Steve's panic attack buying medical supplies... Poor baby. You said this fic is more scent marker heavy than most of your ABO stuff, but I REALLY think it was needed. It fits so perfectly in such a HEAVILY emotion-based story.

Steve threatening Neil!! Steve threatening Neil!! I love a good bloodthirsty bitch. Violence just really hits right sometimes. I love all the constant reminders we get that Steve is NOT a small Omega, in body or in spirit. Neil pissing himself as he narrowly avoids losing his fucking head was the sweetest retribution. I feel like it accomplished both goals. We got some violence, but he ALSO was made so small. He ran, terrified, from an Omega. He tried to get the cops on his side, and he FAILED. He's spent his entire life bullying his was into getting what he wants, and he's losing every last bit of his grip on that.

The kids piling in to puppy pile Steve, and it helping. They get to be here for him like he's there for them.

BILLY TELLING MAX HE LOVES HER AND TELLING HER SHE ALWAYS HAS A HOME WITH HIM. MY GOD.

Literally every single thing about Billy at the Cabin. Joyce's family haircuts and including him in that?? HE'S ONE OF HER KIDS NOW.

BILLY AND ELEVEN. El's complete inability to be sneaky or lie to blackmail someone (friends don't lie!!), and him letting her braid his hair anyway. Also love that he's back to threatening the kids and it's totally toothless but he still does it. Steve LETS him now, because he knows Billy's never going to let anything hurt those kids. The whole exchange about El feeling broken and in a sense unlovable, but he makes her feel so okay, even if not how he was meaning. "I'm going to tell Mike tomorrow." I'm sure that'd be great lol

THE REUNION. Everything about it is so so sweet. They've been so far apart and so worried for so long. But not only that. For the first time in their relationship, they're safe. And nothing bad can happen to them. They're not on a time constraint. They just get to be and be together.

Billy saying he'd let Steve ride him into the carpet made me snicker. That whole exchange. "Counterpoint-" lol I get you, Billy. Sometimes injuries take a back seat. (One time I needed help getting upstairs and was icing my knee which I could barely touch, but that Did Not Stop the festivities.) And Steve's insistence otherwise, because he WILL mama bear the fuck out of anyone and everyone. Even his Alpha.

Also the exchange explaining the Papa Bear thing was so cute. "I thought it was something weird."

THE FUCKING HOUSE. The fact that Steve gave him a home, but also is giving him the key as a necklace?? Just all so beautiful. The parallels. The callbacks. Billy crying because he's so loved and safe.

Also!! "I want your next heat"/"it's yours"!!!! The GROWTH!! OUR BOYS ARE FINALLY TRULY TALKING TO EACH OTHER AND READY TO FULLY HAVE EACH OTHER.

This was such a good chapter, and SUCH a good follow up to the last. The tonal shift wasn't abrupt. It just felt so natural.

Chef's kiss

The scent markers really did help this fic along. It adds another layer of depth to an already canon and verse intense dynamic and i think it REALLY compliments that like… feral… part of Billy. I’ve said before that he’s very much a natural Alpha, especially for how I write my Alphas, even giving him fangs felt like a perfectly normal thing to do since he’s always baring his teeth and licking his lips in the show? And adding the scent markers is just another way for him to be hyper aware of everything all the time and to properly figure out situations (which abused kids have to learn to do anyway literally just to survive).

Whoo okay Neil. You are exactly right about how the scene with Steve makes him feel “small”. Like not to sound too After School Special about it but once a bully realizes you Aren’t scared anymore, they lose their power. Neil tried to be physically imposing and got pushed off the porch because Steve’s bigger. He tried to call on his “authority” as an Alpha (it’s dangerous for omegas to be alone) and got wholly disrespected. Threatened to call the cops and was told to also call an ambulance. And then probably the most satisfying for me to write was how Steve very much treated him like a bratty child “I’m going to count to three!” Homeboy got stripped of every inch of his power and had to run away crying. Love that for us.

And I love the way that Steve felt afterwards. Instead of feeling sick or guilty like he would have if he’d actually killed Neil, he can smile and sort of chuckle about it and he KNOWS he could and would absolutely defend his mate from anyone and it actually gives him the hope that things are going to be okay.

Really super loved the kids influence in this chapter. From the boys puppy piling on Steve to max sneaking out of class to call Billy and honestly everything that is Eleven checking in steve and then sitting and braiding Billys hair while talking about Important things. I usually don enjoy writing too many younger characters because children in general make me want to tear my hair out, but it isn’t stranger things WITHOUT the party and the way the older characters interact with the kids highlights so many good themes and character arcs.

Billy just being so “oh no I’m gonna pop some pain pills and you’re gonna ride me into the carpet” like he’s feeling extremely confident in those pain pills lol. But more importantly, it’s just that connection, he’s so so desperate to keep his mate close and specifically in NCTS Omegaverse, sex is never just sex it’s always emotional and a way to bond and really intensely be with each other so yeah, Billy is 61% just a horn dog but he’s also 39% really needing to that close to his mate and I love that.

I was actually racking my brain trying to figure out what Steve could get Billy for his birthday. In an earlier version of this fic, there was a birthday chapter where Steve took Billy away for an overnight trip to one of the Great Lakes so Billy could just be on a beach again even if it wasn’t cali but once I dove into Neil a little more I realized they’d never get away with that sortnof thing without massive repercussions? So I switched it out and eventually ended up here and I knew I wanted Billys birthday to specifically be the moment where they 100% commit to each other, reaffirm their bond, clear up any potential misunderstandings (like the night at the byers) and move forward together, so then I had to figure out what Steve could give Billy that would be so hugely emotional lik the necklace…

And like. Duh. When it finally came to me it seems so so obvious. Of course steve gets them a place together. It’s been established over and over in this fic how Steve’s house isn’t really home, how he can’t relax there and will never feel totally comfortable there so of course he needs someplace new and of course Billy does to.

And the parallels to the Saint Christopher necklace 😭😭 in case Billy ever starts feeling lost he can remember how to get home to Steve?? I love them.

I almost left the last conversation out because at this point it felt redundant. Obvs the boys are together forever. But you’re right, they’ve always sort of…. Said it without actually saying it. Or (rightfully) assumed. And their communication has been next to nothing just because of Neil. So even with it being a little redundant I think it needed to be said. Billy isn’t even asking at this point either and I love that because he knows exactly where he stands with Steve. “Want your next heat, gonna come home to you every night, mark you up silver, make you mine” and Steve’s responses are “yes” and “I’m already yours”

Honestly I’m embarrassingly emotional over it

sunkissed love; a taiora playlist for lovers who love each other like the sun radiates the earth. (youtube / spotify)

01. wonder - shawn mendes i wonder what it's like to be loved by you 02. used to you - mxmtoon say your feelings to me so i won't overthink mine 03. you're the best thing about me - u2 i'm the kind of the trouble that you enjoy 04. beautiful to me - olly murs you're so amazing, don't you know? 05. thunder - boys like girls your voice was the soundtrack of my summer; so bring on the rain and bring on the thunder 06. she is love (full band version) - parachute i've been beaten down, i've been kicked around, but she takes it all for me 07. built to last - mêlée 'cause you are the sun in my universe 08. best friend - rex orange county i still wanna be your favorite boy 09. give me a try - the wombats we could be gigantic, this could be worth the risk bonus track: i love you - billie eilish you didn't mean to say "i love you"; i don't want to, but i love you...

part 3 of lovers in japan series track-by-track commentaries;

IT'S TAIORA TIMEEEEE!!

honestly i want to keep this on my draft a little longer (*cough* maybe i can save it for taiora week *cough*), but @dutchforstrangers gave me some encouragement to let this out a bit faster... so here it is.

remember when i said on my koukari mixtape that my playlists are gonna be messy in terms of the storyline? well, this is the messiest. i think i kind of overthink this playlist because i want it to be perfect. it's my ultimate otp after all. i really hope this turns good.

two of the songs are already included in @patamonn's mixtape post, which you should all check it because bree's works are awesome. aside lynn, i want to dedicate this playlist to my sora sister @sorasfishing! i hope you keep thriving in anything you do and don't forget to get some rest :D (although this playlist is more up to beat and not really suitable for leisure time lmao) (well, taiora's the kind of couple who's full of spirit anyway)

01. wonder - shawn mendes

i was struggling to find a way to start this playlist. most songs i had gathered somehow would sound better if i put them in the middle. this song suddenly appeared on my suggestions and i remembered the first time this was released, i... didn't really like it lmao.

but now i love it so much. the music is majestic and very... taichi-like, if i can put it that way. the last beat of the drums sounds adventurous and seems like a good prologue for a journey ahead.

and yeah, what better way to start other than our main guy wondering what it's like to be loved by the beautiful lady who owns the sky?

02. used to you - mxmtoons

i was thinking of two mxmtoons songs for the playlist: either this song, or falling for u. although falling for u sounds more fitted to the theme of "realising you have feelings for your best friend but too afraid to tell him" (you should totally listen and check the lyrics here), i settled on used to you because of two reasons. first, the music of falling for u is too cozy for this rather rock playlist.

second, for me, used to you has a more... personal touch? i mean i can put falling for u for a takari playlist and it'll still be a good fit, but used to you is more of a taiora song. in the official commentary, the song is told to be about the turbulence of a new relationship. but in my point of view, this could be about how sora became too used to taichi's presence.

the first verse is somewhat a description of sora's insecurity. as she grew up, she wanted to become a better part of society (that was why she turned to tennis, dressing more femininely...). this kind of thought is a bit overwhelming, and knowing sora, of course she would overthink them. since 02 did taiora very dirty we never knew how taichi really felt about these changes and i am pretty sure that sora actually wanted to know his opinion because he knew her the best.

move on to the chorus: "i've been spending all my time, sitting by the phone just waiting for a call. i used to wanna be alone 'til your name was in my phone, now i'm getting kinda used to you." look, i still believe that sora's an introvert. but if taichi called her, she'd be there in a heart beat. (also, think about that scene in tri where she got so stressed with taichi informing his soccer game a little too late. bet she'd been waiting for him to invite her from the very beginning.)

03. you're the best thing about me - u2

this is just a general love song, but the line "i'm the kind of trouble that you enjoy" is very cheeky i can imagine taichi saying it to sora with so much confidence.

04. beautiful to me - olly murs

if you're listening to this playlist on spotify, i will kindly suggest you to switch momentarily to youtube because for this specific song, you have to watch the music video so you can get a more taiora vibe.

the video is about two childhood friends that always there for each other but never really talks about the feeling until one of them is almost getting married. get it? (although yeah, the girl is more of a badass than sora and the boy is too aloof as taichi's counterpart.)

the song itself is just the singer trying to convince the girl that she is beautiful no matter what. i always feel like sora has a lack of confidence about herself, so this is taichi pulling her into a realisation.

05. thunder - boys like girls

this is a tribute to our war game (a.k.a. THE PEAK OF TAIORA CINEMATIC UNIVERSE), especially the dub version with that "you say you love thunderstorm." i think when you look at the chorus of this song, you'll get it why i put the song here.

06. she is love - parachute

i have to choose the full band version because the og version is too slow. the title seems to be... a description of sora? i mean she IS love, right? :p but yeah, i think this song is an illustration on how sora will still take taichi despite his recklessness.

spoiler alert: one of my digiweek submission will be taiora with this song :p

07. built to last - mêlée

i was in doubt whether i had to put this song on this playlist, but the line "you are the sun in my universe" convinced me. also, "all of our friends saw from the start, so why didn't we believe it too?"!? gee. everyone saw it, you two. you are meant to last indeed.

08. best friend - rex orange county

okay, this is the part where everything gets a bit... bittersweet.

picture this: sora gets a boyfriend. idc who the boyfriend is, but it's definitely not taichi. this is the perfect song because taichi will surely regret why he didn't confess to sora earlier. still, he wants to be her favourite boy no matter what. even the part when the singer says "but i still wanna break your heart and make you cry" is just taichi's way of joking.

09. give me a try - the wombats

this is actually my favourite song on the playlist and funnily, i found this song accidentally when i first built this mixtape. we can ignore a rather "miserable side" of this song and just take this song as taichi's way of convincing sora that they could be such a fantastic pair together.

also, on a separate note, there's a long distance relationship theme implied in this song. i never really explore this theme, but i always wonder how married!taiora will make their marriage work because taichi will surely travel a lot with his job as diplomat.

bonus tracks: i love you - billie eilish

it took a long time for me to finally decide to put this song. i want the closure to be very slow and solemn, because most of the songs in this playlist have been very upbeat. i realised that most songs are in taichi's pov, so i thought about searching a song from sora's pov.

i was thinking about gabrielle aplin's please don't say you love me. however, the tempo was still too fast somehow, and i got the impression that the girl in the song wouldn't let the relationship between her and this particular man to be more than just friends. and there's no way i let this playlist to end like that. enough with taiora not being canon.

this billie eilish song should be listen as a company to two other songs, and if you listen to all of them together, it's actually a pretty depressing storyline (maybe triggering, so i suggest not to google if you don't feel comfortable). however, if you listen to i love you as a stand-alone song, i think it can still be a good fit.

quoting from one source, this is a song about "something that happened near the beginning of a romantic relationship, but a little bit after a friendship." i think this song can be interpreted as sora's reaction when taichi finally CAME TO HIS SENSE confessed to her. her first thought would be he was joking ("maybe won't you take it back? say you were tryna make me laugh"). sora's the type who concealed her emotion, so to hear the words as blatant as "i love you" would make her very vulnerable.

yet the song ends with a realisation that she also loved him. and that is why i put an ellipsis on the lyrics above: i want to leave my playlist for an open ending!

(but if it were up to me, i'll surely put a happy ending for them ;>)

Late Night Q&A w/ W.M. and D.S.

Wanda and I have been asked a few questions and she wanted me to write down the responses <333

Who is the first one up in the morning?

D: Oh, without a doubt, it’s Wanda. No need to elaborate. It’s her - hands down!

W: Definitely me. I’m usually up by 9am at the latest, She is usually never up before noon. Night owl, she is!

D: She’s not wrong. *looks at Wanda and nods in agreement*

Who is the better cook?

W: Daniella makes amazing soups - she has this tomato based one with so many types of vegetables. It’s my favorite thing. She also makes the best sandwiches I have ever had in my entire life. Spirits highly lifted.

D: She’s the better cook. She’s too humble to admit it, though. Her paprikash is to die for and she goes all out on holidays.

W: Don’t doubt yourself, malysh. *kisses Dani’s cheek*

What’s your favorite drink?

D: Depends on the day - give me an energy drink, water, or any type of coffee and I’m happy.

W: Spiced Vanilla hot tea.

D: Oh, yes! When you make me that, I get automatically tired. It’s too good.

What is your favorite activity?

W: Well, the answer depends on your intention, truthfully.

D: What she said! *both start to blush*

W: To stay on the safer side, it would say that we just love watching tv in bed.

D: I could spend all day in bed with you, m’eudial (my dear).

W: Keep it appropriate, malyshka. *she raises an eyebrow*

D: I meant about watching tv. Watching The Addams Family is a comfort thing for me.

W: We can do that in a moment if you’d like!

When did you both know that you had feelings for one another?

W: Daniella was by my side in my darkest moment when she could have walked away. I knew that I did not want to lose her and that I would do anything to keep her safe. *laces Dani’s fingers with hers as Dani plays with Wanda’s rings*

D: Once we came back from Sokovia after the battle against Ultron, Wanda needed someone by her side who was determined to make sure she remained safe from her mind and help her through her grief. I knew that I had to be that person - that was my purpose. I knew from the moment I saw her come out of the building during the battle that she was my soulmate. *runs fingers through Wanda’s hair*

W: When you talked to me in the building during the battle, I knew that you believed in me. Something about you spoke to me and I knew. I just knew.

Did you ever see yourself falling for a Stark?

W: I never would have guessed that the name that I swore to defeat would become the name that I will now swear to protect.

D: Tá tú mo shaol.

W: The most beautiful name to me has Stark in the title. I would not change that. *Dani smirks and tilts her head*

D: I know something I’d prefer to change it to.

W: One day, moya lyubov’. *Wanda kisses Dani’s hand*

Have you two thought about having children in the future?

D: Wanda would make the cutest mom, there is no doubt. I am definitely not opposed to the idea.

W: I want nothing more than to have a family with this one. The way she is with kids is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. My heart melts whenever she interacts with kids.

D: Oh! What were the names we talked about?

W: Pietro for a boy, naturally.

D: Of course, without a doubt.

W: Um, didn’t we suggest Pietra and Iryna?

D: Those we’re definitely the top two. Oh, then Billy and Tommy were the gender neutral choices. Like you can spell them with -ie on the ends which is super fun and gives a little bit of spice.

W: Super cute and timeless.

Who is the worst cook at the compound?

W: Steve, hands down.

D: Absolutely. He’s the guy who thinks nacho cheese Dorito’s are spicy.

W: You couldn’t be more correct.

D: The only thing my dad knows how to make is anything that can be ordered through takeout.

W: Natasha tries, but she can catch toast on fire.

D: I’ve had to repair so many toasters. *they both laugh*

———————————

hey, Dani here. if you have any other burning questions for Wanda that you would like to ask, let me know and I’ll ask her during my next shift! ☺️ xoxo

“Natural” - Chapter 17 - Embry Call x Reader

Wedding Bells

The next few weeks were almost routine. Hanging out with my friends, having far too much fun. Things were going smooth between Leah and Alyssa, but they were taking things very slow. I was happy for them, though. 

The one issue that didn’t seem to resolve itself was that there was still no sign of Jacob. No matter how much they looked, he was nowhere to be found. I was getting nervous now, was he ever going to return? Even worse, was he dead?

I shake the dark thoughts that plagued my brain as I continue to get myself ready for the wedding I had to be at in three hours. Seth, Billy, and Embry would be arriving at my house in a little over two hours. 

I had just gotten out of the shower and begun drying my hair. I decided that loose beach waves would be the best option, pulling the two front strands of my hair back behind my head. It was just getting there that would be time consuming. 

About an hour and a half later, my hair was finally done. I begin my makeup, going for a soft, natural look. By the time I finished that and got myself dressed up, they all showed up. 

“(Y/N)! Everyone’s here!” My dad yells up the stairs.

“Alright! I’m coming now!” I shout, touching up my hair and grabbing my purse before going down the stairs. 

I was met with everyone having a huge smile plastered across their faces. 

“You look great, hon.” My dad smiles, giving me a side hug. 

“You really do.” Billy agrees. 

“Thank you dad, thank you Billy.” I smile at them. 

“You look amazing, (Y/N)! We’re gonna steal the show.” Seth beams.

“You’re right, nobody’s gonna be able to take their eyes off of us.” I laugh. 

“You look beautiful, (Y/N). You’re… breathtaking.” Embry exhales, with a soft smile. 

His eyes looked at me like I was the only person in the room.

“Thank you, Em. You look so handsome.” I smile, breaking the distance between us, giving him a tight hug.

His hands quickly found my waist and he placed his head on top of my own. His chest smelled like teakwood, my senses were in a frenzy. 

“Alright, alright. Let’s take some pictures of you guys, who knows when you’ll get another chance to dress up so snazzy.” My dad jokes.

“Here, use my phone.” I say, taking it out of my purse and handing it to him.

“All four of you, get in for a picture.” He smiles.

Billy and I were in the middle, Seth and Embry standing behind us for the first few pictures. 

“Okay, just get the young ones, now.” Billy laughs, rolling out of the shot. 

I stand between Seth and Embry, resting my arms on their backs. Seth’s hand was on my upper back and Embry’s rested on the small of my back, once again causing chills to run up my spine. We took a few normal, nice pictures but eventually went for a more goofy set of poses, as it was more true to us. I put bunny ears behind Embry’s head for one and the guys held me sideways for the other, and a third where they pretended to drop me. 

“Okay, just you two. You guys look so handsome.” I smile, walking out of the frame.

The two of them standing side by side was a great sight to see. They looked so handsome, so happy. Seth looked great in a brown suit that complimented him and soft demeanor beautifully. Embry wore a black suit and oh boy. It complimented him. His black hair matching the suit perfectly, his beautiful features outshined anything he wore, but him all dressed up was enough to make me lose it. 

“Smile.” I say, taking the picture. 

“Couple time.” Seth beams, walking away from Embry’s side to take the phone from me. 

“Sounds good to me.” I smile, finding myself pressed to Embry’s side. 

A picture of us next to each other smiling, another with him pressing a kiss to my head, and one last one of us smiling at each other-- though that one wasn’t posed, Seth just took a picture of it. 

“Alright, I’m all pictured out. It’s time to go.” I laugh.

“Have a great time!” My dad smiles cheerfully, giving me a hug and kiss goodbye.

“We will!” I smile, walking out the door with everyone. 

“Well, we’ll try.” Embry scoffs quietly, earning a chuckle from Billy. 

“Come on, get in the wedding spirit!” Seth enthuses from the driver’s seat. 

Billy shook his head with a smile in the front, while Embry and I chuckled from the back. 

Before I knew it, we had arrived to the Cullen residence. 

“It absolutely reeks.” Embry huffs. 

“Yeah, but we’re going to have fun.” Seth encourages him.

Seth helped Billy out of the truck and pushes him to where the wedding would be taking place. 

Embry helps me out of the truck as well, holding his arm out for me to hold on our walk into the beautiful yard. 

“Wow.” I say in awe, looking around. 

“This is beautiful.” Seth beams excitedly. 

“It really is, I love this.” I smile looking around. 

“It does look really nice. I like it a lot, I’m glad you love it. I’m glad we like the same thing. That’ll make it easier for us later.” Embry whispers into my ear with a smirk.

I blush and could barely control my smile, or my heartbeat for that matter, at his words. 

“Me too, it’s going to be beautiful.” I whisper back, with a smile, looking up into his eyes. 

It was quickly time for the ceremony, it was sweet. Their vows were quite memorable, they had written their own. Soon enough it was time to socialize. 

We walk deeper into the wedding, searching for Bella and Edward to congratulate them.

“Hey nice to see you, man. Hey, Bella. Congratulations!” Seth smiles, walking over to them to greet them with a hug. 

“Thank you.” They smile at him.

“Congratulations.” I smile at them, walking over for a hug, in which they did hug me.

“Thank you, (Y/N).” They smile at me with kind eyes. 

“Congratulations, guys.” Embry says with a small smile, giving Bella a small hug and Edward a handshake.

“Thank you, Embry.” Edward nods with a grin. 

From there on out, we followed Seth around a bit as he socialized. 

Seth, Billy, Embry, and I were standing off to the side by ourselves at this point, people watching. Seth was talking cheerfully about the wedding as Billy, Embry and I were sipping champagne. 

It was then that I noticed eyes on us, I look over and see three blonde women talking with Edward and Bella. One of them sending daggers our way with her golden eyes. 

“What’s going on?” I whisper to Embry.

“She knows, she’s upset that we’re here.” Seth whispers with a sad face. 

“She’s upset we killed her leech mate when he tried to kill Bella. Little does she know I was the one who finished him off.” He whispers, with a solemn face. 

Billy sips his champagne without breaking eye contact, Embry doing the same after slightly raising his glass. 

“Embry.” I scold, not used to the confrontational side of him.

“Babe, you don’t hear what she’s saying right now. It’s not very nice.” He defends himself. 

I shake my head, and stop looking at her, noticing Seth’s disappointed face. I place a hand on his arm for comfort, giving it a slight squeeze. 

After all, it was time to dance. A slow song played from the speakers, Embry reaches a hand out for me to take. 

I take it and we begin slow dancing on the floor. 

“Don’t let me trip, I have two left feet.” I giggle. 

“I would never, babe.” He smiles at me.

His hands that were holding my waist quickly lifted me up, placing my feet onto his. 

“Oh so you’re gonna just do all the work now?” I smirk.

“You know it.” He chuckles, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. 

A few moments later, Bella and Edward slip away from the dance floor, heading over to the treeline.

“Wonder where they’re going.” I softly laugh.

“Jake’s here.” He smiles at me.

“What?” I yell, eyes widening with excitement.

“He’s surprising Bella, you’ll have to talk to him later.” He smiles, pulling me closer to his chest. 

“Fine, but I wanna see him.” I laugh.

“I know, babe. I do, too.” He smirks.

We walk off the dance floor, rejoining Seth as Billy took off with Charlie. 

A few moments later, Embry and Seth’s faces dropped. 

“We have to go get him.” Embry says, and Seth nods. 

They took off to the treeline, speed walking. I tried to keep up but it was in vain, I couldn’t keep up.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, getting to them.

Embry was holding Jake’s arm back, Edward held Bella close to him. Jake was seething in anger. 

“He’s going to kill her.” Jake hisses.

Edward looks down in silence, dread across his face. Bella looked distraught. Seth’s face was visibly disappointed at how sour the night went. Embry just looked at me with a solemn expression, unsure of what to say like everyone else. 

“Jake, you have to calm down. You should go home with Billy.” I reason. 

“(Y/N), please stay back.” Edward warns me quietly. 

“Don’t tell her what to do. I would never hurt her, it’s you I wanna hurt.” Jake threatens him.

“Jake, go home with Billy.” I say sternly.

He looks between us all, nodding angrily. 

He storms off to find Billy, an upset Seth following behind to make sure that’s what actually happens. 

“I’m sorry.” I say quietly to Edward and Bella.

Embry quickly stepping behind me, holding my waist. 

“Don’t be, you did nothing wrong.” Bella reassures me.

“(Y/N), please don’t apologize.” Edward smiles at me. 

I nod and make my way back to the wedding to make sure Jacob found Billy, Embry’s hand never leaving my back. 

I see Jacob rolling Billy out to the truck, I wave him goodbye and he nods to me in response. 

Seth, Embry, and I take our seats at our table in order to listen to the speeches. I still felt eyes burning holes into me, so I look to my left. 

That’s when I see her staring at me, still. The woman from earlier. I give her a soft smile before returning my attention back to Emmett who was giving a less than Charlie friendly speech. 

The rest of the speeches went on, causing laughter and tears from all around. Though, the whole night the woman kept staring at me. I was growing very uncomfortable and Embry felt my emotions shift. 

“What’s wrong, babe?” He whispers in my ear.

“Nothing.” I give him a smile, knowing she could hear us.

“Why are you lying to me?” He asks me, disappointed. 

“I’m okay, Em. We’ll talk about it later.” I promise. 

“Okay.” He nods, pulling me closer into his side. 

Eventually, it came time to send Bella and Edward off to their honeymoon. So we went out to the front of the house and cheered along with everyone else. 

I felt the woman’s eyes continue to burn holes into me, but there was nothing I could do. Surely she wouldn’t do anything at the wedding, that I knew for sure. 

“You ready to go, bean?” Embry asks moments after the newlyweds and most of the guests leave. 

“Yeah, let’s make our rounds and say goodbye.” I say, earning a nod from Seth and Embry. 

We walk around, searching for the Cullens. I found Allice, but her eyes were wide open and her mouth slightly agape. Jasper rushed to her side, whispering into her ear. Seth, Embry, and I walk over to them.

“What’s wrong?” I ask them, worry filling my tone.

“(Y/N), you need to go, but you can’t go home. Not alone.” Alice whispers to me. 

“What? Why? My dad’s there, I can’t leave him alone.” I begin to panic.

“He’ll be okay. We’re going to help you, but for now you can’t be alone.” Alice warns.

“Can I have some context, please?” I ask, feeling Embry’s arm wrap tighter around my waist. 

“Listen, we need to know what’s going on. Tell us.” Embry says in a stern voice. 

“I can’t, if I tell you it could change the future. Once a decision is made, I can’t control anything. If you do what I tell you, she’ll be okay. Just trust me, I wasn’t wrong last time.” She places her cold hands onto mine in a comforting manner. 

“We won’t steer you wrong, we have to speak to Carlisle. But for now, know that we will do what we can to protect her on our end, but you guys will have to hold your own.” Jasper nods, looking at us.

“So what do we do?” I ask them, my voice breaking. 

“You need to tell your dad you’re going away for a few days. It’ll work. You need to hide out somewhere until we diffuse the situation.” Alice gives me a soft smile. 

“Alright. I’ll tell him tonight.” I nod.

“I’ll go with you to your house, you’ll tell your dad. Seth will go to Sam’s to tell him to call a meeting.” Embry says.

“Tell your dad you’re going camping.” Alice instructs me. 

“Okay, thank you.” I nod at her.

“You’ll be safe.” She whispers, pulling me into a tight hug.

I nod as Embry grows impatient to leave. After I pull away he’s immediately begun stripping in the treeline. 

“I’ll hold your suit.” I give a soft smile.

“Thank you, babe.” He presses a soft kiss to my forehead.

I grab his clothing off the floor as he phases a few feet away. 

He lowers his body down onto the ground, allowing me to climb onto his back. 

And with that, he took off. Slow enough for me to hang on tightly, but quick enough to get us to my home in only a few minutes. 

He phases back in the treeline behind my home, quickly putting his clothes back on. 

“Hey dad.” I walk back into my house.

“Hey, how was it?” He asks with a smile on his face.

“Well… Jake showed up.” I say with my voice trailing off.

“Oh, wow. So how did that go?” He asks.

“He stormed out of there. It did not go well, so we told him we would go on a camping trip the next few days. All of us, ya know?” I ask.

“Well, whatever works to get him out of this funk. When are you guys leaving?” My dad asks.

“Tomorrow morning, early in the morning. At like four in the morning. So I was going to sleep at Leah’s tonight.” I smile.

“That’s very short notice, (Y/N).” He looks at me raising an eyebrow.

“Dad, I didn’t expect my best friend who went missing for a month to come back and ask us all to take a camping trip tonight, this was a surprise for me, too.” I sigh.

“Alright, fine. Have fun and be safe.” He says from the couch.

“I will, thanks for understanding, Dad.” I walk over, pressing a kiss to his cheek before going upstairs to pack and change into normal clothes.

We made our way back downstairs. 

“Please keep in touch.” My dad says, hugging me goodbye.

“I will. Goodnight dad.” I smile.

My dad and Embry exchanged goodnights and we made our way to my car. 

We stopped at his house so he could change, he snuck in through his bedroom window and he packed a backpack. 

I sigh watching him struggle so hard to hide this from his mother, I wish he would tell her soon. 

He returns to my car and we make our way to Sam’s house. 

“It’ll be okay, Em.” I smile softly at him.

“It better be, I’m real sick of the Cullens bringing all this shit around. You shouldn’t have to be put in these situations. This is the second time, and it’s all their fault.” He huffs.

“Em, let’s look at the bright side. I probably would’ve died if Alice didn’t give us a warning.” I try to reason.

“Or, you wouldn’t have been put in danger if we didn’t go to this wedding that was crawling with leeches.” 

“Em, I had fun with you. I really enjoyed it.” I say meekly. 

He notices the sad look on my face and sighs.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I had fun with you, too. This is just a lot for me. I can’t handle you being in harm’s way.” He whispers.

“If you think it’s a lot for you, it’s a lot for me. I can’t even protect myself. I can’t be of any help. I just sit around and wait for my friends and boyfriend to protect me, and constantly worry for their safety. It’s a lot, Embry. Please, don’t get angry. It only makes it harder.” I choke on my words as we pull up to Sam’s house. 

“No, don’t cry babe. You’re gonna make me cry. I’m sorry.” He chokes, pulling me into him, stroking my hair. 

“I’m not going to cry, not in front of everyone. Maybe later.” I give a soft chuckle. 

I felt a deep rumbling in his chest as my head laid upon it.

“Let’s go inside.” He kisses the top of my head.

We walk in and see everyone sitting or standing around the table. Leah looks at me with worried eyes, I walk right over to her side. 

“(Y/N), we will make sure you’re okay. I’ve figured out the best course of action.” Sam looks at me with a determined, yet comforting face. 

“Thank you, Sam. I really appreciate it.” I give a soft smile.

“Of course, you’re family.” He smiles at me. 

“Which leech is after you?” Jacob asks with a concerned face. 

“Alice wouldn’t tell us.” Embry says. 

While Alice didn’t tell us, I did have a hunch. It had to be the blonde woman, Laurent’s mate. She wanted revenge. That’s all I could think of.

I look down at my hand, pretending to pick something off of it.

“Looks like (Y/N) knows who.” Jacob observes.

“I don’t know for sure, I just have an assumption.” I say quietly. 

“Well, who do you think it is?” Sam asks.

“I don’t know her name, but it was probably Laurent’s mate. The blonde woman that stared daggers at us the whole night. She knew it was them, and then she probably heard them explain everything to me. She knows I mean something to them, she knows Embry and I are together.” I look up to Sam. 

“So this is a revenge thing?” Quil asks, anger distorting his normally goofy face. 

“If I’m right. She stared me down all night.” I confess. 

“Well, that’s probably what it is.” Embry mutters. 

“Alright, we will assume that this is the situation at hand. So you will actually be camping, somewhere in the Olympic National Forest, that way either us or the Cullens can get to you quickly if we need to.” Sam looks at me.

“Haven’t they done enough?” Paul scoffs. 

“Carlisle called me, we spoke about it. (Y/N) is their top priority right now.” Sam looks over to him with stern eyes. 

“I’m not camping alone, right?” I ask, slightly worried.

“Oh no, not at all. We’re going to split in half. Five of us will stay back to protect the res and make sure that something doesn’t come here. Someone will go check on your house to see if your dad is okay every day, don’t worry about him. But if we’re needed by you, we will be there. The other five of us will be going camping with you. I’ve already decided who is doing what.” Sam says. 

“I’m going with (Y/N).” Leah demands.

“Well, I planned on that. You, Embry, Paul, Jacob, and Quil will be going with her. Brady, Collin, Seth, Jared, and I will be staying back.” Sam states.

Relief washed over me knowing how the situation would be handled. I felt good knowing that they would all protect me, though I also felt guilty. I hated that they all had to do this, just to make sure that I would be okay. 

“Thank you.” I manage to speak.

Embry’s arm tightened its grip around me, pulling me closer into his warm body.

“When do we leave?” Embry asks. 

“I think sunrise is the best bet. Everyone get some rest tonight, Alice said there wasn’t anything to worry about tonight. You can all stay here.” He nods, breaking the meeting up. 

We all disperse and everyone makes their rounds to get whatever Emily was cooking, but I didn’t feel like eating. I just kinda sat at the table in silence. 

“Babe, everything will be okay.” Embry reassures me, rubbing my arm lightly. 

“I know, but I feel bad. I hate making you guys do more than you have to.” I sigh, placing my head in my hands.

“This is something we have to do, don’t feel guilty about something that you didn’t do. You didn’t cause this. None of this is your fault.” He lightly whispers, moving closer to me. 

“I know, I just feel bad.” I whisper.

“Don’t. You really shouldn’t.” He presses a kiss to the top of my head. 

“Embry, come here!” One of the guys yells.

“Wait a few minutes!” He yells back.

“You said that an hour ago!” Jared’s voice rings from the living room. 

“Embry, go. Have some fun. I’ll be okay for a little bit. Besides, I wanna help Emily-- she’s packing food for us.” I give him a soft smile.

“Are you sure?” He hesitates. 

“Embry, go.” I smile.

“Alright, I’ll see you in a little bit.” He presses a kiss to my head and walks into the living room.

“Emily, can I help you? At least let me do the dishes.” I offer once again.

“If you really want to.” She turns around with a smile.

“Thank you. I hate feeling like I’m doing nothing.” I walk over and turn the sink on. 

“I understand that. But sometimes there’s nothing you can do.” She shrugs with a soft smirk.

“Well, I can definitely wash some dishes. I can’t kill a vampire, but this is within my realm of possibility.” I chuckle. 

“(Y/N), you really are family. Don’t feel so out of touch.” She encourages me, placing a comforting hand on my back.

“Thank you, Emily. I really mean it.” I look at her with appreciative eyes. 

“Of course. We all really love you, and having you around. Don’t be a stranger.” She smiles, packing more food into yet another cooler. 

“I won’t.” I smile, continuing to wash dishes. 

“They won’t let anything happen to you.” 

“I know.” I exhale. 

We continued what we were doing in silence for the next few minutes, just absorbing the situation in its entirety. When we had finished, we joined everyone in the living room. She took her spot on Sam’s lap while I sat between Embry and Jacob. 

Eventually, it was getting pretty late and people started to fall asleep. Though, I had a very difficult time falling asleep. My mind was racing. 

“Are you okay? You sound like you’re having a heart attack over there.” Jacob’s soft voice calls out from across the living room.

“I thought I was the only one awake, sorry.” I blush, sitting up carefully so as to not wake up Embry.

“Why are you apologizing? You can’t control your heartbeat.” He chuckles. 

“I guess.” I look over to see his silhouette in the dark room.

“Well, nothing is gonna get to you. We won’t let that happen.” He tries to comfort me.

“I just… it’s different this time. I was scared last time but now… this woman wants me. She wants to kill me, Jake.” My voice croaks out. 

“Okay, okay. Come here.” He says, motioning me over to sit with him.

I made my way over and quietly took a spot next to him on the floor. He put his arm around my shoulder. 

“Listen, I want you to know that she will not kill you. None of us would let that happen, she won’t even get near you. You think that I would let that happen? Leah? Paul? Quil? Embry? Not gonna happen. I know you don’t wanna hear it, but Embry would lay down and die for you. Pre-phasing Embry would’ve done it, too.” Jacob whispers. 

And he was right, I didn’t really want to hear that. It brought a surge of nerves and dark thoughts plaguing my mind-- I couldn’t bear the thought of Embry dying. Of anyone dying. 

“I know, I just hate to think of things like that. I don’t want him to, I don’t want any of your lives at risk.” I lean my head on his shoulder.

“Well, just remember. One vampire and five wolves is a really stupid idea on her behalf. She won’t last a second. Our lives aren’t at risk here.” He gives my shoulder a little squeeze. 

“I guess.” I yawn lightly. 

“You should get some sleep, it’s gonna be a long hike tomorrow.” Jacob chuckles.

“You’re right.” I say, standing up quietly.

I make my way back over next to Embry and lay down next to him, placing my head on his chest.

“Thank you, Jake. I missed you.” I say quietly. 

“I missed you, too.” 

I listened to Embry’s heartbeat, waiting for it to slowly lull me to sleep. 

__________________________

Word Count: 4316

 I  II  III  IV  V  VI  VII  VIII  VIIII  X  XIR XIE  XII  XIII  XIV  XV XVI  XVII  XVIII  XIIII

I don’t know if request are open, but if they are, can I request the slasher with an actress s/o? For musical theater and the big screen(movies/shows)?

I don’t really take requests anymore, because I’ve mostly lost my passion for writing after the last few months, but honestly, sure, I’ll try. Sorry if those are not the boys you were hoping for 💔

Slashers (Brahms, Billy Lenz, Jason) with an actress s/o.

Brahms (Big Screen - Horror):

It was a bizarre thing, the way you met, most of all. After what happened with Greta his house was set for sale and Brahms was getting ready for the worst - rotting in this mansion alone after starving to death. He had no way to reclaim the property - after all, Brahms Heelshire was considered dead for ages now and with his parents’ suicide, the family’s fortune was gone as well. There was really no hope for him, it was a matter of days, weeks, months at best. You can only survive on rotting leftovers and attic rats for so long, but luckily a week was all that he needed for a young woman to come visit his old house, alongside a home agent. 

The moment she stepped in his eyes were glued to her, following the best that he could inside the old mansion’s walls. He saw her smile at the old furniture, smiled himself when she started adoring the library and when she sat down on the bed upstairs, looking around hopefully, he could barely contain his breath of relief, knowing that she was in love with the place. And so, with the papers signed the very next day, he had a new hope enter his life. A beautiful woman named [Y/N] [L/N].

This time - he told himself - he would take things slower, he’d be more careful. No stealing clothes, no misplacing things, no heavy walking in the attic at night. The news about the “murder” in the house were still fresh and he knew that it would make any new resident suspicious, even if the body was never found.

Brahms wanted to be careful, but unfortunately hunger didn’t make things easy. Climbing the walls was harder with his muscles fading, he’d stumble ever so often, getting dizzy and his breathing became louder as his usual activities would become more and more straining with what little food he was getting. The girl started getting wary and called the police more than once, but they couldn’t find anything, he still had enough knowledge of the house to disappear when he needed to.

He put the doll out for a while, hoping she would fall for it, like Greta did, believing that it was haunted, but she only picked it up once, letting a small smile grow on her face, then put it down, never to touch it again. Something seemed off ever since then. She’d walk around a bit more relaxed, take longer making breakfast and left more on the plate, as if she was leaving it for him, but who knew, really. It wasn’t that hard to get the food, since most of the days she’d be gone, usually right after a call on her personal phone from someone she addressed extremely politely. An Employer, from what Brahms could tell. He didn’t like it when she was gone, but in his current state there was nothing he could do about it. She was the only reason he was still alive, after all.

And he was grateful for it. To the point where he’d seek out precious item in the house, leaving it in places he knew she’d look. Pearls and diamonds from his mother’s jewelry box. Old porcelain figurines, anything to show her that the “spirit” inside the house was not wishing her any harm and she seemed to be more than pleased with them.

Then one day she seemed very upset, almost out of nowhere, just came back to the house like that, then quickly broke down in tears and through the crack in one of the walls he could see a tear in her shirt, almost as if somebody tried to tear it open. He didn’t like that. Not one bit. And soon enough he managed to connect the dots, with her phone calls concerning a “man that attacked her” and the weird hooded character that was stalking outside the mansion. Well, he didn’t stalk there for too long. The Stalker was much smaller than him, it was so easy to pin him to the ground and choke the lights out of him, in a grip that bruised and left very little for the man in the struggling department. It was over, quickly and almost completely without any noise. A good job, if Brahms were the type to praise himself.

He was about to dispose of the corpse, but a click and a swish stopped him, as the back door opened rather quickly and his beautiful, terrified [y/n] stepped out of the house, looking around scared, with a kitchen knife in one hand and her phone in the other, flashing a light... right at Brahms and his new victim. 

For a moment time stopped as they both looked at eachother, her eyes wide in shock - face losing all color from fear, and him in his porcelain mask, with bloody scratches on his forearms from the stalker’s futile struggles. He was the first to move, rising slowly, carefully, putting his hands up, trying to shrink his arms in a failed attempt to make himself seem smaller, but from the way her body trembled he could tell that it wasn’t working, so with a gulp and an ache in his throat he spoke to her: “P-please, don’t panic. Please.”  His voice was cracking between his childish illusion and his real voice, terrified, but assertive.  “Who-- Who the hell--?” she tried to speak, backing off slowly as he stepped forward, trying to get closer. “He was-- That man was watching you, he-- you were attacked and he--” he tried explaining, not knowing how to form his words without admitting that he’s been stalking her as well, just... with much less violent intent. “You’re that think, right? You’re the one who’s been leaving me things, right? WHO ARE YOU?” she yelled, coming back into the house and almost closing the back door, but Brahms’ hand caught it fast enough to pull it back, coming in after her, making the girl yelp at the sheer force he possesed, even being as malnourished as he was. “Brahms... my name’s Brahms, please, don’t run. I don’t want to have to hurt you.” 

And with that you two connected, learning about eachother, about what happened to Brahms and why he hid from you, a tale tragic enough for you to trust him and give him a proper home, even if feeding him was an absolute nightmare in the beginning, as he was starving, literally.

He quickly learned that you’re a horror actress, a real-life “scream queen”, but you and your manager were fighting for a bigger role - as a killer, not the one constantly having to run from the killer. It was going to be amazing, something to finally turn your career around and the filming was going WONDERFUL so far, but the stress WAS getting to you, so when he first started leaving you gifts, you were kind of happy that some weird spirit in this house was trying to cheer you up. Little did you know that in reality it was just a very smelly wall man, with a huge crush on you. Life is surprising like that.

♥ Brahms will be extremely supportive of your career, as he saw that all this time when you’d leave, you’d always come back, so he wasn’t as anxious about you running away as he’d usually be.

♥ Being a horror actress helps not freak out with him always sneaking up on you (unintentional as it might be). It’s a real life saver.

♥ Once your movie comes out, he might be excited enough to go out to the theater and watch it with you. You assure him that his mask won’t be a problem, since a lot of horror nerds dress up for new movie screenings. 

♥ If you ask him, he’ll be more than happy to rehearse with you and act some scenes out, but if there’s any romance in the script, expect to have to sit down with him for a very, VERY long talk about how screen romance is just a job and there are no real emotions involved.

♥ He’ll beg you to watch EVERY single thing you’ve ever been in. Yes, even the commercials. 

Billy (Big Screen):

There are not a lot of consistent thoughts that pop into Billy’s head, but the moment he saw you, there was one and a very clear one at that - “I know her.”

And yes, he did, even if the memory was hazy. He remembered a little girl on his mother’s TV screen, during Christmas, sitting on the floor with the dumbest, cutest smile, unpacking her presents as her mom and dad watched. He remembered how beautiful that girl seemed to him and how jealous he felt seeing her this happy. The boy pouted then, something he didn’t do often, as well as huffing in anger, but not loud enough for him mom to hear him, no, he was supposed to be a good boy and stay upstairs, but the music from the TV and that beautiful voice of this girl lead him downstairs, to peek at the snowy screen, adoring that creature.

But this girl was a bit different. Sure, he would still recognize her beautiful eyes and that hair that he loved so much, but she was bigger. Not a girl anymore, no, a woman, a stunning, gorgeous woman that his whole body burned for from the moment he saw her. A bold, burning emotion running through his body - “Mine. Mine, MINE!” and that was something you couldn’t really run from, he wouldn’t let you. 

One night, one murder, then two, a man and a girl and then you were faced with a man who was willing to do ANYTHING to keep you. Thankfully, you were smart enough to make compromise with him, knowing that if you even tried to call the police (again, that is, and the first time made him very, VERY angry), he’d make sure that you’re his forever.

Part of it could’ve been Stockholm Syndrome, but Billy quickly grew on you. Bold, loud, perverted, but also passionate and caring, as long as you wouldn’t overstep your boundaries with him. Every day he’d appear out of nowhere and just linger close to you, wanting to touch you, but not doing that, clearly afraid you would run. You weren’t something he wanted to play with, no, you were his person, the only person he didn’t want to hurt and when the impulses came, he’d run off to contain them. The wailing let you know how hard was he trying, just so he wouldn’t lose your beauty, his precious Christmas Angel. His gorgeous [y/n].

He was a mess, but a beautiful one to you, adoring every part of your body, every part of you, listening, learning, absorbing all of you as well as he could and the gifts he would leave at your bedroom door ever so often proved just how good of a listener he really was. The new book that you wanted, a dress almost the same as you had described to him, baskets of your favorite fruit... anything you’d ask for and he wished you’d ask for more, but you were too concerned about where his gifts are coming from to give him more ideas. Especially since that one sunhat you wanted came with a splatter of blood on the blue ribbon...

Either way, you were happy with your new “housemate” and you gladly stayed.

♥ Billy will get anxious whenever you have to leave to film anything. Expect messy calls from him every half an hour or so, probably less and if you don’t answer even one of them, the next one will be even more frantic than the other ones. He’ll cling to you like hell every time you come back home.

♥ He found a dress that looked a bit like the one you’ve worn as a child to that one Christmas movie. He asked you to wear it for him and sit down, then smile at him. You never saw a man pop a boner as fast as he did when you did that.

♥ This man will literally worship you and you know that when he swears he’d kill for you, he means it. When you mention that you’ve starred in other movies, his eyes pretty much started sparkling with joy. Congratulations, your movies are his new hyperfixiation.

♥ NEVER show him any kissing or sex scenes in your movies. Just don’t. He won’t be able to comprehend that they were done in the past or that they mean nothing. Seeing them would break his heart.

♥ Once he realizes you have your own camera he asks if you could star in your own movie... Located wholly in your bedroom, on your bed, with him pounding your pretty litte cu--

♥ Biggest fan ever, but don’t take him outside for any meet & greets, because it WILL turn into a bloodbath. 

Jason (Theater): 

It was a very faint memory for him, one of the very few ones from his childhood that stood up a bit more, even now, years later. A memory of a young woman, singing on the theater scene in her songbird voice. It was mesmerizing and a once-in-a-lifetime thing for a poor kid like him. His mother just found the tickets at random and used them, even though she knew how dangerous that could’ve been.

Those times were long past him and that girl was definitely either an old woman now or dead, but on this particular night something brought this memory forward, a songbird-like voice, singing a peaceful song, surrounded by other voices. A girl at a campfire with her friends, singing for them as another person played the guitar. An angel sent just for him to soothe his ragefull soul.

That one night nobody got killed, but a soul was lost either way. 

All you remembered was a loud noise in front of your noise, then silence that let you fall asleep. What seemed like hours later you woke up in an old cabin, cuddled up to someone’s chest and when you looked up a hockey mask stared right back at you, making you shriek and faint. When you came to you were resting on a moldy bed, dizzy, nauseous and with a hulking figure waiting for you to wake up in the corner of the room, guarding you like a sentinel.  Congratulations, you’ve been kidnapped by The Crystal Lake legend himself - Jason Voorhees, because for once he looked at someone and got convinced that you were in fact an Angel, sent to him by his mother to protect.

♥ I’m sorry to say, but being under Jason’s protection means that you’re most likely never leaving the forest again or not for a very long time. He’s not a man that trust others easily and while he knows an angel wouldn’t betray him, he’s not convinced that the others won’t hurt you instead.

♥ He’ll take care of you - fixing up the cabin, hunting for you, even cooking. He’ll make sure you’re never unhappy because you’re lacking something, even if it’s technology, he’ll manage to get it for you over time. You’re still forbidden from coming anywhere close to the campers that come ever so often. They’re dangerous.

♥ When you tell him that you work in musical theater, he will communicate to you that he wants to hear you sing. He’ll gladly watch you perform the whole play by yourself if you’ll be in the mood for that.

♥ Once he realizes you live not that far away, he might let you go on the promise that you’ll come back. If not he will hunt you back and you don’t want that to happen... After all - an angel wouldn’t break a promise and if you’re not an angel... you’re as good as dead.

♥ He’ll love you whole, as long as you don’t betray him. 

♥ If you find him a huge hooded jacket and cologne strong enough to mask his smell, you may be able to convince him to come down from the forest to watch you in a play. It’ll be a hard sell, though.

California Summer - B.H. Smut [two]

Synopsis: Kings Cove California is Billy Hargrove’s hometown. It’s also a popular summer vacation destination for rich couples and their spoiled kids. (Y/N) is one of those rich girls. Proper, sweet, innocent. Only that all bores her to death and Billy is just the adventure she’s been looking for. It’s all fun and games. A summer fling. Not strings attached. Right?

Inspired by the song “Young & Dumb” by Cigarettes After Sex.

Part 1

A/N: There is smut in this, babes. Please if that is not for you, don’t read it. Also do not interact if you’re under 18, that’s just not cool. Kay, thanks ♥

[additional note: I am German. Sometimes I get the tense wrong or make mistakes. I am useless when it comes to punctuation. Go easy on me, please.]

The air is hot and sweltering on Tuesday. A blue sky filled with thick grey clouds. There’s a sizzling in the air. A promise of rain. A promise of a storm. 

Billy steps out of his car and onto the white gravel driveway of the (Y/L/N)’s holiday estate. It’s a grand house. These people are rich and they want you to know it. Nothing is subtle or modest. It wants to be seen, to be stared at, to be wanted. This house demands your attention. Thinking about it, Billy thinks it’s fitting that (Y/N) lives here. She too, demands people’s attention. Undivided. 

He steps up to the door, his black polo shirt proudly displaying the “ Franklin and Company cleaning and maintenance service” logo in his right chest. Mr Franklin said company uniforms are a good way to increase the team spirit. Billy suspects it’s just another way for those rich assholes to further distance themselves from peasants like him. 

The doorbell chimes up in some melodic little tune. Even the god damn doorbell is over the top. A deep disdain settles inside Billy’s bones, takes residence in his heart. He wonders if those people truly know what suffering means. He wonders if financial stability and a luxurious lifestyle can soften the blow of a heartache. Wonder if he’d still be this bitter, if his heart would still feel this heavy, if he was the one living in a house like this.

When the door swings open, Billy is greeted by Mr. (Y/L/N) and his smile that’s just too big. There’s a certain size a smile should have and his smile exceeds that size. It’s unsettling. With his bright white teeth and the moustache, he looks like some kind of cheesy 60s Batman villain. 

“ Hi, Billy. Good to see you. So here’s the thing — “ he then starts to proceed a dramatic monologue about the broken filter system of their pool. Billy only half listens, his mind wandering through the halls of this mansion. He wonders if she’s home. Wonders what her room looks like. Wonders if she can still feel his lips on hers. Taste him. Feel him inside her.

As they walk through the main living room, Billy’s eyes fall onto a picture on the mantlepiece of their elaborate fireplace. (Y/N) smiles brightly back at him from the photograph, draped in a long white dress and long opera gloves. It almost looks like a wedding gown only she looks way too young in this picture and there’s no husband to be seen. She smiles so big, so radiant but there’s something in her eyes. The same riddle he’s tried to figure out that day he picked her up in the rain. A kind of sadness that is both so familiar, and so foreign to him. 

“ Joan and I are gonna be out all day but if you need anything, my daughter (Y/N) should be around. She’s a nice girl, I’m sure she’ll be pleased to lend you a hand. “ 

Billy has to stop himself from choking on his own spit. If only this man knew what his girl gets up to when dad’s not looking.

“ Alright, that’s fine. “ 

“ Good. Good. Now if you’ll excuse me. “ 

“ Sure, yeah. Have a good day.” 

Mr. (Y/L/N) walks back towards the entrance hall, this house has a goddamn entrance hall. A second later his wife steps up next to him, big floppy hat on her head, fancy-looking silk scarf around her neck. That one probably cost more than Billy pays in rent every month. 

The way the interact makes him feel uneasy. There’s no affection there, no kindness. It all is very stoic and structured and empty. He wonders if rich people are all this hollow, if it comes with the territory. If maybe there are certain expectations put on you when you’re loaded and to fulfil those you have to lose part of yourself in the process. 

“ Bunny, we’re off “ (Y/N)’s father yells up the stairs to be met with her voice calling down a disgruntled “okay” a few seconds later. 

Bunny. They call her bunny. This day is getting better and better. With a smirk on his face, Billy grabs his tools and drags himself out towards the pool into the hot California sun. 

The filter is fixed in a matter of minutes, then he cleans the pool, mows the lawn, scraps dirt out of the rain gutter. All while the hot sun is beating down on him, burning his skin and making him sweat. What he wouldn’t give for a bit of rain or a dip in the ocean. 

Just as he’s packing up his tools, a loud banging sound from the inside catches Billy’s attention, followed by a string of curses. There’s no doubt in his mind it’s her. Her voice still fresh on his mind as she whispers dirty words into his ears while he dreams.

Rounding the corner, he catches sight of her, sitting on the bottom step of the stairs, rubbing her knee and contorting her face in a display of pain.

“ Are you okay? “ 

“ Yeah, just tried taking two steps at once and uh — didn’t go so well, “ (Y/N) replies as she gets up and dusts herself off.

Whenever Billy thinks of her, his mind always wanders back to that first night he caught sight of her. Her flowy skirt, the flower in her hair, the too big denim jacket. Something about her then looked almost ethereal. Like she didn’t belong with anyone around her. Like she didn’t belong to this place. To this earth. 

Looking at her now, Billy almost can’t believe it’s the same person. She’s wearing cut off jeans shorts, socks with that frilly lace stuff stick out from her beat-up tennis shoes and the I ♥ New York shirt that’s draped over her body is at least two sizes too big and has no doubt seen a few years pass already.

“ Look at you, Mr. Polo shirt! “ 

“ Stop! “ 

“ It’s cute! “ 

“ It’s company policy.” 

“ Aw no, does it limit your freedom for self-expression? “

“ Why are you taking the piss? I saw the picture on the fireplace. Cute wedding dress. Prom? “ 

(Y/N) does that thing that’s neither a scoff nor a laugh and yet both at once. She walks up to the fireplace and takes the frame in her hands. There it is again, the sadness in her eyes. Even though she’s smirking there’s a fundamental sadness so deeply engrained in her beautiful eyes that Billy almost regrets having mentioned the photo.

“ Not prom, goof. My cotillion” 

“ Your what now? “ 

“ My debutante ball. It’s a formal presentation of young women to introduce them into society. “ 

“ Sounds like a cattle auction to me. “ 

This time she fully scoffs, no laughter or smirk anywhere in sight. “ You might have a point.” 

“ So what they like, offered you or — “ 

It’s such a strange concept, Billy isn’t even able to wrap his head around it. A formal presentation of young women already sounds wrong. Just thinking about her being paraded around leaves a sour taste on his tongue.

“ Kinda yeah. I mean it’s nothing sexual or anything but uh — well. There’s a bunch of girls in matching dresses who all get introduced individually. They put a real emphasis on who your parents are so people are immediately aware your family is loaded. Then the dad’s guide the girls across the stage and hand them over to the escort. Usually, an equally rich male around the same age who’d be a wonderful addition to the family. Then there’s this specific curtsy every debutante has to perform …” 

“ Are you fucking with me right now? “ 

“ Absolutely not. It’s a real big deal. They have a serious committee and everything.” 

“ Well you look miserable in that picture. “ 

“ Oh I was. I didn’t wanna do it in the first place and then my dad also told me that I couldn’t have my boyfriend at the time be my escort because apparently he wasn't good enough or his family wasn't prestigious enough. I really liked that boy too. I was so sad. “ 

“ Why’d you do it then? “ 

“ Well all my friends did it and then dad also pulled the mom card so — “ 

As those words fall from her lips, her eye glass over a little, as if she just started dreaming or let her mind wander someplace else. Billy always felt like it was weird, the way he observes people, the way he notices things. But when you grow up in a house that’s so loud and so angry, you start to notice the quiet things. It’s a survival instinct. Noticing the little things can save your life.

“ The mom card?” 

“ Yeah. Said my mom always wanted to see me as a debutante. Said I should do it to honor her memory. Even had her own cotillion dress shipped in from my grandparents place to use the fabric for mine. “ 

Dead mother. There it is. One little puzzle piece to slide into place. A step in the right direction in figuring out the riddle that’s her mind. Dead mother. It’s not a pain he knows but one he can imagine. His own mother was the best person he knew, an angel in his eyes. He loved her more than he ever loved another person. Then she left and ripped his heart straight from his chest. Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like losing your mother to death but he does know what it feels like having a mother one day and then not having one the next and feeling so terribly alone in the world.

“ So Joan’s not — “

“ She’s my mother too. Mom died when I was 6, dad and Joan married when I was 10. She’s been in my life not longer than my mother was. I love her so much but I also miss my actual mom. “ 

He doesn’t know what make the words fall from his mouth so easily, as if they don’t weight a million tons on his heart. But something tells him that he can be honest with her. Maybe it’s a certain comfort that two people can only find in shared pain. 

“ My mom fucked off when I was 9. Just up and left, to be with some guy she’d met at her job as a waitress. A fucking dentist of all people. Haven’t seen her since. “

“ Fuck, that sucks. “ 

“ Yeah it’s whatever.” Billy shrugs. It’s not whatever and they both know it but it’s one thing to tell her about his mother, it’s another to open up his entire chest and let her see all the cracks in his heart. That’s a vulnerability he’s not willing to show her. 

“ Well this is turning into a gloom-fest, huh. Do you wanna get outta here and do something? “

He really does. The heaviness on his heart feels suffocating. Like someone is squeezing his chest, breaking ribs in the process.

“ Sure. What’s your plan?” 

“ No plan. How about the beach? “

Billy smiles at her suggestion. “ Sounds good. “ 

“ Man, your car is clean. I didn’t even notice the first time. “ (Y/N) remarks as the drive along the sleepy town of Kings Cove. The windows are rolled down and a soft wind sweeps through them, making (Y/N) hair fly around her face. Her feet are kicked up on the dashboard and her red lips are pulled into a teasing smirk.

“ It’s my baby, I like it when she’s clean. “

“ She? “ 

“ Mmh.” 

“ Does she have a name? “

“ No. You wanna make a suggestion?” 

“ Hmmm how about — (Y/N) ?” 

“ That’s your name. “

“ It’s a good name !” 

“ Not naming my car after you.” Billy chuckles.

“ Okay. How about Lilly? “ 

Billy shrugs. Honestly, he has no interest in naming his car but if it makes her happy, he might as well entertain the thought. “Sure, fine with me.”

She’s quiet for a moment before she speaks up again. “ You wanna know what Lilly needs? “ 

“ No. “ 

“ Some decor. Some personality. Like some dice hanging from the mirror or — or a dashboard dancer. Like a hula girl. “ 

“ Absolutely not. “ 

(Y/N) gasps “ I know! A dancing Elvis. You know the ones! You need one of those. “ 

Billy has to wince at the thought of a cheap plastic figure vaguely resembling Elvis stuck to his front window so it can dance on the dashboard. 

“ Or I could not do that. I like my car the way it is. Thank you very much. “ 

(Y/N) just smiles and maybe that’s enough for right now. There are more secrets hidden in the corner of her lips, in the glint of her eyes, in the way the sun falls on her face. But those can stay there for right now. All that matter in that moment is the cheesy Don Henley song playing from the stereo and the red of her fingernails tapping along to the beat and the way life feels weightless then.

“ This is so beautiful. “ (Y/N)’s words are hardly louder than a whisper. Her voice is overtaken by a peaceful sense of awe and admiration. Her bare feet are buried into the still warm sand as the sky around them shines in hues of pinks and oranges. 

“ I can’t believe you get to see this every day of your life. You can just decide you want to watch the sunset over the ocean and do it. “ 

Billy shrugs as if it’s nothing when in reality he knows exactly how much this really means. Living in Hawkins, away from the ocean and his home and his heart, it made him realise how much he really loves this place. How his heart will forever be bound to the sea and the waves and the freedom it gives him. 

“ I guess it’s pretty cool. “ 

“ You guess? Billy this is — this is spectacular. Sitting here and just taking it all in makes me feel fearless and invincible and brave. Like the world is so big and vast and there’s so much still for me to discover and experience and I can actually do it. “ 

“ What’s stopping you ? You got all the money in the world. “ 

He wonders if she can hear the spark of resentment that his voice carries. Billy doesn’t put it there on purpose, it’s just something so deeply edged into his genetics it’s hard to get rid off. Life’s hard for everyone, he knows that. The logical part of his brain does. But being financially stable surely helps soften the blow.

“ Not if you ask my parents. They’re just waiting for me to find a suitable husband whos family is at least as rich as mine if not richer. Then settle down in a nice big house, pop out a few kids — be miserable forever. “ 

He doesn’t know what to say to that. There’s a certain familiarity in her words. Billy knows exactly what it feels like being stuck in a situation that makes you miserable and to feel like you will never get out of it. Even though both their situations couldn’t be more different, there’s a shared sense of captivity. 

“ I’m sorry, I’m being a huge whiny bitch about this. Poor rich girl with her rich girl problems. “

Though her words are meant to sound airy and light, they are all but that. There’s a heaviness to them. A sincerity. 

“ Don’t be stupid. This is your future. Your life. You get to bitch about it. If not about that then what about? “ 

Billy succeeds in making her crack a smile. A small success in the grand scheme of things, but a success nonetheless.

“ What would you wanna do? If your parents had no say in it ? “ 

Her sight settles on the setting sun, her chest heaves with big breaths. As if she’s trying to catch the moment in her lungs and keep it there forever.

 “ Last year I started studying photography in New York. My parents thought I was working an internship at a family friend’s firm. I wasn’t. When they found out they made me drop out and come back home. That’s why I wasn’t around last year. That’s what I wanna do. But my parents they are — my dad grew up during a time when art wasn’t a career that could really put food on the table. He’s a businessman, a hard worker. He sees numbers before anything else. And I don’t think he’s doing this to be mean or anything. It’s just what he knows. Dreams were not something he could chase and survive it. It was eat or dream. I think he wants to spare me that life. I just wish he would take the time to even as much as look at my pictures. They’re good. “ 

“ You should show me some. “ 

To be quite honest, it’s not about the pictures. Billy has never been a particularly artsy person nor does he care for photography. But this is important to her, this is where her heart is. No one has ever believe in him, he knows the empty feeling that comes with that realisation. If he can be the one person to show her that her dreams and her talent matter, then it’s worth it.

“ Yeah? “

“ Sure, why not? “ 

“ Alright, I will. Think I can mix in some naughty ones. “ 

Billy raises his eyebrow. “Oh really? “ 

“ Mmmh.” 

Her lips don’t taste like slurpee this time. They taste like summer heat and salt and warmth. A little like cigarette smoke and mint chewing gum.

Her fingers tangle in his locks, tugging deliciously as her tongue curls around his. It’s softer than the kisses in his kitchen, not fueled by lust but by a shared comfort in each other. 

“ What was that for? “ he asks as they pull away, far enough to talk to each other but close enough to breath in each other’s air. 

“ For listening. And for — caring.” 

Billy’s lips decent back on hers, then her cheek, her neck. Her skin feels soft and warm underneath him. He can feel her pulse quickening as he softly sucks at the delicate spot where her neck meets her shoulder.

“ You can’t leave hickeys!” 

“ Why not? “ he murmures against her.

“ Got this thing at the country club in a few days. My dress doesn’t have a turtleneck. Dad’s gonna kill me if he sees it. “

Of course her family frequents the country club the town over, it’s so fitting. Billy’s been there a few times, tending to their greenery and fixing stuff. It brings good money and he got to eat their for free which was nice. But looking at all the rich people in their fancy clothes drinking champagne by the pool was — strange. Johnny works there as a waiter part time and always has the most ridiculous but funny stories to tell.

“ Aw, daddy’s little girl not allowed to kiss boys? “ Billy mocks, not making any attempt at moving his lips away from her neck until she nudges him off and pushes him down onto the warm sand.

“ Oh I do more than just kiss them. “ (Y/N)’s voice is laced with lust and passion and sultriness.

Soft warm kisses wander down his neck, as her hands leave trails up and down his stomach underneath his shirt. In a swift motion she pushes the fabric up, to pepper gentle kisses on his chest, his stomach, down to the edge of his pants. 

Billy can feel the blood rushing through him, can feel the adrenaline flowing through his veins. A tingling sensation builds up. Is there anything better than a girl sucking you off with the sun setting over the ocean in the background? Not really, he’s fairly sure about that.

(Y/N) hands fumble with the zipper of his jeans before she pulls them down just enough for his dick to pop out. 

The way she looks up at him, eyes filled with a mixture of mischief and innocence. The way she bites her lip in anticipation — it kills him. This is his day of reckoning. This is the end and god does he love it.

Billy is fully aware of what's happening as she swirls her tongue around the head of his dick but his mind is swimming, his heart is pounding. Maybe it’s her or maybe it’s the moment, he doesn’t know. All he does know is that sometimes life can be real fucking sweet. Especially when your cock’s soft and warm in a pretty girl’s mouth.

She hollows her cheeks, goes fast then slow, moves her hand along her lips in a perfect rhythm of pure lust. It’s wet and warm and tight and perfect.

An alternating pattern of kitten licks and deep strokes drive him crazy. She swallows around him like the goddamn patron saint of sucking cock, takes him so deep he’s fairly sure they should grant her some award for it.

When he feels the tidal wave of passion crash onto him and pull him under, drown him in ecstasy, he buries his fingers into her hair, pulls her closer, moves his hip faster — fucks her mouth. And she moans, every once in a while looking up at him with those eyes — those damn beautiful eyes. And there’s a smirk playing on her lips, around his dick, every once in a while. She enjoys this too and that’s what sends him over the edge.

Billy cums just as the sun sets behind the horizon, that one moment when the world is pure gold. He doesn’t see that though, doesn’t realise. All he sees is her eyes and her smile and the way she wipes her lips and all the riddles he wants to solve that live in her heart and all the things he wants to explore with her.

“ You’re welcome.” she says and giggle as she crawls back up to lay beside him, propped up on her elbows, eyes set on the horizon.

“ Uh-huh. “ Billy’s mind is still hazy, words can hardly form least of all make sense.

“ I can’t believe you get this view every day. “ 

He’s not sure whether she’s talking to him or to herself, maybe a little of both. What he’s sure of though, is that his view is much nice right now. Her, free and wild and — beautiful, sitting and watching as the world turns pink and orange and gold for one last time before nightfall. 

It’s quiet for a moment as they catch their breath, as she takes it all in and Billy tries to shake off the fogginess in his brain. It’s quiet and peaceful and safe and comfortable. 

And then she speaks up again.

“ You should come to the country club thing. “ 

And his heart sinks because — absolutely fucking not. 

Day 4 - Still Much to See

Medicine – Sparklers and Fireworks – “Fine, I give up”

An old ram sits on the planks of an old Piscean manor and contemplates his newfound - or original - mortality as fireworks go off overhead. minor trigger warning

~1100 words

---

Darkness filled the sea above him much differently than the sky above it, wildly different from the caves of the Hebridean mountains. That unease that filled him as he descended into the Piscean bubble of Sima no longer plagued him, at least. A different worry haunted him, constant questions and anxieties buzzed in the back of his mind like a newly constructed hive of wasps. Did that assassin know what the dagger might do? Did he care? He seemed almost crazed, perhaps a few cups shy of complete madness.

A boom startled him, a familiar pain and ache blooming over his abdomen. He grunted softly and placed a hand over the wound. He hadn’t felt pain like it in… years, at the least. He had gotten into plenty of combats over the years, injured in a few, even stabbed, as he sat now. But the Spirit blessed him through those encounters, kept him fit through fire, cauterized the wound, burned out possible infections, and warmed the area to prevent lingering pain. After decades of it, he had gotten used to it, but after centuries, he threw himself into danger without fear, having forgotten what the pain even felt like. The soldiers around him praised him for his courage, but the fire burned out those feelings after a time as well.

Light filled the garden before him, a bevy of different colors glowed on the paths, on the leaves and petals of the flora, reflected off the small pond to show the creatures in the water. He lifted his eyes up to find the source, already planning strategies around some kind of insurgence.

Against the blackness of the nighttime ocean, sparkles of light of all the colors of the rainbow formed a constellation of stars, expanding slowly with a hiss to make a shape vaguely similar to the Pisces Spirit. The lights fizzled out as a whistle heralded another object that flew up into the center of the pervious sparkle. With another boom!, the object released another series of lights that formed an Aquarius ship.

His belly hurt again, startled by the boom, but he understood the sound at least. A childish delight took him at the sight, a new one for him. He attempted to straighten up, to stand, anything, but his old and injured body, fell back to the wooden walkway that he sat on. He grunted and released a soft sigh, content to watch the show from his perch.

“You aren’t supposed to be here.”

He attempted to spin around to the voice, but his body reminded him of his newfound mortality. Well, it’s original mortality. In the doorframe stood the tall, gangly, pale and scaly man he had known for longer than any other. A man he might finally stop knowing someday, sooner than he thought.

He offered the man a pained smile and looked back to the light show. “Evenin’ to you, too, Garren. I thought you were the one putting on this show.”

Silence met his words, a pregnant pause he recognized from all those years ago with his wife, one filled with worry and frustration at her husband’s behavior. One filled with care and love.

“I…” The boom happened again, startling them both. “Those are the work of some enterprising Gemini, actually, using Black Powder from the Aries. They’re quite ingenuous.”

Garren attempted to sound his normal, affable self, but it sounded strained. “And you intend to interrogate them about it after, right?”

The man behind him chuckled absently. “You know me well, Billy! I do so love to pursue and record knowledge.” Another kind of darkness tinged at the edge of Garren’s words.

“I should hope so! It’s been centuries for us, after all.” He started to laugh, but the pain cut him off quickly into a grunt.

Garren shuffled quickly over the wooden planks to hop onto the sand at the edge of the garden and tend to Billy. His hands moved quickly to every moving part of the older man, his elbows, his hands, his torso. Billy waved him off absently. Garren’s blonde brow knit tightly together, unconvinced.

“Give off, Gary, I’m fine. It’s just a stab wound. I’ve had tons over the years.” He attempted to sit up straight again, another boom, another shower of lights.

“But you had the benefit of the Fire Elemental then.” Garren’s eyes shimmered in the lights.

“I did. But you don’t get to my age – in my profession – without getting a few before that. I didn’t have the Fire Elemental my whole life, just as you didn’t have your Elementals either. If I take care of myself, I’ll be fine.” The old ram offered his friend another charming grin. “I promise.”

Garren’s nose turned red. “You can’t promise that anymore, William.” Billy tensed at his given name. “Without the Spirit-“

“I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll be dead!” Garren balled his fists, tears leaking over his cheeks, eyes wide and unblinking in a vain attempt to prevent the tears.

Billy’s hand found Garren’s cheek to brush away the moisture. “We don’t know that.”

Garren glanced at Billy’s hand, lifted his to slap the old ram’s away, and took it instead. “It’s happened to every other Djinn that lost their Spirit.”

The ram rolled his eyes. “They were both already dying.”

“But you want to!” Garren sniffed deeply.

Another boom, more lights. He realized what the darkness to Garren’s voice meant; the young half-breed grieved over him. He assumed that Billy, wounded and bereft of his Spirit, would die imminently without the power of the Elemental to keep him alive. Garren’s last friend and longest love would leave him without even saying Goodbye.

“Gary.” He reached his other hand forward and gripped the young half-breed’s neck in the way he would for his wife, a secure tether for her to stay grounded in her fears and worry. “I don’t plan to die anytime soon. We still have a lot to do. We might even be able to recover the Elemental from that dagger that the boy stole. And who knows, with any luck, we can cram it back in me. But you’ll have to promise not to get upset if that happens, eh?”

Garren managed a chuckle through his tears and pressed his chin into the ram’s hand.

“That’s a good lad. In the meantime, I’ll do the best I can to recovery, naturally, until we can go about that. But I’m a stubborn old ram, not one for stayin’ in bed all day and night, bored out of me mind, while there’s some kind of celebration going on.” He leaned closer to whisper. “Those beds are mighty uncomfortable.”

Garren laughed and licked the tears from his lips. “Fine, fine. I give up.” Beautiful fabric fluttered between them as Garren brought the sleeve of his robe up to wipe away his tears. “At least promise you’ll take the medicine I made for you.”

Billy snatched his hand back with another boom and groaned quietly. “But it tastes awful!”

Billie Dean Howard x Reader

This is loosely inspired by brief mentions of Billie from my Venable series "Gone and left your world". Also, my stories are getting shorter, I'm barely in the mood to write (down and all ) so whatever I get out is an achievement in my books.

If anyone knows what pet names people generally use for all the characters can someone tell me cuz that would be helpful. Like for each. Okay on to the story.

KNOCK KNOCK

You heard your apartment door from your bedroom on the other side of the two-bedroom flat. All noise in your apartment echoed which is why you called an expert. No, you didn't call in someone to fix the creaky floorboards or squeaky doors that no matter how much you oil won't refuse to stop crying for your attention, that would have been normal. No, you called a psychic. Yes, it's absurd, why call a psychic if you're having problems with an old creaky home. It wasn't the noise that was bothersome, it was what was causing it.

You knew with certainty that your house was haunted. At first, you thought it was your roommate inviting her friends over, she loved having people over whenever she can. She always told you when she was having someone over so you didn't accidentally walk out in the nude when there were guests over, (it happened once, you don't like to talk about it) but then she stopped. You would see people you didn't know at weird times at night and when you complained to her, she had no idea what you were accusing her of. She's been on a holiday for the last couple of weeks in England to visit her family, but the friends kept showing up. You shouted at them to leave you alone, cried for many hours about it until you thought rationally about it. The people you see, they weren't the sort your roommate would hang out with, an older lesbian couple (that always in a dispute) and a teenage boy.

You didn't know what to do, so you did what everyone would do, call up a craigslist medium to help you.

You opened the door to reveal a blonde middle-aged woman standing outside your door. At least she wasn't a catfish- it might be too early to say that, but she does look like her profile.

"Hello Darling, are you Y/N L/N?"

You stared at her beauty not noticing she talked to you until she looked at you oddly. "Uh, sorry, spaced out. Billie Dean Howard, right?" You extended her hand. She accepted your handshake and asked if she could come in when you forgot to invite her in. You hope she didn't notice how clammy your hands were during the handshake, it was usually an instinct to wipe them off before shaking hands like you would do if they were dirty. "Y-yes, right. Sorry, I'm not usually this out of it. It's been hard to sleep lately." You close the door once she enters. "I'm sorry, I d-don't know what to do, I-i've never called a-"

She stopped you before you continued choking over your words anymore. "You don't need to keep apologizing, darling." She laid a hand on your shoulder comforting you slightly. The blonde took one long look at you before asking, "Where do you get the most activity?" like you were supposed to know the answer. Isn't that why you called her? Shouldn't she be able to tell?

Her eyes bore into you as if she was trying to decode you. There was nothing to you, you were a simple girl who moved to LA in hopes of something more. Like most things in your life, you had yet to figure out what that something was.

"Living room, I think," You guessed, leading her towards said room. "Here and the hallway leading to the bedrooms." You pointed out the hotspots with your index finger before during your attention back to the woman to see her. Billie was seemly impressed. You had no clue why.

"You are right, I can feel the energy as being more powerful here. It's not too crowded, which is good." Billie walked around, on hand feeling the air trying to get a read on the spirits of the apartment. You leant against the wall watching her work. "A woman- no two-"

"A teenager too-" You added. Her head darted back to you. You were right, she sensed the male presence. It took her a second to notice it. You decided to explain how you knew that, "I sleep with my door open when my roommate's away. He watches me from down the hallway at night. It's the main reason I called. I don't like him watching me."

"You can see him?"

"Yeah. I even tried talking to him, but he runs off as soon as he realises I noticed him."

"He doesn't wish for you to see him?" You nodded slowly not seeing where she was going with this. "That is really uncommon, even myself- I can't talk or see a spirit if they don't want to." You shrugged, not really caring about the significance of your 'ability'. "Do you want him gone?"

"Not necessarily, I just want him to stop perving out. I can feel him always watching even when I don't see him."

"And the women?"

"One of them's alright. I thought she was one of my roommate's friends. We baked together until her wife tried to kill me for stealing her wife- which I wasn't by the way. I just wanted cookies."

"Has she tried to kill you again since the incident?"

"Last night." Billie waited for more details. Noticing you wouldn't give any more details or even look at her, the incident caused you too much distress. You didn't realise you were breathing quickly until you felt her closer.

"It's alright Y/N, you're fine as long as I'm here. I won't let them hurt you."

"S-she tried to strangle me," you choked out. "Her hands were so cold."

"Have you ever seen any ghosts before you moved here?"

You thought long and hard about that question. You didn't think so. You spent most of your time when you were younger locked away in your room, isolated from the world or when you finally moved out working to notice anything out of the ordinary about where you were crashing. You had an imaginary friend when you were younger. She never seemed to age as you did. You would think your mind would force her to grow up with you.

You shook your head. "I don't think so. How would I know? I was too busy to notice."

"I used to be like you. Until I was 25. When out of the blue, my cleaning lady shows up as I'm brushing my teeth. Except she's got no toilet brush and rubber gloves, she's naked and bloody. Her husband murdered her with an ice pick. Do you think I wanted a bloody Mexican ghost in my bathroom? All I wanted was to improve my tennis game and unseat Charlotte Whitney as president of my book club. But I was chosen. And when you're chosen, you either get with the program or you go crazy. Understanding the truth is your only choice."

"What are you on about? This is only a one-time thing."

"It could be, or it's the beginning of something more than you could ever imagine."

"Look lady, I'm just trying to deal with some ghosts so I can sleep at night. I even tried to stay at a hotel for a night but that didn't even help."

"There are only three choices you have, dealing with them whether that be trying to talk some sense into them or leaving them be to only cause you more dread, help them move on or banish them."

"They won't talk to me-"

"I'll try and talk to them but Y/N, what's your choice?"

"Help them move on sounds nice."

"Okay, how about you make us some tea while I try to get through to them?" You nodded weakly. You shuffled to the kitchen, putting the kettle on the boil. She better not touch any of your belongings. Why would you allow the woman alone in your house? You didn't even know her. You spaced out as the water boil. The electric kettle clicked notifying you the water was done. You reached out for the hand when you heard footsteps from behind you.

"You fucking skank!" Crap. It was the ghost you didn't like. She batted a frying pan straight at you, you ducked last minute, the pan clattering with the contents of the countertop. You cried out Billie's name and you try to scramble out of the kitchen. The ghost grabbed a hold your leg, tugging you closer to her. "You can't get away from me you bitch!" You cried out, kicking your free leg in the air frantically. Hands clawing at the tiled floor for a solid grip.

You couldn't for the life of you remember how you got on the couch, a blanket wrapped around you, a tea in your hands. Your body trembled from the experience plaguing your mind. Her hands on you, her tone. Why did your roommate have to be out? A choked sob escaped your throat, your body hunching over, seconds from crumbling in on itself. The teacup and saucer were removed from your hands. Through teary eyes, you looked over at the blonde. You weren't alone? Oh, right. Yeah, you weren't.

"Shhh~ It's alright, you're safe now. I promised you nothing would happen to you while I was here."

"She- She'll c-come ba-ck." Billie shushed you once more, telling you to save your energy. She informed you that she was gone, all of them were. You were confused, what had she done? You expected her to leave, her work was done. "O-Oh, I n-need to pay you-"

"Don't worry about it sweetie, I think you'll need the money to renovate the kitchen."

You groaned, "I can't afford that right now."

"How about I make you a deal?" You looked at her confused. "I need a PA, all you need to do is organise bookings, and maybe run some errands-"

"You're offering me a job, why?"

"There's something about you that interests me." Billie joked, "Also it's better to have a PA that knows why work is legitimate. Better for advertisement."

"Fair," You chuckled.

Starker- Anger

very loosely based on Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington from Stranger things. 

TW: Please be careful! Explicit abuse, parental abuse (tony’s dad, Peter’s step dad), violence, Tony punches Peter in the face once, both peter and tony are being abused by their parents, unhealthy coping mechanisms, brief mentions of homophobic slurs, somehow a happy ending, high school au, just- be careful, my lovelies! 

Tony’s known pretty boys like Peter Parker his whole life.

They aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, and they are printed on paper: stick thin and flimsy. Two dimensional, boring, shallow, materialistic. They’re a dime a dozen back in Phoenix, and frankly, Tony wasn’t impressed with them there, so here, in this dreary little town where school spirit and pep leaks outside of the school’s hallways and into the streets, where popularity matters deep in the suburbs the same way it does in the classroom, Tony really isn’t impressed.

Pretty boys like Peter Parker are pretty, and that’s all they’re good for. A bit of eye-candy.

The bubbly-blonde, cotton-candy cheerleader who’s been assigned to showing him around the school, does so with an enthusiasm that’s borderline revolting. “There are loads of school clubs, you should totally join, like, all of them! Peter’s on the committee, and he’s so open to new ideas, if you think of a club just run it by him! He’d be so happy to! He also hosts these, like, killer parties! And it’s always open invitation, Peter’s house is totally lush, he has this huge pool and his parents are like, never home-“

Jesus Christ, it’s all so inane. Tony reaches for his cigarettes and the girl stutters to a halt as she watches him light it up right there in the hall. Her eyes are wide with awe- rimmed with arousal and wrongness. Tony resists the urge to smirk. It’s all so easy. Cookie-cutter town like this, where the most popular guy in school is on fuckin’ committees for school clubs, he’s not surprised that dark, slicked back hair, black-rimmed eyes and a cigarette will be enough to rework the social structure.

In fact, he’s sort of banking on it.

“Y-you’re not allowed to smoke in here,” she breathes in amazement, and Tony chuckles, fumes curling around his jaw.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” He says around his cigarette, giving her a wink. “You gonna tell on me?”

She shakes her head, hair swishing with her promise, and when the tour ends- she races off, no doubt, to tell the food chain of the cafeteria what she’s witnessed.

* *

Maria cries that night, when Howard kicks Tony’s face so hard he can feel his eye bulge a little.

Tony wants to tell her not to cry. He wants to gather her into his arms and spit blood and say I told you he wouldn’t change just because we’ve moved states. He can’t change, mom. He won’t change.

He loves her for loving him. He hates her for not saving him.

He swallows down putrid blood and sleeps in his car.

When he wakes up, there’s fresh bandages tucked into his glove compartment, a packed lunch, a blanket draped over his shoulders and a post-it note that says (in handwriting that trembles) that maybe he shouldn’t come inside for breakfast. I love you, sweetheart. I’m sorry. Mom xx

* *

The rumour mill has been churning, and when he walks into school with his shiner, it just spins even faster.

People gape, a few, braver ones, flutter over, hovering, but not quite speaking.

Tony feels pretty damn good. It’s nice to feel handsome. Powerful. Nice to know that somewhere, he can exude a little control.

But to be King, there has to be a de-throning.

“You,” he drawls, slamming a locker shut and narrowly missing a freshman’s fingers. “Peter Parker, where is he?”

The freshmen swallows hard, shrinking into his neck. “Uh-uh- p-probably in the a-art rooms, T-Tony.”

Tony grins, and pats him on the cheek. The boy already knows his name. Everyone must.

Without another word, he turns and heads for the art rooms.

When he gets there, his breath catches in his throat.

Dappled in sunlight, twisting spirals of cedar hair, amber eyes and practically drenched in a golden aura, is Peter Parker.

He’s frowning at a canvas, and it makes Tony seethe.

Pretty boys like that are all the same. Oh, is his biggest fucking problem the fact he can’t decide what to paint? He certainly doesn’t have any money issues, not if the expensive shoes are anything to go by. The designer jeans, the pink sweater with the ruffled lace collar.

Tony hates him. Fucking envies him. The sight of him- so beautiful, so serene- so troubleless, he has everything. He has everything. No doubt two parents who adore him, a nice house, money, talent, beauty- a future. And everyone here adores him, fuckin’ thinks he hung the moon in the sky.

“You think you’re worth anything?” Howard sneers, jabbing Tony’s shoulders hard enough to bruise. “You ain’t worth a damn thing, sport. You’re worth shit.”

“Well,” Tony smiles, all mean and sharp at the edges, and feels a vicious sort of victory in the way Peter jumps.

Like he’s not used to be snuck up on. Like he’s not used to being scared. “Oh, you scared me,” the boy laughs, a blush on his cheeks, “you must be Tony-“

“You’re as pretty as they said you were.” Tony continues, because he doesn’t want to hear Peter’s sweet voice. Doesn’t want to hear another word out of his mouth. “Prettier, even. They don’t do you justice.” He trails his fingers across still-wet canvases drying on easels, smudging and ruining the paintings.

“Hey, I think- you’re not supposed to touch those,” Peter points out worriedly, pearly teeth nibbling at his bottom lip. “You might accidentally-“

Tony moves so quickly it must look like he’s teleported. He backhands Peter so fucking hard, it’s so fucking satisfying, and the boy topples to the ground gracelessly.

There’s no movement for a long moment, before the boy lets out a strangled gasp, wrenches himself away.

Not far enough. Goddamn, he’s so weak. How can anyone be this weak? Tony knows to cover his head, to curl up in a ball, but Peter’s splayed out and defenceless.

Tony reaches down to grab him by the designer sweater, lifting him clear off the ground as Peter winces and recoils. The mark on his cheek is darkening rapidly, an ugly scarlet. “You run this school, Parker? You their precious king?”

“What? No! I…” there are tears sparkling in his eyes, he even cries like a Disney character. “I don’t- I don’t understand, please don’t-“

Begging never stops anything. Tony drops him and punches down in one swift motion, right onto Peter’s stomach- forcing all the air out of him, along with a pitiful whimper. “You ain’t king of shit, you get that, Parker?”

He doesn’t stick around for an answer, not that Peter could give one, with the way he’s wheezing, and he strides out; fingers streaked with paint and blood.

* * Peter doesn’t come into school the next day, and all eyes are stuck on Tony.

They’re not all as admiring anymore, but they are intimidated, and that’ll do. The girls still flock to him, the younger students still flee.

It’s easy to dethrone. History makes it look hard, but it isn’t.

“Liam’s throwing a party next week,” Cindy says over lunch. Tony’s sitting at the “popular” table. It looks like all the others, but the people there are substantially more attractive. He’s sitting where Peter usually sits, that much he can gather, and the students (his subjects) whisper with nervous fear. “You should totally come.”

“Maybe,” Tony murmurs, but he will go. Anywhere that isn’t home in the evenings. Anywhere else.

*** Tony feels good on Friday.

His dad is out of town on business, and he and his mom ate take out in front of the tv and didn’t have to worry when they spilt some on the rug.

He parks his beat up car in one of the teacher’s spots, and his entourage rush to greet him and update him on the gossip and prattle on about things he doesn’t give a shit about.

That is, until one of them says-

“Peter’s back in today.”

And that, Tony has to see.

He’s not technically in AP english, but he winks at the receptionist and she buckles like everyone does.

Peter sits at the front of the class, scribbling notes furiously, and looks entirely put together in a white chiffon blouse and green slacks. The bruise along his cheekbone is horrific. Darker and splotchier- there’s a tiny little cut above his left eyebrow- Tony doesn’t remember doing that, but that happens sometimes. He hits a little harder than he means to.

Seeing it is a weird feeling. It makes disgust well up inside him, something horrible and tortured screeches to be let out, and on the other hand-

He’s a king looking down on the enemy wounded.

Peter doesn’t look up at him once during the class, even though he goes out of his way to be annoying and aggravating.

The teacher kicks him out eventually, and when the bell rings, he waits by Peter’s locker.

The boy approaches cautiously. He’s alone. All alone. High school fans, so fickle, Tony tuts.

“Parker,” he grins, watching as Peter twists open the combination lock. “Finally decided to come back.”

“I guess so,” the boy says quietly, demurely, changing out his books. He has hard copies of everything, all brand new and shiny. They don’t look like the torn up, hand-down charity shop copies Tony uses.

Tony waits, but Peter offers nothing else. He feels too sharp around the edges, he feels like he’s shattering. “Well? Aren’t you gonna tell on me or some shit? I haven’t heard a word.”

“You want me to tell someone you attacked me?” Peter clarifies curiously, looking at him with huge, honey eyes. It’s like someone bottled sunlight. Tony’s winded by the sight of them.

“I-“

“What would that achieve?” Peter asks, blatant with honesty and genuine inquisitiveness. “It wouldn’t make you stop. It might get you suspended, maybe expelled, but then what? Not like you couldn’t come and find me outside of school. Then I call the police? Try to get you arrested for assault? You’d be released in a year anyway, and then what?”

Tony snarls, banging his fist against the lockers so loudly the entire hallway falls silent. He leans in and spits into Peter’s face: “How about some fuckin’ gratitude that I didn’t leave a mark, huh, pretty boy? Where’s my thanks?”

Peter doesn’t step away. He looks up and juts out his chin in a way that’s meant to be intimidating but is more endearing than anything. “Thank you.” He whispers. His lower lip shakes. “Thank you for what you did to me.”

“Don’t fuckin- stop cryin- get up! Get up!” Howard yells, hauling Tony to his feet. He stumbles, unable to stand, and Howard shoves him against the wall. “Fuckin’ ingrate, say thank you- thank me for taking the time to fuckin’ teach you!”

“Thank you,” Tony manages around a sob, sliding to the floor and bursting into tears.

Tony staggers back hard.

He’s not-

He’s not.

*** Pretty boy Peter is a bug under his skin.

Tony can’t stop thinking about him. Can’t stop wondering where he is, how he is.

Jefferson High is a huge school, but the fields and playgrounds are bigger, and that’s where students spend their time.

Tony finds Peter every lunch time, curled up in the big chairs in the library, buried in a book.

Sometimes he’s wearing oversized cream sweaters, sometimes when it’s hot, he’s in some fancy lace get up, and Tony eyes the smooth, soft skin on display. Sometimes he’s almost asleep, looks so peaceful and cosy (Tony wants to reach out and gently, gently touch) sometimes his eyes are moving so rapidly, his lips parted in exhilaration, fingers clumsy as they hurriedly turn the page that Tony would give anything to know what he was reading.

For Peter to tell him what interested him so much.

As it is, he doesn’t approach. Just watches from the shadows for as long as he can, before slipping out undetected.

He’s particularly good at that, thank years of practising.

The swarms that once worshipped the boy never hang out with Peter anymore, but oddly enough, Peter doesn’t seem to care, or even notice.

Tony can relate to that. Losing Cindy the air-head might actually be a relief. He’s tried to shake her off, but she latches like a leech.

Instead, Peter spends his time with a dreary-eyed girl. A girl Tony knows gets called dyke by the guys in the shower-room.

Tony doesn’t join in their bantering over jokes like that.

She’s cool, though, and clearly doesn’t give a shit. She’ll be something big when she’s out of here, and Tony wants to her see her succeed. Wants to flip on his television set one day in a few years and see her face.

When he gets home that night, he has the book Peter was reading at lunch tucked under his arm (the librarian too, is a sucker for his eyes).

Howard glares at him, kicks at him when he walks past like he’s a mangy mutt, but he makes it to bed and he flips on the switch, snuggled into threadbare sheets, and he reads.

*** Amidst the thrum of music, the boozy smell of alcohol, and lipstick on the back of playing cards, Peter Parker shows up to Liam’s party.

Tony’s halfway through a keg, but he’s not feeling the effects (so what? He’s built up a bit of a tolerance) and people are chanting King Tony! when he spots wavy brown hair and pretty pink lips.

He follows without even meaning to.

Peter’s face is healed now, back to as beautiful as ever. Tony heals fast too.

“Parker,” he greets, when Peter helps himself to punch. “You showin’ your face here?”

Peter smiles. “I was invited.”

That surprises him. “Really? Who’d wanna be seen with a nobody like you?”

“Liam and I go back.”

Well damn, not as fickle as he’d thought then. Anyway, the sight of Peter is thrilling. It’s troubling. “Get the fuck out,” Tony orders, because a rather large part of him wants to- wants to kiss-

“I was just leaving.” The boy corrects, turning away.

There’s a welt on his back.

It peaks out behind the strappy, vintage style blazer. But only just. It’s been cleverly covered up, if Tony wasn’t so familiar with the sight he’d never have spotted it and-

He reaches out, calls for Peter to stop- wait-

But he’s already gone.

*

It’s an obsession.

But it keeps him from the house. He drives around town slowly, cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth, arm hanging out the window of his car, and he coasts through fancy neighbourhoods, sees wholesome families praying before eating their dinner in their grand dining rooms.

He hates them.

He spots Peter’s pretty red Camaro parked in the driveway of an enormous house.

He parks around the block, comes back, and lingers.

It’s totally normal. The curtains are shut, but Tony can see enough. They have neat hedgerows, cultivated fox gloves, and a bird feeder out front. There are three cars parked neatly, Peter’s, a blue beetle, and a large jeep, all lovingly taken care of and gleaming in the evening light.

The kitchen curtains have charming little frogs on them, the mat out front says welcome.

He can’t have seen a welt on Peter’s back, because that doesn’t fit.

It fits Tony. With his beaten down house, lack of kitchen curtains, lack of prayers, his scratched up, junkyard piece of crap, his bruised knuckles and his split lip.

He’s wrong.

*** His mom’s been saying that Howard’s getting worse.

Tony zones her out. She says stuff like this all the time. Other times she says he’s getting better, then he’s getting worse, but she never does a fuckin’ thing about it.

When he staggers out of the house at three am, bleeding bad, throbbing all over, and he falls into his car- can hear his mother screaming, can hear Howard demanding him to get back inside, he steps on the gas and tails it.

He’s driving to the hospital, hardly able to see through the blood and the pain and the black spots dancing across his vision, when he crashes into a street lamp.

It’s not a bad crash. Another dent in many, he thinks, but he suddenly feels warm all over.

He’s cosy. He could fall asleep.

*** When he wakes up, he’s on a cloud. He’s floating on air.

He blinks and there’s a warm, gold light, and two, beautiful honey eyes.

He’s in heaven.

But that can’t be right, he’s a piece of shit.

“You got that right,” comes a chiding, slightly teasing tone, and he squints against the dimness to see Peter Parker above him, dabbing at him with white cotton buds.

Feeling seems to come back all at once. First, an ache that drags through his whole body, then the blinding sting of whatever hell fire Peter’s putting on his face, third, that Peter’s straddling hm, and it’s a really rather nice hot, weight.

“Mm, baby,” he groans, sliding his coarse hands up Peter’s bare, smooth thighs, “this is a pleasant surprise.” He bucks his hip a little, feels his clothed dick nestle between two plump cheeks. He gets a little burst of pleasure that’s such a fucking relief from the pain that he grinds upwards again.

Peter’s hand is firm on his chest, pressing him down into the bed, not cloud. “You’re hurt, Tony. One problem at a time please.”

Problems. Damn. He has a lot of those.

“Tell me about it,” Peter sighs. “I’ve parked your car at the drive-thru theatre. I left a note at the lamppost. I hope no one minds.”

Tony blinks, dazed, and watches as Peter tends to him. It reminds him of that film his mom used to watch all the time, the fuckin horrible one with the dancing and the singing and the monster.

Beauty and the Beast, his mind supplies.

Peter’s face isn’t pretty. It’s beautiful. Dimples and prominent cheekbones, lovely eyebrows and long lashes. He has freckles and a beauty mark on his jaw, perfect for kissing. His forehead is creased in concentration as he works on Tony’s face, his tongue resting on his lips.

Tony may not be in heaven, but he is looking at an angel.

“Do you really…” he whispers, reaching up a clumsy hand to stroke tenderly at Peter’s face. The boy doesn’t even flinch. “Did you really have a…a belt mark on you…”

Those eyes snap to him, a vulnerability come to light, a hidden truth revealed.

Then they darken, and look away. “You need to get your rest.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Tony croaks, eyes burning, “you’re perfect. It’s not meant to- not meant to happen to perfect people, only- only broken ones, like-“

“Nobody’s perfect,” Peter whispers wisely, dabbing cream onto his fingers, and then onto Tony’s face.

“Who does it to you?”

“Step dad,” Peter shrugs, “he never hits her, though. I think he misses his own son.”

“I’ll kill him for hurtin’ you, I swear,” he slurs, filled with righteous ire. Who could hurt such an angel-

“That’d be hypocritical.” Peter muses, opening a pack of antiseptic wipes and swiping at Tony’s temple. He’s good at this. He must be well-practised.

Tony drowns in self-loathing. “I’m a shit.” He hisses, “I’m a shit, I’m sorry, but my dad-“

“I understand.” Peter nods, fingers stroking through Tony’s hair. “I empathise. I don’t forgive you. Not yet.”

“You might, though?” Tony urges, craning into every touch. “Maybe?”

Peter grinds down once, making Tony’s dick jolt with arousal. “Maybe.” He whispers.

*** Tony hates his anger management counsellor so fucking much.

But Howard hates him going, so Tony always shows up on time.

Peggy is patient and understanding, but no-nonsense.

When he shows up with bleeding knuckles and a jagged cut on his arm, she offers him a lemon sucker and shakes her head.

“He started it.” Tony hisses, taking a sherbet and sucking on it.

She doesn’t say anything.

“It wasn’t Peter, if that’s what you’re thinking. I would never hurt Pe- I haven’t ever hit Peter again.”

She’s silent.

He feels like a kid. He hangs his head on his chest. “I get so angry.” He whispers.

“And does violence make the anger go away?”

He nods, looking at her through tears. He cries so much nowadays. Peggy says it’s a good thing. “It turns it into power.”

Peggy looks at him, urging him to get there on his own.

“It’s not power,” he mumbles, lemon on his tongue, “I feel helpless.”

“We all do sometimes, Tony,” she smiles, and offers him another lemon drop. “I want to talk about your mom today. About the things you think she likes best about you.”

Tony wants to run and hide, but instead he sits and listens.

* Sometimes, when Peter reaches over to hold Tony’s hand, Tony yanks it away, his whole mood sours, and he storms out.

He always comes back though. Shame-faced, small, and he reaches out for a hug and Peter gives it to him.

He yells sometimes too. When he’s trying really hard not to, it slips out. Horrible things, things he doesn’t mean, things he wishes he could take back but he fears are going to hang there in the air forever.

He always cries afterwards, and calls Peggy.

Peter yells too, from time to time, when he’s fracturing a little, when Kurt presses where it hurts.

Tony holds Peter tight when that happens, kisses his hair all soft and gentle in the ways he never thought he could be, and promises that they’ll both do better. They’ll both be better.

Peter sees Stephen Strange, a counsellor on the other side of town.

Peggy thinks it’s a good idea for Peter and Tony to heal independently of each other, just in case they become a support system for one being, rather than two people.

Strange says you shouldn’t feel guilty for lashing out. Peggy says you should apologise if you’re sorry.

Peter kisses the hollow of Tony’s throat and says: “I want to tell you all the things I love about you.”

By the end of the forty-minute list, Tony has to cut Peter off, because he can’t hear him over his own sobs.

After a month of no violence, Tony’s greeted to Peter covered in flour and icing, holding a poorly shaped cake that says one month of peace is groovy baby.

They eat it in an old tent, camped out on the edge of town. The cake is disgusting, and Tony’s new favourite. 

They have sex in the grass and Tony kisses Peter’s new welt, and says that he deserves so much more than this.

That, if he likes, Tony will try to give it to him.

**

They have a modest house in a modest town. They have curtains with kangaroos on them, and no dining table- just a coffee table with bean bags in front of the television.

They have one nice car that they share.

They have friends.

They meet each other in the drive way, both on their way home from work, and Peter blushes when Tony holds out the bouquet of tulips. “Pretty boy,” Tony grins, as Peter buries his face in the petals. “I heard from a little birdie that it was your wedding anniversary.”

“Mm,” Peter giggles, “that’s weird. Me and my husband promised each other no presents.”

“Ah,” Tony sighs, drawing Peter into his arms, kissing him silly for the whole neighbourhood to see (not that they haven’t seen it before. It’s stupid and reckless but it’s a good town). “So, if we go inside, there’ll be no freshly baked cake on the counter, right? You didn’t sneak home on your lunch break to bake me something?”

Peter sighs. “Who told?”

“Becky. She can’t keep a secret, Pete.”

Peter laughs, and they thread their fingers together and head inside.

It’s not a perfect ending, but it’s happy. They fight, sometimes. They tremble. They remember things they wish they could forget. They break down on the side of the road. They spend nights in motels.

But those are fewer and farther between. And in the end, they always come home- to each other.

The cake is terrible. It always is. But Tony eats every single bite.

It’s the same recipe as the one Peter made all those years ago, after one month of no fights.

It’s stale and it brings back so many memories.

“Is it good?” Peter asks worriedly, putting the tulips in water.

Tony takes a huge bite, and shakes his head in wonder. “Yeah, baby,” he whispers, “even after all this time, it’s still really, really good.”

He thinks it always will be. 

Share a Lair 13 || Share a Birthdate

“What do you even wear to meet somebody’s parents?” Charlotte wondered.

“What did you wear whenever you met Jack’s parents?” Piper asked right back.

“I didn’t even think about it, because I was just his friend from camp whenever we met. By the time we were something else, they had known me for a little while and they loved me. These people don’t know anything about me.”

Jasper chimed in, “No, but Max probably told them all about you, so you likely have a lot to live up to because he TOTALLY overplays your attributes.”

“Excuse me???” Charlotte asked.

“It’s adorable!” Jasper said. “He thinks the world revolves around you. It doesn’t. It revolves around the sun.”

Piper sighed and held a pair of earrings up to Charlotte’s ear, “Is it like a fancy dinner or like a party?”

“It’s like a family party?” Charlotte said. “I guess something like you guys do for Hen’s birthday. I don’t know. I was thinking that I’d dress like we’re going to a dinner date, since I’m meeting his parents, but maybe like a cocktail dress, since it’s his birthday dinner.”

“I can’t believe that you didn’t plan this out before,” Jasper said.

“Do you know how much work I’ve had to do since Henry’s advancement?”

Jasper scoffed, “Do you know how much work I’ve got to do since you and Henry haven’t been in the Man Cave as much?”

Piper said, “All you do is personal assistant stuff for Ray. You did that anyway.”

“Yeah, but it’s MORE now because he’s lowkey depressed!” Jasper said. “So, I have to pick up more snacks, set more spa appointments, force him to take more showers!”

“Who’s protecting Swellview while he hosts his pity parties?” Charlotte asked, concerned.

“Me,” Piper said, as though it was obvious. Jasper just pursed his lips and nodded. Now, Charlotte wanted to go to the Man Cave and make sure everything was functional! But… She just didn’t have the time and she’d have to remember that. She took the earrings from Piper and placed them back in their spot, picked up a different pair and held up to her own ears. “Much better,” Piper said, nodding.

Jasper laid down on Charlotte’s extra bed while she continued arranging her outfit.

.

Ultimately, she decided on an updo with golden jewels as hair garnish, a long sleeved sleek espresso colored party dress with boots, a belt and a clutch that complimented them well, and a gold jewelry set. If it turned out to be a little more fancy, she had a satin scarf that would instantly upgrade her look.

Max picked her up from her parents’ house, though they were out of town for some of her father’s business. She simply didn’t want to have to drive all the way to the Lair, when Hiddenville was past her in the other direction. Since she was (sort of) on the way, he collected her from there. She was doing some remote Man Cave work while she waited on him on the patio outside and almost didn’t notice him walk up. “Hey!” She said when she did, though. “What’s behind your back?”

“I got you flowers!” He said and pulled out a bouquet of peonies.

Charlotte gasped and smiled brightly. “They’re my favorite! I don’t remember telling you that!” She took them to put them into “the vase.” It was a vase in their house that was only there because Jack used to send her flowers. Mostly, her mom used it now, for nice dinners and stuff. He watched her, a little bit hungrily, but composed.

“You look really amazing,” he said.

She looked at him now - he was the same as always. Dark colors and “not even trying” casual-sexy in a dark purple T-shirt, black jacket, dark jeans and black high top sneakers. “I feel overdressed,” she said, noting his outfit.

“Naw. It’s a special occasion. I think you’re more on the mark than me.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and officially greeted her with a kiss on the nose, which she reflexively pressed herself into a little harder. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” she smiled. And they were off.

.

Barb was frantically going about the place, trying to make sure that everything was perfect. They had the twins come over for their birthdays before, but this year would be so different! Max was bringing a woman home!! Yes, Max had dated before and even casually introduced women that he saw to them… but he hadn’t brought one home in a very long time and not on an occasion like his birthday! This one might be the one! To get him settled into a home to escape from at the end of his missions. To give her some beautiful little grandchildren! My grandchildren would be the most adorable kids alive!!!

She had seen photos of Charlotte before. Max was constantly posting them to his social media and she would always leave a comment, “Beautiful! Can’t wait to meet her!!” And he’d love the comment, but never get around to actually making good on her request. But, today, he would. That was exciting.

He’d called her previously and said, “Hey, Mom… Do you think it’d be okay to add an additional spot, for me and Phoebe’s birthday thing? I kind of… want Charlotte to be with me for my birthday…” She could hear the smile in his voice and she could hear something else too. Her little boy was in love. Well, her big boy. Her grown up baby. She had to make sure that everything was perfect and that she made them comfortable. It was hard enough to get Max to stop by when there wasn’t an occasion or an assignment. He went off, falling in love and gallivanting around with his new girlfriend, they might never see him, if she didn’t make a big impact.

“Alert, The twins and friends approaching,” the monitor called. Barb squealed happily and called, “Max and Phoebe are here!”

Of course, Billy was the first one down, Nora and Chloe came from the kitchen and Hank got up from the couch as his wife rushed to the door to open it for her oldest two. “Mom!” The twins cheered as soon as the door opened and they gave her a shared hug. Charlotte had just been introduced to Link when they got out of the cars, and the two of them stood back as the Thunderman hugs went around. She could have sworn that Max had just seen them a week or two ago, but maybe time was not as she remembered it. While they were exchanging their happy greetings, Cherry and Oyster walked up behind Link and Charlotte and she commented, “Well, at least I’m not the only non-family here.”

“Are you kidding? Cherry is as much family as their kids,” Link said.

“Great.” Now, her hands were sweating and of course, that meant it was time to shake The Thundermans’… Thundermanses’? Thunderman’s?…

“Mom, Dad, this is Charlotte, my… Charlotte.” Max said, somewhat awkwardly and blushing as he put his had in the small of her back to move her closer to himself and them. She smoothly wiped her hand on his sleeve and reached out to shake Barb’s hand but when she reached for Hank’s, Max intercepted and said, “He sometimes is way too strong. Shake in spirit.” She smiled and nodded.

“Nice to finally meet you!” Barb cheered. “Hope you like the flowers. Max insisted on incorporating peonies and I’ve never known him to be a flower boy, so I figured it was for you.”

Charlotte squinted, “I have no idea who told him about peonies, but - they are my favorite. He’s so thoughtful.” she smiled at him and he crinkled his nose smiling and gushing.

Nora and Billy came over and almost tackled her with hugs, both talking at the same time (and she realized that she hadn’t seen them since the video game tournament), and tried to hear what both of them were saying. Eventually, they got back on the same page when they said, “And this is our youngest sister, Chloe.”

Charlotte waved at the young teenage girl, “Hi! Nice to meet you!”

“A likely story!” Chloe said, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Oh,” Charlotte said and smiled, uncomfortably.

“Chloe! Don’t be mean… at least not to her,” Max said.

Chloe beckoned him with her hand and whenever he got closer, pulled him by the jacket and they vanished. Charlotte gasped. “What just happened?” She wondered.

“That’s her superpower,” Billy said, a little amused by Charlotte’s face.

A moment later, Max and Chloe were back and Chloe reached for Charlotte’s hand to shake it. “Well, despite what Dr. Collosso has told me, I’ve chosen to believe Max that he’s just jealous. So, nice to meet you… You’d better not steal away and-or hurt my brother!” She leaned in and said, “I can make you disappear.”

Charlotte’s eyes went wide and Max broke their bodily contact, taking Charlotte’s hand away from Chloe and into his own. “Chloe!” He wrapped an arm around Charlotte and laughed a little, “She’s going through puberty. Hormones and superpowers, yanno?”

Now, Charlotte was not easily scared, but this girl COULD make her disappear. She’d just shown her so when she and Max went to have their little discussion. Nora and Billy had loved her right away and Phoebe had always been cool. The last thing that she was expecting was for the kid to distrust or dislike her. She was gonna strangle that bunny when she saw him!

Aside from that hiccup, it was great, though.

Barb and Hank tried to take a lot of her time, mostly Barb, and Max kept stealing her back when she seemed overwhelmed. Even when he and Oyster were in the middle of talking animatedly about something. She appreciated that. Cherry played some music to dance to and Oyster almost immediately planted his butt to a seat. Charlotte felt THAT in her spirit and moved to join him, but Max caught her hand and gave her a gentle tug.

“What’s happening? Are you dancing?” She wondered. She hated dancing. She did not want this, at all..

He pressed his face close to hers, moving to the beat of the music, “It’s my birthday. Indulge me?” He poked his lip out in a pout and she couldn’t resist him. Phoebe and Link were dancing next to them. Cherry was dancing by herself, with Oyster seated nearby and watching. The younger Thundermans were dancing in a little circle. Charlotte noticed that Barb had her camera out. No way was she going to be caught looking stupid. She had rhythm, so she just rocked a little bit while Max danced around her. With a little wine, she might feel better, but technically not being old enough, she didn’t want to be seen drinking in front of his parents. They might think ill of her. Her parents allowed her wine, but this family was different from hers and it was really a big deal to her to make a good first impression on them. The way that Max adored them made this important to her.

There was something really special about him. He wasn’t the first guy she cared deeply about and she was pretty sure he probably wouldn’t be the last one. But, he was the only one that she felt like… compromising things for. Yeah, it was cool to be able to have somebody who knew that you didn’t want to dance and left you alone about it, but that little, “Indulge me?” and the tugging of her heart TO indulge? That was an exciting, but manageable new sensation, and she was apprehensive, but felt like even when she would jump in, he’d have her. She wasn’t going to slip up and look stupid. If she did look a little silly, well… He was still gonna look at her exactly the same. After a while, she loosened up and enjoyed her little small dance movements. She definitely enjoyed watching him move around her. That’s not to say that whenever Hank excitedly cheered that it was time for cake (A little TOO excitedly, she thought), that she wasn’t thanking the stars for dancing dismissal.

Max took her hand again - she loved whenever they were together and he kept her close to himself, and it felt even better happening around his family than it did when it was just friends. Barb and Hank started what appeared to be some type of birthday rap and Charlotte prayed silently that her face was not going to insult them. She felt something graze her skin and turned to see that Max had taken one of the nearby peonies from their vase and handed it to her, which distracted her long enough to smile, smell it and admire him. And when the rap ended, Hank was the first to grab a slice of cake that Phoebe cut for him and make his way to the couch with it. The others were getting smaller slices that Barb was placing on plates and Max cut a slice for Charlotte. “Here ya go!” he said.

She looked at the room and wondered, “Aren’t you going to get yours?”

He waved a hand and said, “There will be some left.”

She looked at the cake as Hank ALREADY was coming for seconds and shook her head, “I don’t know. You know this group better than me, but it looks like you’ll miss out, Dude.” She had this mini flashback to one of Hen’s birthdays where he was forced to work and everybody else just moved on and had cake. He’d brought it up after the fact and made her feel pretty guilty about not even thinking twice about leaving him out of his own birthday cake and saying that Jasper was the only one who had his back. That was hurtful to hear, because it was true in that one time, and for whatever reason had carried more weight with Henry than she would have thought. To heck with that, though. She turned turned towards Max and pinched off a piece of her cake. “Open up,” she said, with a smile.

He listened. It wasn’t a struggle or anything. It may have been her slice, but he was gonna take first bite and right from her hands was actually much better than he had ever eaten a piece of cake before in his life. Her brown eyes twinkling up at him, her perfect smile beaming at his sheer satisfaction. Neither of them noticed Barb swatting Hank on the belly to get his attention. He was already looking and simply caught her hand in his free hand (He was holding his cake in the other). Barb whispered in excitement, “She’s it for him, you know that right? Just LOOK at them!”

Hank saw a pretty girl feeding his son cake on his birthday… Which gave him a great idea for a gift Barb could give him on HIS next birthday. Whenever he turned to ask her about it, the woman was to the point of crying. In her mind, she was seeing her little boy, too small to even fit his baggy suit, but getting MARRIED? He was too young! But, if that’s what made him happy… “Barb?” Hank broke into her thoughts. “Why don’t you take a little break. You’ve been working hard all day.”

She nodded, “Yes. Yes, a break.” Max took the plate from Charlotte. If she kept feeding him SHE wasn’t going to get any cake! So, at least she was gonna have that last bite of this slice. When he held the fork out to her and she took it into her mouth, Barb just wiped her eyes and smiled softly. Max kissed Charlotte on the forehead and asked her if SHE wanted an actual slice. She did.

Barb was heading to a chair whenever Link had an announcement to make. One that he wanted everyone’s attention for. Max was getting more cake, but everyone else was paying attention, so that was enough for Link.

Charlotte gave Barb a cordial smile as the woman came and stood right next to her and Link went on this tangent about how from the first time he met Phoebe, he knew she was special, “Literally! She used her superpowers right in front of me!” They laughed. He went on and talked about how they had to go their separate ways, but always made time for each other and reconnected a short while ago, etc. Max was back with cake, so Charlotte accepted the plate, ready to devour it, but Max was getting his phone out and started recording Link… which she thought was kinda weird until Link got down on one knee in front of Phoebe and Barb gasped loudly. “Phoebe Thunderman, will you marry me?” Cherry did a spit take with her punch. Charlotte didn’t really know Link, but she hadn’t been expecting that at this birthday party, either. It was kind of sweet and kind of exciting. She ate cake and watched Phoebe try to collect her feelings. Just like that, Barb’s attention was directed towards Phoebe and Link, now.

Max asked Cherry, “Why did you spit out your punch? Link told us that he was going to do this.” Cherry looked extremely shocked to hear this news.

Oyster commented, “He had to swipe the memory, because she kept about to accidentally tell Phoebe.”

Ignoring their ditzy couple friends, Max cheered, “Woooooo!!! Congrats, Pheebs!!” As Phoebe accepted her man and her ring.

Phoebe commented, “You’ll be next, Loverboy!” Charlotte nearly choked on her cake.

He laughed and said, “She’s just teasing, Char.” They stared at each other for a moment, then he took her empty plate, “Punch?”

“Yeah,” she said. He went to hug Phoebe, pat Link on the back, squeeze Barb’s shoulders… a lot of stuff before he actually made it to the punch.

In that time, Hank wound up back by her, “You work for Captain Man, right?”

She made a high pitched ‘Well’ sound and confirmed, “I mostly work for Kid Danger… Well… He’s actually going to change names, but, I definitely did work for Captain Man.”

“And did YOU want to punch him in the face, too?” He asked. She laughed out loud. He nodded, “He’s one of the most arrogant heroes that I’ve ever met, and it’s only on his superpower, because his record isn’t even a Hero League low class. He only qualifies because of his power and occupation. Basically skates on indestructible.”

“I can believe it,” she said.

“You know, I have punched him in the face before. Once upon a time he said something to my wife that I didn’t appreciate. My fists did the talking. Punched him right through an ambulance. He came out on the other side and said, “I’m Okay!” He was, but I had to pay to replace the damn ambulance.” Hank shook his head. “And I hurt my thumb punching his stupid indestructible jaw.”

“He… has never mentioned that there was bad blood between you two!” Charlotte said.

“Oh, there wasn’t, really. The guy forgets everything that happens the moment he sees his reflection, so honestly, it was just me mad for awhile and I moved on. Haven’t really seen or spoken to him, so I was curious to know if he was still…”

“A prick. Yes. He is.” She covered her mouth. You can’t say “prick” to your boyfriend’s dad!

But, Hank laughed heartily and wiggled his finger at her, “I like you. You’re a feisty kid.”

Max glanced over when he heard Hank laugh. He was glad to see her getting on with his dad. Meanwhile, he and Phoebe talked. “It took Link and I TEN YEARS to get to this point. You don’t have as much time to reel her in,” Phoebe said.

“Chill! We’ve barely been together for a month.”

“Well, I mean, not on paper, but come on, dude. How long were the two of you… consorting before then?” She smiled and he blushed and looked away. “Listen, I’m just saying - she’s a HELL of a catch. She’s all the stuff that you want and need without some of the stuff that might run her off. If it’s gonna be a nonsupe, should be one that gets the lifestyle and stuff.”

“I’m not rushing anything,” Max said. “I’d scare her off before I have the chance to let her down, like the universe intended.”

“Let her down?” Phoebe repeated, concerned.

“My training term will be up in a few months. Henry is excelling in it. When he moves on, I will too. They’re leaning towards Russia.”

Phoebe looked sad for him, “And she doesn’t like Russia?”

He scoffed, “I haven’t told her this! How would I even do it? Hey - you know how I spent months pining over you right in your face and you finally gave me a chance and we’ve been connecting and falling in love for the past month or so? Long story short, in a few months, I’m probably going to be sent to Russia, and be stationed there for a few years! Wanna commit to coming with me, this soon into our relationship?”

“Not those exact words, but I have to ask you… How do you think it would play out if you waited until this summer? By that time, she’s several months in and probably all the way in love and let’s be honest, be losing you and her best friend at the same time… Is he coming to Russia with you?”

“Haven’t decided whether I want that or not. He’s capable, but… she’s gonna be mad enough at me without me taking him away.”

“Maybe with him, she’ll come along. All I know is you have to share this with her. She deserves to know.”

“I’m…” He shrugged his shoulders. Scared. She knew that he was, but she also knew that he was brave.

“Brave,” she finished the statement. “And honest. Do the right thing now, and maybe even if it takes ten years, the honesty and respect will always matter and bring you two back together. And to clarify… we don’t even know that she’ll break up with you. She’s had long distance relationships before, and so have you, albeit briefly. When you love someone, and you’re both willing to work, and both smart… you can figure it out! I don’t want to see you miss out on good things because you’re scared.”

“I never said I was scared.”

“We shared a womb. You don’t HAVE to say it!”

“Ugh. Happy 25th, Boogerhead.”

“You too, Loserface.” He pulled her in and gave her a kiss on the hair, then reminded himself that he owed Charlotte punch. They were going to be heading back home in a short while, and he planned on taking Phoebe’s advice. Just the thought of having to have that talk was terrifying, but Phoebe was right. He was brave and honest, and Charlotte deserved to know the truth.

The carnival ❤️ PT.2

Ok so here's part two! I hope you like it, and happy new year to everyone 💜

****

Outside the air was cool, it helped with Gilbert's reddened face. He inhaled deeply muttering calming words to himself. Why didn't his heart want to let go of Anne? Even when he had a clear shot at courting Winifred, the beautiful blonde already had a lot of admirers. He laughed at himself, Anne Shirley Cuthbert was the most captivating girl he had ever met. And she would always be.

Anne quietly surveyed the hall, Gilbert was no where in sight, Winfred was chatting with Tilly and Jane who seemed to be at awe of her. Anne herself was taken aback whenever her striking blue eyes met hers. She felt her heart cry at the thought of how many times Gilbert must have deeply stared into them.

At her side, Charlie Sloane shifted from side to side nervously before saying," Anne, would you like to join me again on this dance? It's been a lovely time spending this evening with you so far." Anne snapped out of her thoughts and offered him a small smile. "Oh, I don't think so Charlie. I'm a little thirsty, so why don't you ask someone else while I'll just go get something?"

Anne smiled at him and quickly disappeared into the crowd making her way outside.

She reached the back of the barn hall when she noticed someone standing by the stables and staring at the moon. When she moved closer she knew it was,"Gilbert?"

The boy turned around at the speed of light as if Anne had heard his thoughts.

There shrouded in moonlight stood Anne, the gleam of a bonfire behind her giving life to her red hair.

But instead of embracing her like every fiber in his body wanted to, he said, "Where's Sloane? Did you tire him too much?"

Anne stopped. "What?!"

"Huh,"he scoffed. "Charlie Sloane? Who would have thought-"

"Gilbert Blythe! How dare you?" She stepped closer with anger. "Charlie and I are friends. The dancing was just out good spirit! And there's nothing else! And oh! Why am I even telling you this? Your trips to Charlottetown were certainly more than just for your vocation I see. "

Gilbert returned the fire,"And walks after dances don't mean anything!"

"Oh, so meeting the parents and going for a family trip to a carnival may not mean anything then?!" Anne glared back.

"Oh believe me dancing with someone for an entire event says a lot!"

"Huh? Really, because at least Charlie doesn't switch dance partners like he's changes clothes! Which by the way is-" And barely completed the sentence when Gilbert pinned her against the wall. Both breathed heavily. The air was clouded with anger, emotions and something more, something that made Anne's toes curl as she stared into Gilbert's eyes.

Gilbert looked down towards the girl who made him feel so many things all at once. And before he knew it he kissed her.

He pressed his lips against her with a desperation, it had been to long since he has wanted to do that, wanted to love her show her how much he cherished her.

He pulled back at stared at her for a moment, Anne acted quickly and slapped him. The sound echoing in the empty stables. Before pulling him rather aggressively towards her once again.

Anne tugged at his hair feeling a surge of happiness go through her while Gilbert pushed her farther into the wall, imprisoning her. Yet so delicately holding her as if she was too disappear.

They had barely caught their breath when they heard voices coming towards the stables. Gilbert quickly pulled Anne into one of the empty stables in the corner so that they were covered by darkness.

In came Billy Andrews and Josie Pye, Anne turned towards Gilbert both unsure about what was to happen.

Holiday Movies🎄🎬 : Festive AF or Bah Humbug?

Hi! First up, I hope you are doing okay and are staying safe. It has been a weird Christmas season, and since The Netherlands is now in their second lockdown period for 2020, it is even weirder. However, that is not messing up my festive spirit. Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and not even 2020 will mess that up for me. Something I have been doing since lockdown is watching movies (even more than usual). Including a bunch of new Christmas movies. I watch the classics as always and made a blog post for that a couple of years ago. Which you can read here. So, I decided to make a post with all the ‘new’ Christmas movies I have watched this year! So keep reading to find out if these movies will make you say Ho-Ho-Ho or No-No-No... 

No worries, all the reviews are spoiler-free!

The Holiday Calendar (2018): Festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I watched this movie back in 2018 because I love Quincy! So, I was curious about this movie. I adored it. Now it has become an annual Christmas watch. Kat Graham and Quincy have great chemistry and the plot is quite original, which I can always appreciate. It is a fun movie and very cozy!

Anastasia (1997): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+

I have been watching this movie since I was little, and I feel it so underrated! This is not a Christmas movie. However, with the winter scenery, I think it is great for the Holiday season! It’s the story of Anastasia, who may or may not be a long-lost Russian princess... The animation is fantastic, the locations are so pretty to look at, the characters and cast are amazing, and the soundtrack and musical numbers are just incredible. Yeah, there is a lot to love about this movie! Highly recommend.

The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+ (if you do not have Disney+, it is on YouTube in two parts, but you did not hear that from me ;))

I have never watched the Lego Star Wars stuff but when I saw that this was coming out, I thought: yes, sign me up! I had so much fun watching this. I highly recommend it for any Star Wars fan! Does not matter if you like the prequels, original trilogy, or the sequels, this has something for everyone! It has some great humor and some GREAT character moments.  I LOVE one moment so much that I downloaded it on my phone to watch whenever I want. This will get you in the Christmas (or as they say in the SW universe Life Day) spirit for sure!

Holidate (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I watched this one with my friends through a virtual watch party and enjoyed it. It was way better than I expected after seeing the trailer. Emma Roberts is great as always and it was quite funny. However, with Christmas just 5 days away (yeah!!!!!), I recommend putting this one on your list for November/early December. Since the movie is not all Christmas.

The Princess Switch 2: bah humbug

Where to watch: Netflix

I hate to say it because I liked the first one and love Vanessa Hudgens, but this was not good. The plot got so ridiculous at some point and besides Vanessa and some others, most of the cast were quite mediocre. The outfits were fantastic though!

Operation Christmas Drop (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I enjoyed this movie. However, I do not feel the need to watch it again. Kat Graham and Alexander Ludwig’s performances are wonderful and it has a great message. The movie takes place on the island of Guam and it was so beautiful! Even though the plot can be quite predictable, it is still quite an original story for a Christmas movie!

My Christmas Inn (2018): bah humbug

Where to watch: Netflix

Predictable and cheesy. It has all the basic beats of your regular Christmas movie. A woman with a very busy and successful job goes to a small town, usually does not like Christmas or is too busy to celebrate it. Then they usually meet the town’s most eligible bachelor, and well... You can fill in the rest. Tia Mowry does a fine job for what she has been given and the town and inn are charming.

Noelle (2019): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+

I was not sure about this one after the trailer, but I LOVED this! Anna Kendrick and Billie Eichner are so great here and the movie has so many Christmas puns... Oh my garland, right up my alley. I loved the look of the North Pole, soooo magical. Plus, Snowcone is absolutely adorable! SO SO SO festive!

Dash & Lily (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

Okay, this is not a movie, but a series. However, it is just 8 episodes that are around 20-27 minutes each and it is very binge-able! This show is based on a book. I don’t want to give anything away, but the basic plot is that this boy who hates Christmas comes into contact with a girl who loves Christmas through a notebook, which might sound really vague, but it will become clear when you watch it! It takes place in New York during the Christmas season (obviously), which drew me to the show in the first place. Call me basic, but NYC looks so festive and magical. This is what this show is too! I loved it and hope there will be a second season next year!

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

This movie is... INCREDIBLE. Everything about it is just magical. The cast, set design, characters, costume design, musical numbers and choreography, the story. Everything is just wonderful! You can tell this movie had a big budget which it deserves. I even forget for a minute that I was watching a Netflix movie?! You have to watch this one, you will not regret it. My favorite songs were This Day and Make It Work Again. The Usher and Kiana Ledé version of This Day is fantastic too and has been on repeat! Someone on Twitter said that this movie would make an amazing Broadway musical which I agree wholeheartedly with and someone should get on that and make it happen!

Godmothered (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+

I liked Godmothered. The plot was nice, the characters were fun and overall enjoyable. I do not know why, but I just always enjoy stories where someone who is not from our world, comes here and discovers everything in funny ways. It just cracks me up, and Godmothered has those aspects as well. I was also impressed by the special effects and CGI in this movie.

Christmas in Evergreen (2017): bah humbug

Where to watch: I watched this one on TV and it is not on Netflix here in The Netherlands, but maybe you will be in luck... or not (since the movie is not very good)

The town of Evergreen has become a running gag now in my house. There is not 1, not 2, but 3 movies that take place in this town. I-... I do not know what to say haha. I mean, just like My Christmas Inn, a very basic plot. Evergreen does have a charming, festive feel to it, so the movie has that going for it. Other than that, not a lot. One thing I found ridiculous was when the main character had a flight to catch. You would think that she has to get to the airport, yet she goes on all these side quests and I was just so annoyed by it.

Christmas Wonderland (2018): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it predictable? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Heck yeah. I do not know why, but Christmas Wonderland is not as cringe as some of these Hallmark Christmas movies can be. It stars Emily Osment (you might know her from Hannah Montana) and she is an artist here. Overall, not a waste of time and it was fun to watch.

So that was it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe gave you a few new Christmas movies to watch! What are some of your favorite Christmas movies?

I will be back with more posts after Christmas! Maybe some of my favorite things from 2020, to end this year on a positive note!

There are just 3 days left until Christmas. 2020 has been the longest, yet the fastest year ever. I know this Christmas will be different and there will be lots of people spending it without their loved ones. If you are one of them, I am so sorry. I hope you can enjoy the day regardless. Watch a few movies, eat all your favorite Christmas treats, call up your loved ones, treat yourself with a nice face mask, or do absolutely nothing. It’s up to you.

I truly hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I am sending lots of virtual hugs your way! I wish you a very merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! XO

Yenai

Thoughts/ reaction to AWAE 3x6

That opening scene of the preparations for the county fair makes me nostalgic for some reason. Also, I need this background music in my life. I love AWAE's cold opens.

And... we're off to a bad start. I have a terrible cold and so does Anne. I know exactly how that feels. And to have something important coming up as well... Poor Anne.

Matthew and his radish are the expected golden content of this episode and I'm all in for it.

If this episode consisted of nothing but the colourful everyday life at the Cuthbert household, I would still love it as much as any other episode. Maybe even more than some.

Gilbert is making me laugh. How is a white shirt key in making a good impression to anyone? If anything, I wouldn't seek the approval of people whose opinion of me depends on a white shirt. And what does he need Winifred's parents' approval for? Is he marrying her now? As far as I can remember, he wanted to marry Anne last week. Seriously, Blythe, make up your mind!

"Not thinking that far ahead", my butt! Last week, as far as I remember, you were thinking that far ahead. With Anne in mind.

And there goes our dashing young hero... Who can't figure out whom he likes. Seriously, I want to like Gilbert because I love Gilbert, but he's not making it very easy for me.

Anne is the classical Smitten Teenage Girl™ in this scene.

"Special occasion? - No, not really." Yeah, right, that's why you tried on every single one of your virtually identical white shirts a scene ago. But we wouldn't want Anne's family to think you're dressing up for another girl, would we now?

What is Anne sneaking out for? Since when does she need to sneak out to visit Diana? She's not Jerry.

Diana knows things about Gilbert's subconscious that he's hidden away so carefully that he doesn't even remember they're there: "Maybe it was an excuse... To see you."

Minnie May makes such a good Diana impression... Am I a bad person for thinking that maybe she could be the kind of daughter her mother wants, while Diana embraces her happiness with Jerry?

Look at Anne almost quoting the source material... and I think the comparison with Elizabeth and Darcy is quite accurate, at least on account of my reactions to both couples. I mean, you have two individuals who are very obviously made for each other but will go out of their way to convince everyone, including and especially themselves, that they’re not. Also, Anne reminds me so much of Elizabeth Bennet, AWAE Anne in particular. And of course, this line means that all the visual parallels were on purpose! Poetic cinema is coming full circle by acknowledging itself.

Ok, but Minnie May is such a typical little sister. I love her so much. But why won’t Diana tell Anne about Jerry?

Gilbert is dressing up for Winifred. Meanwhile, Matthew is dressing up for his radish. Spirit animal material much?

And all of a sudden Anne is the typical Smitten Teenage Girl with all the associated behaviours: awkwardness, embarrassment, noticing weird details about the object of her affections (the chin comment, anyone?), and now “he loves me, he loves me not”. Come on, girl, you’re different. You’re better than that. But, of course, the ways of love are mysterious. 

The baby horse is still the cutest thing in the world. Along with baby Delly, of course.

And now Anne even has her hair done in the very same style as all the other girls. At least that was different before. I mean, I love the look on her, she’s as beautiful as ever, but I’m getting the rather unpleasant idea that she’s losing her uniqueness and it’s all because of Gilbert; and based on what we saw of him in this episode so far, he’s not worth it.

On the other hand, the books had her become more... conventional, or at least conventional-presenting, by the time she turned 16, so that might count as source material accuracy.

The fortune teller cracks me up. Cigarette smoke in an orb? Really? Also, Anne totally said what I was thinking: “I think I learned more from the daisy”...

“Does my hair look more auburn?” That’s Book Anne right there.

The background music... you can tell by it that the Baynards just entered the scene... also, Derry. Derry! Oh my goodness gracious, DERRY!!!

I love the subtlety of their exchange about the book and the handkerchief. They’re doing this secret romance thing very well.

Ok, a second ago everything was so beautiful and hopeful, and then... first, Diana notices Gilbert before Anne does - and in quite an unpleasant position. And then Diana’s mother goes on about “extricating” themselves from the Baynards... poor Derry. Especially poor Diana. I just wish all this classist behaviour would go to... Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire (bonus points to all those of you who get the reference, and to me for referencing a work about classism in relation to classist behaviours).

Miss Stacy is the epitome of feminism in this scene - wearing trousers and giving all the men a run for their money at shooting. Go, Muriel!

As much as I dislike Rachel Lynde’s general behaviour, the relationship she has with her husband just has to be admired. Maybe she just wants Muriel to have what she has, and she’s failing to see that maybe not everybody needs or wants the same things.

And... Billy’s back. I remember saying back when I was watching 3x1 that if i never saw him again, it would still be too soon. I don’t mean to spread hate, but I’m sick and tired of his sexism and racism and homophobia and toxic masculinity. But well. To each their own.

I love that Prissy is back as well. She made the right decision about herself when we last saw her, and she doesn’t seem to have taken a single step back. In fact, she appears to have moved forward since we last saw her. Good on you, Prissy! But now Josie seems to be headed down a similar rather toxic road to the one that Prissy barely escaped - and with Prissy’s own brother, too. I hope it all works out well.

This is the moment I realise how unfortunate it is that Prissy and Josie aren’t very close. If they were Prissy might have warned her against some signs of toxic behaviour that she herself didn’t recognise back then...

Of course, Billy. Of course the game is “rigged”. But not for Jerry, it seems. In your face, Andrews!

I. Am. Dying! I just want to shout “Derry!” from the rooftops. 

The little dog matches her gloves, you guys! Also, every time Diana says “Merci, Jerry!”, I just melt into a big puddle of fangirl. 

The county fair is treating my boy Jerry really well, I must say.

Can we talk about Diana’s boldness, though? She’s really living life to the fullest, if only in secret. I hope my daring girl is free to pursue her happiness one day. And that day better be soon.

This conversation must be so uncomfortable for Gilbert. And he’s putting himself through it for a girl that isn’t even meant for him. He knows it, no matter what he tells himself or everyone else. 

I just pictured Matthew saying to Gilbert “What are your intentions towards my Anne?”, and now my heart is breaking at the thought that he might never get to say it.

I am totally with Anne on this one, but you have to admit that the fortune teller was right about one thing at least - “The universe works in mysterious ways.” As frustrating as this episode is Shirbert-wise, I stand by my ship and I hope they will both come to their senses soon enough. We wanted angst, didn’t we? We wanted pining and obstacles and a realistic development - well, there it is. Why are we frustrated about it? This stage is not final.

“That boy is not your fish.” No, but he is her lobster. Gosh, I’m full of references today. 

“Classmate and family friend.” Oh please. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I like Winifred better than Gilbert in this scene: “Do you spell it with or without an E?” I really wish Gilbert wasn’t in the picture right now because if it weren’t for his role in each of their lives, Anne and Winifred might just be friends. 

This was awkward. Really awkward. Gilbert didn’t hesitate for a second when he introduced Anne as his classmate, but now he’s stumbling over what label he should put on his relationship with Winifred. If I were to put it for him, it would be “friend”, maybe even “mentor”, but who knows what he or Anne are thinking during that long pause. 

The tension, the suspense... is this MasterChef? Last I checked it was not.

Ok, but Anne in this episode is so much like Book Anne, at least as far as I can remember. It’s been a while since I last read the books. Gilbert is as far removed from his book counterpart as can be, though, and I don’t like it. 

Most unusual? What is that supposed to mean? Also, I agree with Anne about entering herself, but maybe not with the connotations of “unusual” she’s thinking about now. She’s all kinds of wonderfully extraordinary, I mean. I hope she never forgets that.

Oh, look, she came to that realisation. I love that; and Marilla is such a mood on the balloon. But seriously, I'm delighted to  see Anne coming back to her old self. 

Is that Gilbert dancing between Anne and Winifred? Poetic cinema.

Ruby and Moody? I ship it! They are both absolute cinnamon rolls and deserve each other so much!

“Pretty face”? Is that all she is to you? Whoa, things took a turn for the darker pretty quickly. 

“I want your pretty face”... and I want you locked up. At the very least. He had no right to do that to her!

Ok, I know we’re in the middle of one of the darkest moments this series has shown us so far, but we need to talk about Ruby being oh so excited about Moody writing a song for her and the prospect of becoming Ruby Spurgeon. Wow, she moves fast! She deserves all the happiness in the world and I’m so happy she’s finally being noticed by someone... someone who is really right for her and will make her happy. #Rudy #Mooby #Spurgillis ?? Somebody please come up with a good ship name for them.

Now Anne is considering Charlie? “Sloane? Sounds like “moan”, “tone”... I guess Gilbert deserved that with today’s behaviour, though.

Miss Stacy asking Matthew to dance just to “drive Rachel mad”... I love it.

Could that be Diana and Jerry holding hands in plain sight in the dance? Could it be? Am I dreaming? Pinch me. Or better don’t. I never want this to end.

Good thing news travels fast so Anne could hear about Josie. Otherwise no one might have ever found out. Victims rarely ever tell and that’s a big mistake. 

I so wished Anne would punch Billy in the face Hermione-style, though. The vibes she was giving off suggested she might do it, and yet she didn’t. 

The next day at school, Anne is just... completely savage in the best way of saying it. “Need to catch a train to Charlottetown?” She has no time to waste worrying about Gilbert now, she has an important cause. I love it. Too bad nobody is listening to her, though. This is too much like reality. When the activist talks about the real issues and tries to find a solution, people just change the subject and talk about insignificant petty problems instead. And the worst part is that this isn’t just in that time and place - it happens today, it happens everywhere. People still haven’t learned not to cover their eyes when a real problem arises. This has to change.

To sum up today’s episode: the county fair pulls people back into their everyday work while also sparking the fire of youthful courtship among them; Gilbert is not Gilbert; Anne is Book Anne; Shirbert takes a giant step backwards; Jerry takes  a cautious little step forward, Diana leaps into the unknown with open arms; Matthew’s radish and Anne’s person are most unusual in the best way possible; the Andrews family has some achievements and some issues; Miss Stacy is a feminist icon; Ruby and Moody are very much a thing; Anne is now an ignored activist.

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Mason I I Is Rising the Risk of Danger in the Virus during the American the Ones Who Are Sick Not to Change Any of Their Behaviors I Think You Have To Do A Lot Anyways. If you look at what i’ve been known as malone simonson adopted a sneaky deal feel eyelash you can do thisand thatand I was without even having it rescued says that the days i’ve been gone without without having that type of stigma only is been great all that know all that does get a monument but you slap so many people thatand people know they don’t they don’t they know not to test you smacking today know that you believe in evolution yes I do people should changeand evolve as I do solemnly he’s light skinned all is as an entityand me you note some behaviors just one chase the money away to maintainand you just will be a stupid will begin old looking dumband I need to be like like how long can you be ignorant united is that all looks like crazy so we get mean even that’s not even energy level at all you not in the way we try to get into different things really are producing realityand making moves in angle on again me all the above vibes exactly what it is okay that’s exactly what it is motivation you know minimus in specially right now the time that we are right now I feel like we all need sometime inspiration motivation because we all face of adversity right we all want a level lot we all feel like we never will want to be in us about how do we get get to those places because life the shots at us every single day you know people fighting cast of people more than you know you know we just going through the whole situation when nancy is just is just is just really is is really bad so was about you know how to we how do we deal with the things that we face with him never give upand believing in yourself even when people don’t believe in you only argument you bought a new significant also benefit different in anything different from youand makes you question your all mortality so like that happen though brother like him listen to gavin amy about that anytime boy thing about done every day or a bad thing about done every day for a long time for years because I was so many people passand always always fantasize with the thought of what a man woke up that morningand he got in the shower with a sneaky zone in his new outfit only went out got on his phone calls people like billy noted this will be his last day you know I always think about that so every time I get upand it’s like we are to step outsideand we gotta go to the cluband we got get on a planeand going to a different city or different country sunk a happyand that’s just the reality the reality of that but that but the problem with with his situation in eagle for me is that we make ourselves accessible to the hood because we want we want to show the hood you know how much do we care we want we want to be there for community in the slightest topsy turvy because it’s like we want to love our because we thus will we come from but we want to keep it that real to the point where we so accessible to the danger the danger for us is just is this is it can happen or no in this is just is just scary man in england on the level that you what a guy there will always know where the walls at you differently now of course of course because it ended today this every time I see some new I will back to bob bentley about call whatever went back to the because we come from we come from element where we want to show the light look i’m still essay writer I watch I want is spy er want to pull up in a little pull up on a blog would jump out I want you to see this phantom award show to see these cause I want to see these juryand will pull up to show you that we could get it but is is much as the levels is always element that that this some people feel like you shouldn’t have which you have or should be a shot you or should be you know it should be them rightand we get we can’t trick ourselves believe that is that much love making as they want say because it is a key when these will kill youand meets a celeb on the nickel put more emphasisand more energy into killing you that he would fix his own situation programs that obsess over is pain in the lower right so everybody get was painting the sop moses dealing with the old turmoiland got the credit rightand a beautiful baby mamasand all that being gotten going on but instead of fixing that killing you will be on a topless that that be the thing to do the number one thing on ellisand is just is just is just that now you’re right about the p were people especially all dealing with trauma we can be described in his pain of the know what was going on us back this effect is effectiveness with indu out specially feel like the title they are entitled to a job one sided to be around your title to you looking out so you always thought they had things like in enough or he’ll let you not meand just recently me personally I started feeling two years ago started felt like I wasn’t doing enough him unable so so what I started doing was after christmas you know just for no reason I think that were macy’sand we started you I was getting 60 000 were for brand new coatsand I was coming to my direct neighborhood given amount for becoming physically stem obsess so when you do that you start that when you see stuff like to have you start the stateand my put myself in in harm’s way if bob by making myself physically available because the probability of some happening is higher if you in the area right so you don’t want to say focused on what dennis light do you blame some rapids for getting out the hoodand never coming backand what if you get backand don’t go back is that enough is enough there was never enough is never not because people want to be pleaseand the only anywayand then asked to think about how even 911 have a talk about it with the girlsand maggie about how she was in a situation where she got sanchez shasta is very dramatic that her right she shot a shot at the at the overblown you know we memo with minimal that was that was that was crazy how to got a job deal with that about her she was mad it would sound like devastated which you about of course you know is at the time he wasand is as close you understand so I was I showed you come here she got hit like I literally call was like what you know she was like a really much of the year we buy the disconsolate urban plaza you know pull up do you know in for that to happen I really felt bad because I was like she was on my watch she wasn’t with nobody that it was like I ran it so hard she was with the phraseand that was that right so when I happen I had to stay down with a light go to hospitals I was like helping to give needles I was you know going to the appointments help in aware therapy because she had to learn how to light ghetto walking togetherand it was it was it was to that side a meal got closer all more or less on a human level light so I was just like a light this is real you noble was she seen that I wasn’t adding fall back from it because I could easily article you good i’m want a mobile you get back on its my whole shit you know me but I stay down because I felt it was the right thing to do certain step beyond your controller she couldn’t put too much going on right but I put probably more blame on myself to you know them satellite you normally do to watch my friend I right in front of me beforeand in bidding cause my friends being hit his stuff like that so I was right dissing her lifestyle going on i’m used to that to a certain degree you know by default but this ain’t really for her you know itand I always thought likeand what if I was happy to do was only a leg shot like it could’ve been some words you know so it turned out for the bestand off i’m grateful for what you know you read that the fact that a public like given the current made so many from the street filthy rich within is also decreased kind environment led by the government yeah yeah because you know you is a lot of posturing from them from people that don’t they didn’t really live it you know them satellite art always talk about how dudes wait in city become audits away to become successful them want to become criminals out lots of dues I we talk about slap inand all if I ever look like a savage if I evident did anything that was savagely it was that was my response to how was brought up that was that I was the product of whatever my mom was an s what I knew so far ever but that’s just one chapter in my book may be in the street naked is just one chapter think the whole book more so i’ll let be in a street naked defy me that’s not why is while walking mom what the first thing to say is you eat you may know the streetand not as just one point in the in a long process of of a long life book you understand so you know what what would a lot of duels though if they find you know get into the game to the dick act out somebody gets the fantasy that they never was that active private you know right dues that’s really industry is active is because by default they have to be you know in the neds what it is or lags in say what you was that it would have attended in the tendon elementsand maggie yet that is about you always wanted somebody love summarily will marry marital because I have to say i’m happy toand all that happy to see you in a u does abby say that a muslim would be afraid I will email you areand what is right france 11 in a anyway I like amenable to mail it in a committed relationship you always did when you find the right person today that like you done with you that you always do to be in a relationship to my study that right so you know but everything I have organic on his own son right so she was to get married how do you feel now is not that that’s not really a conversation in my house we are what we already live like we met like I feel like people give my football reasons you know I went to my friend stan about moving in my wifeand my pessimist to get married now refers either the simulatorand the cost is that if you feel like you are writing over the limit like thatand less incentive to me like to get married after that if you already live in document is just that it just be icing on the on the cake that’s just the legal processand that just make everything more legal but i’m to say yes already be feeling that love you should be love firms should be harmony first before he is his marriage inand because listen if if it do if you do snow honestly believe on his mouth a lot is not reasonable to change the lawsand right like people get marriedand they think like you you marriedand you should not like that but always acted like a person right person so i’m agree i’m agreeing with my skin over here rightand is a test drive the way they The People That Live Together before They Get Married Violated the Voice Just Because They All Because They Say They Feel like You Can Just Leave Anytime Because You’ve Always Lived like Thatand so When You Get Married He Still Felt like Logging like I Could about What I Feel like You Should Already Feel Married before You Get Married When He Decided 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Time travel rescue pt.2; 11th Doctor x teen reader ft. Queen

*Author’s note*

Okay ya’ll so I hope you enjoyed the first part, now we get to pt.2 where Freddie and Roger take up majority of this chapter, so you get to see the craziness that I hoped I managed to get in based off of stories of their friendship and videos of them together so I hope I did this wonderful soulmate shipping justice. However fair warning that P**l Pr**ter makes his appearance so prepare your stomachs.

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

@platawnic

@bensrhapsody

@queendeakyy

@kairosfreddie​

@geek-and-proud​

____________________________________________________

The next morning I woke up and found myself in a hotel room of sorts.  At first I didn’t know what happened, it was all such a rush last night I—I had this dream that I had gone back to 1975 and actually met my favorite band, and that Roger actually allowed me to sleep in his room.

“Morning (y/n).” I heard that familiar soft voice call out from the kitchen.  Oh god it wasn’t a dream. I am actually in 1975 and I really did—or well currently meeting the band and Roger did give me his room for the night.  I looked up and said.

“Morning Roger.”

“How’d you sleep last night? The clothes work okay for you?” he asked.

“Yeah they—they worked out fine.”

“You hungry? I’m making eggs and cutting up some bread and bacon, I hope that’s alright.”

“That’s fine. I’m—actually quite hungry.”

“Well come on over to the kitchen and I’ll put an extra plate.” I got out of the bed and followed him to the kitchen.  I sat down at the kitchen island bar and he said again, “I don’t know how you like your eggs, so I made them scrambled which is what I prefer. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Well then you’re lucky that scrambled eggs is my favorite. Besides sunny side up makes me yack.”

“I know right, why do people claim that’s the best way to make eggs?” he exclaimed.  Wow so Roger Taylor and I have the same view on how eggs should be prepared, that’s amazing.  He handed me my plate and he asked. “Shall I prepare a cuppa?”

“I wouldn’t mind a cuppa.”

“Coming right up.” He then prepared me my drink while he had some coffee.  As the two of us sat down around the island and ate he asked me. “How are the wounds?”

“Doesn’t hurt as much as it did last night. You and your friends really know how to be doctors.”

“Well even though Brian and I would’ve been different doctors, I don’t think we did too bad. But I will need to change out the bandages and put some more antiseptic cream on it. Just to be on the safe side.”

“Whatever you think is best Roger.”

After breakfast, he put away the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen and that’s when he grabbed the first aid kit under the sink and guided me over to the couch.

“Alright, let’s see how this looks.” He then took a pair of scissors and slightly snipped an area of the bandage before slowly unwrapping it allowing my arm to breathe.  Once the bandages were off, I could see the gnarly scars that I now bore on my arm. Long and thin but thankfully not so deep that I need stitches. “Well it seems to be closing up quite nicely. With how bad they were yesterday, I was beginning to think they wouldn’t. At least not in this speed.”

“Guess I just got enhanced healing powers or something.” I joked. He smiled and rubbed some more cream on my scars before taking another roll of bandages and wrapping it around my arm.  Just as he was about to finish, the door suddenly opened and there stood Freddie all dolled up and ready to head out.

“Let’s go my darlings it’s shopping time!”

“In a second Fred, I’m still wrapping up her arm.” Roger told him as he went back to wrapping my forearm delicately. Freddie came over and sat on the other side of me and he asked me.

“Did you sleep okay dear?”

“Yeah, like a baby actually.”

“Good. That’s just what you needed after what happened to you. But are you sure you don’t want to make a police report about this?” he said as he stroked his fingers through my hair.  Aww Freddie god bless you, why were you taken away from us so soon? We really could’ve used you in today’s society.

“I’m sure Fred. Besides I doubt they’d believe me. I didn’t even see their faces. They wore black masks over their faces so I couldn’t even see their faces.”

“Alright darling. Well once blondie’s done here, I know just the thing to help boost your spirits up. A nice, well deserved shopping day.”

“There, I’m done.”

“Marvelous my darlings, let’s go!” Freddie stood up gracefully and raised his hands over his head and clapped them once.

“Hold on you rotter, we still need to get dressed. I’d rather not go out in my pajamas in the bloody cold.” Roger guided me towards the bedroom once more and I said to him.

“Uhh Rog. What am I gonna wear?”

“Just relax love, I’m sure I got something.” He went through his closet and pulled out a pair of denim jeans as well as a queen hoodie that looked like he had taken from Deacy.  He also took out a fur coat and said. “Will this do?”

“Yeah. Again I really appreciate you sharing your clothes with me.”

“Like I said last night, it’s no trouble. When Queen was first starting off, we barely had enough money to buy new clothes so we pretty much shared clothes with each other. I think we each had a chance at wearing one shirt for different photoshoots on separate occasions.”

“Wow I—I never knew that.” Liar. Of course I knew that, I’ve seen the pictures of the guys wearing the same shirts on tumblr that someone posted.  Once again I got changed in the loo and once I got out, Roger went inside and proceeded to do his health and beauty stuff.

While he brushed his teeth and brushing through his long blonde hair, I couldn’t help but stare at him.  Now I’ll admit, I did fall for the handsome 1970’s Roger Taylor (in fact 70’s and 80’s Roger I had a crush on) but then my crush slowly faded away and turned to something else, it’s like I—kinda pictured a sorta brother-sister relationship.

“Could you take any longer getting ready Rog? I swear you take longer than me!” Freddie complained as he leaned up against the bedroom door.

“It’s called a miracle Fred. And envy is an ugly thing on you.” Roger teased to which Freddie flipped him the bird.  God they really were soulmates, I can’t imagine just how hurt Roger was finding out Fred died when he was just about to see him in a matter of minutes.

“Are we ready to go yet?” Freddie whined as Roger fluffed his hair out and shook his wild mess of hair like a lion shaking his mane and said.

“Alright you impatient bugger. Let’s go (y/n).” I was then put in between them and we left Roger’s room.

As we drove through downtown London, we soon came across a shop that closed down before my time but it was starting grounds for both Roger and Freddie, Kensington Market.

“Hope you don’t mind coming here love. We would take you to Biba but that’s all the way on East London and we’re scheduled for a rehearsal by noon.” Roger said.

“I don’t mind. I’ve—heard some good things about this place.”

“You know Rog and I once had a stall in this joint together before I officially joined the band.”

“Really? What did you guys sell?”

“Oh any old clothes that we could find. Though I’ll never forget that jacket you and Brian tried to sell. That was my favorite jacket.”

“Well then you shouldn’t have had it on the rack then, should you?” Roger mocked as he shut the engine off after finding a parking space. “Plus it’ll be cheap and not as crowded as the stores are right now. Last minute Christmas shoppers and all.”

“Agreed.” We all got out and quickly walked inside the market.  And inside I saw anything and everything.  From antiques, to bridal wear, clothes, furniture, everything small and large you could imagine. “Whoa.”

“I know it’s a little intimidating at first but no worries lovie, you’ll get used to it.” Roger said as he wrapped an arm around me.

“Alright my darlings, let’s head down memory lane. To the clothing stall!” Freddie then dragged us down the store almost towards the end of the building where a clothing stall was all set up.  Behind the counter there was a young black woman with an afro, she wore a Christmas sweater and jeans and was sucking on a lollipop.  “Well I’ll be damned. Billie. Billie Tyler?” she looked up and grinned.

“Oh shit no. Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor! Never did I think I’d see you two bastards here again.” She grinned.

“So you’re working our stall now?” Roger asked.

“Yeah. Ever since you two boys got all rich and famous, I went ahead and took over the stall.”

“Well hate to burst your bubble but we’re still not rich and famous.” Said Roger.

“What? After all the big success you guys did at the Rainbow last year?”

“That’s the thing. We don’t get paid on our tours. In fact just recently we left our first company because they screwed up our payments. Our manager didn’t even want to give any money so that Deacy could marry Veronica.”

“What?! Those stuck up bastards! I hope Deacy got the wedding he deserved though.”

“It was a small court ceremony but it was still sweet. Although had we had the money, I would’ve planned the perfect wedding for them.” Said Freddie.

“Oh please Fred, you’d invite half of London along with all crazy people you invite to the after parties.” Said Roger.

“So who’s this? Little groupie?” she asked gesturing towards me.

“No. This is (y/n).” Roger said introducing me. “(Y/n), this is Billie Tyler. When Fred and I worked here, she worked at the boutique just across from us. We’d hang out and have lunch on our breaks, she was basically our first fan.”

“Nice to meet you Billie.” I said reaching out a hand to her.  She shook my hand immediately and she said.

“Nice to meet you too (y/n). How’d you come across these two lugs?”

“Poor dear got jumped last night, thankfully Rog was around to help her out.” Said Fred as he placed a hand to my shoulder.

“Oh my god—are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just a really bad scratch along my forearm but nothing too bad.”

“Well I would’ve honestly preferred to run into Bri had I been jumped but I’m glad you had Roger to help you out.” Roger looked at her crossly and she playfully stuck her tongue out at him. “So what brings you three here to Kensington market?”

“Well darling, we were hoping to get (y/n) some clothes. She—kinda came with just one set of clothes and has been sharing Roger’s style since last night. So we’re hoping you might have something that just screams her.”

“I think I might have some stuff. Come with me (y/n) and we can get you out of those boy clothes and into some stylish clothes I have.” She took my uninjured arm and pulled me into the stall and took me towards the changing room she had installed in the back room.

It was then I was given the full 1970’s fashion show.  Both Billie and Freddie practically took me and started treating me like a doll, forcing me to try on clothes, hats, coats, bell bottom jeans, the whole nine yards.

“And I’m telling you it’s flea-bitten Fred. I wouldn’t even dream of someone wearing that!” exclaimed Billie dramatically.

“Oh don’t be so dramatic darling, I think (y/n) would look cute in this.” He said holding up a ragged old fur coat that looked like it hadn’t seen the light of day in years.

“You guys do realize she’s a person. Not a doll, let her speak for herself once in a while.” Roger said.  He turned towards me and mouthed out, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I waved it off.

“Alright then, why don’t we ask (y/n) what she’d like?”

“Yes let’s. (Y/n) darling please tell Billie and that devil mind of hers that you’d want this coat over the decade’s old 60’s coat. This just screams you.”

“Ah, ah, ah! No antagonizing the fashion star here Mercury.” Billie warned him.

“Actually guys, something did catch my eye earlier.” I then hopped off the podium and went over to a large brown jacket that had fur ends on both the sleeves and along where the front part meets with the zipper.  

It had an elegant pattern on it, kinda reminded me of old Norwegian drawings that I once saw back in 1031 when the Doctor and I were helping out against the threat the invading reindeer people (I forgot their real names, plus it was in Norwegian tongue so I just called them the reindeer people).

But anyways, I looked cute and it wouldn’t make me stand out as much.  I picked out a cute sweater, a scarf that almost kinda resembled what the Doctor could’ve worn, and one of the many pairs of bellbottom jeans I was given.

“How’s this?”

“Oh my darling, it’s like looking at a Renaissance painting. You are—phenomenal.” Freddie praised.

“But something’s missing.” Billie said.  She then went over to the hats and picked out dark grey flat cap.  She handed me the hat and I placed it on top of my head. “There. Now you’re an aesthetic.”

And that was that.  I got a few sweaters, a couple of turtlenecks, bell bottomed jeans, some boots similar to what Deacy always wore throughout the 1970’s, and any brown furred or faux fur coat that Billie had.  When everything was rung up, Roger asked.

“Okay how much do we owe you Billie?”

“For you guys it’s on the house.”

“Oh no, no, no darling we’ve got some money to spend now since we left the bastard at Trident and switched to EMI. Now how much?”

“I’m feeling generous today. Plus I hadn’t done a fashion show like that in years. Most customers just demand my stuff and that’s it. So this time it’s on me. But if you want a payment, come by next week after the New Year.” Freddie and Roger looked to each other and that’s when Freddie said.

“Throw in you coming to my New Year’s Eve party and you’ve got a deal darling.”

“It’s a deal Freddie.” They leaned in and kissed each other’s cheeks sealing the deal. “Good luck with the concert guys, I’ll be watching it from home. And it was nice meeting you (y/n).”

“Nice meeting you too Billie, and thank you for the clothes.”

“No problem. Cheers guys. And Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas Billie!” Rog and Fred proclaimed as we walked out of Kensington market.

After that, we headed down to the nearest grocery store for the simple items that I needed like toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, socks, gloves, and Roger passed by some sunglasses and he had me try them on to which I said I looked ridiculous but to him, he thought I looked cute (which I won’t deny made me blush a little).

Once all the shopping was done, we headed back to the hotel and Roger helped me unpack my stuff.  As he was helping me put some of my clothes into his closet he asked me.

“Now (y/n), about that friend of yours. What exactly does he look like?” At that point I thanked god that the Doctor at least appeared human, because if he looked like anything else how do you explain that to your hero?

“Well, he’s got short brown hair, he’s pretty tall and lean. Kinda like Brian but not exactly the same height. Oh and he wears a bowtie.”

“What? Seriously?”

“Yeah he says they’re cool. But hopefully that helps. Oh and he basically wears a suit. All the time.”

“Okay what is he a doctor or something?”

“Something like that.”

“Do you recall where you think he might’ve ran off to?”

“That I—I don’t know. I guess I must’ve been knocked just before he ran. God I—I hope I can find him.”

“Hey, we will. I’ll turn all of London upside down if I have too to help you.” Roger said assuringly as he placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.  I looked up at him and softly smiled.

“Thank you Roger. I—literally don’t know what I would’ve done had I not ran into you.”

“Think nothing of it love. I’m glad we met last night.” He playfully ruffled my hair making me exclaim while he grinned and softly laughed.  It was then there was a knock at the door.

“Roger! Roger open the door now!” Oh no it couldn’t be. But as I saw Roger roll his eyes and make a disgusted face as he hauled himself towards the door.  I peeked over from the bedroom to see him open the door to reveal the man I feared I would come in contact with.

Paul Prenter.

“What do you want Prenter?”

“You were supposed to be at the Odeon theater 2 hours ago! Where the bloody hell have you been?!” God just hearing his Irish accent made me feel so dirty.  The bastard who became a bad influence on Freddie, and the greedy snake who would go on to sell off Freddie’s AIDS story for like 30,000 pounds was now standing right before my eyes.

“Unlike you Prenter, I know how to have fun.”

“Well your fun has costed the band two hours of rehearsal. Reid is livid right now!” It was then he somehow saw me and that’s when he barged in and said. “Is this the reason you’ve delayed the rehearsal? For some teenage hussy!?”

“Excuse me!?”

“You have no right to be in here. In fact I can have you arrested and charged with stalking.” Paul threatened.  That’s when Roger stepped in between him and I.

“You even think about that and I’ll have you thrown out the bloody window faster than you can blink!” he snarled protectively.

“You’ve been saying that for years Roger and yet you’ve never done it. You don’t got the nerve.” Bragged Paul.

“Do I?” it was then I watched as Roger dragged Paul towards the back door of the small balcony and forcefully pinned Paul’s head to the stone railings. “Wanna rethink that statement?”

“Okay! Okay! Okay just let me go!” Paul wept.

“Then get the hell out of my room and don’t even dare think about calling the police. Or else there’ll be a new decoration all along the pavement of the Marriot.” He picked Paul back up and forced him out of the room before slamming the door and locked it tight.

Holy shit! I wish that was shown in the movie. Damn Roger Taylor is a lion.

“I am so sorry about him. Paul can be a right up arsehole. I’ve been trying to convince Fred to fire him but somehow he still keeps him around.”

“It’s okay Rog. I’ve—been called worse than hussy.” It’s true.  When you’re involved with a gang, you are called way worse things, especially if you’re a girl.  I’ve been called the B word mostly, the P word and even the C word, all before I was 15.

“Who has called you that? What did they say?”

“Just some school punks back in primary school. You know how little boys are.”

“Even so, my mum taught me to never be rude to girls. Men who do such things like that aren’t even worth living. Nor should they even deserve to call themselves men.” As Roger said that, I noticed this harsh, distant look in his eyes.

Was he—I mean I remember reading a story of how he was a victim of domestic abuse.  There’ve been some theories that it was probably his dad since he was never really spoke much by Roger.  So—could that really be true?

“Rog? You—okay?” I said after he didn’t speak for what felt like 2 minutes.  He snapped out of his daze and said.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine. Well come on let’s head out and see if we can’t find that friend of yours.”

“Actually. Since I already got you and Fred into more trouble than I’d like, you should go to the rehearsals. I can search for him on my own.”

“Are you sure? I—wouldn’t want you to get hurt again. I have no problem coming with you.”

“Really Rog. It’ll be daylight, more witnesses so I doubt anyone’s gonna jump me. Besides I’ll bet Deacy and Brian are probably pissed at you and Fred for skipping out. Go, rehearse. I’ll meet you guys at around lunch time? Maybe even see you rehearse the concert?”

“I’d like that. And I’m sure Fred would too. If anything happens, here’s the number for the theater as well as my roadie/assistant Crystal.” He took a piece of paper from a notepad and quickly put down a couple of numbers before handing it over to me.

“Thank you.” I said as I took the notepad paper.

“Stay safe love.” And my heart literally stopped when I actually felt Roger kiss my cheek before grabbing his drumsticks and headed out the door.

Oh my god, I can’t believe I just got a kiss on the cheek from my idol.  I’ll admit internally I’m screaming my head off and melting right on the spot.  I placed my hand over the cheek he kissed and I just felt this warm, gooey feeling inside.

“Oh nana would not believe this.” I then got myself ready and headed on out of the hotel and proceeded to walk around the London streets.

As I saw Christmas decorations and lights on almost every corner, I kept muttering to myself.

“Oh Doctor where are you?” I listened carefully for any wheezing and groaning sounds, an eye for a blue police box, or a tall, lean man wearing a purple suit and bowtie.  But after about 2 hours walking along the streets I saw no one, not even the usual suspicious character that usually follows you once you break the time stream.

I sighed heavily and decided to just head over to the Hammersmith Odeon, because I swear if I stay out here any longer, I’m gonna freeze my organs off.  So I headed eastward towards the theater to meet with Roger and the rest of Queen and finally see my favorite band perform right before my eyes.