#phoenix393

//I totally took this from something I wrote a while back about them kissing in the rain. Hope you don’t mind! //

The sky darkening was the first sign that a storm was coming, but Zoe had brushed it off. She’d be home before the rain actually came anyway, she’d reasoned with herself. Holding Alexis’ hand firmly in hers, she found a bench for the two of them to sit down at while they sipped at their coffee they’d gotten just down the street. Leaning her head against his shoulder as she stared at the leaves rustling on the nearby trees, she bit her lip. “I think it’s going to rain.” She sighed, tightening her grip on his hand a little bit. “But I don’t want to go back.”

"We’ll probably be fine. It might blow over," He said, kissing the top of her head as his thumb caressed her hand. Zoe shrugged and closed her eyes, just enjoying the sound of the wind tickling the leaves and the soft hum of cars driving down the road. Zoe’s eye fluttered open soon after, as she felt a drop of water hit her cheek before sliding down to her chin and dropping to her shirt. Lifting her head a bit, she cast her gaze upwards as the darker clouds grew closer. It literally took less than a minute for the light drizzle to turn into heavy rainfall, soaking her hair enough to make it cling to her cheeks and a little bit of mascara run down her cheeks.

"Shit, shit shit." She groaned, rubbing her bare arms. "It wasn’t supposed to rain today. If I’d have known, I would’ve brought a coat before I went to see you." Leaning a little closer to him, she wrapped an arm around him and pulled the Reaper to stand up with her. "Let’s just head back before I get a cold or something." 

At a brisk pace, the two headed back in the direction of the Academy as the sky flashed with lightning, the space around them booming with thunder loud enough to make her jump a little bit. They’d only made it about a quarter of the way back when Zoe’s teeth started chattering, goosebumps raising on her arms as she shook and pressed closer to Alexis, despite the fact he wasn’t really warm to begin with, being dead and everything. Tilting her head forward, she flexed her fingers, trying to prevent them from going numb from the cold that had washed over her body.

"A-Alexis," She mumbled out, teeth chattering so bad that the word came out slightly stuttered, "Walk faster." Though Alexis was already walking at a fairly quick pace, keeping it even with Zoe’s, she was shaking and impatient. But instead of speeding up, he stopped. “Alexis!” She frowned, hugging herself as she tapped her foot anxiously. “Come on.” 

Zoe watched, a little surprised as the boy shrugged off his coat and reached around her to wrap it over her shoulders, which made her instantly reach up to pull it tighter around her in hope that it would keep her warmer. Without meaning to, she took a small breath and smiled a little - the jacket smelled just like him, and it was surprisingly warm. Mumbling a thank you, she moved to start walking again, but Alexis’ hands hadn’t moved from her shoulders since he put the coat on her. Instead, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he pulled the witch to his chest. His shirt was already darkening with the wet spots hitting the fabric, but he didn’t seem to mind. She would’ve protested, but she doubted he even got cold anymore, so it would be a wasted effort. Besides, she was freezing and didn’t want to give up his coat, especially since it felt nice to wear something of his. Zoe kissed back without delay, one hand securing the jacket around her as the other reached up to rest on his chest, a smile taking place on her lips.

Alexis pulled back a little, smirking at how flushed Zoe’s cheeks were. He touched them briefly before pressing another kiss to her lips and pulling away, wrapping one arm around her shoulders. “Where do you want to go?” He asked, as if he hadn’t just been kissing her like that a moment earlier.

Struggling to find her voice after such a great kiss - though cheesy because of the whole stereotypical ‘kissing in the rain’ scenario - Zoe shrugged. “The Academy. I’d love to go back to our place but I need to change. My clothes are soaked,” She said, glancing at his soaking shirt. “And I’m sure you probably need to change, so we could go to your place after?” She suggested and the Reaper just nodded and kissed her cheek.

"Whatever you want," He said dismissively and led her towards Robichaux’s, keeping his arms around her to try and keep her warm. Zoe pushed open the gate once they were there and headed inside, taking his hand as she went upstairs. Once in her room, she hesitated before reluctantly taking off his coat and handing it back to him, though she really wished she could've kept it.

"Thanks, again." She said and went to her closet, pulling out a dry sweater and some jeans. "One second," Quickly dismissing herself to the bathroom, she changed and dried her hair as much as she could before heading back, blinking in surprise when she saw that he was in a dry, new outfit and his coat was lying next to him on the bed. "When did you change?"

"The same time you did. I'm a Reaper, I teleported to my apartment and back easily." He shrugged and got up, going to her and pulling her in for another kiss, his hands placed on her waist to pull her closer.

Kissing back briefly, she pulled away and raised her eyebrow. It made sense; he'd taken her to Spain once to see his hometown, and she knew he could do it whenever he wanted. "So you made us walk home in the rain when we could've been here in two seconds?"

Alexis shrugged. "Well, yeah. But there's no fun in that. Besides, we kissed in the rain. That's pretty fuckin' romantic, don't you think?" He asked with a smirk. Zoe only shook her head with a smile and kissed him again. 

"If I would've froze to death, it'd be on you." She remarked and the Reaper chuckled, pulling her to the bed and putting his coat back on her shoulders.

"There. Now stop complaining and kiss me." He laughed and pulled her close again.

Holding back a yawn, Zoe readjusted her position on the couch next to Alexis, resting her head on his shoulder as she tried to keep her eyes open through his gentle rubbing on her back. There were no souls for him to reap for the time being, and he'd shown up while Zoe was watching some crappy movie because she couldn't find the remote to change the channel. She'd honestly been about to head to bed before he showed up, but any time she could spend with him she'd make sure she spent because she never knew when he'd have to leave to go do his job, and honestly, she wasn't able to know whether or not he'd come back, no matter how attached they might seem. After a bit of conversation about nothing important, they fell into a comfortable silence to watch the movie, though her sleepiness was returning at a quick rate. 

Alexis tilted his head a bit to kiss the top of the Witch's head, giving a small smile as he noticed her breathing slowly starting to deepen. Gently moving her head off his shoulder, he glanced down at her with a smirk. "You're falling asleep on me," He accused in a teasing manner, causing Zoe's face to heat up a little as she opened her eye again and shook her head. "No I'm not." She argued, putting her hand over her mouth as a small yawn forced her lips apart. Biting her lip, she placed her head back on his shoulder, determined not to fall asleep. But as her eyes slipped closed - I'm only resting them, I'm not sleeping - she felt his one arm slip under her knees while the other supported her back. Lifting her up bridal-style, he kissed her forehead as she rested it against his shoulder, one fist reaching up to grip his shirt as if it would do much if he decided to drop her. 

Chuckling under his breath, Alexis only shook his head and started walking towards the stairs, holding onto her as he did. "Alexis, the movie's not over..." She grumbled, trying to squirm out of his arms. He tightened his grip and smirked, "Stop moving around or I'll drop you." He threatened jokingly as he reached the top of the stairs. "You're not going to make it to the end of the movie at this rate - you were falling asleep several times," He pointed out as he used his foot to push her door open wider, lying her down on the bed as she argued, though her voice was thick with exhaustion.

She tried to sit up, but her muscles felt too heavy, so instead she gave up and stared at him through half-open eyes. "I'm not tired," She frowned. Alexis only shook his head, "Yes you are, now go to sleep." At that, she tried to keep her eyes open but she was just so tired. But she didn't want to fall asleep, risking him leaving. Besides, she really did want to spend time with him. "Will you stay, then?" She asked, voice sleepy as she twisted onto her side, her hair fanning out around her in the process like a halo. Pursing his lips, Alexis thought for a minute before sitting next to her, pushing a strand of hair from her face. Silently lying down, he wrapped his arms around her and Zoe instantly smiled and moved to rest her head on his chest as her eyes fell shut.

"Go to sleep," he repeated, moving his hands in small circles on her side as he kissed the top of her head again. "'M not tired.." She mumbled, sighing. The Reaper rolled his eyes. God, she could be so stubborn. "Zoe..." He said, "I'll be here. Just sleep. You're tired, and you're gonna get wrinkles and bags under your eyes if you don't sleep." He said with a smirk. 

"Oh shut up, no I'm not." She frowned, pulling the blanket up to her shoulder as she readjusted a little bit. Soon after, her breathing slowed and she let out a quiet sigh, face peaceful as she finally fell asleep with Alexis' arms wrapped tightly around her. She felt safe. Happy. Normal.

// So I'm sorry about this one. It was really bad and I tried to get muse for it but I was having issues writing it. Alexis is so ooc in here but I can't write him as amazingly as Thesonofdeath's mun does. Even Zoe was pretty off here, but I hope this was fluffy enough.//

Being a witch really wasn’t as exciting as some people thought. Zoe was fairly new to witchcraft when she was assigned as a council member for Cordelia, and she didn’t have all the spells mastered herself, so how was she supposed to help the new girls with their magic if she couldn’t even help herself? That was the main reason she was flipping through the tattered old pages of the grimoire, silently mouthing the words to spells in attempt to remember them for if the time ever came up that she needed to use them. She’d been so distracted by the old book that she hadn’t even seen Alexis appear in her room, and she even jumped when he sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her head. Mumbling a soft “Hey” to him, she barely looked up before going back to the book. Alexis frowned at the lack of acknowledgement and started trailing kisses up her shoulder and neck. “Zoe…” He said, lips still pressed against her skin as he tried to get a reaction out of her. Zoe tilted her neck away from him as she flipped the page, starting to memorize an entirely new spell. Sighing when he kept kissing her skin, Zoe bit her lip and reread the same line a few times before getting frustrated. “Alexis, I need to do this.” She said, glancing sideways at him before her eyes fell back on the page she’d been reading. “Do me instead,” he offered with a smirk, licking a small spot on her neck that elicited a small moan from the witch as she reached one hand down to grasp his leg. “I’m not in the mood. I just need to work on these - we have a Gathering tomorrow morning, I don’t have time.” She explained and read the page in a quiet voice. But Alexis was determined not to walk out of there without at least some satisfactory, even if it was only that he was capable of distracting Zoe from important things because, after all, he was better than some book that his mother probably read at some point because it was so old. He reached forward and plucked the book out of her hands, shutting it and putting it behind his back as he resumed kissing her neck. “Alexis!” She groaned and pulled out of his arms, reaching for the book. “You made me lose my page. Give me the book back,” she said impatiently, giving him a look. He grabbed her wrists and pulled her in for a kiss, which she hastily returned for a second before pulling back and glaring at him as she tried to pull her wrists out of his grasp. “Alexis…” She sighed and shook her head. “I need to read.” Alexis had other ideas, though. Slowly pushing her down on the bed, he held her wrists down and kissed her again. Zoe kissed him back again, hoping that if she gave him a little attention he’d leave her alone again and let her have the book back. 

Of course, things didn't go that way with Alexis. His slow kisses turned more deep and passionate, and his grip on her wrists tightened. Eventually, the thoughts of practicing her spells slowly slipped from her mind, but she couldn't let it go. Reluctantly, she twisted her head to the side and squirmed under the Reaper. "Not right now. I told you, this is important." She sighed and pulled her wrists from his grasp, amazed that she'd been able to. Pushing him gently to the side so she could sit up, she snatched the book back and flipped through the pages to find where she'd left off.

Glaring at her, Alexis pulled the witch into his lap and started running his hands along her arms and legs, pausing on her hips. How could she be ignoring him like this? He was better than studying! Once sitting in his lap, she merely rolled her eyes and continued reading, not bothering to fight with him because it would only take up more time she could be using to read. At seeing her disinterest Alexis let out a frustrated growl, pulling her hair off of her shoulder and biting down gently on her neck, which caused her to let out another small grunt as she pursed her lips. If kisses wouldn't work, he'd have to find something else...

He pulled her hair, not enough to hurt but enough to force her head to tilt back a little bit before his hands started wiggling along her sides. Letting out a small squeal as he tickled her, the book fell from her lap and she squirmed around in his lap, finally catching the Reaper's wrists in her hands. Taking a few breaths, she turned her head to look back at him. "Jesus, you're like a child." She said, shaking her head with a small smile as she set the book out of the way and turned to face him. "I wish I could say no to you," She murmured, pressing her forehead against his. 

"So hang out with me, fuck the books. Wait - fuck me instead," He said with a grin, kissing her cheek as he ran his fingers along her back. Rolling her eyes again, she just shook her head. "You're making it really hard for me to get anything done." She said and laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Since you're being so needy, what do you want to do?"

Shrugging, Alexis pressed his lips to hers again and pulled her closer. "I don't know, but this is a good start." He murmured into the kiss before kissing her harder, causing Zoe to laugh and kiss him back.

But her parents weren’t the only ones she lost. True, she’d lost a few friends when she moved to New Orleans, but she’d made new ones and they all seemed to be gone. Nan had died, Madison ran away, and now Misty was dead, too - stuck in her own personal hell for eternity. Zoe couldn’t even imagine the pain that the swamp witch must be going through minute by minute. 

Nonetheless, the weight was slowly crushing down on her. With the pressure of dealing with council issues, and having no time to grieve the loss of her old life and her new friends, Zoe was utterly distraught. Although Alexis was one of the only things she thought she could count on in her life, she knew that it wasn’t his job to be there for her all the time. Besides, why would someone like him want to deal with petty emotions in someone like her? But when she saw him, most of the time it was a little bit easier to take her mind off things because he was a great distraction and his kisses could probably make you forget anything. That, and she genuinely enjoyed being around him for any reason at all - not just because he was a distraction.

Unfortunately, distractions didn’t always work - especially for Zoe when she was under this much distress. When she saw the Reaper, she attempted to hide any emotions, but Alexis was too good at reading her expression. He could tell when she was lying, and apparently he could sense when she was upset. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate his concern, but she couldn’t see him being able to take the pain away without erasing her entire memory. But she didn’t want that - she wanted to hold onto the good parts, even if that meant she had to hold onto the bad ones as well.

Faking a smile was useless around him, and because he easily saw through it she soon gave up the attempt, sighing softly as his arms wrapped around her thin frame. Resting her head against his chest, listening to the silence that would’ve been interrupted by a heartbeat had he been capable of it, she closed her eyes and gripped him tightly. There were times that she wished he’d never let her go, and this was one of those times. She hadn’t cried over anything since she’d moved, but now it seemed like all those tears she’d held inside were trying to escape all at once. Her eyes burned as she pressed her face closer to his chest, trying to rid her mind of the memories of Misty fading to dust, her mother’s guilty expression, Nan’s sweet smile, or Madison’s emotions slowly twisting to hate as she tried to prove she was the next Supreme. 

               Don’t think about it. Just don’t fucking think about it!

“Shhh, Zoe.” Alexis murmured next to her ear, rubbing her back in soothing circles. It seemed like that was all it took to burst the dam, the tears slipping through her closed eyelids as she balled her fists in his shirt. He didn’t say anything as she cried; just rubbed her back and held her for the longest time, occasionally hushing her. ‘It’s the longest he’s ever held me’ She thought, releasing his shirt just long enough to reach up and wipe away the tears. Eventually, her cries turned to whimpers, and her whimpers turned to hiccups and her hiccups turned to silence. 

Once he was sure she was done crying, he pulled back but kept his hold on her shoulders as he bent down to become eye level with the grieving witch, reaching one hand from her shoulder to wipe any excess tears. “Zoe…” He murmured in a hushed tone, leaning forward to kiss her forehead gently before pulling back again. “You’re okay.” He assured her.

But she wasn’t okay. How could she be okay ever again? She’d lost almost everything, but she hadn’t lost him. Yet.And she couldn’t help but feel responsible for it all. The witches had been fine before she showed up, and it seemed like everything crashed down around her and everyone she knew after she left Florida. Not to mention the words echoing in her mind…

"There’s always a balance. Always." Alexis had said to her. She tensed up as she recalled those words. When she was revived, someone or something else had taken her place. She should’ve died, and she should’ve stayed dead. What the hell was wrong with her? Why did she get to survive, but other people didn’t? She wasn’t special, she wasn’t important in any way. 

"But I-I’m not." She whispered, meeting his dark gaze with her honey-colored hues. "Everything is my fault." She started to shake a little as she felt another wave of sadness wash over her. Disengaging herself from his grasp, she took several steps back and swallowed thickly, trying to calm down before another wave of tears came over her. 

"Why did you stick around? Why haven’t you left yet?!" She couldn’t help it. She’d never yelled at him like this, but it was easier than breaking down again. "I fucked things up, Alexis. Everything." Her voice had quieted a little, but she wasn’t calm. Her hands balled into fists. "Just leave,” Before I hurt you too. The last words wouldn’t leave her mouth, though. 

Instead of leaving, Alexis merely shook his head and strode forward, pulling her into his arms again silently. Zoe had reached up to push him away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Instead, her hands dropped to her sides and she just let him hug her, kiss her head and for a second she let herself pretend she really was okay. She let herself pretend that she wasn’t wanting to die to make things easier for everyone.

“I-I’m sorry…" She whispered.

It continued to baffle the witch that Alexis stuck with her through everything, even the things that she knew he didn’t want to be a part of. Protecting a house full of young witches didn’t sound like a normal thing on the agenda of a Reaper who was more used to taking lives than saving them, but Zoe was thankful nonetheless. Besides, having Alexis there throughout the entire night wasn’t entirely bad — It was nicer than she’d ever admit out loud to be able to just lay with him and try to forget the world. See, that’s one of the best parts about being around Alexis and only Alexis; she doesn’t have to be ‘Zoe Benson - Coven Council Member’, she can just be ‘Zoe Benson’. She could be normal for once, but at the same time she didn’t have to fake who she was to be normal because Alexis knew what she was and he didn’t seem to care.

So when the night darkened the sky and the two of them were in Zoe’s room, laying back on the bed with one of his arms around her, gently caressing her side, she actually felt content - not a particularly normal feeling when there were hunters trying to kill you and your friends. Her head was resting against his shoulder, absently twisting the hem of his shirt in her fingers as she stared at the wall. It was a little strange not being able to hear his heart beating in his chest when she was this close, but she didn’t mind too much because they were together. That seemed to be the main cause of her happiness, lately. But she didn’t love him… She couldn’t. They weren’t together, and Alexis couldn’t love someone like her. Yet her heart managed to speed up every time she saw him, and her pulse raced faster when she saw him smile. So maybe she was falling in love with him, but she won’t admit it.

Zoe had thanked him profusely for being there, but her true feelings towards the matter were hidden behind the pretense that she was only fearing the lives of her friends, when really it was also because she was selfish - she enjoyed the time around him more than anything else. She loved everything, even the way he’d tease her when a blush came to her cheeks. Alexis’ gentle touch on her side was enough to make her eyelids heavy, but she was scared to sleep. She was scared that this would all be just a dream, and that he’d be gone in the morning. He hadn’t left last time, but what if that was a one time thing? It was ridiculous, how conflicted she was over him and her feelings towards him. But she was also scared something would happen and he’d get hurt. He may not be able to die, but she knew he could feel pain and if it were her fault that he was hurt, she didn’t think she’d be able to forgive herself.

He must’ve been able to tell by the way her heartbeat started thudding faster that she was thinking too much, because soon she felt the gentle touch of his lips against her hair and a soft “Relax and sleep” murmured next to her ear before his hand continued moving in small circles on her hips. She glanced up at him, giving a reluctant sigh before letting her eyes fall closed again, fist still clenching the bottom of his t-shirt as if it would make him stay. She knew it wouldn’t; she knew that if he really wanted to leave she couldn’t stop him, but the false-hope made it easier to let her mind quiet down enough to sleep.

Before she did, though, a soft sigh of his name passed her lips.

//Okay wow I hope this was snuggly enough for you if not let me know and I’ll write something else //