#i was so excited to get my grad shit done today and relax that sure as fuck didn't happen
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HASO, “Perfect Timing.”
Alright everyone. I am beginning to realize that maybe expecting myself to write a story every week day with a job and trying to get into grad school and writing a second novel might be a bit..... excessive?
So I am going to try for three times a week. I hope you all stick around :)
And I hope you enjoy today’s story as well.
Adam stood with his hands behind his back, feet spread to shoulder width. He would never have noticed by himself, but the men and women around him stood a little straighter and stepped a little faster under his watchful eye. Once upon a time they might have only hastened their work if he directly asked them too, but just his mere presence these days could send his crew scurrying to do their work. He hadn’t really changed anything about the way he commanded his men. He was firm when he needed to be but allowed for brevity when it would suit the situation.
However, a few years and some tough lessons was slowly shaping him into the kind of man who could command thousands, sharp posture, calm confidence, and a keen eye.
But then again anyone who could appear professional while wearing high top heelies was a man to be reckoned with.
Sunny walked up next to him her pearlescent white armor glowing under the light as she leaned on the shade of her matching spear. Her head was held high like his. Where once she had been locked up, and defensive, she now stood with the calm confidence of someone who understood what control meant.
Together they had come a long way.
She tilted her head, “You really think he’s going to let you race this…. It’s a million dollar piece of military hardware, they don’t stand a chance.”
Adam didn’t move, hands still clasped behind his back as he stared up at the F-90 Darkfire he was preparing for the race, “I wouldn’t be so sure…. I’ll be lucky to come in last place.”
Sunny frowned confused, “I saw those shuttles, they were junk shows.”
He lifted his head as the F-90 was rolled across the deck.
“This is a race, it isn’t combat. She was built for dogfights which means she is going to be heavier than the others. Wing tip to wing tip she is also going to be a little longer than the other shuttles and jets making maneuvering around obstacles more difficult. Sure she likely has a more powerful engine, but that can be as much of a detriment as it is a leg up.” He gestured in the vague direction of the race course, “We are going to be racing through the planet’s smaller rocky ring. It has an unusual amount of larger, thick chunks which we are going to have to manuver around: the kind of conditions you might see in science fiction movies when they talk about an asteroid field. Asteroid fields are generally too far apart to cause any real issue, but here the rocks are dense, and my flying is going to have to be on pont, having a more powerful engine is going to make her more touchy, and my fitness on the controls is going to have to be absolute.”
Sunny tilted her head listening as he continued. She liked it when this side of him came out. There was something about the analytical, logical side of Adam she found….. Very appealing.
He walked forward to examine the jet himself, “Furthermore, I don’t know if you noticed, but there were a few jets there that weren’t exactly junk shows. A few of them were pretty top of the line, and most of them were built for racing. Lighter, sleeker, faster, and with more engine control than mine.
A lot of my maneuverability is lost out of the atmosphere. This isn’t about how well you can manipulate wind currents, this is going to be all about the very minute rotation of the rear and and wing engines. Their wings are smaller and closer in meaning they are going to rotate more easily than me.
She walked up with him and put a hand on his shoulder, “You forgot to fact in one thing.”
He frowned and looked up, “Oh, what did I miss.”
She smiled slightly, “The skill of the pilot, and I know for a fact that we have the best pilot this side of Andromeda. You can have the best plane in the world, but if you have a shit pilot, then a good pilot in a flying trash can has a chance of winning.”
He Smiled, “Thanks, I needed that.”
He stepped back, “Still it doesn't pay to be too cocky. I have a feeling these people have raced this before, they are going to know what they are dealing with, and I am going tinto this completely blind. This is a test to see if my instincts are better than their practice…. Who knows it could be a very close run thing.”
He moved forward to do an extra check on the outside of the ship despite having a whole team of people to do it for him. Adam had learned to delegate a lot of his responsibilities onto others to avoid burnout, but this was one thing he never left to other people. He came back after a thorough check of the ship and stopped next to her.
His head was tilted to one side as he looked at the machine sitting before him.
“It is missing something.”
Sunny turned her head to look at him, “What?”
He smiled, “Do we have anyone here who has experience with graffiti?”
***
Donavan Red met him when he entered the hanger, wearing his flight suit and holding his helmet under one arm. He had gone for some of his more simple equipment. Didn’t want to give the guy an excuse to blame his skill on technology.
Red looked him over.
“Nice suit, princess.”
Adam just smiled thinly looking around at the other pilots, “I see I might be under-dressed.”
To be far though, he wasn’t exactly sure what he would have described the dress code, if he had to put it on an invitation.
The most apt description seemed to have been.
Dress for Pissing contest.
The men and women wore their uniforms in the same way NASCAR drivers might, covered in logos and patterns. Some of them were clearly custom ordered with personal designs on the backs or the helmets, some sporting flames, others cartoon animals, one guy was just covered in black and white skulls.
The affect up close was ok, but from a distance he just looked like an over excited dalmatian, or maybe some kind of flamboyant cow.
A few of them went for color themes, neon red on black. Neon green on blue.
Most of them tried to coordinate with the matching colors on their ship, each trying to outdo the next.
Red smirked.
The docking bay light began to blink red as the airlock was engaged, and the all turned to watch as the doors opened, and Adam’s jet rolled into the docking bay. She was simultaneously both very impressive and very not impressive. She was an instrument of war, and he rockets lined up on either side of her wings said as much. Adam had once considered her rather sleek in comparison to other jets of the day, but looking at her now in comparison with the racing planes and he couldn’t help but compare her to a pitbull or a bulldog next to greyhounds or whippets.
She rolled up slowly and Red raised an eyebrow.
“A whose guy huh?”
Adam smirked, “I don’t know, I kind of like it.”
They both looked up as the F-90 stopped in place, and along her side in delicate blue cursive script was the name Cinderella. The man who had done the graffiti had even taken the time to add some stylized pink roses to the front and end of the word giving it a finished look.
Donavan seemed both amused and annoyed at the same time.
The men and women around him turned to look over ridicule dying on their lips as they saw the smirk on his face.
It was made pretty clear.
He was going to beat them, and when he beat them, he was going to have a princess logo on the side of his jet, never mind all of their cool paint jobs.
Donavan frowned but then turned to everyone, “Alright load up!.”
Adam did as ordered, switching seats with the young pilot in the cockpit and strapping himself in. he adjusted his controls, did a quick once over, and then pulled some power from his engine. There was going to be an overwhelming desire to go fast, but he knew that speed wasn’t going to win him this race.
The jets began lining up next to each other, and to his surprise, one of the sleek racing models sidled up next to him, and when he looked over, he saw Donovan Red cambering into the cockpit.
That didn’t exactly bode well, but what was there to do about it.
He felt cool oxygen spilling onto his mouth and nose as the orange tinted visor dropped down over his eyes. He opted not to use the heads up display preferring to see everything around him as he was flying.
They were all in a line now, and up ahead a large projection appeared on the docking bay doors.
Red lights began to blink as the docking bay was cleared of everyone except for the jets.
The image of a woman appeared on the screen before them.
It was one of the women he had seen before in her cut off jean shorts and tight tank top.
“Ladies and gentlemen start - your - ENGINES!”
All around him the room was filled with a roar as the group of people pushed their engines to an idle.
He could feel the jet underneath him as it thrummed and whined vibrating into his gloves and down into his skin.
His very bones could feel the trembling.
“The course is simple, one lap around the rocky interior ring of the planet. Rules are only this, no leaving the ring, no weapons, and no teams, every man for himself. If the race moderators see any of this, you will be thrown from the race.”
She smiled and leaned back to reveal two green flags in either hand.
She began to wave them.
“On your mark!”
He took a deep calming breath forcing his hand to relax.
“Get set.”
He felt his heart beating hard against his ribcage, his stomach crawled up into his throat, and he felt the sudden and overwhelming need to pee.
“GO!”
THe airlock doors shot open faster than they should have been able, a clear sign someone had bypassed safety protocols. Caught off guard by this, Adam shot out of the gate slower than he would have liked. Already the racing jets streaked ahead, their quicker sleeker designs looking right at home against the blackness of space.
He had to remind himself that in space, without wind resistance, sleek didn’t mean shit.
If he was good enough he could have piloted a brick to win.
He gave more joice to the engine and shot forward. He cut under one of his other opponents and then cythed up next to a second.
He was there for only a moment when he saw something coming in from his right.
Instincts had him move fast, and he turned horizontal shooting upwards just as another jet tried to push him out. He was flying over the two of them now, and gave another burst shooting forward and past them.
This open stretch was the only time he was going to be able to use the power of his engine to his advantage, so he gave her a little more juice and shot forward catching up quickly with the racing models at the front. Two of them cut sideways attempting to block his path. He cursed, forced to fire his engines backwards so as not to go crashing into them.
The ring was approaching quickly now, and he could see very clearly that they had not been kidding. The belt was dense, less mate out of fine sand, and instead made up of billions of rocks some the size of him, others the size of cars, and even some the size of large houses. It was the strangest sort of formation he had ever seen around a planet, and he wondered idly how they stayed in orbit.
The two jets ahead of him cut right and then left as a rock came barreling towards him.
He shouted and rolled to the side barely avoiding a head on collision, his instincts saving him where his active brain could not.
He snarled.
“Pull it together.”
There was no time to be thinking, there was only time for flying.
WIth a practiced hand he toggled a switch on the side of his thumb, and his helmet was suddenly filled with the sound of music and drums. His brain focused inward and stopped thinking. He shot over and then under rolling between rocks just inches away on either side. Off to his right the planet below was glowing with the light of it’s star, a lightning blue halo around it where the atmosphere glowed.
He cut the left dove down and then rolled up.
He could see the other jets ahead of him cutting in and out through the rocks. His breathing grew even, his body relaxed, his brain heard nothing but the beat of the music and saw nothing but the obstacles ahead of him.
One of the jets pulled up next to him from behind recklessly rolling around one of the rocks. They were racing wing tip to wing tip now.
They cut right and left under and over he rolled left they rolled right. They were shaky just hanging on, but his flying was smooth.
Up ahead one of the other jets lit up with glowing orange as a set of flares broke from it’s back end shatting against the debris behind it. Rocks were thrown off their normal course and went smashing into each other turning the rock field ahead of them into a meat grinder. Adam shot forward and dived downward while rolling tight, behind him the racer was unable to replicate the move and a piece of rock caught their wing sending them spinning off to the side and out of the ring.
Adam dodged a piece of debris coming in from his left, flipped upside down and shot diving upward and then righting himself just under the jet up front.
He could see the leader now, and recognized it as Red himself .
The jet above him attempted to drop down and knock him out of position, but he gave a burst to the engine and shot forward.
The jet behind him punched downward and nearly collided into a rock before pulling back into the palace.
Adam took their place in second.
Red could see him coming.
Another set of flares was released.
He checked his forward momentum and rolled three or four times to his right. G forces tugged at his consciousness forcing blackness to the edge of his vision. He tightened the muscles of his chest and stomach forcing blood back up into his head as he breathed out in short controlled bursts.
A rock flew overhead, he cut low, bumped up and then executed a rolling turn over a massive rock pulling in behind red and just up to the right to avoid another burst of flares.
The two of them were fighting for the front now.
And red was good, he knew how to handle a jet, but so did Adam.
They roared past a field of rocks splitting apart as a massive chunk came between them. Adam roared forward, and panicked for a single moment as he saw an impenetrable wall of rock appear just before him. Then a crack appeared. He fired the forward engine and cut horizontal passing through an opening that left him only feet to spare. Rock rose up to meet him, and he rotated his engine up dropping vertically before cutting sideways and passing under a rock. Teeth gritted, he punched upward passing through a gap just as it closed behind him.
A yell of exertain escaped his lips as he pulled straight up cutting up the side of a massive mansion-sized rock before diving right back down into the thick of it.
Red was gone, he didn’t see him anymore.
Was he up front?
And then the sleek black jet dropped down from above cutting him off.
He cursed and swerved low past another rock forced to cut diagonal back into line.
He pulled up wing to wing with the men again.
They dove, they pulled up and they took a wide turn ac coordinated together as a military formation never more than four feet apart.
They were going faster than they probably should have reacted. second by second he rolled left Red went right. They both met in a dive rolling past each other, wings almost touching before cutting upwards mirroring each other in opposite directions. The sound of the music melded with the path of his flight.
They were racing side by side just as one of the other jets roared over them careening out of control in a desperate attempt t o reach front. They watched him dive pull up cut left, and then a rock rolled right into their path. The two of them barely had time to react as the rock hit their right wing and then sent them slamming into the next boulder. There was an eruption and a brief ball of fire as oxygen was consumed from inside the cockpit. Debris blossomed up around them in a miniature explosion.
Adam greeted his teeth, eyes wide .
What was once a race suddenly turned into a battlezone. He and Red dove together rolling around the debris desperately trying to avoid getting cut in two. At these speeds, one hit would be the death of them. His heart raced in his chest as he pulled forward cutting in the triangle made by three boulders side by side. Red mirrored him below.
A chunk of metal shot towards him, and he toggled his right wing burst just in time, lowering his left side just in time for the chunk to go flying past him. He pulled up with a gasp as a massive chunk of rock cut up before him. Red shot below and he rolled over the top coming into second place.
Up ahead a mining barge ascended through the line of rocks.
Adam roared with exertion as he pulled up and leveled out shooting right under the attached arm of the barge. Red lights erupted over it’s hull in a proximity warning as he went just inches overhead.
The barge driver, clearly spooked twisted to the side and the arm of the barge rolled with it, catching a boulder and sending it flying towards the grouping next to it, there was a sudden explosion of rock and again he was forced to roll to the side. Up down, over and under, cything between lines of rock.
He was almost hit once, then twice.
He toggled the forward engines, slowing himself down and then shooting straight up before continuing forward.
The rocks around him were rolling unpredictably colliding and then exploding into smaller pieces. There was no way he was making it through that alive.
He was rolling diving spinning twisting, and then, he felt it…. Something he had only felt on occasion. The world around him went silent, everything seemed to slow, and he was filled with…. With a feeling. It was like light, bursting out from his chest, rolling up through his skin and into his head.
He entered a moment of perfect execution. He cut into a tight roll his wings cything through the minute gaps between debris with timing so perfect it shouldn't have been humanly possible. Rocks passed by him at hundreds of miles an hour inches away from the glass of his canopy, one wrong move and he’d be dead. He cut through a gap that gave him inches on either side rolld right dove down, turned left, spun once and then twice, and made a completely vertical ascent. Rocks flew past him on his right and on his left.
Up ahead he could see a gap slowly closing before him. He opened up his engine and shot forward so fast everything was a blur.
The rocks collided behind him as they snapped shut, and he flew into the clear firing forward to slow himself, and then red was there too descending from above spinning and wobbling, almost out of control and careening directly towards a house sized boulder.
He panicked firing up and down at the same time and sending him into a spin.
He was heading directly towards the rock .
WIthout thinking Adam locked onto the rock, and fired. A rocket under his wing detached and shot forward exploding violently just in time for Red to pass through unharmed. Red jolted awkwardly and rolled to one side. Adam cut past under from right to left and rolled straight over red to avoid a rock.
There was a moment where the two of them were staring at each other through the clear canopy.
Eyes met for an instant, and Adam could see the wide eyed fear on the man’s face., Then Adam rolled ahead ducking under the last rock and then bursting out into space.
He let the F-90 have her moment, and completely opened the engine shooting forward and cutting through the finish line which flashed bright green. In that moment He was hit with such a sense of exhilaration and joy that he couldn't imagine anything better. Who needed drugs, who needed love, who needed any of that when you could fly.
Hed did a triumphant loop whooping the whole way.
Of course, a feeling like that can never last long and slowly began to fade away. THe reality of what he had just done was both terrifying and amazing to the point he felt his body begging to shake. The tension and fear he had been holding back exploded inside him just like that joy and he found his hands trembling on the joystick.
He let it overtake him. He had been like this since he was young and fighting it would only make things worse. Despite his shaking hands he flew back to the docking bay and landed his jet with the precision of a surgeon. Finally when the engine was off and the flood stable underneath him he slumped back in his seat shaking and racked with rolling tremors. He closed his eyes and breathed long and slow.
Behind him the others came limping in.
None of them were completely unscathed, at least one person was dead. His hands continued to shake as the airlock doors shut, and as soon as the room was pressurized, he opened the cockpit. As soon as it did, Sunny came running into the room and up the ladder. SHeleft her spear on the floor and helped him to climb out. His legs were shaking and he almost fell if it weren’t for her support.
She knew him too well, sitting him down on the lowest step and kneeling next to him.
“Are you ok?”
He grinned at her, “That was…. Holy shit.”
He held up his hand to watch the shaking, “I’m having an earthquake.”
It was just then that Red jumped out of his jet onto the floor. He staggered when he did but pushed away the men who tried to help, “What the ever loving FUCK just happened. The field had NEVER been like that. Jaz DIED out there, what the FUCK.”
The people milled around in confusion.
Red turned to him, eyes narrowing as he stalked over. Adam sighed and looked up as the man stopped to stand over him
“I’m sorry, I’ll get out of your hair.”
The man paused confused, “What?”
“I broke the rules. Means I forfeit.”
Red looked almost nonplussed, “What are you on about?”
Adam slowly took to his feet taking a few more deep wreaths to steady himself before drawing to his full height. He was stead now and looked down at Red with an unwavering gaze. He held out a hand, “I used weapons during the race, that was against the rules. These weren’t flares to move the rocks. I used a targeted missile during the race and that means I broke the rules.”
Red stared at him.
Then he snorted, “Damn the rules. You saved my ass.” he turned to look at his people, “I am more than man enough to acknowledge that.” HE turned back to Adam, “You saved my life you crazy bastard. I am not even sure how you are still alive ….. Because that flying…. That was….. Holy fuck.” He grinned and took Adam by the shoulder, “you shaking, man.” He held up his hand to show a tremor, “Me too, now let's go get some drinks and talk this out. I owe you after all.”
The two of them walked off through the forest of shaken pilots, “You are the kind of man I can see myself doing business with.”
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Wicked Game
Part 4 of We Dance Together Now
An O’Knutzy au where Leo and Logan are still playing for the Lions, but Finn is a musician/grad student they met by chance on a roadie to Montreal.
Here are the first few parts!
Part 1 - Jingle Bell Rock
Part 2 - This City
Part 3 - Shut Up and Drive
I also stuck this up on AO3, my username there is the same :)
I struggled a LOT with this chapter. I’m still not sure it’s done what I wanted it to do, but I hope it works. And I hope you like it :)
I’m suuuuuper excited for the next one, I’ve had it half-written since I started this fic!
These beautiful characters and their world belong to the incredible @lumosinlove
The songs referenced are My Shot, from Hamilton, and Wicked Game, which has several remixes that could work here, but I was listening to the Yola Recoba version, personally.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Leo
“Thanks for helping today, Tremz.” Leo leaned against the entry wall and watched Logan slip on his shoes.
“No problem,” Logan looked up at him, his eyes sparkling mischievously, “You needed someone big and strong to carry your boxes up the stairs. Who am I to leave a damsel in distress?” He stood and flexed his biceps.
Leo rolled his eyes and shoved Logan toward the door. He could hear Finn laughing behind him. “Get out.”
Logan looked over his shoulder and grinned. “Your wish is my command, princess.” Leo moved to shove him again, but Logan snatched up his bag and ducked out the door before he could reach him. “You love me!” he yelled as he jogged down the hall. Leo just shook his head at the older boy’s antics and turned the lock behind him before flopping down on the couch with a tired groan.
The three of them had just finished setting up his new room. In Finn’s apartment. Where he lived now. With Finn. He was still wrapping his head around it. It was crazy to think he didn’t have to pack up his stuff and move somewhere else again next week; that he had blankets that hadn’t been slept on by a hundred people before him. Finn was a godsend of a human being.
He was also a walking tornado of a human being, and Leo’s current state of exhaustion was a result of today being a shining example of both of those traits.
Since he’d been living in hotels all year Leo didn’t own any furniture of his own, which meant he had spent his Friday morning going from store to store buying what he needed. Finn had volunteered to drive, and Logan had tagged along too. The two of them had also very kindly volunteered to spend their afternoon helping him build everything. It was very, very nice of them, and Leo had been incredibly grateful for their company, and for their help… at least until they actually started putting things together. It had been funny at first, watching Logan and Finn jump headlong in to building things without taking the time to read the instructions. But the resultant failures had meant that Leo had to unbuild everything they touched, actually read the instructions, and then give them explicit directions on how to put it back together properly. Instead of the few hours Leo had expected to spend on it, the whole thing had taken them until the late evening, and now Leo was exhausted and ready to relax.
He heard Finn wander into the living room after him, and his smiling face appeared over the back of the couch above him. “What’s up, Marigold?”
Leo closed his eyes, trying not to roll them as he let out an exasperated chuckle. “Finn. That is STILL a terrible nickname.”
“It is not.”
“Yes it is. ‘What’s up marigold’ makes no sense. ‘What’s up buttercup’ works because it rhymes.” He opened his eyes back up to emphasize his point. “Marigold does not rhyme. At all.”
Finn just shrugged, pushing himself back up to walk around the couch. “You should have thought of that before you accepted it in the first place.”
“I didn’t accept it! I just gave up trying to argue with you two and- ugh. Never mind.”
“That’s what I thought.” Finn grinned. “Plus, I googled marigolds after that night because I didn’t actually know what they were, and the name suits you.”
“What?” Leo looked at him, curious. “Why?”
Finn’s expression faltered for a second as he lifted Leo’s feet to sit on the other end of the couch. He put them back down in his lap, making Leo’s heart skip a beat. When he spoke again, his voice was a little softer. “Your hair shines like them, in the sun. Golden.”
Leo had to work to keep his face neutral. That was… sweet. And unexpected. Finn was always doing things he didn’t expect.
Before he could think of a response, Finn’s cocky grin was back in place. “Also, calling you marigold makes you grumpy, which, like, never happens, so I’m never giving it up.”
Leo didn’t even try to hide it this time as he rolled his eyes affectionately, lifting his legs and giving Finn a gentle kick with his socked feet. “Whatever,” he laughed. “I’m going to shower. Have you seen that duffel bag Logan brought in? It has all my comfortable clothes.”
Finn just pointed wordlessly to entryway where he and Logan had dumped a few of Leo’s bags, abandoning unpacking them in favour of wreaking utter havoc trying to build his bedroom furniture.
Leo wandered over and grabbed the Lions duffel off the floor, pausing as he lifted it. He didn’t’ remember it being this empty… he unzipped it, suspicious, and sure enough, he found Logan’s training gear inside.
He groaned. “Damn it.”
Finn looked over to him. “What’s wrong?”
“Logan took my bag. This is his stuff.”
“Oh. Shit.” He looked from the bag up to Leo, and then popped up from the couch. “No worries, I have a solution!” he called, jogging toward his bedroom.
Leo, curious yet again, gently put Logan’s bag back down and started to follow. As he reached the corner, Finn popped back out of his room with a pile of clothes in his hands, almost crashing into him as he gave a little squeak.
“Ahh! Oh my god, why are you right there!? You scared the shit out of me. Learn to make noise when you walk.”
Leo chuckled at that, a memory of Logan saying that exact phrase to him the first night they watched Finn play running through his mind. “You and Logan are scarily similar sometimes, you know that?”
“What?” A confused look crossed Finn’s face.
Leo just smiled, and Finn shook his head.
“You know what, never mind. I don’t think I want to know. Here.” He passed Leo a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. “You can sleep in these tonight and we’ll get your stuff from Logan tomorrow. They’re both pretty big on me so I’m hoping they’ll fit you properly.”
Leo, taken aback by the gesture, accepted the pile with a surprised but grateful smile. “Oh. Thank you, Finn. You didn’t have to do that.”
Finn shrugged, his wide brown eyes twinkling. “I know where you live. I’ll get them back.”
---
But as Leo pulled the shirt on after his shower, he decided that Finn was not, in fact, getting it back. It was soft. And it smelled like Finn. He breathed in deeply. It was silly, he knew, to cling to this little bit of him- to pretend it was Finn, instead of his clothes, that he was allowed to have. But he was doing it anyway. He could let himself have this little thing. He turned to look in the mirror and let out a surprised snort. “Of course.” He chuckled to himself.
He padded out to the living room, where Fin was still lying on the couch, a book in his hand.
“I thought you were joking about loving the Eagles.” He teased, his mouth quirking up on one side.
Finn sat up and looked over at him, a strange look crossing his face as he took in Leo’s appearance. It was gone before Leo could read into it, replaced with a dramatic showing of mock outrage.
“One does not joke about the Eagles, Leo!” He gestured down at the band logo stretched across Leo’s chest. “That logo is a badge of honour. Wear it with pride.”
Leo just shook his head, amused. “Aye, aye, captain.” He saluted Finn. “Thanks again. I’ll see you in the morning?”
Finn waved goodnight and Leo slipped back into his room, turning off the lights and smiling up at the city lights flickering across the ceiling. His ceiling, now. He chewed on his lip for a second, thinking, before getting back out of bed and walking softly to the living room.
Finn looked up at him when he entered, and whatever Leo had been about to say immediately caught in his throat. The warm lamplight was sending soft shadows across Finn’s features, making his freckles glow against the pale of his skin. He was curled into the corner of the couch, book in his hands and a blanket wrapped around him, and Leo wanted nothing more in that moment than to be there too, cuddled up beside this beautiful boy. His heart pulled in his chest.
He realized he was staring when Finn spoke up and broke the spell. “What’s up, Leo?” his smile was soft, gentle. “Do you need something? Can I get you anything?”
Leo straightened up at that, shaking his head. “No, no. I’m good. Thank you. And I’m sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you, and I won’t keep you, but I just wanted to say thank you. For having me here. You didn’t have to offer up your space, and I appreciate it. It really means a lot.”
Finn closed his book and leaned forward; his expression sincere as he locked eyes with Leo. “I’m just glad you’re happy. You deserve to have a home. I wouldn’t want you to be anywhere else.”
And when Leo went back to his room that night, he fell asleep quickly, breathing in the scent of Finn and, for the first time since he came to this city, finally feeling at home.
---
Finn
The next few months passed by quickly for Finn, everything blurring together in an exhausting but happy mess of work and play. He had thought it would be more of a learning curve, sharing his space with Leo after living alone for the past 4 years- and some days it was a bit weird, remembering that there was another person around and he couldn’t just play guitar at 2am, or work through melodies in the shower when Leo was sleeping- but he wouldn’t change it back for anything.
He’d always known he was insanely lucky to live in the apartment he did (his parents had bought it as an investment property when he first moved to Gryffindor- perks of their jobs in real estate). Very few college students had the privilege of even a single spare room, let alone two, and not worrying about needing roommates to pay rent had saved him from needing to share the space with strangers. But it had been lonely.
Now, when he was finished his long day on campus studying, or working on his music, he actually looked forward to going home- even if it was only to meet up with Leo and leave again. After that first celebration he had gone to with Leo and Logan, it had become routine for them to invite him to join them for any dinners or parties that weren’t team-exclusive. He went to every one that he could and had ended up making some pretty good friends in that crowd. In particular, him and Kasey’s girlfriend Natalie had struck up a fun friendship. She was also a musician, and the two of them had gotten together several times over the past few months just to play.
The boys had also asked him to let them know his gig schedule, and they had been there for every single show they weren’t working during. Finn liked having them there, knowing he would have their company as soon as he got off stage. They always had a drink waiting for him, and they usually found somewhere to go dance for the rest of the evening. Logan was always making fun of how Leo used to hate going out, but they danced together often now, and it was one of Finn’s favourite things.
Any nights they didn’t spend working, or with the team, or at one of Finns gigs, they usually spent together just the three of them, squeezed into a booth at Sid’s or lounging around the living room at Finn and Leo’s, playing video games and watching movies. Him and Leo had made the excellent discovery that Pixar movies almost always made Logan cry, though Logan denied it exceptionally violently every time they called him out. It was worth a pillow to the face to be able to tease him though.
Logan stayed over most of those evenings, in the spare room Finn had started thinking of as his. They’d built another bed for him and everything after Finn had woken up the first night he stayed over and seen how cramped he was on the couch. It wasn’t built for hockey players to sleep on and he didn’t like the idea of Logan being uncomfortable. He wanted everyone to feel at home in his place.
Some days it was just Finn and Leo at home, while Logan spent time with the Dumais family. Finn liked those days too. It was nice, hanging out with Leo one on one. The two of them often used the time to do chores, and he had been pleased to find out that they were much more enjoyable with Leo’s company. Grocery shopping with Leo was one of his favourites, riding the cart like a scooter up and down the aisles while Leo picked out everything they needed for dinner, and grabbing all the snacks that he knew Logan liked, so they could always be there when he came by. And he particularly enjoyed coming home and putting things away while Leo cooked, both of them singing along to the radio as the apartment filled with the smells of Leo’s southern recipes.
On quiet nights, he liked wandering into Leo’s room for company, the two of them laying next to each other on Leo’s giant bed and talking about books. One of the first nights he had done that, he had noticed his own t-shirt, the one he had lent Leo his first night, and that had curiously gone missing shortly after, hanging up on Leo’s closet door. Leo had been flustered, apologizing for snagging it from Finn’s clean laundry, and explaining that it was ‘just really comfortable’. Finn had tried very hard to hide the mini heart attack he was sure he was having at the idea of Leo choosing to wear his clothes, and he must have done an alright job of it because Leo continued to steal it often enough that it had just become another routine thing between them. Finn pretended to make fun of Leo for it, but he really liked it. He had taken to folding it and dropping it into Leo’s laundry basket when he wasn’t looking.
The addition of Leo’s warm presence, and of Logan’s fiery, mischievous energy, had made his big, cold apartment feel like home. There was always something happening, and it was never boring- sometimes to an extreme degree when Logan was around. Finn still had scars on his hand from Leo’s 19th birthday in February, when he had let Logan convince him that baking a cake wouldn’t be as difficult as it sounded (‘people do it all the time Finn, how hard can it possibly be?’). He had been wrong, as they discovered when he flipped what should have been a cooked cake upside down over the counter, and it turned out to be just a pan full of very hot batter that went all over Finn’s hands. It had stuck to him like very, very hot glue and the two of them had gone into full panic mode. Luckily, Leo had chosen that moment to come home from lunch with Remus, and he got everything under control. He had been exasperated, and quite concerned, but Finn liked to think he had appreciated their effort. Plus, Logan had felt guilty about it for weeks afterward, which Finn had initially felt bad about but then had started to take advantage of by (very dramatically) requesting him to do more and more ridiculous favours. Logan had stopped feeling guilty somewhere in between the request to build him an entire pillow fort (so he could heal in utmost comfort), and the request to do an interpretive dance to Ice, Ice, Baby (so he could feel like his burned hands were encased in ice).
When they were out of town for games, Finn missed having them around. Everything felt too… empty. But they were constantly in touch via their group chat, Leo sending videos of the cities they explored after games, and Logan sending pictures of Leo looking affectionately annoyed at Logan for dragging him out of the hotel to go and do said exploring. Those videos often included appearances from other Lions, usually making terrible 3 Musketeers jokes about them. On one memorable occasion, James had popped in to compare them to SpongeBob, Patrick, and Squidward. That one had positively delighted Finn, not least because Logan’s reaction to realizing he was the Squidward in that analogy had been gold. James had had to run.
Finn didn’t blame them for joking about it. He knew it was a bit strange, the way that they had become so inseparable, so fast. But he didn’t mind. When he looked at them in those videos—the wild in Logan’s eyes, the calm in Leo’s— he was reminded of how they pulled out the best of both those sides of his own personality. He never felt more like himself than he did with them. *
---
Logan
One evening at the end of April, Logan sat sandwiched between Leo and Finn on their living room couch, a steering wheel in his hands. He was deeply focused on steering his car around a particularly dastardly curve when Finn jumped up, knocking Logan’s elbow and sending his character careening off a cliff as he screeched at the TV. “Cheating!! Leo! You’re cheating! Logan! He’s cheating!”
Logan, disgruntled now as he watched himself drop down to last place, just glared up at him. “You knocked me off a cliff. Don’t look at me for sympathy right now.”
Leo just continued playing calmly. “It’s not cheating Finn. I threw a banana at you. If you don’t want to get hit with bananas, don’t drive so close to me.”
“This is insane. Nobody is supposed to be this good at Mario Kart. It’s MARIO KART!” Finn flopped dramatically back down into his spot, groaning. “How have you won every single race?”
“I’m a man of many talents, Finn.”
“This is bullshit.”
Logan snorted, dropping his controller as he crossed the finish line in last place for the 4th time that night. “Says the guy who wins every single round of Halo.”
“Well, if you would stop and think before just picking the biggest bombs and sending your army running headfirst into every battle, maybe you too could win a strategy game.”
“Where’s the fun in that?”
“You are weirdly good at Halo, Finn.” Leo tossed out. “It’s kind of creepy watching the wheels turn in your head while you play.”
Logan watched, amused, as Finn gasped and glared at Leo in mock offense. “Well then. When the aliens finally invade here and you guys need a team leader to get you through the hordes and into a safe haven, you can find your own general. I’ll be over there helping people who DON’T call me creepy.”
It was Logan’s turn to be offended. “Hey! I didn’t call you creepy.”
Finn considered him for a moment. “Hmm. That’s true.”
He wrapped an arm around Logan’s neck and stuck his tongue out at Leo. “I’ll be over here keeping LOGAN alive, while you get your brains eaten.”
Logan tried to fight back the blush he could feel creeping up his cheeks as Finn’s arm pulled him in. Finn, Logan had discovered, was a very affectionate person, and while his comfort in sharing his personal space had grown on Logan and Leo as well—they were constantly in contact as they shoved together onto the couch—it still made Logan’s pulse pick up every time he felt them close to him.
Leo snorted out a laugh at Finn’s threat as he put down his controller. “I’ll take my chances.” he replied as he stood and stretched, looking out the window at the setting sun. “It’s getting late. Anybody hungry?”
Logan’s stomach actually grumbled out loud at the mention of food.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Leo laughed as he headed out of the living room.
Logan, somewhat reluctantly, pulled himself out of Finn’s hold and followed Leo into the kitchen, plunking himself down on one of the island barstools as Leo started pulling things out of the fridge. Finn disappeared into his room and came back to sit next to Logan a few seconds later, a book in his hand.
“You want to read?” He looked at Logan questioningly.
Logan just nodded at him as he spun around on his stool, slowly relaxing into his seat as the sound of Finn’s voice took over the kitchen, mingling with the sounds of Leo quietly chopping vegetables at the counter next to them.
A few weeks ago, when Leo and Finn were trying to pull him into an argument about book to movie adaptations, Logan had accidentally let it slip that he had never read The Hobbit. The two of them had been borderline offended, which Logan found hilarious, but it had then led to them asking him about other books, and Logan had been forced to admit that not only had he never read The Hobbit, but he had never read any book for fun.
It wasn’t something he liked to talk about, because he always worried it would make him look stupid, but he hated reading. Having to keep his focus on the page, keeping his hands still as they held the book… he just couldn’t handle it. When Leo and Finn had picked up on the fact that it was a sensitive topic, they had dropped it without asking him any more questions, which he had been grateful for. But the two of them still wanted to show him that stories could be fun outside of movie form, and when it became clear that there was no way in hell Logan was picking up a book himself, Finn had come up with a compromise: he would read a book to him. Logan hadn’t been convinced, but he appreciated the thought and figured he could just tune him out if he got bored, so he agreed.
So Finn had read the first chapter of The Hobbit to him and Leo while Leo cooked that night, and, to his surprise, Logan had found himself completely absorbed. It was kind of like listening to a podcast, but with Finn’s intoxicating voice playing all the parts.
It had become a routine after that—Finn reading to them as Leo cooked, and Leo reading to Finn and Logan as they cleaned up after. They always waited for him to read the next part, and it was one of his favourite parts of being at their apartment now. The combination of the sound of Finn’s voice and the smell of Leo’s cooking, made him feel safe.
That evening, Logan was the first to finish eating, and he leaned his chair back away from the table with a satisfied sigh, reaching over to ruffle Leo’s hair from where he was sitting next to him. “Fuck, Knutty, that was amazing. As always.”
Leo smiled back at him, blonde curls now falling over his eyes in a way that was absolutely not adorable. “Thanks, Tremz. I’m glad you guys liked it.”
Finn made a noise at that. “Liked it? Leo, I have genuinely never eaten better in my entire life than I have since you moved in here.”
Well. That provided Logan an excellent segue into his mission for the evening. He let his chair fall back down and folded his hands on the table in front of him. “If that is true, Finn, then I think that you should do something to pay him back.”
Finn looked up from his plate with a mouth full of pasta, brown eyes narrowing suspiciously as he looked between Logan and an amused looking Leo, who had immediately caught on to what Logan was doing. “Oh?”
“Yes. We have a game next Friday, and you’re invited to come. I think that should suffice as payment.”
“Oohh.” Finn plastered on a very fake smile. “That sounds very… interesting. Let me check my schedule and see what I have going on.”
Logan rolled his eyes at Finn’s feigned interest. He had turned down their offers to come to games repeatedly since they had met.
“We have your schedule, idiote. We know you don’t have a show OR an exam. And—” Logan decided to move to his next tactic: guilt, “—you have to come this time. It’s a deciding game for the play-offs. If we lose, you won’t be able to watch us play again until next season.”
“I see.” Finn didn’t look convinced.
“Finn!” Logan tossed his balled-up napkin at him, making him laugh. “You are possibly the only person in this city who would turn down offers to come watch NHL games for free. From the box! MULTIPLE TIMES!”
“I cannot possibly be the only person in this entire city who doesn’t follow hockey.”
When neither Leo nor Logan bothered to respond to that, just continuing to look at him, Finn’s grin fell. He looked uncertain now, and his face turned serious as he looked each of them in the eye. “But… you guys know I support you, right? I follow all your scores and your… game… time, point, things, or whatever online. I even bought a hoodie!”
That was true and it had almost killed Logan the first time he had seen Finn in Lion’s colours. It still made his heart beat faster every time he thought of it. Which wasn’t helping him at the present moment.
Finn sighed. “I just think it’s a waste of a ticket for me to go when I have no idea what is happening. I don’t want to embarrass you guys”
Leo interjected then, pointing his fork at Finn. “First of all, you are never embarrassing. Well, usually not – “
“Fair.” Finn admitted.
Leo shot him a look. “—and not about this, for sure. And second, it’s not a waste of a ticket. We all get to invite our family and friends and stuff this game, and neither Logan’s family nor mine are able to make it. And all of our other friends are either on the team or related to them. So, if you don’t use the ticket, nobody will. Plus,” he set his fork down, his voice gentle, “we want you to come.”
Finn’s face softened, and Logan decided now was time to pull out his Hail Mary. “Also,” he waited until Finn looked over to him, “Natalie’s going to be there. And she already asked us if you were going to come this time.”
He bit back a triumphant smirk as Finn perked up at that. He knew they had him now. Finn and Natalie had hit it off really well the moment they met. So well in fact, that he had almost been jealous. But he wasn’t jealous. Because he had nothing to be jealous of. Finn was just a friend. A friend who was currently living rent-free in his mind wearing that goddamn Lions hoodie, but a friend nonetheless.
Finn pushed his empty plate to the middle of the table. “Well.” His eyes sparkled as he folded his arms and looked between them. “You should have led with that.”
---
Finn
One week later, Finn stood against the glass in the team box, cursing himself for agreeing to come to this game. He had never been more stressed in his life, every muscle in his body tense as he watched the puck bounce from player to player in front of Leo’s net. He had a brand-new respect for Leo’s unflappable demeanour. There was no way he could handle being the last stop between the other team and a goal- he was almost having a nervous breakdown just watching. But Leo was in his element: calm, controlled, moving fluidly around his net and mirroring the puck effortlessly. Finn had never seen someone so focused, so intent. When the other team finally took their shot and Leo snatched it out of the air, Finn let out a relieved breath. His heart was going a million miles a minute, just like it had been for the last hour that the game had been tied 1-1. “Oh my god,” he murmured, dropping his face into his hands. “This is so stressful. How do you guys watch this all the time?”
Natalie laughed next to him. “It can be pretty crazy.”
“You look perfectly relaxed.” Finn replied grumpily. It was true. She was much calmer than he was.
“I’m not as calm on the inside. But I have faith in these guys. I know they can win this.” She paused for a second. “It also helps that Kase is benched for this game with his leg. I’m a wreck when he’s in net during important games. Thank God for Leo Knut.”
“Thank God for Leo Knut?” Finn muttered reproachfully in response. His attention was pulled back to the ice as the puck was dropped again, still in their end. “Thank God for Leo Knut my ass, Leo Knut is the reason I might be seeing God soon. I’m going to have a fucking heart attACK! AH!” He shrieked the end of his sentence as one of the Ravenclaw players crashed into Leo, knocking him backwards into a goal post in a way that looked dangerous. His stomach dropped as Leo went down. He shot a panicked look at Natalie. “What the fuck! That can’t be allowed! Is that allowed?!?” He didn’t wait for an answer before looking up at the giant screens above the ice, currently zoomed in on Leo’s determinedly blank face as he slowly pulled his knees back underneath him. He was definitely going to give him a heart attack.
“No.” Natalie looked unhappy. “No, it’s not allowed. But he’s ok, Finn.”
He’s ok. Finn let out a shaky breath. He looked back down to the ice and was watching Leo stand up and reach for a water bottle when, all of a sudden, the crowd started to yell. Confused, he looked back up at the screens. Instead of Leo, there was now a close-up view of Logan, currently with one fist wrapped around the jersey of the player who had slammed into Leo, the other throwing punches.
Finn’s jaw dropped, his heart jumping up to meet it. Logan’s face was fierce. Angry. That energy that always seemed to be coiled around him, simmering just below the surface, was out in full force. His restraints were gone, and holy shit it was beautiful. Seeing those impossibly green eyes flashing dark with passion… it was lighting something on fire inside of Finn.
The other player was half a foot taller than Logan, but Lo had him down on the ice in seconds, spitting angry words in his face as the referees pulled him away. Finn watched Logan skate to the penalty box, swallowing hard as he took in the way his chest was heaving under his jersey. Holy. Fuck.
He felt heat creeping up his neck, and knew his face was going to turn bright red and give him away if he didn’t distract himself immediately. So he forced his attention back down to where the rest of the team was checking on Leo.
Leo. Logan had unleashed in defense of Leo.
Finn felt the now-familiar twist in his chest that sometimes accompanied seeing the two of them together. The feeling that there was something more between them than they were willing to admit.
Thankfully, Natalie mistook the look on his face for concern, and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. “It’s fine Finn, Logan fights all the time. He’s not hurt, he’ll be back on the ice in time to play the last three minutes. And Leo’s already ready to keep playing”
Finn just groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “I am never watching another hockey game again.”
It was supposed to be a joke, but five minutes later Finn watched Logan jump out of the penalty box and take off across the ice, dancing between the other players as he stole the puck and shot toward the net with a searing purpose. And when the goal alarm went off and the entire arena jumped to their feet to celebrate- when Logan was tackled by his teammates, and Leo was skating celebratory circles around his net, and Finn could see the smiles radiating off both of them from where he stood- Finn realized that if he ever wanted to be able to keep his friendships with these boys, it had to be true. Because if he ever watched them play another hockey game again, he would fall in love.
---
“O’Hara, think fast!”
Finn barely had time to register the beer being thrown his way before Leo reached out and snatched it out of the air in front of his chest. “Bliz, how many times do we have to tell you to not throw solid objects at people. Not everybody has your reflexes.”
But Kasey wasn’t listening, already turned around to head back into the living room of Sirius’ house, where they had all convened to celebrate their win. Finn had been grateful for the location- he didn’t think he could handle watching Leo and Logan getting hit on at a club all night tonight. He was still on edge.
Leo rolled his eyes at Kasey’s retreating back and handed the drink to Finn. “I’d wait a second to open that. Sorry, he does this all the time. We’ve had more than one black eye on the team from a drunken Kasey drink bomb.”
Finn chuckled. “No worries. Thanks for the save.”
Leo brightened adorably. “It’s my job!”
“And you are absolutely INCREDIBLE at it my friend!” A pair of arms wrapped around Leo’s neck from behind and a slightly buzzed and very excited James appeared over his shoulder. “MVP of the game, my man! You killed it! We’re going to the play-offs, baby!”
He whooped as he ruffled Leo’s golden hair, still slightly damp from his post-game shower. Leo’s cheeks flushed a deep red as he accepted James’ fist bump. “I just played. Thank you though.”
“And he’s humble too! How are you still single dude? Someone should have scooped you up ages ago.”
Leo’s cheeks somehow turned even deeper red as he shot a quick look up at Finn, and Finn heard Lily’s amused voice as she slid in from behind them, wrapping an arm around James’ waist and pulling him off of Leo. “Leave the poor guy alone James. He just wants to celebrate in peace.”
Leo smiled gratefully at Lily, looking relieved when Kasey and Natalie returned to the kitchen, Talker in tow. Leo jumped into their conversation as the group of them settled in around the room, talking and laughing above the music playing from the built-in speakers. Finn held back for a moment, taking the opportunity to scan the living room from where him and Leo were leaning against the kitchen island. He caught a glimpse of familiar dark curls under a snapback, and Logan’s eyes met his from across the room. Logan grinned, excusing himself from a conversation with Remus and heading towards them.
“Hey,” Logan’s breath was warm on Finn’s cheek as he leaned in to be heard over the voices in the room. “How did you like the game?”
Finn fought to keep his heart from beating out of his chest. He was still reeling from his decidedly unwelcome epiphany earlier that evening, and it was going to be a long night if he couldn’t get a handle on himself soon. He cleared his throat, looking straight ahead instead of turning to meet Logan’s gaze. “It was the most stressful few hours of my entire life. I’m never doing it again.” He winced at the way his voice cracked. Traitorous voice box. “And for the record, you are NOT a ‘perfectly reasonable player’.”
Logan tilted his head back and laughed openly at that. Finn let himself look then. Despite everything, it was nice to see him so relaxed and happy.
“Well, I’m glad you at least came to this one. Even if you judge me.”
He leaned back next to Finn, shoulders brushing, and Finn watched as he scanned the room. A moment later, a glint appeared in shorter boy’s eye, his smile turning mischievous. Finn turned to follow his gaze, looking for what had prompted the change. He caught sight of James, still in his game jersey, and Lily, laughingly trying her best to get him to take it off.
He heard Logan call out to them. “Hey Pots! Did you hear your jerseys are only the third most popular on the Lion’s shop now?”
James froze, turning to them with his eyes wide. “What?”
He rounded on Logan. “Who told you that? Who beat me?” His expression turned to outrage. “Who could possibly have beaten me?!”
Finn held back a laugh at James reaction, letting out a loud cough instead. One that sounded very suspiciously like the word ‘bullshit’. He heard Leo do the exact same beside him and turned to catch his eye with a grin and a high-five. The two of them had made a game over the past few months of seeing who could catch Logan the fastest when he started his game of poking the bear- something that was hilarious to them and endlessly irritating to Logan.
Right on cue, Logan let out an exasperated noise. “Guys! You are no fun! Stop doing that!”
James’ head twisted back and forth between Logan and Finn as he pieced it together. “Wait… what??” He gasped at Logan, looking betrayed. “Tremz! Did you make that up? How could you! You almost gave me a heart attack on this glorious evening!”
Logan shot a mock glare at Leo and Finn, but his face cracked into a grin when he turned back to James. “You should have seen your face.”
James looked like he was about to respond, but at just that moment, a familiar beat started to play over the speakers. Someone in the living room cheered and turned up the volume, and James whooped, throwing his hands in the air. Finn smirked as he followed suit, pushing away from the counter to join him in the middle of the room.
---
Logan
Logan frowned when Finn stepped away from him- he liked feeling his warmth against his side. He watched as Finn moved after James, turning to look back at Logan and grinning as he sang along to the lyrics of the song now playing loudly through the house. Logan loved Finn’s singing voice. He smiled back and was about to go join him when something weird caught his attention, making him do a double take.
It wasn’t unusual for Finn to jump into the middle of a room to give a performance of a song. He did it all the time. At home, at the club, at parties. It was quintessential Finn behaviour.
But now, the entire rest of the room was joining him. Every single one of his friends had abandoned their conversations to chant along with the opening lyrics of this song Logan had never heard before. Logan’s brow furrowed in confusion as he spun around to look behind him. The living room was the same, everyone starting to move away from the walls and stand from the couches. Only Leo had stayed where he was, a few feet away from Logan.
“What the hell?” He muttered.
He turned back around to question Finn, only to find him no longer looking his way. Instead, he was now face to face with Talker in the middle of the room, the two of them rapping dramatically to one another. Logan lifted an eyebrow, letting out a short, surprised laugh as he watched the two of them.
“I’ma get a scholarship to King’s College,
I probably shouldn’t brag,
But dag, I amaze and astonish”
The rest of the room was still singing along. It was beyond weird. “What. The fuck. Is happening?” Logan asked nobody in particular.
The rhythm of the song slowed a bit, and Finn turned back toward Leo and Logan, sliding smoothly over in front of them. His brown eyes sparkled as his gaze locked with Logan’s, singing directly to him.
“I’m a diamond in the rough, a shiny piece of coal
Tryin’ to reach my goal, my power of speech, unimpeachable”
Logan leaned closer to Leo, his only ally in this insanity, but Finn had pointed dramatically to the younger boy and Leo laughed, stepping away from the counter and picking up the lyrics from the next line, pointing at himself as he sang:
“Only nineteen but my mind is older
These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder
Every burden, every disadvantage I have learned to manage…”
Logan shot a surprised glare at Leo. Traitor. And now Finn was singing along again, and both of them were pointing at him, waiting for him to pick up the next line but Logan truly, truly had no idea what this was.
Finn looked at him with mock outrage when he realized Logan wasn’t faking his ignorance, straightening his back as he lifted his hands in a very ‘what the heck?’ sort of gesture.
Logan started to roll his eyes, but then all of a sudden, the beat changed again, and Finn’s hands were by his head and he was walking backward, winding his hips in a way that Logan had never seen him move before. A way that should be illegal.
His eyes were still locked on Logan’s, but where they had been filled with humour a moment ago, now they were burning with something intense that was sending Logan into a complete tailspin.
“I am the AL-EX-AN-D-ER, we are, meant to be.”
His emotions were already running high after their win, and now Finn was standing in front of him, moving like that, looking at him like that. He heard himself let out a shaky breath and snapped his jaw shut, swallowing hard and jerking his eyes away from Finn, desperate for something else to focus on. His gaze landed on Leo, right next to him, which was not better.
Leo. He could see his toned chest through the fitted t-shirt he was wearing, and he wanted to reach out and touch. Fuck.
He could feel all the walls he had built up over the past four months crumbling down around him, and he started to panic. He was supposed to be getting over his feelings for Leo. Not growing them. Not adding Finn into the mix.
His breathing sped up. How was he this gone, for both of them? Was that even possible??
Pull it together Tremblay. He tried to talk himself down. Leo was his teammate. They were both his friends- friends like he had never had before. Those walls were there for a good fucking reason. He didn’t want to risk them.
He took a deep breath in through his nose, straightening his spine and pushing his shoulders back. He could do this. He looked back up and watched as Finn crooked a finger at him, calling him in to dance with them. The same way they always did when they were out together. His face was open and happy again. He just looked like normal Finn now. This was familiar. He could do this. The song kept playing.
“Hey yo I’m just like my country
I’m young, scrappy and hungry
And I’m not throwing away my, shot!”
He took one step closer, and… nope. It would appear he could not, in fact, do this. He couldn’t handle familiar right now. He was buzzed, and high on adrenaline from the game, and this song was in his bones and if he was going to get himself out of this spiral, he needed to be away from the boys that were causing it.
He shook his head at Finn and forced a tight smile, watching him shrug his acceptance and turn to James instead. Logan turned to head over to where Sirius was stood in the corner of the living room, the only other person who looked as bewildered as he was by the scene. He had barely taken a step before a long arm wrapped around his shoulders from behind, pulling in him close to the strong chest he was trying to run away from. He closed his eyes, feeling his body tense as Leo’s low voice sounded in his ear, his skin warm against Logan’s own. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as Leo sang, off-key as usual, in some sort of horrible French accent.
“I dream of life without a monarchy
The unrest in France will lead to ‘onarchy?
Onarchy? How you say, how you, oh, anarchy?
When I fight I make the other side panicky with my, shot!”
It was hilarious, but feeling Leo this close to him right now, in this moment, was overload. It took everything he had to pull out of Leo’s grasp, grabbing his wrist and spinning underneath him. He stood on his tiptoes to let Leo spin too, and then gently shoved him back toward Finn. He knew Leo would assume he was following, so he turned back to the living room and slid into place next to Sirius.
He stood there, watching Nado and Kuny—how the hell did even Kuny know this song??—singing drunkenly on top of the couch, and tried to will his heart into submission.
After a few moments, Sirius’ voice sounded next to him. “Do you have any idea what this is?”
Logan shook his head, glancing over. “Non. But apparently we should be looking into it.”
Sirius just nodded, looking at him. Logan liked this about Sirius. He was quiet, and he didn’t mind if people were quiet around him. He always seemed to know when Logan needed a minute. He guessed that’s what made him a good captain. Logan felt calmer just being beside him. The two of them stood together in silence for a few minutes, until the whole house broke out into a chorus of ‘whoa’’s, and Sirius glanced over at him again. “You ok?”
“I’ll be better once this fucking song ends. How long is this thing?”
Sirius laughed at that, agreeing, and Logan felt his confidence coming back. He felt safer there, in the corner, watching Finn and Leo from afar. The distance had at least allowed his heart to stop pinging around his chest like a goddamn pinball machine. He was feeling, if not completely back in control, at least much more so than before.
“I’m good, Cap.” He meant it.
Sirius’ eyes were on his. “Ok. You know I’m here though, if you need me.”
“I know.” He shot Sirius a grateful smile. “Thanks, Sirius. Really.”
Sirius nodded, turning away as the song finally ended. Someone switched over to a dance playlist, and the living room turned into a de facto dance floor. Logan and Sirius stayed where they were for another song, until everyone else seemed to be either dancing, or involved in a game of what looked like Spoons at the dining room table. Logan drained the last of his rum and coke and turned to Sirius as he pushed off the wall toward the now empty kitchen. “I’m going to get another drink. You want anything?”
“No thanks. I’m good.” Sirius responded quietly, his expression soft. Logan followed his gaze over to where Loops was dancing with Lily and smiled. He clapped Sirius on the shoulder. “Ok, Cap. Have fun.”
---
A few shots and nearly an hour later, Logan was feeling as close to normal as he figured he would be able to pull off that night, teaching the Hoedown Throwdown choreography to a very enthusiastic Leo and Finn as someone’s country playlist blasted through the house. The team’s excitement for their freshly earned play-off spot had rubbed off on him again over the past hour, and he was enjoying himself, even if he was still a bit on edge.
It only took a few songs for them to ace the dance, and after they killed it to some song about chicken and tractors that Finn had sang every single word to, there was a break in the music while Nat and Talker argued over who got to choose next. They took the opportunity to their breath.
“Well, since we’re waiting anyway, I’m going to go grab another drink.” Finn swiped a hand through his sweat-tousled hair and looked between Logan and Leo. “Do you want anything?”
Leo shook his head, eyes bright against his dance-flushed cheeks. “No thanks. I think I’m done drinking for the night. We have a team meeting early tomorrow I don’t want to be hungover for.”
Logan still had half a drink in his hand, so Finn took off to the kitchen and left the two of them to discuss who they could drag into their next dance, which Finn had decided for reasons Logan didn’t understand, to try and learn as a square instead of a triangle.
A new song finally started to play as they scanned the room, and as the beat came across the speakers, Logan recognized it with a frustrated groan.
Wicked Games. One of the few songs that he used to have multiple versions of on his playlist. A song that he had had to take off said playlist, because it got him in his head about Finn and Leo.
Of course someone would put this song on right when he had gotten his shit back together. Of fucking course.
He took a long drink from his glass and looked up at Leo, who was still looking around the room for participants. He watched as the colour-changing living room lighting lit up the taller boy’s face: blue, then green, then orange.
“The world was on fire, and no one could save me but you”
Leo glanced over at him, and then did a double take, turning to fully face him. He scanned Logan’s face, eyebrows furrowing as concern flashed through his warm blue eyes. Logan sighed through his nose. Fucking Knutty. He always knew.
“And I never dreamed that I’d meet somebody like you”
When Logan didn’t make a move to explain anything, Leo just nodded and took a step back.
“You know what?” he started. “Let’s just do it as three. Finn’ll get over it. I don’t want to dance with anyone else right now.”
Logan knew Leo was only saying it for his sake. But he couldn’t be bothered to try and pretend he was down for an audience right now, so he just nodded and stepped into what would be his place in the triangle when Finn came back. Leo turned to assess the space around them, and Logan let himself watch again. He never got sick of looking at Leo. Kind, thoughtful, annoyingly perceptive, beautiful Leo. The lyrics of the song repeated, over and over.
“No I, don’t wanna fall in love, with you.”
“I think we’re going to need more room. Or someone’s going to get hurt.” Leo mused as he looked at the floor around them, trying to work out the logistics of the coordinated drunk jumping that was going to happen. One of his curls fell over his eyes. Logan resisted the urge to reach up and move it away.
“What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way
What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you”
Logan’s chest twisted and he pulled his gaze away. Fuck this song. He was going to kill Talkie for this. He could feel himself taking a nose-dive back to where he had been earlier that evening. Why couldn’t he shake these feelings tonight? He could always shake them. He was a master at shaking off feelings. This was ridiculous.
He decided to look for something they could push out of the way for more space, to give himself something to focus on. That was a task he could do.
But before he could move, a pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind, the weight of a full-grown hockey player landing on his back and making him stumble forward. Pots’ voice was teasing in his ear. “Wicked Game is right, hey Tremzy??”
Logan’s breath caught in his throat as he froze in place, half bent over trying to regain his balance. Had Pots noticed? Was he being obvious?
“W-what?” he choked out.
James pulled him up and spun around him until they were face to face, his grin lopsided and his eyes a little glazed from the drinks he had clearly been celebrating with. “Wicked Game! Because you played a wicked game! Get it!? You got us the game winner, Tremz.” He looked wobbly on his feet, smiling dreamily. “You got us to the playoffs.”
Relief flooded Logan’s system. He hadn’t noticed. Nobody noticed. It was fine.
It didn’t feel fine.
“Oh. Ya, I guess.” He forced a little laugh.
“Come, my baby Canadian.” James bowed toward him, extending a hand. “I owe you this dance for getting me one step closer to my baby bathing in the cup.”
“Shut up, Pots.” Logan turned as an annoyed voice sounded behind them. Sirius, the inventor of superstition himself, walked by and smacked James gently upside the head. “Knock on wood. Now.”
“Ow,” James grumbled, rubbing his head and knocking on the doorframe he watched Sirius walk through, “how does he do that? It’s like he has a seventh sense for bad luck.”
Logan prayed James would follow Sirius away. But instead he just grinned and shoved Logan toward the center of the dance floor.
Logan did not want to be there anymore. James had freaked him out, and the stupid song was still playing. For the second time that night he wished he knew where the fucking skip button was located in this ridiculously oversized house.
Logan grabbed James’ arm and pulled him to a stop, leaning into him to prevent him going further. He turned on his best fake smile. “Hey Pots. I know I got the goal, but do you know who you really owe this dance to?”
James looked at him suspiciously. “Who?”
“Leo. We wouldn’t have won without his unreal performance tonight. You should get him first.”
James gasped. “You are right, Tremblay. Ok. I will get him first. But I will be back for you! Don’t move!”
Logan watched James wobble backward across the living room, shooting finger guns back at Logan until he crashed into a very amused-looking Leo.
When Logan figured the two of them were engaged enough to not notice him leaving, he slipped off in search of a quiet place to hang out for a while. He found a dark hallway off the end of the dining room and slid down to sit on the hardwood floor. His hands were shaking again as he pulled out his phone and opened the group chat he had with his sisters.
He missed his sisters. He hadn’t told them about his feelings for either of the boys—for any boy, really—but he knew that if he messaged them, they would talk him down without prying. And that was what he wanted right now. He shot off a simple, ‘you guys awake?’ message, and waited for the reply.
---
Leo
Leo was wandering around the main floor of Sirius’ house, looking for Logan. He was worried about him. Logan had been on edge all night, keeping his distance and forcing smiles that didn’t reach his eyes. Leo could tell he was trying to hide something, and after catching the way he had looked at Finn in the kitchen earlier, it wasn’t hard to guess what that something was.
He had been watching Logan and Finn dance around each other, figuratively and literally, for months now. It was hard, watching these boys—these boys that made him ache with how each of them had burrowed their way into his soul—watch each other. It made him feel like he was drowning.
He had told himself when he came to Gryffindor that he was here for hockey, that he wasn’t going to get involved with anyone. Get attached to anyone. But here he was, the world’s biggest idiot, falling head over heels for not one, but two of the literal worst possible people to fall for. His home roommate and his travel roommate. Both, to the best of his knowledge, very closeted. Both very interested in someone else. Both very interested in each other. It was a bit of a disaster.
But disaster or not, Leo wasn’t going to let Logan feel like he was alone tonight. He knew firsthand how much support from the people who love you mattered, even if you weren’t ready to talk about it yet.
He poked his head into the kitchen and found Finn, looking deep in conversation with Natalie, but Logan wasn’t with him. He was a bit concerned about Finn, too. He also seemed a bit off this evening, and he never had come back from his last drink break. But Finn was safe with Natalie for now, so Logan was his priority for the moment.
He checked a few more rooms before he caught a glimpse of Logan’s ever-present snapback out of the corner of his eye. He was sitting on the floor in the dark end of an empty hallway, the glow from his phone screen lighting up his face.
Leo moved cautiously toward him, and when he didn’t look up, slid to the floor to sit next to him.
“Hey.” He offered softly.
Logan looked up at him with a small, fleeting smile, his usually bright green eyes looking tired. “Hey.”
Leo scanned his face, trying to decide whether Logan wanted to talk. “What are you up to?”
“Just texting my sisters.”
Leo nodded, understanding, and looked away, giving Logan the chance to go back to his phone if he wanted to. Logan looked back down at the screen and typed out a final message before clicking the screen off and shoving it back in his pocket.
They sat quietly next to each other for a few minutes, just listening to the music. After a while, Logan broke the silence.
“It’s crazy that we’re heading to the playoffs.” He said quietly.
That made Leo smile a bit. He looked back over at Logan. “You played incredible tonight.” He said sincerely. “All season, really. I think we earned it.”
Logan’s lips quirked up a bit at the compliment. “Thanks, Nutty. We really did.”
They fell back into their comfortable silence, sitting shoulder to shoulder and watching what they could see of the dining room down the hall. In the lights of the party, Pots and Sirius were teasing Remus about something they couldn’t hear. Remus blushed a deep red and Sirius laughed as he pulled him in for a kiss.
“We’re really lucky.” Leo said, hoping that Logan knew he wasn’t just talking about the game anymore. When Logan didn’t respond, he looked over to see him pulling at the seams of his jeans, looking like he might be on the verge of tears. The sight pulled at Leo’s chest. He wanted to take Logan’s face in his hands and wipe away that look forever.
But he knew that wasn’t what Logan wanted. So instead he stood, holding out a hand to the shorter boy. He would be here for him in whatever way Logan needed. “You wanna get another drink? Or are you ready to head out?”
Logan looked up at him with reddened eyes, and Leo’s heart felt like it was breaking with every beat. And when Logan put his hand in his and the sparks flooded over his whole body, Leo closed his eyes and willed them away.
---
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yeeeeeeeessssss . fluff 12: “Am I your lockscreen?” “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
Soooooo.... A million and a half years later, I’m finally getting to this prompt that @superpixie42 has now officially forgotten she sent me. 🎉
This hails from the Stocking Stuffers Universe which also included Dinner and Dancing. A nice fluffy “how they met” type story. It also happens to coincide with @inukag-week‘s prompt for the day of Acceptance. Enjoy, Lovelies!
The grassy knoll at the bottom of the biggest hill on campus was the best spot for a break between classes. Kagome made a point to meet up with friends there at least once a week, but often stopped alone to sit under the large maple that remained its central focus. There was a large retaining wall higher up the hill that was a frequent spot for the architecture students to sit, sketching the buildings around them, analyzing the lines… usually horsing around. Kagome favored a book in her spare time, since she did so much studying at home, but today she had a test to finish reviewing for in her next class.
A chorus of laughter caught her attention, drawing her eyes up to the wall. There were several male students and a lone female student, sitting with a sprawl of meal bags and large sketch pads. One young man, with dark hair pulled in a low tail, was playfully elbowing another in the ribs. With silver hair that nearly glinted in the sunlight and a look on his face that promised retribution, the other young man fairly vibrated with irritation.
Until it burst.
"Fucking...fine!" he shouted, vaulting off the wall with amazing grace and landing as though it were nothing. Which Kagome realized had to mean he was at least part youkai, because that wall was high. She read in the campus paper a month or so before that a human student had broken a leg and arm trying to impress friends by jumping down and miscalculating the height. And the fact that there was a hill at the bottom.
Kagome went back to her textbook, paging to her next sticky referencing the basilar membrane and set in for a very technical read.
"Um…"
Blinking, Kagome looked up and found the silver haired guy standing near enough to obviously be addressing her without getting too close. "Hi?” His eyes widened at her soft greeting and she could see that they were golden in color. “Can I help you with something?”
“Uh. Well… I…” He clearly hadn’t thought that they would get this far into the conversation. Still not sure what his goal was, Kagome slowly sat up and set her book aside. “My friend has been giving me a hard time and…”
“I noticed. I’m Kagome, by the way,” she cut in when he was struggling to continue.
“I-Inuyasha.” She smiled at his light blush. “See, he thinks that you’re probably a freshman, but I thought you were older.” His eyes widened when her eyebrow went up at his choice of words. “Not that you look old or… Shit.”
Kagome grinned, resting her chin in her hand while looking up at him, nearly sweating under the collar with anxiety now and ready to abandon his mission. “Sit down a sec. You look like you need a break.” He complied without a second thought, plopping into the grass beside her. They both pretended not to hear the jeering calls from the wall. “Is this a bet? ‘Cause you won. I’m a junior.” Inuyasha’s golden eyes flashed triumphantly, then he winced. “I’m guessing you lot are younger?”
“No. I’m a senior. Miroku, my friend, he’s a senior on a victory lap. Maybe a second one… I can’t remember now.” Kagome giggled. “We’re architecture.”
“I figured. I see you guys up there a lot.” She noticed the intrigued look in his eyes just before she noticed the pair of fluffy ears that seemed to appear on top of his head. She let out a little delighted gasp, which caused them to lay back again and his face to shutter. “Saw that landing too. Nice. Way to not break anything.”
Inuyasha froze, then slowly relaxed. He obviously sensed the acceptance in her demeanor. “Yea, well that kid was human and didn’t know how to roll into the impact.” They chatted for a few minutes about the incident, then fell into a faintly uncomfortable silence. “What are you studying?”
“Oh! I have a test on the cochlea in a bit. Reviewing the basilar membrane functions…” Inuyasha stared at her with no indication of understanding. “It’s part of the inner ear. It moves when sound waves impact the…” She paused again. “It’s pretty boring, really,” she murmured shyly.
“So you’re like, in pre med?”
“No. Audiology. Or I will be. Have to do grad school for that. Right now I’m Speech and Hearing Sciences.”
“That’s cool. You study ears and hearing.” Kagome wasn’t sure he realized that he was wiggling his very prominent ears at her in his excitement. She grinned and nodded. “Wow. Do they have anything on… on canine hearing in there?” he wondered.
Kagome laughed. “Not really. This book focuses on human hearing, but I have another textbook at home that compares human to non-human hearing. I could… Well… if you wanted...”
“Will you be here tomorrow?” he jumped in. She nodded. “Keh. Bring it then.” A light flush lit her cheeks. “I-If that’s alright?”
“Yea. It’s alright.”
The pair continued to meet in the grassy knoll almost every day for a week, only the intense rain one afternoon keeping them from seeing each other. Kagome realized after the storm that she had no way to contact him. They could have chosen one of the libraries to meet instead! The next afternoon, she put on her brave face and sucked up her nervous feelings so she could ask for his number.
“Oh! Yea! I mean,” he paused, clearing his throat, “that would be cool. Or whatever.”
He crouched beside her, starting to put in his password. So focused on the pattern, Inuyasha didn't notice Kagome glancing over his shoulder. He yelped when she grabbed the handset out of his long fingers, studying the screen intently for a moment before looking at him with a faint frown. “Am I your lockscreen?”
She could see the proverbial "oh shit" in his eyes before he snatched the phone back. Kagome waited for him to respond but found that he was speechless. It was a candid shot, obviously taken from the wall, with her casually laying on her stomach, reading a book. The distance and zoom made it a little blurry, but it was definitely her.
“You weren’t supposed to see that,” he finally squeaked out. Kagome could see by how flat his ears lay against his head that he was about to panic. She had picked up on some of his tells in the last week, as well as done a little research about canine youkai.
What she had also picked up on in her brief search was that hanyou, like Inuyasha, were in an odd place in society. She had never really met anyone with mixed heritage before, so she wasn’t aware of the stigma. Inuyasha was likely made very aware of it, regularly and from an early age.
“You didn’t get a very good angle,” she said lightly, pulling up her own phone and flipping the camera so they could see themselves on the screen. Inuyasha still looked confused and terrified. Kagome smiled brightly and caught one shot that way, then nudged his shoulder. “You gonna smile or what?”
It took him a moment to process what she was doing, how she was reacting to him. That she was… accepting him. When he finally understood all of that, he relaxed, gaze softening, ears returning to their normal position and a faint grin lifting the corner of his lips.
“That’s better.” Kagome snapped another couple of shots to make sure they got a good one. “Here. Give me your number and I’ll send them to you so you can use one of those instead. Much better angle.”
Inuyasha chuckled even as he took out his phone again. “That was pretty slick, you know that? I wouldn’t have guessed you had that in you.”
Kagome grinned as she put his number into a text and shot off the pictures with a heart emoji. “I think there’s a lot of things you’ll find out about me that you wouldn’t have guessed.”
Inuyasha matched her smirk with one of his own. “I accept that.”
@lemonlushff , @fantastiqueparfait , @heavenin–hell, @clearwillow , @mamabearcat , @thunderpo , @keichanz , @meggz0rz , @disgruntledbeast , @sarah-writes-stories , @zelink-inukag , @rikareena , @cammysansstuff , @mcornilliac , @redflamesofpassion , @superpixie42 , @underwater0phelia , @cstorm86 , @noviceotakus-blog , @lavendertwilight89 , @hinezumi , @wenchster , @hnnwnchstr , @lady-dark-69 , @itzatakahashi , @juliatheanimelover7 , @kazeinori , @theinuyashareader , @inupotter , @eternalnight8806-3 , @smmahamazing , @willowandfog , @gaysonthefloor , @sistasecbhere , @jennybean91
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Medically Inevitable
Chapter 1- Frivolous First Days
Characters:- Arielle Valentine, Ethan Ramsey, Jackie Varma, Sienna Trinh
Pairing:- Ethan Ramsey x Arielle Valentine
Warnings:- PTSD
Arielle’s PoV:-
Edenbrook Hospital. Finally! My very first day of my internal medicine residency at Edenbrook. One more step, a rather huge one, towards my goal.
General PoV:-
Arielle adores the hospital from standing outside, with a proud smile on her face. She's halfway there, to be her own person, and also halfway to mend the relationship that shouldn't have been strained in the first place, but yet, she had to destroy it. She takes a deep breath. Now, she can only hope for her godfather to forgive her.
With one more look, she enters the huge hospital to find the reception desk straight ahead of her. ID cards- she needs to collect her ID before doing anything else.
A bright, chirpy doctor, smiling at everyone who's passing her, is the first thing or to be more accurate the first person to grab Arielle's attention nearing the nurses' desk. “Hey!” New intern, right?" The doctor gives her a bright smile which Arielle returns. "I'm Dr. Delarosa but you can call me Ines," she continues, her cheerful voice flowing with excitement.
"Let me help you with your badge. What's your name?" She asks smiling.
"Arielle Valentine, " I reply.
"Valentine...Valentine..." She mutters while rummaging through the bundle of ID's and then the badges. And then smiles brightly when she finds both," Ah! Here you go Dr. Valentine."
Before taking her badge, for a moment, Arielle wonders how much Ines’s cheeks must hurt at the end of the day for smiling this much. But then Aria herself smiles.
"Thank you," she smiles at Ines before her gaze flickers back to the badge.
Dr. Valentine, it says. She remembers how her father said she wouldn’t be able to make it. He never believed in her, that she could be successful in the field she wants. But now she is going to be a doctor. She did it. And her heart fills with pride. She's never been this proud of herself before. "Thank you."
As she's about to pass the waiting room, out of nowhere, an elderly woman collapses on the floor.
Arielle makes her way towards woman but before she could another doctor reaches her. He leans down to check her pulse and then looks around before his gaze stops at her. "You rookie, come here."
For a millisecond Arielle thinks of correcting him and tell her name but then decides against it, because the patient's life matters more.
She rushes to the patient's side to take a note of her vitals and tells the doctor. "Pulse is weak. She is unresponsive," Arielle says. She can feel her panic rising. But the older doctor's calm. "What was she coming for? Did she fill out a form yet?" He asks the nurse standing nearby. "No, she just walked in," the nurse replies, his features screaming tension.
"If we don't figure out what's wrong with her quickly, she'll die on this table." He says, though a bit frustrated this time. "Rookie, check her B.P." Arielle wraps a blood pressure cuff around the unconscious woman's arm, and pumps the bulb, peering at the numbers. "It's plummeting. She's hypotensive," Arielle feels panic rising more than ever. "We need to get fluid in her."
The nurses runs and gets a IV stand. As he sets the stand, Arielle checks the woman for more symptoms as does the older doctor. That's when she notices a bruise rapidly forming in her elbows. "Doctor look at the bruise. It wasn't there a moment ago," she points it out. "Are you sure?"
"Yes.", you reply. "A bruising that fast suggests the patient is hemophiliac. Good catch." He nods." Take a closer listen to her lungs."
Arielle slips the stethoscope into her ears and runs the resonator over the woman's ribs. "I can't listen anything on her left side. And her right lung is struggling," She says tensed. "Doctor she's going to suffocate." Arielle's a mess right now, tensed. But the older doctor remains collected. "Nurse we have got a code blue."
Taking a bag mask from the nurse and begins to gently pump air into the woman's lungs. He is cool and calm on the other hand Arielle's on the verge of having an panic attack. "What do we do doctor?" She asks. "Consider all the clues. It's all there. You know this, Rookie."
It hits you. “It’s a hemothorax!” "Precisely, a blood vessel ruptured and is filling her pleural cavity- ,"
"-blocking her lungs from expanding. That's why she can't breathe!" I say. " But...but we can't repair the blood vessel here."
"We'll have to do an emergency thoracotomy here to drain the cavity instead." " Nurse!" He calls and the nurse runs to them with a lung tube and a scalpel, forwarding them to Arielle. She accepts it hesitantly. The doctor pulls the woman's shirt to expose the side of her rib cage, Arielle shivers of fear.
With her hand shaking she tries to remember what she was taught. The scalpel quivers in her nervous grip. But the doctor from behind her steadies her hand. "Hey, you've got this," he whispers softly and Arielle nods trying steady her hands. "There you go, nice and easy." He says as Arielle makes a perfect incision in between the woman's ribs.
"Now the tube," He instructs.
Together, the two of them insert the chest tube and with a spurt, blood comes out draining out of her chest. She starts to breathe again.
"We...we did it!" Arielle says shocked and surprised but also happy. She's happy that she could save a live. She knew her godfather would tell her stories about saving lives but, having done it for herself, she felt exhilarated and happy.
She sees the doctor gesturing to the nurse and then instructing him what to do.
"Doctor... That was...amazing! " Arielle says happy and excited.
"Yeah, it's actually pretty amazing that you didn't get her killed." He snorts.
"Your examination was slow and not to mention superficial. You scalpel techniques-" he nods in denial," amateur at best."
"I'm sorry doctor, it's my first day."
“Well, it wouldn't have mattered to the patient’s family if she died, Dr.-" he takes her ID, "Valentine."
He gazes at it thoughtfully before piching the bridge of her nose and mumbling something. Tossing the ID back at Arielle he leaves.
"What an ass!" She exclaims angrily.
"Yeah, what an ass!" A female nurse stares at her admiringly, her eyes filled with lust, making Arielle roll her eyes.
"Don't worry. Dr. Ramsey is like this to everyone," the same male nurse from before says.
"Dr. Ramsey?! As in Dr. Ethan Ramsey?!"
"Yes. I take in you are a fan?"
"Are you kidding me? He's basically one of the reasons I wanted to be a doctor. And now you are telling me I just performed a thoracotomy with him!" Arielle says the last part a bit dramatically making the nurse laugh and walks away leaving Arielle with her thoughts alone.
She remembers meeting him a few years back, but never did she think he would act like that. She remembers him sharing his passion of medicine with everyone, and encouraging her to follow her path. Was he really the same person? Can being a doctor for 10 years really change your outlook in life that much? She's shocked!
She looks down at her clothes now having patches of blood here and there. "I need to change my outfit," she says to herself and looks around for a clock. "Shit! I'm going to be late!”, she thinks noticing the time and runs off to find the locker room. After thirty minutes of a lecture, they gets assigned to their very first case, with an intern pairing with another from the stream.
And Arielle's partner is Aurora Emery, who just happens to be ‘her boss's niece and who is not at all surprisingly, not friendly at all.
On their way to the first patient, Arielle's the one to open her mouth first, “Okay, so our first patient is in Room 532. Should we talk about how we are going to approach this case first?" “No need," she says rudely testing Arielle's patience. That Aurora Emery doesn't have the right to talk to people like this just because her aunt is the hospital chief. "Look Aurora, all I care about is the patient.” Arielle takes a breath to calm herself. " If you don't want to be nice, that's okay by me. But we're gonna put everything else aside for the people in our care."
"Suits me just fine." Her voice still cold as ice. She moves forward, keeping a few steps ahead Arielle. So much for not being egoistic.
Arielle skims through the chart for the patient’s personal details. They enter Room 532 to see the patient in there of the same age as them, not much older.
Arielle’s PoV:-
“Hi Annie! I’m Dr. Valentine and this is Dr. Emery. We’ll be your doctors today.” I nod in her direction. And Aurora smiles kindly and sweetly at the girl. Something that I didn't think she can.
" Annie, I'm going to take your vitals while Dr. Valentine asks you some questions," she says, her face still smiling.
"Before we start, is there anyone we can call for you? Being in the hospital can be a little less scary with someone by your side."
" I just moved here for grad school. My family's on the other side of the country, and I don't really know anyone yet," Annie says, her voice low.
"I just moved here too. Maybe we can look after each other." I smile brightly at her hoping to make her mood better. It works, and she returns the smile.
As Aurora checks her B.P. I ask her a few questions noticing the patches of rashes on her skin.
"Do you often suffer from itchy skin?"
"Not really. Just for the past few days."
I nod and grab her chart. " You came in here for headaches, nausea and vertigo."
"And also my plans keep cramping up."
“My palms also keep cramping up though.”
"Have you ever had these symptoms before?"
"Never. The timing sucks. I even had to cut my vacation to Indonesia short for it."
"You did the right thing. Vertigo on a unknown place can be very dangerous." Aurora says.
"Not to mention how scary it have been.
"It still is." Annie pauses for a second. "How long will I have to stay here?"
"We'll try our best to make it quick," I say confidently, and the girl relaxes a bit.
"Sorry, I panic easily when I'm stressed out."
I notice a bruise on her ankle while checking her for any other symptoms or anything else that could give me a clue.
"How did you get this cut on your ankle, Annie?"
"Oh that! I cut it on some coral while I was scuba driving."
"You are a scuba driver?"
"I'm still learning. I went to get my driver's license while I was on my trip. But I never got it though."
"Okay, last question. Are you allergic to any medication?"
"No, none that I know of."
Arielle notes everything down. "Thank you Annie, you did a nice job here." Both Arielle and Aurora smiles at her.
"Thanks. You guys are really nice. Honestly, I was hoping a old grumpy guy."
"So was I.", I laugh.
"We'll let you get some rest," Aurora says before getting out of the room following Arielle.
"Dr. Valentine. I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of hearing it."
" I on the other hand, am already bored of it," Aurora says, her friendly behavior gone again.
Sighing, I focus on the job.
" We should do a screen for any viruses or bacteria. She could have picked up something on her trip."
"Not the worst idea. We’ll run a full workup on her vitals."
And before I can say anything else, Aurora's pager goes off. It's her aunt. She's paging her to her office.
"I need to go." Her cold voice announces.
"Seriously?! " This time I can feelher anger rising. Was she really ditching her? It's our case. We should solve it together. Not me alone!
"I'll tell you what. When the chief wants to see you, I'll run the labs. Until then...”, she never finishes the sentence but leaves.
General PoV:-
Half an hour later, Sarah, a nurse at the hospital, the same one who was admiring Dr. Ramsey shamelessly, hands Arielle a lab report. Annie's lab report.
Going through the report once Arielle ask to give Annie an antibiotic, twice a day, 1200 mg in total. She tells it to Maria, another nurse, a bit elderly but nonetheless friendly and sweet.
Before lunch she decides to check on the other patient she had. A five year old child who has a hole in heart. Poor boy. Life is being unfair to him. He should have been playing and having fun but here he was stuck with his medications.
The last time she checked on him, he was all sad and gloomy, sitting on his bed alone. So this time Arielle decides to surprise him with a treat that'll make him happy.
That's what Arielle is doing now, standing in front of the vending machine. Buying four different candies, which are now resting in the pocket of her lab coat, she is standing there confused of which chocolate bar to pick as the fifth treat.
Twix... Kitkat... And an unknown chocolate bar. She guesses it to be some American snack. Her eyes runs over all the chocolate options before she sighs.
"Having trouble choosing yourself a treat, Rookie?" A cold, nonchalant voice says from behind her.
She turns around to find the same doctor with whom she performed the thoracotomy, Dr. Ramsey.
"Dr. Ramsey... It's not for me, it's for one of a patient of mine." She says. When she doesn't get any reply from him she herself continues. "He is here to treat a hole in his heart. His surgery is due tomorrow and he is really scared right now. Poor little guy, he should be enjoying playing with toys but instead stuck here. So I thought of buying him a little something that will cheer him up."
For a second, she thinks that she saw him smile but it was gone to soon to revaluate.
She turns to the vending machine again. "I was always a Geysers girl myself.” “He however”, pausing to turn back and point at the boy, “doesn't seem like a kid who'll like Geysers."
She says looking at him. She notices him staring at that chocolate bar and suddenly an idea strikes her mind. "Why don't you help me choose one, doctor? Please," she requests, way too cutely for anyone to refuse.
He sighs but yet takes a step forward towards the machine. He stands there for a minute going through the option. His eyes flickering at the chocolate bar which makes Arielle think he's going to choose it but rather he settles for a Kitkat.
When it pops out, he hands it to Arielle and walks away. With the remaining coins, Arielle quickly buys that chocolate bar.
"Dr. Ramsey...wait!" She quickens her pace to catch him and bumps into him when he suddenly stops resulting in the free fall of her charts.
She leans down to pick it up but rather the chocolates and candies falls down from her pocket.
Sighing Ethan kneels down to help her. "Jeez, Rookie, are you here to treat the kid or give him diabetes?"
Arielle gives him a incredulous look while picking her things. "It's just a few candies!"
Ethan hands her the candies he picked up and then stands. Arielle too stands up after picking her charts and then hands out the chocolate bar to Ethan, who raises his brows.
"I saw you staring at it," she starts to explain, " Seemed like you like it."
She tosses him the bar with a sweet smile, " You know it's okay to treat yourself time to time."
"And you know, you are never too old to have a chocolate," she smirks at him but Ethan is too surprised at her gesture that he barely notices it.
"Uh, thank you Dr. Valentine...I guess," he says awkwardly.
Arielle's PoV:-
Dr. Ramsey turns around and leaves. As I turn around I bump into another person. “What's with me and bumping today.”, I think. "Sorry, my bad!" I apologize to the intern with whom I bumped. "Ah, no, all mine... I'm sorry," he stammers a bit. “Hey, I saw you at the orientation. Arielle Valentine, right?” I nod.
"I'm Landry Olsen," he forwards his hand which I take. "Was that Dr. Ramsey?" He points towards the elevator. "Yes." "Wait, you’re the intern who performed the thoracotomy with him this morning. Aren't you?" He asks surprised and exited.
“Yeah, and he ripped me a new one in front of everyone," I say sadly. "It was so damn-" "Lucky!" He interrupts me in between. I bet that, well I think, being insulted in front of a whole crowd is anything but lucky. But I don't find it important to tell him.
Before I can say anything else my phone chimes with an alarm I set. "Sorry, I'll have to go. Talk to you later," I say and turn towards the stairs. “Okay, time to check on Annie, she should have taken the medication by now.”, you think to yourself. You enter her room to find Annie scrolling through her phone.
“Hey Annie.” “Hi Dr. Valentine, a nurse just gave me some medication a while back.” “Good. So, tell me more about yourself. We didn’t really have a chance to talk.”“I just moved here last week from California. I got accepted into Harvard for law.....law...sch...”
Suddenly, Annie’s heart monitor goes flat! Annie!..Annie!” You press the call button and yell Code Blue, performing chest compressions. Another intern burst into the room saying, “Room 501 just called a Code Blue before you, keep up the chest compressions. What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know, she was talking and speech started slurring. Then her heart stopped.”The tall intern pulls back Annie’s gown, revealing hives. You gasp. “She must have been allergic to the antibiotic I prescribed her!”
“We’ll have to defibrillate her ourselves; we’ll start her at 300 volts.” She takes your place of performing CPR, while you pull the cart close to the bed.
You open her gown and place the paddles after gelling their undersides, as she pauses CPR. “One below the right collarbone and one below the left armpit. Done!” You set the charge to 300 volts. “Do it!” Annie’s body spasms as you defibrillate her. “Clear!” You set them aside as she continues chest compressions. “Come on!.....Come on Annie! Come back to us!” You hear a beep, you turn towards the monitor. Annie’s heartbeat returns, accelerated but constant! “Yes!” “You are sooo lucky, Dr....”
“Arielle Valentine. I’ll maintain compressions while you push an epinephrine injection and intubate, Dr....” “Jackie Varma.”, she says while intubating. You continue with your compressions. “What the HELL is going on here, Rookie?”
You let out a short squeal in surprise. Turning to look at him, you see him leaning on the doorframe glaring at you. “Dr. Ramsey! Don’t worry, everything’s under control. My patient was allergic to the antibiotics I prescribed her.”
“At least you’re owning up to your mistake.” You see Dr. Ramsey turn to Jackie, pushing an epinephrine injection into her thigh. “Now, we intubate.” You see her lubricate the tube before slowly feeding it through her mouth.
“Good work, Dr....” “Varma. I heard Dr. Valentine calling a Code Blue, since Room 501 called one before, I decided to step in and help.”
“The patient is very lucky you were here. I’m not sure Dr. Valentine here could have handled it.” You bit your lip, your face falling. “Thank you Dr. Ramsey, although Dr. Valentine performed as well.”
He scoffs and politely tells her to go back to her patients. “And you... you need to have a long, hard think about if you are prepared to be here. This isn’t med school, this is the real world. It doesn’t matter that the patient didn’t know that she was allergic or it is your first day. Whether your patients live or die are on you.” “Yes, Dr. Ramsey.”, you bit your lip in shame so hard that you start drawing blood. Luckily, he doesn’t notice. “There are no room for mistakes or excuses. You can’t expect the patient’s family to accept the reason of”-
“Dr. Ramsey? A petite intern is standing near the door. “Wow, someone who isn’t tall! I thought everyone were basketball players here!”, you think to yourself. “Yes?”, he asks, the annoyance on his face clearly visible. “A nurse said to me that another nurse said to him that Dr. Hirata said to him that Chief Emery wants to see you.” He groans, “Interns!” He swiftly walks out and turns a corner.
“Thank God for Dr. Hirata!”, you thank the universe for this distraction. “Yeah, but too bad that Chief Emery didn’t actually need Dr. Ramsey.”, she says with a mischievous smirk. “Wait What?”
“I saw Dr. Ramsey chewing you out, just as bad as your lip, and thought that girl needs a little saving.”, she says nonchalantly. “Damn! You’ve got nerve!”, I praised her, impressed by her courage to lie to THE Dr. Ramsey. “Aww! Thanks, it was nothing. I’m Sienna or Dr. Trinh, whatever floats your boat. “I’m Arielle Valentine, and I’m also glad that not every doctor is a basketball player!” She laughs.
“Hey, a bunch of us interns are meeting up at a bar across the street, Donahue’s. You should come too, even Dr. Ramsey hangs out there.” “I’ll be there.”
“Awesome! Come to the locker room once your shift ends. I’ll be waiting. Byeee!”
General PoV:-
Arielle can’t help but think about her arguments with her father as Dr. Ramsey’s words come back to her. “And you... you need to have a long, hard think about if you are prepared to be here. This isn’t med school, this is the real world. It doesn’t matter that the patient didn’t know that she was allergic or it is your first day. Whether your patients live or die are on you.”
Arielle starts to doubt herself, whether cutting off most contact with her family and Naveen was worth it. Especially for something she isn’t good at. Her mind starts to remember her 18th birthday, specifically the huge argument that followed after her announcement of becoming a doctor, “or at least hoping to.”, she thought.
Tears start pooling in her eyes and she ducks into a nearby supply closet. She can hear her father’s words whispered in her head. “How could you do this! We’ve been talking about you and your brother taking over the family law firm someday! Why would you tell us now! Do you know how many prestigious universities and colleges are fighting to provide a full scholarship to the great Alessandro Raines’s daughter!” Tears start running down her blush tinted cheeks, smearing the eyeliner and mascara she had done in the morning. Her pager beeps after some time. She darts into the restroom and fixes her makeup and continues her shift.
Where's is the freaking elevator? She angrily mutters to herself in the quest of finding the elevator.
"Hey, are you lost too?" An intern in a wheelchair asks her. He is coming from the opposite direction of her.
"Yes," Arielle gives a sheepish smile.
"Me too."
"Trust me this place doesn't look this huge from outside." Arielle says and he giggles.
"Any idea how to get to the elevator?" He asks looking around.
"Nope. I'm looking for it too," Arielle sighs. "How does everyone else seem to already know where to go?""And what to do..." He says sadly.
"Say, are you two lost? I can show you the main hall then," and elderly patient says coming from the same direction as Elijah.
"Thanks! As long as it's not much trouble for you ma'am," Elijah smiles at her brightly.
"No trouble Dr. Taylor makes me take twelve laps of the floor every day so I don't go stir-crazy!" She smiles back. "Come with me," She says and starts to walk and the lost two interns follows her.
"Here you go. This elevator can take you on your way," she nods at the elevator which is currently resting on this floor.
"Thank you ma'am! You are a lifesaver," Elijah says.
"Really, thank you," Arielle smiles at her before getting in the elevator with Elijah.
As the elevator starts moving down, something strikes in Arielle's mind.
"Oh my God! I know what's wrong with Annie!" She says and presses the 3rd floor button.
"Wait, what's wrong? And who's Annie? " Elijah asks confused but before Arielle can reply the lifts halts to stop.
"Sorry, gotta go! I'll explain it to you later!" Arielle gets out of the lift while paging Dr. Ramsey.
Ten minutes later, he enters room 532, where Arielle is talking with Annie.
"You paged me," his cold voice rang through the room which grabbed the attention of both the woman.
"I solved the case," Arielle says happily.
"I'll be the judge of that."
"I too want to know what is wrong with me," Annie says in between them and with that Arielle starts to explain what she found out while questioning Annie occasionally, when needed.
"I'm going to write her prescription and get her medications ready," Arielle feels to Ethan once they both where outside the patient's room.
"Don't bother," Dr. Ramsey says nonchalantly, handing her a paper.
She opens it to find a medical prescription, prescribing all the medicines that she was about to order for Annie. "You knew what's wrong with her?" She asks confused and he nods.
"Then why didn't you treat her?" She asks a bit angrily this time.
"I thought to give you time till 11 o'clock to solve it."
"I- Well, thanks for giving me a chance," Arielle says calming her anger.
And he raises his brows at her, "You’re not angry?"
"Honestly, I am. But again, I'm not going to learn anything if someone is holding my hand." She answers.
"My thoughts exactly."
Just then Aurora comes there to see Arielle talking with Ethan, with a prescription in her hands. Her eyes moves to the room where Annie is staying to Annie laying happily in her bed.
"You presented the case without me." Aurora says angrily once she's beside Arielle.
And that's when Arielle remembers that she had a partner. "I'm doomed," she thinks to herself before she hears Ramsey scolding Aurora.
"Where where you and what where you doing when Dr. Valentine was solving the case here alone?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose he continues, "This assignments aren't optional..."
He keeps lashing out at Dr.Emery so Arielle decides to help her out.
"Sorry, Dr. Emery, I should have kept you updated on the case," She interrupts Ethan who angrily mutters something under his breathe.
Aurora at first glares at her angrily but after understanding Arielle is giving her an out she speaks," It's okay. I wasn't there. So it is your win."
Ethan turns to Arielle this time. "Dr. Valentine, this hospital runs on communication. Keep each other apprised."
He says before walking out to the other direction.
Your shift soon grinds to an end. You head to the locker room.
"Get ready!!" Sienna exclaims excited as soon as Arielle enters into their locker room."Woah! Calm down, girl!," Arielle smiles brightly at her. "Did you bring something to wear?" She asks and Arielle turns around from her locker with a cowl neck backless maroon top and a pair of black skinny jeans. " What do you think?" She shows it to Sienna."You'll look beautiful in it. Go and put it on! I want to see you in it!" She literally pusher Arielle into the changing stalls.
Within minutes Arielle gets out of the stall. “How do I look?""You look gorgeous," she compliments her. If anyone else said this Arielle wouldn't have believed it but Sienna's compliment felt genuine to her. "Is anyone else going to join us?" Arielle asks as they exit the hospital building. "Yes, they are already in the bar waiting for us," she says, her excitement never decreasing. It takes them five minutes to walk to the bar from the hospital.
"Hi, guys!" Sienna greets as soon as they reach a table. There are three more interns there. Arielle saw them at the orientation, they are internal medicine residents, same as her. Also, two of them are Landry and Jackie, she already met them."This is Arielle," she introduces Arielle to everyone. "Hi!" Arielle waves at everyone before taking a seat beside Jackie and Sienna sits beside Elijah and next to him is Landry. Soon a waiter brings a tray full of shots to their table and they bond over it.
Hours after, Arielle feels a pair of eyes looking at her. She looks around to find a pair of turquoise blue eyes locked on hers. "I'll buy us the next round," Arielle says and get up before anyone else can say anything. "Anything wrong Dr.Ramsey?" She asks when she's nears him at the bar. "No, I-" he pauses."I was just looking how different you look in the outer world." Just then the bartender interrupts to ask if Arielle needs something. "A round of shots and," she looks at Ethan's glass trying to figure out what he is drinking," two scotches,neat." She smiles at the bartender. The bartender comes back either her orders and she passes one of the glasses bearing the scotch to Ethan. "Why neat instead of on the rocks?" He asks accepting the drink. "Because ice changes the flavor."
"Correct," he says impressed. " You know you can't bribe me into favoring you, right?" He nods at the drink. "It's just a thank you drink," she replies.” “Thank you, for what?" " For giving me another chance."
Ethan’s PoV:-
As she talks about some patient, he can't help but study her face. It feels like I know her, I've seen her somewhere before. Her soft diamond face, blushing cheeks. Her long jet black hair, the end of which is ombréd with violet, the same violet as her eyes- everything about her seems too familiar. I can't help but look at how pretty she is looking right now. Her hair covering half of her face and those bright violet eyes peeking from beneath it those beautiful long lashes. Get a hold on your thoughts, Ramsey! She's your intern for god’s sake!
"Anything for you, Ethan?" Reggie asks after bringing Arielle her tray of shots. "Two specials, Reggie." "Only for you Ethan." "You are on first name basis with the bartender?" She asks me after Reggie is gone. “I come here everyday since my intern year. So I know him for a long time," I answer. "You don't have anyone waiting at home?"
I hesitate for a moment but then decide to change the topic by answering. “I'll come here even when I do. I need some buffer between hospital and the world. An air lock." "Don't take your job home, Valentine." "I'll keep that in mind. But you still didn't answer my question." She says. She's not one to forget. I sigh. “No, no one's waiting for me at home tonight." Thanks to Reggie for saving me from any further questions from her, if she has any.
After Reggie places our drinks I hand one to her.
"Try it."
She looks at it for a moment, probably deciding whether or not to drink.
"It's great! Better than any other drink I've had," she says slightly surprised making me smirk.
“Either you are sucking up to me or you have an excellent taste as an intern." I smirk.
"I'd like to think it's the second one." She grins and then turns around to find her friends.
"I think I should go. My friends are waiting for me. Good night, Dr. Ramsey.” She says and I nod.
Arielle’s PoV:-
After two hours, and three more rounds of shots, the group makes their way out.
"We'll have to be back here after four more hours only," Arielle says checking the time on her phone.
"The apartment I share with my boyfriend is on the other side of the town. I will barely be able to sleep for two hours," Sienna says sadly.
"I'd be damned to sleep for two hours. The apartment I stay in is above a salsa club," Jackie sighs.
"The apartment I rented doesn't have a lift, so I had to settle with the smallest one-bed room apartment on the ground floor. There's hardly any space there," Elijah says.
"Guys!" Sienna grabs their attention. "Maybe I am saying this because I'm drunk. But what if the five of us rents an apartment together?" She suggests.
"Renting an decent apartment alone in Boston may be quite expensive. But if we five split it among us, the price won't be much more than we are already paying for our hellholes." Jackie nods in support.
"That's probably a good idea." Landry supports her too.
As the group starts discussing about it, Arielle looks at them thoughtfully.
She never thought of moving in with people she’ve known for only a day, but fate seems to have different plans for her.
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One Night with Number Two
Fandom: The Umbrella Academy
Pairing: Diego (Number two) x reader (I try my hardest to keep physical traits outside of reader inserts, but for this story you are in your late twenties/early thirties)
Summary: You return to your home town after Reginald Hargreeves dies and your plans to pay your respects don’t go as expected.
Warnings: this story involves NON-CONSENSUAL SEX (but it’s written sort of like dub-con/sex under the influence) but it definitely has consent issues. Smut
Words: 3500
When you heard Sir Reginald Hargreeves passed it was time to head home. While calling the man a dick was an understatement he was part of your childhood and always supported your parents.
The man had particular tastes when it came to everything, including his food, and would only use your father’s butcher shop for any cut of meat. His orders not only kept the business afloat but also put you through college and grad school. Even if he was never nice to you, your family owed his.
Were they even a family? He kept such a tight leash on them, but there was one who always accompanied him when orders were placed or picked up.
“Hi Y/N.” A thirteen-year-old boy ran up to the counter.
“Number two, don’t concern yourself with the proletariat.” Sir Hargreeves tapped his cane. “I need extra steaks this week. Two strips, four filets….”
Reginald continued on with his order, but your eyes glanced to number two. His eyes were wide as he stared right at you. It made you so uncomfortable, you didn’t want to draw any ire from his father.
The memories were like ghosts, surrounding you and playing out right in front of your eyes.
“Hi Y/N.” The voice had dropped, but even at sixteen, he didn’t try to hide the love-sick puppy look. “Want to see a new trick?”
“Umm…can I take your order?” You picked up the pad of paper, still not sure what you ever did to draw Diego’s attention.
You glanced up and screamed as a knife whizzed by your ear. Your entire body shook, unsure if you had been stabbed and couldn’t feel it from shock.
“Number two!” Sir Hargreeves walked in the door. “Nobody likes a show-off. Y/N is not impressed and neither am I.”
“Sorry.” Diego stared right at you, not caring about disappointing his father. “Don’t worry Y/N. I’d never hurt you.”
“Get back to the car Number two.” Reginald turned his attention to the counter. “Today I would like seven chicken breasts, two pork loins…”
You didn’t look or listen to either of them as your body continued to shake with fear.
Of course, there were other times the Hargreeves came into the shop, sometimes Diego would try to make small talk, but you never wanted that either.
“Good afternoon Y/N.” Diego ran right up to the counter. “I missed you the last few times. Were you at school?”
“Yeah.” You nodded and went to grab an order sheet.
“Today is my birthday.” He smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m eighteen now, a man.”
“Oh?” You waited for his father to walk in. “Happy birthday.”
“Do you want to go out with me? To celebrate?” His smile grew to show sparkling white teeth.
“No.” You blurted out the answer without thinking.
His smile dropped and he looked at the ground. You felt a pang of guilt, but not enough to change your response.
“Maybe some other time then?” He rolled his shoulders and put on another grin, but you could see the pain behind his eyes.
“Maybe.”
You noticed the pain in his eyes then, but it made you realize he always carried it, pain was life for that man, and you craved a more pleasant experience.
“Y/N.” The door chimed and you looked up to see Diego.
The Umbrella Academy had disbanded, but still, he stayed in the city. Out of all the members he was the one you wished would leave the most.
“Hello.” You grabbed your pencil, ready to take his order and speed along your interaction.
“I heard a rumor, you’re going away to school?” He shoved his hands in his pockets, even though he was twenty now he still had the same mannerisms from his younger days.
“That’s right.” You held your chin high and relaxed your shoulders, not trying to show how freaked you were that he knew.
“Springland has a low crime rate. It’s a good choice. You’ll be safe there.” He dipped his head and locked eyes with you.
A tremor went through you. Not over the stature of the man or what he was capable of, that he knew the city you were headed to and his approval felt more like a threat.
Your parents told you he still frequented their shop and asked about you every time. They never understood why you wouldn’t give the man a chance. They also didn’t understand why you never returned home unless you had to and then avoided working the shop at all costs.
Fear was probably the easiest answer. To them, Diego was a gentleman, but to you, there was always something more sinister beneath.
You had walked passed The Umbrella Academy home millions of times but never stepped foot inside. As you raised your hand to knock you hoped that stayed true. That Pogo would take your condolences and send you on your way, but in your gut, you knew a certain member of the academy wasn’t going to let you get away so easily.
The sound of your knock echoed across the doors. You debated on setting the flowers on the stoop, knowing you weren’t going to knock twice.
When you bent to drop the bouquet the door flung open. You glanced up to lock eyes with a face you hadn’t seen in years.
“Not interested. We’re in mourning right now, are you that insensitive?” Number four popped a hip as you stood up. “Wait, you look familiar. Flower girl?”
“You look like shit.” Again word blurt hit you and you covered your mouth.
His jaw dropped and you watched his glossy eyes try and place you.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that your father just died.” You held out the flowers.
“Klaus who is it?” A melodic voice came from behind him.
“A sassy bitch.” His eyes ran up and down your body. “But someone who actually speaks her mind, unlike anyone else in this hellhole.”
The door pulled open all the way and you sucked in your breath. She was more beautiful in person. Allison Hargreeves had long dropped the nickname Number three.
“Y/N. You look great.” She stepped outside and gave you a hug.
You were shocked she knew your name. In fact, you didn’t think any of them outside of Diego would remember you.
“I’m sorry for your loss.” Allison pulled away and you handed her the flowers. “Your father carried quite an impact.”
“Y/N…now I remember, Diego’s little obsession.” Klaus leaned against the doorframe. “I understand why he liked going to the butcher so much, tell us, did he ever get that strip steak he was after?”
“Klaus.” Allison elbowed him and moved to block him. “Ignore my brother. We’re sort of having a little remembrance party inside. Do you want to come in?”
“I’ve gotta get going.” You pointed your thumb behind you.
“Nonsense.” Allison grabbed your hand and pulled you inside. “Everyone will be so excited to see you.”
Even if you wanted to resist she was moving to fast for you to respond. It was an irrational fear, but you couldn’t shake the feeling that as soon as you crossed the threshold you were being led to your doom.
Shouting filled the house. They were muffled by the many walls, but it was undeniable.
“Are you sure this is a party?” You looked back at the door.
“Things between siblings get a little heated at times.” Allison put her arm on the small of your back and guided you forward.
“The only way to survive being a Hargreeves is to party all the time.” Klaus scooped up a bottle of vodka sitting on a random table.
“I can’t stay long.” Run. Get out of here. That was all your brain screamed. “Just a quick hello.”
“In and out.” Allison smiled and nodded.
The shouting grew closer and even though you couldn’t make out the words you recognized one of the voices. Diego was here. It had been ten years since you’d seen each other. He wouldn’t pay the slightest attention to you now. You were sure of it.
Klaus moved ahead and pushed open the door.
“Attention fellow Miserables, we have a guest.” The addict did a bow as Allison walked you into the room.
There was drinking involved, but this did not look like a party. Vanya sat on a couch with her hands folded in her lap. Klaus lay down on another, crossing his ankles. Your vision had no other choice but to look at the center.
Luther was larger than you remembered, but his eyes narrowed on you with annoyance. You weren’t wanted here. You looked to the next person knowing who it would be. Diego’s features went from anger to softness. His eyes widened and lips parted. There was no doubt he remembered you.
“Y/N,” he spoke in a whisper, but the room had grown so quiet it may as well have been a scream.
Everyone was staring at you, but none as intently as Diego. You were that little girl all over again, stuck behind the counter unsure what you had done to draw this attention. You squeezed the bouquet and snapped back to reality.
“I brought flowers.” You held them out. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Diego took three huge strides and he was right in front of you. “That’s very kind.”
“Why don’t you put them in some water.” Allison was still touching your back.
Diego took the flowers and you dropped your eyes. Thankfully he walked back into the room, giving you an out without having to walk past him.
“I have to leave.” You spun around. “Really, I am sorry.”
Allison placed her other hand on your shoulder and pulled you close. Her lips were right next to your ear.
“I heard a rumor that you want to have sex with Diego all night long.”
The words echoed inside your head and before your mind could even form the word no she had pulled away. Her beautiful face smiled back at you and she gave you a wink.
Luther almost charged at you, making you recoil as he reached out and grabbed Allison.
“What did you do?” He asked through gritted teeth.
“Nothing.” Allison pulled her arm out of his grasp. “Y/N wanted to see Diego and now maybe the two of you can take the night off from trying to kill each other.”
You didn’t really care what they were talking about. All of a sudden you only had one thing on your mind. The siblings continued to squabble behind you, but you walked further into the room, now with a specific target in mind.
Diego walked back from behind the partition, the vase of flowers in his hands. He was clad in all black, dressed for a mission. It accentuated his body and you found yourself fantasizing about what it looked like without the tight clothing.
You pictured rippling muscles on his taut body. It made you like your lips in anticipation of what you hoped was to come.
“Y/N, it’s been a long time.” Diego set the vase on a table as you continued to approach him.
“Too long.” You stopped right in front of him and put your fingers on his chest, needing to touch him.
Diego took a small step back but stopped as his eyes locked with yours. His beautiful browns swirled with confusion. But confusion or not having him look at you sent a wave of heat down your body.
You wanted to rip his clothes off, throw him to the ground, and ride him. The image made you bite back a whimper.
“Are you alright?” Diego rested his hand on your shoulder. “Are they scaring you?”
He looked passed you towards his siblings. Luther and Allison were still fighting about something, but you had blocked them out.
“Can we go somewhere private?” While your desire for the man changed you weren’t sure you wanted him bad enough to put on a show for his siblings unless Diego insisted.
“Yeah.” He looked back at you. “Sure.”
You slid your hand across his chest and moved your body so your head was next to him, his arm flung over your shoulder with the movement.
“I’m sorry you have to see the fighting. Me and Luther, now Luther and Allison.” Diego led you away, through a second door in the back of the room. “It wasn’t how I hoped our reunion would go.”
“You guys don’t see each other often?” You brought your other hand behind Diego and rested it across his back on his hip.
“No.” Diego shook his head. “Enough about me. How have you been? I’m surprised to see you.”
You didn’t want to spend all night talking and tried to think of the best response that was going to land you in bed sooner.
“Well, I’ve been thinking maybe I’ve been away too long.” Your footsteps echoed off the open ceiling as you toured the main corridor. “Maybe it was time to stop fighting and come home.”
“Stop fighting?” Diego laughed. “You’re not a fighter Y/N.”
His arm slipped from around your shoulder. You were in another sitting room. It wasn’t the bedroom you hoped for, but it would do.
“I meant to stop fighting this.” You clasped your hands together as Diego turned to look at you.
One of his eyebrows was raised and his head tilted to the side.
“Fighting this?” He pointed between the two of you. “Y/N, what is going on? I’ve been chasing you since I was a little boy and you’ve never shown the slightest interest.”
“Because I was scared.” You lunged forward and put one hand on his chest and the other around his neck. “But I’m not anymore. When your brother vanished I was terrified that being with you would be dangerous, now I see that there is danger everywhere. And I’m not interested in denying this any longer.”
Diego studied your face. Being so close to him, having him look at you, it filled your body with more need. You clenched your thighs together, certain you were getting so turned on you were going to soak your panties.
“Hmpf.” His shoulders shrugged, but before disappointment could spread his arms were around your waist.
He hoisted you in the air as if you were nothing. You wrapped your legs around his waist and pressed against him as your lips slammed into his.
Both of you opened your mouths at the same time and your tongues started a war for power. You brought your other hand behind his head and smashed him closer and you ground your hips down on him.
The action almost made him fall over but gave you the leverage to take control of the kiss. His tongue was amazing as it worked against yours. But you let out a whine and started rocking your hips, needing more than just a kiss.
“Woah Y/N.” Diego tried to pull his head back, but you kept yanking him forward. “Isn’t this a little fast?”
“I’d say eighteen years is long enough.” You dropped your legs from his waist and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. “I don’t think I can wait for a second longer.”
His shirt was some sort of combat gear and you weren’t going to figure out how to remove it without his help. Lucky for you his lips dipped back to yours and he started undressing.
You decided to echo his movements and took off your own shirt between kisses. Diego grabbed your waist and pulled your forward, kissing your bare décolletage as he kicked his shoes off.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.” He nipped at your skin. “Fantasized about this. Dreamed about this.”
“Me either.” In all reality, you’d only wanted this for about five minutes, but those five minutes had been excruciating.
Both of you clumsily undressed, while still trying to touch each other, press your skin to skin, place hard, eager kisses on the other’s body.
Finally, both of you were naked, except your bra. Diego reached around your back and unclipped the clasp. Your mouths found each other again and you continued kissing as the garment slipped away, leaving you totally bare to each other.
“Grrr.” Diego reached out and grabbed your hips, pulling you closer and dragging you to the couch.
He laid you down and you pulled his waist as you spread your legs, wanting him to settle between them, needing his cock deep inside of you.
He moved backward so he was standing over your naked form. There was a deep hunger in his eyes as he took you all in.
Your body was so needy you couldn’t stop wiggling your hips. You held your arms open to him.
“Please. I need you.” You grabbed his wrists. “Please.”
“I want this to be perfect Y/N. As perfect as you are.” Diego licked his lips.
“And I don’t want to wait any longer.” You tugged his arm. “Please, I”ll do anything. I just need you inside me. No more waiting.”
Diego let you pull him down. You spread your legs as he settled between them. You groaned this wasn’t what you wanted. You needed his cock at your entrance, but instead, he kept too much distance as his lips went to your shoulder and hand snaked down your body.
His fingertips felt like fire as they went down your stomach.
“No more teasing.” You whined. “I’m yours. Please, Diego.”
“The things it does to me when I hear you say my name.” Diego dipped further and cupped your pussy. “I’d never hurt you. I need to make sure you’re ready to take me.”
You lifted your head and looked between your bodies. His cock was a monster. Normally you wouldn’t think it possible for your body to handle something so huge, but the sight only flared your excitement.
The more he could fill you the better.
“I’m so empty. Please.” Sweat was starting to cover your body. You dug your fingertips into his hips, hoping you could guide him inside of you.
“Soon baby.” One of his fingers slid inside of you with ease. It wasn’t what you wanted but it was enough to make you arch your back, pressing your chest to his.
“You’re so wet Y/N.” Diego started pumping his finger. “Soaked.”
“For you.” You tried to lift your hips with his movement. “You do this to me.”
Diego let out a growl and removed his finger. Then you felt his head at your pussy, sending desperation through your body. He pushed inside and your muscles tightened on instinct as if you were trying to draw him deeper.
“You have to relax Y/N.” Diego stilled. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You could never hurt me.” You dug your fingers further into his hips, encouraging him to push forward.
He started to slide in and you knew what he meant by not hurting you. Your walls struggled to stretch around his girth, making your breathing go frantic. Again he stopped and whipped the hair off your sticky forehead.
“Relax baby.” He placed a light kiss on your lips. “Let me in.”
You nodded, understanding what he meant. Even though your body was in overdrive you took a few breaths and willed the tension out of your muscles. You wanted to be an equal participant in the sex, but Diego needed control for the first portion.
“That’s it.” He kissed your cheek and continued his descent into your pussy. “Oh, you’re so tight Y/N.”
His words made you tense up again, but you were quick to relax. Your body was shaking from desire, the slight burn his cock brought to your pussy, and hearing him give you any sort of praise.
By the time he was into the hilt, you were back to panting, wiggling underneath him, needing more. Instead of moving he pushed his lips to yours and parted them, diving his tongue into your mouth.
You brought your hands up behind his head and pulled him closer. He pulled his cock back a small bit and then re-entered. It made you moan into his mouth.
Each time he left your pussy a little further and slid back with a little more force, but he never broke your kiss.
Soon you found yourself rolling your hips to meet his thrusts, your bodies moving in a perfect dance. The way he was rubbing against you started to turn the desire into desperation. All your want gathered in your core, the fire grew bigger.
You moaned underneath him and he picked up speed. It only fed the flames. You continued moaning, kissing, scratching at his body, unsure you would ever be able to have enough of this man. Until finally the flames ignited into a giant explosion.
Your head fell back with a scream as your toes curled. It was the most intense orgasm of your life. Your walls convulsed around him as Diego let out a grunt and pushed deep inside you one final time, covering your womb in his seed.
“Shit Y/N.” His head was right next to yours. “I should have pulled out. I couldn’t control myself.”
“I’m on the pill.” You didn’t want him to worry about anything.
His head nodded into the couch, he turned to his side and flipped you in the process so he was spooning you, his arm draped around your waist, his fingers running little circles over your skin.
“I never knew you felt the same way…” He kissed your shoulder and you turned your head to look up at him as he rested on his elbow. “All these years we wasted.”
You gave him a reassuring smile, fairly certain if he knew you’d only felt the same way since this evening it would ruin the mood.
“I’ve only ever loved two people. My mom and you.” He brushed a piece of hair out of your face.
You rolled onto your back and reached out, grabbing his face you pulled him down for a kiss. He moved on top of you and was eager to return the gesture.
Love wasn’t something you had given a thought. Right now the only future you cared about was the immediate one, and all you wanted was to have sex with Diego all night.
~~~
The soreness between your legs was the first thing you noticed when you woke. It had been a while and you were sure you were going to walk with a limp. The thought made all sleepiness drain away and your eyes pop open.
You were on a strange couch, being cuddled with an arm across your side. Heavy breathing told you your partner was still asleep.
Dread filled you as you turned to see Diego. What the fuck? How did this happen? But you wanted it to. You wanted nothing more than to spend the entire night fucking him.
Memories of your begging, him trying to get you to take a break, drink some water, but all you could do was try and entice him into sleeping with you again. How many times was it five? Maybe six? How many orgasms did you have?
What was the matter with you? The man terrified you! Why in the world did you want him so badly last night? You had no idea, but right now you knew you had to get out of here and never return. Even though you were begging you never felt so violated.
You stood up and found your pile of clothes. As you slipped on the pants you heard him stir.
“Morning beautiful.” Diego yawned. “You wore me out last night, come back a lie-down.”
You ignored him as you pulled on your bra, unsure you could dress fast enough.
“Y/N, what’s the rush?” You heard him sit up.
Tears started to sting your eyes. How could you have been so out of control? And with him?
“You don’t have to leave.” He was walking over to you.
You got on your shirt just as his hand touched your shoulder.
“GET AWAY FROM ME.” You snapped out of his grip and almost fell.
His eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in horror. You were trying to hold back tears as you picked up your shoes and purse, not bothering to put them on.
“I don’t understand.” Diego grabbed his pants and pulled them on. “Last night, you were…we were…talk to me.”
“I just need to get home.” You ran through the door to the room. Of course, it led to an unfamiliar hallway. “This place is like a fucking maze.”
You didn’t know whether to head left or right. It was like everything was blurry last night and now you were having a hard time focusing.
“Let me drive you.” Diego was hot on your heels.
“I’ll walk.” Shame filled you as you realized you were literally about to do the walk-of-shame.
You started down to your right.
“Y/N. Please.” He reached out again.
“I SAID DON’T TOUCH ME.” You tried to get away from his grasp, but in the process twisted and hit the floor.
He looked down at you with sadness, but you didn’t want him to look at you at all. You turned to stand up again and his features hardened.
“ALLISON,” Diego yelled and took off down the hallway.
“What? It’s early?” Allison appeared in one of the doorways.
“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Diego yelled in her face.
“I thought you could use some fun.” Allison let out a yawn.
“Does it look like Y/N’s having fun?” Diego pointed toward you.
“It sure sounded like she was last night,” Allison smirked.
You felt sick to your stomach and didn't want to hear the rest of the conversation. You picked yourself up and walked passed both of them, keeping your head down.
“Fix this.” Diego’s voice was almost as scary as he was.
“How?” Allison did not sound like she cared for a moment.
You left the hallway and found yourself back into the main vestibule of the Umbrella Academy. Your heart lurched as you saw the front door. The stairs were around the corner to your left and you wasted no time making your way over there.
“Y/N?” Allison’s sweet voice called from behind you. “Y/N, wait!”
You didn’t understand what happened but had a feeling that you didn’t want to know. All you wanted was to get out of this house. You broke into a sprint, arms outstretched ready to pull open the door. Your hand was on the knob and you gave it a tug, only for a hand to appear next to your head slamming it shut.
Before you could let out a cry a voice whispered in your ear:
“I hear a rumor that you’re deeply in love with Diego and never want to leave him.”
The sentence vibrated inside of you and a warmth spread through your veins. Why were you running again?
“Y/N, baby?” Diego jogged down the stairs, pulling his shirt over his head. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah.” You blinked away the confusion. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“Hey, you’re fine.” Diego pulled you into a hug. You practically melted against his chest, never feeling safer in your life. “Let’s get you back to bed though. I think we could both use some sleep.”
That sounded like heaven and you nodded your head. This was exactly where you were supposed to be, cuddled in his embrace. Safe. Loved.
“You’re welcome.” Allison’s voice carried a snide tone.
“Diego?” You looked up at him.
“Yeah, baby?” He cupped your cheek.
“Have I told you I love you?” The words sounded so right.
“Hmmm.” He squeezed you tight. “I’ve known you loved me for a long time now, it’s nice to hear you admit it to yourself.”
You sighed and let him lead you back into the house. You were so lucky to have a man who knew you so well.
#the umbrella academy#umbrella acedemy fanfic#deigo hargreeves#diego hargreeves x reader#diego x reader
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Sugar Daddy Hanzo part 10
Good evening everyone! Or whatever time of day it is where you are. I’ve got another chapter for you today, but first a few announcement-y things:
1. Just moved and started grad school so I’m busy AF, so if chapters continue to be a bit shorter than they were at the beginning, that’s why.
2. I am starting up a new tag on my blog that will be side info about this story - stuff written from Hanzo’s POV, fun facts, ideas I’m considering, and questions for you! You can always submit questions too via the ask feature on Tumblr or you can use the tag #sugardaddyhanzoextras (sugar daddy hanzo extras). That is the tag I will be using for all this type of content and if you would like to be tagged, feel free to let me know!
3. I love you.
So yeah, that’s it! Here are 2,800ish words of mush essentially.
BTW, this whole business world AU is based on my bud @watch-your-grammer‘s post here. She’s glorious and so is her work.
The rest of the story: pt one, pt two, pt three, pt four, pt five, pt six, pt seven, part eight, part nine
Waking up had never been so difficult. Your eyelids dragged, almost impossibly heavy, but not nearly as stiff as your arms. Every shallow, tentative breath was a struggle, and your chest ached with each inhale. Each exhale. You looked around the brightly lit room and frowned. “Guess we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” you grumbled to yourself, “or maybe I’m the witch – certainly feel like I’ve been hit with a house.”
By some odd circumstance, it looked like you had the room to yourself, the bed to your right was folded up tight with precise corners as starkly white as the walls and ceiling above you. Everything was so . . . sterile, as if you had been transported to your very own dimension, removed from the rest of Earth. It was unsettling.
And sad.
Your chest tightened in a familiar way that had nothing to do with your injury, it was a painful manifestation of your growing disappointment and loneliness.
“You’d think the gals would at least come by to see me,” you whispered as tears welled in your eyes, “and if getting shot isn’t enough to get Mom and Dad to come visit me, what is?”
In a burst of realization, you remembered what had happened and put a hand over your breast, a powerful tenderness warning you to be gentle.
“Holy fuck I got shot,” you gulped looking for the nurse call button and slamming it while trying to tame your breathing.
After a brief pause that seemed to last ages, a nurse swung open your door and scuttled in, but not before you saw what looked like a dark suit a dark expressing in the hallway.
“Well, hello there,” the tall man in scrubs said with a smile. The bright corgi pattern on his shirt relaxed you for some reason, maybe it was because that was the first bit of color you had seen since you awoke.
“Hi,” you said softly.
“You look scared,” he murmured kindly, “don’t be. We got you all patched up, and you’re going to be fine.”
“Oh thank goodness,” you sighed, running your hands over your face. Of course you knew that you were alive, but hearing a nurse say ‘you’re not dying’ still made you feel a thousand times better.
“Do you remember what happened,” he asked. You nodded. “Good. And how are you feeling?”
“Uh,” you hesitated, “pretty shitty? But not dead so, I could be worse?”
He chuckled, “Very true. Feeling sore in your chest, right?”
“Oh yeah,” you groaned.
“We will get you something to help with that and check over your bandages here in a sec, I just want to tell you what we’ve done on our end if you’re feeling up to that.”
“Sure,” you nodded, trying to glance out the window so you could figure out if what you had seen was what you were desperately hoping to see. Then again, it was a hospital, and there were likely hundreds of patients here with worried family.
And Hanzo wasn’t family.
And he hadn’t taken you back.
And the nurse in all his corgi covered glory was in your way.
“Alright,” he said looking at the digital display on his arm, “you were brought in with a bullet wound in the chest, it went right through you, but went through your lung.”
“My lung,” you gaped in horror.
“Yes,” he confirmed, “that is what caused you so much trouble, but medicine has come a long way, and we were able to have your stem cells from your baby teeth flown in and have started growing you some new lung tissue. We had to do one surgery to keep you alive, so your left lung is currently dormant, and your right is doing all the work, which is probably why you’re likely feeling a little like you’ve been running a lot and haven’t quite caught your breath. Once your new tissue is ready, we will get you into the OR again have you feeling right as rain before you know it.”
“Wait,” you said reeling at what he’d just said. You knew your baby teeth could provide stem cells for fancy medical stuff, but patching up your lung? “So . . . you’re going to be able to just cover up the holes in my lung?”
“Yes, ma’am, just like a punctured tire.”
“Ew,” you grimaced at his analogy.
He laughed, “Yeah, sorry. The other nurses say I’ve got a way with words, but I’m not sure if they mean that as a compliment.”
“I mean, it helped me understand,” you shrugged, “but is my lung still going to be able to function normally with a patch? Am I not going to live as long or something because of this?”
“Actually, the procedure has been tested very thoroughly on patients with lung cancer, and there is very little if any loss of functionality. Patients with renewed lungs climb Everest, run marathons, and live long healthy lives – so long as they take care of themselves, that is. If you eat fast food every day or do drugs and die young, you can’t blame that on the new tissue.”
“Of course,” you nodded. “That’s pretty god-damned amazing.”
“It sure is,” he beamed, “the biggest inconvenience is the post-op checkups and drugs to help encourage faster healing, but all that will be finished up in a few months.”
“Good to know,” you sighed, a thin smile forming on your lips.
“Anything else you need right now, or should I start taking a look at you?”
“I – well, actually,” you fumbled, try to lean over and see the window, but you cringed at the pain, “could you just tell me if I have anyone out there waiting to see me? I – I thought I recognized someone.”
“You sure do,” the nurse said with a playful shake of his head, “you’ve had lots of people come in and out to see you, but it’s late at night right now, so the only one here at the moment is the older gentleman in the suit who basically never leaves. Man’s practically a part of the furniture now.”
You grinned so wide your chapped lips hurt, but you couldn’t stop. “Is his name Hanzo? Is he still out there? Will you tell him not to leave yet?”
“Calm down, calm down,” he laughed, backing toward the door, “I’m sure he’s still here, and I’d be happy to tell him you want to speak with him.”
“Thanks,” you said, blushing at your girlish excited outburst.
Without entirely closing the door behind him, the nurse spoke quietly with Hanzo, who had been waiting with an impatient look on his face. The instant you saw him you were relieved. In all honesty, you would have been happy to see anyone you knew out there, but knowing it was him was almost too good to be true.
The nurse came back in and asked you a few more questions while surveying your condition and giving you a bit of pain medication, but ‘not enough to make you all loopy,’ as per your request. Pain meds had always given you the creeps. It was awkward to have a man you’d never met poking your bandaged up boob while the other one laid out in all its glory, but thankfully as soon as you wrapped your hospital gown back up, Hanzo was waved in.
“Hey,” you said as he closed the door behind him. You did your best not to look like a giddy schoolchild, but you were far too happy to be in the same room as him again. Part of your uncontrolled emotion was definitely the drugs, but not all of it. You didn’t care if you shouldn’t be so enraptured to see him, at least not now. You had been shot, you could feel however the fuck you wanted.
“Good evening,” he responded lowly. The distant tone in his voice made you face fall flat, and the physical distance he kept between you made you pull your knees closer to your chest sadly.
“I was, um, well I was kind of surprised to see you here,” you admitted sheepishly.
Hanzo sighed and looked away. “Yes, I probably should not have come, but I felt I had to. That, and I could not find the will or focus to do anything other than sit here and wait for news on your condition.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” you said softly, “extremely so.”
His lips pursed as his gaze landed on something next to your head. “You are the only one who has been happy to see me here.”
You twisted around as far as you could until your chest muscles griped at you to stop. There was a tiny speaker clipped to the bed frame with a note attached to it. “That sweetie,” you chuckled as you read Lucio’s message:
‘Sorry I couldn’t stick around ‘til you woke up! If I missed another tour date, the bosses were going to have some fried frog legs at their next meeting. Call me THE SECOND you wake up and know that I’m thinking of you. Lots of hugs, your best-est client.’
“He’s always so good to me,” you said shaking your head and the sad frog sketch Lucio had done on the other side of the card.
“I am glad you have found someone that has made you happy,” Hanzo said almost inaudibly, his eyes turned to the ground, bangs in his face as if trying to hide the sour look on his features.
Was he . . . jealous? Clearly you were feeling a little better because the devious part of your mind was suddenly much more awake. No, you shouldn’t be happy that Hanzo was feeling all put out at the fact that you had someone new if your life, but shit! How many people got to see the illustrious Hanzo Shimada practically dripping in envy?
Plus, it meant that maybe – just maybe – you had a chance to have him back.
Maybe it took almost dying to realize that you were willing to give Hanzo another chance, or maybe that bullet had torn right through your resolve, but you knew what you wanted now, and you were ready to admit it. More than that, you were ready to fight for it.
If Hanzo really wanted you to find love with someone else, fine, you understood, but you weren’t going to just walk away. Not again.
“Perhaps I should go,” Hanzo said abruptly, “the nurse assured me that you will be fine and now that I have seen you for myself I believe I am feeling much more assured. Goodbye, and I hope you – ”
“Woah, woah, woah,” you shouted, sitting up and groaning at the way your body protested. You were shot in the chest, so why did your back feel like agony, too?
Hanzo turned back you, looking very unsure of himself. “What is it?”
“You know Lucio is just a friend, right,” you asked.
He scoffed and glowered at the door. “That is not what the tabloids say.”
“Since when do you put stock in the tabloids,” you said giving him a skeptical look.
“There are photos,” he said grimly, crossing his arms and keeping his gaze off you.
“Of what? Me and my friend walking into a party together? We may have been ‘arm in arm’ and all that, but people do that all the time. He’s just a public figure, so everything gets blown out of proportion,” you said matter-of-factly.
“The pictures of him covered in your blood and sobbing as they brought you to the hospital are quite . . . telling,” he insisted.
“Hanzo! I had just been shot! And he’s one of my friends! One of my best friends, in fact. If Gabe were to be gunned down in front of you wouldn’t you be looking a little disheveled?”
His head bobbed as an admittance that you had a point.
“Come here,” you demanded, holding a hand out to him. His body went rigid, and he didn’t move. “Please,” you pouted, beckoning him again.
This time he slowly made his way to you, stopping far enough away that you had to lunge forward a bit to grab his hand and yank him closer. His eyes were wide with surprise, or maybe concern, but fingers curled automatically around yours. You brought his knuckles to your lips and place a gentle kiss on them, the tension in Hanzo’s shoulders floating away, letting his perfect posture slip into a more relaxed stance. You were glad you still had that effect on him. Big oaf needed to pull that stick out of his ass every now and again.
“Lucio means a lot to me, but not the way you do,” you told him in the most earnest tone you could muster. “You’re the only person I want to be with, you’re the one that I wanted with me more than anyone else when I thought I was dying, and you’re the person I most wanted to see when I opened up my eyes in this place.”
“You know,” Hanzo said with a small smile, “you make it very hard to stay away from you.”
He leaned against the rail of your bed and set his palm on your cheek gingerly, you leaned into its warmth. “I guess getting shot has its silver lining.”
“I vehemently disagree,” he barked firmly, “it should not have taken a gunshot to bring us back together. A conversation would have done just as well.”
“Hey, for the record, I tried that,” you retaliated. “That night in your brother’s big fancy bathroom I wanted to talk about it but you – ”
Hanzo silenced you by placing his thumb over your lips, and you giggled, kissing the pad of his finger in delight. Having him this close again was everything you had hoped it would be. “I am sorry for that night,” he said tenderly, “I was only trying to – ”
“Trying to do the right thing,” you finished for him, nodding understandingly. “I know, and I was, too. But I don’t care about what’s ‘right’ anymore. I don’t want to give up on what we could have together, and I know you’re on the way to changing. I’m tired of chasing the ideal of what should happen. I just want to be happy, and you make me happy.”
“My beauty,” he cooed, placing a long kiss on each of your temples, “you make me happy, too.”
“Does that mean you’ll be with me again,” you asked, wriggling closer to him.
“How could I say no,” he chuckled, dancing his fingers along your exposed arm until you shivered, making him grin.
The two of you basked in each other’s presence, but no matter how hard you tried to keep from overthinking things, you had to ask him something.
“Hanzo?”
“Yes?”
“Will I be your sugar baby again or . . . ?”
“I – well – ” he stammered, clearing his throat to buy him time to find an answer.
“The full-fledged relationship idea still freaks you out, doesn’t it,” you asked worriedly.
“Yes,” he huffed frustratedly, “though I do not know why. I know I want to be with you, and I know that I want more than that sort of arrangement with you, but there is something about that word, that step that just . . . fills me with a dread I do not understand.” Hanzo looked down to you, an ashamed expression on. “I am sorry.”
“Don’t be,” you said stroking his jawbone, “I don’t mind being your sugar baby again, but I’d like to set down a new set of rules and whatnot.”
“Of course,” he said, sounding relieved, “I believe that would be necessary.”
“But you are still going to your therapist, right?”
“Yes,” he said with a strong nod, “and this is something we have discussed lightly, but, as you know, there is much about me that needs to be . . . dealt with.”
“We’re all a work in progress,” you assured Hanzo, pulling him down so you could kiss him on the nose. The token of affection made his face go a little red, and you burst out laughing. “Good god I missed you and the way you blush, handsome.”
“I am quite convinced that you are the only one who can make me blush,” he grumbled, smirking just a tinge.
“Oh I bet Genji could tell me some fun stories that would make you all flustered,” you teased.
“Just who’s side are you on,” he said with a scowl.
“Mine,” you said brightly, “a girl’s got to put herself first, you know, and that’s what I do.”
“And I adore you for it,” Hanzo hummed, meshing his fingers into yours.
“Don’t worry,” you said, giving him a gentle squeeze, “I’ll always be in your corner, though.”
“A fact that makes me infinitely stronger.”
“I’m glad you realize that,” you said, beaming at his progress, “a couple of months ago I pegged you for the ‘I don’t need anyone’ type.”
“I have since learned a few things, met a few people who have shown me otherwise,” Hanzo said, holding your clasped hands to his heart.
@collinssie @watch-your-grammer @zarcake-writes @yesthisisbae @eebbapanda1@deercapitate @missbumblina @skyrina @justjaaaay@thewetbones@skyelentnight @ilovebva @punk-dork @cbrokeherboobs@sobanoodledragon@sydniesamm @honeyburger @knightofsexyness @queenoflabyrinths@speakingishard @iknowimcutethanks @ninevast @ivymarquis @sydniesamm@barbie-the-centrist @tumblertrash @angle0fthegourd@shaybae1997 @lillypet95 @rusty-potato @tt-nikithakppr
** please let me know if you would like to be tagged or removed from the tags in future updates and sorry if I missed anyone, I feel like tumblr is deleting my shit**
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Space In Between - Part 5
Warnings: Language. None yet. Things will start cooking soon
A/N: I promise things will get to move and shake soon. Until then, slow burn. Also hoping to post more this weekend.
Tag List: @that-theater-techie-from-kc @sleepretreat @lancetucker @xxhuffelpuff-girlxx
“I’m conflicted.”
Alex’s voice carries in his living room, a beer nestled between his hands and Chris rolls his eyes, knowing where it’s headed. Alex had been distant ever since they had left the game, keeping a watchful eye on Chris throughout the rest of their time together. The weekend was supposed to be a fun, simple relaxing guys weekend. No talk of babies, or wives or work or anything. Mark had flown in the night before, as he was scheduled to present to Chris’ class that Monday. They were going to go to the game, had now changed to head out to check out a comedy show. Tomorrow they were going to hit up a bar to watch a days’ worth of football together. Fun, simple and relaxing.
Until Rick had fucked everything up.
Alex had seen him with Y/N. Had started to piece things together. Had been in a weird, grumpy mood as his eyes flicked back to where you stood, cheering and drinking beers and earnestly trying to avoid looking down at him and Chris.
Fuck.
He was going to kill Rick. He was going to find the best way to get back at him.
Mark looks up from his phone and asks,
“About what?”
“Yea dude,” Rick chimes in, taking another long sip of his beer. “That’s ambiguous as fuck.”
Alex eyes flicker over to Chris, taking a long steady sip before sitting back in his seat. The other two men haven’t noticed but Chris is torn between wanting to punch Alex in the face and fall deeper into this seat. He wasn’t sober enough for this. Not right now.
“On how to deal with the elephant in the room.” His eyes flash to Chris again.
“What?” He finally voices. He was over this tennis match. If Alex wanted to clear the air and clarify what he was suspecting in his mind, then fuck it.
He was tired of having the internal battle with himself anyways.
“You know what?” Alex challenges back and Chris rolls his eyes,
“I do but it’s not a problem for me.”
“It’s not a pr – Chris do you even hear yourself?” he slams his beer down on table in front of him, throwing his hands in the air “Did your divorce also steal your common sense? Do you know how much trouble you could get not only yourself in but her? And if it was anyone else, maybe I wouldn’t give two shits of you throwing your life away. Falling down this rabbit hole of a mess while you figure out your early midlife crisis. But you’re also trying to drag someone who literally has a bright future ahead of her. That kind of selfishness I can’t tolerate.”
His outburst has grabbed the attention of Rick and Mark, who are watching in mild curiosity and confusion.
“What the hell is going on here?” Mark asks, an aside more to Rick than the room but Alex catches it.
“Oh, you were there Rick. Hell – I’m sure you encouraged it because Chris didn’t clarify that Y/N is one of his students. In the course he’s filling in for!”
Rick spits out his beer as Mark puts down his phone. Now he had all their attention.
“Wait she’s a what?! No way…she’s gotta be another professor….or….” Rick trails off as Chris falls back in his chair, throwing an arm over his face.
Mark pitches in meekly,
“I mean, to be fair, she doesn’t look like an under grad student….”
“She’s not!” Chris cuts him off. “She’s a graduate student.”
“Doesn’t matter. She’s one of your students. You’ve been crushing on one of your students. You’ve been flirting and taking one of your students, graduate or not, on coffee dates. Trying to pursue something more.” Alex counters and Rick chuckles, his drunken state causing the words to fumble out of his mouth,
“Hey, admits why she was teasing you. I mean, it was written all over your face the minute she walked by, swaying her hips the only way you can, your face all slack jaw and in awe but I gotta give that girl some cred. She may be totally into you but she damn well knows how to play you like a fiddle. I like her. She’d be good for you. Hell better than Beth. She gets your sense of humor and your over obsession about space.”
“Ahhhhhh, get off of it.” Chris mumbles, deciding he just wanted to fall deeper in the sofa. Deep and far away from the three idiots he called his friends.
“Is this the same girl that you’ve been pestering me about with all those questions? The question, mind you, where we both stay up all night trying to find some answers to give because – and I quote – you wanted to make an impression on her?” he takes a swig as Chris’ face turns a tomato red. “Makes total sense. You always did have a thing for cute, intelligent women.”
“Lay. Off. Of. It.”
Rick and Mark are laughing in their tipsy state but Alex is less than amused. He stands up, his voice boisterous as he points a finger at Chris.
“Chris – I love you. Love you like a brother man. But you have to figure this out. I get it – you’re ready to move on. Ready to start a life with someone new. Date and all that shit. BUT YOU CAN’T DO IT WITH YOUR STUDENTS! Let alone her. She’s one of NASA’s finalist.”
“No shit?” Rick and Mark say at the same time and Chris moves his hands from his face, looking at Alex with serious eyes.
“Yea. Got the call in on Friday. She doesn’t know that and won’t know that until the spring but she doesn’t need grad school. Hell, NASA is willing to compensate her for all the loans she’s taking out for it. She’s naturally gifted. Kinda like you, Beck. She’s brilliant and I’ll be damned if you scathe her because you can’t keep your dick in your pants and get it wet by someone else. So heed my warning. Leave. Her. The. Fuck. Alone.”
There’s silence. Alex was a contained man. Never got too riled up about anything. Happy, sad, melancholy, mellow – his dial typically ran neutral for most emotions. But this had him upset and it had Chris conflicted.
Sober Chris could easily rationalize and move on. Alex was right. He didn’t’ know what the fuck was wrong with him. Oh wait – yea he did. Rick had hit it on the head. The fact of the matter was, like a kid out of high school, he had only given in to going to the game because he wanted to run into you. Wanted to see what you were like outside of the classroom. Couldn’t help but drink in your body when you walked down the stairs in those jeans – damn tight jeans that should be illegal for you to wear outside the house. Couldn’t help but take in the way they hugged over every inch of your lower half as you swayed down the stairs, your hair thrown up in a loose ponytail as you laughed alongside Mara. Liked the way the shirt teased your lower abdomen and all he could imagine was what it would taste like to kiss over your soft skin as he grabbed your breast.
He was infatuated by you. It was your goddamn brain. The way you challenged him. Teased him when he got really excited about something, fumbling over sentences to make a point. The way you laughed at him naturally, hung on every word he said. And yet, there was a sassiness to you – some domineering part of you that let him know you always were in charge in life.
He wanted you. So badly. That was the problem. Wanted you more in all the ways he couldn’t. Because Alex was right. If NASA was looking at you, was looking to hire you before you finished school, this kinda thing could ruin it for you. He knew the rules. It was very clear. Normally wouldn’t challenge them.
He just liked you. Plain and simple. Enjoyed the way he felt when you were around. The way you challenged him to be someteing more. How you were the first person since the divorce who had pulled out a genuine smile from him. Could make him feel like himself – like the man he was before he had realized that him and Beth had rushed into things.
Felt like perhaps he could be doing the same with you and yet he was terrified in all the ways he as mystified. Terrified because he knew with oyu it was different. Hadn’t felt this way with Beth
Mark’s subtle chuckle breaks him of his thoughts as he says,
“Listen Chris I get it. I understand where you can see no harm in the flirting. You aren’t technically a professor here but you are faculty and you gotta play by their rules. You could let her know that you can try to pick this up once she’s graduated or you’re done teaching. Simple as that.”
Alex nods.
“Agreed. You have to. And if you can’t do it for you, then think about her. She’s about to be a part of something huge, like we were, and it would be a damned shame if you tarnish her reputation just for your own goddamn selfish reasons.”
Chris is leaning forward, his hair in his hands as Rick sits next to him, pushing him slightly.
“I get it man, Y/N is great. But maybe you get your groove back with someone else. There were so many ladies checking you out today. Gotta be easy on this campus.”
He knows all of this, knows it as he begrudgingly agrees and they head out. Knows it as he stews in his head for the rest of the weekend, non-chalantly contributing to the conversation.
Thing was, he didn’t want to try it with anyone else.
He only wanted you.
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Fic: It’s Something You Earn
My gift for @ thesweetpianowritingdownmylife for @undertalesecretsanta . We have HAPPY! Papyrus and Flowey spending time together as friends.
I have to admit I haven’t ever had to write Flowey when he wasn’t explicitly being a manipulative little git so I hope this is alright.
Without further ado: Life on the surface is pretty great. Papryus has it all: Friends, family, a bright future ahead of him with plenty of opportunities, but someone’s missing....and oddly enough he seems to be the only one who knows it.
(Bonus points if you guess what show exactly Papyrus is paraphrasing.)
The clock on the wall ticked into the two-o’clock position as the bored-looking grad student proctoring the exam at the front of the room practically leapt to their feet, subtracting another fifteen minutes from the countdown on the room's whiteboard before settling back into their seat at the front of the room. Only forty-five minutes remained and around Papyrus similar sounds of indecision were forthcoming from the students who remained, mixed with the frantic sounds of the desperate.
Papyrus was in fact on his third check through of his work. He knew he needn't have worried; he'd performed exceptionally well on the midterm and the case study and by his math already had secured the necessary minimum grade point requirement to advance in the program...if he chose to pick this as his major. He'd also learned long ago from one Captain Undyne never to give anything less than his absolute best...but surely three double checks was enough.
Having reached a decision, he folded his test booklet closed and brought it to the proctor who copied his student number off his ID card and wished him a ‘Happy Holidays’ under their breath..
After that, the door to the building soon clicked shut behind him, and he was free! Done! Well, that was, until next semester.
Papyrus allowed himself a short whoop, ignoring the stares, but was quick to move on. He was eager to get back to the house. Sans would be coming down today and he hadn't seen his brother in months. He didn't mind stopping at the coffee kiosk as an afterthought. He did after all have nearly 45 minutes, and when had his brother been early to anywhere?
The younger of the skeleton brothers had come to love University life. The Underground had been a little short on anyone in his age bracket and once the initial excitement of being above ground had worn off, he felt at a bit of a loss as to what to do with himself. Not because his options were limited but because suddenly there was a massive surplus of potential. Apparently, lots of humans felt the same way and University or College was one of the things the ones that most closely matched his own age did about it. He hadn't picked a major yet, but apparently most humans in their first year didn't either...and boy had this been a lot easier to get into than the guard. And then there was the Fraternity. Who knew that all this time that he'd thought Sans was just being annoying, he was actually secretly training him for his new brotherhood and friend-making experience! Why, hazing had been an absolute breeze compared to the quagmire that was his brother’s slovenly ways...
Speaking of whom, he picked out two frosted cookies as a ‘good to see you again’ gift and rushed through the holiday niceties with the cashier. Papyrus might be an independent academically minded, grown bones University student now, but he missed his big brother. Besides that, he knew he had the latest final time of any of the brothers and David, their chapter president couldn't leave himself until everyone else was finished and off to their homes for the holiday.
Moments later, he burst through the doors of the Beta Gamma Epsilon house to some very familiar laughter.
"Sans?"
If Sans was at least early, he probably wanted to get going home.
Papyrus ducked into the common room, to be greeted by the sight of David and Sans laughing, and, judging by the surrounding bottles, possibly more than a little drunk (but par the course for a Frat house, despite Papyrus' best efforts to keep the infernal empties confined to a recycle bin. They were worse than Sans’ socks.).
His brother seemed to have a few more worry lines around his sockets and his clothes seemed wrinklier than normal, but Papyrus was overwhelmingly glad to see him again. It had been too long.
"SANS!" he barked, only half meaning the admonishment. "You're drunk...and I have to drive!"
"That's...not how it works bro." Sans informed him, but he was laughing too.
"Here, I have cookies." Papyrus offered his bounty and a massive hug to Sans who accepted both gifts happily before Papyrus went to collect his packed suitcase from his room.
"Okay here you go." David had followed him, presenting him with an envelope. "Last one. Luckiest brother in the house."
The skeleton barked a laugh. "Nyeh heh! I am indeed a lucky brother!”
"Nah, guy in the envelope."
"Well I do suppose I am ALSO the coolest person to have as a secret santa!” Papyrus hefted his bags and took a harder glance over at the human. “Are you okay to drive?”
"Huh? Oh I’m going to my girlfriend’s before I go home. I’m not driving. And yeah, all the guys have been going on about which one of them is going to get to have some cool monster shit."
"Oh..."
"Damn, was that insensitive?"
"Well, the language was a little blue I suppose.”
David chucked a bit. “You’re a good guy, Papyrus. Have a happy holiday, dude.”
The older student was true to his word apparently, locking up the Beta house and marching out of the parking lot with only a slight waver to his step. Papyrus watched him go diligently (he was a good brother of course!), then loaded his suitcase into his car and Sans packed himself into the passenger side.
They drove in silence for awhile. Papyrus was just beginning to wonder if he should say something when Sans broke the silence, apparently feeling similarly.
Ya ain't worried about your test are ya bro?"
"The great Papyrus has no need to worry!"
“New roomies good?"
"Yeah!" He liked his other the other two pledges who shared his living quarters. “Mark and Derek are worthy human roommates!” The latter of whom owned a fairly sizable action figure collection himself and had helped Papyrus to restore a few of the pieces he'd brought from his old home in Snowdin. “Well, ALL of the brothers are roommates you see! Although they are not brothers like you and I are, but brothers in SPIRIT!”
Apparently this was the correct response as Sans’ concerns slipped from Papyrus’ social life to more generic ‘older brother’ concerns
"What about your homework?"
"Brother, I am hardly a baby bones! I am already reading ahead for my next semester classes! I do not procrastinate like SOME skeletons!"
“Nothin’ wrong with a little procrastination.” Sans punctuated the remark with a stretch and raised a brow bone at the envelope. “That ain’t what I’m talkin’ about.”
"Oh That! It's a ‘Secret Santa'. It's a human thing. Everyone in the Fraternity gets someone's name who they have to buy a present for. Then we all have to try and guess who gave us what."
"Sounds right up your alley, bro. Bet you've got a real puzzle in mind."
"Naturally. I have to think of something excellent as my presents is required!”
“Good one, bro.”
“Only ten minutes with you and already I’m picking up on your bad pun habits.”
Papyrus stole a peek at Sans out of the corner of his eye who was presently leaning back in the seat, eye sockets closed. It seemed as though the pun deflection had worked the way he hoped it would.
Papyrus returned his eyes to the road, determined then and there that his little mission would remain a secret between he and himself. Papyrus knew it had been...less easy for Sans to adjust to life above ground. It was strange to think of his brother as the tightly wound, high strung one, but he finally started to be attempting to relax and Papyrus was not about to be the one to disturb that balance.
Everything surface-wise so far for Papyrus had been a joy to experience, but it felt odd. Like he alone was missing something...or more exactly; someone. It had become weirder still when it seemed he alone seemed to even notice. Papyrus knew his friends list wasn't exactly the biggest and longest in the underground, so he had never been dismissive of even the most distant acquaintances he did have. There was Sans and Undyne of course, and everyone knew them. There was the self-appointed President of his Fanclub, MK….and that right there was the thing. MK wasn't the president of his fanclub.
The present of his fanclub, or...the last president was...to put it frankly, missing. ...and no one seemed to know anything about him. He'd once in a fit of desperation even tried asking King Asgore who had only looked confused by the question and ended up bestowing on him about six tins of golden flower tea. It was as if Papyrus was the only person who knew Flowey existed
Sans; the other person who knew everyone (or at least everyone who liked hot dogs, bad jokes and/or grease) had simply looked troubled when he was asked and mentioned something about having an imaginary friend as a Babybones he'd named Gaster...and dropped the subject shortly after. Papyrus had predictably insisted Flowey wasn’t his imaginary friend. Still Sans had simply apologized for the insinuation. That was odd too; his brother would normally never miss a chance to give his brother a little bit of the business for something as immature as clinging to a childhood imaginary playmate.
It did however mark the last time he'd brought it up with other people, and he’d hoped to put it from his own mind now that he had studies and friends but somehow it kept creeping back in. In bed at night, During the lulls in conversation. In the middle of reading one of Sans’ or Frisk’s update e-mails about how life was at home. Now with an excuse to go to the Underground ready made, Papyrus had decided to personally put the issue to bed once and for all.
Whatever he was speculating he would find, there was little time to think about the plan further as the next few days flew by in a whirlwind of activity. Monsters were a bit behind on their Calendar due to the length of time spent in the Underground versus the actual advancements made in human understanding, and there had been a whole issue on when Gyftmas should be celebrated. The real thing by Monster Calendar fell mid-Hanukkah, but the traditions were evidently taken from Christmas. As it happened, Frisk had celebrated Hanukkah before they fell down, so Toriel had arranged for a gathering of course, the night Papyrus came home from school. It also worked out well for Sans’ Gyftmas present; a reservation for 'Christmas Day' at Grillby's newly instated surface version of his establishment.
He was a bit distracted that day by the time they got to the restaurant as inevitably the ‘plan’ as it was now officially titled in his mind and all that it entailed had crept into his thoughts once more. He wasn’t being deceitful, not really, but he wasn’t sure what the reaction would be if he did happen to casually mention it. As it happened, the person in the frat he was to buy a gift for was Brian, rather known for his legendary ability to drink someone under the table, not to mention being 'that one guy who would eat anything'. He was here, at a Monster Bar and he knew Grillby sold product that would go over well and fill the expectation to bring something ‘Monster-made’. He could just buy a small bottle of something or the other and forget the plan altogether. Being naturally honest by nature, it rankled with him that he felt he needed secrecy.
If he did that, it would be better for his brother’s SOUL.
And then he imagined Flowey, alone in the Underground, even though they were free, imagining Papyrus had forgotten him fore---.
"Hey, Bro...it’s your turn..."
With a gasp, Papyrus returned to reality, doing his best to refocus on the gift in front of him. Sans' gift too., no less.
"Uh, YES! THANK YOU BROTHER! I WAS JUST ...ADMIRING THE BEAUTIFUL WRAPPING JOB!"
Now THAT was a lie if there ever was one.
Fortunately, Toriel came to his rescue. "Oh that does remind me of when Asriel was small...I made him three whole boxes of his favourite cookies and knitted him a brand new jumper out of Spider silk. It really was darling, but of course, Asgore wound up eating the biscuits and those sharp little claws had pulled runs in the poor sweater by the next day." She chuckled, a touch sadly.
"Sounds a bit better than me." Grillby had finished clearing down and had joined the party, having kept the restaurant open for their group, which did after all did include his best mate and the Queen of all Monsters. "My Niece Fuku used to eat the boxes. And the tissue paper."
Sans snorted with absolute delight. "Eating trash. A Monster after my own SOUL."
Papyrus put a hand on the wrapping paper and tore it off enthusiastically, and the evening proceeded.
He didn't think about the Plan again until two days later when all the excitement had officially wound down and he’d made his calls and wrote his thank you letters. Midway through comparing present notes, he was once more reminded he still had one present left to obtain.
>>oh and a gift certificate from Alphys and Undyne to a cosplay armour maker they found at a con they went to. They're going to make me a new Battle Body."
>>cool. Yeah dude, I'm going to bed. I'm super bombed right now. My Dad made Eggnog and it kinda makes the Betas look tame."
Papyrus bade his friend goodbye and flopped back on his bed. And that was that. Decisions made. Tomorrow...was the day.
He slept better than he thought he might.
As it happened, his excuse-which-wasn't -really-a-lie got out smoother than he thought it would.
"SANS?"
"Sup Bro?"
“I AM HEADING OUT TO PROCURE MY SECRET SANTA GIFT!"
"Have a good time." Sans called back from the kitchen.
"Bundle up warmly dear." It is rather cold outside."
It eased Papyrus' nerves to know that Toriel was around to distract his brother. For her sake he added another scarf; the new one he'd received for Christmas and took his gloves with the peel-off mitten tops too.
He parked his car in the lot of a nearby grocery store that didn't have a time limit on how long people could spend in the space and walked to the chain coffee store at the end of the block. . Someone, he couldn't remember who, had given him a gift card for the place, which didn't have a shop on Campus. He treated himself to something with god knew how much unhealthy sugar and snapped a few photos of the monstrosity before he gathered his reserves of determination and began the true journey.
The nice, merchandise stores changed into gas stations and fast food joints, then into garages and the odd warehouse and then there was yet-untamed forest area that allowed him to know he was getting close. He finally spotted the turn he was after and veered off to the path they'd taken down the mountain A glance at his phone told him he was out of range of any human networks but a few steps later he had gotten onto what remained of the Undernet.
Some monsters still lived underground, like Gerson and those too old and unable or unwilling to make the journey.
He resolved to stay out of their way though. Undyne often visited the old turtle and something still niggled at him about this mission being ‘exposed’.
He consulted his clock. Even with his stopover at the coffee place, he'd made good time. He wouldn't risk the River Person.
Once Hotland had been cleared, it was much smoother sailing. He passed the dump, remembering when he and Sans used to come there for his Gyftmas gifts. He also picked some crab apples. In Snowdin he pottered around the old house, marvelling at the smell that had seeped in without anyone to clean it and let himself out (without discovering the long-molded spaghetti still in the fridge). He did however unstring the fairy lights from around the windows., winding them into a neat coil. Brian would appreciate the decorations for his room.
He hemmed about it for a while and finally let himself into Grillby's picking over the liquor that had been left. He selected one that was full and as an afterthought stuck some money under the register. He could make sure the bartender knew about it later. After this was over.
Monster alcohol, monster food and a special decoration from his own home. Satisfied with the present, he sorted his finds into his inventory and sat himself down on the step of the old pub, leaning his chin in his glove with a quiet Nyeh.
He had been so sure that he would have attracted the attention of his old friend...that the flower would have followed him and popped up to scare him as he had the habit of doing, so many times during his youth.
There'd been no flash of gold in his periphery however though he'd spun to surprise CHECK many a time.
He pulled out his phone again.
Still...Papyrus was never one to do things halfway. He might be late to supper but...yet...
He moved deeper. Past Snowdin, into the forest...over the bridge and sparing a laugh at his embarrassing attempt at a 'gate'. Why, he'd taken Engineering 102 and he could build a gate twice as good.
He felt a little better for his self-congratulatory inner monologue and perhaps it was this that had given him the strength to march deeper into the ruins.
This was uncharted territory. His brother as he now knew had only knocked on the door and had been eager to leave without a backwards glance. Papyrus had never questioned that desire, nor thought about it.
It was peaceful there, at least and the puzzles were interesting, to be sure.
He found a mostly depleted bowl of Monster candy somewhere along the way and added a piece to his present for Brian, but was starting to grow somewhat hopeless about the status of the rest of his mission.
The doubts from earlier sprang to his mind., the odd conversations with Asgore, the reactions of Sans. He knew Sans didn't tell him everything, but perhaps it was true that there was nothing to his behaviour after all.
Had he dreamed Flowey? It was...after all a childish name...They'd been 'presidents of eachothers fanclubs’, when Papyrus had no friends.
He was the Great Papyrus, and so must his imagination be very Great....but he was so...real.
"Ah?"
"Hello?"
Papyrus found himself talking to...a patch of flowers, but just now had sure he'd seen white fur there too. The annoying Dog?
That might not surprise him; the puffball had followed them up to the surface and had become quite comfortable under Sans' care...it had only shown up twice at his Frat House, so he knew his brother was putting in effort.
He was this time however seeing things. The flowers were devoid of anything white...and what was more, this was it seemed, the end of his fruitless hunt, as there was a dead end and the hole through which Frisk had fallen down, just directly above him, bleeding in winter sun.
The Skeleton's shoulders slumped in spite of himself.
"Howdy."
Papyrus's eyes lit up. There was no mistaking that voice. He hadn't been crazy!
Taking sudden note of where he was standing, Papyrus skipped back off the edges of the flower patch.
Sure enough, the little flower monster (Something in the back of Papyrus' mind told him that was wrong, that Flowey wasn't a monster...but then, what else would he be?) popped his head up through the blossoms, a full ‘head’ above the other flowers.
"Well well, the Great Papyrus is back to deign to pay little old me a visit..."
Papyrus knew Flowey well enough by now to ignore the edge to the flower's voice.
"Of course I did! I have been hoping to see my best friend for ages now!” Papyrus insiste sincerely.
"Ugh, you're so nice."
The initial shock and delight having passed, Papyrus couldn't keep back the wave of confusion and hurt nor quite keep it out of his voice. "Why...why didn't you come to the surface? With all of us! You ....you could have stayed with us. Me and Sans...Or...Or Frisk. I know you were their friend too!"
For a brief second, Papyrus thought he saw something like sorrow flash across the flower's visage, before it was replaced by something else much nastier. "Because I just Love it down here sooo much Papyrus."
"Oh well then, I'll leave you to it, and you won't mind if I take a walk. It's a long trek back to the surface."
Flowey had been this way ever since the skeleton knew him. Sometimes the flower would say things that even Sans, an accomplished Physicist would have struggled to come up with, other times, he would be no more or less childish than the Snowdin kids who called HIM weird.
Predictably, Flowey shot down into the earth, just long enough for Papyrus to decide maybe he had decided to go sulk after all, only to re-materialize right under his boot.
"Nyeh!" Papyrus was still Papyrus and though it was a narrow thing, his reflexes were still in good enough condition that he balanced back to avoid crushing his friend.
"Why must you always do that?" he admonished Flowey. "One of these days I will crush you into dust by accident!"
Flowey only giggled. "You must really hate me Papyrus, thinking to step on me with such LOVE that you'd dust me!"
"That's not what I meant!" Now Papyrus couldn't help but be offended by the insinuation.
"Oh, alright alright, don't cry." the flower groused.
Papyrus hadn't been (really), but he brushed imaginary tears - it was most definitely just the falling snow!) from his eye sockets anyway.
"Come on, Climb up me!" the Skeleton insisted, holding out his arm for the flower. "We cannot carry on a proper conversation as friends if you keep tunnelling underground like that."
Papyrus extended his arm and after a moment's deliberation, Flowey deigned to climb up., the flower's surprisingly extensive root system anchoring him to sit comfortably astride Papyrus' shoulder as the Skeleton's long strides took them swiftly back through the ruins.
"You might enjoy it you know." If you gave it a try."
"Gave what a try?"
"The surface of course." Papyrus repeated, knowing full well the flower knew exactly what he'd meant.
"I don't trust anything that walks on two legs."
Papyrus imperceptibly shook his head. It was classic Flowey, that much was a fact, but even he could tell that the jibes and jabs were falling a little flatter, that the old spark had been replaced by something that if the skeleton didn't know any better, he would have called resignation. As such, he responded in kind, merely inclining his head towards his passenger. "I walk on two legs." he reminded Flowey mildly.
A beat of silence reigned before a hint of the old spark came back into Flowey's face. "Yeah, but you're really bad at it!"
In a split second, a vine which had unfurled unnoticed behind Papyrus, bound his ankles loosely together and sent him tripping forward and frighteningly close to the edge of the bridge. The skeleton's hand shot forward instinctively, grasping to catch hold of the bar, but - in a flash of further regret for his woefully terrible engineering skills from his formative years, the support was too far away. His fingertips barely grazed it and the duo plummeted arse over teakettle down the steep slope, with Flowey clinging to his Papyrus-shaped toboggan.
The drop wasn't that far but the incline was steep and Papyrus immediately lifted his head out of the snow bank he'd ploughed face-first into to knock the grit and snow from his eye sockets.
The flower slithered off onto the snowbank to look down at him.
"Golly Papyrus, are you alright?"
"I..." and Papyrus cut himself off as he noticed the extent of the damage. Far from dusting, the impromptu spill down the hill had nevertheless twisted Papyrus' foot and ankle from it's socket.
"Oh...I'll never be able to climb back up like this..."
"Look at the bright side, pal." Flowey knotted his vines in a very good approximation of a nonchalant human shrug. "Now you can stay down here with me!"
Papyrus struggled himself into a sitting position, the injured leg stretched out in front of him. and gazed up into the grey haze of Snowdin's endless fall of magical snow. That grey would turn to navy soon, a sign that dusk was coming in the world above. He wondered how long it would take for Sans to panic over his lack of checking in. What would happen when the store he'd parked down shut its doors for the night and his car was still parked there. Would some random night security guard take down his licence plate call his house? Would it be a tow company?
Would they figure it out that he'd gone to the Underground right away or would it take them days to come to that conclusion?
He fixed the flower with his steeliest gaze. "You kow my faamily's going to come looking fo r me."
"Of course they are."
Papyrus opened his mouth to protest that he had lots of friends now, dozens even. Dozens of dozens. More than Flowey...and it dawned on him that was, well...the whole issue. The crux of the problem. The missing piece of the puzzle.
"I can't fix you." the Flower sulked, looking at him askance like he was daring Papyrus to blame him outright.
"No?" Papyrus refused to take the bait and adjusted the way he’d propped himself against the side of the rock wall. "This isn't really going to change anything. Sans or someone will come for me...and I'll have to explain what I was doing down here."
"I..."
"Looking for a present to bring back to my assigned person for the gift exchange." Papyrus cut the flower off, freezing the onset of his scariest smile right off his face.
The manic fang-filled nightmare grin melted into something that Papyrus swore was familiar but somehow also could not remember seeing on the Flower's face at any point. "You wouldn't tell them...about me?"
"No. I wouldn't." Papyrus said simply.
"Hee Hee, you're almost predictable Papyrus." That translated in Flowey speak to 'Thank you, I appreciate it.”
Papyrus responded in kind."You're welcome."
"So what kind of crap did you get the humans anyway?"
Papyrus produced his inventory. Predictably the flower ignored the liquor with only a passing glance, but seemed intrigued by the choice of fairy lights "What are the lights for? It’s after Gyftmas, even I know that."
"I thought they could put them up in their room."
"Humans do that? Indoors?"
"Yeah Lots of them do that for decoration."
"Golly, that is cool!" You should have gotten something better than crab apples though, blegh."
"I got monster candy...and apples are at least a healthy snack!" Papyrus protested. "You and my brother both! There's nothing wrong with healthy food!"
"DON'T compare me to your brother! Flowey screeched, but his outrage was genuinely false this time and the two of them fell about laughing a little bit.
"Just for that, I won't fix you."
Before Papyrus could react even the slightest; the flower's magic flared to life, the world melting away to the specific concentrated blackness and focus of an encounter. A dozen thoughts occured to Papyrus at once: to Check, to increase his defense, and even to attack, but instead he focused on Flowey who apparently was not giving him a chance for any of it. The wave of green magic was knitting his bones together before he knew it, and the snow and and magically replicated overcast atmosphere of Snowdin was shimmering back in.
Papyrus flexed his foot experimentally, finding to his delight that the action caused him no more than the briefest of clicks as the magic that bound him finished knotting itself together.
"Thank you." he hefted himself to his feet, with relief, wondering not for the first time how Sans did it; sitting around like that all the time and doubly glad that the snow in question was mostly magic, or his trousers would have been feeling a lot more unpleasant...but it still left them at the bottom of a ravine.
"Well come on, let's see if becoming a school book nerd hasn't made you go soft."
Flowey's thick roots shot upwards and again, Papyrus found himself having little trouble questioning his innate knowledge that the vines would support him easily, despite being sure he had no frame of reference...maybe. Possibly.
"The Great Papyrus would never let something like books get in the way of his training!"
He used the wide, flat thorns and coils as foot holds to slowly but surely, hand over hand make his way back to the top..
It was hard work and by the time he finally managed to heft his arm over the foot path of the bridge, he was heaving with exhaustion. He leaned against the strut to catch his breath, and busied himself as Flowey wound himself cobra-like up the same path, the long vines shrinking as though they'd never been and he was nothing more than a facsimile of a golden flower once more.
They were silent a moment.
"It's not going to go back to the way it was." The flower intoned at length, his usual bobbing slowing to an introspective sort of sway.
Papyrus privately agreed.. He had checked his friend and that was something he knew he wouldn't unsee.
"No..." he began.
Something seemed to resolve in Flowey and it sparked something in Papyrus as well. He got the drop on Flowey this time, opening his mouth and speaking before he overthought it too much.
“You know...there are many humans that say you aren’t born with a soul. You earn one through facing adversity and overcoming obstacles and the decisions you make in your life. Kind of like you, just now.”
“Did you hear that from your human school?” the flower scoffed, though from the lack of follow up disparaging comments Papyrus knew he was both considering the statement and not angry with Papyrus for acknowledging the situation.
“Actually I got that from a human television show. But yes, it’s taught. It’s called ‘philosophy’”
“Even though they must know now that souls are real?”
“...Yes. I think it’s like LOVE and love.”
Flowey was silent another beat. “If I don’t want to come back to the surface...ever, will you still come to visit me?”
“Of course! We’re friends. Best friends.”
“Even after…’
“Pushing me off a bridge?”
“Y...yeah. Pushing you off a bridge.”
“Or any of the other stuff.”
Flowey’s expression shifted briefly to one of shock before he recovered himself and started to laugh. “Papyrus, that’s why I like you!”
“Maybe you can give some pointers to the new President of my fanclub.”
“That los--”
Papyrus looked at him.
“He’s probably doing a great job.”
“Yeah.”
***
Two Years Later:
"BROOOO!"
Papyrus looked up from the project he was working on grateful for the distraction. His nasal bone had been inches away from his drafting table and the proximity to the table wasn't exactly helping him work out the kinks in the design.
"COME ON! TWO DOLLAR SHOTS NIGHT! PLEDGES ARE BUYINNNNNG!”
"Yeah! yeah! Take a break at least!"
Papyrus still wasn't exactly known for being the booziest guy in the house or the biggest advocate of the party time, but the idea of stepping away from this work for awhile was a very tempting offer.
"Um...Go ahead." he told the brothers. "I will be sure to grace you with my GLORIOUS presence shortly!"
In spite of his resolve to try to focus on his work for another hour yet, the Skeleton found himself putting away his books and rolling up his blueprints. almost immediately after he heard the large group 's multitude of voices muffled by the door shutting behind them. He made no move to run after them, drumming his fingers on the tabletop in an uncharacteristic display of stagnation.
"Hmph. I can see these lazy human slackers have rubbed off on you. Sitting here staring into space."
The burst of intuition that had him eager to push off the outing suddenly made sense, and Papyrus picked up on the usual banter without missing a beat as easily as if they spent everyday together. "I WAS MOST CERTAINLY NOT BOONDOGGLING!" he screeched in mock anger, stomping his foot...to give him a leveraging anchor to heft the immensely heavy old bedroom window up far enough to allow his friend access. As a third year he' was now eligible for a single private room in the house, but it hardly mattered now as the housemates were long on their way to their campus event by now and those that had not gone probably assumed he was chatting with Undyne again. The flower was contained to his windowsill fern it seemed with no magic soil to move in, but Papyrus had offered his arm as he had in the Underground years ago.
The vines coiled around him and the Skeleton felt something. Something more than determination, a small thing that was not quite magic, and more like a shadow than anything but still tangible and barely there but like a candle guttering doggedly away with the urge to grow stronger.
It was what had brought Papyrus back to see Flowey that first Gyftmas above ground and what had brought him back after that...and finally what had brought him above ground for the first time tonight.
And that was enough.
#@undertalesecretsanta#@thesweetpianowritingdownmylife#undertale secret santa fic#frank tries to write#papyrus#flowey#true pacifist ending spoilers#sans grillby toriel frisk mentioned#off-handed mentions of parties and drinking
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hamburr, things you said when we were on top of the world
Graduation is a day that Alex has worked towards his entire life, even before he knew it. A day he’s been terrified of. A day that, at times, seemed unreachable. A day that he never thought would come.
And yet here he is, graduating.
Alex’s four years of college are almost indescribable, a rare occurrence for him. It had been easier than high school, in some ways, and then incredibly worse in others. In a weird way, Alex almost wishes he could do it all again; he has a much be feel for it now that it’s over, is sure that he could improve his performance.
He’s also ready to move on, that constant, ‘what next, what next, what next’ mindset pushing into his brain like it always does. He’s ready for what’s next, ready for tomorrow and the next day, and the next year, and then next ten years. He’s ready, practically vibrating with the desire to just get up and start whatever is ahead of him.
But Alex, sitting in his chair surrounded by his classmates, suddenly remembers what Aaron had told him the night before, what he murmured into his ear. To stay in the moment for today, to enjoy it, to experience it, something he seems to have trouble doing. Experience it, because he deserves it.
So Alex does his best to focus on what the commencement speaker is saying, to let it sink in that this is it, this is his graduation. He looks around, trying to find Aaron in the crowd, but it’s just a sea of cap and gowns, and he gives up after a few seconds, reminding himself that he’s got a dinner date with Aaron after the ceremony anyway.
Aaron was an unexpected addition to Alex’s college experience, taking him by surprise. The first year they met was rocky, and Alex, if he’s being honest, didn’t care for Aaron, and Aaron’s feelings towards him were mutual. But something shifted, without either of them noticing, and by their second year, they were friends. By their third year, dating. And even now, Alex is contemplating what’s next for them.
But it’s a thought Alex pushes to the back of his mind for now, allowing himself to focus back on the present, on the way everyone around him is beginning to stand. Alex takes a deep breath, feeling unsteady on his feet, but then he catches the slightly pale face of another one of his classmates, and they both give each other nervous smiles.
And then they’re moving.
-
“Alexander!”
Alex turns, searching for the source of his name being called out, and then he spots him, Aaron, pushing his way through the crowds of graduates and making his way over.
And Alex runs, his excitement starting to bubble over and spill out of him, and he needs to share this moment with someone. And what better someone than Aaron?
“We did it!” Alex exclaims as he collides with Aaron, wrapping his arms around his neck and laughing breathlessly. “We fucking graduated!”
Aaron chuckles, breath warm against Alex’s forehead. “Yeah, we fucking graduated.” He pulls away, a grin on his lips, and cups Alex’s face. “I’m so proud of you,” he murmurs, sounding so sincere that Alex, embarrassingly so, feels his throat start to tighten. “You worked so hard.”
“Damn straight I did,” Alex says, but he smiles back at Aaron and leans into his touch. “Both of us did, yeah?” He turns his face, presses a kiss to Aaron’s palm, feeling giddy. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Aaron strokes his thumb over Alex’s cheek. “A lie, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
Alex rolls his eyes, opening his mouth to tell Aaron to just accept the compliment, but then there’s a pair of lips on his own, so Alex stays quiet, pressing into the kiss with enthusiasm.
Aaron’s arms go around him, holding him close and almost pulling Alex off of his feet, but he loves it. Loves kissing Aaron. Loves being here with him, right now, in their caps and gowns, the whole world ahead of them. It’s exhilarating.
“I love you,” Alex breathes out, angling his head to press a kiss to Aaron’s jaw. “So fucking much. I love you.” He punctuates the declaration with another kiss to Aaron’s neck, feeling overwhelmed by this moment, by how happy he feels.
Aaron pulls him back up, kisses him again, deep and slow, and it sends warmth all the way to Alex’s toes. “I love you, too.” Then he relaxes his grip, lets their foreheads rest against each other, breathing in sync. “So,” Aaron starts, smiling and brushing his nose against Alex’s. “What’s next?” He says it teasingly, knowing that it’s what Alex is always thinking.
Alex pulls back slightly, taking in Aaron’s face, a face that he almost knows better than his own, a face that fills him with so much…so much of something, he doesn’t know what. College and Aaron, those are the two things Alex can’t put words to.
Aaron probably meant the question of ‘what’s next’ more generally, as in where should they go eat, but Alex’s mind is spinning with other things, making him contemplate his answer.
What is next?
Alex is looking at different internship opportunities, Aaron is choosing between grad schools…he doesn’t know what’s next, not for them. He doesn’t like that feeling. Not at all.
He needs to change that immediately.
Alex grabs the front of Aaron’s gown, pulling him in close and kissing him again, smiling at the surprised sound Aaron makes. This time the kiss is rough, urgent. Alex is determined to feel feel the remnants of the kiss on his lips throughout all of dinner until they can kiss again and again and again.
Everything about this moment, the laughter and cheers around them, the feeling of being done, of succeeding, the feeling of kissing Aaron…Alex wishes he could just kiss Aaron all the time, never stopping. He wants this, wants this feeling, this euphoria, always.
He jerks back, eyes opening suddenly, staring at Aaron who is staring right back. “Aaron,” Alex says, tightening his grip on the gown’s fabric, heart pounding in his chest. “Aaron…marry me.”
Aaron blinks at him, slowly, silently, and Alex holds his breath and waits, bites back the words on his tongue threatening to spill out. He waits long seconds, watching Aaron, and then Aaron opens his mouth, and Alex panics.
“Just hear me out,” he says, shaking Aaron a little in his nervousness. “I really love you and I don’t want this to be it, it can’t be! I don’t want to do the whole going our own way shit or do long distance cause it freaks me out and I have never felt like this, okay? I love you!”
“Alexander, I-”
“Please just think about it! We can do a long engagement, the wedding doesn’t need to happen right away. We can be engaged for ten years, I don’t care. But there’s no way I’m letting you go.” Alex pauses briefly and takes a quick, deep breath. “I’m never going to admit this again, so cherish it, but I really, really do not think I could have done this without you! You kept me sane, you kept me grounded, and I need that, I need you! Without you, I would not be here, I would not be graduating.”
“Alexander-”
“Marry me,” Alex repeats, ignoring the way his voice cracks, focusing only on Aaron standing in front of him. “Marry me, Aaron. Please. I know I’m annoying and difficult and that you hate how messy I keep my dorm, but I swear I’ll do better, not even a sock on the ground or anything. I-”
A hand covers Alex’s mouth, and it takes him a second to realize it, still trying to talk for a few seconds. But then Alex stops, eyes wide as he stares at Aaron, who is smiling at him with an exasperated expression.
“Alexander,” Aaron tries again, keeping his hand pressed over Alex’s mouth. “I was going to say yes.”
Alex inhales sharply, trying to move, trying to free his mouth so he can say something, so he can say everything, but Aaron gives him a look, and he relents with a pout Aaron can’t see.
“Are you sure?” Aaron asks softly, and Alex nods vigorously, never being more sure of anything in his life. Aaron’s smile grows wider. “Well, okay then.” He leans in close, eyes bright and full of excitement. “Let’s get married.” He removes his hand, replacing it with his lips, and Alex clings to him as they kiss.
“I meant it,” Alex says, pulling away. “Anything, I’ll do anything. I’ll be the cleanest husband-” he cuts off momentarily as Aaron kisses him hard, but then continues, “-you’ve ever seen. Aaron, I love you, I mean it, I-”
“Alexander?”
“Hm?”
“Just shut up and kiss me.”
And he does.
#hamburr#alexander hamilton#aaron burr#*the sound of wedding bells in the distance*#they are reckless fools in love#but spoiler alert they do get married and it's great#cause they love each other#hamilton#writing prompts#requests#long post
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Exo Supernatural AU!
Title: Blood
Author: thefanficemporium
One Shot
Rating: MA
Warnings: Explicit Language, Adult Themes
Summary: The reader moves to a new city and is invited to a masquerade party by her wealthy co-worker. Once she arrives to the event, she meets a handsome stranger that flips her life upside down. (Reader x Luhan)
Word Count: 10096
Your name: submit What is this? // <![CDATA[ function replaceAll(find, replace, str) { return str.replace(new RegExp(find, 'g'), replace); } function myHandler() { var input = document.getElementById("inputTxt").value; document.body.innerHTML = replaceAll('Y/N', document.getElementById("inputTxt").value, document.body.innerHTML); } // ]]>
~~~~~~
The sound of your fingers tapping on the letters of your keyboard blended with the somewhat quiet ambience of your job’s office. There were a few murmurs from gossiping colleagues and the occasional ring of a phone, but you felt nothing but content in your small cubicle.
It had been a month since you left your native country to pursue your dream career. Once you finished grad school, you decided you wanted a change of environment, so you searched for a city that could provide you with multiple opportunities.
That city turned out to be London.
Quite naturally, your parents were a bit nervous knowing fully well that their beloved daughter would be finally leaving their nest. Nonetheless, they supported your decision with the comfort of knowing that you would be fine on your own.
A small smile decorated your face as you complimented yourself mentally for making such a big move towards a brighter future. You just knew your life would be amazing.
As you finished typing up a report for your latest project, you felt a tap on your shoulder. You stopped momentarily and turned around to see your good friend Gina grinning at you.
“Hey, Gina. I see you’re in a great mood today,” you mentioned, returning a grin of your own.
“Absolutely, because I’m dragging you out this weekend!” Gina exclaimed somewhat loudly, clearly excited about something.
Gina was often known to be very moody and rather strange. She didn’t like to socialize with her co-workers unless she was forced to interact with them regarding work matters, but something about the manner in which she carried herself was quite alluring. She attracted attention wherever she went, even though she clearly did not want it. Men seem to stumble over their tongues when speaking to her and women blushed coyly in her presence.
Plus, she was freaking rich.
Like, “I could buy Queen Elizabeth and her family freaking rich,” as stated by Gina herself. You weren’t actually sure that was possible, but then again, Gina usually told the truth.
And yet, she chose to work here and associate herself with you. You have no idea why she liked you, but you weren’t complaining. It was nice having a friend here in London.
“What did you have mind?” you asked.
“Remember how you told me a while ago that you always wanted to attend a masquerade party?” Gina asked as she watched your eyes grow wide.
“Oh my God! Are we going to one?” you squealed happily as your friend giggled at your behavior.
“Yes, I was recently invited by a good friend of mine. He’s the one who’s throwing the party,” Gina replied.
“I didn’t know you had other friends besides me,” you joked causing Gina to poke you in the shoulder.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Gina responded somewhat seriously, “but I like you, so you’ll definitely learn more things.”
You smiled at your friend’s small confession. You felt a little warmth in your heart, happy that you were making a decent impression on Gina. This was definitely going to be a great weekend.
But before your friend could leave your cubicle, there was a question lingering on your mind.
“Gina, I was wondering about something. Why do we always go out at night? I literally never see you during the day.”
A neatly-shaped eyebrow lifted on Gina’s face.
“What are you talking about, silly? Yes, you do. Aren’t I here at work right now?”
“Yeah,” you sighed exasperatedly, “but I mean like outside, walking-down-the-street-when-the-sun-is-out. I mean, you literally get picked up in the basement and you only go out when it’s cloudy or pitch dark.
You felt a manicured finger on your lip and blushed. Even Gina had you flustered with her actions sometimes.
“Shush and just accept it, woman,” Gina smirked mischievously. “The sun isn’t kind to everyone.”
You pouted at your friend and watched as she winked and walked away. Yeah, you’re going to drag her ass outside one of these “sunny” days.
Friday had finally arrived and as soon as the clock hit 4:00pm, Gina snatched you up from your cubicle and led you straight to the basement of your job’s building. There, her driver waited patiently and opened the door to the back of the limo once you were close enough.
As soon as the limo had pulled off, you had learned that the masquerade party that you both were invited to was a word-of-mouth thing. Only the wealthy, powerful, and most attractive people were invited by the host. The only way you had a chance to be included was if one of these people brought you along as a “plus one.”
Luckily for you, you were just that.
After a while, the both of you were dropped off at a high-end fashion boutique. Once you walked into the store, you were absolutely blown away by the beautiful formal wear (and prices) being displayed. One dress in particular caught your eye.
It was a lacy dress that was short and playful in the front and long and luxurious in the back, almost like a modern-day ballroom dress. The top of the dress was heart-shaped and it hugged the waist of the mannequin as the bottom portion billowed down towards the floor. The back of the dress had a rather dramatic plunge line, which displayed the milky back of the mannequin.
It was perfect, but with the salary you had, it was impossible to buy it.
“That’s a beautiful dress. Do you like it?” Gina asked as she examined the material.
“I do, but I’m going to have to find something more within my price range,” you sighed as you stared longingly at the dress.
“Excuse me,” Gina called out to one of the saleswomen. “Can my friend fit on this dress?”
You lifted an eyebrow at Gina’s question.
“What’s the point of me trying on a dress I can’t even buy?” you grumbled slightly. Gina simply giggled at your behavior.
“Did you think I was just shopping for me? I can’t be the only one just stunting on all these people.”
“Holy shit, are you serious?” you looked at her in shocked. “Plus, I didn’t even know they used the word stunting here…”
“Of course, I’m serious,” Gina said as she flipped her hair smoothly, causing the nearby saleswomen to sigh dreamily. “Like I said before, you’re my friend and I take care of people I like.”
You brought Gina into a bear hug, causing her to hug you back even tighter.
“You’re freaking awesome, you know that?” you complimented as you pretended to cry dramatically.
“Hell yes, I am.”
~~~~~~
The next day was spent prepping for the party. You went to a relaxing spa with your wealthy friend where you both got your nails, hair, and makeup done. It felt so nice to be pampered for a change.
Eventually, the sun said its farewell for the day and moon and stars came to greet all those whom they shined upon. The limo that both you and Gina were currently in pulled up unexpectedly to rather large castle. You were rather surprised, previously assuming that the party would be held at a public building or at a fancy estate, but never a goddamn castle.
Magic was truly in the air tonight.
“Nervous?” Gina smirked as she watched your face with amusement.
“Honestly, a little. I didn’t know it was going to be in a castle...” you trailed off, admiring the beauty of the ancient building.
“Oh, that…the host lives there.”
“WHAT?!” came your surprised response.
Once the driver had opened the door to the limo, both you and Gina put on your elaborate masquerade masks and stepped out of the vehicle. The two of you walked over to the entrance where bodyguards were checking guests off their list. Gina briefly mentioned both of your names and guards granted you both access inside the lavish castle.
As you followed Gina towards the area where the party was being held, you marveled at the sheer size of the castle’s interior. The hallways were wide and spacious, but the guests who chattered and laughed among themselves filled the potential emptiness. The walls and ceilings were as pristine as marble and the intricate gold patterns that resided on the hard surface showered the building in richness. Old portraits of people long gone hung with pride along the walls as lit candles bathed the building in warm light. Smooth red carpet ran along shiny floors, leading you both to the area of the main event.
You couldn’t believe the room that you had stepped into. Your friend’s claims about a masquerade party was actually a masquerade ball along the lines of a circus. Scattered across the room were acrobatic performers who put on wondrous acts on their circular podiums. Some were fire breathing and swallowing swords while others contorted their bodies in odd and sometimes erotic poses. As you walked among the guests who seemed to float about the room in their colorful carnival masks and outfits, you almost missed the aerial silk performers that hung from the ceilings.
Everything was absolutely pleasing and marvelous to your eyes. Never have you thought something as amazing as this place had existed. Even the food on the banquet tables and the wine that swirled haphazardly in glasses of guests were enticing.
“So what do you think, Y/N?” Gina asked as she pulled you out of your daze. “Is it what you expected?”
“Is it what I expected?!” you choked, your excitement getting to you. “This place is freaking amazing.”
“Well, expect more parties like this. My friend is always hosting these,” Gina winked.
Before you could ask who exactly her friend was, a dark-haired man with a black and white mask approached her.
“Ah, Gina. Looking beautiful as always,” the man complimented with a smooth accent.
“Hey, Renaldo,” Regina replied as they both greeted one another with a kiss on the cheek. “How was the Maldives?”
“Fantastic. Just what I needed to get away from this place,” Renaldo explained as he gave a dazzling smile. “It’s been hectic since my partner and I decided to merge our company.”
“I hope the weather treated you well,” Gina grinned as the man chuckled. “I heard the sun is quite harsh over there.”
“It is, but I was well accommodated, so I had very little to worry about,” the man winked before setting his sights on you. “So, I see you brought a friend along.”
“Yes, indeed I have. Renaldo, this is my good friend Y/N. We work at the same company together.”
The man nodded at you and you smiled back somewhat shyly.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” you said politely.
“Likewise, Ms. Y/N,” Renaldo smirked. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to have a dance with your companion. I missed her dearly.”
“Oh, Renaldo. Always the dramatic,” Gina laughed. “Make sure to have fun while I’m away, Y/N!”
Before you could say anything more, you watched Gina being whisked away into the boisterous crowd with her friend. The multitudes of colors and dancing guests prevented you from seeing where they had both gone.
And just like that, you began to feel small.
The people around you were unnaturally attractive. You weren’t sure whether it was from possible plastic surgery or being fed the healthiest of food, but it was strange how there were a lack of people who looked…well normal. Power and wealth radiated off them, as if they were all above the common masses. Yet the way they presented themselves made you briefly wonder what it would be like in their shoes.
Nonetheless, you felt like you did not belong there, regardless of being invited by one of the elite themselves. You really liked Gina, but you weren’t like her and the people who danced around you. You were so caught up in your small moment of distress, you almost didn’t feel the gentle tap on your shoulder. Spinning around, your breath became trapped in your chest once your eyes landed on the stranger before you.
Never in your life had your eyes beheld a man so beautiful. His all black suit contrasted sharply against the pale color of his skin as shaggy brown hair sat atop his head. A single earring hung from one of his ears as rings graced his slender fingers. The crowning piece of his formal outfit was the metal mask that covered the top portion of his eyes. The mask had several sharp, jagged edges as opposed to the gentle curling lines that ran along the surface of the mask. It was made quite beautifully, as if a master blacksmith had created it himself, but what really sold you was the man’s eyes.
Scarlet red eyes, framed by black eyeliner stared deep into your soul, causing you to grow bashful from their intensity. A boyish grin grew on his lips, seemingly pleased with the effect he had on you.
“I’m sorry, miss. I saw you standing alone and couldn’t help but think that a gorgeous woman such as yourself should be having fun,” he complimented, causing you to grow warm.
“Gorgeous?” you questioned, not expecting that sort of comment from a man that would slay you in a beauty contest.
“Absolutely. What? You don’t think you are?” the man teased, causing you to blush.
“It’s not that…it was just a bit unexpected,” you admitted as you watched him carefully.
“If that’s the case, could I continue to lavish you with compliments for the rest of the night?” he asked confidently, moving closer to stand in front of you.
At this point, you weren’t even sure you were going to survive the night. This man didn’t even give you a damn minute to get acclimated with the place.
“But I don’t even know you,” you said somewhat hesitantly, even though you already knew you wanted to spend all night partying with the guy.
You felt his hand slide into one of your own as he brought it up to his face. Your eyes widened at his subtle movements.
“My name is Lu Han,” he replied as he brought soft lips to the back of your hand. “If want to know me, say the words and I promise you won’t regret it.”
You felt eyes from some of the guests watching the interaction between you and Lu Han. What was so interesting about watching a guy romancing the dress off some random woman? You decided to say the magic words, regardless of the looks and whispers that swirled around the two of you.
“Can I get to know you, Lu Han?” you asked, entranced by the ethereal being that stood before you.
“You will,” Lu Han smiled as he pulled you slowly through the crowd of partygoers, “but first, let’s dance for a bit.”
The two of you arrived at the center of the room where a flurry of people spun to a classical song. Lu Han carefully guided you to an empty spot before placing a hand on your hip while holding your hand with the other. You were grateful that Gina had prepared you for this sort of dance although it had been difficult getting the footwork down.
The two of you blended among the swirling guests as the music took control of your bodies. The tension between you and Lu Han gradually faded as a much lighter tone filled you both with delight. You weren’t expecting to have this much fun with a man you just met, but you couldn’t help joining in with his contagious laughter. It was as if the two of you were drunk on pure bliss.
Song after song, you twirled around the room with Lu Han, forgetting that you were among other guests. The glee that graced his angelic face as the two of you danced made your heart skip harder than any man had done.
After a while your aching feet brought your dancing marathon to a stop, but you still had all the intention of getting to know Lu Han. The two of you found yourselves at a relatively quiet part of the room where some guests lingered away from the ruckus of the party. Seeing an empty loveseat, both you and Lu Han walked over and sat down. A contented sigh left your lips as a small chuckle came from Lu Han. You looked over at him curiously, wondering why he had laughed.
“What’s so funny?” you asked as his eyes met yours.
Shifting in his seat to face you, you watched as a smile danced on his face.
“You’re all tuckered out although the night is still young,” Lu Han snickered as he watched you pout.
“Of course I am. We’ve been dancing back to back without a break,” you responded. “I mean, why aren’t you out of breath?”
“Simple. I don’t get as tired as you do,” Lu Han replied smartly, holding back another laugh when he seen you frown.
“Oh, so you’re one of those smart alecks, always cracking wise-ass remarks,” you said.
Quickly clamping a hand over your mouth, you felt embarrassed, thinking you had insulted the mysterious man. You were having so much fun, you completely forgot you were in a room of people that could actually make your life a living hell if you rubbed them the wrong way.
Lu Han smirked at your reaction and slowly pulled your hand away from your mouth. You watched him quietly as he held your hand in his for the third time that night.
“I see you’re both beautiful and bold,” Lu Han smirked as his thumb rubbed the back of your hand soothingly. “A lovely combination, I must add.”
“Lu Han…” you began, unsure of what to say next to the attractive male.
“Would you like to start getting to know me?” Lu Han asked with a subtle tone of eagerness, almost as if he wanted to please you.
Smiling at him, you nodded.
“I think that’s a great idea. Should we take off our masks?” you questioned, anxious to see his entire face.
Lu Han answered your question by removing his mask, causing you to follow suit. Once the masks had been removed, the two of you looked up and locked eyes. The tension between the two of you slowly returned as the both of you stared at one another.
Seeing him without the mask, in your opinion, was a blessing. You knew he was attractive to begin with, but this was definitely unfair. His features were soft and delicate like that of a prince and you wanted nothing more than to run your fingers along the smooth surface of his cheek. You were left breathless, not understanding how this masterpiece was sitting in front of you.
“Wow…” was all you could say. It was impossible for you to form words at the moment.
“I thought I was the one giving compliments tonight…” Lu Han whispered, seemingly caught in a daze as well. You noticed his cheeks becoming slightly pink, causing you to wonder if you had done that to him.
“Um, so it seems we accomplished step one,” you mentioned, trying to recover from your daze. Lu Han laughed at your comment.
“It seems we have, but before we continue, I would love to get your name.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” you exclaimed, realizing that you hadn’t shared that important information with him. “It’s Y/N.”
“Y/N…” Lu Han spoke quietly, relishing how it sounded on his tongue. “What would you like to know about me?”
“Hmm, what do you do for a living?”
“I travel the world and host elaborate parties for the wealthy,” Lu Han replied, watching as your eyes widened in surprise.
“That sounds pretty cool,” you gasped excitedly. “Did you just happen to throw this party too? ‘Cause I mean, it’s pretty elaborate.”
“I did,” Lu Han answered proudly. “Do you like it?”
“I love it,” you nodded. “I bet the guy you threw this for is certainly pleased.”
“Oh, I am. I got to meet you because of it.”
You froze suddenly, the statement throwing you off guard. Lu Han smiled mischievously, loving all the reactions that you had been giving him throughout the night. He found you entertaining.
“You mean to tell me that you’re the owner of this castle?” you asked carefully, not prepared for the answer you knew you’d receive.
“Yes and you are welcome to visit anytime as well as attend any party I throw,” Lu Han replied genuinely.
“Holy shit.”
As the night went on, you continued your conversation with Lu Han. The party raged on without any signs of stopping, but it had been long forgotten by the two of you. The eagerness of wanting to know each other was on a much deeper level then spinning around the room and being in a drunken stupor.
You learned that Lu Han had moved to London from Beijing years ago. His services were often in demand in Europe, so he decided that it was wise to move to London. He mentioned that it had taken him a while to adjust to ways of his new environment, but he eventually grew to love it. Still, Beijing was his ancestral home, so he bought a flat in the bustling city just in case he had grown homesick.
He had continued to mention that he had come from a long line of merchants. His family’s wealth had been established due to their success in the wine industry. As for Lu Han, he was more interested in attending and hosting lavish parties that brought together people from far and wide. Using his family’s wealth, he created a professional hosting business that attracted all types of people who simply wanted to have a good time.
The secret to his success was the “word-of-mouth” aspect of his business. The public wasn’t aware of it due to the fact that it was secretly spread among the elite as well as anybody else that had connections. It was a rather risky move, considering that most businesses relied on the public, but Lu Han didn’t appear to have a problem being successful. People were naturally curious and usually liked the idea of being involved in something that the public had no inkling of.
After a long night of deep conversation and excitable dancing, the masquerade party came to a gradual end. You watched from the crowd as Lu Han thanked his guests for such a marvelous time. You didn’t miss how his red eyes landed on you as the guests erupted into a loud cheer for their charming host. As the guests began to file out of the room, you heard your name being called.
“I see you met my friend Lu Han,” Gina teased as she walked over to you. “The two of you seemed quite cozy over there on that loveseat.”
“We were just talking,” you said bashfully. “He’s a really cool guy.”
“He can be quite the flirt, so watch yourself,” Gina warned jokingly. “A lot of women are interested in him. They wouldn’t hesitate to throw themselves at his feet.”
You pouted slightly at her comment. Of course women would be attracted to Lu Han. He was handsome and rich; someone you knew you didn��t stand a chance with. Maybe you were a little in over your head thinking he would be interested in you.
As you and Gina prepared to leave, you felt someone tap your shoulder. You turned around and found Lu Han smiling at you. His mannerism now slightly different from when you had met him earlier.
“I hope you had a wonderful evening,” Lu Han said as he watched your face light up.
“I did! Thank you so much for having me and keeping me company for the night, unlike someone,” you teased, causing Gina to roll her eyes playfully.
“I see you’re friends with Gina,” Lu Han mentioned. “Make sure she doesn’t get you into trouble.”
“I should be telling her that,” Gina laughed. “You’re the one who’s a handful. I’ll have to keep you from corrupting her.”
The three of you chuckled. You felt that all of you were bonding nicely. Maybe, you could all hang out sometime in the future.
“Well, I guess we should be heading out,” you began, although you wanted to continue talking to Lu Han.
“Can I see you again?” Lu Han inquired as he stepped closer to you.
Gina snickered as she watched you grow shy under Lu Han’s piercing stare.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” you answered truthfully.
Maybe you did have a chance with him.
“Then I’ll see you at the next party,” Lu Han grinned.
~~~~~~
From that very night, you had received several personal invites from Lu Han to attend his wild and fantastical parties. You found yourself getting dolled up almost every weekend with Gina until it had become routine.
The parties that Lu Han had were never boring. It was like every party that he threw had a different theme: Roaring Twenties, Arabian Nights, All-White Affairs, etc. You couldn’t understand how someone could come up with so many ideas. Even the forms of entertainment that he provided amazed you because you hadn’t even heard of some of them. No wonder so many people hired him to host their parties.
Although the parties were always a blast, you had the most fun partying with Lu Han. It astonished you as to how he was able to find you each time in a large crowd of party-goers. Your outfits and hairstyles were different each time, making it difficult for any average person to recognize you. But then again, Lu Han was anything but average.
You and Lu Han had become inseparable. Gina purposely began to leave you as she ran off with Renaldo for the night. She had slyly mentioned more than once that you and Lu Han would be cute together, causing your face to heat up each time. From that point and on, she made it her mission to leave you alone with Lu Han. Regardless, it didn’t bother you. You never had an uncomfortable moment with him.
As you spent more time with Lu Han, you realized that he was much more than just a confident flirt. He always took the time to chat with you after dancing and never left you out of any conversations with his flamboyant friends. He was a good listener, always paying attention to the small details of your life and never finding anything that you said boring.
His affections also didn’t go unnoticed. Back hugs became his way of greeting you whenever you came to his parties. At first, it had scared you, causing you to almost scream bloody murder in the middle of his ballroom. As time went by, it was expected and you were more than happy to have his slender arms wrapped around your body.
Another night had come and you found yourself back at Lu Han’s castle for another event. Once you had reached the ballroom with Gina, she ran off with Renaldo. You were pretty sure they were dating at this point, although Gina had repeatedly denied this. As you looked around the room for Lu Han, a man with red hair approached you.
“Hello, madam. Would you care to have this dance with me?” the man asked sweetly.
You were a little disappointed that it wasn’t Lu Han, but you obliged anyway. One dance with a stranger couldn’t hurt and plus, he seemed pretty nice.
You danced to a couple of songs with the red-headed man, idly chatting with him as you both spun around the room. You were somewhat distracted, looking around as you tried to get a glimpse of your favorite party host. Once the current song came to an end, you excused yourself, mentioning that you needed to use the restroom.
You left the noisy ballroom and headed down a dimly lit hallway. You had never needed to use the bathroom at Lu Han’s home, considering that you were invited to other parties at different locations. You knew it was stupid not asking for directions to the bathroom, but you were slightly curious about the castle in which Lu Han lived in.
As you wandered along the spacious corridors, you noticed this part of the castle was much older compared to where the party was being held. It also felt much chiller in the area, causing goosebumps to appear on your exposed arms. Moving further into the castle, you noticed that the end of the corridor was much darker and you could barely make out anything. The only thing that caught your eye was the sliver of light that shone through the crack of a slightly ajar door. Hearing a bit of commotion coming from that direction, you cheered quietly knowing that you had been successful in finding a bathroom in such a large building.
Walking closer to the door, your steps began to falter from the strange string of sounds emanating from the room. It wasn’t the familiar sounds of bathroom gossip, flushing toilets, and running water. These sounds were more provocative and sinful, causing your face to grow warm.
Maybe you were just hearing things? Or maybe someone was here in the castle watching television? Still, it didn’t explain why they weren’t at the party. From what you knew, no one but Lu Han lived here.
Curiosity gripped your being and you forced yourself to move in order to investigate the odd noises. After what felt like a century, you found yourself at the door. Your heart began to race as anxiety replaced your curiosity. Quietly, you peered through the small crack of the door and almost bit down on your lip to silence yourself from what your eyes beheld.
You saw several people within the room as loud moans came from those who were tangled up in rather compromising positions. Desire permeated the room as women and men kissed, touched, and fucked one another in a lust-drunken orgy. Although the amount of sex that took place was filthier than anything you had witnessed, it was the amount of blood that covered the participants that left you coated in cold sweat.
The smell was repugnant, fresh and drying blood coated the walls, the bed, the floors, and the people who seemed unbothered as they vocalized their pleasure. Had they just killed someone and decided to fuck each other silly in the copious amount of blood from their victim? There had to be a dead body in that room. That was the only explanation for this horror show, but the small puncture wounds on the necks of some of the lusty participants had you questioning your sanity.
Trails of scarlet trickled down from the small wounds as people in the room abandoned all inhibition with their lovers. You couldn’t control the rapid flicker of your eyes as it darted from one shocking thing to the next in that disgusting room. Your eyes only stilled when it landed on someone familiar.
Long hair bounced against a woman’s back as she rode a man beneath her vigorously on the bed. Others laid sprawled out around her, seemingly tired from blood loss or possibly from having their turn with the energetic woman. Broken moans fell past her lips as the man below gripped her waist tightly and thrusted into her sharply. Finally reaching her peak, she tilted her head back as an inhuman growl echoed from her throat. Baring a pair of razor sharp canines, she lowered her head and plunged her fangs into her lover’s neck. A deep groan left the man’s mouth as he slapped her ass sharply.
“God Gina, you really know how to fuck someone,” praised the man who turned out to be Renaldo.
“And I’ll continue doing so until I break you,” Gina purred as she licked the blood that began to dripped down the side of her lip.
Having seen enough of the nauseating event that took place, you were about to leave until you heard a familiar voice.
“Off dancing with other people? I’m hurt,” came Lu Han’s joking tone, unaware of what you saw.
You screamed loudly, frightened by how close Lu Han was to you as well as by what you had witnessed. It grew even louder when you also noticed the unnatural glow of his eyes in the dark hallway.
Alarmed by your behavior, Lu Han took a step back so as not to make you uncomfortable. Concern settled on his face as his eyes roamed over you to make sure you were alright. Wanting to comfort you, he reached out to you, but you stepped further away from him.
“Y/N, what wrong?” Lu Han asked as he tried to remain calm.
“Stay the hell away from me!” you yelled, your fear appearing as utter rage.
Before Lu Han could say anything, the door to the room opened and several people looked out to see the commotion that had ruined their private orgy. Pushing some people aside, Gina came out angrily in a bloody robe as Renaldo followed close behind. Apparently, he couldn’t be bothered to cover himself up.
Gina’s glowing eyes widened when she realized that you were the one who had screamed. An unsettling feeling cramped her belly, fearing that you had possibly seen the raunchy activities that she had often indulged in.
“Y/N?” Gina called out gently, not wanting to upset you further.
“Don’t…” you began as you looked at her sharply. “I don’t know what you people are, but don’t talk to me again. The both of you.”
“But…” Lu Han started, wanting to clear up the situation, although he knew that the damage had been done.
You didn’t even let him speak as you ran past him. Lu Han and Gina called out to you in a desperate attempt to stop you, but you ignored them. You ran as fast as you could in your heels and exited the castle, despite getting odd looks from some of the party-goers. As soon as you felt that you were at a safe distance from the castle, you pulled out your phone from your clutch purse and called a cab. Growing nervous, you prayed that one would arrive before Lu Han and Gina came looking for you.
You were done with everything. You were done with the partying and with both Lu Han and Gina. All you wanted to do was just make friends and have fun. You didn’t leave your home just to come here and have everything go to shit because your “friend” liked to take part in bloody orgies or maybe even murders. Even worse, the host allowed that to go on in his own home.
Back at the mansion, Lu Han and Gina tried to figure out how to clean up the mess that they had made of their friendship with you.
“You shouldn’t have let her go, Lu Han,” Gina said angrily, not at the fact that he had let you leave, but because she might have destroyed a bond with someone that she had cared about.
“And what? Hold her hostage?” Lu Han bit back, failing miserably at keeping his demeanor calm. “You shouldn’t have used that room for your activities. That’s what the upper floors are used for.”
“She might go to the police and tell them what she saw,” Gina countered. “She probably thinks we killed someone, especially with the way that room looked.”
“She won’t,” Lu Han replied, mostly trying to convince himself that you wouldn’t do such a thing. “And if she did, do you think anyone would believe her? They’d probably think she had a little too much to drink tonight.”
“Still, as much as we care for her, we can’t have her roaming around with a secret like this,” Gina spat out nervously. “Hell, only a small amount of people in this castle know what we are.”
“Fine. I’ll talk to her,” Lu Han convinced, not liking where the conversation was going. “But killing her or turning her is out of the question.”
“Jesus, Lu Han. Kill her?” Gina asked incredulously. “The most I would do, is probably turn her, but I’m not a freaking monster nor I would insinuate anything regarding killing her. I would never hurt her.”
“Good, because we can’t have shit going down like we did in the past,” came Lu Han’s cryptic tone as he recalled many memories of violence. “And she doesn’t deserve to suffer like that.”
“You really like her, don’t you?” Gina asked quietly, watching as Lu Han balled his fists in frustration.
Lu Han sighed heartbrokenly and nodded, causing a small smile to appear on Gina’s lips. He did have feelings for you and because of that, he was determined to make things right with you.
~~~~~~
You sat alone at a table in the small café near your apartment as you waited for your order. It had been three weeks since you had last been at the castle. You had trouble sleeping, the images of what took place had invaded your dreams and turned them into complete nightmares. You were no longer dreaming about dancing with Lu Han, but instead of monsters that torn you to shreds with their teeth and splattered your blood on the walls of your bedroom. It didn’t help that Lu Han was still sending invitations which seemed more like handwritten apologies as he begged to speak with you.
Work was also terrible. You could no longer enjoy your dream job since you still had to work in the same office with Gina. Although Gina had respected your wishes to keep her distance, you still tried to avoid her as best as you could. You didn’t dare look in her direction, afraid of seeing those glowing red eyes that haunted you every day. You never saw the expression of loneliness that was written on her face, but you always caught the bouts of anger she displayed towards the other workers in the office.
The waitress brought over your coffee and you mumbled your thanks. As you drank the hot liquid, you ignored the bell that rang as the door opened. Too agitated to worry about other people, you barely registered the person who had entered the shop and was making their way over to you.
“Is this seat taken?”
Your blood ran cold at the sound of the gentle, but familiar voice. You swallowed hard before looking up to see blood red eyes staring back at you, carefully gauging your reaction. Without a word, you stood up quickly, grabbed your bag, and walked past Lu Han without giving him so much as a glance. You ignored the cashier at the register who tried to tell you that you hadn’t paid for your coffee.
Exiting the shop, you began to make your way down the sidewalk hurriedly. Before you could get any farther, you felt a warm hand grab your arm. You began panicking when you turned around and saw Lu Han holding you. You wanted to scream, but you didn’t want to cause a scene in the middle of the busy sidewalk although people were glancing at the two of you. They probably thought the two of you were having a lovers’ quarrel.
“Please don’t go, Y/N,” Lu Han pleaded with you. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Let me just explain myself.”
“Are you stalking me now? There’s nothing you can say that will make this better,” you argued, not wanting to hear him out. “Let me go.”
“No, I won’t,” Lu Han responded firmly. “Not until you let me explain what happened. If you decide you don’t want to be around the two of us, then we won’t bother you anymore.”
You studied his face for a moment with a bit of uncertainty. You weren’t convinced he’d stop bothering you, considering the fact the he ignored your request to leave you alone. Plus, the two of you were in public, so he wouldn’t dare try anything.
“Fine,” you answered begrudgingly as you snatched your arm out of his grip, “but if you try anything, I swear I will contact the police.”
Lu Han let out a shaky breath, grateful that you were finally giving him the opportunity to speak. The two of you headed back to the somewhat empty café and entered the building. Before going to your original spot, you went to apologize to the cashier for running out. When you were about to pay for your unfinished coffee, Lu Han took out a few bills and paid for you. You wanted to yell at him, but you kept your mouth shut.
Finally, the two of you sat down at the table and there was a couple of seconds of silence between you both. Getting tired of waiting for him to explain himself, you were the first to talk.
“Is that something you and Gina normally engage in?” you asked, somewhat disgusted.
Lu Han’s eyes widened, not expecting you to ask him that. He was expecting a question along the lines of “What are you?”
“That’s more of Gina’s kind of fun. I’m pretty monogamous,” Lu Han explained.
“And the blood? How exactly do you explain that?”
“Um, about that. There’s really no good explanation for that,” Lu Han admittedly sheepishly, “but I promise you we didn’t kill anyone. A lot of it was actually animal blood.”
“That’s really weird, you know that right?” you asked him, thinking he was a complete psychopath at this point. “Why even do that?”
“Let me put it this way. As vampires, we like to indulge ourselves in pleasurable things. One of those things is blood, for obvious reasons.”
“Are you serious?” you asked a little too loudly causing Lu Han to shush you. You rolled your eyes, but lowered your voice. “Vampires? I don’t believe you.”
“Well how else do you explain the puncture marks in those people’s necks? Or even our eyes?” Lu Han replied defensively.
“Make up and contacts, genius,” you responded, causing Lu Han to huff loudly.
“You’re so unbelievable, Y/N. I’m trying to explain this to you and all you do is just brush me off.”
“You’re calling me unbelievable? You’re the one calling yourself a vampire and having bloody orgies in your damn home.”
The both of you looked at each other heatedly, not knowing what to say next. The whole situation was ridiculous and hard to believe, but you knew deep down that Lu Han was telling you the truth. It bothered you to no end.
“Why do you allow that to go on in your home?” you asked much quieter, hating how loud your voice sounded in such silence.
“I’m a person that aims to please himself and others. If my guests and customers want to indulge in something pleasurable such as orgies, I will allow it. If they want a night of drunken revelry, I will provide them with wine. If they want to get away from their troubles, I’ll create a place in which they can forget them. Everyone has something that makes them happy.”
“So what do you want Lu Han?” you asked the vampire before you. “What makes you happy?”
“You,” Lu Han answered confidently as he took in your surprised expression.
The feelings of butterfly wings tickled the inside of your stomach as his confession repeated over and over in your head. You had missed the sensation of warmth that his words always seemed to give you. Why the hell are you acting like a little girl? You supposed to be pissed at him.
“Yeah right,” you replied, causing Lu Han to shake his head.
He could read you clear as day. He knew that you liked him just as much as he liked you. He wasn’t about to give up just because you were being stubborn.
“Fine. Let me prove it.”
“How exactly?”
“Let me date you.”
“Wait, what?” you sputtered, causing Lu Han to smirk.
“Are you afraid to date a vampire?” Lu Han teased, causing you to frown.
“No! That’s not it!” you countered although your flushed appearance gave you away.
“So it is true,” Lu Han chuckled. “My Belle is afraid to date the big bad Beast.”
“Oh my God, just shut up!” you whined as covered your face to hide your embarrassment.
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing,” Lu Han said as he stood up, causing you to look at him in confusion.
“Where are you going?” you asked.
“Home, but don’t worry,” Lu Han grinned mischievously. “I’ll be picking you up this Friday at 7.”
Later that week, you found yourself waiting for Lu Han to pick you up for your first date. You had no idea where he was planning to take you. You were a bit nervous, wondering both if you dressed up for the right occasion or if you would wind up dead in some random ditch. I mean, you were going out with a “so-called vampire.” Either way, you knew you couldn’t back out of this date.
Since you were forced to give Lu Han another chance, you’d figured out that maybe you should try to patch up things with Gina. Oddly, despite everything that had happened, you missed her a bit. Still, you weren’t sure how you were going to get over the fact that bloody orgies were one of her guilty pleasures.
How did your life come to this point?
The doorbell rang, signaling that someone was at your apartment door. Taking in a deep breath, you prepared yourself for the night ahead. After you grabbed your purse, you made your way towards the door and opened it.
Lu Han stood there with a small grin on his face until his eyes landed on you. His eyes raked appreciatively over the dress that hugged your body, causing you to grow warm.
“Eyes up here, Lu Han,” you scolded lightly, although you were happy that you had made such an impression.
“Ah, so sorry,” Lu Han apologized with a blush on his face. “You’re just so pretty.”
“Um, thanks,” you responded as a small smile formed on your face. “So, are we ready to go?”
“Yes, but before we do that, I brought these for you.”
Pulling his hands from behind his back, Lu Han presented you with a bouquet of Peruvian lilies.
“I hope you don’t think it’s too cheesy…” Lu Han trailed off, feeling somewhat shy.
“No, I really like them!” you reassured him. “Thank you, Lu Han. Let me just put them a vase of water and then we can head out.”
A few minutes later, both you and Lu Han were in his car as he took you to an unknown destination. You wanted to ask where the two of you were going, but you figured that he wanted to surprise you. Several minutes later, the car pulled up in front of a small estate. You furrowed your eyebrows, wondering where had brought you.
“Where are we?”
“We’re at a small estate that I own,” Lu Han replied.
“Damn, how many homes do you own?” you gasped. Lu Han chuckled at your question.
“A couple.”
Stepping out of the vehicle, Lu Han came around to your side to open the car door for you. After taking the hand that he offered, you stepped out of the car and let him lead you inside of the estate.
The place was cozy, nice for a weekend getaway with friends. As you walked through the estate with Lu Han, you noticed that he never let your hand go. You looked to where your hand was being held and couldn’t help how your heart seemed to flutter. His hand was so soft and wrapped perfectly around yours.
You felt the cool night air against your skin and you shuddered slightly. When you looked up to see where he had taken you, you gasped unexpectedly.
The two of you stood in a spacious backyard. Large floral bushes enclosed the backyard, shielding you both from the world outside. There was small fire pit with a circular couch surrounding it. Colorful pillows and blankets decorated the couch as a bottle of expensive wine, a wine glass, candies, and popcorn sat on top of the fire pit. In front was a large television screen that placed on top of a stone foundation. To top it all off, white lantern lights hung above your heads, casting a dim glow throughout the yard.
“Wow. Did you really plan all of this?” you asked Lu Han as you took in the scenery.
“I did,” Lu Han chuckled as he brought you over to the couch. “Is this okay with you? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
“No, this is fine,” you reassured him as you gave him a bright smile. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. I just want you to enjoy yourself.”
The two of you settled in as Lu Han poured out some wine for you to enjoy during the movie. After deciding on a movie to watch, you both grabbed a blanket and watched as the movie began to play. It was a silly little movie, leaving you both giggling at some parts. As the both of you became more engrossed in the movie, you barely realized that the two of you had moved closer to one another.
As time went by, you grew a little thirsty. You absentmindedly reached towards the fire pit to pick up your glass of wine, not noticing how close you had placed it towards the edge. You realized too late when you heard the shattering of glass against the paved concrete.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” you panicked slightly, feeling terrible for destroying his things. Bending over, you quickly began to pick up the shards before Lu Han could say anything.
“It’s okay, just leave it-” Lu Han began before he was interrupted by a small yelp.
Looking down at your index finger, you saw that it had a small gash that began to bleed. You were about to get up so that you could find a bathroom to rinse your finger off, but you were stopped by Lu Han grabbing your wrist. Without any warning, he placed the bleeding finger into his mouth.
You stopped breathing as soon as you felt his warm tongue sliding against your injured digit. A low groan rumbled in his chest as he closed his eyes, savoring the taste of your blood. Your eyes stayed on his mouth, briefly wondering what it would feel like on other parts of your body.
Lu Han’s eyelids fluttered open as he stared at you with hazy scarlet eyes. You heart began thumping rapidly in your chest as you burned from his heated gaze. Never had a man looked at you in that manner. Slowly, Lu Han slid your finger out of his mouth, licking his lips as you caught sight of sharp fangs.
There was a moment of silence between the two of you, the buzzing of the movie the only sound in the yard. It was as if you were both daring each other to make the next move. Although you believed Lu Han’s actions were purely out of bloodlust, he had ignited something deep between you both. A craving that you wanted satisfied since you first met.
And tonight, it would be fulfilled.
Before you could react, Lu Han swiftly pulled you towards him, crashing his delectable lips against your own. You let out a pleasantly surprised moan as you wrapped your arms around his neck. Greedy hands grabbed your waist, giving you an appreciative squeeze for how responsive you were. Wanting to feel more of you, Lu Han hoisted you effortlessly above his lap, making you straddle him on the soft couch.
Your hands ran down Lu Han’s chest, feeling the body that laid beneath his thin sweater. Gripping your hips tightly, Lu Han grinded his erection against your clothed center, causing you to gasp loudly and break the ardent kiss.
“Mmm…make that sound for me again,” Lu Han purred, repeating the erotic motion. You cried out louder, gyrating your hips in sync with his.
“Don’t tease me, Lu Han,” you whined.
Peppering your neck with feathered kisses, Lu Han moved his hands down to your thighs. Playing with the edges of your hitched dress, he chuckled when you wiggled on top of him.
“Tell me what you want, sweetheart,” Lu Han mumbled as he began to leave dark marks on your sensitive skin.
“I want you…” you blushed, not wanting to give an explanation of the sinful things you wanted him to do to you. Lu Han wasn’t having any of that.
Giving a sharp slap to your ass, you yelped causing Lu Han to smirk devilishly at you. You bit your bottom lip, annoyed that he wouldn’t get straight to the deed.
“You can do better than, Y/N,” Lu Han peered at you as he rubbed your sore cheek.
“Lu Han, you better fuck me especially after all the shit you put me-” you began before Lu Han cut you off.
“Stand.”
You looked at him questionably, worried that you had upset him. Not wanting to cause a problem, you got off Lu Han’s lap and stood between his spread legs. The next thing your heard was the sound of your panties being torn to shreds by Lu Han’s hands. You were stunned by his actions, but it didn’t stop you from getting wetter.
“Much better,” Lu Han responded before pulling you back on his lap, “but we’re not quite finished.”
He continued his small rampage on your clothing, ripping your dress’s straps and tearing your flimsy bra into pieces with such swiftness. He admired how vulnerable you looked, loving the way your breasts moved from your heavy breathing and how your nipples hardened against the cool night air. Cupping your left breast gently before giving a small squeeze, he dug his fangs into his bottom lip at the way your heart raced for him. Your blood just had to be delicious with all that adrenaline coursing through your veins.
Placing his other hand between your legs, you moaned when he dragged his digits along your soaking slit. His red eyes stayed focused on your face, enjoying as pleasure washed over your entire being. You dug your nails into his shoulders, gasping as he slid two of his fingers into your heat.
“Remember how you asked me what makes me happy?” Lu Han asked as his fingers pumped into you languidly. “As well as what I wanted?”
“Y-yes,” you stuttered. Your mind was in no shape to answer any questions.
“Add pleasuring you to the list of things that makes me happy,” Lu Han replied, rubbing your clit rapidly with his thumb, “because I want to do this to you every night.”
You felt your walls spasm uncontrollably around his fingers as you reached closer to your peak. You bucked messily against his hand, no longer moving in tandem with his pumps. Just a little bit more and he would have you screaming his name for dear life into the night air.
Pulling his fingers from your wetness, you wanted to cry in utter frustration at his merciless teasing. You narrowed your eyes at him as he dragged his tongue along his glistening fingers. He watched you wickedly, reveling from both your anger and sweet taste.
“Everything about you is delicious,” Lu Han mentioned as he cleaned up his fingers with his pink tongue. “Just like I thought the first time I saw you.”
“Lu Han…” you whined, on the verge of tears. “I really need you.”
“Don’t worry, Y/N,” Lu Han cooed as he gave you a gentle kiss. “You’ll have me now.”
Moving slightly to give Lu Han some room, he began to unbutton his pants before pulling down the zipper. He wore nothing beneath, easily pulling out his hardened length from its uncomfortable confines. Adjusting yourself on his lap, you braced yourself as you felt him line himself under your aching heat.
Carefully, he pushed himself in, groaning as your walls welcomed him in a tight embrace. He captured your lips once more as he gave you a moment to adjust to the new sensation. Craving more, you bucked your hips into his before gyrating slowing against him.
Lu Han wrapped his arms around your moving body as you rocked languidly against him. He couldn’t believe you still wanted him, considering all that you had witnessed and had now known. He loved how your head fell back from the pleasure you were experiencing. He was amazed by the way your skin heated up from his touches and by how your body took him so well. Even more pleasing, he enjoyed watching the way your body moved as you got off to riding his cock, using him to achieve your release. Moving his hands to grab your ass firmly, he wanted to take control.
Nibbling on your lips and sliding his tongue into your mouth, Lu Han began pounding into your soaking heat. You held onto his shoulders, moaning loudly against his mouth as his thrusts became merciless. You felt him smirking against your lips, clearly pleased with the noises that escaped your lips.
Speeding up, Lu Han started thrusting into you at an inhuman speed, causing you to briefly wonder if he would break you in half. You had no choice but to hold on tightly to him as he fucked you senseless. Animalistic growls poured from his mouth as he pulled away from your lips to stare at you. You couldn’t break the gaze that he held you in, the small amount of fear that gripped your heart increased the euphoria that you felt from him stroking your walls harshly.
The agonizing sensation of Lu Han’s fangs piercing your neck and the mind-numbing orgasm that ripped through your body was indescribable. You didn’t realize you had screamed your ending to the stars as tears leaked from the corners of your eyes. Your sore walls massaged his cock roughly, causing him to coat your insides with his desire as he snarled against your broken skin.
You slumped over Lu Han’s shoulders, trying to remember how to breathe again. You felt exhausted and light-headed. You weren’t even sure if any of your limbs worked anymore or if you still knew how to form words. The only thing you seemed to register was Lu Han’s tongue gently caressing the bleeding wounds on your neck.
“I’m sorry I hurt you,” Lu Han said as soon as the bleeding had slowed. “I got carried away.”
Forcing yourself to sit up, you pecked his lips softly, causing him to stroke your cheek.
“It’s alright. It was a rather interesting feeling. You know…combined with my…well you know what I mean,” you admitted sheepishly.
Lu Han gave you a fanged smile, satisfied with how his relationship had progressed with you. You made him happier than any party he had thrown.
“Thank you for giving me another chance,” Lu Han spoke, “and not just seeing me as a monster.”
“I should be thanking you, Lu Han,” you replied as you held both of his hands in your own. “You didn’t give up on me even when I rejected you that night at the castle. I was just so scared.”
“I want to make this thing work between us,” Lu Han said with a small blush on his face. “I really care about you and I want us to continue building this relationship.”
“I feel the same way, Lu Han,” you smiled as you planted a kiss on both of his hands. “Let’s start over.”
When you had looked towards the future, you only saw yourself living in London, doing what you loved the most. Going out and having fun with friends was also an expected part of your future, but it was the unforeseeable parts that had truly flipped your life upside. Meeting Lu Han and Gina was a pleasant surprise, filling your life with such fun that you had never known existed. Although it had frightened you to learn that the two of them were vampires, Lu Han convinced you to live your life more freely without judging others. Therefore, you accepted that it was good to embrace others, despite what secrets they might have.
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