Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes full of people, friends, family, and even some stranger plus ones. A duet of chuckles filtering into your ear above the noise of people laughing and drinking below where you stood at the top balcony of the shop. Fred and George on either side of you as you give your speech on their new establishment. With you becoming a new journalist for the Daily Prophet and the twins finally opening their joke shop, there was no way you were passing up a grand opening like this.

“To Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, and to my two very best mates,” You raise your glass, “Fred and George Weasley!” You announce to the party goers below the three of you, everyone cheering before going back to their mingling.

“Quite the speech,” Fred muses from your left and you roll your eyes, knowing he’s already going to have some sort of tease.

“Our girl’s got a way with words,” George cuts in quickly, the unmistakable feeling of his hand on your waist both a comfort and a distraction. One one hand, George was one of your closest and best friends. On the other, it may have been something definitely more than friendship. The brush of hands, his eyes catching yours first after having made a joke, the way you’d instinctively lean more on him than Fred. Then there was stolen kisses here and there over the years, the kind that either never got mentioned again or you both swore to secrecy in favor of valuing your friendship. But there was always something there, everyone could feel it. See it even.

“Not your girl,” You rolls your eyes playfully, ignoring the way Fred raises a brow at the both of you. His eyes flickering to George’s seemingly very comfortable hand. “Just doing my job.”

“Yeah, yeah,” George chuckles, “Well, you’re doing a bloody good job at it.” He gestures to the partygoers.

“Pretty sure we don’t know half the people here.” He points out with a laugh, turning to bring you and his brother down the steps to the rest of the party. “Now let’s go entertain our guests, hm? Ready, Fred?”

“Ready, George.”

And just like that you’re whisked away into the ever joyous chaos of your two best friends and their festivities. It’s not until the party begins to die down and you’re surrounded by friends, or at least, the ones that didn’t want to leave early. The ones that may have had a bit too much to drink like you had.

“You know what we should do?” Angelina giggles from beside you, an arm around your shoulder and a drunken smile on her face. “We should play a game!” She proposes and the group can’t help but agree with all their various levels of intoxication.

Before you know it, you’re in a circle with your half drunk friends and giggling away like you’re back at Hogwarts. Only this time it’s on the top floor of the twins’ shop and the storage closet is being used for an impromptu game of Seven Minutes in Heaven. Lee had, of course, been the one to suggest it as he subtly tried to set himself in front of Angelina like it had anything to do with the outcome of how she’d spin the bottle.

“Trying to secure your chances?” George quips at Lee from beside you. Your gaze lingering over his features as he takes a takes a sip of his drink, his lips glistening with the shine of extra strong butterbeer. It takes everything in you not to reach out and just swipe your thumb across his lips and feel how soft they are just because. You’d kissed him on more than one occasion, you knew how they felt briefly. A tiny part just killed you inside knowing you hadn’t done anything more than that. Your thighs clenching together, a simple action you mask behind trying to adjust your seated position on your legs. It’s not until Lee snorts across the circle that your thoughts are pulled from George.

“So what?” Lee grins devilishly, “We all know you’d do the same to gamble your chances with Y/N, don’t deny.” He wiggled his brows and you can’t help the roll of your eyes. As much as your friends could joke all they want, they weren’t entirely wrong, and that’s what burned you up inside. Either that, or the alcohol was really getting to you.

“Just spin, Lee.” George orders and yet doesn’t deny a thing, a smirk simply tugging on his lips as Lee takes his turn. The time passes entirely too fast as Lee and a few others take their turns for a chance at 7 minutes in heaven. By the time it’s your turn, you’re falling just past tipsy on the drunk scale. Which only meant that despite having majority of your wits about you, you were quite fairly open to anything right now. Nothing too crazy, not enough to make bad decisions, but you could feel the alcohol spreading throughout your veins.

“And your partner will be,” Fred drags on as the bottle spins, and to no one’s surprise…

“George, you lucky git!”

“Why are we surprised it’s George?”

“Did you charm that to land on you, Georgie?”

All comments ignored as you laugh, simply getting up from your spot on the floor. Albeit clumsily with the buzz beneath your warm skin, your dress, and the pins and needles from sitting. George, however, is quick to be at your side… just like always.

“Careful,” He whispers, voice tinged soft yet deep with butterbeer on his breath. “Can’t have you falling for me now, not before we get to Heaven.” He muses in your ear as you nearly feel your knees give way at his proximity.

“George…”You breathe his name like a warning and yet it sounds all too inviting. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.” You shoot back, and his brow raises as you near the storage closet.

“Besides, 7 minutes isn’t early enough time for the things I’d do to you.” You sigh as the door clicks shut, settling yourself on a couple of crates so nonchalantly. Your head falling to rest on your propped up elbow on another crate casually. As if the words you’d spoken wasn’t a tidal wave over George.

“Then let me.”

“What?” You tilt your head to face him, unaware that the words you’d meant to keep as a thought to yourself were spoken aloud.

“I said,” George breathes as he steps close, hands propping up on the crates on either side of you as if caging you between them.

“Let me.”

And suddenly George is on his knees, his hands on your thighs as you hiss softly like the contact burns you.

“George!” You yelp, only to be met with gentle shushes. The flush on your skin warm enough for George to feel beneath his fingertips and through your dress.

“Shh, don’t want them to hear you in Heaven, do you?” He whispers and your bottom lip catches between your teeth, shaking your head as he bunches your dress above your hips. A shudder running through you as the cool air of the storage closet hits you. The stark contrast against your warm skin raising goosebumps.

“Hm, might take me less than 7 minutes.” George hums as his fingers find your panties, a damp spot having grown within the last couple rounds.

“P-Please,” Your voice cuts through the silence of both your bated breaths, the plea hardly above a whisper. Thankfully, George doesn’t need to be told twice.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you to Heaven.”

That’s the last thing you hear before George is on you after moving your panties aside. Lips, tongue, fingers, and even teeth somehow as he leaves a love bite or two at your inner thighs. Your head thrown back as he drinks you up, your hand tangling through his ginger locks. Your other hand clamped over your mouth as you try to not to make a sound. Though it’s hard when George murmurs filthy nothings.

“You like that, love?” A lick along your core.

“Like when I kiss here, hm?” A wet kiss inside your thigh.

“Let me give you what you want.” His words garbled with your slick.

“I’ll be so good for you…” His hands running along your thighs.

Every word jumbling around your head, bouncing off the walls and lingering in your skin. It’s in your veins, in your heart.

“Wait, I’m going to-…!” Your words are cut short when your release comes crashing, your legs shaking in George’s hold as he works you through it. A soft cry is muffled into your hand as your thighs clench shut around his head, and he seems all too happy to stay there.

You managed to put together some dinner after work just before your husband had gotten home, which was an achievement on your part. One that Bob Floyd thoroughly thanked you for considering he’d had a rough day at work. For some reason unbeknownst to him, the San Diego heat was too high, the sun was too blinding in the air, the lesson plans were too complicated, and the tarmac was entirely too rough when him and Phoenix were stuck running laps around the base after Payback bet Maverick they could learn the new flight maneuver from the lesson plan in 30 minutes. Bob would’ve thought Payback had learned his lesson after the 200 push ups ordeal, but clearly he hadn’t. So seeing you at the end of his rough day made things loads better.

He’d initially entered the front door with entirely too much weight on his shoulders, literally and figuratively. So when you stepped out of the kitchen holding a ladle covered in sauce in an apron labeled ‘kiss the cook’ (a gag gift from Fanboy one Christmas) and a smile on your face, he simply couldn’t help the way he melted. You pressed a gentle kiss to his lips before he cheekily chased you for more. A laugh escaping you as he successfully peppered kisses all over your face.

“You’re going to make me spill food all over your uniform!” You warned as he’d taken ahold of your waist, wrapping his arms around you like he needed you close. And he did.

“Like I care about some suit, darlin’. I can always throw it in the wash.” Bob muses against your lips and you can’t help but smile. Unfortunately, he’s not the one doing laundry.

“Yes, but you’re not the one doing laundry today.” You point, Bob glancing at the calendar you two have pinned next to the coat closet of the foyer. There it was, a bright blue dot on the date meaning it was your day to do laundry and his was tomorrow. You were right, for Heaven’s sake, when weren’t you right? He sighs as he pulls away, but not before leaving you with one last kiss.

“Just wanted to get some attention from my beautiful spouse, is that too much to ask?” Bob turns back to you with a grin and you roll your eyes.

“Yeah?” You raise a brow at him, “Well, you can get it after you shower.” You give him one last peck on the cheek before you’re pulling away.

“Let me finish up dinner, ‘kay?” You nod back towards the kitchen and he can only sigh as he watches you go.

You finished up dinner as Bob took a quick shower, already done setting the table with your food as he stepped back in with an old Star Wars graphic tee and some basketball shorts. His glasses slightly fogged as he steps into the kitchen and you greet him with another kiss.

You listened to him go on about Payback’s insatiable need for competition and he listened to you bitch about that lady, Ethel, from your work who loved to get on your nerves. Every now and then he would slip his hand into yours across the dining table and you’d smile whilst bringing his knuckles to your lips for a soft kiss.

“You treat me too well.” He’d say and you could only respond with, “You treat me the same.” A roll of your eyes and a soft scoff escaping your lips, always trying to downplay your care. It was both humble and also lovingly infuriating for him who wanted to let you know how good you were. Though those thoughts don’t last long, not when the food is all gone and the dishes need to be washed.

“Alright, these dishes won’t wash themselves.” You say, Bob only sighing knowing that the bliss of being in your bubble would be wrecked by chores eventually.

“Can’t we just use the dishwasher?” Bob sighs and you give him a pointed look at the two plates and sets of cutlery in front of both of you. It wasn’t nearly enough to run the dishwasher, even with the pot you’d used to cook.

“Fair point,” He nods defeated, but still smiles and helps nonetheless. He takes the dishes from your hands and gives you a peck. Well, it was supposed to be just a peck. Bob had taken to liberty of resting a hand at your jaw and you practically melt, needing to push him away with a laugh and shake of your head. You watch as he heads to the sink triumphantly in having distracted you just for a moment. It takes you a second to breathe, face maybe a bit flushed at the unexpectedness but still enjoying the brief kiss nonetheless.

“How about this,” You start, knowing he wouldn’t let you touch the dishes since you’d cooked dinner. “After we clean up, we can cuddle on the couch? Watch a movie?” You offer, leaning into his back as you wrap your arms around his waist. You can feel the way he snorts at the idea, shoulders twitching as he laughs ever so softly.

“Isn’t that something we’d do anyway?”He retorts, though you can practically hear the smile on his face at the thought.

“Okay,” You nod, “Maybe, just maybe, we can do something more than cuddling then?” You hum, Bob stiffening slightly as the words leave your lips.

“Well, darlin’, you can’t just say stuff like that.” Bob grumbles as he finishes rinsing a plate, setting it down gently in trying to maintain some semblance of nonchalance.

“It was only a suggestion, didn’t promise anything.” You muse close to his ear and he turns off the water, turning to face you with wet hands and all. A look in his eyes that screams ‘You Wanna Try Me?’ as he goes in to run his fingers along your sides, feeling the cold of the water through your shirt as you yelp and try to pull away. The laugh escaping your lips like music to Bob’s ears even if you’re trying to push him and his dastardly wet hands away.

“Bobby!” You scold through gasps and he’s kind enough to relent for a moment, giving you a quick kiss before he’s giving you a dopey smile.

“Fine, fine, I’ll take cuddles.” He chuckles, pulling away to finish up the dishes as you head to the living room.

Then it’s off to the living room for after dinner cuddles, which somehow end up involving a documentary or other movie. Though neither of you complain at the routine.

A normal night.

So far.

It’s not until you glance at Bob partway into the documentary when you really stop to look at him. Your husband. His glasses slightly falling, his hair in casual in waves. You can’t help it, can’t help the way your attention shifts from the television to him. A soft kiss on his cheek brings his gaze to yours momentarily, his eyes crinkling when he smiles to give you a soft peck back before turning back to David Attenborough’s lovely narration of sea life. Though your attention is far from whatever is going on about tide pools and starfish.

“Bobby?” The call of his name enough to have him fully look at you this time. Your hand lifts to his cheek gently as you bring your lips to his and suddenly all attention on the documentary is gone. Neither of you know how long you stay lip locked, but it’s enough to slowly bloom a heat between the two of you. Your legs settling over his and Bob has to pull away to take a breath. Chest rising and falling heavily as he really looks at you under the dim lamplight of your living room and the blue of the television.

“Darlin’, you’re really distracting me from… uh,” Bob glances at the TV behind you, “Sea turtle mating habits?” He echoes the narration of David Attenborough and you laugh.

“Bobby, love,” You start, settling your arms over his shoulders as you lean in. “As much as it is beautiful to hear about how sea turtles are back on the rise, I really couldn’t care less for sea turtle egg fertilization right now.” You murmur as you lean in to kiss him again, pulling away just enough to tease when he tries to chase you.

“Besides, you could be fertilizing my eggs.” You shrug and Bob winces as he throws his head back with a groan.

“Only you could make sea turtle egg fertilization sound like a flirt,” He grumbles as he runs his warm hands over your hips, your body twitching at the very touch. “You can’t just say stuff like that, baby.” He shudders, bespectacled eyes rolling down your frame atop his.

“Why?” You muse, “Is it working?” The question innocent on your lips despite the context being absolutely the opposite. Bob gives you a look that screams ‘You Know Damn Well It Is’,and suddenly you’re being whisked away to the bedroom. A yelp escaping you as you forget just how strong your husband was, always managing to lift you no matter how much you protested how heavy you thought you were.

“The sea turtles can wait,” Bob hums as he looks down at you. “I won’t be making you, though.” He says so nonchalantly, it has your heart fluttering.

“Okay, marine biology scientist Dr. Floyd.” You snort, trying to play off your rising heartbeat. “Gonna be exploring any wet caverns?” You ask jokingly as he sets you on the bed, a loud sigh escaping his lips. He can’t help but shake his head despite the smile on his face.

“You’re kind ruining it, love.” Bob chuckles.

“You love me anyway.” You shrug.

“Yeah, I do.” Bob smiles as he kisses you, body enveloping yours sweetly.

The raise of your brows enough to emphasize your utter confusion as you looked at your boss, Champagne, across the Statesman meeting room. Dusk filtering in through the windows, casting a golden glow upon the Statesman logo right down the middle of the wood. Shadows crawling up the walls with harsh streaks of warmth in between. That’s where you were comfortable, in the shadows, behind the desk of missions. The person in the chair, the new Agent Ginger Ale.

Not whatever Champagne was pitching to you.

“Darlin’, who else would I be talking about?” Champagne chuckles and it does little to ease your nerves. Your eyes flitting to the only other person in the room, Agent Rum. Sat right beside Champagne and you could tell this was already not going to be good.

Not because of Agent Rum entirely, no. You knew his file well and Agent Rhett ‘Rum’ Abbott was good at what he did, great even. Filling up a cowboy sized hole that the former Agent Whiskey left. Not that the Statesman would run out of any soon with the way former Agent Tequila was handing cowboy hats off to anyone he could make them for. Agent Rum was a lot less flirtatious, though, which you enjoyed. He did have a tendency to stare maybe, and also make you laugh with small talk or a dry comment every now and then, but working in field? The idea was a strange one.

“Our new Agent Tequila is on a mission with our brothers in Oklahoma, and Agent Whiskey is keeping up relations with our folks over in Kingsman, so…” Champagne trails off, shrugging like the answer was obvious when it was quite possibly the most confusing response to aid your confusion further.

“I’m not questioning your authority here, sir,” You start, clearing your throat as you try to gather your thoughts. “But I work behind the desk? In front of a computer in the lab and med bay?” The words blunt but enough for Champagne to get what you meant.

“Yes, I’m aware.” He raises a hand, stopping you short. “But we need your expertise in the field just this once.” Champagne sighs, which was the exact thing you were worried for. It wasn’t working in the field with Agent Rum, it was that the mission needed you to be apart of it.

Your eyes flit to Agent Rum who is now conveniently avoiding your gaze, swirling the glass of whiskey before him and watching the ice clink within it. A muscle feathers in his jaw at Champagne’s words, the last place he’d wanted to see you was in the field. It wasn’t that he thought you didn’t belong there. He knew every Statesman agent could hold their own in some way, but you? Goodness, he knew you loved your spot as Ginger Ale, the quiet hero to the others work. It’s something he admired about you, the collected front you kept amongst the chaos of the Statesman and their boisterous personalities. Him included.

God, he was like a teenager with a crush all over again the first time he met you. The new Agent Ginger Ale all shy but mighty and could hold your own against the cowboys banter around you. He’d stumbled when he first saw you, literally. Carrying Agent Whiskey on his shoulder after a mission gone wrong and you were in the medbay all new and so darn pretty that he stumbled. He liked to blame it on the fact that he was holding Whiskey and didn’t see the step, but he’d been at the agency longer than you have so there’s no way he didn’t know about it. You didn’t say anything then, but you noticed.

Now you were noticing the way his eyes narrowed on the glass before him which meant this was a mission he couldn’t object to and neither could you.

Texas.

“Of course the one mission I’m called to in field is to find a bomb at a busy festival.” Your voice rings through Rhett’s comms, his ears picking up on your disgruntlement before he sees it. Your stiff frame attempting to lean against the VIP bar of the large outdoor festival in a sorry attempt at nonchalance that he has to chuckle. Your eyes rolling at the sound through your comm, finding him in the crowd despite being surrounded by about a thousand cowboy hat wearing people, but you could find him. It didn’t matter if it were the crowded Statesman meeting room, the medbay, or this festival. You could always find those ocean blue eyes anywhere, the deep waves pulling you in.

“Don’t worry,” Rhett’s voice, calm and steady in your ears, “I can defuse it if you want, you just gotta tell me what to do.” He hums, pretending to be nodding along to some of the music playing. Your eyes narrow at him from across the clearing, watching as he walks so casually amongst the festival goers, tipping his hat every now and then to anyone who happens to walk past close enough.

“Tell me again why I have to be in field to do it?” You ask despite already knowing the answer. There were no other agents available to call in, not with the recovery of relations between Statesman and Kingsman happening alongside global crises every other day.

“You know why, darlin’.” Rhett murmurs, emphasizing the pet name as a young lady passes while he tips his hat. You roll your eyes at the scene, turning to face the bar instead with steady eyes roving over the many festival goers.

“Doesn’t mean I won’t complain about it,” He can hear you grumble, amusement tugging at his lips as he watches you order a drink. A ginger ale. At a bar.

“You know, you’re kind of bad at keeping up appearances.” He muses and hears your soft scoff in return before you take a sip of your drink.

“I suppose that’s why I’m not in field.” You bite back, nothing intense, nothing heated. It’s just enough, though he doesn’t deny how it feels like a tiny chihuahua thinking its bark is scary.

“You just need to relax,” A hand smooths its way onto your back and on your hip, the sound of Rhett’s voice louder than your comm now as he stands before you. It’s hard not to shiver under the touch, but this was for appearances. Even if his deep blue eyes were staring into yours with a sense of familiarity, it was enough for any onlooker to believe you two were really close friends…or maybe more.

It’s enough to make you think that if Rhett wasn’t an agent, he’d be a pretty damn good actor. Maybe something in action like a pilot movie or maybe something just like he was now. A cowboy looking for something bigger than himself, whether it was love or new life. The thought is something you mentally stick in a box and throw in the back of your mind to deal with later though. Right now? There was a bomb and about thousands of people who were at risk.

“I’m very relaxed—“ Your sentiments cutting short, a man leaving a tent just behind the bartender enough to get your attention. He looks around for a moment, adjusting his denim jacket and that’s when you notice it. A vest of gadgets that definitely don’t look like they’d be allowed past festival security. Then again, security couldn’t tell apart vodka in water bottles.

“Rum,” You give his shoulder a squeeze from when he’d wrapped his arm around your waist. “0100, orange tent past the bar.” You murmur, gaze never leaving the man who eyes the festival cautiously. For a moment, you hold your breath as the man’s eyes almost find yours. The risk of your perhaps too attentive staring almost ruining the mission. That is before a cowboy hat blocks your view as Rum leans in close. Your gaze breaking from the man to Rhett mere inches from your face. One hand on your cheek smoothly, the other still around your waist. His lips just a breath from yours before he whispers.

“You’re really bad at keeping up appearances,” He murmurs, close enough just for you to hear and just enough for the man past the bar to turn away at the sudden supposed public display of affection. Rhett’s breath mingles with yours and your heart rate spikes. For a moment you hope he can’t feel the way your pulse spikes when his hand trails to your wrist. Despite your lips never touching, it damn well feels like they did. His breath on your cheeks makes you pull away, though not without a faux giggle and a press of your lips to his cheek. A real kiss this time.

You ignore the electric that surges through you at the contact, but you continue anyway. Rhett simply blinking at you, seeing you switch into an act so easily it stuns him for a moment. Especially now that you’re giving him a look that screams bedroom eyes and promises of a good time in a shabby festival tent. He may have to take back his comment about your inability to keep up appearances because you were sure as hell doing it now. Right to the orange tent past the bar.

His hand is in yours as you lead him with darkened eyes that make his stomach twist. He can’t tell whether it’s actually affecting him or if it’s because he knows it’s fake. The way your lashes flutter and you chew on your lip like you wanted nothing more than to eat him alive in this damn tent like there wasn’t an active bomb somewhere near. And when the tent curtains flow shut there’s a moment where Rhett can’t help but want to lean in, that is, until you blink and the act is gone.

“Now where the hell is this thing?” You sigh as you pull away from Rhett, the poor cowboy standing in a daze. “I wish I could’ve had my screens right now.” The sound of your voice bringing him back and he chuckles at the thought of you behind your desk, furrowed brows and all.

“Yeah, knowin’ you, you would’ve had a heat signature on it by now,” Rhett adds to your sentiments that make you sigh as you both upturn things from pillows to chairs. It’s not until you stomp over the carpeted ground of the tent that something feels… off.

Thud.

“Rum, did you hear that?” You turn back to where you’d stood before. The cowboy tilting his head as you stomp over the carpet in various spots. Soft, soft, hard, soft.

You kick over the carpet, Rhett helping you push the fabric away as straw and dust flies out from underneath it. Damn boho style festivals and their floors of allergy inducers.

“Really?” Your face scrunches as you look over what you and Rhett had uncovered. “You’d think for a group of weapons dealers they’d know how to handle the weapons better…” You grumble as you brush some dust off the wooden box buried no less than two metres into the cracked dirt.

“Well, just be glad it was easy to find for your first mission.”Rhett chuckles, “I’d normally come running to you when I can’t find shit.” He gives you a sheepish smile. For a moment, everything seems to be going smoothly. Too smoothly.

“Rum, maybe you should double check if there’s anyone coming by.” You shiver as a bad feeling overtakes you, hurrying to put the box back into the dirt. Run doesn’t need to be told twice, already on it as you move the rugs back.

“Shit,” He hisses, “Vest guy is on his way back.” Rum warns and your head swirls. You’d uncovered the crate, but you couldn’t hide or leave now, they could take it away somewhere and your mission would’ve been a million times worse.

“Rum,” You call out, reaching for his hands and pulling his body against yours as you lean on one of the support totems of the tent. “Kiss me. Hard.” You instruct and he’s blinking at you like you’re crazy, as if he didn’t just pretend to kiss you outside.

“Darlin’, you want me to what?” He scoffs in disbelief, your eyes peeking through the heavy fabric of the tent for a moment to see the vested man closing in.

“Public displays of affection make people uncomfortable,” You inform, the fact not entirely wrong considering it worked outside. “If they walk in while we’re making out, they’d most likely leave.” The point made sense but in practice Rhett wasn’t sure how to feel.

“Rhett, trust me.” You breathe, hands flying to his face as your lips meet his. It’s not entirely romantic considering the man on his way over for a bomb, more specifically, the bomb in the ground no less than a couple metres away. But you both suppose it’ll do as Rhett falls into the act quick. You try to focus on the fact that you’re technically working, but it’s hard when Rhett’s hands are warm through your clothes and his presence envelops yours. Those same sparks you’d felt when you kissed his cheek earlier suddenly worse and you weren’t sure if it excited you or scared you.

Your hands tangling into his hair at the nape of his neck as his hands come to your hips. A moan escaping your lips just loud enough to be heard outside the tent.

“Oh, baby,” You call out, exaggerating the sounds of your mouth on Rhett’s who is, unsurprisingly, not a bad kisser. Your ears faintly picking up the faint shuffle of feet stopping at the tent entrance.

“Boss,” You hear a grumble, “Think some drunk idiots got into the drop point.” Then static from a walkie as another voice cuts in.

“Well, kick them out.” The radio voice instructs and you damn near panic.

You pull Rhett to the couch swiftly, hands on his jeans and his eyes nearly pop out of his sockets.

“Trust me,” You breathe lowly, pulling his belt buckle free and pulling his jeans just enough to expose his bum. It’s when you pull your own pants down, exposing your underwear that Rhett catches on. His hands gently spreading your thighs apart as his hips brush near yours. His fingertips graze over your exposed skin, mapping the new terrain of your body he’d never seen. He was a gentleman, he could only imagine these type of things, never thought he’d actually experience them. Those were thoughts he’d keep to himself for now though. You mewl as he does so, unsure if it was real or for the act anymore but it’s enough to convince the man outside.

“I don’t know, boss…” The man hesitates, “I think they’re…” He doesn’t finish his sentence.

“They’re what?!” The radioed voice asks gruffly, and you see the tent fabric shift.

“Come closer,” You hiss, arms resting on Rhett’s shoulders as his hands are on your hips. The act would be entirely too intimate for coworkers trying to do a job, but this also wasn’t one’s average job. “You need to make this believable, just think I’m someone else.” You whisper and Rhett shivers as he puts his body over yours completely, mimicking two drunk lovers in the most filthy way possible. It struck him knowing he couldn’t think of anyone else. It was damning how badly he wants you like this, but not like this.

“Oh, fuck me, baby!” You let out another exaggerated moan, “Harder! Please, please! Right there! Yes, yes, god!” You whine as Rhett grunts in his own act. The act is obscene… for an onlooker at least. Your head hits the back of the couch, seemingly drunken with lust and probably other festival substances, but you notice him. The vested bad guy’s eyes widening as he peeks in to the tent and immediately shuts the fabric.

“So, uh, boss… we need to move the drop time,” You hear footsteps muffling as the man seemingly walks away, the sound thankfully just enough under the lewd noises you and Rhett create. When you feel you’re in the clear, you settle your hands against Rhett’s chest and push. His breath catching as he pulls himself away, blinking at the state you’re both in before he’s turning to fix himself. Your own pants being picked up from the floor hastily.

“I’m…” You want to say sorry, apologize for how it went but you can’t. There’s far too much on your mind and the bomb had to be the most important thing. “I’m gonna see how to defuse this thing.” Your voice stern as you attempt to clear your throat as a distraction for your stammering.

You busy your hands with the crate as Rhett stays on lookout, a silence settling over you both to the point that you can hear your own breathing. It hasn’t gone back to normal, but then again, a live bomb was enough to make anyone panic. The bomb wasn’t entirely unstandard from ones you’d studied, a few bits and bobs that stuck out were very characteristically different, but otherwise it was a bomb like any other.

“Rum, I’m going to defuse this,” You call out, finally breaking the tension as Rhett hurriedly rushed to your side.

“Where do you want me?” He asks and you have to ignore the way your heart spikes at the phrase. “I mean, need me— Wait, no.” He tries to correct even if it’s futile, but you’re quick to bring his attention back.

“See these pins?” You point gently, shimmying closer to Rhett for him to see. “I need you to pinch one along with the opposite side while I work the other end.” You murmur, low as you try to even your breathing. A live bomb in your lap was absolutely no time to be panicking over a man. You could see why this mission needed two people now, you just didn’t expect it to be you.

“Okay, I’m going to unlock this piece and I need you to pull your pins on the count of three.” You instruct carefully and Rhett gulps.

“Like 1, 2, 3 on three or 1, 2, 3, go on go?” Rhett blurts and you swear you have half the mind to either kiss him to shut him up or smack him.

“Rum, what— Just— Fine, do it on three.” You sigh, turning back to the bomb.

“1… 2… 3…!” You count, wincing as Rhett pulls the pins and for a mere second it’s like the world stops.

“Holy shit, holy fuck,” You breathe in disbelief, setting down the bomb carefully. “I did it— We did it!” You turn to Rhett, hands on his shoulders as you shake him excitedly. His chuckles fill the air and you swear you could kiss him then, for real this time.

“I don’t know, darlin’, that was all you.” Rhett shrugs, “Even the fucking.” He winks and you playfully smack his shoulder.

“It takes two to tango, Rum.” You roll your eyes before looking back down at the defused bomb before you.

“Well, mission ain’t over yet.” Rhett sighs as he gets up, peeking to check the perimeter of the tent. “Say, how fast could you take that apart?” He asks, a lilt of concern in his voice.

“Damn it…” You swear under your breath, hesitant on your next words. “Why?” You sigh.

“Because vest guy is coming back with a scary man in a suit.” Rum grimaces and your hands are on the bomb immediately. Pins in your pockets, some metals bits go in your shirt, some less than pleasant bomb parts going into Rum’s pockets as he complains about the size of them. To which you reminded him that men have bigger pockets on clothing that makes him shut up.

“One last thing,” You stop Rhett before leaving, taking his cowboy hat for just a moment to muss up his hair and skewing a few of the buttons on his plaid shirt. You throw your hair forward and then back, messing with it as well to mimic his. Then you’re smearing the makeup you’d put on for the festival, wiping some of it on Rhett’s lips and cheeks too just for the sake of appearances. “There you go.” You hum, satisfied at making him look… well, fucked.

“I take back what I said,” Rhett murmurs as he looks down at you, your brows furrowing at whatever he could mean. “You’re a little too good at keeping up appearances.” The comment making you laugh, head thrown back as you take another exit of the tent before getting lost in the crowd.

Statesman HQ.

“Absolutely stellar job, you two.” Champagne beams, raising a glass to you and Rum as you stand at the end of the Statesman meeting room. “Fantastic work, Ginger Ale.” He sings as he sips on his drink.

“You were just fine in the field, might even make a great in-field agent one day.” Champagne laughs heartily and you give him a polite smile. After the festival affair, you wanted to be as far away from the field as possible.

“You two make a great pair out there, but y’all can go ahead and cool off now,” Champagne waves off, his words carrying far more than he realizes, but that was just between you and Rhett. The both of you filing into the hallway quietly as Champagne hums away on his own. Your shoulders slumping as you exit, thankful that you didn’t need to debrief everything that happened. You could go without having to recall the impromptu makeout session and fake intercourse to your boss.

“Hey,” Rhett’s voice is soft, pulling you away from your thoughts. “You alright, darlin’?” He sets a hand on your shoulder and it makes your breath hitch.

“Yeah,” You squeak, “I mean, yeah, fine. I just… never thought I’d be in the field like that.” You murmur and it’s not entirely a lie, just a half truth as you pull away from his touch. A frown tugging on his lips as he follows you, pushing past the door you let hit him on your way into the lab.

“For someone who makes a damn convincing sexual partner, you sure ain’t good at talking about how you feel.” He points, nearly running into you as you stop flustered in your tracks.

“Just,” You chew at your lip, turning to face him. “Just forget that happened, Rum. It was… for the mission. We got the bomb, you can go back to your adventures, and I can go back to being out of everyone’s way at my desk.” You try to fight the lump growing in your throat as you say it because you know damn well the way you felt wasn’t about the mission or being Ginger Ale. It was always about him, even when you saw him in the meeting room that day you were handed the mission.

“For the mission?” Rhett echoes, and it kills you how he says it. Hollow, maybe even a bit hurt.

“Darlin’, you think I care about that mission?” He scoffs and you can’t help the way you squint at him in confusion. “I go on hundreds of missions, I could care less— Well, maybe not less about saving the world and all, but I’m just tryin’ to say…” Rhett removes his hat, running a hand through those brown locks of his.

“I care about you too,” His voice softens, hat in hand and… vulnerable. “Are you okay?”

You gulp as you look up at him, heat in your cheeks as you try to come up with an answer. How else were you going to tell your coworker you had feelings for him?

“I’m…fine.” You say, finally.

“I’m actually really sorry…” You breathe, the apology the first thing you could find in your pool of thoughts. Now it’s his turn to be confused as you fumble over your words. “I didn’t mean to just…grab you like that, during the mission.” You correct.

“I wasn’t thinking, not emotionally at least, logically sure.” You ramble, “But that doesn’t excuse my actions, and I’m sorry…” You repeat, meek but honest because even if you felt those sparks, who was to say he did too?

“I’m sure anyone else could’ve been a better kisser than I was,” You go on, thoughts spilling but now they couldn’t stop. “Or sex partner for that matter. Fake sex partner, I mean— My god, why did I even do that—…” You cringe as you remember all the noises you’d exaggerated. It’s not until Rhett’s hands are on your shoulders that you’re snapping out of your bubble of turmoil.

Rhett’s lips are on yours and the surge of electric as you meet snaps you from your torment. Eyes widening as he leans into you, hands trailing from your shoulders and to your cheeks gently. It’s enough to shut you up, enough for your eyes to blink slow before closing as you kiss back. A hum bubbling in your throat before it ends up down his as his tongue swipes across yours softly. It’s not until you’re both breathless that Rhett pulls away, leaning his forehead against yours. His blue eyes staring sweetly, the angle nearly making him look cross eyed and it makes you smile.

“Oh,” You breathe, “Hi.” You say sheepishly.

“You were rambling,” He says quietly.

“Yeah,” You breathe, “I… I was.”

“You wanna answer my question seriously now?” Rhett tilts his head, thumb brushing over your cheek as your thoughts settle.

“Yeah… I’m okay now.” You nod, resting your hand over his on your cheek.

“Might need another kiss to make me feel better though.” You joke and he’s pulling away with a laugh, shaking his head because of course you’d say something like that.

“Nah, you’re back now.” He hums, pressing a kiss to your forehead. It didn’t solve all your questions and all your thoughts, but it did tell you enough. It told you Rhett ‘Rum’ Abbott was yours.

Your new manager welcomed you with a smile, to which you replied with a nod as she left you to do paperwork. You made your way out of her office, remembering her instructions to be training with Tyler. Your feet shuffling up the stairs slowly, paying no mind to the creaks that came with it. You knew Tyler Galpin, not well, but you knew of him enough to know he was the son of the sheriff. The sheriff who didn’t seem keen on Nevermore students. Though you were pretty sure they only hired you for Outcast Diversity, you were at least happy to had gotten a job that wasn’t Pilgrim’s World.

“Medium Iced Chai Latte with a Chocolate Croissant.” A voice pulled you from your thoughts.

Trailing the voice to the source was easy considering he was the only person behind the counter before you came along. There he was, Tyler Galpin, with the usual mop of brown curls that stopped just above his eyes and the crease of concentration upon his forehead as he moved to fiddle with the espresso machine. You’d been dragged here enough by Enid to know the details, especially considering she kept tabs on everyone.

“You’re looking at the wrong end of the machine, Galpin.” You called out, causing him to jump. A smile crawled its way onto your face at his expression. It didn’t take long for him to register who you were outside of the Nevermore uniform, he had seen you enough and he knew there was a new applicant coming in.

“Do you make a habit of scaring the hell out of people?” He gave you a pointed look.

“More of a hobby,” You shrugged before making your way behind the counter. Taking a closer look at the machine, you had been right. The source of the never ending steam was a valve issue. “I’m gonna need a tri-wing screwdriver and 4 millimeter Allen wrench.”

Tyler handed you the screwdriver with no hesitation, he couldn’t understand the Italian instructions anyway and he wasn’t about to resort to Google Translate.

“You have a valve issue,” You began screwing the bits back into place, careful not to direct any steam towards you or your new coworker.

“You have one of these temperamental beasts with a mind of its own?” He quirked a brow at you, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Not exactly.” Thankfully, Nevermore had quite the class in engineering and you had fairly decent grades. The steam stopped spewing, and the machine was fixed to the best of your ability. Tyler began gathering the pieces of the pipes, filters, and other parts back into place resounding in a satisfying click.

“Thanks…” He stopped for a moment.

“Y/N.”

“No, yes! No, I mean, yes I know! You come in here a lot, and I recognize your name from your application.” He mumbled on and on.

“You’re supposed to be training me and yet you can’t remember my name?” It was your turn to point questions now. It wasn’t like you couldn’t work a register or understand the difference between a cortado or a cafe au lait, but you needed to know your way around Weathervane at least. Plus, it was fun to tease him.

“I just mean, you’re unforgettable.”

What.

“What?”

“You know what, why don’t we start off with a tour? You know the main area, but let me show you the back room.” Tyler abruptly turned away, leaving with tinted cheeks. He lead you to the small storage room on the opposite adjacent end of the bar counter. The length of it was long, but the width of it could just barely fit one person with the shelves so close on either end. He allowed you in first before following in after, showing everything from the closest to the farthest at the back wall.

With Tyler explaining everything in broad detail, it was easy enough to understand considering everything was ordered neatly from the coffee beans and food products being separated from cleaning chemicals. What was hard, on the other hand, was trying not to pay attention to the way the dim lighting reflected in his eyes. Something about it seemed familiar, almost supernaturally captivating. If you didn’t know any better, you’d assume he was a Vampire or Siren or even something else entirely luring you in.

“…And if you have any questions then just ask me.” Tyler finally turned back to you, catching your gaze. He hadn’t realize how close in proximity you were, you awkwardly pressed against the wall as he had just been reaching over to point out which coffee beans were which. You hadn’t been paying attention, not with him so close. You weren’t usually the nervous type, not with Vampires and Telekinetics and Werewolves etc constantly being around you. But this newfound flip of your heart was concerning considering he was 1) a normie you hadn’t actually fully conversed with before and 2) you were still unsure of his standing with you as an Outcast.

“Yeah, I’ll call for your help when I need to fix the espresso machine.” You snort. He huffed with a lingering smile you managed to catch. Maybe his stance wasn’t as bad as his fathers.

“I’m definitely sure you don’t need to call me just for help with that, you can call me for other stuff.” Tyler shrugged.

“So you want me to call you?” Your gaze met his again, forgetting the close distance between you both. This was a different start to your new job than you were expecting. Flirting with your coworker in the back of the cafe was probably against all types of normal work ethic and morals. But when was Jericho ever normal?

“Tyler?” A voice called out from the front, breaking the tension between you two. You both recognized that voice, Tyler knowing it more than you did. You both tried to scramble out of the storage closet in an orderly manner. Tyler emerging first, Sheriff Galpin perking up to see his son from the other side of the counter. You followed suit not a second after, barely halfway out of the closet before you could see Sheriff Gallon’s face drop. Suddenly realizing how incriminating the situation seemed, you quickly grabbed a random can from the shelf within arms reach before fully exiting.

“Hey, uh, dad.” Tyler coughed out, clearing his throat from the situation you two were in. “Just showing the new hire around and restocking.” To which you maneuvered the can to one hand to give the man a small wave.

“Condensed milk? I swear you stocked and dated that one when I came by yesterday.” His dad raised a brow. Shit.

“This one’s long expired, found it on the back shelf with a manufacturing issue puncture in it.” You laughed dryly, moving the can to your side hiding it away. Tyler glanced wide eyed as his father’s expression creased.

“You want your usual?” Tyler moved towards the bar, moving his father’s attention with it. You managed to slip the can back on the shelf before closing the door and following the boy.

“Large Americano. Two shots. Hot.” The sheriff’s gaze never left, studying you closely as you followed Tyler to input the order on the register. You knew how to work a register, but you didn’t want to stay within his dad’s eye sight for long. The setup was as easy as the storage closet, everything labeled from Hot Drinks, Iced Drinks, Specials, and more. Clicking onto the hot drinks, you found everything quickly.

“Did you want to add anything in there like milk or cream?” You asked, knowing already what his answer would be.

“Black.” Like your soul, you thought. The order went through and Tyler thankfully already had it done. Reaching past you on the register to hand it to him, the sheriff gave his son a nod and you an unreadable look before leaving.

“Don’t worry about him,” You heard Tyler assure. “He’s too ‘wrapped up in work’ to care about me being in some closet with someone. Nice save, though.”

You turned to make eye contact with him, his arm resting upon the register counter by your waist and yours almost hitting his chest at the movement. Again finding yourself in close proximity.

“Does that mean you’re often caught doing who knows what in closets with people?” You raised a brow. His face flushed at the question, glancing aside and for once probably happy the cafe was emptier than usual.

“Calm down, lover boy. We’ve skipped a few steps, I still don’t even have your number to call you when I need help.” You flicked his forehead away with a smirk. He let out a small lopsided smile as he fell away from you. You were sure his number would be lying around somewhere on file or you could contact him through the employee app, but where was the fun (and consent) in that? You had no time to think about that as customers had come in.

“Ms. Thornhill, what a surprise to see you!” You couldn’t say you were shocked, Jericho’s a small town and being the only cafe around this would’ve happened eventually. You were surprised you hadn’t seen Enid out and about “blogging” despite it being a weekend.

“Y/N, lovely to see you. Why didn’t you tell me you got a job at the best cafe in town?” She gasped.

“It’s the only cafe in town, Ms. Thornhill.”

“I kid, I kid. Now what should I get? I usually get a double-cap, no foam, with two pumps of sugar free vanilla. But now that you’re my new favorite employee, I’d like your recommendation!” Favorite? Had Tyler been her favorite before? You weren’t sure what she had meant by that.

“You know me, miss, I love a good London Fog.” She knew full well of that too, you bring one into her class every other day.

“Alright, get me one of those!” You rung her up For Here and handed the item receipt to Tyler who was already steaming the milk. The next customer just wanted a warmed up Pain au Chocolat which you got out of the way quick enough.

“Here,” You heard Tyler call to you. Facing him, you noticed him holding a to go cup for you and Ms. Thornhill’s mug on the counter. Had he made two whilst you were busy?

“London Fog with an extra pump of vanilla syrup, that’s how you usually order yours.” He sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“Now what’s this then?” You grabbed the cup.

“Just think of it as a welcome to Weathervane.” Tyler left with Ms. Thornhill’s order before you could question any further. You note a black smear on your hand, confusion riddled— you turn the cup.

— “(xxx) xxx - xxx

Call me outside of work?

Everyone gathered around the windows as they watched the rain pour outside Ms. Thornhill’s Greenhouse. Class was already 3 minutes over, you were all sure to be late to your next ones due to the downpour.

“Children, I have a few extra umbrellas and rain coats! You can use them to get to your next class!” Your teacher called from the front, drawing everyone’s attention. They all scrambled to the front, grabbing umbrellas and coats and filtering out of the greenhouse in groups. The only people left were you and Rowan Laslow at the entrance of the class waiting your turns.

You didn’t know the boy personally well enough, just that he was Xavier Thorpe’s roommate, he had Telekinesis, and that he was fairly cute. You tried to make a habit of being nice to everyone despite most people’s assumptions of sirens. The most you’d ever spoken to him was being partnered with him for an English assignment. After that, it was nothing but Hellos and Heys in the hallways. You did catch him staring once during lunch, you had given him a small wave and he immediately looked away.

You were lost in your thoughts, hand outreached into the rainfall, feeling your scales slowly come out. You let out a smile, water was the element you always felt at home with, so what was a little rain gonna do to you?

“I only have one umbrella left.” Your attention turned to Ms. Thornhill and then to Rowan. He gave you a weak glance before attempting to hand you the umbrella.

“You can take it.” He mumbled shyly. You eyed the boy, brow creasing in confusion. Rowan Laslow looked like he’d get sick from eating an ice cube, why would he offer you the umbrella when he’d absolutely get drenched out there?

“What are you talking about? You’d practically die out there without this.” You joked grabbing his wrist, taking the umbrella within your other hand. He yelped as you pulled closely him to your side before opening the umbrella with the other. He understood what you were up to pretty quick, adjusting himself to a safe distance where he wasn’t squished against you but still under the umbrella. He hesitated wrapping his arm around you, balling his fist to avoid making you uncomfortable.

“Ready?” You awaited his response. He stared wide eyed into the rain, gulping before he gave you a small nod. That was all you needed before you both stepped into the rainfall. You could feel the heavy patters hit you almost as if it were hail. It wasn’t too bad to walk in, but it seemed the wind had other plans.

Your umbrella blew backwards, the wires breaking in on themselves. It was a useless shield now, you were both drenched head to toe. Your back hit Rowan’s chest as you both pushed against the wind. You both definitely couldn’t make it to class at this rate.

“Hold on, there’s a shed!” You could hear Rowan’s attempt to shout. You looked in his direction, finding Eugene’s Hummers shed. That would have to do.

Each step you took was harder than the last. You were going the opposed direction of the wind, the only thing keeping you from being blown away was Rowan holding onto you. Thankfully, you both made it in and set your belongings down on whatever dry surface you could find. There were a few leaks in the roof, you could tell it was handmade.

You had no time to think about that though. You could feel Rowan’s touch leave you as he dropped to the floor wheezing. You quickly reached for his bag, rummaging through unorganized bits of assignments and loose sheets of work. You’d expected the boy to be more organized considering how great his grades were, how neat his uniform was kept, and how he styled his hair so nicely to the side. Not that you were paying that close attention or anything. Who would do such a thing? Definitely not you. Totally.

You couldn’t find his inhaler anywhere, and to be frank, you were panicking. You were totally about to watch this kid die in some shed and you were gonna go to jail or something. It wasn’t until you felt Rowan’s touch lightly against your wrist that you snapped your attention his way. He peered up at you, brows creased, eyes leading you to his blazer pocket behind his fogged up glasses. You got the message, reaching into his pocket you brought his inhaler to his lips. He lifted his hand to yours, instructing you before he breathed in.

You let out a breath of relief, you hadn’t realized you were holding onto it. He was breathing easier now and you could feel him loosen up in your arms. You dropped your head into his chest before pulling back into a laugh.

“Gods almighty, do not scare me like that again!” You lightly punched him. Rowan looked up at you, the hand gripping yours loosened as he sat up. Realizing the position you two were in, he glanced away from you.

“I didn’t think you cared all that much.” He coughed out awkwardly. You tilted your head, what did he mean?

“Why would I not care about you?” His gaze met yours. You finally managed to see his deep blue eyes past the dissipating fog in his glasses.

“I just mean, I never thought it was possible to be an outcast in a school full of outcasts. Yet you seem to actually care.” He mumbled mostly to himself. Why wouldn’t you care about saving someone’s life? Was he stupid?

“I mean, is it not common sense to save someone who’s on the ground with breathing issues? What do you want me to do, mouth to mouth?” You questioned incredulously, the response managed to make him smile.

“Gods forbid one of the most popular sirens in the school is seen kissing the Telekinetic crazy kid.” He breathed out a laugh.

“Oh please, if I was popular then I’d be in the notoriously super secret Nightshades.” You rolled your eyes at the idea of the division in popularity standpoints, the kissing part didn’t seem so bad though.

“They kicked me out a couple weeks ago, you’re really not missing much.” He fiddled with his hands as you both fell into a comfortable silence. You had positioned yourself next to him, sitting upon the ground as your backs leaned against the shed walls. You two were absolutely missing class, but you were kind of glad it happened like this. The only thing that seemed bad was the fact that you were utterly freezing. Forget what you said about a little water not hurting you, it was terrible now that you were shivering.

“Here,” Rowan pushed off the wall, removing his blazer. He spread it out, presenting it like a blanket to you.

“You’re really stupid, aren’t you?” He gave you a confused look as you took his blazer and removed yours to spread them around you both. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was the best you could do. He was literally on death’s door a second ago from an asthma attack, yet here he was offering you his coat. He froze as you curled your legs up, leaning into his side.

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you ok with this?” You pulled away, noticing his sudden change. He looked pained for a split second at the loss of your proximity.

“No, no. It’s fine! I just didn’t know if you were uncomfortable with me holding you or anything. I didn’t want to assume and-” He rambled on and on. You hushed him by wrapping his arm around your shoulders and pulling the blazers back on. You really wouldn’t have been this forward if he hadn’t approved.

“Let’s just take advantage of this rainstorm, we can wait out the downpour.” You hummed, listening to the sound of his breathing and the pitter patter of the rain. It was an easy rhythm to fall asleep to. Besides, what was one day of missing classes?

-

“O-M-G!” You heard not so hushed whispers ring through your ears. “I have to put this on my blog!”

“Enid, do you not remember the fact that they’ve been missing all day? They better have a good explanation for this!” That was definitely Principal Weems voice.

It took you a second to gather where you were. The warmth holding you was, in fact, a person. Not just any person, but Rowan Laslow. You began to remember what happened before you fell asleep. You bolted upright, looking at the source of all the commotion. Squinting, you managed to look past the beaming flashlight to find pretty much everyone you knew and their mothers’ at the door of the Hummers shed.

That was an exaggeration of course… but Principal Weems did not look happy.

-

You and Rowan stood solemnly in Principal Weems office still damp from the downpour of the morning. You truly had no clue why you both had to be scolded, if it weren’t for the position you two were found in then it wouldn’t have been a problem. You had no regrets, but you weren’t sure how Rowan felt. He stared at his feet, fiddling with the inhaler in his hands. You both had been silent the entire time, scared to mention anything between you two because you both weren’t sure of what happened either.

“You know what, just- I… You two are dismissed.” Principal Weems sighed at a loss for words. Rowan slowly turned, and for a moment you thought he’d look at you, but he didn’t. He gave a small thank you and left. You couldn’t help but watch as he left, the door shutting silently behind him.

“Principal Weems, please don’t punish him. It was my idea to go in the shed. The storm was too hard, and I didn’t want him to go back out after his asthma attack.” You immediately turned to the woman, pleading. She dropped her hardened gaze for a split second, face twisting in concern after hearing your words, but immediately reverted back.

“If you can explain to me what you two were doing missing classes, in a shed of all places, holding each other then be my guest.” The woman sighed exasperatedly. She was right to think the worst of you two considering she was once a teen, and the image did seem to sound quite incriminating. Your face flushed at the thought of anything else happening.

“I promise you, this is how it went.” You recalled all the events of what happened. The umbrella, finding the shed, Rowan having an asthma attack, you saving him, and both of you accidentally falling asleep whilst waiting out the rainstorm. It was absolutely harmless, and whilst you didn’t want to do it, you emphasized Rowan’s asthma attack in detail hoping it would sway her.

Principal Weems pursed her lips as you tried scanning her eyes for any thoughts. She took in a deep breath before answering.

“Alright, I will let this go for now. Both you and Rowan have near perfect attendances, and you did the right thing. I understand your absences were unintentional. However, you will have to make up the work you missed in detention. Please tell Mr. Laslow on your way out.” She turned to her paperwork. You tilted your head in confusion, hadn’t he left already?

“He’s waiting outside for you.” She didn’t even need to look up. “I’m surprised you hadn’t realized given how fond he is of you.” You felt warmth grow in your cheeks at the comment.

“Thank you, I’ll be sure to tell him.” You stammered out. You made your way to the door, taking a deep breath to cool yourself off. You pulled the door open, slipped out, and shut it silently. The sun was set and the dim lights of Nevermore greeted you.

“I’m sorry I left you.”

Rowan.

“No worries, I explained everything.” He nodded at that, making his way towards you. Your back hitting the railing of the opening to the first floor in an effort to make space between you two. Your face flushing at his presence being so close. You remembered what Principal Weems had said about him being fond of you, but you truly hadn’t a clue what she was talking about.

“I just wanted to say thank you.” He coughed out, glancing away with a hand behind his neck. Even under the dim lighting you could see how perfectly blue his eyes were, behind the tint of his glasses you could see them twitching to avoid your gaze.

“For?” You gave him a sly smile knowing perfectly what he was on about. You weren’t the type to tease, especially not about an asthma attack, but there was something else he wasn’t telling you.

“For, well, saving my life of course.” He gave you a look as if the the answer wasn’t obvious.

“Haven’t I told you this is what any other person would do?” You rolled your eyes. You were definitely playing at something and he knew you were waiting.

“Are you going to make me say it?” He sighed.

“Depends, what are you trying to say?” You could tell he was trying to formulate what he was trying to say. His eyes calculating every word, thoughts crashing like waves getting lost in the blue.

“Thank you for today. It was nice to… be with you.” He winced at the last words. “I mean, no. Well, yes, it was nice to hang out with you. Not be with you, that’s something entirely different in and of itself. That’s not what I mean, you’re fine! Not like fine like everyone else means, not that you’re not attractive! I just-“

You cut him short with a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you for today, I liked being with you too.” His face flushed, and you swore you could see his ears turn pink under the moonlight. You let out a breath with a smile at the boy’s expression.

“Oh, shoot I almost forgot! We have detention and homework we have to make up for in the morning!“ You smacked your forehead, Rowan snapping out of his daze. He quickly caught on, groaning at the idea of morning detention.

“I‘ll see you there!” You gave the boy another peck before running off to your dorm. He opened his mouth to speak but you were long gone.

The next morning.

Oddly enough, the next morning was bright and sunny. The rainstorm the day before was forgotten, now an encore of clear skies. The only issue was morning detention. You had to end your beauty sleep early to get up early. If you had finished up your homework early then you could probably nap. Your brain moved on autopilot as you made your way to Ms. Thornhill’s greenhouse. At least morning detention would be someplace fun.

“Good morning, Y/N. I trust you slept well.” Ms. Thornhill greeted, joking at your messy appearance. Eyes still a little heavy and probably had developed bags from your lack of sleep. You made your way to an empty seat, Ms. Thornhill giving her plants attention whilst you pulled out your work. Your mind was far from working though. It wasn’t your fault, not entirely. It was Rowan. You had been tossing and turning, replaying how you had kissed him twice. Maybe you were being too forward, what if he didn’t like that?

“Mind if I take a seat?” You heard the familiar voice, looking up to see Rowan still as neat as ever. You glanced down at yourself, silently cursing as your uniform was not even done properly. You tried to glance at the other seats around the room, playing off your nervousness.

“Out of all the chairs, you choose the one by me? I’d think you have a thing for me, Laslow.” You blurt. Gods, could you make it any more obvious? What was this cool, hard-to-get thing you had going on? You kissed him and now suddenly you were ignoring him?

He froze at that, turning to find another chair. You regret your words quick.

“I’m sorry, sorry. I was joking, you can sit with me.” You pulled the chair out next you and he hesitantly accepted it. Placing his bag down and his work upon the table, you turned back to your own work. Trying to make sense of the maths work that laid out taunting you. Your eyes wandered from your work to Rowan, watching as he easily filled out the questions and answers. Your thoughts drifting with you as your gaze clouded.

His uniform always so neat, never with a wrinkle to be found. His hair parted to the side as it usually was, though some stray hairs left their place as he tapped his pen against his forehead, lost on the question. His glasses shifting as he scrunched his nose in light frustration at the problem. He was quick to fix them and return to his work.

You really wondered how you had the courage to even kiss him twice, it lingered at the back of your brain as you tried to avert your attention back to your work.

“Need any help?” His voice called out above your thoughts. You turned back to him, sliding your work over. Silently pointing at a question you probably should have known the answer to, you couldn’t seem to get it. Your mind was a mess, flooded with thoughts of the homework and him and yesterday and Enid. Gods, Enid probably had something up on her blog by now.

“Well, this is fairly simple,” Rowan started, you tried paying attention, you truly did. But with Rowan leaning to your side, it felt like yesterday all over again. You were sure it was just your lack of sleep and the want of a warm bed again, but you yearned to be closer to his side. You scooted your chair over, leaning to look at the diagram he was pointing to and the correspondence it had to the question. He didn’t avoid your presence, and you mentally cheered, also finally remembering what the diagram meant.

“So then x will be easy to find using this part right here, and I can calculate the answer from that to this.” You turned to face Rowan, eyes meeting his. Lips turned into a downward smile, he nodded at your answer. You flashed him a smile back, looking back down at your paper to avoid his gaze as your face flushed. Your seats were closer now as you both continued to work. Piping up to ask a question or two until you were both done.

“Color me a Cosmo, I’ve never seen students so eager to learn!” Ms. Thornhill butt in. You laughed dryly, unsure of how to respond.

“I should have you two pair up for projects, maybe then I’ll have students submitting work!” She laughed to herself. Teacher humour.

“Anyways, I just wanted to let you lovebirds know that detention is over.”

You and Rowan glanced at each other, ears pink as you began packing up your things. You both thanked Ms. Thornhill before heading to the door. A light sunny drizzle greeted you both. It was probably just an after effect of the thunderstorm, you were definitely sure that you could both make it to class. You reached your hand into it, feeling your scales creep up slowly. Another hand pulled up to your left, judging the water’s harshness. You knew it was Rowan.

You offered your hand for him to grab. He looked taken aback at it, confused at your notion. He carefully rested his hand in yours, brows furrowing at the thought of your next move.

“Ready?” You asked. He didn’t gulp this time, he didn’t back down, he simply whispered a yes. With that, you gripped his hand, interlocking your fingers together before you stepped into the rain. The light drizzle tickling you as it fell, you could feel your scales appear. Laughing as you looked into the sky, feeling the shower upon your skin. You let go of Rowan’s hand and he abruptly stopped ahead of you at the loss of your touch.

“Y/N, we’re going to be late again.” We?

“You don’t have to stay with me.” You pointed. He stood for a moment, lost in thought, fog clouding his glasses again. You couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I want to.” He spoke softly. If you weren’t so keen to his voice, you wouldn’t have heard him. But you did.

He took a step, closing the distance between you two. His hands finding solace in yours again, you held your breath at the proximity.

“I really thought it would be obvious by now.” He mumbled, thoughts spilling from his lips.

“What would be obvious?” You managed to speak. Hands laced with his, chest centimeters apart, your brain moving a million miles per second.

“My heart is my sleeve, don’t you know me?” Your brows creased at his metaphor. Of course this man would confess in literary terms.

“I like you,” He breathed out. “A lot.”

You laughed at those words, not in any demeaning way. He pulled back from you, tensing at your reaction.

“No, no.” You reached out to him, holding his arms as he held you in his. “I just really like you too. I thought you didn’t feel the same.”

He softened at your response. The fog in his glasses disappearing for a moment, you could see a twinkle in his eyes. Reaching your hand up to his cheek, you slowly moved forward, analyzing his reactions. You didn’t want him to let go, not just yet. Being late to class was better than missing it, and you both didn’t care at this point.

He leaned into your touch, eyes closing as you both closed the gap between you. Lightning struck as your lips met.

You rolled your eyes at Kent’s request. Leave it to him to make the secret school society not so secret in the middle of the school quad. Divina gave him a small punch to his side before looking back at you expectantly from across the table bench.

“All I’m saying is, the last person who was a downer got kicked out. Now look at him,” Kent gave an obvious look to Rowan Laslow, who was making his way out of the overgrowing quad population due to lunch hour.

“What he’s trying to say is, you’re practically a part of the Nightshades anyway. You know the code, who’s in it, where we’re located. Everything!” Divina explained. “Plus, we’re down a member anyway.”

“Lovely to know I’m Rowan Laslow’s replacement.” You snorted. You had nothing against the guy, but the twins were really not selling the idea to you at all. In fact, you didn’t even want to go to the Jericho Harvest Festival but attendance was mandatory.

“If it was Ajax asking then you’d say yes.” Kent crossed his arms, fake pouting at you. You flicked a piece of your lunch at him, hitting him directly between his eyes. He winced, holding the bridge of his nose as Divina snickered.

“Because Ajax is my best friend, and I know he wouldn’t tell me dumb stuff to get me to go.”

“Go where?” You heard a familiar voice call behind you. Turning to find Ajax, you moved your bag for him to sit next to you.

“Nowhere. Just a totally secret school society party that you would know nothing about.” You shrugged nonchalant as he sat down with you. He let out a small scoff with a smile. The smile you had been in love with for the past 6 months despite you knowing him for over 2 years.

“Technically you’re not supposed to know about it, but I guess people can’t keep their mouths shut.” Divina immediately pointed a finger at Kent who immediately pointed one back at her.

“Says the guy who can’t keep his mouth shut either, Mr. I Know When I’m High.” You mocked him, remembering the time he admitted he was in the Nightshades to you after a particularly long session of hotboxing Xavier’s shed before he repurposed it as his own.

“As far as we’re concerned, you practically pledged that night. He was not making it back to his dorm in one piece under Principal Weems radar.” Divina raised her hands in defeat.

“If I go, will you guys stop bugging me about being in the ever so definitely-totally-super-secret-definitely-not-notorious-amongst-half-the-student-body Nightshades?” You dramatically brought the back of your hand to your forehead in fake woe. Ajax took the opportunity to steal a bit of your food, which had you quickly swat away his hand away.

“Yeah, yeah. All that and more, just come to the party. It’ll be fun, I promise.” Ajax wrapped an arm around you reassuringly, to which you just rolled your eyes before reluctantly nodding. In that moment, you could’ve sworn you saw Divina slip Kent $10 underneath the table. You couldn’t tell though, because your food was stolen yet again.

Harvest Festival.

It wasn’t a particularly cold evening in Jericho, not with all the people gathered into one area. The sounds of carnival games and buzz from normies and outcasts alike filled the air. Along with the incredibly delicious scent of cotton candy, which you definitely wanted to get a grab of when you could.

“We have to try this out next, please!” Ajax was practically dragging you to each game in attempts to try them all. The “please” was just something his mothers taught him to add to every sentence at this point with how much he was pleading. You’d have to tell them both how annoying he was next Parents Weekend.

“Jax, please, I cannot carry another giant stuffed animal. We’re gonna have to give these to Enid’s collection at this point.” You were muffled underneath the mounds of faux fur in your arms. It was hard to say no with Ajax holding your wrist so carefully despite him pulling you to another booth, especially since you were pretty much blind with all the prizes you had gotten.

He finally stopped at a booth that seemed to his liking, and you managed to find a nice spot on the ground for all your stuffed wonders to watch. The booth was definitely haphazardly thrown together, you could tell it was a scam.

“Hit three balloons in a row and you get a prize!”

You looked at Ajax, brow raised as he excitedly handed the game master his money. Your lips tugging into a downward smile, he was unbelievably dense but he also happened to be the guy you had a crush on. So who was really in their right mind here?

“Easy win, I got this!” He picked up the darts in front of him. They were absolutely sanded down to be duller than a pencil, but who was gonna notice with all the commotion going on. You watched as he threw each one by one into the 3 by 3 board holding balloons that held less than enough air to be popped. Each of them ricocheting off or completely missing the balloons.

“Nice try, young man. How about your partner over here has a go instead?” The game master wiggled his eyebrows. Your eyes widened as he said that, immediately you tried to stammer out a no but words couldn’t escape your mouth.

“Hell yeah!” Ajax handed him another $3 before pulling you close to him. Your head spun at the situation, it wasn’t like you two hadn’t made close contact before. He was constantly clingy with all his friends. Even Xavier wasn’t safe from him and he was Nevermore’s self proclaimed tortured artist. The “partner” thing definitely had you in for a loop, and Ajax didn’t even deny it.

“You know what to do, hit three to get a prize.”

You slowly picked up a dart from the table, trying hard not to think about Ajax’s hands resting on your shoulders as he cheered you on. You knew why most people didn’t win these, and it was because they never thought to throw hard enough thinking it was easy. Either that or they just couldn’t aim correctly, and you were definitely part of the latter. It’s why Xavier couldn’t let you join the Archery club, something about being a hazard to society. As far as you were concerned, most outcasts were.

You took a deep breath, focusing on the balloons and willing your wrist to move. You pinpointed as best as you could and threw haphazardly, somehow making two in a row. You could feel Ajax hold his breath as his grip on your shoulder tightened ever so slightly. You took another deep breath, aiming for the last balloon in the top right. You threw the dart, eyes closing as the dart left your fingers, awaiting the disappointing sound of the metal hitting the cork wall. It never came.

Your ears were filled with a satisfying pop, an exciting cheer of Ajax behind you, and the game master sputtering to himself. You opened your eyes, seeing your throw had made its mark. You turned to Ajax beaming, he wrapped his arms around your waist, picking you up in excitement. You yelped as he did, but a laugh soon replaced it.

“Alright, lovebirds, pick your prize.” The game master grit his teeth, still putting on a fake smile. You looked to Ajax expectantly, seeing what he wanted. He proceeded to turn you back around, letting you look at the prizes yourself.

“You won, fair and square. Your choice.” He whispered into your ear, your thoughts honing into his voice over the loud carnival sounds. It sent a shiver up your spine that you had to shake off. Scanning the prizes carefully, you noticed a giant snake plushie hiding amongst the large bunnies and usual game prizes. You eagerly pointed to it, and the game master begrudgingly handed it over. You thanked the man despite his attempts at scowling at you both.

“Why would you need that? You have a better one right here!” Ajax pout, one of his snakes wriggling it’s way out of his cap. You laughed before giving the small reptile a boop on its head, which had it going back into its spot in the darkness of his beanie.

“Well, this one is less likely to stone me.” You held the stuffed animal close. Ajax picked up the other stuffed prizes he had won with a sigh.

“You know I would never purposefully try to stone you.” Ajax mumbled sadly behind his stuffies, to which you grabbed his hand gently.

“I know you wouldn’t,” You reassured him. “Now do you want to attend the Nightshades party tonight or not? You did a lot of convincing just to get me to go so I’d hate to miss it.” You showed him your phone screen which lit up the time.

“Oh, shit! We’re gonna be late, Bianca’s gonna have my head for this one.” Ajax started pushing his way through the crowds. You quickly followed suit, trying to not draw too much attention. It definitely seemed like Ajax was dragging you to another game though, a lot of your classmates wide eyed at all your prizes. You spotted Enid along the way out, and quickly pulled Ajax’s hoodie to prevent him from running further.

“Enid, hey, these are for you!” Ajax understood, pouring the mass amounts of aliens and bunnie and other toys he had won into her arms. You kept your prize wrapped around your neck, wanting to keep that one for yourself.

“What?” She gasped as she had to hand Wednesday her funnel cake, the ravenette begrudgingly taking it.

“See you!” Your voice was caught in the wind as Ajax had grabbed your hand, intertwining your fingers with his as he pulled you along. It really didn’t matter if you two were late, but Ajax always liked being early to snag some of the snacks Yoko made before everyone else could. You were definitely sure it was for when he needed munchies.

Nightshades Library.

Snap, snap!

The Edgar Allen Poe statue opened itself to you and Ajax, the metal creaking itself into placed with a final thud of the open door. Ajax allowed you in first, before stepping in himself. The doorway closed behind you two with another thud, and your senses began to fill with light music. You squinted in the darkness, seeing the dim lighting of the Nightshades library at the bottom of the steps. Slowly making your way down, you were met with all your friends already talking and eating and dancing. You two were definitely late.

“Well, well. Where were you two lovebirds?” Yoko had noticed you two first as she was closest to the stairs by the makeshift bar already preparing a few drinks.

“Someone lost track of the time because he was too excited by normie games.” You raised your hand to point at Ajax, not realizing you were still holding his hand. Immediately you slipped your hand from his, warmth enveloping your face. He took that as his cue to leave, grabbing a few snacks from Yoko and saying hello before making his way to Xavier.

“He still hasn’t picked up on it, has he?” She took a sip of her Bloody Mary, and you knew that absolutely wasn’t tomato juice filling it.

“Nope,” You grabbed a pretzel from the snack bowls, making yourself comfortable on the barstool in front of her. “But I don’t mind, it’s not like I want him to know anyway.”

“Gods, you both are dense.” You heard Kent’s voice pull up next to you.

“Honestly, Y/N, have you considered he likes you too?” And there was Divina in the other seat. Great, now you were surrounded. You huffed jokingly before greeting the two. Thankful you didn’t need to see an optometrist from how much you rolled your eyes at their idiotic quips.

“Yoko, make me a glass of whatever. I’m gonna need something if these two keep pestering me tonight.” You pinched the bridge of your nose. Kent exaggerated a gasp, mouth agape with eyes wide as if you were accusing him. You attempted to flick the pretzel you were holding at him, but unfortunately he had expected it.

“You don’t see me pestering you about the snake plushie around your neck, but please, keep accusing me.” Divina took a sip of her drink. You looked down at the stuffed prize, removing it from your neck before setting it upon the table with a boop on its nose. You smiled, remembering how Ajax had cheered you on and held you close and picked you up.

“Long Island Iced Tea.” Yoko set down a tall glass in front of you, snapping you out of your thoughts. You looked at the drink before looking at her.

“You really just threw everything in here, didn’t you?” You took a sip, feeling the alcohol down your throat.

“I emphasize amateur when I say I’m a mixologist, don’t I?” She shrugged. “Now tell us about this, did he win it for you?” She poked it with a stirring stick.

“Leave Gerald alone, and no, I won it!” You shooed the stick away. All three of them winced at the name.

“Definitely seems like there’s a lot more to it than that.” Divina giggled. “Also, Gerald is a terrible name. Please pick a new one.”

“Well…” You remembered Ajax’s apathy to the game master calling you his partner, either that or he wasn’t paying attention. He didn’t deny you were, though. Thinking about it, he probably really did seem like your boyfriend to onlookers. Holding your hand 24/7, dragging you to booths, winning you prizes, not correcting the game master, the works. You just wish it were real.

You sighed deeply before taking a big swig of your drink, not caring for the burn it left. Kent and Divina gave each other a look before lifting you from your chair.

“You are going to be going through these way too quickly if we don’t do something about it.” Kent took your now empty cup away from you before handing it to Yoko. The latter stuck her tongue out at the boy before sticking it in a bin filled with other cups.

“Why don’t we get your mind off things?” Divina hummed. “How about a dance?” She spun you onto the dance floor. You couldn’t tell if you were already feeling the buzz of the alcohol or if you genuinely wanted to dance, but you swayed along to the music anyway. Bianca noticing your presence, spun to dance with you as well. It was an easy rhythm to get lost into, and you hate to admit Ajax was right about the party being fun.

The night went on for awhile, you kept switching between drinking and dancing and talking. It wasn’t very long before you were drunk, Yoko had to cut you off because you could not get back to your dorm like this. She was with you this time on the dance floor, vibing to the song that was on. You couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes on you. Twisting to the beat, you turn to see Ajax eyeing you from his spot on the couch with Xavier. You practically hadn’t seen him all night, which was odd considering he’d usually dance as well. He sat with his legs open comfortably, an arm resting upon his leg as the other was brought up to take a hit of his joint. He then handed it to Xavier before puffing out the smoke in fancy rings. Maybe it was you or maybe it was the alcohol talking but he looked, to say the least, hot.

“Jax!” You called out to him from your spot on the floor. His attention turned from his conversation to you, eyes softening as his gaze met yours. Your heart skipped a beat, and well, fuck it. You were making your way over to him. Not like you could control much of your movements anyway, your brain and body were on two different hemispheres. Both working opposite of each other, but definitely somehow working because you slumped down next to Ajax.

“You seem to be having fun.” He hummed, inviting you with an open arm. He rested it around your shoulder, pulling you close as you leaned into him exhausted from dancing.

“Are you, Jax?” You reached up to hold his face with your hand. The position incredibly intimate as his face was mere centimeters from your own. For a moment, there was an unrecognizable look in his eyes. He pulled away slightly, letting out an awkward cough. Your expression twisted into a pout.

“Are you not enjoying yourself?” You tilted your head. His lips tugged into a downward smile, shaking his head no.

“I am having fun, just worried about you. Seems like you’ve had too much to drink.” Removing his arm from your shoulder, he adjusted himself to face you. You whined at the loss of contact, but he suddenly cupped your face within both his hands. Your heart skipping another beat as you stared into his mesmerizing eyes.

“You’re a bit warm, I’m going to get you some water.” You leaned your head against the back of the couch as he pulled away from you. Closing your eyes, you let your thoughts take over. Drowning out the noise, you indeed did feel warm. Had it really been the alcohol or had it been Ajax’s proximity? It was getting harder and harder to deny that you loved him more than you thought you did.

“Here,” A hand lifted your head carefully as a cold glass was brought to your lips. Your eyes fluttered open, remembering where you were. Ajax held the cup as you took sips, feeling the water begin to cool you off. He set the glass down on the table before turning his attention back to you.

“I’m thinking I should get you back to your dorm, let’s call it a night.” You could only nod your head in approval, not wanting your words to betray you. Every nerve in your body concentrated on his skin on yours, lifting you from your spot on the couch.

“I’m gonna get Y/N to back to the dorms, they’ve had too much I think.” You could only hum goodbye with a wave to your friends as Ajax dragged you up the steps. It wasn’t particularly hard to get to your dorm, but man, were you exhausted. The hard part was getting you into your bed.

“Jax, have I ever told you how much I love you?” You murmured as he was adjusting your head on your pillow. It was dim in your room, but you could see the color in his face shift. You never used such strong words like ‘love’ around him, and especially not about him. It was always “I love this ice cream” or “Jax, you’re my best friend but you’re a dumbass.” never “I love you” which surprised him.

“You’ve had too much to drink, Y/N. You’re not thinking straight.” He pulled the blanket over your figure. You grabbed the bottom of his jacket, stopping him in his tracks.

“No, I really love you.” You hiccuped. “You’re so sweet, and caring, even though you can be so dense. You always do that thing when you wrap your arm around my shoulder and give it a squeeze when you greet me that makes my heart flutter. You also have the prettiest eyes ever, so warm like I can get lost in them. I have to tell your moms how much of a good son they raised. They’re so cool for that.” If you were sober, none of these thoughts would have been vocalized, but clearly you weren’t.

Ajax stopped momentarily before reaching for your hand, removing it from his jacket and returning it to your side. He attempted to pull away, but you kept your grip on his.

“Jax, stay with me please.” You pleaded. He smiled before sitting at the side of your bed, leaning to make sure your temperature wasn’t too high with the back of his other hand.

“Why won’t you say anything back?” You breathed out, head starting to spin. The room was dim and only the moonlight illuminated you two.

“Because you are not in your right mind right now, and as much as I love you back, this should not be how this happens.” He looked at you solemnly. It was undeniable that he loved you back, but he’d rather have heard it when you were ready, not when alcohol had consumed you.

“Now, get some rest.” He gave you a small forehead kiss, you could even feel one of his snakes give you one as well. You nodded, half paying attention as you drifted off. Ajax carefully leaning every now and then to adjust your blanket or make sure you weren’t too hot.

“Jax?” You called out, to which he hummed in response.