hi!! do you also write for armin (separately)? ive been craving some armin content for a while and i found your account, your writing is so amazing, and i was wondering if you'd write something where candy and armin arent back together yet in UL and, after a night in the snake room with alexy, rosa, priya and the others, armin decides to fight for her love not knowing he doesn't need to fight for it since she's head over heels for him

STILL HERE │ Armin Keenan.

When a reunion with an old love reminds Armin of everything they experienced together, he decides that after so much time, it's now or never that he should get you back.

pairing('s). armin keenan x f!reader

genre. fluff, angsty.

content wanings. mentions of breakup, alcohol consuming, cursing, kissing, suggestive themes.

author's note. MISSED THIS BOY SO MUCH DURING UL, hope you like this!! (tysm for requesting, sorry it took so long!) AND BTW, i found like a lot of lastnames and i decided for this one (not sure if is the canon one ://)

I was sure that my return to the city would be harder. After all, I couldn't blame anyone for being angry with me. If one of my friends just left, without even saying goodbye, I wouldn't be happy either. But, luckily for me, they had a much better reaction than I expected.

At the moment, I only saw Rosa and Melody. Although perhaps I didn't know how to show it at the time, having seen them after so long squeezed my heart so much that I still feel my emotions on the surface.

To tell the truth, I'm scared. Although I used to seeing eachother very often in high school, whether to go out for a drink or just to walk around the city, this is not high school anymore. And it's now, when I'm getting ready to go out, that I feel like I'm getting ready in my old room to go shopping with the them. The phone vibrates, and brings me out of my melancholic thoughts.

I look at him out of the corner of my eye, the screen glows with a notification from Alex.

Alex…

I refrain from further worries and simply read it from the preview.

"[Y/NNN]??? we are waiting for youuuu"

"Years waiting to see you, and you still late🙄​"

I smiled wistfully. I know he says it jokingly, but the guilt is real. But that's not important now, because it's once and for all my time to fix that, and to get back on track with my life here. I type a quick, “on my way,” before pocketing my phone and heading out the door to my campus room. Although the phone rings again, I don't bother checking it and I hurry to arrive on time.

I look at the time on the screen: "11:48." I curse under my breath. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I'm lost, and that even though I've been wandering around on the same street for more than twenty minutes, I still can´t find the bar. On the other hand, who would think of inviting someone to a place and not sending the address?

When I start to stress again, I recognize a voice in the distance that I would recognize anywhere. It's Alex. I follow the sound, although I don't pay attention to what it says, none of it matters when I see it. His eyes light up and he falls silent immediately. As I expected, he almost hugged me to the ground. Rosa also briefly joined our hug, smiling as she watched us interact.

"Finally!" He screeches in my ear, and although it dazes me a little I laugh out loud. "I missed you like crazy…" He whispered to me, and I had to separate myself for a moment to not burst out crying in my place.

"I missed you, Alex.." I sighed, but he seemed to notice my mood, changing the subject slighlty.

"You´re back, all that matters." He jokes, and I smile. "I hope you're ready for the surprise then."

I raise an eyebrow. "Surprise?"

"Yes, I told you by text." He emphasized obviously, gesturing towards his phone.

Of course, the text I didn't read. I nod briefly, so he thinks I know what he's talking about. Their surprises honestly scare me. They can go from something exciting to something illegal, you never know what to expect from these two. I'm nervous yes, I assume the "surprise" is inside.

"It's not bad at all." Rosa calms me down, she seems to read my mind sometimes. "I promise you'll be happy"

Well, now I'm scared.

Alexy wastes no time in cutting off the conversation, and Rosa simply presses her hand on my back lovingly, urging me to enter the disco-bar, "Snake Room." This was definitely not there when I lived here. Well, most of the things I see now didn't used to be there. Upon entering I immediately notice the loud music, the smoke and the smell of alcohol, the lights blur my vision a little, and it is difficult for me to discern where Alex is.

Rosa guides me a little to the table near the bar, which seems to be one of the quietest places in the place. But that's when the colored lights hanging near the stage allow me to catch a glimpse of him.

"I thought it would be nice for you to see each other again." Alex says, trying to calm the tension in the air.

My breath stops for a few moments. I don't know how to feel, but my body responds on its own. I'm shaking a little, and at this point I don't know if it's the flashing lights or their presence that's making me dizzy. I can barely move to get close to greet him. He changed a lot. Of course his essence is still there, I can tell, but it's definitely different.

"Welcome back." His voice is also different, deeper I could say. It throws me off a little. Well, all of him does. I curse myself internally. I was convinced I was ready for this, but I see I'm not.

I smile at him reflexively, and sit down across from him. The silence feels quite loud now that I feel his gaze on me, even though I avoid making eye contact. Rosa clears her throat, and gestures indiscreetly at Alex. I would laugh, if it weren't for the fact that this whole situation has me totally overwhelmed. I look at him for a few seconds, but he was already looking at me. God, I don't know if I can handle this.

"I imagined you´d be happier…" He smiled with amusement, and I couldn't help but feel my heart skip a beat at his expression. He looks boyish, in a strange way. It's as if for a moment, his expression took me back to high school Armin.

"I'm surprised, that's all." I laugh nervously.

"Well, he came all the way here just to see you." Alexy clarifies, but Rosa waves him off with a glare.

I look at him with my eyes slightly open. "You´re not living here?" The question escapes me before I can think about it.

"Not quite." He clarifies, and takes a sip of beer. It's now that my throat feels a little dry, but I don't feel like drinking alcohol. I could end up doing things i´ll regret. "Although now that you're back, I'd think about it." He winks at me.

I looked to the side, and felt my cheeks burn a little. It looked like it was going to be a long night.

"I thought you were tougher." Rosa reproaches, tripping a little, but Alexy holds her steady. "Now you go to bed early and don't drink. You've become an old man." He grimaces, and a laugh escapes us.

"It's not that!" Alex complains. "I just wanted to greet [y/n] sober." He looks at me smiling, and I smile back. "I'll take care of the old drunk" Rosa exclaims a "hey!" and hits him lightly on the shoulder, but he doesn't flinch.

"Are you back on campus?" Armin asks me, and then I remember that he is, in fact, still here. He looks at me, waiting for my response but I freeze instantly. Every time he speaks I experience the same embarrassment.

"Well, I'll leave you, lovebirds." The idiot does it on purpose. But for the first time, I notice that I'm not the only one embarrassed, Armin's cheeks turn pink, and he sends a reproachful look to his twin, who smiles innocently. Some things never change, I see. "Take care of her." It sounds more like a threat than a request, to which the black-haired man rolls his eyes and nods.

I watch Alexy walk away in the opposite direction.

Silence falls between us, and it is until we see the two disappear after turning down the street that I understand that I am alone with him. I smile awkwardly at him before taking a couple steps back.

"I'll walk you back." I open my eyes a little, and look at him with surprise. He seems sure of his words, and looks at me expectantly with that smile of his that I still have to get used to. "I don't like the idea of ​​you walking alone,"

"As much of a gentleman as I remembered." I reply, a flirtatious smile escaping me and Armin simply smiles wider. "It's close, anyway"

"I insist." His expression is confident, and well, I don't mind his company either.

With a slight nod of my head, Armin understands that I agree, so we start walking towards the campus. The silence this time is not awkward, and although we don't talk about anything, it really feels like there are an infinite number of topics to touch on. Not very pleasant topics. After all, we can't ignore that we were together, and that the break-up wasn´t the most pacific thing either.

"I was also glad to see you again." I whisper, and even though my voice sounds quiet, he hears me. He always does.

"I figured you'd be mad." He confesses, and although I don't see his face I know he's looking at me.

Deep down, yes I am. But I'm not sure if that was enough of a reason to ruin the evening and Alex's surprise. It would have been nice to have mentally prepared myself so that I wouldn't have reacted like a schoolgirl to seeing him.

"Well, it's been a long time…" I clear my throat a little. "I have my reasons to be tho."

"Yeah, but I bet you forgot all of it with how good I look." He mocks, smiling widely.

I click my tongue. "You can't use your face to change the past."

"You're right, but I can use it to change things now." A lopsided smile appears on his features, and his comment takes me by surprise.

I tense up suddenly and simply look away. I hate that probably if he tried… "You're too cocky." I complain.

Deep down, I wonder if that would bother me. It's stupid. Armin didn't care that we broke up, I really wonder what his intentions are now. But, I can't deny that the memory is still alive in me. Everything about him remains in me as if he had never left, and it bothers me that I couldn't change that in this embarrassing amount of time we were apart.

"I just feel like I'm not the only one." Armin grumbles, shoving his hands into the pockets of his baggy pants. Now I also notice that his style is different. It doesn't seem like his brother intervenes as much in his clothes as before, that is, he maintains a bit of his own style more than anything. More calm and informal.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I grimace, crossing my arms before looking back at him.

"I say that because I notice the way you look at me." His words make me even more angry. Sometimes I feel like there is no one who can read me like he does. It was always like this, since we were young. One expression on my face was enough for Armin to decipher what was happening to me.

"I―no.." I stuttered and he noticed it, however, he didn't continue probing and I remained silent.

The walk to campus was getting shorter, and I wasn't sure I knew how to say goodbye. Everything was so strange. It's not that I want to see him, but knowing that he was going to leave made me feel like I couldn't just leave him like that. My heart is beating fast, I feel like even he can hear it.

And although it seems like things can't get any worse, several drops falling on my hair bring me out of my frantic thoughts. The chance of rain was quite low today, but of course it has to rain anyway.

"This weather is a bit nice." Armin points out, extending his palm to feel the raindrops on it, which slowly intensify.

"Nice? I'm soaking my clothes." I grumble, trying to cover myself a little.

"On one of these days we kissed for the first time" Armin smiles to himself, and simply lowers his gaze to look me in the eyes.

Shit. I didn't expect to have to think about this again. Less now that he´s here. Of course I remember it. I invited him to eat at the restaurant where we made that ridiculous double date that I actually still remember as one of my most precious moments.

On the way back home, rain started pouring and us, like idiots, hide nder a tree until it calmed down a bit. I wouldn´t forget something as special as that.

"You have no right Armin." I feel my eyes water at the memory, but I am relieved to know that because of the rain it is not very noticeable. "You can't say that now."

"It's not easy to pretend that I don't remember anything that happened." He frowns a little and stops in the middle of the street, forcing me to do the same.

"I'm not asking you to do it but…" I stop, feeling a sudden lump in my throat.

"And you can't pretend that the same thing doesn't happen to you."

And he is right. He always is when he talks about my feelings. He is correct, of course. Since I saw him, I knew that in fact, nothing of what I felt for him had managed to dissipate over the years. My heart still belongs to him.

"I lost you once, [y/n]. I can't let you go again…" His words hit me like a bucket of cold water. "When I knew you were coming back I―…"

I interrupted him. "Do you think it's easy for me?" I raised my tone of voice slightly, the fierce rain drowning out the noise a little. "Your lack of interest tired me out, Armin. You can't come back into my life like this and expect me to throw myself into your arms like it was nothing."

"I know I did things wrong, but I can still show you that I changed!" He raised his voice too. My heart was racing, and his blue eyes looking at me like I was the only thing in the world made me feel like a teenager again. "I'm not the same one who made mistakes. The only thing that remains of me is the love I have for you, [y/n], it's the only thing I couldn't change."

Tears are streaming down my face, and I don´t think it comes unnoticed by him anymore. He sheepishly tries to dry them, but the water keeps running down.

"Look at me," Armin approached me and forced me to look at him with a gentle movement of his hand. He pressed his fingers a little on my chin. "I love you." And now, in his bright eyes, in his warm hands and in his smile that I never thought I would see again, I see the truth.

Without being able to get the words out of my mouth, frustrated, angry, I let myself go and as if my hands knew their way, they wrapped themselves around his neck and pulled him closer to me. Our breaths merge and his arms end up around my waist. We are so close I memorize every feature of his face, every new thing my eyes notice.

"Are you going to kiss me or keep making me wait?" He murmured, and to silence him once and for all I kissed him.

I felt safe, at peace. Like I've been waiting for this forever. His lips fit perfectly on mine as always, his grip tightens and I need to hold on to him as I feel my legs shake a little. It's passionate, fierce. It's not like the way he kissed me before, so innocent and clumsy.

The butterflies that I thought were dead begin to flutter in my stomach again, and the only thing that separates me from jim is the lack of air. But even though we break the kiss, Armin doesn't let me go, he keeps me close to him and brings our foreheads together.

"This time I'll make you stay." He sighs, and kisses me again to seal his promise.

©allmcl !

COMO BESA CASTIEL VEILMONT

warning(s) ₊ ⊹ ninguna, simplemente alguna leve connotación sexual

Nuestro pelirrojo favorito besa con pasión y cariño, una pasión que abruma cuando sus labios se tocan.

Su lengua recorre tu cavidad bucal, su mano derecha se mueve detrás de tu cabeza, mientras ocupa su izquierda paseándola por tu cintura.

El primer beso con Castiel, ocurre en el club de jardinería, transmite un sentimiento de timidez pero sigue manteniendo la pasión de Castiel, sus manos tiemblan levemente, se mueven de tu cintura a tu nuca en una velocidad abismal, quiere tocarte, quiere sentir todo de ti

Tus manos se entrelazan en su cabello haciendo que un leve gemido escape entre el beso.

Nunca pensó que sentir tus manos tirando de sus hebras rojizas, en ese momento se separó del beso.

Un hc personal es que Castiel tiene spiderbites y un piercing en la lengua, así que cuando te besa el pequeño bulbo metálico se mueve en tu lengua haciendo que te tiemblen las piernas y tengas que sostenerte de su camisa, cuando se separa del beso lame sus labios con su típica sonrisa burlona en su rostro.

"Sabia que era buena idea perforarme la lengua"

Los beso de Castiel en el instituto son feroces y hambrientos de más, la adrenalina de que alguien entre al aula A, de que Peggy escuche algo que no debe, de salir en la primera página del periódico escolar, todo eso lo incitaba a seguir besándote con la misma pasión.

Ama cuando tomas el control, cuando te pones sobre el y lo besas sin miedo, no morderá a menos que quieras.

Cuando pasas tus manos por su nuca y te lo comes con la mirada.

"Eso? No, no es mi pierna"

En la universidad, sus besos son nostálgicos y llenos de sentimientos, sus manos sujetan tu cintura con posesividad, y el tiembla; Castiel tiembla, por el hecho de que estás ahí besándolo, que no eres uno de sus mil y un sueños los cuales se repetían cada noche cuando soñaba con sus labios tocando los suyos, un sueño lejano hasta ese día.

"Dime que no estoy loco aun.."

En el amor, los besos de Castiel son tranquilos, sin prisa, sin miedo de que paparazzis salgan de la nada y publiquen su relación, se siente bien, su corazón se siente cálido.

Sus brazos bajan a tus muslos levantándote, tus brazos pasando detrás de su cuello.

Con sus manos debajo de tus muslos te guiaría hacia la cama, recostando tu espalda en la cómoda superficie, sus dos brazos atrapándote debajo de el.

Su rostro besaría tu cuello, tus mejillas, tus pechos, tu estómago, y se detendría en el momento justo para mirarte fijamente

"Dime, ¿Quieres que siga?"

Sus ojos estaban llenos de lujuria y amor, su mano hacia círculos en la parte interna de tus muslos.

En su boda, Castiel te besa con amor, te quiere demostrar todos sus sentimientos en un beso, demostrarte cuan agradecido está de que hayas elegido pasar la vida con el, aguantando sus problemas.

boys boys boys 💋💋

Edit for BEST MEN in Amour Sucré

my babies 😭🤧🥰

Nath x Marie (my OC)

props to the beautiful @linory1 for this amazing artwork! almost forgot to share it. this comission was requested and done a while ago but i have kept it save until now ❤️‍🔥

Thank you once again 🥰

⌕ amor doce icons · lysandre ainsworth

reblogs & credits are appreciated ❟ do not copy, edit, steal or claim as yours

firenzzz©, 2023

Note to self: Castiel takes zero prisoners.

Chapter three is getting m e s s y

Playlist: ~ ♥ ~

Inconceivable

I wrote this as the "first approach" between Eric and my Candy, Amy. The idea is to write some more moments that I have in mind, but it could still remain just as an One-Shot. It's a very short EricxCandy, Nath’s route, lots of angst, etc, etc.

Yes Nath, I know, do you think I don't know that the fucking cafe is about to go bankrupt? I don't need you to lecture me

I'm not lecturing you, I just don't think it makes any sense for you to keep that girl who is no contribution at all

I just don't feel it's too much to give her a second chance

It's unnecessary

You know what I think you're right, I shouldn't give second chances

I nailed my eyes on his defiantly, he knew exactly the double intention in my words and couldn't do more than give me a sarcastic half smile.

You seem a bit regretful with some of your decisions, maybe you should take my advice

Enough... I'm not in the mood for this shit, not even to pretend I am, I shake my head and walk to the door, it's late, quite late. I grab my coat and leave the house without any opposition, it's getting to be a habit. I go downstairs thinking about who to write to. Rosa? no of course not, Castiel? It would be ideal if he would actually answer the damn cell phone sometime... Chani? no, I don't want to bother her... Alexy?

And I don't know how it all turned into a discussion about how I don't respect his principles...

Alex listens without an opinion while pouring a couple of drinks, not because he doesn't care, but because my constant nightly visits to complain about my relationship problems have exhausted all his advice, he has already said it all, he has opined on everything and here I am, on his couch at 2 a.m., upset with my cute and stupid boyfriend.

Sometimes I feel that... it doesn't matter...

No, no, say it, you're already here, you woke me up, the least you can do is get it all out.

I shake my head low, watching my fingers run along the rim of my glass.

Sometimes I feel like I made a mistake.... That Nath and I, we should never have been more than friends

I confess in a low voice, I don't dare to look Alexy, I feel like shit, but finally releasing those words gives me a strange feeling of freedom, lightness, of having taken a small weight off my shoulders.

You know there's no solution for that, right?

I nod my head silently... Damn it, why do I feel so trapped?

I love him you know, I really love him.

Tears well up in my eyes and I take long heavy breaths in an attempt to hold them back.

Ever since I met him, I've only wanted to protect him, I want him to be happy... but....

You are not happy with him...

Alex finishes a sentence that was more than implied, my body feels tense, so tense it hurts, I raise my arm and empty the alcohol in my glass at once. As soon as I set it down on the table, Alexy begins to prepare another.

3.30 am and I can no longer continue to abuse the hospitality and good availability of my friend... Alex calls me a cab and I get in, praying that Nath will be asleep when I get home... The alcohol and the confessions leave me drained of my strength to face those amber eyes. I get to the door and before I put the key in I clearly hear a conversation on the other side, male voices... great.... I turn on my phone's camera to assess my expression and practice my best "everything is fine" smile before entering.

Oh, hi Eric, how are you?

Eric greets me with a half smile and a nod, I approach Nathaniel to kiss him like the happy couple we are, he smiles at me until my body covers his view of Eric, in that brief moment I see clearly how his expression is disfigured, he turns his face at the last moment and I plant my kiss on his cheek Really Nath? Really?

How did it go?

He asks to cut the awkward silence that hopefully only the two of us notice, as I walk around the apartment spreading out my things.

Fine, fine, Alex was telling me about his life, his new job and stuff

Wasn't Armin there?

No, but from what he let me know, they may be considering moving in together

Sounds complicated

Well, it's only complicated with the wrong person

Shit, Amy what the fuck are you saying? I glance quickly at Eric who didn't seem to be affected by the second hidden conversation Nath and I were having.

Would you like to stay with us for a while? I can make you a drink

No... No thank you, don't bother, I'm fainting. You don't mind if I go to sleep?

I disappear backstage, locked in the room I feel an urgent impulse to tear everything apart, I strip naked on my way to the shower and let the water wash away everything it can, but it doesn't work, I want to punch the wall, throw my things around the apartment, bang my head against the tiles. I breathe, again and again and again, in and out, I throw myself on the bed to half dry, I feel so tired, so exhausted, my head is spinning and I don't know anymore if it's because of my life, because of the problems or if it's just because of the alcohol.

I blink a couple of times immobile, I can't move, as if a huge weight is crushing my body, in front of me Nath's face, a couple of strands on his slightly frowning brow, still asleep he looks like he's upset, but still he looks so.... Angelic and peaceful, I move a blond lock away from his eyes and let my hand caress his cheek, he looks so cute like this, I would like to freeze this moment forever, between dreams he slides his hand over mine in a sweet gesture, I can't help but smile, until reality hits me again and I feel like I can't hold back the urge to burst into tears.

I get up without making a sound, my chest hurts and squeezes my throat tightly forcing me to gasp for breath, I leave the room pressing my hands against my eyes as tears slip through my fingers, an involuntary sob escapes my lips breaking the silence, suddenly I bump into something that shouldn't be there.

I look up and thanks to the dim first light of the morning I run into Eric's back who looks as surprised as I do, if not more.

A-Amy

He said in a barely perceptible whisper, at the same time my meager defenses were collapsing like a house of cards.... Come on Amy, not here, not like this, not in front of him. Unable to fight any longer I broke into a thousand pieces, unconsciously clinging to his jacket, overflowing with all the anger, sadness and frustration I had been accumulating. Crying inconsolably with my face pressed to his chest, I felt one of his hands encircling my shoulders and the other resting on my head causing my crying to intensify, I can't stop myself, I can't control myself, I feel so bad, so alone in my predicaments.... Then I inhale the intense scent of leather, cigarettes, coffee and alcohol that fills my senses, after a few seconds of breathing him in, I calm down, until I can finally separate from him, covering my mouth with my hand and turning my face in the opposite direction, embarrassed...

Uh- I'm sorry, I... Drinking makes me a little sensitive...

My voice was weak and strange, I try to sound normal... like fine, but I know it's not credible...

Don't worry kid, I was just leaving.

I'll walk you to the door...

I mumbled walking after him to the exit, he left without adding anything else, alone again I carried my weight at the door, my heart was beating a thousand per hour... it could be-

My phone rings and I answer it quickly and without looking before the noise wakes Nathaniel.

Hello? Hyun? Yes... No, don't worry, I've been up for a while. Yes, of course, of course, I'll get ready and go. It's nothing.

Jason | New Gen

Trouxe uma fanfic com o Jason, para esperar o lançamento desse jogo.

AVISO: OBRA +18 FEITA DE FÃ PARA FÃ, NÃO AUTORIZO A REPRODUÇÃO OU REPOSTAGEM DO QUE EU ESCREVO.

POSTADA NO WATTPAD e AO3

O DIABO NÃO BARGANHA

PRÓLOGO

Cap. pré-revisado. Boa leitura.

Não sabia por que raios estava ali, porém não se arrependia, não quando tinha os cabelos tão bem puxados e o corpo totalmente em êxtase, o batom estava completamente borrado assim como as lágrimas que escorriam pelo rosto da mulher que simplesmente se esforçava para não gemer. O pescoço sendo sufocado pela mão grande que se lembraria por muito tempo conforme as coxas doíam ao ponto de pedir por mais. A única certeza de Isadora era que ser macetada por um cara desconhecido com que trocou meia dúzias de palavras a descrevia muito bem, afinal uma solteira gostosa tem mais é que se divertir e curtir com consciência.

Um gemido extremamente alto escapou dos lábios carnudos enquanto lutava internamente para regular a respiração e agradeceria a amiga por sugerir essa saída tão interessante.

O barulho dos corpos se chocando era alto o suficiente para abafar qualquer outro som, os tapas tão ardidos que ecoavam pelo ambiente e a leve dormência pela posição que estava há quase uma hora contribuíam para atmosfera que parecia pesar nos olhos azuis, mas nada comparado ao olhar daquele que a devorava, feroz e tão sério que qualquer um diria que ali existia raiva, mas, bastava desviar para os lábios finos em um sorriso ao qual escorria malícia para ter certeza de que tudo não passava de um jogo. Um belo e delicioso jogo.

Os cabelos novamente foram puxados e a bochecha marcada com a mão que antes a enforcava, ninguém diria que aquele homem agiria daquela forma, não quando passava uma imagem tão intransponível e para Isadora não fazia a menor diferença, não o veria mais mesmo.

A mente voltou a ser preenchida com borrões já que qualquer outro pensamento se perdia no prazer, as pulsações constantes, denunciado que não aguentaria mais segurar o levando a rir baixo enquanto mordia o lábio inferior feminino.

-- Até que você aguentou bem... -- O moreno, mordeu com firmeza o pescoço dela deixando-a marcada, as mãos grandes seguraram mais uma vez nas coxas observando a respiração pesada da mulher que tentava se controlar a cada segundo para não gozar, o que simplesmente aumentava o ego do homem e quando abriu os olhos o brilho desafiador residia nas pupilas dilatadas pelo tesão.

-- Ou você é tão fraco que não conseguiu me atingir. -- Sabia que estava assinando uma sentença irrevogável, principalmente quando ele sorriu de lado e num movimento rápido apertou o pescoço com tanta força que ela revirou os olhos, as tiras que prendiam o corpo parecia estar mais apertadas enquanto o quadril ia de encontro ao dela severamente. Todo e qualquer resquício de bom senso foi deixado de lado, imperando a brutalidade de quem procura castigar um insubordinado. Isadora não conseguia mais gemer, sufocando lentamente, as lágrimas escorriam de seus olhos terminando de manchar e desfazer o restante do lápis de olho, a mente completamente nublada enquanto o peito subia e descia desesperadamente em busca de ar, os apertos e contrações em seu corpo soavam violentamente enquanto ela procurava no que se concentrar, obtendo a derrota de não durar mais. O corpo tremia, quando ele liberou a passagem de ar corretamente desprendendo alguns dedos, a destra percorrendo o corpo dela com deleite como se trilhasse um caminho proibido até apertar o clitóris levemente ouvindo-a resmungar baixinho pela sensibilidade. Ele observou o estado do corpo feminino com certa satisfação, chegando a regozijar internamente, mal deu tempo para ela aproveitar mais a sensação colocando-a de quatro.

-- Já que foi fraco, creio que não vá se incomodar. -- Ironizou, não esperando a mulher reagir e já a penetrando, o gemido alto que saiu dos lábios dela foram tampados pela esquerda dele. -- Shii querida, fiquei quieta dessa vez.

Isadora se lembraria dessa transa por meses, mesmo que tentasse esquecer, na mente ainda perpetuaria os orgasmos de uma noite inteiramente impulsiva e as partes de seu corpo que quando foram soltas a cãibra se fez presente e acima de tudo o nome do homem que a destruiu tão bem,

Jason.

"Kiss me angrily" - AL ep. 1 Armin's POV

First of all, I want to thank @lycorispoison for giving me this idea and making me write something after a long time🥺🤧 And I have to thank beemoov too for giving me the drama I needed to feel alive again.

Miu gave me this idea when they mentioned how similar Armin's and Candy's story was to this song here: Jão - Me Beija Com Raiva. So I HIGHLY recommend you to read this piece while listening to it on repeat, it's a good song :)

I have to note that I made some small changes to the order of the lyrics so it could fit the plot well. And there are some changes on the dialogues too, but again, nothing much.

It's been a long time, guys!! I hope you like it 😭❤️

_______________________

De sonhadores a inimigos

from dreamers to haters

Você tá indo, vai me deixar aqui perdido 

you’re leaving, you'll leave me here lost

"You can be happy, then. That problem is solved." She had a frown on her face and the fire in her eyes would have surprised even Scott Summers, the Cyclops. She had her lips pressed together in a thin line and swallowed before continuing, "You're not a part of my life anymore."

The words came out of her mouth like a whip, breaking any kind of pride he'd been holding on to since he'd seen her, prettier than ever, some hours prior and after three long years apart. She might as well have slapped him right across his face, the effect would've been the same.

And the memories of that day, that damn day, came rushing to him. But he wouldn't show her any more of his vulnerability. 

"Whatever, I get it." He said looking at her one last time before looking away and landing his gaze on one of the products showcased in the store they had just been kicked out. And there was he thinking they were starting to make progress again. Just a few minutes ago, they were playing and bickering as they did in the old times. His left hand still felt the shock of when their hands touched for a second before everything came crumbling.

"Have you seen my brother? I don’t want to leave without saying goodbye."

"I-I am here…" he heard the voice he knew so well coming from somewhere behind him and turned around to see his brother with that face he has when he's blaming himself for something. Watery eyes looked between him and his ex-girlfriend and the muscles in his law moved as if he wanted to say something. 

“We were looking for you and…” The twin interrupted himself. “So… You’re leaving, that’s it?”

“Yeah, I gotta go home now, brother.” Armin walked toward the blue-haired man and gave him a pat on the shoulder before saying,  “I have some work to do. I got a text.” he hadn’t gotten any text. “I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll see you tomorrow or the day after…”

“Okay,” Alexy said lowly nodding and hugging his twin.

Armin gave his quick goodbyes to Rosa and Candy, barely looking in the direction of the latter, and turned around heading to the escalators with his head down. He just wanted to get back home as soon as possible and play until his eyes begged for some rest. 

Armin walked at a fast pace along the corridors and was just halfway to where he wanted to get when he stopped in front of the game store. It wasn’t like him accepting a defeat so easily; leaving then would just make him a loser, he thought. So just like that, after taking a deep breath, he entered the store and went straight to the cheap side of the establishment where they displayed second-hand items.

Cê já contou pros seus amigos de nós? 

Have you told your friend about us?

No chão do quarto, com nossos vícios 

On the room's floor, with our vices 

Going through the titles of some comics absently, the memories came to him again. He would never understand how things between them changed so fastly when everything was going just perfectly in his eyes. Seeing some of the characters on the cover of the comics reminded him of all the times they would be together on the floor of his “cave” discussing their stories, playing games, watching superhero movies, talking, laughing, kissing... 

He loved seeing her face when she tried holding a laugh like she’d done a few moments ago, her lips curving barely curving upwards, and then giving up to his jokes. He loved to play with her hair, and loved when she played with his. He always complained about the way she played LoL, but he couldn’t be happier seeing her going crazy with the game. They were just so happy when they were together, so how did it end so fast?

É coisa pura, de tanto amar virou loucura  

it's something pure, going mad from loving so bad

De tantas brigas, amargura entre nós 

from all the fights, bitterness between us

He hated even the smallest hint of a fight and avoided it at all costs. So even if he would get jealous when seeing her with other guys, he trusted her, and he was happy for her because she seemed happy. And if he had had enough time, he would have been there for her to see her smile opening right in front of him in person, and not through a screen.

They did have some arguments once in a while because of that, but they weren’t so serious for him. He remembered Candy complaining about his absence, not much about his friend Agnes, but it was all going to be worth it after he managed to make the surprise. She would understand his side and they’d have their happily ever after ending. 

Errei, larguei, não nego, não

I made a mistake, gave up, no, I won't deny

Mas lembra do que eu disse, então

But remember what I said, then

Amar é muito melhor que ter razão

loving is much better than being right

Luta por mim, desiste, não

fight for me, don't give up

The problem is, all his plans never came true. All his dreams faded away as if they had been blipped by that damned phone call. How could she give up so easily on that bond they’ve created between them? How could she give up on their love? Together they were like Peter Parker and Mary Jane, Star-Lord and Gamora, Han Solo and Princess Leia, and now Bonnie and Clyde; they were meant to be together. 

Even after almost four years of being apart, he still strongly believed that. He’d had some casual things here and there, but he knew that none of them would ever be near to what he and Candy once had. Before her, he didn’t believe what people say about their first love, but now it was crystal clear to him; she was his first love, and let’s say that she really sat the bar up high to anyone else.

It started with them against the world until it became them against one another. But Armin wouldn’t give up, there was still a part of him that had faith, that told him to keep fighting for their love, that everything he’d done wasn’t for nothing. 

Call him stupid, but that hope that everything would be alright again was what made him decide to keep the money and add a small number of his payments to it every month; now he had enough to upgrade the surprise, he only had to unlock the next phase. But this one was proving to be the hardest so far, and his willpower was starting to go down. 

“Maybe it really would be better to go back home,” he told himself while turning around in the direction of the exit. 

He was about to leave the store when he came face to face with the one person whom he had been thinking about all this time. Her cheeks were red, and he knew that she was about to yell at him, but right now he was hurt and the last thing he wanted was to spend the rest of his stamina on the fight that surely would come if they decided to talk. Strangely enough, he was the one to open his mouth first.

Joga tua verdade toda na minha cara

spit out all your truth on my face

“Candy? What… What do you want now?” He furrowed. “So you do everything in your power to make me leave and now you're following me?" 

“What? This is a public space, right?” She raised he brows, her voice full of sarcasm.

"Creative, aren't you?" Armin said and started walking out of the store, he didn’t want an argument to start with and much less for everyone else to see it. Candy was fast to match his steps.

"You can't leave just like that! I deserve an explanation!"

"I already got it: I was lame, you were great and I don't deserve you," Armin said. He stopped in front of the elevators and pushed the button angrily before turning back to Candy.

"Can we move on or do you prefer to keep repeating this all day long?" 

"I think I could repeat that all week long without you being able to understand it."

Armin looked at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.

"Look, I'm sorry. Alex didn't tell me you would be here. If I'd known I wouldn't have come." Because I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, he finished mentally. 

She scoffed with an ironic laugh right when the lift doors opened. They gave space for the people who were inside to leave before entering and letting the doors close behind the two of them.

"You know, talking about your brother…” Armin gave a doubtful look at her, what was she going to say about him?

“We just had a little discussion. Actually, that’s why I followed you.” The man felt the air getting stuffier and tugged at the sleeve of his jacket. 

He cleaned his throat, fiddling with his hat. “Oh, really. And what did he say exactly?”

“He told me everything, how you lied to me this whole time. You weren’t honest with me." She accused.

"Lied to you?" Armin repeated incredulously. He'd never done such a thing. "What are you talking about? And what did Alexy tell you? That’s not how things went." He shook his head and saw the anger growing in her.

"I'm talking about how you ruined our relationship over a stupid surprise. How you preferred hiding everything just to save a trip to fucking Disneyland!" She had her fists tight as if she was holding herself not to point a finger or push him, and her voice got higher and higher after every word.

Okay, Armin thought, so now I also have a traitor of a brother. He decided to push this thought to the darkest place of his brain, where he could easily forget about it at least for the moment.

They got out of the elevator on the floor level and just a minute after they passed through the front doors of the mall and found themselves crossing the parking lot in the direction of the bus stop.

"I'm trying to talk to you! Will you stop walking for a second?" Candy exclaimed.

Armin then stopped and grabbed her by the arm lightly, pulling her toward a spot where they wouldn't be hit by a car.

“Alexy said everything you did, that you did it for me… Right now I’m just asking you for an honest explanation. Do you still know how to do it? ” He was starting to feel his blood boiling inside him too. “Why did you think it wasn’t necessary to tell me? Frankly, I would really like to hear your side of things.”

He looked at her straight in the eye, frowning.

“Yeah, I get it. So what do you want? A confession?”

“I want to know everything.”

So he told her everything. How he had done hours of house cleaning, how he had accepted rotten works ar fast food and even done gardening to save money. He told her how he would spend hours finding collectibles and looking for opportunities to resell them at a higher price so he could put the money he won aside. And how bad he had felt for charging his friend for his help on her cosplay costumes.

“There, I confessed everything, are you happy? Yes, I wanted to surprise you.” He licked his dried lips for talking too much. “Is that a crime?! Should I have told you everything from the start?! Don’t you think that would’ve ruined the surprise? All I wanted was to do something special for you…We were away from each other for only a few months. I didn't think you were going to dump me so soon.” 

There was a pause before he said, his head down, “And I don’t know. I thought it woulf be romantic…”

She opened her eyes wide, outraged, and seemed to hold back a chuckle but not like the way he missed seeing. “Romantic?! So?! Was it worth screwing everything up? We had something beautiful! We had a love story! Didn’t that matter at all to you? Wasn’t it a little more important than bringing me to Disneyland?”

“Hold on!” He felt the urge to interrupt. Hearing her talking like that about his plans was extremely frustrating for him. “Don’t act like it sucked either! Wouldn’t you have liked it? A week around Los Angeles, together?”

“I wish we had just two days together, anywhere.” She said shaking her head. “But that never happened! Excuse me if I got tired of waiting.”

“Again, we had only been apart for a few months. And you were able to come on your end! It allowed me to keep up the pace for Disney.” Armin didn't see where the problem was in all this. All this time, he had been thinking about them.

"Yes, that's the point! I traveled to see you only a few times and I had the impression I was the only one trying!" 

The only one? She must be kidding 

"I was exhausted! I worked my ass off trying to give us something special! But you didn't have the patience to wait! You didn't want to have it, so you just left me."

“But you didn’t even tell me what you were doing! Or why you did it! You left me in the dark and never told me anything!”

"I thought you trusted me! And that our relationship was solid enough! I'm sorry for thinking we had something serious…"

"But in a serious relationship, you talk to one another!"

"But they don't tell the surprises, that's literally the point! We don't talk about them!" 

He noticed the girl getting closer to him, but he didn't move. Proximity was never a problem to him when it came to her.

“I didn’t give a shit about this. I just wanted to see you and spend some time together!” Her voice had a small shift to it as if the walls around her heart were cracking, and the hurt was showing its way out. “And I wanted you to come to see me often too. I wanted us to spend some time together laughing, playing games, making love… And you were worried about making a long-term plan to take us to Los Angeles?! Sacrificing everything else for this?”

His jaw clenched and he leaned forward in her direction.They were so close now, their faces only a few centimeters apart. 

“This was important for me!” He argued. “I wanted to impress you, show that I was good enough!”

“But you were good enough!”

Como fodemos o maior amor do mundo? 

How did we fuck up the greatest love in the world?

 “But I knew nothing about all this, the only thing I knew is that you were never there for me. ”

For a moment, Armin broke their eye contact and looked down, maybe he was starting to understand. But he wasn’t going to drop it, he had a point and he wanted her to understand too.

“It’s only natural that I lost my trust in you, what else did you expect? How do you want a relationship to work if we don’t talk to each other?! Especially in a long-distance relationship? You didn’t give us any chance! When did you think that keeping secrets would bring us any good?” Candy stopped and for a second she just looked at him intensely with her brows furrowed. He didn’t say anything then but returned the look.

“I…” She took a long breath before continuing, “don’t even know what else to say. What you did doesn’t make sense!”

He wasn’t going to drop it.

“No, you have no right to say that!” he said, offended. “Yes, maybe I was awkward. It was my first relationship, we were both eighteen! I thought that a relationship, even if it was long-distance, must be something simple. It should be naturally pleasant for both people. And if it doesn’t work anymore, it doesn’t work anymore, that’s how it is.”

“But a real relationship is meant to be built together! With effort, and communication, above all! That doesn’t happen magically only because we were made for each other! And a romantic surprise doesn’t make up for months of absence!”

It was getting difficult for him to hold her gaze, without thinking he looked away and passed his hand through his hair.

“I am really sorry. I thought… I thought it would’ve been easier.” His voice sounded so low, that just then he realized how loudly they had been talking. It was crazy how no one had come to kick them out again, but this time not from a single store, but from the whole mall.

“That’s the first time I hear you wanting to play on easy mode.” Candy noted sarcastically. Her tone also had lowered.

“Hey! Dating you was no game for me!” How could she even think of that?

“So why did you make less of an effort, then?”

“You are being unfair! I made a lot of effort! A tremendous effort even!” Armin defended himself. “Do you think it was fun for me to accept all those difficult jobs? Buying stuff hoping I could resell it for twice the price. And asking a friend to pay me to help her?! Well, none of that was fun. I promise you!”

“In any case, you didn’t make the efforts I’d have liked you to make! The ones I needed!” She gave one more step closer to him, gasping a little bit. “You should’ve called more often. You should’ve taken more time to see me! And, most of all, you should have talked to me! Honestly, I didn’t think that would’ve been a problem in our relationship… For someone who’s so connected, you have to admit that communicating is not your forte.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but she didn’t let him. “ I just wanted you to be by my side!”

 He took her arm before talking. 

“You didn’t communicate very much yourself, I’ll have you know! That story you mentioned about the outings. I couldn’t have known that you absolutely wanted me to be there if you didn’t tell me.” He complained.

“I would’ve liked you to come on your own, to please me. And without me having to ask you!”

“But how could I have known!? Candy, I love Professor Xavier,” he smiled weakly, “but I don’t have his skills…” The girl shook her head, seeing disappointed about the comment

“You make beautiful speeches about communication, but in the end, you did the exact same.”

“But surely not on the same scale.” She pointed at him, “You were the one to ruin everything with your crummy plans and your ego. And I want you to recognize it.”

He looked around, caught off guard. “What would that change? There’s no one here to witness.”

“But I will know. I want you to say it.” She got even closer. “I want to hear you say clearly that you ruined everything between us.”

Her words were so harsh. He had never imagined having her talking to him in that tone. 

“I would never say such a thing…” Armin shook his head. “ We did have a beautiful story. But I wasn’t the only one to ruin it all. I wanted to make a surprise for you and I chose not to tell you. Maybe it was stupid, okay. But when you called to break up… I didn’t understand.” His voice was so low, and they were so close, close enough to feel each other’s heat and breath.

“But even then, you should’ve said something. You could’ve defended yourself and not let me break up!”

“You didn’t give me time for that! You blocked me everywhere right after you hanging up on me!” Armin reminded her. “I was already in shock, but that broke me. The message was very clear. Plus, it’s much easier to say what I should have done or not.” He felt his heart struggling in the tight space inside of his chest, he wondered if it was just him; that feeling wasn’t usual to him. “Maybe you should have…”

Mas antes de ir embora, eu te impeço, para

but before you go, I stop you, stop

Sei lá se esse é o nosso último segundo 

Who knows if this is our last second 

In a split second, he saw the rage in Candy’s eyes come back. She gave a step further and raised her arms, he braced himself for the push that was coming for him, but it never came. Instead of pushing him, her hands grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled.

Então me beija com raiva, me beija com raiva 

So kiss me angrily, kiss me angrily 

Me beija com raiva, me beija com raiva 

Kiss me angrily, kiss me angrily 

And in a split second, just like a dream, their lips touched. After so long, he felt her warm soft lips pressed against his, her eyes were tightly closed. 

He came to himself, finally reacting. That moment was real, definitely not a dream or an illusion, his heart was still racing in his chest, her heat against him, scorching. So, he too closed his eyes and kissed her back with the same force. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer like he’d done so many times years before.

Their tongues met and the kiss deepened. It was fast, messy, and… angry. He didn’t understand his feelings at the moment, and he definitely didn’t want to.

They kissed angrily. Letting out all the hard feelings that had been trapped inside their chests for so long. 

They kissed angrily to make up for the years lost. 

It was like filling your lungs with air after drowning. He grabbed this moment and made the most out of it. So he kissed her back, angrily and deeply. 

They kissed angrily until they were out of breath, and dizzy. But it only took another look into each other’s eyes to make their lips connect one more time. And once again, they kissed angrily, as if the world was theirs and it was about to end. 

______________________

SOOOOOO, what do we think about Armin's ego deflating gradually as the story goes? It's def something for me

AND MY HEADCANON! Yes, I made Armin a sucker and had him save that money after all those years.... Call me romantic, okay? Although after writing it I thought it wouldn't be very nice to go on the vacation that made the relationship come to an end..... or maybe not, who knows.

Don't forget to leave comments!!! They always inspire me to keep writing 🥺💕

That's it for now. Love you guys, and I hope you have a great day!

The Secret Revealed!

Trigger Warning: This chapter covers Episode 23 of My Candy Love. If you are triggered by discussions of abuse, or abuse scenes, please skip this chapter.

It had been a couple of days since Alana set Operation Purity Chalice into motion. People at school were very thrown off by Amber actually showing civility and a small glimmer of attempted friendship to her. “Why are you and Amber friends now? You do know she’s using you, right?” Nathaniel asked as he and Alana walked towards the courtyard. “I know she is... But she’s been tormenting me since I got here and its nice to not have her bullying be so bad. I give her fancy stuff, and get her closer to V, and she makes an effort to not be so horrible to me. It is a bit of a win-win situation for now.” She explained. Nathaniel looked down for a second, almost a little guilty. “Hey! Its okay! Let me reassure you, even if your father did get close to V, Rini and Viktor, there is absolutely no way he’d get what he wants. The closest someone has ever come to that is what V’s husband did and even then, he had to get uncle Cyrus’ approval!” Alana reassured. “Uncle Cyrus?” Nathaniel raised an eyebrow. “Verity’s father. Its this whole thing about him not wanting V to marry a traditional aristocrat, so when Achille came along and proved that his family hasn’t been aristocratic in years, Cyrus approved of the marriage... Much to Mom’s, Agatha’s and Aunt C’s disgust.” Alana clarified. “Alana...” Nathaniel began. “Look, I’m going to be okay. V already knows what your father wants and she’s promised me that he isn’t getting it.” She smiled as she put her hand on his cheek.

Later that day, Castiel stormed up to her with Demon on his leash as she was buying a new set of expensive pajamas. “What the hell, Alana?!” He called. “What?” She asked, curiously. “Why is Amber saying that you and I aren’t friends anymore, that she “won”?” He demanded to know. “Amber came up to me and told me that if I swear that I won’t get romantically involved with you, then she won’t terrorize me at school. I never said anything about us not being friends anymore.” She explained. “Why would she demand that?” He inquired. “I think it was an excuse. Its obvious that her father wants to get closer to my family’s aristocratic friends so that they may elevate their station. Not to mention, I do think she actually does have a thing for you and it was probably the first excuse she could come up with that didn’t involve revealing her father’s true intentions.” She clarified. “But I don’t like her like that. I made that clear years ago.” He spat. “I kind of figured you had... But, she seems to think you’re in love with me and therefore this would be an easy thing for us to agree to. I am still your friend Castiel... But I need her abuse to stop, so I agreed to this. Please understand it.” She urged. “But, Alana...” He began. “Look, the only way it will cause a problem with us is if you want to be romantically involved with me. Which, is preposterous, right? Just because my sister makes jokes about it all the time doesn’t mean you actually wanna be with me? Right?” She chuckled. A flicker of disappointment and a slight broken heart washed over Castiel’s face. He quickly buried his actual feelings, chested up and laughed. “Right! Who would ever wanna be with a meddling ironing board like you?!” He nervously laughed as he took Demon and quickly left. “Castiel you ass!” Alana called back, slightly sarcastically. She looked at the pajamas in the bag. “They’re fox pajamas... And they’re more expensive than what I usually spend on this type of thing... But I really don’t need her to see my anime and Harry Potter stuff...” She sighed to herself as she walked out of the store.

As Lynne’s car pulled up in front of the Jacott residence, Alana felt her nerves catch fire. “Okay, no turning back now.” She thought. When Lynne parked, she turned to look at her daughter. “Melody, why are you doing this? I don’t know why that girl is being nice to you. But I do know it seems like she wants to get closer to Verity. What is going on?” She asked. Alana looked down for a minute, then back up at her mother with conviction. “Mom, please... Stay out of this. If I need your help, I will come to you myself.” She sighed. “Are you sure?” Lynne looked brokenhearted. “Yes. I’ve got this.” Alana slightly smiled. “Alright... I trust you. But, please, come to me if you need help.” Lynne sighed. “I will.” Alana grinned as she opened the door and stood in front of the gate. “This house isn’t bad.” The voice in her head piped up. “Its boring. Everything looks like a modern version of an aristocratic estate. Even the gate has nothing to make it stand out.” She thought back. The gate opened minutes after she rang the bell and revealed Nathaniel looking at her with a confused look on his face. “Alana? What are you doing here?” He asked, almost a little terrified. “Your sister wanted to do a sleep over with me, so I came.” Alana shrugged. “Alana, I told you, she’s using you...” Nathaniel worriedly blurted out in as much of a hushed tone as he could manage. “Alana! Welcome to our home!” Amber called as she excitedly walked up to them. “Amber! It looks lovely! Here! I brought you something! As a thank you for letting me into your home!” Alana beamed as she pulled a box out of her overnight bag. “Is that the case to the new designer make up that your godmother has access to?” Amber asked, bewildered. “Yep! It won’t even be out until next year! But V’s friend on the inside wanted to give out a few samples and I knew it would be a perfect thing for you!” Alana did her best to sound like a “yuppie” as she gave Amber the case. “Thank you so much! I love it!” Amber beamed. Alana thought she heard a hint of sincerity in Amber’s voice but brushed the idea off. “She’s only being nice to me because she wants what she thinks I have to offer.” She thought.

“Come on Alana! I’ll show you around the house!” Amber beamed as she lead her into the main entryway. The entryway seemed like an attempt at being grand, without the true aristocratic touch. “No paintings or pictures on the walls. A random blue chair by the staircase. A blue, white and red rug. Its boring. There’s no personality. No character.” Alana thought before she instantly reminded herself that she could not insult her hosts’ home. “Its so spacious and lovely!” She cheered. Her mind turned to the main entryway of the Roster Family Home in Weathering. Alana had always been told that the main Roster Family Home was bought by her great great grandmother, however, that was clearly a lie. It was obvious that the home and the land it sat on had been in the family for much longer. The main entryway in her family home had pictures and paintings hung in it. There weren’t many spots on the walls that were left empty. Throughout the years, with each generation, the configuration of the walls would change to showcase the latest members. But, the character and spirit never changed. The Jacott Home came off as too clean to Alana. Too sterile. She wondered if Francis and Adelaide even wanted to show off their family. “You’d think there’d at least be a portrait on the wall in here.” She thought. “You haven’t even seen the best part!” Amber mused as she lead her to the dining room. Yet again, another sterile room that flowed into a breakfast nook and the kitchen. There were flowers on the table, a modern chandelier hung over the dining table and a bland painting was neatly placed on the wall, but that was it. “There aren’t even curtains for the windows. Who designed this interior?” Alana thought, getting a bit more disturbed by the style of the home. “Love the modern kitchen!” She chirped. “Its the best of the best!” Amber delightedly cooed. “And the painting? Its fascinating.” Alana observed. “It was done by a super well known modern artist! Although, I can’t quite remember who... But my dad is quite proud of it!” Amber crowed. “Seems like he needs to get his money back.” The voice in Alana’s head piped up. “Shut up... It looks like something uncle Cyrus’ sister would buy.” Alana thought back.

Amber lead her upstairs to the home’s second floor. There was one more flight of stairs going to a third floor, and several doors in the hallway of the second floor. “Mom and Dad’s room take up the entire third floor. Their offices are in the doors behind you. Just be sure to not go around snooping in their bedroom and offices! I know how you like sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong! The door next to the stairs is Nathaniel’s bedroom. The one at the end of the hall is the bathroom. Yes, Nath and I share. But he knows better than to make a mess! And the door to our right is the best room in the house... Mine!” Amber proudly proclaimed. Even the hallway looked bland. There were two pictures on the walls. One right next to the doors to the two bedrooms. The picture next to Nathaniel’s room was a painting of a field. The one next to Amber’s room was an older painting. Clearly an old, dead, Jacott relative. The only other thing decorating the hallway was a wooden table with a plain lamp on it. Amber opened the door to the bathroom to show Alana how it looked. It was a simple and modern room that had a large tub, a basic tile shower, a couple of cabinets in between the toilet and shower and a fake plant on the counter in between the sink and tub that covered up a small frosted glass window. “And now! The best room in the house!” Amber announced as she opened the door to her room. Suddenly, Alana was reminded of Dolores Umbridge. The room was saturated in the color pink. The only things that broke the color up were the items that were light purple, baby blue, yellow, white, and the occasional red item. The bed looked as if it had come straight out of a Barbie princess playset. “This is not the least bit surprising.” She thought. “Doesn’t this room look like an old playset you had when you were a kid?” The voice in her head piped up. “YUP! Almost as if it’s attempting to be a copy of either my Princess and the Pauper playset, my super old Princess Kelly castle, or my Twelve Dancing Princesses set.” She thought. Alana quickly came up with a compliment that she hoped would keep Amber rather smug for the rest of the night. “This room is, certainly, colorful! It reminds me of my best friend’s room! Oh, right... My best friend is Aunt V’s daughter, Severina Mekina. Rini’s room looks close to this! Just with a bit more purple!” She praised. Amber smiled, almost as if the compliment had meant the world to her. “If the heir to the esteemed Mekina family has a room that looks like mine, then I’m clearly doing the right thing!” Amber approved.

After several more minutes of Amber going around her room, bragging about each and every little thing that she could think might make Alana jealous, everyone was summoned to the dining room for the evening’s meal. “That was torture.” the voice in her head piped up. “No... That was the beginning. This dinner is going to be torture.” She thought back as she entered the dining room. Nathaniel was already in the room, setting the table, as if he had been programmed to do so like a robot. Alana could tell that he was doing everything in his power to keep his face as expressionless, polite, and calm as he possible. However, his nerves were clearly getting the better of him. “Miss Roster. Welcome to our home.” Adelaide politely smiled, obviously having forgotten Alana’s name. “Its good to see you Melody. Welcome to our estate. It is nice to see someone other than Li and Charlotte walk these halls.” Francis greeted. “Thank you both for welcoming me into your lovely home! I’m so happy that Amber and I have been able to put our animosity aside and become friends. And, Mr. Jacott, with all due respect, please call me Alana.” Alana beamed as everyone but Nathaniel sat down. “If you don’t mind me asking, you and your sister have such pretty names... Why don’t the two of you go by them?” Adelaide asked. “Despite the fact that we both like the names we were given. Melody and  Samantha are lovely names, after all. By choosing to go by “Alana” and “Sam” we are taking our lives into our own hands and forging our own destinies. Most of the Roster Clan either goes by nicknames, middle names, or chooses to go by their given first names.” Alana clarified. Nathaniel walked into the kitchen, quickly came back holding a silver platter with a dome, set it on the table and lifted the dome revealing a freshly cooked lobster. “Dinner is served!” He announced as he bowed and looked at his father. “Be seated.” Francis ordered, a stern look on his face. “Lobster! This must be a special occasion!” Alana cooed. “Does your family not eat seafood that often?” Francis asked, instantly turning more sweet. “We eat seafood all the time. However, we prefer to source the meats that we bring to our tables from the farms and fishermen that surround the estates. If you ask any major member of the family, it won’t matter if its the Irish House, the Scottish House, or the Astarian House, we can tell you which farms and fishermen the meat, dairy, and produce come from. Several aristocratic families have taken our example and preferred a more “farm to table” approach. Its simply the fact that, shellfish such as lobster and crab are left for more special occasions.” Alana explained. “And I’m sure the aristocracy has different views.” Adelaide snidely commented as she sipped her drink. “Nathaniel! Get your elbows off the table!” Francis hissed. Nathaniel obeyed without question. “Sorry father.” He muttered. Suddenly, Alana felt her foot being crushed, obviously by Amber’s foot. “Pathetic pest!” She thought. “The aristocracy still believes in the outdated “superior bloodlines system”. They are going to believe whatever they like. It has never been the worry of the Roster Family. Astaria’s royal family uses our culinary system. In fact, its made their chefs strive harder for continued Michelin Star status.” She explicated as she presented her hosts with the stone faced resolve she had spent years cultivating.

As the evening progressed, Francis continued his verbal assault on Nathaniel. Raining down a barrage of hate and criticism under the guise of demanding perfection. Even going so far as to angrily bang the table when Nathaniel forgot the small spoons during the place setting after he brought desert out. “Why does Nathaniel have to be perfect while Amber is allowed to text, be rude, and literally bully you? She doesn’t even have to be polite at the dinner table!” The voice in her head piped up. “I have a hunch... And I hate the fact that I might be right.” She thought back. Alana wanted to comment on how Nathaniel is not Francis’ butler and that he should not be the one doing all of the brunt work, but she knew it would only worsen the situation. She brushed Francis’ apology for Nathaniel’s forgetfulness off. “This is getting to be textbook... Very similar to what Carol and Achille do...” She thought. When she offered to help Nathaniel with the clean up, Francis cut her off and told her that he needed to speak with his son and that her help was not necessary. When Francis finished his sentence, he looked at Nathaniel, sternly. Nathaniel’s face instantly filled with a mixture of horror and dread. She didn’t want to leave Nathaniel alone with his father, even for a second. Her mind turned to what Carol did to her behind her mother’s back. Each and every time Carol would insult, demean, and lightly strike her whenever no one was looking. Every time Carol would block her and Sam from telling their mother about what she was doing to them. Every time Carol threatened to do the unthinkable to them if they told anyone in the press. Alana didn’t want to think about the idea that Nathaniel was suffering anything similar to the same kind of hell that she suffered, let alone a hell that he couldn’t escape from without uprooting his whole life. But, all the signs were there, and she needed confirmation.

When she returned to Amber’s room, Amber tossed a pink pillow and an almost doll sized pink duvet at her. “What are these?” Alana asked, confused. “Your sleeping arrangements. Its not much, but you should be thankful that you’re even allowed to sleep in my room!” Amber sneered. “I’d rather sleep in your brother’s room.” A quiet thought popped up in Alana’s mind. “I brought my own pillow and blanket! But thank you for giving me what I need to make the floor more comfortable!” Alana beamed as she pulled a blue galaxy pillow with the Cancer constellation on the front and a blue galaxy blanket from her bag and began to make up her “bed”. “Why is all of your stuff blue and space themed?” Amber asked, annoyed. “Why is all of your stuff pink?” Alana shot back. “Pink is cute and girly. Now, answer my question.” Amber replied. “Blue is ethereal and calming. Its the color of the sky and stars. But, since we’re asking questions... How long have you and your family lived here?” Alana inquired. “Since we were kids. I suppose you wouldn’t know what its like to still live in your childhood home.” Amber popped off. “Actually, my family still owns the house I was born in. The house in Weathering has been in our family for generations. Its actually tradition for members of the family to leave it, so long as at least one member still lives in it.” Alana smirked as she grabbed her toiletries bag and her pajamas and left the room. As she entered the hallway, the only lights and sounds in the house were coming from the first floor. “I hope you don’t intend on going where you don’t belong, Miss Roster.” A voice called out to her and made her jump. Alana turned around and noticed Adelaide leaving her office. “What’s going on down there?” She asked. “Matters that are none of your business. Now, do whatever you need to do in the restroom then hurry back to Amber’s room.” Adelaide ordered as she went upstairs. “Yes ma’am.” Alana nodded as she went into the restroom. After she was done changing her clothes, applying her nightly face mask and cleaning her teeth, she passed through the hallway and could hear Francis and Nathaniel talking, but she still couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. “You have got to hear what’s going on!” The voice in her head commanded. “They’re being too quiet, and I’ve been out here too long. Give me a minute!” She thought back as she went back into Amber’s room.

“What took you so long? And why do you have a face mask on?” Amber asked, very annoyed when Alana set her bag down. “Do you not exfoliate your face each morning and night? Aunt Verity has been sending Sam and me top dollar skin care since we first hit puberty. Its why our skin looks so fantastic. I have to go back and scrub it off in about five minutes. But, in the morning, my face will be glowing.” Alana smiled. “Well, those fox pajamas look cheap and ugly.” Amber shook her head, clearly caught off guard. “Whatever you say.” Alana smirked. Exactly five minutes later, Alana left the room to rinse her face when she was instantly frozen in place. Francis’ and Nathaniel’s voices had gotten significantly louder. “HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME!” Francis yelled. “Dad, that’s not what I meant to say... It’s not the end of the world...” Nathaniel pleaded. “NEVER WILL MEDIOCRATY BE TOLERATED UNDER THIS ROOF! NEVER!” Francis’ voice boomed. Fear continued to keep Alana frozen in place. Suddenly, the sound of a fist colliding with flesh resounded through the house. “Holy shit!” Alana thought as she quickly covered her mouth. “We were right! His father does beat him!” The voice in her head almost yelped. “I knew it! All the signs were there!” She thought back. “Go wash the mask off your face and then see if you can get answers from Amber! You can’t stay in the hall!” The voice in her head ordered. Without another thought, she ran to the restroom, washed her face and ran back to Amber’s room. “What’s wrong with you? You’re all white. It looks like you just witnessed a murder.” Amber almost chuckled. “I just heard your dad and Nathaniel fighting. It seemed rather... Volatile and violent. Does that happen often?” Alana asked, still in shock. “Well, my parents are strict with him, its no big deal. He just gets into trouble when he is late, or that kind of thing. It makes me laugh, because I have so much more freedom than him.” Amber explained. “I see... Well, the restroom is free for you to change.” Alana looked down. “Good. I wouldn’t want someone like you seeing me without my clothes on. My body is too good for your eyes.” Amber sneered as she walked out of the room with her pajamas in hand. A couple of minutes later, she came back into the room wearing a yellow spaghetti strap top and shorts set. “You know? It is reassuring that, while both of our tastes can be quite expensive, they are vastly different.” Alana shrugged. “I would never wear something with an animal on it. Foxes are horrible creatures anyway.” Amber huffed. “I’ve always figured you to be the type of person to favor poodles anyway.” Alana rolled her eyes. “You’re wearing clothes for little girls.” Amber snickered. “I never said that I was here for a fashion show.” Alana remarked. “Oh yeah, so why exactly did you come here? I’d like to know.” Amber asked. “The marks on your brother’s back. Do you remember them?” Alana questioned. “What are you going to think up next?!” Amber spat. “Cut the crap, Amber. You know full well what I’m talking about.” Alana replied, flatly. “Are you going to talk to me about the whole cell phone thing again? I told you, it was just a way to get you to cough up the money. You thought I had information you needed, and I took advantage of it. Its not my fault if you believe in everything I say!” Amber blurted out. “So, you actually don’t know anything?” Alana interrogated. “I told you! I don’t know how he got those. Are you deaf or what?!” Amber spat. “Its not that I don’t appreciate talking about the times I’ve used you, but I’m tired. So, on that note, I wish you a good night in your... Blankets.” She huffed as she crawled into bed and turned the lights out.

It didn’t take long for Amber to start loudly snoring and the Jacott Household to be at the mercy of the night. “Finally. Now I can get some actual answers.” Alana thought as she quietly got up from her “bed” and entered the hallway. “Please don’t be asleep... And please forgive me for everything I do from here on out, Nathaniel...” She thought. “I wonder if he sleeps nude...” The voice in her head piped up. “Shut up, he probably sleeps in something more proper...” She thought back, her nerves catching a different kind of fire. “Come on girl! Get in there and find out!” The voice in her head commanded. She stood in front of Nathaniel’s bedroom door and knocked three times very lightly. “Who is it?” Nathaniel asked from the other side. “Its Alana... Can I come in?” she asked very sweetly. “Okay, but be very quiet.” Nathaniel muttered after what felt like the longest minute of Alana’s life. She very carefully opened the door, stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Standing before her was a sight she had only seen in her late night fantasies... Nathaniel wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers that didn’t leave much to the imagination. “Is everything alright?” He asked, concerned. “Nath... We need to talk and you’re not leaving or brushing me off this time.” She blushed. “And you couldn’t find a better moment than in the middle of the night?” He chuckled, his cheeks becoming red. “CONCENTRATE ALANA!” She thought. “If this wasn’t so serious, he’d be inside you tonight.” The voice in her head commented. She could feel her mouth watering at the sight of him. “I had to... This is too important...” She nodded. “Yes?” He asked, innocently. “GET IN HIS BED! Make him feel the love you want him to feel. SHOW HIM how beautiful you think he is, that he his deeply loved, and that he is not alone!” The voice in her head cheered. “I can’t!” She thought back as she regained her composure. “I-I had to get proof before talking to you...” She began. “Proof?” He asked. Alana closed her eyes, sighed, opened her eyes and looked at him with conviction. “Proof that your dad hits you.” She replied. “I already told you to not get involved! It’s not your business, can’t you understand that for once?!” He yelled. His anger pierced her heart like an arrow. “Stay strong, Alana... You have to do this.” She thought. “Please, don’t yell. If your parents hear us...” She began. “Get out. Now.” He ordered. “No. I won’t leave you! Nathaniel, this is too serious! You know for a fact that its impossible for me to pretend that nothing is wrong.” She pleaded. “It-It’s more complicated than it seems, you know...” He muttered. “Talk to me then. I have entrusted you with the truth of my horrors... That means I am more than willing to support you through yours.” She insisted as she took his hand but he was so bothered that he probably didn’t even feel it. “Please? It would help you to talk.” She urged. Nathaniel thought for a minute and sighed. “I don’t want to get my dad in trouble... Understand? He’s already going through a tough time. That’s why I don’t want to talk to anyone about... About what he does to me.” He opened up. “Nathaniel... Between the two of you, you’re the one going through a tougher time!” Alana blurted out. “Alana, you don’t know what you’re talking about... My dad has always had an exceptional life since he advanced through his different positions in his multinational company. He’s always made us happy, my mom, my sister and me... Before...” He continued. “Before what?” She asked, allowing the slight patronization fall flat. “Before someone stole his promotion and everything went up in flames. A while ago, my dad was supposed to be the vice-president of the company.” He elaborated. “That’s not a small promotion...” She commented. “Exactly. Except for a young man, just out of university and loaded with degrees, got noticed. Even though my father had been in the company longer, his superior chose the young man over my father.” He explained. “I get that had to have been hard... But that is still no excuse for everything! Your dad at least kept a good position in the company, right?” Alana asked. “No, the problems just kept coming... The new vice-president felt threatened, and was sneaky enough to downgrade my dad until he had just a basic position. So, my dad is stuck. He wanted to reach excellence, and he will stay in the same office until the end of his career.” Nathaniel clarified. “And how do you factor into this equation? You aren’t the reason for his professional misfortune.” Alana inquired. “I... I don’t know, do you want over-the-counter psychology? I think my dad projects on me the image of the young man who stole his promotion. At the same time, he wants me to be like him, irreproachable. Maybe even better, so I never get overridden like he was.” Nathaniel facepalmed, annoyed. “If I wanted over-the-counter psychology, I’d go to my aunt Seraphina. I can tell you exactly WHY Carol does it to Sam and me. Its because her attempt to get in with the aristocracy through her husband, Valentine, and daughter, Regina, failed... So she decided to sink her fangs into my mother since my family is an old one and has always been “aristocracy adjacent”. In the process of that, she decided that it would be best to use my sister and me as props to promote mom. So, if we’re not perfect, we get hurt. And, for the record, no one is irreproachable!” Alana exclaimed. “I guess he is just trying to protect me from what he faced...” Nathaniel sighed. “That is no excuse for what he does to you! There is no justification for striking your child! You do realize that, right? How can you just accept that without flinching?” Alana asked, pouring emotion into each and every word. “If I give him up, it will just hurt my family more than they are already hurt. My dad would surely lose his job. We’re already indebted, we would lose our house! What would my mom and sister do in all that?” Nathaniel’s voice was almost pleading as he facepalmed. “Which brings me to my other questions... Why don’t they say or do anything? Do they not know?!” Alana inquired. “Amber doesn’t know. She just thinks she is the favorite that gets away with everything, while her brother gets “in trouble”. My mom... I think she just pretends to not know anything.” He sighed. “And, instead of actually defending you from the blatant abuse that your father is belting out, she ignores it? Leaving you without a single person of power to protect you in any way?” The words left her mouth before she could properly process the gravity of what she had just said. “You shouldn’t make a big deal about it... Every kid has had one or two corrections from their parents...” He nervously shook his head. “Correction doesn’t involve leaving bruises in your child’s back! And I could easily bet that your dad has beat you more than once or twice!” She blurted out. “It hasn’t happened that often...” Nathaniel looked down. “The fact that its happened even once is too far! Parents shouldn’t be harming their children in the first place! Even then, there is a massive difference between getting grounded, having things taken away from you, getting extra chores, or even a light slap on the wrist versus getting knuckles imbedded in your skin or heavily slapped! With all that, the physical contact should only be enough to make sure the child knows they’ve gone too far, not hurt them!” She sputtered. “I’m certain that’s not why he does it.” Nathaniel stated. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions. It doesn’t matter WHY he hit you! The fact that he did is abuse!” She blurted out. “Whatever it is, you don’t have to worry about it, okay? Let me handle it.” Nathaniel tried to be reassuring. “But Nathaniel... He... He hurt you tonight too... Didn’t he?” She asked, a hint of sadness in her voice. “It wasn’t that bad...” He replied, forcing a little more strength into his voice. “Nath...” She began. “I’m going to go to bed now, if you don’t mind. Its late and I want to be rested for tomorrow.” He smiled. Nathaniel crawled into bed right in front of her, rolled onto his side and turned his back to her. “Don’t you dare leave him like this!” The voice in her head almost yelled at her. Without another thought, Alana crawled into his bed, laid next to him, and held him in her arms. “Welp, he’s not moving... I can’t tell what he’s thinking...” She thought. “But he’s not pushing you away, so that’s a good thing...” The voice in her head assured her. Time seemed to stop as they laid in bed together. Her mind wanted to continue racing, but her heart’s desire to comfort him overrode her brain. After several minutes, Nathaniel sighed, rolled over, and smiled at her. “You should maybe go now. You... I don’t want my dad to find us like this.” He cooed. “Right! W-We w-wouldn’t w-want t-that... Are you going to be okay?” She asked, secretly praying to the gods that she wasn’t blushing. “Now, yes. Your presence did me a lot of good. But, its best if you go back to sleep in Amber’s room, now. Otherwise, we might fall asleep together...” He insisted. “Of course... I’ll leave you then... Goodnight Nathaniel. Sweet dreams.” Alana nervously smiled as she got out of bed. “Alana?” He asked as she reached for the door handle. “Yes?” She looked back at him, a hint of longing in her eyes. “Thank you... And have pleasant dreams.” He blushed.

Alana creeped back into Amber’s room, thanked any deity who would listen for the fact that Amber is a heavy sleeper, got under her blanket and pulled out her phone. Several messages had been sent to her by various people. “Are you surviving?” from Sam. “Are you right?” from Kentin. “Be safe. Keep us posted.” from Armin. When she got to the message from her mother, she quietly sighed in relief. “Hey sweetie! Nate and I had to run to England for a bit for a movie thing for him! We’ll be back in a couple of days! Luckily, Achille is in America for a meeting all week, so Verity will be able to take care of you and Sam until I get back! Love you!” As she sent her mom a message saying “Alright! Have fun! Love you too!” she couldn’t help but think about the fact that she would be able to talk to Verity about what she had witnessed without it getting to her mother. Verity was always the one she could trust with secrets that she didn’t want to worry her mom with, and this was no different. “Verity, PLEASE pick me up early tomorrow! I could really use some one on one time with my godmother!” She texted. “So, are you not gonna focus on the fact that you got into his bed?” The voice in her head asked. “That is something I can think about tomorrow... For now, I need to do everything in my power to get some much needed sleep.” She thought back as she put her phone away and closed her eyes.

★

When the first rays of dawn had begun to shine through Amber’s curtains, Alana opened her eyes. “Get up you idiot!” The voice in her head piped up. Amber was still sound asleep, snoring like an old train. She quickly grabbed her bag and went to the bathroom. Changing her clothes and brushing her teeth were done in a quiet rush. As she washed her face, her mind began to race and replay the events from the night before as if it was a clip show. “What do I do?!” She thought. “You tell Sam, Ken, Armin and Verity.” The voice in her head replied. “Why Verity?!” She frantically thought. “You already know why. You knew why last night. Especially considering Verity would be the best adult to help you with this.” The voice in her head stated. “But Nathaniel told me to not do anything...” She thought back. “If you don’t do SOMETHING, he’s only gonna continue to get hurt... Didn’t you already tell Sam, Ken, Armin and yourself that you had to do something? That’s literally why you’re here.” The voice in her head pointed out. “What if he hates me... He was trying so hard to justify his father’s actions last night...” She worried. “You knew coming into this that that would be a possibility. But, if it helps him in the long run, then its worth it.” The voice in her head assured. Suddenly, her phone vibrated with a message notification from Verity. “I’m sure you can tell me what’s going on when I get there. Send me the address, I’ll be on my way soon. Love you!” She let out a massive sigh of relief as she put her phone in her pocket. “Alright... Let’s do this.” She nodded as she rinsed her face and left the bathroom.

“Miss Roster, you’re awake rather early.” Francis pleasantly greeted as he came out of his office. The very sight of him filled her with disgust and hatred. “Early risers get more done. And a good morning to you Mister Jacott!” Alana did her best to sound as polite and happy to see him as possible. “Someone please get me a trash can so I can puke!” She thought. “I trust you slept well.” He grinned. “Yes, I did. Amber is quite the hostess!” She beamed. “Amber is nothing if not exceptional. Now, would you like some breakfast before your mother picks you up?” Francis asked. “I’d hate to turn down such a sweet offer, but it turns out that my plans have changed. Mom had to run to England for a bit, so Verity will be picking me up. Verity likes to get up and going early, so she’ll be here soon.” She explained. “What a shame. Well, then... I must apologize for Nathaniel’s actions last night. My wife and I have been trying to raise him to be better than that... To be exceptional.” Francis’ voice was low and almost sincere. “HE’S APOLOGIZING FOR NATHANIEL’S ACTIONS! NATHANIEL DID NOTHING WRONG! LET ME AT HIM! I’LL KICK HIS TEETH IN!” The voice in her head yelled. “No apology needed, sir. Everyone forgets the little details sometimes. No one is perfect... And, with all due respect, I wouldn’t write your son off like that. He’s the smartest, sweetest, most respectable and proper guy in our class. I can already tell that he is going to go far in life. You should be proud of him.” She smiled as she rushed back into Amber’s room and gathered her things.

An hour later, there was a knock on the front door. “Mrs. Mekina! What an absolute pleasure it is to finally meet you!” Francis beamed. “You must be Mister Jacott! Thank you so much for hosting my darling goddaughter! Is my sweet Melody ready to go?” Verity smiled. “Miss Roster! Your godmother is here!” Francis called. Nathaniel looked at Alana and mouthed the words “I’m going to be okay.” as she looked at him, worried. “I hope you’re right.” She whispered as she ran downstairs and hugged Verity. “Good morning my little starlight! It’s good to see you! Are you ready for a fun filled day?! I know Sam and her boyfriend want to include your friend Armin with our festivities, is that okay with you?” Verity cheered. “Yeah! I’m so happy we get to hang out V!” Alana mused. She turned to Francis, Nathaniel and Amber. “Thank you so much for having me! Amber, Nathaniel, I’ll see you two at school tomorrow!” She smiled. “See you!” Amber waved, clearly faking happiness. “Shall we?” Verity motioned to the car. “Yeah, let’s go.” Alana smiled.

By the time Verity’s car pulled up to the apartment, Armin, Sam and Ken had already gathered in the living room. “Alright girls, I’ve waited long enough. What is going on and why can’t your mother know about this?” Verity commanded as she shut the door behind her and Alana. Sam handed Alana a bottle of iced coffee. “Alright... This is going to be a long one.” Alana sighed as she twisted the top off, took a big swig, and set the bottle down. Over the course of the following hour, Alana explained the entire situation to Verity, and filled everyone in on the previous night’s events, including the bit where she got into Nathaniel’s bed. “Holy shit.” Armin gasped. “Oh my god... That poor boy...” Verity wept. “That bastard!” Kentin blurted out. “Mels, did you get any proof?” Sam asked. Alana looked down. “I was frozen in fear, I didn’t think to have my phone recording.” She clarified. “This is serious! Social Services needs to be called! That poor boy needs to be gotten out of that situation!” Verity exclaimed. “I wanna kick his dad’s teeth in!” Armin was almost shouting. “I know something needs to be done. Nathaniel begged me not to! Apparently his dad is in debt. What if they lose everything?!” Alana asked. “Of course they’re in debt! People who aspire to become part of the aristocracy are almost ALWAYS in some form of financial trouble! Hell, look at Carol! She wants to be part of the system and yet her family is poorer than church mice! Or Achille! The Pechman family was disgraced years ago before my father made me marry him!” Verity blurted out. “So, what are we going to do?” Armin asked. “Mels, you have to call Social Services. You’re the one who heard his dad beat him. Not only that, but you heard it twice, on two different days, and in two different locations.” Sam stated, very sternly. “But...” Alana sadly yelped. “Look, I asked you if you were ready to do this, even if it makes Nathaniel hate you, and you said you were. Now, you have to do the hard part.” Sam barked. “She’s right, even if he hates you for this, it’ll be better for him in the long run.” Kentin nodded. “But what if it ruins his family?” Armin asked. “I suppose I could help him... What company does his father work for?” Verity asked. “I don’t know. Nathaniel never told me the name... Just that it was an international one based here.” Alana shook her head. “There aren’t many other international companies based in Astaria... VKT is the biggest one, and you know our line of succession.” Verity sighed. “It shouldn’t be hard to figure out which one his dad works at... Based in Astaria, and with a new, young, fresh out of university, Vice President.” Sam conversed. “Also, with an employee named Francis Jacott.” Alana added. Verity pulled out her phone, logged into her VKT corporate account and did some digging. After five minutes, she had Francis’ name and face on her screen. “Found him. He works at Elite Solutions. They’re significantly smaller than VKT, but they’re large enough to have a good reputation throughout the financial solutions industry.” Verity explained. “Any explanation to his demotion?” Alana asked. “Funnily enough, it looks like its because the new VP is the son of a longtime friend of the CEO... Not quite aristocracy, but old enough money to almost be on par with the Roster Clan. From what I gather, the Jacott and Carello lines are still somewhat “new money”... Not even proper “Nouveau Riche”. Even with clawing his way up the corporate ladder, Francis Jacott was never going to actually get the President, Vice President or CEO positions. The demotion itself was most likely a point to put him in his place.” Verity continued to explain as she looked at her phone. “So, Nathaniel’s father is so desperate to become part of the aristocracy that he’s willing to spend money he doesn’t have, put his family into debt and probable jeopardy, climb up a corporate ladder that he will never actually reach the top of, marry a passive aggressive model who needs to eat a sandwich, let his daughter terrorize the school, and brutally beat his son into submission while demanding perfection. Am I missing anything?” Sam summarized and asked. “You forgot that he’s willing to blackmail and coerce his kids into using connections to us so that they can try to get closer to the Mekina and Chevalier families.” Alana added. “Melody, I’m guessing that you won’t let me have a talk with the CEO and President of Elite Solutions to possibly get him demoted even further?” Verity suggested, almost sadistically. “No, V! Please don’t make their financial situation even worse! Nathaniel is worried about that enough as it is!” Alana begged. “I’ll respect that... BUT, you will be the one to call Social Services.” Verity ordered. Alana looked down, her face filled with dread. “Alright... But I’m not going to do it today. He’ll know for a fact that it was me if I call today.” She sighed. “He’s gonna know it was you no matter what...” Sam rolled her eyes. “Sam, this is going to be hard enough on her.” Verity scolded. “I’ll call tomorrow. Nothing would get done today if I called on a Sunday.” Alana nodded.

After several hours of planning, plotting, gaming, anime, and lunch, Armin and Kentin went home. Verity sat down at the kitchen table and called Sam and Alana over to her. When the girls had sat down, she looked at them very seriously. “You didn’t answer one of my questions earlier. Why can’t your mother know about this?” She asked. “Why would we get mom involved in helping someone get away from their abuser when she won’t even get Carol away from us?” Alana asked back. Verity’s eyes widened. “Mels has a point. She’s been told by us, you, Nate, Viktor, Rini, Agatha and Seraphina what Carol has been doing to us and she still won’t fire her.” Sam pointed out. “Despite that, your mother still loves you.” Verity comforted. “V, you can’t escape your abuser because you’re married to him and divorce would be extremely messy because you’re an heir to an extremely old, aristocratic, family. However, you help put distance between Carol and us when you can. It was obvious that, if you’re available, we’d come to you about this.” Alana explained. “You know for a fact what its like to not have an out from that hell.” Sam added. Verity thought for a couple of minutes and sighed. “You know she’s gonna figure it out before this is all said and done... And I may not be available to offset the heat of how she’ll react.” She acknowledged. “That may be, but you can help us now.” Alana sadly sighed. “Okay. But, I mean it... Your mother may be alright with you two keeping things from her, but I’m not. If ANYTHING happens that you need help with, you had BETTER tell me!” Verity nodded.

★

Verity’s car stopped at a phone box on the way to Sweet Amoris High School. “You can do this, Melody. I believe in you.” Verity cooed as she put her hands on Alana’s shoulders. "Its the right thing to do. He has a chance to escape.” Alana muttered as she dialed the number to Social Services. When an agent picked up on the other end, Alana took a deep breath. “Hello. I’d like to put in an anonymous tip. I have reason to believe that a student at Sweet Amoris High School is being brutally abused by their parent...” She started. As the agent asked her questions, she presented them with every ounce of her knowledge on the subject. The bruises on Nathaniel’s back, what she heard his father doing to him in the Janitor’s Closet at school, and the events of that Saturday night. “Are you sure you’d like to remain anonymous, Miss? These are very serious allegations.” The agent asked her. “Yes. I’d rather you focus on Nathaniel’s welfare. If he can escape his father, then that’s all that matters.” She replied. “Of course. Thank you for this tip.” The agent stated. “Thank you.” Alana muttered as the phone call ended. “I’d ask you if you feel better... But its only just begun. Let’s get you to school.” Verity sympathetically smiled as she led Alana out of the phone box and back to the car.

Francis Jacott’s and Verity Mekina’s cars pulled up to Sweet Amoris High School almost at the exact same time. The difference and style of wealth could easily be pointed out just by the style of cars. Francis drove a Lexus that was just barely on the tale end of what could be considered “high end”. Verity’s car on that day was a brand new Rolls-Royce. When Verity’s car parked, her driver got out and opened the door for Alana, bowing to her as she stepped out. “Melody! Have a great day at school! I will be here to pick you after school is over! Let me know if you need anything! I love you my sweet goddaughter!” Verity waved as she stood by the car. “Love you too V!” Alana mused. Sam and Ken walked up to the car. “Thanks for letting me walk with Ken this morning V!” Sam smiled as she hugged her. “Of course sweetie! You need time with your heart! Now, Ken, you be a gentleman to my Sam!” Verity sweetly commanded. “I will, Ma’am!” Ken saluted. “Mrs. Mekina! I just wanted to thank you for the make-up! Its working wonders!” Amber announced as she ran up to them. “I’m just glad that you and my Melody have put your differences behind you! Amber, right?” Verity cooed. “I’m glad too! Alana is a great friend!” Amber faked. Alana looked over at Nathaniel, who was talking to his father through the car window. “I hope you’re okay...” She thought. “Well, girls, I’d really love to stay... But, you all have school, and I’m spending the day with Agatha. I can’t wait to see what kooky activity she’s got thought up for us today!” Verity laughed. “Love you V!” Alana smiled and hugged her. “Remember, Melody. Your family is a long line of great warrior women. Their blood courses through your veins. No matter how painful the battles are, you must stand up tall and not let your enemies get you down.” Verity whispered into Alana’s ear during the hug. “Be safe today girls.” She mused to Sam and Alana as she got back into the car. “Nathaniel! Hey!” Alana waved when he walked up to her. “Is your mom enjoying herself?” He asked. “Yeah, apparently she and Nate have been hanging out with a bunch of his actor friends.” She chuckled. “That’s good. Did you have fun yesterday?” He sweetly asked. “Yeah. Armin came over and we watched anime and video games.” She replied. “Armin has been spending a lot of time with you...” He huffed. “Nath, am I detecting a hint of jealousy?” She smirked. “What?! No! I just think that it’s been a while since we hung out...” He nervously spat. “It has been a while since we hung out...” She began as she bit her lip.

It didn’t take long for a new set of rumors to begin circulating about Alana. Within the first few classes of the day, it had gotten to her that people thought she and Nathaniel were dating, that they thought she was cheating on Armin, that Castiel was still hoping to have a chance with her, and that she was being taken “under Amber’s wing”. “Peggy must be having a slow news cycle.” Alana thought. Melody was the one to bring the rumor about her relationship with Nathaniel to her attention. Kim and Iris forced Melody to confront her by the stairwell. “Alana, are you and Nathaniel dating?” Melody asked, nervously. Alana looked past the girls and noticed Peggy hiding by the basement door. “Okay, I’m going to address every last rumor. No, Melody. Nathaniel and I aren’t dating. But, I’d like to point out to you, he’s already told you “No.” at least once. Armin and I are not dating. We’re really good friends. If any of you actually enjoyed playing videogames and watching anime, you’d probably be invited to join us when we hang out. About Castiel? I don’t know how he feels about me past being my friend. When we hang out, we mostly talk about music. And as for Amber taking me “under her wing”... Why would I need to do that when she’s the one trying to get closer to MY godmother? I just want her to stop tormenting me, so I play her game.” She explained. “You know I like Nathaniel.” Melody angrily reminded Alana. A flicker of anger flared in Alana’s eyes. Her mind turned to what she witnessed over the weekend. She gathered her thoughts and looked at Melody with conviction. “That may me, but he’s not a piece of meat. He’s a human being and can make his own choices. And if you’re coming at me like this now, when he’s single, I almost don’t wanna imagine how much of a terror you’re going to be if or when he does get a girlfriend.” Alana retorted as she walked off.

“Have you heard anything?” Armin whispered when they sat down in their final class of the day. “No. I’m wondering if they’re not going to do anything until after school is out for the day.” Alana anxiously replied. “That’s possible. It would be better to surprise his dad that way.” Armin quietly agreed. “You there! Alana, Armin, you know that whispering in my class is prohibited when I’m trying to give a lecture!” Mr. Faraize called. “Oh! Sorry, sir!” Alana nervously chuckled. “We won’t do it again!” Armin laughed. Nathaniel shot them a jealous look from Alana’s other side. “Well, what is so important that you had to interrupt my class to talk about it? Surely, it can be shared with the class.” Mr. Faraize inquired. Armin looked at Alana nervously as she took a deep breath. “Well, you were discussing the cultural impact of such medias like television and movies. We were simply, quietly, adding to that discussion. Since anime, video games, and comic books apply to that same argument.” She beamed. “So, you were paying attention! Yes, they very much do apply to to this argument! Since they are all mediums that have shaped global culture and society. Look at the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe... All because people like Stan Lee and Steve Ditko decided to be artists and story tellers.” Mr. Faraize smiled. “Don’t forget! Many significant people like anime as well! There are multiple world leaders who enjoy One Piece. Dragon Ball has changed the lives of children everywhere and has the world record for “Longest Fight in Shounen Anime History”. And Sailor Moon has encouraged girls to be their best selves by telling them that even crybabies who aren’t good at math can still save the world, so long as you are pure of heart and have good friends fighting alongside you.” Alana explained. “Don’t forget! Pokémon has continued to teach our generation to be kind to animals and be friends with them!” Armin piped up. “NERDS!” Someone called out. “Calm down class. Miss Roster and Mister Keenan did add valid points to today’s lecture.” Mr. Faraize ordered as the bell rang. While everyone got up and gathered their things, Mr. Faraize looked around a little frantic. “You know what? No homework tonight!” He announced.

“So, Alana? What are you doing tonight?” Nathaniel asked as he walked up to her, Armin, Sam and Kentin in front of the school. “Verity wants to hang out. Just us girls.” Alana replied. “She’s trying to get Severina here at some point, but its a bitch to pull someone out of their fancy, English, private school... Especially with her husband overriding her every wish.” Sam explained. “Oh... I thought we could hang out tonight...” Nathaniel looked down. “I wish I could, but, Verity’s husband comes back from his business trip at the end of this week, and Mom comes home tomorrow afternoon. She wants to have a special “girl’s night” with us before mom gets home.” Alana disappointedly sighed. “I can hang out man!” Armin cheerfully piped up. “Sorry, Armin... I kinda just wanted to hang out with Alana. But, thanks for the offer.” Nathaniel sadly grinned. “Oh! Some other time then! I’ll make a gamer out of you yet!” Armin beamed as Nathaniel began to walk towards his father’s car. “What was that about?” Sam asked. “I’m not entirely sure... I think he doesn’t wanna go home...” Alana observed. “Well, considering how much of a bastard his dad is, its no wonder he doesn’t wanna go there.” Armin clenched his fists.

★

Several days passed without anything being done by Social Services. Lynne came back from her trip asking a lot of questions that Alana couldn’t answer. Verity did everything in her power to distract her friend. Over the course of those days, Nathaniel got progressively more and more terrified whenever his father entered the room. There were several times Nathaniel asked Alana if her weird behavior had something to do with what she had witnessed at his house. She hated lying to him, but she knew it would be a lot worse if he knew what she had done before Social Services did anything. Amber’s behavior got worse when Verity wasn’t looking... And Peggy had begun looking for her next scoop. Even Castiel asked Alana what was going on. “I can’t tell you.” She’d said when he cornered her in the basement on Wednesday afternoon. “Do you not trust me?” He asked. “I do. But, I don’t want it to get out... And, apparently, the walls have ears.” She replied, shooting the recording equipment by the basement door a sharp look. Castiel looked behind him and noticed the equipment move. “Peggy, at this rate, you’ll be no better than the paparazzi that chased Diana to her doom!” Alana spat. Peggy muttered something that Alana couldn’t quite hear and ran off. When the girl was out of earshot, Castiel looked at Alana very seriously. “Can you tell me now?” He asked. “Not yet. I’ll tell you once something happens. I promise.” Alana sighed. He looked at her, angrily. “You know what? Don’t even bother!” He almost yelled as he stormed off. Alana looked at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I do trust you Castiel... But I’m not ready to tell you...” She muttered.

★

Friday morning, the second Sam and Alana entered the school grounds, Peggy ran up to them, rather giddy. “YOU!” She yelled, her microphone in her hand and stretched out towards them. “What do you want now?” Sam asked, instantly annoyed. “I’m sure you know everything, Alana!” Peggy almost shouted. “What are you on about?” Alana asked. “Nathaniel and his parents were summoned to a meeting with the principal this morning. They are still in her office. I couldn’t understand why, exactly, but things don’t look good... For Nathaniel, in any case.” Peggy explained. “And like the parasite you are, you’re taking this like a kid at Christmas.” Sam sneered as she rolled her eyes. “So, Alana, have you decided to tell me what everyone will find out soon enough?” Peggy asked as she excitedly shook her microphone in Alana’s face. Alana took the microphone out of Peggy’s hand, looked her dead in the eyes, and smirked. “Peggy, you are not a journalist. You are a paparazzi. People like you have gotten innocent people killed. You don’t look for news. You look for scoops. It doesn’t matter how scandalous it is. In fact, the more scandalous it is, the better. People like you are the reason why our parents have taught us to swear and flip people off the second we see cameras and microphones. Since Sam and I first got into this school, we have tried to help you actually become a legit journalist and not a paparazzi... But, you refuse to actually follow our advice. Whatever is going on with Nathaniel and his family is not “news” or even a “scoop”. Its a family matter that should NOT be published in the shit rag you that you’ve turned the school newspaper into. Go fuck yourself!” Her voice rang throughout the hallway and made everyone silent. Peggy stood there, shocked as Alana handed back the microphone. “So, this is what happens when Melody Roster is pushed too far?”, “I’m glad someone finally said it! The newspaper lost integrity last year when Peggy took over!”, “Alana went off!” Several students could be heard muttering throughout the hallway. Sam noticed Mr. Faraize in the hallway and looked into his eyes. “I hope you realize, if you’d like to punish my sister for what she just did, you can always talk to our mom! She, Nate, and Aunt V were the ones who set the rules in place when it comes to how we deal with the paparazzi!” She announced.

Alana ran down the hallway towards the Principal’s Office. “Prepare yourself for the worst.” The voice in her head ordered. “Hey!” Nathaniel called as soon as she saw her. He was clearly seething. “H-Hey..” She nervously breathed. “I can’t believe you are here trying to listen in after what you did.” He chastised. “Nathaniel... Please listen to me... What I did... I did it to help you...” She quavered. “I told you not to talk about what you found out. But of course, it was out of your control. And this time, you went too far.” He scolded. Nathaniel’s anger almost prevented her from lookin Alana in her eyes. “I.. I just...” She fearfully began. “Because of you, things are even worse. Social Services came to my house and now, even the teachers are getting involved!” He did his best to not shout at her, however, his best efforts had begun to fail. “Nathaniel... I couldn’t sit by and do nothing...” She yelped. “You are such an idiot! I told you that I didn’t need help! Because of you, my dad may lose everything, or worse, go to prison! Amber is shocked and upset. She doesn’t understand what is going on. And my mom refuses to talk to my dad, as if he was an embarrassment!” He exploded. Fear, sadness and anger filled Alana. She put every molecule of effort into not letting it bubble over. “Because of me? I’m not the one who struck you! I was just trying to help you! I just wanted to make things better for you!” She almost began to cry. “Congrats, really... Once again you did a really great job! Without proof, Social Services won’t do anything anyway. And I can assure you they won’t find anything.” He sarcastically applauded. “Nathaniel! Come on, we’re leaving. Obviously, the Principal has nothing else to say.” Francis barked. His eyes turned to Alana, cursing her very existence with every second he looked at her. Nathaniel shot her an angry look as he and Amber left with their parents.

“I knew it... He hates me... I shouldn’t have done it... I don’t care if its the right thing... He hates me...” Alana thought. Tears had already begun to stream down her face as she held her mouth closed. “Get out of here. You have to go find someplace private. NOW.” The voice in her head ordered. Obviously, the main school building was out of the question. “Go to the Locker Room. No one will be in Gym right now...” The voice in her head commanded. Without another thought, Alana was running to the deepest part of the Locker Room. On her way there, she passed Castiel. “Alana?” He asked. She didn’t answer, and kept running. When the door firmly closed behind her, she found a corner near the showers, crumpled onto the floor, and breathed heavily. With each breath, her emotions bubbled and boiled. It didn’t take long for her breathing to turn into one long, fearful, sad, scream as tears streamed down her face. “Sam told me he was going to hate me if I did this... I should have listened to her... I shouldn’t have done this... I should have obeyed his requests....” She wailed. “Is this about what you weren’t telling me?” A voice asked from the doorway. Alana looked up and saw Castiel standing before her. “Go away Cass...” She cried. “Not until I get some answers. What happened with Nathaniel? Why was he yelling at you like that? Why did you not tell your friends about this? Why did you cuss Peggy out?” He asked as he got closer to her. He sat on the bench in front of her and looked at her seriously. “Fine... Its time you know...” She began as she proceeded to explain everything that had happened up until that point, except the part where she got into Nathaniel’s bed. “That bastard... That idiot thinks that if nothing gets done, he’s going to be okay... And when you actually try to help him, he repays you by treating you like garbage...” Castiel growled when Alana had finished her explanation. “It doesn’t matter anyway... Nathaniel is gonna help his father hide everything from Social Services... All I managed to do was make him hate me and make his home life worse...” She cried. “Alana...” He began. “Just stop, Cass... Nothing you’ll say will make me feel better...” Alana shook her head, stood up, dried her tears and left the Locker Room.

Rosalaya stood in the Gym, obviously waiting for her. “I was in the hall when Nathaniel yelled at you. I followed you to talk to you, but Castiel was quicker than me. From what I could hear, it wasn’t that difficult for me to put the pieces of the story together.” Rosalaya pointed out. Alana looked down. “Rosa... Between what happened with Deborah, and everything that’s going on in my family... I didn’t wanna tell too many people.” She explained. “So, who all did you tell?” Rosa asked. “Sam, Ken, Armin and Verity. They were sworn to secrecy.” Alana replied. “But you couldn’t tell me?” Rosa asked, annoyed. “Or me?” Castiel asked from behind them. “No! I couldn’t! How was I supposed to tell you two about this? “Hey guys! I know Nathaniel’s being abused by his dad. I recognize the signs because of what Carol has put my sister and me through and what Verity’s husband puts her and her daughter, Severina, through!” Doesn’t sound good, right?” Alana blurted out. Castiel and Rosa looked at her, shocked. “And now, Nathaniel hates me... I was hoping that, by some miracle, he wouldn’t by the end of this... But, as usual, I’m wrong...” Her voice quivered as she spoke. “Alana, you made the right call! You couldn’t have let the situation go on any longer!” Rosa assured her. “That idiot isn’t a martyr... Even he knows you made the right choice.” Castiel spat. Alana looked at them, thought for a couple of minutes, and sighed. “Thanks guys... I’m glad you’re both on my side with this...” She muttered. “Next time, don’t fucking keep shit like this from me.” Castiel shot as he smirked and walked away. “I hope that in the future you will remember you can count on me!” Rosa smiled as she hugged her. “Thank you Rosa... I’ll be sure to remember that!” Alana quietly mused.

Throughout the day, the school was filled with muttering about Nathaniel and his situation. No one could focus on their school work. "Even the teachers are off their game.” Armin whispered to her between classes. “Its obvious that the teachers have talked with Shermansky and they all know what’s going on.” Alana replied. The rest of the day felt as if it was going by in a blur. “So, going on autopilot for the rest of the day?” The voice in her head piped up. “Do I have a choice?” She thought back. “Yeah, you do. You can always stay engaged, take this thing head on and stand up tall. Or, you can go on autopilot, ignore everyone, and disappear.” The voice in her head told her. “I don’t wanna be here... Can’t I just go on autopilot until school is over?” She thought. “You could, but it wouldn’t do you any good.” The voice in her head replied. “But it would make this whole thing a lot easier for me to deal with.” She thought back. “Look, you knew what you were getting into when you started “Operation Purity Chalice”. You knew he’d probably hate you for a while... But, look at this way... There is a good chance that he’ll come around.” The voice in her head explained. “No... Not this time... I fucked up...” She thought back.

While on her way to find Sam, and Ken, Alana was cornered by Li, and Charlotte. “What did you do?” Li asked, angrily. “What, did your boss not tell you?” Alana shot back, annoyed. “Cut the crap, Alana. You did something, and now Amber isn’t at school.” Charlotte spat. “It is not my place to tell you. If you wanna know, either go to Amber yourself... Or read the next edition of the school paper... I’m sure Peggy has gotten wind of it and is currently writing her next tabloid slam piece, anyway...” Alana scoffed as she walked away from the two girls. Iris, Kim and Melody stood in the hallway by a set of lockers. “I hope Nathaniel is alright...” Iris muttered. “I’m sure he will be.” Kim grinned. “I don’t know what’s going on... All I know is that he yelled at Alana right before he left.” Melody shot Alana a quick smirk before looking back at the other girls with sadness. “If you honestly gave a crap about Nathaniel, you wouldn’t be focused on the fact that he yelled at me. You’d know what was actually wrong.” Alana condemned. “But, instead, she’s more focused on treating a man in actual pain like an object.” Sam chimed in. “Thank god you’re here! Can we go home?” Alana begged as she turned to her sister. “Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here.” Sam sympathetically nodded, put her hand on Alana’s shoulder, and began leading them out of the school.

Lynne Roster did not look happy when the girls returned home. “I’ve had enough. Why did I see police officers and social workers at the Jacott Residence when I passed through their neighborhood? Why does it look like Melody has been crying herself sick? Why is my best friend not telling me things about my daughters’ activities? Why is that classmate of yours with the recording equipment hanging around the Jacott Residence and our apartment building? WHAT ARE YOU TWO KEEPING FROM ME?!” She did her best to not yell at Sam and Alana, but lost control of her voice when the apartment door closed. “Tell her Mels. Its time.” Sam urged. “But why though? Its not like she can do any good!” Alana blurted out. “Can’t do any good? I can’t do anything if I don’t know what’s going on!” Lynne called back. “Why should we tell you about Nathaniel’s abuse when you won’t even protect us from Carol?!” Alana shouted as she stormed to her room and slammed the door. The instant her door was closed, she closed the curtains, turned on her computer, and began blasting My Chemical Romance until she had fallen asleep.

Later that night, Lynne woke her up. “Come on my love. You need to take your contacts out.” She cooed. “You’re not mad at me?” Alana groggily asked. “I’m upset with you... But, after talking with both Sam, and Verity, I understand your reasoning...” Lynne replied as she sat at the foot of Alana’s bed. “Mom... Verity, Agatha, Seraphina, Nate, Sam and I have all told you what Carol does to Sam and me behind your back and you still won’t fire her. Why? She’s abusing your daughters and you can easily get rid of her for it. Because of that, I don’t see a reason to ask for your help getting Nathaniel away from his abusive father when you won’t get us away from Carol.” Alana sighed. “I’ve made sure to put distance between you two and her.” Lynne stated. “Distance doesn’t mean shit when she still looks for ways to torment and threaten us.” Alana shot. “Its complicated Melody. Carol has herself embedded in my contracts... I can’t get rid of her unless something happens that would completely destroy me.” Lynne explained. “And abusing your daughters won’t completely destroy you? Mom, we both know that’s horseshit.” Alana raised an eyebrow. “Sweetie, first... Please don’t swear so much around me... And secondly, I don’t want you to be the one to fight my battles. This isn’t something you should be dealing with...” Lynne insisted. “You’re right. It isn’t. But here we are. Your best friend is being abused by her husband. Your other best friend is dead. Your daughters are being abused by your manager... And the boy I like is being abused by his father. If I can change even one fraction of that myself, I am going to. I can’t sit by and watch the people I love get hurt. I can’t do anything about Verity. I want to help you and get Carol out of our lives, but its enough work keeping her as far away from me as I can manage. Nathaniel... By using Amber, and making that phone call, I know I did something good... I just hate the fact that he hates me for it...” Alana admitted. “Oh, my baby! You did the right thing with that boy... But with everything else, some fights are bigger than you... Look, if I work harder to but even more distance between Carol and you and Sam, will you promise to trust me more with things like this?” Lynne begged. Alana thought for several minutes. “I’ll try.” She nodded. “Good. Now, I think this weekend would be a good one to go to Weathering. Put some space between you girls and this issue. Give you time to think, and Nathaniel some room to breathe.” Lynne suggested. “Is there gonna be anyone at the house in Weathering?” Alana asked. “Aunt Skye and your cousin Freya might have said they’re coming down for the weekend...” Lynne smirked. “What about Alexander and Colin?” Alana inquired. “They’re visiting his parents in Wales. It’s just us girls this weekend.” Lynne replied.

Right before Alana fell asleep, she decided to send Nathaniel a text message. “I know you hate me right now... And I know you don’t wanna see me anytime soon... But, I’m going to Weathering until Monday. I hope you stay safe. Please just promise me you will.”

★

It was Freya and Sam that kept Alana from locking herself in her room for the whole weekend. When Freya picked the lock to her bedroom door, Alana wanted to be mad, but Sam, Lynne, Skye and Agatha all said that while Freya’s methods weren’t honorable, she did it for the right reason. Obviously, Alana’s and Nathaniel’s situation was not going to be kept a secret from Skye and Freya. “Oh my god... That poor boy! Melody, you probably saved his life in the long run!” Skye gasped when they sat down to dinner on Saturday night. “Skye, he’s hiding all of the evidence to protect his father! I didn’t do anything but make things worse and make him hate me!” Alana argued. “You still did the right thing, Mels. Although, I would have done something directly to his dad...” Freya acknowledged in between bites of her steak. “That’s because you aren’t nuanced or subtle... That would have only gotten me in trouble.” Alana sighed. “Melody... I’m sure that, once he has some time to let the dust settle, he will eventually be thankful for what you’ve done. Until then, you’ve just gotta be strong.” Skye reassured her. “That’s easier said than done...” Alana looked down at her plate. She had barely eaten any of her food. The image of Nathaniel yelling at her in the hallway played in her head on repeat. “You are such an idiot!” rang in her mind on loop. She shook her head. “I’m gonna go... I’m not really that hungry anyway...” She quietly announced. “Go where?” Lynne asked. “I’m not sure... Don’t worry, I’ll stay on the property.” Alana replied.

After dinner on Sunday night, Alana sat in the fetal position on the roof to the house while listening to music. Throughout the weekend, she had looked at her phone, hoping, praying, that Nathaniel would respond to the text she had sent on Friday night only to be met with nothing. Rosalaya, Castiel, Armin and Alexy had all messaged her, asking if she was okay, asking where she was and why she had left. She simply responded to them with the excuse that some of her Scottish family were around and they had gone to see them. They knew she wasn’t okay. And she knew how they were going to respond if she had lied to them, so she simply ignored the question. “How can I be okay... I tried to help him and it only made things so much worse... That’s all I ever do is make things worse... I want to disappear....” She muttered to herself. “You are such an idiot!”, “Because of you...” and  “Congrats, really... Once again you did a really great job!” continued to play an endless loop in her head like a broken record as “Hear Me Now” by Framing Hanley reached it’s chorus. “Every time I put myself out there and try to be there for someone, I just mess things up and make things go even more sideways... Maybe I should just disappear... Maybe if I do that, people won’t get hurt by my stupidity anymore...” She muttered. “Is that how you really feel?” A voice called. Alana looked up and noticed Sam and Freya looking at her from another flat spot on the roof. “Mels... You did the right...” Freya began. “STOP TELLING ME I DID THE RIGHT THING!” Alana loudly interrupted. Freya looked at her, shocked. “I DON’T CARE IF I DID THE RIGHT THING! Every time I do “the right thing”, I end up getting hurt! I’m so sick and tired of getting hurt for the people I care about! I get hurt for mom... I’ve gotten hurt for Verity and Rini... I got hurt for Viktor... And now I’ve gone and gotten myself cut apart for Nathaniel!” Alana cried. Sam folded her arms and looked at her sister, annoyed. “Melody... Get the fuck over yourself! I know that it’s not entirely your fault that you’re so self-sacrificing. But god damn it! After a while you have to stand up for what you believe is right even if it means getting hurt in the process! You’ve known this for years! Its literally part of our raising! I TOLD YOU that he might hate you for this! I asked you, in front of Kentin and Armin, if you were ready to accept whatever Nathaniel might do to you because of this and you said that you were! Now, get off your ass, put on your “big girl panties” and face this head on! You’re a Roster, aren’t you?!” She boomed. Alana looked at her sister, brokenheartedly. “Sam...” She gasped. “You’ll never be able to stand on your own as the head of the family if you aren’t able to stand on your own two feet now. Even more so, you have the ability to make everyone in that school kneel before you if you would just show some fucking confidence! The little bursts of it have been fun, but you need to be more consistent! Show everyone, especially Nathaniel Jacott, what Melody Alana Roster, the next head of the Roster Clan after Mom, is made of! I know my “big sister” is more metal than the weak creature sitting before me!” Sam thundered.

★

Tuesday afternoon, Alana found herself being dragged to Nathaniel’s house by Sam, Kentin, Armin, Rosalaya, Alexy and Castiel. “Please no...” She begged. “What did I say over the weekend about you being more metal than this?!” Sam called as she lead the charge. “Cass... You can’t be supporting this...” Alana pleaded as she looked at Castiel. “I’m just coming along to make sure you all don’t fuck things up any more than they already are...” Castiel rolled his eyes. “Alana, we all wanna make sure he’s okay... We’re going.” Rosalaya ordered. “Especially considering Amber wasn’t at school yesterday and today either.” Kentin commented. “I didn’t expect either of them to be there today anyway... Since their dad got taken away by police over the weekend.” Alexy noted. “Wait, really?” Alana asked. “This is what happens when you run away for a few days!” Rosalaya shook her finger. “In our defense, we really did have family in from Scotland.” Sam shrugged.

When they got to the house, Sam couldn’t help but scoff. “They really are trying to be part of the aristocracy! This thing isn’t even old enough to have their estate be considered part of the “nouveau riche”!” She laughed. “Yeah, I never understood how your family knows so much about that kind of thing...” Alexy pondered. “Remember, guys, The Roster Clan is centuries old, has estates in at least three countries, isn’t formally considered noble or aristocratic, but is old enough and well off enough to be respected by the Astarian Crown. If it wasn’t for our disdain for formal titles, we’d probably have had some knights and dames in our family by now... The Astarian Crown has been trying to give titles to our section of the family for at least two hundred years.” Alana explained. “All while the English Crown has been trying to wipe us out for being Pagan, for supporting Irish, Scottish and Welsh freedom, and for openly supporting the destruction of the monarchy for centuries.” Sam added. “So, basically, we’re aristocracy-adjacent.” Alana clarified. “Welp, let’s get this over with!” Sam announced as she rang the doorbell. Within seconds, the gate opened and Adelaide appeared before them. “You? What are you doing here?” She asked, cringing at the sight of Alana. “We were worried about Nathaniel. He hasn’t been to school since Friday morning.” Rosalaya announced. “Can he come out and play?” Sam asked, almost mockingly. Adelaide looked down at the group of teenagers standing before her. “My husband and son are out, they won’t be back for a while.” She coldly replied. “Well then, can we wait for them?” Armin did his best to sound as cheerful as he could muster. Adelaide turned her eyes to Alana. “No. You aren’t welcome here anymore, Miss. Leave, before I call the p... Before I get angry!” She yelled. “Go on! Call the police, bitch! Even if Mels and I are arrested, our records will be expunged before the press even get to us!” Sam dared. “Sam, stop!” Rosalaya hissed as she turned back to Adelaide. “You don’t have to yell Ma’am. Just tell us if Nathaniel is alright.” She pressed. “He would be better if you would stop bothering him! Now leave!” Adelaide ordered as she stepped back and pressed the button to close the gate. Rage filled Alana’s body, replacing the fear that had held onto her for so long. “Sam, give me a boost! Now!” She ordered. “Alright.” Sam nodded. When Alana’s head peaked over the wall, she looked Adelaide in her eyes. “He’d be better if he had a mother that actually gave a damn about him! Instead, you and your bastard husband only care about status! You really think you’d be accepted by the aristocracy by acting this way? They may be abusive to a certain extent, but even their standards are higher than this! You’re nothing more than a pathetic, power hungry, COWARD!” She yelled, letting every drop of venom in her mouth pour into her words. Everyone but Sam looked at Alana in horror. “There she is! The next head of the family! I hope this Metal Melody starts coming out more and eventually stays!” Sam cheered. “Woah.” Castiel and Armin gasped, almost in unison as they both tried to hide the fact that they had begun to blush. “That’s new... Alana, I didn’t know you could be like that...” Rosalaya blurted out. “I’m not surprised she wouldn’t let us see him.” Alana growled. “He and his dad might be with the police.” Alexy suggested. “Look, we really can’t do anything else now... Let’s all go home and wait for him to go back to school.” Kentin suggested. “You’re right. As it is, I’ve gotta do something to commemorate my sister’s spine coming in!” Sam mused.

★

Wednesday morning, a familiar face returned to school. “Alana, guess what? Nathaniel is back.” Rosa sweetly stated as Alana stood by Sam’s locker. “Oh, really?” Alana asked, almost nonchalantly. “Yes! I wanted to talk to him but Peggy was already annoying him.” Rosa nodded. “Just like the little parasite she is... I’m gonna have to bust her equipment up.” Sam spat. “That’s fine. I’m sure if he wants to talk, he’ll come to me before the end of the day.” Alana huffed. “Alana, I’m happy that you’re not letting yourself be completely pushed around, but you should go to him at some point. It might be good for the both of you.” Rosa suggested. “Or, it’ll end in disaster if he continues to be an asshole to me for being the one to go up to him.” Alana rolled her eyes. “You both can be so stubborn... Just make you two talk today, please!” Rosa urged as she walked to class. “Go on, find him... Get this over with.” Sam insisted. “Really? You told me to be more “metal”. Metal doesn’t move. It can be fixed when it’s dented, and cleaned when it rusts. And Adamantium and Vibranium are both indestructible.” Alana pointed out. “We both know its better if you rip the band-aid off.” Sam flatly replied. “Fine! I’ll go find him...” Alana huffed as she walked off.

Throughout her search, she found several other students instead of Nathaniel. “Nathaniel completely ignored me earlier....” Melody lamented when Alana found her by the Science Lab. “Get used to that.” Alana thought. “Where is he?” She asked. “I don’t know... He left when I started talking to him.” Melody sighed. “Great... I’ll keep looking.” Alana replied as she ran off. When she got to the garden, she found Kim. “If he’s going to be so unpleasant, he could have stayed home!” Kim blurted out upon seeing her. “Let me guess... Nathaniel.” Alana observed. “Yeah... I was supposed to give him an absence note and he just sent me away! I don’t know what his problem is, but it better not last long.” Kim huffed. “If you actually knew his problem, you’d change your tune. But you don’t, so I’m telling you to change it. I get he’s being an ass, but being a dick to him won’t make his attitude any better!” Alana shot as she walked out of the garden. “Did you see he’s back?” Alexy asked as she entered the classroom. “I haven’t seen him yet... But I’ve heard he is.” She shrugged. “You might wanna stay away from him... You know he’s not in a good mood.” He suggested. “Yeah, it sounds like he’s become a monster. Good thing there are old legends about my family being monster hunters!” Alana sarcastically smirked. “Remember girl... There are stories saying that your family has slain dragons, vampires, and other monsters... Don’t forget, your great grand-father fought real monsters in the last great war! And you have stood up to Carol on multiple occasions! Whatever Nathaniel has become, he can’t be nearly as bad as what you and your family have already faced!” The voice in her head cheered.

Right as she was about to give up, Alana opened the door to another classroom and found the beast that everyone had told her to stay away from... Nathaniel. “I was just thinking that it was strange that you hadn’t come to see me yet.” He grinned. “Weren’t you the one who basically told me to stop looking for trouble?” Alana cocked her head. “Alana... You betrayed me...” He spat, instantly becoming annoyed. “Oh, please. I told you exactly what made me do it. The reasons why I instantly knew what was being done to you. And you decided to stab me in the chest for it. You know that what I did was the best option to help you....” She began, allowing a certain amount of venom to seep into her words. “STOP! You don’t have any idea what you’ve started! The police came to my house Alana, the POLICE. They took my dad and asked me questions. I thought my dad was going to have a heart attack!” He yelled. “THAT IS IT! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF HIM PATRONIZING ME!” Alana thought. “I DON’T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I’VE STARTED?! I DON’T?! Do you have ANY IDEA what would happen if what Carol has done to my sister and me got out? YOUR family isn’t aristocracy, proper “nouveau riche” or even aristocracy-adjacent! MY family would be FUCKED! My step-dad’s reputation would be RUINED! Or, hey, let’s talk about Verity? The reason WHY I told her isn’t just because she’s one of the major people putting distance between Carol and us. SHE literally can’t escape her abuser BECAUSE of the aristocracy! The ONLY reason why Severina doesn’t get physically hurt, is because she was sent off to a fancy boarding school in England! But don’t worry! That doesn’t stop Achille Mekina from inflicting psychological damage from a distance! And if any of what Achille has done were to get out before Verity is able to prepare herself and her family for the aftermath, the ENTIRE Mekina family would be up shit creek without a god damn paddle! But, I don’t have any idea what I’ve started, right? You should be THANKFUL that your family only has to worry about the Police, and the potential financial repercussions of your father’s actions... Which, mind you, if he didn’t spend so much money trying to be something even he should know that he’ll never be, your family might have never been in debt in the first place!” She exploded. “Alana... How dare you....” Nathaniel began. “No, how DARE you! You already knew that “Sweet Little Melody Roster” was only a front and that I’ve been suppressing my true self for years. I never lied to you about who I am and what my family is... And yet you have patronized me so much during this whole thing, it is a MIRACLE that I haven’t kicked your ass yet!” Alana snapped. He looked at her, utterly horrified by the angry woman standing before him. “You know I didn’t tell the Police anything... I don’t want my dad to go to prison...” He growled. “Of course you didn’t.” Alana rolled her eyes. “I’m hoping that this whole situation will make him think...” He sighed. “Oh yeah... Abusers who get caught once ALWAYS think about stopping....” Alana sarcastically huffed as she rolled her eyes. “You don’t see past the tip of your nose, do you?” He asked, even more annoyed. “At least I can smell fresh air! Your head is up your ass!” She spat. “My family is paying a high price for this whole ordeal. My mom and sister are alone. They are completely disoriented! My dad always took care of them, of the house, of everything. They don’t understand! And if this leaks out, my dad will lose his job!” He argued. “It is not anyone’s fault but their own that your mom and sister cannot exist without your father. Perhaps some time away from him, learning basic survival techniques, would serve them well... Oh, and, by the way.... Verity looked in to your dad’s position. That new Vice President of his company? Yeah... He’s basically aristocracy-adjacent. Your dad was NEVER going to get that placement!” She retaliated. “You looked into his position?!” Nathaniel looked at her, rage in his eyes. “Verity did. What, you really think she wasn’t going to? After I explained how hard your parents were trying to get into the ranks of the Mekina Family, it became in her best interest to look into it.” Alana replied. “Alana... My dad can’t lose his job...” He growled. “You do still have a crush on him, right? Or, have you turned your back on him?” The voice in her head asked. “As of right now... I’m not sure... I want to still love the man I see before me... But I can’t lay on my back and take him being a dick to me.” She thought back. Alana looked into his eyes, taking in every molecule of pain that covered him. “You’ve got to stop this. Metal Melody is great... But remember you’re doing this because you want to help him.” The voice in her head urged. “My anger is the only thing keeping me standing right now... I can’t let it go...” She thought back. “You have to. If you care about him at all, you have to calm down.” The voice in her head pleaded. “I’m not sure I do... Do I care about him? Was it just a crush? Has that gone away now? What’s going on?” She thought. “Think back... You know he’s just lashing out because of his pain...” The voice in her head told her. Alana thought back to every moment she had shared with Nathaniel up until that point. The answer was clear... Yes, she did still have romantic feelings for him.  At that moment, she did everything in her power to suppress the anger that continued to flood her veins. “Will you at least talk to him? For fuck’s sake... You now know that what he did to you was, literally, for nothing... You need to set a boundary and make sure he doesn’t cross it again.” She sighed. “That’s what I was going to do. My dad gets back home tonight. But even if things get better between him and I, know that I will never forgive you for what you did. You went too far this time.” He warned. “Fine. But, understand this... I will never forgive you for the way you’ve treated me during this ordeal.” She retorted. He looked at her, fury still ablaze in his eyes, stomped towards the door and slammed it behind him.

Alana stormed towards her locker and noticed Rosalaya and Sam standing by it. “Thanks for the advice! We just had a massive argument in a classroom! He’s never gonna forgive me for this! And I’m never gonna forgive him for the way he’s treated me! He didn’t tell the police anything because he wants to protect his family... Oh, and he was a massive, patronizing, jackass to me about it!” She called as the two girls looked at her. “What an idiot! He prefers to suffer rather than harming his father!” Rosa scoffed. “And you’ve called ME self sacrificing!” Alana snapped at her sister. She turned back to Rosa. “He thinks he’s protecting his mom and sister because they won’t know how to function without his dad. I’d almost call it “brave” or “honorable” if he wasn’t being such a complete d-bag to the rest of the world about it.” Her voice began to waver as if she was about to cry. “I’m gonna go... I’ve got something to do...” Sam announced as she angrily walked off. “Brave is stupid! What he is subjected to is unacceptable! I don’t understand why he doesn’t try to rebel at least a little.” Rosa huffed. “He did tell me that he’s going to try to talk to his dad tonight...” Alana sighed. “Well, that’s something. Let’s hope that it will help....” Rosa nodded.

★

The next day, Alana went to school, hopeful and fearful of Nathaniel’s situation. “You still angry with him?” Sam asked as they entered the main hallway. “A bit... But I’ve calmed down a great deal since yesterday.” Alana replied. Suddenly, Iris ran up to them. “It’s horrible!” She cried. “What happened?” Alana asked, instantly turning serious. “I-I... I just saw Nathaniel... I think something happened to him...” Iris sputtered. “Where is he?” Alana asked. “He went towards the second hallway.” Iris shuddered. “Give me your bag.” Sam ordered. “Thanks Sam.” Alana smiled as she passed her backpack to her sister and bolted to the second hallway. “No... Please don’t...” She thought. The second she saw him, she stopped dead in her tracks, tears coming to her eyes. “Nath...” She gasped. Nathaniel stood in the hallway, overcome by his nerves, and with bruises around his left eye. “Nathaniel... How... That black eye...” Alana almost covered her mouth to keep herself from crying, but instead continued to be frozen in fear. “I... I tried to talk to him...” He shivered. The next thing they knew, noises could be heard coming from the basement and Nathaniel immediately stopped talking. “If you could make less noise, some of us are trying to smoke in peace...” Castiel called as he got to the bottom of the stairwell. Nathaniel stared at him in silence. “Hmm, strange, I don’t remember beating you up!” Castiel chuckled. “Cass! Now is not the time!” Alana called. “Let it go, Alana.” Nathaniel ordered as he walked off, exasperated. Before she realized what her body was doing, Alana’s hand was already swinging towards Castiel’s face. When they collided, a “SLAP!” resounded through the halls and he looked at her, petrified. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Castiel?! You already know what he’s going through! Did you not think for a second about where he ACTUALLY got that shiner! You KNOW who did that to him! There was no need for you to make a joke about it!” She scolded. “Alana... It was just a joke...” Castiel huffed when he regained his composure. “Not a good one.” She spat as she turned and ran in the direction Nathaniel walked off in.

She ran into the same classroom they argued in the previous day and saw him standing by himself. “Nath... Please talk to me.” Her voice wavered. “There isn’t anything to say, Alana. I talked to my dad, to try to make him understand... That he went too far with me. But it didn’t work. Things escalated very quickly and... This... This is the result.” He sadly sighed. “Can I say something?” Someone asked from the doorway. They turned towards the voice and saw Castiel. “Here to make another bad joke?” Alana angrily asked. “Gosh, why are you following us?!” Nathaniel inquired, very annoyed. “No, Alana... I’m not here to make another “bad joke”.” Castiel replied. He turned to Nathaniel, shut the door behind him and leaned against the wall. “I don’t want to be like Peggy, but, seeing what you have on your face, and the conversation you just had with Alana, I couldn’t help but come to certain conclusions.” He explained. “I don’t see why this concerns you.” Nathaniel spat. “Castiel just lied to Nathaniel... Why?” The voice in Alana’s head asked. “To protect me? If Nath finds out that I told Cass, he’ll make my life more of a living hell...” Alana thought back. “That actually seems like a good theory... Especially with the way Castiel acts around you...” The voice in her head replied. “We have to talk, man.” Castiel stated in a very serious tone. “And if I don’t want to talk about it with you?” Nathaniel asked, getting more annoyed. “You don’t have a choice. Someone needs to get you out of this mess.” Castiel ordered. “Fine.” Nathaniel huffed as he followed Castiel out of the room. “I need a loooooonnnnnnggggg vacation after all of this! Or at least a spa day!” Alana sighed as she sat on a desk. “You might wanna go tell Rosa and Sam about this... You know what they’ll do if you leave them out.” The voice in her head suggested. “SHIT! You’re right!” She thought back as she bolted out of the classroom to find her sister and Rosa.

In her efforts to find her sister, she came across Melody. “Someone hit Nathaniel in the face... I think it has something to do with Castiel. They’ve been off together for a while now.” Melody worried. Alana rolled her eyes. “If Castiel was the reason Nathaniel had that black eye, the two of them wouldn’t be talking things out now. You know that for a fact. As it is, deep down, we all know Cass is a softie. He’s a good man with a good heart.” She replied, instantly annoyed. “I can tell that you don’t know them very well.” Melody sneered. “I know them both much better than you clearly do!” Alana scoffed as she walked off. When she reached the main hallway, she found Iris. “You shouldn’t hang around here, the principal is furious!” Iris fretted. “What happened this time?” Alana asked. “I don’t know, but I would prefer to not get involved.” Iris worried. Alana walked towards the Principal’s Office and heard yelling coming through the door. “...Inadmissible! In my whole career, I’ve never, NEVER, seen a student act out like this!” Principal Shermansky yelled. “But, Ma’am, its not what you think, I was just...” Peggy’s voice could be heard pleading. “Just what? Hiding behind the couch in the Teacher’s Lounge?!” Principal Shermansky angrily inquired. “I...” Peggy tearfully began. “I won’t tolerate this Miss Peggy! You will be in detention for three hours!” Principal Shermansky boomed. “Three hours? That’s it? The little parasite has been poking around, acting like a fucking tabloid for weeks, aiming to use Nathaniel’s pain and potential scandal, as well as any potential scandal from my sister and me, as fodder for the next issues of her damn newspaper! And she only gets three hours?!” Alana blurted out. “Miss Roster, get in here!” Principal Shermansky called. “Damn it!” Alana thought. “You know, you really shouldn’t be listening in to things like this.” Principal Shermansky cocked her head. “I’m not sorry this time! She has been hiding, poking, and prodding everyone for the latest “scoop” for the school newspaper. I’m sure even you know that it doesn’t sell well! No matter how many times she gets told that her style of “journalism” has gotten people killed, she doesn’t change! She doesn’t go after actual news stories for the school. If she did, there would be more about what the clubs are up to, and less trashy articles filled with gossip! But instead, she aims to plaster Nathaniel’s issues all over the school and use his pain to sell more papers!” Alana explained. “I thought you were my friend, Alana!” Peggy blurted out. “We stopped being friends the second you started writing gossip columns about Sam and me.” Alana snapped. Principal Shermansky turned to Peggy. “Is what she said true?” She asked. Peggy didn’t answer, but instead became very nervous. “Don’t make me repeat myself.” Principal Shermansky warned. “Yes. It is true.” Peggy hung her head in shame as she spoke. “Well then, I have no other choice.... You now have two weeks detention, and until further notice, you are out of the Newspaper Club!” Principal Shermansky announced. “WHAT?! NO! You can’t take that away from me! The Newspaper Club is my whole life! Please... I promise, I’ll do better... Please don’t do this to me!” Peggy begged. “Madam Principal... I don’t believe kicking her out of the club would do any real good...” Alana began. “And what would you suggest?” Principal Shermansky asked. “Force her to get back in touch with her roots. Demote her to the base position and make her answer to someone else for once. If she’s motivated to climb back to the top, and given the ability to do so on her on true merit, she might actually have one last chance to become an honest reporter.” Alana suggested. Principal Shermanksy thought about it for a couple of minutes. “That actually sounds like a really good idea... And Miss Sharon has been a good Vice President to the club... So be it! Instead of being out of the Newspaper Club entirely, we will get Miss Sharon in here to discuss which part of the Newspaper you will be designated to report on. If you do well and refrain from falling back into your current habits, you may be promoted to other positions within the club.” She announced as she nodded. “Can I go?” Alana asked. “Yes, Miss Roster, you may leave.” Principal Shermansky.

“Why were you in the Principal’s Office again?” Rosa asked as Alana closed the door behind her. “Let’s walk and talk!” Alana mused as they walked towards the Courtyard. “So, in a sense... You got Peggy’s punishment extended, and somewhat saved her position in the Newspaper Club?” Rosa asked when they sat down on a bench in the Courtyard. “Yeah, kinda.” Alana shrugged. “Can I still hogtie her with duct tape and smash her equipment?” Sam asked. “Please don’t...” Alana sighed as she facepalmed. “So? Did you talk to Nathaniel?” Rosa asked. “Yeah... But, Castiel cut us off... He said he has a solution to Nath’s problems...” Alana replied. “Castiel is helping Nathaniel... Soon Armin will start gardening!” Rosa chuckled. “Maybe he’ll help Nath get independent from his parents.” Sam shrugged. “You think so? That wouldn’t be a bad idea... Whatever, after what Francis has done, I hope Cass can work a miracle.” Alana grinned. “Let’s keep our finger’s crossed!” Rosa cheered. “I will NEVER garden!” Armin announced as he, Kentin and Alexy walked up to them. “Hey, if Castiel is helping Nathaniel, then anything is possible!” Sam laughed. “All I know is that, after all of this... I could really use a spa day.” Alana yawned. “I’d be up for that!” Alexy excitedly clapped. “I’m in!” Rosa agreed. “I think mom would approve too!” Sam smiled. “Yeah... Count me out. But, if you wanna marathon a few games or anime, I’m in!” Armin suggested. “We can do that another day. We still have Fairy Tail to catch up on!” Alana laughed. “We will get up to date on it!” Armin raised his right hand with his thumb and pointer finger in the shape of a backwards “L”. “Yes, we will!” Alana smiled. “Hey, Sam... Let’s go to the Café for a snack on the way back to your place.” Kentin suggested. “I could eat.” Sam grinned. Alana began walking towards the school. “Where are you running off to?” Rosa asked. “I’m gonna go hang with Cass... He’s still kinda upset about the whole “deal with Amber” thing and I need to make it up to him...”Alana replied.

The halls of the school had become particularly quiet. It seemed as if the whole ordeal had everyone worried for the next major move, and not many students had any idea what was actually going on. “Shit! Did I leave part of my homework in a classroom?” Alana thought. She went towards the door to her English Class and heard two people talking. “But... I never saw anything... I don’t understand...” Amber fretted. “I think that deep down, he knew what he was doing was wrong. He must not have wanted you and mom to see it.” Nathaniel explained. “I wish things would get back they were...” Amber muttered. “You say that because everything was fine for you. But for me, it was far from being the case. At least now, I have a chance to help change things. It’s the best solution. See you later, Amber.” Nathaniel replied, his voice low. “Y-Yeah, okay.” Amber looked down as she headed towards the door. Alana quickly hid behind a locker and tried to not be seen. When both Jacott twins had left the room, she ran into the classroom, grabbed her homework folder, left the room and went towards her locker. “Well, you’re in the right place at the right time. I was looking for you.” She smiled as she noticed Castiel standing by the stairs. She opened her locker, grabbed her bag, and swung it over her back. “I figured you’d be here sooner or later.” Castiel smirked. “So, did you find a good solution for Nathaniel?” Alana inquired. “Yeah. But you don’t look too good.” He nodded. “You know I’m not feeling good... Nathaniel is gonna be mad at me for a long time for this... And that is IF he doesn’t permanently hate me for it.” She looked down. “That’s what I don’t get... Why would he be mad at you for this? It’s not your fault that his dad hit him.” He questioned. “No... But I did violate his trust when I called Social Services... I used his sister to get to him... Even though he had warned me that his dad was having Amber use me to get to Verity... And I lied to you in the process.” She explained. “And that’s why you broke up with me?” He asked, a little smirk appearing on his face. “We have to be dating for us to break up... And you’ve always said that no man would want someone as “flat chested” as me... But, in a sense, yes... That’s why those rumors started.” She rolled her eyes. “So, did you lie to me when I came to you about it?” He asked. “No! I really meant what I said when you and Demon cornered me! There was just more to my reasoning and I didn’t tell you the whole truth...” Alana replied. “Fine.” Castiel sighed. “What did you tell Nathaniel, anyway?” She asked. “Its not up to me to tell you. Leave it to him for now, when that idiot wants to tell you, he will.” He stated. “Cass... Please?” She begged. Castiel looked at her and did his best to not blush. “Look, all I can say is that if it works, your adored “president” will be fine... Once and for all.” He reassured. “Oh, please tell me that you’re not having him do something illegal.” She begged. “It was the only thing to do...” He smirked. “WHAT?!” Alana blurted out. “Relax! I’m just kidding!” Castiel laughed. “Cass! You ass!” Alana laughed as she playfully shoved him in his shoulder. “Anyway... You can’t be here just to bother me about that idiot...” He observed. “Yeah... I came to start making it up to you... Do you wanna go get some pizza?” She invited. “Are you gonna talk about that idiot the whole time?” He asked. “Nah... But I do wanna talk about my cousin Freya. She and her friends have started a punk rock/emo girl band called The Electric Dragons.” She smiled. “Really? But if you bring up that idiot, I’m leaving.” He smirked. “Understood. Now, let’s go. I’ll buy.” Alana laughed as they began walking towards the parking lot.

★

Nathaniel didn’t show up to school for a few days. Everyone figured that he was taking that time to go through with what Castiel had told him to do. Happy to finally have a sense of peace in her home, Lynne insisted on taking the girls and some friends to the spa. Alexy and Rosa instantly jumped on the offer. Amber and her friends left Alana and Sam alone. Each time Alana had the idea to talk to Amber, Amber would run away before Alana could even say “Hi.”. Peggy had been demoted to strictly the sports section of the newspaper. She complained, but, thanked Alana for at least not letting her get kicked out of the club. Alana’s habits of hanging out with Castiel and Armin got back to their regular schedule, but everyone knew that some of the times she’d be alone in her room were simply placeholders for if Nathaniel wanted to hang out with her again. It became a bit of unsaid knowledge that Armin and Castiel had become the only ones in the core group to not know about Alana’s deeper feelings towards Nathaniel. Sam’s teasing towards Alana and her “harem” resumed and caused several spats in the Roster Apartment, but it was nothing Lynne couldn’t handle. In fact, she was ecstatic that her daughters were having simple “sibling spats” rather than actual arguments for a change.

Days continued to go by with no sign of Nathaniel’s return to school. Alana tried to text him, only to receive no response. It wasn’t until Amber had told her friends that her brother would be returning soon that news spread like wildfire. In an effort to keep herself occupied when she wasn’t spending time with anyone, she tucked her nose into her books. She decided to read Discworld by Sir Terry Pratchett in it’s entirety so that she could enjoy some adventure and magical hijinks. Alana was sitting beneath a tree in the school Courtyard reading Wyrd Sisters when Rosalaya appeared before her. “Alana?” She asked. "Yes?” Alana inquired as she closed her book and looked up at Rosa. Rosalaya looked at her very seriously. “Someone wants to talk to you.”

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Honestly, I dreaded writing this chapter. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy I wrote it. It is an essential chapter to Nathaniel’s story, and by extension, Alana’s. But, as a survivor of physical, mental, emotional, and financial abuse from the hands of my own mother and my mother’s best friend, it was hard to write. The episode itself was painful to play... By the time Episode 23 came out, I had already fallen in love with Nathaniel... But, this episode made me feel a true bond with him. We were both victims of our parents’ malice and selfish desires. Just as Nathaniel is able to move on from his trauma and live for himself, I have managed to do the same.

If your parent or loved one is abusing you, please seek help. Get yourself out of the situation. Go no contact if you must. If you can, seek therapy. Don’t wait for your parent to pass away like I did. 

I had contemplated having the banner focus on the bedroom scene between Nath and Alana... But, I decided it would be best to focus on the 5 major players in this chapter.

I picked Sharon to be the first name of the Vice President to the Newspaper Club because Peggy is the President... It’s a Marvel reference... “Peggy Carter” and “Sharon Carter”...

Special thanks to Belodie for having her playthroughs on YouTube! I watched her video to keep up with the timeline for this one!

Hey! Thanks for writing fanfics!! I want to make a request: Nathaniel, pregnant Candy (you decide how long the pregnancy takes) and lots of cuteness, please!!❤️🥺

Sorry for my English, it's not my first language

NATHANIEL AND PREGNANT CANDY . . .

Where you see Nathaniel leave his past behind and learn to be an exemplary father to your baby, and to be the best life partner you could ask for.

pairing. nathaniel carello x f!reader

genre. fluff.

setting. established relatonship, both are aged up and live together. this situates in mcl love life!!

content warning. kissing, crying, mentions of his past trauma, and nath being a total husband material just because he loves you too much.

author’s note. FIRST, I WANT TO APOLOGIZE, i really didn´t know how to make it a fanfic so i decided to do it like a headcanon (tysm for requesting!!, i hope you like this anyway TuT) also this is so long for no reason??

✧. - ̗̀ WHEN YOU TOLD HIM THE NEWS . . .

I think when you had to tell Nathaniel the big news, you would have been nervous. And not because you thought he would take it badly. I think that although Nathaniel has changed a lot over the years, mainly since what happened with his father, which I also think influences a lot, his desire to start a family as the independent adult that he is now would have constantly been a topic that you two would have mentioned a lot in your relationship.

The way you told him was probably much simpler than you might have imagined, but you were so wrapped up in your worries that you couldn't think of a creative way to do it. You just nedeed to get it out of your head. Hiding it would only make it worse. So you decided to break the news to him the same day you found about it.

It was late, almost dawn when you heard Nathaniel announce his arrival at the house. His guard shift had extended longer than he expected, but even so, he always knew that you were waiting for him (probably awake), so he didn't worry about making noise.

Seeing you appear, he couldn't help but smile widely. "I couldn't wait to get home." His words made you smile and Nathaniel rushed to welcome you into his arms, inhaling your scent with his head on your neck. The silence was loud at the moment, and before you could think...

"I'm pregnant." You felt his body tense violently against yours, and you immediately regretted not having waited for a better moment. But now all that was left was to wait for his reaction.

Carefully, Nathaniel pulled away a little to look at you, worse still holding you in his arms. You felt your heart pound against your chest, your entire body weakened and you felt like you were about to cry. His face was particularly neutral, although surprise was evident in his eyes. Nathaniel stayed for a few seconds contemplating the situation, a million thoughts running through his head.

And as you were about to speak again, a little scream escaped you as Nathaniel lifted you into the air, doing a small spin before lowering you down and attacking your lips soothingly. He held your face, and tangled his hands in your hair. The energy in the kiss unsettled you, but you held back.

"I thought…" Your voice sounded strangled, you breathed heavily in the middle of the kiss. "I didn't know you'd think.." You confessed, the feeling of relief calming you and you felt a smile escape as you saw tears sweeling in his eyes that he somehow managed to stop from falling.

"My love.." Nathaniel managed to say before he started laughing and smiling so much that he looked like a little child receiving a candy. "This is the best news I've ever received in my life, y/n" He murmured, pressing his forehead to yours. He sound so sure you couldn´t help but hold him tighter.

"But…your job.." You whispered.

"Don't think about any of that, we'll fix it. We'll find a way." Nathaniel interrupted you to reassure you. "Everything will be okay. I'm here."

And with that, you knew that, indeed, it would be.

✧. - ̗̀ HOW DID HE TOOK CARE OF YOU? . . .

I think everything about pregnancy would be a complete challenge for him. Not only because his job rarely allowed him to stay with you as long as he would have wanted, but because he didn't want to miss absolutely ANYTHING.

He always does his best to share the little moments with you. Since he found out, he loves sleeping with his head on your belly, he feels that in some way he protects the baby. And everytime he feels his little kicks, his whole heart melts instantly.

Every time you decide to do something that he considers dangerous, he goes into POLICE MODE, immediately. He starts reproaching you about why you should be resting and starts giving you orders, which at a certain point ends up bothering you. He always ends up apologizing, but you know he's just scared and you appreciate that he cares so much.

Also, I have the thought that many times you found him crying, and whenever you asked, he told you it was because he was afraid. (Have to add that Nath, always knows how to communicate with you, something you´re alway glad for and that he learned to you while he started giving you all his trust.)

Rather, he was worried. His worst terror was becoming a bad father. You knew that although years had passed since the incident with his family, it is the type of wound that never heals. So although Nathaniel would never have worried about that but, now that he had the responsibility of raising a baby, it was the only thing that came to his mind.

But Nathaniel is so in love with you, he knew that as long as you were there everything would be fine. So you always know how to calm him down when his anxiety starts to eat away at him. And he will always be grateful for that, and of course for everything you always do for him.

Another thing is that I feel that since he almost never had time to stay at home so much, he didn't really know how to do certain chores (I mean, he knew, he just wasn´t too experienced about it.)

But now that he basically forced you to stay in bed resting, he was forced to learn to make simple dishes, clean from time to time and keep everything in order.

On the other hand, getting up at such late hours of the morning to indulge in those strange cravings that you had in the middle of the night became routine.

And as expected, it didn't really supposed a problem, Nathaniel was already used to being awake at that hour on patrol.

I think a moment that stands out was when they told Amber, who immediately started crying and asking so many questions that Nath had to tell her to calm down so as not to overwhelm her. While everything was happening, you couldn't stop thinking about how things changed.

In high school, you were convinced that you and Amber would hate each other forever. Just like Nath, who thought he would have to deal with constant tension between you.

But there he was, watching how his little sister couldn't stop caressing your belly, while smiling and crying at the same time. He thought it was adorable. And trust me, Amber is definitely going to be the fun chick.

He was there for you, (obviously your friends too) throughout the entire pregnancy, and mainly giving things away. There came a point where you had to ask her to stop spending so much on you, because every time she came to visit you (which was quite often) she brought a present with her.

I knew she would love him the day I met him, and you couldn't be happier about it.

THE DAY YOU HAD THE FIRST ULTRASOUND, THE DOCTORS HAD TO TAKE NATH OUT OF THE ROOM BECAUSE HE COULD NOT HOLD HIS TEARS. The doctors told him that he couldn't cause such a disturbance, since it should be a calm moment for both of you, but he couldn't help but burst into tears when he saw his baby on the screen. After calming down , they let him back in. You just laughed at the situation, such a cry baby really 🙄. And in general, pregnancy was a complicated process for both of us, but Nathaniel always made sure to be there to help you with whatever you needed at all times. (AS HE SHOULD, dont expect less!)

✧. - ̗̀ GENDER REVEAL . . .

I don't think Nathaniel is the type of person to speculate about the gender of the baby. Really, he didn't care too much as long as he was a healthy child.

I think he would be the first to suggest a huge list of names, depending on the gender, and to buy some clothes. The process of creating the baby´s room was complicated, and although you suggested doing it after the gender reveal, your husband simply couldn't wait and by the time you realized it, Nathaniel had bought all the necessary furniture.

He decided that he would use light colors for the room, and then you could decorate on top of the white walls with another color. I feel like the room would be strangely symmetrical and orderly. But in the sense that it wouldn't have a warm look. I think Nath always had a huge love for modern things and simple decorations, unlike you.

So, of course, you were in charge of giving it a more homely appearance and placing decorations in warmer colors so that it wasn't all white. In the end, it is simply your way of complementing each other.

AND I'M SURE THIS MAN BOUGHT THE BABY A POLICE SUIT

"Nath! It's a baby!" You reproached him

"A baby police officer.." He corrected you.

Now, it should be clarified that the revelation ceremony was nothing ostentatious. By both of your choices, only a couple of your close friends were invited, a couple of Nath, Amber (who was the first to arrive in a totally pink outfit, EXCITED AUNT!!), and your parents of course.

It wasn't anything too weird, you decided to go with a traditional way, simple confetti.

"Are you ready?" You asked Nathaniel, who could barely hold the confetti shooter.

"Yeah." He said it with such confidence that in chorus with those present, they began the countdown.

And before you processed it, they were both covered in blue confetti.

You immediately felt Nathaniel wrap his arms around you and lift you into the air, uniting your lips in a kiss.

✧. - ̗̀ MEETING THE BABY . . .

I don't think it's necessary to say too much about the birth, but I can say that Nath collapsed at least 3 times during the entire time you were there. But he never let go of your hand. (And thank goodness you didn´t either, because at any moment he would faint)

But after that stressful moment, Nath focused on spoiling you, bringing you your favorite food, taking care of organizing the bags with the baby's things, and making sure you weren't in too much pain.

Although he couldn't stop thinking about seeing him, about holding his baby in his arms. Juts like you of course.

The moment when, after a few moments that felt infinite, he saw the nurse come through the door with a bundle so small that it was completely surrounded by a blanket, he felt his heart skip a beat.

Although he tried to hold on as long as he could, the moment he saw how you received him in your arms, the tears began to fall. There was no sound or words, just his eyes full of love staring mesmerizingly at both of you.

After a while, Nathaniel held him in his arms. The moment he looked into his eyes, all his worries faded away. And he knew he wouldn´t let anything in the world hurt him.

"He…" His voice sounded choked by crying. "He has your eyes…" He couldn't finish his sentence, so he stayed silent to avoid bursting into tears and waking the baby. So he just hugged him against his chest. Nathaniel didn't know at all what would come next, but he was sure that he would do wathever it takes to keep you both safe. Both of you were his whole life. Anything else mattered.

(btw, you can name the baby however you want lol)

©allmcl !

Cela fait trois ans que les chemins de Lysandre et Miel se sont séparés. Ou du moins, qu'ils auraient dû se séparer. Ni amis, ni amants et encore moins étrangers, ceux qui se sont jadis appartenus n'ont jamais réussi à couper le dernier fil qui les reliaient. Mais une invitation à passer quelques jours à la campagne pourrait tout faire basculer.

nathaniel carello edit again 😭

"𝖲𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗉𝗂𝗍𝗒 " is finally beginning on Wattpad & AO3 🥲🫰🏻❤️

Apologies it may take me a while to update and post but at least finally I managed to sit down and get it going!

⌕ amor doce icons · castiel veilmont

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