out the soft sound.  He hadn’t thought he’d need gloves and a hat when the only time he’d be spending outside would be spent walking briskly, but he wishes he had them now.  He reaches for the door handle and yanks, but it stays resolutely shut.

“The hell?” Jason mutters.  He swipes his keyring again, listening closely.  Again he hears only silence.  “Hm.”  He cups his hands around his eyes like binoculars and looks through the glass, trying to find the source of the problem.  It’s hard to see in the dark, but the kiosk with the sensor seems to be glowing with its usual pinprick of orange light.  

Jason swipes a third time, looking and listening this time.  Still nothing.  He gives the door a good smack with the pinky side of his fist.  The warm brightness shakes, and the jagged edges of something papery tremble into existence.  A leaf or a gum wrapper or something, trapped between the glass and the sensor, perfectly positioned to interrupt whatever invisible means the key fob uses to communicate with the kiosk.  

“Ugh.  Fuck.”  Jason smacks the door again, then stupidly pulls on the handle.  Hitting it won’t unlock it, he knows.  But the situation is frustrating.  Jason looses a few more choice words, then slowly pulls in a deep breath.  He blows out a cloud of steam.

There is a simple solution, though it’s mortifying.  Jason digs in his pocket for his phone to call Mike and ask to be let in.  He feels like a dog scratching at the door.  He taps his phone’s dark screen, but nothing happens.  At first he wonders if his mind is playing tricks again, since the door just pulled the same one, but then the realization hits him and his stomach turns to a bucket of ice.  He ran out of battery before stepping into his last class.  

It’s his own fault for leaving his headphones plugged in with Pandora streaming for an entire class period.  Jason tells himself he’ll carry a charger with him at all times from now on, but it does nothing to fix the current problem.  “God fucking dammit, Mike!” he yells, pacing back and forth in front of the door.  “Decide to go check the mail or something!”  

But she won’t.  Jason knows she won’t.  Mike is… lazy is the wrong word, but Jason’s shivering seems to be interrupting his thoughts with sharp spikes like those produced by a seismograph.  Sparing.  That’s more accurate.  If something isn’t her problem, she’ won’t volunteer to make it her problem.  Once she’s safely in the apartment for the night, there’s little chance Mike will step out of her bedroom, let alone the front door.  

They originally chose this complex for its safety features, but now Jason hates them.  The 10-foot brick wall surrounding the grid of row houses is too steep to scale, and if he tries, he’ll only mangle his fingers.  He imagines drops of blood running down his palms and freezing before they hit the ground.  Jason feels faintly nauseated.  If he pukes, that will probably freeze, too.  At least his stomach is empty.  

He wonders vaguely how long it takes to starve to death.  Then how long it takes to die of exposure.  If he gets back in his car, he might be warmer, but he’ll have to run the engine to run the heater.  Jason’s gas tank is rarely over half full, and today topping up was another activity on the list to do later.  Plus, people are more likely to see him up here by the door.  Someone will come in or out soon.  

It’s still early.  Right?  Jason checks his watch.  It’s almost 8.  Time for… what do they watch on Tuesdays?  He’s too cold.  He can’t think.  He bounces on the balls of his feet, vocalizing indistinctly and listening to his pitch change as it bounces off the glass and echoes back at him.

“What the hell are you doing?” a muffled voice asks.

Jason spins around to see a tall, slender figure, almost unrecognizable under a hat, scarf, and shabby parka.

“Ohmygod.” Jason feels faint with relief.  He trips toward Colby, unintentionally tackling him and sending him ass-first onto the pavement.  

“Whoa, ok.”  Colby says, his voice halfway between amused and concerned.  “Good to see you too.”  He clasps Jason’s hands between his mittens.  “What’cha doing out here?  Besides trying to give me a concussion”

“Freezing to death,” Jason breathes, burying his nose in Colby’s shoulder.

“You lose your keys or something?  Did you walk here?”  Colby looks around wildly.

“No,” Jason says, trying to determine if it’s worth it to explain.  His brain gets hung up halfway through.  “Did you walk here?”

“Nah, Gil dropped me off halfway down the block,” Colby says.  He uses his thumb to stroke Jason’s red nose.  “Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?  Since when are you worried about me before you’re worried about you?  Not that, like, that’s a bad thing.  It’s just a ‘you’ thing.”

“Sheesh.”  Jason tries to roll his eyes, but he feels faint again.  

“Here, let’s go inside.”  Colby starts to pull him up.

“No, you gotta, um, you gotta…”  Jason can’t stop stuttering.  “You gotta call Mike.”

“Why?”  Colby looks at him like he’s gone nuts.

“Don’t ask.  Long story.”  It’s not actually that long, but Jason shakes his head anyway.  “Just do it.”

“Ok?”  Colby takes off one mitten and pulls his phone out of his coat pocket.  “But I get the full explanation later, right?”

“Yeah,” Jason agrees without thinking.  “But call her fast.  I’m fucking cold.”

“You know, I would have never guessed,” Colby laughs as he dials and holds the device to his ear.

#oc fic #mike & co #mike deangeles #jason deangeles #colby carson #casa deangles-carson #colby and jason #sickfic #cold #hypothermia #hurt/comfort #angst

[aliciameade]

Bechloe Week 2018, Day 2: Jealousy

“Whats-His-Name” - Rated T

Also on AO3

Beca’s not quite sure how she got to this place.

She doesn’t like to define this place; defining it makes it real and if it’s real, it’s terrifying.

But this...area in which she’s found herself is a messy one.

“Are you ready to go, Bec?”

Chloe’s voice precedes the hands that grab her waist from behind to playfully twist Beca back and forth. It makes it difficult to reach the pair of flip-flops sitting on her bed waiting to be stuffed into the duffel bag she’s packing for their overnight trip to Augusta for an all-but-pointless state competition. The Bellas progressing through the qualifications to Nationals is only a formality at this point.

“Yep. Just gotta grab my bathroom stuff.”

She lets Chloe force her hips to wiggle because it makes Chloe happy and Chloe being happy makes Beca happy.

“Awes. See you on the bus in five!” She punctuates her exit with a kiss to Beca’s cheek and a spank to her own ass that Beca hears rather than sees, but Beca can see it clear as day in her head.

She’s thought at length what it might feel like for her hand to connect with that same flesh in that same way.

She shakes herself out of her reverie to sling her bag over her shoulder and head out of her room, down the stairs and into the bathroom to pack up and toss in her makeup bag and hair stuff and then she’s out the front door to wait on the porch while the stragglers rush out - always Fat Amy and Stacie - so she can lock up the house.

“Bec! I saved you a seat!” Chloe yells the second she steps onto the bus.

Beca rolls her eyes and smiles; after so many trips, they have unofficial assigned seats on the Bellas bus, at least for the first part of the trip. Eventually, they get up and move around and trade places but for more than two years, every Bellas road trip has begun with Beca and Chloe sitting together in the last row across from Cynthia-Rose and Flo who usually sleep most of the way.

Her mind has wandered more than once about what she and Chloe could get away with secretly in that last row while their friends slept or chatted unawares.

All they ever do, though, is talk, mess with their phones, sing, sleep, or play road trip games that someone prompts.

The Treblemakers’ bus - which dwarfs the Bellas’ in comparison - follows them the whole way.

State and regional competitions irritate Beca to no end. The Trebles have continued to hold their own in the collegiate a cappella world despite their loss at Nationals and qualify for the same competitions as the Bellas.

That didn’t really bother Beca the past couple years. It was kind of cool to have her boyfriend on these trips.

But after their amicable split at the start of last summer, Beca’s found it irritating to have to continue sharing aspects of her life with Jesse.

More accurately, she doesn’t like sharing her life with Chloe with Jesse.

Though the more she’s thought about it, she wonders if it’s less about Jesse and more about Jesse’s fellow Treble who’s quick to be at Chloe’s side whenever they’re on trips like this.

The only time he’s not around is when they’re separated to do their respective group stuff for the competitions.

They’re not dating - at least, Chloe’s never indicated to Beca that they are dating, and Chloe’s been pretty open with her about her life since Day One. Chloe doesn’t talk about him when she’s with Beca, and she’s never even overheard something about him when she was absent but within earshot without Chloe’s knowledge.

But he shows up the moment they park in the hotel lot waiting at the door of their bus to take Chloe’s hand and help her down its steps and offer to carry her bag.

She lets him do it and Beca, the last one off the bus, has to follow them and watch him try to navigate how to keep Chloe’s hand in his when the hold turns into what must be an uncomfortable angle now that they’re walking side by side.

If Beca was Supergirl, she’d laser-eye his hand off at the wrist. Or maybe the elbow to make sure she didn’t hurt Chloe by accident.

She wishes she was used to it by now but instead of the irritation developing the emotional callouses she has to protect her from most emotions, this particular situation has been rubbing at her like sandpaper and she’s starting to feel it burning.

Two years is a long time to endure such a thing.

She knows she’s not doing a good job of hiding her annoyance on this trip. With every laugh Chloe shares with him, or with each drink he fetches for her at the bar, or when he finds excuses to touch her and Chloe lets him, it rips her raw.

She snaps at Jessica and Ashley when all they do is ask if Beca wants another drink. It sends them scampering with tails between their legs and Beca shoves herself into the corner of a corner booth to pout about it all and physically drags Jesse with her knowing his incessant chatter will distract her from her thoughts.

She’d have gone back to her room but she can’t risk it. Chloe and he left a few minutes ago and while she doesn’t want to think about it, all she can do is fixate on how there’s a possibility Chloe took him back to their room and she’s certain if she were walk in on them doing literally anything other than breathing the same air, she’ll lose it and none of them can afford for Beca Mitchell to lose her mind at this stage of their season.

The inevitable comes and the “fun” times at the bar end and everyone starts to mozy back to their rooms. She waits as long as she can in the hallway. She talks to her friends and apologizes to Ashley and Jessica and it’s when she’s standing by herself in a hotel hall in front of her door she decides she needs to face what’s on the other side of it.

She waits a few seconds longer, ears straining for any sound that might inform her of what’s going on. She hears nothing, though that might not mean anything. It could already be over. They could be asleep. They could be making out before things get heated.

Again.

The possibility of that lights a fire of anger in her gut and she uses that as fuel to finally open the door.

She makes a production of it, intentionally whipping the key card out too quickly a few times and trying the handle to make sure they have a warning that she’s coming in. After four or five purposeful failures she finally unlocks it and opens the door.

The room is dark and she waits, ears straining for any sign that there’s something going on. She hears nothing, though, so she enters and lets the heavy door slam behind her and makes a beeline for the bathroom where she shuts herself in and has to sit with her head almost between her knees for a few seconds.

She wants to be able to deal with whatever she’s about to find. It’s part of being close friends with someone when you’re their age; she knows this. The number of times she’s happened upon her friends kissing or doing much, much more with other people can’t even be counted.

Not once has one of those friends been Chloe, though. Not since her first year at school and Chloe spent half of her initiation night making out with some basic tall guy.

Beca can’t remember seeing him again after that night.

But tonight she has to face it. Or something.

Once the dizziness passes she gets herself ready for bed, or what she assumes will be a night of staring at a wall with her headphones on tightly with music blasting so she can’t hear anything.

She makes a scene leaving the bathroom, too - whipping the door open so it pours light into the room and then flicking the light on and off a couple times for good measure before she power walks through the room and into her bed. She feels like a little kid hiding from the monster under her bed and thinks that’s not too far off from what she’s hiding from.

It’s definitely a monster.

And it has shining emerald eyes.

“Beca?”

She doesn’t have her music going yet and hears Chloe’s muffled voice as the lamp between their beds turns on.

She doesn’t want to look. She isn’t going to be able to survive seeing a naked, sex-haired Chloe with that man passed out next to her.

But she looks. She can never ignore Chloe.

Chloe’s not naked. Nor sex-haired. And as far as Beca can tell, there’s no man in her bed either. She’s wearing pajamas and her hair is tied up and the other side of the bed is still neat and tidy.

Beca’s ire evaporates into a cloud of relief. She pulls her headphones off. “Oh, hey.”

“I didn’t think you were coming back tonight.”

Beca stares at her for a second in confusion. “What?”

“It kind of looked like you and Jesse were getting cozy at the bar.” Chloe’s smile is teasing.

“I...what? No?” She knows she sounds as surprised as she feels at that assumption.

“Really? Because you literally grabbed him and pulled him into a dark corner.”

“Dude. Gross.” A shudder runs through her body and she hears Chloe chuckle at the reaction. “Why would you think that we’re...no. Never again.”

Chloe shrugs and lays back down on her side, still facing Beca. “I didn’t feel like sticking around to see what happened next.”

That statement sits heavily with Beca. It sounds a lot like why she dove into that dark corner in the first place.

“You and whats-his-name seemed to be having a good time,” she counters.

Chloe smiles. “He’s sweet. Clueless, but sweet.”

“Clueless?”

“I think I have a thing for the clueless ones. Not him, though.”

Beca chews on that for a second. “Clueless about what?”

She starts to answer Beca’s question and then stops mid-breath before doing so. Instead, she shakes her head. “Never mind.” She turns off the lamp. “Let’s get some sleep so we bring our A-Game tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Beca settles into bed, no longer driven to hide beneath the covers, and stares at the ceiling. “G’night.”

“Night.”

Beca’s almost asleep when she thinks she hears, “Would you ever get back together with Jesse?”

“Wh -” She has to clear her throat. “What?”

“Would you get back with Jesse? Do you think?” Chloe’s voice is quiet and sleepy but there’s a tone of pensiveness to it that registers with Beca.

“No. We’re better as friends.”

“Good. I mean, that’s good that you can still be friends.”

“Yeah.” The short conversation hangs heavy in the air between them until Beca can hardly stand it. “Have you slept with whats-his-name?”

It sounds like Chloe tries to laugh but what comes out is some painful sound instead. “Absolutely not.”

The answer quenches Beca like a cold drink in the desert. “Okay.”

“Is that...a good thing?”

She turns her head to look at Chloe, barely visible in the dark hotel room. She can’t see much, but she can see Chloe’s eyes shining at her, looking right back.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good thing.”

Chloe smiles and closes her eyes. “Okay. Good night.”

“Night.”

Beca doesn’t know how she got to this place. But tonight, after the conversation with Chloe, she feels a little more able to define it without the same level of crippling fear she’s used to when she lets herself think about how much she loves her best friend.

#bechloe week 2018 #bechloe week #bechloe #fanfic

[feathersnow]

Not All Slytherins Are Bad : Chapter 3

Title: Third Year - Nino and the Mysterious Song Summary : A mysterious song had caught Nino's attention and he is determined to find out the source. Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Nino Lahiffe [A03 Link]  Beyond the thousand old shelves holding ten thousands of books which had created narrow paths of the ceturies- old library, students were silently huddled in study rooms, reading corners, around any available tables.Nino Lahiffe and his friends managed to grab a corner in the Dragon section and were studying silently by themselves.The Hufflepuff boy busily reading Chapter 3 of Mermaids and Mystical Sea Creatures when he heard someone singing. He lifted his head and looked around. It sounded distant and echo-like. His friends were all buried in their books. “Do you hear that?” he asked. Max Kante, a Ravenclaw boy, looked up from his book. “Hear what?” “A voice,“ he said looking around, “Someone is singing and it’s beautiful. I can’t make out what it is,” Max listened. “I don’t hear anything,” he said “No one is singing in the library. It’s really quiet, and stop talking,” his voice dropped into a hiss. “ I’m trying to study,” The singing was still there. It sounded like a female singing.. and suddenly, it faded away. “It’s gone now,” said Nino. “You must have been listening to too much music,” his friend reasoned. “Your brain might be playing the songs that you had listened to.” Nino shook his head,trying to clear out the music. “Perhaps you are right,” and he went back to his book. He doesn’t recall listening to this kind of  music before.

The next time it happened was during Potions class. The same melody had crept up on him growing louder and louder. Nino at whatever he was doing and listened.  It was the same female voice and the tune was longer. It wasn’t like his upbeat, fast tempo music. Rather, it  slow and simple, like a lullaby. The female voice was light and the song came out smooth like honey.

The tune was mysterious and mystical. He couldn’t understand the words. It sounded like a lullaby a mother singing her child to sleep.

Was it a non-human tune?  

“Dude, your potion is going to blow!”

He looked down at his culdron to see it bubbling and frothing over the edge. In the middle of his mixture, a huge bubble grew bigger and bigger. He quickly backed up, and three seconds later, it exploded , splattering green goo everywhere.

The professor took off 20 points from Hufflepuff and made the house clear up the mess.

As the days passed by, the melody in his head grew louder and louder and it wouldn’t leave his head. He wished he had his headphones, but they were taken days ago.

On the eighth night , he tried to wrap his pillow around the back of his head, trying to cover both his ears. “I just want to sleep,” he mumbled. A breeze blew into the room, making him shiver. Groaning, he got up and walked to the window. His dormitry room was facing  Black Lake, and he could hear the singing from out there.

He groaned, slaping his forehead. “ I’m not going to get any sleep till I find out what it is, right?” he mumbled to himself.

Huffing, he went back to his bed and grabbed his glasses. “Fine, lets settle this once and for all,”

The moon hid behind the clouds, making everything around pitch black. The dry leaves cruched under his boots and Nino shivered in his blue coat as he kept walking. He had a yellow lantern in his hand.

The gentle waves of the lake splashed quietly, and he brushed the tall reeds away as he edged closer to the lake. The singing was louder than ever before.    “Hello?” he asked loudly, holding up his lantern high above his head. The singing suddenly stopped.  “Is anyone there?”

The waves splashed gently on the rocks.

The boy swallowed, and walked around the lake  “Look, your singing is beautiful, but I would appreciate it if I could get some sleep. I haven’t been getting a good rest for the past few days. I have a test coming up,”

The wind blew the clouds away. The moonlight to stream down. A werewolf howled, sending shivers down the his spine. But beyond that, he saw a small figure standing in the waters, and was walking towards him.

“Um, hello?” he asked, raising his latern shakily. He bravely walked nearer towards the waters edge. It was girl with pale porcelein skin and very long black hair. She wasn’t wearing anything

“Oh my goodness,” gasped Nino, putting down (almost dropping) the lantern, and rushed towards her. The coldwater splashed up to his knees. He took off his jacket and slipped around her body. “What are you doing in there? It’s freezing.”

The girl didn’t answer. She looked like she was around the same age or younger than him.

“Come on, lets get you warm. You are going to catch a cold,” he said, gesturing her to the land.  “What is your name? Can you talk? Which house are you from?”

She opened her mouth, but instead of talking, she began to sing.

He gasped and his eyes widened. “This song…it was you who had been singing. It’s so beautiful,”

The girl smiled and continued to sing. She gently pulled the boy’s arm and walked backwards.  Entranced, he followed silently. Her face was just so flawless and skin was so smooth.  His eyes were on her face and moving lips. Seeing the singer singer makes the song more beautiful and enchanting.

What was she singing? Was she singing in a different language? Or wass it a non-human language? What was she singing about? Was it a message? Was-

Suddenly he realized his whole body was cold. His body felt like he was being pierced with tiny shards of ice.  He couldn’t breathe. He felt like his head was wrapped in a tight ballon. His eyes went wide with panic when he saw very little light. He looked up to see the wavy moon above him.

He was underwater! He raised his hand towards the light source, kicking his legs. Something tugged him, pulling him downwards. He looked down to see the girl who now wore a creepy smile. She opened her mouth baring her long and sharp teeth.

He screamed, but only bubbles came out from his mouth.  He struggled and tried to pry her fingers away from the arm, but she held on with a vice grip, and pulled him deeper into the abyss. Something grabbed his other arm and dragged downwards. It was a lady that looked almost like the girl.  His chest burned, longing for air. Red and black splotches danced in front of his vision.

Suddenly, bright balls of green and blue lights rained down from above them. His captives screeched in fear. They quickly released him and swum downwards, leaving him alone.

He felt a strong sharp tug on his pants , and he was dragged upwards, shooting out into the air, and landed hard on land. He spluttered and coughed out all the water. He was on his hands and knees heaving and breathing heavily. Someone rubbed his back.

“You’re okay…you’re okay,” said a gentle female voice. Hot tears formed in his blurry vision. He could make out the yellow glow from the lantern.

“Are…are you human?” he asked, breathing heavily, his whole body shaking. “Don’t worry I am,” she said rubbing his back “I saved you from those Sirens,”    “W-what?” “Sirens. They are underwater female creatures that have a beautiful voice, luring men into the sea. We learned that last month, remember?” “I thought….,” he shuddered,  “I thought they don’t exist anymore,” They were gone. Extinct. Or if they were, they wouldn’t be found in these parts of the country.

“Well, until now they do. I have been hearing  their songs for the few days, and came out to check if it was true. Luckily I got here in time before you went into deep waters. C’mon, we need to get you to the Hospital Wing or you will get pneumonia,”

“T-too c-c-cold,” he chattered, bringing his knees his chest and wrapping his arms around himself. “C-can’t m-move,” He was probably going to die on the spot.

He felt something poke his arm. Then, he felt warm. He opened his eyes to see steam rising from his pyjamas. He looks up to see a blurry face of a girl. “Feeling better?” she asked.

“Y-yeah,” he said blinking. He put his hand to his face. “Where are my glasses? Oh crap, it must have fell into the lake,”

“Don’t worry about it. Accio glasses,”

“ACK!” he yelled as something hit him in the face and stumbled backwords.

“Ohmygosh! I’m sorry!I’m sorry!” she spluttered.

He looked down to see his glasses in his hands. They were cracked. She waved her wand above his hands.

“Oculus Reparo,”

The glasses was a hissed and crackled. Nino fumbled and put them on. His vision was    much clearer and sharper than before. In front of him, there was a girl wearing grey pants and a pink jacket. Her hair was pulled in two ponytails, and she had bright bluebell eyes.

“That’s better, isn’t it?” she asked smiling at him.

“ Y-yeah..,” he breathed, staring at her. “You aren’t a siren are you?” She giggled. It was music to his ears. “Sorry to disappoint you. I can’t sing,” “Um…have we met?” “Um, we do take the same classes together. Everyday in fact,”  

Nino thought deeply.   She stuck her hand out towards him. “Let’s head back to the castle. The sirens might come back,” The boy took her hand, and she pulled him up. A breeze blew by. He  quickly wrapped his arms around himself. “Where is your jacket?” she asked. “I gave it to girl,” he shivered, looking at the lake . “It must be out there somewhere.” The girl whipped out her wand from her pink jacket, “I’ll get it,”  she pointed to the lake. “Accio jacket,” Five seconds later, a jacket soared in the air and landed with a splat next to their feet like a dead fish. “I got to learn how to control that,” she muttered jabbing her wand at the wet clothing. Steam began to rise from it. “How did you learn how to do that?” he asked, gazing at her in awe. “You’ll learn it soon,” she said passing the jacket to him.  He slipped it on. It felt dry, hot and cosy. “Alright. Lets get going. Lumos,” The tip of her wand shone bright like a white star. “Whoa,” Nino marveled in awe, “How did you learn that?” “We’ll learn it soon,” she simply said. “C’mon lets go,” He grabbed his lantern. “Maybe you can teach me?” he suggested, following behind her. “Sorry, can’t,” “Why?” “Because…it’s classified,” He hummed in thought. “Are you a Ravenclaw? Because Ravenclaws always study ahead of classes,” “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not one. I do get that sometimes,” Okay, so Ravenclaw is out. He sould notice if she was in his own house, so Hufflepuff was out of the question. “ARGH!” The girl screamed and fell forward , landing face flat straight into the ground. He rushed to her. “Are you alright?” “I’m okay. I get this a lot,” she mumbled. “I need to look where I’m going,” “Wait,” he said slowly “Are you the girl who’s potion had exploded and gave everyone swelling last week?” She groaned. “Don’t remind me,” He took a few steps back from her, “You’re a Slytherin,” “Yeap,” she said, standing up and dusting her knees. “But…you are so different from the rest of them,” he cautioned. “I get that a lot too,” He swallowed, “You aren’t going to lead me to one of your gangs, are you?” “What? No,” she spun around facing him, determined. “I would never do that,” “How can I trust you?”he squeaked, taking a step back. “Because I didn’t let you drown in the river,” she reasoned and smiled. She spun around and continued to walk.  Nino followed her, closely this time. “Um, thank you for saving my life,” “No problem, Nino,” “May I know your name?” She chuckled. “My name has been broadcasted everyday by the professors everytime I create an accident. So tell me, you have sharp hearing. If everyone could hear the siren, all the boys would have been gone,” “I love music,” he confessed. “Both by Wizards and muggles. The Siren’s song was beautiful, rare and enchanting. It got to a point that I needed quietness, but it won’t stop singing. I have a pair of headphones, but some Slytherin boys had taken it. Do you think you can help me get it back for me?” he asked hopefully. “I’ll do anything to get it back,”

“I’ll try. But no promises,” she said smiling at him. “They are much bigger than us,” “Wait a second,” he said slowly “You’re a girl…,”  

“I’m glad you noticed,” she drawled. 

“How come you able to hear the Siren’s song?” She shrugged. “I heard it one day and thought I needed to check it out if it’s true. But I don’t get affected like boys like you,” she said , jabbing  her wand at his chest playfully. “You know so much about these creatures and spells,” he mused. “What’s your secret?” The girl turned around and continued walking. “One thing about Slytherins is that we are full of secrets,” “You are so mysterious,” “Well, I am a Slytherin,” she smirked, and turned her head to wink at him. “ Hey, race you back?” Before Nino had the time to reply, she had already broke into a run.

“W-wait! Don’t leave me here,” he yelped running after her.

He couldn’t remember what had happened that night later on, but he woke up the next morning in the Hospital Wing. Sitting on top of the chair next ot his bed was his satchel – his headphones and music were all there.

The next time he went to class, he kept a look out for the girl who had saved him. Her signature pigtails and clumsiness were not hard to miss. Sometimes he wondered if it was the same girl who had saved him that night. She stuck close to her house buddies, which Nino does not dare to approach. To his puzzlment and disappointment, she never waved or looked at him once.

“Why do you keep staring at Marinette?” Max asked one day. “I’m sorry, who?” Nino asked , turning to his friend. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” said the Ravenclaw, gesturing to the Slytherin girl with pigtails. “Have you talked to her before?” “Well, you see…,” and that’s when Nino realised that if he told his friend what had happened that night about her saving him from drowning in the lake because of a Sirens’ song no one could hear, Max wouldn’t believe him.

The Hufflepuff boy cleared his throat.   “No, we‘ve never talked before.”

#Miraculous Ladybug #hogwarts au #my writing #marinette dupain-cheng #Nino Lahiffe

[thehockeyhaus]

With a Little Help From My Friends

(shout out to @loveyoutoobits for the title and helping beta, along with @immarcesibility)

Summary:  Bitty just wanted to clear his mind, to get rid of his intrusive thoughts. No one was out at 3am anyway, so that'd be the perfect time to take a walk, right?

Word Count: 3,156

Pairing: Zimbits

Warnings: Suicide Mention, Depression, (Bits needs lot of love)

Check it out on AO3 - http://archiveofourown.org/works/11471949

The cursor blinking on the screen was mocking him. It had been about fifteen minutes since Bitty had actually typed something to add to his assignment. His phone sat on his desk, open to his conversation with Jack, who hadn’t replied since several hours ago. His brain was running a mile a minute, but it was thinking about anything but what it should be.

The things it was thinking weren’t positive either.

“Jack’s lying. He does have time to talk to you, he just doesn’t want to.”

“You shouldn’t bother your friends with your ‘problems.’ They’ll think you’re pathetic.”

“You’re just needy and whiney.”

“Other people have it way worse than you do.”

“You’re just overreacting.”

Bitty’s mind went back to this morning, when he and Lardo had had breakfast alone. He’d almost brought up some of his worries to her then, but his thoughts had said the same thing then as they were saying then.

“Lardo wouldn’t want to hear your problems.”

“She’s just pretending to be your friend because Jack is her friend.”

“It would be rude of you to bother her with your complaining.”

Bitty blinked, eyes coming into focus again. His hands were shaking. He took a deep breath and shoved his chair harshly away from his desk.

He felt trapped. The normally welcoming walls felt restrictive. Bitty snatched his phone off of the charger and headed down to the kitchen.

He was careful not to thud down the old stairs, not wanting to wake up Chowder or Lardo. He reached the kitchen without much incident, but paused in the doorway. His breathing was still shaky and the walls were still too close. He didn’t want to walk into the kitchen. He wanted out.

Bitty glanced out the window and then around the room. He spotted Jack’s hoodie on the back of a chair. Thank god he’d ditched it there yesterday, because he didn’t feel like going back upstairs.

He stepped into the kitchen and hurriedly slipped on the hoodie. He grabbed a beanie off of the couch, not caring whose it was or where it had been. He then slipped on his shoes that were sitting by the door before slipping outside.

The sound of the door latching behind him broke the quiet reprieve of the outdoors. It was almost eerie how empty it was outside. Bitty started walking away from the Haus, phone and hands in his pocket. It was entirely quiet. He walked under a light and stopped, looking up and listening to the soft buzzing he normally wouldn’t hear in the daytime.

It was nice at first. His brain went quiet as he just enjoyed the nature. But then he remembered why he left in the first place.

He started walking again. Soon he was walking away from Frat Row and heading towards the outskirts of campus. Sirens sounded softly in the distance and a dog howled in response. When they quieted, Bitty strained to pick up the faint sounds of the river to his left.

“You could just jump into the river now. No one would notice.”

Bitty’s pace picked up to a brisk walk. A few streets down, a car drove across an intersection.

“Just lie in the road. It’s dark enough that someone would hit you before they saw you. It’ll be fast.”

His rubber soles smacked the pavement as he started to jog. He wished, now, that he’d brought his headphones. Anything to help drown out his own thoughts.

As he jogged, his breathing picked up more, breath fogging in front of his face. His fingers were starting to chill, now that he’d brought them out of his cozy pockets.

“There’s about ten pies in the freezer. The team won’t even notice you’re gone for another day or two, if you weren’t to go back, that is.”

Bitty dug his nails into the palms of his hands. He pushed himself even further, now sprinting down the road. When it ended at an intersection, he made a quick right and kept going.

Now all he could hear was his heart pounding in his ears. His lungs were screaming at him to stop, but he pushed it a little longer.

“Wait, the concrete doesn’t normally move that way.”

Bitty managed to catch himself with his arm when he stumbled, so he didn’t smash his nose into the hard ground. He was frozen for a second, braced above the concrete, still panting, before he finally crumpled. He groaned as he pushed himself onto his back.

The heartbeat in his ears was slowly transitioning into a ringing sound. He gave a small laugh thinking about someone actually using a transition, like he would in editing, to change what sounds he was hearing.

What if his whole life was just someone trying to piece shit together on Premiere Pro? That would be funny, wouldn’t it?

Bitty blinked slowly. They were adding in a sort of sparkling transition, or effect, or something, because he was now seeing little bursts of light in his vision that he was almost sure weren’t supposed to be there.

Shit, he was about to pass out, wasn’t he?

Bitty fumbled a few times, trying to pull his phone out of his pocket. Fuck, why did it have to be so cold out tonight?

His hands were shaking as he worked to unlock his phone. After three failed attempts, he finally got the password right. His messages opened up and he clicked on a random conversation. He blinked, trying to focus on the screen and make sure he wasn’t texting his mom or something.

That wouldn’t help anything.

Nope, it was Chowder, thankfully, because he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to click on someone else in time.

“went joggin” he managed to type out. He thinks he hit send, but he didn’t have the time to double check before his vision started to tunnel.

He put his phone down, so he wouldn’t drop it and crack it, just before everything went out completely.

--

The next thing Bitty remembered was a bright white light.

His head was still pounding, ears foggy, but he tried to open his eyes to see what was going on.

Shapes were coming closer to him. Large shapes.

Familiar shapes?

“-since 3 AM?”

“-needs a blanket-”

One of the shapes moved away, while the other got much closer to him.

Now someone was touching his forehead.

“Fuck, he’s frozen.”

The shape quickly scooped him up. Bitty hissed. They were so warm. He curled up a bit, trying to bury his face in their chest when they spoke again.

“Bitty, come on, turn your head. Can you drink this?”

Oh, that was Ransom speaking. He’d listen to Ransom. Ransom was nice.

Bitty turned his head and a small object was placed gently against his lips. Bitty tried to open his eyes as his lips parted a little and water poured into his mouth. Bitty swallowed it greedily, but it was soon being pulled away from him.

“Good job Bits,” Ransom said softly, then his voice grew louder. “Did you tell Lardo and Dex that we found him?”

“Yeah, I texted them,” Holster replied. Bitty blinked. Why could he only see grey?

He heard a car door open and Bitty moved his head. He’d been looking directly into Ransom’s shirt. That made more sense.

The heat in the car made Bitty curl up more. It was then that he realized exactly how freezing he’d been. His teeth started to chatter softly and Ransom rubbed his arms, trying to warm him up.

“We need to get him back to the Haus, get him some blankets,” Ransom mused.

Bitty felt the truck rumble under them as they started to move. Blankets sounded nice, and maybe some food.

“Don’t worry Bits, we can find you something to eat.” Holster reassured him. Oh, did he say that outloud?

“Jack’ll probably be there when we get back.” Holster continued.

That made Bitty perk up. He tried to sit up and actually focus more, but his vision didn’t appreciate it.

Ransom’s arms tightened around him. “Hey, it’s okay. We got you, Bits. Did you fall or anything? Is your head okay?”

His head was fine, but he was more concerned about Jack. He had practice tomorrow, he couldn’t be down here at…

“‘M fine. What time is it?” Bitty rasped out.

There was a pause. “It’s a little after 5am,” Ransom finally answered him.

Shit, he had a paper due today that was only half finished. How had he been out for two hours?

“I have a paper to do,” Bitty whined softly.

Holster gave a short laugh, although it wasn’t super happy, more surprised. “Don’t worry about it, Bits. One of us will talk to your prof, okay?”

Bitty slumped against Ransom’s chest again, his head now rested up on Ransom’s shoulder. “Jack has practice…” he mumbled. “He should be home.”

Ransom and Holster shared a look, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, Ransom just started rubbing his back. Bitty relaxed more, his body still exhausted. He let his eyes slip closed again and let out a sigh.

When Bitty opened his eyes, they were back at the Haus. The front light was on. Chowder, Dex and Nursey were standing near the Haus door, and Lardo and Jack were huddled together under the tree.

All five sets of eyes were on the truck as it pulled up to the curb. Bitty was very aware of the attention that was being focused on him at the moment.

“You shouldn’t have texted Chowder. You wasted all of their time.” His brain scolded. “They should be sleeping, and Jack should be home. He has practice. That’s more important than this.”

Bitty shrunk into himself a bit. He knew Jack was looking at him, and as much as he didn’t want to see his boyfriend right now, he couldn’t help but look back.

Ransom opened the car door. He looked down at him. “Do you feel up to walking?”

Bitty nodded quickly. He didn’t want to bother Ransom anymore, or draw more attention by having himself be carried in. He sat up and turned slowly before slipping out of the truck.

Ransom’s hand went to his elbow when Bitty swayed a bit. Jack dashed over to his side, one of his arms slipping around Bitty’s waist. His face was painted with concern and a bit of fear.

“Eric. Are you okay? What happened?” He asked softly but quickly.

Bitty leaned into Jack for support. “I went for a walk,” he explained, voice a bit weak. He tried to straighten up more, and cleared his throat.

Jack’s brows furrowed, but he didn’t ask anything else. “Let’s go inside.”

Bitty glanced up at everyone once, and saw the varying expressions of concern and worry on their face. He flushed slightly. He’d been trying not to waste their time, and yet it seemed in his need to clear his mind and keep to himself he did just that.

Chowder, Dex, and Nursey stepped aside, while Lardo, Ransom, and Holster followed in behind Jack and Bitty.

They all went into the kitchen. Jack immediately pulled out a chair for Bitty, which Bitty was grateful for. He sank down into it, his back hunched, arms crossed and resting on his legs. Somehow, a blanket was passed over to them, and it was wrapped around Bitty’s shoulders. One of his hands held onto the edge, his fingers slowly rubbing over the rough wool absentmindedly.

Jack pulled out a chair next to him, their knees almost touching, but not quite. He looked up, confused. Maybe Jack didn’t want to touch him?

Jack looked up and read the expression on his face. His features softened a bit and he reached out, placing his hand on Bitty’s knee and rubbing his thumb on Bitty’s leg. Bitty instantly relaxed, looking past Jack now.

Lardo had pulled a chair over to Bitty’s other side, and Ransom and Holster were sitting immediately next to her. Chowder also had a chair, but he was on the other side of Jack, while Nursey and Dex were leaning on the counters closer to the door.

“What do you want to eat, Bitty?” Ransom asked, making Bitty’s head snap over to him.

“I- um...” he licked his lips, trying to think of something that wouldn’t take too much work. “I have some cookie dough poptarts in the freezer still, I think.”

Ransom got up, opening the freezer and rummaging around. He pulled out the poptarts, as well as one of Bitty’s strawberry rhubarb pies. He turned the oven on with a practiced movement, unwrapped the pie, and slid it inside. Then he grabbed a bottle of water and handed the water and poptarts to Bitty.

“Thanks,” Bitty said. He opened the water and took a long swig before setting it aside and starting to slowly work on the poptarts.

“Bittle.” Bitty looked up at his boyfriend, feeling bad when he saw the worry in his eyes. “Can you tell me what happened?”

Bitty glanced around at his friends. They were all looking at him, but none of them seemed angry, or were judging him. Lardo gave him a small smile, and Bitty managed a small one back before looking at Jack.

“... I was just feeling a bit overwhelmed,” he explained. “I thought a walk would help.”

“What time did you leave?” Jack asked, this time a bit firmer.

“A little before three I think.”

“Bits.” He turned to look at Lardo. She was leaning forward in her chair. “Before this, when was the last time you ate?”

Bitty furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember. “I think I had something at lunch.”

“How much?” Lardo asked, not missing a beat.

“I think I had a protein bar… and that was it,” he admitted.

Jack frowned. Lardo sighed.

“I don’t want to interrogate you, or anything, but,” she paused, “we’ve noticed you haven’t been eating as much. At least, not while around us.”

Bitty chewed on his lower lip, not wanting to lie about it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to eat, it was just that his stomach was upset more often than not, or he’d get distracted and just forget to eat.

“I’m sorry,” he replied instead, squirming a bit.

“We’re not mad at you, Bitty,” Chowder told him, his voice very calm and soothing. His eyebrows furrowed just slightly. “We just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“We got worried, dude,” Nursey piped in, and Dex nodded in agreement.

Everyone seemed so genuinely worried and concerned about him, it melted all Bitty’s arguments. Even though his thoughts still warred against it, he was more aware of the wrongness of his mind.

Bitty pulled his knees up to his chest, his feet resting on the chair, so he could wrap the blanket further around himself. He couldn’t really bring himself to look at anyone directly for too long, so he just glanced around occasionally while he spoke.

“I… I just haven’t been feeling… well, recently. A-and it’s been hard to convince myself to… talk to anyone about it,” he explained slowly.

“You know, you could talk to a therapist on campus,” Ransom suggested.

Bitty worried at his lower lip a bit. He knew he should, but-

“People need mental doctors just like they need normal doctors, and there’s nothing wrong with it,” Dex told him. “I mean, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Jack moved in closer to Bitty. “It really helped me, and you know I could help you find one if you didn’t want one on campus.”

“I’ve heard of like, online therapists before, so you could just talk to them from your room, instead of going anywhere,” Holster piped in. “That way you could be comfortable and shit.”

“Yeah, and you could just like, put a sock on the doorknob and we won’t bother you,” Chowder added. “That way it's not like you're having to tell us exactly what's going on, but we know not to bother you.”

“Do you want to talk to a therapist Bits?” Lardo asked him.

“You don't need a therapist, you're just over-”

“If it helped me not feel so…” he trailed off and the just nodded.

Jack leaned in and gave him a kiss on his temple. “I love you Bits, I'm sorry I haven't been free to talk to you much recently. I know that probably didn't help.”

Bitty shrugged. “It's not your fault…” he mumbled softly.

“Bro, could I give you a hug?” Ransom asked. Bitty looked up and nodded quickly.

Everyone converged in then, making Bitty the middle of a large group hug.

“Don't forget, we love you too Bits,” Lardo said from where she was pressed into his side.

Bitty teared up and snuggled in further. “Th-thanks guys.”

“Yeah Bits, and don't worry about your paper thing.” Holster chimed in. “Which class is it?”

“European History,” Jack supplied.

“Hey I had that class last semester,” Holster noted. “Yeah, we def got you covered there bro.”

Finally, Jack was the one to break them apart. “I think the pie is warm enough now, Ransom.”

“Oh shit, you're right,” Ransom yelped, sliding over to the oven.

“Justin Oluransi, you better not burn my pie,” Bitty chided with a teary laugh.

“I would never… do something like that on purpose,” he said with slight worry as he peered into the oven. “Ah hah! It's perfect.”

He quickly pulled it out and set it on the stove top. Holster got out the plates and they quickly cut up a slice and handed it to Bitty. Bitty smiled at them and sat at the table with it.

“Alright, now everyone else fight for it,” Holster declared.

“Nothing loud,” Jack reminded them firmly, right before they all could launch at each other. “It's 5am, and normal people are asleep right now.”

That's when Bitty remembered. “Jack, wait, don't you have practice tomorrow?”

While the rest of the team went at the pie, Jack sat back down right beside Bitty. “It's optional skate. I already texted and explained something came up.” He gave Bitty another kiss, this time on his cheek. “Nothing could keep me away right now, anyway.”

Bitty took a few bites of his pie, while Lardo sat down and offered Jack a fork. Jack smiled and took a bite of Lardo’s slice before looking back at Bitty.

“Why don't we finish this upstairs, so you can get some sleep?” he suggested kindly.

Bitty nodded, a yawn bubbling up then. “Sounds… good,” he agreed sleepily.

Jack helped Bitty to his feet, heading with him out of the kitchen.

A conglomeration of “good night”s followed behind them.

“Night, Bits!”

“Love you, Bits!”

“Sleep well!”

Bitty couldn't help but smile into his pie. He looked over at Jack and then glanced back at his friends.

He was so glad he'd chosen Samwell.

#omgcp fanfic #check please fanfic #eric bittle #smh team #zimbits fanfic #zimbits #tw: suicide mention #tw: depression #my writing #thehockeyhaus #my work #sad story fam #Eric needs a hug and a therapist #i do headcanon bitty as having like depression #he stress bakes #he needs a hug

[5hfanfiction]

you keep robbing my heart like a bank 16/?

Lauren barely registers the faint chatter of conversation happening somewhere in the house. She honestly wishes they would quiet down because she’s extremely cozy right now and doesn’t really want to be disturbed. Attempting to block the sound from her ears, she burrows further against the warmth she’s surrounded by.

Settling down, Lauren smiles happily when she feels the warmth press even closer to her. She swears she’s never felt this comfortable before and has no intentions of moving any time soon.

A few minutes pass as Lauren gradually regains her consciousness. Around the third minute mark, Lauren suddenly feels the warmth move against her and is awake enough to realize that blankets shouldn’t be moving on their own. She snaps her eyes open, blinking them quickly as she adapts to the morning light. Once her eyes come into focus, Lauren looks around and then realizes that she’s not alone in bed, finally remembering that she shared a bed with Camila last night.

That thought puts her at ease that she’s with someone she knows and is comfortable with, and not in bed with some stranger. But Lauren’s warmth moves again and it’s only then that she realizes how exactly her and Camila are sharing the bed.

They’re squished up against each other, cuddled on one side of the bed. There’s no space between them, spooning each other with front pressed up against back.

Lauren’s arm is thrown around Camila’s waist, the other one tucked under the pillow, while Camila is pressed as far back against Lauren as she can go, her butt even jutting backwards to fit Lauren’s body shape. Their legs are tangled together and Camila’s got a hand resting on Lauren’s thigh that lays on top of both of Camila’s legs.

Blushing at the position they’re in, Lauren attempts to extract herself from the embrace. She slowly begins to remove her arm from around Camila’s waist but before she can get very far, Camila grumbles in her sleep and subconsciously pulls Lauren’s arm tighter around her.

Lauren’s blush deepens as Camila holds Lauren’s arm against her in a firm grip, as if the girl knows Lauren was trying to move. Snuggling even closer to Lauren, Camila lets out a content sigh in her sleep as she settles in comfortably against her.

Realizing that there’s no way Lauren is going to be able to move without waking Camila up, she resigns herself to the fact that she’s stuck holding Camila until the girl’s grip loosens. She closes her eyes and decides to pass the time by getting lost in her thoughts, seeing where her mind takes her.

By the time Lauren opens her eyes again, she realizes that she has no idea what she was even thinking about because she had fallen asleep again. Lauren feels movement against her front and comes to the conclusion that she woke up because Camila is stirring, most likely finally waking up from her sleep. Panicking, Lauren tenses up, inadvertently squeezing her arm tighter around Camila’s waist.

“Mm… what time is it?” Lauren hears Camila mumble sleepily, reaching one hand up to rub at her eyes.

Lauren doesn’t answer, unsure what to do because once Camila fully wakes up, she’s going to realize the position they’re both in. She feels Camila move her hand away from her face and accidentally bump into Lauren’s arm draped over her.

“Wha–” Lauren hears Camila say in confusion.

At this point, Lauren has no idea what to do. She’s contemplating pretending to be asleep so that Camila hopefully won’t think it’s weird, but before she gets the chance to, Camila turns her head around and locks eyes with Lauren’s wide ones.

Camila opens her mouth to say something but before any sound comes out, Lauren is flinging herself away from the girl and launches herself off the bed, nearly flying into the wall in her haste to distance herself.

“I’m sorry!” Lauren squeaks out, her face flaming red. “I– I was sleeping; I had no idea! And then I woke up and tried to move but you, you held on so I couldn’t move and then… and then I accidentally fell back asleep but I would have moved if I could! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to weird you out!”

Standing still with her chest heaving slightly, Lauren stares back at Camila with her wide green eyes, her lip caught between her teeth in anxiety. She doesn’t know what else to say; Camila is just staring at her, not uttering a word.

Suddenly, a smile breaks out on Camila’s face. “Lo… you’re so cute to honestly think that I had a problem with waking up in your arms.”

Lauren’s eyebrows rise up towards her hairline in surprise then furrow back down in confusion. “Wait… what?”

“Come here,” Camila beckons with an outstretched hand.

Cautiously, Lauren takes it and gingerly seats herself back onto the bed. Camila shuffles across the mattress so that she’s closer to Lauren and grabs both of her hands.

“There will never be a time when I won’t be happy to wake up with you holding me like that. I was about to tell you how nice it felt but then you kind of freaked out on me,” Camila chuckles out.

Lauren blushes. “I thought maybe you’d be weirded out,” she mumbles quietly.

Camila laughs again. “Never.”

Smiling softly, Lauren glances away shyly for a moment before looking back at Camila. “Well, in that case… I wouldn’t mind sleeping with you again. I really liked it too.”

With a start, Lauren realizes how her phrasing sounds but thankfully Camila doesn’t comment on it, saving her from embarrassment.

“At the next sleepover, we can request to share a bed again. How does that sound?”

“Sounds great,” Lauren agrees with a smile.

They finally make it out of the guest room and join the other girls for brunch. After hanging out for a couple more hours, everyone decides to part ways and head home. They all say goodbye in Ariana’s driveway and just as Camila is about to climb into her car, Lauren stops her.

“Hey, um, what are you doing later?” Lauren asks with a nervous smile.

“I’ve got nothing going on,” Camila replies. “Why, what’s up?”

“Well, I wanted to get the piercing done.”

“Wait, today?”

Lauren nods.

“I- okay, yeah, I can come with you.”

“Thanks so much, Camz!” Lauren exclaims, jumping in place in her excitement. “I can’t wait!”

They make plans for when and where to meet and after an enthusiastic hug, Lauren gets in her car and drives home, smiling the entire way.

~~

It doesn’t take much to convince her dad to sign a notarized consent form so that she can get a facial piercing even though she’s not yet eighteen. He’s known about her wanting to get it for a while and promises that he’ll take the brunt of Clara’s anger (who would definitely not approve of Lauren’s piercing). Lauren knows that the only reason why she’s getting away with it with him is because she’s kind of a daddy’s girl and he’s always been supportive of anything she’s wanted to do, right from the start. Plus, maybe she lets it slip that she’s going with her new, really good friend who’s been defending her from bullies.

Putting her sleepover stuff away, Lauren double checks that she has her wallet and the form before calling out to her dad that she’s leaving. Her and Camila are set to meet at the body piercing place around three-thirty and Lauren doesn’t wanna be late.

She hops in her car and puts on a random playlist, singing along to the music until she arrives five minutes early. Parking her car, Lauren hesitantly enters the tattoo parlor, a little nervous about the place. It has good recommendations (meaning Camila recommended it to her) but this really isn’t the kind of shop Lauren would normally even think about walking into.

Right as she walks in, she spots a guy with long, shaggy hair, sitting on one of the armchairs with his feet resting on a skateboard. His tattooed arms are resting on his legs as he scrolls through the phone in his hands, not noticing Lauren enter through the door.

On another chair in the sitting area is a girl, sprawled sideways with her legs dangling over the armrest. She’s got purple dyed hair and headphones over her ears, and Lauren can see the colorful pattern tattooed across her exposed torso due to her crop top. The girl sees Lauren walk in and stares at her, but just as Lauren is about to glance away out of nervousness, the girl offers her a welcoming smile and leans back against the chair as she listens to her music.

Lauren doesn’t feel quite as apprehensive as she did a minute ago, so walking in the rest of the way, she takes a seat on the sofa and taps her knee as she patiently waits for Camila’s arrival.

Not even two minutes later, Lauren gazes up as the door swings open and Camila walks through. She spots Lauren almost immediately and after offering a quick greeting to the two other people in the waiting room with them, heads over to where Lauren is seated.

“Hey, Lo,” Camila says warmly, leaning in to embrace Lauren in a tight hug.

“Hi, Camz,” Lauren replies happily.

“You ready for this?” Camila asks as she takes a seat next to Lauren.

Lauren nods. “I’m nervous but also really, really excited. I’ve wanted this for so long.”

“If you need to squeeze my hand or anything, feel free to. I’ve heard that it hurts pretty bad. Some people said your eyes water and that it feels like getting punched in the face.”

“Oh,” Lauren says thoughtfully. “Well, I’m not too worried. I’ve prepared myself for this, so I’m ready.”

“Yeah?” Camila smiles. “That’s good.”

Camila doesn’t get the chance to say anything else because someone approaches them where they’re sitting.

“Hey, Mila! Long time no see!”

Glancing up, Lauren comes face to face with the source of the gruff voice: a slightly older guy, probably in his thirties, looking like the typical tattoo artist. Covered in head to toe with ink, he also sports a buzzed haircut, black gauges in his earlobes, and a large septum ring hanging between his nostrils.

“Jeremy!” Camila exclaims, bouncing up into the man’s outstretched arms. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy.”

“Well, it’s good to see you.” Turning towards Lauren who is seated quietly and unsure what to do, he gives her a friendly grin. “So this must be the lucky lady getting her nose pierced today?”

“Yup,” Camila answers for Lauren when she notices how uncomfortable she is. “Lauren here has wanted her nostril pierced for quite some time now.”

Jeremy smiles kindly at her once more. “Well, I’m grateful that you picked me to do the honors.”

“Camz recommended you,” Lauren says shyly, taking Camila’s outstretched hand and standing up from the couch. “And I trust her opinion.”

“I promise I’ll take care of you,” Jeremy replies, a hand placed dramatically on his chest as he leads them over to the counter.

They stop in front of it while he slides around the corner of it to stand in front of them, the counter in between.

“Alright. Right here–” Jeremy begins, making a circle over the glass with his finger, “–is all of our jewelry for nose piercings. Once the hole is healed completely you can change it to a ring if you wish, but for the initial piercing, I have to use a stud. There are different kinds of studs though so it’s up to you which one you’d prefer to have.”

“Oh, yeah,” Lauren says, suddenly perking up. “I looked this up when I first decided I wanted a nose piercing. I’m going to do the stud with the ball closure.”

Jeremy nods approvingly as he slides the counter door open and pulls out the little tray displaying the different kinds of studs. “Which one do you want? The cheapest ones are the steel ones, but I also have titanium and gold as well. It mostly depends on the look or color you want and if you have any allergies to certain metals.”

“I’m not sure if I have any allergies but… the steel is cheaper and since I’m trying to save my money…”

“No problem,” Jeremy says as he bends down to search for the steel stud Lauren picked out.

Before he can lean back up, Camila speaks up. “Wait. Get her the titanium one, Jeremy. I’ll just pay for the price difference.”

“Wha– Camz– no–” Lauren begins.

Camila places a hand on Lauren’s arm to quiet her. “Don’t worry about it, Lo. It’s not a big deal. Plus, what if you do have an allergy? It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Staring at Camila for a moment, Lauren bites her lip to try and stop the grin from taking over her face. “Camz…”

“Here we go,” Jeremy interrupts as he stands back up, a sealed bag in his hand as he slyly grins at them. “The titanium stud for Camila’s girl.”

Both Lauren and Camila’s cheeks flush, but Camila is the only one to reply. “Shut up,” she mumbles good-naturedly.

After presenting the consent form and Lauren’s ID and signing the necessary forms, Jeremy leads the two girls to a closed off room with a black adjustable chair in the center of it.

“Take a seat here, Lauren,” he says, gesturing to the chair. “Camila, you can pull that stool up to sit next to Lauren if you want.”

As the two get comfortable, Jeremy gets his piercing tools ready, washing his hands and pulling on some gloves.

“Now, which nostril are you getting it done on?”

“Left side,” Lauren says.

Jeremy nods and drags the cart holding his tools closer to him as he situates himself on Lauren’s left. He preps the area, disinfecting and marking it to be pierced. Lauren glances at Camila anxiously, both in nervousness and excitement. Reaching her hand out, Lauren grips Camila’s firmly, laying back properly as Jeremy turns to her again with the needle in his hand.

He lines it up but pauses before actually piercing her nose. “You ready?”

Inhaling through her nose, Lauren licks her lips and is about to answer when she feels Camila’s other hand grasp the back of hers, trapping Lauren’s hand comfortingly between both of hers.

Smiling at the action, Lauren turns towards Jeremy. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Okay, here we go.”

Lauren squeezes her eyes shut, feeling the pinch and tingle as the needle is pushed through her cartilage, but what she notices more than that is Camila’s comforting squeeze as she tries to distract Lauren from the pain.

The rest of the process passes by in a breeze as Jeremy eventually switches the needle out for the stud Lauren (Camila) picked. He finishes up as he leans back with a wide grin.

“All finished. Want to see?” He asks, leaning over to grab a mirror.

Lauren takes it from his hands, holding it up so that she can see her reflection. It’s pretty red around her entire nostril from being prodded and pierced but she can clearly see the shiny, silver stud sitting flush against her nose. Turning to look at Camila, the girl is already grinning widely at Lauren.

“What do you think?” The girl asks excitedly.

Lauren’s smile widens, flitting her gaze between Camila and Jeremy. “I love it! I’m so happy right now. Thank you so much!” Lauren exclaims as she looks at Jeremy.

“No problem, kiddo. Any friend of Camila’s is a friend of mine. Or more than a friend,” he says with a chuckle at the girls’ embarrassed expressions.

They all head out of the room, lining up around the counter once more as Jeremy gives her care and cleaning instructions and inputs the transaction to come up with a total. Lauren hands over her money while Camila covers the difference for the titanium piercing and after saying goodbye to Jeremy, they head towards the door. As they pass the waiting area, the girl with the headphones looks up at Lauren and gives her a lopsided grin.

“Sick nose ring! Good choice,” she compliments and goes right back to her music.

Even the skater guy flashes Lauren a thumbs up as they exit the shop.

As they step onto the sidewalk, Lauren tips her head back and smiles, feeling like she’s floating on top of the clouds. And when Camila suggests they go to an ice cream store to celebrate, Lauren honestly can’t think of anything better.

~~

When Lauren walks into school on Monday, the first thing that happens is that Ally and Tori come running up to her excitedly.

“Let’s see it! Let’s see it!” Ally shouts.

Lauren grins and faces them, showing her new piercing to her friends.

“It looks so good, Laur,” Tori compliments. “Did it hurt?”

Lauren nods. “Yeah, for the rest of the day it felt like someone had punched me, but it didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would.”

“I’m so glad that you finally got it. Camila went with you, right?”

“She did,” Lauren confirms to Ally. “She recommended the place and I’m actually glad I went there cause the guy did a good job.”

Before anyone can reply, Lauren feels an arm thrown around her shoulders. She glances over and sees Zayn’s grinning face to her left.

“Nice nose ring! It really suits you.”

“Thanks, Zayn. I’m so happy with it.”

“That’s awesome that you finally got to do it.”

Lauren doesn’t get to talk to any one of her friends for very long because one by one they all approach her and compliment her on her new piercing. After being thoroughly bombarded by them for several minutes, Camila finally makes her appearance, greeting everyone (but mostly Lauren) with a big smile.

“How’s your nose feeling, Lo?” Camila asks kindly.

“I mean, besides the fact that whenever I accidentally hit it, it wouldn’t stop bleeding for like an hour. But besides that, I’m just really happy.”

Camila smiles, waiting until they say goodbye to their friends before replying. “I’m glad you’re happy. It looks really good on you.”

“I know, Camz,” Lauren giggles out. “You said that about fifty times the day I got it.”

Camila blushes and turns her face to the side to hide it. “Whatever, that’s just because it’s true.”

“Either way, thanks again,” Lauren says with a smile as they stop outside her classroom.

“I’ll see you next period?” Camila asks before she walks away.

Lauren nods. “See you then.”

With that, Lauren enters the classroom while Camila heads towards her own class. Lauren finds her usual seat in the second to last row and pulls her notebook out, feeling the strong urge to doodle this class away. She barely even registers the rest of the students filing in or their teacher greeting them when he enters.

Lauren only pays just enough attention to respond during role call and doesn’t hear anything else the teacher says. Too focused on her drawing, Lauren doesn’t catch the teacher saying her name. It’s when he has to repeat her name louder that Lauren finally glances up.

“Ah yes, now she heard me call her name. You’ll be taking your seat next to Lauren over there.”

That’s when Lauren realizes that he had been talking to an unfamiliar student and directing her to sit next to Lauren. She flicks her gaze over the girl as she makes her way towards the empty desk, her long, wavy brown hair swaying behind her as she maneuvers through the other desks. Trying her best to watch subtly, Lauren observes as the new student takes her seat, pulling her necessary items out and settling back into the chair.

All of a sudden, she turns her head to the side and catches Lauren staring at her. Feeling a blush rise on her cheeks, Lauren quickly looks away, embarrassed that she was caught.

Hearing soft laughter coming from her left, Lauren peeks again with her eyebrows raised. The girl is laughing at her, but more so in a fond way than to make fun of her.

“Hi there,” the girl says suddenly, completely taking Lauren by surprise because of her voice. She really didn’t expect this girl to sound that way, to have such a low and smooth voice.

“Um, hi,” Lauren replies unsurely.

The girl just smiles wider. “Nice nose ring.”

“Oh,” Lauren says shyly. “Thank you.”

“You’re Lauren, right?”

Lauren nods, nudging her glasses back up her face when they slide down from the motion.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Lucy.”

~~

check me out on wattpad

#UPDATE #series #AU #camren #humour #romance fluff #submission #you keep robbing my heart like a bank

[salty-dracon]

SA Hunters- What Lurks Beneath

(Random mid-adventure with Lumi and May I guess? There’s probably going to be a beach day in SECRET Agents anyway so let’s have some fun with the overly attached fish man. He isn’t mentioned by name in this piece, but he’s a newer character named Thaumas.)

“Remember, class,” some teacher I didn’t know reminded us, “this is for a grade.”

No one listened to her. 

Five yellow buses were lined up in front of Diamond Scale High School. I boarded the fifth one ten minutes ago, along with Brid and her friend group, Sam, and May. They were all chattering excitedly. 

“I can’t believe we’re going all the way to Salty Shore Beach.“ Sam exclaimed. “It’s the best stretch of beach in the Northeast. And we’re all together!“

Allie pulled out her holophone and began to play a happy song. 

I glanced at the sky outside and sighed with relief. There was no known way a vampire could spend a day at the beach without their cover being blown. The sun could burn their skin, and they wouldn’t be good with the salty sea breeze. In other words, I could relax for the day. 

Suddenly, an unfamiliar girl sat next to me. She had wavy brown hair that faded to green at the tips, matching her eyes. She glanced up at me with one eyebrow raised. 

“Uh... hi. Do you go here?“ I asked.

“No.“

A woman of few words... “Why are you-”

“Friend invitation form. I’m from Alder Creek. Jake invited me to come with you guys.”

I glanced at Jake, who was trying to convince Val to take his headphones off. “Uh... what’s your-”

“Katerina.”

“Oh.”

A moment of awkward silence passed before I said “I’m Lumi. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re cute.“ 

“Uh, thanks.” My eyes widened. “Um... you’re... cute... too.“ She wasn’t wearing anything cute, just a tank top and shorts, making no effort to hide enormous muscles. 

Katerina raised one eyebrow and laughed. 

The bus started up and everyone sat down, still talking. 

“Hey, Lu.” Sam’s head popped up from the seat in front of me. “Who’s she?“

“Her name’s Katerina, and she’s from Alder Creek Academy.“ I pointed to the girl next to me, who seemed inattentive. 

“Sam.“ Sam held his hand out. “So, is it love at first sight, or will I have to pass by again?“

Katerina glanced at his hand, glanced at him, and then twisted his wrist and put him in a headlock. My face, I imagine, was one of shock, but Katerina’s expression was the same as it was two seconds ago. Like she did this kind of thing everyday. Sam struggled to right himself. 

“Oh no!“ From a few seats behind me, I heard Brid call out in shock. “Kat, put him down!“

“Sorry.“ Kat released Sam, who looked completely beat from being put in a headlock. 

I didn’t talk to Kat for the rest of the ride. She was too scary.

----

With a series of cheers, the final bus unloaded. My classmates, some carrying pool party equipment, stormed out onto the beach. 

The science teacher I didn’t know tried to get us to listen to her. “Remember, the project is to take pictures of as many biological phenomena as you can and explain them with the things you’ve learned all year.“

No one listened. 

Half an hour later, everyone had pitched their umbrellas, and were just chatting with one another. Kat, for some reason, chose my blanket. She was wearing a green striped bikini and crocs. She was fast asleep with her head on the mini-cooler.

“There you are.“ Brid ran over and shook her arm. 

Kat opened her eyes. “Oh, hey, Brid. God damn, it’s hot out.“

“Um, we aren’t allowed to wear bathing suits.“ Brid pointed to her T-shirt and shorts. 

“Didn’t stop them.“ Kat pointed to a group of my classmates playing in the water, wearing swimsuits. 

“Just make sure you change before we get back on the bus, OK?“

“No problem.“ Kat yawned and went back to sleep.

“Hey, Lumi, I’m gonna start looking for stuff we can use for the bio project.“ From her sling bag, Brid pulled out a sheet of paper. “She said we needed three examples of stuff we learned in class.” She pointed to some place in the distance. ”I see a grass field over there I can use for part one, so I’m gonna run over there, okay?“

“No problem.“ I sighed and leaned back. “I’ll be resting here if you need me.“

“Okay.“ Brid walked through the sand, dodging other blankets and people on her way to the field.

Next to me, Kat fell asleep again.

----

A man set out a polka-dotted blanket on a rock bed bordering the ocean. After a few button presses, he managed to turn a tall pole into an umbrella. Meanwhile, a young boy, only about three years old, ran around the area. He ran to the edge of the water and reached down to touch it.

As he touched the ocean water below, another hand, this one larger and with green fingernails, thrust itself up. The kid’s arm flied back before the hand could grab it. The hand sunk back into the ocean. The kid ran, screaming, back to his father, yelling something about a monster.

Under the water, a long, dark, silhouette disappeared with a flick of its tail.

----

“Woah!“ I was woken up by a boy’s voice. I opened my eyes. “Holy crap, who’s your girlfriend?!“

“Girlfriend?!“ My eyes flew open. A couple of my male classmates (Noah, Zeke, and Conrad, Guitar 1, Drums, and Guitar 2 respectively in Sam’s band), were staring at me and Kat. 

“Oh! Um... “ I blushed. I actually hoped they were referring to Brid. “Kat’s... um... we’re not dating.“

Kat’s eyes slowly opened. She yawned and stretched, much to the amusement of the boys. 

“Hey, beautiful.“ Conrad knelt down near Kat. “Give me your number sometime, okay? We’ll be near the picnic tables.“

Kat, promptly, without even looking, grabbed Conrad’s face and shoved it into the towel between us. The other guys, in shock, ran away.

“Jesus Christ, Kat!“ I exclaimed. “That’s the second time today! Let him go!“

Kat allowed Conrad to stand up. He looked dizzy from being thrown over her shoulder and slammed in the ground with one hand. He stumbled off.

“Wish they’d get the message.“ Kat stretched again and went back to sleep. “I’m not interested in guys.“

“Oh.“

“E’m a lesbian... “ Kat murmured before she went back to sleep. 

This girl had no shame, but I couldn’t help but feel strangely attracted to her. 

“Hey, Lu.“ Allie plopped down next to me. “Hey, Kat. What’s up?“

“We’re both just relaxing.“ I picked up my novel. “We might hop into the water later for our project.“

“Oh, that’s cool. Have you seen Brid anywhere?“

“No.“ Kat muttered.

“She was trying to find stuff for our project, remember?“ I reminded Kat.

“Right.“ Kat yawned. 

“Brid’s never around,” Allie said, “because she’s always doing some form of schoolwork or another. How do I tell her that I just want her to loosen up and have some fun for a change? Is that so hard?“

“No,“ I said.

“All right. Well, I’ve got an underwater camera, so May and I are going to jump into the water and get some pictures. Wanna come with?“

“Nah.“ I flipped my book open. “I’m gonna relax until Brid gets back.“

----

The young boy dipped his hand into the water again. A group of fingers, all tipped with green fingernails, wrapped around his hand. 

“Dad! Dad!“ the boy called. “Look!“

The kid’s father ran over. As he did, the hand with the green fingernails disappeared. 

“Nothing there.“ His father ran back to his beach setup. “Come on, let’s run to the beach.“

“But it was a hand.“ The boy pointed to the water below. “It was a hand, and it stuck out of the water.“

“You’re just making things up.“ The father pressed a button on his umbrella pole, making it fold back in.

“I’m not!“ The boy blushed with anger, but ran back to his father.

----

I was probably only a few pages into my book when I fell asleep again. I woke up to my phone vibrating next to me. I picked it up and read the message- “Discussing the Reveal of Bucky 2 w/ the Writers”. 

Dammit, an assignment from MOSAIC on my day off?! I sighed and clicked the link. The code at the end of the article deciphered itself into “May and friend attacked by unidentified monster near your location, rescue them and eliminate monster”. 

“Be right back,“ I said to Kat before standing up and reading the rest of the email. Attached was a map of Salty Shore Beach, with a ping near the northern end. I called Sam as I ran there, but I was only met by the answering machine. I glanced out to the ocean. Sam was playing with his friends. I waved to him, but he didn’t notice me. 

Shoot, guess I’m on my own, I thought, as I ran to the end of the beach. 

The ping was coming from some sort of rock face. Whereas the sand of the regular beach was made of rock and shell ground down into near powder, this part of the beach appeared to be bare rock. A good place to hang out if the beach got too crowded. I looked around for any sign of May and friend (probably Allie), but there was none. I didn’t see any security cameras either. 

“Lumi!“ I heard a loud whisper behind me. I turned around. May was standing a distance away, in the forest. She motioned for me to be quiet, and then mouthed, “Walk quietly”. I obeyed and walked to her. 

“The monster’s a merman.“ May pointed to the water. “We were trying to get pictures of the seaweed under there when he appeared and pulled Allie under the water.“

“Is Allie okay?!�� I started running towards the water, but May stopped me. 

“He can hear your footsteps.” She whispered in my ear. “He’s got Allie with him. He said that he could take care of a human, so she must have air.”

“So for now, she’s alive.” I breathed a sigh of relief.

“We should figure out how to dive into the water without alerting his attention. Any suggestions?”

I leaned over the water. “Let’s get one of us to be a distraction. I’ll distract him, and you see if you can follow him down to the cave. Once you know where I am, just call for backup.” I pulled out my phone, dipping my feet in the water. “Come on, let’s link locations-” I stopped. There was a pair of hands examining one of my feet. A few seconds later, a head popped out of the water. 

It was a young man with blonde hair fading to blue and pale skin. Floating behind him was a string of pearls attaching his ears from around the back of his head. His blue eyes looked up at us with curiosity. 

“Hi.“ I tried to act shocked. 

“The sea tells me many things.“ He pushed his top half out of the water and touched my face. There were shining blue scales reaching up his lower back. “The sea tells me that you are a lonely woman who searches for her love.“ He laughed and tried to kiss me. 

“I’m still a minor.“ I pushed the merman away. 

“Where’s Allie?“ May asked, dipping her legs in the water. 

“I sense your desire to kill me if I do not return her,“ the merman said. “I’m sorry. She is my bride now, and she will bear me children. I will not return her.“

“What the hell did you do to her?!“ I grabbed the merman’s hair. 

He cried out in pain and tried to pull my hands off. After a short struggle, he screamed, “Nothing! Nothing yet! Please don’t kill me!“

“Tell us where she is!“ May stood up.

“You won’t be able to find her if I don’t tell you.“ The merman backed away from us, and then dove into the water. 

“Hey!“ I stood up and dove in after him. Under the water, I saw a body with a fish tail disappearing into the deep and darting towards the rock we were standing on from below. I pulled my head back up. “May, I know where Allie is. She’s right under the rock we’re standing on. I saw the merman swim towards it.“

“We’re gonna need some backup if we’re gonna get under there.“ May called a number on her phone. 

I glanced back under. “I’ll go. It doesn’t look that far down, I think I can do it.“

“Lumi, are you crazy? It’ll just be easier to use you as a decoy and then jump in after him.“

“I attacked him once. He might see me as a threat and leave me to drown. Hence why I should just swim there.“

“You don’t have any scuba gear, though.“

“Then how do I get some?“ I asked, climbing out of the water. 

“I’ll ask MOSAIC if we can get a set of scuba gear and something to kill a merman with. If I remember correctly, they’re weak to bronze.“ May began to speak on the phone. “Hi, this is May Meredith... Lumi is with me... not Sam. We need one set of scuba gear, to fit Lumi... it’s a merman. So it’s bronze, right?... thanks.“ May hung up. “They’ll be airdropping it in a few minutes.“

“Let me see if I can draw him back up.“ I dipped my legs in the water again. “We could drag him on land if we’re quick about it.“

“And how does that get us to Allie?“ May asked.

“Good point.“ I laid back against the rock and waited. A few minutes would feel like an eternity. I’m proactive and quick, or at least I’d like to think I am, so patience wasn’t exactly my strong suit. 

A few minutes later, a small plastic bag floated out of the sky on a purple parachute. I picked it up and removed the contents. The package contained a diving suit and glass globe helmet, flippers, a pair of oxygen tanks, a bronze dagger, a set of twelve bronze bolts, and a searchlight. I pulled the diving suit on, with May making sure no one saw me. After pulling all of the gear on and pulling the mask over my face, I dove into the water. 

“Good luck,“ May said. “Let me know if you need anything.“

I said “Yep” and threw myself into the deep. (AN: This is the future, so people can actually talk with diving gear on!)

The water didn’t feel as cold like this. Plus, with the searchlight, I could actually see. 

And see I did. 

There was a large school of silver fish near the ocean floor. I swam straight into them, sending them scurrying away. They reconvened a few seconds later, in a large mass nearby. Some darted out of the seaweed near the ground to join their brothers and sisters. No flowers, as far as I could see, and no coral either. 

It was cool.

May radioed in while I was observing the barnacles and clams sticking to the rock face. “Hey, are you still on task?”

I muttered a quick “sorry” before swimming back up around the rock face. I tried to look for a hole, or a cave, or any giveaway as to where the merman was keeping Allie. 

Suddenly, I felt a shove into the rock face. I shouted, letting up a stream of oxygen before shoving my mask back into place. I saw a hand with thin, green fingernails press my hand against the wall. The merman!

“Stay away from us.“ He grabbed my head and slammed it against the rock wall, letting another stream of bubbles escape and turning my searchlight off. With his other hand, he pushed my body into the wall.

Shoot, I thought. I’m not gonna die to this guy, am I? Thinking fast, I twisted my body around and tried to kick him, but ended up pushing myself farther into the wall and/or completely missing him. He seemed confused by my motion, giving me enough time to actually kick him. It was kind of weak (what did I expect, I’m in the middle of the ocean), but it was enough to make him loosen his grip. I swam as fast as I could out of his reach and down to the ocean floor. He started to follow me, but then stopped and swam upwards. He disappeared at one spot near the rock face, one less densely covered with general sea detritus than the rest of the rock. 

I sighed. He certainly wasn’t clever.

“What’s wrong?“ May asked.

“He just led me right to the entrance.“ I sighed. “I thought he would have led me on, but nope, he just chased me away and swam straight back home.“

“Ooooh, yikes. Well, at least now you know, right?“

“Yeah.“ I swam up to the spot with a little bit of effort. It turned out that the spot we had seen was a cave, leading to some dark place. I turned my searchlight back on and swam in.

The tunnel was long and narrow, big enough for five people to fit through if their personal space bubbles were really small. I swam through slowly and carefully, making sure I didn’t accidentally poke anything with my flippers. Vampire lairs were predictable, with lots of winding mazes instead of traps, but I had never been in the lair of a merperson. 

I saw light up ahead. I popped my head up above water and wiped my mask off.

The air was surprisingly dry and cool. A series of canals about as wide as the tunnel ran like a maze all over a cold marble floor. The ceiling was high, higher than I expected. It was almost like an undersea ballroom with a serious leaky pipe problem. Perfect for a merman who wanted to keep a human wife. 

A grand doorway marked the entrance to the house itself. I swam under the door and continued to look around. There were now three sets of double doors, each with one door supported by a stream of water. It felt like one of those puzzle things, where you had to pick the right door.

I removed my globe helmet and listened carefully, trying to figure out where Allie could be. Hopefully, she could talk, or call for help.

Nothing.

Suddenly, I heard another voice. The merman’s. 

“Wake up. Wake up.“ 

It was coming from the door to my left.

I pulled my helmet back on and swam under the door. When I popped my head up on the other side, I saw the merman staring at me in surprise. He was sitting on a bed covered in white silk. Allie laid in the middle, with her eyes closed. The merman was next to her, stroking her hair.

“You... found me... “ he whispered when he saw me. “See, I didn’t do anything... “

“Give her up.“ I ripped my helmet back off, loaded my crossbow with bronze bullets, and pointed it at the merman.

“But she is my wife, and we’ll be happy together.“ He pulled Allie’s body towards himself and pulled a knife from under the pillow. “I will defend my bride, even if it costs me my life.“

I sighed and fired the crossbow. It missed his head by about a foot, but he still dropped the knife and screamed “Please, don’t kill me!” I pity him, I really do, I thought. I pulled myself out of the water as he jumped straight in to a canal on the other side of the bed, carrying Allie with him. 

“Hey!“ I waddled over to his location, pulled my helmet back on, and jumped back in. As I followed the splashes of his tail, I radioed May. “May, I’ve got him. He’s spooked easily, but he’s not giving Allie up. I’m gonna need support.“

“Roger!“ May hung up.

I focused on following him. He appeared to be swimming deeper into his lair. 

“Computer, set up Labyrinth Yarn.“

A voice responded from my helmet. “Labyrinth Yarn setup complete.” 

Good, I thought. Now I’ll be able to get back to the entrance. 

I heard another splash as he exited the water. I tried to swim as fast as I could to follow him. When I quietly popped my head above water, I saw him doing something unexpected.

“Can you breathe?“ He had his head against Allie’s back, listening to her breathe. “I hope you didn’t breathe in any water while you were down there. I’m sorry about the shock.“

I pointed my crossbow again and fired. The bolt barely missed the merman’s head. He jumped back and screamed, and then quickly checked on Allie before carrying her back into the canal system and swimming elsewhere. I followed him, wishing desperately that he would stop. Once again he swam into another room to check on Allie, once again I attacked, once again he jumped back into the water. It was going to be a cycle unless I got him to leave somehow.

Leave somehow... 

“May!“ I radioed. “You need to cause a ruckus up there. Make him think his cave’s about to collapse. Then I’ll get Allie away from him, and take him out.“

“What do I do it with?“

“Light a bomb! I don’t know!“

“B-Bomb?!“

“This search is going to last forever unless you can scare him out.“

“Okay. I’ll call MOSAIC and see if I can get something airdropped to me.“

I nodded and kept swimming after him. 

It was my job to keep him distracted, but my legs were beginning to get tired. I paused for a moment and let my legs stop burning. Once the pain was bearable, I started swimming again, but stopped when I realized that the merman was nowhere to be found. 

Where did he go? I poked my head above water. 

I was in another bedroom, this one with a much larger bed. To its side was a large pool. I pulled myself out of the water and stood up.

“Allie!“

Allie was lying on the bed, still asleep. I scrambled over to her and picked her up. “Allie! Allie! Where’s the merman?”

Allie, of course, did not respond. 

Suddenly, something wrapped around my legs and pulled me into the water! 

A pair of hands with green fingernails ripped my helmet off from behind. A blue tail snaked itself around my body like a cobra, and squeezed. 

“I’ve been alone for too long to give her back.“ The merman’s voice rang clearly in my ear. “I need a human to love. Please. Just one human.“

“No,” I muttered, releasing a small bubble of air. 

“I don’t want to kill you. Because then more monster hunters will come and-“

“Let me go.“ Another bubble. 

“Then let me love you too. Stay here with me-“

“No!“ I ripped my diving glove off and squeezed my fingernails into the mermaid’s tail. He screeched with pain and released me. I quickly pulled myself up to the edge of the pool and caught another gulp of air before he pulled me down again.

BOOM.

The merman released me. We both glanced upwards in shock.

“What’s going on?!“ Quick as a flash, the merman leapt clear out of the water, grabbed Allie, and jumped back in. He bolted through a canal. 

BOOM.

“Allie!“ I pulled my helmet back on and started to follow him. “Labyrinth Yarn Program, show me the path out!“

The computer spoke. “Sure thing. Turn left here.“

I followed its instructions as it led me out of the undersea cave. Turn left, turn right, keep going straight, stuff like that. 

“The destination is on your-“ 

“’Kay, gotcha.“ I turned the computer off and threw myself out the entrance. I caught sight of the mermaid. He was swimming upwards, still covering Allie’s nose and mouth. I followed them. “May, I see him. He’s near the surface.“

“Roger.“ May said.

A few seconds later, the merman was dodging bullets being shot into the water. I took this opportunity to wrestle with him for Allie. I swam upwards (I think I had the hang of it) and tried to pry his arms open. He shouted and pulled back, kicking hard with his tail. My diving flippers didn’t do anything to stop him. I pulled the bronze dagger out of my diving belt and slashed at his skin. He kept dodging my blade, until I managed to pull him close to me and slide the blade in between him and Allie. He shouted and released her. I grabbed Allie’s body, covered her nose and mouth, and swam for the surface. 

We both broke the surface. May quickly pulled Allie onto the shore. I hopped up a couple of seconds later and removed my diving helmet. 

“Allie? Allie?” May pressed her head against Allie’s back. “I feel a heartbeat. I think she’s doing all right.“

Allie’s eyes fluttered open a few seconds later. May wrapped her in a towel. “I’ll handle her. Don’t worry. You need to deal with the merman.”

“On it.“ I pulled the diving gear off so as not to reveal my identity to Allie, and stuck my head back into the water. 

“Lumi, make sure to look around on land too.“ May dried Allie’s arm off. “Merfolk have the ability to transform their tails into legs when they need to go on land for some reason. And he’s probably expecting us back to finish the job.“

----

The merman pulled himself out of the water. As he dragged himself onto the sand, his tail became smaller and turned a different shade of blue. Eventually it separated into two legs, clothed by a pair of jeans. He stood up, stumbled, and then continued to walk towards the forest, glancing back at the location of the two girls who had attacked his home. They were still there, in the distance, caring for the one he had kidnapped. The one that had fired bullets was wrapping her body in a towel, and the one that had chased him underwater was not wearing any diving gear, but was sticking her face into the ocean.

The one with the long, straight hair... so beautiful... I wish she understood...

He stumbled into the sand again.

It’s been so long since I’ve walked upon the humans’ land... so dry and harsh...

Eventually he reached the forest. The sea knew many things about the humans. The sea instructed him to collect green slips of thinly woven cotton- they could be exchanged for services and things from the humans. The sea told him to be wary of the humans, especially the girl who dove after him. She was not cruel, but would execute him for making any wrong move.

Perhaps I could ask her for forgiveness? he asked the sea. No, the sea replied. She will kill you all the same. The merman sighed at this. It was only a matter of time until she hunted him down.

The sun beat down on his skin, drying it out. He wandered into the shade and decided to rest there. A few seconds after finding a good spot, he collapsed out of exhaustion.

----

“Is he... dead?“ 

May and I looked over the body of the merman. After a bit of searching in the water and on the land, I found him lying in the middle of the forest, apparently unconscious or asleep. I placed my hand on his forehead. It was burning up.

“He has a very high fever,“ I said. “Come on, we should bring him to the water.”

“But Lu, we’re supposed to kill him. If he gets into the water, then he’ll-”

I glanced down at his body. His face seemed to be one of discomfort- his features had not yet relaxed, and his skin was boiling. He looked, to me, to be in complete agony. That’s what I would be, if I were a creature living in the sea that had just discovered the beach. We could just as easily leave him to die... but did I really want that? Was it even right to do so?

“Let’s find a shallow pool somewhere. We need him to cool off. I don’t want to kill him like this.“

“Okay.“ May picked up his feet while I picked up his head. We carried him down the coast, away from his home and away from any people. 

“There.“ May pointed to a shallow pool a few feet away. We carried him over and placed his body in the water. I splashed water over his face, trying to cool off his forehead.

His eyes slowly opened. We each held an arm as he regained motion throughout his entire body. I already knew his arms were weak, and with the shallow nature of the water we were in, it would be impossible for him to escape. He tried to struggle away, but after a while, found it impossible. 

“Who rescued me?” he asked, his voice weak. “Please release me, I just want to run away... “

“It’s me,“ I said. “I’m the hunter that went after Allie.“

“The pretty brunette... I remember... “ The merman tried to struggle out of our grip again. “Please, please don’t kill me!“ I could already see several ways in which he could escape us. It was a good thing he had no creativity and only relied on his weak arm strength. 

“We can’t let you live,“ May said. “But... Lu wanted to make sure you could talk before we killed you.“

“No!“ The merman tried to struggle out of our grip again. 

“Don’t phrase it like that!“ I said. “What she meant was that you were in agony on land, and I couldn’t bear to kill you in that state. It didn’t feel right. So, we brought you to the ocean, so you could be at least somewhat comfortable.“

The merman stopped struggling. “The sea told me you would kill me no matter what.”

“That much is true,“ I said. I pointed the bronze-tipped dagger at his heart. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t care about my victims. Yes, you’re despicable, you kidnapped a girl and tried to make her your wife. But you didn’t try to harm her at all.“ I smiled. “That’s... nice of you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much.“

The merman began to cry. May stroked his shoulders while I pushed the dagger against his chest. 

“I... only... wanted... love... “ he choked out.

“The truth is, that’s what I want, too.“ I sighed and pulled my hand back, getting in position for the kill. “But it is my duty to never let a monster live.“

The merman gave one final cry before I shoved the dagger into his heart. He trembled as blue blood poured out of his chest, then let go of his last breath. May and I backed away as his body frothed down into seafoam and receded into the ocean. 

“That was my first time meeting a merperson,“ I said. “Are they all like this?“

“Kinda,“ May said. “From what I know, they’re supposed to be social, but this one was living all alone. He was probably going mad from his solitude and kidnapped Allie so he would have a family.“

“Don’t most crave human flesh?“ I asked as we turned back to the beach.

“No, that’s sirens. This one was a merperson. You could tell by the shape of his teeth.“

“Gotcha.“

“Hey, Lumi?“

“Yeah?“

“Do you believe he’s innocent? That it was wrong to kill him?“

“We killed him for kidnapping someone.“ I took a deep breath. “I know I’m a monster hunter, but... it felt cruel. We could have just as easily relocated him somewhere with a community of merpeople. I would have loved to see him happy, without needing to kidnap one of my classmates.“ I stared back out at the pile of seafoam drifting toward the horizon. “Sometimes I question what I do. I really do.“

May sighed. “Sometimes I feel the same way.”

----

The ride back home was relatively quiet. No one talked at all, except the teachers. But we were silent for different reasons. Most of my classmates were tired from the trip. Kat was just silent like she always was. Some were listening to music and had no interest in talking anyway. I wondered if I was the only one questioning my decisions.

Why did I join MOSAIC, anyway?

Because I wanted to feel like I had kept people safe. Like I made a difference somewhere. I had kept someone safe. 

Because I loved, and still love, my family, my friends, and my city. 

But there had to be other ways. Ways to protect the things I loved without my crossbow, and my weapons, and my tools of the trade. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

(AN: Yeah, that entire thing sucked. And maybe had a plot hole or two. I’m really sorry, I haven’t been able to write anything coherent or exciting lately. To be frank, I’m kind of stuck. I’m starting the final arc of SAHunters on Google Docs, and I know I haven’t posted the chapter with Arthur yet, and I’m excited for you guys to see what he’s like.) 

(Anyway, more about Thaumas. He is a merman, and generally very lonely, but forms emotional attachment quickly. It’s kind of his own fault for isolating himself from everyone else. He has a slight craving for human flesh, but mostly craves love. I didn’t include his magic powers here- in this SAHunters chapter, he’s just a man with a fish tail. Whether I decide to make him a villain in SAFuture or a guardian in TMX, his powers will be the same- he will have hydrokinesis, but not like Lapis from SU: he’ll use it to create a watery mist around his body, and if anything touches the mist, it freezes instantly, which is useful for stopping bullets and protecting himself when necessary. If he ends up in SAFuture, he will be a human with robot legs that can transform into a fish tail, who works alongside the main villain.)

#sahunters