midnight on campus ch2: night shroud
pairing: ghostface!todd stevens x f!reader (f-ish)
summary: Life goes on. Todd finds your place of work. Halloween draws closer.
A fog settles over Sumpter College.
AO3 LINK || <PREV CHAPTER
contains: swearing, normal frat stuff, suggestive mentions, mentions of drugs and alcohol, minor descriptions of dead bodies, and minor violence. If I've forgotten anything, please tell me!
word count: 9K
A/N: Happy late Halloween! SO MUCH LOVE to trixie and binnie for helping me push through and get this done. The love and support on this fic means so much to me, thank you all!! Hope you enjoy!!
(dividers by @/strangergraphics)
"We're gonna get arrested."
"No, we are not."
"My mom's gonna yell at me."
"Why in the world would she be mad at you for stumbling onto a murder scene?"
"I don't knowww!" Hannah wailed, burying her face in her hands. The man who had given her the shock blanket slowly stepped away, looking a little awkward.
You and Hannah sat on the curb of the sidewalk, halfway down the block from the murder scene. The streets were lit up now, ambulances and police cars crowding both sides of the street. Even if you craned your neck, you couldn't see any sign of the crime scene. There was just cops, flashing light, an ambulance. You weren't sure why there was an ambulance. The guy was dead. Super, super dead.
Your eyes drifted to the ground. Blood pooling around the body, eyes blankly staring into nothing at all, ankle twisted at an unnatural angle.
"Alright, kids." There was a police officer standing in front of both of you, face flashing red-blue-red. "We've collected your statements and your numbers. I'm gonna drive the two of you back to your dorm."
Hannah was clinging to her blanket, her knuckles whitening from the force. "You don't think who did this is still out and around, do you?"
"It's Saturday at Sumpter." The officer shrugged unsympathetically. "Your guess is as good as mine."
The car ride was silent. You'd been in the back of a police car once. Second grade field trip, one where the cop came to the school and watched with a pinched face as a bunch of kids squirmed through every inch of the car. It had been cool back then. It wasn't now.
Hannah had stopped crying, though she was still shaking, hugging her arms to her chest as she huddled in a corner of the cop car. You felt weirdly fine, which was probably a sign something was wrong with you, but you just let the drive drift past you. Radio chatter came over the cop's car in staticky bursts, but he didn't seem to be paying much mind to it, so you didn't either. You couldn't make out anything important among the chatter anyways.
"You two get some rest, now." The cop called out the window as you helped Hannah up the steps towards the dorm. "Remember, we're a call away if you need us."
"Thanks, sir." You said over your shoulder. Which was entirely insincere. You hated cops.
The next half hour was a blur. Hannah puked into your dorm's toilet, then into the sink. You helped her wipe her makeup off and watched her stumble shakily into bed before you laid in your own bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
What do you do when you discover a dead guy who was harassing you before he died?
You pressed your face into your pillow and went to sleep.
The next two days illuminated to you that this was going to be a rough week.
Fog had settled over Sumpter, which you weren't aware was a possibility considering the campus location. Students bundled in jackets and murmured in groups. News spread quickly, and a murder was apparently nothing light. On Monday evening, the school finally put out an announcement to soothe worries, though it was more "the police are doing as much as they can, don't feel too worried" than "be safe and stay in groups".
Even though it was bugging you like a relentless itch under your skin, you told yourself you couldn't keep letting it distract you from schoolwork. College crawled on, whether you liked it or not.
When Tuesday finally rolled around, you were wandering to class, already thinking about the work shift that would follow, when a familiar presence settled close to your elbow.
"You haven't answered my texts."
You looked up. Todd was looking down at you, his head tilted, hands shoved in his pockets.
"I didn't see them." I've been a bit busy.
"Yeah, busy evading, uh, murderers, 'n shit?" He scratched at the stubble along his jaw, raising an eyebrow. "You don't buy all that panicking, do you?"
"Todd, I was one of the people who found the body."
His feet stalled slightly as he blinked at you. A myriad of emotions crossed his face, but he seemed to land on something like sympathy. "No shit?"
"No shit." You repeated.
He blew out a breath and murmured your name, touching gently at your arm. "Shit, hey, I'm sorry. That's… damn. Forget what I was saying about you not texting back, I didn't know."
"It's fine." You mumbled.
"No, really." His grip gently tightened on your arm, and the two of you paused in the hallway. Todd spun you slightly, his eyes running over your expression like he was trying to see into your very depths. His thumb rubbed over your arm—back and forth, back and forth.
His hands were so big. Your arm was entirely encompassed and you loved—
"I'm sorry." Todd said again, softer. "I'm sorry you saw that and I'm sorry you've been carrying it with you. I mean, that's…" He shook his head, snorting slightly. "Who was it?" He asked suddenly. "Who died?"
You suck in a slow breath. "Alright, this is going to sound insane, but it was the guy who slammed into me at the party on Sunday."
Todd's eyebrows raised very slowly and very high up his forehead. Tilting his head, his hand stilled, giving a slight squeeze to your arm in what you took as thoughtful reassurance.
"… Trevor."
"Yes."
"And how do you feel about that?"
You shifted uncomfortably, trying to quell the unsure rise of heat in the back of your throat. "I mean… I don't know, Todd, he was an ass, but I don't know if he deserved to die like that, you know? It's weird. I don't like anyone who treats people like he treated me, but—"
"It sounds like there doesn't need to be a but." Todd's voice sharpened. "He called you a whore the other night. Like you were nothing but dirt just because you didn't wanna fuck him. You don't need to have fuckin' sympathy for some asshole who was drunkenly thinking with his dick instead of taking the hint like a normal person."
Todd's gaze was blazing, eyes so dark blue that they looked black in this lighting. He let go of your arm and suddenly, there was a big hand on your face, thumb pressing gently against the space under one of your eyes.
"Promise me you won't feel bad for him just because you think it's the right thing to do. Promise you'll feel what you want to feel." Todd said, firm and low.
You stared up at him for a moment, heart in your throat, world zeroing in on his face, his eyes, the pulsing point of his jaw. You nodded a moment later, feeling something weird and warm jump in your stomach.
"Okay. Yeah." You whispered. "I promise."
He moved away from you as quickly as he had moved in, that familiar smile back on his face. "You should sit with me up in the corner," he drawled. "so we can help each other out during class."
"Or you come sit with me." You protested, ducking into class as he held the door for you. "Y'know, better viewing area from my spot."
"My spot has good heating." Todd shot back, raising an eyebrow.
You gave him a look, then stuck out your hand. "Your spot on Tuesdays, mine on Fridays."
"Ohhhhh, negotiation." He shook your hand with a roll of his eyes. "You drive a hard bargain, sweetheart. You're lucky I like you."
Class was harder to focus on. You weren't sure if it was because you were thinking about murder victims, or because Todd Stevens was sitting next to you, sprawled slightly as his pencil absentmindedly tapped along his leg. Though his eyes were focused mostly on Professor Anderson, there were times his gaze would slip to the side, where your eyes would lock and the corner of his mouth would lift.
You couldn't decide if you loved it or hated it. Your body definitely knew, though, because your stomach jumped every time he shifted and his leg brushed against yours.
When class finally finished, Todd sighed, leaning back in his seat and stretching his arms over his head. "Shiiiittt," he groaned. "talk about some bullshit."
You didn't respond. You were laser-focused on the exposed peek of skin, the trail of light brown hair that went down the middle of his torso and disappeared into his pants.
A murmur of your name. You hit your knee from how hard you stood up. "YEP! Some shit! I mean, man, whoo, I'm going to be thinking about this as I go to work—"
Todd was laughing, and fuck him, it made your stomach give a little jump again. "Were you even listening?" He said, grinning at you as he stood.
You snorted. "Yes. Absolutely." The two of you exited from class and you rifled in your backpack for your complimentary pre-work snack, Todd watching you from the corner of his eye.
"The hell do you work anyways?" He said after a moment.
You took a bite from your bar and shrugged. "I'm a server."
Todd wrinkled his nose. "Saying server makes it sound like you work somewhere fuckin' gourmet."
"Rude. Maybe I do work somewhere gourmet." You shot back.
He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And do you?" Todd responded, tilting his head.
You slumped in defeat. "Fuck off, Stevens."
He grinned. "I'm right."
"Worry about yourself for once instead of me." You continued eating at your bar like a ravenous animal, feet absentmindedly carrying you towards your bus stop. You didn't even really care that Todd was following you around like a lost puppy. Concerning? Maybe. Maybe a sign you had lost some of your willpower regarding resisting Todd Steven's stupid charms.
You'd had a stressful last few days. A stressful life, really. Maybe it wasn't so bad if you wanted to fuck a frat guy—
"How are your delinquents taking it?" You asked before your thoughts could take you any further away from the present. "Y'know. Other frat boys dying and shit."
"'Dying and shit'," Todd echoed bemusedly. "KNA is the best of the best. The boys are basically under the impression that someone's trying to outdo Halloween." He shot you a look. "Which, to be clear, will not be happening. Halloween and the parties are still on."
"Right. Because nothing gets you pumped up for Halloween like an actual murder." You deadpanned.
"Aww, there ya go. You get it." Todd mocked, his grin only spreading wider as you glared at him.
"Asshat."
"We're still on for Friday, right?"
"You're an asshat." You repeated.
"So is that a yes?"
You stared up at Todd Stevens, grinning president of KNA, and rolled your eyes with all the faked annoyance in the world. "Yes. We're on."
John's Island sat nestled between a nail spa and a furniture store, a decrepit yet comforting restaurant where nobody sat on the shitty booth in the corner, there was always at least one fly trying to kill itself in a lamp, and the chefs were always in a constant gripe with one another over who had a better chance to get a girlfriend first.
You loved the job. It paid great. You were also pretty sure it was sucking the life out of you worse than school was. At least today was Thursday, which almost always spelled out a slow and easy shift for you.
"How's school been?" Stacy was another server—recently graduated from another college nearby, she was the closest thing you had to a work friend when she wasn't getting mad at you for not taking shifts.
"It's been fine." You tapped firmly at the screen you stood at, trying to input three waters and a margarita. "Nothing too insane."
Stacy flashed you a look. "You're joking, right?" She leaned in pointedly. "You can't tell me you haven't heard about the murder."
You winced slowly. "Has that shit gotten all around town already?"
"Is that even a question?" Stacy leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. "People are all up in arms. This is a big deal—Sumpter's always been known for its rowdiness, but a murder…" She shook her head, clicking her tongue. "I mean, that shit's pretty wild, you've gotta admit."
What in the world were you supposed to admit? What could be done by people talking about a damn murder? A guy had died. A guy had been killed. That was it. What were you supposed to say about that?
Your name was spoken. Stacy nudged you with her elbow. "Have you heard anything about any leads?"
"That's what everyone else is tripping over right now." You shrugged, finished inputting your order, and leaned against the wall next to her with a sigh, letting yourself give into the gossip for a moment. "I mean, we don't exactly have incredible security measures because of Greek life being so huge at Sumpter, but… apparently there's barely even a trace of whoever did it."
You decided not to tell her you'd been one of the people to find the body. You weren't keen on people you didn't know that well having that information.
Why does Todd not count in that regard? You wondered before immediately shoving that train of thought down. Outwardly, you shrugged. "I'm not too stressed about it." (A lie)
Stacy chuckled. "You're better than me. Just tell me if there's any juicy details the general public wouldn't know, I guess?"
You rolled your eyes, but it was a little lighter. "Yeah, yeah, I got you."
She grinned. "Great. I've still got a lot of gossip in me to be had."
You weren't sure a murder case counted as gossip, but you also didn't say that. Halloween seemed to have everybody's heads wrapped up in the spookiness of a real-life crime.
The bell to the front of the restaurant jingled, and both of you straightened, Stacy crossing her fingers as she peered around the corner. "Not my section, not my section, not my section—yesss." She turned to you with a grin. "They're yours."
"How many?" You asked as you approached the corner to peek around.
"Uh, three guys, our age, one is really smoking hot—"
You peeked around the corner and froze as you watched Todd, Gettys, and an unfamiliar guy slide into a booth in your section of the restaurant.
"Oh my god." You flattened yourself against the wall, locking eyes with Stacy. "I know them."
Stacy lit up. "You do?!" She immediately, with absolutely zero inconspicuousness, peeked around the corner next to you.
"Well, not one of them, but—the shorter guy and the older one, yeah, I know them."
"'The older one'," Stacy mimicked. "That's the attractive one."
You gave her a look. "Todd is not—"
"That's Todd?!" Stacy gasped and squealed, which made the trio start to turn their heads in your direction, prompting you to dive behind the corner again. Your coworker, not seeming to catch onto your attitude, was gripping your arm like a lifeline.
"Oh. My. God. You're kidding me. The Todd you were talking about last week? That you've been meeting with? The president frat guy?"
You were sighing and pinching the bridge of your nose, nodding along. "Yes, yes, that guy. Who I also described as, like, annoying and kind of full of it."
"And yet you've been hanging out with him." Stacy said.
Okay, she had gotten you there. You exhaled a breath and waved her away. "Whatever. Shoo. I have a job to do."
"I can't believe you got a boyfriend when you've only been here for, like, a month."
"Out."
Your coworker skittered away with a giggle that was very undignified for a woman in her mid-twenties. You sighed, flattened down your clothes (why did you care? Why did you want to look good) and steadied yourself before emerging from behind the corner and approaching the table.
"Good afternoon," you greeted. "welcome into John's Island. Can I get you guys started with any drinks?"
Todd and Gettys' heads whipped up, and they stared at you.
"Holy shit," Todd said. "you meant it that you worked at a server."
You narrowed your eyes at him. "Todd."
"I knew it wasn't fuckin' fancy!"
The third guy that you didn't know was glancing between the three of you, a politely confused look on his face. "Sorry, uh… you all… know each other?"
You introduced yourself and stuck out your hand. "I'm at Sumpter like I assuming you also are."
"Oh. Yeah." He shook your hand and smiled. "Tom Backster. Sophomore."
"KNA, KNA, KNA." Gettys chanted quietly, banging a light hand on the table as he shot a grin up at you. "I was thinking of you. How'd the rest of your weekend go?"
"Badly." You deadpanned. You clicked your pen and brought out your notepad pointedly. "Drinks?"
"You got alcohol here?" Tom said, raising his eyebrow up at you as he leaned back in his seat. You squinted skeptically at him, and he grinned, holding up his hands. "Kidding! Kidding. That's campus life anyways."
"Uh-huh." You shot a look at Todd, who had been strangely silent, his eyes quietly running over the scene. He sat closest to you, and you realized you'd been resisting the urge to step closer to him, which was stupid, because that would be proving way too many people right.
"… water," Todd said after a moment. When Gettys opened his mouth, Todd slapped a hand on his shoulder and shook it as he repeated, "Three waters."
"You're a fuckin' killjoy, man." Gettys mumbled as he crossed his arms and pouted.
Your lips twitched, try as you might to resist. Todd clearly noticed, which you also pretended did not please you as you slipped a few steps away. "Three waters. Easy. I'll be back with those. You look over those menus."
Stacy was not-so-discreetly watching as you returned to retrieve the waters. "Soo…" she started. "They're frat guys, right? I wouldn't take you as the kind of person to like someone from a frat. I mean, he is really hot, but, like—"
"Stacy." You fixed her with a very firm look. "We are not dating. We haven't even fucked or anything. We're… friends."
"You said that very tentatively."
"We're friends." You declared, very firmly, as you gripped the three waters and stepped back out.
Ordering went normally enough. Todd got some chicken sandwich. Tom got chicken tenders from the kids menu (okay? Frat guys…). Gettys got a salad, which the other two immediately started making fun of him for.
"What are you, some sort of fuckin' health nut?" Tom said, giggling into the back of his hand like a little girl. "I mean, shit man, live a little, some grease isn't gonna kill ya."
"Gettys has always had this habit. Health. Only related to salads, though." Todd grinned at his friend, tilting his head. "Didn't some boys force you to eat a bunch of grass when you were in third grade?"
"That was years ago, fuck off." Gettys said with a huff. "I fuckin' like salads, man."
"Salad is a good choice." You said placatingly. "Ours isn't too shit. Only… normal amount of shit."
Todd grinned up at you. Surprisingly, he reached up and ran his knuckles along your arm. "You don't gotta placate these dipshits, I've got 'em." He said with a casual, loose grin that made your chest feel weird.
You frowned down at him and flicked at his forehead. "No fighting in the restaurant."
Your motion only made the president smile even wider, which did nothing to help your stomach situation. You promised the trio their food would be quick (considering how dead the restaurant was) and exited the are, which proved to be a true theory, because the chefs got all the food out in ten minutes.
"I'll help." Stacy said in a sing-song tone, grabbing Gettys' salad.
You snorted. "I think you're nosy."
"Two things can be true at once, babe." Stacy said with an unworried shrug, flashing a wink at you.
You were silently dreading whatever would happen when she came with you, but there was nothing you could do to resist her "assistance". As you approached the table, you tilted your head at the intense conversation running between the three, Tom's voice loud and clear.
"Listen, Todd, people are gonna get fuckin' rowdier if this shit keeps happening, and you know that as well as I do. I mean, hell, Mitch is already up and down the walls lately, we don't need more shit on our hands."
"This shit isn't our fault!" Gettys protested, leaning forward. "Somebody killed another frat dude—if anything, they're the ones who have to worry about something."
"We can't be giving up on the experience, Tom." Todd said, folding his hands in front of him. "KNA has reputation to uphold—reputation that we don't keep by backing down when something gets difficult. We don't have anyone to mourn. We're gonna party and we're gonna show that KNA doesn't pussy out when shit gets hard."
You were probably listening to a conversation you weren't supposed to—scratch that, you definitely were, because the second you and Stacy got there, the conversation went dead.
You met Todd's eyes. His jaw was doing that thing, the clench-clench-pulse of frustration and firmness as you set his sandwich down in front of him and passed Tom his chicken tenders.
Gettys cleared his throat and said your name. "Looks good. Thanks."
"I didn't make it, so blame the chefs if it's bad." You said, folding your arms over your chest. "Can I get you guys anything el—"
"So you're Todd?" Stacy interjected, batting her eyelashes down at the senior.
You pinched the bridge of your nose. "Stacy—"
Todd just laughed and nodded, lounging against the back of the booth. "Yeah, I'm Todd."
"You've been spoken about before." Stacy said, tossing a grin at you as you shifted uncomfortably.
The KNA members' eyes moved between the two of you. Todd's eyebrow ticked up slowly into his hairline. Gettys was diving into his salad with no regard of the ongoing conversation and even less regard to Tom's tossed look of disgust in his direction.
"Oh, have I now?" Todd looked up at you, something deep in his eyes that you couldn't (wouldn't?) read into too deeply. "What have you been sayin' about me, hm?" He asked, his voice a low, warm rumble as his hand brushed against your arm again.
Your heart had jumped well into your throat by now, but you forced a nonchalant expression on. "I've been talking about your parties, of course."
"Of course." He echoed, low and bemused.
"I would hope it was how fuckin' great they are." Gettys popped in, still stuffing his mouth with salad like a very happy rabbit.
"Jesus Christ, do I need to mother you? Finish your bite before you talk." Todd chided, batting Gettys' fork away from the salad as the freshman chewed at his salad.
"Dick." Gettys growled back at him, trying to swipe at his friend. Todd just put a very large hand on his chest and pushed the younger man back, nonchalantly and innocently blinking up at you and Stacy like it wasn't the hottest thing ever that he could pin someone back with one hand.
"I'm held in high esteem, then?" He questioned Stacy. He nodded to you. "This one seems to have high standards."
"Oh, I know, right? She didn't talk to me for, like, a week when she first got hired." Stacy waved a hand. "I can see why you were easier, though. You're pretty handsome."
"Distinguished." Tom offered from his tenders, biting back a laugh.
Stacy nodded enthusiastically. "Distinguished. And hosting distinguished parties, apparently."
"You've got the right idea." Todd grinned a little, then turned his gaze to you. Gettys was still swiping at him, trying to wrench his sunglasses off the top of his head, but there was nothing in Todd's eyes but you. Your stomach whirled at the thought.
"You're coming in a few days, right?" Todd asked you. "To the party."
"Of course I am." You said softly, the words slipping from your mouth before your conscious mind had told them to.
Todd grinned, something sparking deep in his eyes. He released Gettys, who nearly hit Todd's shoulder with his head as he huffed and went back to eating his salad, embarrassed at being caught.
"That's what I like to hear." Todd said, smiling that smile that you had only seen aimed at you. "I'll make it memorable."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Stacy whispered to you as the two of you returned to the back of the restaurant. "You sure there's nothing between you two?"
You didn't even have a good answer for her that time.
"You are absolutely out of your mind."
"What do you mean?"
"You're out of your mind." Hannah was watching you slip on a coat with a horrified look. "We witnessed a murder coming home from a party last week, and you want to go back?"
"We didn't witness a murder, we found a body. And it wasn't at the party." You protested.
Hannah rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah, like that makes it better. This is a shit idea, and you know it. It can't be safe right now, especially tonight."
That point was good enough. Tonight was a foggy, late Saturday evening. The sky had already darkened outside, a product of autumn's grip, which was half the reason you were bundling up a little more than normal. You came prepared today—pepper spray, your phone, and a few small other things were tucked in a body bag underneath your jacket, sure to be secured among all of the Halloween party chaos.
"I won't be gone for long, I've got work tomorrow afternoon anyways." You said to her. "Just wanted to see some friends."
"I can't believe you're sounding more like me than me right now." Hannah sighed dramatically, curling up further into the den of blankets and pillows she had created on her dorm bed. She hadn't taken to last week's incident well, and on top of that, she'd gotten a cold, so she was bedridden this week from a mix of night terrors and illness. Just her luck.
"Just rest." You assured her. "Listen, if you need me I'm only a call away, so you can just… ring me up. Don't suffer alone."
You weren't entirely sure why you were extending her a branch considering she hadn't been the nicest to you. You supposed possible trauma bonds made weird friends of anyone.
Hannah hummed and sniffled, reaching for a Kleenex box. "Have fun." She said after a moment.
"Thank you. I will."
KNA could be seen in the distance as you walked, more as blurry lights within the fog than anything else. You heard it shortly after—there was some weird, trance-like music playing within the house that set a very different mood from what it had been the night before. As you got close enough for the house to come into view, you noted that the decorations had disconcertingly doubled over the week. You had no idea where they were getting them. You weren't sure you wanted to know.
"BOO!"
You yelped and flailed back, instinctively throwing a punch at the person who jumped up at you. It connected solidly with their chest, and the person coughed, yanking off their fake werewolf mask. It was Gettys, who leaned over and dramatically clutched at his chest.
"Ow," he wheezed. "rude."
"You jumped at me!" You protested, gesturing down at him. "Who the hell does that?!"
"I wasn't expecting you to have the fight or flight ability of fuckin' Batman." He responded with a whine. He straightened, and you studied him. He was dressed to be a werewolf, with a purposefully torn buffalo plaid shirt and blue jeans. He had fake hair stuck to the skin exposed by his rolled-up sleeves, and big slippers covering his feet that made them look grotesquely mutated into a werewolf.
"Great costume." You deadpanned. "Is this Halloween for you?"
"Nah, nah, this is the first of many." Gettys fell into step with you as the two of you entered KNA. "But today is a full moon, so I figured I'd unleash the wolf."
"Kinda hard to tell, no?" You said bemusedly. "It's pretty foggy out."
"Werewolf is a state of mind." Gettys passed by some guys that must have been fellow KNA frat members, because one shouted out his last name and he replied with a howl that sent the other three men doubling over in laughter.
You were just about to ask where Todd had gotten off to when a presence loomed at your left shoulder. "There she is."
You turned and stared.
Todd was dressed up as a gladiator. He had a tunic, sandals, body armor, shoulder guards, armbands, and a fake sword to boot.
He looked far too good. His arms were on full display tonight, well-muscled and defined by the armbands. Your gaze swept over him, up and down, up and down.
"Um." Your throat was dry. You collected your thoughts. "Hello, uh…"
"Todd Stevens. The Ruthless." Todd said down to you with one hundred percent sincerity.
Your lips twitched. "Ah. Mr. Ruthless. Of course." You hummed. "You sure you're in the right place, Mr. Ruthless? I don't think we have an arena around here."
"Gladiators need breaks." He murmured, stepping closer to you. "The Ruthless wishes to peruse Rome's greatest party guests."
"Oh." You gestured around. "Well, there's better candidates out there. I wouldn't know."
"You do yourself a disservice." He extended his hand, and, puzzled, you took it, then blinked, a flush crawling over your face as he lifted it to his lips and kissed your knuckles.
Todd Stevens' lips were on you. Todd's lips. Were on your hand.
You stared at him for a moment, heart doing a surprised little dance in your chest as you opened and closed your mouth.
"Would you do me the honor of helping me enjoy this party?" Todd asked you, a glint in his eye that said your reaction was not escaping notice.
You looked at his arms. And his face. And his dumbass smirk.
"Yup." You managed weakly. "Sure."
"Thank god, because I'm having a rough time watching this go down." Gettys commented cheerfully off to the side.
You and Todd shot him a glare. "You're ruining the moment, O'Brien." Todd said.
"Oh my, who's that?" You wrenched your hand away with a dramatic gasp. "You're not the charismatic Todd the Ruthless!"
He shot you a look, something darkly amused. "Oh, you little—"
"Todd." A guy presumably from the KNA frat interjected, patting his bare arm. "Great costume, man, but are we ever gonna get the main events going here? People came for the competition."
You raised an eyebrow at the president. "Competition?"
"Yeah, yeah, round everybody up." Todd clapped the guy on the back. "If Miller's passed out back in a room somewhere, don't wake him up."
The guy grinned and sped back off into the crowd, which prompted you to shift and look between Todd and Gettys skeptically.
"What competition?"
Gettys nudged at Todd. "You gotta do better at informing your VIP of the night's activities."
"I—what? VIP?" The room was feeling a little chaotic tonight. You were losing track of things quickly and it was probably because you had a jacket on and already felt hot.
Todd's hand was on your arm. You didn't remember it getting there. "People are gathering to watch a beer bong competition." He murmured into your ear.
"… should I be worried?" You mumbled back, glancing up at him.
"Of course not." A reassuring squeeze to your arm. "Todd the Ruthless is here, remember?"
The next two hours passed by hazily. The party rose and fell in weird waves of energy, guided by the natural flow of drugs and drinks. Gettys won the beer bong competition, releasing a howl to the room of cheering bystanders as fellow frat members chanted "KNA! KNA! KNA!" and hoisted him up on their shoulders, spinning him around. It turned out tonight was centered all around various stupid competitions. You followed Todd around like a lost duckling and let him guide you around KNA's foolish activities of the night. There were about five different costume competitions going on, with themes ranging from 'scary' to 'awesome' to 'sexy'.
"This seems more like the way I thought Halloween would go when I got old enough." You said to Todd, your arms crossed. The two of you stood in the corner of a room, watching sorority girls prance around in skimpy outfits as other whistled and catcalled them. You wrinkled, the sounds of the men shifting uncomfortably under your skin. "Stupidity and all."
"People are tryin' to have fun." Todd leaned down again, speaking quietly into your ear. He'd been standing close tonight, brushing against you, always watching, watching, watching, like he was curious to see how you reacted to everything around you. "You not likin' it?"
"I'm not sure I need to see people spreading their shit."
"You don't seem like you've been liking any of it." He was looking at you. Really looking at you right now, not anything else, not the women or the men or anybody. Just you. Really intently.
"I just…" You shifted, unsure how to verbalize anything. You weren't sure what was wrong with you, why you couldn't let go tonight even though you'd come here to do that very thing.
"There's something wrong with me, I guess, I dunno." You mumbled finally.
"Don't brush it off." A hand settled on your face, fingers gently cupping at your jaw and turning your head up to him. Todd's voice softened slightly as he looked at you.
"Something's off with you and I want to help." He said, tilting his head. "No reason for you to be fuckin' suffering here if you aren't having fun."
You stared up at him for a moment. His thumb was pressing softly against your cheek and it was nearly all you could focus on aside from his dark blue eyes sweeping you up.
Todd took in your silence for a moment, then sighed, releasing you as his gaze flicked over your surroundings. "C'mon," he mumbled, taking your arm and gently leading you away.
"Wha—" You started to protest, but his grip tightened, and you flashed to Thursday, Gettys squirming uselessly against Todd's large palm. You shut up rather fast.
Todd lead you back through the house and up the stairs, where the weird music and the smell of weed and alcohol only followed a little bit. The upper halls of the chapter house were always quieter, less people to brush against you and press at your brain.
Todd stopped you somewhere quiet, a hallway where there didn't seem to be any occupied rooms. He leaned back against the wall, fixing you with a firm look.
"Spill it." He said firmly. "Something's been poking at you all week. Is it the dead guy?"
"No." You said honestly. When Todd gave you a look, you pressed your lips together and firmly repeated "No. It's not."
He looked a hint surprised, tilting his head. You felt a need to fill the space, so you shoved your hands in your jacket pockets and shrugged.
"Like—shit, okay, I've been thinking about it, Todd, but it doesn't fuckin' bug me. Maybe it bugs me than it doesn't bug me, but, I dunno, it wasn't—" You scrubbed at your face with a hand and leaned your head back against the wall. "He won't be missed by me. What you said earlier this week stuck with me. About him… kind of deserving it."
"That's right." Todd sounded… proud, in a way that settled low in your belly. "He did deserve it."
The words slid over you like warm water. You closed your eyes, recalled Trevor's body, then recalled what he'd said to you hours before. He had kind of deserved it, you realized.
"That doesn't make you terrible." Todd said lowly, his voice quiet in the hallway. "Makes you human, you know that? It's braver to admit the truth to yourself."
You nodded. Something in your chest was a little lighter.
"That's not all." You opened your eyes to see Todd looking at you, face half-shadowed in the hallway. "You've still got that wrinkle in your forehead."
"You're paying attention to my forehead?"
"You're deflecting."
"Fine. Fine." You rubbed a hand over your face again and shifted your gaze to the floor. Your face felt hot from how embarrassing it was to admit the next part, but pinned under Todd's gaze, it felt like the only thing you could do was answer him, the words dragged from your mouth by his presence.
"I'm, like, annoyingly attracted to you, but I wanna know you more and I'm upset because I don't know how to ask about that." You blurted.
Silence for a moment. Downstairs, there was a chorus of cheers about something, but Todd's eyes never left your face, his arms crossed over his chest.
"You're attracted to me?" He asked finally.
You groaned, feeling so queasy you could hardly think. "Todd—"
"No, no, let me finish." He held up a hand, crossing the hallway a few steps closer to you. "Don't get wrapped up in that smart head of yours like you normally do. We're talkin' like adults. You're bein' good and telling me what was wrong like I wanted."
His lips twitched slightly. "Though I wouldn't say this is a wrong thing."
He stepped closer to you until there was only about a foot of space between the two of you. You looked up at him, feeling your heart in your throat.
"Let me repeat: you're attracted to me?" He asked, voice quiet and low.
You nodded.
"And you want me, but you want to know more about me first."
You nodded again.
Todd smiled a little, humming as he rocked back on his heels. Despite the fact he was dressed as a gladiator, you were still taking this conversation so seriously it was still making you feel ill.
"Well, I'll tell you a few things." Todd leaned down slightly, getting right in your face. "First—I feel the exact same way about you."
"You do—?"
"And—" Todd continued, his breath fanning over his face. "I like you… a shit ton. More than I've felt for anyone in a damn long while. So, I've got an idea. We can play a little game."
You raised an eyebrow, slightly taken off guard. He'd just basically said he was attracted to you and suddenly he was saying he wanted to play a game? What was he, Saw? What the hell—
"Stop thinking. There you go again." Todd tapped your forehead, and you blinked. "Eyes on me." Todd ordered. "Considering you get so caught up in your head, I've got something to keep you occupied while we talk."
He pointed to you. "Every time you manage to get out a question, I'll answer it honestly and give you a reward."
You furrowed your eyebrows. "What kind of reward? Do you have candy in your pockets or something?"
"Jesus Christ, you thought of candy first, come here, you irresistible little—" Todd huffed—which sounded a lot lighter and dreamier than aggravated—then suddenly reached forward, cupped your face, and brought you into a kiss.
Every conceivable thought left your head in an instant. The world was wiped clean, a slate of nothing but fuzzy feeling and Todd's lips pressing to your own. You took in a shuddering breath and kissed him back instinctively, pressing into him instinctively. Your body craved him without conscious knowledge—searching, searching, searching as you molded to him and let him steal your heart and your breath and—
Todd pulled back. You huffed, something whiny sounded, and he chuckled, though it was low and breathless and you felt a little thrill of glee at the realization you were affecting him, too.
"Okay—okay, okay. Questions." Todd sucked in a breath like he had to remind himself why he was there. "Ask me something."
You wanted to ask him something stupid he could answer just so he would kiss you again, but you steadied yourself, blinking. He was so close to you, and he unexpectedly smelled good—some kind of cologne, cedarwood and light musk, melded against his skin in a natural way. You wanted to press your face into his neck and live in him forever.
"What are you studying?" You asked before desire made you lose your mine again. "Like—your degree."
Todd hummed. "Business. KNA, this shit gets you into high places. Worked for four years, and now I'm not only prez of KNA, but workin' to… I don't know, do something bigger. Be fuckin' rich."
"Hmm. Valiant." You quipped, smiling.
"Shut up." He murmured, leaning down as his eyes fluttered closed again. This kiss was slower—Todd explored your lips, touch-and-go, one of his big, warm hands cupping at your cheek as he held you in place. You moaned softly into his mouth, and he hummed long and low, before pulling back, nudging his nose against your own.
"Fuck. Fuck." He murmured. "Fuck, you're so—" His eyes darted to your lips again, and he took in a shaky breath, nodding a little. "Question."
You were frazzled. You blinked at him, swallowing, and he smiled a little.
"Focus, sweetheart." He said quietly, thumb wiping spit from the corner of your mouth.
"Where did you grow up?" You asked finally, taking in a shaky breath.
"Buckhead." Todd said quietly. "Gettys and I, y'know, grew up together. Difference in age, but we were always thick as thieves. Grew up with some other guys who go here, too." He paused, gnawing on his lip, his eyes running over your face. "I wanna ask you a question."
"Go right ahead." You murmured.
"Why'd you leave your last college?"
You paused, eyes flicking downward. Digging into old wounds felt weird, dark blood beneath your fingertips kind of weird, but here in this hallway, there was just Todd, who was kissing you and holding you like you were everything he wanted and needed.
"I, uh—" You took in a breath. "—there was this teacher, back at my last college. Mid-thirties guy, but he'd had this kid as a teen that came into college just like the rest of us. This girl joined one of the sororities that were up there." You hesitated. "I was a rowdy person freshman year. Became a weird friend of hers, even though I wasn't in Greek life."
You shifted and let out a sigh, nudging into Todd's touch on your face. "End of freshman year, we get into a big fight about something, I don't even remember what. Next semester, I came back and end up with her dad as my teacher. He figures out who I am real quick. Next thing I know, him and his daughter are tellin' me that I need to help tutor her in this other class, because she was failing and I wasn't."
The hallway. The hallway. You had to focus on the hallway, or the stupid fake armor Todd was wearing, or you would cry, and that would suck.
"They… they, um, said if I didn't, he'd report me and say I tried to come onto him for a better grade. Which was total bullshit, of course." You took in a big breath that sounded a little sniffly, then shrugged a bit. "I… got through that first semester and fuckin' dipped. Took a whole year to figure out where to run to next. I just… I couldn't go back there, and nobody would believe me if I told 'em."
Todd was silent for a moment as you cleared your throat and shrugged. "So. Um. That's why I'm here."
A hand nudged your chin up. You reluctantly pulled your shaky gaze away from somewhere around his shoulder to meet Todd's eyes.
He looked furious. Not at you, but for your sake. You swallowed down the past humiliation in your throat as you focused in on him.
"I believe you." Todd said. Quiet. Fierce. Protective and angry in a way nobody had been for you in a long, long time.
"… thanks." You said quietly. "But… it was a while ago, now. And I'm here."
"You're here." Todd repeated, nodding softly. "I'm glad you're here."
You pulled him into the kiss this time—threaded your hands through his hair and pulled him down, mouth-on-mouth. He made a noise, something fiercer. This kiss was teeth and lips and tongue. Todd pressed you against the wall, crowding closer into your space. Both of his hands cupped your face, enveloping you whole. You were breathing each other, melding together. Your head was spinning, spinning, spinning, and you loved it. You needed it, wanted him, wanted to be consumed and held and listened to forever.
You weren't sure when things broke up. For a while there was nothing but the two of you. Want, desire. Tenderness and roughness rose and fell in waves. He was touching you, but never too much—hands on your waist, your hips, your arms, your face. A hand slid up and down your back, tilted your head as he mouthed at your lips and your neck, but it never went further, and wordlessly, the two of you never needed it to. Tonight was a reassurance and a beginning. It was slow, and you both wanted it that way.
At some point, Todd hummed, pulling back from your lips. He nosed into your neck, pressing little kisses against the junction of neck and shoulder, and you shivered.
"You have work in the morning." This was muttered, his voice a husk against you. "You should go home."
"You're ejecting me." You murmured. "You're rude."
"I'm protecting you. There is a difference." Todd pecked your lips and pulled away. "C'mon. You know I'm right."
"I hate that you are." You said with a groan. Todd was smilin,g, which, boo, what an asshole, and boo that you liked him.
"I know, sweetheart. You're welcome."
The two of you went slower than you should have—wrapped up in conversation, talking about the week. You both griped about your shared teacher, who pissed both of you off more and more every day. When the two of you finally reached outside, you stood there in KNA's doorway for a moment, staring outside.
"Foggy night," Todd muttered, then glanced at you. "You sure you'll be alright?"
"I'll be fine." You assured him.
"I knew you would say that. Still, no fuckin' way is this safe weather, I mean, damn." He put his hands on his hips as he surveyed outside. "Just… watch for drunk drivers or some shit."
"You worry too much."
"I worry very little." Todd responded, humming.
You rolled your eyes. "Yeah. Okay. Whatever. Come here, you."
You hooked your fingers into the front of his costume and kissed him again. Todd grinned into this kiss, eyes briefly closing as he kissed you back.
After a moment, you pulled back, grinning ear-from-ear. "Goodnight, Todd the Ruthless."
"Tease." He murmured, wrinkling his nose at you.
You gave him a wave as you descended the steps, and he slowly waved back, before disappearing back into the house.
You were floating on the way back, your steps ten times lighter as you walked among the fog. The walk back to the dorms was fairly well-lit, though the fog had thickened with the chill of the night, and it was only you. In any other situation, you would've been intimidated, but right now you were on cloud nine.
You hummed to yourself, spinning your keyring on your finger and kicking through some of the fallen leaves on the sidewalk. Despite the chill pressing into your bones, you were warm inside, the memory of Todd's touch everything that mattered to you.
In the distance, the dorms slowly came into view. Shadows and fog draped over the scenery as you walked along the sidewalk, still humming a slight tune to yourself.
Your pace faltered as you came to something at your feet. There was a jacket, something pink and puffy, on the ground in front of you, halfway off the sidewalk.
Your lips twisted, suspicion tugging at your chest. You crouched down, studying the jacket. There was a tear in the shoulder, something long and thin and stained with red.
The air suddenly felt much, much color. Your heart sank into your stomach as you straightened.
From the corner of your eye, movement suddenly caught your vision. In the not-so-far distance, in the direction you were meant to be heading, there was a figure.
The figure was tall, draped in some kind of black cloak that covered any features, including a hood for the head. Their head was down, but they were dragging a shape along the ground.
They were dragging a body.
Your chest clenched, your eyes widening sharply. "Holy shit. Holy shit."
For a moment, you couldn't move, standing there like a paralyzed moron as the figure dragged a body through the the deathly still silence of a campus past midnight. Nausea rolled slowly into your chest, and before you knew what you were doing, you stepped forward, raising your voice. "HEY! HEY!"
The head whipped up. You stared into the utterly black eyes of a mask, the shape something ghost-like and wide-mouthed.
You stared back for a moment. Your mouth was the driest it had ever been before, but you still raised your voice, yelling across the yard. "What the fuck are you doing?! Put them down, you fucker!"
Their masked head tilted—slow, slow, slow. Quietly, smoothly, the figure straightened, unceremoniously dropping their hold on the body as it promptly fell to the ground.
Then, the masked figure started walking towards you, walking in a straight line across the grass in your direction.
Your blood went cold. "Oh, fuck." You took a step back.
The figure started to run.
Instantly, every single sense of yours came alive as instinct known as none other than adrenaline flooded through your body. You spun around and sprinted, leaping over a bench in your path with athletic ability you didn't know you had. Your eyes scanned over the area in front of you—searching, searching, searching—until you found somewhere to run, another entrance to a different dorm building.
You just needed people. You just needed fucking people—
There was a noise behind you as you ran, and you glanced over your shoulder. The masked person was gaining ground—they were taller than you, you realized, and definitely faster—and you swore breathlessly, willing your feet to move faster as you locked your eyes on the door.
You were just across the yard, reaching out for the door as you prayed it wasn't locked—
Something gripped onto your jacket and yanked you back.
You shrieked, instinctively writhing as you balled your hand in a fist and swung blindly behind you. You connected with something solid—maybe arm, maybe torso—but that didn't deter them as they grabbed you.
"Easy," a voice was saying roughly behind you, something male and muffled. "Easy, easy—"
"Fuckin'—let go!" You screamed, flailing with all your might. A hand was wrapping around one of your arms, but you writhes, slamming your back into the masked man behind you. There was a small grunt, but the hand stayed locked on you. You squirmed, pulling to the side as your free arm slipped off a jacket sleeve.
"Asshole motherfucking stupid—" You swung your now-freed arm around, praying to hit something, anything of use. Your fist slammed against something, and there was a much louder grunt that sounded a little more pained as the hand on your arm loosened.
In an instant, you twisted away, tripping over your own feet. Your jacket and body bag came off, but you didn't care, feet scraping against the concrete as you staggered to your feet and grabbed the door, swinging it open.
"Hey—" You heard the masked figure hiss behind you, but you didn't turn around, just slammed the door shut and threw yourself through the building.
As you sprinted up the stairs, you distantly heard the door opening and closing. There was nothing but silence and slightly buzzing lights around you, so you put every human effort you could into not eating shit on the stairs as you went up, up, up, until you were somewhere around the fifth floor and you threw the door open and staggered into the hallway, banging on the first dorm you reached.
"Hello? Hello?! Wake up! Hello, someone, wake the fuck up!" You banged on several different doors, trying to make as much of a racket as possible. "Someone, hello, please—!"
Door number eight opened after a few seconds, two frazzled-looking girls peering out with what the fuck looks on their faces, but that fell away in the glory of womanhood as they took in your expression.
"What's going on?" One girl asked, blinking at you.
"Please let me in." You glanced down the hallway. No sign of him in the stairwell doorway, but you needed to—"Please, please, I'll explain inside, we need to get out of the hallway."
"Shit, okay, yes, come in." One girl, dark-skinned and sharp-eyed, put a hand on your back and practically shoved you into their room. You took steps in, murmuring breathless thank-yous as the latter girl closed and locked the door behind you.
The first girl turned on a lamp in their room. It took a moment, but you slowly sank to the ground, shaking like a leaf.
"Call the police." You said.
Second girl looked alarmed. "What?"
"Call. The. Police." You repeated slowly.
"What the fuck is going on?" The first girl demanded, crouching down to look you in the eyes.
You looked up at her, aware fully of how haunted you looked. "The person who killed that guy last week just chased me." You said quietly, your voice carrying through the room in the deadly, late silence.
"And he just killed someone else."
TAGLIST: @bluegardenn @homiesexual-or-homosexual @magicwithaknife @potatoisthebest @bobbyblood1996
