Exceeded Caution Series Masterlist

Wow

exceeded caution part 3

promise to keep

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a/n: okayyyy part 3 y’all here u go

pairing: ex!tara carpenter x f!reader into sam carpenter x f!reader

warnings: violence (stabbing), character deaths, blood, mention of ambulances, mention of car accidents, mention of past injuries. 3.6k words.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you had just been attacked. now was not the time to be thinking of sam carpenter's smile. or her eyes. or her tan skin and dark hair and her smile, her smile, her smile—

ding! a text. you looked over at your phone.

or her.

“thank you for the other day.” her message notification popped up on your screen. “you didn’t have to stand up for tara and i.”

“it’s okay, sam.” you replied at the speed of light. “i’m sure you and tara didn’t need any more of that. you’re already burdened with so much.”

“let me say thank you.” she sent and paused for a second, the three dots moving erratically as she typed. “dinner? just the two of us?”

“is that safe?” you questioned. you knew it was probably best that you both stayed indoors.

“it’ll just be at my place, tara’s staying at the twins’ tonight.” oh.

you felt like a dirty criminal. tara was your ex-girlfriend. you two were trying to be friends again, would this sabotage everything? if you were to pursue your feelings towards her sister?

but you couldn’t say no, you wanted to dip your toes in freezing cold water.

“okay. i’m down for that. what time do you want me to be there?”

or jump straight in.

“see you at six.”

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you knocked on the apartment door at exactly five past six. you realised you were a little late but you wanted to dress nice and look presentable.

the door creaked open, a cautious action by sam.

“hey...” she said, smiling now that she realised it was you.

“i should put a peephole on your door.” you chuckled softly, “maybe you’d be a little less nervous to answer.” you entered the apartment with your hands in your pockets.

she returned your laughter and nodded. “that would honestly help a lot, i think i should look into that.”

“or look out of it.” you joked, nudging her slightly. she rolled her eyes at you but couldn’t stop the smile that grazed her face.

“that was terrible.” she said, making her way to the kitchen.

“i know. but it made you smile.” you tried your hand at being a flirt, you didn’t know how it settled with her as she was facing away from you. but she didn’t stop you.

she turned back around, holding a pasta bake in her hands. “come on, let’s eat.” she jerked her head towards the dinner table.

you followed behind her and moved a chopping board closer to her so she could put the hot baking dish down.

“this smells amazing, sam.” you inhaled its aroma. “i’m really sad i missed your cooking week.”

“hey, we’re making up for it now.” she shrugged, grabbing a spatula to create a portion for you and serve it up on a plate. “here.”

“thanks.” you squeezed her shoulder when she handed it to you.

“yeah.” she whispered just under her breath as a response. she portioned some for herself and sat at the head of the table. you were sat just to her left. you found the seating to her intimate, it was better than her sitting across from you.

and yet, it was too far away.

you waited for her to start eating before you did.

“oh! did you want something to drink?” she asked suddenly, putting her fork down and standing up.

“sure. what do you have?” you turned around to watch her walk to the kitchen.

“i was gonna offer wine. or just alcohol in general.” she suggested, opening the cupboard that held it.

“sure. i’ll drink what you’re drinking.” you nodded, taking another bite of the pasta.

she came back a few seconds later with two wine glasses. you took one from her hand and sipped carefully. you weren’t exactly a wine person but you could appreciate the dose of alcohol.

“oh! this is good.” you commented, surprising yourself.

“it was like 20 dollars.” sam shrugged it off. “but it’s good, i do like it.”

“i’ll have to pick it up one day.” you put the glass down on its coaster.

you two ate quietly for a few minutes then sam broke the silence.

“how are you doing?” sam stopped poking at her food to ask the question.

“i’m… i dunno, actually.” you found that honestly was a pattern you stuck to with sam. she was always honest with you about how she felt and you never held back in returning the favor. “i never thought i’d find myself in a predicament like this— i don’t think anyone expects it, really.”

“you’re right, yeah.” she nods at you while taking another bite. “i wanted to call you and check in on you but tara has been busy trying to do schoolwork so i figured you were doing the same amount of work.”

“i am, yeah. i don’t know how she can focus so well though— i’m having trouble.” you confessed. “i’d never been the studious type anyways.”

“really?” sam raised her eyebrows at you. “you seem studious. like school work comes easy to you.”

your face slowly started to turn hot at the compliment. you hoped the concealer you had on was enough to hide it.

“well, i like school. it’s the assignments that get me. i like sitting in class and learning, but when it comes to writing 5000 word papers? that’s a different story.” you leaned back in your chair a little to sip your wine.

“fair enough.” sam chuckled softly. “although, i’d love to read 5000 words if they came from your mind.”

flirting?! was she flirting?!

what could you even say back to that? you often forgot that you were just dating sam’s younger sister. the forgotten thought was clouded by the fact that maybe you had chosen the wrong carpenter in the first place.

“oh… i’m sure you wouldn’t…” you stuttered out, talking over your food as an effort to hide your shy tone.

“i’m sure you’ve got an interesting mind.” sam leaned a little closer to you.

“you’re too kind, sam.” you sighed out.

“you are too.” she retorted back. “kindness is rare nowadays, i’ve been lucky enough to find it in you.”

her words were like string. wrapping around your heart and clenching it. samantha carpenter was getting to you. you felt your stomach drop when she spoke to you.

and yet, it felt so sinful.

“anyways—“ she cut through the silence. “i’m grateful you stayed with us even after the attack.”

“i dunno… i mean… i can’t say it was a new feeling, being so close to dying. but it was fucking terrifying trying to run away from someone with the intention of killing me.” you said. it almost felt too casual, the way you dropped that information on her.

“close to dying?” she asked.

“yeah. i was in a nasty car accident when i was a kid. i almost didn’t make it out, i was actually the last one rescued because they didn’t see me in the backseat.” you hadn’t told many people this story, but it felt like you’d told it a million times with sam.

“oh my god, i’m so sorry.” she suddenly reached for your hand and wrapped hers around it.

the contact felt hot. like heat was radiating off her skin and meeting yours. it felt like sparks igniting so aggressively that you felt you might explode.

sinner. sinful. sinful sinner.

“its okay.” you said, looking away as an effort to hide your embarrassment. your eyes met her empty plate and you moved to pick it up, pulling your hand away. she was too slow to stop you. “i’ll wash up for you.”

you got up with both your plates but she followed you to the kitchen. she leaned on the counter as you washed the dishes.

“did you have many injuries?” she asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

“yeah, bruised everything. broke most things. broken ribs, my eardrums burst, just… everything that could break a child.” you dryly chuckled, remembering how young you were when you had to deal with all of that.

“anything that hurts to this day?” it’s like she could see straight through you.

“yeah. my left arm. it’s just always acting up. it just broke horribly so the bones never fully recovered. it’s okay though, i think i can still lift more than you.” you joked, nudging her, trying to lighten the mood. sam laughed with you, stepping backwards to steady herself.

“oh i don’t doubt that.” she returned your energy, it was nice to see sam drop her usual demeanour.

you put the dishes on the drying rack after realising you had been scrubbing and rinsing them for nothing, getting carried away with your conversation.

“anyways, they were gonna cut it off but i didn’t want that. i wanted to try and heal. i unfortunately had to quit heaps of things in high school. gave up a lot of things i loved.” you frowned a little, “but it’s okay, i found new things!”

you dried your hands then felt a hand squeeze your arm gently, a sign of affection. you turned your head to see sam hovering over you. her fingers gently trickled down to touch your bad arm, her eyes trailing across the skin.

you were so close to her, so close. you could feel the heat radiating off her body.

“you’ve been through so much. and yet your heart is so good.” she whispered, not needing to make her voice any louder due to your close proximity.

“you never know what someone might be going through.” you turned around to face her, looking up at the taller girl in front of you. “not a lot of people treated me with kindness after the accident.”

she put her hands on both your upper arms, rubbing them as a way of grounding you after talking about something so heavy. it was working, you felt like you were more present than ever before.

the way she was looking at you— she was staring straight into your soul. it was like she was peeling all your layers back just by breathing the same air as you.

“nobody will ever hurt you again.”

it was almost a promise. you knew she couldn’t guarantee it, but she was going to try her hardest.

the statement made you close the gap between the two of you. you leaned upwards, almost reflexively. you even held onto the cloth of her shirt. she leaned down too, her lips hovering directly in front of yours.

just fucking do it.

your eyes fluttered shut, you moved in for it. and you swear you felt her lips before you heard it.

click!

the door swung open, quinn was home. you shoved sam back so hard that her back hit the wall with a thunk.

“hey guys.” she said, tiredness threading through the greeting.

“quinn. i thought you were staying over at what’s-his-name’s place?” sam asked, annoyed. you almost missed it.

you had your fingers grazing your own lips, still in disbelief at what happened. you didn’t even know if you made contact.

“i was supposed to but we fought because he didn’t make me cum.” quinn said, bluntly. you turned around, your eyes widened at the statement. you felt like you were intruding.

“interesting fight.” sam nodded, pretending to be amused.

“he’s a big baby. don’t worry about it. i’ll let y’all get back to dinner.” she kicked her shoes off and waved before making a beeline for her room.

sam’s jaw was tight. she was clearly bothered about being interrupted. you were staring at her side profile, your own arms crossed.

“we shouldn’t have, sam.” you said, firmly. you felt like a damn criminal going after her. you knew it would start more drama in the carpenter household after there was already so much brewing.

“but you want to.” she said, retaliating against your statement. “and i want to.”

“but we can’t. tara will hate us.” she scoffed at your words. what you didn’t realise is that she was more than willing to take that risk.

“we already did, anyway.” she said, moving towards you.

so you did. you did kiss her. in the split second you had before quinn walked in, you kissed her. and she felt it— there was no turning back now.

“sam…” you held your hand out, the tips of your fingers hitting her abdomen, stopping her from getting any closer.

because you knew if she came any further, you would do it again.

“we’re not doing it again.” you glared at her, but all you received back was a smirk. “i’m going.”

you turned away from her, walking to the front door to grab your bag and jacket. she stayed in the kitchen, she wasn’t going to try and stop you. she knew that you needed time to process.

she needed her time too. now was the wrong time to try and start this, in the middle of fighting an ongoing war against a masked killer. it was wrong, unfair to you both. but she couldn’t resist the urge.

in the space between trying to keep everyone alive, she wanted to fit you in. she wanted you by her side through all of this, even if it meant only having a second to kiss you in between stabs.

you put your bag on your shoulder and turned the doorknob, walking out and shutting the door behind you. she sighed in defeat as she packed the remaining leftovers away for anyone to pick at later on.

she walked into her room and plopped down on the bed, reaching for her phone. she found herself worrying about whether or not you made it home safe, she didn’t know if you would text her at all.

her thumbs quickly typed a message.

“please let me know if you get home safe.”

“home safe.” you texted her twenty 20 minutes later. as much as you knew distance was good for now, you wanted to ease her worries. she didn’t need to worry about you.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you don’t know how you found yourself ignoring the invite to another family dinner at the carpenter household.

you thought that by putting space between you and sam that the desire to give into the craving would fade away.

when you grabbed your pizza and made sure to lock your door three times, you found yourself increasingly paranoid at the thought that you were no longer safe from the infamous ghostface. you started to regret not going to the perpetually busy household.

and turning on the television didn’t help.

PRIME SUSPECT SAMANTHA CARPENTER

it was screaming at you.

you sat up and increased the volume. you couldn’t believe your ears.

if ghostface’s plan was to frame sam, it was working. you had to give him credit for that, but it didn’t anger you any less.

you didn’t need to hear anymore before your pizza was abandoned and you were dashing out the door with your things.

you had a promise to keep.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

twenty minutes. that’s all it took for ghostface to wreak havoc on the carpenter household.

quinn dead. anika dead.

funny enough, it’s also how long you took to arrive.

when you arrived, chad and tara were outside the apartment, trying to fight their way in.

“what the hell is going on?!” you asked, rushing to them.

“ghostface is inside! sam, mindy, and anika are still in there!” tara yelled, panicking.

you could feel the adrenaline course through your veins. you were safe out here— but sam was not here.

you pushed your shoulder against the door, pulling chad and tara closer to you.

“together on my count. we do it thrice.” you said.

“one.” bang!

“two!” bang!

“three!” crash!

the three of you came stumbling into the apartment, the bloodstained walls immediately catching your eye. you prayed that the blood belonged to ghostface.

“sam!” you screamed out into the house.

“sam!” she heard your voice from danny’s apartment.

oh no. you weren’t supposed to be here for this.

the masked figure spun around upon hearing your voice. he turned to look at sam. she couldn’t see his eyes but she knew he was looking at her. he was taunting her to come back and save you.

she would have jumped the window on her own without the damn ladder if not held back by mindy and danny.

she tried screaming out to you to get out of the apartment.

but you couldn’t hear her. you were too busy examining quinn’s lifeless body. as you reached over to try and check for a pulse, you heard running.

running. fast. towards you.

and then a blade coming down.

you screamed in pain as the blade went through your lower left arm. it was already bad, what use was it anyway?

sam shut her eyes at the sound, it was loud enough to wake the entire street. and she could do absolutely nothing. it was the thing of nightmares.

chad and tara came running to you, chad throwing his body at ghostface. he knocked him over and picked you up.

sam gripped the ladder until her knuckles were white. she wanted to leave it there just in case you three needed it too. she prayed silently that you would not meet the same fate as anika.

you were dragged out of the apartment and down the stairs. when you reached outside, the wind blew against the blood trickling down your body. it sent a chill down your spine. your hand was wrapped around the stab wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

chad took his hoodie off and wrapped it around your arm, hoping to take some weight off your hand. you were grateful for him in the moment.

tara was calling someone but you were losing blood too quickly to follow what she was saying.

sam came running the second she spotted you from danny’s window.

you only then realised you had no idea where sam was.

sam was coming. her feet were working as fast as they could.

you didn’t see her in the apartment so you held onto the hope that she was okay.

she needed to see you. she needed to make sure you were okay.

you heard a door fly open. expecting it just to be some random person, you turned around just out of curiosity.

sam came flying out the door, enveloping you in her arms.

you winced in pain as the impact from her hug squished your arm.

“i heard you scream. i thought he’d gotten you.” sam spoke into your ear.

“nope. but he got the bad arm.” you held the injury towards her, she frowned at it.

“i’m sorry. you weren’t supposed to be here.” sam held your upper arm’s reassuringly.

“i saw the news. they were labelling you as the prime suspect. i had to make sure you were okay.” you stared into sam’s eyes. “i made you a promise.”

you had her. it was then that you had her. she was yours, and she knew it. you knew it too.

tara watched you two inquisitively. she didn’t realise you two had gotten that close. was she missing something?

while holding onto her phone to call an ambulance for you, she wondered if maybe you already had what you needed.

it was wrong. she knew it was, but she had to intervene.

tara walked towards you, basically pushing sam out of the way and resting her hand on your upper arm.

“i called an ambulance for you. you should sit til then.” she directed you towards the steps of the complex.

you let tara sit next to you, placing your arm on your lap.

“it’s the shit arm.” she said, referring to an inside joke the two of you had made during your relationship. it was an obvious inside joke to figure out but it made the two of you laugh.

you didn’t quite laugh though, you just nodded dejectedly.

“it is. it never catches a fucking break.” you huffed in frustration. you didn’t want to know the damages that would occur from this injury.

“i’m sure it’ll be okay. your body has survived so much worse.” part of you was surprised she even remembered the accident you’d been through.

“parts of my body have. why couldn’t he have gone for my leg or something?” you groaned out, tara’s dimples making an appearance from the smile that she flashed you.

“maybe you should let him know that for his next attack.” tara joked, it was an attempt to make you feel better despite ill timing.

you couldn’t hold back the snicker you felt bubble in the back of your throat. you were bleeding into chad’s hoodie but somehow tara made you feel better about it. it was a nice side of her.

“maybe i’ll leave a note.” you turned to her with a smile now growing.

“glad you’re feeling a bit better.”

“it still feels like shit. but thank you.” you acknowledged her efforts. she nodded and sat with you until the ambulance arrived.

when the paramedics collected you, they let you sit on the stretcher.

“fancy.” you mumbled, “and expensive.”

they loaded you into the vehicle and the male paramedic turned to the group outside.

“is anyone coming with her?”

“i’ll go.”

“i’ll go.”

both sisters chirped up at the same time, standing right at the door.

“only one of them can come with you.” the female paramedic said, turning to you.

you stared at the two girls. why did they have to do this tonight?

you had a choice to make, and you had to proceed with exceeded caution.

tara or sam.

sam or tara.

you had to choose before you bled out.

in your fuzzy state, you slurred out your answer.

and the chosen carpenter hopped into the ambulance with you.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

author’s journal

okayyy everyone thank emma for pushing me to get this done earlier than i expected.

i’m also sorry if the romance feels a little rushed but i wanna get the romantic element kickstarted a bit more because we’re all here for it lets be real.

ummm i also wanted to write out the ladder scene a bit more but this chapter would go on FOREVERRRR

this was also my first time ever writing a simultaneous pov scene so i hope it makes some form of sense

anyways i hope y’all enjoyed this and i’m sorry for the cliffhanger— no i’m not, i’m so funny.

kisses!

Together - CHO HYUN-JU x Fem Reader

Summary: Reader is scammed and abandoned by her boyfriend, leaving her alone in South Korea to her fate, so in desperate search of a solution to return to her home country she decides to join the squid games to get money, within the game she meets a couple of people who become her friends and could possibly be something more.

Warning: In this episode none!

In futures episodes: Violence, Strong language, female main character is considered heterosexual but she have feelings for a female (Cho Hyun-ju) and it is reciprocated, abuse for male characters.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

You were stupid, very stupid and naive, that was what you repeated to yourself every day since your ex-boyfriend scammed you and abandoned you in a country where you didn't know anyone, you couldn't even understand the language well and now you were locked up in a place full of strangers in a green uniform and with a headache you could barely bear.

Why were you doing such stupid things? You should have said no when that man approached you and offered you money, it was all for the damn money, otherwise how would you find another way to get home?

Barely a day had passed, you understood little of the first game where you saw one person after another die around you, what you had gotten yourself into, this wasn't a game, it was a massacre, as you sat cross-legged on the cold bed that had been assigned to you you could feel your hands shaking and you felt warm tears rolling down your cheeks.

Hey - a kind voice rumbled slowly but enough to wake you from your trance to look up and see a boy with long, slicked-back hair holding a small metal tray - I noticed you didn't come over for your food, I brought you some

His equally shaky hand moved a little closer to you, leaving the tray on the bed, staring at you, afraid you'd react

It's okay if you don't want to eat it, it's just that if we're going to keep playing you need strength for tomorrow - his kind but shy smile and his clear disinterest in leaving made you wipe your tears with the sleeves of your sweater, nodding taking a deep breath - Thanks - you told him, trying not to sound upset, because you really weren't and if you were it was only with yourself

My name is Dae-Ho, yours is… 144 - he looked at you curiously taking a bite of his food

Y/N… my name is Y/N - you sighed, hugging your legs uncomfortably and nervous

Hey, leave her alone - a loud and somewhat curious voice sounded behind Dae-Ho making the two look towards the sound - don't you see that you're making her uncomfortable? go away

I… I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, it's just that… - Dae-Ho looked at you embarrassed, walking away just a few steps

You don't have to give explanations, go away - the girl, a little taller than Dae-Ho, looked at him firmly, almost annoyed, following the man with her gaze as he walked away quickly and embarrassed, joining a group of men on the other shelf of beds

you can eat in peace - the girl looked at you kindly while you only responded with a slight nod and she walked away returning to her place two beds down on the shelf next to you

It was difficult for you not to go unnoticed and it was obvious that everyone wanted to get away from you, you weren't like them, you didn't share their nationality, their traditions, or their topics of conversation, you didn't even understand many of them what they were talking about, they all looked at you like a weirdo, like why a foreigner could come and want to steal their prize, it was unfair.

That's how you spent the first night, alone, trembling from the cold and fear, looking into the darkness while you cried silently and the gunshots echoed in your ears, it was a nightmare and that's how you were until sleep overcame you

The second day wasn't any better, you could barely carry yourself, you were tired, hungry and much more scared than yesterday, surrounded by hundreds of people in a courtyard with drawings of children and rainbows on the floor.

''Now, it's time to form teams of 5, you have 10 minutes'' the voice of the speaker sounded repeatedly before an alarm sounded and you saw how everyone ran looking for members for their team, but everyone seemed to avoid you like a plague.

They ran and pushed you but no one looked at you to join and if they looked at you it was to laugh and murmur

There she was again, standing in front of you with a sad look that barely met your eyes she looked at the floor and walked by your side.

Hey… - you murmured barely, only to her with fear and shame - if you still don't have a team… I can join you if you don't mind - she looked at you over her shoulder giving a sigh of relief nodding offering you her hand so she could walk by your side and not get lost in the crowd

Between your fingers you could notice the difference in size between your small and fragile hand and hers, it was big with a different strength and somewhat rough but still made you feel protected and confident

So you both walked almost in circles finding the fragile old woman and her son and then the little girl with bangs forming a team of 5

Again the games were confusing for you, you could identify some that resembled what you had once played in your country but fear consumed you making your hands tremble again

Calm down - her voice again fragile but somewhat thick made you look at her holding the air - everything will be fine, don't push yourself too much okay? Do you think you can take charge of throwing the rocks? It's just a matter of taking a rock, throwing it and making the second one fall, that's all you have to do - her voice was like a murmur trying not to interrupt the game of the first two teams that were participating

Should I just throw it? - you looked at her nervously, looking at her dark eyes behind her bangs

You just have to throw it, it's easy - she smiled at you giving you hope making you smile barely as you looked at the floor again nervously trying not to think about everything that was tormenting your head, in the background you could hear the screams and cheers that the other players made while the teams participated until a round of gunshots made you jump scared covering your ears and closing your eyes tightly - calm down, calm down nothing is happening - her arms surrounded you quickly, adjusting you against her chest, you could feel the strands of her hair on your face and a slight aroma of herbs coming from it - it's over, don't open your eyes until I tell you okay?

Your head barely nodded as you took a deep breath, the aroma of her hair made you remember the gardens where you walked when you first arrived in South Korea and her arms for some reason made you feel protected, nothing could happen to you

A couple of minutes (that seemed like an eternity) passed slowly, people were talking, some were crying and in the background you could hear the sound of the sirens of the forklifts that had come to pick up the bodies, one second after another it was a damn nightmare.

''Next team, you can take your position'' the voice from the speaker again

It's our turn - the old woman sighed getting up while you opened your eyes and stood up slowly with fear

The guards tied your ankles and after a shot the game for you began.

You walked counting the steps, being constant and fast in your tasks, first Ddjaki, the little girl with the bangs did well, then the flying rock, your trembling hands held it strong and letting out a deep sigh you threw it against the rock in the distance failing in the attempt

Girl concentrate, what's wrong with you! - the old woman shouted making your friend look at her annoyed and after her firm indication and walking as a team to pick it up the 5 of them returned to their position - don't fail, please girl!

We trust you… calm down, take a breath and throw it, you'll do well - Your new best friend looked at you smiling lightly giving you courage.

A sigh again, a fixed look at the rock and after throwing it it fell with a blow.

Everyone screamed, applauded and so on again until reaching the final task ''Team 2, you have completed your tasks'' you had never been so happy to hear that spooky voice on the speaker and once the guards untied your ankles they all ran screaming and laughing to the fence that separated you from the rest of the players, you could finally return to the dormitory and finally had survived another day.

Everyone was happy, so much so that all of you were jumping and screaming with excitement, your friend, the tall girl ran to you without wasting a second surrounding you with her strong arms making you spin in the air while both of you laughed

We did it, I told you, we did it right - she laughed jumping with you still in her arms making you scream when you felt the air on your face and your legs hanging in the air

Now, stop it, you're going to make her dizzy - the old woman laughed patting her back as a sign that it was enough until you heard gunshots in the distance again making the team erase their smile and remember the horrible place where they were

Come on let's sit down - her hand slowly and carefully took yours walking towards the bed shelves climbing up and sitting on the steps - are you okay?

Yes… I'm pretty well, thanks for helping me - you smiled rubbing your hands on your legs nervously

By the way, my name is Cho Hyun-Ju… are you? - she looked at you curiously

Y/N… my name is Y/N - you smiled shyly at her

You have a very pretty name - she smiled back shyly with her cheeks slightly tinted - thanks for letting me join you in the game you were the only person who approached me

You don't have to thank me, I think we are both rejected for certain reasons and that makes us unique in the crowd right? it's better to be united and be stronger than alone - your cheeks felt hot, the sign that they were red like cherries

You're right..

Part 2 ✨

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Thanks for reading, this is the first episode I've written about Squid Game and it was short since I have little time to update but I didn't want to go to sleep without writing the beginning of the story, I have ideas but I'd like to hear yours and write them down, just to reinforce the theme of this story the reader and Cho Hyun-ju will possibly have a romance so if these themes aren't to you please don't read it, I know you'll find something that suits your tastes. 🫶🏻

Again, Thanks for reading, I'll be back soon!

BTW: Happy New Year everyone 🥂✨

exceeded caution: part 1

she would have chosen the devil

series masterlist | next part

summary: when your relationship with the younger carpenter sister fails, what happens when thoughts of her older sister start to take over your mind? 4.1k words pairing: tara carpenter x f!reader into sam carpenter x f!reader warnings: toxic relationship, cursing, fighting, alcohol consumption, drug consumption, frankie mentioned, out of character tara.

a/n: this is actually such a bad first chapter because its mostly set up but i promise the next chapters are so much better. but ily carpenter sisters mwah mwah.

•*¨*•.¸¸♪

couples fight, right?

that’s how they show they care, right?

that’s what you were always taught when talking about relationships.

you and tara had started off as friends with benefits. you met early in freshman year and the attraction was instant.

when you started to meet her friends, you quickly learned about their experience in woodsboro. you had known about the notorious killer but you never thought you would find yourself amongst the people associated with the incident.

as time went on, you decided to shoot your shot with her. your feelings became deeper than the desire to satisfy each other in bed.

you asked her out on a proper date after chasing her halfway across campus. you were sweaty and panting but when she delivered a kiss to her cheek with a "yes, i would love to", you knew it was worth it.

after a few dates, you learned that tara had a fear of getting close to people. she told you about amber and how she'd developed issues with commitment after that disastrous relationship.

so when you and tara started fighting at a higher frequency, you thought it was just because you didn’t want to lose each other.

you chalked it up to the perpetual state of stress she was in due to her sister being overprotective and not letting her go out as often as she used to.

then you started noticing the cracks in your theory when tara started fighting with you over the smallest thing. your jacket didn’t match her skirt, you chewed a little too loud, you handed her the wrong coffee order.

you did your best to calm the girl when she was in her angered state, your efforts proved to be futile when she would just kick you out of her room and you’d have to do the walk of shame out of her apartment.

only to make things worse, you usually bumped into sam on the way out. you knew your girlfriend’s older sister was overprotective of her and you were worried about what she thought of you.

sam often watched you leave from the kitchen, shooting you a look that you couldn’t decipher.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

"there's a party tonight for halloween, we should all go." mindy proposed to the group. it was a frat party, and you hated frat parties.

"we should!" your girlfriend, tara, exclaimed.

"is sam even going to let you out of the house?" chad asked, chuckling softly at tara's excitement.

"uhh... that's an issue for later." she said, looking away. you saw the gears turning in her head.

"you're not gonna tell her, are you?" you asked her, you knew her all too well. she turned to you with a small glare on her face.

"and what of it?" she said, snapping a bit. you seem to have taken her out of deep thought. you should have known that would be her response.

whenever a sore subject would come up, you tried not to bother her too much about it. you should have held your tongue, knowing you were talking about one of the sorest subjects— her sister. you frowned at her.

"i was just trying to tease, tara." you clarified. "it's okay, i won't judge you for it. i know sam's been overprotective recently."

tara seemed to back down from her anger when you said that. she just turned back to her phone as you turned back to your uneaten lunch.

you agreed to the party under the impression that it might be good for you and tara. it might be nice for her to get out of the house for once and spend time just being a young adult.

"i'll go as a cowboy." chad chimed into the conversation again. you had no idea what you were going to put together at the last minute.

"i'll throw together a pirate outfit." tara shrugged her shoulders, thinking back to her own closet.

"maybe i could be the parrot on your shoulder." you joked at her, she rolled her eyes at you with a small smile on her face.

"please don't." she laughed softly. you loved her laugh so much, and you loved being the reason for it. you’ve grown to cherish those little slivers of happiness between the two of you.

“okay.” you retreated your statement. “i’ll go as an angel.” you grinned. you had a dress waiting for you back home and some spare angel wings you used for a previous costume party.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you were on your third drink of the night and had your arms around chad and ethan, singing the lyrics to sweet caroline. you three were swaying together on the dance floor.

mindy and anika looked over you three and rolled their eyes. it’s like they were meant to be.

you realised that your girlfriend was nowhere to be seen, that was concerning. she’d usually be joining you three in your antics.

you turned around to see her at the drinks table, talking to a taller man in a white shirt. you recognized him from somewhere but you weren’t entirely sure.

you opted to trust tara instead of the sinking gut feeling you had. she tended to get angry at you when you acted impulsively, you wanted to avoid that tonight.

you stepped away from the boys and made your way over to mindy and anika. you put your arm around mindy, you both had a great relationship— it was like you were her non-sibling twin flame.

"hey spoilsport. you suggested coming! why are you hiding all the way out here?" you asked her, leaning your head on her shoulder. you spotted a smile creep up her cheeks.

"because someone has to make sure all of you get home safe and sound." she poked your nose and you pulled your head back reflexively.

"that shouldn't stop you from having some fun with us too." you prodded more, trying to get her to loosen up.

however, mindy's point proved itself when you heard commotion come from the stairway. you turned your heads to see chad and tara along with the man in the white shirt by the staircase.

"holy fuck, is that frankie?" mindy asked.

it was like a jolt had electrified your entire body.

frankie.

you should have listened to that gut feeling. it got worse as you spotted tara by his side, his hand wrapped around her wrist.

you felt a fire rage in your belly and an overwhelming concern for tara. you made your way over only to already hear chad telling him off.

"what's going on?" you asked as you approached, standing shoulder to shoulder with chad.

“none of your business.” tara spat out at you, you looked at her with worried eyes. you never provoked her when she was like this but you realised the gut feeling not only applied to frankie but also tara.

“chad.” you called the boy’s name out, indicating that you wanted an explanation.

“frankie was trying to take tara upstairs for god knows what.” chad glared at the man a couple of steps above him.

your jaw clenched and fury filled your pupils.

“she wanted it, dude.” frankie shot back, “she asked me to.”

you looked over at tara only to see that she wasn’t looking at you, she was looking down at the accumulating crowd.

“tara, surely not.” you said, almost pleading. it was a contrast to your angry stare.

she didn’t respond.

she didn’t say a word.

“bro, shut up. she’s drunk and she isn’t thinking straight.” chad fought back at frankie. you snapped out of your thoughts and looked over at the two men.

“he’s right. she isn’t capable of making decisions. you have no right.” you said.

“whatever.” frankie rolled his eyes and pulled tara up the stairs, causing the shorter girl to tumble.

chad snapped and grabbed frankie by the shirt, throwing him down the stairs. you immediately went to check on tara.

“hey, love. let’s get you up. are you okay?” you asked her but you were simply met with silence and her trying to yank her arm away from your touch. she helped herself up but not without struggling.

you watched the altercation between chad and frankie go down, the two boys shoving each other back and forth.

you looked over at tara. you had almost forgotten the look on her face when you asked her if she was really wanting to go upstairs with frankie. she was inebriated, she wasn’t thinking clearly. she didn’t mean it— you could tell yourself that all you want but tara was never one to hide her emotions— especially if it was annoyance.

your thoughts were cut short when you saw sam carpenter walk straight in to the party.

fuck.

you couldn’t zone in enough to hear their conversation from the stairs, but your eyes did enough when they saw sam tase frankie’s balls.

you almost laughed at the sight of the man falling to the floor, but you knew you had to do something.

you stepped in suddenly, holding the older carpenter’s shoulders.

“let’s go. we don’t need any more trouble.” you thought you would be met with a scolding but sam simply nodded at you. she walked over to tara and helped her down the stairs, practically dragging her out of the party.

“sam, let me go!” your girlfriend protested. you followed behind the sisters along with chad, ethan, anika, and mindy.

tara managed to break herself free from sam’s grasp when you were all outside on the street. you stopped in your tracks and it landed you beside sam.

“tara, really?!” sam yelled at her sister, “sneaking out?! i had to find out from quinn that you were here. what if something happened to you?!”

“nothing was gonna happen, sam!” tara rubbed the inner corners of her eyes, trying to wrap her head around the situation.

“really?! cause i don’t think that guy was gonna let you go easy!” sam gestured back to the house. “and what were you thinking?! you have a girlfriend.”

“oh please, she won’t care.” tara scoffed. you were standing right there, but it was like she looked straight through you. how could she say that about you?

“right.” sam stopped her before she could say anything else. “i’m taking you home.” she said. she turned around to you, making eye contact. your breath hitched in your throat. “and you too. c’mon.”

you had to oblige, you weren’t going to fight against an angry sam.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

the car ride was more eerie than silent.

despite the looming quiet, you looked over at tara in the rearview. she was staring outside the window in the backseat while you sat in the front. sam had forced her into the back, saying she didn’t wanna get thrown up on.

you looked over at sam, her eyebrows furrowed as she drove you both back. you wondered what was happening in that head of hers. she had been through a lot too. her protective nature was a product of everything that had happened in woodsboro, you found your concern growing for her too.

you helped tara up to the apartment with sam. at one point, you gave up and decided to princess carry her. she protested at first but realised she had no other choice.

you put tara down on her bed, taking off the bandana that covered her hair. you went into her closet to grab some clothes for her, kneeling down about to help her.

she suddenly turned away from you.

“tara, please. let’s not fight.” you pleaded with her, wanting to get her comfortable more than anything.

“fighting is the only reason i stay with you.” she mumbled.

“what?” you looked up at her from your kneeling position, trying to help her take her shoes off.

“you’re so nice all the time.” she glares at you. “you’re too different from her.”

oh, her. you knew.

“but i like controlling you. it’s almost too easy.” she had a venom-laced tongue tonight, the alcohol allowing the toxin to seep through your skin. “but i feel absolutely nothing for you.”

you finally knew the reason for your fighting.

“i almost even hate you sometimes though.” she admitted. “i only said yes to going out with you cause we were in public. if it was anywhere else, i would have rejected you.”

you were silent, you were stunned.

“i’m too young to settle down too, y’know?” she followed up, it was never-ending. “nothing was gonna happen with frankie. i knew better— he’s disgusting. but you had to end the fun when i was finally allowing myself to realise i had other options.” she scoffed.

her words didn’t make sense to you. she wouldn’t do that, she couldn’t do that. surely she had some heart in her.

you felt disgusted with yourself. you stepped back and had to hold back from saying anything. it was late, they had another roommate who was asleep and sam was waiting for you in the living room to take you home.

when you stepped back, tara rolled into bed, pulling the covers to her chin. you stared at her, tears forming in your eyes from what she said.

you were being used.

and she played you like a fiddle.

you were dressed as an angel, which was ironic.

because tara would rather have the devil.

you had tried to be the best possible person for her. you took everything she’s been to into consideration, always looking after her. but you realised she didn’t want that, she wanted someone else.

you covered your mouth to stiffle sobs that threatened to escape your lips.

you walked out of her room only to nearly come crashing into sam, who was leaning on the wall by the doorway the whole time.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

sam had previously been in the kitchen, preparing a glass of water for tara. she realised you were taking a bit longer than she expected, she figured you fell asleep next to tara.

she knew the nature of your relationship with tara. she had to listen to tara’s entire thought process of saying yes to you asking her out. she even discouraged tara, letting her know that it wasn’t fair to you.

but tara always had a mind of her own.

when she heard soft voices, she decided to come and check on the two of you. she stopped walking and listened in when she heard what you were talking about.

oh, she felt sick.

she felt sick hearing her younger sister say those words to you. she always cherished tara. she missed her sister that wasn’t capable of hurting a fly but quickly let those thoughts go when she acknowledged that the girl that she cared for was gone.

she leaned against the wall and heard your footsteps quickly approach. she didn’t expect you to almost crash into her, her hands flew to your waist, stabilising you.

she hadn’t gotten a good look at you earlier, you were dressed as an angel. a part of her almost smiled at how pretty you looked. sam always thought you were pretty, her eyes weren’t painted on.

“hey…” she said, watching you wipe your tears away. “here, take this.” the water meant for tara quickly changed ownership.

you declined the water, shaking your head and waving it away.

“please. you’ve been crying.” you hated that sam carpenter caught you in this state. you hoped to compose yourself before seeing her again.

“sam, it’s fine. let’s just go, please.” you brushed past her, she quickly turned and followed you out. she grabbed her jacket and her keys before following you downstairs.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

“you didn’t deserve that.” sam broke the silence. you slowly turned to her and just stared, you were still trying to find the words.

“sam…” you started.

“no. it doesn’t matter.” she interjected. “i’m sorry about tara.”

“it’s fine. i can handle it. she's right anyway."

“it’s not. and she isn't."

you felt yourself crawl back into your shell. the order in sam’s voice, like she was a general, made you feel like you couldn’t say a word.

“you deserve better than her." she suddenly turned to look at you, her glare wasn't like tara's though. hers was more angry at you for saying those things about yourself.

"she's just stressed." you try to justify tara's actions. you still harboured feelings for the girl. it was going to be hard to see it any other way.

"don't try and do that." sam shook her head, pulling up outside your apartment. "you're a grown ass woman, you know better than to try and justify someone hurting you."

you'd never seen that side to sam before. she was always tara's timid older sister, a strong but silent type. you didn't expect to hear her suddenly standing up for you.

"i just need a night, sam." you didn't want to talk about it anymore, it was all too much for you.

"get some rest." she nodded at you while you pulled at the door handle, unlocking it and hopping out. you leaned down and poked your head back into the car.

"thank you for the ride home. i appreciate it. i'll see you soon."

sam nodded at you. "goodnight."

"goodnight, sam."

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

tara thought her eyes were burning in the sunlight. she felt herself wither away as she was hit with a pounding headache.

her throat was dry but as she blinked away the exhaustion, she realised there was a glass of water by her bedside. she practically leapt for it, chugging it all in one go.

she was still in her clothes from last night. she got up to change into something more comfortable and take her make-up off. it was the weekend so she had nowhere to be, deciding to dedicate the free day to recovering from her wicked hangover.

she walked out of her room to see sam making breakfast. she could literally eat anything right now.

sam looked just as exhausted as her.

memories started flooding in from last night, the fight that ensued coming back to her

"jesus sam, no way you actually used a taser on someone last night." tara grumbled as she took her seat on the dining table.

"i absolutely did. and i'm not regretting it." sam retaliated, setting a plate down in front of tara. "eat up. you're gonna need the energy for today."

"why? what's today?" tara asked, already wolfing down the food in front of her.

"do you really not remember anything from last night?" sam asked her, sitting down beside her with her own plate of food.

tara shook her head which led to sam explaining what you two talked about that night.

tara was horrified. she felt so guilty. sure, she knew she didn't lie completely, but she knew you didn't need to hear that.

and it was too late to take it back now.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

five knocks woke you from your own slumber.

you groaned and pushed yourself off the mattress, glitter still coating your eyes from your costume last night. you immediately rolled into bed after changing last night.

you threw the door open, a frustrated look on your face.

tara.

oh, and sam around the corner.

sam shot you a sheepish wave, you waved back at her. you knew the only reason that tara was here was because sam brought her. while you appreciated the gesture, you knew there was only one way this was ending.

"you shouldn't have kept this going for as long as it did!"

you yelled at tara. you two had been going at it for ten minutes now, you were sure the entire apartment complex could hear the two of you. and you knew they could hear your heart breaking.

"what the fuck was i supposed to do?!" tara exclaimed back. "walk up to you and oh hey, i don't actually have any feelings for you?!"

"yes! exactly that." you shot back, scoffing and crossing your arms across your chest. "you should have been honest with me, tara."

"i couldn't. you... you were good for me." tara whispered, her anger subsiding. "you were kind and just what i needed after everything that happened. i thought that maybe i could grow to have feelings for you."

"you shouldn't have taken that chance. you basically lied to me for months." your posture straightened, your jaw tightening. "it wasn't fair."

"i know... i know..." tara said, trying to calm you a bit more. "i'm sorry."

"you know that sorry isn't gonna cut it, right tara?" you huffed, shaking your head at her. "we're done."

she stared at you for a beat, she didn't believe that you ended it. you were so quiet all the time, always kind and happy. you never took the initiative, she thought she would have to do it. to say you surprised her was an understatement.

"i understand." she nodded. "i'll go."

"yeah... you'd better." you weren't going to stop her, she was the last person you wanted to see.

you opened the door for her and saw sam avoiding your eyes around the corner.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

three weeks later, you hadn't seen much of your friends. you decided to be the one to keep your distance, you hadn't even seen mindy all that much.

it wasn't until you heard your phone buzz on a random friday morning that you realised that you were missing your dear friends.

"come over tonight, we're watching a movie." a text from mindy.

"we're?" you responded. you knew that mindy would pick up on what you were putting down.

"yes. tara will be there. but we haven't seen you in ages. i'll put you on seperate ends of the room." she typed quickly.

"okay. what time?" you missed your friends more than anything, it was worth seeing tara if it meant you got to see everyone else too.

"4 plus 3." mindy replied, you chucked your phone to the side and sighed. you had to spend the rest of the day psyching yourself up to face everyone again.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you arrived at the twin's place at exactly seven sharp.

you walked in and saw that everyone else was already there, surrounding the television.

"bystanders reported seeing the killer with a black cloak and sporting the infamous ghostface mask."

oh no. oh no no no.

you knew all the stories, you'd seen what the killer had done to the carpenters and the twins. and you couldn't believe that he was back.

silence coated the walls of the room, everyone was too shocked to say anything.

tara ran out of the room into another area of the apartment, mindy and chad following behind her. sam walked out the door. you wanted to go after tara, but you thought you might make things worse in that sector. she already had the twins following her, and sam had nobody.

you trailed behind sam. she ran down the stairs, sitting down on the end step, her head falling into her hands. you slowly approached, sitting down on the end step beside her.

"i'm so sorry." you whispered, looking straight ahead.

"its never gonna fucking end." sam sobbed out, her fingers tangling into her hair.

you sat in silence, your palms flat on your lap. you didn't know if you should do anything or say anything.

"there's nothing i can say or do to make this better... but i hope you know, there's more of us now. no way in hell are we leaving you alone in all of this." you said, determined. "you aren't going to go through this alone, sam."

sam peeked her head out. your words were something she had heard before, but coming from you, she felt different about them. she knew you didn't know how to reassure her, you hadn't been through the same thing. you two only knew each other in passing, but she appreciated it.

she turned to you, and you turned to her.

this was the closest you two had been ever.

had she always been this beautiful?

had you?

you shook your head to shake away your thoughts, now was not the time. you could tell she was also trying to push her own thoughts away.

"thank you, i appreciate that." she whispered, a small but genuine smile flashed at you.

"do you want to sit here for a bit longer?" you asked her.

sam begun to think that tara was right. you were incredibly kind and considerate, you could read people like they were an open book. she nodded at you and you nodded back at her.

you two proceeded to sit in a comfortable silence.

you could hear thumping above you, knowing that the twin's apartment was active with stress and fear.

but you couldn't move. you had to be there for sam.

and you meant what you said.

no matter what, you weren't leaving.

•*¨*•.¸¸♪

author's journal i actually am also unsure about this set up for the series. i hope my writing gets better as it goes on but the set up was a bit rough to write and even read. but i promise better content soon y’all 😫 i also would have written a longer drunken argument scene between tara & reader but i needed some sam emphasis, this might get edited in the future

on another note, okay yeah i have so much love for the carpenter sisters actually. this idea came to be out of nowhere when i was watching scream vi to fall asleep and i immediately told emma about it so everyone say ty emma ilysm liefje. she's had to deal with all my bullshit recently so this entire series is dedicated to her <3

another thing is heaps and heaps of credits to @shdysders one of my current favorite writers because the drunken argument scene is hella similar to theirs from one of their fics, if only (which you all should read btw.) thank you babes.

andddd let me know if you wanna get added to the taglist for this fic also and i’ll be more than happy to oblige <3

You came back

(Katniss Everdeen x Fem Reader) ❀

Summary: After everything in the Capitol had begun to settle and your memories are stable, you return to the Victors Village for Katniss.

Warnings: Katniss is suicidal and very depressed, but the rest is just hurt/comfort/fluff—Also, not a warning, but you’re basically Peeta in this situation. (SFW)

Word Count: 3450

Carving holes into the dirt was tougher than you had expected it to be. The world was warming up around you, and flowers, just as the Primroses in your hand, were blooming in the woods, but the Victors village was stuck in a gloomy time warp. Just stepping through the archway onto the dry grass was like stepping into another realm.

Everything was the same as it was when you last saw it. Gloomy and empty, the truest resemblance of the life of a victor.

You planted the Primroses outside of the house, bringing a little bit of life back to the wasteland. You watered them once they were in the ground and then you went up onto the porch. It was a miracle the village wasn’t obliterated by the bombs, but it felt even heavier than the rest of District 12. Life had continued on outside these concrete walls, nature reclaimed the ruins with haste, but inside it was as if nothing had changed.

The door was cold as your knuckles rasped its surface. You held your breath.

Nothing.

After another failed attempt at knocking, you felt worry snake through your heart. The only thing you could think about was the worst outcome of them all.

She’s gone.

No, no, that couldn’t happen. It just couldn’t. You rammed your shoulder into the door and popped open the old lock.

The inside of the house was just as depressing as the outside was. The lights were off and a layer of dust coated practically everything. The air was heavy and musty, smelling mostly old and just… bad, but the smell of death was lacking.. That was good at least.

You could barely make out some footprints on the floor that headed to the living room. Following the only sign of life, you took a deep breath and entered the living room. The curtains were drawn over the windows. You stumbled into the room, hand running along the wall and looking for the switch. When you finally found it, you took in a breath and then turned on the light.

There was a lump on the couch that shifted slightly as the lights flickered on.

You let out the breath in a sigh of relief. She was alive. Right? You did a double take.

Her hair was an utter mess of grease and tangles. Her skin was nearly white, the only flush of color tinting her nose and darkening under her hollow eyes. Her body was thin and frail beneath her loose clothes.

The only reason you figured she was alive was that her chest was frantically rising and falling, her breath shaky and hoarse. She said nothing, empty eyes locked on you.

“Katniss.” You breathed softly.

The living corpse still didn’t speak. You could just barely see the thoughts whirling in her mind beneath the haze in her eyes, but her raw lips didn’t move. Her body was present and hanging on by a thread. Her mind was gone.

You weren’t sure what you were expecting but it certainly wasn’t this.

You couldn’t figure out what to say. Words didn’t seem right for this, for the broken and numb soul in front of you.

Quietly you held your hands up, showing Katniss that you were empty handed, except for the small pack on your back that you set down on the floor with a thump. You cautiously approached her, taking notice of the orange cat curled by her feet that was staring back at you.

Hoping for some flicker of recognition, you waited at the edge of the couch.

After she studied you for a moment the fear faded from her eyes. She didn’t say anything and just lowered her head, looking at her lap blankly. She didn’t have it in her to be scared of you.

“I would’ve come back sooner.” You said softly, taking a seat on the edge of the cushion. “They wanted me to stay for a while longer to fix my memories… but I’m okay now. I remember it all.” You murmured.

Katniss didn’t respond, didn’t give any sign that she heard you at all.

The worry filled your chest once again, your heart sinking ever so slightly. For a split second you were worried that she was bitter at you for everything you’d done while hijacked, but you knew better than that.

You hadn’t seen Katniss since she killed Coin and had been sent back. You begged Haymitch and Plutarch to let you go home with her but they refused, encouraging you to make sure everything was okay with yourself first before trying to fix another destroyed girl. When the chance came you hopped on the train with nothing but one goal: Get back to Katniss.

But this wasn’t the Katniss you once knew. Yes, the games had changed both of you, had ripped out your brain and your heart and tarnished them with regret and pain, but returned the vital organs when finished. While you were tortured in the Capitol, Katniss tortured herself. Your reunion was cut short by Snow, and then Katniss lost the last flower that was keeping her alive, lost her brain, and her heart.

Prim was gone. And so was Katniss.

“I’m back now.” You said softly although you knew it was no use. “And I’m not going to leave, alright? I’m going to take care of you…”

She remained mute. She wasn’t even a human anymore. She’d lost all senses and control of herself. She was just a body waiting to die.

You couldn’t stop the sad sigh from escaping your lips, but you weren’t upset with her. You were more focused on your new task ahead: Get Katniss back.

After soothing her back to sleep, or at least getting her laying down in her catatonic state, you started a fire in the fireplace. You took a quick walk of the house. It was the same as yours had been so you knew the layout well, you just wanted to survey the damage.

Most rooms were just dirty, some of them a little wrecked from natural causes. The worst thing you saw was the bathroom that had a mold filled tub and a severely leaky sink, but you could fix that. The fridge was full with moldy food that you threw out. Katniss probably hadn’t eaten in days, much less showered.

Luckily you’d thought ahead and picked some herbs when you were in the woods. Sure, there wasn’t much food left but you could make her some soup. It would be enough to get both of you through a few days.

You simmered a pot of warm soup on the stove and cleaned most of the kitchen up. There was some old crackers stored away that you found too.

“Katniss! I made you some food.” You called softly but received no response as expected. So you poured a bowl and carried it out to the living room.

Katniss didn’t put up a fight as you sat her up, but when you offered her the bowl she turned her head like a petulant child. You tried again. She simply just stared at the soup as if she didn’t know what to do.

“You need to eat, honey.” You sighed again, taking the bowl back. Katniss was always stubborn and you didn’t often force her through things, but this was a literal life or death situation.

Carefully you scooped some of the soup up into the spoon and held it to her lips.

Katniss didn’t look at you or the soup, dead eyes staring ahead blankly. She slowly opened her mouth by instinct, letting you feed her. No reaction came across her face but she didn’t seem upset.

You fed her about half of the bowl, wiping the remaining droplets off her face. You figured she couldn’t handle solid foods yet so the crackers were an abandoned idea, but you were glad she was finally eating something.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up some of the house. You tidied up the living room and the kitchen until the sun set, then went back over to the couch, pretty tired.

“I’m going to head back home.” You murmured softly, watching Katniss avoid your gaze. She wasn’t mentally there.. but you could hear you, and that was enough. “I’ll be back tomorrow, I promise.”

Katniss showed no reaction.

You kissed the side of her head and tucked her in. She just closed her eyes, lost in the fog of a catatonic depression.

Katniss may have given up, but you hadn’t. She wanted to die, but you weren’t going to let her. You would come back tomorrow, and every single day from there on. Katniss was the only person left in your life that you cared about and you weren’t about to let her slip away just as everyone else had.

The next few days weren’t exactly fun, but you and Katniss both made it through.

You started by coming and coaxing her to eat breakfast, then you continued to clean the house up while she rested. The more you checked on her, the more she began to trust you again. It wasn’t that she had forgotten you, but she’d forgotten how to be a human. You were the last glimpse of familiarity in her life and she clung to you like a raft. You still weren’t exactly sure what terms you stood on, you’d been girlfriends back in the Games but you weren’t sure if that was truly an act or not, but that was the last thing that mattered.

As Katniss fell into routine, you began to give her the tiniest tasks, just to get her up and moving. Her body was weak and frail, and she couldn’t stand for long at first after weeks of malnourishment but she was improving slowly. You managed to get her to help you clean the dishes and dust the floors, giving her something to do and look forward to.

It took a while but soon enough the small jobs had given her some sense of humanity again. She didn’t speak, whether it was a choice or she simply couldn’t, but she was connecting with you more. And she was eating better and moving around too. You’d finally convinced her to sleep in her bed rather than on the couch.

Your next goal was to get her to shower. It was pretty evident that she hasn’t cleaned herself once since her return home.

“Hey, Katniss.” You handed her a wet plate, running the other one beneath the sink. “I fixed the tub and shower in the bathroom. Do you think you’d be up for taking a shower?”

Your question confused her and she looked up at you. The blank expression in her gaze had slowly but surely been replaced by comprehension and she was beginning to interact more with you. The only problem with that was that she also had remembered she could say no.

Katniss shook her head and returned to drying her plate.

“Come on, Katniss… You need to clean up. You’ll feel better.” You urged her gently, withholding the last plate from her.

Katniss stared at you, almost offended that you’d force her to do this. She knew you were right but the thought of a shower made her shudder. She couldn’t do that… the thought of washing out her hair and cleaning her body after so long of marinating in dirt made her want to cry. And the idea of feeling better was scary.

Katniss just turned away from you. You shook your head.

As you were doing your last rounds that night, making sure the fireplaces weren’t blocked by anything, you saw Katniss standing quietly at the bottom of the stairs, watching you with teary eyes. You wondered if she had a nightmare and came down to find you, then your eyes found the brush in her hand.

Katniss had tried to brush her hair out but her hair was so greasy and tangly that the brush ended up getting stuck. She stared at you helplessly, her lip quivering. She hated being helpless but her mind hadn’t reformed enough for her to be able to handle this yourself.

“Oh, honey.” You went over to her. She said nothing, just stared at the ground, embarrassed and upset.

It took you a few minutes to free the brush. You were going to tuck her back into bed but you had become pretty good at reading her expressions and knew you couldn’t just leave her like this. Katniss had reluctantly accepted her inevitable fate.

You spent the next hour brushing out her hair. It was awful and tears were shed by both of you, but the result was worth it.

The shower was a little finickier than you thought it would be but soon the water was warm and running. You weren’t sure how this was going to work exactly.

Katniss stared at the water silently but her eyes reflected fear. She refused to move, refused to do anything.

“How about… how about you can sit down and I’ll clean your hair?” You offered, pulling an old chair into the bathroom.

It wasn’t ideal but it worked.

Katniss sat, still clothed, on the chair beneath the water. You stood behind her in your clothes too, shampooing her hair for the third and final time. She was as quiet as usual but she seemed to enjoy the feeling of your fingers on her scalp.

After shampooing her hair, you added one round of conditioner. Then you got ready to leave so she could wash herself off. You were about to step out of the shower when she grabbed your arm.

Washing Katniss wasn’t an easy process either. You stood behind her for the most part, gently scrubbing her off with a cloth and some soap.

She hated being exposed and vulnerable but she let you clean her because she knew nobody else would. You were the only one she trusted to see her true form; her thin and weak body, and the scars that painted it.

When it was all over, you wrapped her up in a towel, got her changed, and put her to bed.

Things changed from that night. They weren’t perfect or good, but they were certainly better than before. You and Katniss had grown closer overtime and on bad days, spend most of the daylight just cuddling on the couch. Katniss also had found a way to communicate with you that didn’t require her voice.

She’d found an old notebook and pen and was scribbling in it when you found her. You were late that morning because of the storm outside, and she was clearly upset.

When you finally got inside she handed you a note.

The writing was mostly incomprehensible, a lot of loose scribbles and misplaced words but you could make out what she was trying to say.

“I thought you weren’t coming.”

Your expression softened and you sighed. “I’m sorry.” You said softly. “I would never not come, I promise. I just got held up..”

You were scared Katniss’s fragile trust in you would break, but she seemed to understand. Her greeting hug lasted longer that day.

You had also begun to stay the night at her house. Sure, you lived about 25 yards away but sometimes the guest bedroom just looked so inviting… and sometimes she couldn’t make it through the night alone with her nightmares. You stayed with her through the night, cuddled around her, and she finally started to get the sleep she hadn’t had in years.

There were a lot of days where you couldn’t get her out of bed, but you understood and you laid with her. You held her while she cried, your own eyes sometimes filled with tears. You let her breakdown with grief in your arms, and you comforted her when she was aware enough to listen to you. You were nothing but patient and kind with her, something she’d never experienced before.

As Katniss began to heal, so did the world around her. The Victors village finally felt the warmth of spring. You started to bring Katniss out of the house with you.

“It’s just over here.” You murmured, your hand clasped around hers. You carefully took her down the slightly worn path of grass and stones, being careful of the wildflowers dotting the ground.

The ruins of District 12 were painful to look at, but in that pain was beauty too. The nearest town center was no longer a dark, gloomy heap, but had instead been recovered by nature itself, flowers sprouting and animals returning.

Katniss said nothing still, looking around in silent awe. Her eyes were teary but there was no sadness in them.

“Up here. You’re doing good.” You say, bringing her to one of the taller ruins of an old building. Together, you climbed up the side of it to a small platform that gave the most beautiful view.

A few tears dribbled down Katniss’s face, but they were tears of relief. She didn’t flinch when you gently tilted her head towards a nearby field of flowers; of Primroses.

Her expression softened and for the first time you saw something new on her face: love. She looked at you through a teary gaze and you nearly fell off the ruin.

The edges of her cracked lips were drawn into a smile. It was small and weak, but it was a smile.

“Do you like it?” I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

Katniss nodded. She slowly opened her mouth and let out a few hoarse croaks, then she finally managed to speak.

“Pretty.”

You almost burst into tears. It had been so long since you heard her voice, and you were so proud of her, but the last thing you wanted was to make her uncomfortable. You let your smile grow and patted her back gently.

“Very.”

Not every day was good, but Katniss had begun to speak more after that. Sometimes she’d go days without a word, and sometimes she’d only utter the most heartbreaking sentence like the one night she asked you why you wouldn’t let her die, but she never stopped communicating with you whether it be by words, pen, or even kiss. She was looking healthier and even happier.

At the peak of summer, you took her herb collecting. Katniss brought her bow just in case of any worthy game, but she was more than happy to tag along and help you collect plants. It was an activity that reminded her of Prim, just as you did. Both of you were the peace in her life, her grounding rock, her hope and strength. You were no replacement for the sister she lost, but you were something new, and somebody she could love just as unconditionally.

After your basket was filled to the brim, you two sat down on a rock near a creek. The cold water babbled and the birds sang.

You hummed with them, sitting behind her and braiding flowers into her hair.

Katniss sat quietly. She was smiling and watching the water. When your hands stopped ruffling through her hair, she turned to look at you.

“Did you ever think this would happen?” She asked quietly.

“What would?” You questioned, pressing a soft kiss to the side of her head.

“All of this…” Katniss leaned into you a little, a soft sigh escaping her lips. “That we’d end up here again, together.”

You leaned back into her, your chin nestling on her shoulder as the two of you look out at the water and the woods beyond. “No. But I wouldn’t want anything else.”

“I wouldn’t care what we had… as long as I had you.”

You giggled softly. “Stop trying to one-up me.” You scold her teasingly, planting a kiss on her flushed cheek this time.

Katniss chuckled. Her head shook with amusement and she instinctively found your hand, playing with your fingers.

“Alright, fine. I’m just… I’m really happy you came back. I’m glad I hung on long enough for you to come back…”

“I just wish it was sooner.” You whispered quietly. “I wish I could’ve gotten out of there sooner and then—.”

“Shh..” Katniss hushed you gently with a kiss on your lips. “Just be quiet.”

You smiled and hugged her a little tighter from behind. “I would’ve come back to you no matter what.” You whisper. Your arms tightened a little again around her torso.

Katniss turns to look at you and she smiled softly, leaning her head against your neck.

“You came back, that’s all I care about.”

Writing Characters Who Stutter.

@indidoughnuts asked:

Any advice on writing a character who talks with a stutter?

We’re both in luck here, because one of the main characters in my spring novel, We Are, We Are Monsters, has a slight stutter, and they say there’s no better way to truly learn something then to teach it!

Fore note: Because I have no firsthand experience in stuttering, this article draws heavily from a number of reliable sources, which will be all cited throughout. 

What is a stutter? A speech disorder, also known as stammering or diffluent speech. It generally includes some variation of repeated words, sounds, or syllables, halted speech mid-sentence, and an uneven rate of speech. [1]

1. Choose specific rules for your character’s stutter and stick with them.

If you’re going to portray stutter that’s both realistic and readable, you’ll need to know how and on what sounds your character stutters, and then stick to them. Choose specific sounds to employ the stutter on (Gabrielle Massman recommends between three and seven [3]), and familiarize yourself with the three basic forms of stuttering [2]:

Repetitions of sounds or syllables; “Li-li-like this” or “Like-like-like this.”

Prolongations; “Llllllllike this.”

Blocks; “L—ike this.” 

You can hear recordings of each of these stutters here. [5]

Once you know which sounds your character stutters on and how that stuttering primarily comes out, you’ll want to decide on how you’ll portray the stutter through writing. You can find a few forms of this in the above examples. Other possibilities include using ellipses or commas:

Keep reading

exceeded caution part 4

our thing

series masterlist | previous part | next part

a/n: surprise!!! this was actually supposed to be out tomorrow but i had the motivation to finish it today. i hope y'all enjoy this chapter cause its got a teeny bit of fluff in it with sam and answers to the cliffhanger i left u guys on last time. sorry not sorry about it.

pairing: ex!tara carpenter x f!reader into sam carpenter x f!reader

warnings: mention of ambulances, mention of car accidents, mention of past injuries, hospitals, cursing. 5.2k words.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you twisted and turned in the hospital bed. you don’t understand why they had to keep you overnight. you would much rather be recovering in your own bed.

“can you hand me the water?” you turned to the dark-haired girl sitting next to you in the chair.

“of course.” she replied, reaching over and handing you the cup of water that she so graciously picked up for you.

“thank you.” you said, using your good arm to grab it and lift it to your lips.

she nodded at you and leaned back into her seat, crossing her legs.

“how’s your arm?” she asked, resting her head on her palm.

“it hurts. and the wrap is really uncomfortable. i just wanna go home.” you whined softly.

“i know.” she could sense your frustration.

“mindy got to go home and her cut was so much worse.” you complained. the pain and suffocating walls were getting to you.

“hey, hey…” she stood up, walking over to you and placing a hand on your shoulder. she leaned down a little to get in your eyeline. “it’s okay. i’ll be here tonight and you can bother me with whatever you need. you’re probably going to enjoy bossing me around anyways.”

you let out a mix of a scoff and a chuckle.

“you know i’ve never been the bossy type. not even when we were together.” you shook your head.

tara laughed softly, you missed when the two of you could enjoy each other’s company. “yeah, i know. but now’s the time.”

sam walked in with two coffees just after tara spoke. she walked over to her sister and handed her one of the cups.

“thanks, sam.” tara took the cup from sam and took a long sip.

sam looked over at you and her face softened. she was trying to apologise to you but was sure you had already heard many attempts of “i’m sorry”s.

you weakly smiled at her, putting the cup back down with tara’s help.

the doctor walked in shortly after. he was holding a clipboard and sporting a smile on his face, you were hoping for good news based on his expression.

“good news.” great! “you can actually go home tonight but you’ll need to be back tomorrow for a check-in.”

you huffed in disappointment. you wanted to go home but you’d be back in anyways. at least you’d be able to get a change of clothes.

“i’ll take you tomorrow.” sam said, turning her head to face you.

you looked helpless, knowing that you couldn’t do it yourself. you had to face the fact that distance between you and sam was next to impossible.

“okay. i’d like that.” you nodded at her. she nodded back at you and turned to the doctor.

“she’ll be here tomorrow. what time?” she inquired for you as you slowly started to stand up.

“2pm works best for me. we’ll fit you in asap.” the doctor confirmed with sam and turned to leave.

“can you guys give me a second to change?” you asked the two girls, they hesitated but agreed. they were both afraid to leave you alone.

the two sisters left the room but stayed just outside in case you needed anything.

tara looked around and spotted the two paramedics that took care of you. she hastily approached them.

“thank you both for helping our friend.” she said, they both turned to her with hospitable smiles.

“no problem.” the male said.

“yeah, we’re sorry you didn’t get to jump in. there was only space for one more.” the female said, empathetically.

“tara.” you got the girl’s attention. “go with mindy.” you said as the female paramedic started working on your arm. “sam, will you come with me?”

sam jumped into the ambulance without hesitation, boosting herself up then turning to her sister.

“tara, we’ll see you at the hospital.” sam said as the male closed the door.

tara furrowed her eyebrows at the sight of the ambulance driving off, she hoped that she had worked hard enough so you would choose her. unfortunately, sam had just been working harder.

she sharply turned to join mindy’s ambulance. chad decided to drive everyone else for the sake of convenience.

you winced as your arm was disinfected and wrapped to mitigate the bleeding. sam looked just as pained as you did.

you were now bearing the scars of the killer.

she was grateful you didn’t make it to dinner when the attack happened. unfortunately, sam’s luck turned when she heard you. of course you just had to show up for her.

part of her felt responsible, because you had promised her.

you looked away from the stab wound, tears pooling at the edge of your eyelids. you reached for sam with your good arm, she took your hand in hers, interlinking your fingers.

“i’m so sorry. i said that nobody would ever hurt you again, and someone did.” she said, leaning down until her lips were right beside your ear. “i’m going to end this. and we’re gonna be okay.”

you choked down a sob, you were scared for your life. sure, it was only your arm right now but where would it be next? and you knew there would be a next.

“it hurts, sam.” you whimpered, squeezing her hand when the wrap got to tight.

“i know, baby. just squeeze my hand, it’ll be over soon.” god you swear you felt like you were about to explode in tears. the combination of the pain and sam’s pet name for you made your chest feel like a rollercoaster.

you needed to make it through to hear her call you that again. over and over again.

she pressed a soft kiss to your cheek, running her fingers through your hair. you felt yourself relax a little bit more.

you tried to stop the pit of guilt growing in your stomach. you liked this, you enjoyed this. this was helping.

you thought that maybe you could live with tara hating you forever.

you just hated the fact that the hatred might extend to sam.

although, the more she peppered kisses on your cheek to reassure you, the less you started to worry about tara.

“ow! fuck!” you cried out, the sudden pressure on your arm from hitting a speed bump took you out of your internal monologue.

“drive carefully, will you?!” sam suddenly scolded the ambulance driver.

“sam, it’s fine. he’s just doing his job.” just as she calmed you, you returned that same feeling to her.

she sighed after you kept her in check. “you’re right. sorry.” she apologised sheepishly.

“it’s fine, stressful night.” you’re lucky the guy was kind enough to understand.

you took a deep breath and decided to close your eyes the rest of the way there, the lights were too much for you at the moment.

at the back of your eyelids, all you pictured was sam carpenter calling you ‘baby.’

“it’s alright.” tara told the paramedic, waving her hand in dismissal. “i’m just grateful she got here in one piece. thanks again.” she said before walking away, joining sam outside your room.

tara was confused. she was a lot of other things but right now confused was the biggest thing.

“what are you doing with her?” tara asked sam, her tone was hard, rough. it was like an interrogation.

“what do you mean, tara?” sam asked, her eyebrows furrowed in equal confusion.

“i mean what’s going on with you two? you never batted an eyelid at her when i was with her. suddenly it’s like you two are attached at the hip.” tara stuck a finger out to point at sam, an accusatory action.

“tara, we’re just getting closer. she stuck around and she’s been there for both of us.” sam said defensively.

“she’s been there for you. she’s barely even spoken to me!”

“well maybe because you shattered her heart and she didn’t sign up for it!” sam said, standing upright. she and tara had fought before, but never over someone else.

“i’m trying to make things right! but it seems like all she wants is to be around you! so what the hell is going on?!” tara asked, her hands making gestures along with her words.

“nothing is going on, tara! we’re just friends!”

“friends don’t look at each other like that!”

you creaked the door open, you had no idea what was happening outside. the two sisters quieted down the second they saw you. you were still in your bloodied clothes.

both their faces softened at the sight of you. they both hated to see you like this. the kindest person they both have ever known, nearly beaten to a damn pulp.

“hey guys, is everything okay?” you noticed the tension in the room as you pulled your jacket over yourself.

“yeah.”

“of course.”

you looked at them for a second, not believing them. but you decided to let it go, you were too exhausted to deal with carpenter drama at the moment.

“i’m just gonna go home.” you mumbled, walking towards the emergency room exit.

“we’ll come with you.” tara followed behind you but you shook your head.

“i can make it back alone. i just need a second of silence to myself. and you two should go check on mindy. she’s got a lot of shit to work through.” you dismissed the idea of them coming along. “tell her that i’ll come and see her soon too.”

tara was about to protest again but sam grabbed her arm, holding her back.

“let her go, she needs to rest.” sam said in a low voice. you smiled in approval. you tilted your head slightly to meet her eyes.

“i’ll call.” you told her, trying to look at both of them but mainly sam. “see you tomorrow, sam.” you waved as you exited.

you left sam and tara behind in the hospital. you left them behind with each other and with the looming thought that swirled at the back of their heads.

they both wanted to be your choice.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

as you slowly lowered yourself into bed, you tried wriggling your fingers. to your dismay, nothing happened.

were you finally going to lose the arm you worked so hard to heal?

you realised you hadn't checked in with your family in a while, they probably didn't even know that you were involved in the killings.

you took your phone out of your pocket, lifting yourself slightly to make it easier. you pressed dial on your mom's number, sighing as you let it ring.

"hey sweetie, how's it going?" you nearly broke down into tears the second you heard her voice. you missed her so much.

"good, mom. i'm just having a little bit of a rough day. i wanted to check on you and dad." you said, rubbing your eyes and yawning.

"i'm okay, darling. we actually had your grandparents over the other day. they were asking about you. you'll have to come home soon." she said, excitement in her voice at the thought of you visiting them.

"yeah! of course. i'll see you when the semester is over, it won't be long now." you reassured her. "how's dad?"

she paused for a second before clearing her throat. "he's seen better days but he's doing much better than last month. he's more confident in his running again."

"that's so good to hear, i'll take him on a jog when i'm back." you chuckled. like you, your dad came out of the accident with lasting injuries.

"how's um... tara?" oh. you really hadn't called in a while.

"good. we're not actually together anymore but we're still friends. we have the same group of people we hang out with so it's hard to avoid her." you said, you heard your mom's disappointed sigh through the phone.

"aw, i'm sorry, love." she replied. "i know how much you adored her, you wouldn't stop talking about her."

"yeah, i know. it was unfortunate but maybe for the better."

"do you still have feelings for her?" your mom never hesitated with these questions.

"um... i don't know. it's hard being around her so much but i think i'm on my way to moving on." you talked like you were trying to tell yourself that more than her, it gave you a lot to think about.

"that's fair, hun." she sounded like she was thinking about what to say next. "well, at the end of the day, you need to find the best person for you. you're a great person, honey. you deserve someone just as great."

"thanks, mom." her advice was ever so sightly cliché but it was just nice to hear her voice.

"that's okay. you sound tired, you should get some rest. i have to get dinner started anyways." she said, you felt yourself choke all the sobs down. you missed her cooking.

"okay, i will. i'll call you when i can. i love you." you said, covering your mouth as tears started falling out of your eyes.

"i love you too." she said and you hung up on her right after, allowing yourself to cry.

you pulled your knees into your chest as you sobbed. you didn't even think about how your family would handle it if something happened to you.

you didn't even know how you were going to explain now having an arm out of commission. how could anyone explain your actual death?

through your glassy eyes, you almost called her. you almost called sam but you weren't ready for her to see you in this state. you knew she was already dealing with so much. you were sure you would just take time away that she could be spending with everyone else.

you leaned back into the bed, your chest heaving as your eyes fluttered shut, sending you into your well-deserved slumber.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

the next morning, sam was there for your doctor's appointment.

part of you was shy. the hospital was a very vulnerable place to be in. you'd spend quite a bit of your childhood in the hospital, recovering from the injuries you sustained.

"it already seems to be healing well. the bleeding has stopped and it looks clean." the doctor said as he unwrapped the bandage. you didn't care to look, you hated the idea of having another wound to add into the mix.

sam's hand rested on your thigh as you sat upright on the bed, you placed your own hand over hers and squeezed softly. you did it to acknowledge her, that she was there.

"can you try to wiggle your fingers for me?" he asked, holding your arm in his hands.

you tried. you definitely tried.

you even grunted as you tried to will your fingers to move, even just a little bit. you thought you would break a sweat from how hard you were pushing. you ultimately let out a heavy breath and gave up.

"no, i can't. i'm sorry." you apologised to the doctor. you were fed up with disappointing people.

"that's alright. it usually takes people a while until they can do it again after significant damage." he wrote on a paper attached to his clipboard as he spoke to you. "with physical therapy, we can definitely get you back up to speed."

"i'm not gonna lie, i kind of have no time for physical therapy." you admitted. between the investigation and your studies, you had zero time for recovery.

"i'll try to make sure she gets to those meetings when she can." and her too. you wanted to make time for sam. when she joined the conversation, the doctor looked relieved.

"you've got a good friend there." the doctor shot you a pointed look.

"oh, don't i know it." you replied back.

as you and sam made it out of the hospital, you were afraid to face a swarm of reporters again. luckily, it was only the two of you.

"thank you for taking me." you said as the two of you walked to her car.

“that’s okay. i’m happy to.” she had her hands in her pockets as she walked behind you.

you turned back around to face her, leaning against her taillight.

“you called me baby in the ambulance.” you tilted your head, you haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since it happened.

“i’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable, i was just really worried about you.” she said.

“you also kissed my cheek. a lot.” she rolled her eyes, clearly taking the hint that you were far from uncomfortable.

“okay, anything else?” she prodded as she stepped closer to you.

“nope. just wanted to see what you’d say.” you smiled at her.

it was the worst time to flirt. you’d just come out of the hospital and your arm was basically a phantom attached to your body. but you needed to talk about it, you had to talk about what you were.

“okay, look. i like you and i like having you around.” sam accepted defeat, knowing you were just going to pry more. “as more than a friend.”

“oh, i know.” you raised your eyebrows. “i also know that tara is going to kill us if we pursue anything further. especially now.”

“it’s horrible timing, yes. i’ll admit that.” sam said in agreement. “but… we can’t push it down forever.”

“no. you’re right. we can’t.” you nodded at her. “so i propose a deal.”

“i’m listening.” sam crossed her arms over her chest.

“we end this ghostface bullshit and then we figure out what this is.” you paused. “hell, i’d even go as far as to say that we can be together.” you held out a pinky for her, “i never break my pinky promises.”

“i thought this was a deal?” she cocked an eyebrow.

“it was. but promises are kind of becoming our thing.”

she took your pinky in hers, intertwining them. she pulled you closer abruptly, your arms trapped between your chests.

you looked up at her and she nearly went weak in the knees. she leaned forward, capturing your lips in a quick but deep kiss.

it was the kiss that sealed the promise.

you pulled away and kissed the back of her hand, pulling your hand away.

“come on, we gotta get going. i have to make my class.” you said, turning around to hop into the passenger seat.

when sam dropped you off at school, you looked around cautiously, making sure nobody was there before pressing a parting kiss to her cheek.

on the walk to class, you stopped in your tracks as you were hit with the realisation.

sam carpenter is yours. you are going to date your ex’s sister.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

when you received a call from sam that day, you almost didn't pick up as you had your phone on silent, just to take a break from everything.

you knew things would be picking up with the investigation as time went on. they were on a time limit, the quicker they found the killer, the quicker this would be over.

when sam asked you to meet them at some random alley, you were terrified that ghostface had gotten to someone else.

you struggled with driving, not being able to use your arm. so you decided to take the train. it had been ages since you did, opting to drive to beat the body odor. you sat in silence during the drive.

you realised that you hadn't actually called sam or tara like you said, but you hoped that they would be understanding enough.

once you arrived, the entire group was already present. along with gale and kirby.

"what's she doing here?" you asked, standing next to sam.

"she said she found something." sam answered your question.

"do we trust her enough?" you questioned further. you wanted to know how sam was going about this.

"trust is a strong word."

you smiled wearily at her, you knew that only few good things could come from this investigation. the more information you found, the better, but what would that information resurface for the sisters?

"how's your arm?" sam turned to face you, her eyes softening. she wanted to reach out and hold you or even better, obtain some magical ability to heal you.

"been better. i can't move my fingers or anything but i can move my elbow." you informed her.

"we'll get there. you're a strong person, recovery will be a breeze." she said, trying to make you feel better. you knew recovery was going to be a bitch but perhaps it would be easier if sam was by your side.

"i wanna try physical therapy this weekend, could you come with me?” it was your first time asking her. but you already knew the answer.

“of course.” she nodded, stepping closer to you just until the back of your hands were brushing against each other.

gale stepped out from around the corner, gesturing for all of you to follow her. she talked about how greg and jason rented a property under fake names to hide their little hobby.

you felt a chill rush down your spine the second you walked through the gate, you were practically shadowing sam, not wanting to be too far away from your not-girlfriend-girlfriend.

“it’s a movie theater.” tara pointed out.

"it's not just a theater." gale said, flipping a switch to turn the lights on and kickstart a mechanism that raised the curtains that covered the screen. "it's a shrine."

your heart dropped at the sight of jason and greg's fucked up collection of memorabilia related to the ghostface killings.

articles of clothing, newspaper clippings, and even the goddamn weapons used, still covered in blood.

and on the stage, it was a sight to make someone's blood run cold.

the ghostface cloaks. masks missing.

"we've got the whole goddamn franchise." mindy said, you walked down the aisle, examining every piece of the collection.

you spotted kirby staring almost too hard at a flannel and pair of jeans. those must have belonged to the ones that hurt her.

you heard mindy call out to chad, pointing out a sweater that belonged to their uncle randy.

you felt disgusted, how could someone just have all of these items and be okay with it? you hated how sick their minds could be.

you saw gale linger in front of a glass case, you read "dewey riley" on the sketch. you had never met him but tara said he was important to them, you knew he helped them out.

you turned around to find sam, unmoving. you made your way back to her, reaching over and squeezing her elbow.

"are you okay?" you asked. she wouldn't look at you, she was still scanning the room.

"yeah, fine." you hadn't seen sam this closed off in a while. she was normally open and honest with you, but you understood why she was hiding her emotions. she finally stepped forward, walking closer to tara.

"hey, how'd they get all this stuff? i mean, isn't this evidence?" tara popped the question.

"cops like money, and evidence can get lost pretty easily." gale theorized.

you made your way around again, your pace halting when a sketch of sam caught your eye. whoever did this captured her likeness with an accuracy that was scary.

as ethan questioned why he had to stick around, you had to tear your eyes away from the drawing. they stuck her right next to her biological father, you knew she hated to be associated with him.

you watched as the older carpenter sister ascended the stage, standing right in front of her father's cloak.

"fuck no." you overheard her say, she was staring straight into the glass. but it was almost as if she wasn't looking at the cloak but something else. as she put her hand on the glass, you saw a connection between her and all the history that the enclosure held.

you watched helplessly, you knew this was bigger than you.

you spotted tara walking towards her, taking her attention away from the case with conversation. tara was staring at her weirdly, like she sensed the same thing you did.

you followed the crowd as everyone started to take their places in front of the other black robes.

you stood in front of one, you had no idea who it belonged to but it didn't make it any less sinister.

"so somebody killed these chucklefucks and took over?" chad asked, facing the group.

"someone who believes that sam masterminded woodsboro."

"do people really think that sam did it?" you asked. "she was the target, surely it doesn't make sense."

"you're clearly new here." kirby turned to you. "nothing here is ever logical. they can make sam look guilty if they wanted to, the cops believe anything when they're scared. they want to seize every opportunity they can at catching a killer. even if it means taking someone innocent in."

"if this was a normal stab movie, this would be the killer's lair." mindy pointed out, her movie knowledge proved incredibly useful at times.

"which means this isn't a normal stab movie." kirby added.

tara took a deep breath in and started to walk out of the theater. you watched as the look on sam's face quickly turned worried. she stepped forward to follow her but you stopped her.

"it's okay. stay here. i'll go." you put a hand out and she nodded, stepping back.

you followed tara out and caught her just as she took a swig of her inhaler.

"you feeling okay?" you asked her, slowly approaching.

"hell no." she said, turning around to face you. "i'll never be a normal person again. i don't want any of this! the last time i felt normal was when we were together. i wish i was a shitty person again instead of some legacy character."

you didn't even realise you were holding a breath in as you exhaled deeply.

"i'm sorry." was all you could say, you had no idea what she was going through.

"did you know i cut my mother off because she wouldn't talk to sam?" you knew she harboured resentment towards sam then, you figured it hit its boiling point. it made things a lot harder when it came to dealing with your feelings.

"you told me that one night when you were drunk." you confirmed with her. while tara had no recollection of most nights she was inebriated, you held onto those memories. not willingly but they were hard to get rid of.

"normal people have their mothers." she scoffed. "i don't know how i can ever get past any of this. i don't understand how sidney was able to just pack up and leave. it pisses me off."

"i don't think sidney will ever be able to get past it either, tara." you stepped closer to the girl. she looked up at you with those eyes you used to be so fond of. "i don't think it's a matter of getting over it. i think it's a matter of going straight through."

tara looked at you confused, you smiled slightly as you realised the metaphor fell short.

"what i mean is... you're one of the strongest people i've ever met. but this whole ghostface thing is set to tear you down, it's meant to break you down until you are nothing but blood, sweat, and tears." you knew you sounded brutal and harsh, but you never wanted to sugarcoat anything for tara. she hated that. "and you should be fucking angry. but i think anger will get you further than you think. because if you channel and process it right, you shouldn't be scared of ghostface, ghostface should be scared of you."

the corner of tara's mouth raised in a half-smile. she was impressed with you. your timid composure cracking made you all the more interesting, you held some power in this now.

"you're gonna be just fine, tara. you're gonna make it through this stronger than ever, and nobody's ever gonna fuck with you again."

that sealed the deal for tara, she wanted you again.

and she wanted you now.

she grabbed the collar of your shirt, pulling you into a kiss that sent you off balance. you crashed into her but quickly pushed her away.

"i'm sorry, tara. i can't." you said as you pulled away, her hands still gripping onto your collar. you slowly removed her hands from you.

"why not? don't you still want me?" she asked. you could tell she was in a state of vulnerability and you hated that you had to do this to her.

"tara, i can't go back to you. i can't do that to myself again, we aren't right for each other." you tried to keep the integrity of what you and sam had without revealing it. you knew that if it got out, it would tear the sisters apart even further.

"is it because of sam?" too late.

you didn't know how to respond. you didn't know how sam would want you to respond.

"it's not about sam, tara. it's about you and me as individuals." you figured a white half-lie would work for now. "we wouldn't work. you only wanted me to relive the past, and that's not what you should be doing."

"i just want to make things right between us." she said, turning away from you. "i don't want to lose you."

"i know. but you can do that as a friend too." you tried to reason with her. "i'm always going to be around. i'm not going anywhere and i'm gonna help end this."

you two were quickly interrupted by detective bailey walking in.

"sorry to interrupt, think i might have an idea about how to turn the tables on this creep." he said, sam followed shortly behind him.

despite you pushing tara away, you felt like you betrayed her slightly. even if you two weren't together.

you didn't know whether or not you should mention the kiss to her, that would be a problem for later.

she walked over to you when everyone else walked off, tucking a stray strand of hair behind your ear.

"tara looks a bit more relieved. thank you." she said, her hand caressing your cheek. you leaned into her touch.

"i'll be there for her just as much as i am for you." you turned your head slightly to kiss the palm of her hand. "but you should talk to her eventually, you two only really have each other at the end of the day. you understand each other better than i ever will."

"i know. i'll talk to her soon." sam nodded at you, pulling her hand away the second she heard footsteps. "i admire how you always just seem to be the bigger person."

"it's tara. everyone is always the bigger person." you smiled warmly at her as you heard her laugh. these moments are ones you had a special place in your heart for.

chad poked his head back in through the door. "you guys coming?"

"we don't have much of a choice." you commented at him, he simply rolled his eyes at you.

"shall we?" sam asked.

"let's catch this motherfucker."

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

author's journal okayyy heehee i hope u all enjoyed the surprise. i actually kinda struggled writing this cause i had to interweave some good sam moments with the canon storyline. i know the juxtaposition can be a bit jarring but i honestly fuck with it anyways. tysm for my irl friends who kept me accountable on our roadtrip to finish writing this chapter lol they deal with too much bullshit from me. i also found that paris paloma is my favorite artist to listen to when writing this fic actually. her entire cacophony album is just fucking amazing. specifically this song gets me thru it.

i also hope u all dont mind my post-fic yapping. idk if anyone actually reads these but it gives me a chance to tap back into the real world after staring at the screen for hours. im also just such a yapper these days its kinda chronic. anyways, hope u all have an amazing week and i promise chapter 5 wont be ages away. kisses!!!!

The Wrong Side - P4 [Ellie Williams x Fem!Reader x Abby Anderson]

Part Three

Warnings: language, last minute editing🏃🏽‍♀️

It has been months since you last saw Ellie. Months since you left her lying on the theater floor, despite her begging for you to stay. Her voice haunted you when you tried to sleep, her fucking crying.

You failed her twice, back in Jackson and in Seattle. She must hate you, and you don't blame her. You ruined whatever relationship you had.

You're almost glad you're far away from her, having traveled from Washington to California.

It was Abby's plan, go to Santa Barbara in search of the Fireflies. Something Owen wanted to do. And you went along with it, even if it was just a rumor and waste of time. It's not like you had a home to return to anyways. Abby explained what happened, the fight between the Seraphites and Wolves, what she did to protect Lev.

At first, it seemed irresponsible, sticking her neck out for a Scar. But the longer you spent with the Lev, you understood why. He wasn't like them. He was gentle, innocent, and just like Abby, you quickly adored him.

If it weren't for him, you don't know how your relationship would be with Abby, Lev almost acting as glue for you two.

The first few weeks with her were fucking insufferable. After the theater, you traveled back to the aquarium, burying the bodies with Abby in complete silence. You scrubbed his blood off the floor, the tile already stained crimson. You slept on the opposite side of the aquarium to Abby and Lev, or tried to, anyway. The urge to run off, back to her, was more present than ever. You overthought it, convincing yourself it was a stupid anger-based decision, and forced yourself to sleep.

In the morning, Abby was apologizing as soon as you woke up. How she didn't mean anything by it, she made a mistake, and how she loves you so fucking much. You didn't accept it, even if she was sincerely sorry. You were infuriated that she slept with him in the first place, and you needed time before you could even wrap your head around the idea of forgiving her.

When she first told you about Santa Barbara, you shot her down, telling her it was a stupid rumor. That resulted in you staying at the aquarium longer than she wanted, and in that time, you had almost wished for Ellie to return. She never did.

Constantly being in Abby's presence was torture. You were unable to look at her without thinking of her cheating on you or her violently beating Ellie's defenseless body. And that look in her eye as you knelt to Ellie. As if she was going to take her life right there at that moment.

These frequent reminders caused your anger to grow fast around her, avoiding any unnecessary conversations. That was unless Lev got you two to talk, which he seemed good at, starting the conversation for you and Abby then slowly exiting it.

Over time, being around her became tolerable, the uncomfortable tension became less noticeable, and your interactions got longer. Though you didn't forgive her, you missed talking to her, even if you hate to admit it. You're able to hold eye contact with her, admiring her hypnotic blue orbs each time. You've found yourself studying every last one of her features, eyes lingering a little too long on her fucking lips. Usually, that's when you'd abruptly walk away, excusing yourself and mentally scolding yourself.

Eventually, you said yes to Santa Barbara, you had nowhere else to go, and the aquarium never felt like home. It was eerie, uncomfortable. So you got on the boat, where you were always under Abby's gaze, unable to escape. Avoiding her was impossible, and you were overwhelmed with your mixed emotions about the woman. You couldn't exit fast enough when you finally reached California.

The summer sun would beat down on you as you walked throughout the day, and though it was beyond uncomfortable, you couldn't help but appreciate its effects on Abby. The glow on her sun-kissed face, how her freckles multiplied on her rosy cheeks. The way sweat glistened on her built arms, the sight making your mouth go dry. She was attractive without even trying.

She fucking betrayed you, and you're falling for her fast.

God, the feeling sucks. Because it would be a complete lie to say Ellie hasn't crossed your mind many, many times. Figuring out your relationship, what it was, was mental gymnastics.

You jeopardized Abby's life by not telling her about Ellie, because you wanted to keep Ellie safe. When Ellie kissed you, you reciprocated, and you were fucking disappointed when she pulled away. When she cried your name, both at Jackson and Seattle, you were the only one that could defend her, and you didn’t. You remember wanting to crawl out of your skin, ashamed of yourself.

And, when she needed you most, you abandoned her.

Even after all these months of trying to forget, attempting to block out the memory for your own sanity, you can't. Sometimes you even question if Ellie made it home safely or if her corpse is lying on some highway. Though you'd like to believe otherwise, you wouldn't know, and the thought terrifies you.

You don't understand what you two had, unable to label it. All you know is you care about Ellie, maybe more than yourself. Even if you didn't express it when you had the chance, you did. You never looked at her as the enemy, nor did you ever treat her like one, though she killed fellow Wolves and ultimately wanted to kill Abby. You just couldn't.

If you thought too hard about it, you know exactly why, but it doesn't matter. None of it matters now. Ellie is out of your life. She's not coming back, and you know if she did, it wouldn't be under good circumstances. Maybe it was for the best.

All you have is Abby, and that should be enough for you. You want it to be enough.

The heavy thoughts distract you from the creaking of the front door, back facing the woman as you sat on the porch steps, eyes glued to the sky. "Hey."

You gasp, hand clinging to your chest, "Fuck, Abby!"

She chuckles, taking a seat beside you, "Sorry."

You look at her, noticing that her long hair was free from its usual braid, the waves perfectly framing her face. You loved it, and you made sure you told her that whenever she wore it down. "Full moon?" Abby tries to make small talk, eyes dancing over the night sky. It was. Big and full, casting a bright glow over her face, and you're stuck admiring how beautiful she is.

Out of habit, you bite your lip, entranced by her features.

She glances back to you, another small chuckle as she notices the hold you had on her. Fuck. You tear your eyes off of her, thinking of something to say to distract her from your obvious staring.

"Is he um- is he asleep?" you question, playing with your fingers.

"Yeah," Abby replies, "told him I wanted to head out early...and he wanted to pass out before you got the chance to tuck him in."

She lets out a soft chuckle as you scoff, shaking your head. "It can get cold in the middle of the night," you mumble. As she put it, you're 'soft' for Lev, and she loved teasing you for it. "It's cute."

"Hm?" you hum, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "How you are with Lev. Never seen this side of you."

You feel the heat rush to your face, as it always did whenever she said anything remotely sweet about you. You never got used to it. There's a beat of silence before you speak up, "When I imagined us taking care of a kid, this isn't what I pictured."

Abby slightly grins, "You thought about that?"

"Of course," you shyly say, almost embarrassed to admit it. "At the stadium, passing the classroom every day, seeing all the kids...I thought maybe one day..." you trail off, shaking your head, "never mind."

The tiny smile on your face completely fades, and Abby notices. She feels guilty, like it's her fault you'll never live this life you had desired.

Everything seems to go quiet, the tension between you suddenly skyrocketing. "Will things ever be the same between us?" her voice cracks, her lips curving into that frown. Her question is heavy, not having a straightforward answer. "I-I don't know," you unintentionally whisper, which wasn't the answer she hoped for, though she expected. "You really hurt me, Abby."

It was frustrating how years of your relationship got blown up within just a few days. Your daily hugs, kisses, and sweet whispers in the middle of the night, stopped so suddenly. It would be a blatant lie to say you didn't miss all of that and more, and you were embarrassed that part of you wants it back. Maybe it’s because you never stopped loving her, unable to just throw away the feelings you had for her for years.

And now, she’s all you have, whether you liked it or not. It only made sense to try again. Or, that's what you want to believe.

"But," you speak once more before she gets the chance, "When--if, if we find the fireflies, and we get the chance to settle down...maybe we can try again?"

Abby takes in your words, a faint smiling growing on her face, "I'd like that."

"Me too."

-

"Here," you say, looking back at Lev and Abby, "no numbers, this has to be it, right?"

2425 Constance, the house you've been searching for for the past few weeks. With the information you received, this should be a Firefly outpost, and you're hoping the outside was dingy to avoid attraction, that it wasn't just a rumor.

"Nice catch," Abby smiles at you, her hand gently caressing your arm as she walks past. "Over here."

You and Lev follow the woman, noticing the garage door was cracked open, and she pulled it up with ease. You enter first, listening closely for infected or humans, nothing. You continue walking, the house seemly abandoned. "Well, no welcome party," you mumble, "fucking empty."

"Keep searching," Abby tells you, ignoring the sigh you let out as you look for supplies instead. You let Lev and Abby get the other rooms as you raid the kitchen for whatever was left, which was hardly anything.

The disappointment begins to set in, until Lev calls yours and Abby's names.

You adjust your backpack as you stand up, joining Abby and Lev in a different room. They surrounded a bookshelf, staring at the floor around it, the wood covered in scratches. Lev begins to push the piece of furniture, at least by a few inches, before Abby intervenes. "Scooch."

You help as she leans her body against it, the two of you moving it with ease, revealing a flight of stairs.

"Hello?" Abby calls out as you follow her into the basement, your flashlights dimly brightening the area. There was no response, but with the amount of furniture in the room, it appears people lived here before.

"Been a while since anyone's been here," Lev comments, as he continues to explore with Abby while you're behind picking up the few supplies lying around. The dark room suddenly lights up, Abby mentioning that they have solar. "Hey," Abby says, getting your attention. You walk over, noticing working radio equipment on the wood desk, and Abby is quick to try it out. "Is this frequency currently in use?" she speaks, "This is..."

"Do you see a call sign anywhere?"

You search the desk, moving around papers until you found something useful. "Here." You give her a clipboard that contained frequencies, hoping they would work, that the right people would be listening.

The first one failed, nothing but static. The second one is the same.

She tries once more, nothing but static and the sound of Lev's footsteps as he begins to walk away. "If anyone can hear me, please reply," her voice was desperate, and you feel bad. "Please answer."

"Abby..." You put your hand on her shoulder, sighing before you speak, "Let's go."

Before she gets a chance to speak, there's a voice coming from the radio. "Hi, Abby. We got a clear signal on you."

She quickly looks at you, a glimmer of hope in her widened eyes. Out of excitement, you grab her hand, not letting go as she talks to the unknown person. They were asking questions, a lot of them, and Abby was not hesitant with her answers. If this weren't a Firefly, you'd be fucked.

"We pulled everyone back from the satellite stations and brought them back here to home base."

Owen was right. It wasn't just a rumor. There are Fireflies, apparently two hundred according to the man over the radio. "How do we find you?" Abby questions.

"Get to Catalina Island. Approach the large domed building in Avalon. We'll find you."

Catalina Island. You couldn't be too far, maybe get there within days. You think about what you said to Abby, how you're willing to try again, though you meant it, the reality hits you hard. It scares you. You do love her, and that's why you wanted to fix the relationship, but something doesn't feel right.

You find yourself squeezing Abby's hand, the woman glancing over as she tells them goodbye. "Everything okay?"

"Perfect," you smile, mirroring her own. "Let's get back to the sailboat."

You both glance at Lev, who was watching you like a puzzle he was trying to figure out, and you know exactly why. Your hand is still locked with Abby's, shyly pulling it away. She's unsure how to react, almost wishing you didn't let go. Before she can overthink the interaction, she's walking ahead of you and Lev, eager to be back in the boat.

All she wants is to safely make it to Catalina Island, and start over with you.

You find yourself back in the garage, exiting the same way you entered, not expecting what was waiting on the other side. It happened so fast. In just the blink of an eye, two strangers were assaulting Abby.

"Abby!" You pounce on the man hitting her, taking both of you to the ground. He climbs on top of you, pinning your wrists to the dirt beneath you. You're violently thrashing, but his hold is too strong. It suddenly weakens, noticing an arrow through his shoulder, knocking him back. You look over, Lev preparing his bow again, before another man hits the young boy, his fragile body falling to the ground.

"Lev!" You and Abby are quickly reacting, trying to get to him, but you can't. A sudden blow to your head knocks you down. It was intense, as though you slammed your head into a brick wall, the pain worsening as your vision seems to blur.

The last thing you saw was Lev's unconscious body, mind slipping while Abby's screams echoed in your ears.

Part Five

The Wrong Side - P5 [Ellie Williams x Fem!Reader x Abby Anderson]

y'all remember this fic?? me neither😹😹 sorry it took many many years </3

Part Four

Warnings: language.

Ellie is beyond exhausted. Traveling from Wyoming to California would not be easy, that she knew. What Ellie didn't expect was a whole new group holding Abby captive. As much as she enjoyed the idea of Abby suffering, she hated that they got to her before she could.

And another part of her is worried, worried about you.

She should hate you, hate you for leaving her in that situation, for choosing Abby over her. As though she meant nothing to you, like you had forgotten every shared memory. And her feelings would be valid. However, Ellie can't bring herself to resent you to that extent.

She wishes all her feelings for you left when you did, but it would be a lie to say they did. Ellie wouldn't admit she loves you-- she doesn't want to believe she does. But she knows she still cares about you deeply, even more than some of the folks she saw daily in Jackson.

Every time you crossed her mind, which was often, Ellie only hoped you were somewhere safe. She knew it was pathetic, being so concerned about the woman who betrayed her, but she did anyway. She couldn't help it.

After the theater, Ellie had returned home just as she left it, dark and lonely. She had a broken arm and bruised face, her damaged appearance mirroring her mental health, both equally as bad.

It angered her. The plan was to kill Abby, end this for good. And instead, Abby took another person she cared about away. She felt like a fucking failure.

So when Tommy had told her about Abby’s whereabouts, she wasn't hesitant to pack a bag and leave. She had nothing to lose anyway.

Abby had to die. You'd have to watch, and that would solidify where your complicated relationship stood. You'd hate her for good, maybe want to take her life after she takes Abby's. Or, you'd both go your separate ways for the last time, and she'd leave you sobbing over the blonde's corpse. The idea bothers her, knowing the sight would destroy her, but there were so few options.

Even after it all, Ellie is still considering your feelings.

She wishes you had stayed. Then maybe she wouldn't be in this situation. She feels like she went through hell and back. The side of her abdomen is bleeding, thanks to a trap she fell for earlier in the day. Her feet are sore as she drags her converse through the sand, and the only thing she wants more than to rest is to find Abby.

The prisoners in this hell told her Abby was at the pillars, and it wasn't long before she realized what those were.

Bodies hanging on wooden beams, hardly looking alive. Panic set in her body, Abby no longer in her mind, only you. She's searching each face, recognizing one nearby. Despite the lack of muscles and short hair, it's her. It's Abby.

Abby notices a figure approach her, not knowing who it is. "Help me," her voice is weak, hardly using it nowadays. Her eyes slowly blink open, not expecting the sight in front of her. "It's you."

Ellie walks behind the pillar, knife equipped as she cuts her down. Abby falls to the ground, not bothered by the impact.

Ellie intently watches as she picks herself off the ground, walking to a nearby pillar. Hanging from the wood is the boy you were traveling with, and he looks so terrible that Ellie could almost feel bad.

Ellie tightens the grip on her switchblade, anxiety officially setting in. She needs you to be okay.

"Cut her down." Abby points. Ellie doesn’t question it, picking up her pace as she walks to the pillar, where your weak body hanged. Whatever anger and distrust she felt towards you disappears, heart aching as you clung to life. Your skin was dry, peeling in various places, much like your chapped lips. As Abby did, you had also lost any muscle you before.

The sight disturbs her. It also causes her hands to tremble with fury, wishing she had fought harder in Seattle and prevented all of this from happening. You wouldn't be in this fucked up situation. You would be safe at Jackson.

Ellie cuts the rope, a small groan escaping your lips as you fall to the ground. The sand felt like concrete to your body. "I got you," Ellie tells your hardly conscious self, "I got you, Y/n."

Ellie picks you up, ignoring the throbbing wound on her side, forcing herself forward with you in her arms. Abby’s eyes land on you, then back to Ellie, "There are boats this way."

Ellie follows the woman, stumbling over her feet, tightening her grip on you.

Abby was right, relief setting in as two empty boats gently swayed on the water, Abby placing Lev in one of them. Ellie watched them before glancing back at you. She didn’t have to think twice, walking to the empty one and kindly laying you in it. She wasn't losing you again.

"You’re safe," Ellie reassures you, unsure if you can even hear her. The longer she stares at you, the more guilty she feels. Ellie remembers wanting to protect you from every bad thing in the world. You cared too much, too kind for your own good. Maybe that’s why you liked someone like Abby.

Ellie feels a sting to her side, her hand clinging to the wound, blood covering her fingers. The thought of taking you and leaving was gone. Joel’s bloody figure on the cold tile floor flashes in her mind, as your frail frame is in front of her, and all she can see is red.

Abby’s voice interrupts Ellie’s dark thoughts, "She’s coming with me."

"You’re not going anywhere." Ellie's voice is threatening, but Abby can only scoff. She dragged her feet through the water, ignoring the heavy glare Ellie held on her. "I’m not doing this," Abby states, hands reaching out for your body. "Don’t fucking touch her!" Ellie grips Abby’s hair, pulling her back and throwing her to the water. "She would’ve never been here if she wasn't with you!"

Abby shakes her head, this wasn't her fault. She refused to believe that. She glares at Ellie, the woman's gaze just as harsh. "Okay," Abby says, slowly getting up from the water. If Ellie wanted a fight, Abby was going to give her one.

Abby makes the first move, lunging towards Ellie and knocking her into the water. Ellie struggles as Abby holds her down yet manages to kick her off, swinging her knife in the process. A whine escapes Abby's lips, hand clinging to her face, quickly backing away. Ellie doesn't hesitate to attack her once more.

Abby deserves this. She deserves worse. Right?

Ellie approaches Abby with her knife once more, failing to cause any harm. Abby was using all the muscle she had left to resist, and it worked, the two falling in the water again. Ellie was on top of the blonde, her knife so close to Abby's skin, and with a bit more strength, she punctured her chest. Abby yells in agony, forcing Ellie off of her.

Both of them are weak, energy depleting as they continue to fight.

Ellie lost her knife, throwing her bruised fists at Abby until she had her pinned on the sand beneath them. Ellie's hand pressed against Abby's face, the blonde thrashing against her. Ellie doesn't notice her fingers slipped in Abby's mouth, not until she feels a sudden sharp pain. She screams, your consciousness slowly regaining at the noise.

Abby only lets go when Ellie punches her off, her head going under the water as Ellie puts all her weight on the woman.

Abby is desperate, trying to find air, but Ellie is too strong for her. Her knee dug into Abby's stomach as she put all her weight on the woman.

Ellie wants to believe she's doing the right thing. Abby murdered Joel, nearly got you killed. Her death is justified, and Ellie needs to believe that.

"Ellie," your voice is quiet, throat dry and aching. She had tuned everything out, not hearing you, or noticing you had managed to sit up. Her mind is only thinking of one thing, Joel, but she wasn't doing this for him.

Ellie's not even sure if she's doing this for herself anymore. She wouldn't gain anything from this. As her grip remained on Abby, it suddenly felt wrong. It's not satisfying. It's not the feel-good moment she had anticipated.

So, she lets go, Abby quickly coming up and gasping for air.

"Go," Ellie nearly whispers, holding her injured hand as her tears drip into the water, "just take them."

Ellie is sobbing as Abby walks towards you, every emotion hitting her at once. Including losing you for good. You will leave with Abby and Lev, find a better place for your family, have a good life. And she will return to Jackson, knowing she failed Tommy, and go on with her life with even more trauma.

And she had to be okay with that. Are you?

"C'mon," Abby's voice is gentle as she reaches out to you, not being this close to the woman in months. You still remember when she tried to escape, despite you telling her it was a stupid idea beforehand. She argued, and all three of you suffered the consequences.

"No."

Abby's confused at your response, brows furrowed as she takes a step back. "What?"

"I can't leave her, Abby." Your eyes fall on Ellie, crying to herself in the cold water. The sight reminds you of how you left her in Seattle. Weak and alone, and that haunted you for several nights. You couldn't do it again.

"Y/n–" "Tall round building, right? I'll know where to find you. Right now, she needs me."

Your eyes travel from hers to the boat opposite of you, heart aching at the sight of Lev. He didn't deserve to suffer as you or Abby did, spending what felt like years up there on those fucking pillars. He needs to be far, far, away from here. "Take him," you tell her, "get him help. Both of you."

Abby could stay here convincing you this was a mistake, but she knows your mind isn't changing. It would just be a waste of time. Soon you'll realize that on your own, when you show up to Catalina Island, where she'll still be waiting for you. But for now, she has to let you go. She nods, "Yeah, okay."

Abby places a gentle hand on your cheek, pressing a short kiss on your forehead before pulling away. Her eyes observe your features for a moment, not knowing when she'll see you again. With slight hesitance, Abby forced herself to walk away.

Abby glances at Ellie as she passes her, the woman not acknowledging her surroundings. Her head was down as she cried to herself, oblivious to the fact Abby got in the boat alone.

When she finally looks up, she sees Abby driving away through her blurred vision, and Ellie assumes she's finally alone. And that everything was over.

Your legs are weak, but you force them out of the boat, falling as soon as you meet the water.

Ellie is startled by the sudden noise, turning her head, brows furrowed as she sees you. "Y/n?"

You don't bother trying to stand, crawling to her and wrapping your arms around her body. Your touch is soothing to her trembling body; your presence in general comforted her.

Both of you are still comprehending the fact that you stayed, as it almost felt unreal. Ellie's hands eagerly find their way to your skin, needing to touch you, needing to know you're actually there.

You knew you couldn't abandon her, not in this state. Abby and Lev will be okay, and that's why it was easy to let them go. You couldn't say the same for Ellie. You owe it to her to protect her, failing to do so before.

Even if you go back to Abby later, right now, Ellie is your priority.

You have so much to say to her, as she does to you, but neither of you speaks. The waves crash around you, the ambient noise calming despite the conditions. It almost feels impossible to move, so you stay.

You stay in that water with Ellie, holding her, not ready to let go.

Writing Advice: Third Person Point of View - The Problem with Head-Hopping

A personal pet peeve in fanfic—and even some published books, unfortunately—is an author head-hopping.

I understand that not everyone learned about writing point of view in primary school, and many fanfic writers are new to writing and might not even realize they're writing head-hopping.

So, this post is an educational means for those who are interested in learning how to improve their writing.

I'm going to give a quick overview of point of view, a breakdown of third person point of view, and how to spot head-hopping in your writing.

What Is Point of View?

Point of view (POV) is the perspective (voice) from which a story is narrated.

There are three POVs.

First person

Second person

Third person

Third Person: Limited vs. Omniscient

In third person POV, the author is narrating the story through third-person pronouns (she, he, they).

Third person POV is subdivided into two categories: third person limited and third person omniscient.

Third Person Limited

In third person limited, the narrator is an external observer who knows the thoughts and feelings of ONE character at a time.

Here's an example from R.F. Kuang's, The Poppy War, page 341:

The Cike were stretched to their limit, especially Rin. Each moment not spent on an operation was spent on patrol. And when she was off duty, she trained with Altan.

Note that this paragraph—the entire book, actually—is from Rin's POV. We have access to Rin's feelings, thoughts, and observations throughout the book, while also seeing how other characters are acting.

But we are only in Rin's head. We do not have access to the thoughts and feelings of other characters. This is third person limited POV.

Third Person Omniscient

In third person omniscient, the narrator is an all-knowing observer who has access to the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of ALL characters in the story.

Here's an example from Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice, page 104:

As they drove to Mr. Gardiner’s door, Jane was at a drawing-room window watching their arrival; when they entered the passage she was there to welcome them, and Elizabeth, looking earnestly in her face, was pleased to see it healthful and lovely as ever.

Notice how we have access to both Jane and Elizabeth's 1) physical locations, and 2) thoughts. Even though Elizabeth is in a carriage and Jane is inside a house, the narrator is all-knowing and can narrate both of them at the same time.

The problem I see from many fanfic writers: they attempt to write in third person omniscient when they're actually writing shoddy third person limited, constantly switching between the POVs of multiple characters.

This is called head-hopping.

Head-Hopping vs. Omniscient

Head-hopping is when an author shifts between the POVs of multiple characters without a scene break. Meaning, the author is inside Character A's head but abruptly—and randomly—shares the thoughts, feelings, and/or observations of Character B.

Here's an example:

Kathy arrived at the cafe in hopes of showing Brittany her completed sweater. It was the first time she had knitted and she was eager to share her hard work with her best friend. Brittany took one look at the sweater and cringed. She hated it, but she didn't want to hurt Kathy's feelings. She didn't know what to say.

In this example, we are inside both Kathy and Brittany's heads. Both characters have distinctive voices, and because of this, the narration of the story is inconsistent.

It's jarring to read, and pulls you out of the story.

Here's the same example written through omniscient POV:

Kathy arrived at the cafe with the intent to show Brittany her completed sweater. After hours of hard work, the opinion of her best friend was important. At Kathy's approach, Brittany observed the sweater in her friend's hand and wrinkled her nose. The sweater was hideous.

In this example, we are inside the head of the narrator. The narrator is telling the story through its voice, rather than the individual voices of Kathy and Brittany.

Remember: Omniscient means the reader is inside the NARRATOR's head, not the characters'.

The Scene Break to Denote POV Switch

Back to my definition of head-hopping: Head-hopping occurs when a writer suddenly switches POV without a scene break.

Like the first example of Kathy and Brittany—there is no scene break between their thoughts. If the author wanted to write from both Kathy and Brittany's perspective, the author would have to include a physical break to alert the reader to a switch in POV. See below:

Kathy arrived at the cafe in hopes of showing Brittany her completed sweater. It was the first time she had knitted and she was eager to share her hard work with her best friend. ~~~~~~~~~~ Brittany took one look at the sweater and cringed. She hated it, but she didn't want to hurt Kathy's feelings. She didn't know what to say.

The squiggly lines demonstrate a switch in POV, and the scene would then continue in Brittany's POV. [Please note that a single paragraph space (as seen in the first example of Kathy and Brittany) is not a scene break. It is a paragraph break, and therefore cannot be used to demonstrate a switch in POV.]

You can write multiple POVS throughout a story. These will all be in third person limited POVs.

For example, each chapter in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series is dedicated to ONE character. Throughout that chapter, the reader is inside the head—reading the thoughts, feelings, and observations—of that singular character.

Individual chapters can also have multiple POVs (again, these are third person limited POVs). These are denoted by a divider or additional paragraph space.

For example, Timothy Zahn's Thrawn switches between the POVs of multiple characters in each chapter. The switch between his characters' POV is shown by an additional paragraph space.

Why Should You Care about Head-Hopping?

If writing head-hopping makes you happy, then keep at it. It's fanfic, and most readers are so desperate for content they don't care.

But, if you're interested in improving your writing, here are a few reasons why head-hopping is problematic:

It's jarring to the reader, and takes them out of the story. Frequent head-hopping can confuse readers as they struggle to keep track of whose perspective they are currently experiencing. It disrupts the flow of the narrative and can make it challenging for readers to form a strong connection with any one character.

It makes it harder for readers to truly immerse themselves in your story. Consistent use of a single POV allows readers to immerse themselves in the story's world through the eyes of a specific character. Head-hopping disrupts this immersion by constantly pulling readers out of one character's perspective and into another's.

It hinders character development. When the narrative constantly shifts between characters, there may not be enough time or focus on any one character's growth and development.

It takes away the emotional impact of the scene. Head-hopping can prevent readers from fully empathizing with or understanding any particular character's emotions, motivations, and inner conflicts.

Even well-established authors struggle to write omniscient without head-hopping. It's a nuanced subject that can be confusing to understand and difficult to overcome.

Again, this post is simply to inform writers about third person point of view and the subtle differences between its subdivisions. It’s not an attack on fanfic writers.