I kept running until I couldn't anymore.
The wind froze my skin and made me numb to it flapping in the pelting rain.
When I couldn't run, I walked.
I didn't know this area. I just kept heading straight, wondering how long it was going to take for River to wake up and come after me.
I didn't want him to; not the way he was. I wanted the funny and kind River to be the one who braved the storm and took me back home. We'd be wrapped in a blanket together and be like how we were.
But I saw what he was like now. They had changed him. I didn't like this monster who only focused on how to rip me apart.
Then, I lost the energy to walk and sat.
A tree offered little shelter from the storm smashing into it and me. The ground beneath it had some sort of dryness to it that I huddled under, wrapping my arms through my shirt that I pulled over my knees.
I was so cold. My fingers burned when I put them in my mouth to try and warm them. My ears felt like they had fallen off long ago with my tail.
I just wanted to go home. But I didn't want to see him.
It was a struggle to stay awake too. The storm beat all the energy from me and drained every shred of hope.
I closed my eyes, feeling as useless as I did when I had been drugged and had fallen into nothiness before meeting Pretzel for the first time.
This felt the same. My brain was foggy and I felt like I had plastic wrap surrounding my bones instead of the soaked clothes and shredded skin.
I was heavy. I was tired.
I couldn't stop my dropping eyelids from closing. The rain glued them shut while the wind threatened to burn them from my skull each moment I kept them open.
The dirt was soft. It was warm and dusted me in its chocolate powder.
Hmm. Hot chocolate would be nice. With little marshmallows in it. And that crackling fire at home.
Oh. I could feel it burning in my chest when I held myself. The fire inside me stealing all the warmth from all my limbs just to keep that little patch burning.
That was nice.
The howling wind roared, forming words blowing past my dead ears.
I didn't even know what it was trying to say. Was it English?
The branches shoved my side, swatting me and patting me as the ringing words blew through the howls. When I ignored them, they lifted me from the ground like a leaf tumbling through the air, smothering me in soft fire.
Was fire soft? It felt wonderful. It rubbed itself all along my skin, trying to peel off my skin so it could jump inside to caress my bones.
I wasn't going to stop it. It was nice to feel something after being numb for so long.
Then, the wind and rain stopped.
It hammered somewhere above me, dulled and metallic.
The rain solidified and ran over my cheeks. It caressed my head and rubbed along my ribs, pulling my head into a billowing warmth.
I felt the dust was now soft marshmallows that pressed to my back and side. They were sticky too, clinging and squishing when the billowing warmth shuffled beside me.
Was this what it felt like to join the spirits?
I wasn't under that tree and I wasn't being drowned in the storm. I was being tumbled and rocked upside down and sideways while moving forward all at once.
Maybe I was being lifted upwards through all the wind?
It did feel warmer up here. And the words in the wind were jumbled rumblings now. There were heaps of them all jumping back and forth and down my throat to scratch it.
The warmth peeled at my clothing and skin. It slid me from them and force warmth into all my dead bones that jolted and spasmed in response. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZWeCTaA4s
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I tried to open my eyes that were still glued shut. The vicious rubbing tumbled me around while peeling me open like an onion.
I wonder how deep it was trying to go? Was it peeling my skin off too? I couldn't tell.
It was trying to beat the air from my lungs and replace it with burning fire that swirled from ahead of me. It made the scratching in my throat worse and forced it to bark out the wet air within me. With each hacking cough, I felt acid tear at my throat and dribble over my teeth. My tongue was a lumpy rag just disconnected to everything else in my mouth that had been scrubbed at with sandpaper.
All of my muscles screamed for rest. I had been thrown around and beaten mercilessly. The cold had pummeled me into numbness while the warmth was striking me back into feeling it all again.
I couldn't do anything. All of my strength had been dripped dry. It was becoming a struggle to just fight through the spasms ripping through me.
Then, the howling wind returned. The rain splattered on my face swirling with the voices hovering around me. They guided me to another area where the storm was kept at bay, pelting and pounding somewhere above me to try and smother me again.
It wailed in defeat, long and loud; ringing through my whole body and boring into my brain. The noise pierced through me like River's claws and twisted inside my organs that clenched in response.
It stabbed me up through my bones and drilled into my arms. Cold blood flooded through me, digging deeper until it was spilling out the other side of me.
Fresh air was shot through my peeled, naked body that burned and seized at its sharp touch. It smelled like bleach and lemons trying to sanitize every inch within me.
Marshmallows and dustings of hot chocolate turned into scratching cardboard wrapped around me and set on fire while also being doused with water to quieten the flames leaping upwards to bite everywhere River had.
There were places I didnt know River had mauled me in that the fire snapped its fangs through to seal the flapping skin shut again. It licked along the gouges, caressing me and dragging me deeper into darkness.
With the biting flames still punching thier way along my body, I fell helplessly into the void lingering under the surface that welcomed me with open arms.
My skin felt tight, like I was too big for my own body that stretched it with each little movement.
The first thing I saw was the bright light beaming down in the room I was in.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0fp0xggfB
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I was covered in a thin, green waffle blanket that felt coarse on my skin. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPkC31NUQWy
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Others covered it, trapping in the warmth circulating around me.
Needles speared through my arms, biting when I moved them towards the wet head of hair resting on my bedside.
River was hunched over the bed with one arm reaching up for mine as he slept. His back rose and fell steadily, his own body covered in a blanket to try and dry it from the rain soaking him.
Had he actually run out after me? Even though he knew how much he hated it?
I slid my hand to his to press my fingertips to his. They twitched and slowly curled around mine as his eyes blinked open, a tired smile curling on his face.
"Hey, you."
"Hey" I tried to smile back, tears choking me "I-I'm sorry."
"You don't need to be sorry for anything" he rubbed my hand "it was a scary thing to go through. I'm surprised you didn't pack your stuff and take it too."
I chuckled at him, unable to wipe my eyes since bending my arms only dug the needles in deeper. White patches were taped all along them too that crinkled with any movement. I saw River had the same ones on his arms and under his shirt.
"I'm sorry" he whispered, silent tears rolling down his cheeks "I should have taken it slow at first. Maybe started small and worked out way up to tackling the full thing."
"It was a bit scary" I admitted "you just weren't there anymore. You were something."
River looked ashamed. His eyes dropped down and his fingers paused on my hand to hold it instead.
"I... don't see you" he admitted "none of you actually. All I see is them. And if it isn't them, it's the guy who hosed me all the time or the one who broke the bowls every time I tried to eat."
"You see the bad ones."
He nodded, sniffling and wiping his eyes on my blanket.
It had me intregued. All of my fear of the monster was gone now that all I saw was the broken demon caressing my hand. Everything was raw and real without the interruptions.
All it took was for me to end up in hospital to have this moment.
"Who do you see with me?"
River grimaced, looking away briefly to the doorway that led out to the sliver of empty hospital hallway I could see.
"Its almost always Darcy's mum and dad" he muttered to me "it was them again. I think you were the mum; I don't remember clawing her arms. Darcy would have been his dad then."
River looked scared to be telling me this. He didn't let it sink in before holding my hand between both of his.
"I don't think you are like them, Teddy" he blurted "I just see them. I was put here to protect Darcy and I'll never stop doing that. I can't just switch off a lifetime of being his guardian to watching him from the sidelines. This won't let me" he tapped the side of his head with a claw "but it doesn't mean I love you any less; I've just got to realise I have a new Darcy to protect."
That did make me melt inside. It was funny how just a few mushy words could have me swooning over the demon who caused me to be wrapped up in all this white padding.
"Who is Darcy then?" I pondered "If I'm his mum and he is his dad, then is it the girls? Maybe Moss?"
"Moss is Darcy" River confirmed "and if it's not Moss, it's all three of them. I just hear him crying and I'm back in that house holding the door shut with Darcy hiding under the bed, or trying to stop his mum and dad beating the living shit out of him over the tiniest thing. When he cries, all I hear is Darcy."
Moss is Darcy.
My heart jolted at the realization and I grabbed River's hand to hold it firmly.
I had it! The solution to his feral rampages! Something that would calm him quicker than an old blanket. It would save everyone all the pain in the process too.
"We need to get back home and trigger you again."
River's head finally lifted from my bed in disbelief.
"You do realise where you are?" he muttered in deep concern "we aren't doing anything like that again. Once was enough. You had a taste, and now you know what to do."
"Where did you take Moss when you got hold of him last time?" I pressed, pushing aside River's worries.
"To the water" he replied with a shake of his head at how his reply had any link to my crazy theory "I went under with him. Lavi and Darcy freaked; it was a mess no matter what I said. I knew he would be safe, but they wanted none of it."
Under the water was what felt safest to River. I knew from watching him work and the way he loved to stay submerged in the calming depths that it was what he thought would be best for him and the Darcy he saw in his feral state.
Demons didn't drown. Moss would have been safe with River, even if River was seeing as a scared Darcy he was trying to shield.
"Moss is your Darcy" I tried to make him realise what I had "if me and Darcy are his parents, no wonder you don't calm down when we are trying to hold you down and force you to eat something strange. If you had Moss..."
"No, Teddy" River scowled now but relaxed his glare on me "I can't put him in danger like that for some theory. He got sick last time I took him. Who knows what else I would do if I got him again? No. I'm not doing whatever crazy thing you have going on in that fried head of yours. You're still hallucinating, you need sleep."
"Then, who do you see Sprig as?" I bit back smugly "when you go to Darcy, who is holding him?"
River glared again, biting his lip. He let out a growl, throwing his hand up in defeat.
"The damn guy who hosed me."
I didn't need to confirm anything. River knew how plausible my theory sounded; he as just too scared to play it out.
"You said it yourself, you are there to protect Darcy. So, why don't you do that?"
"You know I can't" River whimpered out to me "can we just drop it? I don't want to come back here tonight, OK? We should just go home, watch TV, and think about New Years. With this weather, they'll cancel the fireworks, so we'll need a backup plan."
"River" I reached out to grab his hand gripping the blankets "they are still going to fall with or without the fireworks. What we should focus on is this thing we need to deal with. If we want to be good parents to our baby, we need to make sure nothing is going to hurt it. That means figuring out a way to stop the madness as quickly as we can. You don't want to hurt little Hanging Basket, do you?"
River snorted, wagging his finger at me.
"I know what you are trying to do and it's not going to work. We aren't using Moss as a test dummy."
"But if it works, which it will" I grabbed his finger "then we know our own baby will be your new Darcy. I know how badly you want it; you would never see it as anything else."
"I'd still see you as them" River muttered, grunting before shaking his head and prying my finger from his "I can't."
"Mr River Somes" I glared "I'm not asking. If you see me as them, so be it; at least we will have our own medicine for you, besides the actual stuff of course. I want us to live in our house with our family and without worries. This little hiccup isn't stopping me. I'm not going anywhere, OK? Sure, it'll scare me a bit, but you are going to have to.... carve out my eyes with your bare hands before I even let you hurt our family. You won't, and I know you won't."
"Well, Mr Teddy Bear Griffin" River smirked back to me "if you are going to blackmail me so openly like that, I guess I have no choice but to let you go with your crazy idea on my hiccup. You just have to convince Darcy and Lavi first."
He knew he had won on this. He smiled smugly at me and leant back in the chair. He knew neither of them were going to let me use thier son as a guinea pig to a feral River who had just tore strips from Darcy's arms and gouged out thier wallpaper.
River had won. Not because I could use Moss if he agreed to it or not, but because there was no way it was going to get that far to begin with.
"Checkmate" he chuckled and rose so he could leave a kiss on my dry lips "get some rest and stop thinking of ways to get yourself back here. You can't die, Teddy, but you can damn well try."
He slid out of the room with a knowing smile. I laid back in the bed, trying to find a way I could make our lives easier.
I wasn't left to plot for long. A nurse bustled in, made small chat as she unhooked me and checked me over and told me how to take care of my stitches. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2Rq6F6Q8j
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Afterwards, I signed a few papers that had been filled for me on my behalf, collected a wad of the white padding, and was discharged. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PuyHPZifh
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We waited for Darcy who came only moments later with his own white pads stuck up his arms. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0q1rt8BXI
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Moss was buckled into a baby seat between River and I and Sprig took the drivers seat while Darcy relaxed beside her. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmrWtNXrYf
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He looked exhausted. River kept his head down low and his mouth shut the trip back. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8D5d1px8C
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No-one said anything to each other until we all rushed through the raging storm to gather inside.
It was a wreck. Blood still soaked the floor, streaks smeared into the hallway that had footprints tearing down it. Glass and plate shards covered the whole kitchen and had somehow migrated into the living room and hallway.
We all stood there, surveying the damage and deciding where to start.
River left with Darcy to grab a mop and bucket as well as a dustpan.
I watched River head outside to fill the bucket, leaving me alone with Darcy and Lavender. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJ2WZEBMDJ
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Moss sat on her hip. He was right there.
Did I tell them? Or just take him?
The more I looked at him, the worse I felt about it all.
I couldn't tear a baby from its mother. There would be no forgiveness after that.
"I figured out how to stop him" I muttered to them as I kept my eyes on the back door "he told me when he was in his room."
Both Darcy and Lavender waited in silence. None of us stepped into the kitchen.
"Moss" I finished.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Lavender hissed to me "you want to use a baby against him?! Look at the kitchen! You want that to happen to him?"
"Moss is Darcy!" I fought back "we are the bad guys! He's only defending him from us! If we just hand over Moss, it'll all be over!"
"So he can drown him again?" Lavender held Moss close now "Teddy, I know you are his partner and you'll so anything for him, but Moss is our baby. You can't just do that to him."
"Teddy, listen to Lavender. It's been a long day. You've only just gotten out of hospital. Your delerious and not thinking straight."
"I'm thinking fine" I hissed and turned from them to still see the pile of plates on the table with a few cups scattered around them "you just aren't listening."
"We are li...." Darcy started before pausing "...what are you doing?"
I picked my way through the blood to stand at the table. My hand gripped a plate that I turned between my claws. I plucked up some smothered pills to place them on the clean surface.
"Either we do this now, or we can wait until everyone is home and someone accidentally breaks a plate" I growled to them "it'll work. River is not a bad person."
"Think about what you are doing, Teddy" Darcy pleaded without taking his eyes from the plate "we can't go through this again. Not now."
I heard River stomping up the back stairs to the verandah. Everyone's heads turned at the noise, terrified.
"The doors are unlocked, Teddy" Lavender whimpered with her eyes filling with tears "please, don't do this."
"I'm sorry" I grimaced back to her "but I need it to all be good for us."
"River!" Darcy threw a hand out as soon as the back door squealed opened "stay out there!"
I heard the door open and River snort at him.
"It's only a bit of blood, I'll be fine" his voice pushed away his concern "I've stepped through worse."
Before he could reach the kitchen, I threw the first plate.
It cracked and smashed on impact against the wall that River's head peeked around.
Instantly, he dropped the bucket he was hauling to grab his head. The water flooded the floor, diluting the blood and washing it over everyone's feet.
Moss wailed at the noise. Lavender tried to brave the kitchen floor to hobble towards me with Moss she shielded against her.
I threw another plate as she advanced, throwing in a cup for good measure. I pelted them against the wall with such force the shards exploded on impact and speared through the air.
River groaned and growled. I saw the sliver of his body I could see drop to the ground to clutch at his head bobbing down between his legs to try and shield his ears.
"Teddy!" Lavender snapped as her hand reached for mine hurling another plate into the wall "STOP IT!"
"So you can deal with his shit again when the girls are home? When he's right beside you and the baby? I know what will work and you'd rather take a chance and hope for the best!"
"Please!" she pleaded and cringed when I threw the plate "you're scaring me."
Darcy was desperately trying to calm River down who snapped at him. I heard the low growl I was waiting for and saw Darcy immediently topple backwards when River dove onto him.
I pushed Lavender and Moss behind me, raising a cup above my head.
"RIVER!"
His hard eyes snapped to me and his lips peeled back to reveal his teeth to me.
I faltered at the sight of his hatred, but dug deep to grip the cup tighter.
"COME AND GET ME!"
His claws tore from Darcy's shirt to power on all fours towards me. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceYP5VMOoB
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Lavender screamed out, darting around the table with Moss who she smothered against her to try and quieten his crying.
River slipped in the blood, giving me the perfect chance to pelt the cup into his body and dart over to block Lavender from reaching Darcy.
"Give him Moss."
"You're insane" Lavender whimpered and tried to push past me. I saw River dart under the table, throwing himself at Lavender's legs he narrowly missed.
Darcy got to his feet, stumbling behind me to grab my shoulders.
"Give him Darcy" I warned "give it to him!"
Lavender whimpered, trying to keep him pressed to her. Darcy's hands tried to pull me from her while I dug around her hands to try and pull Moss from them.
River snagged onto Lavender's back that he used to stab his way up to her shoulders and draw himself back up on his two legs. She hunched over, sobbing.
"Sprig, I'm sorry."
I threw myself back to knock Darcy from me and back onto the ground. I snapped my claws around Moss before using my shoulder to ram into Lavender to send her into the blood, with River scrabbling out of the way to avoid her toppling onto him.
Moss screamed and writhed in my grip. River growled, running forward to swipe at me just before I held Moss out to him.
I felt Darcy's hand on my tail try to jerk me away.
Lavender threw herself around River's leg to hug it tightly and try to weigh him down.
River's hate melted at the sight of Moss. He snatched him from me, running a claw over his head with a low croon. River's snarl came when Darcy yanked me back from River who stomped on Lavenders arm to free himself and back up into the corner of the kitchen.
"Lock the doors" I barked to Darcy glaring up at me "i'm trying to help you."
I pulled Darcy up and sprinted for the back door to slam it shut. Darcy did the same for the front, snapping the lock in place.
River panicked at the noise, scrambling for the living room to wedge himself behind the couch. I could hear his continuous growls rumbling out while Moss's screaming wavoured.
Darcy picked up Lavender from the blood. We all gathered around the archway to watch River's tail poking out from behind the couch, curling and swishing while his growls grew quieter.
"How could you?!" Lavender smashed her fist into my side "how dare you!"
"He's fine!" I defended, backing up into the arch as Lavender "look! No-one got hurt and they are right there!"
Darcy was the one to shove me back into the archway and point a finger at me.
"You better hope on your damn life Moss doesn't have a single scratch from River on his body" he hissed "and you better pray to your spirits that they even give you a baby after the shit you pulled here. You aren't fit to be a parent. Neither of you are; putting a baby in danger like that!"
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I could see his hands shaking and his narrowed eyes boring straight through me.
He looked more like the feral River hiding behind the couch and that's what rattled me.
"We just need to give it time" I pushed out, carefully moving Darcy's finger from me "they aren't going anywhere. Once River sees we aren't coming for him, he should calm down."
"That's a pretty big 'should', Teddy."
"He's not crying anymore at least" I tried to smile back to both furious humans "I'll start cleaning up the floor, OK? There's nothing we can do for now."
They only scowled at me as I slid along the wall and around them to grab the bucket left abandoned on the floor and take it back outside to hunt for the tap.
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I found the tap around the side of the house and felt the wind immediently blow the cold water all over myself the moment I turned it on.
It was a weak punishment. I'm sure there was a lot worse the spirits and Lavender and Darcy wanted to do to me.
For now, a soaked shirt would do.
Darcy was putting away the three plates that remained when I hauled the bucket back inside and set it down in the kitchen. Sprig picked out plate from the blood and swept the rest into the dustpan she clutched.
"I'm sorry" I mumbled out as the mop slapped to the ground "really. I didn't want to hurt either of you."
None of them spoke to me. They continued with thier tasks as Moss's cries pattered down to be replaced by chuckling.
We all focused on it, hearing River making noises from behind the couch as the kitchen was steadily cleaned.
Darcy and Lavender smirked at the squeals of joy from Moss and babbling. I saw thier bodies relax when they realised River wasn't going to harm him.
I didn't know how much time passed before the kitchen resembled an actual usable area again.
The floor was streaked from the fibres of the mop that were only noticeable at a certain angle under the light. I could see where I had run my circles through the floor to try and catch as much blood and mess as I could before going back to really clean it up.
Darcy swiped in the end of the table with white, chalky filler while I pressed and super glued the slices of wallpaper back up.
Lavender got herself cleaned up and had the washer going in the background while she replaced all the breakables that had been hidden earlier today.
Then, the noises from River stopped.
We were still preoccupied with our own tasks when he silently walked into the kitchen and held out Moss to Darcy. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOp8MNU7zqM
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His shirt pulled from his body at the back. His arms were covered in spikes only on the outside, which shielded Moss within them perfectly.
Lavender came running over, the both of them checking over thier son who still reached for River shuffling his way to a chair to sit in it.
"I didn't mean to" he mumbled, holding the side of his head and peering at the pair "honestly."
"We aren't mad at you, River" Darcy replied and scowled at me pressing down the last piece of wallpaper "unlike some, you don't have control over what you do."
River's head turned to me and he sighed.
"Please don't be mad at him. We both talked it over, so I knew about it as much as he did. I was like you when I heard the idea, but I did have some hope it would work; I just wasn't willing to risk it as much as Teddy was to see if it would."
I saw River smile to me. I meekly sat down beside him and had his hand grab mine.
"I'd never hurt Moss; you know that" River soothed them "and now we know for sure that there is a better way for everyone when it happens again. I'll have my own Darcy to protect."
His head rested on my shoulder. I felt his body soften against mine as his tail found my leg.
"I'll replace the plates" I offered "and the cups. And you can pick out new wallpaper and a table if you want."
"Teddy, it's not about the things that were broken" Lavender sighed when she sat down opposite us, Darcy following "it's the fact that you turned on us the way you did just to prove a point. You took our baby right from my hands to give to this feral thing trying to shred me apart; no offense, River."
"None taken."
"How do you think I felt about that?" Lavender's eyes grew tearful "you took him from me and pushed me to the ground like I was nothing."
"I'm sorry" I shrunk under her immediate distrust "I was desperate. New Year's Eve is tommorow and we could be parents of our own. You put me in this situation I really wasn't ready for and I found my own solution that could work but everyone hates."
"Lavi" River lifted his head from me so he could reach his hand across the table to take hers "you have to remember that you switched your soul with Darcy, and that's forever now. You will do what you think is right for the both of you, and Teddy will do the same with me. You can't be accusing him of treating you like nothing when you aren't even Bound anymore. He's only doing what he thinks is right for us."
Having River defend me dampened some of the sting the betrayal on Lavender's face dug through me. She just nodded, wiping her eyes as Darcy wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek.
"The same with me and Darcy" he looked to him now "we aren't anything anymore. It's taken me longer than I'd like to admit to believe that. Eventually, one day, I'll stop seeing Darcy whenever I snap and start seeing someone else. It's going to take time. I've been keeping him safe for all my life but...."
I saw River's thumb stroke the top of Lavender's hand he looked down at.
"...I think you are more than capable of doing that now."
Both of them looked stunned at River's words. He was finally accepting the break between them and moving from what he used to be. The only thing tying him to them now was the visions during his snaps. Once that was altered, there would be nothing.
"We are going to be here for a lot longer than you two" River smiled to them and placed an arm around me "and maybe we can guide someone like Harlow and Tori when the time comes. I think Darcy is going to be the last human I give my soul to though."
I chuckled with River and nuzzled into his neck. Everything inside me bubbled at the contact of his warm skin and the scent of clean linen still lingering.
"When we leave, that will be it" River held me close "we will both be going our seperate ways. Things will still be good between us all, but my priorities will be with Teddy, and his will be with mine."
"And our baby" I grinned up to him to have River kiss the tip of my nose.
"It was going to happen regardless" River reached up to let Moss grab his finger "so please don't blame Teddy for something I caused. He's only doing the best he can."
I saw Darcy's soft smile at us. Lavender looked to him, smiling too.
"We can pick out new wallpaper tommorow" I tried to keep the tension broken between us through light humour "before anyone else sees it."
"They've got to have some sort of reminder of us" River grinned at my attempt to glue the folds back together "besides, that goes all the way through. You can cover it but it'll still be there."
"I'll tell my Mum to keep the girls at hers for a little longer" Lavender agreed "then we can try to get it all done before they come home. Harlow and Tori are going to realise something is up straight away when she sees everything has changed. Mum's been saying she's already been guessing why they were both picked up them after the movies and not us."
"They won't have to deal with it for much longer" I reassured her "what happened tonight is the only time something like this happens. We got the answer we needed."
"You can have your breakables out and finally get rid of my repairs box. It'll be nice" River jerked a thumb to the plastic tub filled with supplies sitting in the archway. It was even labeled with River's name on faded tape across the side.
"Turn it into a craft box" he shrugged "humans like to knit when they get old; fill it with wool."
We all laughed at the idea. Darcy and Lavender didn't dispute it though, not even through jest.
"Now, since everything is looking somewhat normal, we should leave you two alone. I don't know about you, but I can only take so much excitement in one day."
River grabbed my hand and rose from the table that he took me around so we could hug Darcy and Lavender goodnight. Moss reached upwards when River pulled from Lavender, placing his little hand into River's mouth that gently chomped on it with the same playful growling noise we had heard before to make him squeal in delight.
I giggled at his antics and retreated to River's dark room where we stripped out of our clothes and snuggled up on the bed together.
The plastic coverings crinkled and crackled in the silence. They rubbed on each other, causing us to try and muffle our laughter.
My fingers ran over River's spikes in fascination. They had rounded ends rather than sharp ones and were the perfect shield.
I felt safe in his arms that wrapped around me and pulled me against his chest. His fingers played with my hair and stroked along my ears that twitched from the almost ticklish contact.
"I'm sorry I ran from you" I whispered up at him.
"You should have run further" his eyes twinkled down at me "maybe then it would have given me something fun to chase."
"Oh, really?" I scoffed "you wouldn't catch me even if it wasn't storming."
"Well, I caught you now" he purred, holding me tighter and gazing into my eyes.
"Yes, you have" I giggled back. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9QmCuwELz
98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTC8AMzImGG
I could feel my breath catch in my throat that instantly dried at how possessive River was being.
His lips slipped past mine to kiss my neck and gently bite into it above one of the pads.
"Looks like I missed a few spots" he teased with another bite on the other side of my neck. He dipped for another, biting into the padding instead and laughing when he recoiled.
"River" I giggled out a warning when he returned to push me onto my back and use his tongue to try and find where the padding was so he could nibble around it "they'll hear."
"Let them" his eyes darted upwards mischievously "I want to actually hear you. We haven't had the house like this in a very long time."
Not in the time I've been here have both girls been gone for the night. It was usually one or the other, and I knew that frustrated River as he seethed in silence.
"But our stitches...."
"I'll be gentle" River smirked at his false words, trailing downwards.
"Oh, fuck" i hissed when I felt the tug. My hands clamped over my mouth to try and muffle the groans River demanded from me. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhpAdEKzKm
98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHoaWyjB1na
His hands slid upwards to pull mine down and keep them pushed to the bed.
I was thankful for the still storm battering the house but knew that I was going to be piercing straight through that noise.
All I could think about was River and how badly I wanted and needed him in the moment. And all he wanted was to show me how much I meant to him and to mark me further as his own.
To the spirits with everyone else. 98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTfrGzsSbE
98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOonu1zKcON
This was going to be our night in all its loud and sexual glory.
