#with sunglasses on and a fist in the air flipping off everyone

[razorblade180]

OC Test: Fists and Faces

The test is simple. Steal the name tag from from the mysterious cloaked individuals.

Everyone but the Snowflakes crew is present. All of them are armed with their standard equipment and fairly confused as they sit on a building and spot a figure in a white cloak minding their own business as they pass through the empty streets of Vale.

Yujin:So we’re robbers now?

Mona:Speak for yourself. Same shit, different day!

Carnary:You are way to pleased to say that.

Kovu:Anyone else hear that?

They listen really closely. Muffled sounds slowly become recognized as music; party music at that. The individual can be seen bopping their head and walking with obvious pep in their step.

Tenzen:Pretty sure they’re wearing headphones.

Aero:That shit must be blaring if we’re hearing it!

Carmine:…I don’t like this. Feels like a trap. Also, aren’t there supposed to be more than one? It said “individuals”

Mona:Come one come all! Like it matters. Target is a name tag? Easy! I’ll rob them faster than their playlist can shuffle.

Mona leapt off the building and began sprinting down its side. The nimble thief jumped halfway down onto a lamp post to perch directly behind her target. With a smug smile she launched herself like a pouncing cat at its prey. Mona was confident she had the upper hand. Unfortunately, she was wrong. For seemingly no reason, the figure raised her right leg and kicked back, straight into the sky. Their sole connected into Mona’s chin, sending the girl flying up before hitting the concrete.

Aero:Mona!!!

The figure jumped into the air to prepare an axe kick to Mona’s gut. Carmine acted immediately, grabbing her blade and launching herself straight at the target. Clearly the person had good instincts. They stopped their attack as they noticed Carmine, choosing to direct the kick at her blade to vault over it. Carmine was impressed they dodged, but not so stunned to forget to grab their cloak and yank it off. She wanted to know what she was dealing with.

Carmine:You okay dumbass?

Mona:D..Dizzy.

Carmine:Yeah? Do me a favor and lay there. You’ll only get in the way.

Mona:Fuck off… I was gonna lay here anyways.

Attenion is was drawn back to their shared target. Before they stood a girl in white sneakers with dark orangey pink soles that matched her short hair. Her long slender legs were covered in white fishnets that led up to a bouncy white skirt and a pound on her left hip. From how comfortable she moved in it, Carmine surmised there had to shorts underneath. The lady showed off her stomach with a crop top that matched her hair as well. The half jacket she wore was immediately identified to be Weiss’s old jacket from her days at Beacon. Her nails were painted black and her head continued to bob to the music playing on her headphones while she twirled her name tag on her finger, too fast for anyone to read. Her little dance stopped the moment she looked at Carmine. The girl took off her sunglasses and let them hang on her shirt. Black winged eyeliner and lipstick seemed almost out of place on her energetic face that held excitement beautifully portrayed in her shining silver eyes.

???:Wooooow! Nice hair color! Is that natural?

Carmine immediately runs at her with hostile intent.

???:Oop- guess we’re still throwing hands.

She put her name tag in her pouch a put her fists with a smile, resuming her playful bounce to the beat of her playlist. Carmine began slashing left and right; even full on rapid thrust, but only made contact with air as the girl sidestepped each attack with unorthodox rhythm. Carmine swung Stamen at the pouch but the blade was promptly caught with a firm left hand. The target yanked her closer and gave the huntress a clean jumping roundhouse to the jaw. As she landed, she backflipped, clipping Carmine’s chin with the tip of her shoes. She kept the moment by front flipping into another axe kick the hit Carmine’s nose. To add insult to injury, the girl landed in the splits then spun back up to her feet, sweeping Carmine’s in the process.

Carmine growled as she spun back up on her feet as well. She raised Stamen up across her body and swung down with her real strength, striking the ground and releasing a shockwave that tore up the concrete as it made its way to the mystery girl. It came at such speed that the girl couldn’t dodge and was sent flying backwards. Carmine quickly gave chase as her foe was already recovering midair. To her right, Canary unexpectedly came flying by with Harbinger. The two huntresses came at the girl from each side and forced her block with her forearms.

???:I’m sensing hostility!

Carmine and Canary: You have silver eyes.

???:So? What about it?

The skirmish broke apart and all three immediately rushed back in to clash with intense vigor.

Tenzen:I see the resemblance but she’s acting like a Little Miss Mercury Black

Aero:Kicks are universal dude. Or in this case, multiversal.

Jael:So are we gonna help or…

Aero:Pass. In case you haven’t noticed, Carmine has a real hate boner for Rose relatives with silver eyes. I will however pick Mona up. *flies off*

Yujin:Canary also has that similar hate. It’s like the one thing they bond about.

Kovu:It’s probably why Carmine isn’t yelling at her for joining in. I’m positive if we tried she might actually fight us.

Jacquelyn:Sounds about right.

Sienna:Guys? Turn around.

The group looks across to another rooftop to discover a black cloaked figure standing in silence. Sienna can’t explain it exactly, but she feels like she should be alert.

Sienna:They got really close before I could sense their presence.

Kovu:Why not attack when they had the chance.

Yujin:I wouldn’t jump us. You see how many people are on this roof?

Lucas:So who wants to tangle with the Ghost of Christmas Future?

Serenity:Shouldn’t it be you, who can see the literal future?

Lucas:I’m too invested in fight number one. Gonna keep my eye on it.

Everyone: (So he is peeking into the future.)

Jael:Mom?

Jackie:Meh. Even from here I can that person is pretty young. Beating up children would just be mean.

Jael:Sounds like you just don’t want this to end before it begins.

Jackie:I do love a good story.

Sienna: I’ll face them. Standing is no fun.

Jael:Care to make it a sis tag team?

Sienna:Be my guest. *jumps*

Jael:Kinda how that works. I’m your only sister. *floats down*

Kovu:Guess we’re benched.

Yujin:Nah. I’ll just wait to swoop in if needed.

Tenzen:That’s being benched Hun.

Lucas:Not to spoil anything, but Mrs. Frost? You probably should’ve went.

The maiden looked down to the streets as the hooded figure joined Jackie’s daughters down below.

Sienna:Wassup. I’m Sienna Frost. The pretty one beside me is my kid sister Jael. Sense we’re getting to know each other, might as well share your name and face. After all, we’re still gonna have to scrap for name tag.

???:……

Jael:Seriously? Trust me, the hood will fall off sooner or late-

They took the hood off, revealing the face of a young boy that couldn’t be much older than Jael; if he was older to begin with that is. Thick scruffy black hair was layered on his head with a pair of cat ears that matched. His keen silver eyes locked onto Sienna’s ears before his gaze shifted to Jael. Instinctively, Sienna put herself in front of Jael.

???:My name is Levi. Levi Belladonna. Sienna, such a special name. One that isn’t just tossed around. Combine that with your sister’s features, and I’m very curious on who it is you call father.

Sienna:I don’t think that’s really import-

Jael:Adam Taurus. That’s who we call dad.

Levi:I thought as much. Fate does the strangest things I suppose. Very well, I look forward to facing the the spawns of a demon.

Sienna:……Jael, calme down.

Jael:Pfft, you worry about me too much. I’m calm. I’m also taking the lead. Back me up if you like.

Sienna:Hey now…

Jackie:Jael!

Jael:I’m fine. I promise. *steps forward* Levi, was it? It’s pretty easy to imagine why you’d say such thing. I don’t know your history; just like how you nothing about ours. All we have is our experiences. So what that said, that insult of yours is only going to cost you a rib. I think that’s fair, wouldn’t you agree?

Jacquelyn:I should’ve ended this before it started.

Lucas:Oh yeah.

#rwby #the void #oc test #carmine arc rose #canary branwen #yujin xiao long #jael frost #sienna frost #jacquelyn frost #aero amitola #kovu belladonna #lucas belladonna #rwbabies #mona paulo furem #lie tenzen

[qvid-pro-qvo]

lake day

pairings: friendship fic, though there is established harvard/yale, payback/fanboy, and implied payback/fanboy/bob and rooster/hangman/phoenix.

rating: teen, because with a lake day, anything goes. with alcohol consumption and food mentions!

jake invites all of dagger to a day at the lake, a celebration of sorts after surviving The Mission. various shenanigans ensue, and jake learns the meaning of friendship along the way.

link to ao3.

-

Jake’s sunglasses slide down his nose, as his arms get thrown up and out at the sight of the group walking towards him. He’s already down a shirt, and if any of them were the betting kind, probably a drink or two in, too. 

“Welcome to my humble abode!” he calls out. “Grab a beer, grab a chair!” 

“When has anything about him ever been humble?” Rooster murmurs to Phoenix. She snorts and slides her own sunglasses on. 

“C’mon, y’all, we all know he loves the attention,” Bob sighs, glancing between the both of them before pulling back to walk in line with Fanboy. 

“And the company, even if he denies it,” Coyote says, glancing over the group. His voice gets low. Conspiratorial. “He’s been talking about this for months.” 

Everyone had been subject to the texts and the chatter. The repeat invitations after the final Mission debriefs went through. A celebration, Jake had insisted, loudy, until every single pilot said yes. 

Payback tosses his backpack into a chair, claiming another one to slump into. “We are in the middle of fucking nowhere, huh?”

“I think that’s just Texas,” Halo shoots back, glancing around. “Your parents own this place?” she asks Hangman. 

“Family home,” Jake confirms, gesturing to the massive house. “Feel free to change now, if you haven’t. The boat’s down at the dock —“

“You have your own boat?” Fritz says, mouth open a little as he pushes through the glass doors. The place opens up, a blast of perfect air conditioning hitting them all in the face. 

“You have your own dock?” Harvard laughs, peeking inside the grill before turning to the rest of them. “I spy a rich boy.” 

“Says the Ivy,” Fanboy retorts, reaching into Payback’s backpack to rummage around for his trunks. “I need a bathroom, Hangman!” 

“Seresin’s been holding out,” Yale murmurs to Omaha, who glances around the place with a matching smirk. “Bet the snacks are nice, too.” 

Jake lets out a sharp whistle, drawing eyes back toward him. He pushes his sunglasses up and out of his eyes, before giving a bright grin. “Ladies, gentlemen, everything will get settled. For now, grab a beer, grab a snack, and get comfy. Pick out a lifejacket while you’re on it. The S.S. Seresin launches in half an hour!”

—

“I’m king of the world!” Fanboy yells. Again. 

Payback laughs. Again. 

“Please don’t encourage him,” Coyote sighs. “He’s gonna fall off the damn boat.” 

“And he won’t even be the first,” Phoenix agrees, glancing back towards Yale, who has a towel draped limply over his shoulders, Harvard covering his face to hide his laughter. “We’re in the Navy , guys.” 

“Hangman made the boat rock on purpose,” Omaha says pointedly. “After Yale ate one of the Oreos.” 

“Everyone wants double-stuffed,” Bob says, flipping his clip-on shades down. Payback gives him a thumbs-up, and Bob grins before reclining a bit. “I understand the reasoning.” 

Jake smirks back at the two of them. “And I plead the fifth.” 

“We haven’t even left the dock,” Rooster points out, looking around at the group. “At this rate, someone’s blacking out.” 

Payback glances back toward the house. “With Fritz making the drinks later? Absolutely.” 

Halo looks to Harvard with a pout. “No one heard my that's-what-he-said joke.” He gives her a sympathetic fist bump. 

—

There’s a begrudging acceptance among the squad that Jake knows how to work a boat. Barely any rough patches, and no one else can match his maneuvers. But there’s another reason they hit the tides early — by the time they make it to where they’re planning on camping out, the place is just starting to get busy. They have it almost all to themselves. 

“How we doin’, kids?” Jake calls out from the captain’s chair, and there’s a chorus of “good” and “great” and only one “slow the fuck down, Jake” from Javy with a glare that makes him put his foot on the gas in answer.

But they all survive. They make it. Cheap beers get popped open, the sun gets real high. Sunscreen gets shared and passed around. Smiles and cheers and stories passed around. It’s a while before someone braves the lake water, but then soon they’re all lounging around on floating tubes and life-jackets.

“It’s not the ocean –” Rooster starts, peeking over his sunglasses. 

“Of course it’s not the ocean,” Fritz says, raising a brow. “There was barely a beach .” 

“Right,” Rooster agrees, sipping on his beer. “It’s not the ocean –” 

“It’s not Fightertown, either,” Omaha hums, sunglasses perched on his nose. “Middle of nowhere.”

Rooster nods, smirking as he glances toward Jake. Maybe he can see the way steam is slowly starting to leak out of his ears. “Like I was saying, it’s not the ocean, or Fightertown, or even California, the greatest place on Earth –”

“Is there a but somewhere?” Jake asks, glaring at the three of them. 

“Oh, so Hangman’s an ass man,” Phoenix says with a smirk on the other side of the group, glancing toward him. “Who would’ve thought?” 

“Anyone who knows him. He’s not exactly subtle, ” Coyote chuckles. He gets a high-five from Payback for the joke. Jake flips them off. 

“ But ,” Rooster continues, finally, with another wink up at the captain, “this is pretty fun.” 

“Cheers to that,” Fanboy calls out. 

“Cheers to us,” Omaha calls out. “To Dagger!” 

The drinks lift. “To Dagger!” 

It’s their rallying cry.

—

“I’m gonna have water in my ear for weeks,” Halo bemoans, tossing her head back one more time. “How was that only fifteen seconds?” 

“Time is different out there on the skis,” Fritz murmurs, eyes wide. “Very different.” 

Halo frowns, then reaches out, waves her hand in front of his face. “Concussion protocol?” she asks the group. 

“He’s fine,” Jake insists. “The impact’ll wear off. Who’s next?” 

Rooster looks determined. Pulls on his lifejacket. “If I die, Maverick gets the Bronco,” he grimly tells the team. He gives a sharp salute. Deep breath in. “It’s been an honor serving with you.” 

Phoenix’s leg goes out and kicks, and then Rooster’s yelling and in the water with a sputter. 

“Don’t think, just do!” Fanboy yells to him. 

Rooster scowls, curls flat on his head. “I think I’m gonna kick your ass, Fanboy.” 

"Why me?" 

"Because he's scared of me," Phoenix says with a smirk, lifting her drink. "Have a good ride!" 

—

The sun starts to sink in the sky, no longer lingering at the highest point. Jake’s shoulders are a bright shade of pink. But he grins at the group around him, sprawled on seats and on the floor of the boat, lazing back and taking in the sun. 

“Mickey’s gonna burn,” Jake hears Bob says to Payback. He glances over, watching as he starts nudging the other man with his foot. Payback smirks at the snoozing Fanboy, before nodding to the deck.

“I’ve got aloe in my pack.”

“I left mine on shore — can I share with y’all?” 

“Don’t even need to ask.” 

Rooster and Phoenix lift from their seats, move toward the captain’s chair before sitting down beside Jake. He smiles at the sight of them behind his shades, then starts the process of taking them back in. 

“You still good with grilling?” he asks Rooster, looking back toward the bow. Halo and Yale sit huddled over his phone, while Omaha and Coyote duel Harvard and Fritz in rock, paper, scissors over the last can of beer. 

“Sure,” Rooster says, taking a long swig from his can. “As long as I can pick the movie.” 

“We’ll throw some options into a hat,” Jake says, “but I promised Phoenix she’d get final say before the fireworks start.” 

“You think there’ll be fireworks?” she asks him, brow raised. Her leg crosses over Bradley’s to catch the ray of sunshine beating down on them. “Isn’t there a rule against them?”

“Someone always shoots off fireworks,” he tells them. “It’s summer in Texas. Someone smuggled them in.” 

There’s a beat. Jake smirks as he starts up the engine.

“Did you smuggle them in?” Phoenix suddenly says. 

“Is it smuggling when they’re already here?” 

—

There’s a roar of flame, and Jake winces at the sight of it flaring up through the gaps of the grill. Rooster’s eyes are bright, from more than the drink in his hand. 

“Please, please , be careful,” Jake sighs, before speaking through gritted teeth. “That grill is worth more than your rent.” 

“What’s that?” Rooster says. Another poke, and some more fire flares up. 

Jake grimaces. Takes a step back before shaking his head. “All we need are the burgers to be cooked . So if your eyebrows burn, that’s on you .” 

There’s no verbal response, but Rooster winks. What is with him and winking today? Jake scowls before turning away, glancing around the deck as the others mill around. 

Phoenix and Halo murmur to each other, mixed drinks dangling precariously from their fingers. Phoenix glances over to Jake, gives him a smirk before murmuring something to Halo. 

“Ladies,” he calls out, wanting to put a stop to any gossip that he doesn’t get to partake in. “Having a good time?” 

“You’re a good host, Hangman,” Halo tells, lifting her drink. “Thank your mom for us.” 

“But don’t let it go to your head,” Phoenix tacks on, pushing her sunglasses up into her hair before tapping her glass. “And tell Fritz to keep ‘em coming!” 

Jake bows, deep and dramatic, making the girls chuckle again, before he smirks and moves on. 

Coyote, Harvard, and Yale rope him into a game of darts, because they like losing, he supposes. He throws his darts, they throw pieces of fruit at him when he hits the mark every time, and by the end of a round Coyote is waving him away and telling him to go show off for someone else, before turning back to Harvard and Yale and showing off for them himself. 

Jake smirks and rolls his eyes before moving to the bar. 

Coyote hits a bullseye. 

Fritz and Fanboy move in tandem around the makeshift bar as Jake moves up to them. Omaha, Payback, and Bob watch them work, and the television above their heads airs something with a gratuitous shirtless beach volleyball scene. He doesn’t ask where the little umbrellas come from, or what the movie is, instead taking a sip of a drink that looks already made. 

“Wait, Hangman -” Payback tries, but it’s too late. Already down the hatch. 

“Holy shit,” he gasps out. Chokes a little on the hit of alcohol. Well. More like the gut punch. “Is there any mixer in that?” 

“Not yet,” Fanboy says with a smirk. “Fritz puts it in. But I don’t really think it needs it.” 

“It needs it,” the three men on the stools say at the same time. 

Fritz frowns. “You said my drinks were good!” 

“Yours are fine,” Omaha said, nodding toward the backseater. “Fanboy’s taste like gasoline.” 

“But good gasoline,” Fanboy retorts, lifting his own drink with a grin. “That high ethanol shit.” 

“You’re gonna go blind,” Payback tells him, bringing his hand down so that Fritz can pour some orange juice in his concoction. “Then who’s gonna watch my six?” 

“You’ve got two other WSOs,” Fanboy says, laughing before nodding to Omaha and Bob. “Right here, at your leisure. Let me get trashed.” 

“You can get trashed and still not burn off all your taste buds,” Bob tells him, and nods to Fritz again. 

“Let us treat you right,” Fritz teases. Taking Fanboy’s drink and adding a splash of grenadine, something else that looks like orange juice. Where the fuck did they get grenadine? “Let us help you treat yourself right.” 

“You’re all too kind,” Fanboy says, and wipes away a fake tear. “Taking care of me.” 

Jake leans down to murmur in Payback’s ear. “Make sure he doesn’t black out too early.”

Payback slaps him on the back. “We’ve got him. Relax. Grab a drink. Sit down.” 

“Yeah, your pacing is making me tense,” Omaha tells him, sliding a beer over. “We’re not on the water. We’re grownups. Take off the host hat for a bit. Relax.”

Jake concedes that point. Everyone has eyes on them. Everyone has a buddy. They’re all adults and can manage a few hours of drinking without him keeping watch. And if not, well. His mama made sure the place had nice bathrooms. 

“I’m gonna make sure Rooster isn’t burning anything to the ground,” he says, taking the beer. 

“Phoenix’ll help you out, I’m sure,” Bob says mildly, smirking. 

“What?” Jake asks, brow raised. 

“What?” Bob replies. Still smirking. 

—

Everyone has full bellies, eventually. Once Rooster stops fucking around and gets some burgers on the grill, everyone is satisfied. Dessert consists of a new drink menu concocted by the self-proclaimed bartenders, and tiny Blue Bell ice creams that everyone takes at least three of. 

Everyone is tipsy. Everyone is smiling. Everyone is… here.

Mission accomplished. 

“I’ll trade you a chocolate for one of your vanilla,” Harvard says to Yale, who raises a brow. 

“I fought hard for this vanilla. Halo almost didn’t let me have it.” 

“Just one,” Harvard pleads. “I’ll do the dishes this whole week, for it.” 

“… okay. Deal.” 

At the bar, Omaha drools a little as his head falls forward, a short nap to regain any energy the sun sucked away. Fritz takes a moment to lazily dab at his mouth, which startles the WSO awake. 

He blinks at Fritz. “Wha’sat?” 

Fritz snorts. “You drool when you sleep. Just helping you out.” 

Omaha blinks. “I’m cute when I sleep?” 

“Never mind, you're delirious. Go back to snoozing.” 

By this point the sun is almost completely set, but the lights on the deck give them plenty of shine. Jake still has his sunglasses on, perched on his nose as he claims one of the deck chairs and takes another swig of a beer that might be someone else’s. 

Suddenly Phoenix seems to materialize beside him. She pokes him on the shoulder. “Hey. That yours?” 

When he realizes she’s pointing at the beer, he offers it over without hesitation. She quickly takes a drink, then two before perching on the arm of the chair, her legs warm against his. Hands the beer back. 

“You havin’ fun?” he asks, giving a grin. The drink makes his words a little slurred, which just means any G he planned on adding to the end of a word is long gone. 

“I can admit when I’m having a good time,” she concedes. He blinks up at her, smiling as she hands him his beer back, almost empty. “Even when it’s your fault.” 

“Especially when,” Jake retorts. He gets flipped off for his efforts. 

Suddenly Rooster is there, too. On his other side, close enough he can feel heat radiating from his body. “That’s my beer,” he says plainly, and Jake chuckles as he feels Phoenix’s glare. 

“You said it was —“

“I said no such thing,” he laughs, and then holds the beer out to Rooster. “Here, take it. I’ve gotta set up the light show.” He starts to stand, but then Phoenix has a hand on his arm. 

The beer is removed from his fingers. “Hangman,” Phoenix says, “while I do love a good show, no way we’re letting you around explosives right now.” 

“I’m fine,” Jake tells them. “It’s part of the day.” 

“The day’s been great,” she retorts. “Trust, people had a good time.” 

“Forget the fireworks,” Rooster agrees, nodding around to everyone scattered outside. “Let’s get everyone changed, get settled. It’s winding down, we could do a movie or something inside.” Definitely close enough to nudge Jake with his hip, he does so, gesturing toward the door. “C’mon.” 

“But, I said I would,” he tells them, glancing back and forth between them. “Go inside if you want, but there’s so much night left.” 

He starts to walk across the deck, bare feet slapping on the wood. 

“Jake,” Phoenix shouts, and it makes his neck tingle. He looks up, sees her nod inside. “You did good. We had fun. We’re having fun. Relax. Let’s all… relax.” 

He sees everyone, then. Omaha and Fritz chuckling at the bar, tasting a drink back and forth as Fritz adds more insane mixers to it; Payback, Bob, and Fanboy talking around the fire pit, Fanboy’s arms gesturing wildly as the others smile at him; Harvard and Yale splitting their ice creams, half and half and half and half and half; Javy and Halo taking turns throwing darts at a picture of Cyclone. 

Rooster and Phoenix, eyes on him, both smiling, both certain.

Everyone is having fun. 

“Okay,” he finally says. Hands up in surrender. “Movie night, then. I can dig it. What movie?” 

“Cabin in the Woods,” Phoenix says immediately. Rooster recoils. 

“You’re insane.” 

“Just a suggestion.” 

“It’s not even October!” 

“We’ll figure somethin’ out,'' Jake interrupts, lifting his hands. “Let’s corral everyone, get ‘em in.” 

—

The next morning, as the sun just barely peeks over the horizon, Jake wakes up with a headache, some dry mouth, and a fuzzy recollection. 

He doesn’t remember much of the tail end. Remembers agreeing on a movie, remembers popcorn and candy and throwing things at the screen. Remembers laughter and warmth, and then sleep. Hard, hard sleep. 

He blinks. Glances around. No one ended up making it to a bed, he realizes, as he takes account of all around him. Payback, Bob, and Fanboy snooze on a few blankets on the floor, cushioned by couch pillows. Javy snores on the loveseat with Harvard and Yale, legs tangled with theirs and his head so far back it looks painful. Halo, Fritz, and Omaha all curl around and on the recliner, secured in place with sheets and well-placed pillows. 

And he, somehow, snagged the couch, with Rooster and Phoenix beside him. Rooster’s long frame takes up a good chunk of one side, but his arm stays curled around Phoenix on his left , and Jake realizes that their thighs and tangled legs are serving as his pillow and mattress, hand lightly gripping Phoenix’s calf as his legs take the rest of the cushions. 

Her hand is still in Jake’s hair. Rooster’s fingers are on his side. 

He looks to the kitchen. Blinks as he remembers his plan. Full breakfast, cooked to perfection, to impress and awe and service the Dagger squadron. To prove something to them, he supposes. To apologize, to show him what he can do. 

And then Rooster’s hand squeezes his side as he tries to move. Phoenix whispers something in her sleep. 

Everyone else seems comfortable, seems cozy. God forbid Jake disturbs that in a world where good sleep and good friends are hard to come by. 

“Relax,” they had said. “You did good.” 

He thinks he believes it. 

He thinks he can sleep a few hours more. 

Then breakfast.

#hangman #jake seresin #the dagger squad #literally everyone is in this fic #tgm #top gun: maverick #my fic #my writing #rooster #phoenix #payback #fanboy #bob #coyote #harvard #yale #omaha #fritz #halo #summer vacation #cw alcohol #cw food mention

[mark-of-chrysus]

#3

Forget politeness, Danny was just downright feral. Simply put, he had woken up and chosen violence.

He made his way to school like he owned the place. Bought himself at the Slave Auction like it was nobody's business and went off into the sunset with a baffled Jay in his arms, being held in bridal style. Then he came back because he had forgotten that he had to sing with Duke and put the blonde back down remorsefully before making him promise to watch his concert.

Somehow, and because the universe was a bitch he had once again ended up in the parking lot with Crystal and Gun staring at him. Before he could walk away the girl opened her mouth and began berating him for "judging people based on their looks".

"I'm gonna stop you right there" He cut her off, something no one had ever done before judging by her gobsmacked expression. "I don't know you, nor do I care to so you should keep your hypocritical view to yourself, okay miss?"

Unfortunately, Crystal managed to recover before he could book it out of there.

"Just who do you think you are? Calling me a hypocrite?"

Daniel regaled her with a thoroughly unimpressed stare before opening his mouth.

"Siri, could you please tell me the definition of hypocrisy?"

"a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel" The robotic voice came from his back pocket, echoing through the empty parking lot.

Gun had a mysterious coughing fit that ended with a pointed elbow in the ribs from the smaller girl, though even that didn't manage to wipe the grin off his face. He eyed the boy more closely, feeling suddenly intrigued about whether he had the skills to back his cheeky attitude.

"You judge people based on how they look. I saw how you looked at one of the other girls in the crowd." Crystal continued to press on stubbornly.

"And you don't?" He retorted without missing a beat. "Besides, the girl I was looking at was Lala Kim, and she's notorious for how badly she treats the dates she buys at the Slave Auction."

That at least seemed to have gotten his point across.

"But you still act like you are better than anyone else."

Spoken too soon.

"I am better than everyone else!" His cocky reply seemed to only infuriate the beautiful girl more.

"Prove it!"

"Sure!"

They were now shouting and so close to each other that it was just one shove away from ending up really awkwardly between them. Daniel didn't let his confidence waver when she suddenly revealed a sharp smile that promised pain and humiliation, instead, he gave her his own taunting smirk and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Gun, fight him."

If the command surprised the bodyguard, he didn't show it. In one swift move, he took off his sunglasses, revealing the black sclera of his eyes and plastered on his infamous insane grin. Crystal moved out of the way and Daniel squared his shoulders but didn't wipe off his mocking expression.

Before he could blink an all-too-familiar kick began heading his way and the boy slipped into his fighting mindset. He blacked the click with his own leg using a basic movement that made it seem ridiculously easy. Gun's eyes widened as well as his smirk.

"You're pretty interesting, huh?"

A fist flew towards his face.

"Uh, Daniel."

The boy in question dodged the blow and caught his attacker by the throat, lifting him in the air.

"Hm?" He hummed inquiringly, turning to see the cowering form of Jinho looking at him like he was a monster.

He let go of his opponent, whose body hit the pavement with a muffled thud and made his way toward his smaller classmate.

"Uh-uh, Duke's looking for you, he-he asked me to-to get you." Jinho stuttered, eyes glued on the predator before him and knees trembling.

"Oh right, the concert, I almost forgot!" It was like a switch had been flipped and Daniel's cold facade melted back into a friendly smile. "Thanks, Jinho."

The boy nodded so fast he almost knocked his glasses off his face and scurried back.

"Ah, sorry, we'll have to continue this another time." He told the pair who were still frozen in shock, either at his skill or his quick change in attitude, he found that he didn't care much either way.

Shooting them one final sharp grin Daniel jogged back to the school festival, ready to perform for the beautiful blonde who would be watching him. Once he was out of sight Gun's posture finally loosened and he leaned onto the side of the car, pulling out a cigarette. A drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead and he absently brushed his fingers over the already-forming hand-shaped bruise on his neck.

"He could have broken my neck without breaking a sweat." He mumbled and Crystal blanched at the thought.

"That boy...", the fighting maniac took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled the smoke slowly, "could've killed me if he wanted to."

The pair shared no other words as they left, both slightly trembling, though due to different reasons. Daniel Park was a real beast and they were lucky he had been interrupted when he had. Gun massaged his neck again as he drove, an impossibly large smile on his face.

#lookism manhwa #time loop #webtoon lookism #lookism #park jonggun #crystal choi #gun park #daniel park

[cutman87]

"CUT!"

Like a switch had been flipped, the set roared with activity. Mechaniloids swept up broken glass, cigarettes were placed into expectant fingers, and the stunt double's holographic projection shut off, revealing his physical form.

A reploid built for copying the look of others and taking a beating, Ryda had a streamlined, simple design. He looked more like a racecar than anything else, blue with white stripes and pointed "ears" with a handle-like spoiler connecting the two.

Ryda put on his shades, a gaudy pair with designer logos on either side. His entry pass and ID both hung on a lanyard around his neck, which he slapped onto an access pad on the side of a trailer.

God, that was a drag of a shoot, he thought to himself as he walked in. Two other reploids were inside, one recharging, one idly browsing through scripts on a projected screen.

"Ryot, are you done shooting for the day?"

He turned towards the copywriter. "What do you think, Philos? I just put on my sunglasses to rake a quick E-Tank break?" He grabbed an E-Tank off of the table to punctuate. "Everyone out there is smoking just for fun? Yeah, sure, the tobacco smoke looks great on screen, man." He took a swig. "As I said before, it's Ryda. Ryot's a formality."

Philos frowned, tapping a button. The screen flicked off, and he stood up. "Ryda," he drawled, "you need to fix your attitude, or they'll call the Hunters on your ass."

This earned a guffaw out of the blue reploid. "As if." He sat down. "I'm an actor. I'm necessary. Not to mention -" he took a long sip from the Tank. "-I'm not a Maverick. I may be a dick, but I'm not a Maverick."

The trailer grew tense, silent aside from the low hum of the recharge pod, and Philos huffed as he turned back around to his work.

–

Laughter bubbled through the night air as Ryda walked alongside the line of trailers. He liked taking these walks during the more humid, hot nights, as the moisture helped his armor shine.

"...and, and, isn't there - isn't there more in our reserves?"

His attention turned to one of the only active trailers, the silhouette of two men blocking out a warm yellow light.

Ah, they're drinking.

Ryda slowly walked closer, listening in on the conversation. While one man talked, another was loudly laughing, so the reploid had to listen hard.

"That scene with - with the stunt double, did you see the way that rogue Mechaniloid threw him like a doll? Hilarious!"

He frowned. Hilarious? Ryda thought he looked heroic.

The other man replied, "Seriously! If it weren't for your screenplay, I'd have sworn this was a comedy." They burst into laughter. Ryda quickly realized the two men were the director and the screenwriter. He sneered.

"Roll up the window, Dave, the table's getting cluttered." The window slid open, and several bottles of alcohol were tossed out, shattering on the gravel near Ryda's feet. His fists clenched at their arrogance.

Not only that, but he was jealous.

So, so jealous. He could sense the booze in the air, his fuel inhibitors buzzing slightly at the sheer density of ethanol.

Forget it.

He tore at the lanyard on his neck, dropping it in the pile of glass as he stormed out of the filmset. He didn't care anymore. He wasn't going to be treated like a setpiece anymore. He'd he his own damned reploid, whether it cost him his dignity or not.

--

Rainbow lights speckled the black market workshop as Thessie worked. Her beak clicked as she surveyed the set of modchips in her inventory, checking the count for the third time. Hundreds of illegal modchips were spread across the table, organized by form, feature, and function.

The amount of potential Zenny on the table was unfathomable.

"This should be good for a nice, long, while," the Peacock reploid remarked, a smile spreading on her face. "Enough to pay for rent, legal fees, angel funds, and a few hundred thousand to spare." She sat down, kicking up her boots as she prepared to remove her gloves. "Maybe I'll invest in that new development project in--"

"Thessian!""

She squawked in surprise. "What?!"

In stormed Ryda, sweeping aside the beaded curtain to bother Thessian Peacock.

"Get rid of my holo chip, Thessian," Ryda said, bluntly. Thessie went lax, interlocking her gloved fingers. "No, Ryda. You're being impulsive, dear. You've asked me to do this four times, now."

He quivered. "I'm full up on energy, Thess. I'm well. I'm here. Get rid of it." The peacock reploid thumbed her beak. "I mean, don't you still have your job? How would you be a stunt double reploid without your ability to double, dearie?"

"I quit."

She blinked. "Hmm? Come again?"

Ryda stepped forward, tapping his side gem, the blue circle glowing as he pulled from his storage. "I. Quit. The studio. Get rid. Of. My chip."

Staggeringly large bills of Zenny were placed on the table. "Love, this is..." She counted quickly. "I'm not complaining, but you do know, this is over double the-"

"I also want a chip. Alcohol receptor."

This made Thessian hiss. "Absolutely not. Especially you, Ryda. You're impulsive, you're obsessive, not to mention the chips going around right now are prototypes. I won't-"

Even more Zenny were placed onto the table, and Thessian Peacock assessed her options, a morality protocol checklist running in the background.

Is he at risk for Mavericism? Not really, from her knowledge, and even if he were, he's got no combat abilities.

"Fine. Lie down and open your primary access panel. You'll be awake tomorrow morning if that's alright."

Ryda laid down, popped open his access panel, and before he knew it, the sleep trigger was poked, the blue reploid falling into a deep sleep.

#ryda #fic

[felix-the-creature]

Diner California, a killjoy au

Chapter 5

TW (drugz, unsafe driving)

That night, the milky way shines bright and endless across the sky. The completely full moon hangs lazily, creating long dark shadows in the desert night. A coyote trots out from behind a cactus, turns its nose up to the moon, and yips a warbling call to its neighboring brethren. It pauses, ears pricked for an answering call. Silence, so far. It tries again, yipping at the start and ending in a drawn out "ouuuuuuwl"

It swivels its ears, detecting a strange rhythmic thump. It gets louder, the coyote turns around and sees the car approaching.

The animal ducks behind the cactus as the vehicle roars past, kicking up dirt and dust. The bass thump rattles through the creature's ears. It licks its lips in nervousness and peeks out behind the cactus to watch the car speed away into the night.

Inside the car is glorious chaos. The gang pounds their fists against the seats and shouts along to the stereo enveloping the whole atmosphere of the car.

"GRAAAAAVITY"

(enthusiastic seat pounding)

"DON'T MEAN TOO MUUUUCH TO ME"

(Really, the seats are getting so much abuse, the leather is all cracked from nights like this)

"IS THIS OUR DEEESTINY"

Ghoul sticks his head out the window and practically breaks his vocal chords by screaming the next verse at the unnaposing desert and it's poor sensitive eared coyotes.

"THE WORLD IS AFTER ME"

party shoves him aside and pushes themselves out the window as well.

"AFTER YOU"

The car erupts into cheering once the song ends, accompanied by the stray "awayy from here" and limbs are shoved out of every window to feel the wind and flip off the night.

A quieter song comes on, and the killjoys flop back in their seats and onto each other, breathless. Jet drums his fingers against the steering wheel and just laughs. Ghoul starts painting his nails the same lime color as his hair, although why he chose to do the precise job in a bumpy car in the middle of the rocky desert is anyone's guess. Once he's finished he sticks his hands back out the window to dry them.

"Oh! I almost forgot" he scrabbles into the backseat to get to his satchel. the small bag is drawn out. "Y'all, I snagged us some colitis!" This is met with enthusiastic cheering. The bag is passed around, everyone taking a portion. Party hesitates when it's his turn to hand the bag to Kobra.

"I... I don't know if he should have this"

"Why not?" Ghoul questions. Kobra doesn't understand either.

"Because... he's only twelve... It might hurt his brain"

Kobra grabs the bag from Party and stuffs a handful in his mouth. "To hell with my brain! we're supposed to live fast and hard, right?"

"Right!" Ghoul amends. He and Kobra high five. Party shrugs and tries to put it in the back of his mind. He doesn't have any colitis. He wants to make sure everything stays safe.

About ten minutes later, it's a total madhouse in the car. Kobra found some old sparklers under the seat, supposed to be used as flairs during danger. From a distance, the trans am looks like a mini rave.

A cheer erupts that can possibly be heard for miles as a new song comes on. Every desert animal that had been hanging around out of curiosity now darts for their burrow at the sound of Ghoul shoving himself at least halfway out of the car and shouting "THE FUTURE IS BULLETPROOF" Kobra echoes him from the backseat, almost Hitting Party with his sparkler. "THE AFTERMATH IS SECONDARY"

Party, dodging the flaming rod: "IT'S TIME TO DO IT NOW AND DO IT LOUD"

Jet, pulling down his aesthetic-only sunglasses and cranking the stereo: "KILLJOYS-"

everyone: "MAKE SOME NOISE!!"

Jet starts swerving to the beat. Ghoul stands on the windowsil, puts a foot out, and then climbs on top of the car. He pummels the cool night air and yells one of their favorite killjoy anthems along with everyone else. Who needs lyrics when you can have a na na na song? Everybody improvises the lyrics anyways. It's custom to customize it.

Party is getting more and more nervous. It's not like he isn't used to them being rowdy. It's not the first time they've had colitis, although the first time Kobra's tried it. It's certainly not their first Joyride. But he has a growing unease in his gut that won't go away. Maybe it's the night. Maybe it's how Jet keeps swerving to the beat. Maybe it's because they've never had colitis that glows purple before. He nervously checks the top of the car. Ghoul is on his back, waving his hands at the stars. Party checks on the driver. Well, he hasn't hit anything yet. He looks in the back. Kobra... where's Kobra?! Oh there he is, in the very back looking out the window.

They clutch the handlebar as the car jerks sideways. They've hit a rock or something.

"Jet, let me drive" they suggest. Jet looks over at them with a surprised expression.

"Why? I usually drive, I'm good. I'm fine, see?" He takes his hands off the wheel and steers with his knees, grinning.

"Jet, please" Party is more stressed than ever. He reaches for the wheel, but Jet bats his hand away.

"Relaxxx, I have everything under co-" he's cut off as he hits another rock. "Oh shit" he goes as more rocks appear in the headlights. He fights to swerve around them, but hits a couple anyway.

"Jet, you're too high!" Party fights for the wheel. "Please, just let me drive" he glances up at Ghoul, still on the roof but now clinging on for dear life as the car hits more rocks. Party looks back at the road. "Oh crap, we're at the old quarry" luckily the car isn't anywhere near the tall cliff, instead skirting a shallower ledge leading into the excavation. The problem is that the quarry is full of raw rock, much of it sharp.

"Guys! We shouldn't be here!"

They swerve past a large pile of granite only to head straight for a pile of old junk, blackened as if it was set on fire. Party panics.

"STOP. THE CAR"

finally, Jet slams on the breaks. The car screeches to a halt, skidding on the gravel and kicking up dust. Ghoul slides forward on the roof and ends up upside down on the windshield.

"What the fuck man?" Ghoul grunts while picking himself up, and Party isn't sure if it's aimed at him or Jet. He opens the drivers side door and pushes Jet out, leaping into the driver's seat. Jet grumbles and gets in back. Ghoul gets back in, and Party turns around and takes them out of the quarry.

"Cmon, I had it under control" Jet grumbles, a little hurt.

"I'm not gonna argue, because you're high" Party sighs. He cranks the radio again, hoping to raise the spirits back up. At least Kobra seems unphased, waving the last sparkler out the back window and singing along, happy as ever. At least being under the influence turned out to have purely positive consequences for him, Party thinks.

After awhile, things pick back up. Mad gear and the missile kid can fix anything. Party doesn't tell them that he's driving them back home, and they don't seem to notice.

#my chemical romance #mcr #danger days #party poison #fun ghoul #jet star #killjoys #kobra kid #gerard way #mcrmy

[authorkun]

★彡["𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐘"]彡★ (001)

"𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚! 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙈/𝙣!"

"No." The short response seethed with annoyance. The red head slumped across the male. "You've got to-!" A cartoonish tears ran down Reki's face. "You got yourself into it. What am I supposed to do?" He boredly tapped on his phone. Reki stole the small device earning a groan in response. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-." 

"Oí shut up!" A tick mark formed. M/n quickly chopped his friend's head eliciting a childish whine. "I'm not going as Karma to clean up your mess okay? Now give me my phone back you ass." The taller of the two snatched the device back. "But M/nnnnnnnnn." Reki whined again irritating the third year further. "No, that's my final answer. Go bother someone else."

The skateboard obsessed high schooler grumbled before grabbing his board and storming out the door. 

Timeskip with Reki 

"I actually work part-tine with my friend M/n over at that shop. If you want we could probably find you a board for beginners." Reki smiled pointing his thumb back at the said shop. Langa gave a serious look. "What's your hourly wage? I'm looking for a part-time job preferably with a high hourly pay." The abrupt question confused the red-head before he nodded his head.

"Job, I've got a job." Oka turned up out of no where, a large grin plastered his face. "There's a delivery for a client that needs a skateboard at night. Reki, L/n, nor I can take it." A tick mark had grown on Reki's forehead. "We can take it Manager Oka! Even if I have to drag M/n along!" The red head held a determined expression, as the three walked back towards the shop. 

The small jingle of the bell attached to the door sounded. "Do you need any help- oh." An unamused M/n sat behind the desk reading a magazine. The blue haired teen caught his attention, his eyes scanning the Canadian male. A small fox jumping onto his lap broke his stare, now focusing on the petite animal. 'Damn fox.' Said animal snuggled further into his lower abdomen.

The peace was interrupted when Reki had grabbed the older's collar. "Why can't you do the delivery?! We both know you're lazy ass has nothing to do!" He continuously shook the male. "If you forgot, that clownfuck is trying to get a beef with me." M/n rolled his eyes. "So? You haven't been since the last time you went up against Cherry!" 

"No." A cute yawn came from his lap, as the fox stretched its limbs before jumping onto the counter. "I'll be in the back." He gave a half-assed salute sauntering into the workshop. Oka sweat dropped at the teen's rudeness. "Sorry about him." He apologized. "He's not usually like that." 

"He's a coward!" Reki made sure to emphasize the insult for M/n to hear. "Anyways, the job is to deliver the client's board to this location at midnight the day after tomorrow." The older man pointed to a map with the directions. "Do you have a drivers license?"

"What you would call a standard one." Langa responded. "Alright! Then is this alright for the pay?" Oka negotiated with the transfer. "Okay. I'll go." Langa said determined. "I'll go too! And so are you M/n!" The male poked his hand from the doorway flipping the third year off. 

"Like hell I am!" M/n yelled back annoyedly. "Why can't I take it during the day?" The snowy haired male asked. "The gates won't be open. Gates open at 12 sharp." M/n slung himself back onto his chair a small lollipop stick protruding from his lips. 

"Gates?" Langa questioned dumbstruck. "Have you heard of a skateboarding race that takes place in an abandoned mine? Only the chosen are aloud in. It's called the 'S' race. I'd normally go but im tied up that night." Oka nervously uttered the last part.

"Meaning you have a date." M/n deadpanned. "With that child worker from the other day?!" Reki accused, eyes widening to the size of saucers. "That's not true! It's about the debt!" Oka defended. "It's the money I owe. This shop's 'bout to go under." He sadly stated. "Go cry me a river. Lies like that won't get you anywhere." A tick mark appeared.

"That's why you should listen to what I say more!"

Timeskip

"S isn't a race for rookies to get in." M/n let out another sigh, leaning his cheek up against his fist. "You need a pass to even be allowed into the gates, or near them at that." As if on que, a guy wearing sunglasses and his hood pulled up approached them. M/n stood up a smirk playing at his lips. "Hey, It's been a while hasn't it!" He greeted secretly throwing up a hand signal. 

Throwing up a hand, the two grasped hands before the man left. "What was that?" Langa questioned. M/n rose the hand the guy shook. Opening it, a small sticker was in the middle of his palm. "I know a few guys."

The blue haired Canadian grabbed the 'S' shaped sticker. "S?" Langa mumbled analyzing the object. "Normally outsiders can't get in." Reki said jogging up next to him. Langa hummed in response. "Aw come on! You're supposed to be more stoked about it. You're goin' to see something amazing, okay?! I'm sure you'll be surprised!" The red head rambled as small sparkles appeared around him. 

M/n, boredly walked behind them, debating wether or not to go. 'It's not that important right? Just a small errand.' "Come on you slowpoke!" Reki's voice cut through his thoughts, as he ran up to the two. 'It can't be that bad right?'

Timeskip

"Armature or not, if he gets on a board he has to skate. That's the rule here." Cherry stuck his hand out to Langa, helping him up. Reki was about to argue before the sound of fast moving wheels caught him off-guard. "Oh good, I haven't missed the fun yet." Everyone's eyes shot to the moving figure wearing a half-n-half haori. "KARMA!" A few girls screamed at the sight of the male. Swinging the board from under his foot, he caught the deck.

 "Thought I'd swing by. But strawberry here is right." The nickname ticked the pink head off. M/n swung a arm around the older's shoulders. 

Reki grew a tick mark before pleading with the Canadian once more. "Come on! You'll be getting more than broken bones if you go! Hey, are you even listening?!" Langa shrugged. "You don't know unless you try," 

"I do know! First off--" The red head was cut short as two guards started dragging him away. M/n was suddenly yanked from Cherry, dropping his 'precious' skateboard. "Listen here punk, you think you're so slick showing up. After I beat that little pipsquek your next." He snarled bringing their faces close. A challenging smirk formed.

"Jee you're breath stinks clownboy." A few gasps and laughs echoed from the crowd as he dropped M/n. "Why you-!" A hand caught his wrist. "Now, Now, we wouldn't wanna start that here. 

You have a race to attend. You wouldn't want to miss that right?" A dangerous tone was held with his words. Shadow, automatically backed down a small 'tch' following. Both Langa and Shadow stood at the starting line. 

'Beep Beep beep Ding' 

The four lights turned green as a 'woosh' of air passed signaling the two had left. Looking back, langa was still standing in the same spot. A look of confusion washed over his face as he rocked back and forth.

'Well, great.'

to be continued

#sk8 the infinity #sk8 the infinity x male reader #sk8 cherry blossom #sk8 reki #sk8 langa #seme male reader #top male reader #sk8 the infinity x reader #reki x reader #langa x reader #joe x reader #cherry blossom x reader #male reader

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Love Cuts Deep

Chapter 3 - F#$k the Police

Bucky Barnes x (f)reader Series Rewrite (Civil War, Infinity War/Endgame, TFATWS)

Summary: What’s happening in Romania? For awhile you’ve had the best time with Bucky all to yourself, but now, it appears the world is not done with you two just yet.

Warning: tinge of fluff, violence, fighting, reader being a bad bitch, Bucky going through it, Steve metaphorically herding cats (Bucky, reader, T’Challa), some google translate (I hope its right)

Masterlist

Leaning against a telephone poll, you adjust your darkly tinted sunglasses before stuffing your hands back into your jacket pockets. Hood up and stance as casual as ever while you patiently await your dark haired lover, who at this moment happens to be purchasing some plump and juicy looking plums.

Doing his best to appear relatively unrecognizable, Bucky walks over to you in his usual faded ball-cap, layered jacket, and black gloves while you give him a nod of acknowledgment as he quickly approaches. Soon he’s by your side and the two you begin walking towards the street where you’ll be crossing.

“Y/N, you think these ones will taste good?” Wonders Bucky as he shifts his gaze to you for a wise answer, like you magically are able to tell if these random plums are sour or not.

You shrug, “Probably.”

He stares uncertainly down at the plums, “They were kind of sour last time.”

Throwing him a humored glance, you keep walking, “Did you tell her that? Maybe she would have given these ones to you for free.”

“Well.....no.”

Retrieving your dark tinted sunglasses from the bridge of your nose before shoving them in a pocket, you throw a glance back over at the plum cart, nudging Bucky, “I’ll steal some again and then we’ll compare what days they taste good and what days they taste bad. Maybe that will help out your plum dilemma.”

“You’ve stolen plums before?” Whispers Bucky in bewilderment like you just stabbed a guy in broad daylight, “Y/N.” He whines, “We can’t be stealing things! We’re trying to keep a low profile, remember?”

Rolling your amused eyes at his fearful concern over something so tiny, you playfully tug against his grey jacket, “Stealing some plums is the least unlawful thing I have ever done moya lyubov' now come on.” You muse with a reassuring grin.

Wanting to protest, he chooses against it when he hears you call him my love in Russian; that’s new, he think warmly, you’ve never said anything that deeply intimate before. He could certainly get used to it.

Coming to a halt, the two of you patiently wait for the roadway to clear up, but while you’re standing there in the open, you skillfully take notice of some man in his mid thirties with a half eaten lollipop positioned in his right hand. He leans against the counter from behind a newspaper stand, where two curious greyish blue eyes give yourself and then Bucky a wary look as he begins to squint suspiciously. Soon his gaze trails over you both again like he’s trying to solve a 1000 piece puzzle, but can’t quite tell just yet which piece goes next. How odd, you think.

“Nothing is ever odd, there is reason for everyone’s intricate behavior, always be on guard.” Speaks a whisper from your past days training with Hydra.

Glancing over to Bucky, you notice as he starts to appear rather uncomfortable since he’s realized the stranger is staring. What a nosy little weasel, why would he give a shit about us? Tugging on his sleeve, you begin taking the lead across the four-way, the weaselly looking mans eyes go wide in genuine fear as he turns and books it out of the booth like a bat out of hell. Racing past annoyed civilians as they go about their normal business.

Brows furrowed in confusion you hastily reach the newspaper stand and flip a paper around only to be greeted with greatly troubling words printed aggressively in big black letters reading...

 -WINTER SOLDIER CÂUTAT PENTRU BOMBARDMENTUL DIN VIENNA- 

...with a blurred security footage picture of Bucky’s shadowed face walking suspiciously by a white van in presumably a parking garage.

On further inspection lower down the page, you take notice of the alarming words below, translating to...

 -On international watchlist; Possible accomplice suggested at place of crime, Y/N Valerious is being investigated into for feasible involvement with one credited for bombing. Investigators advise great caution if seen and require a report immediately upon recognition.-

Paired with a blurred fuzzy head shot taken from CCT footage in 1997 after you sliced your way through a notorious drug cartel in Colombia.

Shit. And how the fuck did they find that picture?

Bucky quickly rips it out of your hands and stares frustratingly at the parchment, eyes focused on the concerning news as he flickers his attention back down at you, “Y/N?” He mutters uncertainly, face appearing increasingly distraught as he looks to you for an answer.

Glancing warily around the crowded area, you swallow nervously before finding his uneasy gaze once again, “I really need to stop speaking ahead of myself....fuck.....we need to leave.” You urge, tugging on his arm to move, you let go as the two of you head back to your shared apartment.

Eyes glancing warily around you the whole way there.

——

Walking quickly up the steps, you suddenly catch the scent of an unknown man leading right into the cracked door of your apartment, Bucky halts as you remain still as stone, nose crinkling as you test the air.

“Y/N?” He whispers unsurely as you shush him.

Sensing this stranger isn’t here to fight due to the lack of aggressor pheromones extruding from out of his system, you both cautiously walk into the room, on guard as you move more silently then an owl in flight, he doesn’t hear a thing. Quickly you visually analyze a tall man in dark blue with a helmet tightly fitted against his head, standing relatively still with his back turned to you two. A familiar shield held strongly from his left forearm as his head looks down at the journal positioned in his right hand. 

Bucky’s journal.

Standing defensively side by side with Bucky, the uniformed man suddenly turns around; his eyes are a dark ocean, yet soft and set; a faded white A sits just above his eyes and a dull white star appears in the center chest area of his stealth suit. This is without a failing doubt Captain America, but what does he want with you two? 

Breathing steadily he gives the two of you a once over before focusing on Bucky, “Do you know me?” He asks, voice calm and collected. Not an ounce of aggression.

Your eyes flicker cautiously from Bucky then back to the stranger as he takes a slow breath, “You’re Steve. I read about you in a museum.”

[They’ve set the perimeter] -speaks a disembodied voice from Steve’s earpiece, only yourself and Steve are able to pick it up.

What the fuck does that mean?

The American sets Bucky’s journal onto the kitchen table as he shifts in place, your fists instinctively clench in preparation for a possible clash as Steve’s perceptive gaze shifts warily from your hands up to your watchful glare; he must know about you, “I’m not here to fight.” Confirms Steve with a small nod before turning to Bucky, “I know you’re nervous, and you have plenty of reason to be. But you’re lying.”

“I wasn’t in Vienna, we both weren’t. I don’t do that anymore.” Mumbles Bucky truthfully, you’ve been with him for months now and neither of you have even left the city so how the hell did his blurry photo get printed onto the daily newspaper?

[They’re entering the building.] -speaks the voice.

Steve takes an urgent yet cautious step forward, clearly something terrible is about to go down for the three of you, if the guy on the ear piece wasn’t telling enough, “Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. For both of you. And they’re not planning on taking you alive.” Warns Steve sincerely, voice steady and true.

Bucky’s lips nervously purse together as he mutters unenthusiastically, “That’s smart. Good strategy.”

[They’re on the roof. I’m compromised.]- says the voice, more urgently this time.

Suddenly your ears pick up the sounds of heavy boots as they pound against the large spiraled staircase, squeezing your eyes shut in irritated anticipation, you open them to face the soldier, “Well this is fucking fantastic.” You seethe through clenched teeth, accent dripping strong as you shake your head in frustration.

Steve gives the two of you a pleading look, “This doesn’t have to end in a fight.” He urges as you both stand like a nervous predator, unsure if their prey is going to put up a deadly brawl to the death or not.

Giving him a hooded grimace, your eyes shift from the front door then back to him as you begrudgingly mutter, “It always ends in a fight.”

Looking away, he nods towards Bucky, “You pulled me from the river.” Starts Steve as Bucky hastily removes the black glove covering his metal arm, “Why?”

Bucky huffs, reluctant eyes dancing over to Steve’s, “I don’t know.”

[Three seconds!]- says the voice.

“Yes, you do.”

[Breach! Breach! Breach!]

Yells the voice frantically just as the left window shatters as some can sized metal bomb crashes onto the floor, the three of you immediately turn towards the harmful object right as Bucky kicks it, Steve coming to the rescue as he covers the bomb with his shield. Boom! It goes off, leaving everyone to live another day, or at least for the next minute.

A second later you hear insistent shouting in German just as Bucky grabs the mattress, he shields himself with it as his other hand pulls you to his chest protectively just as a destructively lesser bomb ignites against it from the now broken window.

Pulling out of his grasp, Bucky tosses it aside before kicking the small kitchen table where it lodges itself tightly against the front door. Turning towards the two windows positioned on your right, you’re immediately greeted with the breaking of glass as two heavily equipped combat police burst rudely into the room, heavily armored in tactical gear and ready to kill.

Well, shit.

At an inhuman speed you swiftly grab the first mans gun and point the steel barrel upwards just as he shoots, avoiding killing Bucky if you were a second late; your eyes turn angry as you swing your fist, knocking him unconscious from your blow to his helmet.

The second man shoots a line of bullets that scream angrily into the ceiling when Steve thrusts his gun away from you two, knocking him out in the process. Immediately another soldier breaks into the room from the bathroom door by Steve, gun at the ready as Steve shoves his weapon to the side where Bucky then harshly kicks him in the chest. Sending the intruding soldier into the bathroom, presumably with a hefty concussion.

But before Bucky is able to continue onward, Steve quickly grabs his arm, “Buck, stop!” Instantly he twists out of Steve’s grasp, giving his old friend a deadly glare, “You’re gonna kill someone. Both of you!” He snaps, stormy eyes shifting from you to Bucky just as your Winter Soldier shoves him to the ground by his collar before lunching his metal arm violently into the floorboards right next to his head.

Glaring at Steve, he growls, “I’m not gonna kill anyone.” Before pulling his arm out of the broken wood, travel backpack in hand; he stands and immediately throws it out the broken window about ten stories onto another rooftop below.

Standing in the middle of the ruined apartment as you face them, another soldier crashes through the broken window to your left, Bucky and Steve brace for the worst as the man pauses for a moment, gun facing the floor. Moving swiftly, you quickly unsheathe your razor sharp Adamantium claws out of your right fist before cleanly slicing his weapon into three consecutive pieces.

Shouldn’t have hesitated fucker.

The broken gun clashes to the floor as the soldiers eyes flash with fear before you roughly push him against the wall, grimacing in anger, right hook cocked back as you suddenly thrust a clawed fist directly into his shoulder. He lets out a pained gravelly scream as you pull away to face Bucky and a wide eyed Steve, the injured soldier sliding down the wall to the floor as he applies pressure on his newly bleeding wound.

A second later two more men come racing into the room as your victim slumps to the side once you kick him in the head, unconscious but still breathing as small drops of blood seep out of his affected shoulder. He’s someone else’s problem now.

Steve raises his shield as bullets deflect off the metal, soon Bucky throws his metal arm up; deflecting multiple bullets as Steve takes out a guy on the balcony. Bucky in the meantime has managed to knock the gunman out with a cement brick as you retract your claws back into your fist.

Boom! Boom! Boom! 

Pounds loudly against the locked front door as bullets crash into the hinges, soon Bucky races for the thin wood and thrusts his metal fist into the door without a second thought. Seconds later he breaks down the door, knocking out two guys in the process as you slip past him and into the long staircase hallway that only goes in two consecutive directions, up or down.

Shit, more are coming up the stairs!

A soldier promptly breaks through the overhead glass window from the roof and ascends on a thick black rope, shooting at Bucky who easily deflects his bullets before you kick the man into the wall, knocking him out instantly. Body limp and peaceful as he hangs suspended mid-air in the center of the rounded stairwell, you quickly look down to witness the tiny army of combat police hellbent on ruining your perfectly fine day. 

Well, not much of a fine day anymore.

Without time to process much, you watch as more soldiers charge up the stairs, guns ready to fire; suddenly Bucky jumps on the knocked out man hanging from the ceiling and falls to the next landing below as he uses the unconscious soldier for a sort of pully system, knocking out more police as they try and fight him off once he lands.

Blinking, you jump down without assistance but your own fearsome willpower before shoving a guy down the stairs, who conveniently trips up others in the process. But at least eight more are racing to finish their job, right on cue another soldier meets on your landing as Bucky fights off one from behind you.

Before he’s even able to pull the trigger, you’ve sliced his weapon in half, kicking him harshly into the wall, doing the same to his friend as you fight your way along the staircase, skillfully avoiding bullets and fists alike. 

Turning around to the sounds of Bucky grunting, your eyes trail up and watch as he throws a man over the edge of the railing. But before anything bloody happens, Steve swiftly catches his dark collar much to your disappointment. He then heroically throws the man elsewhere as the fighting starts up again.

Soon Bucky nearly gets his lights knocked out as an armored gloved mitt comes flying for the back of his head; your fist however, breaks the guys jaw with a loud crack as you save your lover from an unfortunate injury. Bucky then gives you a quick nod of silent appreciation before you look up the staircase to see a disappointed Steve. oh, fuck off.

Huffing in irritation, you nudge Bucky to make a swift exit out of here; heeding to your urgent request he knocks another guy out before jumping down a multitude flight of stairs, grabbing onto the closest railing and tearing it back with a pained cry as he uses it to maneuver himself onto the landing.

Alright, time to go.

Breaking a soldiers arm, you proceed to do the same; arriving roughly on the cement landing as you skillfully tuck and roll before jumping up into a standing position and taking a moment to watch as Bucky races down the hallway before jumping off the corridor balcony.

Taking a deep breath in preparation for the jump to come, you book it down the same hallway and soon are free falling while quickly headed for the rooftop below. The damn roof ledge comes faster then you’d anticipated; landing hard against the protruding edge, you grunt in pain before rolling across the roof a couple feet while Bucky picks up his backpack mid run.

With no time to dwell on the burning ache in your shoulder, you push yourself from the ground as you race to catch up with Bucky who’s a good ten feet from you by now. He listens as you grumble a string of incomprehensible swears in displeasured Russian, but keeps running forward as he knows you’ll be right behind him in an instant.

Boots smacking hard against the rooftop cement, you’re almost caught up with Bucky when without so much as a warning does a dark silent shadow appear in your line of sight from directly above you, a second later you’re forcibly thrown into one of the metal conditioning system units, eyes wide and head in a daze. Only to be greeted with a man dressed in a black catlike stealth suit of some strange armor, where he soon begins hand to hand combat with Bucky.

Fuck that hurt. Asshole, you growl miserably.

Bucky dodges and throws skilled yet desperate punches at the mystery individual, although neither of them appear to take any real damage, fortunately for Bucky’s dwindling safety, but not for this other guy. Shaking the fuzziness out of your head, and ignoring the small trickle of blood leaving a red stain from the side of your temple, you hastily jump to your feet and charge the armored bastard as he throws Bucky into another conditioner unit.

Making a clean dent in the thin metal, Bucky’s eyes widen in genuine fear as the angry panther brings his shimmering silver clawed hand into the air, ready to strike. Cornered, Bucky braces for the worst with his metal arm blocking his face just as you seize the panthers forearm.

He abruptly turns his armored head towards you, and is thus kindly greeted with a swift punch to the face that sends him rolling across the rooftop a couple feet away from you and Bucky. Tumbling for a moment, he instantly regains his footing while silver colored claws slash thin sparking lines of gold across the cement as he stops dead in a predatory crouched position.

Well, now he really looks unhappy.

Bucky watches as the panther slowly rises to his feet, looking rather angered by your violent intrusion; breathing heavily, you stare down the fucker before a slow ‘shling’ sounds from out of your clenched fists. The panthers head tilts curiously, closely resembling that of an actual feline as he witnesses a total of six razor sharp claws protruding dangerously in the sunlight.

“Alright. Now we’re even.” You growl darkly as the panther charges for an attack, within seconds yours claws clash violently against his armor as he swipes for an opening to cause some real damage.

Bucky rises to his feet as he watches you and the panther fight like old enemies, sparks fly like confetti as your claws slash against his strange suit while the two of you dance in a rhythmic warriors tango, strangely on the rooftop of some Romanian hotel while Steve remains elsewhere for the time being. 

Anticipating another blow from you, the panther blocks it and finally gets a clean shot of your face, soon you’re on the ground in a blurry daze before shaking your head while you rise to your hands and knees. Okay fuck this guy.

Drops of ruby red blood patter onto the cement as your face turns into a pissed off scowl, both the panther and Bucky watch in anticipation as you dramatically turn around to face them. Three clean slashes mark deep from your right hairline, across your cheek, where finally it relents at the base of your jaw.

You sneer in vexation as your skin fuses ripped muscle and blood vessels back together in a matter of seconds, then without warning does a helicopter appear from above where it rudely begins raining bullets onto the three of you.

Fuck this.

Luckily the artillery is deflected away from Bucky as it hits the panther first, unluckily for you, a couple strays vigorously drag themselves in and out of your shoulder and torso. A sharp white hot paint rips through your vessel causing your legs to buckle, falling to the ground, you instantly scream out in agony when the unpleasant sensation fully registers in your brain, as Bucky’s face turns to worry then anger.

Soon the bullets stop as the helicopter gets pushed off course by some man in a bird suit. Well today really couldn’t be any weirder, what’s next Ironman? You sarcastically think before reluctantly forcing yourself onto your feet only to be welcomed by the worried face of Bucky as he grabs your bleary attention, “Let’s go, we could make it to the underpass.” Affirms Bucky as your strength comes to you once again, muscles fusing back together, the pain fading swiftly.

“Yeah, fuck this.” You retort as he turns and swiftly jumps off the roof and onto another ledge below a you do the same, claws slashing down the buildings side as you do so. But all too soon are you greeted by the metal on metal screeching of the panthers claws as he slides down the side of the same apartment building, closer then you’d like. “Fuck.” You mutter, deeply irritated by this dickhead who won’t give either of you a break.

Not wanting to face the wrath of his shiny sharp claws, you quickly retract yours before you and Bucky instantly turn and jump the rest of the way down, landing skillfully onto the grey sidewalk below before booking it out of there as the panther aggressively chases onward. Steve not far behind, though you don’t care nor have the time to look.

Racing across the city road, bullets fly by the two of you as the opening to the cities subterranean underpass greets you with open arms. Shuffling past some small bushes, Bucky jumps down first, you right behind him as your world turns into a hasty blur. Soon everything comes to an abrupt halt once your boots smack hard against the surface of the roads blacktop.

The sounds of angry car horns blare loudly in your ears as a couple vehicles swerve to the side, just narrowly missing yourself and Bucky, “Come on!” You shout urgently before twisting around and booking it down the underpass with Bucky close behind.

Running at an inhuman speed, you pass cars and trucks alike as they swerve to avoid the two of you, about fifteen seconds later you’re greeted to the all to familiar whirring sounds noisily emitting from the local police cruisers as they hastily follow yourself, Bucky, Steve, and the panther across the highway tunnel.

“Ugh, move!” You snap in irritation before deciding to jump up and run across a green convertible, Bucky almost smiling as he races on the blacktop next to you, continuing onward as you land and race for safety or cover or anywhere away from this mess.

“Left!” Shouts Bucky as you both reach the area where the two huge lanes split from right to left, noticing the sirens coming down from the right lane, you don’t think twice as he practically pulls you in the opposite direction. Left lane it is.

This time traffic races towards you which makes maneuvering in this fucking tunnel even that much more difficult. Your boots clash against the hard ground as Bucky suddenly eyes up an approaching motorcycle, he is not.

As the motorbike comes into about five feet of him, Bucky grabs onto the handles, pushing the guy off while he does an impressive one-eighty before throwing a leg over to straddle the bike as he now points it in the direction of the traffic flow. Not wasting a precious second longer, do you swiftly jump on, throwing your arms around his strong waist for some bit of safety.

The bike instantly growls and groans in protest as Bucky focuses on getting the two of you the fuck out of there; cars fly by in a blur as the wind aggressively whips back your hair, only causing you to hold on tighter as Bucky races down the underpass’s road. Sirens and police speeding not far behind. The constant sound of their sirens just about driving you insane.

Without so much as a warning, your peaceful ride is rudely interrupted when the panther jumps off a car and makes a beeline for your body. Bucky’s flesh hand is around the panthers throat in a second as you lower yourself out of the way. In reply, the panther suddenly twists his body and runs a couple feet on the side of the tunnels wall and low cut ceiling before Bucky tries to throw him down by his throat.

Unfortunately this causes the motorcycle to shift left; dangerously close to the racing ground, he lets go of the panther and switches hands on the handles so he can avoid losing control completely. Metal fingers scrape across the cement creating glowing sparks of angry fiery flickers as the panther holds onto your jacket and the back of the motorcycle for dear life.

Not appreciating this in the slightest, you instinctively begin unsheathing your right claws that are positioned across your lap; you bend low, face pressed against Bucky before twisting the best you can and swiping the panther off of you and onto the harsh ground below. You don’t care to look back as Bucky pushes his metal hand off the ground, finally at last stabilizing the motorbike. Hitting the gas harder, it flies down the road as you swiftly retract your claws back into your knuckles.

“Y/N are you okay!” Shouts Bucky as you tighten your hold from behind, face pressed against his back as you listen to the sirens hastily approaching in the distance.

Gifting him a squeeze of reassurance, you give him a light kiss though he doesn’t feel it, “I could honestly be better!”

Bucky shows the ghost of a smile as he whirs the bike into submission, soon more wind swirls past your face as he pulls something out of his pocket and throw it against the roof of the tunnel where it sticks, blinking red.

Boom! Crash! Down goes a multitude of cement ceiling and destructively onto the freeway, effectively creating a blocker against the panther, Steve, and the Romanian police.

Smiling into his back, you mentally praise him for keeping some of the Hydra weaponry at hand. Until you’re roughly pulled from the bike by the fucking panther himself. Who even is this guy?

And how did he....

Yelping in surprise, you grasp onto Bucky’s backpack for all it’s worth, successfully managing to drag him down with you. The grey tiled street of the tunnel hits against your body harder then you’d like, but nonetheless you take the beating like a champ as you tumble harshly against the ground.

You and the ground are really getting to know each other today.

The panther doing the same from behind you while Bucky rolls awkwardly across the floor like an angry stiff log of dark flowing hair and concealed muscle. While trying to stop yourself from clashing around any further, you quickly regain your bearings in time to block Bucky from getting his throat cut out by the panther who’s on him in an instant.

With your claws bared and shimmering in the light of the protruding sun from the tunnels giant observatory opening, you’re quickly stopped by Steve as he races past you and tackles the panther to the ground by his waist.

Your little violet adventure coming to a messy end, when the panther stands defiantly a couple feet away from the three of you who by now have risen to your feet. Police lights flash from behind him as more surround the four of you instantaneously from on all sides, well shit, this doesn’t look good.

Your frantic eyes shift all around you as your world comes to a crashing halt, a helicopter flies over head, and in this moment you want nothing more then to slash your way out of this one. But you’re trapped.

You stand to Bucky’s immediate right as Steve stands to his left, hands out protectively as you glare at the officers in front of you, neither you nor Bucky speaking a word as you take in heavy breaths from your hefty sprinting session. Suddenly the notorious War Machine lands with a dramatically heavy thud onto the road in front of you, shoulder gun and hand blasters raised as he looks between the three of you.

Well at least it’s not actually Ironman. Right?

“Stand down, now.” Commands War Machine as you throw him a resistant look of pure daggers, hatred and fury flashing across your face as you clench your fists.

Obeying the authoritative command, Steve puts his shield away, latching it to his back as you begrudgingly retract your silver tinted claws back into your forearms with the usual shling sounding as you do so.

“Congratulations, Cap.” Verbally applauds War Machine, voice clearly sarcastic, “You’re a criminal.”

Moments later the Romanian police fully surround you all, guns at the ready; you’re harshly pushed to the ground by angry gloved hands that take captive of your arms and wrists as they pin your stomach to the earth.

“ot"yebis', tupyye pizdy!” You mumble angrily in Russian as the Romanian special task officers hold you like a wounded beast, your actual words translating to “fuck off, you stupid cunts” though they’re none the wiser to your heated threats.

Your chin scrapes against the cement tiles as your hands are pressed against your back, tied instantly as you strain your head to look up. The panther retracts his catlike claws before unclasping his helmet to reveal the troubled face of a dark skinned man; brows furrowing in confusion you suddenly realize who he is when War Machine says, “Your Highness.”

Grimacing in agitation, you can’t help but let out a string of curses aimed crudely at the Wakandian prince and many of the officers in question, half of your verbal abuse a mix of both English and your mother tongue. Soon an officer lightly kicks your side as you send him a deadly glare that causes him to take a cautious step back.

Though to relieve himself of his high authority once more, he gathers some of his men's attention by pointing down at you, “Muzzle this one.” He commands diligently as you squirm in protest, your face a mask of pure rage while Bucky keeps a steady frustrated gaze with the ground. His heart breaking for how they’re treating the two of you, but most importantly how they’re dealing with you.

If not for the current situation, you could have actually laughed; well now, aren’t you quite royally fucked.

-

Tagged: @minigranger​ @bibliophilewednesday​ @holyhumorliteraturelight​ @diegos-butt

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #Bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes reader insert #the winter soldier #the winter soldier x y/n #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier x you #tfatws x reader #marvel imagine #marvel x y/n #marvel x reader #marvel x you #fanfic #fanfiction #series rewrite

[shadeofazmeinya]

That Golden Spark

Summary: Los Santos was alive most at night. When the artificial lights shine brighter than the sun, when all the real business happens between whispers and concealed hands.Trevor has the unfortunate task of gathering the Fakes for the night. Surely they couldn’t have gotten into too much trouble without him.

A/N: For the @rtwritingcommunity Springfairy fic exchange! This one for @uy8hg! A simple fahc fic that was a lot of fun to write!

Los Santos was alive most at night. When the artificial lights shine brighter than the sun, when all the real business happens between whispers and concealed hands. And the bars were the most lively, the music swirling through the streets, the sounds of people’s yells and laughs bouncing off the buildings. It was no different this night, at a small but no less crowded bar in the Fakes area of the city. A favorite and Trevor knew that this is where everyone will be.

Trevor can only sigh as he walks up to the dive bar, the building vibrating with shouting and crashing. A pair tight in a brawl burst from the door, nearly colliding with Trevor as they fell to the street. Not breaking apart as they roll around and chase each other down. Trevor rolls his eyes, sidestepping as he pulls the door open and heads in.

Inside, fists and feet were flying. It was every definition of a bar brawl, people wrestling. Broken bottles and shattered wood scattered everywhere. Two people locked in arms pass in front of Trevor, collapsing a table that splinters and crashes. He hears all the voices blurring together, some unfortunately familiar. But as Trevor scans the place, it doesn’t take long to find the center.

Gavin sits on a stool at the bar, one arm resting on it as he is facing the crowd. His legs were crossed, with a foot tapping to the barely audible music. He shifts just enough to avoid a brawl slamming besides him, lip pulling into a smirk as he takes a drink from some brightly colored concoction. His sunglasses are on, the scenes of violence reflecting against the gold as he watches like he was enjoying a movie.

Trevor has always known Gavin was a talented fuck. Gavin knows how to wrap people around his finger, get people to do what he wants without them even realizing. Unfortunately, Gavin doesn’t tend to use these powers for good.

“Free,” Trevor huffs, pulling one of the only standing stools over to sit besides him. “Fredo said you got here only 15 minutes ago.”

Gavin laughs. “New record, innit? Barely even had to talk this time. Just a few looks, a few winks. Bloody almost got hit!”

“Gavin,” Trevor says, glaring. “Seriously, I thought I told you to lay low.”

“We are laying low. No one will be able to remember anyone in this. And besides, Michael and Jeremy needed a go-” Gavin points and Trevor dreads looking over but does anyway. Sees Michael and Jeremy laughing as they both are taking on four different guys. It is impressive to watch, the two twirl perfectly around each other, knocking out their drunken opponents. At least Trevor knows their brawlers can handle these bar fights. But there was one more.

“And Alfredo?” Trevor huffs. 

Gavin blinks, mind falling in a sudden realization and looks around. “Bloody hell, where did he go? He was the one that wanted a bar fight!”

Trevor lets out a deep sigh at that, standing back up. He drops a few hundreds onto the counter, nodding to the cowering bartender who stood in the corner. Then he faces the crowd, glaring. He lifts his hand and lets out a piercing whistle.

The bar stills instantly. People pause mid swing, with arms wrapped in headlocks, bottles settling onto the floor. Michael and Jeremy both drop who they were wrestling, exchanging sheepish looks as Trevor speaks.

“I’m sure you’re all having fun here. But I would suggest to anyone I do not know to leave. Now.”

People just stare, frozen in their place. “Now.” Trevor snarls, voice thick with unsaid threats, and finally the crowd kicks into action, scrambling out of the bar.

“Cmon, Trevor,” Jeremy whines as they step over, whipping their bloody knuckles on their shirt. “We were just getting into it!”

“And now you’re done,” Trevor huffs. “Do you two idiots know where Alfredo is?”

“Is everyone gone?” a small voice is heard behind them and they all glance to see a familiar pair of eyes peeking out from under the bar.

Gavin smirks, shaking his head. “Trevor scared everyone off. You’re safe now.”

Alfredo sighs, climbing out and over the bar, sitting on the ledge. “Fuck, that shit got intense.”

Michael smirks, laughing. “That’s what fucking bar brawls are. You’re the one who said you wanted to be in one. Because you’ve never been in a fucking proper fight before.”

Alfredo shrugs. “Well, I can scratch that off my bucket list. Can I go to bed yet? I think I’ve had my experience and I learned it doesn’t need to happen again.”

“You’re all heading home,” Trevor sighs. “We have a heist tomorrow. In case you forgot.”

“We’re all ready,” Michael laughs, leaning over the bar to grab another bottle of beer. But Trevor smacks his hand, swiping the bottle away.

“We can drink more after the heist. So you don’t have hangovers. And can focus.”

“We really didn’t drink that much,” Jeremy assures. “One beer each so far. We know not to be too impaired for a heist.”

“At least one of you is responsible,” Trevor hums. “Fredo, you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he assures, grinning. “Just didn’t expect the fight to involve so many fucking people. Gav can rile a whole crowd in seconds.”

“It’s one of my many talents,” Gavin purrs then laughs, setting his drink aside and standing up. He opens his wallet, slipping out another stack of cash and setting it down. He just winks to the poor bartender who’s still squished into the corner, shaking. “I’m sure this’ll cover the damages, luv. Sorry about all this.”

The bartender just nods, carefully taking the cash, eyes widening as they flip through the hundreds that Trevor and Gavin have both set out. Enough for the damages and more.

The night air chills through all of them, as Trevor leads the way out to the cars. Michael and Jeremy laugh and push each other around, retelling their victories of the night. Alfredo sheepishly adds the hits he got in, earning cheers. Trevor rolls his eyes, but can’t help the fond smile that grows. He knew how much he was inheriting, taking over more of Ramsey’s roles, becoming the boss. And while these idiots certainly don’t make the role easy, he doesn’t regret it at all.

#fake ah crew #fahc #ragehappy #that golden spark #fahc trevor #fahc gavin #fahc alfredo #fahc michael #fahc jeremy #gen #not shippy but if u squint u can find some haha #anyway #ao3 link in reblog!

[chloelucia13]

Chapter 15: The Mall Rats and the Case of the Missing Lifeguard

Pairing: none for the moment (currently Jonathan Byers x (kinda) Platonic!Henderson!reader)

Prompt:  You always thought Hawkins was the most boring town of all, stuck in a vacuum void of excitement and entertainment. Well, it seems that way until the world decided to flip upside down, literally.

Chapter Summary: You felt... different. Whatever happened that night in that warehouse had changed you, but you feared telling anyone else about what had occurred. Or maybe... Maybe you couldn't.

Warnings: some fluff, some angst, mostly just going in depth with plot, language, kinda gory, discussions of not having control over your body (flashbacks in italics, separate perspective in bold)

Word Count: 3746

A/N: The series continues! The chapters for season three are gonna get pretty wild, so I hope everyone’s excited to see it! As always, my requests, inbox, and tag lists are open! 

Tags: @just-my-fandom​, @nightbu-g​

“Get the fuck up! We gotta go!” 

A harsh cough rattled your lungs as you awoke, blinking quickly to try and clear your vision and orient yourself. “Wh-” you grumbled, scrambling to get on your feet.

A hand grabbed your arm, pulling you to your feet. Your mind quickly caught up with your body and you began to sprint. Behind you, a snarl echoed through the empty warehouse, spurring you further forward and out of the building. “Get in the car!” Billy demanded, and you followed his instructions with no second thought. 

As soon as you both had sat down, Billy sped out of the lot and down the long stretch of road. “What the fuck was that?” he shouted, his voice strong despite the clear wooziness that plagued both of you.

It was familiar, that you knew. That presence, it was something that had left a large imprint on you. You thought it was gone. You thought you didn’t have to suffer any longer.

But whatever that thing was, it was more than you had ever seen. It was new, worse than anything you had ever experienced. It scared the shit out of you.

So you only half-lied when you responded, “I don’t know.”

Within moments, Billy screeched to a halt in front of a phone booth. You both stumbled out of the car and tucked yourselves away in the glass box, praying that it would be enough to shelter you from whatever that being was, if only for a few seconds. As you leaned against the wall to try and get a full breath of air int your lungs, Billy held the handset to his ear and dialed 911. From where you stood, you could hear a tinny female voice come through the speaker.

The single light above your head began to flicker, and any hope that you had in your mind that this was something completely foreign flew out the window. 

You and Billy exchanged a glance as the light died out, and he hung the handset up before hesitantly pulling the phone box’s door open and stepping out. You followed behind him, footsteps sounding in the distance as you stared out at the open road where the car’s headlights illuminated a path. A thick fog had settled over the air, ashen particles intermingling with the fog and creating an all-too-familiar dread in the pit of your stomach.

As the two of you walked forward, the silhouette of a crowd could be seen through the haze, their footsteps growing closer and closer to you.

“What do you want?” Billy huffed, standing his ground in the middle of the road. You stood beside him, but your fear was evident. “Hey! I said, what do you want!”

“Billy-” you attempted to stop him as a clash of thunder and flash of lightning streaked the red night sky.

“I said, what do you want!”

The crowd froze, and two individuals stepped forward, their features materializing through the fog.

Features you knew as well as your own. Features that were your own.

***

When you finally came to, you were already at the pool. You assumed you had just zoned out this morning, too wrapped up in whatever happened last night to realize what you were even doing.

But that was the thing. You couldn’t remember what happened last night. Sure, you remembered the crash, and that thing, those people. But that was it. Everything else was blank. 

You felt different. Like your skin was on fire and your insides were frozen solid. Every light was too bright, every brush of wind felt like you were being whipped, and every sound was far too loud. And you were so thirsty.

These new feelings made working at a pool more miserable than it already was. You tried your hardest to push through it, ignore the pain and just get through the day, but it proved to be much harder than you were anticipating. In order to live through the day without feeling like absolute shit, you had swapped shifts with Heather, allowing you to sit in the air-conditioned office and work at the entrance to the pool.

The day had gone smoothly for the most part, except for the lingering feeling of wrongness that had settled deep into your bones. It was that same feeling that had plagued you when you were stuck in the upside down, a sense fo familiarity in a completely unfamiliar place. But, at the same time, it was like nothing you had ever experienced, like your entire being was just a thought shoved in the brain of a body you didn’t own. 

You were about to get up and grab another bottle of water from the fridge when a figure appeared at the front counter. “How many?” you hummed, pulling your sunglasses over your eyes to block out the sunlight.

“Are you okay?” the person responded, and your shoulders slouched at the familiar voice. 

“Hey Steve. Sorry, I didn’t realize it was you.”

he scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. “Just a ‘hey, Steve?’ You didn’t call me last night! I drove over here and you weren’t here but your car was! And now you look like you’re dying and you didn’t even recognize me!” he shouted.

You winced at the volume of his voice, your head pounding. “Sorry, sorry. My car broke last night and I had to get a ride from Billy.”

Steve vividly stiffened. “He didn’t... Do anything, right?”

“No! God no! He- he just dropped me off and I fell asleep and forgot to call you. that’s all.”

“That’s all that happened last night?”

“I said, what do you want?” Billy’s voice roared, nearly matching the intensity of the thunder clapping in the sky.

You stood stock still as the mirror image of you stepped closer and closer until they were toe to toe with you. 

Your clone and Billy’s clone spoke simultaneously, a singular bellowing voice echoing out, “To build. I want you to build.”

“To build what?” you snapped, fingers curling into fists.

“What you see.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion and you stepped back. 

“I don’t understand,” Billy huffed. With a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning, the figures disappeared, leaving you and Billy alone on the deserted street. 

“Billy, we need to go-”

“I don’t understand!” he snarled, spinning in circles and taking in the dramatic change of atmosphere that happened in a split second. “What do you mean? I don’t understand!”

A startled gasp fell from your lips as you snapped out of your memories, eyes wide as you fixed your gaze back on Steve. 

“What the hell, Y/N? Are you sure you’re okay?” Steve urged, reaching forward to touch you.

You recoiled, stumbling out of your chair and onto your feet. “I’m fine,” you hissed, winding your jaw tight. 

“Y/N, you’re clearly not-”

“Steve!”

He jumped at the tone of your voice.

“I’m fine. Just drop it. I need to work. I’ll call you tonight.”

He mirrored your clenched jaw, but he nodded and walked away without another word.

You collapsed to your knees with a shuddering sigh. You weren’t okay, and you wanted to tell Steve. You wanted to beg for help, for him to take you to a hospital or something. But there was this weird switch in your mind, a defense mechanism of sorts, that turned you into a completely different person. It was like you were possessed.

Your reflection on your current state was cut short, though, when a guttural yell echoed from the showers. You sprung to your feet and rushed over to the showers, only to run into Heather who had heard the same thing. You two shared a look before hurrying over to the only running shower. 

However, as soon as Billy’s crumpled form came into view, your body began to move on that same autopilot that it did just moments ago, your mind and being possessed by an entity that you couldn’t hold back. Silently, you stood behind Heather as she called out Billy’s name, hoping to snap him out of his stupor. After a few tries, she was successful in catching his attention.

“Billy, are you hurt?” she asked, lowering to her knees in front of him.

“What?” he gasped, brow furrowed.

“I said, are you hurt?” She let out a huff when he continued to stare. “What’s going on? I heard screaming. Should I call an ambulance?” She glanced back at you, confusion further marring her features when she noticed the rigid-but-dazed state that you were in.

You watched as Billy’s eyes lifted up to yours, and then everything went black.

***

The bumpy road made you dizzy as you stared at the road ahead. The car was completely silent, except for the revving engine and the thunder, of which you couldn’t decipher if it was coming from outside or if it was inside your head.

The car rolled into the familiar gravel lot that sat outside the abandoned building. You and Billy robotically exited the car and as Billy opened the trunk, you began to slowly descend down the metal stairs that fed into the building’s basement. Once you were at the bottom, you sat on the concrete floor and stared into the deep black abyss that laid just feet from where you were.

Billy’s footsteps echoed throughout the building as he walked down the stairs, his figure and the limp body he was carrying coming into view. As he walked past you, nausea settled in the pit of your stomach and you were positive that you were going to vomit, but you couldn’t even move.

He gently laid Heather’s now-alert body on the cold concrete between you and the staring darkness. Her eyes locked with yours, silently begging for mercy, and your eyes began to well with tears along with hers. Billy whispered lowly in her ear before rising to his feet and standing next to you, both of you disturbingly still as a growl echoed through the humid air.

From the darkness emerged a creature created from limbs and blood and gore, its monstrous body crawling towards the sacrifice you had involuntarily placed before it.

Beside you, though, Billy was able to tear his eyes away from the sight, anger radiating off of him. You, however, couldn’t force your body to look away.

***

When Max said that Billy may be doing something weird, Eleven didn’t expect this. 

Through the empty expanse of black, a car sat feet away from her. BIlly’s car. The headlights glowed bright into the dark, illuminating the large shatter on the windshield as she walked over to the driver’s side and peered inside.

Soft whimpers reverberated through the empty air as she rounded the back of the car, glancing into the opened trunk before looking up and seeing Billy’s figure knelt on the ground.

“I found him,” El announced.

“What’s he doing?” Max inquired.

“I don’t know. He’s... on the floor... talking to someone.”

Billy’s voice mingled with the harsh whimpers from a disembodied voice as Eleven walked closer, anxiety gnawing at her lungs as she struggled to gasp in a breath.

As she walked, she nearly stumbled over another figure that sat on the floor, a few feet away from Billy. 

“Y/N,” Eleven breathed.

“Y/N?” Max nearly shouted, and Eleven imagined that her eyebrows had shot up to her hairline. “What is he doing to her?”

“Nothing, she’s just... sitting there.” Eleven knelt in front of you, examining your face. “She’s crying.”

Just as she was about to reach out and touch you, Billy rose to his feet, startling her attention back to him.

And he looked at her. He saw her.

With his eyes locked on hers, her heartbeat jumped to her throat. There was something off lurking behind his eyes, something disturbed. But as soon as she saw him, he was gone, evaporating into nothingness.

She gasped in terror and ripped the blindfold from her eyes, light flooding her vision as blood dripped from her nose.

“What is it? What happened?” Max urged, reaching forward and touching Eleven’s arm in an attempt to ground her back into reality.

***

By the time that you had left the Hargrove/Mayfield residence, exhaustion had settled deep into your bones. Silently, you trudged along the broken road that winded from Billy’s house to yours and reflected on everything that had taken place in the last eight hours. 

You felt... disgusting. Monstrous.

You couldn’t remember much of it, but what you do remember made you ponder who you really were. Were you actually you? Did you truly do those heinous things? Or were you just a pawn, a puppet forced to orchestrate these terrible acts to appease these beings?

You were so deeply entrenched in your own thoughts that you didn’t even notice the pair of girls walked towards you.

“Y/N?” Max voiced, startling you.

“Max! El! Hey! What are you guys doing over here?” you hummed, smacking a smile onto your face and acting like nothing was wrong.

The two girls exchanged a look. “We were, uh, walking to my house. What are you doing?”

You nodded, awkwardly crossing your arms over your chest. “Oh, I was just taking a walk. Needed to stretch my legs.”

“Right.”

“Right.” You pursed your lips and looked over to El who was staring at you with a strange look. “Well I should probably get going. It looks like it’s gonna start raining soon. You guys stay safe, okay?”

They both nodded, but their demeanors were unusual. They were usually so comfortable around you, and it made you worry that you had done something to them that you couldn’t remember. 

“Bye, Y/N,” El spoke finally, nodding at you before Max grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.

***

With adrenaline coursing through their veins from what they found hidden under the bathroom sink, the two girls rushed to the heart of town to dig further.

As they exited the pool house, they noticed Jonathan and Nancy leaving the Hawkins Post. They ran over to the other pair, calling their names. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Nancy asked the girls, her brows furrowed in confusion from their panicked states.

“Have either of you talked to Y/N recently?” Max inquired, leading the group under a large awning attached to one of the shops on the block to escape from the rain.

Nancy and Jonathan both shook their head. 

“Why? Is something wrong?” Jonathan spoke up.

“She didn’t show up to work today. Neither did Heather or Billy,” max explained.

“She probably didn’t feel good and she stayed home,” Nancy tried to reason, giving the girls a reassuring smile. “Besides, I doubt Billy and heather skipping work has anything to do with Y/N.”

Eleven vehemently shook her head. “She was with Billy,” she argued, anxiety evident in her voice.

That made Jonathan and Nancy exchange a look between each other before looking back at the girls. “What do you mean?” Nancy urged.

“Last night, we were messing with El’s powers and we decided to spy on Billy. We thought it was gonna be a bad idea, but we weren’t expecting...” Max trailed off, searching for the words. “El saw Y/N with Billy. She was sitting behind him, and she was crying, and he was talking to someone.”

“And this morning,” El broke in. “She was walking from Billy’s house.”

Max nodded. “We looked around and we found a whole bunch of lifeguard stuff hidden under the sink. We don’t know if it’s Y/N’s or someone else’s but-”

“It was bloody.”

The same panic that the girls felt began to invade Nancy and Jonathan’s systems, their hearts palpitating and their breathing becoming ragged. “Oh my god,” Nancy breathed out finally.

“Maybe it’s nothing,” Jonathan spoke, shaking his head. “Maybe we’re just reading into it too much. I’ll call her tonight and check in on her. It’ll be okay.”

The girls nodded, but that anxiety still lingered in the air. They hadn’t even mentioned what El had seen in the showers at the pool, but they thought that it wasn’t dire at the moment.

“Do you guys need a ride home?” Nancy asked, breaking the silence.

“No, we still need to do something,” Max stated vaguely before the two girls pulled their hoods over their heads and ran through the rain over to their bikes.

***

The rain was pouring outside as you tucked your hair behind your ear, a blank look on your face. In the dining room, Heather’s parents chatted idly with Billy while you and Heather meandered dazedly around the kitchen.

Some sort of bell or signal appeared to go off in your mind, as you slapped a smile on your face and made your way into the dining room, sitting in the chair besides Billy and joined in on the senseless chatter.

After a few moments, the chat fell silent, and you and Billy lifted your gaze to see Max and Eleven standing in the doorway of the dining room. You noticed both girls were taken aback by your presence, reeling for a moment.

“Max,” Billy stated plainly.

“We didn’t mean to... Barge in,” Max began to explain, finally finding her voice. “We tried to knock but maybe you didn’t hear us over the storm.”

“I’m sorry, but who is this dripping all over my living room right now?” Heather’s father spoke up, shifting to look at the two girls.

You and Billy both chuckled, exchanging a glance before you subtly gestured for him to introduce them. “I’m sorry,” Billy hummed. Janet, Tom, this... Is my sister, Maxine.”

“And her friend, El,” you added, following Billy as he stood up and walked over to the two girls.

“What on earth are you doing here?” he grumbled. “Is something wrong?”

“We just wanted to make sure everything is okay,” Max explained, quickly glancing over at you before returning her gaze to Billy.

“Okay? Why wouldn’t it be okay?” you spoke, looking between the two girls.

Max looked at you incredulously, as if that was a rhetorical question, before Eleven spoke up: “Where is she?”

“I’m sorry, where is who?” Billy hummed, a playful tone in his voice.

“Well, they’re a little burnt, I’m sorry-” Heather rambled as she brought a tray of cookies into the dining room, pausing when she saw the small group gathered between the living room and the dining room.

“Heather! This is my sister, Maxine! And I’m sorry, I did not quite catch your name...”

“El,” El stated plainly, fire in her eyes.

“El.”

“Now, what is it you were saying, El? You were looking for somebody?” you said sweetly, giving her a smile.

El’s brows furrowed confusedly as she looked over at Heather, stutters falling from her lips. I-I saw- I saw you-” El tried to formulate.

“Your manager,” Max cut in. “At the pool. He said you guys didn’t come into work today, so we got worried.”

“Heather wasn’t feeling so hot today, so we all thought we’d take the day off to nurse her back to health,” Billy explained, smiling at you and Heather. “But you’re feeling just fine right now, aren't you, Heather?”

“I’m feeling so much better,” Heather agreed, shaking her head emphatically. As Billy turned back to the girls, Heather offered the two girls a cookie. “They’re fresh out of the oven.”

“No, no, we should get going,” Max voiced, gripping onto El’s sleeve and giving you one last worried look. “Let’s go.”

“Billy, do you mind walking them out?” you asked, smiling at the two girls.

“Of course,” Billy nodded, walking behind the two girls as you made your way back to the table.

“Well, they’re quite lovely,” Janet noted. “So nice of them to check on you two, even if they dragged some mud in doing so.”

“They truly are the sweetest,” you agreed. “Sorry about all of that, though.”

As Heather’s mother began to go off on a tangent, a sharp pain began to course through your skull. Suddenly, visions of El sealing the gate closed flashed before your eyes, her screams piercing your ears. You gripped onto the table and watched black veins creep up your arms between flashes of the burning orange gate slowly web closed. It left as soon as it came though, though the veins still lingered on your skin and a heavy fog clouded your mind, inhibiting your thoughts.

The creature took over your mind, taking advantage of the fog to make you act as if nothing was wrong. You watched Billy walk into the room and sit beside you, him seemingly in that same daze.

“Is everything alright?” Heather questioned, brows knitted in concern.

“Yes,” Billy stated simply, and you took note of the black veins that snaked in his eyes when he glanced at you. “Everything’s fine.”

“Your sister really didn’t want to stay?” Janet asked, mirroring her daughter’s concern.

“No, she’s just not... you know, really a people person.”

“Well, I just don't like the idea of them out there in the storm like that.”

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” Tom huffed, clearly wanting to end the conversation.

Janet nodded hesitantly and reached for her wine, only for her hand to graze the glass and knock it over. “Oh!” she exclaimed, grabbing a cloth napkin and beginning to dab up the spilled liquid.

“I told you to slow down on that wine, Janet,” Tom grumbled, shoving another forkful of food into his mouth.

“Yes, darling.”

“Are you okay, mommy?” Heather asked, her brows furrowed once more.

“Yes, I’m- I’m just... Feeling a little lightheaded is all.”

As Tom made another comment about the wine, you and Heather and Billy exchanged a look, all of the emotion gone from your faces. Out of your peripheral, you watched as Heather’s mother rose from her seat, only for her to collapse to the ground.

Heather’s father shot to his feet to help his wife, all the while you three gripped your weapons in your hands. You handed Billy a bottle of chloroform and as he wet his cloth napkin with it, Heather carried her wine bottle into the living room. Silently, you both followed behind her and watched as she swung the bottle into her father’s skull. Billy handed her the napkin a moment later, and Heather quickly finished off the remaining half of her parents.

#stranger things #stranger things 3 #billy hargrove #billy Hargrove x reader #Jonathan byers #Jonathan x reader #Steve harrington #Dustin henderson #mike wheeler #eleven #max mayfield #will byers #joyce byers #Nancy wheeler #Lucas sinclair #jim hopper #platonic!reader #henderson!reader #stranger things x reader #st x reader #st imagine #st one shot #st series #fanfiction #fanfic

[dirtydobrik]

kiss & don’t tell - j.w.

plot: you and jeff are secretly hooking up and try to hide it from your friends

word count: 1750

masterlist

You rolled over while still half asleep, draping your arm over a body that normally wasn’t next to you. The presence of another person woke you up immediately. You rubbed your eyes, barely able to make out the guy beside you due to the darkness.

You gasped to yourself when you realized it was Jeff, and you were even more shocked to find yourself in his apartment and his t-shirt.

You reached for your phone on his bedside table, frantically searching to see if you said anything to anyone about the situation. Instead, you found numerous texts from your friends asking where you were and if you were okay. You texted them all back, saying you were fine but conveniently left out the part about where you were, and rested your head on the pillow to fall back to sleep.

A few hours later, the sun peaked through the curtains and reflected off of the hardwood floors, illuminating the room. The air conditioner hummed in the window and you could hear Nerf walking around the apartment.

Jeff was leaning against his headboard, shirtless, with his hands behind his head.

“Did we do anything last night?” you asked, glancing over at him, and he let out a chuckle.

“You don’t remember?” You shook your head. You didn’t remember most of the night, but you definitely didn’t remember leaving with Jeff. “We kissed, that’s all,” he promised you. “Well, that’s all I would let you do.”

You buried your head in your hands, your cheeks burning red with embarrassment. "Oh God, I'm sorry," you muttered.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jeff shrugged. “Are you hungry? There’s a café down the street, or we could go grab a coffee, or I could cook something,” he rambled.

“Let’s go out for breakfast,” you smiled. You and Jeff had always been friendly with each other, but you wouldn’t exactly say that the two of you were friends.

You grabbed your jeans off of the floor and put them on, tucking the front of Jeff’s t-shirt in. You rinsed your face to take off the remainder of your makeup, and grabbed one of his baseball caps to complete your outfit. You shoved your phone into your purse and joined Jeff in the kitchen to walk to breakfast.

A pair of sunglasses and a hoodie was Jeff’s best attempt at hiding his identity from fans who might see the two of you sitting at a table outside the café. The baseball cap you had stole from his closet shielded your face for the most part, so even if people recognized Jeff, they probably wouldn’t know who you were.

“Did anyone see us leave together last night?” you asked, still curious as to how you managed to end the night with Jeff.

He nodded, “Yeah. I mean, I told them I was driving you home, but they don’t know that you didn’t actually make it home.”

 After breakfast, the two of you walked back to his apartment.

“Keep it,” Jeff said, after you asked what you should do with his shirt as you picked yours up off the floor, planning to change back into it.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it looks good on it. And besides, it’ll be nice to have something of mine at your place,” he winked and your cheeks flushed pink. You had figured this was just going to be a one time thing, but Jeff obviously had another idea.

“Want a ride home?” Jeff asked, walking out of the bathroom in a pair of boxers with a towel draped around his shoulders after taking a shower. “I’m heading over to Dave’s, I can drop you off on my way.”

“That’d be great, thanks,” you smiled, looking over at him from your spot on his bed and trying not to stare.

You followed him down to his car and gave him directions back to your apartment.

“See you around,” you said, as Jeff pulled up in front of your apartment. You both glanced at each other and you weren’t sure if you should go in for a kiss or not. You opted to give him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek as a thank you for taking care of you last night. He shot you a smile and waved before driving off.

 A few days later, your friends were over and you were tipsy off of red wine.

“Come over, please,” you insisted, giggling into the phone. You had dialed his number as soon as your friends had left your apartment.

“I’ll be over soon,” he promised.

Thirty minutes later, you heard a knock on your door, and opened it to see Jeff in a pair of black sweatpants and a white t-shirt. You welcomed him in and shut the door behind him. He followed you into your bedroom, pushing you up against the wall and attaching his lips to yours.

The rest of the night was a blur, but you woke up with his arms wrapped around you.

 One night, about two months after you and Jeff had started hooking up, you were at a party in Beverly Hills with a large group of friends. Despite being around everyone, Jeff was eager to get you alone. For most of the night, he kept a close eye on you.

Since none of your friends knew about you and Jeff, they begged you to find a guy to home with, leading you to flirt with strangers. These actions made Jeff jealous and you could tell he was getting angry.

You gave him a quick glance before turning your attention back to another guy. You could feel Jeff’s eyes on you as you flirted, and were pleased with yourself when you heard his footsteps approaching you.

“Excuse me,” he said, interrupting your conversation and pulling you away to make sure no one heard the next thing he had said. “Third floor bathroom in two minutes,” he whispered into your ear before heading towards the back staircase.

You excused yourself from the guy you were talking to and used a different staircase to get upstairs so it wouldn’t be too obvious to any of your friends who saw both of you going upstairs.

“What the hell was all that?” Jeff hissed, pulling you into the bathroom and slamming the door behind you.

“Just shut up and kiss me,” you whispered, standing on your toes and wrapping your arm around his neck. He grabbed your face and crashed his lips on to yours.

A few minutes later, you smoothed out your hair and readjusted your clothes. You poked your head out to make sure no one was around and stepped into hallway, Jeff following behind you.

“Your place or mine?” you asked, looking back at Jeff. He grabbed your hand and pulled you through the crowd, keeping his head down to avoid making eye contact with any of your friends.

Once you got outside, Jeff wrapped his arm around you and pulled you into him, kissing the top of your head. You smiled to yourself before turning to face him and giving him another kiss. He then took your hand in his again and led you down the street to where his SUV was parked. You climbed into his car, thinking you had successfully made it out of the party without being caught.

 However, later that night, you quickly learned how wrong you were. You were cuddling with Jeff, your head resting on his bare chest, as you scrolled through your phone. Pictures of you two flooded your Twitter and Instagram mentions, and you realized the two of you were seen kissing and leaving the party together in the background of one of David’s Instagram stories, and now fans were coming up with different theories about what was happening.

“It’s nobody’s business but ours, babe,” Jeff murmured while half asleep, after you told him that everyone had seen you leave together. You were leaning against the headboard now, trying to find out what people were saying.

“But it’s all over social media,” you pointed out, and Jeff sighed, rolling over to face you.

He put his elbow on his pillow and rested his head on his fist to prop himself up. “What’s this really about?” he asked, knowing that something was bothering you about the situation and it wasn’t just the fact that people on Twitter were talking about the two of you.

“I don’t know,” you sighed, fiddling with a ring on your right middle finger. You weren't sure you had an answer for him. “I guess I just didn’t think people would care this much,” you shrugged, but Jeff didn’t believe you. “And maybe, it's because I don’t know how we even address any of the rumors because I don't really know what we are," you admitted, glancing around the room to avoid eye contact with him. You heard him take a deep breath and could feel his eyes on you.

"Look at me," Jeff whispered, looking up at you. Your eyes met his and it took everything in you not to pull away. “What do you want this to be?” he asked.

“I don’t know. It’s too serious to be just a hookup but too casual to be a relationship.”

“So let’s not label it,” he said, and you gave him a puzzled look. “Just because people are making assumptions and asking questions doesn’t mean we have to give them any answers.”

He made a good point. You hadn’t thought about defining the relationship until other people were asking about it. And Jeff was right, it wasn’t anybody’s business.

 Well, apparently, except for David’s, because the next afternoon, he had insisted on getting answers about the two of you and Jeff had agreed to go over.

"Come on Jeff, you can't kiss someone and not tell us everything," David said, aiming the camera at him, and the rest of the group egged him on, eager to hear about the two of you.

“There's nothing to tell. We haven’t put a label on it,” Jeff shrugged, not knowing what else to tell his friends. He was thankful that you weren't here with him because his friends were ruthless and wouldn't stop talking about the situation until they had all of the details.

"But are you sleeping with her?" David asked, and Jeff rolled his eyes and flipped him off. "I'll take that as a yes," he said, before putting the camera down, satisfied with the information he had.

#jeff wittek #jeff wittek fanfic #jeff wittek imagine #jeff wittek blurb #vlog squad fanfic #jeff wittek x you #Jeff Wittek x Y/N #jeff wittek x reader #vlog squad #vlog squad one shot #jeff wittek one shot #vlog squad blurb #jeff wittek fanfiction #jeff wittek fic #vlog squad imagine

[roman-writing]

bring home a haunting (4/12)

Fandom: The Haunting of Bly Manor

Pairing: Dani Clayton/Jamie Taylor

Rating: M

Wordcount: 20,133

Summary: Dani almost has her life together, when a familiar face arrives back in town after ten years. A childhood friends AU written with @youngbloodbuzz

read it below or read it on AO3 here

It was well and truly autumn. The air had a bite to it and the ground crinkled with every footstep. Everything had lost its vibrant edge and had become brown and wet and stagnant. Nothing but mud and rain and fresh crops on the produce shelves in the grocery store. The nights grew longer and the days shorter, and winter would be fast upon them.

In other words, Dani's least favorite time of year. She had long come to the conclusion that she was not built for the cold. Even now, sky overcast and gloomy, struck through with bared tree branches like black lightning, she wore a thick coat, scarf, and hat. Her boots were splattered with mud from the walk, and she would occasionally admire the way her breath steamed in the air like a cloud with every exhalation. Meanwhile, Jamie wore nothing more than a woollen jumper over her usual t-shirt and jean ensemble. Her scuffed and battered shoes looked even more worse for wear with a layer of caked dirt all up the soles.

They were digging through the illegal dump found midway down the abandoned rail line, affectionately called 'Mount Tire' by the locals. Dani had heard her mother complain about it along with other townsfolk at the annual general meeting of the Council, as though it were a dark mark on the face of the town rather than a treasure trove of objects that otherwise might have gone without a home.

From further along, Jamie made a triumphant noise, and Dani lifted her head.

"Did you find something?" Dani asked.

Jamie's reply was a series of grunts and the sound of something clattering. Dani wandered over to find her brushing off an unearthed bicycle that had seen better days.

Jamie held it propped up with both hands while she inspected it with a critical eye. "I can fix this," she said.

Dani's eyebrows rose and she gave the bike a dubious once over. "It's missing a seat."

Jamie made a dismissive sound while she crouched down to test the chain. "Damn," she swore. "This'll need replacing. Spokes are fine though. And it all looks like surface rust to me. I can fix it."

"Again," said Dani, pointing out the obvious. "There's no seat."

"Always such a Debbie downer," Jamie said even as she aimed a grin at Dani over her shoulder. She straightened. "C'mon. Let's go down to the petrol station."

"What for?" Dani asked, following along beside Jamie as she guided the bicycle with her hands, rolling it along down to the train tracks.

"Tires are flat," Jamie said, tapping one of said tires with the toe of her shoe for good measure. "Tread's fine, though. They've got free air down at the station, and I want to see how bad the damage is."

It was miles away to the gas station, but Dani didn't mind. Not when it was with Jamie. Not when their Saturday was free and they could spend their time aimlessly chatting about everything and nothing in particular. They were still talking and laughing when they arrived at the station, the bike ticking like a clock with every rotation of its old wheels.

Jamie propped the bike against the wall outside before they went in. The owner, Mr. Thompson, was wearing a baseball cap and reading a magazine inside. His head lifted when the bell attached to the door rang, but as he saw who it was that entered — not a customer, just a few kids — he swiftly lost interest. His gaze dropped back down to the magazine on the counter.

"Afternoon, Mr. Thompson," Dani greeted with a little wave.

He grunted a wordless reply, then said, "I don't do candy discounts."

Beside her, Jamie bristled. "We're not that young."

As he flicked to another page — some sort of automobile magazine with shiny cars and motorcycles splashed across it — his eyes moved up to them with a lazy sort of indifference. "You really are, kid."

There was a determined set to Jamie's jaw as she approached the counter and placed her hands on it. "I want to use your air pump outside."

"It's free, isn't it?" he said, his attention firmly back on the magazine. "Don't need to tell me you're going to use it. Just use it."

"I also want to buy some stuff to fix up a bicycle. Tire repair kit. New chain," Jamie ticked off items on her fingers. "Do you have anything that'll help clean up rust?"

Mr. Thompson was watching her now, cheek resting on one fist. "Matter of fact, I do."

"And I want to use your tools out back."

His eyebrows rose and he blinked slowly at her. "You got money to back up that mouth of yours, Miss Taylor?"

Jamie dug her hands into her pockets and pulled out a few crumpled up bills and spare bits of change. She slapped them onto the countertop. Mr. Thompson glanced down. "That's enough for a new chain and none of the others. Sorry, kid. Come back when you have more."

Slowly, Jamie deflated. She began to drag the money back into her hands from the table, but Dani stepped up beside her, rising up on her toes to better be seen. "Excuse me?"

Both of them turned to look at her.

Clearing her throat, Dani forged on. "Can we pay in something other than cash?"

Mr. Thompson's brow crinkled. Somehow he still managed to look bored despite it. "Like what?"

"Well, no offense, Mr. Thompson, but your shop -" Dani gestured around them, "- is kind of a mess. How about we clean it? Windows. Floors. Or -" she said hurriedly as he leaned back, "- we can operate the pump for anyone who comes around? That's -? That's worth something? Right?"

Glancing around the shop, he tipped back his baseball cap with the knuckle of one finger, then swiped at his nose with a thoughtful sniff. Jamie opened her mouth to say something, but Dani stood on her foot and surreptitiously shook her head. Jamie scowled but closed her mouth and kept silent. 

Finally, he waved towards the door that led to the little warehouse and service shop out back. "Brooms and cleaning equipment is back there. And for God's sake don't touch the pumps. Last thing I need is you two spilling gas all over the road."

The effect was immediate. Jamie's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and she began tugging Dani towards the back room, saying, "I get the windows! I'm taller!"

"Hey!" Dani complained, but grudgingly accepted mop duties when push came to shove.

It was slow work, with very few customers to interrupt the boredom. Jamie made a game of pulling faces at Dani through the glass as she cleaned the windows from outside. Dani laughed and would pretend to descend down stairs as she walked. Mr. Thompson kept an eye on them from behind the counter, shaking his head and flipping through his magazine with a mutter under his breath, "Kids."

When a car eventually did roll up to one of the pump stations, Mr. Thompson straightened in his seat. Dani and Jamie were just about finished cleaning when Judy stepped out of her car and saw them. She hesitated, cocking her head curiously, before striding inside. As she opened the door, she kept it propped open with her hip and lifted her sunglasses so that they were perched atop her head.

"What on earth are you two doing?" she asked, looking between Jamie and Dani.

"Trading," said Dani.

"For bicycle parts," Jamie added, and she gestured with a rag towards the old bicycle leaning against the wall.

Judy aimed a questioning look at Mr. Thompson. "That right, Hunter?"

If anything, he looked a bit bashful. "Place needed cleaning, and they don't have money," he grumbled. "Didn't think there was any harm in it."

With a shrug, Judy said, "All right, then. If everyone's happy, then I'm happy. Can I get this filled up?" She pointed to her sedan. "Should only be half a tank, but I'm driving to Cedar Rapids to visit my sister tomorrow."

"Sure thing," Mr. Thompson said. He rose from his seat and ambled out to fill up the car.

Judy kept the door open for him and remained standing in the doorway. She crossed her arms. "And what are your plans for Christmas this year?" she asked Jamie.

Jamie lifted a spray bottle and squeezed some solution onto the window before wiping at the glass with the rag. "Dunno," she answered. "Same as last year. Home with Nan."

"Well, Dani's coming over to my place with her mom," Judy said, nodding towards Dani in question, who listened with a keen ear. "Why don't you and Ruth come over like you did for Thanksgiving? We usually open presents in the morning and have a big lunch."

"Oh, uh -" Jamie hesitated. She glanced through the glass at Dani, who was nodding furiously and all but bouncing on the balls of her feet. Even then, Jamie's expression was unsure. "I'll have to talk to Nan about it."

"Well, you tell Ruth to give me a call, all right?"

Jamie nodded and mumbled something that was too muffled through the glass for Dani to hear properly. Whatever it was made Judy laugh. "Oh, you're going to be trouble one day, Missy," Judy said with a good-natured chuckle.

Jamie’s only response was an impish grin.

When Mr. Thompson had finished refuelling Judy’s car, Judy approached the register to pay. As she pulled out a few bills from her wallet and handed them over, she said, “You know, you should hire the Jones’ boy. Stanley? I hear he’s looking for part time work.” 

Mr. Thompson took the money and punched in a few buttons on the register to get her change. “Shop’s fine.”

Judy took the change with a shrug. “If you say so.” And on her way out, she paused, door held open. “Don’t work them too hard, Hunter. I’ll see you girls later.”

After her car had pulled away from the station and they were left alone with Mr. Thompson once more, Dani and Jamie turned to look at him. He had returned to his place ensconced behind the till, magazine open on the countertop, hiding behind a row of confectionaries and chewing gum. When he felt their eyes upon him, he went very still, hand frozen in place as he turned the page of a new magazine. 

Sighing, he jerked his thumb to indicate the wall behind him. “Tools are in the back. Don’t hurt yourself. Especially you.” He jabbed his finger in Jamie’s direction. “Your grandmother puts the fear of God in me.”

 --

The news of it spread like wildfire across the school the moment it happened. A fight in the east wing. 

Dani and Eddie were already on their way there in search of Carson and Jamie who were late to lunch, when other students rushed past them shouting back the news. The pair exchanged a worried glance before taking off, following the clamor around the corner to where a group of kids were shouting and cheering on at a pile of indistinguishable bodies scuffling on the floor, swinging and pulling violently on each other. 

Dani’s stomach dropped, and immediately cast her eyes around in search of Jamie, worrying at her lower lip when she couldn’t spot her in the crowd. In that same moment, a group of teachers came rushing through. 

“All right, all right, settle down!” Mr. Roberts shouted, pushing his way through the crowd and pulling apart the wrestling bodies with the help of the art teacher, Mr. Keller. 

When Mr. Roberts pulled up the recognizable form of a disheveled Jamie, breathing heavy, her nose bleeding, and a righteous fury burning in her eyes that Dani hadn’t seen since that day in the back alley, Dani sucked in a sharp breath. 

Eddie sighed exasperatedly. “Again?”

“Nan’s gonna kill her,” Dani murmured, frowning in concern. When Jamie wiped at the blood pooling from her nose down to her mouth and chin with the sleeve of her shirt, wincing as she smeared it over her face, Dani winced along with her. 

It didn’t make any sense. No one had bothered Jamie since the first year she arrived at North Liberty after her fight with Roger in the stairwell. The knowledge that Jamie was perfectly capable of defending herself, and fought like a caged beast when cornered had grown widespread across the school. Dani knew. She’d seen Jamie fearlessly tackle one of the twins during a playfight session at the river where, at the time, Tommy had already stood well over a foot taller than Jamie. 

Dani took a step forward, scanning the pile of students being pulled to their feet to see who was responsible. A hand grasped her arm, pulling her to a stop. 

“Danielle,” Eddie hissed. 

Dani almost spun around to glare at him, but her eyes unexpectedly caught Jamie’s. Jamie’s eyes darted pointedly to a corner in the hallway before catching Dani’s again. Dani frowned, but Jamie only responded by pressing her mouth into a thin line and jerking her head towards the same direction, slowly being pulled away by the arm down the hall. 

With one last grimace of a smile, Dani watched her go as another teacher began dispersing the crowd. When Jamie turned a corner, Dani finally exhaled, her shoulders dropping from where they had bunched up, and she scanned the direction of the hallway where Jamie gestured towards. Stepping towards it, she was once again tugged to a stop. She looked down at her hand where Eddie’s had at some point slinked down from her forearm to her hand, holding it in a loose grip. Dani darted her eyes up at him to see that he wasn’t even paying attention, still frowning uncomfortably at the laughing kids who still loitered the hallway. 

Dani huffed. “Eddie.” 

“Yeah?”

“Can I have my hand back?”

He turned to blink blankly at her, and then down at their clasped hands. “Oh,” he said, snatching his hand away, his cheeks turning pink. “Sorry.”

Dani sighed, and returned to scanning the hallway, stepping further through groups of her classmates, until she spotted a familiar figure on the ground, curled up and trembling against the lockers with their head buried in their arms. 

Dani gasped. “Carson!” She rushed towards him, kneeling on the dusty floor and pressed a hand to his shoulder, “Carson, are you okay?”

He flinched away, head jerking up to stare at her with wide watery eyes. He relaxed when he saw it was just Dani, his face crumpling in relief as he nodded and wiped his cheeks. 

Eddie kneeled on the other side of him, eyes fearful. “Are you sure? What happened?”

Risking a glance around them, there were still students being ushered away, some even staring and snickering in their direction. Dani’s stare hardened into a scowl. “Not here,” she said, pushing to her feet, holding out a hand for Carson, “Let’s go outside.”

With downcast eyes, Carson took her hand for her to help pull him up and didn’t let go as she guided both boys outside to their usual spot along the brick walls. They huddled together in a circle with their lunch bags in their laps. 

“Well?” Eddie said, his knee bouncing, wearing a worried frown. “What happened?” Carson sighed and didn’t answer. “Are you in trouble?”

“No,” Carson said, then twisted his face. “At least, I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean you don’t think so? It’s a yes or no question.”

“Eddie,” Dani said, and his mouth promptly snapped shut, looking sheepish. Shaking her head, Dani returned her gaze back at Carson, the youngest O’Mara looking so unusually despondent. She shifted a little closer to him, their knees knocking together, rested a hand on his back and said softly, “It’s okay, you can tell us.”

Carson sighed again, and after a moment, he finally said, “You remember those guys I told you about?”

Dani’s heart sank, knowing immediately what he was referring to. She caught Eddie’s eyes and saw the realization slowly hit him, his face pulling into a grimace. It was only the natural state of things, when Tommy and David graduated from elementary school to the golden gates of high school, for opportunities to arise on the pecking order. With the twins gone, they had taken with them a safety net that had left their little group in peace for the past few years, and out of all of them, the ire of a particular group of the student body had zeroed in on Carson. 

“What did they do?” Dani asked. 

Carson shrugged morosely. “Calling me names again. Shoving me. Whatever.” 

“But why was Jamie there?” Eddie asked, pushing his glasses up his nose. 

“She walks with me to lunch sometimes,” Carson said. 

Slowly, Dani softened, recalling all those moments in the past month where Jamie would rush off after the lunch bell rang, claiming to need the washroom, and arriving later at the lunchroom with Carson by her side.

The rest of the story came out of Carson gradually. Jamie not being there on time to accompany Carson to lunch. Being cornered by a group of boys in the hall, and by the time they were shoving Carson and getting aggressive, Jamie jumped into the fray. 

“And she just -!” Carson’s eyes by now were wide and fervent, “She came out of nowhere and told them to the piss off!”

“Please don’t say that in front of mom,” Eddie groaned. 

“And then, I don’t know, someone started shoving again, and suddenly they were just all fighting,” Carson said, taking a wild bite of his sandwich that he had pulled out in the middle of the story, “Oh! And then Roger jumped in — “

“Roger?” Dani and Eddie blurted in unison.

Swallowing hard, Dani leaned forward with a worried frown, “Was - was he fighting Jamie, too?”

The thought of Jamie taking on not just three, but four boys by herself sent her heart crashing, but Carson was already shaking his head before Dani even finished the question. “No! He was helping her!”

Dani blinked. Roger Simmons helping Jamie in a school fight. Maybe pigs really did fly. 

As Carson’s story began to wind down to what Dani and Eddie already knew, Dani sobered, biting at her thumb. “I think you should go to the principal and tell them what happened.”

Eddie frowned. “Why?”

“Because he was there and the fight started because they were bullying him in the first place!” 

Shifting on the concrete, Eddie hunched his shoulders. “I don’t know. It might make things worse.”

Dani huffed. “How?” 

At Eddie’s noncommittal shrug, Carson shrank back, his eyes darting between Dani and Eddie before landing back on Dani. “I didn’t mean to get Jamie in trouble, I swear,” he mumbled.

Dani sighed and grasped his hand. “You didn’t,” she said, “Jamie knew what she was getting into. But if we go to the principal’s office now and tell them what happened, she might be in less trouble if they knew she was defending you and herself.”

Nodding eagerly, Carson was already haphazardly packing away the rest of his lunch and pushing to his feet. Dani almost smiled as she followed him to stand, but the tight lines of Eddie’s mouth stopped her. 

They retreated back inside and towards the school office in silence. When they arrived, Dani immediately scanned the room for Jamie, but there was no sign of her and the office was empty. She eyed Principal Davis’ office, her brow knitted as they stepped towards Ms. Reeves. 

After a short conversation with Ms. Reeves, Carson was guided towards the principal’s office with Ms. Reeves' hand on his back. Dani balled her hand into fists and bit her lip as she watched him, his shoulders bunched and his head bowed. Beside her, Eddie was anxiously bouncing on his toes, before abruptly blurting out, “Wait - uh. Ms. Reeves?” At the sound of her name, Ms. Reeves glanced back. Eddie stood up straight, pushing his shoulders back, and said, “Can we come with him?”

Ms. Reeves sighed and gave them a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, honey, but no,” she said,

“But he’s my brother.”

Ms. Reeves gestured towards the bench. “You can wait here for the rest of lunch if you’d like, but I’m afraid unless you have something important to add, you can’t go in.”

Both Dani and Eddie deflated, giving Carson one last grim smile and thumbs up that he returned with a small wave. When Ms. Reeves knocked and opened the principal’s door, Dani craned her neck for any sightings of Jamie, but all she could see were the backs of chairs populated by boys, and a stone faced Principal Davis. Carson was guided inside, and then the door was shut with a thud of finality. 

Giving them one last pointed look, Ms. Reeves gestured towards the bench before retreating back to her desk, picking up the phone with a sigh. 

There was nothing more to be done except to take a seat and wait, pretending like they couldn’t hear Ms. Reeves explaining to parents that they needed to come down to the school. Dani winced, a pool of dread whirling in her stomach for the oncoming hurricane of Nan. They snacked on the remains of their lunch as they waited silently. 

When ten minutes had passed, and Carson still hadn’t made a reappearance, Eddie sighed anxiously. “He’s okay, right?”

Dani almost didn’t hear him, absentmindedly snacking on peanuts as she stared at the principal’s office door. “Yeah, if Jamie’s there, of course he is,” Dani replied. 

“God, mom’s gonna kill me.”

“Why?” Dani finally pulled her eyes away to frown at him.

“‘Cause I didn’t watch out for him like Tommy and David,” he said, bouncing his knee, staring at the floor, his face distressed. “Or like you and Jamie.”

Dani’s shoulders dropped and she reached out to grasp his hand, easing it out of its clenched fist to clasp their palms together. “It’s not your fault,” she said, “There was nothing we could’ve done. Jamie was just lucky to be there at the right time today.”

Eddie huffed, his mouth twisting, still visibly concerned and displeased. Dani didn’t know what else to say, she opened her mouth, hoping to find the words to comfort him, but the distinct ominous sound of a tapping cane stopped her. At the sight of a scowling Nan marching in the office, the first to arrive as if the wrath of God had lit a fire under her, Dani immediately shot upright, pulling her hand from Eddie to stand. 

Nan’s mouth thinned when she caught sight of her. She tisked, tapped Dani on the ankle with her cane, and said, “Sit.” Dani did as she was told, biting her lip as Nan stared at her, and then said, “Well? Where is the little shite?”

Swallowing hard, Dani pointed towards Principal Davis’ office. “Already in there,” she murmured. 

With a grunt, Nan didn’t even bother checking in with Ms. Reeves. She marched towards the door and knocked hard on it with her cane. “Harvey Davis, open this door before I break it open.”

The door swung open to reveal Principal Davis wearing a grim smile, just short of paling. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Heron, thank you for — “

“Shut it, and let’s get this over with,” Nan said, pushing past him in the room. Principal Davis exhaled and shut the door. 

Lunch passed quickly after that, a few other parents arrived but there was still no reappearance of Carson or either one of Eddie’s parents yet. They unwillingly shuffled off back to class where they waited out the rest of their day anxiously. Eddie was only able to finally relax when he received a note from the office telling him that Carson was taken home early by their dad, his head thunking on his desk with a loud sigh of relief. Dani chuckled at him, but she still felt worry pulling at her stomach. By the time the final bell rang, Jamie hadn’t returned to class at all, not even for the few things still remaining atop her desk. Dani took it upon herself to gather it all up and stuff them in her locker, careful to keep any loose pages wrinkle free. 

When they were outside, free from school for the weekend, walking towards the beige car that was already waiting for them by the curb a little ways down the street, Eddie looked to her with an eager expression. “Hey, do you want to sleep over this weekend? David and Tommy promised to play Dungeons and Dragons with us.”

Dani’s face twisted. “To play what?”

“Don’t you remember? I told you ages ago. You said you’d play with us.”

“Oh, I - I wanted to go to Jamie’s to see if she’s okay,” she said, grimacing, and then added, “I was gonna sleep over.”

Eddie’s face fell. “But you promised.”

Dani did remember promising, absentmindedly nodding along to the idea in the O’Mara’s basement where they had all congregated around the tv to watch the latest animated Robin Hood movie, snickering quietly to Jamie’s commentary. 

“I know,” Dani said, “I’m sorry. I’m just worried.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “She’s probably fine.”

“She was bleeding everywhere!”

“So? She gets hurt like every other week, it’s nothing special,” he said, scowling at the ground. 

Dani grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop, her mouth thinned. “I’m sorry, Eddie,” she said, “I promise we can hang out soon, but Jamie’s my best friend, I can’t just not see if she’s okay.”

“I’m your best friend, too,” Eddie shot back, his face flushed and his eyes bright, and then froze, ducking his head with a timid expression, and murmured, “I just wanted to hang out.” 

Dani’s heart sank. She didn’t know what else to do or to say. She squeezed at his arm that she still held and moved to slip her hand down to his, but he pulled away with a huff. 

“It’s fine, just forget it,” he said, and continued towards the car. 

She followed after him. “Eddie,” she called out, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said, resignation in his voice, not looking at her. 

Quietly, Dani worried at her lower lip and followed Eddie into the car where Mike was waiting for them. They settled into the backseat and buckled up, both visibly troubled that Mike twisted in his seat to give them an awkward consoling grin. “Hard day, huh?” Mike said, eyes darting between them. “Don’t you kids worry. Carson’s doing all right.” 

When they both silently nodded, Mike’s gaze landed on Dani. While for the most part, Dani and Mike rarely spoke more than five minutes at a time with each other, he was still always a kind and welcoming man. He gave her a tight grin and a nod. “Jamie, too. I think. Lord knows with that grandmother of hers. Never seen Davis turn that color before.” 

Dani breathed out a chuckle. 

“Ah, there it is,” he said, shaking a finger at her, “Knew that was hidden there somewhere.”

Dani ducked her head as Mike twisted back around in his seat to start the engine. As they took off down the street, Dani risked a glance at Eddie out of the corner of her eye to see him already staring at her. When she caught his eyes, he spun his head away sharply. Dani rolled her eyes and nudged at his feet with her own. When he didn’t respond she did it again, knocking it hard enough that there was an audible thud. He sighed and gave her a look that she returned with a grin. He huffed and turned back to the window, but Dani could still see his smile in the slant of his profile. 

When they arrived home, Eddie was the first to offer a murmured goodbye once they got out of the car. Seeing the peace offering for what it was, Dani hugged him tight and said, “I really am sorry.”

“I know,” he murmured, a dejected slump to his shoulders, before pulling away and starting towards the front door of his house where Mike was already shuffling inside. 

With the O’Mara’s front door shut, Dani was off like a shot towards her own house. Unlocking the door with her keys and shoving her way into the empty house to rush upstairs to her room and pack. 

 --

Nan gave her a withering stare when she finally opened the door to Dani’s insistent knocking. Lungs just short of burning from speed walking to the white bungalow, Dani almost shrank back when Nan arched an eyebrow, but she stood her ground and gave Nan a hesitant grin.

Breathing out sharply through her nose in what bizarrely sounded like laugh, Nan shook her head and dryly said, “Took your sweet time, did you?”

“Um.”

Nan huffed, and jerked her head towards the house. “Well, get inside. I’ve got a pot brewing already,” she said, disappearing back into the house. “And take your bloody inhaler before you pass out on my floor.”

Dani did as she was told, shuffling inside and shutting the door behind her to peel off her shoes and coat. She could hear Nan moving around in the kitchen, porcelain cups and plates clinking as Dani quickly took a puff from her inhaler, feeling better already as she stuffed it back in her bag and followed the sounds. 

Nan was already setting the table with three sets of cups and a blue tin that Dani knew held Nan’s coveted cookies, the old rickety table wobbling with every gentle movement due to its uneven legs. Dani dropped her bag in the corner of the kitchen as she scanned the rooms, not finding Jamie anywhere. “Where is she?” she asked quietly. 

“Out back working on that mess of a bike,” Nan said. 

Dani eagerly turned to make her way to the door leading to the backyard, but jerked to a stop when Nan held up the length of her cane to Dani’s stomach. She darted her eyes up towards Nan, blinking in surprise. Nan’s mouth thinned and she jerked her head to the table. “Sit,” she said in a tone of voice that brooked no room for argument.

Feeling her stomach sink, Dani spared a glance towards the back door, and followed Nan to the table, sitting opposite where she stood, stiff in her seat and her hands balled into fists in her lap. “Is she grounded?” Dani carefully asked. 

“Aye, she is,” Nan said, busy making a single cup of tea and setting up a saucer of what Dani recognized were Jamie’s favorite cookies. 

Dani waited for a moment before asking, “How long?”

“As long she needs to be,” Nan sharply replied. 

Dani sank back into her seat, biting her lip, watching as Nan set the cup of tea and saucer of cookies onto a small tray before sliding over an empty cup towards Dani. “Make your tea,” she said, her eyes so piercing that Dani slowly sat back up and reached for the pot. Nan nodded once and gathered the tray in her hand. “Wait here,” she said, and started towards the back screen door.

Straining her ears towards the backyard, Dani made her tea as silently as she could, hearing the tap of Nan’s cane and the whooshing sound of the door being pulled open, letting in a cool draft. But when all she could hear from the pair outside were muffled voices, words indistinguishable and muted, Dani huffed. For a moment, she strongly considered sneaking closer, taking advantage of her socked feet sliding against the floor, but the fear of getting caught kept her rooted to her chair.

The muffled voices abruptly grew louder. “But that’s not fair!” Jamie whined. 

“You don’t see me complaining about missing half a day’s paycheck, do you?” Nan retorted, “You sit out here, have your cuppa and biscuits, and keep your hands busy or so help me God.”

“But —”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, girl. It’s not the end of the world,” Nan said, and stomped back inside, closing the screen door shut with a hard thud. 

Wincing in sympathy, Dani could easily picture the indignant glower on Jamie’s face, her cheeks flushed and her brows deeply furrowed. 

Nan returned with a scowl, sitting in her seat opposite Dani and resting her cane on the table that wobbled slightly at the movement. Holding her cup in her hands, letting the heat warm her skin, Dani sat quietly as Nan made her own cup of tea, not knowing where to start. It wasn’t that Nan was that terribly difficult to talk to, with her shrewd eyes, endless tales of her time during both World Wars, the spite that kept her going, and a sixth sense for whenever Dani and Jamie somehow managed to find themselves doing something they shouldn't, but well — she was difficult to talk to. 

Shoving the tin of cookies towards Dani, Nan gave her a sharp look and said, “Before you get ahead of yourself, I’ve already heard the sorry tale of it.”

Dani paused, and then reached into the tin for a Jammie Dodger. “So you know it’s not her fault?” Dani tried, blinking her eyes innocently, taking a small bite of the cookie, “That she was defending herself?”

Nan snorted, pointing at her with a cookie. “Don’t try that look with me,” she said, “It may work on Judy, but it sure as hell won’t work on me.” Dani ducked her head and took a morose sip of her tea. Nan continued, “I know she was defending the O’Mara boy. But she broke her promise. Got into another fight. Got into trouble. Sure, she helped the boy, but she got nothing for it except a week's worth of detention and the threat of suspension. Again.”

Dani shrank further back in her seat, her frown deepening as she let the words sink in and ate her cookie, and finally said, “But she did though. Get something out of it, that is.” 

She looked up and caught Nan’s eye, expression unchanged save for the arch of an eyebrow. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. What she wanted to say — that Jamie proved how much she cared, that Jamie earned a wealth of loyalty that Dani witnessed bloom in Carson’s eyes that she hadn’t seen before — all of it seemed to lodge itself in the back of her throat. Instead, she needed Nan to know the truth of it, she needed Nan to see Jamie for who she was, the importance of it pressing on her chest. 

“Jamie’s a good person,” Dani finally murmured. 

Nan’s mouth pulled tight. “Well, of course she is,” she said sharply, “She may be a bleeding pain in my arse, but she’s a far sight better than her mother and her knob of a father.”

Dani blinked. Taken aback at not only Nan’s irritation, as if annoyed that Dani reminded her of something that should’ve been obvious, but at the mention of Jamie’s parents. Parents who Jamie had never once mentioned before besides that one time during Dani’s birthday. Always shrugging off questions and changing the subject when mention of them were brought up. It felt strange, discussing something so deeply personal about Jamie, something that Jamie seemed to avoid at all costs, when she was only a few feet away out of hearing range. Dani chanced a glance behind her to where the screen door would be, fearing that any second Jamie might crack and stomp back inside. 

“Doesn’t talk much about them, does she?” Nan said, pulling back Dani’s attention. At Nan’s questioning stare, Dani quietly shook her head. Nan hummed, and then she too shook her head, leaning forward on the table, ignoring the way it shifted again, the pull of her stare so acute that Dani couldn’t blink or turn away.

“Now, you listen here. I’ll tell you exactly what I told her,” Nan said, ”She did a good thing, truly. But she went about it the wrong way, you see. There are more ways to go about things than with the end of your fist. I won’t tolerate it. Not in this house. Not again. Nothing good will ever come of it if she keeps it up. Do you understand?”

Dani was quiet for a long moment, absorbing the words, and then nodded. 

“Good,” Nan said, leaning back and taking a sip of her tea. “Figured as much. Lord knows the girl was as wild as the wind blew back in England. But ever since coming here and meeting you, she’s been mellowing in her own way, so I suppose…I suppose I should offer you my thanks for your bit in it.”

Dani’s eyes widened, a hot flush warming her cheeks and spreading across her chest. It wasn’t often Nan handed out such free praise or thanks. A pleased thrill ran down Dani’s spine, and the corners of her mouth curled into a shy smile that she hid behind her cup as she finished her tea.

Tisking, Nan took a healthy bite of a cookie. “Don’t let that get to your head. And don’t expect me to ever say that again. You both still drive me mad,” she said, and after a moment, she sighed. “And I reckon you should be getting home now before it gets too dark. Last thing I need is your mother over here.”

“Oh,” Dani murmured, and then finding her courage, she added, “Could you —  um. Could you not tell Jamie that I was here, then? I just — I don’t think she’d be happy that I was here, and she didn’t get to see me.”

Nan harrumphed. “Would serve her right,” she said with a displeased twist to her mouth.

“Please?”

Nan watched her for a long moment, expression blank save for a squared jaw, and said, “I’ll think about it.”

Dani’s mouth dared to pull into a grin. Nan huffed and stood, moving to gather her cup. Seeing this, Dani rushed out of her seat to help, gathering both her own and Nan’s cup to set in the sink. 

“Buttering me up now, eh?” Nan said, a hand on her cane and the other on her hip. When Dani merely grinned and shrugged, Nan shook her head and then abruptly paused, her eyes scrutinizing. “Did you walk all the way here?”

Nodding, Dani ducked her eyes away from the intensity of Nan’s gaze. Nan hummed again, made a gesture towards the front door and simply said, “Get your things.”

While Nan disappeared somewhere deeper in the house where the bedrooms were, Dani gathered one last cookie, her bag, and slipped back on her shoes and coat. As she waited by the door, itching to see Jamie just once before she left, Nan reappeared wearing a thick coat. Dani offered her arm for Nan to hold as she pushed her feet into a pair of boots and spared one last glance towards the back of the house, letting Nan guide her outside.

The drive home was silent between the pair, the cabin quiet besides the rickety rumble of Nan’s truck and the radio on low playing some oldies station. When Nan pulled up to Dani’s house, the skyline pink and purple in the evening twilight, she turned to thank Nan only to find her scowling towards her home. Frowning, Dani followed Nan’s gaze to look it over, seeing nothing amiss. An empty driveway, a neat lawn, porch lights off. 

“You got something to eat for dinner?” Nan abruptly asked.

Dani caught her eyes again and shrugged, vaguely recalling leftovers in the fridge. Peanut butter and bread in the cupboard. “I think so, yeah.”

“Best pop over to Judy’s then.”

Her eyes drifted away to the O’Mara’s house, recalling Eddie’s dejected face. A spark of hope lit inside her. Maybe there was still time to turn things around. Turning back to Nan, Dani nodded, and said, “Thank you for tea. And the ride home.”

Nan grunted in response, and just as Dani unbuckled her seat belt and moved to open the door, Nan’s voice stopped her. “Dani,” she said, her voice demanding attention. Dani paused as Nan gave her a look, knowing and firm. “Two days. Then you’ll see her.”

Dani nodded faintly. Two days. Two days without Jamie. An entire weekend. Almost a lifetime really. Not once in the past two years could Dani recall going more than a day without talking to or seeing Jamie. The idea of it felt almost like cutting off a limb. 

“Two days,” Dani repeated, nodding again. She could manage that, she thought, resignation settling heavy on her shoulders. What could be worse than two days?

 --

The moment Dani saw Jamie stepping foot back on the school grounds the following Monday morning, Dani nearly took her off her feet in a running hug. Jamie grunted upon impact, forced back a foot or two. 

“Ow, fuck.” 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Dani said, starting to remove her arms from around Jamie’s shoulders, but Jamie just laughed, pulling her back into the hug. 

“Missed you too,” Jamie said, a smile in her voice.

They stood there hugging for a good minute, giggling as they roughly rocked each other back and forth, as if they hadn’t seen each other for years instead of two days. 

“Okay, okay, let me see,” Dani finally said, pulling away to rest her hands on Jamie’s shoulders, getting a good look at her face. Jamie sighed and rolled her eyes under the scrutiny, but sure enough, her face was a discolored mess. The skin around her left eye was bruised purple and red, looking tender to the touch, and her cheek and jaw were mottled a dark purple. Dani winced and said, “You look worse than you did last time.”

“What? You don’t think it brings out the color of my eyes?”

Dani snorted and shoved her by the shoulders. Jamie allowed herself to rock back with a good-natured grin.

“Least my nose didn’t break, thank god,” Jamie said, gently prodding the bridge of her nose, knuckles also discolored, then grimaced. “Though one wanker did manage to get a grip on my braid. Felt like my scalp was gonna rip off. Had a headache all weekend.”

Dani winced again, leaning closer to get a better look, and then gently poked at her bruised cheek. At the slight touch, Jamie jerked back as though Dani had struck her. “Ow! Christ, what’s wrong with you?” she said, though there was a teasing glint in her eyes. 

Biting back a laugh, Dani poked her again, this time in the chest. “You don’t get to do that again,” she said, sobering. 

“Or what? You gonna call the sheriff on me?”

“No,” Dani said hotly, “You just — you scared me. And I’m pretty sure Nan will lock you away forever next time, so please don’t.”

Jamie’s face blanched, and then shook her head, scowling. “That old nag has it out for me, I swear.”

“She cares for you.”

Jamie gave her a look. “That right?”

“Yes,” Dani said earnestly. 

At that, Jamie’s shoulders dropped, her face softening for a moment and then she huffed. “Right. Or you were just that bored without me,” she said, smirking. 

Dani rolled her eyes. The weekend hadn’t been a complete waste in truth. Eddie had brightened immeasurably when Dani returned with only the simple explanation that Jamie was grounded. He had even managed a sympathetic grin before leading her deeper into the house. It was like any other weekend spent at the O’Mara’s, except this time there was no Jamie with her silly commentary or teasing as Dani fumbled her way through some game involving fantasy creatures and dice. It almost felt like the days before Jamie and Nan had arrived at North Liberty, except now there had been a distinct large gap of the puzzle missing. 

Before Dani could respond however, there was the sound of shoes slapping on concrete. 

“Jamie!” was all the warning they both got before Jamie was once again nearly bowled over by the slim frame of Carson. Dani laughed when Jamie swore again, hugging Carson back and laughing, ruffling his hair. 

When the bell eventually rang to signal the start of the school day, they made their way to class. There wasn’t much fanfare to Jamie’s return beyond the quiet stares and hushed whispers behind hands through the halls and during class. Jamie at this point had learned to ignore it all, sighing and rolling her eyes whenever she managed to find herself the centerpoint of gossip. Dani on the other hand had no issues with scowling back until those staring spun away. By the time lunch rolled around and they were settling in their seats in the lunchroom, Dani was in the middle of pinning a smirking Jackie with a hard stare when Carson slid next to Jamie with a large tupperware in hand. 

Jamie snorted. “Don’t tell me you brought an entire meal with you for lunch,” she said, pulling back Dani’s attention.

Shyly shaking his head, Carson pushed the container towards Jamie. “It’s for you.”

Jamie blinked. “For me?”

Nodding, Carson grinned and said, “Open it!”

A look of uncertainty crossed Jamie’s face. She caught Dani’s eyes, quirking an eyebrow, but Dani just shrugged in response, at a loss herself. Shaking her head, Jamie finally opened the container and her eyes went wide at the sight of a pile of chocolate chip cookies and a big ziploc bag of puppy chow packed inside. 

“Holy shit,” Jamie said. “This all for me?”

Biting into his sandwich, Carson nodded and grinned around a mouthful of food. Chuckling, Jamie immediately snatched up a cookie and took a bite. Dani laughed, and reached forward for one of her own. 

Jamie swiped at her hand. “Ah, haven’t you heard? These are mine,” Jamie said. Eddie snorted into his own lunch as Dani scoffed, pulling her hand back. “What? You telling me you don’t have your own stash somewhere at home?”

“No,” Dani glowered, her mouth threatening to pull into a smile. 

“We made them only for you,” Carson said.

Jamie paused, frowning. “Why?”

Growing shy again, Carson shrugged. “When mom heard what happened, she thought it would be nice if we made you some cookies.”

A grin slowly grew on Jamie’s face. “You helped make these?” she asked, gesturing with the half bitten cookie in hand. At Carson’s slow nod, her grin grew wide and she stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth, “Think you’ve found your future calling.” 

Carson brightened, shooting upright, but then pulled his lips between his teeth, growing visibly anxious. “I’m sorry you got in trouble.”

Jamie’s chewing slowed. “Don’t worry about it, mate,” she said, shrugging. 

Carson’s face twisted. “But, you got beat up! And detention! And grounded! And -!” he paused, pointing at Dani “ — Dani was sad you weren’t with us for the sleepover!”

Pausing, Eddie blinked at Dani. “You were?”

Warmth spread across Dani’s cheeks as all eyes turned towards her. She shrugged helplessly under their stares. 

“Well, duh,” Carson said, like it should’ve been obvious. Then he sobered again, remorse in his eyes, “But yeah, I’m — I’m sorry.”

Jamie sighed, and was silent for a long moment before meeting Carson’s eyes. “Well...have any of them bugged you since? Looked at you funny at all?” Slowly, Carson shook his head. Jamie grinned softly in response and shrugged. “Then it was worth it.”

At that, Carson’s shoulders dropped from where they were bunched to his ears, and he matched Jamie’s grin when she ruffled his hair. Even as she did so, she slid the container closer to Dani, who happily took a cookie.

“Ed?” Jamie said, smirking as she shook the container at Eddie. “Biscuit for your clearly shattered nerves last week?”

He rolled his eyes. “Stop calling me that,” he mumbled for what seemed the millionth time, but eventually grinned and took a cookie, “Thanks.”

The rest of the school day passed by in a blur, happy that Jamie was back, happy that things were back to normal. 

After waiting out Jamie’s detention, they all exited the school together where Jamie jostled Carson with a wide grin and egged him on into a race towards the car. Before either of them could start a proper countdown, Jamie shoved her books into Dani’s arms and took off like a shot, laughing madly. 

“Hey! That’s cheating!” Carson shouted, shoving his own books in Eddie’s arms and ran off after her.

Dani smiled broadly and shook her head as she watched them go, juggling the books in hand. Jamie, already far ahead with her speed and jumpstart, twisted her head around to shout something back at Carson, and abruptly tripped over her own feet in the slick frozen grass and went tumbling across the ground. Dani somehow managed to wince and laugh at the same time as Carson sped past Jamie’s sprawling form, pointing and cackling before tripping himself, going flying on the grass. Even Eddie managed to double over laughing with Dani as they reached the prone pair. 

When Jamie hitched along for the ride home, Mike, who had been patiently waiting with a magazine in the car, twisted in his seat to give Jamie a grin. “Nice shiner, bud. Welcome back.”

Jamie’s shoulders straightened proudly. When Dani snorted and rolled her eyes, Jamie nudged her in the ribs, and Dani quickly nudged her back, the pair grinning wide. 

But when they arrived at the O’Mara household, a strange tension coiled at Jamie’s shoulders when they stepped inside and slipped off their shoes. Dani frowned curiously at her and the tightness of her mouth and the hard grip she had on her school books that were held together by an old brown belt, an unusual apprehension about her. When they all wandered to the kitchen where Judy already set up shop, chopping at vegetables, Jamie stood even more upright. 

“Oh, there she is!” Judy said, brightening into a smile when she caught sight of them. She left her kitchen knife on the counter and made a beeline towards Jamie. “All right, come here. Let me take a look.”

At the sound of the boys snickering, Jamie’s eyes went wide as Judy carefully framed her face with her hands, gently tilting her head side to side, Judy’s face one of concentration as she studied Jamie’s bruises. “Hmm, just as I thought,” Judy said, nodding decisively and smiled wide, resting her hands on Jamie’s shoulders. “A raging case of moxie and a heart of gold.”

Underneath the bruises, Jamie’s face went red as she blinked, the tension easing from her shoulders. Judy merely laughed, and pulled her into a hug, murmuring something that Dani couldn’t hear. Jamie stood stiff before slowly returning the hug, her arms held loose and awkward.

When Judy finally pulled away, Jamie ducked her head and murmured, “Um. Thank you, Mrs. O’Mara.” She raised her head, meeting Judy’s eyes, only to drop her gaze once more. “And for the biscuits, too.”

“I should be thanking you. Carson hasn’t stopped talking about it.”

Carson sputtered, an arm elbow deep in a bag of chips he had pulled out from a cupboard. “No, I haven’t!”  

Eddie laughed, making a grab for the bag, but Carson snatched it away just in time with a scowl.

Judy hummed, unconvinced, and turned to give Dani a knowing grin. “He even mentioned what you did, Danielle,” she said, “What you did for Jamie when she first got here.” At the mention of that old memory, of stepping between Jamie and a group of bullies before they were ever friends, Dani blushed hotly, catching Jamie’s eyes as she smirked at Dani. “So, I figured, I’d make us all something special today, just for my two brave girls.”

Jamie blinked again, seemingly frozen as Dani lit up and asked, “Lasagna?”

“Got it in one,” Judy grinned, but then sobered as she looked back at Jamie, “Just please, promise me no more fights? The twins give me enough stress as it is. Not just for the sake of my own heart, but the health of your grandmother’s?”

Jamie’s mouth twisted. “Did Nan talk to you?”

“She may have mentioned it.” Judy’s face gave away nothing. 

Jamie’s brows knitted into a slight resigned frown, and slowly she nodded. Pleased, Judy grinned again and gently nudged Jamie towards Dani with a pat to her back. “You kids go wash up and do your schoolwork, and then maybe you could come help me put the lasagna together. And — “ she sighed exasperatedly, returning to the counter “ — boys, put that away before you ruin your appetite.” 

Carson nodded eagerly as Eddie groaned, his mouth full of chips, rolling the bag up and stuffing it carelessly back into the cupboard before they both shuffled out of the kitchen. Dani snorted, shaking her head after them, and turned to see Jamie stepping quietly towards her, an odd look on her face. 

When Dani led her out of the kitchen, Jamie turned to her, her eyes filled with quiet bewilderment, and slowly asked, “What just happened?”

Dani smiled faintly, recognizing the look in Jamie’s eyes, one that Dani occasionally wore herself after long days in the O’Mara household. If there were words for it, an explanation to it all, then Dani couldn’t even begin to name or explain it, so she shrugged helplessly, grinning when Jamie rolled her eyes.

Later, as Eddie and Jamie were finishing the last of their math homework at the kitchen table, and Carson and Dani helped Judy layer massive baking pans with lasagna noodles, sauce, and various fillings, they heard the sound of the front door opening and the twins crashing in.

“Is she here?” one of them called. 

“She better be here!”

Judy pointed. “She’s here.”

Tommy and David rushed into the kitchen, and made a beeline towards Jamie.

“Oh, Christ,” Jamie groaned, already tensing her shoulders. 

Judy tisked. “Language.”

Dani laughed, a warmth settling over her as she watched the twins accost Jamie, jostling her shoulders as they proudly remarked at her bruises, comparing them to their own old fighting tokens, and demanded she tell her side of the tale. Jamie tried shoving them off, grumbling and elbowing them in the ribs, but couldn't hide her wide smile.

 --

On the day after the first snowfall of the year, Jamie insisted they go for a walk.

"Don't you have snow in England?" Dani asked.

They were sitting on the back porch of Jamie's house, jamming their feet into boots. Dani was dressed in a pink puffy jacket and swaddled up with a hat and scarf. Meanwhile Jamie had haphazardly tossed on a baggy jacket over her woollen sweater with some ragged fingerless gloves, as if that ensemble would be enough protection from the cold. Years of experience of Iowa winters told Dani that would not be the case.

"Yeah, but not like -" Jamie gestured with one of her boots towards the backyard, "- this."

The blanket of snow was deep and utterly untouched, extending beyond the treeline. The front lawn was another matter entirely. Jamie had spent the previous day shovelling a path from the sidewalk to the front steps until she was pink in the face from exertion, all while Nan watched with a waiting cup of tea in hand as Jamie's reward.

Dani squinted across the glare of sunlight that glittered across the white bank of fresh snowfall. "Not sure why this is so impressive," she said. "It happens every year, and just makes it difficult to walk everywhere."

"You love it," Jamie said.

Dani made a face. "I don’t. It's so cold. And I hate slipping on the sidewalks."

"Yeah, but it means the outdoor track days are cancelled for gym class."

At that, Dani paused. "Well. Yeah. Okay. I do like that."

"Told you." Jamie grinned and Dani rolled her eyes.

Jamie stamped her heel into the final boot, and stood, holding her hands out to Dani, who grabbed hold and allowed herself to be hauled to her feet. Jamie tugged her upright with such force, that Dani — eyes wide — lost her balance, and they went toppling over backwards off the porch into the snow with a chorus of cries and laughter and a spray of white all round.

Dani shuffled into a crouch, Jamie's body warm beneath her and shaking with laughter. "You did that on purpose!"

"I didn't! I swear!" Jamie said, and her smile was so broad it beamed almost as brightly as the sun's reflection. "This, I'm doing on purpose though."

Dani screwed up her face in confusion. "What -?"

In answer, Jamie reached to either side, grabbed two handfuls of snow, and shoved them into Dani's face and neck. A burst of icy water melted down the gap in Dani's scarf, and she shrieked, rolling off Jamie and further into the bank, limbs flailing in her attempts to escape. If this had been the twins, they would have pounced, turning it into a fight to test the trammels of time. Instead, Jamie cackled with laughter and scrambled to her feet, already bounding off towards the treeline with unwieldy steps.

"C'mon!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Shaking herself off, Dani pushed herself upright and started after her, ire singing in her teeth. She slipped and caught herself and stumbled along in Jamie’s wake. Jamie's footsteps were less dainty little impressions and more great gouges taken out of the snow, as though two tracks had been dragged from the porch and off to the trees. Jamie waited for her to catch up beneath the oak from which they had hung a tire swing the two years before. Her dark hair was struck through with snow as if it were a net of clustered stars, and her eyes sparkled. Whatever vengeance Dani had been planning to exact withered and died at the root when Jamie looked at her like that.

"Where are we going?" Dani asked.

Jamie shrugged and turned, stomping away with Dani at her side. "Dunno. Wherever we like. Don't suppose that old tire dump is still a few miles that way?"

"Probably," said Dani. "Why?"

"It's the closest thing to a hill in these parts. I was thinking if it's covered in snow, we might be able to slide down it."

The logic was sound, so Dani nodded. "All right. Are there lots of hills where you're from?"

They stepped up and onto the slightly elevated ground which indicated the train tracks. When Jamie's footing slipped, Dani grabbed hold of her arm to keep her from face-planting into the snow.

"Cheers," Jamie said, but she did not let go of Dani's hand, instead weaving their fingers together and tugging Dani straight down the abandoned track line. "Some hills, yeah. Bigger than here, by far. No mountains though. I'd love to see some honest mountains."

"We can go sometime. You know -" Dani swung their arms back and forth in an exaggerated arc. "When we learn to drive. Maybe before college."

Jamie's brow furrowed. "College? That's not old enough, is it?"

"Yeah, it is. I want to go to one out of state. Somewhere -" Dani hesitated to even voice the idea, but here, alone with Jamie, a pale sky overhead and a pale earth stretching out before her for miles in every direction, she felt brave enough to admit it. "Somewhere not here."

Jamie's gloves were scratchy against her fingers. "You mean university?" she snorted. "Christ. Never imagined myself going to one of those."

"Well, why not?" Dani asked. "Doesn't your Nan want you to go?"

"Not sure if she could afford it even if she did," said Jamie dryly. "But, nah. Not for me. After this, I'm done. Can you imagine me sitting around reading books and writing papers all day? What a laugh."

Jamie chuckled and shook her head, and a fine dusting of snow was knocked loose from the shoulders of her jacket. Dani didn't join her. She contemplated the idea — finishing school here, running off somewhere else, anywhere else, incurring the wrath of her mother, who had always insisted Danielle would go to university — and found the very notion thrilling in a way that made her feel slightly ill. She swallowed, and Jamie squeezed her hand before letting go.

The train tracks were lifted just enough that they poked up through the snow, narrow twin mounds that ran for miles and miles and ended at an old shunt that was still in operation beyond the next town's fertilizer plant. Jamie stood atop one track and walked the steel. The toe of her boots brushed away any snow atop it as she went. She held her arms outstretched to balance herself, and Dani stayed within reach so that Jamie could grab onto her shoulder should she need to regain her balance.

"What do you want to do?" Dani asked.

"Don't know. Don't care," Jamie answered. "I'll figure it out. One day at a time. What about you?"

Dani cast her mind back. She considered the question carefully. Jamie's outstretched hand tapped her on the shoulder, not out of a request for her to answer, but only because Jamie was see-sawing her arms back and forth to keep her footing without needing to hop off the track.

Eventually, Dani said, "Teach kids, maybe."

Jamie snorted, and a plume of white left her mouth like a cloud. "What? Like Mary Poppins?"

Dani could feel her own cheeks burn, and knew she must have been as pink as her puffy jacket. "No," she said primly. "Like Miss Blythe."

Miss Blythe, their new homeroom teacher this year, was young and smart and pretty. She smiled a lot, and she always wore nice skirts and flowing blouses. She remembered everyone's names, and her hair was shiny and dark when she bowed her head at her desk to read their assignments. Dani couldn't think of anyone she would like to resemble so much as Miss Blythe.

Jamie shot her a grin. "You like her, don't you?"

"Of course, I like her," said Dani. “I think she’s wonderful.”

"Not like that. You like like her."

If Dani's cheeks had been flushed before, it was nothing to the way heat flooded her face now. "I -! I do not!"

"Mhmm," said Jamie, and her grin had graduated into a fully fledged smirk now. "Sure."

Dani spluttered indignantly. "That’s not -! I don't -! Well, she's very pretty, but that's hardly -! I just think she's nice. And she always treats everyone fairly. And she - she makes you feel included, and she's so good at - Stop laughing! Jamie!"

"Aw! Poor Poppins with a crush on teacher!" Jamie laughed. "Don't let Ed hear about that. He'll be jealous."

With a huff, Dani shoved at Jamie's shoulder, and Jamie staggered off into the snow — arms pinwheeling — but didn't fall down. Jamie snickered good-naturedly and stepped back into place atop the rail to continue balancing her way down the track. "You'd make a good teacher."

Dani sucked in a lungful of icy air so fast it made her chest burn. She glanced up at Jamie, who was concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. "You think so?"

"Yup," said Jamie, and for all her earlier teasing her voice now was sure and firm. She did not expand; she had only certainty. Then she added with an exaggerated shiver, "Wish we'd brought a thermos with a cuppa. Bloody freezing out here."

"I told you to bring Nan's extra scarf."

Jamie pulled a grotesque face as though she'd bitten into something rotten. "It smells like mothballs."

"Better that than be cold."

"Rather be cold than smell like pure shite."

Shaking her head, Dani reached up and unwound her own white scarf. She zipped up her jacket the rest of the way to accommodate the cold, and held the scarf out to Jamie. "Here."

Jamie blinked down at her. She lowered her arms and her steps slowed. "Really," she said. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Just take the scarf, dummy," said Dani, shaking it at her so that one of the tasselled ends trailed from her fist.

"You get cold easier than me."

"True," Dani said. "But my jacket is puffier and I also have my hat."

Reluctantly, Jamie took the scarf with a mumbled, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Dani replied and began to continue on her way.

Jamie did not immediately follow. Confused, Dani turned around after a few steps to find Jamie still staring down at the scarf with an odd expression on her face, as though she didn't quite know what to do with it.

"Do you need help?" Dani asked. "Is your collarbone okay?"

At that Jamie gave a derisive snort. "Collarbone's fine. That was ages ago, anyway."

Dani frowned. She knew Jamie was stubborn. And she knew that some sub-surface injuries could ache for years. Nan was always cursing about her knee in the cold weather, after all. She herself had never broken a bone in all twelve and a half years of her life, and had only the experiences of others to go by. 

Before she could say anything else though, Jamie had begun walking along the track again, scarf stretched between her hands. “It’s just -” she lifted it round her neck “- still warm. Wasn’t really expecting -”

It happened in an instant. One moment, Jamie was balancing her way across the rail track. The next, she had slipped headlong and was writhing on the ground, gloved hands clutching her face. Dani’s eyes went wide. A splash of red sliced all across the snow. 

“Fuck!” Jamie’s shout was muffled into her palms. “Fuck!” 

“Jamie!”

Stumbling forward, Dani rushed to her side. As gently as she could, she pulled Jamie’s hands away from her face. The honed and frosted edge of the old railway track had split a broad line along Jamie’s chin and lower lip, so that the skin there had burst at the seams like the flesh of an overripe fruit. Blood dripped steadily from Jamie’s chin and the line of her jaw, splattering the ivory-coloured scarf around her neck with wine-dark splotches.

“Are you all right?” Dani asked, trembling hands still holding Jamie by the wrists. 

Jamie’s eyes were squeezed shut. She nodded. “Yeah. Absolutely peachy. Shit -!” Her tongue darted out and she hissed when the tip of it touched the gash in her lip. 

“Here.” Dani grabbed the ends of the scarf and pressed them tightly against the wound, stemming the flow of blood. 

Jamie tried to pull away. “Your scarf - It’ll get all -”

“Who cares about the scarf?” Dani said, and she wound the scarf in such a way that it could act as makeshift gauze. Even after it was tied and tethered in place, her fingers lingered against the warm skin of Jamie’s neck. She brushed her thumbs against the bluffs of Jamie’s cheeks, rubbing away a smatter of blood there. “Let’s get you home. You’ll probably need to see a doctor and get stitches.”

Jamie’s eyes were wide and she was staring up at her. The scarf bobbed as she opened and closed her mouth, but said nothing. Then she winced. “Yeah. Yeah, all right.” 

Dropping her hand to Jamie’s shoulder, Dani helped her up and guided her around so they could slowly make their way back to the house. Jamie shivered, and Dani draped her arm across her shoulders to huddle her closer, so that their hips jostled when they walked. When Jamie made a soft noise muffled by the scarf, Dani stole a glance at her profile.

“Does it hurt a lot?” she asked.

Jamie shook her head. Then after a pause she nodded in defeat. She groaned faintly. “Nan’s gonna kill me," she mumbled. "Again.” 

 --

"Danielle, slow down!"

Reluctantly Dani did as asked, her boots skidding to a walk. The street between Dani's house and the O'Mara residence was deep with snow. Christmas morning was crisp, the sky a blue so bright it almost hurt to look at. Her breath shivered on the air, and her mother's fingers were bright with the spot of an ember from a lit cigarette. Karen had a hastily wrapped present beneath one arm, while Dani carried the rest, so that she crinkled with foil paper and excitement with every step.

Dani reached the front door first and bounced on the balls of her feet until her mother arrived. Sighing, her mother flicked the cigarette into a bank of snow, where it hissed and vanished in a thread of smoke. Judy was the only person Dani knew who observed a strict ‘no smoking indoors’ policy. Not due to any health benefits, but because she complained that cigarette smoke stained the wallpaper yellow. The moment Karen stood beside her on the top step, Dani reached out to ring the doorbell only for her mother to stop her with a hand on Dani's cheek.

"Look at you. What a mess," her mother muttered, licking the pad of her thumb and using it to rub at a spot of syrup on Dani's cheek, all pink from the cold.

"Mom," Dani whined, but when Karen gave her a look she went quiet. Her nose scrunched up and she closed one eye until Karen deemed her suitable for company.

"I told you to wash your face before we left," Karen said. "Obviously I wasn't worth listening to."

"Sorry," Dani mumbled.

Lowering her hand, Karen made an abrupt gesture towards the door. Dani did not wait a second longer to push the doorbell. She could hear the two-toned chime inside followed by the sound of thudding footsteps, and then Eddie wrenched open the door. His face broke into a beaming smile when he saw who it was.

"You made it!"

"Merry Christmas," Dani said, returning his smile.

"Come on. Let's get these under the tree." Eddie reached out to take some of the presents, but froze when Karen cleared her throat pointedly. "Uh - I mean -" he pushed his glasses further up his nose and shuffled his feet. "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Clayton. Won't you please come inside? My mom and dad are in the kitchen making coffee."

"Thank you," said Karen and as she stepped past him into the house, she pressed the present she was carrying into his hands.

They waited awkwardly for her to take off her boots and leave them on the towel stretched out in the foyer for just that purpose. Only when she had left did Eddie turn back to Dani, "Bad morning?" he asked.

Dani shrugged. "Not really. Just normal."

"Ah.” Eddie nodded in solemn understanding, then gave her a smile. “Okay. Here let me take those." He freed her arms of presents so Dani could take off her own boots and coat and scarf. Then he shut the door with his foot and nodded towards the living room beyond. "Let's go."

Every inch of the living room had been transformed by the addition of Christmas decorations strewn about — wreaths and holly, pine cones and tinsel, a tree that scraped the ceiling and a nativity set on the mantelpiece over the crackling fireplace. Tommy and David were already bickering over a card game, while Carson looked on, whining about not being dealt a hand. 

“C’mon,” he said. “I wanna play, too!”

“You can’t,” said Tommy, frowning down at his hand.

“But it’s better with more people! Why is it you two always do stuff alone!”

David drew a card and shrugged, sharing a secret grin with Tommy. “It’s a twin thing,” he said.

The moment Carson saw that Dani had entered the room however, his eyes lit up and he abandoned his older brothers.

“Hi!” he said, rushing forward. “Need help with those?”

Without waiting for an answer, he took what remained of the presents still in Dani’s hands and went with Eddie to place them under the tree with the mound of other presents already assembled there. Dani could see him looking over the presents she had brought for any sign of names, and when he found his own he tossed down the others in favor of shaking the box to determine its contents.

“Knock it off!” Eddie swatted the back of Carson’s head and took the present from him.

“Hey! That’s mine!” 

Carson tried to snatch the present back, but Eddie held it high above his head where Carson couldn’t reach. 

“Mom!” Carson called out towards the kitchen. “Eddie took my present!”

“Edmund, give Carson back his present!” Judy’s voice called from the other room over the murmur of adults sequestering themselves away for as long as possible before they had to face the onslaught of kids with too much sugar in their systems for ten in the morning.

Rolling his eyes, Eddie shoved the box into Carson’s chest, so that Carson grunted and had to take a step back. “Whatever,” Eddie said. “Just don’t open it before everyone else gets here.”

"Who else is coming?" Carson asked. He turned the box over a few more times and shook it, only to give up and put it beneath the tree.

"Jamie and Nan," Dani said.

"Oh! Great!" said Carson. "More presents!"

Dani glanced around towards Tommy and David, but the twins were engrossed in a way that she knew meant they wouldn't be open to intruders — especially not ones they thought were young and annoying. So, she instead said, "Monopoly?"

Eddie scratched at the side of his head, dark curls mussed beneath his fingers. "Kind of a long game to start. Don't you think?"

"Well -" said Dani, but Carson had already darted towards a wooden chest that doubled as a coffee table, opening it to pull out the Monopoly board.

"I get to be the dog!" Carson called out, yanking open the box's lid and setting up the board on the floor before the Christmas tree.

Eddie sighed, but Dani just smiled at him. She grabbed his arm and hauled him over to play a game while they waited. Dani picked the unassuming little iron token, and led the other two on a merry chase around the board. Fake paper money slowly flowed onto her side of the board, neatly tucked away in piles of descending order, whilst Eddie and Carson frowned and puzzled over how she managed it.

"You're cheating," Eddie said with narrowed eyes behind his round spectacles. "I don't know how, but you're cheating."

Dani held out her hand primly towards Carson, who was glum as he counted out bills and pressed them into her waiting palm. "I am not cheating," she said. "Carson, you've stiffed me twenty dollars."

Carson screwed up his face and stuck his tongue out at her, but handed over the final twenty that he'd slipped beneath his leg in the hopes that she wouldn't notice.

"Thank you," she said in a light sing-song tone that made Carson harrumph wordlessly in reply.

Eddie craned his neck and looked over his shoulder at the clock hanging on the wall. "Where are they?"

Dani glanced up from where she was dividing up her cash into their respective piles. An hour had come and gone, and still no sign of the others. As if summoned, there was a knock at the door.

"Thank god," Carson muttered, darting to his feet and scampering towards the door. "Game's over. Dani cheated."

"I didn't cheat!" she called after him, exasperated.

But Carson was already pulling open the door, and she could hear his voice floating into the living room from down the hall. "Hi, Jamie! Hi Mrs. Heron! You're late!"

"Don't just say that!" Eddie shouted. Then he shook his head and began helping Dani clean up the board. "Still don't know how you managed to get all those hotels."

"Maybe if you're nice to me, I'll tell you," Dani teased.

Going stock still, Eddie blinked at her.

"What?" Dani asked slowly.

The odd expression on his face washed away like yesterday's sunlight, and he shook his head with a huff of nervous laughter. “Nothing.” 

Briefly puzzled, she watched him place the lid back over the box and put the game away. There was movement at the edges of her vision, and when Dani looked up it was to find Nan and Jamie removing their coats and hanging them on hooks that lined the wall by the door. Jamie was brushing snow from her long hair, brow furrowed, while her other hand was balancing gifts that were expertly wrapped, not a crease or fold out of place. The gash slicing through her chin and lower lip had healed somewhat since their last fiasco — the stitches removed — but the skin around it stretched and pulled, looking reddened and angry.

Dani waved and Jamie’s expression brightened. Jamie started towards her, only for Nan to reach out and haul her back by the scruff of her neck.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Nan said. “Shoes off. And don’t roll your eyes at me.”

With an extra exaggerated roll of her eyes for good measure, Jamie leaned over to undo her laces and rid herself of her snow-dusted boots. 

Judy emerged from the kitchen. "Oh, Ruth! I'm so glad you could make it! Do you want coffee?"

Nan shook her head and began limping in her direction. "No, thank you, Judy. Just some boiled water for me should do the trick." As she went, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a ziploc bag filled with tea bags.

Judy smiled. "Sure thing. I'll stick a mug of water in the microwave for you."

Judy disappeared back into the kitchen, and Nan's expression was completely horrified. Dani watched this interaction and bit her lip to keep from laughing. Nan noticed and glowered. "Think that's funny, do you?"

Dani shook her head furiously. "No, ma'am. It's just — they don't have a kettle."

Nan sighed. "Uncivilized country." And, muttering to herself, she retreated into the kitchen after Judy to meet her fate.

Footsteps padded across the carpet and Jamie approached. "Can I put these down?" she asked, cradling a small tower of packages.

"Yeah, of course," said Eddie, darting up to help.

"Sorry we're late," Jamie said as they arranged the last of the presents beneath the tree. "Nan's fussy about wrapping. Likes everything to be perfect."

"They look really nice," Dani assured her, admiring the pristine packaging with a tilt of her head.

Jamie snorted. "Made me do that one three times. And then I had to clean up everything before we left."

"Mom!" Carson yelled, running so fast down the hall towards the kitchen that he skidded across the wooden flooring in a blur. "Mom! Everyone's here! Can we open presents now? Please?"

Jamie arched an eyebrow after him. "He always this mental during the holidays?" she asked.

"Yes," said both Dani and Eddie in unison.

"Don't see what all the fuss is about, personally."

"Well," said Eddie, drawling out the word in a thoughtful manner, "Getting new stuff is always nice."

At that, Jamie seemed a bit dubious. She scratched contemplatively at the raised pink tissue of her chin until Dani reached out to still her hand.

"You shouldn't scratch," Dani said.

Curling her fingers into a fist, Jamie dropped her own hand into her lap, looking churlish. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Still itches, though." And then her eyes skimmed over Dani’s outfit, blinking, as though now just noticing it. “Why do you look like you just jumped out of one of your mum’s catalogues?”

“Because I did,” Dani said, fighting back a sigh. “Or well, the dress did. Mom got it for me for Christmas.” 

Dani glanced down at the outfit in question, a long sleeved dark green dress with a red floral pattern by the hem and a lace neckline. It was a dress that felt more suited to warmer weather, the thin material doing next to nothing to help keep Dani warm, regardless of the white tights she wore or how warm Judy kept the house. What Dani didn’t mention was that while it wasn’t a terrible dress, she’d had a completely different outfit in mind this morning, but when she had pulled out the dress from its box, her mom had held it up to the length of Dani with such a wide pleased smile and demanded that Dani wear it in a tone the brooked no room for argument. 

Jamie scanned over the dress again, humming in contemplation, and shrugged. “Looks nice, actually,” she said, catching Dani’s eyes and giving her a grin. 

Before Dani could respond, her cheeks warm, the kitchen door opened and the parents began to filter out into the living room. The Christmas tree sparkled, casting a warm glow against Jamie's profile as she craned her neck to watch. Dani barely registered everyone else, and when Jamie turned to find her staring, Dani smiled.

With a befuddled smile of her own, Jamie asked, "What?"

Dani shrugged. "It's just nice to have you over."

"I come over here all the time."

"Yeah, but this is different."

"If you say so."

The couches and armchairs were quickly taken up by adults, while anyone under the age of eighteen was forced to continue sitting on the floor. Nan lowered herself into a chair with care, maneuvering her cup of tea and her cane. Karen perched herself idly on the arm of the couch right beside Judy, sipping on a cup of coffee. Mike sat by his wife, looking tired but content in his Argyle patterned sweater vest and matching socks.

"All right -" Judy started.

"Me first!" Carson blurted out, diving for the nearest present with his name on it.

With a grin and a rueful shake of her head, Judy motioned towards Eddie and Dani. “Just start passing everything around, won’t you?”

Nodding, Dani and Eddie reached for the presents. Dani read out the name scrawled across the wrapping paper and handed it over to Mike, who had to lean half out of the sofa to take it with a smile and a murmured, "Thanks." Carson was already ripping the paper off of a racing kit set for toy cars, but Dani set one of her own presents aside until everyone else had one in their hands. She kept her eyes on Jamie sitting next to her, as Jamie turned over a lumpy package that Dani had wrapped just earlier that morning. The expression on Jamie's face was both odd and awed, as if she couldn't quite believe that she had received presents at all. Every now and then she would dart her eyes towards Nan like she was checking to see that she was even allowed to do this, to be here, surrounded by people who liked her enough to buy her gifts.

Dani nudged Jamie's elbow with her own. "Open it," she said.

Jamie did not immediately do so. She turned the package over once more before carefully running her thumb beneath a fold in the wrapping, tearing through a scrap of tape holding the pieces together. Dani opened the present from Jamie at the same time — which was far better wrapped than her own — and the two of them blinked at each other in startled confusion when they each revealed a scarf.

"I got you one because I ruined yours," Jamie said.

"Well, I got you one because you don't have one," said Dani.

They held each other's gazes for a beat longer, until they cracked and snorted with laughter.

"Okay," Jamie said with a grin. "We're dumb."

"Funny, though," Dani replied.

Jamie shook her head, but her smile was broad as she leaned across Dani to reach for another present beneath the tree. "Hey, Ed," she said, tossing the present towards him. "This one's for you."

Eddie caught the gift. "Thanks. I wonder what it could be," he said dryly, weighing the package that was so clearly in the shape of a baseball mitt it would be impossible to mistake.

"A cricket bat, maybe," Jamie said.

Eddie made a face at her, but when he opened the gift to reveal a brand new mitt, his voice was warm when he said, "My old one is falling apart. Thanks, Jamie."

"Thank Nan. I can't afford shit."

"Language!" Nan barked, while at the same time Judy scolded, "Jamie Taylor!"

Jamie ducked her head and grimaced, reaching for another gift and handing it off to one of the twins. "Whoops," she muttered under her breath, not sounding sorry at all.

Dani shook her head but smiled. One by one the gifts were parceled out until Judy's living room floor was a mess of shredded wrapping paper and opened boxes spilling out with packing peanuts and bubble wrap. David and Tommy fought over who got to play the Mattel Electronics Football Game first. Carson had encloistered himself in a corner nearest the fireplace and was busy setting up his racing kit set with a single-minded focus, tongue between his teeth. Dani smiled at a jar labelled 'Travel Fund' that she had received from Jamie in a rucksack that already had a US flag patch sewn onto the red canvas fabric with space left for other future flags. And all of them had received a signature sweater from Judy, which was ugly beyond compare and which made Karen's face pucker up when Dani immediately pulled it on over her dress.

"Do they have to look like that?" Karen asked.

"What?" said Judy with a guileless shrug. "They're warm!"

Sighing, Karen stood and started towards the kitchen. "I'll put on another pot of coffee."

"Ruth, do you want another cup of boiling water for your tea?" Judy asked.

Nan's answering smile looked forced. "Cheers, but I'll be right."

Most of the presents had now been opened. Mike had pulled on a new pair of socks — the same gift he received every year, but which he always seemed pleased — and Eddie was fiddling with a pair of walkie talkies, trying to figure out how they worked.

"Hey, dad?" he asked. "Do we have any batteries?"

"Garage," Mike said, and Eddie went off in search, taking the walkie talkie set with him.

"Bring back some double As for me, too!" Jamie called after him. She waved with the pocket transistor radio that she'd been given by Judy and Mike, and which hadn't left her lap since she had first opened it with wide eyes.

"Yeah, sure," answered Eddie.

Dani ducked down to reach the last of the gifts hidden beneath the low-slung branches, dragging them out into the light. "This one's for -" she tilted her head and twisted the package around. "- Jamie. From Nan."

Jamie opened the gift and rolled her eyes. "A new pair of gardening gloves," she said in a deadpan voice, holding up the leather gloves. "Joy of joys."

"Ones that fit this time," said Nan, nodding. "And if you lose this pair like you did the last, you'll be paying for the next yourself."

Jamie grumbled something under her breath.

Nan sniffed. "In my day, we were thankful if a bomb didn't drop on us during Christmas."

"Oh my god. The Blitz is over, Nan. Give it a rest," Jamie groaned, but dutifully set the gloves aside atop her transistor radio.

From the couch, Judy gestured towards one of the remaining presents with the toe of her slipper. "Danielle, there's another one there for you that you missed."

"Oh." Dani turned it over to see that it was labelled for her from the O'Maras. While she opened it, beside her Jamie began pulling on every article of clothing she had received as a gift — sweater, scarf, and garden gloves — until she was wrapped up and ready to brave the elements at the drop of a hat. Dani grinned at her, but then blinked in surprise at the box beneath the wrapping paper portraying a new polaroid camera.

"Oh, wow," she breathed.

Hastily, Dani pushed aside the wrapping paper and pulled open the box. The camera was small enough to fit in both her hands. She fiddled with it, reading the instructions so she could point the camera and squint into the eyepiece at Jamie. Through the lens, Jamie's figure was slightly distorted. Jamie turned, saw the camera aimed in her direction, and waved. Dani pressed a button down, and there was a resultant click, a flash and whir, and a square slip of film was spat out by the camera. Lowering it, she tugged at the film. Its surface was greyish, the image slowly taking hold, a silhouette as faintly visible as a specter cast in watery sunlight.

"This the last one?"

Dani's head jerked up before she could watch the image fully materialize. When she saw Jamie inspecting the final present to be unwrapped, she set the camera and the square strip of film down. "Yeah. That one's from me."

Jamie's eyebrows rose. "But you already got me something," she said. She took off the gardening gloves and tugged at the scarf wound about her neck, tossing both onto the ground.

"I wanted to get you something else, too," Dani said.

Jamie stared at her for a moment, her expression unreadable. In the background, Tommy had wrestled the handheld video game from his twin brother. Mike and Nan were chatting away about something boring and adult — war and history, perhaps. Judy had leaned back against the couch, neck craned so she could peer into the kitchen and say something to Karen, who was standing in the doorway with an unlit cigarette dangling from her mouth. Dani smiled and made a motion for Jamie to open her final gift.

Clearing her throat, Jamie began unwrapping the present, taking great pains not to rip a single section of the paper no matter how hastily wrapped in the first place. The box beneath was small, small enough to fit in Jamie's palm. Brows furrowed, she opened it and sucked in a lungful of air. The two identical necklaces entwined inside were cheap and plated, but they gleamed in the Christmas tree lights when Jamie pulled them from their box, sinuous chains pinched between thumb and forefinger.

"Why are there two?" Jamie asked.

"One for you," said Dani, reaching out and taking a necklace with a self-satisfied grin. "And one for me."

Even after Dani had put her own necklace on, Jamie remained frozen in place. The simple chain rotated slowly in place, suspended from her hand, and the half dollar piece pierced midway down the length was a match to the coin that now hung at the hollow of Dani's throat.

"Mike helped me drill the holes," Dani said proudly. "But the rest I did myself."

Jamie swallowed, her throat working, but she said nothing.

Dani frowned and said slowly, "Do you want this one instead?" She lifted the chain away from her neck with her thumb. 

Jerking as if from a reverie, Jamie shook her head. "No," she said. She cleared her throat and continued, “No, I like this one. Thank you.” 

“Dad, I can’t find them!” Eddie’s voice called from down the hall. 

Sighing, Mike pushed himself to his feet and went off to help look for batteries. “Did you check the drawer above the tool set, bud?”

“I did!” Eddie insisted. “They’re not there!”

Jamie was tugging aside her braid so she could fasten the necklace in place beneath it. Behind her, Judy leaned forward in her seat. “Jamie, I told Mike that you were working on that old bike you found.”

Glancing up at her, Jamie gave a nod that she was listening.

“And,” Judy continued, “he said you’re welcome to bring the bike around any time to work on it over here. If you need tools or spare parts, the garage is your oyster.” 

Jamie lowered her hands and the necklace was a silvery glimmer that hung down her chest, disappearing beneath the neck of her sweater. “Thanks, Mrs. O’Mara.” 

“Please. Call me Judy.”

From the sidelines, Nan lifted a finger to point threateningly at Jamie and growled, “Do not do that.”

Jamie gave Judy an apologetic grin and lifted both hands, palms up, as if in surrender. Judy laughed fondly, eyes bright as she watched Jamie resettle her braid. “Honey, you have such beautiful long hair, why didn’t you leave it open today?”

Nan snorted. “Hell would have to freeze over for that girl to leave her hair down.”

Visibly fighting back a scowl, Jamie shrugged and offered Judy a weak smile. “Just gets in the way, is all.”

“Oh, you wouldn’t have to worry about that if you’d let me help,” Judy said, “We could tie some of it back and tame those curls to some lovely waves like Danielle’s hair.”

At the mention of Dani’s hair, Jamie’s eyes darted to the loose blonde waves cascading over Dani’s shoulders, and both Dani and Judy laughed when Jamie failed to hide her wince. 

Meanwhile in the nearby corner, Carson threw down a piece of plastic car track in exasperation. “Jamie,” he called across the room. “Can you help me build this? It’s not working.”

“Sure. Hold up.” Seeing her chance to escape, Jamie quickly stood and wandered over to him, crouching down before the warren of track he had assembled already. “What on earth have you done?”

“I followed the instructions!” Carson whined, holding up a piece of paper.

“Why don’t I believe you?” Jamie snatched the instructions from his hand, then rolled them up to lightly smack him over the head with the pages. He spluttered and slapped her hand away.

“Look at them,” Judy said to Nan while they watched Jamie help Carson set up the toy car track. “Aren’t they cute together?”

“Bit young for that sort of thing, don’t you think?”

“Well, she did defend him from all those bullies. And afterwards, Carson spoke of nothing else. It was ‘Jamie this’ and ‘Jamie that’ for a week solid.”

Jamie overheard the adults talking. She shared a befuddled look with Dani and then mimed being sick. Beside her, Carson had gone bright red, trying and failing to pretend he hadn’t heard anything, while Dani bit back a smile. 

“Gross,” Carson said under his breath.

“You can say that again,” Jamie muttered.

“Gross.” 

“That’s the spirit. Now, hand me that bit of track over there. No, no, the other one.”

Dani’s gaze dropped to the picture she had taken. She picked it up from the carpet to inspect it more closely. It had finally taken form, and she smiled at the image of Jamie’s half-hidden grin behind a big scarf, her hand bulky from the gardening gloves and blurred from movement. Tucking it away for safekeeping, Dani lifted the camera into her hands once more and pointed it in Jamie and Carson’s direction for another picture. 

Much later after lunch, still laughing at the way Nan had spooked Mike and the twins into action to clear the dining room table and clean up the dishes with just a single look and comment, Dani and the others had taken to testing out the limits of Eddie’s walkie talkies around the house. At the moment, she and Jamie were holed up in the upstairs bathroom with one set while Eddie and Carson were running around with the other.

“Can you hear me now? Over.” Eddie’s voice came through the speakers, tinny and muffled. 

“Yeah,” Dani responded, “Where are you?”

“You’re supposed to say Over,” Eddie said, “Over.”

Jamie sighed and rolled her eyes, pulling the walkie talkie in Dani’s hand close to her mouth, pressing down on Dani’s thumb that she held over the push to talk button. “Just answer the question, you tit.”

Dani snorted as Eddie grumbled on the other side. “Hold on,” he said, and then a beat passed before he said, “We’re in the garage, how about now?”

“Loud and clear, soldier,” Jamie said dryly and let go of the walkie talkie to turn to Dani with a glint in her eyes, “Y’know, I reckon this thing could even reach beyond your house. Could you imagine putting one under his bed and being able to scare the shite out of him and he wouldn’t even know you were a block away.”

Dani laughed, but said, “That’s mean.”

“Oh, come off it. You’ve thought about it.”

In truth, Dani hadn’t. While Carson had already laid claim to one half of the set much to Eddie’s annoyance, Eddie had already quietly offered Dani to share so they’d could have conversations between their houses without Dani having to come over or hog the house phone. It was a sweet offer, and a tempting one, being able to talk to Eddie whenever she wanted, but looking at Carson’s eager expression, she couldn’t bear to take away the excitement from him. 

“Nope,” Dani replied, ignoring Jamie’s dubious look, and continued, “What I am thinking about though, is if there’s any cookies left downstairs.”

Jamie’s eyes lit up just as Eddie’s voice returned. “Okay, we’re in the basement, how about now?”

Taking the walkie talkie from Dani, Jamie said, “Perfectly. Are Tweedledee and Tweedledum down there yet?”

“Yeah,” Eddie replied.

“Ask them if they’ve eaten all the biscuits yet.”

“Biscuits?”

Jamie huffed. “Cookies,” she said, then pulled her finger off the button to mutter, “Christ's sake, you Yanks.”

Snorting again, Dani gave Jamie a curious look, but Jamie just grinned at her until Eddie finally responded, “They said no, but they laughed so I’m not really sure.”

“Means they probably left the shite kind,” Jamie said, “Doesn’t matter, I’ve got a plan. Dani’s gonna run down to grab us a plate, and I’m gonna sneak out to her house to see if this thing can reach there.”

Dani’s eyes went wide.

“Roger that, over and out,” Eddie said, and then there was silence.

“Jamie,” Dani hissed, “Nan will kill you.”

The look Jamie gave her was exasperated. “You’d think she’d done it by now after everything, yeah?”

That made Dani pause, recollecting all the moments when she was sure Nan was about to pop a blood vessel, but never once did anything more beyond a light thwack on the head with her hand or on the ankle with her cane.

Seeing the realization creep onto Dani’s face, Jamie grinned. “See? Won’t take but a minute,” she said, already rushing out the bathroom door. 

“Wear a jacket,” Dani called out, and in response, Jamie grinned and saluted her with two fingers before disappearing. 

Sighing, Dani waited a minute to give Jamie the time to sneak out without making too big of a scene and then finally descended the stairs. When she reached the ground floor with no Jamie in sight, Dani carefully peeked into the living room to see that all of the adults were none the wiser, Christmas music playing on low as they talked and laughed, the tv playing some movie on mute. The only thing that was curious, was that her mom was missing. Shrugging, Dani ventured off to the kitchen. 

True to word, there were cookies left, and just as Jamie had said, they were the kind that would always be left for last on the plate or in the tin. But cookies were cookies, so Dani began helping herself pile some on a plate for the four of them, and just as she decided that some milk would do nicely to go with it, her mother wandered into the kitchen from the back door. Her hand jerked back from the fridge door handle when her mother caught sight of her and the plate of cookies on the counter. 

“Cookies? Danielle, you just had a big lunch,” Karen said, stepping closer with a near empty glass of wine in hand, her cheeks flushed pink from the cold, and smelling strong of fresh cigarette smoke. 

Dani shrugged, and murmured, “We wanted snacks.”

Her mother sighed, a hand on her hip, her eyes darting over Dani’s sweater. Dani looked away, shying away from her mother’s scrutiny, her shoulders bunching up. “Are you going to wear that all day?” Karen asked. “It’s covering up your pretty dress.”

“I like it,” Dani said, chancing a glance up at her mother to see her mouth slowly twist into a displeased frown. Dani quickly added, “It’s warm, and-and it’s a little cold, so I thought — “

“Danielle, if you didn’t like the dress, all you had to do was say so,” Karen said, her voice sharp, taking another step closer. 

Dani blinked up at her, taking a step back until she was pressing against the counter. “I didn’t — I didn’t say that,” Dani murmured, her hands clenched into fists. “I like it. It’s just cold.”

Gradually, the firm lines of her mother’s face cleared until she was staring down at Dani with a near unrecognizable expression. Her mother glanced down at the glass in her hand for a moment before slowly holding it out to Dani. Frowning, Dani looked down at it. Dark red wine swirled in the glass, just only a mouthful left. She had lost track by now since escaping deeper into the house with the others; she couldn’t tell if this was the third glass after the first two Dani counted her mother having during lunch, or if this was somewhere in the realm of the fourth or fifth. 

Dani glanced back up to give her mother a questioning look. “Try it,” Karen said, gesturing with the glass. The wine swirled dangerously near the lip of the glass. “Just a sip.”

Hesitantly, Dani unclenched one fist and reached out to the glass, slowly taking it from her mother’s grasp. She swallowed hard, staring down at the ominous burgundy liquid, and darted her eyes back up to her mother for any sharp glint in her eyes, any tension to the corners of her mouth, any clue to see if this was some trick, some test. But her mother only breathed out a laugh and murmured, “Go on.”

Taking a second to gather her courage, Dani lifted the glass to her mouth and took a small sip, and almost immediately twisted up her face. It was bitter, settling heavy and thick on her tongue even as she swallowed it down. Her mom laughed at the expression on her face as Dani pushed the glass back in her hand, wine still remaining at the bottom. 

Dani wiped her mouth as though the motion could remove the sour taste in her mouth. Her mom stepped away, still laughing and lifting a finger from the glass to point at Dani. “Consider yourself lucky,” she said, “The first drink my father ever let me try was scotch when I was nine. Now that burned.”

That made Dani pause, staring at her mom as she downed the rest of the wine with ease. It wasn’t often her mother spoke of Dani’s grandfather. “He always used to do that,” Karen said, a rueful look in her glassy eyes, “He was always such a sweet man when he was drinking, like it was the only way he knew how to show affection. But when he was sober though —” her mother chuckled, a short bitter thing “ — that was an entirely different story.”

Dani stood frozen, watching her mother swallow thickly and clear her throat, opening a cabinet to pull out a bottle of wine. An uncomfortable churning began in Dani’s stomach, though she couldn’t tell if it was from the sip of wine she tasted, or from watching her mother pour herself another glass, more than she had in previous drinks. As though sensing Dani’s discomfort, her mother stared at her, resting the bottle on the kitchen table with a heavy ominous thud.

“Don’t you start,” Karen said, her eyes suddenly and inexplicably hardened. 

“Start what?” Dani asked, her eyes darting up to her mother’s, curling further into the hunch of her shoulders. She hadn’t done anything beyond stare at the wine with some measure of concern, but at the sight of mother’s face shadowed with a severe frown, Dani knew immediately that she had misstepped somewhere over the course of the day. 

“You think I haven’t seen your little looks all day? Counting? Judging?”

Dani could hear it then, the slight slur to her mother’s voice. Could see it in her piercing glassy eyes. Could feel it in the way her mother stepped closer again, her shoulders tense and feet moving with purpose. The urge to run struck Dani hard in the chest, but she remained frozen, pressing back harder into the counter behind her as her mother loomed over her.

“I didn’t - I wasn’t doing anything,” Dani stuttered, her heart crashing against her ribs. 

Karen scoffed. “No? So, I imagined it then. Like a fool.”

“N-no, I — “ Unable to look her mother in the eyes anymore, Dani bowed her head to stare at the ground, her feet so small compared to her mother’s stocking covered pair. 

“You couldn’t give me just this one day, Danielle,” Karen said, “You know how hard Christmas can be for me.”

Dani nodded, words trapped in her throat. Her mother exhaled sharply. “You always have to do this, don’t you?” Karen said, her voice low and acrid with strained bitterness. “First with the sweater, and now this.”

The words seemed to wrap around Dani’s heart and clench painfully tight until a dull but deep ache spread across her chest, leaving her throat thick and her eyes burning. Any cheer or joy Dani had managed to revel in throughout the day seemed to slip away and vanish like a cloud of smoke. 

“I’m sorry,” she finally murmured, “I won’t do it again.”

Her mother scoffed again, and just when it felt like she was about to say something else, there was a distinct tapping sound nearing the kitchen. Her mother paused, and after what felt like an eternity, Dani watched her feet step away with a sigh. All at once it felt like Dani could breathe again. She glanced up as the tapping cane came closer, and fiddled with the cookies on the plate. 

“Ruth,” Karen said, her voice sounding so clear, as if nothing had just transpired, “Would you like a glass of wine?”

Dani reached for a cookie and bit into it, with nothing else to distract her from the roiling in her stomach and the thickness in her throat. 

“None for me, thank you,” Nan said, stepping towards the sink, “Afraid I’ve damned myself to another cup of microwaved tea. Dani, be a dear and fetch me the milk.”

At the sound of her name — her preferred name — Dani jumped, twisting around to blink at Nan who was already busy filling her cup with water from the tap. Dani stared, frozen for a moment before jumping into action, setting down her cookie to pull out the carton of milk from the fridge without looking in her mother’s direction. After a moment of contemplation as Nan heated up her mug in the microwave, Dani helped herself and poured the glass of milk she had wanted for the cookies in the first place, a noticeable tremble in her hands. 

With nothing more to do, Dani stood there staring at the glass, the room eerily silent save for the buzzing hum of the microwave, until — 

“Dani,” Nan said. Jerking just slightly out of her reverie, her hands clenched into fists, her eyes darted to Nan who was watching her steadily, soft around the edges and so unfamiliar that Dani could do nothing but blink. Nan gestured her head towards the kitchen entrance, and murmured, “They’re all waiting for you downstairs, love.”

Dani nodded, biting her lip hard at the unrelenting feeling of her mother’s piercing gaze on her back. She picked up the plate and glass of milk and slowly made her way out of the room, her head ducked. In between the moments of taking her leave from the kitchen and gradually making her way down the stairs towards the basement, Dani’s heart settled and she managed to push down the lump in her throat, but the ache in her chest remained. 

When she reached downstairs, the room packed with mismatched furniture and a tv in the corner that was surrounded by the boys arguing over which program or movie to watch, there was Jamie, laughing brightly with her cheeks flushed red and her hair cluttered in a starburst of melting snow. But when Jamie turned, catching her eyes, instead of a smile Dani expected, victorious from her quick jaunt outside, Jamie frowned and started towards her. 

“You all right?” Jamie asked, her eyes darting between Dani’s. 

Dani nodded, her mouth pulling into a smile. “Yeah, of course,” she said, and held up the plate for Jamie to see, “These cookies just really suck.”

Jamie glanced down at the plate before returning her gaze to Dani, arching a disbelieving eyebrow. 

“Seriously, I think there’s raisins in them,” Dani added. Pulling her mouth into a thin line, Jamie took the plate and glass from her hand to set them on a nearby table. Dani frowned. “Hey, wha — “ 

“C’mon,” Jamie said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back towards the stairs. “I want to show you something.”

Dani’s stomach twisted. “Jamie — “

“S’alright,” Jamie said, turning to grin at her, her eyes soft. “You’ll like it, I promise.”

Slowly, Dani’s mouth shut, Jamie’s cold hand squeezing her own in a careful grip. Dani couldn’t help but match Jamie’s grin and follow her back up the stairs, the pull of her hand insistent but gentle as she guided Dani up to the second floor towards a window on the landing that overlooked the backyard. 

“C’mon, take a look,” Jamie said, leaning against the windowsill with a smile over her shoulder at Dani, their hands still clasped.

Shooting Jamie a puzzled grin, Dani stood next to her to look out the window, and felt her breath catch in her chest. Outside, flurries of white gently floated down from the sky in a dance to unheard music. 

“Pretty, right?” Jamie asked, her voice unusually soft. Dani nodded, her eyes wide as she stared up at the sky, the sound of Christmas music muffled through the floor. And then, Jamie carefully said, “Dunno why it seemed like you just went through the ringer in the minute I was outside, but I felt like this could cheer you up a bit.”

Dani squeezed the hand in her own, feeling the ghost of the pressure returned. “It did,” Dani said softly, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Jamie murmured, and then added, “You wanna come over soon? Escape your mum for a bit? We could eat leftovers ‘til we’re sick and make Nan watch White Christmas again? She may actually try to kill us this time, but worth the risk.” 

Dani laughed, feeling an inexplicable lightness to her shoulders and chest, the aching pressure gone. Dani turned to catch Jamie’s eyes, only to see that Jamie was already staring at her with a pleased grin. “Yeah, I’d love to,” Dani said, her smile wide, and Jamie’s hand warm in her own.

 --

The first thing Jamie said when she opened the door was, "You've got to help me."

Dani blinked in surprise. She stood, dumb-struck, on Jamie's front step with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder. Night was already swiftly descending even though it was only six in the evening. Behind her headlights like a pair of eyes flashed through the gloom against the windows as her mother's car pulled away from the curb, where moments before Dani had hopped out and trotted up to Jamie's house without a backward glance. Dani glanced down to where Jamie's fist was clenched around a pair of kitchen scissors, spotted with rust.

"What -?" she asked, and had barely enough time to toe off her snow-struck shoes before Jamie was grabbing her by the wrist and hauling her inside, shutting the door with a kick of her socked foot.

"Shh! Keep it down!" Jamie hissed.

Her head whipped around to see if anyone had heard them, but the living room was empty and there were no tell-tale sounds of the tap of a walking stick down the hall or in the kitchen. Her hair was uncharacteristically down, Dani noticed. Long and auburn-dark as autumn leaves, curled from all its time spent coiled up in a braid.

"Okay," Jamie whispered, "We're clear. Follow me."

Dani made an abortive noise in the back of her throat, but tamped it down as Jamie tightened her hold on her hand. They scurried through the house like thieves. Jamie led them on a circuitous route around the furniture, as though stalking a beast through the jungle. The tops of their heads peeped out over the cushions of a green couch with a lacy throw draped across its back like delicate snow. With a final dart down the hall, their footsteps muffled by the carpet bearing tea stains and cigarette burns — tea stains from Jamie, cigarette burns from the previous owner — they made it to the spare half bathroom, which had no shower. Jamie locked the door behind them with careful precision, so that the sound was only the lightest of clicks against the brass knob.

"What's happening?" Dani asked, voice hushed in the dark.

Jamie only flicked on the light when she had grabbed a towel from the rack and pressed it up against the bottom of the door to keep as much light from leaking out as possible. Then, she rounded on Dani and held up the scissors. "I need you to cut my hair."

"Is that it?" Dani asked, straightening her spine.

Jamie made a motion for Dani to keep her voice down. "She'll hear you!"

Rolling her eyes, Dani nevertheless gamely kept her voice to a low murmur, "Why doesn't Nan just take you to the hairdresser in town?"

"She did! Look!" Jamie pointed at her own hair, which admittedly did look to be an inch or so shorter than when Dani had seen her last.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Everything!" Jamie hissed. "I wanted it all off, but Nan said no! And the barber refused to take the money I tried to give her when Nan wasn’t looking! Fucking coward.”

"And you want me to do it instead?" Dani asked. "So I can face Nan's wrath? No way!"

"She won't hurt a child!" Jamie said. Then after a moment, she added, "Much. Anyway, she likes you. Way more than she likes me."

"Now, that's not true."

"Inn'it though?" Jamie said, narrowing her eyes and nodding as though they both knew the answer to that rhetorical question.

"It's not!" Dani insisted.

Through the door, they could hear a distant cough. Both of them froze, deer in the headlights, trapped in a looming, luminous stare. There followed a shuffling as if of someone shifting their weight atop bed springs, and the papery turning of a page. When it became clear that Nan wasn't coming to investigate, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"If you're not going to help me, then I'll just do it myself," said Jamie, already grabbing hold of her own hair and lifting the scissors.

With a groan, Dani dropped her overnight bag to the peeling linoleum floor. She held out her hand. "Give me the scissors."

"Oh, hell yes," Jamie breathed.

Scissors in hand, Dani directed Jamie to sit atop the scarred wooden toilet seat. Jamie eagerly complied, facing away from her so that Dani could have easy access. For a moment Dani hesitated. She reached out and touched Jamie's long hair, combing her fingers through the wild tangle of dark untamable curls. It was, she realised with an odd thread of excitement weaving a warm path through her chest, the first time she had ever touched Jamie's hair like this. When she dragged her fingernails lightly along Jamie's scalp, Jamie's shoulders relaxed and she swayed back into Dani's hand with a soft sound.

Dani withdrew her hand as though scalded. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"S'alright," Jamie said without turning around. "Feels nice. You can touch my hair."

"Yeah?"

Now, Jamie did turn her head, angled just enough so that Dani could see her roll her eyes. "How else are you supposed to cut it? Christ. You are thick sometimes."

Dani flicked the back of her head as revenge. Jamie flinched from the contact, but Dani could hear her laugh quietly, could catch a glimpse of her smile.

"Go on, then," Jamie said, squaring her shoulders once more as though readying herself for a march into battle. "Do it."

Carefully, taking her time so that Jamie could back out if she wanted, Dani pulled around as much of her hair as she could so that it draped down Jamie's back. "You're going to owe me big time for this," Dani muttered as she worked.

"Name the price."

"I want the good pillow tonight," Dani said. Jamie's bedroom was small and cramped and there were no other spare rooms in the house, so every time Dani stayed over it always ended up with the two of them crammed together on Jamie's narrow mattress, where one of them — usually Dani — was inevitably stuck with a lumpy pillow from the couch.

"Done," Jamie agreed without a hint of hesitation.

“All right,” Dani said. She steadied herself with a deep breath and placed the flat of the closed scissor blade against Jamie’s shoulder. “Here?”

“Shorter.”

Dani dragged the scissors up a few inches higher. “Here?”

“Shorter.” 

Swallowing down her nerves, Dani lifted the scissors so that they hovered over the back of Jamie’s neck just below the base of her skull. “Here?” 

Jamie nodded, her head bumping gently against the scissors. “Yeah. Perfect.” 

“All right,” Dani repeated. She opened the scissors and held them in place so that a good portion of Jamie’s long hair was folded across the sharp edges of the blades. Still, she did not cut. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

“Hurry up,” Jamie said and she cast a furtive glance towards the door. “She could come any second.”

And, taking her life into her own hands, Dani squeezed the scissors shut. The first section of Jamie’s hair fell away like a curtain with a single clean snip. As if watching herself perform the deed from out of her own body with a kind of dull horror, Dani continued along — two more great big cuts in a horizontal line — until Jamie’s curls brushed the back of her neck and no further.

“Is that -?” Dani lowered the scissors. “Is that what you wanted?”

One of Jamie’s hands reached up and she felt at her own hair with a silent wonder. 

“Jamie,” Dani breathed nervously. “Please, tell me that it’s all right.”

There was no mirror in this bathroom. Indeed, the only mirror in the whole house was a small rectangle of reflective glass in the bathroom with only a shower over a bath adjoining Nan’s room further down the hall. And there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell they would be braving that tonight. 

Jamie turned around so that she sat facing Dani, and she beamed up at her. “Perfect,” Jamie said. “Absolutely bloody perfect.”

The creak of bed springs, and the tap of a cane, and both of their eyes widened.

“Shit,” Jamie hissed, leaping off the toilet so she could lift the lid and begin shoving hair into the bowl. “Help me hide the evidence!”

“Hide the evidence?” Dani repeated incredulously. “You think she’s not going to notice?”

Even so, Dani scrambled to help, while they continued whispering and hissing at one another like a pair of angry geese. Except Jamie was wearing the biggest smile on her face, one Dani could not hope but mirror, and biting her lip as they tried to stifle their giggles and flush the toilet quickly enough. 

There was a knock on the door, and Nan’s suspicious voice from the other side, “What are you two up to this time?” 

Stuffing the pair of scissors under her sweater even though the door hadn’t opened, Dani straightened, Jamie’s shoulder and elbow jostling her own, and they both chorused in unison, “Nothing!”

#thobm #the haunting of bly manor #damie #dani clayton #jamie taylor #dani/jamie #roman writes #I hate tagging on tumblr #cfau #bring home a haunting

[avnkin]

The Pogues - Chapter 2 // Making Amends

Pairing: jj maybank x reader

Warnings: swearing, little bit of underage drinking, smoking

Word count: 2.6k

Summary: You were a kook, born and raised but when a messy breakup with your boyfriend takes place you find comfort in the people who you’d been taught to despise and keep away from your entire life, the pogues.

(A/N): sorry this took me so long to post,, i’ve been studying for exams but now i’m finally done sooo I can focus on this fic!! this isn’t the best but I needed to upload something but just know the juicy parts haven’t even begun ;)) also this lacks proofreading so just bare with me lmaoo

series masterlist

It was the day after Midsummers and you hadn’t stopped thinking about JJ, it was kind of annoying actually, you didn’t want to think about him or let alone any guy at all, but it was hard JJ was the kind of guy to leave an impression, the kind of guy who would be stuck on your mind for the next couple of days, so as you sat in your bed aimlessly flicking through the magazine that rested on your lap, you felt yourself zoning out as you let your thoughts be consumed with him.

“Y/N!” Sarah’s sudden yell broke you from your trance, startling you as you stared wide eyed at her, your face a question mark, she had come over to your place to spend the night, she couldn’t wait to tell you all about her adventures with John B, you had to admit you were pretty jealous, you missed having someone next to you when falling asleep it was an awful lot lonelier than you thought it would be, but you knew it was for the best, maybe you needed to be by yourself for some time now.

“Yeah?” you replied closing the magazine and laying it onto the empty space on the bed beside you “John B asked me to come with him to meet the guys later so I can- I don’t know make up with Kiara or something and since you’re the bestest friend in the whole entire world I was wondering if you’d come with me” you looked up at her puzzled “what” you spoke finding nothing else fitting to say “the girl hates me Y/N, hates me! And you’re really good at getting people to like you plus if they’re going to be my new friends that means they’re gonna be your new friends, where I go you go” she spoke content with her words.

“No” you stated grabbing the magazine again continuing flipping through the pages “no? what do you mean no Y/N please I need you there as my back up incase I don’t know Kiara attacks me” Sarah pouted “won’t John B be there?” you asked raising an eyebrow at her “Yes but I want you there as well” you let your head fall back as you groaned “fine i’ll come with” Sarah squealed in excitement engulfing you in a hug as she mumbled thank you over and over again into your shoulder.

“But-okay look if I tell you something you have to promise that you’ll pretend like you know nothing about it later, okay promise” Sarah asked sitting opposite you and raising one pinky finger in the air “and that you won’t laugh!” she added, you rolled your eyes but sure enough locked your finger with hers “pinky promise” you smiled awaiting Sarah’s response. “Okay they’re looking for the royal merchant gold and I actually think they fucking found it” you took a minute to stare at her wondering if she was joking or not “Sarah people have been looking for that gold for like a hundred years do you really think someone like John B found it?” you chuckled shaking your head “yes I do” she stated firmly, you rolled your eyes before saying “let’s get going”.

Once you and Sarah had taken a seat on John B’s front porch you could practically see the anger fuming off of Kiara at your sudden presence “no effing way!” she scoffed looking over in your direction “you brought them here? so what? they’re in on this now?” John B looked utterly terrified as he looked over at JJ and Pope hoping they would back him up “I dunno” Pope simply shrugged looking over at JJ.

“Look man all I care about is their cut comes out of your share” JJ spoke causing you to scoff  “all of us aren’t rich and spoiled like you princess” JJ declared raising an eyebrow at you “I’m not spoi-” Kiara cut you off “I don’t remember taking a vote, this is our thing, a Pogue thing!” You and Sarah both rolled your eyes in unison glancing over at each other. 

“Look i’m just a tad uncomfortable with all of this” Pope said causing a small chuckle to slip out of your mouth as Kiara mumbled a thank you “when are you not uncomfortable?!” John B argued “well I don’t know I rode here on the back of JJ’s bike quite comfortably”

“It’s true most relaxed i’ve ever seen him” JJ said “maybe this wasn’t the best idea-” you began to say but before you could finish Kiara cut you off “you know we were all extremely comfortable until you brought them here” you groaned regretting letting Sarah drag you into this mess, you were clearly not wanted like she had tried to convince you the entire car ride here. “Stop talking about us like we’re not here” Sarah’s voice could be heard from beside you “then leave!”

You scoffed turning in Sarah’s direction “I told you” crossing your arms over your chest you got ready to leave only to have Sarah pull you down again “told her what exactly that she’s a liar-” Kiara began but Sarah obviously didn’t want to listen to her anymore “no that you’re a shit talking bitch” your eyes went wide at Sarah’s words, you’d never in your many years of friendship heard her talk to someone like that. “Oh my god” you laughed one hand covering your mouth as you looked between Kiara and Sarah.

Suddenly everyone was talking, yelling and screaming over each other, until you heard Kiara give John B an ultimatum “me or her?” She commanded, everyone went silent at her words eyes diverting between John B and Kiara. “Both” he stated causing Kiara to scoff, angrily turning around and making her way off of John B’s porch.

“Can I just say you handled that beautifully” JJ snickered sarcasm evident in his tone. “Listen Sarah-” John B began ignoring JJ “No it’ll be fine right?” Sarah scoffed quoting John B on his previous words to her “we’re leaving” she finally stated grabbing your hand and leading you back to the car. 

“Well that went like shit” you huffed as soon as you both got inside the vehicle “shut up” Sarah whined slamming her face onto the steering wheel “how the hell is our relationship going to work if his best friend hates me” you honestly felt bad for her you knew John B was a good guy and that Sarah hadn’t been to lucky in her previous relationships “we’ll fix it” you reassured her “somehow” you added underneath your breath “how are we going to fix this Y/N” Sarah doubted hands tightening around the steering wheel.

But as she went to start the car JJ quickly ran in front of it preventing you from driving away “what the hell” you questioned getting out of the car and walking towards him “John B wants us all to go out on the water to you know blow off some steam after- whatever that was back there” JJ insisted resting his hand on the hood of Sarah’s car, you looked over at Sarah questioningly and she just nodded giving you her answer.

Luckily Sarah always kept some extra bikinis in her trunk so you didn’t have to drive all the way back to figure 8 and then back to the cut simply to get some swimwear and towels. 

Being out on the water was something you really needed, as you lay at the front of the boat Sarah next to you letting the sun devour every part of your skin, you felt somewhat problem free for the first time in weeks.

“Enjoying the view?” you chuckled since JJ’s staring hadn’t gone unnoticed, he didn’t seem faced by your words only moving his sunglasses to the tip of his nose as he continued to check you out “indeed I am” he hummed before taking another swig of the beer he held in his hands. 

“Uh girls can you go get us some- uhm food from the cabin” John B’s voice could suddenly be heard from behind you, you found it weird that he was asking both of you to do it but then again, he was a bit weird.

“Sure” Sarah replied giving you a confused glance as you followed her down the small stairs and into the cabin “I don’t see anything” you mumbled looking around the small storage space, you were about to turn back around, Sarah following behind when the door above you was abruptly slammed shut, Sarah quickly ran towards it banging her fists with all her strength against it, this is it you were both going to die was all you could think as you stared at the closed door. 

A couple of minutes had gone by when you finally decided enough was enough pushing Sarah out of the way and repeatedly slamming your fists against the door. When it finally swung open you were not expecting to see who was now stood in front of you “Kiara?” you questioned but she didn’t reply, rushing to the front of the boat you quickly followed her Sarah hot on your heels “get your asses back here!” Kiara demanded, your eyes went wide once you noticed the three boys had abandoned the boat leaving the three of you behind “we can’t, not until you guys figure this out!” John B yelled back climbing up onto the boat Pope and JJ were stood on “I don’t have anything to do with this!” you yelled back gesturing between Sarah and Kiara, you were going to kill her for dragging you into this mess.

“We don’t care they’re your friends” JJ winked saluting you as they started the boat “I will kill every single one of you!” Kiara threatened but the boys didn’t seem faced at her words “you can’t just leave!” Sarah pleaded hoping John B would change his mind “There’s food in the cooler and JJ rolled a blunt” Pope yelled raising his thumbs up in the air “hydroponic!” JJ added.

“fucking assholes” you muttered watching the boat sail away into the distance. An awkward silence quickly filled the air as the three of you stood in a circle eyes darting between each other, you had never felt so out of place in your entire life. 

“I’m down for some weed” you finally broke the silence, you’d never in your life smoked before but thought since Kiara often did it it would be a good way to break the tension.

Kiara motioned for you to follow her as she searched the boat for JJ’s box which always contained his weed and lighter. When she finally found it she made her way to the front of the boat taking a seat next to you and immediately lighting the blunt, she passed it to you after a couple of seconds, you took a small hit, surprised you didn’t cough but as you were about to hand it to Sarah, Kiara quickly snatched it out of your hand “actually” she spoke, putting the blunt up to her lips and taking yet another hit.

“Really” Sarah scoffed snatching it away from her “go easy” Kiara warned “it’s JJ’s cousins cripple” Sarah ignored her raising the blunt up to her lips and taking way to big of a hit, she immediately started coughing as she breathed out the smoke Kiara rolling her eyes as she glared down at the two of you.

A couple of hours later it had gotten dark and it was obvious that Sarah was high as a kite, she kept asking the both of you very strange would you rather questions, you didn’t feel anything having only taken one hit of the blunt. 

Sarah kept on pestering Kiara till she finally snapped “Oh my god! enough of the ‘hey Kiara’ bullshit, why’d you do it?” your mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as you looked between the two girls “I don’t know what you mean-” Sarah began but Kiara cut her off “we we’re best friends, we stole beer from your dads fridge, cried about boys and the next thing I know i’m watching your birthday party happen from instagram” you felt partly guilty, having spammed your stories and close friends with endless of videos and pictures from that night.

They continued talking about Kiara having called the cops to shut down the party and that when people got close to Sarah she bails, she had never talked to you about it before so it kind of surprised you, but you didn’t want to butt in, it was a conversation for another day.

As you guys got ready to go to bed Kiara made Sarah promise that she wouldn’t do the same thing to John B, Sarah only nodded resting her head on the pillow before everything went silent between the three of you.

“Also i’m sorry called the cops” Kiara broke the silence causing all three of you burst into fits of laughter “I knew it you bitch” Sarah giggled propping her self up onto her elbows “you should’ve invited me” Kiara replied looking over at Sarah “so you called the cops!?” you cackled “well my birthday’s next weekend so you’re definitely invited to that, wouldn’t want the cops showing up there to” you joked “shut up” Kiara quipped as your laughters faded into the night.

The sound of a boat engine woke you guys up early the next morning, finally you thought as you rubbed your eyes slowly getting up from your sleeping position following the girls back to the front of the boat. 

“Don’t give them the satisfaction of thinking this worked” you spoke crossing your arms over your chest as you glared at the boys watching the boat get closer “absolutely not” the girls both agreed with you.

“You gotta admit it was kind of funny” John B could be heard as the boat stopped in front of you, your eyes immediately met JJ’s who stepped towards you reaching his hand out to help you back onto their boat, you could hear the girls bickering with John B and Pope in the background but all your attention was on the boy in front of you.

You tripped slightly as you stepped onto the boat causing JJ’s arms to find your waist holding you steady, “that wasn’t cool” you crossed your arms looking up at him “what stopping you from falling into the water?” he challenged acting clueless “no you know what i’m talking about leaving us there the entire night? Not exactly the best way to get into someones pants” the last part you made sure no one but him heard, his eyes went wide as you sat down behind acting nonchalant as JJ’s eyes glared daggers into yours.

When you finally made it back to the pier you felt relieved to be back on land having felt quite sea sick the entire boat ride here “what was that about a birthday party you were talking about Y/N?” Kiara suddenly asked causing all attention to go to you, you cleared your throat before replying “well my parents are out of town next weekend traveling with Ward and Rose so I decided to have a little get together, you’re all welcome to come” you smiled “no fucking way-” JJ began but Kiara cut him off “we’ll be there” 

“Great, guess i’ll see you there” you winked the last part more directed at JJ who quickly removed Kiara’s hand from his mouth giving her a questioning look. Sarah pecked John B on the lips before you both said your goodbyes and headed back to Sarah’s car.

“What the hell?” JJ scolded as he looked back up at Kiara “I don’t wanna go to some kook party, do I look like I like to get the shit beat out of me?” Kiara rolled her eyes “JJ my parents also told me about Wards trip Rafe’s going with them so he won’t be there” Kiara reassured him “let’s just go and if it sucks we’ll leave” John B suggested “for once in my life, I actually agree with JJ” Pope added in “come on guys it’ll be fun” Kiara implored “I’ll think about it” JJ replied watching you walk off in the distance.

tag list: @k-n-e @avashroom @sspidermanss @free-pool-trash @we-are-only-halfway-home93 @k-k0129 @charoum @daygiowvibe @maybebanks @treestarrrrrrrr @whothehellistova @chasefreakinstokes @http-cherries @dolanfivsosxox​ @laurenroseh90-blog​ @multifandomlovess​ @jaazzzzz​ @tiredfeels​ @howdyherron​ @a-baby-dolly @eviction-notice-no666​ @voidsxsnets @imagines-and-preferences1216​ @elioelioeli0​ @iwanttobetracer420​ @jjshottub​ @queen1054​ @imsad05​ @yelyahryan​ @sunshinemadds​ @wwylmlive​

strikethrough means Tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you :( If you want to be added to the taglist let me know!! also please notify me if I forgot to tag you. <33

#jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank x reader #jj obx #jj x reader #outer banks #outer banks fanfiction #outer banks netflix #jj #rudy pankow x reader #rudy pankow imagine #rudy pankow #john b imagine #kiara #pope #john b

[punkrock-writer]

Space Cowboy- Part 1

Having a Very Bad Time at Disney World

Pairing- Din Djarin x F!OC

Warnings- Swearing. A lot of bad words. Mild Violence. 

A/N- The response to this fic is overwhelming I woke up and wanted to cry, thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged and followed me. And thank you to everyone who went to AO3 and left kudos and comments ily. This introduces my OC Sedona. She's a little rough around the edges but I hope you like her. Feel free to message me or comment if you like it or hate it, I like talking to people. Thank you again. 

Prologue AO3 Wattpad 

The musty, thick, Florida humidity did little to stop her body from practically vibrating as she gazed up at the sight before her. The grand entrance to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge stood proudly, casting an arch shaped shadow that she stepped into to get a better look. Faux sandstone and waving flags beckoned her into the park, and she gladly followed with a face splitting smile. She had been saving for this trip for what felt like a life time; overtime had finally payed off, and she couldn't wait to spend an entire week in "the happiest place on earth"...

Or so she thought.

Sedona smiled as the butterflies fluttered in her stomach, gazing up at the Millennium Falcon was like a dream. The ship was massive, and fit snugly within the surrounding attraction. She wouldn't consider her self a 'super fan'- she doesn't know the names of the planets in a galaxy far far away, and she definitely couldn't name all of the different space races- but the beauty of the universe awakened the child that was buried deep in her soul. Nostalgia and adult money were a deadly combination.

It didn't help that the casting department knew how to cast the perfect eye candy to keep a grown woman entertained.

She dragged herself away from the massive ship. Though she told her self she wasn't obsessed, she still unconsciously decided to carve an entire day out of a week long trip just to roam around Batuu. She took as deep a breath as she could of the hot air, just beginning to get used to the uncomfortable way her hair curled and clung to the sweat on her neck. The air smelled like an amusement park, little kids vomit, sweat, and caramel corn. She walked leisurely, her sandals dragging on the pavement as she passed stalls and a makeshift cantina, making her way under another gigantic arch. Voices and music filled her ears, she let her guard down, allowing herself to completely absorb the atmosphere.

If she hadn't been gazing up at the architecture of the buildings surrounding her, she would've been able to react quicker.

An insanely bright blue light flashed in her face followed by a high pitched whine, similar to your grandpas weird old camera.

Startled she took quick steps back, her vision foggy as she struggled to clear the blotches that stayed behind when the light went away. But when she can see the sight before her fills her with confusion and anger.

"What the hell is this Men in Black Comic-Con, who are you?" Holding her tongue had never been her strong-suit.

There was a tall, old, white man in a black suit and sunglasses. Typing something into an iPad, not paying any mind to the girl he just attempted to blind. She made the move to step toward him when his head moved away from her, looking upwards and to the left.

"So this is the one" he wasn't even looking at anyone, and then she noticed the tiny bluetooth device in his ear. Her brow furrowed deeper, her mouth set in a frown. Her hand lifted and mouth opened simultaneously but before she could yell at him further, an object was thrust in her outstretched hand.

That's when her head split open.

Her empty hand instantly flew to her forehead, eyes squinting shut as she tried to control her breathing. It literally felt like her skull was cracking down the middle, lights danced underneath her eyelids, she curled into herself in the middle of the Disney World street.

"Mother fuck" she spat out the words, cracking one eye open to look for the man, but he had disappeared. Leaving her with a migraine and gadget that looked like the worst dildo in the world.

The growl that ripped through her throat was inhuman. One hand still covered her left eye as she charged in the direction she thought the man could've gone. Most likely looking like the angriest bitch in the entire park. Her fist clenched around the metal piece that was in her right hand, swinging it as her flip flops smacked against the cement. She didn't know where the hell he went but she was going to find the prick an-

"Miss are you okay?" A timid female voice flitted from her left side. She spun quickly, another wave of pain crashed over her, she couldn't fathom how she looked right now to the poor mother and her young child. A fist covering her left eye as her face contorted into a snarl, her other hand clutching some kind of metal object. Her chest heaving and leaning awkwardly into her left side.

"I'm fine" she grumbled, before marching further on her war path. She missed the way the mother quickly bundled the child into her arms, rushing into the opposite direction as quick as she could.

━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━

Sedona attempted her murderous trek for as long as she could. Searching the park for the mysterious business man who had fucked with her relaxing vacation. But sooner than she would've liked the pain overwhelmed her. Begrudgingly she boarded a Disney bus and made her way back to her hotel room. The device had been tossed into her purse, not wanting to get rid of it, so she could beat the man with it when she found him.

Yet another shuddering wave of pain ripped through her as she flung open the door to her room. Quickly shutting and locking it behind her, the first thing she did was pull her hair from its ponytail. Her hair, damp and curly from sweat hung to her shoulders, she ran both hand through it, taking a deep breath of the air conditioning. The next to go was her purse, which she unceremoniously flung onto the bed as she stomped forward. Her flip flops were kicked off at the end of her bed. Peeling the sage green sundress off her sweaty body, she rifled through her suitcase.

Nothing good ever happens when I wear a fucking dress.

Satisfied with her choice of pajamas she shuffled into the bathroom. Pausing for a moment to glare into the mirror. Taking in the mess of a girl who couldn't even keep her eyes all the way open. She pivoted to the shower, praying the cold water would do some kind of good for the aggressive pounding behind her eyes.

She stayed in the shower till she was shivering. The headache only diminishing slightly, and the gaudy scent of the hotel toiletries didn't really help. Grappling two thin towels from the rack above the toilet she rolled her hair into one atop her head, the other she quickly dried herself off. She didn't really want to spend much longer in the dampness, wanting a nap much more.

Her pajama choice was simple, a men's 3XL Big and Tall black T-shirt, and a pair of Mandalorian printed MeUndies. No, no, she definitely wasn't a super fan. She exited the bathroom, bee-lining for her massive suitcase that was perched on the bed. Plopping down she hauled it into her lap, searching through the many pockets for the one containing her emergency first aid kit, and she sighed in relief when she finally found the bottle of Advil. As she unscrewed the top she glanced at her purse, a strange blue light emitted from within it.

She reached over her suitcase, grabbing her purse and setting it into the bag on her lap. She couldn't help the eye roll as she pulled the device from the depths. It was a simple looking thing. A long pill shape, with an indented seam running the entire edge, and one small thumb-print size button in the middle. The button pulsated it's annoying blue light slowly, beckoning someone to press it.

"I don't have the energy for this shit" she grumbled. Maybe it was the headache making her loopy, but she placed her thumb over the indentation, without much of a hesitation.

And of course it started to vibrate.

She would've laughed if the vibration wasn't followed by the entire outer seam of the device growing brighter with the same blue light.

"Travel begins in 5 seconds. Please gather all items needed for travel"

Sedona's eyes grew wide as her brow furrowed in confusion. The mechanical voice didn't give her much time to think.

This can't be real.

4

Panic rose in her throat, her eyes searched the device, flipping it in her hands as it began to grow brighter and brighter.

3

On instinct she gathered both of her bags closer to her chest. The massive suitcase not really yielding much.

2

Her breathing grew quicker, matching the aggressive buzzing of the device in her hand.

1

"Fucki-"

And suddenly she is falling. Rapid descent lifts the towel from her head, and she can feel wind rushing past her face. She squeezed her eyes shut, but she could still tell that she was falling through and insanely bright blue tunnel. Faster and faster until.

BANG

Her knees are folded underneath her, taking the entire collective weight of her body and both of her bags that fall on top of her. She swears she hears a pop, and can feel a burning pain rip up her knees to the top her thighs.

She deeply inhales, slamming her hands onto whatever metal floor is in front of her.

"MOTHER FUCKER"

#din djarin #din djarin x oc #din Djarin x f!oc #din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian x oc #the mandalorian #mando #mando x oc #the child #baby yoda #grogu #disney #fuck the men in black #sedona #din djarin x sedona #sedina? is that a ship name? who knows. Not me! #space cowboy

[becamitchellsbeats]

Bechloe - Skype Night

Inspired by the Bellas performance of Love On Top!

Beca is isolating alone and is missing the Bellas more than she cares to admit. One skype call and a spontaneous burst into a song later and everything changes.Might continue it so lemme know your thoughts!]

-

Beca's music career had been put on a temporary hold as she was made to isolate at home, her hand wrestling to the bottom of yet another chips packet as she flicked through the TV channel for the 17th time. "Well this officially sucks" she groaned to herself, tucking her legs in closer as she eyed a photo frame on the TV cabinet,  it was the Bellas graduation photo, looking back at it she wished she smiled more for the photo, she looked so grumpy, especially when compared to Chloe who her eyes focusing on Chloe in particular.

Beca hadn't seen Chloe in around 2 months which felt like agony seeing as she was used to seeing her daily, not that she'd ever admit it. The emptiness of her apartment was also driving her insane, she was in a position of wanting company but not wanting to ask for it, especially considering it had bizarrely became against the law for the time being, something she never could of seen coming.

See, everything went to crap when the Bellas graduated, a virus had taken the globe by storm, and university life had changed drastically, Beca was glad they had graduated before all the changes but it now meant she was isolating alone.

Fat Amy, who said she'd be Beca's 'roomie for life' received a 'dodgy' lump sum from her father so of course she was off living in a massive house somewhere and Chloe, who was her other potential roommate had gone and got herself stranded abroad whilst helping out at a vet overseas to gain more exotic animal experience.

Beca reluctantly removed herself from the sofa, dragging her feet across the wooden flooring as she made her way into the bathroom. She stared at herself in her mirror, her bottom lip tugging as she winced at the sight. Hair tangled, Cheetos dust staining her once white t-shirt and chipped black nail paint.

Tired eyes looked her reflection up and down, her hand lazily hitting the nozzle on the taps splashing herself with some cold water. "Okay Mitchell, you need to sort yourself out jeez" she said whilst waving her finger at herself in the mirror, pointing at herself somewhat sternly, then lightly smirking at herself for her own weird behavior. "I'm officially losing it" she admitted.

Feeling motivated to freshen herself up Beca jumped in the shower, warm water running down her body as she collected her thoughts. Stepping out the shower and feeling immediate regret as the cold air wrapped itself around her body, she shuddered, eagerly grasping for her towel as her wet hair now covered her eyes. She huffed, trying to blow the clingy wet hair off her lips as she blindly reached for her hair brush. Groans filled the bathroom as her hairbrush tore through the knots in her hair, her eyes watering from some particularly painful knots.

Fully clothed and nails now painted Beca had just finished on putting on her signature eyeliner. She sat in her bedroom, that was surprisingly still tidy, but that was because she had barely managed to remove herself from the sofa. She rarely socialized nowadays, other than her occasional skype calls with the group, but she always felt funny about joining calls, she was a bit awkward about having her webcam on and well, all of them insisted they have them on so she'd often opt out.

Beca however was eager to speak to Chloe, which was hard to do as she was a key worker at the vet she was helping out at abroad, with time zones and Chloe's long hours she was often exhausted so she rarely had the time and Beca felt weird reaching out to the others, she refused to come across as clingy but secretly felt sad whenever they left their skype calls. She even felt disappointed when Jessica left her.

Her hand moved to flip open her laptop lid as she adjusted her hair once more "I'll just call her, she'll be home" she mumbled to herself as her mouse hovered over the call button on Chloe's contact.

"Why do I feel so damn nervous" she said fidgeting as she stared at her username "Okay after 3, i'll click the damn call button" she moved her mouse up once more as she counted to three, pressing down on the green button as her own video filled the screen whilst a ringing noise echoed out her laptop speakers.

"Man I hate staring at myself like this" she muttered as the whole screen was filled by her camera.

A red circle, with a hang-up symbol filled the screen. Beca's heart sank. "Bad timing?" she wondered.

_______________________________________________

Chloe's heart raced with excitement when Beca called. She was getting worried about her since she had been so far away, she would often flood her with texts making sure she was eating and drinking enough. She knew Beca was down about not being able to carry out with her record label work and she wanted nothing more than to be there with her, but she knew she'd been neglecting Beca lately, she just didn't have the time and the time gap only worsened things.

"You guys Beca is calling give me a second I'll add her!"

DontBelieveInLadders: [Quick AMBUSH her!]

________________________________________________

Chloe's icon flashed up on Beca's screen it was her wearing sunglasses cuddling a baby fox, a new photo it seemed. Beca now focused her attention on her laptop that was now ringing as it flashed up "Chloe Beale + 8 others" "Group call?" Beca wondered as she clicked the green phone icon.

"BECAAAA!" the group greeted in unison. "Oh sweetie you look so good!" Chloe said with a grin who was also visible on her webcam "And you've got your camera on! I'm so glad" she said excitedly."Someone made an effort" Fat Amy teased, taking notice of Beca's stylish yet casual appearance.

Beca looked away from her camera awkwardly "What? I always get ready pfft"

"You literally have no where to go" Fat Amy responded in a pitchy yet blunt tone "But thats okay Beca, self-care is important and Impress-Chloe-Care even more so"

Beca rolled her eyes "How long you guys been on a call for anyways?" her hands fidgeting with the items on her desk, just out of shot of her camera.

FlippingThroughBorders: {Oh we just started} Flo typed on the message box below

DontBelieveInLadders: {We're still waiting for Stacie and still setting up bits} commented Aubrey as she rustled around in the background for her physical webcam to plug in.

_______________________________________________

Stacie laid in bed, browsing memes on her phone, her attention was diverted when Emily's text popped up {Heeeey hurry up and join the group skype call!} Stacie dangled over her bed and grabbed her laptop from underneath her set of bedside draws. She blew the dust off the top of it and opened it up "I've not used this bad boy in a while" she said as she turned it on, the battery flashing orange from where it was getting low.

As she opened up her search engine it flashed up with her old google tabs, an explicit site was restored and automatically started playing the last video she was watching. Stacie's eyes widened "Well that's quite the greeting," her eyes bulging as she looked the model in the video up and down before shaking her head and closing the tab. "Now is not the time for that" she laughed to herself as she launched skype and joined the chat.

"Hey you guuuuuys" she greeted with a toothy grin. The Bellas greeted their soprano cheerfully., Stacie's eyes focused on Beca "Look who finally learned that isolation doesn't mean isolating from virtual calls!"

Beca rolled her eyes again "I join in!""Occasionally" Emily countered."Or when Chloe is in the chat" Fat Amy coughed

"Aw poor Beca" Flo said into the mic now she had got it set up.

Beca began snapping her fingers rhythmically, gaining even more attention from the group. "I'm not doing this with you guys"

"Ba bah bah ba, ba" Beca hummed trying to drown them out

"What is she doing?" asked Emily"Ba ba bah da..." Beca continued "is that?" Aubrey raised an eyebrow "I recognize that arrangement, is that, Queen B?" Aubrey said enthusiastically as she leaned forward in her seat.

"Oh my god you guys are we going to sing?" Chloe said excitedly clasping her hands together as she bounced in her seat.

"Aw yeah!! lets sing together tonight you guys" Emily beamed"Okay legacy calm down don't ruin it before we've begun" Amy groaned.

The Bellas began snapping their fingers and harmonizing as they began to develop more of a beat for the song Beca was starting off.

"Here we go" said Fat Amy as the beat had been accomplished.  A grin slowly tugged at Stacie's face as Lily began beatboxing. "i'll bring  owowowo beat in"

Beca glanced away shyly as she sang into her microphone.‎"Honey, Honeyyy, I can see the stars, all the waaaay from here, can't you see the glow on the--"

"windowpane" the girls harmonized in unison

"I can feel the sun, whenever you're near, everytime you touch me I just melt away" Beca's eyes glanced at Chloe occasionally as she continued singing.

Fat Amy then jumped in with a solo "Everybody asking why i'm smiling now from ear to eaaaarr!" ("You can say love hurts") "Well I knooooooow-OHHH" ("It's gonna take a little work") Fat Amy said raising her fist passionately.

"Nothings perfect but its worth it, after fighting through my tears!" Stacie sang strongly

"And finally you put me first!"  (dah-dah) the Bellas all sang in unison

The Bellas danced together, doing hand gestures and performing together in perfect harmony. As the song continued Beca felt herself feeling more confident again, her heart feeling full as it felt like everyone was finally with her again.Her eyes closing as she found herself getting lost in the moment.

"Chloe its you, you're the one I love, you're the one I need!"

"You're the only one I see, C'mon Chloe its yoooooou"

Beca blurted out raising the octvave as they were reaching the end of the song "you're the one who gives your all, you're the one I can always call!" the girls continued the beat but stared at her. This was the version Beca would sing on her own, as she often would change song lyrics to fit how she felt.

"When I need to make everything stop, finally you put my love on top"

Chloe paused for a moment, failing to continue singing as her mind tried to grasp the lyrics that had just left Beca's mouth, her face reddening with slight tinges as started singing through her smile and teary eyes.

Being a supportive team the girls continued to hold off on teasing her, after all it was one of the Bellas standards not to let distractions interrupt a performance. Fat Amy couldn't help but smirk as she sang, she was itching to tease Beca.

The DJ was in her own world, snapping and swaying in her seat, singing with her eyes closed she hadn't even realised what she had said untilt he girls changed the lyrics themselves.

"Oh Baby I can feel the wind whipping past my faaaace" Beca sang

"As we dance the night awaaaay" the girls harmonized.

"And girl your look it tastes like a night of champagne"  (oooh) Chloe sang solo

"As I kiss you again and again and again and again" Aubrey chimed in.

As the song continued the girls began grinning, looking over at Chloe and Beca, then back to eachother as they all nodded, clearly on the same wavelength as the song progressed.

"CHLOE ,its yoooou" they sang raising the octave.

"you're the one Bec loves! you're the one Bec neeeeeeeeds"

"WAIT, GUYS" Beca yelled as her face went a shade of red she had never gone before.

"You're the only one she sees! c'mon Chloe its yoooou, you're the one who gives your all, your the one Bec can always call, when she needs you everything you DROP,  finally! you say your love out loud"

"Baby, you're the one that I love, you're the only one that I need!" Chloe sang loudly with a cheeky wink as Jessica and Ashley dominated the top notes.

"C'mon Beca its yoooooou" the Bellas sang in harmony

"When I need you everything stops, finally you put my love on top" the group then faded out to a stop.

The girls all cheered and celebrated as they finished the spontaneous arrangement of love on top. "Crushed it" Amy said with a fist bump.

Beca had already retreated behind her hands, wishing nothing more than to have a wheelie-chair so she could move herself off screen with speed.

"So Beca, remember the last time at the ICCAS when you changed the lyrics, well this was certainly distracting but, it kinda sounded like a confession" Aubrey teased.

"Hmm, thats so ODD Aubrey, I TO was thinking that sounded like a confession to me"

"I mean I got ripped a new one for performing an orginal song at that riff off, but to lyric change Beyonce, you're bold Mitchell" Emily joked.

"Aw don't tease her guys, shes drowning, although Beca, you should know, I've experienced  drowning for real,so this is better" Flo joined in.

"There was no hiding that Becs, surprised you didn't notice!" Stacie grinned

Beca groaned "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you" she said behind the safety of her hands.

"Well duh, it wasn't my name you sang the word 'LOVE' next too, quarantines got you all soft huh" Stacie couldn't help but tease.

Beca slowly dragged her hands down her face, peering out from the tips of her fingertips. "It was that obvious huh... guess thats what happens when I have the place to myself to sing the wrong damn version."

Chloe cleared her throat "Well I for one found that really sweet Becs" she said with a smile that met her eyes as her hand rested on her chest "Honestly my heart is pounding! its a good thing I know how to do CPR well on animals but, y'know" she fanned herself with her hand feeling flustered.

"Yeah um that wouldn't work Chloe, you can't do CPR on yourself" Fat Amy said shaking her head.

"I-I know that its just" Chloe went red "I just--" she threw her hands up in the air "Oof just get over her and kiss me Mitchell, screw this virus, lets just isolate together"

Beca looked up "Man this is so embarrassing this wasn't meant to come out like this and--"

"I'm glad honestly!" Chloe said with a grin "it just makes being a part from you even harder" she whined.

"I just wish you weren't so many miles away" Beca groaned

"Y'all need a ride because I can fly a plane, I just ain't got no licence officially at least" Cynthia Rose commented with a slow nod. "If you know what I mean" she said clicking her tongue.

"Thats so sweet of you but highly illegal, the Bellas have been in enough trouble in the news so we better do things legally this time, ahem, that goes to you too Amy" Chloe said suspiciously looking over at Amy who had moved off camera.

"Whaaaaat" Amy groaned "Its not like I was up to anything suspicious on a dodgey website just now"

"C'mon ladies lets give these two lovebirds some space and go gossip in another chat!" said Emily as the Bellas all began to retreat from the call so only Beca and Chloe remained.

Chloe placed her hand on the screen "Can't believe i'm only saying this now after like what, three years but, I love you Beca"

"I love you too Chlo"

- End of part -

#Bechloe #BecaXChloe #Chloe Beale #Beca Mitchell #Stacie Conrad #Emily Junk #Cynthia Rose #Flo #Pitch Perfect #Love On Top #Bechloe Back To You #Fat Amy #Aubrey Posen #Barden Bellas #Bechloe fic

[avenging-fandoms]

41 from the smut prompts (there's people here) with Spencer pleaseeeee

41. There’s people here.

--

david invited everyone over for the fourth of july, and you happily accepted on behalf of you and spencer. you were so excited to tell spencer, happy that you guys were going to have a normal weekend with your friends. 

“i don’t know.. i don’t really do well with the sun” you laugh, rubbing your hands on his bare chest. you lean down, kissing him softly. 

“there’s something called the shade, baby. come onn i love swimming! every time i want to go down to the pool there’s other people there that i don’t like. his pool will have people i actually like there. come on, pleasee” you beg and he rolls his eyes, throwing on a t-shirt. 

“fine. let’s go” you squeal and kiss him over and over, making him laugh. “we can’t get there in time when you’re kissing me!”

“we’ll just change into our suits at his house” you pack the bag and spencer throws on his sunglasses, locking the door behind him and holding your hand as you two walk to the car. “holy shit it’s hot as balls”

spencer laughs, getting in the car and leaving the door open, blasting the ac. he gives you the thumbs up and opens your door, and you sigh as the cool air hits your hot skin. he closes your door and gets into the driver’s seat, heading to rossi’s house with the music blaring. 

he pulls into the driveway, and you happily hop out, racing to the door. you ring the doorbell, but hear music and laughing in the backyard. you walk in, spencer catching up as you get outside, everyone cheering to see you two. 

“what the hell? where are your suits!” emily yelled from the floatie in the pool. 

“we didn’t have time, we’re gonna go change now” 

“you know where the bathroom is” rossi kissed both of your cheeks then spencer’s making you laugh. spencer follows you as you head to the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind you. you set the bag on the counter, handing spencer his suit. he took off his shorts and slid on his trunks, biting your lips as you watch him. 

“hey you perv, get to changing!” he laughed and smacked you with his shirt. you slide off your shirt, shorts and underwear, spencer leaning against the wall as he watched you with dark eyes. 

“who’s the perv now?” you tie the knot behind your neck, looking at spencer in the mirror. “can you tie me please?”

he comes up behind you, tying his the knot and you press your hips back, circling your hips against his crotch. “yn.. there’s people here. our boss is here”

“so? you’re so fucking hot and i just want you to fuck me” you turn around and whisper against his, fingers dipping into his trunks. he gasps, gulping as your hand slowly starts to pump him. “please fuck me, doctor. i’m desperate for you” you moan, spencer’s hand holding your jaw. 

“naughty little thing” he growled, turning you around and bending you over the sink, pulling down your bathing suit bottoms. he pushed his down as well, licking his hand and rubbing up and down your pussy, slowly pushing his cock inside of you, covering your mouth as you let out a moan. 

he started to thrust his hips, nails gripping your hips as he pulled you against him more. your eyes widened at the sound of a knock on the door, jj’s voice coming through it. “hey, are you guys okay?”

“yeah, we just got into a fight.. we might need a minute” you lie, spencer smirking in the mirror.

“oh.. okay.. love you guys” you heard her the sound of her flip flops fade, and spencer spanks you. 

“naughty girl! you lied to your friend” he picks up the speed of his thrusts, making you grip the sink and your eyes roll backwards, your head falling onto the granite. his fist holds your hair, making you look in the mirror. “are you gonna cum? you gotta be quick, come on” 

his hand snakes to your front and he rubs your clit at a fast pace, making your thigh shake. “i’m gonna cum, fuck, spence” 

“cum for me, naughty girl” you bite down into his palm as you muffle your moans, pressing against his cock. you pull away from him and turn around, squatting on your knees. you look up at spencer and kitten lick his tip, his fingers holding your hair and shoving his cock into your mouth. “look at you, you’re quiet now with my cock in that dirty mouth of yours” 

you smile and take your hand, pumping his cock as you bob your head. his eyes roll backwards, stabilizing himself by holding the sink as his seed spills into your mouth, masking his moans behind his hand. you pull away and swallow, cleaning him up. 

“good girl” you smile and rinse your mouth out with water, cleaning yourself up before fixing your suits, putting sunscreen on each other and grabbing the back, acting like you two hate each other as you get to the pool. you get into the pool slowly and poke your head through a floatie, leaning on it. 

“you guys okay?” you look at spencer through your sunglasses, and you noticed him looking at you too. 

“yup. he’s just a major dick sometimes” they both laugh, jennifer handing you a beer and you thank you, looking at spencer over your sunglasses and winking, making him smirk. 

--

criminal minds tag list:

@braeleebradshaw

@littlewierdalien

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid imagines #spencer reid blurb #spencer reid blurbs #spencer reid smut #smut #criminal minds #matthew gray gubler

[notchesandbullets]

Loyalty and Love (Police Officer!Jae-ha x Shy!Reader x Military Officer!Kija)

Warning: harassment

Words: 2.4k

"Come on, girlie, gimmie a smile!"

You were getting harassed by this guy who would not get a clue, letting hair fall into your face as you increased your walking speed. But he was persistent and chased you through the streets of traffic. Your trembling hands fumbled with your phone, trying desperately to press the speed dial for one of your two partners to come and save you when it slipped through your fingers.

The screen shattered upon impact with the concrete and cold dread set in the pit of your stomach as alcohol-laced breath panted against your neck.

Scrambling away, you tried to employ what Jae-ha had taught you to do in a situation like this, but the man overpowered you easily, twisting your wrist as you went to jab him in the eyes. His eyes narrowed and he sneered at you.

You shied away from him as he stuck his face close to yours, silent but clearly terrified. No matter how much you struggled, he pinned your wrists above your head, avoiding your poorly-aimed kicks to his groin to get him off of you.

Then, all of the sudden, the pressure was gone.

A stream of white hair crossed your vision and your eyes widened in shock.

Kija scoffed in disgust as he shoved the man off of you, lip curling back in a snarl. "Refrain from touching her if you desire to keep your head attached to your shoulders."

He acted as a wall between you and him, hands planted firmly on his hips as his broad shoulders blocked you from his view.

You fell back with a squeak as another hand tugged your wrist and you twisted to look up at your rescuer. Mouth dropping in astonishment, you exclaimed, "Jae-ha?!"

His beautiful, violet eyes had gone black with fury and his jaw was clenched as he tried to hold himself back from losing his temper in front of you.

The thing was, neither one of them were supposed to be here. Jae-ha had patrol on the opposite side of the city and Kija was supposed to be out of town until this weekend. How they managed to get there so fast was beyond you, but you were incredibly grateful they arrived when they did.

On the flip side, you had never seen either of them this livid before.

If you were the man, you would've done the smart thing and fled the scene, but no. He just had to take it a step further despite the fuming men beside you.

"Police!!" The creep shouted, face beet red with embarrassment and rage, waving his arms to catch the attention of the patrol car that had just pulled up to the curb. "These men are harassing my girlfriend and they're drunk!! They need to be arrested for being intoxicated in public!!"

You physically recoiled at the false mention of being this bastard's girlfriend and clearly your boyfriends didn't appreciate that. By now, your situation had gathered quite a crowd, and everyone was watching and waiting to see what the officers would do.

Two figures exited the police car, one especially tall with dark hair and the other just as intimidating despite being a bit smaller in stature than his partner.

They approached slowly but purposefully, striding forward until they were directly in front of him. Towering over him, the dark-haired man drawled, "Your girlfriend?"

The man nodded curtly, assuming that any suspicions would be let go now that he had clarified his claim, but he was so wrong.

The officer's partner lowered his sunglasses, revealing piercing golden eyes slitted with blatant hatred. The drunk stumbled back at the malice, eyes beginning to dart warily around as he started to get a clue.

The crowd started to murmur amongst themselves, and nearly missed the cocky grin the taller officer flashed. A small piece of metal glinted on his chest as he stepped into the sun, and it read, "Officer Hak".

Hak grinned with way too much confidence for it simply to be a coincidence. "What do you say, Shin-ah? Should we let him go and escort the lady home?"

His partner raised his chin, pointing soundlessly towards the green-haired man still standing behind you.

"Ask the boss." He said quietly, but with an air of authority that left no room for questioning.

The man's face went pale as he followed their stare behind him and it finally sunk in.

Any trace of usual amusement was gone as Jae-ha lifted up the hem of his shirt, revealing his badge and gun strapped to his hip.

"You see," Hak began, circling the man like a vulture, smirking deviously. "That girl is well known around this area. She's a close friend of mine, and you went and pissed off her boyfriends, who are already as overprotective as hell."

"Jae-ha's a lieutenant in our district." Shin-ah continued quietly but steadily, mouth pressed in a hard line. "And Kija serves in the military that protects your rights and freedoms. The amount of nerve you have to claim that she's yours is pathetic. We should arrest you."

Floundering for a feasible reason to cover his ass from these infuriated cops and coming up empty, the pathetic excuse for a human being scampered off with his tail tucked in between his legs.

With him finally gone, you let out the breath you didn't know you had been holding, squeezing Jae-ha's hand in thanks for his support. He gazed down at you in concern, violet eyes darkening to black when he saw the bruises forming on your wrists from where he had pinned you. Kija followed his gaze, and his clenched fists nearly tore his uniform.

"Thank you both." You bowed gratefully, unaware of the storm brewing from your partners. "I'm so sorry for the trouble."

Hak saluted in such a ridiculous way that had you giggling.

"No trouble at all." He reassured you easily. "It is our job after all. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

You nodded, glancing up at Kija, who had drifted close to your unoccupied side.

Shin-ah stepped forward. "Come down to the station later and we'll take a statement."

You dipped your head again to show you understood but blinked your eyes in shock when Jae-ha shook his head firmly.

"She's not going anywhere for the rest of the day." He stated firmly, shooting you a sharp look when you started to suggest that they should let it go. "Up the patrol. Find him."

Shin-ah and Hak bowed obediently, zipping off down the street and just like that, everyone else went about their day. Amidst the bustling city, you were left in your own bubble with Kija and Jae-ha.

You played with your fingers nervously, unsure of what to do as the red auras surrounding your usually gentle and loving boyfriends increased.

"Can... Can we go home?" You asked anxiously, scolding yourself for how timid it came out.

They nodded automatically. Jae-ha's hand landed on the small of your back as he guided you through the crowd and Kija took your hand, practically bulldozing his way through. You ducked your head shyly, biting your lip at how much attention they were drawing but you couldn't help how safe that made you feel after this morning's episode.

Kija scooped you up the instant Jae-ha pulled up to your townhome, carrying you through the threshold without hesitation despite your many soft objections that you were too heavy.

Pressing a sweet peck to the crown of your head, he set you down on the sofa, arranging a fluffy blanket over your shaking form. "Wait here for a moment, Y/N."

A desperate cry tore from your throat as they stepped towards your shared bedroom, reaching out for them instinctively before pulling back abruptly, cheeks coloring in shame.

Jae-ha dropped down to his knees, by your side in a split second. His gaze was trained on the way you were clutching your hands to your chest, recognizing what you needed automatically.

"C'mere, sweetheart." He murmured softly, gathering you up in his arms. "I've got you."

He gave Kija the go-ahead to grab what he needed from the bathroom as he ran his long fingers through your hair soothingly.

Your eyes fluttered shut at the calming motion, head thumping on his chest as you lost the strength to keep it up by yourself. His chest rumbled against your ear as he hummed one of your favorite songs.

You had met him at university, sitting in the corner of the library with earbuds stuck in his ears. Back then, you remembered there were rumors about how he used to get around. Partying, doing drugs, everything your parents told you to stay away from, but you didn't stay away from him. Intrigued by what he was listening to that had the playboy so focused, you tapped on his shoulder in a moment of bravery, catching his attention just long enough to shyly relay your curious question.

From there, a friendship sparked until it developed into something deeper than either of you could control.

And the only reason why you refused to be with him after you both graduated was because of Kija.

He had caught your interest from the get-go the second you spotted him in your anthropology lecture. The disgust on his beautiful face as the professor showed a descriptive diagram of insects on the board was hilarious and you burst out laughing in the middle of his teaching. After you apologized, you were thoroughly embarrassed and wished that you could crawl in a hole and die.

But your little display caught his attention and he approached you after class with the promise of taking you out to lunch the following day as long as you agreed to help him get through the lectures by sitting next to him.

You readily agreed to his proposal, but you couldn't squander the guilt you felt as you started to split your time between the handsome, green-haired playboy and the elegant, white-haired study buddy. It didn't make any sense to feel ashamed since you weren't with either one of them, but your feelings for both was what put it in perspective and in a last ditch attempt to get over the silly crush, you cut off contact.

Ending your friendship. Or so you thought.

The pounding on the door of your apartment woke you up at 2 am, and as soon as you opened it, in stumbled your drunk friends. Things only escalated from there. Feelings were revealed in the heat of an argument and you were speechless.

Never in a million years did you think that both of them would be harboring strong feelings for you, and even though you wanted them that night just as bad as they obviously wanted you, the three of you decided to wait until they were completely sober.

All of your insecurities the next morning were washed away as the smell of bacon and buttered toast wafted through your apartment. Kija was cooking and Jae-ha was in the middle of setting the table when you walked in, and their heads shot up when you promptly burst into tears.

You confessed that you thought it was all a dream, or that you would wake up and they would be gone. They embraced you tightly, professing their love for you once more before sealing it with a sweet kiss from a blushing Kija and a searing hot one from a smirking Jae-ha.

Now, years later, here you were. Still considering them your safe place.

Kija returned with a roll of gauze and bowl of cold water. "Y/N, let me see please."

Extending your arms timidly, you glanced up at Jae-ha, who shifted you slightly so that your back was pressed against his firm chest. He kissed the top of your head encouragingly and you bit your lip as your other partner cleaned and bandaged the bruised area.

Frowning deeply at the discoloration, Kija's jaw locked with the restraint of holding himself back from walking out the front door to find and end the creep who had dared to touch you.

"Hey... I'm okay..." You whispered quietly, offering up a reassuring smile. "My heroes came just in time."

And just like that, the dark atmosphere became bright, lighting up only at your unintentional command and the two men chuckled.

Jae-ha brushed back your hair, giving Kija room to peck your temple. His smile was slight, but filled with amusement as his rage started to simmer down. "We're glad you're alright, sweetheart."

Kija lifted your hand gently, kissing your knuckles, eyes brimming with love as they landed on yours. "We'll take care of you, Y/N. We'll keep you safe."

Leaning forward, you rested your forehead against his, a smile curling at the corner of your lips. "I know..." You breathed. "Thank you."

He gave you an eskimo kiss that had you giggling, and the sound warmed his heart. You hopped up to your feet, announcing quietly that you were going to go change into some pjs and the two of them let you go. But as his gaze found Jae-ha's, his blue eyes darkened.

They had made friends. Powerful people who happened to owe them a favor. Not that they needed that excuse to go after that man.

Yoon would be the first they would call. An analyst and a skilled strategist. He fooled everybody with his age, and Jae-ha was the first never to underestimate him, earning the pretty boy genius' loyalty for life. He would know what to take care of first.

Zeno usually hung around the poorer parts of town, helping anyone in any way that he could. The spunky and energetic golden-haired boy had a ton of connections, and would make sure they had eyes on the operation the whole time.

Grabbing his phone as it vibrated, Jae-ha barely had to look at it to know who it was. "Hak already contacted me. They found him."

Kija narrowed his eyes. "Then let's go."

They called Yona to come over and keep you company until they finished exacting their revenge.

No matter what, they would protect you. Even if it meant diverting every resource they had at their fingertips to ensure it. You were their entire world.

There was no way anyone would get away with treating you less than that. You deserved better, and damn it, they were going to teach this bastard a lesson.

They would let him live. But just barely.

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