#eldritchrising

“be honest with me, what’s your type?” it was obvious he was out of his element with asking such an question, out of nowhere. the way he glanced over before focusing on fidgeting with pieces of his leather jacket, more put on than nonchalant. “are you into guys like me? the bad boy type? i promise i’ll only be slightly hurt if you say no.”

@eldritchrising​ said : “slow dance” feat. tom and emma

            above all things, emma prided herself on being out of the box. she never followed traditions, and more often than not, insisted on going against the grain. when it came to her wedding, the very same logic could be applied. and it was. it’s easy to skip out on things like the ymca and the electric slide because of how lame they are.

            but a father daughter dance? it was... a tough topic. emma didn’t forgo the opportunity completely, wanting paul to be able to spend time with his mother if he wanted to. and he did. and that was fine. and she is fine. in fact, she’s more than fine, content to watch from the sidelines and think about the fact that her father never would’ve done something like this with her.

            what she doesn’t expect from beyond the rim of her champagne flute is tom. he’s a little rugged, despite the fact that he cleans up nice, and gruff in nature as he nods his head. emma doesn’t have time to question him before she follows suit, stopping only when they’ve reached the middle of the dance floor.

                                                                no fucking way.

            her gut instinct is telling her to ask if this is a joke, and she almost does. the words, however, get caught in her throat when tom offers his arm. emma, a little baffled, steps forward, taking his hand with initial discomfort before she leans in.

            ❛ what the fuck is going on, ❜ she asks, hushed under the music blaring from the speakers. he assures her nothing, and instead insists this is the least he can do for her today. ( he’s not her dad, he’s nothing like her dad. and, to be blunt, he’s a shit brother-in-law. though, emma can’t point fingers when she hasn’t been the best sister-in-law, either, and despite the way she doesn’t like the attention they’re getting, something about this feels... right. )

            in her sister’s dress -- tom’s widowed wife’s dress -- she sways. it’s slow, jilted at times, until emma tilts her head up to meet tom face to face. tears shine over his eyes, and emma gets it, she thinks. she’s not jane’s mirror image, but everything about this right now cannot be easy for him. ( the fact that he’s here at all is nothing short of a miracle. )

            it’s only a matter of moments before she leans forward, forehead on his chest as her eyes close. a few wayward tears fall down her cheek, and tom knows better than to ask about it. they both stay silent, their thoughts connected on the same thing -- jane.

            ( afterwards, she’s quick to part ways, though not without giving him a strong hug. they don’t talk about it right way, instead choosing to keep it superficial. until then, emma sends tom silent thank you’s all night, eyes a little weary as they try their best to focus. )

            “ yeah... ” lex hasn’t slept since friday morning , and even then , the hope anticipation had kept her up late. how , as she sits on em’s couch , the muffled chaos of hatchetfield outside , lex fully felt the weight of her exhaustion. hannah was passed out in hails’ room , and lex was glad her sister would get some rest. she also knew she was a fucking dumbass to not follow , but the idea of sleeping... the kind of dreams that were waiting for her , or the kind of world that would greet her when she awoke... yeah , no , fuck that. stifling a yawn , lex tried to focus on her friend. and the only person ( alive ) that she trusted.

          what would they do now ? every half formed dream lex had had before friday was gone. shit , she was pretty sure part of america was nuked to the fucking ground. not that she’d had a lotta prospects before , but at least there’d been her job , ethan , and california. what was left ? maybe california , but it had never been about the where. not really. it was about giving them a better life. what kind of better life was there at the end of the fucking world ?

@eldritchrising​ ! “your presence here is unwelcome.“

this passive aggressive shit was the worst. at the same time, it was slightly amusing to him, as he stood before her and watched her struggle for words when she could hardly do anything to him. he wasn’t going to lie and say that didn’t give him some satisfaction. a grin would tug at the corners of his lips, hands shoving into leather jacket pockets as he made himself comfortable in his spot, refusing to budge just yet.

"did you miss me?” he was all smiles around his girlfriend and it couldn’t be helped, hours ago he was counting down the days until he would see her again and yet, here she was. it still seemed too good to be true, the two of them out of jail and pamela on her way in, but ethan would take what he could get, even if it’s a split second of happiness. his hands free themselves from his pockets, held out to her. “... i mean, i know you did, but i’d like to hear it from you.”

@eldritchrising​​ ! That snowball? The one that crashed into the back of Ethan's head when he wasn't looking? Totally not Lex (and she definitely wasn't aiming for his back and miscalculated). I mean look at her, have you ever seen anyone look so innocent? I'm sure that's not another snowball she's holding behind her back.

he stops in his tracks, squirming as he feels snow slip down his back and reaching up to brush the rest off. he slowly turns on his heel, a smile on his lips, but a mischievous smile at that as his eyes meet his girlfriends’, innocent in every sense of the word, he was sure.

@eldritchrising​ said : " you're a good man, tom. i don't know what i did to deserve you." ( jane )

            for a second, tom has to wonder if she’s actually talking to him. ( he’s no superstar, after all. he’s just a hometown high school hero who never learned and stuck around. teaching shop isn’t all that flashy, anyways, nothing compared to jane’s degrees and practice and doctorates. she’s a genius, and he’s always in awe that she chose him. )

            chuckling, he shakes his head, approaching her with a calm ease that only jane brings him. ❛ i think you got it backwards, janey, ❜ he teases, arms wrapping around her waist as his chin hooks over her shoulder from behind. there’s a smile on his face, it’s easy to hear in his tone, and tom turns, presses his lips to her temple before releasing a long, calming sigh.

            ❛ i dunno how i managed it, but i’m the luckiest guy in hatchetfield. ❜ and he means it, gruff demeanor be damned. 

@eldritchrising​ ! from lex “ make your survival mean something. “

there was little that motivated him to make his survival mean something when he held her in his arms, unable to keep her from bleeding, and felt as useless has he did to not be able to do anything to save her. 

“don’t say that, i can’t do this without you...” at least, he didn’t want to. he didn’t want to move on with his life without her by his side-- and what was he even supposed to tell hannah? he knew that he managed to get this far with his confidence, his head held high when no one else was able to say the same, but there was that feeling of dread and despair at the thought of finding hannah and telling her what happened to her sister.

in a matter of seconds his whole world was upside down and in a matter of seconds, he felt her body slacken in his arms and his hold on her instinctively tightened as choked sobs escaped his lips. he had done all that he could to keep her safe, to keep her sister safe, to promise them a better life in california because he knew no one else in the world who deserved it more than they did. and now, there was no california. no hope for that future for the three of them, although he would be damned if he let anything happen to hannah.

but there was little time to mourn as he heard the murderous mob draw closer, gently laying his girlfriend’s body down and promising to himself that he would be back for her. if anything, that was the least that he could do. his hands wiped at the tears rolling down his cheeks as he stood to his feet, taking a precautionary look around before bolting out of there.