You Really Do

Me after finishing LIS, double exposure

"HELP I'M HAVING A MENTAL BRAKE DOWN"

❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐃 𝐄𝐘𝐄 , alicent hightower and rhaenyra targaryen ❜

⌗ 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 , being blind was a blessing and a curse that you had to navigate from a young age but you were lucky to have two friend's willing to do anything for you

⌗ 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 , alicent hightower x fem! blind! reader x rhaenyra targaryen

⌗ 𝐬𝐨𝐥'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 , this was actually meant to be a one and done this but I think I'm gonna make it a two part so I can write it to the best of my ability without being rushed !!

house of the dragon masterlist , next part

⌗ you weren't always blind. you had your sight till you were age ten. when an assassination attempt gone wrong left you blinded. and since that day people only looked at you for what you had lost. not for what you had left. all they seven kingdoms saw a poor fragile high born girl with no sight.

⌗ but your best friends rhaenyra and alicent didn't. they saw you as more than your blindness. and dare you say they were the reason you had gotten though some of the darkest moments in your life. going out of their way to include you in everything they did.

⌗ walking hand and hand with you through the castle. reading your favourite stories. telling you the lastest court gossip. and showering you with gifts when your spirits were low. the greatest gift they ever gave you besides their friendship was your cane.

⌗ made of snow-white wood with a silver ornament on top of your house crest. over time you learn how to see without actually seeing. by tapping or banging your cane you would listen to the vibrations and gauge how near or far everything in the room was. and over time you got use to the darkness. finding a strange comfort in it.

⌗ life was good. you had everything you needed. but there was one thing that gnawed at you. something you craved that you knew you would never get. marriage. as being blind made you damaged goods and their for unwedable. meaning you would never have a family of your own.

⌗ your best friends noticing your sadness asked you what was wrong. as they watched you break down into tears and sniffles. the two held you as your tears fell. and once you were calm enough they began soothing you insecurities. "one day the seven shall grant you your wish" "you will make an amazing mother"

⌗ but deep down the two knew that they were far too in love with you to allow you to be wed off to a man. that most definitely did not deserve you. not like they did. and gradually over time their beautiful friendship bloomed into a beautiful romance.

⌗ with soft touches and gentle kisses. late night conversations about the future ahead of them. but all that came crashing down when alicent married viserys. rhaenyra was incensed and you were confused. how could this have happened? while you tried to hear alicent out the targaryen wouldn't listen to a word of it. dragging you away so you wouldn't have to either.

⌗ and so began the tug of war over you. with neither the hightower and targaryen willing to give up. though your time was mostly monopolised by rhaenyra. with the white-haired girl rarely ever leaving your side. spending countless nights in your room. but alicent still managed to find ways to see you. and though you still couldn't forgive her fully for betraying your trust. you did try your best to be there for her.

⌗ you were there when she gave birth to all her children. a comforting hand as she screamed and writhed in pain. stroking her hair and kissing her hand. whispering words of comfort in an attempt to soothe the girl who you still had so much love for. but that became so much more difficult once rhaenyra started having children.

⌗ that was when alicent's resentment how come she was being punished for doing her duty. while rhaenyra could bear bastard children and go unpunished. she got everything. the love of her father. the title of heir. you. oh how she hated how she had gotten you. how she manipulated you into staying by her side with her and her bastard children.

⌗ the hightower couldn't understand how you could still stand beside her. after she willingly betrayed you for another man and bore his children. unlike alicent who never wanted to have viserys children but had to out of duty. though she never really saw her children as viserys. as in her mind they were yours and hers.

⌗ and she was tired of you being taken away from her. so tonight she was going to do something about him. so under the cover of night she went to see you. slipping into your room she watched as you lay peacefully in bed. you looked so peaceful in nothing but a white silk nightgown. approaching the bed alicent slipped under the covers with you.

⌗ her hands immediately began exploring the body she had been denied for so long. closing her eyes alicent couldn't help but bury her nose in your hair. inhaling that comforting scent that seamlessly brought her comfort. wishing for nothing more than to drown in it. but as the hightower allowed herself to get lost in the touch smell and taste of you against her lips and body she hadn't noticed that you had started to stir in you sleep. "nyra?" you said in a hushed mumble.

⌗ alicent said nothing in response. as she silently lulled you back to sleep. seething that you called out of rhaenyra and not her. as the auburn continued to touch and kiss you as you slept she failed to realise that another figure had entered the room. and had left just as quickly. but all alicent saw was a sliver of white hair.

⌗ and by the time the next morning had came alicent was still laying next to you. but left before you woke up. as she walked back to her room with a pep in her step she bumped into the last person she wanted to see rhaenyra who smirked at her like she had been blessed by the gods. and a few moments later she found out why. as the good mood alicent hightower came crashing down.

⌗ you were leaving with rhaenyra and her family to dragonstone. and there was nothing she could do about it. alicent cried for hours after hearing the news. even going as far as to get on her hands and knees in front of you in an attempt to get you to stay. but to no avail. as once again rhaenyra had gotten what she wanted.

anon , Could I request (if it's alright with you ofc ) Blind Reader X Rhaenyra and Alicent (or one of them ) OR Visenya and Rhaenys . Readers blindness is due to R saving them ? Now, reader is a strategist or hand on the council ? If the idea is okay with you ofc , anything you wish 🙂

exceeded caution part 3

promise to keep

series masterlist | previous part | next part

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!

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!!!!

Is It Casual Now?

Katniss Everdeen x Reader

A/N: hey guys im permanently stuck in my hunger games era so here’s a fic about the one and only katniss everdeen. she’s the masc of my dreams i need a woman like her y’all. This is kinda sad so be warned <3 (not proofread sorry for typos)

summary: you and katniss were both winners of the hunger games and afterwards found solace in each other due to shared trauma. you never made anything official both just having an unspoken routine of doing things committed lovers do. But when it becomes too much for you to not be more to Katniss you distance yourself almost ruining the bond you and Katniss share.

—

Two hundred days, three minutes, and sixty seconds you’ve stayed with Katniss. Two hundred days, three minutes, and sixty seconds Katniss has stayed with you. You lie in her arms, her stroking your hair wondering why you’ve never left her mind since that day in the arena. She could never imagine her life without you. Sure she’s had friends, but never one as close as you. Never someone that would stay up late with her just to brush her hair and make sure her basic needs were met when she was unable to meet them herself.

The arena haunted her, and you, in ways that were impossible for anyone who hadn’t experienced the games to imagine. Shed see you trembling in your sleep. Struggling to control your body along with your thoughts. Shed hear your cries at night. All she was able to do was press warm kisses against your skin until you’d wake up and cry into her shoulder. Your shared kisses were enough to keep you both sane each day. A reason to keep trudging through the hell that was your minds.

But that’s what friends do right?

Katniss walked into the door boots dripping from the snow. Her sense of smell immediately filled with the sweetness of blackberries and honey. A luxury in District twelve that you both were only able to afford due to the victor money. She walked up to the sight of you brewing hot tea on the stove with the blackberries you delicately picked by hand. You looked beautiful, more gorgeous than anything shed ever seen. The forest, her favorite place, couldn’t compare at all. Walking up behind you she grabbed your waist and you leaned into her touch having missed her. “Tea?” You ask, brushing your fingers across her cold face. She nods her head at you and sits at the table closest to you. You set the tea in front of her hoping it will warm her up.

You look up at her face admiring her and she stretches her arm out for you to hold her hand. You gladly comply. Rubbing her hand you feel something warm and wet against them. She was bleeding. “Kat.” You look at her disappointed she’d hurt herself hunting again. “Mm?” She mumbled not paying attention to your dissatisfied expression. “You cut yourself out there. Again.” She looks down trying to hide the cut along her face that you hadn’t noticed yet. Much to her disdain you finally notice and you grab her chin so she’ll turn and let you inspect her injuries. “I just got nicked by the bushes, nothing crazy.” She says clearly lying. “I’ll be right back.” You say getting up and walking into the downstairs bathroom.

You walk back in with alcohol and cotton balls.

You move her onto the couch so that you can get closer to her cuts. You try to find a comfortable position on the couch so you can tend to her but you’re obviously struggling by how much you’ve adjusted yourself. Katniss notices and grabs at your hips to pull you closer to sit on her lap. As you tend to her cuts she rubs circles on your waist and back. Enjoying the feeling of you this close to her.

“Last one.” You say as you’re about to deal with the injury on her nose. You’re practically sharing breaths with how close you are to her. She can’t help but admire you this close. Your features that look like God himself spent extra time on you just to make you as beautiful as you are. “All done.” You say pressing a kiss to her lips. She smiles into your lips before pulling away. “Thank you what would I do without a friend like you?” You smile and get up to go back to the kitchen.

You can’t help but think about her words. “A friend like you” You’d never really thought about it before but were you guys really “friends” Did friends act this way towards each other? It’s not like you both had ever mentioned this unspoken bond between the two of you. The kissing, cuddling, the domestic aura of it all. It wasn’t anything like you and your friends from the past had done. But it felt as if Katniss hadn’t realized this. And even if she did, you doubted you were worthy of a relationship with her.

The truth was, Katniss had thought about the bond you shared with her. It runs through her mind 101 times a day. She wants more with you. She wants everything with you. But you were blind to this fact. The thought of her not feeling the same way as you tugged at your heart everyday. So much so that it was hard to be around her.

Youd started avoiding her. You’d crawl out of bed each morning gently to not wake her and leave the house for hours and hours on end. Exploring shops, the lakes, anywhere that she wasn’t. You knew it was wrong to leave like this but your heart hurt more than your mind could handle.

Your behavior shocked her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d fallen asleep on the couch with you wrapped in her arms. She missed you. It was hurtful to her why you’d changed so suddenly. Did she upset you? Had she done something wrong? She tossed these thoughts around in her brain for hours and hours each day before it became too much.

On a rainy afternoon you’d been gone all day. Out doing God knows what. You’d come home to cook for Katniss. The one thing you hadn’t stopped doing since you knew she was unable to cook herself. And she was no where to be found. She’d usually be in the kitchen waiting for you or in your shared bed asleep.

You noticed her hunting boots were gone and you realized she had been in the forest. She never hunted this late so you decided to go and find her. You walked over to her normal spot picking berries you’d found along the way. You got closer and saw Katniss. She was sitting alongside a tree knees interlocked with her arms. She was trembling. Her eyes looked dull and you could tell she hadn’t moved in hours.

“Kat..?” You said running up to her. She barely looked up at you or acknowledged your presence. You palmed her forehead shivering at how cold she really was. “You need to come home.” You assumed she would argue but she simply stood up walked alongside you. Looking down at her hunting bag you noticed nothing was in there. Had she not even hunted anything this whole time? Why had she been out here?

As you went into the house you sat her down on the couch and lit the fireplace. She still hadn’t said one word to you. She was angry. You turned the stove on to boil water for tea and then sat in front of her. You both sat for a few seconds.

“You left me.” Katniss says, her voice monotone.

You look over at her confused. “Left you where Kat?” She looks at you as if she’s shocked you don’t understand what she’s saying. “You’ve left me. For days Y/N.” She glares at you. “Am I not enough? I only see you for 2 hours each day. You leave before I wake up and only come back to make dinner. Then you go upstairs to fall asleep before I do. Just so you don’t have to talk to me. What have I done Y/N? I don’t understand.”

Her anger turns into sadness as she chokes on the last bits of her words.

You look at her teary eyed. The weight of her words hit you. How would she understand your reasons for avoiding the one person who really meant the most?

A tear runs down your cheek at the thought of what you had made her feel. You grab her and hold her, the both of you sobbing into each other.

“I never meant to leave,” You whisper. “All i’ve ever wanted was you Katniss. I don’t want to be just there when you need me, I want to always be there.” You sob looking away from her. She looks up at you teary eyed, her eyebrows mushed together at your confession. “I need you so much Kat. It’s hard for me to be around you when I know i’m not worthy of you like that.”

To her the thought of you not feeling worthy enough for her was incomprehensible. “Y/n? Please look at me.” She begged. You looked over at her with shame. Feeling embarrassed and unworthy.

“You’re all i’ve ever wanted.” She says softly. “I always want you there because I always need you.”

She moves closer to you again this time cupping your face with her hands. “You’re more than worthy.” She says before pressing her lips onto yours.

You pull away and smile softly at her. “Please never leave me again y/n.” Katniss says with desperation in her voice. “I won’t.” You say. “I’m sorry.” You grab her hand and squeeze it.

That night was the first night in weeks you went to bed and everything felt better. You slept in your girlfriend’s arms and the world seemed to make sense.

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.”

Out of interest, what are the colour variations of canis lupus and other wolf subspecies? Thank you for your time :)

Colour variations per wolf species:

- Gray wolves (Canis lupus) can have coat colours or colour combinations ranging from black, grey, white (though never a “pure”, bright white as seen in domestic dogs), brown, blonde, “silver”, reddish/orange. The Gray wolf has a lot of subspecies, and each subspecies has it’s own variation in colour. Some can come in all colours named above, whereas other Gray wolf subspecies for example only come in white. 

If you want to know the coat colour possibilities of a certain Gray wolf subspecies, you can easily find that online.

Some colour possibilities in Gray wolves:

Entirely black [X]

Black and grey [X]

Different shades of grey [X]

Very light grey [X]

High contrast [X]

Little contrast [X]

Grey white black brown [X]

Brown/reddish with whites and blacks [X]

Brown and black with some greys [X]

Brown and black [X]

Light brownish/sandish [X]

Blonde/yellowish [X]

Silverish [X]

White [X]

White with some grey and/or black variations [X]

- Red wolves (Canis rufus) always have a combination of the colours orange/reddish, brown and grey, with black markings, along with some white parts and some black parts like in the tip of their tail:

[X]

- Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) are orange with white, with some grey/brown and black markings:

[X]

All of the depicted coat colours above of course can have lots of variations - especially the darkness/brightness and contrast. No wolf looks the same. It’s very difficult to map out all the different possibilities, but this gives a good overview.

Also, here’s a nice chart with pictures of some wolf subspecies that shows the typical coat colour for each subspecies.

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

hey besties this is kinda an ~expermient~ so if y’all don’t hate it i’ll make it a mini-series 

Summary: Reader, Abby’s girlfriend, reunites with an old friend, Ellie.

Warnings: Language, sexual content (no smut)

Keep reading

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 5

how dare you?

series masterlist | previous part | next part

a/n: ohhhh i had so much fucking fun with this chapter. i couldnt stop once i started. i hope u all enjoyyyy

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

warnings: cursing, threatening language, mention of blood and violence, mention of sustained injuries, mention of stabbing. 3.9k words.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

"i really don't want you doing this." you said to sam as you fixed the collar on her jacket, using your palm to flatten the fabric.

"i will be fine. and i'll be back in no time." sam placed her hand over yours. you just stared at your joined hands for a moment.

she noticed that you were starting to zone out and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"it'll work. i know it will." she said, confidently.

"it might work. but at what risk?" you asked, finally making eye contact with her. "they're putting you out there like lambs for the slaughter. i don't want anything to happen to you or tara. it's not worth it."

sam placed a hand on your cheek, holding your attention.

"i'll take any chance to catch this motherfucker and put an end to this if it means we get to be together at the end."

god, you hated her.

"you'll need to be alive for that, samantha." you rolled your eyes at her.

"i will be alive. i promise."

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you were sat in the back of a van while sam and tara wandered out in the open. you hated the idea of using them as bait. no matter how good kirby and detective bailey were at their jobs, you knew ghostface was always a few steps ahead.

as mindy and kirby butted heads over the plan, you glanced at ethan. the boy was shamelessly snacking on a bag of cheetos, how could he even stomach anything right now? he noticed your staring and turned the bag of cheetos to you, offering you some. you waved your hand to dismiss him and looked away.

you offered to join the two sisters in their escapade to gain an advantage over ghostface, but they didn't need you in an even worse state.

you realised that you didn't even have a theory as to who the killer could be. there were too many people around and too many things happening for you to even make a guess. you also wondered if anyone suspected you.

"heart of gold with a dark past." mindy said, describing you to tara and sam. "it's the perfect cover up."

"she's got a rock solid alibi." tara said, crossing her arms at mindy. the girl still held a protective nature for you. "i was breaking up with her."

"she still left after." mindy countered. "you never know. isn't it weird that she always just seems to be around when you need her most?"

sam hated to even consider that you were capable of taking a life. unfortunately, despite her growing feelings, she had to be cautious with you. that was one of the risks she had to ponder on after you two decided to take things further.

fortunately for you, she looked into your eyes enough to know that there was not a single murderous spark in that head of yours.

"this is exactly how our uncle randy died." mindy's frustrated voice echoed in the van, taking you out of your investigative headspace. "broad daylight, public place, yanked into a van." the girl's monologue was never-ending, she was hard to stop when she got like this.

"stab. stab. stab. no more randy!" she exclaimed.

"huh." kirby responded, seemingly ignoring mindy's efforts at pointing out flaws in the operation. she turned back to the computer in front of her. "hey sam? stay frosty out there, okay?"

"we're good." you heard her voice through the computer's soft speaker. the tone of her voice reassured you, you knew she just wanted this to end.

you leaned back against the wall of the van, letting out a small yawn. you can't remember the last time you got a decent sleep.

you heard a faint ringing. you sat up as sam picked up the phone.

"you're gonna die, you know?" you almost felt your attraction to her increasingly grow with her determination. but now wasn't the time to think about that.

kirby typed away on her computer, tracking the killer's location. you leaned forward, trying to hear better.

"for a mastermind, you’re not very bright. waiting for me to call, desperately hoping i’m nearby so the police can grab me." the voice changer was haunting, it was the type of voice that wouldn't leave your nightmares. he was terrifying, you had to give him that. "but i’m not nearby. i'm one step ahead. be seeing you, samantha."

hearing sam's full name come from ghostface sent chills down your spine. it was intense, like the name held a lot of weight.

he hung up just like that, you watched as kirby discovered his location. the radius slowly started to narrow down to the upper west side.

kirby informed the two girls that ghostface was nowhere near them.

"on west 96th?" tara asked, kirby furrowed her eyebrows.

"how did you know that?" kirby inquired.

"gale." sam spoke.

you thought back to how kirby turned gale away from joining everyone, how press wasn't allowed anywhere near this. while her action was valid, you now realise it may have turned around to bite her back harder.

you heard heavy breathing and footsteps from the other end of the comms, deducing that they were running.

"my friend danny works on the upper west side. he can get there quicker!" you heard sam say through her short breaths. you had only met danny a few times, you had no doubt that he was a good presence in the carpenter's lives. although, he was still a viable suspect. you know he had a history with sam, you couldn't tell if it was just jealousy or actual logic that caused you to suspect him.

"or he could finish her off! it's possible he's the killer." detective bailey had a point there, it was convenient that he just so happened to work in the area.

"fuck. we have to get there now." sam said, stopping in her tracks as bailey protested, asking her to take a minute.

the comms started to fizzle out suddenly, you realised it was because they were getting further away.

you couldn't help yourself and lunged out of the van you were sitting in. you looked around and scanned the area. you spotted bailey and squinted, only to see that there was a police vehicle driving away with it's sirens blaring. you had no doubt that it was tara's doing, she could be reckless when she wanted to be.

"fuck this." you mumbled, turning back around to kirby. "can you take us there?" kirby heard the worry laced in your voice, she sighed and nodded.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

the car ride was silent, you sat in the passenger seat while the other three squeezed into the back seat. chad looked uncomfortable in the middle, seeing as he was the most built one out of all of them.

you jumped as your phone buzzed, you were doing that more often.

caller id — tara carpenter

you quickly answered.

"tara. are you okay?" you immediately asked. "is gale okay?"

"sam and i are fine. gale isn't. she's been hurt." tara answered your question.

"sit tight. we're almost there." you said.

"okay." tara sounded exhausted. this would have been extremely hard for the both of them. gale was someone that was there when this all started, despite their differences, she was a constant that they could depend on. "i'll see you soon..." tara proceeded to hang up the phone.

you turned to everyone else in the car. "gale's been hurt. i'm not sure how bad but we'll find out soon enough." you wished that there were no other cars present on the road. you wished that you could just plow through every other vehicle just to get there faster.

when you arrived, the sisters were standing shoulder to shoulder by the steps of the apartment complex.

sam looked like she had years taken off her lifespan. she was staring into nothing, her mind was racing and her shoulders were holding the weight of the world.

you hopped out of the car and felt your feet pick up the pace, you had to get to her as soon as possible.

as you crashed into the girl, you wrapped your arms around her neck, enveloping her into a hug. she took her hands out of her pockets and hugged your waist, her face burrowing itself into your neck. she inhaled deeply, taking in your scent and warmth. she felt herself relax a little more as she held you in your arms.

"i was so fucking worried about you both." you said, slowly pulling away to suddenly pull tara into a hug. she didn't expect it but she was pleasantly surprised. she hugged your waist and put her head on your chest. you were tall enough to rest your chin on her head. hearing your heartbeat was enough to calm her as well.

"any word on gale?" chad asked, walking up the stairs. you all collectively decided to sit on the couches that were in the lobby. you took a seat directly next to sam.

"she had a pulse the last time we saw her." tara cleared the air a bit more. "they said she's strong enough to pull through."

you sighed in relief. you spotted danny suddenly run into the building, breathless as he looked like he was running.

"i got here as fast as i could." he spoke in between breaths.

"did you?" tara asked, her tone accusatory.

had tara also been suspecting him? you had to give her credit for that. she was incredibly quick with picking up things like this. you glanced at danny and realised he was staring right at sam. was there still something lingering there? did sam have any lingering feelings? you wanted to pull her closer, stake some form of claim on her but you knew you had no right to do that just yet. instead, you settled for placing a hand on her upper arm.

"i'm scared. i don't wanna get hurt again." mindy said, her voice just barely above a whisper.

"neither do i." chad followed. mindy eyed him.

"i don't want you getting hurt again either." she told him.

"i know. i know." chad leaned his head on his sister's shoulder. as much as they butted heads, they loved each other more than anyone.

tara leaned her head on mindy's shoulder too. a part of you would have loved to be there when they were all happy together, enjoying life as normal teenagers back in woodsboro. maybe then you'd be able to understand them.

"so what do we do now?" chad asked, turning to sam.

"maybe he gets to win this time." sam said, softly. your eyes flickered to her, your eyebrows furrowing at her statement. win? what did she mean by that?

tara, mindy, and chad had the same expression as you. they raised their heads to look at sam, confused looks on their faces.

"he wants to punish me." your was pushed away as she stood up from her seat. "me." you saw tears starting to pool around her eyes, a choked down sob almost making it through her hardened exterior. "so maybe i let him."

you looked over to everyone else, did this sound absolutely ridiculous to them too?

"i'll just give myself up." she said, allowing the tears to flow freely and the rasp to take control of her voice. "if this is what i have to do to keep you safe, it's worth it."

you were stunned to silence. sam just wanted to give up. that wasn't the sam you knew, that wasn't the girl you fell for. you wondered where this was suddenly coming from. you thought that all the loss just got too much for her, she was willing to give herself up to end it all. you couldn't let that happen.

"no!" tara spoke up before you could. "we're not doing that, sam." the girl scrambled to stand up from her chair. "you came back to woodsboro to protect me. every single day, you make the decision to protect me. none of us would even be alive if it wasn't for you."

"she's right." chad nodded. "you have to let us help you too, sam."

"no." sam shook her head. she couldn't take it anymore. she hated how much you've all been through just because she happened to draw the short straw in a gene pool.

"yes. we're a team, remember?" tara stared her sister down, which was impressive given that tara has never been able to stare anyone down.

"actually, we're family." mindy said. you watched as the four of them came together, chad clapping and standing up. you wondered how the lovable knucklehead managed to brighten up the moment no matter what.

"core four!" core four. that was cute.

"he's gonna keep coming after us." sam said.

"isn't there somewhere safe we could just hole up in?" ethan asked. you forgot he was there for a second. maybe he felt like just as much of an outsider as you did sometimes.

"he's just gonna keep finding us." tara said to him. suddenly, it was like the gears turned in her head. "we could use that though. i have an idea."

tara held her hand out and asked for chad's phone, walking outwith the rest of the crew. sam was about to follow but you pulled her back.

"i didn't get to say what i thought." you said, your voice was firm. sam met your eyes and her lips pressed into a thin line. you were glaring at her. you shoved her chest back. it wasn't enough to topple her but it was enough to stun her. in fact, it was impressive how you were able to do it with just one hand. "how fucking dare you?!"

she stared at you with wide, shocked eyes.

"don't look at me like that. how dare you even think about giving yourself up?!" you almost screamed at her but you kept your voice down. "did you not even think of how that would affect everyone else?"

sam was rendered to silence. she wanted you to let it all out, even if it meant taking your sudden change of tone. she didn't know how to handle this side of you, but she was glad you allowed yourself to be vulnerable with her. in fact, you challenged her.

"tara would be left without anybody! you're practically chad and mindy's triplet! and me! and... and me..." you started to stutter out your words as the sobs laced themselves in between your words. "did you even remember that you made me a promise?" you asked, weakly.

"i'm sorry. i remember that promise like i made it two seconds ago." sam said, reaching for your hand and placing it over her heart. "please forgive me. i'll never bring it up again. this heart will continue to beat for you." it was criminal how easily she eased your worries.

"you stress me the fuck out." you scoffed out through tears.

"i'm afraid you will have to deal with that for a very long time then." she said, placing her own hand over yours.

"good."

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

you two rejoined everyone else outside, tara was already on the phone to detective bailey.

"we wanna lure him to a secure location and trap him inside." was tara's opening line that you walked in on. the girl was clever. she probably already had an entire plan mapped out in her head. you were always impressed by her level of intelligence.

"and then what?" you heard bailey over the phone.

"we execute him." you almost laughed at the aggressive word used by tara. but you felt that it was fitting.

bailey went quiet, you chalked it up to the fact that he was probably thinking the entire thing over. he had lost his daughter, you thought that he wouldn't think twice.

"are you gonna help us?" tara asked, an attitude sparking. she was growing impatient. and nobody liked impatient tara.

"let's kill this son of a bitch." bailey said.

you looked over to sam as bailey explained that you had access to the theater. he also warned you all to travel in public to minimize the chances of ghostface attacking you.

so you decided to take the subway.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

the hustle and bustle of new york.

it had been a while since you've actually been out with other people. this was an unconventional reason for you and all your friends to suddenly immerse yourself in the crowd but it was better than nothing.

you almost forgot it was time to play dress up. most of the people underground were all dressed up in costumes, probably about to make their way to halloween parties.

as you pushed through the crowd. you felt yourself get pulled in a million different directions. before you knew it, you had gotten separated from your friends.

you were shoved into a tightly packed train car, trying to shove your way through to find someone familiar. you squeezed your way through the sardine-like formation that everyone situated themselves in.

eventually, though the clearing, you spotted chad. you started to slowly make your way over to them. your arm was in pain, constantly being bumped into by strangers or the train itself. you winced as someone backed into you, lightly pushing them away,

when you reached the group of four, the train shook. you stumbled into tara, reaching for her shoulder with your good arm.

"sorry." you mumbled. sam let out a breath, she was glad you made it on with them.

"it's okay. i'm glad you're here." tara said, turning to face you. you grabbed the hanging strap right above her, staying close.

"me too. where's mindy?" you asked chad. "and ethan...?"

"we got split apart. pretty boy here pulled me in. maybe if you didn't do that, i'd be with them." chad practically spat at him.

"i was just trying to keep us together." danny said, on the defensive side.

you and tara turned to him at the same time, the same expression on your faces. you squinted at him, studying him a bit. he was a local, he knew how busy the subway could get. sometimes you just had to go with the ocean and not force anything.

the lights started flickering and you made sure to keep an eye on everyone when they did turn back on. chad suddenly straightened his posture when he realised the state of the train.

"holy shit." he looked just behind sam's shoulder. you followed his eyes.

ghostface. pinhead. ghostface. michael myers. ghostface. ghostface. ghostface. ghostface. another ghostface. and another ghostface.

they were everywhere.

"fuck." you whispered under your breath.

"how many stops do we have?" tara asked, sam leaned over to look at the map.

"ten." she said.

fuck. double digits. were you even gonna make it to the first?

it was like the universe was actively working against you. there was no way you all happened to board this train on this day and get separated.

people started to funnel out of the train with each stop. you looked over at sam and realised something had caught her eye. you tried to track where she was looking but there were just too many people.

"guys." she caught the attention of everyone else.

there.

one of the ghostfaces was moving towards you at an alarming pace. just as he was about to reach sam, you stepped in front of her. she grabbed your waist to steady you and pull you back against her chest.

the person in the costume turned to exit the train. you exhaled sharply and grabbed another hanging strap, this time on sam's side. tara frowned at the loss of your closeness but admired that you stood in between sam and a potential murderer.

with sam's hand resting on your waist still, you stayed close to her side, practically leaning on the girl. your mind was racing. nine more stops to go.

you hoped that mindy was okay on the other train. she'd be just as terrified, there would be just as many ghostfaces.

stop after stop, the pit in your stomach failed to resolve itself. even if you were going to make it off the train, you still had an entire night ahead of you.

screech!

you had dozed off on about stop number six, you were now seated but still leaning on sam's shoulder. you blinked your sleep away and sat up as you hit your final stop.

the four of you exited the train, quickly jogging up the steps and out of the subway. as you walked towards the theater, you felt yourself gravitate towards sam.

fuck it.

tara, danny, and chad walked ahead of you both anyway. you reached for her hand and intertwined your fingers. you needed that moment with her before you walked into your doom. she roughly pulled her hand away, looking irritated suddenly. you looked up at her with concern, did you miss something?

as you fell asleep on stop number six, chad turned to sam.

"you have to be careful of her." he whispered. he had never been the theory type, that was more mindy's thing. but mindy wasn't there, and she had her thoughts about you. as much as she did care for you, she cared for everyone else too. "she's got just as much motivation as the rest of them."

sam looked at the floor, silently processing.

"tara broke her heart. she could be out for revenge." he continued. "i know you like her a lot. and i get it. i was like that with liv ages ago. i let my feelings cloud my judgement. and you can't do that, sam. we're counting on you."

sam gritted her teeth at what chad was saying. she knew he was right. she had to do what it took to protect her family. unfortunately, you didn't go through what they went through, and you did have motive.

"and even then, she's already taken a lot of hits. we can't have anyone slowing us down. she's down one arm and it might bite us in the ass harder than we think." chad said. she hated that he used your injury to built the case against you.

even then, it didn't stop the doubt that grew in sam's mind.

she had to make the right call tonight. and it was going to be hard.

as you met kirby outside the theater, she mentioned that she had everything set up.

"let's get you all inside." she said.

sam abruptly turned to you and danny.

"not you guys."

what?

"sam, what are you talking about?" you asked her, stepping towards her, nearly shouldering danny just to get in her eyeline.

"i can't trust anyone. and yes, i know... i know what we are. but we don't know you." you felt your heart shatter at the fact that maybe you didn't open yourself up as well as you thought. when she said that, you knew that she didn't eliminate you entirely from her list of suspects, no matter how deep her feelings ran.

"but i have to be in there with you. i promised i wouldn't leave!" you said, reaching out to her. she only stepped backwards, away from you.

"you're not woodsboro."

she was right. you weren't woodsboro. you never were and you never will be. you were never going to be a part of that little family they shared. you were never going to understand.

as you stood outside with danny, you didn't know what to do with yourself. when you saw the group round the corner, you heard danny's muffled groans. you turned around to be met with the infamous masked killer himself.

and then everything went black.

𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩 𓆪𓆩

author's journal okay once again this came out a lot sooner than i expected but i had a lot of writing muse today and i promised emma that i would get this out for her! i hope you enjoy this, liefje. oooh i am sososososososo incredibly excited to write the next part of this series. cause u alllll know whats coming next. i promise it won't end when the canon ends though, i'm estimating a few more parts even after the ghostface stuff is resolved. i also fuck so hard w the music i listened to when writing this chapter. a lot of paris again but the live version of labour this time. that song just sends chills down my spine. but i promise i listened to more! particularly this song riiiiight here.

i also kinda wanna start timing myself when writing like hm just curious to see how long i usually take esp for long chapters. i hope u all have been enjoying the series so far cause i've had SUCH a good time writing it. i have an assessment due in two days so i will have to focus on that for a hot sec but i promise part 6 wont be ages cause i'll write it in my free time. anyways, i wish that everyone has the bestest day ever. kisses x