#southside reader

You have known Malachai since you were five. You met long before either could fully comprehend where you came from. Your parents got along quite well, letting you hangout when you could, but things took a turn. Malchai’s parents got involved in some bad stuff and yours worked their asses off. There was no time for them to bring you to each other, so that started the visits. Malchai would walk for an hour each day just to come to see you. You became best friends, you were each other's lifeline. Malchai was everything to you, but it quickly changed. As you got older you also began to develop abilities. You began to notice that when you got mad things would fly across the room, or when sad it would start to rain. You pushed him away. You wanted to keep him safe and never wanted to hurt him so you began pushing him away. You had no idea what it meant, or why any of it was happening to you so you stayed away wanting to protect everyone you loved from the hell that were causing. That was until your mother realized what had been happening, and told you all you needed to know. But even though you knew what was going on now, you still wanted to protect him, you needed to know he would be safe, and the only way that would happen is if he was away from you. So you began pushing him further away as you started your training.

Your family had generations and generations of witches and warlocks behind you. You couldn’t really fathom what your mother was telling you at first, you just didn’t get it. Apparently, your mother was also a witch, but in your family, it usually skipped generations. However, in your case, it did not. It took months for you and your mother to get your abilities and emotions under control. Months for you to realize how best to use them. When you turned 15 you started practicing with spells. You also found out that there were many others like you. You still kept Malachai away though, and you didn’t really have any other friends other than your hamster. Malchai still tried to contact you, even stopping over at your house sometimes. No matter what you knew you had to keep him away. You knew with training there would be no way you’d be able to protect him, and no way you’d be able to keep him safe from yourself if anything went wrong. It was the hardest thing you had ever done but for 4 years you kept him away from you, and god you missed him more than anything in the world and you knew that you had to keep him close, you knew he could never forget you because as soon as you were done training you knew you would need him. But your first spell didn’t work. You trying to keep him at a distance worked, he stayed away only sending a text here and there, but you knew you couldn’t lose him completely. And that is when your first spell originally made by you came about.

The incantation being “Malachai Ne obliviscaris quod habuimus cum coram sumus rursus, quia ego adoramus te usque in sempiternum (When we meet again forget not what we had, for Iadore you forevermore)” As a red string of yarn was wrapped around your finger. The spell was meant to strengthen the bond between Malachai and yourself. You knew you were not as close as before, but you wanted to change that. You needed to change that. You wanted the bond to be as strong as it was the day that you met. And it worked. He was constantly talking, constantly trying to come over and you let him. You had control over most of your magic, you knew what you were doing, and you knew you’d never hurt him.

He was all you could think of after that. Soon you realized the spells you put on others affect you as well. Your whole brain clouded with the vision of his curls, clouded with all the memories that you shared as kids. You needed him, you felt it, your lifeline dwindling every day you spent without him. You were glad the time apart was finally over.

A knock at your door sounded it shocking you a bit because you were not expecting anyone,  opening it to see the curly haired little boy you grew to adore when you were just 5 years old. And yeah he looked different, so different. He was harder, built bigger, the muscles you could see protruding through his shirt showing you that maybe he just did get in fights a lot but could protect himself. You saw the look in his eyes though, the look you fell for, and that for one did not change a single ounce.

“Mal…”

“Y/N?”

“Hi” You hadn’t noticed his hand on his head till you saw the blood begin to seep through

“Mal… your head”

“I’m sorry for stopping by like this Y/N. I have nowhere else to go the den is crawling with Serpents and I can’t get in”

“The den?”

“Oh I forgot there’s a lot you don’t know”

“Well I’m here to listen”

“Nah I'm just gonna get goin I’ll be fine”

“Your not leaving this doorstep till you let me fix your head wound”

“Fine, fine” leading him to the couch he felt comfortable. So comfortable in your presence he began to slowly tell you all of the things in his life that have changed. He told you about the Ghoulies, told you about his parents dying and how he took over their leadership roles. He was the soul king now. The king of the gang his mother and father had been a part of and died from. He finished telling you and fell asleep from the pain of you stiching up his eyebrow.

It didn’t set well with you, you didn’t understand it. See the Southside was split into two parts; The Serpents and Ghoulies, you were neither. Your whole life you lived gangless. Your parents were in the Serpents but quit after having you, and you even as you got older had no interest in joining any gang. Malachai wasn’t that guy you heard so much about. He wasn’t bad, wasn’t ready, definitely not a drug user, and even more so he wasn’t mean. He owned the Ghoulies led them and you would be lying if you said you weren’t scared shitless. The kid you loved and cared for so much was now a gang leader. He was in so much danger every day that it made you want to puke on the spot.

You searched your Grimoire trying to think of any protection ward, or spell you could put on him but you couldn’t find a thing. You knew you’d have to try your hand at creating your own once again like you did those months ago when you finally began talking to malachai again.

You came up with one. One that would protect him from the evils from many sources. The evils of pain, emotion, magic, this spell would protect him from anything you could think would harm him.

“O te hominem defendat deam adorant, et sicut qui dormit ut pugnat. Amandi illum incolumem custodiat in lucem. Se ab iniuria tueri timorem quoniam unam cara. Magnus super omnes ab ipso noctis. Sic fiat semper (oh goddess protect the man I adore, as he sleeps and as he fights. Keep him safe in your loving light. Protect him from harm, protect him from fear, for he is the one I hold dear. For over it all protect him from the magic of the night. So mote it be)”.

You hadn’t known for a while whether or not it worked after that night, since you still kept Malchai at a distance. But you eventually found out about the people that Mal worked with. You found that a few months after you placed the protection spell on him he took. You heard of the fights, the brawls, hell you even saw people come out of them, but never once did you see Malachai injured. You constantly saw him on the streets surrounded by people with cuts and bruises but he never had any. That's how you knew your incantation worked. You were certain it worked out a few weeks later when you saw him running from gunfire a bullet never once hitting him, and all you felt was that you wanted to run towards him but you knew you couldn’t risk it, couldn’t risk getting in the way, couldn’t risk him wanting to get closer to you, but at least you knew he was safe. All you ever wanted was to keep him safe. And no matter how many times he tried to get close you spent so much time trying to keep him away. But recently he started leaving you things, notes and letters begging to let you be friends again. You figured it was the spell so you had him come over breaking your incantation that made your relationship stronger.

You regretted your choice almost instantly. Because for three months you had zero contact. For three months you barely even knew if he was alive, hell you didn’t. He wasn’t around Riverdale walking around like always. You were breaking down slowly. See in your head talking once a week or even once a month was better than not talking. It had been exactly 3 months since your last text with him. And every day since that first time you didn’t get one your heart broke. You needed him just like you have needed him since you were 5. Without Malachai you were empty.

So you began planning a spell, a spell to have him tell you the truth. Did he truly care? Was he ever really friends with you? A month of planning and you finally had it, but the problem it was a truth spell. A spell for him to tell you his true feelings. For that, you needed to be close. You not knowing where he was didn’t help. So you carried the drink mix with you everywhere hoping that maybe just maybe you’d see him.

And your hope was granted because 3 months later at a bar you sat down next to the curly hair you’d recognize anywhere.

“Mal…” turning around you saw the face, the lips, and the eyes that you missed ever so much. “I… fuck where have you been”

“Doesn’t matter Y/N”

“You scared the shit out of me”

“I’m sorry can I make it up to you somehow?”

“I could go for a drink”

“Same as always?”

“Mhm,” he called the bartender getting two shots made for the both of you.

“I’m gonna head to the bathroom, and when I come back we’re taking these shots”

“Alright big guy, better hurry I may just take both”

“Oh yeah?”

“Guess you’ll have to come back to find out” He got up off the chair heading to the bathroom and you knew it was perfect timing. You lifted the top of your ring revealing teh liquid that you had concocted.

“silentio per labia autem sectatur otium stultissimus est aperta veritate locuti sumus de corde verba veniet usque ad solis tunc incipit (silence now a lying tongue through the lips the truth shall come speak open words from the heart until the next sun starts)“. as soon as you finished you felt a hand on your back

“Hey Y/N”

“Oh, ah... hey”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Myself”

“Still doin that?”

“Asshole you know we both had imaginary friends you talked to them too!”

“Okay okay your right, hey why don’t you say we take these shots then head back to yours?”

“I’d like that” You really just needed him out of the bar, needing him to entirely focus on you so the words of others wouldn’t cloud his truths.

Heading to your house was quiet, you had walked to the bar so Mal drove you both back to your house. He was acting off, like his mind was running wild. You could see it behind his eyes, you could feel it in his presence. You honestly got scared. Afraid that you had done something wrong. You regretted the spell at this moment maybe just maybe it wasn’t right for you to do. The thing was though you couldn’t go back. Breaking a mind spell is 10x more dangerous for the person it was casted on than it being casted in the first place. His whole mind could break. He could end up not remembering you at all, not remembering himself at all. You couldn’t go back. You knew using magic to your advantage in small ways was fine, but using it to fuck with someones mind, to get them to tell you things they didn’t want you to know was a dangerous game. But if you hadn’t you knew you wouldn’t have survived much longer. Life without Malachai to you wasn’t worth living. Those months and years without talking killed you on the inside you loved him. You needed your lifeline back, needed anything about him to come back to you. You knew it was now or never.

“Mal”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot”

“Uhm do you like me?”

“Yes”

“Really”

“Mhm liked you for years Y/L/N, you like me?”

“Yeah I do Mal, for so goddamn long”

“Thank god” He smiled, but something behind it felt so genuine like it wasn’t hiding behind a spell, but what do you know. You had your answer. The only problem was your truth spell was temporary, when tomorrow came he would not remember a damn thing that occurred that night, and from there you would have to get him to tell you for real. You knew soon he’d fall asleep an extra aspect of the elixir you made being tiredness so now all you had to do was wait. You were knocked out of your thoughts as a snore erupted through your mind. You turned to see Malchai zonked out on the couch. You curled into his side knowing you always wake before him so you’d be able to move before he woke up.

Waking up that next day like always you began to stretch seeing Malachai still asleep next to you.

“Too bad you won’t remember anything” Sadness rang through in your wavering voice.

“Remember what? That I like you?” you head snapped to him instantly. You said nothing about him liking you or vice versa. There is no way he could have remembered because no matter what truth spell is used the person it is casted on is to not remember what had occurred and what had been said during it.

“Mal what do you mean”

“I mean what I said, I like you Y/N”

“What do you mean? How the fuck do you remember?”

“Remember what? Me telling you, or you trying to truth spell me?” You jaw dropped open

“Close your mouth baby girl, your gonna catch flies”

“I just… I don’t, how do you…?”

“The truth spell didn’t work Y/N. Last night was all me, actually, your spells have never worked on me, except the first protection ward”

“How the fuck do you know about that too?”

“No there's no way”

“If you knew then why have you been ignoring me for three months. I put a spell on, a spell to stay close and not forget me... but, but as soon as it broke it was like you did. You fucking forgot me Mal, so if none of the spells worked then why the fuck did you leave me alone for three months”

“Hey, hey calm down”

“No. becuase if the spell truly didn’t work you fucking left Mal”

“It was a coincidence Y/N, I could never forget you. I had to leave I was on a job for two months undercover up in Greendale, if I had contact with you in anyway it could have put you in so much danger and I couldn’t risk that, hell why do you think I put that incantation on you”

“You what!”

“But your not…”

“I'm a warlock”

“Thats how you knew from the start? About the protection wards and everything?”

“Kind of”

“When did you…”

“You put the spell on me and when you did a few weeks after my magic started developing I could hear people's thoughts, I could hear you. What you said and what you thought. I heard you thinking to yourself about the spell that day I got shot. Your thoughts got so fucking loud I could pinpoint exactly where you were standing, it was insane. I was so confused but it kept happening more and more. It was like a prediction almost. People would think of doing something and I'd already know. I talked to my grandma about it and she told me everything”

“If we were the same why did you let me push you away”

“I pushed you away too, I wanted to protect you from me, if I ever read to deep. Sometimes I get so entranced into what you are thinking I forget that my powers can go beyond just that. I could really hurt you”

“You’d never”

“I know, I know that now but at first it was so scary. Just like when you thought you'd get mad and something would hurt me from your magic. It was the same thing Y/N. I kept you at a distance cause I was afraid”

“I was so scared Mal”

“I know baby girl but we both have control now we don’t have to be afraid”

“I can still be afraid”

“Of what?... Nevermind, why are you afraid of me being in the Ghoulies”

“They are dangerous Mal, they… your parents I mean c'mon”

“They didn’t kill my parents Penny Peabody did, and she is rotting in a jail cell under ward protections. She will never get out. The Ghoulies are good people who make money to support their families. I know it’s dirty money, I know you know they run drugs but it is so much more than that Y/N and if you let me show you, you can understand too”

“I want to understand Mal, I want to be a part of everything with you.”

“You do?” you remember the one quote he always told you, the one thing he created for that gang, their slogan.

“Evolve or Die baby”