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justagalwhowrites · 4 months

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Yearling - Ch. 27: Found

You try to figure out what you want. Joel and Ellie go on patrol.A continuation of Yearling ch. 1-26 found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Angst. CLEARLY. It's me. Homophobia. Smut-adjacent. No use of Y/N. Minors DNI 18+ Only

Length: 11.3k (THIS IS GETTING TO BE A PROBLEM I'M SO SORRY)

AO3 | Chapter One | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Late August, 2027

“You’re making this hard on purpose,” Ellie’s nose scrunched as she held her guitar.

You laughed.

“Promise, Kiddo, I’m not.”

“Sometimes I really don’t like you, you know,” she grumbled. You snorted. “I’m serious! Swear you make me do shit the hard way because you fucking enjoy watching me struggle…”

“You learn better when you do it yourself and do it the hard way,” you shrugged, leaning back against a post of your porch. You stretched a leg out onto the step below and picked a little at your guitar. “You’ll never learn if I just give you all the answers.”

“Yeah yeah,” she muttered, leaning to the side to add more of her disorganized scrawl to her notebook. “Swear you didn’t have to work this hard at shit…”

“I started a lot younger than you,” you replied, picking up the pace on your guitar and adding slaps and pops, no real rhyme or reason to it, just what your fingers felt like doing. “Everything is easier when you start young. And hey, you’ve got a leg up on any asshole who tries to learn when they’re my age.”

“Because you’re a dinosaur?” She looked up at you from her notebook, a small smirk on her face.

“Nah,” you replied. “They’d been dead like three years when I was born, I’m not THAT old.”

She laughed and went back to her notes as you kept playing, looking out down the path from your yard to the road beyond.

It was sweltering hot and you’d never been more thankful for a breeze or the fact that it was your day off from the stables. The hair that had pulled loose from your braids stuck to your skin and you’d been sweating all day, waking up with your sheets balled up at the foot of your bed and your tank top damp even with the ceiling fan on. You hadn’t even put on jeans that day, throwing on one of the few dresses that had made their way into your closet in the almost two years you’d been in Jackson. The first you’d taken when Maria mentioned seeing one she thought would fit you, not long before things fell apart with Joel. You’d intended to wear it to the Tipsy Bison on a night there was dancing once it was warmer, opening the door to Joel when you were dressed like what your mother would call “a proper lady.” You’d pictured dancing with him, his hand sliding up the inside of your thigh when you sat down to have a drink until you couldn’t take it anymore and you practically dragged him home, riding him with the skirt bunched up around your waist the second you were in the door.

That had never happened. That dress stayed tucked safely away at the back of your closet, not able to bring yourself to part with it and the image of that night with him.

The other dress was perfect for days like today, long and loose and thin cotton that made the oppressive heat of late summer tolerable. Even if Ellie had looked at you like you had two heads when she saw you in the damn thing.

You didn’t mind, though. You were just glad that you had gotten to the point that you liked spending time with Ellie again. That you’d started feeling much of anything at all.

The first month you got back was hazy. You didn’t really leave your house at first, not able to contribute much at the stable and not seeing a reason to move otherwise.

You weren’t entirely sure how many days passed before there was the first knock at your door.

It wasn’t an Ellie knock. The sound didn’t carry her chaotic energy or almost audacious nature. Instead, it was hesitant but sturdy and firm without being forceful or insistent. You stayed flat on your back, staring up at the ceiling of the closet for a minute to see if the knock would come again. It didn’t. You stared at the ceiling a while longer but, eventually, you had to pee. You forced yourself to move and, on your way back from the bathroom, passed your front door. You hesitated for a moment before you went and opened it, to see if whoever knocked had left a note.

On your porch was a box filled with crackers and jerky and fruit and carrots and celery. All things you could eat without needing to cook or, really, do anything at all. You knew it was from Joel, even though it hadn’t sounded like his knock, either. There was no one else who would have brought it because no one else knew why you were locked inside your home. But he was no where to be seen. He didn’t leave a note.

A few days later, you forced yourself to go to the stable to check on the horses. The fillies and the colt weren’t making much progress without you - you’d have to probably start nearly from scratch with them once your arm healed - but you were able to feel somewhat useful, brushing horses down, checking on their hooves to see when they’d need to be shoed, just giving them some love and attention. That helped you feel a little more like yourself.

Ellie started coming by again a few days after that. She showed up one afternoon with a CD and a sandwich from the mess hall, marching into your living room like nothing had happened, complaining about another kid in town and how Joel wasn’t going to let her patrol with anyone but him for a while.

“I could get partnered with Dina but no,” she drew the last word out, sprawled on your couch, rolling her eyes as she did. “The old man is convinced I’m going to drop dead if he’s not looking out for me for five minutes…”

“I’m sure he’ll ease up once he sees how capable you are,” you said, sitting on the loveseat and picking up the CD case she’d brought with her. The Clash this time. “Mick Jones and Joe Strummer, nice choice. Why do you want to go out with Dina, anyway? I thought not everything was about girls…”

“Shut up.”

“Nah.”

You were’t sure if you were really doing better or if you’d just found a way to push the hurt down inside yourself again. You weren’t sure there was a way to recover from this, from the idea that you’d probably never see your child again. Clinging to the possibility felt so necessary but so foolish. You weren’t sure if it was reason or denial but it didn’t really matter. You weren’t sure you could live without that possibility dulling the jagged edges of your grief and pain.

The boxes of food made regular appearances on your porch. You never saw Joel.

When you were close to getting your cast off, Ellie came by your house but didn’t shove her way inside the way she usually did. Instead, she hovered on your porch.

“OK don’t be mad,” she said, a serious look on her face.

“Off to a great start,” you replied.

She glared at you for a second before pressing on.

“Joel sent me with a message,” she said. “He wanted me to tell you that the movie tonight was something called Ever After and that he thought you would like it and that he wasn’t going to be there so you should go. And to not be mad. I think you shouldn’t be mad, too, by the way.”

“Not mad,” you smiled a little. “I just… I don’t know…”

“Come on, Bambi,” Ellie said, dropping some of her pretense now. “Dina’s going with Jesse and I’ve never seen it and I really don’t want to be stuck sitting by them while they suck face.”

You sighed, looking back over your shoulder in the direction of Joel’s house. You found yourself looking that way a lot.

“Alright,” you said after a moment, looking back at Ellie. “I’ll go. But only to save you from your crush…”

“I’m going to ignore that last part and just be happy you’re going,” she said, a little smug. “Even though you’re annoying about it.”

“So annoying,” you agreed, stepping into your boots, turning on the lamp and following her out the door.

It was strangely easy to adjust to being around the people of Jackson again. Ellie gave you something to focus on, busy trying to distract her from the Dina and Jesse acting exactly like you remembered some of your friends in high school acted with their boyfriends.

“What’s this movie about, anyway?” Ellie asked as the two of you settled in toward the back of the room.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it,” you said. “But I think it was like Cinderella.”

Ellie looked at you and made a face.

“Like the fairy tale.”

“Yup,” you replied. She stared at you and you laughed a little. “What?”

“I’m just trying to picture you liking a fucking fairy tale.”

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms as best you could with one in a cast.

“What?” She teased. “Don’t tell me you like some stupid story where love solves everyone’s problems…”

“What’s wrong with that?” Julie, the woman you’d seen a few times at the Tipsy Bison and when she went out on patrol, appeared alongside Ellie, a large bowl of popcorn in her hands.

“It’s bullshit,” Ellie said. “There’s a reason they’re stories for little kids.”

“Maybe you just haven’t loved that way yet,” she smiled a little before nodding to the chair on the other side of you. “Seat taken?”

You hoped you didn’t just stare at her for too long. People didn’t just talk to you in Jackson, not without a reason, let alone try to sit by you. You weren’t entirely sure what to do with it.

“All yours,” you said, tugging your legs in close so she could pass you and sit down. She settled in beside you and smiled, holding out the bowl.

“Thanks,” she said. “Popcorn?”

“Sure,” you said after a moment, taking some with your good hand. “Thank you.”

“Course,” she smiled a little bigger in a lopsided, almost cocky way. “What’s the point of popcorn if you don’t share it?”

The movie was good. You’d only seen it once or twice before the outbreak but you’d liked it then, too. Cinderella was smart and capable, the prince was handsome and kind and you liked to imagine the way life was in that period of time.

“OK so that wasn’t terrible,” Ellie said as you headed out with her and Julie.

“Told you,” you teased a little.

“No one told me that sometimes the girls in fairy tales got to be badasses,” she replied. “I might have liked the stories more then!”

“The girls are always badasses,” Julie said. “They just try to hide it, scares the men otherwise.”

Ellie snorted.

“Sounds right.”

You reached Joel’s. There was a light on in his living room and you felt the familiar tug in you to go inside and join him. Just let yourself in the front door and settle in like it was yours.

“I’m gonna go tell the old man that his taste in movies isn’t totally awful,” Ellie said, heading up the front walk. “Still want help tomorrow at the stable?”

“Stalls ain’t gonna muck themselves,” you replied and held up your still healing arm. “And this isn’t much help.”

“Ugh,” she groaned good naturedly. “Night!”

You watched until she made it to the front door - not that the precaution was really necessary here but it made you feel better - and you turned to Julie, your good hand stuffed in your pocket.

“I’m that way and to the left,” you said. “So…”

“Mind if I join you?” She asked. “Nice night, figure I’ll take the scenic route.”

You looked at her for a moment.

“Sure,” you shrugged. “Not much to see though.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” she smiled one of those lopsided smiles and fell into step beside you, walking a little slower than you and you slowed down to match her pace. You looked ahead. “So, how’ve you been doing? Don’t see you at the Bison much anymore.”

“Fine,” you shrugged. “Just haven’t felt like going out.” You looked over at her and had the passing thought that she was pretty. Young, with long, dark hair and bright eyes and full lips.“How about you?”

“Oh you know,” she waved you off. “Same old, same old. The berries are coming into season though, have you been to check out the orchards and stuff?”

“I’ve ridden past them,” you said. “Haven’t exactly spent time there, though.”

“You should!” She brightened at that, even more than she already was. The two of you came to a stop at your front walk. “Think you’d like it. You should come with me sometime, it’d be fun.”

“Yeah, maybe,” you smiled a little tightly. “This is me, so…”

“Nice place,” she smiled back, looking more genuine than yours felt. “Well, whenever you want to check it out, let me know. Hope to see you around.”

“You too,” you said, standing there awkwardly for a moment before turning and heading up the walk and into your house.

You went to the mess hall the next morning for breakfast. Dinner, too. And soon, your cast was off and you were going there for most meals, even if it was just to grab something to bring home or go to the stables. The food boxes stopped showing up on your porch.

Instead, you’d come back from the stables and find new guitar strings waiting for you there or a CD that you didn’t have or a copy of Titanic on VHS, the one that took two tapes and you had to get up halfway through to change it.

You’d told Joel he should move on. You weren’t sure if you really wanted him to - you doubted you’d be able to stomach seeing him with someone else - but you didn’t want him to be alone, either. You didn’t want to drag him down with you just because you couldn’t separate his past from your own.

“OK so I think I have it,” Ellie said, pulling you out of your head and making your fingers still. “Can you look?”

She shoved the notebook your way and you leaned over your guitar to look at it, fingering the chords but not playing them.

“Yeah,” you said after a minute. “I think that’s probably closer to what you’re looking for, give it a go.”

You pushed the notebook back towards her and she set her guitar on her lap, adjusting it for a second before playing it. You nodded along, watching as she scrunched her face, getting more and more frustrated before she groaned.

“That’s not right either,” she leaned her head back on the post at her back. “Song writing shouldn’t be this hard. This is bullshit.”

“The shit that’s worth doing is hard, kid,” you shrugged. “Why don’t you try thinking about it again for a minute. Do you want it to feel urgent or slow and confident? Both are strong but they’re going to have different vibes.”

She sighed and closed her eyes.

“I don’t know.”

“Well,” you shrugged, settling back with your guitar. “Figure out how you’re feeling and what you want the song to say about it. It’ll come to you.”

You went back to playing as Ellie picked her notebook back up, gnawing on the end of her pen.

“I didn’t know you played!”

You stopped and your head shot up from its place on the post to see Julie standing at the end of your walk, her hands in the pockets of her shorts, her thick hair piled on top of her head, her arms looking sculpted and strong in her tank top.

“Sorry,” she laughed. “Didn’t mean to scare you. Can I come up?”

“Um…”

“Sure!” Ellie said before you had a chance to really think about it. Julie reached over the short fence and unlatched the gate before opening it and coming up to your porch, sitting on the bottom step so she was looking up at you and Ellie.

“Didn’t know there was a guitar club in town,” she said, folding one leg into her chest and looping her arms around her shin. “Don’t stop on my account! What song was that?”

“Oh, that wasn’t anything,” you said, running your fingers up and down the neck of the guitar. “Just… fidgeting, really.”

“Yeah, Bambi is fucking awesome,” Ellie said. “Best guitar player in town, easy.”

“Ellie,” you gave her a look but she ignored you.

“Seriously, you name it and she can probably play it,” she said. “She knows so much about music it’s insane.”

“Not really,” you cut her off. “I just like music so I learned about what I liked, that’s all…”

“Oh bullshit,” Ellie rolled her eyes. “She’s a human juke box, try her.”

“Do you mind?” Julie asked, looking at you with her brows raised. Her eyes were bright green and almost sharp.

“As long as you’re prepared to be disappointed,” you shrugged. “I can try.”

Ellie scoffed and Julie ignored her.

“I remember this song from when I was a kid, just before the outbreak,” she said. “It actually took me a while to track down the name of it after and you might think it’s silly but… I’m With You? Know that one?”

You smiled a little.

“I know that one,” you said, settling the guitar on your lap. “Haven’t tried to play it before, though. Avril’s not really my wheelhouse, so… go easy on me.”

You couldn’t remember exactly how the song started but you remembered the chorus and you remembered a verse from there. The music just trailed off at the end, not really remembering how the song ended either, and you awkwardly drummed your fingers on the body of the guitar when you stopped playing, Ellie and Julie both watching you.

“Right, well,” you said. “Like I said, not really my wheelhouse and…”

“That was fantastic!” Julie cut you off, her broad smile making the freckles on her cheeks rise.

“Told you,” Ellie said. “She’s the best.”

“Well I figured that much,” Julie rolled her eyes a little dramatically but smiled that cocky smile as she did before looking back to you again. “Thanks for letting me put you on the spot.”

“Any time,” you said before you really had a chance to think about it. She smiled a little bigger.

“Hey, so, I hadn’t meant to break up the jam session,” she said. “I was actually coming by to see if you wanted to come with me tomorrow afternoon, I was going to head out to the orchards for a bit. You’re welcome to join, get outside for a bit. It’s nice, promise.”

“Um,” you said for what felt like the millionth time that day, trying to picture the stable schedule. “I think that would work, I have some patrols leaving that morning but should be able to step away for a bit in the afternoon…”

“Perfect,” she said, getting up. “I need to get down to the Bison but I’ll meet you at the stables tomorrow?”

“That’s where I’ll be,” you smiled in a way you hoped was genuine. “Looking forward to it.”

“It’ll be fun,” she said. “I’ll see you then. Bye, Ellie!”

“Bye Julie,” she dragged her name out and gave you a look. You seriously considered kicking her. Julie laughed and started down your walk, only making it halfway to the gate before turning around and walking backwards, looking back at you with her hands in her back pockets.

“Nice dress, by the way,” she said. “It works for you. See you tomorrow!”

You went back to messing with your guitar as you tried to not watch her walk up the lane. Ellie was far less delicate, craning her neck until Julie turned the corner.

She spun to face you and swatted your leg.

“Oh my GOD,” she half whispered, half yelled at you.

“What?” You asked, fingers stilling on the strings.

“That!” She said. “All that fucking flirting!”

“Ellie…”

“Oh come ON,” she cut you off. “You may as well have fucked right on your porch, Jesus Christ…”

“OK I will say this again,” you said, setting your guitar down beside you. “Who is and isn’t between my legs? Not your business.”

“Well that’s just not true,” she rolled her eyes. “You’re the one who fucked Joel and made it my business.” You sighed and went to reply but she held up a hand. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather you two work your shit out and get back together. But if you’re not going to figure it out then you shouldn’t just be miserable and lonely forever and Julie is hot as fuck.”

“Ellie!” You hissed.

“What!” She replied, her brows raised. “She is!”

“Jesus…”

“Just saying!” She said, her hands up in mock surrender. “Julie’s cool. And hot. I think you’d have fun. And you should at least try to have some fun sometimes instead of just being miserable all the time.”

“What if I like being miserable.”

“Just don’t chicken out,” Ellie said, ignoring you and picking up her guitar before getting to her feet. “But I’m getting hungry. Think I’ll go see what the old man is doing for dinner. You’re welcome to come along if you’d rather not be miserable with us…”

“Ellie.”

“Right, right,” she rolled her eyes. “I mean it, fucking go tomorrow. You big chicken.”

“Go home, you little brat,” you replied. She cheerfully flipped you off before heading back toward Joel’s.

You sat on your porch for a while longer, absently playing and watching as the color of the sky slowly shifted from blue to pink to deep, inky black. The darkness seemed to swallow everything, like there wasn’t anything beyond what was right in front of you. But you knew that if you walked far enough, followed the light of the north star, you’d find things beyond what consumed here and now.

It was late when you finally went inside, scrounging in your kitchen for the last of some of what Joel had brought you even though you weren’t particularly hungry. You turned on the stereo and just let whatever CD you’d put in last play, not really paying attention

You found yourself thinking about Julie. About what Ellie said about Julie.

It had been a long time since you’d had a woman flirt with you. You’d been with your fair share of women since the outbreak but flirting hadn’t really been part of it. Marisa was the first woman you’d slept with and, after Savvy came along, you stopped seeking out that kind of connection with men and kept it to strictly women. It just seemed safer. After Marisa, it had always been casual - you didn’t think you could bear another heartbreak like that - and it had always been fairly blunt. You could generally tell if they were interested in letting off some physical steam and, if they were, you had fun for a few days before they moved on.

But things with Julie reminded you of one of your first crushes, a girl who did trick riding on the same circuit as you when you were a girl. You’d first noticed Courtney when you were both 13. She was so beautiful you couldn’t help but stare at her. At first, you’d almost resented her. She was good, damn good, and she was full of charismatic smiles and she dusted glitter across her collarbones that peeked out from the top of her costume. She was exactly who your mother wished you were and, as much as you loved bronc and bull and roping, part of you wanted to be who your mother wanted you to be. You wanted to be satisfied with what she wanted for you and you wanted to be happy being who Courtney was so effortlessly. Life would be simpler and happier if you were content with that and Courtney was proof that life existed. And you wanted it.

You settled for beating her, for a while. Narrowing your eyes at her when you passed her between rounds at competitions, looking her way when you saw your scores narrowly eclipse hers on the board. You loved it. The only thing you wanted more than beating her was her.

Hell if you knew what to do with that.

In hindsight, you weren’t sure she knew, either.

The first time she’d said more than two words to you was when you’d smirked at her as you held the first place trophy. You went to the locker room after the awards ceremony and you had the place almost to yourself, most of the other girls already cleaned out. The third place winner - a girl who’s name you didn’t remember - left and it was just a few seconds later that you heard the door slam into the wall. You looked up to see Courtney stalking over to you. You could see the glitter on her collarbones and her cheeks, her eyes hot and her lips full.

“Want to tell me what the hell your problem is?” She demanded, getting so close to you that you could smell her body spray. It was almost sickly sweet and floral but on her it smelled good. “What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me so much!”

“I don’t hate you…” you said.

“Could’ve fooled me!” She cut you off.

“Why do you care?” You snapped. “We compete, we’re not friends, who cares if I hate you?”

“I care!” She snapped back.

“Why!”

“Because I like you!” She yelled, breathless. You just blinked at her for a moment as she caught her breath, her eyes drifting to your lips. “I like you and sometimes…”

She didn’t get a chance to finish. Instead, you kissed her.

It was clumsy and deeply uncertain. You’d never kissed anyone before and you had no idea what you were doing, your hands locked tight at your sides as though touching her anywhere at all was against the rules but you were risking it, anyway. Her mouth was warm and soft and it seemed oddly wet even though that made sense when you thought about it.

After a moment you pulled back from her slightly, your eyes wide, not really believing what you’d just done.

“I’m sorry,” you said, your turn to be breathless now. “I… I don’t know…”

“Shut up,” she kissed you that time, pressing you back against the lockers, stretching up to better reach your lips, her body hot on your own. You kissed her back, trying to focus and take in everything. How she tasted, how she smelled, how her costume hugged the slight curve of her waist.

“Courtney!” Her mother’s shrill voice from the hall made her jump away from you and wipe her mouth on the back of her hand. “You about ready honey?”

“One minute!” She called back before turning to you. “Do you have a some paper?”

You just nodded and fumbled in your bag for a notebook. She turned to a random page that happened to have some history notes on it and wrote her name and number at the top. Her handwriting was soft and curved and feminine and you envied that, too. She drew a little heart next to it.

“Call me,” she said, pressing the notebook into your chest. “OK?”

“Yeah,” you said, staring at her. You couldn’t help but stare at her. “Yeah, I will.”

“Good,” she smiled. “See you next time, superstar. Maybe I’ll finish on top then.”

“Courtney!”

“Coming!” She grabbed her bag out of a nearby locker and gave you an almost sly smile before she ran out to meet her mother.

From then on, most of your time with her was flirting. In between rounds at competitions or on the phone when you were far apart, carefully crafting your words so you’d have plausible deniability with your parents but know what the other meant. You wrote each other letters when you were apart, counted the days until you got to see each other again. When you found an empty spot when you were in the same place, you ended up tangled up together, kissing and fumbling against each other, figuring out what seemed to stoke the fires deep inside yourselves in the small moments you could find for just the two of you.

That continued for just over a year when Courtney came to a tournament with a somber expression on her face. You frowned but she gave you a subtle shake of her head as she passed you and you kept quiet. It took a few hours before you were able to get her alone and she told you the truth of it. That her mom had found your letters to her - thankfully not signed so she had no idea who had written them but still obviously from another girl - and had told her daughter that she, unequivocally, would end it.

“But…” you protested, trying not to cry.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice thick. “But… she threatened to send me to one of those camps if I don’t and… I can’t go to that, OK? I can’t, I don’t think I could make it and…”

You held onto her as she cried, her tears making little rivers in the glitter on her skin.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I really… I think I…”

You kissed her before she said it.

“Me too,” you said quietly when you pulled away.

She sniffed and smiled a small smile.

“Maybe in another life, right?”

“Right,” you smiled a little back.

She dried her eyes as best she could and you watched from the stands as she gave the best performance you’d ever seen. You did the opposite. Your routine ended with a full Stroud Layout but your top foot slipped when you were getting into position and you fell off your horse, tumbling over and over yourself in the sand of the arena, the feel of it gritty in your mouth as your head spun when your body finally came to a stop.

You didn’t make the podium and your mother didn’t push you to compete again for a while. You never saw Courtney again.

You weren’t sure how to navigate things with Julie. You weren’t sure what you wanted to navigate with Julie. She was beautiful, yes. And she seemed kind and funny and smart. She seemed like someone you could have fun with and could care about.

But she wasn’t Joel. You weren’t sure you could feel like you felt for him for anyone else. It seemed silly to even try. And if you couldn’t feel like that, what was the point?

You tried to sleep but gave up eventually. After a while, you found the moose carving you’d started when you were out with Joel, looking for Savvy. It was getting closer to being done, though it was still a rough hewn thing. You weren’t sure anyone who didn’t know what it was supposed to be would realize what it was without help. But still, it felt good to make something. You let yourself be absorbed by carving it for a bit, until it felt like you’d shut your mind down enough to sleep. You set the moose down on the nightstand, arranging him so it was like he was watching you sleep, the red splotch from your blood still staining his chest.

You brought him with you to the stables the next day for something to work on when you needed the distraction. Just sitting there with your thoughts when you had downtime seemed like a bad idea.

“You’re gonna tell me all about it, right?” Ellie asked as you gave Shimmer and Ares a final once over that morning.

“I don’t need to tell you every time I hang out with someone,” you replied.

“Whatever,” she said. “Just don’t chicken out. Actually go, you need a social life…”

“What, getting sick of keeping me company all the time?” You teased, handing her the reins.

“Yeah, you’re pretty fucking boring,” she smirked a little. You snorted. “I’m serious though. Promise you’ll go.”

“I’m going,” you said, giving her a gentle shove toward the door. “Get out of here. Be safe on patrol, see you back tonight.”

“Not if you’re at Julie’s you won’t,” she waggled her eyebrows at you and you rolled your eyes as you watched her lead her and Joel’s horses out of the stables.

Time dragged until that afternoon and you found yourself feeling oddly nervous, waiting for Julie to come by. You weren’t sure what time she was supposed to get there and, you realized, you didn’t know what to actually expect with any of this.

Yeah, it had felt like flirting. And Ellie seemed sure that it was. But Ellie was a kid and your recent experience in that department was so limited you really knew fuck all about it. What if you’d read the situation completely wrong? What if Julie was just a nice woman who wanted to be friends?

“Hey you,” Julie’s voice surprised you enough that it made you jump, water sloshing over the side of the bucket you were carrying to top off one of the horses. “Shit, I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you…”

“You’re fine,” you said quickly, refilling a waterer and setting the bucket down.

“Now still good?” She asked. “Because I’m not in a rush, today is my day off…”

“Now’s good,” you said quickly, trying not to think too hard about what she was wearing. Her long, lush hair was softly braided and hung over her shoulder, loose strands framing her face. Her shorts were short and her legs were long and sculpted and she wore a few long necklaces that settled into the curve between her breasts. She smiled.

“Great!” She held up a bag you hadn’t noticed before. “Brought snacks. Not that we’ll need much, it’s peak berry season out there. We could eat ourselves sick and not make a dent.”

“Don’t tempt me,” you smiled a little.

“Oh, I intend to,” she smiled back.

Julie led the way out of town, smiling and chatting with the guards at the gate for a moment before heading toward the orchards just east of town.

“So why are you heading out here on your day off?” You asked, looking over at her.

“Well as I think you know, one of my main contributions to the good people of Jackson is tending bar at the Bison,” she smiled. “But that’s because I just really like drinks. I found this old cocktail book when I was a teenager and I just kind of became obsessed, I guess? There was that and these books and magazines that showed what it was like before and I wanted to do that. Have the experience of going to a bar when life was different, you know? And yeah, we make some pretty decent booze here in town - or I think we do, anyway, didn’t really get to try any before - but that’s not all it takes to make a good cocktail. I can’t make a Coke or anything but I can make the syrups and infusions and things. I like to experiment in my spare time so I come out here, pick the supplies I need, and give things a try at home before I bring my ideas into the Bison.”

“Do I get to know what you’re working on?” You asked, brows raised.

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you,” she smirked. “But I will need a guinea pig before too long if you’re game…”

“Far be it from me to turn down a free drink,” you replied and she smiled bigger.

The orchards were, indeed, beautiful. You followed her to a particularly dense spot and she pulled a blanket out of the bag, spreading it on the ground in the shade of an apple tree.

“I won’t lie,” she said, sitting back on her hands and closing her eyes, taking a deep breath. “This is probably my favorite spot.”

“I can see why,” you nodded, drawing your knees into your chest and looking around. “It’s gorgeous here.”

“It’s quiet here,” she laughed a little. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Jackson. Way better than the QZ we were in when I was a kid. It’s a good place with good people. I love the people, truly, I do. But everyone knows everyone and knows everything about everyone and it’s so hard to have anything for yourself, you know?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “It’s a great place but… it’s definitely a lot.”

You talked a little about your pasts. You told her - vaguely, lightly - about your time before Mitchum. She told you about her time in the Denver QZ and you almost fainted when she said she was only 31 years old.

“How old were you when the world ended?” You gaped at her. “Do you even remember?”

“I was seven,” she laughed. “I remember a bit. How old were you?”

“Older than that,” you replied. “Jesus…”

“Not that old, clearly,” she said, picking a blackberry off a bush and holding it out to you. “This is a good one, you should have it.”

“Old enough,” you replied. “And if it’s good, you should have it.”

“I have them all the time,” she said, stepping close to you. You were suddenly acutely aware of the fact that you were wearing the same clothes you’d been wearing when working with the horses all day and you hoped you didn’t smell. She pressed the berry to your lips. “Try it.”

You obeyed, taking the fruit into your mouth and biting into it, the juice bursting on your tongue.

“See?” She smiled. “Told you.”

The two of you ended up back on the blanket and you stretched out on it, looking up at the clouds drifting lazily past overhead, arms bare - too hot to wear anything more than a tank top - but not feeling overly exposed. Julie lay next to you, her arm brushing your own.

“Is it weird that I sometimes don’t feel like I missed out?” She asked. You felt her adjust next to you and you glanced her way to see her lying on her side, facing you. “I mean I know there was a lot before that we don’t have now but… I dunno, I guess I still wanted to be a ballerina when the world ended. It doesn’t feel like I really gave up all that much, you know?”

“Think that has as much to do with Jackson as anything else,” you replied, adjusting so that you were facing her. “But I get that, in a way. If I’d found Jackson when I was younger, I think I’d feel the same. Shit, what I’m doing now is exactly what I grew up wanting to do. If it wasn’t for all the time in between, the end of the world would have just turned into me getting just what I wanted. Besides all the death anyway.”

“Think you’re right about the Jackson thing,” she smiled a little. “It’s a special place with good people. Like a few better than the others, though.”

“Yeah?”

She reached out and brushed some of the hair that had fallen from your braid back from your face and trailed her fingers down your cheek and your chin.

“Yup.”

She leaned in then, moving slow and holding your gaze, giving you all the time in the world to stop her if you wanted.

You didn’t.

Her kiss was soft and gentle, her lips smooth on yours. She tasted and smelled sweet and her hand went to your hip, tugging you against her.

Julie’s body was softer than you expected as she pressed against you and, in so many ways, she felt safe and comfortable there. But she felt foreign, too. You’d become accustomed to a different form on yours, one that was larger and broader and firmer.

You tried not to think about him as her kiss deepened, as your hand went to her waist and trailed over her side but stopped short of cupping her breast.

She nudged you onto your back and she settled on top of you, her chest pressed tight to yours, her hips starting to rock gently against you. You ran your hands over her back to the top of her ass but didn’t go lower, not able to shake the subtle wrongness of kissing someone and feeling someone who wasn’t Joel.

After a minute, she pulled away from you.

“I get the feeling you’re not as into this as I am,” she said, panting a little. You opened your mouth to argue but she silenced you with a look. “If I misread things, I’m really sorry. But you should know that you don’t have to fuck me just because I’m trying to fuck you.”

“You didn’t misread anything,” you said quickly.

“Good,” she smiled a little. “But… It doesn’t seem like you’re feeling this.”

You winced.

“I don’t know what I’m feeling,” you said. “But… I don’t think I’m feeling what you are.”

“Well shit,” she laughed a little and rolled off you, lying flat on her back beside you. “I really am sorry if I came on too strong or did something you didn’t want…”

You laughed a little.

“Definitely not that,” you said. “Just have… other things on my mind. And you deserve someone’s full attention.”

She turned her head to look at you and you turned yours, too.

“It’s Joel, isn’t it?” She asked. You winced a little. “Sorry, I’m not trying to dig into anything that’s not my business, it just… seemed like you guys split up a while ago so I thought it would be OK. I’m sorry.”

“No, it probably should be,” you said. “It’s got nothing to do with you, trust me.”

“Well,” she said. “At the risk of this being the most awkward hang out ever… want to help me get some raspberries?”

“Sure,” you laughed a little. “I’d like that.”

She smiled.

“Good. Me too.”

It was awkward for a bit, but by the time the two of you started back to Jackson, it was lighter. Easier. Like you’d never kissed at all.

Julie walked with you back to the stables, not too long before you were expecting patrols that weren’t out overnight to return.

“Even with everything today, I hope we can be friends,” she said. “I do actually like you. Not just because I’d like to fuck you.”

You laughed a little.

“Yeah, I’d like that, too,” you said. “I’m sorry I’m not… in the same place on the fucking front…”

“I’d rather pretend we never found that out,” she laughed a little. “Maintain some of the mystery. But, you know. If anything changes, it’s a small town. You know where to find me.”

“That I do,” you said.

She turned to leave but seemed to think better of it and turned back.

“If he’s it for you?” She said. “I think you should figure out a way to make it work. No point in wanting something and acting like you can’t have it when it’s right there, you know? And yeah, it’s not really my business and yeah, I don’t know you all that well but… something tells me you’re not going to be feeling any different anytime soon. And I don’t think he is either. Just… my two cents.”

She smiled and leaned in, pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“Thanks, Julie,” you said quietly. She gave your arm a squeeze.

“See you around, Bambi.”

You watched the door she left through for a few minutes after she was gone before you went back to work.

The patrols all made it back without incident, Ellie returning her and Joel’s horses. She asked how things went but you just waved her off and she deflated a bit.

“I keep trying to get some excitement around here,” she said. “You are no fucking help, you know that?”

“I am so sorry my romantic life isn’t more entertaining,” you said wryly. “I’ll work on that. Entirely for your benefit, of course.”

“Well you’re clearly not going to do it for your own.”

You just rolled your eyes as she headed back home. You stayed late at the stables. Not for any real reason, you just didn’t want to be at home alone and going to the mess hall didn’t sound like what you wanted, either. You worked on the moose carving, pleasantly surprised at the progress you’d made on him.

You ended up working on him until, almost suddenly, you realized he was done. Fully formed - or as close to it as you could get him - with four legs and jagged shapes for the antlers. But he looked like a moose, broad and steady and strong. You turned him over in your hand a few times, running your finger over the arch of his back and the curve of his neck.

“What am I going to do with you?” You said quietly, holding it up in front of you, looking where his eyes would be if he had them. The bloodstain was still crimson on his chest.

After a few minutes, you got up off the floor of the stable and did your final check for the evening before locking up behind you and heading home.

You took the long way.

It was dark but not so late that the Tipsy Bison had closed for the night, a warm glow coming from the windows. With the sun down, you were a little cold with bare arms but you didn’t mind. You walked slowly, watching the stars as you went.

You stopped at the end of Joel’s walk. The lights were out. You thought he probably went to bed early - he got tired after a patrol - but he could be at the Bison, too. Either way…

You all but crept up his walk, holding the moose tightly in your fingers. You stopped at the base of his stairs and held the rough-hewn animal in front of your face again.

“Keep an eye on him for me?” You said quietly to the wood. It didn’t say anything back. You stepped as lightly as you could up the stairs but the same step as always squeaked below you. You set the moose on Joel’s doormat before turning to go, making the step squeak again. You made it almost all the way back up the walk when the lights inside turned on and you picked up the pace.

It didn’t matter. You heard the front door open just as you turned onto the street and your eyes darted over toward him before you could help it.

“Bambi?” He called, not too loud. He was in his blue cotton plaid sleep pants and a black t-shirt that hugged his body just right, tight across his shoulders and upper arms, highlighting the soft curve of his stomach. You stopped for a moment and just gave him a tight smile before continuing on home.

When you went to bed, you found yourself looking at the spot on your nightstand where the moose had been before, part of you wishing he was still beside you.

***

“Hey. Hey Joel.”

Joel smiled a little to himself. He recognized Ellie’s tone.

“What’s up, kiddo?”

“Wanna hear a joke about pizza?”

He sighed, trying to sound annoyed. He wasn’t sure if it worked.

“Get the feeling you’re gonna tell me either way.”

“Eh, never mind,” Ellie said, sounding a little put out. Joel looked back at her, frowning slightly. And then she smirked. “It’s too cheesy.”

Joel groaned.

“That one’s bad, baby girl.”

“No it’s not!” She rode up alongside him even though the trail wasn’t really wide enough for that. “That was a good one!”

“Nope,” he shook his head. “It was terrible, three out of 10.”

“Bullshit!”

“What would you give it?” He asked, brows raised. “Because I’m questioning your judgement here…”

“At least a six.”

“No.”

“Yes!” She laughed. “You’ve just got shitty taste, old man.”

“Uh huh,” he laughed. “And what’s that say about you then, hm?”

“Broken clock is right twice a day,” she replied. “You were bound to accidentally do OK every now and then. Will Livingston, however, is right every time.”

“You got that entire book memorized?” He teased lightly. “If not, you gotta be close…”

“I’m getting there,” she said. “Saving the best for last.”

Joel just shook his head a little.

He loved patrolling with Ellie. Even more than he thought he would. It was so much like when he’d first come to know her and care for her. It was a time, he realized now, that made him understand that he could still love. That he had it within himself to care for another person, that he could cope with the fear of loss that came with attachment because Ellie was worth it. He liked spending the time just the two of them and getting to know her better as the young woman she was becoming instead of the little girl he’d come to know years earlier. She’d grown so much, come into her own in a way that was only possible in a place like Jackson. She had friends and hobbies and had become part of the community there. Every day with her was reassurance that he’d done the right thing. That every life he’d taken that day in the hospital was a worthy price to pay.

Joel had left Jackson with Ellie plenty before patrolling with her, back when she was still speaking to him. Before she found out the truth of everything. He’d loved it then, too. But this was different. She was still his baby girl but they were out here as partners, working together to protect the community they both loved. It was a glimpse of the future they had, one where their lives moved along side by side and he got to watch her find her place and fall in love and have a family of her own and just be happy as herself.

They were only a day out from Jackson now, heading in from a three day long patrol. It was Ellie’s first overnight patrol and she’d been so excited for it, even as she tried to pretend like she wasn’t. The days before they left town, Ellie was over at his house every night, going over the list of what she should bring and looking over the map. She’d lit up when he said they could bring a guitar, something else that made Joel smile.

It had been more than a month since she’d gotten him back into playing, showing up at his house with a guitar and saying she wanted his opinion on something. She played American Girl, one of his favorites, and set the guitar down when she was done.

“That was amazing, baby girl,” he’d said, more than a little in awe of her. “Where did you learn that?”

“Bambi,” she replied. “But do you think it’d sound better with two? I feel like it would. But you’re the musician so…”

It was an obvious ploy but it made him smile a little. The idea that Ellie would do that much to make him play again. That you’d help her.

“It might,” he said, getting up to get his instrument. “Let’s give it a try.”

Joel tried to not think of you too much. He usually failed. But he was getting better at not drowning in the memories of you, of not letting the loss of you consume him.

It helped that he’d found a way to care for you while respecting the distance you wanted. He couldn’t bring himself to just abandon you, not when he had a sense of how much you were hurting. So he brought you food. Selfishly, it served two purposes. It meant you were, hopefully, eating something. But it also meant he knew that you were still alive. That he could leave a box on your porch, walk by a few hours later, and see that it was gone. He could check on you without forcing you to talk to him and that eased the steady drumbeat of worry inside him.

When he heard you were back at the stables, he shifted from things you needed to things you would want. He brought you the things he found that made him think of you, things he’d have given you when he came home to you in another life.

It also helped that he knew you thought of him, too. At least occasionally, enough that you’d left the carving you’d made on his porch a few weeks before. He thought he was hearing things when the first squeak woke him up from his place on the couch, but then the step squeaked a second time and he was sure he heard it. He’d thought it might be Ellie, needing something but not necessarily wanting to say it. He hadn’t expected to see you heading down the street, the first glimpse of you he’d had in so long. Your arm was out of the cast and you looked good. A bit thinner than you’d been the last time he’d seen you but still good. Still beautiful, still soft with sharp edges. Still what he wanted to sink into and wrap himself up in every chance he got. He picked the moose up and brought it inside, tracing the outline of its frame for a moment. You’d finished it. It was rough, you were clearly a beginner, but you’d finished it and given it to him. His thumb brushed the wound on its heart, where you’d bled. Before he really thought better of it, he brought the figure to his lips and kissed it gently before setting it on the side table and turning out the lights.

The two of you were set to leave Jackson again in just a week, another gap in the patrol schedule that you could leverage to search for Savvy now that you were healed. He hoped this search led somewhere. He couldn’t imagine what it was like, living like that, not knowing what happened to your child. The closest he’d come was the torturous time that Ellie was with the monsters who’d taken her in Silver Lake. He was so frantic, so terrified of what he’d find but even more terrified of never finding it to begin with. He needed to save her, protect her. But if he couldn’t do that, he needed to know what happened to her. He needed to know who to destroy before he destroyed himself for letting it happen. Living in that for years would be unbearable.

“Hey Joel?”

He could hear the frown in her voice.

“Yeah Baby Girl?” He looked over his shoulder, Ellie and Shimmer falling behind him again now that the trail had narrowed further. She stopped and so did he.

“That’s something we should be watching for, right?” She nodded toward something off the trail, a small frown on her face. Joel followed where she was looking and he froze in his saddle.

It took an eagle eye to spot it, just brush amongst brush, but it shocked him when he saw it. The gentle arch of a sapling, stretching down toward the ground, held there with rope.

“Yeah,” he said. “It is. Stay with the horses.”

“But…”

“Just one second,” he said, dismounting and going for the trap, trying desperately not to get his hopes up but his heart was racing. It was a common set up for a trap. It could be anyone’s.

This trap was far fresher than the one he’d found with you, the dirt where the pin and been put in the ground still disturbed. The trap itself was still baited and the pins were smooth, almost artistically carved. It hadn’t been here long. He looked around quickly, looking for some indication of where the person who set this trap might have gone. It took some doing - whoever it was covered their tracks well - but he found it, the edge of a boot print.

He went back to his horse and mounted up.

“Ellie,” he said, voice serious. “Need you to listen to me, OK?”

“OK,” she frowned. “Joel, you’re acting weird…”

“We’re gonna track someone,” he said. “But when we find them, need you to not shoot them until we talk to them, OK? And… and if its a teenaged girl, need you to not shoot them even if she pulls a gun on me, OK?”

“A teenaged… Joel, what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Just trust me,” he said. “Please.”

He started with the boot print and found little hints of someone moving through the brush from there. Disturbed leaves, a splotch of dirt that looked misplaced, a small branch that had snagged on another when something about human height passed below it.

“Joel,” Ellie said after they’d been tracking for about 20 minutes.

“Still looking,” he said gently. “It’s OK…”

He heard something rustle down low up ahead and he adjusted Ares’ path to check on it. He didn’t need to go far, the source of the sound only about 100 feet away and next to a large rock. Standing there, beside to a large horse and a large dog, was a girl. She was a little taller than Ellie, with gangly arms and legs, a rifle held high in her hands.

“Stop right there!” She said, her voice sharp with a familiar southern twang. The dog moved in front of her, getting down low and bearing its teeth. “Don’t wanna shoot you but I will. You can move right along, this spot’s taken.”

Joel lifted his hands and caught a glimpse of Ellie raising a gun next to him.

“Ellie!” He said sharply. She looked at him, eyes wide. “Gun down. Now.”

“But…”

“Now.”

She huffed but lowered the gun slowly, her eyes back on the girl in front of her.

“Won’t shoot you in the back,” the girl said. “Just turn around and go.”

Joel fought to focus. The girl in front of him… she looked like Sarah, so so much like Sarah. The same shock of curly hair, same brown skin, same bright eyes. If he didn’t know better, he’d think they were sisters. He fought to stay here, in the forest with Ellie, not getting swallowed by his own memories. He’d found her. He was all but certain of that now, he’d found her and he was going to bring her back to you.

“You out here on your own?” He asked gently, his hands said up.

“Don’t see how that’s any business of yours,” she said sharply. “All that matters to you is that I will kill you, don’t try me.”

“I understand,” he said. “Not going to hurt you…”

“Bullshit.”

“We’re not,” Ellie snapped.

“Ellie.”

“What!” She said. “Joel, I swear, if she shoots you…”

“Remember what I said,” he replied.

“But…”

“I mean it,” he cut her off. “Don’t, OK?”

He turned back to the girl.

“Not going to hurt you,” he said again. “Just… just hear me out for just a second, OK? We’re from a settlement, about a day’s ride from here…”

“Good for you,” she said. “Better head that way then.”

“It’s a good place,” he said, ignoring her. “With good people. Including… including your mama, I think.”

Her eyes went a little wide and she lowered the gun ever so slightly. He caught a glimpse of Ellie’s head whipping around to look at him but he kept his eyes on the girl.

“Your name’s Savannah, right?” He pressed on. “Your mom, she calls you Savvy, right?”

She raised the gun again.

“How’d you know that,” snapped. “You one of the assholes that took her? That it? What, you kill her? Get her to tell you about me first? That what happened?”

“No honey,” Joel said, his throat tight. He’d found her, he’d found your daughter. “No, she… she escaped them, few years back. She got hurt real bad doin’ it, we brought her in, got her fixed up and she stayed. She’s been looking for you but she’s still there…”

“Why should I trust you?” She snapped. “Why should I believe a damn thing you say?”

“Because I know her,” he said. “Been helping her look for you. She’s… I know her. She trains horses, guessin’ she trained the one you’ve got? She trained the one I’m on, too. She runs our stable for us, she…”

“Bambi?” Ellie gaped at him. “Bambi’s her mom? Bambi has…”

“Ellie,” Joel said again, cutting her off and looking back at Savvy.

“She’s there,” he said. “She misses you, she misses you so much. Told me how you liked to read to the horses when you were little. How the dogs liked you better than her. How you’re real good at carving… Recognized your trap, found another one of yours a few months back. She told me how your pins are always smooth and even… Let us take you back with us. Won’t take your guns, just… just come back with us. Please. She misses you so much, she’s been so worried…”

“We’re not people to be afraid of,” Ellie said and Joel glanced her way. She was looking at Savvy now, her face serious. “Well, as long as you’re not an asshole. I know Joel seems scary but he’s not. Promise. He’s safe.”

She lowered the gun slowly, looking between the two of them before looking down at the dog.

“Gattling,” she said. “Heel.”

The dog dropped its defensive stance and went alongside her, looking up and waiting for a command. She looked back at Joel and Ellie.

“You really know my mom?” She asked quietly. “She’s… she’s really alive?”

“She is,” Joel nodded, lowering his hands to the saddle horn. There was a knot in his throat. “And we can take you to her. Please.”

She hesitated for a moment.

“She teaches me stuff about music,” Ellie said quickly. “How to play some stuff on guitar, too, but more about music in general. She’s cool. Really. I’m… I’m sure she wants to see you again. And Jackson’s nice. And so are we. Just come along, OK?”

She took a deep breath, looking down at the dog for a moment, adjusting her grip on the rifle.

“OK.”

***

“She’s in rare fucking form this week,” Olivia said, watching as you steadied Persephone, one of the fillies you were working with.

“She’s just got an independent streak,” you said, the horse’s feet stomping impatiently in the dirt. “That’s OK. I get that. So do the best of us, right?”

She huffed and jerked her large head. You smiled a little.

“You’re sure she’s not gonna throw you?” Olivia asked, sounding a little worried.

“No,” you shrugged. “But I’ve gotten thrown off horses before, nothin’ new. Only way to break her is to break her, no point in stalling. You in a good spot?”

“Think so,” she said, stepping a little further back from the horse as you got ready to mount her.

“Then let’s go,” you said, all but jumping onto Persephone’s back. You barely got your foot in the stirrups before she started really bucking, Olivia moving even further away. You clutched the reins in one hand and let your hips go loose, digging your heels down toward the earth to stay seated. You let your body move with her as she hurled herself through the air, desperate to dislodge you. But you weren’t going anywhere. She gave you a good shake that made you grab the back of the saddle but otherwise, she didn’t get anywhere close to throwing you. After a while, she started to calm, her movements still sharp and harsh but closer to the earth, her hooves staying on the ground more often than not. Eventually, she mostly stilled, just tossing her head and huffing indignantly.

“See?” You said soothingly, reaching forward to pat her neck. “That’s my good girl, you did so well…”

“Bambi,” Olivia said, catching your eye. She nodded toward the gate to the paddock and you frowned a little before you followed her gaze.

Standing there was Joel and Ellie, their reins in their hands. But between them was a girl. She was young, a teenager, with springy curls and brown skin and wide, soft eyes.

You knew those eyes. You knew those eyes and that hair and that skin. For a moment, the world shrank to a small point centered on her and you wondered if, maybe, you’d finally lost your mind. If something had finally broken so thoroughly that you were seeing things.

But you weren’t. She was here. Your daughter was alive and she was here, in Jackson.

“Savvy,” you breathed and Persephone bucked below you. You weren’t paying attention to the horse and you flew off her back and into the dirt, landing with a brain rattling thud. You didn’t care.

You scrambled to your feet, throwing a glance back at Olivia to make sure she had Persephone so Savvy wouldn’t get hurt, and ran for her.

“Mom,” she said, her voice thick as you reached her and pulled her into yourself. You clutched her to your chest until you thought you could feel her heartbeat alongside yours, clinging to her too close to even kiss her or look at her but you needed to feel the life in her first, soak up the vitality of her before someone took it away.

“You’re alive,” you managed, voice thick. You buried your nose and mouth in her hair, breathing her in. “You’re alive, you’re here, you’re OK, you’re…”

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said wetly and you pulled back from her just enough to look at her. Tears slipped down her cheeks and she sniffed as you took her face in your hands. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, I thought you were gone, I…”

“I’m so sorry baby,” you kissed her forehead before pulling her against you again and clinging to her. “I’m so sorry I let you go, I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry…”

“It’s OK Mom,” she said, her hands holding your elbows. “I’m OK, it’s OK, I promise…”

You just held on to her, trying to memorize everything about her that you could. That she was taller now, that her shape had changed, that it seemed like she hadn’t had a chance to really grow into her limbs yet.

You looked up at Joel who was still there, his eyes wet, watching you hold your daughter.

“You found her,” you said softly.

He just nodded.

“Found her,” he said. “Couldn’t have without you, though. With everything you told me about her, was able to find her.”

You just nodded, running your hand down the back of her head as you held her.

“Thank you, Joel,” you whispered, holding her so tight that you were worried you might hurt her but too afraid that she’d slip away to stop. “Thank you.”

Next Chapter

A/N: AHHHH SAVVY'S HERE!!!!

And Joel found her. I'm so happy that Bambi has her baby back, for real. Things are getting there. I promise.

Thanks so much for reading and sticking with this story! Don't forget that you can get updates on my updates blog here.

Love you!!

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#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #yearling #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x oc

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sailorkamino · 2 years

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Chaotic

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relationships: steven grant x avenger!witch!reader, future marc spector x reader, jake lockley x reader [gender neutral]

word count: 2.3k

summary: When you move to London you aren't expecting to fall in love. You also aren't expecting an Egyptian god who kind of sounds like Darth Vader to crash your date but that's just your life apparently.

warnings: reader assaults khonshu with bread, enemies to friends w/ khonshu, big bird is kinda rude to steven but u put him in place

a/n: reader uses chaos magic and is also psychic, f/c = favorite color, steven/marc/jake are moon knight but lets pretends the whole harrow/armpit drama hasn't happened yet, thanos never happened bc i said so

Before you even met Steven, you felt him.

That sounds odd but your abilities make you constantly aware of others, which can be a lot. Especially in such a bustling city like London. Of course you didn’t read his mind or anything. It’s a common misconception that telepaths just love to read minds but that’s not true. You only use it on enemies for information, if you just went around listening to people's inner thoughts you’d probably drive yourself mad. People are weird.

All that being said, you decided to go to the London museum, thinking it would be quiet and relaxing. A nice little escape. You didn’t think how overwhelming it would be to be surrounded by history, invading your senses with centuries of stories. Mostly fucked up stories because colonialism. After years of studying magic your mind is like a fortress, but that didn’t stop the artifacts from banging on your mental door. You’re incredibly grateful that you’re able to control your visions now. You do not want to see all this shit first hand.

You manage to stumble into the gift shop, one hand rubbing your temple in an attempt to ward off the coming headache. You sense some kind of power, something looming and ancient. You wonder if it’s from the Egyptian wing you just walked through but this feels more… recent. It’s an odd sensation that isn’t helping your overwhelmed mind at all.

“Are you alright?” A gentle voice acts. Apparently you aren’t doing great at hiding your discomfort. You look up to meet the deepest brown eyes you’ve ever seen, framed with dark eye bags. He's absolutely beautiful. Like a sleep deprived male model. Before you can answer you find yourself stumbling, dots swimming in your vision. He quickly leaves the counter to grasp your arm with large, gentle hands.

His touch burns through your designer coat (a parting gift from Tony Stark) but not in a bad way. His energy is unique. Divided but whole. Chaotic but reassuring. “I’m fine, just a dizzy spell.” You mumble, trying not to lean into his body. Would it be manipulative if you pretended to faint so he would catch you? No, you’re better than that. Barely.

“You sure? Maybe you should sit down. I could get you a drink, or a snack.”

You should tell him that you’re fine but for some reason, you can’t bring yourself to pull away. He’s just so genuine. And look at that hair... would it be weird to touch it? You suppress the urge, managing a polite response, “that sounds nice, but I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble. I think I just need some fresh air.”

“Don’t worry, my boss is always telling me to be more helpful with customers. Lets get you outside, yeah?”

You grin, lidded eyes flicking to his name tag, “thank you, Steven. That’s very kind of you.”

He flashes the sweetest smile you’ve ever witnessed, making you even more light headed. He keeps his grasp on your arm as he leads you to the exit. You can already feel your mind clearing thanks to the distance between you and the artifacts. Once you’re safely leaning against the wall Steven speaks up, “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere."

You can't help but dopily grin as he speed walks away. Within a minute he’s back by your side. He presents you a bag of scarab gummies, “here you are.” He pauses for a moment before adding, "I don’t know why we sell these, they weren’t eating stuff like that in Ancient Egypt, were they?

“Thank you.” You smile, finding his rambling adorable. You try not to react when you take the candy from him and his calloused fingers brush your own. “I’m also realizing I never introduced myself, I’m Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you, Y/N. That’s a pretty name.”

Before you can stop yourself you mutter under your breath, “you’re prettier.” You watch in horror as he tenses up, ears burning red. “I-I think you’re pretty too. Beautiful, more like it,” he fumbles. Suddenly the gummies are out of your hand. You look down to see them floating above your palms, surrounded by a F/C glow. You quickly snatch them from mid air. Luckily Steven is too busy staring at his shoes in embarrassment to notice.

You clear your throat nervously, catching his attention. “So, do you like working here?” Really? That’s the best you could come up with. You mentally facepalm as he nods like a rather adorable bobblehead. “Oh yeah, I love history. It would be nice to be a tour guide though. Maybe one day, right?”

You hum in response, shoving some sweets in your mouth before you can ask any other dumb questions. “Do you, um, like your job?” He asks politely.

You pause. So he really doesn’t recgonize you. Not that you consider yourself famous but ever since you joined the Avengers on a few missions you found yourself thrust in the public eye. You meet a lot of fans but people also tend to be… wary of you. Apparently being one of the most powerful magic users on Earth makes them uneasy.

“I work… in security.” That’s technically not a lie. “It can be stressful but I get to travel a lot so that’s fun.”

“Have you ever been to Egypt?”

The childlike excitement in his voice is absolutely adorable. “A few times, yeah. What about you?”

“No, I wish. I’d love to go someday.” He sighs wistfully. “Enough about me though, are you feeling any better.”

His concern makes your heart flutter. “Much.” You grin, shuffling your bag on your shoulder to look for your wallet. “How much were the gummies?”

“They were only a few pounds, don’t worry about it.”

Thoughtful, gorgeous, and polite? You’re convinced Steven was written by a woman. You bite your lip in a way you hope looks flirty. “Well I need to pay you back somehow. What about lunch?”

He freezes, looking at you incredulously. “Are you… asking me out?” Any confidence you had starts to shatter. “I’m trying,” you mumble embarrassed. He shakes his head vehmently, “no, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just surprised! I mean, you’re so beautiful!”

You smile so big your cheeks hurt. “I think you’re beautiful too, Steven.”

His tan cheeks flame. “Thank you.”

“Can I have your number?”

He nods enthusiastically. You pull out your phone and type in his digits as he tells them to you. “I left my phone in the gift shop but I’ll text you as soon I get inside,” he promises, rocking on the balls of his feet. You grin as you send him a message.

“Stevie!”

A loud, feminine voice makes you both flinch. An aggravated woman pokes her head out the door, popping her chewing gum far too loudly for your liking. “What are you doing out- wait. Are you Y/N L/N?”

Steven looks at you in confusion as you nod with a charming smile. You can tell that she’s Steven’s superior and decide to help him out. “I am. What’s your name, hon?”

“Donna! I’m a big fan. It was so mental when you closed that portal to hell in New Jersey!”

Steven’s eyes become impossibly wider. “Yeah, that was a difficult one.” You reminisce fondly. “Would you like a picture?”

She nods excitedly, pulling out her phone. You take a selfie, trying not to chuckle at her excited gasp when you sling an arm around here. You try to ignore Steven’s bewildered gaze. Hopefully what you’re about to do will make up for your little fib.

“You know Steven here has been very helpful,” you muse after she clicks the photo. She looks at you surprised. You can already tell she doesn’t particularly like the man (which is quite bewildering to you, how is it possible to dislike Steven?)

"Really?”

You nod with an affirmative hum. “I bet he’s your best tour guide, isn’t he?”

“Oh, he actually works in the giftshop.”

You feign shock. “Really? I was hoping he could give me a private tour sometime,” you pout sadly. Donna hurries to comfort you, “oh, he can do that! I’ve been meaning to promote him anways!”

“That’s great!” You grin, turning your attention back to a very confused brunet. “I’ve gotta go but I’ll be looking forward to seeing you, Steven,” you purr, lightly squeezing his (suprisingly muscular) bicep. He nods dumbly watching you walk down the steps.

“Oi, what were you doing with a bloody superhero?” Donna asks him incredulously, the jealousy clear in her voice.

“Planning a date.” He breathes out softly, still wondering if the interaction was just a dream.

____

It’s the day of your date and Steven is ecsatic. Marc and Jake are not. They agree you’re beautiful but are very against the idea of going out with an Avenger, saying it will get in the way of their ‘business’ with Khonshu. But Steven is tired of letting that bloody pigeon influence his life so he ignores all of them, puts on his favorite jumper, and goes to the closest florist shop.

And that’s how he finds himself standing infront of you with a boquet of sunflowers.“These are just beautiful!” You gush, pressing a kiss againt his cheek as you take them. He flushes adorably. You do a quick scan around the park to make sure no one is looking before conjuring a vase with water. Did you do it just to show off? Yes. Yes you did.

You place the flowers in the middle of the picnic blanket. “Now we have a centerpiece,” you hum happily, grabbing the wicker basket you brought. He sits across from you, watching in awe as you pull a variety of noodles, dumplings, rice, and tofu dishes out. Like clowns coming out of a little car.

“Try this,” you offer, handing him one of the containers. “And don’t worry, it’s all vegan.”

He opens it to reveal ball shaped food he recognizes as dim sum. He uses the provided chopsticks to pop one into his mouth, moaning at the combination of steamed vegetables and rich seasoning.

“This is amazing!” You grin in response, working on your own fruit and tofu skewer. “That’s because it’s the real deal. I went on a little trip to Hong Kong this morning.”

He pauses mid bite, resembling a confused chipmunk. You snicker. “I can teleport, remember?” You point at his empty cup, feeling it with juice. “Maybe on our next date I can take you to Egypt?”

He inhales the dimsum in shock, choking loudly. You use your powers to pull the food out of Steven’s throat, looking at him in concern. He quickly swallows the drink you made him.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, aces. Just got a bit too excited.”

“You’re adorable, Steven.”

As the date goes on you open up to each other. He tells you about his DID, which you could somewhat sense already. His mind felt different but you couldn’t put a finger on it. You tell him about how you struggled to control your powers and accept yourself. You used to feel like a weapon but you learnt that weapons aren’t always a bad thing, they can be used to protect others. Instead of a nuclear bomb you started seeing yourself as a shield.

For once Steven doesn’t feel like an outsider. He wants to tell you about Moon Knight. He knows you won’t judge him. Just as he begans to build up the courage a booming, gravelly voice rattles in his head.

“Don’t tell them anything, worm!”

You both flinch. A shiver runs through you as your hair stands on end. All your instincts are telling you to get ready for a fight. That sense of ancient power you felt in the museum is back tenfold. “Did you hear that?” You ask Steven.

He looks at you in complete shock. “What?”

“Can the witch hear me?”

“Okay, where is that Darth Vader voice coming from?” You groan, eyes glowing F/C. Your powers mean you’re always aware of your surroundings, you don’t like this sudden uncertainty. Especially not when Steven is at risk.

Suddenly a large mummified being with a bird skull appears behind your date. Because this is what your life has come to apparently. “Can you see me, witch?” Without saying anything you use your abilities to send a roll flying, hitting him square in the beak. He flinches back in surprise. Steven watches on, not knowing if he should laugh or shake in fear. Maybe both.

“Does that answer your question?” You ask sassily. “You’re some kind of deity right? I’m getting Egyptian vibes,” you muse outloud. Despite having no real facial features he manages to look unimpressed. “I thought you had magic, yet you can’t figure out who I am, little one?"

You squint at him for a moment, reaching out your consciousness. “Khonshu? I think I’ll call you cashew.”

“You will not!” He bellows. Poor Steven flinches at the volume but you just purse your lips. “It’s not fun being called stupid nicknames, is it?”

He pauses, tilting his skeletal head at you. “Excuse me?”

“You called Steven a worm. That was very rude,” you huff protectively. “You should really treat your avatar better.”

“You know about avatars?”

“Magic, babe,” you remind, wiggling your fingers as sparks dance between them. “I want to be in Steven's life, and his alter’s if they’ll have me. We’ll be spending time together so we might as well get along, don’t you agree?”

The god nods reluctantly. “I suppose.”

“Good,” you beam up at him. “But if you ever disrespect Steven again we will have words,” you promise in a sickly sweet voice.

Steven looks at you in absolute awe. ‘I changed my mind. I like them,’ Marc speaks in his head. ‘That was fucking hot,’ Jake adds on helpfully. For once the system agrees on something.

____

taglist: @jallerentrags @huitzilinthebudgie3 @wintergirlsoilder2 @dreamerkim @jupitersmoon167 @n1ght5h4d3-24 @darkened-writer @sunipostsstuff @bex-tk1 @musicconversedance @nemtodd-barnes1923 @thegotfangirl @your-frenly-emo-rat @dadstarkblacksoul @certifiedhunter @tagakalat @galactic-galabee @yoongiwithglasses @theyaremorethanjustfictional @booksandbenbarnes @faefanatic @ness-is-vanillabean @lovesickollie @kemisuu @missdragon-1 @ristare @jck-r @brekkers-desigirl

if ur name is highlighted i couldn't tag u :(

a/n #2: i've never had such a long taglist! thank you for giving my work so much love before i even posted it🥹

#steven grant x reader #moon knight x reader #steven grant fluff #moon knight fluff #platonic khonshu #khonshu x reader #marc spector x reader #jake lockley x reader #steven grant x witch!reader #steven grant x avenger!reader #marc spector x witch!reader #marc spector x avenger!reader #jake lockley x witch!reader #chaos in us #moon knight #moon boys

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znitsamluv · 2 years

Text

𝐓𝐡𝐞 '𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧'

• Just Sanzu and Ran using the boogie man card on their kids

° Sanzu

• Sanzu as a father is a chaotic ride but hey he is trying!

• Sanzu noticed lately that his 3 old son refuses to go to Sanzu's work place and he was worried that something might have scared him so he went to ask you about it .

• was surprised when you told him that your son is scared of Mikey because he looks like the boogie man he saw on the tv .

• Sanzu saw the opportunity and RAN with it like he would always use that card on your son when he is giving him a hard time when you are not around.

• " s/n eat your veggies"

" no "

• Sanzu didn't even eat his own veggies and he knew where his son was coming from but Sanzu doesn't have the energy to be scolded by you when you come pick s/n from sanzu's office.

• Sanzu was starting to lose hope when his eyes landed on the phone in front of him before smirking.

• " I'm calling the boogie man if you won't eat your yummy vegetables"

• Sanzu immediately smirked when s/n opened his mouth waiting for Sanzu to feed him , to say Sanzu was proud would be an understatement.

• finally after eating s/n was starting to doze off on Sanzu's lap while he was working when suddenly the office door opened and s/n started screaming and crying the moment his eyes fell on the new comer .

• " THE BOOGIE MANNNNNNN " Sanzu sweat dropped when s/n pointed at Mikey and started crying louder, he looked at his son then Mikey back and forth trying to think of a way to explain himself.

• " I- "

" I don't want to hear it just finish these papers"

• Surprisingly the next day s/n went to work again with snazu but this time he didn't cry because Mikey got him chocolate, Mikey didn't even glance at s/n he just gave him the chocolate and left . It was like a silent peace offering and your son accepted it .

• But s/n refuses to call Mikey anything except for " Boogie man " .

° Ran

• it was 11 in the morning and you left your husband with your daughter and went grocery shopping.

• it was going well at first until Ran couldn't take watching Dora the explorer anymore.

• " Where is the door ? "

" IT IS BEHIND YOU GOD DAMNIT"

• Ran was about to take the remote but your daughter snatched it first and they both held eye contact for a few seconds.

• " d/n honey give me the remote"

• Ran's orders was always obeyed growing up and he had no one that had the courage to tell him 'no' ...... Not until he gave birth to that mini Him .

• " No " . Ran was shocked thag he stared at his daughter for what felt like a minute before repeating the same thing and getting the same answer.

• Ran throught he was slick thinking that he could snatch the remote but D/n noticed and bit his hand before running to the other side of the room.

• " GET BACK HERE NOW "

" NOOOOOOO " .

• Ran went to the home phone and started calling someone.

• " Rin I need you to act like a boogie man and tell d/n to give back the remote"

" Ran this is the third time this week I am not doing that again"

" come on help your big bro , remember that time in 6th grade when- "

" Just put the phone on speaker so I can go back to work already"

• Ran did a small victory dance before calling d/n .

• " THE BOOGIE MAN IS ON THE PHONE AND HE WILL COME EAT YOUR TOES IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME THE REMOTE "

• Rindou sighed as it was his cue to talk as Ran put him on speaker, doing his best to change his voice he starts talking.

• D/n started tearing up and went slowly to Ran and gave him the remote and he gave a her a pat on the head with a cocky smirk .

• " Thank you boogie man d/n is now behaving"

" whatever don't call me again "

• Ran hang up and looked at his daughter expecting an apology but was met with a bite on his leg .

• Ran was about to shout at your daughter when you came home and she ran to you crying telling you how mean Ran was to her .

• Let's just say Ran sulked the rest of the day about how he spoiled d/n too much.

#tr🎴#tokyo manji gang #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers headcanons #tokyo revengers imagines #bonten #tokyo revengers angst #tokyo revengers fluff #tokyo revengers x reader #ran haitani #ran headcanons #bonten sanzu #sanzu haruchiyo #bonten fluff #bonten imagines #bonten angst #bonten x reader #bonten headcanons

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achaotichuman · 4 months

Note

Okay but what are your thoughts on Tamlin purring, not the quiet kind of purring but like the loud and happy purr? I imagine him purring every time Lucien gives forehead kisses or andras ruffling his head XD

Yes yes yes yes! Thats all I can say, jk I will absolutely say more.

Why stop at purring? Lets go full cat mode! Tamlin hissing at Rhysand when he appears in the Spring Court. Tamlin just going full chaotic mode at three in the morning and just knocking stuff over left and right. Tamlin sitting at Lucien's door when its locked and pawing at it, while continuously calling out for Lucien to open up.

I'm just imagining, Andras getting back from border patrol, he's had a long day. He had to trap and kill a few dozen creatures, he's about to give the report to Tamlin's father. All he wants is a bath and his bed.

Then Tamlin comes bounding out, his green eyes alight with energy. He's holding something, Andras already knows the Prince wants to show him something. The other sentries are knocking off for the day, all of them are scattering, heading for their respective quarters. Andras stays rooted in place, watching as the Spring stops before him.

"Guess what!" Tamlin says, practically vibrating with excitement.

"You found a million dollars on the ground and you giving it to me." Andras says deadpan.

"No! Even better! I found-" Tamlin rifles in the satchel slung across his chest, eventually grinning when he seems to find it. Holding it up in front of Andras' eyes, Andras sees some kind of purple flower, specks of gold are emitting from it. He eyes it warily.

"Cool... what is it?"

Tamlin huffs, seemingly annoyed by Andras' lack of floristry knowledge, "This is the bloom from a cactus that only grows in Winter, Andras! And I found it growing in a cave in the side of the mountain near the tunnels! You know what this means! It means flora originally thought to only originate from certain Courts can grow in other places if given the correct conditions and time. We can experiment and maybe we can grow things here we normally get from imports from other Courts! It would make our Court so much more valuable as an ally!"

Andras had to admit even he was impressed by the prince's words. At the same time, he was exhausted. He still smiled, then he lifted a hand and placed it on Tamlin's head. Ruffling his golden hair.

Tamlin closed his eyes, grinning widely. A purring noise came from the back of his throat, a loud kind of happy sound that Andras felt vibrating in his hand.

"Well done, Tam. You did good." Andras said.

Then I'm also imagining.

A loud crash in the middle of the night, or morning? Lucien looks at the clock hanging on the wall opposite to him. Three in the morning, what the hell was that?

There's another loud crash and Lucien lunges out of bed. A snap of his fingers and clothes appeared on his body, he ran from the room and bolted down the stairs.

There was an incessant clanging, Lucien followed the noise until he was in the kitchen.

Throwing the door open, he shouted, "What is going on- Tamlin Kali Fairburn!"

Tamlin was on the floor, a metal pot on his head, several pans and other kitchen supplies scattered around him. He had one pot stuck on his right foot, and a sheepish look when he lifted the pot off his head.

"Morning Lucien." The High lord said, trying to ease the fire lord into not being too angry with him.

"What in the Mother's name are you doing?" Lucien hissed.

Tamlin shrugged, "I was getting water, then I found a pan on the stove so I went to put it away, then more fell out, then one thing led to another..."

Lucien looked at the dozens of cabinets wide open, all items removed from them and on the floor, "How did you even manage this?"

"I... I don't know." Even Tamlin looked shocked at his own destruction.

Lucien put his head in his hands, "Oh good Gods, you know what?! We'll clean it up tomorrow."

The Fox made quick strides for Tamlin and pull the metal pots off his head and feet. Then pulled him to stand, the tired High lord swayed on his feet. Lucien decided enough was enough. He picked Tamlin up, bridal style and walked out of the room. Tamlin just yawned and rested his head on Lucien's shoulder.

"I am quite tired." Tamlin mumbled, already half out of it.

Lucien sighed quietly, "Of course you are."

The Fox pressed a soft kiss to the centre of his High lord's forehead. Tamlin smiled in his sleep, and a deep purring noise escaped his throat. Loud and happy, like a cat asleep in his arms.

Those are the scenes I came up with! Thank you for the ask!

#acotar #pro tamlin #tamlin #lucien vanserra #pro lucien vanserra #andras acotar #acotar headcanons #acotar au #tamcien

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thetargaryenbride · 9 months

Text

Nail To The Coffin - S4 - Chapter 5

Warnings: trauma, some blood, memories of s3lf h@rm, Vecna

Pairing: Steve Harrington x f!Byers!Reader

Word Count: 8099

𝐀𝐍: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮 - 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴, 𝘴𝘺𝘮𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮, 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘮𝘢, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴~

𝐀𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐟 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐎𝐂 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵! 🖤 🥀

Masterlist || Chapter 4 || Chapter 6

“Honey, can you stand?” you asked softly and the girl nodded, slowly getting on her feet with some help from Lucas and you.

“What do we do now?” said Eddie wobbly. “Should we-should we investigate or?”

“You guys can go…but I think I’m just gonna go home. I’ve had enough for today,” whispered Max.

“I hope that by ‘home’ you actually meant to say ‘at your place’ because we surely aren’t letting you go back to the trailer park alone,” you crossed your arms and she nodded.

“Yeah, sure, that’s what I meant. Let’s go.”

“You guys get started on the dinner. I’ll just…go take a quick bath and will come help you,” you sent the group a firm smile before you hurriedly went to your room to get a bathrobe, and then headed for the bathroom.

You turned on the faucet and sat on the edge of the tub, staring into the rippling, almost translucent, water that was slowly filling the pearly porcelain vessel, tuning out the noisy group in the other room as you waited.

You discarded your clothes and shoved them in the laundry basket before testing the water’s temperature. You let out a sigh once you sank in and rested your head on the towel you had previously folded and placed to act as a pillow.

Suddenly, even through your closed lids, you felt the lights give a flicker, which propelled you to open them and look around.

It was the same bathroom. Only, the energy had somehow shifted and the noise your friends were making as they chaotically prepared dinner had disappeared without you even noticing, until now. It was deadly silent, almost as if you’d been locked in some kind of sensory deprivation room.

There was a slight gust of wind that ruffled your hair a bit and you didn’t know what prompted you to look to the side but when you did, your eyes widened when they landed on a razor. You didn’t know for how long you had a stare-down with the piece of metal until you finally reached out and took it.

It felt so familiar in your hand.

So tempting.

You gulped, eyes boring into it. You tapped your finger against the blade a couple of times and you got filled with the sudden urge to slide it over the blade. It would be only a tiny cut. Nothing major, right?

“Go on, do it,” provoked you a calm, silvery voice, making your heartbeat increase rapidly, and you actually accidentally ended up slicing your finger on the blade. It made you hiss in pain and drop the blade in the water as you brought the finger to your mouth and pressed it against your lips in an attempt to soothe the ache.

The small droplet of blood that had fallen into the water did not stain it but somehow you still felt as if you were submerged in dirty waters.

Then, you felt the most overwhelming wave of energy that almost blew you away, and your head snapped up to look at the door, only to see it creak open, revealing a figure in the dark. You straightened up and shivered when the air hit the damp skin of your shoulders, collarbones, and back, chilling you more than it usually did.

The figure stepped forward, bathing itself in the light and revealing a tall, lean man with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He had on a charming smile but there was some form of malice behind it. In fact, his whole presence oozed it, despite his calm demeanor.

“I didn’t take you for such a coward,” he clicked with his tongue in a pitying manner.

“Who are you?” you found the strength in your voice as you spoke out and he smiled at you as he stalked closer and sat on the edge of the tub, by your feet.

“Just someone who wishes to help you,” he shrugged with that knowing smile of his never leaving his face, unsettling you even more.

“Help me? Whatever do you mean?” you furrowed your eyebrows as you tried to slide away from him but your back quickly hit the wall of the tub and you realized that you couldn’t get away from him.

And you felt so very exposed, figuratively and literally.

“I just want to put an end to your suffering. You seem to be very persistent in your attempts at denying help considering you were desperately seeking it not so long ago,” he spoke calmly and just before you were about to ask him what he meant, you saw his gaze flicker to the razor at the bottom and it all became clear to you.

The little boy you had been seeing. This man you were seeing now. The disfigured monster Max had told you she’d seen…it was the same person.

It was Vecna.

He was the monster preying on you.

Your demon.

He was trying to break the little you had managed to piece together and heal so he could take you. A part of you, the unhealed, seemed to be ready to submit already. But the little piece that held everything together was, as he said, persistent.

“I don’t want your help,” you grit out, albeit a bit shaky, and his smile grew.

“You do…you’re just afraid to finally admit it…you’ve always been afraid. That’s why you couldn’t do anything even though you tried a couple of times. You couldn’t do anything alone, that is,” his smile transitioned into a smirk and you pursed your lips in an attempt to stop them from trembling. “But I can help you this time. If you just surrender.”

“And I told you…I don’t need your help.”

“Why do you fear death?” he asked, tilting his head. “You want it so badly…but you’re afraid to go through with it. Ever since last summer.”

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,” you answered instead. “-and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown,” you stared right into his eyes and saw them crinkle as he grinned.

“Ah, Howard Philips Lovecraft,” muttered the man, almost proudly, and you held his gaze. “You sure know your…horror literature, smart girl,” he winked as he stood up and put his hands behind his back, stalking closer to you and eventually crouching by your side, too close for comfort, making you rigid as you tried to move as far away as you possibly could. That only made him chuckle as he lifted a hand and caressed your cheek with his knuckles.

“You should know…that you can’t escape me,” he drawled huskily.

Suddenly, you felt a sharp prickling sensation all over your body and you slowly turned your head to look down, only to see that the water had vanished and in her stead there were numerous razors, each sharper than the other, cutting into you, bleeding you, hurting you, even if you barely moved. You gasped as you sprung up and clumsily exited the tub, falling right into Vecna’s arms.

You trashed against him but he wouldn’t budge and you felt so utterly helpless that tears began rolling down your cheeks and you couldn’t contain the choked sobs from escaping. He caressed your hair and hushed you as you finally gave up and went limp in his arms, blood dripping all over his white uniform and the white tiles, and you felt that this was the end.

Then, the last thing you heard and felt was his whisper against your ear and the mocking kiss he placed on your temple.

“No…not yet. I want to play some more before that. Makes it more fun doesn’t it?”

“Don’t you think she’s been in there for quite some time now?” asked Nancy as she kept glancing at the bathroom’s door and Robin followed her line of vision.

“She did say she’d be quick about it,” agreed the girl with a sinking sensation and Steve’s brows furrowed as he abandoned the potato he was peeling and washed his hands, wiping them on the towel that had been resting on his shoulder before he threw it on the counter and marched towards the bathroom, stomach churning as bad foreboding washed over him.

“Y/N?” he called out as he neared the door and knocked. “Are you-Jesus Christ, what the-“ he got startled when he heard the sound of squelching and looked down, only to see there was water coming out of the room and he had stepped onto it. “Shit!” he exclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention, and threw open the door.

The sight was alarming, to say the least.

The tub was overflowing, flooding the space, you were lying on the floor, on your side, almost curled in on yourself, back turned on the entrance, hair sprawled and rippling back and forth because of the water, body almost nude, donning on only your underwear and a top. It seemed you had fainted while in the process of taking off your clothes.

“Y/N,” Steve called out once again as he pretty much threw himself onto the ground next to your form and grabbed you by the shoulder, turning you around. His eyes widened when he saw your nose bleeding profusely, staining your lips, your neck, your collarbones, and even the water and floor beneath your head. What worried him the most, however, was how still you were. “Hey, hey, don’t do this to me, baby,” he spoke frantically as he shook you before he clumsily took off his jacket and wrapped up your torso, mostly your hips and upper thighs, with it.

“What’s going on!?” asked Eddie panicked after he had stormed into the room, and didn’t waste a second to kneel on your other side while the others stayed standing nearby, giving you some space. “Jesus, what happened!?” he yelled and Steve ran a hand through his hair in frustration and helplessness.

“I don’t know! I came to ask if she was okay and found her like this! I don’t know!” he yelled back as his hands grasped your face, fingers caressing your cheeks and wiping the blood. “Y/N, c’mon, don’t scare me. Just open your eyes,” he pleaded and Eddie’s fingers flew to your neck.

“Steve, it’s okay,” he let out a breath of relief and Steve looked up questioningly. “She’s okay, I feel her pulse,” he informed the boy and he let out a long, shaky exhale, the others mirroring him.

“Then why did she faint? Why is her nose bleeding?” asked Steve and Eddie shook his head.

“Could be the stress and the lack of sleep,” he suggested. “Could be Vecna,” he muttered, spitting out the suspicions everyone had in mind.

Steve cursed silently, and shut his eyes in despair, hands going to rub his face. Sneaking his arms underneath you, he lifted you up easily and headed out, the others moving away to let him pass.

“Steve,” you murmured as you stirred awake, and he halted, looking down at you with wide hopeful eyes.

“Y/N!” he exclaimed and the others’ faces and rigid postures relaxed. “Can you hear me?” he asked and you nodded, opening your eyes. “Can you see me?” again, you nodded. “Good…good,” he smiled widely and wobbly before rushing into your room and gently laying you down on the bed.

“What happened?” asked Nancy softly as she came to sit on the bed by your side, taking your hand in hers, and you shook your head.

“I just…” you gulped. “I guess I felt dizzy all of a sudden and…then everything turned black,” you explained and she shared a look with the others who had quickly followed Steve and surrounded the bed.

“What about visions? Did you have any visions?” asked Max anxiously. “Did you see…did you see a monster?”

You hesitated for a bit before you gave her an answer.

“No…No, I didn’t.”

When you woke up, you weren’t in your bed anymore. Instead, you felt your bare arms being caressed by the blades of lush green grass.

You shot up into a sitting position and your eyes stared ahead, wide in confusion and fear, at the scenery. You were in a meadow of sorts. It kind of reminded you of the fields surrounding Hawkins that you frequented with your brothers when you’d go on picnics, walks, or just in search of picturesque spots to photograph and paint.

Suddenly, the sound of squealing to your left pierced your eardrums, and you got startled, not having heard it beforehand. It was a hare and its leg was tied by a rope. It seemed to have fallen into a trap and now it couldn’t escape, never mind how much it trashed and struggled against it.

Your heart fell to your stomach and you felt as if your whole body sunk as you watched the poor creature, suddenly getting reminded of all the times Lonnie had forced you and Jonathan to hunt rabbits.

You rushed to the animal and did a quick work of untying it. It immediately sprung away from you but didn’t run into the tree line nearby. It stood there expectantly as if beckoning you to follow it.

So you did.

You followed it into the woods.

You tried not to trip on the overgrown roots as you ran deeper into the forest where the trees seemed to be ancient, towering above you, looming eerily, showering you in darkness with only a couple of sunbeams being able to peek through the multiple thick branches. Suddenly, you didn’t think it was a smart choice to follow the animal. You kept feeling as if something or someone was watching you from behind the trees.

Shadows.

“You don’t need to be afraid of them,” chimed an all too familiar voice and you almost tripped as you halted in your steps, whirling sharply to face the blonde man that had tortured you with a vision merely a few hours ago. And now he was back, wanting more? “Shadows are actually children of light,” he explained as he stalked closer to you and you took a step back in return. “They are born from light.”

“But they are controlled by darkness,” you retorted. “You are that darkness,” you frowned and he smiled.

“Don’t be like that. Just come to me.”

You stared at him for a while before you turned your back on him and marched away.

“Y/N!” he called after your retreating form but you ignored him and quickened your pace instead. You didn’t want to give him the pleasure of seeing how scared you actually were. You didn’t want to give him the pleasure of looking deep into your eyes and seeing the way you were actually hesitating – tethering on the edge of agreeing to succumb to him. Although, he seemed to know everything about you already. He seemed to know your mind more than you knew it yourself.

It was pointless to hide.

Shortly after the encounter, you stumbled upon the hare once again. It was standing in front of a large tree with a hole at its base, big enough to fit a person. It sprung inside and you followed it with little hesitation this time, wanting to escape Vecna more than anything, praying that this hole would take you back to the land of living.

Then you found yourself falling.

And it felt like you were falling forever. All kinds of patterns surrounded you – twisted, deformed clocks whose chime you heard resonate through the dark void, whites, and blacks, swirling, checkered patterns accompanied by kings and queens and bishops and knights, endless skewered staircases that led to who knew where, and it felt like you were trapped in an infinite portal of illusions that you couldn’t escape from.

When you finally landed on the ground – mind you, you didn’t fall and break anything, but rather you stopped right before you hit the floor, and then some invisible power let you drop gently onto it – you found yourself standing in a huge spacey hallway with multiple doors.

But while they were all blank and plain, ordinary and colored black and white, there was one right in front of you that stood out.

A door much resembling the entrance of your own home back in LA.

It had a stained glass window with a gorgeous rose in the center.

“Beautiful, isn’t it,” hummed the blonde man, appearing out of nowhere yet again, and you huffed.

“I didn’t know someone like you could appreciate the beauty in things as simple as stained glass.”

“Even simple things have a deeper meaning than you give them credit for,” he shrugged, looking at you with his piercing blue eyes, but you just looked ahead at the door and tried your best to ignore him because you felt that if you looked at him, you’d give up on the bravery and make way for weakness and acceptance.

“Oh, really?”

“Take the stained glass, as you so kindly pointed it out as an example… People, are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within,” he drawled.

“You’re ugly,” you pointed out.

“Am I?” he asked with mock hurt.

“You may look…handsome on the outside but…on the inside you’re rotten. Disgusting and disfigured. And I don’t doubt I’ll soon get to see it all reflect on the outside…your true form,” you mumbled and he let out a breathy chuckle.

“Trust me, darling…when that time comes…it will be the end for you. So don’t be too eager to meet my true form,” he said quietly, warningly, and you gulped but showed none of what you were feeling on your face. Even though he probably knew what you were feeling.

And even though you had been so curious, and desperate to escape, at the end, you couldn’t see what was on the other side of the door.

It’s like Vecna had purposely blocked your path.

You knew he wanted you to see something. He wanted to show you something. But perhaps the time wasn’t right yet.

The Following Morning

“So, Eddie and I, uh,” began Steve. He had hovered over you since the moment you woke up, guarded you while you were bathing, was almost tempted to join you, actually, and was now making you company while you were getting dressed, casually sitting on the bed, sprawled, and tossing a bouncing ball at the ground which hit the wall and returned into his hand continuously. “We have prepared your walkman and tapes of all your favorite songs. You know, just in case,” he muttered deflated, looking at the floor then back at you, and you sighed, pulling your jeans up and zipping them.

No one had been able to sleep that night. Everyone was worried about Max and you. It was only during the wee hours of the morning when you had been able to get some shut-eye, only because Steve would’ve killed you with his glare if you hadn’t, insisting you needed to rest so you don’t faint again. If only they knew what happened was because of Vecna and not fatigue, they would be freaking out even more than they already were. They didn’t need that on their mind. They had to focus on Max. So you kept your tongue behind your teeth. Of course, they still had a suspicion but it was better than knowing and freaking out.

“Steve, I told you, I’m fine. I’ve had fainting spells before. They haven’t made an appearance in some time but…I guess all the stress and lack of sleep lately are doing a number on me. I’ll be fine,” you sent him a smile as your hand went to rub his arm up and down soothingly, and he shook his head.

“I know. But still, I have to consider the other possibility, just in case…better safe than sorry, right? I’m not going to risk your well-being…I’m not going to risk your life. Not again…” he said seriously. “Besides,” his frown then switched into a knowing smile. “I didn’t think you’d resist Bon Jovi,” he smirked knowingly and you eyed him up and down, eyes narrowing a tad bit. “Or ABBA,” he added as he grabbed a tape. “Or Madonna,” he waved it teasingly in front of you. “Or Queen.”

“Okay, you convinced me now,” you snorted, unable to resist a smile from forming, and took the cassette from his hand.

“That’s my girl,” he stood up and placed a kiss on your temple as you headed for the living room.

“Hey, how are you holding up?” you asked gently as you put a hand on Max’s shoulder and she sent you a small smile.

“So far so good, I guess. And you?”

“As good as you are, I guess,” you muttered and she and Nancy, who had just joined you by the table, shot you sympathetic, understanding looks. “Hold on…what’s that?” you asked with furrowed eyebrows as you inspected what the girl’s been working on since last night and she looked down at her drawings.

Last night, after the yet another incident in the bathroom, Max hadn’t wanted to leave your side for a second, so she hung out in your room and briefly told you about some of the things she saw. She asked if you had any painting supplies and you had given her some paints and Will’s forgotten crayons to use. She had stayed up all night drawing at your desk and had eventually moved to the kitchen table.

“Is this what you saw?” asked Nancy and she nodded.

“I mean, it’s supposed to be. I thought it’d be easier to draw it out than explain it, but…maybe I should’ve asked you to draw it instead. I just didn’t want to bother you,” she told you and you shook your head.

“You could never bother me,” you said as you slid into the chair close by and took a paper into your hands. “Let’s see. Maybe if I take a good look at these and if you explain the imagery you saw with more details, I’d be able to draw-” the words died in your throat and turned into a poison ivy rope that stung and choked you when you saw a drawing of two people, stuck in what seemed to be a prison of vines.

“Is that…” you asked but you couldn’t bring yourself to finish the sentence. You didn’t need to. They knew you meant Chrissy and Fred.

“It was like…they were on display,” began Max hesitantly. “And then there was this red fog everywhere. It was like a dream. A nightmare.”

“You think Vecna’s just trying to scare you?” asked Nancy.

“With Billy? Yes. But when I made it here,” she pointed at the place she had drawn. “I don’t know, something was different. He seemed surprised, almost. Like he didn’t want me there.”

“Maybe you infiltrated his mind,” butted in Dustin, almost startling you with his sudden appearance. “He invaded your mind, right? Is it that big of a leap to suggest you somehow wound up in his? Like Freddie Kruger’s boiler room.”

“You know, he has a point,” you hummed, crossing your arms and biting the nail of your thumb. “Maybe you formed a connection in the moment of invasion. Maybe you unlocked a backdoor to his world.”

“Exactly,” agreed Dustin. “Maybe the answer is in this…incredibly intricate drawing,” he drawled and your eyes widened when they landed on something very familiar.

“Hold on…This door…I’ve seen it before,” you blurted out as your hand grasped another piece of paper. The familiar door with the stained-glass window glared right back at you.

“I’ve seen it too,” said Nancy and the two of you shared a look before you began taking drawings and folding them in certain ways, lining them together. Your minds worked as one in that moment and you quickly formed a perfect image by piecing everything together.

“It’s pieces of a house,” pointed out Max while you were outlining some parts with a black marker.

“Not just any house,” breathed out Nancy.

“Isn’t that…the abandoned Creel house?” Steve asked and all of you looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. “What? Everyone knows about it but nobody goes there because it’s haunted. Except, of course, if someone dares someone to go and-“

“Let me guess,” interrupted Eddie as he casually strolled over and crossed his arms. “If you refuse to go, you won’t be as cool. You’ll be known as a coward. It’s all about reputation. Nothing scarier than losing your popularity,” he wriggled his fingers, trying to convey spooky energy and Steve rolled his eyes.

The Creel House.

Everyone knew about the creepy abandoned building. Everyone knew it was haunted. But nobody cared to learn of the terrifying events that had taken place there. Not even you, the ever historian, had bothered looking into it. It just didn’t seem like anything interesting or important. People died every day and their houses became relics. It wasn’t anything worthy of your attention.

How the tables have turned now.

This house suddenly became the center of everyone’s attention and probably the core of the problematic situation you were currently facing. And maybe, if luck was on your side, it would be a trump card up your sleeve that you could use against Vecna.

Suddenly, there was knocking on your door, and everyone’s heads snapped to look at it, anxiousness gripping at their guts.

"You stay where you are. I'll go answer it," you waved off Steve and Dustin who seemed ready to bolt for the door and greet whoever had come to visit you.

But what made you kind of suspicious and had you narrow your eyes, was the way the person was not actually knocking but banging on the door with urgency. At first, you thought it might be Calvin, coming to give you bad news, so your pace quickened and you harshly threw open the door.

What surprised you, or more likely unpleasantly shocked you, was that it was not your uncle Calvin who graced you with his presence. It was Jason Carver.

"Jason? What are you doing here?" You asked as you tried to keep the door halfway closed, hiding half of your body behind it and by extension hiding the other occupants from his line of vision.

"I came to check if Eddie's here, by chance," he didn't beat around the bush, or bother with pleasantries, and came out with it immediately, you could give him that.

"What makes you think that Eddie is here?" you asked, trying to stall, as your arm that was hidden behind the door made a couple of signs to the party, signaling them to hide or get out of the house.

They understood right away and scurried after having heard Jason's voice. Eddie in particular had almost fallen off the armchair and had dropped his mug, thankfully on the carpet, spilling its contents, making Robin, Dustin, and Steve, who were the ones who saw the whole thing, wince and scrunch up their faces in worry that Jason might have heard the sound. Apparently, he hadn't, probably because the carpet had muffled it.

"Don't play games with me, Byers," frowned the boy. "You and Munson are buddies, aren't you? It's only normal for him to hang out at your place," he stated while placing a hand on the door strategically and pushing lightly. "Be a good girl and just tell me where he is."

You were thankful for one thing - at one point in the past day or so, you had persuaded Eddie to ditch his van and park it somewhere else, not too far from your house but also not too close, because you knew that something like this was most probable to occur. He had hesitantly agreed to leave and conceal it and squeeze in Steve’s car instead.

It's true you had told to Lucas "Fuck Jason, we have bigger problems. We'll deal with him later" but you never forgot about the potential problem he could cause. You kept him at the back of your mind and you were grateful for it because now, unable to see Eddie's van, Jason couldn't possibly assume he was at your place. But of course, you still signaled the others to get out of the house and hide somewhere at the back, just in case you were unable to stall Jason's advances and he decided to storm into your home to investigate personally.

“Jason, listen to me very carefully,” you began. “I know you’ve gotten one too many balls thrown at your head but surely you can still get some of this through your thick skull. Eddie is not guilty. Plain and simple,” you blurted out and his eyes narrowed dangerously, body tensing.

“Don’t defend him just because you’re friends. If someone does something wrong, friend or not, you turn them in!”

“I’m defending him because he is truly innocent. He was with us the whole time that night! He wasn’t home when the murder happened!”

“I don’t believe you,” he spat out and you took a deep breath, trying to keep yourself from blowing up in his face.

“Believe what you will. We already went to speak with the Chief and told him everything that happened. If the police declared Eddie innocent, then why are you mingling in things that ain’t your business?” you bit out in return and he glared at you poisonously.

“Because how can I be sure that you told the truth to the police, huh?” he countered, and suddenly you felt nervous, your spine stiffening. “I know you’re close with the Chief. I know he’d believe you above anyone else. You grew up before his eyes,” he threw his hands in indignation. “I know you’d do anything to protect your friends, including lie to the police. But maybe this time you’re also trying to protect yourself. Maybe you’re the same as Eddie. Maybe you’re a devil too. I’ve seen you wear one of those Hellfire t-shirts before. Just because you’re not part of our high school anymore doesn’t mean you ain’t part of that satanic club,” his words grew heavier and harsher with each second, as did his rage, and his body language became more aggressive.

But so did yours.

You couldn’t remember when was the last time you felt such boiling, hot rage fill you up – rage that was caused by another human being that is, and not an alien monster – that you were struggling not to unleash on Jason.

“And I ask you one more time,” you murmured lowly. “What makes you believe all this bullshit?”

“Because Chrissy would never interact with this freak!” he shouted. “And because she would never get involved with drugs. She’s perfect in every sense and her life is amazing! Why in the world would she reach out for that crap? It’s not possible! The only explanation is that she was forced to go to the trailer and was most probably forced to take drugs before she was murdered. But who am I explaining to!? A cocaine whore like you would never understand!” he yelled and just as he was about to spill out more, you interrupted him by giving him the biggest slap you’ve ever delivered. It was so loud that probably the whole neighborhood heard it.

Steve, who, the moment he heard Jason’s insults, had been ready to bolt to your side and pummel the boy, causing him to be held by Dustin and Lucas, relaxed when he heard the sound and his scowl turned into a proud smirk.

At that moment, you saw red.

You blew up.

“Oh, so you think you know Chrissy because you’ve been her boyfriend for what? Barely a year!?” you began shouting back at him and his eyes widened, not expecting such an aggressive outburst from you, because never before had he heard or seen you so rabid. “Newsflash! I’ve known her for much longer than that! And I know for a fact that her life was far from perfect! So don’t stand here and paint her life as a fucking heaven on Earth! She was so not the person she tried to present as in front of everyone else! She struggled so fucking much at home because her mother is a cunt!” you screamed and gesticulated angrily. “I have tried so much to help her but every time we’d make progress and get better, every time she’d take a step forward, her mother would throw her a couple of steps backwards and ruin everything! Do you have any idea how goddamn devastating it is to be stuck and not be able to move on and heal from your trauma!? Have you been in such a situation, Carver!? Because Chrissy for sure was, her entire life. She used to visit the school counselor back when I was still in high school, and her visits became more frequent these past months! She’s been suffering from heavy headaches, nosebleeds, vivid nightmares, but I doubt you knew about any of this because you never cared about anything or anyone else besides your abnormally large, arrogant ass, and your stupid games,” you roared as you took a step forward and he took a step back, shrinking under your glare and harsh words. “You never cared enough to dig deeper and get to know her more! I told her back then, to not go out with you, to not become your girlfriend, because you loved only what she was allowing you and everyone else to see. You look only at the bark of the tree, and not the entire forest because you are an entitled, blindly self-righteous, dumb cunt! You’re so fucking unreliable it hurts! So, no, I don’t blame her for reaching out to Eddie and wanting to dull the pain with some Special K! A ‘cocaine whore’ like me understands very well what it means to see no light in the tunnel so you want to take a fucking sedative to calm your jumbled brain! If only you could see things not as black and white but explore the complex, grey morality, you wouldn’t be standing here on a bloody headhunting, trying to deliver your own personal view of justice! You call Eddie a freak but you are a fucking psycho!” you ended your rampage with a shriek, chest heaving as you glared at him, hands and body shaking with rage. You were ready to pounce on him and he could read it in your body language, so he chose not to engage further.

“You’re lucky I came alone,” he finally uttered, gulping the lump that had stuck in his throat. “You won’t be as lucky next time…this isn’t over. We’ll find Eddie. Here or wherever he’s hiding,” he spoke, trying to sound and appear threatening and intimidating but all you could see was a scared piece of shit who tried to play it macho. He could never even step on Billy’s little finger. It was pathetic.

“Oh, I’d love that,” you quipped. “Then I’ll be able to properly show you just why I was sent to the police station three times, and who knows, maybe you can follow Nathaniel Hale’s fate,” you grit out and he gulped, nose scrunching up, before he finally left the vicinity of your house and jumped into his car, driving away.

You slammed the door shut, rattling it so harshly and loudly that for a second you thought it might fall off its hinges.

You were just so angry.

He really managed to rile you up badly. You hadn’t experienced such intense emotions and anger since the time when your brothers would get bullied and you’d beat up their bullies.

“You okay?” asked Steve as he put a hand on your shoulder and you jumped startled, making him lift his hands in the air. “It’s me. It’s okay.”

“Oh, Steve,” you let out as you gave him a hug and he rubbed your back soothingly.

“It’s okay. The bastard’s not gonna bother you anymore.”

“I hope he doesn’t come back with his little friends and search the house forcefully,” you grumbled and Steve shook his head.

“That’d be illegal and you’d be in your right to call the police on him. Then he and his friends would be arrested for some time and we’ll be left alone to do our job in peace,” quipped the boy and you pulled away, looking at him with wide eyes.

“That actually…sounds like a great idea, Steve,” you breathed out and he chuckled.

“Always the tone of surprise. I’m smarter than I look, you know,” he smirked and you snorted, ruffling his hair playfully and stepping away from his personal space to avoid his swats.

“Well…we’ve lost some time dealing with this waste of oxygen so I suggest we hurry.”

“Well, that’s just incredibly eerie,” you breathed out and everyone looked at you questioningly.

“What do you mean?”

“This house is…well, let’s just say that our house in LA is pretty similar-looking to this one. It’s…it’s creepy,” you shuddered and everyone’s faces scrunched up in what seemed to be sympathy.

“What exactly are we supposed to be looking for in this shithole?” asked Steve minutes later while he was de-nailing some of the rusty nails that kept a huge wooden plank up and covering the front door.

“We’re not sure,” sighed Nancy. “We just know this house is important to Vecna.”

“Because Max saw it in Vecna’s red soup mind, right?”

“Basically.”

“Great.”

A short conversation about the possibility of you finding a clue about Vecna later, you were breaking and entering, flashlights on and lighting every corner as you crept inside cautiously.

“They just…left everything,” commented Nancy somewhat sadly as she and Robin explored what seemed to be the living room.

“I guess a triple homicide isn’t good for resale value,” added dryly Robin.

“Hey, guys,” called out Max and everyone went to her side. “You all see that, right?” she asked as she pointed her flashlight at the grandfather clock and you gulped.

“Yeah,” you, Steve, Dustin, and Eddie responded simultaneously.

“Is this what you saw?” inquired Nancy. “In your visions?”

“I mean…it’s just a clock…right?” muttered Robin as she pushed past everyone and wiped the dust off the glass lid of the clock. “Like a normal old clock.”

“Why is this wizard obsessed with clocks?” Steve shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe he’s, like, a clockmaker or something?”

“Or, or,” Eddie snapped his fingers and pointed at the boy. “He’s a time traveler and different clocks are gateways to different timelines!” exclaimed the metal head excitedly and you and Dustin looked at them with aggravation.

“Could you guys save this for later?”

“No, Y/N, let them be. I think they just cracked the case,” said Dustin sarcastically and you hummed in agreement before the two of you turned away simultaneously, leaving Steve and Eddie to look at one another with confused expressions.

“Okay, guys,” Nancy drew everyone’s attention. “Everyone stay in groups of two and let’s spread out,” she instructed and no one hesitated to follow through with it.

Nancy and Robin headed upstairs, Lucas and Max went to the living room, Dustin and Eddie stalked towards some other room, and you and Steve followed after the girls, climbing the stairs carefully.

For some reason, you felt compelled to go to a certain room you established as the bathroom. Steve followed you with furrowed eyebrows but didn’t say anything as you crouched down by the vent and took off the intricate top. Your breath hitched when you saw a couple of jars inside.

“What’s this?” asked Steve as he crouched by your side and took a jar to inspect.

“Black widows,” you whispered as you looked up, only to see a spider crawling on Steve’s shoulder.

You let out a scream as you swatted it away, startling Steve in the process and making him drop the jar as he fell on his butt, the glass shattering loudly.

“What was that!?” he yelled panicked.

“A spider!”

“What!?”

“I got rid of it,” you attempted to calm him down while his head shifted from side to side in a frenzy to check if the insect was still on him, causing the light from his flashlight to dance wildly across the floor and the walls. “It’s okay, it’s not on you anymore.”

“Jesus,” breathed out the boy and you sent him a sympathetic smile.

“What happened!?” exclaimed Nancy worriedly as she rushed into the bathroom and you waved a hand dismissively.

“Nothing, we’re good. It was just a spider.”

“Yikes.”

“Mhm.”

Steve quickly stood up and reached out for you. You gladly took his hand and he hauled you up on your feet, the two of you exiting the bathroom and shutting the door.

“Don’t go in there,” Steve told Nancy as he shot one last suspicious look at the door as if it had personally offended him before he headed for the mirror nearby to take a look at his hair.

“If there’s a spider in there, you’re never gonna find it till it lays eggs and the babies spill out,” quipped Robin with a shit-eating grin and Steve deadpanned.

“What’s wrong with you!?”

Suddenly, you felt a familiar gust of energy and whirled on your heels.

“What is it?” asked your boyfriend but you answered not as you marched back to the staircase and saw the lights downstairs flicker.

Max looked up at you and even in the dark, you could see the fear in her eyes that she was trying so hard to conceal. After that, you spread out in order to look for Vecna. Steve didn’t feel comfortable with letting you go on your own at all.

“Hey, uhm, I know I’m probably being paranoid but, can you just, put these on?” he asked as he handed you the walkman and the headphones and you let out a breathy chuckle, wordlessly taking them off his hands and putting them on. He sent you a small smile before everyone went on their own way to explore the house more and to follow the different flickering lights in an attempt at locating Vecna.

But something kept you nailed to your spot and you felt a strong energy coming from a door to your right. You opened it and a narrow staircase was revealed in front of you.

You gulped and pressed play and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears rolled.

[I picked Lorde's version because it's more eerie but feel free to listen to either version :) ]

“Welcome to your life

There's no turning back

Even while we sleep

We will find you…”

You took a shaky breath as you began climbing, not being able to see or hear the door closing behind you. Barely a minute later, you found yourself in the very same attic you’d been dreaming of for the longest time. You almost expected to see the little boy, holding a jar full of spiders. You almost expected the room to get flooded and swallowed by the ocean as it often happened in your dreams.

But none of this happened.

“Help me make the most

Of freedom and of pleasure

Nothing ever lasts forever

Everybody wants to rule the world.”

“Hello, Y/N,” sounded a familiar voice you could hear over the music as if it was resonating inside your head, and your eyes widened when Billy stepped out from behind the clutter, looking just as bloody and disheveled as he did during the battle at the mall, veins protruding, blood black as tar coating his whole body, holes from the monster’s vines visible even with the black substance running over them. He was a living corpse, standing in front of you. “I’ve been waiting so long for you.”

“No,” you whispered. “This isn’t real. It’s just another hallucination.”

“Is it?” he asked as he strutted closer and you took a step back. He took one forward, and you took another back, and just like that, you entered a dance of steps that eventually ended when you hit a wall and he cornered you against it.

The song replayed and you wondered if maybe you should’ve chosen another one because this one didn’t seem to be getting you out of the situation you had fallen into.

“You, you, you,” muttered the boy with his typical angry grin, running his tongue over his lower lip as he leaned and placed a hand by your head, which made you turn your head to the side, not being able to face him. “You abandoned me,” he spat out angrily and you shut your eyes tightly, fingers curling and nails digging into the wood you were pressed against, wishing it could swallow you. “You had the opportunity to save me…twice…and you just let me die.”

“I promise I tried,” you whispered and he lifted the hand that had been resting next to your head and curled it into a fist. You thought he’d hit you, but he just hit the same spot again. Nevertheless, it still made you flinch.

“No,” he growled. “You didn’t try hard enough. None of you did! You abandoned me… Do you know what it felt like? Chugging toxic chemicals? Your insides turning into mush? And being alive through it all, feeling every burning sensation? I was rotting and I was alive throughout it!” he roared and your lips trembled as a choked sob tore out of your throat. “And afterwards, what? What, what?!” he asked with a mocking grin as his other hand grabbed your chin and forced you to look at him. “What, you think that surfing for the both of us and enjoying the ocean is something to cherish my memory through?” he bit out and you gulped, eyes watering. “You think I’d be happy that you got to live and enjoy doing things I used to love doing? That it would somehow make me feel at peace? Or were you just trying to make yourself feel at peace!? To lessen the burden of guilt,” he barked out, some of the blood landing on you and making your stomach churn with nausea as if you weren’t feeling sick enough already.

“I’m sorry,” you muttered shakily and pitifully and he snorted.

“If you’re so sorry…then just come to me,” he drawled and your eyes widened. “That’s where you belong anyway. That’s where you’re supposed to be. You just got lucky and escaped death, but you can’t run away forever.”

“Y/N!” someone was calling you.

“You want to finally ease that guilt and self-hate? Get rid of them for good? Just come with me,” he whispered and you gulped.

“Y/N!” the voice was more clear now, sharper, and you looked at the attic door before back at Billy, features contorting into disbelief when you saw he wasn’t there.

You felt like you were going mad.

You pushed yourself off the wall and took a step forward, eyes darting wildly across the room in search of the bloodied ghost but there was nobody. You were alone. And then you came to your senses and piercing pain shot through both your hands. You lifted them so you could inspect them and found some of your nails broken and bloody, one of them you had even managed to tear off its nail bed.

“Y/N!” shouted Steve as he ran up the stairs and when he finally saw you standing at the center of the room, he let out a shaky breath of relief before he marched to you and took you into his arms.

"There's a room where the light won't find you

Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down

When they do I'll be right behind you"

“Where the hell have you been this whole time!? We all gathered in the living room and when you didn’t come-” he cut himself off. “I swear you’ll drive me crazy one day,” he exclaimed as he pushed a hair strand behind your ear and placed a couple of kisses on the side of your head while you stood there, barely responsive because you were still in shock after everything that happened.

“We were calling for you but you were nowhere in sight,” added Eddie breathlessly, the panic still noticeable in his tone and demeanor. “Thank God Max here noticed the attic door.”

“Are you alright?”

“So glad we've almost made it

So sad they had to fade it

Everybody wants to rule the world

Everybody wants to rule the world.”

Tags: @anxiousbeech @ashstorm24 @leireggsworld @burns-in-the-sun @ooenjoythesilenceoo @we-out-here-simping

#stranger things fanfiction #stranger things x reader #stranger things reader insert #steve x reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfic #eddie x reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #will byers x reader #reader insert #reader #max mayfeild x reader #billy hargove x reader #Spotify

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samooooo1 · 1 month

Note

based on my digimon master online game, how would be like a 24 year old fem! tamer who found in her doorstep a cardboard box with 4 digieggs (wizardmon, terriermon, (fem!) lopmon (she is terriermon's younger twin sister) and meicoomon) and when they hatch as lil keemon, zerimon, kokomon, and a fluffier looking snow botamon with faint light markings (that sign that she is a meicoomon when she grows and evolve to her actual form);

and the lil keemon is the one who loves y/n a lot compared to the other 3 who like her too; with a timeskip of 2 years later with him now as a wiz giving her a flower before confessing his feelings for her and gladly she accepts his feelings.

(Credit to the artist (Artist is mentioned down there on the right side))

(Sorry but I cant picture myself this scenario, as you would have been like a mother figure to them which is why I will do platonic version but no more or less, sorry since it probably would be heading a entirely diffrent way then you wanted but such scenarios are also platonic in my eyes.)

B/f x reader

Growing closer

_____________________

It was a cold nice day, finally after 8 painfully long hours of working, since you gotta make a living somehow, you took office job and after it was finally over and since it was over, first thing you done was to watch TV, there way to many TV Series that have to be finished by you and to little time to sadly do it. After watching a couple series for some hours, you heard a sound from the door you went there, thinking what or who would do such thing this late at the day.

You have gone to your door and opended it and found.. a cardboard with some eggs in it? You were weirded out having never seen such eggs.. and big at that to, you first thought these were Ostrich eggs.. so you tried to cook them but they were to hard and couldnt break which frustrated you.

Sooo, like any person with the average IQ of -5, you used Google to try and find out what these eggs were or better say from which animal or organism they came. To your suprise, they werent any ordinary eggs.. these eggs were called Digieggs and after some throughout research you found out what will come out of these eggs, some Digimons named Botamon, Kokomon, Zerimon and Keemon, they were fictional characters from your childhood Show 20 years ago, you used to watch it so much but sadly have forgotten most of these times.

So you made sure to take them with you everywhere, as to make sure that when they hatch you can see it in a instant. After some further hours of waiting they hatched ! You saw and felt like a Mum VvV, seeing their kids being born, you were very happy :D

Now the funny part.. you dont know what they eat, nor what they can eat or not, they arent any organic organism but you decided milk and some meat should be ok for now.

You searched up their names and what they could "evolve" into, or as people would say "digievolve" into. Now you got a Keemon, small and friendly but sometimes somehow angry, how? I dont know, a Botamon, a chaotic little energy ball, a Kokomon very cute choco looking like digimon and lastly Zerimon, weird but also cute.

Now there was another small problem, you never had to take care of any kids, much less since you were a only child and pretty much got always what you wanted, you never had to do anything. Now that you were a fully responsible adult and moved away from your parents and took a job to pay rent and your living expsenes, you didnt know if you were able to take care of these little Digimon.

Sooo, you called your bestfriend over, he was at first not believing a single word you have said but the moment he was in with you.. He was fascinated, such cute little creatures? But then he asked for what reason did you actually call him.

"So... hehe, basicly if I would this alone, there be to much for me to work off... and I dont wanna be a single mum, and since we both are already bestfriends why dont you help ne :D Also these little kids need a dad."

"Wait wait wait wait- a dad? But why me!"

You mentaly slapped yourself and just gave him a unfazed stare.

"Who is a man, is my closet friend, can weirdly be a good dad, can help me and is always there for me :D"

He just sighned and.. even though to us its obvious and you being a blind person ( in terms of reading the room), he has feelings for you and taking care of them with you.

"You will be the mother?"

You just nodded VvV. "Then... eh.. should I adress you as honey then, infront of the kids?" At that point you just stared at him. Would that title suit you?... Yes, yes it would.You happily nodded.

"So we be parents then? :D" you asked, he just embarrasedly nodded and you jumped in the air, feeling all happy and friendly, atleast you wont be having to deal all this alone, you have someone by your side during all of this.He just smilled at you, how could you be so blind to his feelings but because of you.. he be doing this, out of love for you.

2 Years Timeskip~

After some years parenting, both you and B/f have come far, your small little kids that you named happily, Botamon, you named him after your Uncle, his name was Kai, and little Botamon gave some Ninjago Kai vibes off, and he always watched that show as he grew up.Kokomon, you named them Choc, because of his chocolate coulered self and his affinity to liking sweets that are always sided with chocolate flavor.Zerimon was named Lemon, he is coloured like a Lemon and loves Citrus fruits, noice which is why the both you of named him Lemon and he is the exact opposites of his sister Zerimon.Keemon was the weirdest of the bunch, he was like a clingy dog which is why ya named him Max, he wouldnt leave neither your or B/f sides, always calling you both Mum and Dad, which at times made you chuckle and B/f a blushing mess, yet as they digivoled all into their respective forms you couldnt help but smile at them and B/f and even thought it might have seemed as if you were oblivious to B/fs feelings, you werent, you also liked him but wanted just to tease him so much it also made you realise how thankful you were that he was by your side, supporting and helping you no matter what or without any complaints, so one day when it was late and the kids were sleeping, you invited him to the livingroom since before you both have sleeped seperately but now you wanted to be more then just friends, you took him to the livingroom and confessed to him.

When he heard those words from you "I like you more then a simple friend".. he cried, he was happy beyond any thing that could be scaled, this one was one of the hapiest day of his life, and yes finally after so long you are finally his. He took you by arms and hugged you, its safe to say that you both went to bed after that confession but didnt did the deed as you both were faithful followers of the lord, you saved yourself for day you both will marry.

But the both of you pray and hope that the lord will bless you both with more such happy moments , the moment that the both of you will spend together, as lovers and one flesh, just as the lord always had planned for the both of you.

_____________________

Thanks for making a request but please, any kind of family bond should also be kept as one, but I hope you all enjoyed this small fic and wish ya all a blessed day/night.

God bless ya all!

;)

#digimon x reader #x reader #digimon #x female reader #x fem!reader #best friends #besties #besties to lovers

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adri-2022 · 2 years

Text

Tourist Boat

Fandom: Chicago Fire?

Characters: Jay Halstead x StellaKidd!Sister!Reader/ some of chicago fire.

Warnings: slight swearing/ fluff/ some chaotic energy

Word count: 2558

Jay Halstead Materlist

A/N: Hey guys so here is a original imagine. I hope everyone enjoys! Please forgive me for any unaccurate dialogue or scenes, I haven’t watched any of the Chicago Shows in like forever. Also the (Stella x Reader) singing part and the song was inspired by a video on tiktok of a mom-daughter duo signing that song at her daughter’s wedding. Sending love 💕

@allisonargent144 @andreahalstead24 @atarmychick007

Don't be afraid to leave your comment!

------

Bells were ringing in the city of Chicago; your baby sister Stella was getting married today to, drum roll please…the love of her life Kelly Severide. You were over the moon; your little sister was finally having her happily ever after or so thought everyone.

“Baby I’m leaving I gotta be there in like 30 minutes!” You screamed at your fiancé Jay Halstead -and yes you had met him through Stella and Kelly- over a year ago when you came to Chicago for the first time in forever.

You shared a lot of similarities with Stella for sure, for example when you got pissed-you were unstoppable-. On the contrary while Stella had a soft side which she didn’t show often, you were all sunshine and rainbows -well that’s what trauma does to some people-. You had practically raised your sister, looking out for her, protecting her in any way you could. So today would be especial.

Now Jay had popped the question on your anniversary and 3 months later here you were in your own house -that you had bought together-, about to make sure that your sister walked down that freaking aisle. You heard a noise coming from the bedroom, so you went to check, just to feel a couple of arms wrapping around your waist and being tackled to the bed. Laughter was the only thing that could be heard in your home -home- it felt weird for you to call a place let alone a person home.

“Hey beautiful” Jay said hovering over you kissing your nose, while you giggled. “Hi handsome”

“So…are you really leaving?” he asked pouting like a baby, which made you grab his chin and kiss him, turning you both around so you were straddling him, until you pulled away with a mischievous smile biting your lip. Jay looked at you with a confused expression, just before you to bolted to the front door -you had to leave now, or you wouldn’t leave period-.

“Babe!” you heard him yell from your bedroom, you chuckled, “I love you, but I have to go. We have to make sure they get married” you exclaimed back, watching as he came out of the room slowly, looking at you like you had looked at him minutes ago, that’s when you knew -run-. With that you ran out of the house and into your truck, when you were about to close your door his hand caught it,

“Nope, Miss Kidd, were really you about to leave without giving me love, huh?” he leaned and captured your lips making you sigh, he always had that effect on you. And that made you think, that was why your relationship had worked so well. You both had a way of making the other fall deeply in love every day.

“Love you! See you there” you waved from the inside of your truck to Jay who was on the steps of the house waving back at you, big grin on his face.

You really didn’t have a big part on planning or arranging anything given your sister was a ‘big girl’ who didn’t want her big sisters help. Plus, you were starting to plan your own wedding so when she said she had it handled, it gave you time to focus on yours.

Nonetheless she did need help at one point -obviously, big sis knows best- which was finding the perfect venue which you didn’t hesitate to help arrange. The two of you found a miracle venue at the Crystal’s Garden, done, the location for the Severide-Kidd wedding was set.

Apart from every bump in the path, the wedding was happening today period, point, blank. Stella and Kelly had gone through a lifetime full of crap and you just wanted this day to go according to their plan -because you would do anything for Stella’s happiness, and that was guaranteed-.

You had finished getting ready along with the rest of Stella’s closest friends, and now you were all waiting for the bride to finish. You wore a knee long, thin strap red silk dress with a slit in the right leg -not to revealing, but enough- and some golden heels.

So, to kill some time, you stepped out of the room and into the room Kelly was in, knocking slightly,

“Hey Kelly, its Y/N. Can I come in?” “Yeah…” you stepped inside, and it was just Kelly there, he looked nervous, so you smiled lightly at him,

“You look great sis” at this you smiled “You showered?” which made Kelly shake his head while laughing. You stepped in front of him giving him a massive hug before whispering,

“Take care of her for me, okay?” your voice cracking a bit -god you swore you wouldn’t cry- but here you were about to let the whole storm down. “I will”

“You’re a good man Kelly. And I- I couldn’t be prouder of the both of you” you said about to start bawling which made Kelly give you a sincere smile and a hug, before you left the room to wait for Jay to arrive.

“Hey hon! I’m I late?” “Nope just in time” you said fixing his tie and pulling him by it to give him a kiss, which made him smile into it. You couldn’t wait to have this day with him.

A couple of minutes maybe an hour later, you were all walking towards the wedding venue, you and Silvie were helping Stella with her dress, Matt and Jay were making sure Kelly didn’t see the bride -it was funny- but the fun wouldn’t last forever, because luck was not something the people of Chicago had often -more so the people close to you-.

“Hey, don’t you dare turn around Kelly Severide” Stella said making everyone laugh, “If I hear that one more time this wedding is off” he responded breathing a laugh -you better fucking not- you thought.

“You really want both Kidd’s kicking your ass? Because I won’t get involved man. That would get me sleeping on the couch” Jay said while chuckling, which made Kelly whistle, “Damn”

“Keep talking Severide, let’s see how fast you can run” you interrupted making Kelly raise his hands in surrender. Arriving at the entrance of the venue,

“Hey, were here to check in for the Kidd-Severide wedding” Matt said. “So yeah, I tried to call, but the voice-mail was full” the man responded.

“So… we’re here now. Let us through!” you said from your sisters side getting a bad feeling about this situation. Jay glanced at you over his shoulder before hearing the man talk again.

“Well, the Millineck wedding is back on…” -no- you instantly looked at Stella not hearing the rest of his sentence.

“…we’ll get you guys in here next month” is this guy for real. Kelly questioned him again, Jay backing him up, there was no way this was happening right now it had to be a joke, a very cruel joke,

“Buddy, listen these two, they gotta hurry up and get it done. They have some serious commitment issues…” “Damn right…” you muttered under your breath, taking Stella’s hand in yours giving her a squeeze. Hearing how the man declined the money Hermman had offered in exchange for the wedding venue -didn’t think it was going to work, I mean at least he tried- you thought.

“So how about free security for 6 months? I can arrange something” Jay tried seeing the desperation in Stella’s and Kelly’s face, just to be turned down like Hermman.

“Mono, you told us they would have this place, you have to fix this. It’s the least you can do…” you exclaimed, while leaving Stella’s side and stepping forward, Jay grabbing your waist. “Baby calm down” he whispered in your ear, while you shook your head giving the man a desperate look.

“I made no mistakes” “Huh? The hell you did! -Hey! -Hey, you come back here and fix this” you tried to get his attention while he just walked away, leaving everyone in shock. Turning around you saw your sister expression,

“This is a disaster…” “Hey no no, it’s fine. We’ll fix it, we’ll find something” you said while hurrying to your little sisters side.

Everyone was trying to find some alternative to fix the situation at hand. Jay was calling Hank to see if some of his contacts could make this wedding happen. Hermman was pretty much almost planning a wedding on Molly’s, again.

“Nothing?” you asked Jay as he hung up his phone, lips tight in a line he shook his head, which made you rest your forehead against the car window since you both had taken the task of looking, and personally visiting every possible place in the city to have this wedding -so far it was all going to shit-.

“I really thought today was going to work. They deserve this- and that asshole…” “Shh hey… babe c’mon” “What, he is…” you whispered.

“Okay, he is”, feeling Jay’s hand grab yours and give it a kiss, just then Jay’s truck made a weird noise making the two of you furrow your eyebrows and look at each other in confusion…a fucking flat tire -couldn’t this day get any worse- yep it could.

“You have to be kidding me. God! Why?” -we’re screwed- you thought as the both of you looked for the spare tire just to remember Jay was having it fixed. That’s it…it can’t possibly get worse than this, or so you thought. Just then your phone rang and Silvie’s face popped up on the screen,

“Hey where are you guys. Casey found a tourist boat to have the wedding, the captain is going to marry them…” “shit, shit, shit” you said while opening the truck door, taking your bag and proceeding to take your heels off,

“Okay, okay we’ll be right there…” “Alright, I’ll wait for you guys at the entrance of Crystal’s Garden” “okay bye!” you exclaimed, then looking at Jay with wide eyes.

“Baby! We gotta run. They’re going to have the wedding in tourist boat” “A tourist boat?” “YES, a fucking tourist boat, and- We. Will. Not. Miss. It. You hear me?” Jay looked at you with wide eyes, nodding his head frantically -you were a sweetheart, but when you got pissed- well…

“Alright come on” Jay said while reaching his left hand for the heels in yours and grabbing your hand with his right one pulling you to run.

If someone looked at the both of you right now, they wouldn’t think much of it, maybe nothing was happening -oh but it was-. And by some miracle Jay had left his truck without hesitation -he loves that truck more than his life- which made you understand he knew how serious this was to you.

It wasn’t a secret to your friends that there has always been Stella and you against all odds. No matter what, you always had each other, and you weren’t about to miss her big day. Fuck the hot pavement and the dirty sidewalk, you were going to make it.

Almost arriving, you noticed Silvie standing waiting on you and Jay at the same spot you had last been before the whole venue catastrophe started. Noticing her, both of you ran in her direction,

“Why are you guys running?” “Our tire popped, didn’t have the other in the compartment” Jay explained -like he didn’t just run a freaking marathon- to Silvie who looked surprise and impressed.

“Fuck- I’m not the athletic sibling for a reason. I-I’m pretty sure I will die once this day is over” you panted clutching on to Jay’s arm while he rubbed your back chuckling, with Silvie’s amused look.

You had cried like a baby, you both made it in time for the whole ceremony, and you watch your sister exchange vows with her husband with happy tears in your eyes.

Now resting your back on you fiancé’s chest, your head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped securely around your waist. While he kissed the side of your head swinging slightly from side to side and quietly signing in your ear -which made you smile and giggle from time to time- watching everyone dance,

“hi…can I steal her for a moment Detective Halstead” Stella approached you both with a big smile as Kelly stood next to Jay, he nodded his head laughing at the way Stella dragged you to the dance floor,

“Hey Ella…” “Hi, Y/N/N” you whispered to each other smiling, reaching for a hug while swinging slowly to the music,

“T-thank you, for raising me…” “Shh, don’t… I would do it again in a heartbeat. I’m so proud of the woman you are Stella- Hey, I’m proud” you said pulling away and saying the last part looking into her eyes,

“…And…they’re crying” Kelly said making Jay laugh, while the two of them looked at their girls from the distance -you were the sentimental sibling, and Stella, well she cried if you cried-,

When you were about to pull away in order to walk back to Jay, you felt a hand pull you back,

“You really thought we were finish. Nah gurl!” in that moment you guys favorite song “Stand By You” started to play, making you pout. Stella grabbed your hand while the two of you smiled at each other, spinning around with open arms, pointing at one another and singing together.

“I’m gonna stand by you, even if we can’t find heaven…” she sang while you laughed. “…I’ll walk trough hell with you. Love, you’re not alone…” “Cause I’m gonna stand by you” you both singing the last part together, hugging one another tightly.

“Yup pretty sure they’re crying again” this time Jay said, “Without a doubt” Kelly followed while they both laughed at your expenses,

The night was coming to an end, it had been tough, but Firehouse 51 made everything possible -she had a village in her corner- and that was a fact.

“It worked out…” “We should elope” you said which made Jay’s head whip towards you eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Really?” “If this chaotic day showed me anything, is that it doesn’t matter the place it’s just the two of us. There’s no one else we need to make. Us. Work” he caressed your cheek giving you that handsome smile.

“What about Stella?” “She wouldn’t care, she doesn’t need me anymore…” you said looking at Stella in Kelly’s arms while they both laughed at Cruz dancing -before you continued- “…I’ve been putting us on hold for some time now. And I’m ready to marry you!” he chuckled kissing your forehead and resting his forehead with yours.

“I would marry you, in a sidewalk! As long as a get to spend the rest of my life with you Y/N” which made you stand on the tip of your toes cupping his face and kissing him deeply.

“Wait- sidewalk! Your truck!” you exclaimed, to what Jay whined throwing his head backwards, while you busted laughing.

It had been a truly weird and exhausting day. But as you looked at your baby sister in her husband’s arms while they danced, you knew she would be alright. And you couldn’t be prouder of the woman she grew up to be and the things she would do from this day forward.

#jay halstead x y/n #chicago pd imagines #jay halstead #jay halstead fluff #jay halstead x reader #jay halstead x you #fan fiction #one chicago fic #jay halstead angst

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headstrongblake · 6 months

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" i love you. always have, and always will. i… i need you to remember that for me. please. " / grant & o / @thewholecrew

chaotic energy pulsates through octavia as she buzzes around her dorm room, pulling clothes out of her dresser and closet, just tossing together items at this point. no real thought is given to what she grabs because nothing is okay. nothing is normal. she just wants to return to nicklas. only needs enough to be at his side once he's released back home. god, everything's a mess. a complete fucking disaster but...nick is alive. grant is alive & in the end, that's all that really mattered to her. not the smell of nick's burnt flesh that was trapped in her nose, or the sound garrett's accomplice made as he struggled for air after she'd shot him, preventing him from killing grant. none of it matters because they're okay. they're here. she didn't lose either of them.

as a tear rolls down her cheek, octavia harshly wipes it away at the sound of someone at her door. fear burns through her in an instant, throat squeezing tightly because garrett is still out there. but the hesitation must register for grant because next comes a quiet, octavia, it's me from the other side.

octavia released a shaky breath, a quiet relieved whimper escaping past her lips before she went to let grant inside. "hey...you see him? the doctors said they were going to take a look at his hands tomorrow, so, i figured i'd come to grab some things, y'know, then i don't have to leave him for a while. i want to get him settled back at home, where he'll be comfortable, he hates hospitals." all the while as octavia rambled on she moved away from grant, finalizing what she was bringing and what she'd need for school so that she could get away with missing classes to be with nick. "i'm almost ready, are you coming back to the hospital with me?" octavia asked over her shoulder as she went to her bed, grabbing her jacket and bag.

"i love you." brows furrowed as octavia straightened, turning back to grant. soft eyes tried to meet his gaze, but she understood why he couldn't. ever since kassy's call came in their entire world had flipped. grant's hit the hardest because it's his demon that came back around, haunting and torturing grant in ways that went beyond the brutal physicality of nicklas'. lips part to tell him she knows, to express how much she loves him too. that she's proud of him. that they got nick back. they won. but as he does look her way, as the agony and guilt lie in his features octavia felt shaken to the core. "always have, and always will. i...i need you to remember that for me." slowly, her head shook. that glint in his eye. the shake in his voice. no, she's seen this before. "please."

"grant...you're scaring me." she spoke quietly, bag and jacket forgotten on her bed as octavia went to him. "hey..." her hand reached for his, "talk to me, what's going on?" why does it sound like he's preparing to leave. again.

#thewholecrew #pv. all american #( college first year )#........... i did the thing

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olympied · 18 days

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AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE TROUBLE MAKER GIVES INTO HIS OWN MADNESS ?

the others might have had their offers all planned out, but not lucifer. he couldn't give anything from the camp because he didn't have anything. he thought about killing a lamb and then spreading the blood on his door, but surely greyson and davon would have some words with him. he thought long and hard about eris. what she could've possibly wanted and what she would've enjoyed seeing.

that's when he decided to go to a small trip on his way home and pay a visit to his family again. he wore all black, contrary to the light bringer title that someone adorned him with, and tracked down someone from his past. his father, for all intent and purposes. the man had no blood relation to him at all, but the sentiment was still there. the man that turned his back on his wife, the love of his life, because she went out to get what he couldn't give her. lucifer's birth was the start of their downfall. it was the golden apple that was given in that wedding. he was what broke the camel's back and he was there to finish the job.

while trying to blend in with the crowd, he made sure to stay as far away as his mother told him. five people behind when walking and if they were on the road, at least one car behind him at all times. luckily, in a city like manhattan, they didn't need to get into any cars. his sacrifice started simple. first it was in a cafe. the man was having lunch with someone that wasn't his wife and seemed to be enjoying himself. with a wave of chaos magic being jolted his way, the coca cola on the table exploded as he leaned in to take a sip and blasted all over his face. ahh yes, the sweet revenge finally had started.

lucifer did something similar throughout the whole day while he followed his alleged father around. he made everything around him extremely chaotic and cause him to trip on his own shoelaces or the ground beneath him to shake a little bit. apparently there was an earthquake that was felt on the east coast, 4.8 with an epicenter in new jersey. he gathered all of that wild energy to promote good luck to himself. precisely 3 minutes after the ground shook,

like the thorn in the man's side, he was always there to make sure that chaotic and random things happened here and there. he was going to annoy him until he couldn't anymore.

another chaotic surge sparked from his hands and he honestly didn't know what was going to happen (84 on the chaotic surge table). when he was following the man up a flight of stairs, his magic manifested into necrotic damage and harmed him for 7 points total. how telling for what was to come next.

lucifer's madness was always quiet until he was around people that could really bring it out in him. his head was going crazy the whole day and he was starting to see red, but everyone he passed just saw a handsome man walking down the street with a smile on his face. his thoughts were twisting and turning and he never knew what was going to come next. up until that necrotic damage. he knew exactly what he should do. not only to appease eris, but to also appease someone else.

the light bringer went out into the roof with the other and took out his dagger. "hi daddy." his voice was soft, betraying the rage and madness that he felt with him. "did ya miss me?" his brows perked up as he approached the man, finally showing his face in the light when he took his hood off. he didn't give him time to answer either. he ran the knife into heart. he twisted it and then stabbed him twelve more times. technically he didn't count, it was just the random number he had landed on.

finally, with his father's lifeless body pooling in blood, he was able to make his offer to eris. "eris, i send this soul to you as a personification of the strife you cause in people's lives. my birth was their destruction, his hell, and i made him feel insane throughout the day just to get him ready for you. i hope that you enjoy a new victim to play with." he got up on the body and punched him a couple of times too. that was just for him. even if he bruised his knuckles in the process, he wanted to finally feel what that was like.

"i'm sure you have access to the underworld. enjoy the soul." watching someone take their last breath, their heart stop beating, felt very similar to someone special in his life. eris was jealous by all accounts he had read, but in that moment a certain child of death crossed his mind too. obviously he wasn't sending him an offer when he could just knock on his cabin door, but their connection was always with him.

lucifer thought about the other for a second and his mind became a little bit more clear. like an invisible string connecting him to camp, he realized that his mother was a door into his madness, but the person he cared about was his safety net. that twisted the light bringer inside, but it was what was able to get him back up on his feet and start heading back to camp.

along the way there he realized something. eris was his connection to camp. she was his source of strength, his mother, the reason why he was here. his dark prince on the other hand was the reason he kept coming back. he was another form of strength, coming in the sense of sanity. he was able to fully give into his powers, go as far as to kill someone. eris was a well of madness that he could dip his hands into and the other was his home, what brought him back and made sure he never went too far.

his father's lifeless body was a gift for eris, but the clarity he gained after was a gift for himself.

#godlingprompt004 #murder tw #✧ 𓂅 luci 𓄴 extras.

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the-travelling-witch · 11 months

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I HEARD SOMEONE NEEDED A SEROTONIN BOOST SO HERE I AM >:) just a few little things that have happened in my life recently that make me smile

yesterday I was up late at night doing some work before I heard something scratching my door. I thought I was hallucinating sounds, I mean it was 4am after all.

but the sounds continued and I was getting low key scared, because every one else was asleep and some others had gone out. I opened my door and lo behold, standing mightily, and slightly annoyed, my cat.

I was kinda relieved, then my cat walked past me and got on my bed and started to sniff around everything and explore my bed as if she had never been on it before. Like come on man, you were pouncing on it a few days ago. But anyways,

She starts to do that thing dogs usually do before curling up and walks around a spot a few times before finding the perfect position to sleep in. She dozed off on one of my plush toys (she’s not really fond of them).

She looked so cute cuddled up, I didn’t have the nerve to wake her up from her sleep.

So that’s how I slept at the ass crack of dawn, because my cat simply looked too cute to move from my bed.

on a more chaotic note, the other day my friend came over at my place and we tried out the character ai thing that’s been blowing up. I had the fantastic idea to chat with AI henry cavill, because hey, have you seen that man?

Well I kinda feel bad now. I manipulated him to the point where he now believes he’s a psych ward patient with severe schizophrenia.

this was after he killed me three times, went through labour, joined my superhero squad and admitted to cheating on me. it was wild, to say the least.

i recently made a new friend, they’re super duper nice. You know those friendships that are like it feels as though you’ve known each other for ages even though you met a few days ago? yeah well this was a perfect example of that.

It turns out we had a lot of things in common, and share lots of interest, so it’s gotten really easy to bond over stuff together. They just messaged me recently about restarting haikyuu, and rambling about their nostalgia, it was an interesting chat, to say the least.

anyways enough about my life, how’s your life been going? any soft or little moments happen recently?

(Also I know I’m practically interacting with you after a hell of a long time, sorry about that! I’ve kinda left tumblr to focus on study’s (#depressing), but I hope I get more chances to chat with you as I plan to become more active soon!)

ASHY THIS IS SO SWEET!! <3

cats are so cute and random in their own way, you never know what they might do next /pos; closed doors just seem to be their natural nemesis, like they gotta know what’s happening on the other side!! and yes, it’s a law of nature that a sleeping kitty may never be moved!!

i’ve not tried the ais myself but from what i got they can get super chaotic, in both positive and negative ways; i think your experience was just crazy in a whole other direction though hshshs

i’m super happy for you that you made a friend like that!! whenever you meet someone you just click with, it’s just so special and those connections are very precious!! one friend from college is like that for me, our sense of humour and energy just match and it’s good vibes all around <3

don’t worry about not interacting much lately, it’s a two way street so i’ve not been reaching out either ㅠㅠ let’s talk more in the future though!!

it’s just very stressful, mostly because of college and i’m trying not to get into my head about everything, from work to comparing myself to others (especially here on tumblr, other writers are just amazing and i easily feel lesser than)

on a more positive note, i ordered a couple of puzzles to get back into that and i’m very excited for them to arrive (one of them is a botw puzzle and aaahhh i’m impatiently waiting for the post woman); on the day i felt so down, i went out to eat bc i couldn’t use my kitchen and walking around the city just made me appreciate things a lot more, it was very peaceful and beautiful <3

also yae and kirara came home so yay!! no agony over genshin gacha hshsh

#┊✩彡 divine correspondence ♡#┊✩彡 cherished guests ♡#┊✩彡 letter from — ashy ♡#i want to put out content so badly!!#aaahhh!!

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iamvegorott · 2 years

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Accepting Feelings Chapter 3 of 3

Love

The front door of the house flew open, filling the once silent home with cheers, laughs, and happy feet rushing in.

Blank came into the house first, walking backward with a little bounce to his step as he listened to the adults tell their story.

“And then Mad just-” Mare popped his lips as he swung an invisible bat. “-sent them flying!” He finished with a loud laugh.

“Didn’t know you had that in you.” Phantom teased with a bump of his hip against Mad’s.

“I have proven my strength many times.” Mad blew a little raspberry towards Phantom, laughing as well.

“And yet, you don’t look like it.” Phantom quickly slipped away before Mad could react.

“You little shit.” Mad chuckled before looking at Blank. “Don’t repeat that.”

“Little shit!” Blank hollered, throwing his arms up.

“Blank, no!” Mare covered Blank’s mouth with his hand, unable to stop his laughter as he felt Blank giggle.

“You’re going to have to learn to embrace that he will have a potty mouth like the rest of us.” Phantom chuckled, taking his phone out and reading a text.

“I can try my best to not let that happen,” Mare said, letting Blank go.

“Denial can only last so long.” Mad smirked, wiggling his eyebrows when Mare lightly glared at him with a slight smile.

“I’m gonna head out.” Phantom stated as he typed on his phone, pocketing it when he was done.

“Oh? Are you going on a date?” Mare did a little shimmy.

“Shut up.” Phantom huffed.

“It is a date!” Mare only just got the sentence out before Phantom grabbed him, playfully holding his head.

“I save you!” Blank squealed and went down, wrapping himself around Phantom’s leg.

Mad watched the three fumble around for a few moments before shrugging and pouncing; jumping up on Phantom’s back. Phantom let out a little yelp as he was thrown off balance and fell back on the couch, landing on top of Mad.

“I’m being crushed!” Mad joked, flailing his arms and legs.

“Good!” Phantom started squirming. “I hope it hurts!” Mad couldn’t stop laughing and placed his hands on Phantom’s head, messing up his hair. “Hey! That’s-ah!” Phantom’s shout of annoyance became a squeal when Mare started scratching at his side, tickling him. “Cheap-Cheap move!” Phantom laughed out, kicking his leg and having Blank giggling as he was moved, still holding on.

“You left yourself open.” Mare sang.

Mad tried to catch Phantom’s hands so he couldn’t slap Mare away, thriving off of the joy coming from the others and living for the chaotic energy. His eyes showing a now familiar light yellow as they played.

He had to lift his head some more when he felt it touch the framed photo on the end table. The picture being of him with Mare, Phantom, and Blank. All four of them posed in silly positions; Phantom holding up bunny ears to Mare, Blank sticking his tongue out, Mare scrunching his nose and had a laughing Mad in his arms and in the air.

They all paused when a phone started to ring. The song that played told them that Dark was the one calling. Mare got off of Phantom, pulling out his phone and seeing that it wasn't him being called. His phone wasn’t even on. Phantom sat up enough to get his phone out and answered it, still making it so Mad couldn’t get up himself.

“Hello?” Phantom kept his voice even despite his grin as Mad started pushing, rocking him with each nudge. “Really? That’s fucking gross” He groaned, getting Mad to stop moving him and wait to see what he was talking about. “Yeah, yeah, give us a lil bit” Phantom hung up the phone and groaned again, throwing his head back to make it more dramatic.

“What’s going on?” Mare asked.

“People are idiots and we still have work to do.” Phantom finally got up, waiting until Blank let him go before stepping over to Mare. He handed him his phone while fixing his hair. “Apparently your phone is dead because Dark said, and I quote, ‘I would have called the more mature one’.” He said with a scoff.

“I’m hungry,” Blank commented, crawling up so he was on the couch with Mad.

“We can stop at a taco place before going to the Iplier Manor,” Mare suggested. “I’m sure Dark will love having to wait.” He added with a grin to Phantom.

“Oh, what a shame.” Phantom laughed. “Let’s get some tacos!” He grabbed Blank and threw him over his shoulder. Blank squealed happily and started chanting ‘tacos’ as he was carried out of the house, leaving Mad and Mare alone.

“Tacos sound good to you?” Mare asked with a smile as Mad stood, fixing his own hair and clothing.

Mad was about to answer but he got caught up in the emotions that were coming from Mare. He felt happiness, something he’s found a comfort with as time’s gone by, and attraction. Mad’s noticed how that attraction has changed since the first time they met all those months ago.

He felt it grow and become warmer and Mad had assumed that was because they had grown closer, he could now pick Mare out of a crowd with ease. So many dates and long nights of them just being together had the attraction grow and affection growing alongside it. Affection and attraction tended to be together when Mare was around him but right now, something about that combo was different…stronger, and no longer those separate emotions. There was a single emotion shining through and Mad realized that it’s been there for a bit but was now strong enough for him to notice it properly. He knew what it was.

“Mad? Are you okay?” Mare asked when Mad kind of just stopped and was staring at him.

“I love you, too.” Mad blurted out. There was a pause as Mare took a second to register and process what was just said to him. He let out a chuckle when it clicked that Mad said ‘too’. “Sorry, I…uh…” Mad stammered, worried that he was wrong or maybe said it too soon or something. Mare smiled, stepped over, and pulled him into a kiss.

“You are always one step ahead of me,” Mare said softly, lips brushing against Mad’s. Mad found himself giggling before moving in for another kiss, wrapping his arms around Mare’s neck.

They’ve kissed many times before, and they’ve been intimate plenty of times as well but this kiss felt like the best thing ever. It was so soft and tender and warm and Mad felt like he could kiss Mare like this forever.

“Are you two coming?” Phantom popped back into the house and let out a yell, hands going over Blank’s eyes. “Don’t look! They’re being gross!” He pulled Blank away, still yelling as Blank squealed.

Mad and Mare both watched what happened. They then both broke out into laughter when Phantom was gone and took a second to catch their breaths. Mare pressed a kiss to Mad’s temple when they did.

“I love you,” Mare said with a smile. “Wanted to make sure you actually heard me say it and not just feel it.” Mad giggled and yanked Mare into one more kiss as Phantom started yelling about them hurrying up so they could leave, being ignored for a bit longer.

----------

First Chapter: Link

Ao3: Link

#madmare

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tramaqueen · 2 years

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@vixlent-delights || continued from 💋

“Good, you drunk yet?” She giggles tipsily before letting her mouth open with his finger, sucking as he went to pull it out to meet her lips again. It’s almost funny how things escalated from Eli helping her find books on the occult. All it took was a lingering stare that wasn’t broken until they lured each other into temptation. The nights spent together were long, digging up ancient blood rituals for her to worship Lucifer in hopes of being granted pleasantries in this life and the next. He poured enough energy into her insanity to strike the curiosity to if there were other extents he’d be willing to go for her. Whatever kept him leaving his arms open to her after then saved him from being a sacrifice in her eyes. A lot of the partners that missed their mark were just that, a sacrifice, murdered before they ever had a chance to make up for the disappointment.

Tonight started with tangling him into an already chaotic night of auto theft, booger sugar, and a whole bottle of brown liquor. Passing through town she stopped by the coffee shop right as the last customer walked through the locked doors. Silent with her approach she stepped behind him slipping the barrel of a gun underneath his shirt to pose a threat to his kidneys. “Take me to the safe, I want you to give me everything you’ve got.” Her other hand worms around his waist to grope him in case the ring of her voice wasn’t enough to recognize who came to raise a ruckus. When he turned in defense she instantly surrenders to his strength but managed to keep the weapon pointed at him. Giving Elijah the same stare that started it all, he gave a look back confirming without words he understood. “Come with me. My new Caddi is real roomy. We can watch the day die out together.” She licks her lips before the eye fucking gets a smile to reach from cheek to cheek. “Come. With. Me.”

Faora wouldn’t admit that the setup on this cliff side was romantic, or how happy she was that he actually came out, but her appreciation could be felt through the way she kisses him like it would be the last time she could. The pressure from being laid against the hood tempts her into using the slipperiness to her advantage. Legs hooked around his lower back she gyrates her hips with his. Her slender fingers trail up his spine to submerge her hand in his curls. Pulling from the kiss blue hues soak him in for a moment, dilated pupils made him godlike against the moonlight. “Did I scare you earlier?..” She grins bringing her lips to taste his again. “Ever been threatened at gunpoint before?” Cocking the gun she slowly tickles the barrel along his jawline, dragging it down his lower lip.

#vixlent-delights #feel free to ignore #it is kinda old #but i cant help but take forever to make #my replies acceptable in my eyes lmao

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fanficshiddles · 3 years

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Bargaining, One Shot (Slight spoilers for Ep5!)

Summary: You get pruned and think you’ve died, but when you wake up you find President Loki staring down at you. You beg him to help you. So he makes a bargain with you. In return for safety, he wants your body.

Warnings: Dub-con

Your eyes fluttered open, expecting to see some kind of bright light or angels, perhaps. Or maybe you’d gone to the depths of hell, so would see demons and fire everywhere. But you were surprised, and confused, when you opened them to see dark clouds above and a man with black hair and a weird horned crown popped into view, looming over you, with some others surrounding him.

‘Oh dear, is she dead?’ President Loki asked.

One of the others he was with nudged your shoulder with his foot. Making you groan as you blinked hard to focus.

‘Apparently not.’ Loki chuckled.

You rolled round and got up onto your hands and knees, looking up at the men surrounding you. There was then an almighty roar from not too far away. You looked over and saw the most terrifying monster in the clouds.

‘You’re not a Loki, are you?’ Loki asked you.

‘A what? Loki? What do you mean?’ You frowned.

Loki sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Clearly not. Waste of our time.’

‘Do we kill her, sire?’ One of the men asked, making your eyes widen.

‘No, Alioth will get her soon enough.’ Loki sneered and turned around to leave with the others.

You quickly put two and two together that Alioth was the name of the terrifying cloud monster that was getting closer and closer.

‘WAIT!’ You scrambled towards Loki. ‘Please… Please, don’t leave me here.’ You begged.

He turned back to face you, raising an eyebrow. ‘Why should I help you? You’re not one of us, no one but Loki’s survive here.’

‘Please… I’ll do whatever you want, anything, just please don’t leave me here. I beg you.’ You cried and was literally begging at his feet. You looked up at him through teary eyes. ‘I’m scared, please.’

Loki tilted his head as he stared down at you. Then he tapped his lower lip in thought for a moment, before a wicked smirk spread across his lips. You noticed he was then actually looking at you rather thoroughly for the first time.

‘I suppose, having a woman around could be rather useful.’ He hummed. ‘It has been so long since I’ve felt the soft lips of another…’ He reached down and brushed his thumb against your lower lip, making your lip quiver at his meaning.

Though the thought of doing sexual favours in return for safety didn’t exactly sound like a bad idea in this situation. Besides, he was rather good looking. And considering you’d thought you had died, the chance at survival was too great to pass up.

‘Please.’ You whispered again, pleading him with your eyes.

You knew he was dangerous, it was obvious. The fact that he and the others with him were even alive in this place. Even at first glance you knew it wasn’t a safe place to be.

He stood up straight and slid his hands into his pockets again. Then he nodded once. ‘Come with me.’

You scrambled up to your feet and followed as he started heading off quickly, it was hard keeping up with his large strides, but you managed. The others were staring at you weirdly, not sure whether to trust you or not. Since they didn’t trust anyone, really.

The monster was getting closer, making you shake more and more in fear. But Loki was completely calm as he led the way. Then eventually, after what felt like hours but was actually just a few minutes, you came to a large circular hatch in the ground.

Some of the others opened it up and started climbing down. Loki looked at you and motioned to the ladder. But you were frozen, the thought of going down there and being trapped god knows where…

‘Suit yourself. You can come down and take your chance with me, or you can stay out here all alone with the monster. But no one apart from Loki’s ever survive here alone.’ He said darkly, smirking a little.

He went towards the ladder, but you quickly moved forward after hearing another roar from the monster. ‘I’ll come down.’ You blurted out quickly.

Loki grinned and motioned for you to go first as he took a small step back. You hesitantly began to climb down the ladder and Loki followed. When you reached the bottom, you turned around and were faced with even more people that you assumed were other Loki’s. They all had various weapons aimed at you, making your eyes widen.

‘Hey, hey, hey! Back off, she’s no threat. She’s mine.’ Loki growled at them all roughly when he got down the ladder behind you.

They instantly backed down, obeying their King.

Loki gripped your upper arm firmly and led you through the other Loki’s, he started spouting some green energy from his hand when one of them tried to get over to you. You gulped hard, just what exactly had you gotten yourself into?

He took you through to what you assumed was his private bedroom. It was just as weird and dark as the other room. But this one at least had a bed.

Using some magic, Loki locked the door without a key.

‘Well now.’ He said as he shrugged off his black jacket, leaving the rest of his clothes on. But he started rolling his sleeves up his forearms. You weren’t sure why, but you felt the green waistcoat and tie really suited him, like it was his colour.

‘Are you going to hold up your end of the bargain?’ He growled low, licking his lips.

You felt your own mouth go dry as you looked down and saw a bulge in his trousers. Not knowing for sure what he might be capable of, and holding up your end of the bargain, you walked over to him and sank down to your knees.

A smirk tugged on his lips as he gazed down at you. You were so nervous as you reached up and slowly started palming at him through his trousers. God, he felt so big. You were kind of scared to see for sure.

‘Come on, pet. Don’t keep me waiting, it’s not too late for me to chuck you back outside to the monster.’ He said in warning as he narrowed his eyes at you.

With a gulp, you began to free his cock. And when you did, it didn’t ease your nerves at all. You felt his piercing gaze upon you as you tentatively started stroking him, slowly becoming bolder and bolder as you got used to his rather intimidating size.

‘Don’t be scared. This beast doesn’t bite much, unlike the one outside.’ He chuckled.

You licked your lips and then looking up at him, you leaned forward and took him into your mouth. His eyes fluttered and his mouth parted in a throaty groan when he felt your warm mouth engulf him.

‘That’s it, good girl.’ He growled and reached down to slide his long fingers through your hair.

You felt a delightful shiver run down your spine at his praise for some reason. You hollowed your cheeks and tried to suck him down as far as you could, pleasing him that you were trying. But what you couldn’t take down your throat you made up for with your tongue work.

His hand in your hair suddenly tightened, and to your shock he started fucking your mouth roughly. Giving you no option but to take him down your throat, making you choke on him. You put your hands on his lean thighs for support and was pleasantly surprised with how muscular they felt beneath the fabric. But you didn’t get long to think on it as your throat started to hurt.

‘Your mouth is simply wonderful. Oh, yes. I think this was a very good bargain indeed.’ He snarled.

When he was close to cumming, he eased up and just rested on your tongue. You didn’t want to disappoint him, to have him toss you out. So you moaned around him, causing vibrations to dance all over his cock. And you moved your tongue along the underside of him, doing everything just right. So when he came, he came hard, shooting down your throat. You did your best to swallow all of his cum, some dribbled down your chin but that only made him lust after you even more.

After his loud moaning and grunting, he took a few deep breaths to compose himself. But his eyes were still full of dark lust as he pulled out of your mouth.

‘Get on your hands and knees.’ He demanded gruffly, his cock bobbing, still aroused.

You were slightly startled when he waved his hand and suddenly you were completely naked. But you didn’t get time to dwell on it, because he moved behind you as you did as you were told and got into position, you gasped when you felt his fingers sliding against your cunt. ‘Ohhh, pet.’ He cooed and rubbed over your clit, making your body jump. ‘It seems this bargain is not only satisfying for me, but it seems it is for you too.’

You hung your head down in shame at how wet you were just from sucking him off. But Loki’s firm grip in your hair suddenly tugged your head right back, making you gasp.

‘No, no. Do not hang your head in shame. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying sucking your King off.’ He growled seductively into your ear, then licked up the side of your neck, making you whimper.

He let go of your hair and instead wrapped his hand around the front of your neck as he lined up with your sopping wet cunt. In one smooth thrust, he was inside of you, filling you up completely. His hand around your neck controlled your breathing, only letting you do so when he deemed fit.

You had never been so aroused in your life. It was evident with the obscene noises coming from between you both as Loki pounded into you.

Your own orgasm hit you like a train crash, you’d never felt anything so animalistic and purely chaotic in your life. It felt so rushed and needy, but it was the most mind-blowing orgasm you’d ever had. Not long ago you thought you had died, and now you felt like you were dying all over again but this time in over pleasure. With Loki laughing wickedly over you from behind as he spilled into you from his own orgasm.

He collapsed on top of you, knocking you down to the cold hard ground on your stomach. But you didn’t care much, feeling his heavy weight on top of you didn’t bother you either.

‘Mmm… This is a good deal indeed.’ He murmured as he nuzzled his nose into your hair. ‘I give you my word, that I will keep you alive and safe, pet. If you keep your body available to me, always. Can you do that?’

Your mind was so fuzzy, you could barely even think straight. But you nodded and managed to squeak out your answer. ‘Yes… My King.’

#Loki #Tom Hiddleston #bargaining #one shot #fan fiction #president Loki #Loki x reader #Loki x you #president Loki x you #president Loki x reader #Loki fics #Loki fic

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glilboy · 3 years

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Ateez reactions to finding you reading smut about them: Hyung line

ive had this idea for awhile and even requested it a few times from other writers but..i felt it was time to write it lol

tws under the cut

warning, this piece of fiction contains mentions of somnophilia, slight dom and sub dynamics, and general explicit topics.

Hongjoong:

You had attempted to stay up waiting for Hongjoong, deciding to reread one of your favorite stories in the mean time. Unfortunately that wasnt enough to keep you awake, you ultimately passing out and your phone tumbling onto the floor.

Hongjoong had a feeling you'd passed out since you didnt message him any "i miss you :(" texts after 11pm so seeing you knocked out on the couch was no surprise. He slowly padded over to you smiling softly, then noticing your phone on the floor and went to pick it up for you. He was never the kind to go through your phone but your smart self had no shut down timer which left the fan fiction on display for him.

He couldnt help but be curious seeing paragraphs of text and decided a little reading would do no harm. As he began to read though he felt his gut sweep, in a good way. He was honestly a little upset until he saw his name but when he read his name it was like all of exhaustion disappeared. Luckily he didn't have work the next day he thought to himself.

Sitting down on the couch with a plan he slowly nudged you awake. "Hi dear," he spoked softly with a smirk.

You rubbed at your bleary eyes and looked up at him, "Oh hi Joongie. Sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep." He smiled even bigger at you.

"Thats fine, it helped me find out something fun," he tucked your hair behind your ear. Still waking up you made a small "huh?" before seeing the phone in his hand.

"Oh..." you mumbled, starting to be awake enough to get it. You finally looked at him straight on and saw his signature devilish grin.

He moved his hand to slowly move up your thigh, giving it a small squeeze which elicted a sigh out of you. "Didn't think you'd read stuff like that Y/N, but I guess you're just full of surprises huh doll," the pet name made you shiver, Hongjoong never having used that one before.

"I'm sorry Joongie," you mumbled into your arm, face now red. His hand moving up to cup your core and grind his hand into it making you whimper softly.

"Oh dont be sorry dolly, just shows me that you really miss me."

Seonghwa:

Saying Seonghwa was caring was an understatement in a way. Despite his busy schedule he made it a point to showed he cared in different ways. One thing he always did was if you left your phone out at all he would put it on the charger for you. Small things!

Today though he had come home earlier than usual while you were taking a quick shower. Seeing your phone on the counter he waltzed over setting his stuff down to throw it on the charger even if it wasn't that low. He noticed you left it on, open to a book he assumed enough.Him being the lovely man he is he wanted to read a bit to see what you liked and possibly buy you a physical copy. Written porn with his name in it though was not what he was expecting.

Seonghwa gulped, setting down your phone with his hands shaking and his face now flushed pink. He took a deep breath and set down his bag, running his fingers through his hair now being surprisingly worked up. A part of him felt embarrassed for being turned on by the writing but at the same time he knew you didn't read it for no reason.

"Hwa! You're home early hello!" You ran up to him giggling, now clean and dressed in some sweats.

"Hey babe, yeah we got let out early cause we learned the new choreography fast enough. They asked us if we wanted to do more vocal practice but none of us did," He laughed, trying to shift his legs to hide his slight erection.

"None of you stay late ever," you giggled sarcastically up at him. "Well, I was gonna take a nap. Do you want to? I'm sure you're tired."

He nodded softly and took your hand walking to your guys bedroom talking about your day. He changed himself into more comfortable clothing then joined you in bed, you curling into him quickly. Once you settled Seonghwa felt he could actually breathe, feeling like a middle schooler just for getting more worked up from having you close. He heard your breath settle which is when he shifted away a bit from you.

"Fuck..." He mumbled, having the space now laying on his back to palm himself over his erection. Looking over at your sleeping face made it worse, the piece you had opened having involved somnophilia. One thing he never had the guts to suggest to you despite having such an open relationship.

He didn't notice your eyes flutter open at the movement. You only just fell asleep so you were in no means in too deep. You decided to play it though, closing your eyes and throwing a leg over his waist as if you were just adjusting in your sleep.

He inhaled a sharp breath and bit his lip now mildly frustrated at the whole situation. Mumbling a fake sleepy "Hwa" you moved to straddle the man hearing a childish sigh escape his lips.

"If you keep moving, I swear to god," He mumbled out loud thinking youre still asleep since you had always been a chaotic sleeper.

"And what will you do about it horny kid," you giggled against his neck. You could feel his body tense.

"Go back to sleep and I'll fuck you like your sick little fantasy, how about that hm?"

yunho:

Rain was beating against the window as you cuddled up on the couch with your phone in hand. Yunho was on the other side of his personal office playing video games. It was a chill day but something in the air was setting you slightly off the edge.

Besides the sweet glances and cheesy smiles thrown at each other, your screen was very much the opposite of innocent pure love. Getting indulged in the story you started to zone in, missing some of his looks making Yunho curious as to what your interest was delved into currently.

"Be right back guys," he said into the mic mischievously. Quickly making his way over he slipped the phone out of your hand, this behavior wouldve typically been fine but because of the contents on your screen you gasped and reached out for your phone. "You doing something naughty or do you just like acting suspicious?" he grinned before looking at your phone.

His face feel reading the paragraph of a particularly nsfw scene. You were now sitting up staring at him wide eyed, "yuyu please oh god its not what you think, i think." Silence filled the room, the only noises being the sound of his running pc and the dull chatter of the other boys.

"Do you read this often?" he said out of hesitation and pure curiosity, almost feeling that he violated your private space. He kind of got the gist of it all right away, thankfully for your sake.

"Not all the time but i mean, you are busy yunho," you tried to softly explain knowing this was odd territory.

"Do you...ever want to try it," he says, getting to the end of the page and looking at you.

"I can't say that..none of them aren't, nice," the air was filled with an awkward energy that could suffocate another person if they came in at such a weird time.

The two of you stood there for a second, until he moved towards you and took your hand. He placed it on his bulge and you sucked a breathe in.

"Take off my pants," he ordered, a strange harsh tone to his voice. For you guys there was never set roles, not any dom or sub dynamic but it wasnt vanilla per say so him speaking like this was new. Besides that, you did as he said and pushed your thumbs under the waistband of his sweats, pulling them down his legs.

Silently he took your hand then sat down on his gaming chair, pulling out his large cock. He slipped on his headphones before looking up at you with a shit eating grin.

"Sit down, i can tell youve been dying too babe."

yeosang:

You were waiting for yeosang to come home after a shorter than usual practice, deciding to pass the time by indulging in your secret world. In the midst of browsing your favorite blogs you didn't hear the door open, this event made you learn not to have headphones in when participating in such activities.

Walking in, Yeosang looked around for you and spotted your figure on the couch. He slowly moved near with a secret motive of scaring you when he glanced at your phone seeing a photo of him paired with a lot of writing. Tilting his head curiously he squinted to read the text, reading along with you until his face flushed.

Sucking in a breath slightly he moved back to the door, playing off him just entering. You noticed his figure walking towards you and sneakily turned off your phone and got up to greet him.

"Hey babe, it's nice to see you in the sunlight," you giggled and wrapped your hands around his waist. You noticed him hesitantly wrapping his arms around you, causing you to pull away.

"Hey, whats up? you seem a bit off?" you pouted and brushed the hair out of his eyes, not catching the little blush.

"Yeah yeah babe, I'm fine. promise," he cleared his throat and pulled away, making your heart sink a bit. He practically completely ignored what you actually said.

"No Yeo, I- did I do something wrong? Or just a long day?" you pried knowing something was up.

Shifting awkwardly on his feet he looked up at you, his hair back in his face. "I um, saw what you were reading."

The color drained from your face, mouth slightly hanging not knowing what to say. You thought he was pissed, was going to leave and break up with you but right when you were about to talk he spoke again.

"C-can we do that?"

A moment of silence passed and you looked up at him, your boyfriend who was typically very soft and gentle in bed. Knowing what you were reading was likely pretty heavy in his book, you became worried. "Yeo, I just read it. It means nothing I don't want to make you uncomforta-"

His lips cut yours off and one hand entangled in your hair, his other guiding you to the wall by your hip. Back flush against the way you pulled away after a moment to see his eyes wide and sweat already beading down his temple.

"I've wanted to do that, just didn't want to scare you dear."

#ateez smut #ateez reactions #ateez scenarios #kim honjoong smut #park seonghwa smut #jeong yunho smut #kang yeosang smut #hongjoong smut #seonghwa smut #yunho smut #yeosang smut #kpop smut

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loki-hargreeves · 3 years

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Loki x Reader - Welcome Home to Westview

Warnings: WANDAVISION SPOILERS, mentions of death, angst and fluff Word Count: 2,8K Summary: You join Wanda when she drives to Westview. Next thing you know, you’re reunited with Loki who you lost years ago because of Thanos. He’s there to welcome you home 1950s style and make up for lost time. Author’s Note: This was requested and I absolutely loved this idea. I hope you like it! <3

YOUR POV

When everyone came back, it had been a miracle. Everyone who had vanished during the blip. Everyone who had vanished when Thanos had singlehandedly taken away half of all life. Most people were happy to have their loved ones back. Most people got someone back.

But that wasn’t your case, nor was it for Wanda. She came back into a world without Vision, you had to keep living without Loki. You always knew that he had died differently. Thanos had killed him and you had witnessed it. You should’ve known just how real it was, that he was gone. Seeing it should’ve been proof enough in order for you to move on and let go. Yet somehow, when the portals opened you had dared to feel hope. Deep down, you had hoped he too would’ve walked out of the golden gates with everyone else, but you had been wrong.

He had never come back.

You and Wanda had grown close during your time as Avengers. Recently, the two of you had grown even closer because of your shared grief. The two of you understood one another deeply and it connected you.

That’s why you had joined Wanda today. She was headed to SWORD headquarters where they were keeping Vision’s body. Everything about it was unsettling and you too felt angry about it. Something about SWORD was fishy and you didn’t trust their motives at all, neither did Wanda. All she wanted was to have a funeral for the man she loved.

You had agreed to wait in the car as she walked inside, but you kept glancing at the entry just in case you would have to walk in to support your friend. Time passed and eventually Wanda returned to the car alone. Even before she sat down, you could tell things hadn’t gone too well. She slammed the door shut and put her hands on the steering wheel tightly.

“Are you okay?” You were concerned for her well-being.

Wanda didn’t reply immediately. Her eyes scanned the parking lot and then she looked at the papers she kept in the backseat. For a while, she seemed to be deep in thought and you decided not to push her. Eventually, Wanda faced you.

“There’s something I need to do,” She stated mysteriously.

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No,” Wanda sounded sure of herself, “I would like it if you came with me, if that’s okay.”

Usually, Wanda handled things on her own. She would push others away and never ask for help. But this seemed different. She was willing to accept your support, and you were more than happy to be there for her; no matter what.

“Okay, I’m right here for you, Wanda.”

Despite how frustrated and upset Wanda felt, she managed to smile. It was nice to have you by her side during such difficult times.

“Thank you, Y/N.”

The car ride was long, but it didn’t feel like it. Wanda and you weren’t talking and the car radio filled the silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, yet you could tell that something had gone terribly wrong. Once Wanda was ready to talk about it, you would be there for her. For now, your presence was more than enough.

Since you didn’t talk, you tried to focus on the songs on the radio to distract yourself from your own, deep thoughts. Sometimes, they would get the best of you and right now, you wanted to stay tuned in the moment, not in the past.

Eventually, you drove past a sign that said Welcome to Westview. It was a small town, but nice nonetheless. It looked old. Buildings were worn and the streets looked like they had been used for decades. The town had a lot of family-friendly places and small shops. You saw an old lady drinking coffee by herself and a man putting up flyers. No one seemed to pay too much attention to you as Wanda drove by everything slowly. You noticed that Wanda was eyeing the street names closely. Was she searching for something?

It didn’t take too long until Wanda took a turn to a street called Sherwood drive and slowed down the car, eventually coming to a stop. You noticed the foundation of a house that had once been there. The neighborhood around you was full of family homes and it had a very warm and cozy energy. As nice as your surroundings were, Wanda looked like she wanted to cry.

“Can you stay here? I need to do something on my own,” Wanda finally broke the silence. How long had you been in silence? You weren’t sure.

“Yeah. Just let me know if you need me, okay?” You wanted to reassure her of your support.

Wanda just nodded and reached to the backseat to grab a paper. With one last glance at you, she got out of the car and closed the door. You sat comfortably on your seat and turned the radio on a little louder as she walked away. The song that was playing was familiar, but you couldn’t quite put your tongue on the name of it. The lyrics were beautiful and you found yourself relaxing to the melody.

“... If I could save time in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do, is to save everyday 'til eternity passes away just to spend it with you ...”

Naturally, you were worried about her. Wanda hadn’t spoken about what happened when she tried to recover Vision’s body. Clearly, things hadn’t gone too well. Had she even been allowed to see him?

As you sat there, you wondered how you would’ve felt if you had been in her shoes, if someone had Loki’s body and they wouldn’t let you have a funeral for him. Immediately, your gut twisted in disgust and pain. It seemed like a nightmare.

For all that you knew, Loki was somewhere in space, in the middle of nowhere, all alone. When the Guardians had heard the distress signal, they had only found you and Thor. Loki was nowhere to be seen. All the debris from the spaceship had made it nearly impossible to see and navigate through it all.

It had been years but it still hurt. Knowing he was left alone broke your heart, as if seeing him die hadn’t been soul crushing enough. You knew you would never get over losing Loki. He was and always would be the love of your life. Even if he wasn’t there, you always kept him in your heart. You were sure your very souls were connected. The love you had was just that deep.

Curiously, you looked out of the car window just to keep an eye on Wanda. She was standing in the middle of the ruins with the paper in her trembling hands. You couldn’t see what it said, but you knew it was important because once she looked at it, she broke down into tears. The sight of her there, all alone in so much pain was awful. For so long, she had been strong and kept on a tough face, but she had reached her breaking point. All the pain, the anger, the misery, it had gotten the best of her. You knew exactly how it felt and your first instinct was to get out of the car and go there to comfort her. How could you just sit there when she was sobbing on the cold hard ground all by herself?

When you got out of the car and looked at Wanda again, she was standing. Her powers were growing around her and a bright red light made you squint your eyes. What on earth was going on?

“Wanda?” You called out for her worriedly, unsure whether she could hear you from so far away. Her powers grew stronger at an alarming rate. You could feel just how strong the magic was and goosebumps rose on your skin. Something was terribly wrong and you knew things were getting out of hand. Despite how dangerous it was to approach something so chaotic and powerful, you tried to reach her. You never did.

Wanda’s powers were explosive. In the blink of an eye, her magic poured all around her and covered everything and everyone in sight. You remembered seeing that signature scarlet shade all around you and then everything went blank. It all happened so fast that you didn’t even have time to be scared, nor to use your powers to shield yourself from hers. The red swallowed you completely with no warning.

‘

What happened?

How did I get here?

You stood in front of Wanda and Vision’s house. Despite not remembering anything at all, you just knew that it was where she lived. Why were you just standing on her lawn? That was odd. You couldn’t remember getting there, but strangely enough, it didn’t bother you too much. You must’ve just taken a stroll and ended up at your best friend’s house. As strange as it was, you didn’t think twice about it.

With a smile on your face, you straightened the skirt of your silky dress and looked at your heels to see that they were dirt-free and shiny. After all, your outfit was brand new and you didn’t want to get the dirty right away, now did you?

“You look more beautiful than I remembered,” A familiar voice caught your attention. Your eyes widened as you stood there, now in shock. It had been too long since you had last heard that voice.

“Do you not recognize me? Has it been that long?” Loki walked closer to you from behind.

You turned around because you had to see him to make sure you had heard right. When you saw him standing there, you felt overjoyed.

Loki was alive!

“Oh my god,” You could hardly believe your eyes.

Loki opened his arms wide, inviting you to a hug. Once the initial shock passed, you ran into his strong and loving arms. Loki embraced you just like you remembered he had done before. His oh-so-familiar scent filled your lungs and you were drunk on him in an instant. Tears stung your eyes and you closed them, allowing yourself to sink into his touch and be fully enveloped by him once again.

“I missed you so much,” You admitted and felt a warm tear rolling down your cheek, ruining your makeup but you didn’t care at all. Loki had seen you, all of you. With him, you could be completely vulnerable.

Loki planted a kiss at the top of your head, then your forehead and the tip of your nose. His soft hands cupped your cheeks and you opened your eyes just to face him. His eyes were mesmerizing and dangerous. With just one glance, you were lost.

“I missed you too,” Loki let you know sincerely. You didn’t know where he had been, or why you had been separated. All you knew was that it had been years and now you were together again. That was all that mattered and you refused to think about the logic of it all. It felt like you could hope again. You could be happy.

A gentle breeze played with your skirt and with your hair. Loki looked like a god as he stood there in his black suit and tie, with his long dark locks swaying in the wind. Your heart was so full of love again and you felt happy, so happy that you kissed him.

Your lips collided sweetly and Loki kissed you back with such fiery passion that you felt as if your soul was on fire. The kiss was so romantic that you knew if a crowd would’ve been watching, they would’ve aww-ed. It would’ve brought people to tears.

Eventually, you had to break the kiss so you could breathe. Once you did, both of you smiled like never before. Loki couldn’t let go of you and you didn’t want to let go of him either.

“Let’s go home, shall we?” Loki proposed happily.

Home.

The word made your heart swell with affection.

“I’d love that,” You admitted, your mind already thinking about all the possibilities. You shared a home and you could spend the rest of your lives there together. You could have your own little family. Nothing could come between you ever again.

Loki offered you his arm for you to hold onto, which you gladly did. Together you turned away from Wanda and Vision’s home and began to walk to your own home. Somehow, you knew exactly where to go, like you had walked that path a million times before.

The walk was so relaxing. You and Loki held onto each other so comfortably and watched your neighbours, greeting them as you passed by. Everything seemed so peaceful; perfect. It was exactly where you wanted to be for all the rest of your days.

“So where were you all this time?” You asked Loki curiously. After all, he had been gone for a while now. As you tried to think about it, you felt distracted by his touch and just the sight of him. It was almost like something didn’t want you to poke your brain with a stick, so you tried not to get yourself puzzled.

Loki raised his eyebrows and hummed by himself, as if he had to really think about it in order to remember, “It’s a long story, my love. One I’ll tell you all about once we’re home. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like a great dinner topic,” You hinted at him. Dining together was always the highlight of your day.

It didn’t take long to walk from Wanda’s house to yours. After all, you lived on the same street. Your home was beautiful. It was spacious, so you and Loki wouldn’t outgrow it anytime soon.

Loki let go of you and he rushed to open the front door to you. “Ladies first,” He smirked to you and then looked inside.

“You’re such a gentleman,” You couldn’t help but to feel appreciated. Loki treated you like a queen, he always had. Then you walked inside.

Your eyes adjusted from the brightness outside to the dim lights inside. Loki closed the door and then you were both home. The place reflected the two of you so well, in every little detail. Someone had lit the fireplace when you were gone and you assumed it was Loki’s doing. Now that you were behind closed doors, you could use your powers without being seen.

“Did you-” Your sentence was cut short as you turned to face Loki again. He was standing behind you with a dozen roses and a box of chocolates. The sweet gesture took you by surprise and you forgot what you were going to ask.

“I know it isn’t much, but I want to make up for the time we lost. I hope this is the right path to your heart again, my love,” Loki explained as he handed the gifts to you, which you gladly accepted.

“Oh Loki, thank you,” You were moved by the gesture. “But I need you to know you’ve always been in my heart, and you always will be.”

Loki seemed relieved to hear those words, “as will you be in mine.”

Ding!

“What was that?” You were surprised by the sound that came from the kitchen.

Loki grabbed your empty hand and placed a soft kiss on your skin, “I do believe you mentioned something about dinner.”

Yet another surprise.

“When did you do that?” You were impressed by it all. He had really gone out of his way to make this day lovely - and you certainly weren’t complaining.

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Loki replied with a grin and began to lead to you the dining room. You shouldn’t have expected any less from your husband.

“How very sneaky of you,” You rolled your eyes playfully. That’s when you noticed the lovely aroma in the air. Dinner smelled lovely and you hadn’t even seen it yet. Had he made your favourite?

Loki pulled a chair back for you to sit on. As you sat down, the plates, the food and all that appeared on the table out of nowhere just like magic. Yet another trick, one that was very useful too.

Your eyes followed Loki as he walked around the table and sat down opposite of you. Just then, the setting sun shone through the curtains. It brightened up the room beautifully and highlighted every beautiful aspect of Loki, especially his eyes. The sun was shining on you and dinner was ready.

“One more thing,” Loki remembered and quickly snapped his fingers, lighting the candles to set the mood, “now everything is perfect.”

He was right. Finally, the two of you were together under the roof of your home. What else could you have ever wished for?

“Perfect indeed.”

A/N: I hope you liked it! If you did, I would love to hear your feedback 🥺 I loved this concept so much that I want to write more, but for now I’ll keep this one short.

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