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once-more-just-vibing · 3 years

Text

I’m gonna rewrite the IBVS fic ‘cuz I no longer vibe with it

Same thing as the other but hopefully less ooc

IBVS is by @onebizarrekai

"What's up with him?"

The rain fell in droves, soaking him to the bone almost instantly. But that wasn't his main concern at the moment.

"He's been acting weird for weeks."

He couldn't afford to stop and catch his breath, he just needed to keep running.

Running.

R͙̜̱̈́u̬͚ͯͭͥ̀n̜͕̤͖͑́͛̚͜n̳̖̯̖͊͢ͅi͓̮̖̹̲̜͈̤ͧ̿̋͜ň̴̳̠̱͙̂g͔̺͉̭̗͖͍̏̄ͭ͗̀

"I hope he's OK."

Then the worst happened, he slipped and went sprawling into the pavement. After the shock wore off, he tried to scramble to his feet before he was caught by-

"Hello there Quinton."

-------------

"Chris, I know you mean well, but I'm not helping." Isaac said, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"C'mon, Isaac!" Chris responded, his own lunch forgotten, "You won't even try?"

The artist sighed, "Look, I get what you're saying and I'm glad you've got this heart of pure gold, but I'm. Not. Helping."

"Alright, I get it, you and Ed don't have the best relationship, but still! Besides, he's trying to get better too!"

Isaac hesitated for a moment, "Fine, I'll admit that he's more... Tolerable nowadays. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna' go sticking my nose in his business. Even if he wanted someone to bother him there's still the issue of-" he waved his hands for emphasis, "Neither of us like each other."

Chris huffed in annoyance, "Fine, I'll go figure it out myself."

"Good luck with that!" Isaac called after him as Chris left.

Chris had just walked through the door when he was tapped on the shoulder. He jolted and turned to see who did it, relaxing slightly when he saw that it was someone he didn’t know.

He looked at the other student in confusion, “Do I know you?”

The other student just shook his head, “No, sorry, I forget not everyone knows me sometimes.” he stuck out his hand, “Name’s Barry, I’m Edward’s friend.”

After a moment of hesitation, Chris reached out and shook his hand, “Alright, what did you need?”

"I believe you've noticed that something's up with Ed too." He said, his face unreadable.

"How did you know?" Chris asked, beginning to feel slightly nervous.

Barry just gave him a friendly smile, "Call it a hunch. Now, I assume I'm correct?"

Chris nodded slowly, "Yeah... What's it mean to you?"

"Well, I care about my best friend for one. There's also the fact that very little goes on in this school without me knowing so when there is, I like to know what I didn't before. No c'mon, we've got a lot of figuring out to do."

Chris didn't have a chance to speak before Barry was pulling him down the hall towards who know where.

------------

Meanwhile, on the other side of the school, the answers Barry and Chris were looking for were revealing themselves.

"I-I haven't t-touched Drew!" Edward stuttered, backtracking quickly, "J-just leave me alone!"

"Don't treat me like I'm stupid," Nevin sneered, "I saw you two together. Now get over here."

"I-I... I'll do anything!" Edward pleaded, "I'll n-never even LOOK at him again!"

Nevin just stepped forward, "I warned you Quinton..."

"P-please." He whispered, freezing as he hit the wall.

He was trapped.

-------------

Chris jumped as Barry slammed his hands on the table, "OK, what do we know?"

After recovering from the shock, Chris hesitantly responded, "I... Guess he's been avoiding people more often? I don't know, you probably noticed more."

Barry nodded, "That's the most noticeable change. Even his little gang hasn't seen much of him outside of class."

This was new to Chris, "Wait, not even they know what's up? I thought he told them everything."

Barry shook his head, "If he didn't tell me, he wouldn't tell anyone."

"I feel like there's more between you two than just being friends."

"I'll tell you later." Barry responded dismissively, "Now, back to what we know. So no one has seen him much which implies that he's avoiding people."

"The question is why."

Barry nodded, "And unfortunately, that's something I can't figure out."

"Do you know any reasons why he wouldn't want to be around people?"

"No, not really. He's always been very social so I don't understand why he wouldn't be around others even if something was bugging him."

Chris sighed, "Then we're back at square one."

They sat in silence for a while, both of them feeling frustrated and somewhat defeated. If they couldn't figure out what was wrong they couldn't do anything to help. And it wasn't like they could just ask since Edward wasn't really known for being an open book.

"I wish this was as easy as movies made it look." Chris muttered, "I wish this was like some detective movie or something where there's a clue or sign just magically seems to appear."

And of course at that moment, the universe decided that Chris had gone thre enough already and granted his wish.

The door burst open, causing Chris and Barry to jump in surprise. The door slammed again and they could hear the sound of something thudding against the cabinets in the kitchen.

They shared a worried look before Barry stood up, "Who's there?"

There was a quiet mumble from the kitchen that neither of them could decipher.

Chris stood up next, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

There was no response this time and after sharing a wary look, the two teens crept towards the kitchen. At first, it looked like no one was there, but once they rounded the corner they saw the intruder. Sitting on the floor, knees tucked up in a defensive position, sat the very person they'd been talking about.

"Ed...?" Barry whispered.

"Go away." Edward rasped, seeming to draw even further into himself.

"Well," Chris said, a look of confusion on his face, "I think we've got even more questions to answer now."

---------

It took them about half an hour to get Edward to leave the kitchen, and even then. he refused to be near them or say anything. Barry eventually gave up on getting Ed to talk after another half hour of fruitless attempts.

He sat down at the table with a groan, "Y'know, Ed's a good guy, but there are times where he is extremely frustrating. This is one of them."

Chris chuckled quietly and glanced out the window, "Oh geez, I didn't notice how dark it got. I wonder if my dad's wondering where I am yet."

Barry looked surprised, "Oh my gosh! You it's never told your parents!" he stood up and walked off, "I should tell Ed's mom he's spending the night."

Chris stood up after him, "Well, good luck with that. I gotta' head home before I get in more trouble than I'm definitely already in."

Barry nodded, "Alright, good luck to you too."

They waved goodbye to each other and Barry watched the other walk off until the last trace of color disappeared into the night. He shook his head, turning back to his phone as he pulled up Edward's mom's contact. Most people would consider it weird that he has the number of his best friend's mom but it made sense to him. After Ed had developed the habit of accidentally falling asleep at Barry's house, he just decided to help out and message Ed's mom for him.

Speaking of which.

Edward had finally fallen asleep, slumped over with his knees still pressed to his chest.

Barry sighed, "Wish you weren't so stubborn and let people help you..."

He walked to the kitchen, grabbed a towel, and returned to sit next to his friend. After moving Edward's arms away from his face, Barry began wiping off the tear stains. Shockingly, the jock didn't wake up, only shifting slightly. After carefully removing the other's jacket, Barry grabbed one of the blankets and practically tucked Edward in. And after a moments hesitation, he leaned down and gave his friend a soft kiss on the forehead and turned off the lights, finally heading off to get some sleep.

---------------

Thankfully, it was finally the weekend, meaning Barry didn't need to fight Ed to keep him home. Chris came over again, saying he wanted to help just as much as Barry did. It took an hour or so and lots of prying for Edward to finally open up. And when he did, the story he told definitely shocked the other two.

"I'll t-talk now." He mumbled.

Barry and Chris instantly started questioning him.

"What happened?"

"Are you OK?"

"Did someone do this to you?"

"How can we help?"

At this, Edward instantly shrank back into the blanket covering him, wide eyed and shaking slightly. The other two backed off upon seeing his reaction, giving him a minute to collect himself.

"Maybe don't do that next time." Was all he said, still tense but doing better.

Chris rubbed the back of his neck, visibly embarrassed, "Yeah, probably wasn't my smartest moment."

That got an annoyed scoff out of the other that caused Chris to perk up.

Barry spoke up after a second, "Could you tell us what happened now?"

Ed flinched again, obviously not liking the conversation, "I... Guess..." he took a breath, steeling himself for the coming conversation, and finally spoke. "It started a couple weeks ago. Stupid-" His face scrunched up in disgust, "Stupid fuckin'... Emo kid said something 'bout me messing with his brother. Of course I wasn't 'cuz even if I was like, violent all the time, I'm not gonna' beat up a kid on crutches. That's just sick. But yeah, the asshole kept catching me after school and just pummeling me. I tried to fight back a couple times but that didn't work so I just tried avoiding him. That didn't work either so I just started avoiding people altogether. Didn't help that after the first few times any sort of contact freaked me out. But yeah, that's basically it."

Chris and Barry just sat there and stared at him, completely at a loss for words. Edward looked unnerved by the sudden attention, once again shrinking back into himself.

Chris snapped out of it first, "S-sorry, we didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. We're just... Surprised, I guess."

Edward raised an eyebrow, "Really? He already hated me, this shouldn't be too surprising."

Barry was still in a state of shock, just staring at his friend with a mixture of concern and anger.

Chris suddenly stood up, "That's it. I need to talk with him."

Edward looked panicked, "No way! He'll crush you!"

This didn't stop Chris who just continued towards the door, "I don't care, he's not getting away with this." and with that, the door shut and the house was silent.

Barry sighed, standing up, "I hope he doesn't get himself into too much trouble..."

Edward just kept staring at the door as if he was expecting Chris to walk back through at any moment.

Barry noticed this and sat down next to his friend (Not close enough to touch mind you), “Hey, I’m sure he’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry so much.”

Edward scoffed, trying to mask his embarrassment, “I’m not worrying! I’m just... Waiting for him to come back and tell me about how he whooped Nightmare’s ass! Yeah!” he grinned, I’m so smooth.

Barry just chuckled, leaning back into the couch, “Whatever you say buddy. Want to watch something?”

“Sure, what are you thinking?” The jock responded and instinctively glanced at the TV as it flickered on.

“We could just see what’s on. That is unless you were thinking of something specific.”

“Nah, whatever is fine.”

And just like that, Edward quickly forgot about his worries in favor of intently watching the show that came on and criticizing the acting. Barry was glad he managed to take the other’s mind off of Chris, but now it was his turn to be worried.

-------------

Chris rapped on the door of the Jovel house, having to keep himself from just busting it down and scouring the place for any sign of Nevin. After a bit of shuffling from inside, the door opened, revealing none other than the emo disaster himself.

He gave Chris a bored look, “You want something?”

Needless to say, the urge to punt the boy in front of him increased.

Chris took a deep breath, reminded himself that other people might see him pummel what appeared to be an emo 12 year old (Height wise), and forced a fake smile.

“Hey Nevin,” He said, his voice slightly strained, “mind coming outside so we can talk?”

After surveying his tall friend for a moment, Nevin shrugged, stepping onto the porch and shutting the door, “I don’t see why not.”

“Cool.” Chris responded simply, turning to walk down the stairs when he was pushed down.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and spun around, a short knife resembling a blood red dagger appearing out of nowhere in his hand. Nevin was still standing on the porch, a smug smirk on his face.

“You really thought I was stupid enough to fall for that?” He sneered, “You weren’t even trying to pretend like this was just gonna’ be a normal conversation.”

Chris grit his teeth, “Kinda’ hard to play nice when you learn that your friend is secretly an asshole who beats up people who didn’t even do anything.”

Nevin scowled, stepping down the stairs, “Quinton has done more than enough to deserve what I did. I even warned him.”

Chris glared at him. This is going nowhere. Guess we’re doing this the hard way. Nevin suddenly jumped forward, snapping the other out of his thoughts. Chris managed to step out of the way right as Nevin swiped at the air where he had been moments before. Black crystal like structures had formed at the tips of the dark haired boy’s fingers, effectively forming crude claws. He made another swipe and Chris barely managed to block it with the flat of his knife.

Nevin hissed, shaking his hand lightly before glaring at Chris, “I thought you were on my side Chris! Not that pompous bastard’s!”

Chris took the opportunity to go on the offensive, “That changed when you started being a jerk!” he grunted, making several slashes and stabs at his opponent.

Nevin quickly moved out of the way, “Then I hope you’re prepared for what you got yourself into!” he tried to grab the knife but cried out, an audible sizzle coming from the black liquid now coating his hands, “You little-”

Chris allowed himself a triumphant grin as Nevin reeled, holding his burned hand. His smile quickly faded however as the flow of black liquid just increased, the previously dull cyan glint in the shorter boy’s eye doubling in intensity. The liquid seemed to have a mind of its own, moving and bubbling with frantic intensity. Chris began to move back, starting to wonder why he thought this was a good idea as his once-friend gave him a hate filled glare slightly obscured by the black sludge.

“Now you really fucked up.” Nevin growled, flinging some of the sludge off his hands and exposing the now lengthened claws.

Chris swallowed, gripping his knife tightly as he willed it to grow. Oh shit. Was all he thought as the two stared each other down. Then, Nevin lunged, restarting the fight.

--------------

The show had been long forgotten and been reduced to background noise. Edward was splayed out on the couch, having taken it for himself in his sleep. Barry switched to one of the armchairs and was absentmindedly petting a random cat that had crawled into his lap.

The relative quiet wasn’t meant to last though.

The door burst open, startling the cat which caused it to leap off of Barry and dart off into the kitchen. As the boy was beginning to stand up to see who had barged in, his surprise guest stumbled into the living room.

“Chris?!” Barry said in shock.

The boy in question was covered in dirt, grime, and some unidentifiable black sludge with several leaves stuck to it. He had numerous bruises and scrapes along with a slight limp. All in all, he was a mess.

“Heya Barry.” Chris mumbled.

Barry immediately snapped out of his shock, “Holy- Chris go take a shower right now, you need to get all that gunk off. I’m gonna go get some bandages and anti-bacterial spray.”

Chris stood there for a moment, looking completely out of it, before nodding slowly and limping up the stairs. After a minute, the faint sound of falling water came from the upstairs bathroom. Somehow, this was more jarring than the door slamming open and woke Edward up.

“Barry...?” He called, his voice slightly hoarse.

“In here Ed!” Barry responded, eventually returning from one of the many closets with an armful of medical supplies.

Edward, who was still tired and groggy, just stared at his friend for a moment, “What’s all that for? I already told you I don’t need anything.”

“It’s for Chris.” Barry said, “He just got back. He was covered in dirt and all sorts of muck so I told him to take a shower before anything. I’m waiting for him to come back so I can patch him up.”

This obviously didn’t sit right with the school king, “He’s hurt?! What happened?”

“I don’t know but I’m assuming it’s Nevin’s fault.”

Edward scowled but before he could say anything, the water stopped and a voice came from the bathroom.

“Hey Barry!” Chris shouted, “I uh... I don’t have any extra clothes!”

Barry sighed, “Damnit, I should’ve thought of that.”

“You could give him some of my stuff I left here,” Edward suggested, “we’re close to the same size.”

“That could work.” Barry mused then called back to Chris, “Give me a minute! I’ll go get you something!”

He walked to the spare room and opened the closet, revealing Edward’s stash of spare clothes he kept there in case he slept over. After grabbing a plain T-shirt, sweatpants, and a sweater with the school emblem on it, Barry made his way up to the bathroom.

He knocked on the door, “I have some clothes that could work for you.”

After a moment Chris opened the door, only wearing a towel and looking incredibly embarrassed, “Sorry for taking your stuff, I didn’t think I’d get this messy.”

Barry waved a hand dismissively, “It’s no problem. Besides, Ed suggested I give you his spare stuff anyways so you don’t need to worry about taking my things.”

Chris only looked more embarrassed at this, “Oh my gosh, Isaac’s never going to let me live this down if he finds out.”

Barry just chuckled, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. Now get dressed so I can patch you up.”

Chris nodded and took the pile of clothes, then proceeding to retreat back into the bathroom. After a minute, he came out, looking slightly flustered.

“It fits.” He mumbled, pulling at the sleeves of the sweater and avoiding eye contact.

Barry just smiled, “That’s good, now c’mon.” he grabbed the other’s hand and brought him downstairs.

At the sound of the two coming downstairs, Edward looked up from what he was doing on his phone. Upon spotting the incredibly flustered Chris, he immediately looked back down, feeling his face heat up slightly. Barry worked in silence, disinfecting and wrapping up all the scrapes and cuts Chris got from the fight. After that was done, the three sat in semi-awkward silence until Edward finally said something.

“Want to see what’s on TV?” He suggested, obviously uncomfortable with the silence.

Barry nodded, reaching for the remote and turning on the TV. After a few seconds, the screen lit up and the sound of voices and quiet music issued forth. It was some sort of Spanish drama if the music and stereotypical mustaches and sombreros were any indication.

Right before Barry could change the channel, Edward reached out and stopped him, “No wait, this looks interesting.”

Barry gave him a confused look but just shrugged and set the remote aside. They all huddled on the couch, Edward on one end, Barry on the other, and Chris in the middle. It took a bit for them to understand what was happening since the episode was apparently in the middle of the season. Not to mention the fact that it took forever for them to figure out how to get English captions since Chris was the only one who could even sort of understand what they were saying. About an hour in, Edward and Chris were extremely invested, both of them immediately denying Barry’s request to find something actually good. An hour and a half later, the two were crying over a wedding scene.

Chris sniffled, tears streaming down his face, “S-she f-finally got her h-husbaaaand!” he trailed off into sobs.

Edward was too distraught to respond and just nodded aggressively, blowing his nose loudly. Barry just watched them, a look of concern on his face. When the villain crashed the wedding though, they became even more distraught. Chris leaned against Edward, hugging him for support as he cried. Edward noticeably flinched but after a moment, smiled slightly and awkwardly patted the other’s back.

“I-I-I c-can’t b-beli-ieve he dID THAT!” Chris sobbed, descending into distressed mumbling and tears.

Barry snorted and began laughing and so did Edward. Chris just weakly smacked Edward’s arm and tried to kick Barry, only succeeding in tapping the other with his foot.

“Y-you guys are mean.” He muttered, causing the other two to start snickering again.

It didn’t take long for him to pass out, having tired himself out with all the crying. It took Edward a bit to notice that there was now a deadweight leaning up against him.

“Uh, Barry?” He whispered, “There’s a problem.”

Barry looked over and upon noticing his friend’s predicament, he smiled, “Aww, that’s cute.”

Edward blushed slightly, sputtering something unintelligible, “No it’s not!” he hissed, “Now help me!”

Barry just grinned, “Nah, he looks comfortable.” his smile faltered after a moment though, “Are you uncomfortable? I’ll move him if this is making you uncomfortable.”

The jock hesitated then sighed, “No, I’m fine, I just need to move him a bit.”

He began shifting slightly, trying his hardest not to wake the other up. After moving so that he was laying on his back, he let Chris’s head fall onto his chest.

He glared at Barry who was smiling again, “Not a word.”

Barry held his hands up defensively, “Hey, I wasn’t gonna say anything.” he thought for a moment, “Actually, do you want to stay here or move to my room?”

Edward glanced at Chris, poked his head, and when the sleeping boy didn’t do anything, he nodded, “Yeah, the couch isn’t the most comfortable and one of us would probably roll off.”

“Alright.” Barry said, standing up, “You got him?”

As if on cue, Edward hoisted Chris up, holding him bridal style. He stumbled slightly at first but quickly regained his balance, shifting his sleeping load a bit before following Barry to the bedroom. They settled in, Chris in the middle again, and Barry turned off the light.

“Goodnight Ed.” He whispered.

“Night Barry.” Edward responded.

-------------

Chris woke up to a bright light shining onto his face and the sound of muffled talking and clanging. It took him a moment to register that he didn’t recognize the room he was in and another to begin panicking.

He shot up and instantly groaned at the sudden soreness, “Aaaooooww shit-”

He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He quickly pieced together that this must be Barry’s bedroom after remembering the events of last night. He swung his legs out of the bed (Also registering that he was still wearing Edward’s clothes) and after stretching a bit, left the room to see what was happening. He got to the bottom of the stairs and followed the noise to the kitchen. The source of the noise was Edward singing along to a random song that was playing from his phone along with Barry cooking some eggs and bacon.

“Ed I’m trying to cook-” Barry started but was cut off as Edward started singing again.

“Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah no I can't risk falling off my throne!" he sang, “La la la la la la la la love is something I don’t even know!”

Before he could stop himself, Chris slid in and started singing the next part as well, “Straight hair! Straight A’s! Straight forward, straight girl. Little Miss Perfect, that’s me!”

Edward noticed his new singing buddy and after a moment of embarrassed silence and surprise, the next verse came up and he decided to just go with it. They eventually convinced Barry to join them and they all had a sort of karaoke session before Barry finished the food. Breakfast was relatively quiet but instead of it being awkward, it was a comfortable quiet. Eventually, Chris and Edward needed to go home. Neither of them were too happy about that fact but they couldn’t just live at Barry’s house. Barry fussed over Edward for a bit, asking if he needed Barry to walk him home and if he was feeling alright. After managing to convince his friend that he was fine, Edward turned to the door.

He paused though, turning around to look at Chris, “Hey, umm...” he thought for a moment, not sure what to say, “Thanks.”

Chris just looked confused, “What for?”

Edward shrugged, “I dunno, beating up that jerk for me I guess. Figured it wasn’t right to just ignore what you did for me, so thanks.”

Chris was caught off guard, “O-oh! Oh yeah no problem, I couldn’t just let him get away with that.”

Barry jumped in, “Don’t you ‘no problem’ us, we saw what happened to you. You did more than you needed to and more.”

Chris felt his face heat up, “Oh, thank you.”

Edward patted him on the back, “No problem bud.”

After once again assuring Barry that they were both perfectly fine, Chris and Edward finally left. They waved goodbye to each other and went their separate ways, both smiling to themselves.

~~Extra~~

Chris opened the door, “Hey Isaac, come on in!”

The shorter artist walked in, glancing around, “Is your dad out?”

Chris nodded, “Yup. No need to worry about him. Now c’mon, we got a project to work on.”

Isaac groaned dramatically but followed his friend up to his room. The room was a bit messy but nothing Isaac wasn’t used to. It took them a minute to get set up and he decided to check out Chris’s room out of bored curiosity. It was pretty normal for a teenagers room, a messy desk against one of the walls, a bookshelf covered in books that were collecting dust, a sweater with the school logo on it, a couple socks on th-

Wait...

“What’s this?” He asked, picking up the sweater that had been partially hidden by a blanket.

Chris instantly froze and began panicking, “Uh- I-it’s just some sweater I got at the beginning of the school year!”

Isaac gave him a suspicious look and then glanced at the tag on the back of the collar, “Funny, cuz right here it says ‘Edward Quinton’.” he smirked, “Now what does that mean?”

At that moment, Chris wished he could sink into the floor.

#Edward Quintion #Barry Price #Chris Jackson #Isaac Beamer #Nevin Jovel #Drew Jovel #ibvs #tw fighting #tw knives #long post #Fucking FINALLY #I've been working on this for ages #Lost's writing

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chusset · 7 years

Text

Kitchen Confessional

so @carolionel i know I’m like...working on a lot of different shit at once lol but this one has been in my head for quite a while so I thought I’d start it. Like I think I briefly mentioned the idea before that maybe while on an Alch mission, Jo gets snatched up by a few Alchs and, though she manages to escape some hours later, she is unwilling to talk about what happened, and just decides to try and move on. Well! That doesn’t work so well....

Anyway this is probably just one part of two or so so anyway!! I hope it is gewd

---------

Jolene nearly choked Klaus. Though she felt like she could choke anyone right about now.

"Here's zhe medicine....” Klaus said, looking miserable as he handed her a bottle of pills. "Just take these for two weeks and your chlamydia will clear right up. Leon, too, make sure he has zhese. There's plenty for you both...."

Jolene sighed and nodded. "Sure. Yeah, thanks, Klaus...Look, you can't...mention this to Leon, alright?"

Klaus didn't meet her gaze as he marked something on his clipboard, seated in an examination room of the hospital. "Well...patient confidentiality, I suppose...But...You really should talk to Leon...I know you two could work through this. He'd be hurt, but if you just tell him you made a mistake and cheated---"

"I didn't!" she snapped, going from quiet and still to looking murderously furious. "Don't you dare fucking suggest that I---"

"Woah, woah! Calm down!" Klaus, stumbling away from her with his hands up in defense. "Jolene! Calm down! Vhat's zhe matter....? H-How else did you catch the..." He paused, brow knitting as he looked to her. "...J-...Jo...did something happen...?"

She didn't answer. She snatched the bottle from him and stood. "You can't tell Eloise, either. Or anyone.Think you can manage that, shorty?"

Klaus swallowed but slowly nodded, seeing just how miserable she looked. "Yes...Yes, of course, I won't breathe a word..."

"Good..." Jolene took her jacket and left, silently going through the hall back to her own lab.Leon was in there, examining the ingredients on a side of a bottle. "Ahh, Jo, good, you're back..." he said, quiet in thought. "I've just been looking at this medicine for stomach bugs, and I thought we could replace the ingredients of--"

"That's great, honey, but I-I'm kind of tired..." Jolene said quietly to him, going to give his hand a squeeze. She looked tired, as well as her age. Her spell did good in keeping wrinkles, gray hair and weight gain at bay, but it did little good in disguising the exhaustion on her face. "You go ahead and tinker with it, hmm?”

Leon frowned, fixing the glasses on his nose. "Jo...are you alright? You're not catching something, are you?" he said, sliding off a red glove to gingerly feel her forehead.

"I'm fine," she shrugged, setting down her bag. "I'll make dinner, okay? You go ahead and do whatever you wanted to do..."

"Let me help with dinner, hmm?" Leon said, sliding his arms around her. "Eloise brought over some vegetables she got from the market earlier, I can fix up stew..."

"It's okay, babe, I've got it," Jolene said, kissing his forehead and smiling softly and tiredly. "You just let me make you something good, okay?"

Leon nodded, not wanting to upset her. She already looked like she was on the verge of tears. She'd been so upset for weeks, quiet and looking like she'd cry at any time. She looked weak. She didn't look like the Jo he knew.

"Jo..." he said after a moment. "You've been very quiet since...well, since that Alch held you hostage. I know it must've been horrifying, and it's clearly affected you...You know I'm here to listen if you just want to talk or anything..."

Jolene stepped away, not looking at him as she turned to go in the kitchen. "I'm fine. They didn't hurt me. Just smacked me around a bit, I've taken worse. I'll call you when dinner's ready."

Leon watched after her and sighed, knowing better than to bug her. He went back to examining the medicine, thinking briefly of a few notes he and Jo had taken on it a few weeks back. He glanced around for his notebook, before remembering it was on her legal pad with the pink paper. He plucked her satchel from the floor, rifling through it a moment before finding the legal pad. He pulled it out, and paused at seeing a bottle of medicine just beneath it. Thinking it was an experiment of hers, he plucked it out, examined the label. He slowly paled, his brow knitting as he rose with a shaky hand still holding the bottle.

Jolene chopped vegetables in the kitchen, figuring even she couldn't mess up a simple soup. She suddenly felt a presence, and turned around to see Leon in the doorway leading to the kitchen, his expression unreadable. "Hey, I told you I could get dinner on my own...What's wrong?"

Leon took a moment before swallowing, and asking her quietly, "Who do you need medicine for chlamydia?"

Jolene stopped chopping carrots and wobbled briefly, anxiety pulsing through her. She swallowed and set the knife down, going to wash her hands before turning back to Leon. They made eye contact for a long moment before she sighed softly and looked away. "I...didn't want to tell you..."

"Clearly."

"I didn't think it was important..."

"You didn't think it was important!" Leon snapped, looking absolutely furious now rather than sad. "You're joking! Is this why you've been so moody? Guilt too much for you, or were you just trying to figure out how to tell me that you..."

"Leon, wait, just listen..." Jolene asked quietly, struggling not to cry. "I can explain..."

"Unless you weren’t ever planning on telling me!" he cried, throwing the bottle of pills down at her feet. "How could you? I thought--- Jo, I know we can argue, but we've always been so mad about each other--"

"A-And we still are!"

"They warned me, too!" he cried, eyes beginning to swim with furious and hurt tears. "I barely moved in when people around here started telling me to be wary of you! Oliver Franchott said you'd sleep with anything with two legs-- and of course I soon learned not to believe anything out of his idiot mouth, but it was others! Sympathetic looks when I told people I was with Doc Ainsworth, warnings of "Be careful", "don't get too invested"--- All I ever heard was stuff like that for weeks, and I always, always thought they were just idiots who didn't know a thing about you, wh-who just think you're mad as a hatter and that's it, who didn't know what I knew about you, that you were passionate and caring and loved me, and...." He seethed, rubbing tears from his eyes while Jo stayed quiet. "I should've listened to them, shouldn't I have? I bet it was Sebastian! I see how you look at that him, constantly! And the way he looks at you--I should have known! I should have figured!"

"You should have figured I was a slut who'd cheat on you with ease..." Jolene said quietly, glancing away from him.

Leon was too furious to say anything but. "Yes," he seethed, hand trembling from where he held on to the counter. "So who the hell was it, huh?" he asked with a humorless laugh.

Jolene stayed quietstill before looking up at him, her expression broken and hurt. Her expression immediately stilled him back into silence. He hadn’t ever seen her look that way. "....Those Alchs raped me," she told him plainlysoftly, blinking back tears. "They tied me up, beat me...and then raped me. Repeatedly. And I guess one of the five Alchemists who hit me and pulled my hair and touched me everywhere had....the clap. I should have gotten tested sooner, but...Well, shit, Leon, that wasn’t exactly the top item on my mind," she said, sounding bitingly bitter.

Leon listened to her and processed this before sighing shakily, all fury draining from his face and being replaced by a look of weak horror. "Jo....” he began brokenly. “Jo, I-I didn't...I didn't know. I am so sorry, I---"

"Because crazy Doc Ainsey is just a slut!" she screamed, rage splitting from her now. "Because Doc Ainsey can save everyone in this God-forsaken While and still not be worth shit. She neeeever wanted any love or affection, just another dick in her to fill that empty void! She'd throw the most perfect relationship she's ever had away just for another quick bang! Run right back to her ex as soon as one dick between her legs ain't good enough! Because Doc Ainsey's trash, she's nothing---"

"Jo, Jo, no, that's not what I--- I'm sorry, I am so sorry, I-I was just angry and--"

"I know you were fucking angry!" she yelled, fists clenched as miserable tears slid down her cheeks. "I could see that as you told me how everyone around here apparently thinks I'm some slutty pariah that'll ruin your life. And apparently you should have believed them. Well, you believe whatever you want to hear, Leon!”

“Jolene..." Leon said quietly, stepping closer to try and hold her hands. "Please, Please, I'm s--"

"Don't fucking touch me, Leon!" she cried, shoving his hands away. Her breathing was ragged and tight, and she trembled as she held her arm out to keep him at bay. "Don't0--don’t touch me. I want you out."

Leon's expression broke. "Jo, wait--"

"No! Now! I want you out right fucking now!" she screamed, and she looked so furious that he quickly stepped back, knowing when she was on the verge of losing it. "I don't want you back here! This is my house and my lab and my world! You come into my clinic, into my house, into my bed and you have the fucking gall to speak to me like I---" She seethed and shook her head, furiously fighting the urge to snap as an eerie calm washed over her. "I never want to see you again. Go back to 2-Fort for all I care."

Leon held his hands up defensively but sighed shakily. "Jo... Come on, please, let's just talk, I'm sorry--"

"I told you, get out, get out right fucking now before I haul your ass out myself. Make a spectacle out of you. Then we can match!”

Leon swallowed hard but knew he wouldn't be able to get a word in. He hadn't ever seen her so hurt and furious, and he felt horrible for getting so upset that he pushed her to that point. "O-Okay, Jo..." he told her quietly, and quickly started for the portal door. Jo watched after him, breathing jagged as she tried to calm down. As soon as she heard the portal door close, she sank to the floor and cried, hugging her knees to her chest and feeling like she'd break.

--------

Eloise hummed contently, fixing up dinner while her six-month-old son sat on a blanket on the floor, playing with his stuffed animals and rattles. There was a knock on the portal door, and baby Leon looked up at the sound. He quirked his head and cooed, kicking his chubby legs with delight.

"Yes, that means company's coming over..." Eloise told her with a smile, giving his head of dark hair a gentle pat as she went to get the door. She smiled at seeing her son's namesake, but frowned when she saw just how distressed he looked. "Leon? Dear, what's the matter?" she asked, and her son shrieked happily at seeing grandpa.

Leon sniffed and rubbed at his aching temples. "....Do you mind if I stay here a night or two?" he asked her quietly.

Eloise's brow knit and she nodded. "Of course, of course...Why don't I make you a cup of tea and we can talk?"

Leon swallowed and nodded, knowing that if anyone would know what to do, it would be Eloise. "That...That would be wonderful...Danke..."

Eloise put dinner to simmer and got her and Leon cups of tea. Little Leon sucked on his binky, sitting happily in his mother's lap while he played with his stuffed tiger that Lionel made him. Eloise cuddled him close and listened to Leon as he told her about finding her pills, getting into an argument, and Jo finally confessing what happened.

"I didn't...mean to get so angry like that," he sighed softly, briefly drying his eyes as a few tears welled in them. "I-I know I should have calmed down and asked her about it before I...." He looked up to Eloise. "I don't think she'll be able to get past this...She's already been so hurt and changed....Sh-She needed me and I...I didn’t know..."

"Leon," Eloise said gently, and her baby made a small cooing sound and looked up at her at hearing his name. She chuckled softly and gave him a kiss on the head. "Not you, silly....Leon, I'd slap a man across the face if he insinuated I had cheated. Especially with an ex that was now a good friend...And I would be angry at him for a very long time."

"That's reassuring..."

"But that's me," Eloise said, reaching to give his hand a gentle pat. "You and Jolene are both...very ill tempered and compulsive. You both are quick to get angry, and you know this about each other. And when two hot-headed, compulsive people get together, these sorts of things happen. Mean things are said, regrets are made, people get kicked out of the house for a night or two...I don't think you've ever had to deal with something like realizing that the love of your life might be cheating on you. And she's never had to deal with realizing that the love of her life would believe this..."

"I don't believe it..." he sighed shakily. "I know she loves me, b-but when that sort of thing is just staring right at you..."

"No matter how much you love someone, seeds of doubt can be planted easily. I know I would instantly jump to that conclusion if I found chlamydia medication in Klaus' bag. No matter how much I love him, and no matter now much I know he loves me, it's just a textbook case for a possible affair," Eloise told him. She sighed softly. "I've felt something was wrong with Jolene...I usually don't like to invade my friends' emotions, but she has been so...weak and sad and tired and lonely..." She blinked back tears and shook her head, always feeling her friends' emotions on a hard level. "...I think she's just needed a lot of tender, loving care, but hasn't been letting herself express that or accept it..."

Leon sighed shakily. "I've seen, she's been so distant and quiet...I've tried comforting here, but she won't let me..."

"Maybe make her feel like you want to help. I feel like she's nervous that you feel like you need to comfort her, as her lover...If she didn't even feel she could confide in you about being raped...Do you two ever really talk about how you feel?"

He thought a moment and sighed. "No...We'll tell each other when the other does something that bothers us, but...that's usually the extent of it...We're honestly not very open emotionally..." he admitted.

"You two love each other a lot," Eloise said with a warm smile. "And this...this will pass. Give her a bit of space for now, but you are what she is most passionate about in this world. She'll forgive you. And once she does, you can both see to it that her heart starts healing," she said, giving a gentle kiss on her son's forehead when he squirmed. "You got a wet diaper? Come on, Mama will change you..."

"I can get him, you go ahead and finish cooking..." Leon said, gently scooping up the baby, who smiled and kicked his legs. He snuggled little Leon close, talking quietly to him as he went for the nursery. "Grandpa will have a sleepover with you tonight. I'll eat dinner with you, and maybe your mother will even let you stay up til 7:30~"

The baby just grinned up at him, not understanding what he was saying, but just happy to be cuddled and loved. "You're just like your mother..." Leon chuckled softly, laying the baby down to change his diaper. Little Leon whined at his legs being bare, but was soon contently sucking on his pacifier again in a fresh diaper, reaching up for Leon to take him again. "You're happy now, hmm..." the doctor smiled fondly, picking the baby back up and bouncing him. He sighed softly and gave little Leon a hug, feeling like he just needed some comfort now. The baby sucked his pacifier happily and nestled into Leon's arms, always very calm when he got snuggled. Leon just held the baby for a while before he heard Klaus come home downstairs, and he sighed and started down with the baby. Little Leon grinned so wide when he saw Klaus that the binky fell out of his mouth. He made a noise of excitement and held out his arms, and Klaus smiled and eagerly went to scoop his son up.

"Hi, buddy!" he exclaimed, hugging his son close and kissing him all over, making the baby squirm and giggle. Once he'd properly given his son plenty of love, Klaus looked up to Leon, his expression softening. "...Did you talk to Jo?"

"Yes...how do you know?"

"She came to me for medicine earlier...I know I shouldn’t say anything, but...What happened?"

"Let's talk on it later, sweetie..." Eloise said quietly, coming to kiss her husband's cheek. "I made beef stew and pasta salad. And I picked your favorite up from the store."

"Dutch apple pie?" Klaus asked with a spark in his eye, looking like an excited little boy being told he could have candy.

"The very same," Eloise giggled at his expression, giving him a loving Eskimo kiss. "Oooh, I missed you today

Leon sighed deeply and a bit sadly, wondering what it took for them to be so deeply in love without complication. Of course he loved Jolene madly, and he honestly wasn't interested in a relationship that entailed gooey pet names and affectionate cooing around every corner, but surely Klaus and Eloise had some other secret that kept them so happy?

"Mmm, well..." Eloise thought when Leon brought the topic up at dinner. "I suppose it's a lot of things...For one, everything with 2-Fort just made me realize that my darling may very well be with me one moment and gone the next..."

"And I feel the same about her past with fighting Alchemists," Klaus said, taking her hand to gently kiss her knuckles. "From the very beginning, we've always known good and well that our time may be short..."

"And he just made me so happy...' Eloise smiled warmly. "I used to be embarrassed about how deeply I adored every inch of him, but now I couldn't imagine keeping quiet about that. I do, I love every bit of him, and he deserves to know that all the time."

Klaus blushed at this and chuckled shyly. "And she never lets me forget that I'm loved...Sometimes we'll get in an argument, but I think after a while, we both just get tired of being upset with each other, and we work it out easily..."

Eloise warmly kissed his cheek. "I think we both just...want to be madly in love, and life is hard enough as it is without arguing or getting upset with each other..." She looked to Leon. "Maybe you and Jo just need to have a plan, like...when you start to argue, take a moment and think, 'is this really something I want to be upset about, or something I want to upset them about'?"

"I know the both of you usually like to be right, so it may be a process..." Klaus chuckled softly.

"That's true, but I think the both of you definitely deserve that. And when you get in the habit of NOT arguing, soon enough your default will always be...happy," Eloise said with a shrug and a smile.

Leon sighed softly. "...The thing about arguing is good...I just...I get nervous that we'll wind up some boring old married couple..."

"Oh, so, like Klaus and I."

"You know what I mean," Leon chuckled softly to Eloise. "We used to run around and get Alchs to dissect and we'd discard their bodies at Franchott's jail....We'd be so into each other after that that we left cleaning up the lab til the next day...And we used to make love in any place we could find that was empty..."

Eloise and Klaus quickly shared a nervous glance at this.

“Well...” Klaus continued. “Remind her of that time. Of course, I highly doubt she’s been very eager to have sex, but it’s the sentimentality for you two...”

Leon sighed through his nose and nodded. “I think I’ll go back after dinner...see if she’ll want to talk...”

“I think that’s a lovely idea...” Eloise nodded encouragingly.

“Can I bring Little Leon along? I don’t think she’ll try attacking me if I have the baby....”

Little Leon grinned unsuspectingly to the doctor, his face covered in pasta sauce as he ate.

-----

Lionel was the one who answered Jolene’s portal door. Upon seeing Leon, he squeaked and fumbled to slam the door.

“Hey!” Leon grunted, sticking his foot firmly in to keep the door from closing. “Lionel!”

“J-J-Jolene says t-to tell you t-to f-f-fuck off!” Lionel cried, leaning his entire weight against the door that Leon could easily slam open.

“Lionel, just listen---!” “She! Said! F-F-Fuck! O-Off!”

Leon gave the door a firm push so he could at least look at Lionel. “Listen to me!! I just want to talk with her!”

Lionel stopped leaning on the door, tears sliding down his cheeks. He looked up to Leon with a trembling lower lip. “W-We both know that I can’t st-top you...but please...D-Do you really th-think she’ll ap-preciate another man f-f-forcing his w-way in where she d-doesn’t want him to?”

Leon was about to argue that this wasn’t similar at all before sighing softly with a nod. “...I don’t want to push things any farther with her.”

Lionel blinked in surprise before swiftly nodding. “That’s...very g-good of you. Th-thank you.”

“When can I see her, though?”

Lionel sighed and looked away. “She says she’ll be happy if you never speak to her again. But it’s p-probably just her e-emotions talking...I-I’ll call you when she seems alright...”

Leon swallowed, but nodded and accepted this. “Will you...tell her that I love her?”

Lionel considered this a moment. “Um...she’ll probably hit me for opening the door to you if she knew...”

“Right, right...” Leon sighed and nodded again. “I...I’ll wait for your call.”

Lionel nodded, about to step back inside before shooting forward to embrace the much taller man. “She’s so miserable without you,” he croaked before Leon could react. “She loves you, Leon...I know she’s exhausting and makes you want to pull your hair out, or maybe scream sometimes, but she loves you.....”

Leon let Lionel hug him, just glad that the young man couldn’t see the tears welling up in his own eyes. “...I love her, too. And I’m...I’m going to make things right with us again. I swear it.”

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