"I'd heard someone say once that bravery was doing the thing you were afraid to do, despite your fear. If that was true, I was the bravest person I knew." (x) var sc_project=9375657; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="a6409f79"; var scJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://secure." : "http://www."); document.write("");
Summary: Harry Styles was just another employee at Directions Mental Hospital with his best mates, Liam Payne and Niall Horan, when a few new Doctors decided to show up and turn everything upside down.
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Three days - that's how long it's been since Louis and Harry were attacked, since Harry had been kidnapped. Three long days.
Louis was currently sitting upright in his hospital room. He had been removed for the ICU floor the same day he had awoken, and he was scheduled to be released later that day since his wounds and stitches were healing exceedingly well.
Across from Louis, stood Officer Devine, who was leading the investigation on finding Harry and the man that took him.
"It's been three bloody days - how is there no lead," Louis questioned.
"We talked to everyone Harry has been in contact with three days prior to his kidnapping. There is nothing, everyone seems to get on with Harry quite well, even his co-workers."
It was if a bell had gone off in Louis' head. "Eleanor - Eleanor Calder - she's a receptionist at the hospital Harry and I work at," Louis frantically spoke.
"I already interviewed her. She spoke highly of Harr-"
"No," Louis interrupted. "She hates him. The other day, she told me 'when Harry gets what's coming to him, call me.'"
“Okay, maybe I can get her in for another interview. In the meantime, rest and stay out of this investigation,” Officer Devine ordered as he left, and Louis couldn't help the little smirk that graced his lips.
Grabbing his cell, he scrolled down his contacts until he came across Eleanor and his the call button. He was, suddenly, thankful he programmed all the employee numbers.
“Eleanor? Yeah, it's Louis...”
–––
“Wake up, gorgeous,” a cheerful voice broke Harry's thoughts. Immediately, a groan escaped the brunette's lips as he tried to stretch out his muscles, but couldn't get very far. Ever since his escape attempt, Harry had been stripped of clothes, chained, and allowed one meal a day.
Harry watched as the owner of the cheerful voice, Shone, walked over and uncuffed his hands and placed a plate in front of him.
“Eat up,” Shone said with a wink and walked back out of the room.
Rubbing his wrists, Harry sighed with a little relief, before digging into his food – which was simple. Eggs, bacon, and toast.
Almost immediately after he finished, Shone walked back into the room, cuffed Harry back to the wall his back was resting on, and took the plate away to, what Harry presumed, the kitchen.
“Shone,” Harry croaked out in question. He had left the door open. That never happens. A moment later, Shone walked back in, closing the door behind him with a smirk and an evil glint in his eye.
And then Harry realized...
“Please, please, let me go,” he whispered out, as Shone walked closer to him, pulling his own pants down, revealing his rock-hard erection.
Forcing Harry to stand and turning him around, Shone grabbed his hips roughly. “Don't worry, I'll take good care of you, love,” Shone croaked out, letting the lust take control over his voice.
Not a moment later, Harry was bent over, and the other man shoved himself inside Harry's arse, who screamed out in agony which only proved to turn Shone on even more.
It seemed like an eternity. Shone shoved himself out of Harry's hole, the only groans and moans coming from the elder of the two, choked back sobs coming from the youngest. Finally, he came, placing a kiss on Harry's neck, and the walked out, closing the door and leaving Harry to his thoughts.
Gripping onto the wall for support, Harry slid down the wall, choking back on a sob.
Maybe it was best to give up hope, maybe it was best that he forgot all reason for living...
Summary: Harry Styles was just another employee at Directions Mental Hospital with his best mates, Liam Payne and Niall Horan, when a few new Doctors decided to show up and turn everything upside down.
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"So, tell me the story with the officer," Zayn asked Niall, while watching said officer out of the corner of his eye. He was talking to Louis about the what happened the night prior to his hospitalization.
"What - what do you mean," Niall stuttered, scratching at the back of his blonde head.
Zayn scoffed. "Oh, please. Anyone could see you have a thing for him. But, wait - I thought you were into that new nurse. What's her name - kind of sounds like an elf?"
"Her name is Neimh, and we just had a few drinks together - that's it," Niall quickly defended.
"Uh huh," Zayn muttered unconvinced.
"Zayn, don't be so rude," Liam chastised.
"Yeah yeah," Zayn answered, earning himself an elbow into his ribcage. Zayn grinned widely, and grabbed Liam from the side, and tugged him to his hip.
"I knew Josh in Secondary School. He moved away after our GCSE's, and I haven't seen him up until now," Niall cut in. He did not want to see where Zayn and Liam were going with that small action.
"There's more to that story, blondie," Zayn teased. Just as Niall was about to answer, Louis' voice cut in.
"I told you, that is all I know," he shouted at the brunette officer in front of him.
"I understand your frustration, Mr. Tomlinson, but your attitude towards me will not help find your friend."
"Motherfucker," Louis muttered, trying to leap at the officer. He was slammed back into his bed before he could make any type of contact.
"Let me go, dammit. Let just punch his cocky face," Louis shouted, his hands outstretched as to try and reach the officer.
"For the record, I'm not cocky - this is just my natural face expression," the officer pointed out.
"Louis, knock it off or you'll reopen your stitches," Liam said from Zayn's side.
"I don't care," Louis shouted back.
"Do you care about getting out of here faster and finding Harry," Niall asked. Almost immediately, Louis relaxed and Zayn lifted his hands away from him.
"Louis, I'm not trying to piss you off, I'm trying to help," the officer said. Huffing, Louis turned away and looked outside the window in his room.
Almost comically, it was dark and gray outside - the threat of thunder, lightning, and rain hanging from the clouds in warning.
"We'll find him," Zayn said, placing a hand on Louis' shoulder.
–––
"That's enough," Eleanor said, smacking the man across the head. "We still need him alive." She watched as Shone got up from on top of the boy on the floor, and walked out of the room and then the cabin without even a glance back.
She glanced down. Ugh, the boy looked grotesque. His face looked like someone beat him with a tire iron, and he had so many cuts on his body, she almost felt bad for him.
Almost.
Instead, she grinned at the sight. She hadn't watched Shone have his fun - choosing to go out for a cup of tea instead.
"It's too bad I have other plans for you; I quite enjoy looking at you, passed out and beaten on this floor..." she muttered, kicking one of his feet.
"Oh well," the brunette chirped before turning around and exiting the small room, leaving the heavy metal door open.
Opening his one eye that wasn't shut, Harry looked around and a enormous feeling of hope burst into his chest as he saw the door was open.
He waited until he heard the front door close, before scooting up. He thanked whatever higher power that was out there that Shone decided to leave him unchained.
Gathering up all his strength, the brunette got to his knees and then to his feet. His clothes had been torn during Shone's attack, and they laid in random places in the room.
"Don't think about, just get to the front door," Harry whispered to himself, and started walking, taking tiny steps until he was out of the small, horrid room, stopping every now and then to hide every time he thought he heard a noise.
He stood in the living room, when he saw the door knob jiggle. Fuck, he thought. Quickly, he turned a corner, hiding in the kitchen, as he heard two people enter the room.
"But why do we have to kill him so soon," Harry heard Shone whine.
"Because he took what was rightfully mine," Eleanor answered, putting an emphasis on the word 'mine.'
When it sounded like the two were down the hall, Harry sprinted for the door, throwing it open just as he heard Eleanor screech.
"Where is he?"
He ran at full speed out the door. He made it half way through the driveway before he heard someone running behind. Not taking the time to look, Harry kept running.
"No," he screamed when he felt someone jump on top of him. He reached out, clawing at the ground, trying to squirm his way out of the hold the person on top of him had.
"Louis, help me," he screamed out, just as an elbow made contact to his skull, knocking him out once again.
Pairings: Kim Jonghyun/Key (Kim Kibum), brief Lee Taemin/Choi Minho
Summary: Jonghyun didn’t expect that moving from the city into a small ranch in the countryside would have let him meet someone so dramatic, so spoiled, so… diva. That was until he met his neighbor, Kim Kibum, and everything started going downhill since.
Warnings: AU, sex, language - and I think that's it.
Summary: Jonghyun didn’t expect that moving from the city into a small ranch in the countryside would have let him meet someone so dramatic, so spoiled, so… diva. That was until he met his neighbor, Kim Kibum, and everything started going downhill since.
Jonghyun slammed Kibum into the wall, attacking his lips with eager desperation. Oh God, how he couldn't wait to completely taste all that was Kim Kibum, the luxurious blonde who walked into his life a mere few days ago, and now he couldn't get enough - he needed the blonde, cat-eyed, bad-tempered man.
A low groan grabbed Jonghyun out of his thoughts and back to reality.
Pulling apart, both men panted from desperation, want, and lack of breath. "Bed," Jonghyun heard Kibum whisper between breaths. Barely shuffling his hips, Jonghyun felt the tint in the the blondes pants, and immediately he nodded in agreement, and led the way to his bedroom.
Once there, both males had shed their clothes in hurried motions. They only took a moment to examine each others bodies in all it's naked glory before they connected again.
Jonghyun pushed Kibum back into the bed, following the blonde and crawling his way on top, pressing kisses here and there - purposely missing his groin area - until he reached plump lips.
"Nngh, Jonghyun," Kibum whispered hoarsely, and said male felt himself get harder. "Say it again, say my name again," Jonghyun demanded, and Kibum did. He repeated the others name like it was part of a sacred ritual.
Groaning, Jonghyun rubbed their hips together, causing the blonde to moan out Jonghyun's name, and that was it - he couldn't hold it back anymore.
Reaching over to the bedside table, he opened the top drawer and pulled out a tube of what Kibum could only presume as lube. Well, at least he was prepared, the blonde thought to himself, smirking.
When Jonghyun came back to the blonde, he was prepared to coat his own fingers to stretch out the male underneath him when Kibum stopped him, and took the lube and coated his own two fingers.
Getting out of underneath Jonghyun, Kibum got onto his knees - and Jonghyun could only watch as Kibum took a finger and inserted into his own hole, moving it around, opening it, and preparing his own self, a moan escaping the blondes lips every now and then. Jonghyun just kept watching as the blone prepared himself with one finger, and then slowly adding in the second one.
All of the sudden, a loud groan mixed with the others name slipped through Kibum's lip when the other witnessed the fingers crook a certain way, and Jonghyun just couldn't watch anymore. He needed to do something - he had to do something.
Getting behind Kibum, Jonghyun shooed his fingers away from the hole, grabbed the lube that was left forgotten at Kibum's side, pouring a quarter-sized amount into his palm and working it all over his member, occasionally groaning.
"Jonghyun," Kibum whined, shaking his bum a little in the air, and said male got the hit. Positioning at the the blondes entrance, Jonghyun entered slowly, not stopping until he was all the way in.
Once he was fully sheathed, Jonghyun stopped moving, letting Kibum get adjusted, and the both just stayed motionless - the only thing moving were their lungs from panting.
"Move," Kibum hoarsed out, and Jonghyun obeyed. Pulling out almost all the way, only leaving the tip in, and then slamming it back in, causing the blonde to arch his back and cry out. "More," Kibum shouted.
Again, Jonghyun obeyed, repeating his actions in a slow and steady rythem at first, and then picking up his pace when the blonde demanded it.
"Jjong, I'm going to -" the blonde started out, but he couldn't finish his sentence because just then, Jonghyun decided to reach over and stroke Kibum's own member, and he came - hot, white, and messy.
Jonghyun felt Kibum's walls closing in on him, and after a couple more thrusts, the elder followed, emptying himself inside the blonde.
Kibum collapsed on the the large king size bed in a sweaty, panting, tired mess. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, and turned to look at the other male who was laying next to him, panting to catch his own breath.
"So," Kibum began, turning over onto his stomach and looking at the other. "Kim Jonghyun. You've moved to a new town, got close to the prettiest person you know, and managed to fuck him, all in less than week. What do you plan on doing now?"
Smirking, Jonghyun looked at the blonde for moment, before turning over and climbing on top of the other. He hovered over the other and looked him straight into his deep brown eyes before answering. "My plan is," he paused to dip his head down and nip at the blondes neck, causing a moan to escape the others mouth. "To keep seducing you, keep fucking you, and - soon enough - make you stay by my side for as long as you're willing," Jonghyun whispered the rest into the blondes ear, to which the other shuddered and could only nod before they collided their lips together.
"Jjong, as much as I want to go again, my ass hurts. Can we just lay here, fall asleep, and then shower in the morning," the blonde asked, looking pleadingly into the others eyes.
"As long as I get shower sex," Jonghyun answered, kissed Kibum's forehead, and got off - pulling back the covers, and entering the warmth. Kibum followed suit, cuddling against the other male.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, Kibum heard Jonghyun whisper, "so, is that yes to shower sex?"
Summary: Jonghyun didn’t expect that moving from the city into a small ranch in the countryside would have let him meet someone so dramatic, so spoiled, so… diva. That was until he met his neighbor, Kim Kibum, and everything started going downhill since.
“You look good,” Jonghyun heard Kibum compliment him from across the table they were sitting at inside of a small, but quaint, restaurant. It had taken thirty minutes, but the brunette and successfully washed off the smell of horse and sweat and choose the best outfit it could: a black sweater with a light blue sweater underneath and paired with black slacks.
“Thank you, so do you,” Jonghyun complimented back, but saying the blonde looked good was a downright lie. He looked better than good; he looked fantastic, majestic, beautiful, handsome… Jonghyun could go on with the list of words to describe the male in front of him.
He could tell that Kibum went for a plain look; well, as plain as a fashionista could get. The blonde sported a dark blue jacket, light and dark blue patterned t-shirt underneath, dark blue slacks, and it was all completed with a three-layered gold chain.
“Aish, Dino, stop staring,” Kibum snapped at Jonghyun, and when the brunette looked up at the blondes face, it was tainted red. Smirking, Jonghyun retorted, “Can I help that I like what I see?” That caused the blonde to get flustered.
“I-well-no- aish, Dino, what do you want to eat,” Kibum finally stuttered out, hoping to change the topic. The brunette smirked again, and finally picked up the menu and started flipping through it, his eyes catching sight of his favorite dish: Daeji Bulgogi.
“They serve Daeji Bulgogi,” Jonghyun asked with excitement, earning a chuckle and nod from the other. After both of them ordered, Kibum was the first to break the silence.
“So, are you going to tell me why you moved to this small town or not,” he questioned, playing around with the straw inside of his sweet tea.
Jonghyun hesitated for a moment, before answering. “It’s my parents,” he said. Looking at Kibum, Jonghyun saw that the blonde was waiting for him to continue. “My father is this big company executive back in Korea –"
“I knew you looked familiar,” glancing at the blonde, Jonghyun watched as the blonde covered his mouth and apologized.
“Anyways,” he continued. “Both, my mother and father, wanted me to be a certain way, act a certain way, and eventually, take over the company when my father retires. I didn’t want to, so I ran away and left that position for my step-brother, Onew.”
“I understand,” the blonde nodded, catching the brunette by surprise. He had expected the blonde to call him stupid for running away from Korea, and Kibum caught this.
“You wanted to be your own person, you wanted to be yourself, and by staying with your parents back in Korea, you wouldn’t be your own person – you would be your fathers clone, and, to be quite frank, I’m glad you left,” the blonde said, smirking at the end.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I got to meet you,” Kibum smiled, causing Jonghyun’s heart to skip a beat. The blonde’s whole face lit up like a Christmas tree when he smiled, and Jonghyun couldn’t help but feel he wanted to make the blonde smile like that every day.
Catching himself staring, Jonghyun cleared his throat just in time to see that their food had arrived.
“Did you see the look on the waiter’s face when you asked for a second,” Kibum said with a laugh. The pair had just finished their meal and were driving back in the blonde’s car.
Laughing, Jonghyun nodded. “He looked like he was about to piss himself.”
“I would too! That was a lot of food, you fatty,” Kibum laughed, glancing at the brunette beside him and glancing back at the road every so often.
“Aish, says the one that ordered five sweet teas – where do you store all of that and not have to use the bathrooms after?”
The car filled with laughter until Kibum arrived at the brunettes house, pulling into the driveway.
“So, I’ll see you around,” the blonde questioned, but he had a hopeful look in his eye, and Jonghyun noticed it.
“Or, you could come in if you would like to,” he smiled, opening the car door and waiting for the blonde at his doorstep after the other nodded and turned off his car.
Walking in, Jonghyun barely had time to close the front door and place his house keys on the kitchen counter before he was attacked by a pair of soft lips.
Surprised, Jonghyun didn’t move and stayed frozen in place even if they felt warm and soft and… suddenly, the lips were removed before he was given a chance to kiss back.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I should have known that you weren’t – I mean, I’m just going to go,” Kibum said in a hurry, removing himself out of the brunettes personal space.
“Wait,” Jonghyun said, grabbing at the blondes wrist and pulling him back towards himself. “I didn’t say,” Jonghyun paused, looking Kibum in his eyes, “that I didn’t like it.” Kibum smiled brightly, and reattached his lips to the brunettes, who kissed back eagerly.
Summary: Jonghyun didn't expect that moving from the city into a small ranch in the countryside would have let him meet someone so dramatic, so spoiled, so... diva. That was until he met his neighbor, Kim Kibum, and everything started going downhill since.
Jonghyun breathed a sigh of relief as he set the last box down in the living room, just barely recognizing that the moving van had already left his property.
His property; it felt good to know that he finally had his own place after years with his parents. Don’t get him wrong, he loves them to death, but being constantly reminded that he was the heir to their company and he needed to act or be a certain way… needless to say, he couldn’t take it anymore and left – giving the heir position to his older brother, who wanted it from the beginning.
Speaking of which… grabbing his phone from his back pocket, Jonghyun typed quickly, and pressed the phone to his ear, waiting for the other line to pick up. When it did, he heard a chipper voice.
“You’re okay,” his brother said, relief shining through his tone.
“Hello to you too, brother,” Jonghyun replied with a laugh.
“How is America so far,” his brother asked, ignoring what Jonghyun had just said.
“It’s… a lot more quiet than I thought it would be.”
“Well, what did you expect? You moved into the smallest town possible – which I’ll never understand. There are a lot of places in Korea that are just like that town, why couldn’t you move there…” Jonghyun let his brother rant on. When he got like this, there was no point in trying to get a word in – plus he couldn’t tell him the other reason why he left.
“Are you even listening to me,” he heard his brother ask through the line.
Jonghyun was about to reply, when he heard a knock on his door. “Yes, Onew,” he replied, going to the door. “I’ve got to go, I’ll call you again later,” he said, and before Onew could argue, he ended the phone call, placing it back in his pocket.
Jonghyun opened the door and was met with a blonde man, holding a basket of… muffins? It definitely smelled like muffins, but he couldn’t tell because there was a blue plaid cloth covering what was inside.
Suddenly, the blonde man was talking to him in a different language. “Excuse me,” he asked.
“Aish, you’re living in America, but you don’t know an ounce of the language,” he said with annoyance.
“Hey, I don’t know who you think you are–“
“I’m Kim Kibum, your neighbor,” the blonde interrupted. ‘The nerve of this guy,’ Jonghyun thought. “I see you speak Korean as well – where are you from,” Kibum continued, pushing his way through the other and walking into the house, looking around.
“Ah, Seoul,” he answered, confused and irritated by this stranger who, not only was rude to him, but just walked into his house. Choosing not to say anything, Jonghyun closed the door and followed the blonde as he walked around the first floor of his house.
Kibum nodded. “Me too – I moved away, though, so I could be closer to my baby.” ‘Baby?’ “What about you,” Kibum asked, turning around and looking at Jonghyun.
“A… few reasons,” he answered evasively. He didn’t even know this person, there was no way he would tell his life story to him after just a few minutes of knowing each other.
“You’re one of those shy types, aren’t you,” Kibum said, but it was more to himself. “No matter,” he grinned. “I’ll get you to talk,” and he winked before continuing to walk around, finding himself the way to the kitchen.
“Here we go,” he said with a smile, placing the basket down on a counter top. Unwrapping the cloth, Jonghyun saw muffins – 'knew it', he thought to himself. Picking out a muffin, Kibum handed it to the other. “They’re blueberry – my personal favorite,” he said as he picked himself one and starting munching on it, lifting his body up and sitting on the counter with ease.
Jonghyun could only stare at the muffin. As much as he wanted to eat it, he had to stop himself. This could be poisoned for all he knew. This guy could be one of those serial killers that knocked you out with poison, dragged your unconscious body out and stored it in a cellar, before taking your body out and slowly–
Jonghyun was interrupted by his thoughts by the blonde once again. “I know what you’re thinking, and do I honestly look like one of those types?”
“Well, no, but –“
“No buts. If you’re not going to eat what my baby made, then I’ll just take it back and I’ll eat them with him instead,” he said, attempting to grab the muffin Jonghyun was holding. Jonghyun felt himself hesitate; something was telling him not to let this man go.
“Ah, no – I’ll eat it,” he said, and to prove his point, Jonghyun took a bite out of the muffin. It tasted good – really good. Chewing slowly, savoring the flavor, Jonghyun saw Kibum staring at him intently. “There was poison in this, wasn’t there,” Jonghyun asked, his mouth still full.
“Aish! Don’t talk with your mouth full – that’s disgusting,” Kibum snapped. Swallowing the bite of muffin, Jonghyun apologized.
Kibum rolled his eyes. “Well, do you like it,” he asked again.
“Oh, yes I did,” Jonghyun answered, earning a grin from the blonde. “Good – the poison should be kicking in right about… now.”
Jonghyun panicked – he knew it, he knew it, but he still ate it. All of the sudden, the blonde was laughing hysterically. “Omo, you’re face – that was priceless,” Kibum said in between laughter.
“Aish, why are you laughing – I was poisoned because of you, and I’m going to go unconscious –“ and then it hit him. Kibum was joking. It only took a moment for Jonghyun to stay mad at the joke, but he eventually joined Kibum in the laughter. Honestly, he couldn’t stay mad at the blonde. There was just something about him…
After calming down, Kibum looked at Jonghyun suddenly. “Do you want to do something tomorrow,” he asked.
Jonghyun looked around his house – he still needed to unpack everything. Turning back to Kibum who was awaiting his answer, Jonghyun nodded. “Yeah.”
“Awesome; I’ll come by tomorrow and get you,” Kibum said, getting down from the counter top and walking to the front door. “You can keep the muffins.”
“Wait, what time should I be ready,” Jonghyun asked, watching the blonde open the front door. “Be ready at ten,” he answered, and then walked out, throwing a wave at the other.
Closing the door after he left, Jonghyun leaned against the wood and looked around his new house – most of it was wooden, giving it a cabin and country feel, but there was a bit of dark brown paint and marble here and there. He had seen the property online, and knew as soon as he saw it, it was meant to be his. The property came with a barn, a second story, three acres, and a fire place.
He had planned to buy a horse or two so he would have something to do besides sit on his butt and play video games or be on the internet – he would have to do that some other time. Right now, he wanted to unpack and then go to sleep, so he would be well rested for his time with the blonde tomorrow. He was tired from the uncomfortable flight and grabbing his things from the moving van, but this needed to be done.
Sighing, Jonghyun lifted himself from the door and set to unpacking everything.
Three hours later, Jonghyun had everything unpacked, placed, and the house felt a lot more… home-y. Stretching his arms up, Jonghyun felt his back pop and he let out a sigh of relief. ‘Pushing the bed up the stairs had better be worth it,’ he thought to himself as he climbed the steps to go to his bedroom, deciding he would take a shower in the morning.
Quickly changing into his pajamas, Jonghyun climbed into his bed, and checked his phone one last time. He had two messages; one from his brother and another from his best friend.
Checking his brother’s message first, Jonghyun read it quickly. ‘Find a hot girl already? Call me back soon, brother.’
Oh, if only Onew knew… Shaking his head, Jonghyun read the other message. ‘How’s the new place? I’ll be flying in next week.’ Typing back a reply quickly, Jonghyun set his alarm and placed his phone down on the bedside table, and turned off his lamp.
Laying back, Jonghyun thoughts ran wild. Minho, his best friend, had agreed to move with him into the small town in the middle of nowhere after his parents kicked him out. He would have come with Jonghyun today, but he had things to do before he left Korea for what could be the rest of his life.
Jonghyun felt guilty – even if Minho had agreed from the beginning to move with him, his best friend had a lot more promise back in Korea.
Turning over on his side, Jonghyun’s mind changed the topic to the blonde man he met earlier. Kibum – he was hot, there was no denying it, but he felt something tug in his chest when he thought about him and he felt a flutter of butterflies in his stomach when he thought about Kibum’s smile – it brightened those deadly cat eyes, that Jonghyun thought he might go blind if he stared too long.
Jonghyun groaned – ‘what is happening to me,’ he thought. Jonghyun had many crushes and relationships before – so many that he had lost count – but no one had ever made him think this much, or made him think about them this much.
‘I need to get some sleep before I go mad,’ he thought, and finally closed his eyes, letting the exhaustion take over him and falling fast asleep.
Jonghyun woke up with a start; his alarm was blaring loudly. “Ugh,” he groaned, sitting up and turning of the alarm. Checking the time, Jonghyun saw that he had thirty minutes before Kibum was supposed to arrive.
“Omo,” he yelled out, scrambling out of his bed and running to the bathroom. Turning on the shower, Jonghyun quickly got in, trying to wash the sweat off from unpacking last night. When he went to grab his shampoo, he realized it was missing.
‘Must be downstairs,’ he explained to himself, stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel around himself, heading downstairs to grab his shampoo bottle.
When he reached the bottom step, his front door swung open. “You ready, Dino,” the blondes’ voice called out, stepping into the house, but stopped moving when he saw Jonghyun half-naked with only a towel around his waist.
“Ah, sorry,” the blonde apologized, a blush forming on his cheeks and he turned around, facing away from Jonghyun.
“Um, just give me a few more minutes,” Jonghyun said, quickly going into one of the few boxes he didn’t unpack and grabbed his shampoo. He saw Kibum nod out of the corner of his eye, still facing away from him.
Quickly, Jonghyun ran up the stairs, and hopped back into the shower, finishing quickly. Drying himself off as best as he could, he wrapped the towel around his waist again, and went into his room. As soon as he entered, he saw Kibum sitting on his bed next to clothes that were laid out for him.
“Since you were taking a shower, I went and picked out your outfit,” Kibum explained a blush still on his cheeks, getting up quickly, and left the room without making any eye contact, leaving Jonghyun to get dressed.
Going to the clothes that were on his bed, Jonghyun dropped the towel and dressed quickly. Checking himself in his floor-length mirror, he had to give the blonde some props. He could really pick an outfit. Even if it was plain and simple, blue and black plaid shirt, white t-shirt underneath, and complete with black slim fit jeans, the colors made him stand out in a tasteful way.
Putting on a pair of black and blue shoes Kibum had picked out, Jonghyun headed out of his bedroom door and down the stairs, and saw Kibum sitting on the beige couch in his living room.
“Omo, I knew it would look good,” the blonde said, patting himself on the back as he stood up. Jonghyun grinned at the blonde.
“So, where are we going,” he asked. “You’ll see,” was all the blonde said, exiting the house and walking down the path to his car. “Mustang? Sweet,” Jonghyun complimented the other. Kibum thanked him as he got into the driver seat, waiting for Jonghyun get in before he started the car.
They pulled out of the driveway, and headed down the road. It had only been a few minutes, when Kibum took a right, and they were parked in front of a large white and blue, wooden house.
“This,” Kibum said, taking his seat belt off and looking at Jonghyun, “is my house.” Getting out of the car, Jonghyun saw a short kid running out of the house and into Kibum’s arms. “Umma, you’re back already!”
Kibum hugged the kid back. “I told you I would be – say hi, Taeminnie,” the blonde said, looking at Jonghyun.
Turning around, ‘Taeminnie’ looked at Jonghyun with a bright smile. “Hi,” he waved. “You must be our new neighbor – I’m Taemin.”
“Ah, hi,” Jonghyun said, waving back. “I’m Jonghyun.” Looking closer at Taemin, Jonghyun realized he wasn’t a kid – if anything, he looked to be only a few years younger than him – but his attitude and personality made him seem so young.
“So, what are we going to do,” Taemin asked, looking at Kibum.
“I was thinking we could go ride the horses,” Kibum answered. Taemin’s face lighted up. “Can I ride Eun?”
“Sure thing, baby,” Kibum said, patting Taemin on the head. “Why don’t you go brush the horses while I show the Dino around?”
Nodding, Taemin ran from them, around the house, and disappeared.
“Dino,” Jonghyun asked, looking at Kibum.
“You look like a dinosaur,” the blonde shrugged, and walked inside of his house, Jonghyun following closely behind.
As soon as he walked in, Jonghyun was in awe. He had only stepped into the living room, but based on how it looked, he could bet the rest of the house looked just as magnificent.
“Like it,” Kibum asked, looking at his own work as if he had seen it for the first time. Jonghyun nodded. “This is amazing.”
The living room was decorated in the same color as the outside of the house, blue and white. A long white couch was placed in the middle of the room, in front of it a blue-painted glass coffee table with a laptop and remote controls placed in a corner. In front of the couch and table was a large white entertainment stand, complete with a stereo system, DVD player, gaming consoles, and a large TV screen. Underneath the coffee table was a blue and white fur rug and there was a large abstract painting hanging on the wall behind the couch.
“I work as an interior decorator in New York, “Kibum explained, sitting on the couch. “I’m on vacation, though,” he grinned and patted on the couch for Jonghyun to sit next to him.
Nodding, Jonghyun sat down next to the blonde. “We have a few minutes until Taemin will be done brushing the horses.” Jonghyun nodded again when a question hit him.
“Why does Taemin call you umma?”
Kibum leaned back on the couch. “We grew up together, you see, back in Korea. Our mothers are best friends, thus we became best friends. We hung out all the time – still do as you can see – and one day, he just called me it, and it stuck. He’s my baby and I’m his umma.”
Just as Kibum had finished, Taemin walked in with a smile. “Umma! I’m all done.” Standing up, Kibum nodded. “Great – let’s go get those saddles on them and ride.” Then he looked at the other sitting on the couch. “Ever ridden a horse before?”
“Once,” he answered, remembering the one time his family went to see his grandfather. He owned a ranch much like Jonghyun’s, only smaller, and let him get on one of the horses. Needless to say, Jonghyun had been bucked off of the horse and had to have an arm cast for the next three months.
“Perfect, then you know how to ride,” Kibum smiled, walking out of the living and down the hall, Taemin following behind. Getting up, Jonghyun followed the two quickly, and soon they were outside. In front and to the left of him, Jonghyun only saw grass and trees – the place was huge. To the right, as a large blue and white barn, which was where they were headed.
“First,” Kibum said to Jonghyun, “we need to put the blanket on. Then you put on the saddle, followed by the reins, and then we can ride,” he explained further, walking into the barn. There were four stables, three of them held a horse, and one held the saddles, food, and other things for the animals.
“Each horse has their own stuff. Eun there,” Kibum said, pointing to a large white horse to the far left, “wears these,” now he pointed to a pile of red and brown. “Bae wears this one,” he pointed to a brown horse and then a pile of light and dark blues. “And Il Sung wears this,” he pointed to a black horse and then a pile of dark purple and brown.
“Taemin,” Kibum said, grabbing the youngers attention away from Eun. “Why don’t you give the horses some snacks while we prep them.” Taemin nodded, and ran to a bucket of food.
“Here,” Kibum said to Jonghyun. “You can put on Il Sung’s gear – he is the one you’ll be riding after all.”
Nodding, Jonghyun grabbed the blanket first and walked to the black horse, Il Sung, Kibum following to make sure he did it right. “Hey, boy,” he said, patting the horses head and going around to place the blanket on the horse.
“You need to put it up more,” Kibum corrected, and moved the blanket up more to the horses shoulders. “You can sit on the back or he’ll break in half and cleaning up horse guts is something I don’t do.”
“Now, go get the saddle,” Kibum said, dusting of the blanket a bit. Jonghyun left and returned quickly, saddle in hand, which was a lot heavier than he thought. “Whoa, there,” Kibum said, poking at Jonghyun’s arm muscles. “What do you bench?”
Laughing, Jonghyun shook his head. “I’ll never tell.”
“Three pounds – I knew it,” Kibum joked, taking he saddle from Jonghyun and placing it on the horse. “In your dreams,” Jonghyun said, watching Kibum tighten the belts around the horse and making sure the saddle wouldn’t move when Jonghyun got on.
“Not unless I make those dreams become a reality,” he said back with a wink, causing Jonghyun to blush and turn his head away. “Reins,” the blonde said, holding out his hand. Nodding, Jonghyun cleared his throat and handed him the reins.
When all three horses were ready to ride, Kibum and Taemin brought them out of the barn. “Il Sung was just recently broken, so he can’t go out into the road yet or by himself. We’ll ride along the fence line together,” Kibum explained, putting one foot into the stirrup, lifting himself into air, and sitting on the seat, foot in the other stirrup, in one fluid motion.
Jonghyun felt his face getting hot looking at Kibum on the horse – his imagination getting the better of him as he thought of other ways Kibum could ride. Shaking his head, Jonghyun got onto his horse, not as smoothly as Kibum, but he did it.
Jonghyun gripped onto the reins, nervousness showing. “Don’t grip so tight,” Kibum corrected. Nodding, Jonghyun loosened his grip, but not by much. He heard a sigh. “Taemin, go on ahead – I’ll catch up to you. I need to teach this Dino how to ride.” Jonghyun felt his face get hot again at the last part.
Jonghyun watched Taemin nod and then ride off with Eun. “Okay, Dino, grab the reins like this,” Kibum said, showing Jonghyun how he was holding the reins – one hand on each rein, but one hand was holding both ends.
Nodding, Jonghyun copied Kibum. “Good, now, give the horse a slight kick on the side to get it moving.”
“What,” he said with a shout. Kibum rolled his eyes. “Did you expect to just sit on the horse? I thought you said you could ride.”
“Correction, I said I rode before – not that I could,” Jonghyun said, looking away. Kibum ‘hmmed’ and nodded. “Jjong, I promise nothing bad will happen as long as you’re on my horse,” he said, looking and Jonghyun with a smile.
Jonghyun looked at the blonde for a moment, before giving a hesitant nod. “Great – now, giving a little kick.”
Letting out a slow breath, Jonghyun gave the horse a kick and felt it take a step. “Omo,” he said, gripping onto the reins. “Calm down, Jjong,” Kibum said, walking beside him. “Loosen up.”
Jonghyun nodded and did as he was told, and soon he was getting the hang of it. “Awesome,” the blonde said, giving Jonghyun a pat on the back. “Ready to catch up to Taemin,” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he smiled. “Give him another kick but harder.” Following what Kibum said, Jonghyun gave his horse another kick and felt it run. “Aish,” he said in between grit teeth. ‘Alright, calm down, Jonghyun,’ he said to himself, and slowly he felt himself enjoying the ride.
“You’re doing great,” Kibum yelled from behind him. “When we catch up to Taemin, just lightly pull back and the horse will slow down and back to a walk,” Kibum instructed.
Eventually, the pair caught up to the younger, and the rode together for a few hours before returning back to the barn.
As soon as they made it back to the barn, Jonghyun felt his phone vibrate, indicating a text message. Getting off of Il Sung, Jonghyun pulled out his phone and saw that it was Minho.
‘How’s it going so far? I want to see this cute boy,’ Minho said through the text message. Jonghyun had almost forgot that he told Minho about Kibum last night in the message he sent him.
“Would guys mind taking a photo with me,” Jonghyun asked the other two as they were getting the saddles of the horses.
“Can we umma,” Taemin asked, looking at the blonde with pleading eyes.
“Why not,” he answered with a shrug of his shoulders. Taemin and Kibum stood around Jonghyun as we took a photo, all of them giving the camera the victory sign.
“Thanks,” he said with a smile, and sent the photo to Minho who almost replied immediately. ‘He’s cute,’ he said through the text message.
Jonghyun sent him back a reply, saying that the blonde was his. Minho knew better then to go after what he liked.
When Minho sent back a reply, Jonghyun couldn’t help glancing at Taemin who was still helping Kibum with getting the gear off and feeding the horses. ‘I meant the other one – and not you.’
Jonghyun could definitely see Taemin and Minho together.
“You hungry,” Kibum asked, looking at Jonghyun. Putting his phone up, Jonghyun nodded. “Perfect,” he said with a smile. “We can go to this small Chinese restaurant in town. It isn’t Korean – but close enough.”
“Umma, can I stay here,” Taemin asked as the three of them walked back to the house. “Promise you won’t eat any sweets while I’m gone,” Kibum asked, looking at Taemin.
“Promise,” he said, holding out his pinky. Smiling, Kibum stuck out his own pinky and sealed the promise. “Kid,” he said, ruffling his hair.
As soon as they got inside, Taemin bounded up the stairs and went into – what Jonghyun assumed was – his room, and music started blaring.
“He’s studying dance at NYU,” Kibum explained. “He loves it and wants to be a professional when he graduates,” he said with a smile, looking up the steps.
“I’ll take you home real quick so you can change and come back for you after I’m done,” Kibum said, grabbing his car keys and heading out the door, Jonghyun following.
can you do a Larry prompt based on the song If You're Reading This by Tim McGraw? Where Louis' in the military and dies, leaving Harry alone with their baby girl on the way?
Dear Anon, I HOPE YOU KNOW THIS MADE ME CRY AS I WROTE IT. ;d
Summary: Prompt: Louis is in the military and falls in the line of duty, leaving behind a pregnant Harry; based on the song, 'If You're Reading This' by Tim McGraw.
–––
"Sure wish I could give you one more kiss, and war was just a game we played when we were kids."
–––
Harry remembered that day very well; the day his whole world crashed down with just a heavy knock against the white wooden doors to the small house that he and his husband, Louis, shared.
Two men, hats in their hands, heads bent low, and clad in forest green and brown uniform that Louis also don, well... used to.
"Mister Harry Styles-Tomlinson," the taller of the two men in front of him asked, raising his head just slightly to look Harry in the eyes.
"Yes," Harry answered, hesitantly, clutching at his protruding stomach, praying to the Lord above that those men did not come with news he had dreaded since Louis had told him three years ago he joined the British Army.
"We come with grave news." Harry's breath caught in his throat. "Lieutenant Louis Styles-Tomlinson fell in the line of duty, protecting one of his subordinates against enemy fire," but Harry didn't hear the rest.
Falling to his knees, Harry's tears fell free down his face, hands still on his stomach as he let out a low groan. "No, no, no," he kept repeating to himself, rocking back and forth.
He had forgotten the two men in front of him, and jumped slightly when the one that had been speaking to him knelt down in front of him. "Lieutenant Styles-Tomlinson, Louis, was a great man - a ball of sunshine in the horrid world of war we were constantly surrounded around. I - we - are deeply sorry for your loss."
Harry saw the man leave a envelope at his knees, and watched as both of them walk to a dark Suburban that was parked at the curb and drive away.
Alone. That was what Harry was now. Alone, with their little girl, who was just weeks away from seeing the world. A world without Louis - her dad, father...
Grudgingly, Harry stood, grabbing the envelope in front of him, and walk back into the house.
Before the knock at the door, Harry was watching the Telly, enjoying a re-run of Sherlock, but now, he couldn't even stand to over-hear it. That was their show. They would watch it, throwing popcorn at each other, or cuddling against each other...
Unplugging the Television, Harry sat at the couch, tears still falling and an occasional hiccup and sniffle would escape his lips. He stared at the envelope before ripping it open, pulling out a letter and a small MP3 device with headphones attached to it.
On the front of the envelope, he noticed Louis' handwriting, bringing a wave of fresh tears. "Listen to the song as you read this, Curls."
Putting the headphones in his ears, and pressing play, Harry heard the the gentle strums of a guitar, and as the first lines of the song played, Harry opened the letter and started reading.
"My dearest Hazza,
If you're reading this, that means that I have passed on, protecting our country, our family, you...
I wish it didn't have to come to this, I wish I could be there holding you, kissing those dimples I love so much, staring into your dark green eyes, playing with your equally dark brown curls - but, God made his choice.
For me to be among the angels.
I want you know that you're not alone, I have not left you. I'm still with you, in our little girl. Take care of her, love her, cherish her and don't ever let he forget about me.
Harry, I love you, and if you're reading this, you'll move on and find someone else- I want you to move on. Love someone as much as you love me - but not too much more.
Just remember, I'm in a better place.
I love you.
Love always, your Boo Bear.
P.S. If you ever want to hear me, just listen to this song."
Harry turned off the music player, and let the words Louis left behind for him. After a moment of thought, he made his decision.
He would do it; he would do everything for Louis.
–––
A week later, Harry attended the funeral held for his late-husband. At the sound of the twenty-gun salute, Harry broke down, comforted in the arms of his and Louis' best friends, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, and Niall Horan.
Two weeks after the funeral, Harry gave birth - Noel Avalon Styles-Tomlinson. She had the perfect combination of both of her fathers. Light blue eyes, dark brown curls, and soft, tan skin.
Harry will never forget Louis, and the most precious gift that he left behind.
"I'd heard someone say that bravery was doing the thing you were afraid to do, despite your fear. If that was true, I was the bravest person I ever knew..."
Summary: Year after year, Zayn Malik - the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown - did the exact same Halloween, and he was tired of it. After accidentally stumbling upon the door that lead him into Christmastown, can Liam - Doctor Simon Finklestein’s creation - help Zayn fix Christmas before it is destroyed for good?
Author’s Note: Sorry it took so long! I thought I had this set up for queue before I left for four days on Halloween and I didn’t bother saving it, so I had to re-type it all again. I’m a bit too tired to re-read though everything, but I will do it in the morning and just edit this post. I hope you all had a great Halloween!
–––
“Oh, this worse than I thought, much worse,” Liam said, shaking his head in fear. “I know!”
–––
“Where are you taking me on Christmas Eve?”
“To Oogie Boogie, of course,” Lock answered, pulling his mask off. “There isn’t anywhere in the whole word more comfortable than that – and Zayn said to make him comfortable, didn’t he?”
“Yes he did,” Shock and Barrel nodded.
“Haven’t you heard of peace of Earth and good will toward men,” Sandy Claws asked out loud.
“No,” the three kids shouted with a loud cackle.
–––
“Ugh,” Liam grunted, pulling the Fog juice out of its hiding spot. “This will stop Zayn,” Liam whispered to himself, holding the Fog juice close.
Carefully, Liam hid his potion hiding spot and walked out of his room, stopping to watch the doctor as he worked on a new experiment.
“What a joy to think of all we’ll have in common. We’ll have conversations worth having,” the doctor muttered as he looked over the experiment.
Before the doctor saw him, Liam walked out of the doctor’s castle.
–––
“Don’t do this! Naughty children never get any presents,” Sandy Claws shouted at Lock, Shock, and Barrel as they lead the bathtub that held the Christmastown ruler through a hallway.
Sandy Claws grunted in surprise when he was pushed down a chute but stopped moving. “I think he might be too big,” Shock stated, hitting Sandy Claws from behind with a broom stick, causing him to move down the chute a little.
“No he’s not. If he can go down a chimney, he can fit down here,” Lock said, pushing Sandy Claws with the help of the other two until he finally went down the chute.
Grunting in pain on the way down, Sandy Claws finally landed in a room, lying on his back on top of what seemed to be a circle spinner.
Looking around, Sandy Claws saw that there were decorations that he had never seen before – scary-looking decorations. One by one, they lighted up until he was glowing under a UV light.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here,” a voice said behind him. “Sandy Claws, huh?” A ivory colored monster popped up, getting into Sandy Claws face, examining him closely.
“You better pay attention now because I’m the Boogie Man,” Oogie said, poking at Sandy Claws round stomach.
“Release me now – the children are expecting me,” Sandy Claws pleaded.
“I can’t believe me ears = it’s funny, you really are too much,” Oogie said, shaking his head. “Now, with your permission, I’m going to do my stuff.”
“What are you going to do?”
“The best I can,” Oogie grinned, hooking Sandy Claws over a claw and hanging him in midair.
“Release me,” Sandy Claws shouted.
“You don’t comprehend the position you are in – you ain’t going nowhere.”
–––
While Louis was busy with the band trying to get the Christmas music perfect, Liam poured the Fog juice into the fountain just before Zayn appeared, rising from a coffin with his arms across his chest – enlightening applause from the town.
“Think of us as you soar triumphantly through the sky – outshining every star,” the mayor said dramatically, reading off from a rolled up parchment as he continued. “Your silhouette a dark blot on the moon, you who are our pride, you who are our glory, you who have frightened billions into an early grave…”
A few moments into the speech, the Fog juice the Liam had poured into the fountain thickened, blinding the townspeople.
“You who have, eh, devastated the souls of the living…” the mayor tried, looking closely at the parchment with his speech written carefully on it.
“Oh, no! We can’t take off in this,” Zayn stated. “The reindeer can’t see an inch in front of their noses!” Liam let out a huff of air in relief.
“This fog is as thick as, as–“
“Jelly brains.”
“Thicker!”
A vampire and Cyclops argued while Zayn kneeled down by the fountain. “There go all of my hopes, my precious plans, my glorious dreams…”
“There goes Christmas,” a kid added, crying loudly.
Zero barked, getting Zayn’s attention.
“No, Zero, down boy,” Zayn shrugged his dog off, who only continued to get closer. “My, what a brilliant nose you have,” Zayn grinned, looking at the bright red nose that glowed in the thick fog. “What better to light my way! To the head of the team, Zero!”
Climbing into the sleigh, Zayn cracked his whip, getting his reindeer moving. “We’re off,” he shouted.
“Wait, Zayn! No,” Liam shouted, trying to catch the Pumpkin King’s attention but it was no use – Zayn was quick to be in the air and the rest of the town cheered loudly, drowning out Liam’s protests.
Liam stood as he watched Zayn disappear into the night, chanting out “ho, ho, ho.”
“Good bye, Zayn, my dearest Zayn,” Liam waved to the sky as soon as Zayn was out of sight. “Oh, how I hope my premonition is wrong…”
–––
Landing loudly on top of the first house he saw, Zayn hopped down the chimney, waking up a little kid inside of the house.
“Santa,” the kid shouted, climbing down the stairs but gasps out loud when he sees Zayn filling the Christmas stockings. “Santa?”
“Merry Christmas,” Zayn greeted the kid deeply – trying his best to imitate Sandy Claws. “What is your name?”
The kid stuttered trying to get out his reply. “That’s all right,” Zayn dismissed. “I have a special present for you anyway!” Reaching into the bag, Zayn pulled out a white and black box and handed it to the kid. “There you go, sonny.”
Quickly, Zayn left the house, going up the chimney. After he left, the kid opened his present, tearing at wrapper. “What did Santa bring you, honey,” his mother asked him from behind.
The kid pulled out his present from the box, revealing a shrunken head and causing the kids parents to scream.
–––
“Hello, police,” an officer answered the phone, quickly writing out the report as the frantic woman spoke. “Attacked, by Christmas toys? That’s strange. That’s the second toy complaint we’ve had.”
–––
Zayn went from house to house, from chimney to chimney, giving out Halloweentown’s Christmas gifts to the children, filling their stockings and trees with presents, killer wreaths, toys, and eliciting screams from those that opened the presents.
Soon enough, the human world boarded up, locked their windows and doors, turned off lights, and set the fire for the chimneys to stop Zayn from entering their houses.
“You’re welcome one and all,” Zayn shouted.
–––
“Where did you spot him? Fast as we can, ma’am.”
“Police. I know, I know, a skeleton... keep calm; turn off all the lights; make sure the doors are locked.”
“Hello, police.”
The police station filled up with calls about Zayn and they tried to work as fast as they could.
–––
“Reports are pouring in from all over the globe that an impostor is shamelessly impersonating Santa Claus, mocking and mangling the joyous holiday,” a news reporter broadcasted, and the Halloweentown residents cheered as the watched Zayn and the report.
“Police assure us that at this moment, military units are mobilizing to stop the perpetrator of this heinous crime.”
“Zayn, someone has to help Zayn,” Liam said, holding his hand to his mouth. “Where’d they take that Sandy Claws,” Liam asked out loud and then running off when the townspeople just continued to cheer and not answer him.
–––
“Look, Zero,” Zayn said, looking down at the lights flashing below them. “Search lights!” All of the sudden, bombs went off in the air. “They’re celebrating! They’re thanking us for doing such a good job.”
“Higher, Zero,” Zayn shouted, cracking his whip again when one of the bombs almost hit them.
–––
“Are you a gambling man, Sandy? Let’s play,” Oogie toyed, rolling around a pair of dice in his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, Oogie spotted a leg through his cracked door.
“Mmm… my, my, what have we here,” he asked to himself, spitting into his hand, slicking his hair back, and walking over to the leg.
Quickly, Liam’s hands released Sandy from his binds. “I’ll get you out of here,” he whispered to Sandy Claws and then motioned for him to be quiet.
Pulling on the leg by accident when he was tickling the foot, Oogie let out a surprised grasp. “What? Are you trying to make a dupe out of me,” he shouted in question, spotting Liam and Sandy – who was trying to escape.
Taking in a deep break, Oogie sucked the two back into the room.
–––
“Who’s next on my list,” Zayn asked out loud, looking at the parchment in the sleigh. “Ah, little Harry and Jordan. Won’t they be surprised.”
Out of nowhere, one of the bombs from earlier hit the sleigh, knocking off a reindeers head. “They’re trying to hit us, Zero,” Zayn exclaimed, earning a bark and a whine from his dog when he tried to pull back on the reins to get some control back from the sleigh when he was hit again, falling out.
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight,” he shouted as he descended to the ground.
–––
A werewolf howled in agony as the town watched as Zayn was fired at until he was successfully shot down.
“I knew this Christmas thing was a bad idea – I felt it in my gut,” Louis muttered to himself, and then turned to the rest of the town. “Terrible news, folks. The worst tragedy of our time – Zayn has been blown to smithereens. Terrible, terrible news.”
–––
“Attention, attention citizens. Terrible news. There’s still no sigh of Santa Claus. Although the impostor has been shot down, it looks like Christmas will have to be canceled the year. I repeat, the impostor has been shot down, but there’s still no sign…” the police car drove by, repeating the message over for citizens who were locked up in their houses.
–––
Zayn awoke in a cemetery. It only took him a moment to look around and realize what had happened. “What have I done? How could I be so blind? Everything’s gone all wrong,” he said to himself looking at the destroyed presents, sleigh, and decorations.
Getting up from where he laid in the arms of an angel statue, Zayn stood and thought to himself. “What the heck? I went and did my best, and at least I left some stories they can tell – and for the first time since I don’t remember when, I felt like my old, bony self again.
“And I, Zayn – the Pumpkin King – that’s right! I am the Pumpkin King,” he grinned to himself, seeing a new dawn of the situation. “I can’t wait until next Halloween,” Zayn said, thinking up of so many ideas that his skull could have fallen off.
Looking back at the destroyed Christmas, Zayn remembered about Sandy Claws. “I hope there’s still time to set things right…”
Opening a tomb, Zayn jumped in.
–––
“You wait until Zayn hears about this! By the time he’s though with you, you’ll be lucky if you–“ Liam was interrupted by the mayors voice.
“The king of Halloween has been blown to smithereens. Skeleton Zayn is now a pile of dust,” Louis’ voice came through the megaphone.
Liam let out a gasp, and then struggled harder against the binds that held him and Sandy Claws down.
–––
“Come on, Zero,” Zayn said to his dog when the landed in Halloweentown’s cemetery. “Christmas isn’t over yet,” he shouted, running towards Oogie’s.
–––
“What was that you were saying about luck, rag doll,” Oogie asked, shaking his dice in Liam’s face.
“Help,” Liam and Sandy Claws called out repeatedly.
“Sandy! Looks like it’s Oogie’s turn to boogie,” Oogie grinned, pulling a lever back and forth, lifting Sandy Claws and Liam into the air and close to the boiling pot of yellow goo.
Liam let out a hoarse scream, trying to push himself backwards and away from the pot.
“This can’t be happening,” Sandy Claws groaned out.
“Bye bye doll face and sandman,” Oogie said, cranking the lever some more. “What the–“ he said out loud as he was about the dump the two into the pot.
Pulling the metal bed back, Oogie was met face to face with Zayn. “Hello, Oogie,” he greeted with a sinister grin.
“Z-Zayn, but they said you were dead,” Oogie tried to stall. “You must be double dead,” he shouted, pressing a large button making the room burst to life.
The ground underneath Zayn’s feet moved and glowed, and he was jolted out of position for a second but stood up straight just in time to miss being stabbed by a large knife that popped out of the floor.
Blades were swinging all around Zayn as he tried to maneuver around.
“Well, come on bone man,” Oogie teased Zayn.
Hopping over a few blades the swung around in circular motion, Zayn moved successfully until Oogie pulled a cord and Zayn was being shot at for the second time that night.
He moved graciously and avoided being shot at, and then Oogie pressed another button. Liam grasped out loud when a circular saw came out of thin air and went in Zayn’s direction. “Zayn, look out,” he shouted.
Turning around quickly, Zayn jumped out the way and landed in front of Oogie, who jumped up onto of one of the blades.
“How dare you treat my friends so shamefully,” Zayn grounded out, pulling on one of Oogie’s strings causing the monster to fall apart little by little, until all that was left was the bugs and soon that fell into the boiling pot of yellow good, dissolving.
Liam watched as Oogie was destroyed in front of his very eyes until he was snapped out of it as Sandy Claws and Zayn started talking.
“Forgive me, Mister Claws, I’m afraid I’ve made a terrible mess of your holiday,” Zayn apologized to the old man, handing him back his red hat.
“Bumpy sleigh ride, Zayn? The next time you get the urge to take over someone else’s holiday, I’d listen to him,” he stated, pointing at Liam’s direction who stood off to the side. “She’s the only one who makes sense around this insane asylum!”
Sandy Claws walked off muttering to himself about skeletons. “I hope there is still time–“ Zayn started, but was interrupted by Sandy Claws.
“To fix Christmas? Of course there is, I’m Santa Claus,” he answered with a shout. Pressing a finger to the side of his nose, he rose up and out of Oogie’s chimney.
“He’ll fix things, Zayn,” Liam said, generously toughing Zayn’s arm. “He knows what to do.”
“How did you get down here, Liam,” Zayn asked.
“Oh, I was trying to, well, I want to, to –“
“To help me…” Zayn finished.
“I couldn’t let you just–“ Liam started, turning away from Zayn to not look into his face but Zayn turned him around to face him.
“Liam, I can’t believe I never realized that you–“
“Zayn! Zayn!” A light shined bright into the twos faces, interrupting them.
“Here he is,” Barrel said.
“Alive,” Lock shouted.
“Just like we said,” Shock added.
“Grab a hold my boy,” the mayor said, tossing a rope down to Zayn.
Grabbing Liam’s hand, Zayn was lifted up the rope and out of the Oogie’s house.
–––
“Good news, folks,” the news reporter called out once again. “Santa Claus, the one and only, has finally been spotted. Old Saint Nick appears to be traveling at supersonic speed. He’s setting things right, bringing joy and cheer wherever he goes. Yes folks, Kris Kringle has pulled it out of the bad and delivered Christmas to excited children all of the world!”
–––
Word traveled around quickly that Zayn was safe and sound back in Halloweentown. “It’s great to be home,” Zayn shouted when he finally arrived in the town square when he heard a distant shout.
Looking up towards the sky, Zayn saw white fluff falling from the sky – it was the same white fluff that was everywhere in Christmas town – snow. “Happy Halloween,” Sandy Claws shouted.
“Merry Christmas,” Zayn shouted back with a wave.
The town was bustling with excitement and the foreign things floating down from the sky. Zayn watched silently as the town explored a little of the world he found out about.
Soon, the town was frosted over – the water turned into ice, the streets were covered in snow, there were snow angels all around, snowballs were being tossed, snowmen were being made, and people were skating around on the ice.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zayn caught Liam exiting the town and walking off toward the cemetery and decided to follow him.
–––
Climbing the snowy hill, Liam sat down and started picking at a flower he had brought with him. Slowly, he picked off its leaves and then it’s petals. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to join you,” Zayn said politely, sitting next to Liam on the hill.
Nodding his head, Liam looked at the stars. “We can gaze at into the stars,” he said with a smile tugging at his lips.
Zayn sighed happily. “It’s plain as anyone can see.” Reaching for his hand, Liam held Zayn’s bony fingers in-between his own and looked into the Pumkin King’s dead eyes.
“We’re simply meant to be,” Liam finished with a brilliant smile matching the one of the others face.
Leaning down, Zayn grasped Liam’s chin with his free hand, and kissed him softly.
–––
Santa Claus traveled throughout the world, setting the wrongs right from when Zayn had taken over – ridding the terrified children of the awful Halloween gifts.
As for Zayn and Liam, the two lived forever in love, and kissing under full moons.
Summary: Year after year, Zayn Malik - the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown - did the exact same Halloween, and he was tired of it. After accidentally stumbling upon the door that lead him into Christmastown, can Liam - Doctor Simon Finklestein’s creation - help Zayn fix Christmas before it is destroyed for good?
–––
Liam carefully covered the doctor with a thin blanket – Simon was still, thankfully, knocked out from the soup Liam had given him earlier and still hadn’t woken even during the loud bells and Louis’ voice shouting that there was a town meeting.
Liam felt hopeful about this town meeting – maybe he will finally get to meet, or even talk, to Zayn – the glorious Pumpkin King of Halloweentown.
Patting Simon gently on the head, Liam backed away as quietly as he could and made his way to the town hall where the meeting was to take place.
The building was quickly filling up, and Liam had to hurry to find a place to sit only to sit next to an annoying clown that continued to hit Liam in the arm and giggled loudly every time Liam grimaced.
“Listen, everyone,” Zayn announced, walking from the side room that was connected to the stage. Liam felt his heart swell at the sight of the Pumpkin King. “I want to tell you about… Christmastown!” The room filled with loud murmuring and questions.
“What, exactly, is Christmastown,” Louis asked, earning agreements from all around.
“Christmastown… it’s a world unlike any I have ever seen, and – try as I might – I can’t describe it, but you have to believe me when I say it’s as real as my skull and it does exist! Here, let me show you.” Pulling on the curtain rope, Zayn revealed a stage full of the stuff he brought with him from Christmastown.
The crowd gasped and awed at what lay before them. There was a huge tree glittering in bright colors of red, green, blue, and yellow lights and ornaments, boxes were placed neatly under the tree. Picking up a yellow box wrapped in red ribbon, Zayn showed it to the crowd. “This thin is called a present, and it starts with a box.”
“A box,” a devil asked. “Is it steel?”
“Are there locks?”
“Is it filled with pox?”
“If you please,” Zayn interrupted. “Just a box with bright colored paper, and the whole thing is topped with a bow.”
A witch zoomed by on her broom and tried to grab the thing called a ‘present’ but Zayn would not let go. “A bow,” the witch asked. “But why?”
“How ugly,” another witch entered. “What’s in it? What’s in it?”
“The point of the thing is not to know,” Zayn answered as the box was stolen from him by a clown. “It’s a bat!”
“Will it bend,” the monster next to the clown asked, playing with the box’s bow. “Perhaps it’s the head I found in the lake.”
Zayn grabbed the box out of the crowds reach. “Listen, now, you don’t understand. That’s not the point of Christmas land.” Continuing, he grabbed a large sock from on top of a stool. “Now, pay attention. We pick up an oversized sock and hang it like this on the wall,” Zayn hooked the large red sock over a nail and showed it off.
“Oh, yes,” Mr. Hyde shouted in enthusiasm. “Does it still have a foot? Let me see!”
“There’s no foot inside, but there is candy – or, sometimes, it’s filled with small toys,” Zayn explained.
“Small toys? Do they bite, do they snap, or explode,” a winged demon and mummy asked each other aloud.
“Or perhaps just spring out and scare children.”
“What a splendid idea! This Christmas sounds fun – let’s try it at once,” the mayor smiled down at Zayn from where he stood at the balcony.
“Everyone, please, not so fast! There’s something you don’t quite grasp,” Zayn interrupted again as the crowd started murmuring once more. “I saved the best for last, for the ruler of this Christmas land is a fearsome king with a deep and might voice – least, that’s what I’ve come to understand.
“I’ve also been told that he is quite something to behold – like a lobster, huge and red, when he sets out to slay with his rain gear on, carting bulging sacks with his great big arms and on a dark, cold night he flies into a fog like a vulture in the sky. They call him…” Zayn paused for a dramatic effect. “Sandy Claws.”
The crowd cheered as Zayn finished and backed out of the town hall and went on his way home. “Well, at least they’re excited but they don’t understand! There has to be a logical way to explain this Christmas thing.
–––
“You’ve poisoned me for the last time, you wretched boy,” the doctor growled as he locked Liam away in his room.
The doctor groaned as he heard the doorbell ring. “Oh, my head… the door is open,” the doctor called out, watching as Zayn walked through the door.
“Hello?”
“Zayn Malik – up here, my boy,” the doctor waved, catching Liam’s attention as he heard the Pumpkin King’s name through the metal door.
“Doctor! I need to borrow some equipment,” Zayn said, climbing the stairs to the doctors laboratory.
“Is that so? What on ever for?”
“I’m conducting a series of experiments.”
“How perfectly marvelous! Curiosity killed the cat, you know,” Simon complimented as Zayn reached the top of the stairs.
“I know.”
“Come on into the lab and we’ll get you all fixed up,” the doctor beckoned Zayn to follow.
Leaning his ear against the door, Liam pondered just want kind of experiments Zayn was planning on doing.
–––
“Zero, I’m home,” Zayn called as he walked into his house, and went straight to his laboratory table, pulling out all the things that the doctor gave him to do his experiment with.
“Interesting reaction…” Zayn drawled out as he looked at all the Christmas stuff. “But what does it mean?”
–––
Liam poured the last of the liquid into the bottle, watching as Zayn’s house lit up out of the corner of his eye. Quickly corking the bottle to keep from anything pouring out, Liam added it to the basket that was attached to some string.
Opening the window to his room quietly, Liam slowly lowered the basked to the ground. Looking at the lights flashing through Zayn’s window, Liam smiled before jumping through the window and to the ground, causing a few of his limbs to disconnect.
Sitting up, Liam pulled a needle out of his wool shirt pocket, and sewed his arm and legs back before getting up quietly and walking to Zayn’s house.
–––
“You can come out now if you promise to behave,” the doctor wheeled in, looking for Liam. “Liam? Liam?!” The doctor let out a loud, frustrated growl. “Gone again,” he slammed the lantern his was holding for light to the ground, smashing it.
–––
Zayn scratched his skull as he stood back and looked at the equation he just did on the green chalkboard. He heard tapping at his window, and saw that there was a basket waiting for him just outside of it.
Walking to his window, Zayn opened it and looked down, seeing that Liam was holding a rope that lifted the basket to his window. Waving, Zayn grabbed the basket and unhooked it, looking at all of the goodies in it.
He grabbed a bottle and uncorked it, watching as a cloud shaped as a butterfly come out and evaporate away quickly. Smiling widely, Zayn leaned out of the window to thank Liam but was shocked to see that no one was standing there.
Zayn closed his window and went back to work.
Leaning against a cement wall, Liam picked a flower, thinking of the Pumpkin King, tearing of the flowers petals, until it unexpectedly transformed into a tree like the one Zayn had brought to show Halloweentown.
Liam smiled at it and then gasped as he watched it burst into fire. Shocked, Liam threw the once-flower to the ground – what did this mean?
–––
The night turned into morning, and Liam roused from his sleep from the townspeople. They were all talking loudly – their words filled with concern over Zayn.
Looking at Zayn’s window from where he slept, Liam saw the Pumpkin King was still working on his experiments, pacing forwards and backwards in confusion.
–––
“What does it mean, what does it mean,” Zayn asked out loud, looking at all the Christmas stuff that was thrown around.
They were all so confusing… that’s it! He was thinking too much into it!
Zayn grabbed a photo of him and envisioned himself in the same outfit that the ruler in Christmas land wore. “This Christmas thing isn’t as tricky as it seems. Why should they have all the fun? It should belong to anyone! But not anyone, in fact, but me! I bet I could improve it too – that’s exactly what I’ll do.” Zayn cackled as he decorated his house in the Christmas decorations.
Opening his window, Zayn leaned out and shouted, “This year, Christmas will be ours!”
The crowd cheered at the thought of taking over a new holiday, but Liam grimaced. This was a bad idea…
–––
“Patience – Zayn has a special job for everyone. Doctor Finklestein – your Christmas assignment is ready – Doctor Finklestein to the front of the line,” the mayor shouted through his megaphone.
Liam was waiting in line to receive his own Christmas assignment when he heard the doctor being called, and immediately hid behind a stone wall, avoiding being seen by the doctor as he wheeled by to get his assignment.
“What kind of noise is that for a baby to make,” a vampire asked as he showed Zayn the doll that he was given.
“Perhaps it can be improved,” Zayn inquired.
“No problem!”
“I knew it,” Zayn shouted, watching as the vampires left and the doctor came rolling in. “Doctor, thank you for coming. We need some of these,” Zayn said, showing a photo of a large guy sitting in a sleigh, being pulled by deer with horns.
“Hmm…” the doctor pondered. “Their construction should be exceedingly simple, I think.”
“How horrible our Christmas will be,” the mayor said in enthusiasm.
All of the sudden, Louis was pelted by bones. “Hey,” he growled. “What are you doing here,” he asked, looking pointedly at the children in front of him.
“Zayn sent for us,” Lock answered. “Specifically,” Shock said. “By name,” Barrel added.
“Zayn! Zayn! It’s Oogie’s boys!”
“Ah, Halloween’s finest trick or treaters,” Zayn said, getting down on his knees to look at the children eye-level. “The job I have for you is top secret – it requires craft, cunning, and mischief.”
“And we thought you didn’t like us, Zayn,” Shock giggled at the compliments the group of children received from their Pumpkin King.
“Absolutely no one is to know about it – not a soul,” he added, thinking about Oogie. “Now,” Zayn said, and whispered the assignment into the children’s’ ears.
Leaning over, Louis put his megaphone to his ears to try and overhear the plan that was so secretive – but he couldn’t hear a thing. Reaching into it, Louis pulled out a large spider. “Ow,” he shouted as the spider bit him and he placed it back onto his suit as his tie.
“And one more thing,” Zayn stopped the children before the walked away. “Leave that no good Oogie Boogie out of this!”
“Whatever you say, Zayn,” Barrel smiled. “Of course, Zayn,” Shock said. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Zayn,” Lock giggled, as all three of them crossed their fingers behind their backs.
Quickly walking away, the three children ran back to Oogie house. “Kidnap mister Sandy Claws,” the children grinned at their assignment while the set about to giving Oogie a bug to eat.
After they grabbed the things they will need to kidnap the Christmas land ruler, Lock, Shock, and Barrel climbed into a dirty, white tub. Turning it on, the kids were walked out of the gate.
“Sandy Claws, huh,” Oogie questioned and let out a deep chuckle.
–––
“Fantastic,” Zayn said to the band as they practiced the song he had given them once. “Now, why don’t you all practice on that and we’ll be in great shape.”
“Next,” Louis called, and Liam walked n just as the band left.
“Liam,” Zayn smiled. “I need your help more than anyone’s.
Liam grimaced. “You certainly do, Zayn. I had the most terrible vision.”
“That’s splendid,” Zayn said, as he turned around and dug through the chest behind him.
“No!” It was about your Christmas – there was smoke, and fire,” Liam tried to explain.
“That’s not my Christmas – my Christmas is filled with laughter and joy and this,” Zayn said, showing Liam a sketch of Zayn in a red and white outfit. “This is my Sandy Claws outfit,” he explained. “I want you to make it.”
“Zayn, please – listen to me. It’s going to be a disaster,” Liam tried again.
“How could it? Just follow the pattern,” Zayn said, assuming that Liam was talking about the outfit. “This part is red, the trim is white…”
“It’s a mistake, Zayn.”
“Now don’t be modest,” Zayn waved Liam off, assuming once again that Liam was talking about the outfit still. “Who else is clever enough to make my Sandy Claws outfit?”
“Next,” Louis called out.
“I have every confidence in you,” Zayn said, placing his boney hand on Liam’s back pushing him gently out of the room.
“But it seems wrong to me, very wrong,” Liam whispered to himself as he watched Zayn give out the next assignment while walking out.
“This device is called a nutcracker,” Zayn showed the monster that was after Liam.
“Zayn! Zayn! We caught him! We caught him!” Turning around, Zayn saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel walk through the door.
“Perfect!” Walking briskly, Zayn met the children half-way. “Open it up! Quickly,” he said excitingly and gasped as a pink rabbit hopped out of the bag as soon as one of the children opened it.
“That’s not Sandy Claws,” Zayn said, looking at the rabbit hopping around.
“It isn’t,” Shock asked.
“Who is it, then,” Barrel questioned.
“Bunny,” the monster Zayn had just been speaking to shouted, scaring the rabbit.
“Not Sandy Claws,” Zayn said again as the rabbit jumped back into the bag. “Take him back!”
“We followed your instructions!”
“We went through the door–“
“Which door? There’s more than one. Sandy Claws is behind the door shaped like this,” Zayn showed off a green Christmas tree cookie.
“I told you,” Shocked shouted, grabbing Barrel by the throat and shaking him, starting a fight.
Growling, Zayn scared the children with a face getting the children to stop fighting.
“I’m very sorry for the inconvenience, sir,” Zayn said to the rabbit hiding in the bag and then turned his attention back to the three children. “Take him home first and apologize again. Be careful with Sandy Claws when you fetch him – treat him nicely.”
“Got it. We’ll get it right next time,” Lock, Shock, and Barrel said, walking back out of the room and back to the clearing with the doors that lead to different worlds.
–––
Zayn walked through the town, looking at all the preparations being made for Christmas. “My compliments from me to you…” “No, no, no, that’s all wrong.” He went around and corrected or complimented the works the town was doing.
–––
“Kathleen, Bobby, Susie, yes, Susie’s been nice. Nice, Nice, Naughty, nice, nice, nice. There are hardly any naughty children this year,” Sandy Claws said as he went over the ‘Naughty or Nice’ list for what may have been the millionth time.
Sandy Claws was brought out of his work when the doorbell rang throughout the house. “Now, who could that be,” he questioned as he got up and answered the door.
“Trick or treat,” Lock, Shock, and Barrel shouted. In his confusion, the three children jumped up and covered Sandy Claws with the bag, successfully kidnapping him.
–––
“You don’t look like yourself, Zayn, not at all,” Liam said as he watched the Pumpkin put on the outfit that he had requested from Liam.
“Isn’t that wonderful? It couldn’t be more wonderful,” Zayn exclaimed.
“But you’re the Pumpkin King,” Liam tried, showing Zayn a photo of him in his normal clothes – not in this… foreign attire Zayn had all but demanded.
“Not anymore – and I feel so much better now,” he said, grabbing the photo from Liam and breaking it in half.
“Zayn… I know you think something is missing, but–“
“Ow,” Zayn said in surprise when Liam accidentally pricked his finger with a sewing needle.
“Sorry,” Liam apologized.
“You’re right! Something is missing, but what,” Zayn asked, looking at himself in the mirror once again. “I’ve got the bear, the coat, the boots–“
“Zayn, Zayn, this time we bagged him,” Lock, Shock, and Barrel shouted, walking in once again with a tub-full.
“Let me out,” a voice was heard through the black bag that was inside the tub. Pulling on the string, Sandy Claws popped out of the bag, getting a shocked gasp out of the crowd that surrounded him.
“Sandy Claws – in person,” Zayn said in astonishment, and grabbed the others’ hand to shake it in welcoming. “What a pleasure to meet you!”
“Where am I,” Sandy Claws asked, his vision adjusting – why, these creatures were so peculiar… so weird… so… terrifying.
“Surprised, aren’t you? I knew you would be. You don’t need to have another worry about Christmas this year.”
“Wh-what?”
“Consider this a vacation, Sandy – a reward. It’s your turn to take it easy,” Zayn tried to explain.
“But there must be some mistake!”
“See that he’s comfortable,” Zayn said, starting to walk away. “Just a second fellows,” Zayn stopped the three children from tying Sandy claws back up. “Of course – that’s what I’m missing.”
Grabbing Sandy Claws hat, Zayn put it on top of his skull. “Thanks,” Zayn grinned, and walked away once again.
“But– you just can’t– hold on, where are we going now,” Sandy Claws asked no one in particular as he was being lead away.
“Ho, ho, ho,” Zayn shouted over and over again – trying to get it to sound right.
“Oh, this worse than I thought, much worse,” Liam said, shaking his head in fear.
Summary: Harry Styles was just another employee at Directions Mental Hospital with his best mates, Liam Payne and Niall Horan, when a few new Doctors decided to show up and turn everything upside down.
–––
“So, you got him,” Eleanor asked as she side-stepped into the small living room. She had rented the isolated cabin house just for this occasion – she was finally going to get rid of him for good.
“Yes. He’s in the basement... if you would like to pay him a visit.” Eleanor grinned widely at the other man standing next to her. “I thought you would never ask.”
Descending the dark wooden steps and keeping their thoughts to themselves, the pair arrived in front of a metal door. Neimh had been especially helpful with this part as she was great with electronics and had a keypad installed so only the three of them knew how to get inside.
Punching in the numbers, Eleanor waited for the clicking sound to let her know the door was unlocked before pushing the door open and walking inside. She couldn’t help the light chuckle that escaped her lips.
Harry was chained by his wrists with silver handcuffs that were attached tightly to the wall behind him. “Well, aren’t you sight for sore eyes,” she grinned again menacingly at the man that would finally become her victim after such a long, long time of idly waiting and playing her cards just right.
–––
Beep. Beep.
Groaning loudly, Louis reached a hand over and tried to turn off his alarm clock – he bloody hated the damn thing.
“Blimey, Lou – watch it,” an annoyed voice rasped out. “Lou!” All of the sudden, Louis’ eyes snapped open at the sudden weight – and the excruciating pain – that pounced on him.
Louis smiled slightly when he saw that it was Zayn who was hugging him. Patting him on the back, Louis winced when Zayn finally let him go.
“Does it hurt? What the hell am I saying? Of course it does. Wait here – I’ll get the nurse,” Zayn was running a mile a minute, not even attempting to shut up due to his excitement.
“Wait,” Louis called out – his voice rasping from lack of water and stopping the Bradford man before he exited the small room. “What happened?”
“What do you mean,” Zayn asked, looking questionably at the man lying on the sterile hospital bed. “Do you not remember anything?”
Louis shook his head, and Zayn sighed, quietly walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. How was he going to explain this? “What is the last thing you remember?”
Louis concentrated as hard as he could, his forehead winkling as he did so. “I was with Harry – at River Thames.” Zayn nodded his head in agreement, so apparently Louis hadn’t dreamt that part. “I got up to go back to the car to grab Harry’s present – you know the one,” Zayn smiled widely at Louis. Oh yeah, he knew. He spent all day with Louis while Liam stayed with Harry just so he could get the perfect gift – and it really was perfect.
Snapping out of the memory, Zayn turned his focus back onto Louis. “Do you remember anything else after that?” Louis shook his head. “No, that’s all I can remember.”
The room was silent for a moment, and Louis took the chance to look around the room and finally realized that he wasn’t in his room and it wasn’t his alarm clock that was beeping. Louis was in the hospital, attached to numerous machines.
“Zayn, what happened?”
–––
“Rise and shine, lover boy,” Eleanor chirped with happiness as she walked in through the metal door that was slammed shut a few moments later.
Immediately, Harry snapped his eyes open. “Fuck,” he groaned out – his head was throbbing. Reaching a hand up, Harry was stopped by a tightness around his wrists that were preventing him from moving any further. “Handcuffs,” he asked out loud, looking at the object in shocking horror.
“Yes,” Eleanor grinned. “We can’t have you trying to escape, now can we?” Grunting in answer, Harry tried to pull on the metal around his wrists – hoping the wall would at least budge a little. “Oh, don’t even try. It’s reinforced,” a male voice interrupted him.
Harry shook in fear when he saw that it was none other than his old patient that had escape from the mental hospital that he works at. Jon Shone. Said male smiled widely when he saw that Harry shivered in fear.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” Eleanor commented as she watched Harry trying to back up further into the wall as she approached him.
–––
“I really don’t know all the details, Louis,” Zayn tried to explain, running a hand through his untamed hair. He had to be careful with his words so his best friend wouldn’t get too worked up. “Just tell me, dammit,” Louis snapped with frustration.
Sighing once more, Zayn decided to just come right out and say it – best to just rip the bandage off rather than take your time. “When you went to go back to the car to get Harry’s gift, Shone showed up, attacked you and Harry, you passed out, and now Harry is gone. We don’t know where he’s at.”
Gone? Harry is… gone. No, that couldn’t be – Louis had promised Harry that everything would be alright, and that nothing would happen.
That’s when it all came back to him. Right as Louis was going to return to Harry, Shone had popped up out of nowhere and attacked him – piercing Louis skin in various places. Harry had shown up a few moments later, asking why Louis was taking so long, and that was when Shone turned his attention the curly-haired man, who had agree to be taken away as long as Louis was left alone.
“Fuck,” Louis screamed – startling Zayn with the sudden outburst. “Louis you need to calm down–“
“Calm down? Calm down?! Zayn, my boyfriend was just kidnapped and I only got away with a few cuts while said boyfriend could be dead for all we know!” Louis screamed at his best friend. He really hadn’t meant to – but he just didn’t know how to deal with what was going on and decided to take it out on the nearest person.
“Louis, no – you didn’t just get away with a few cuts. You almost died,” Zayn shouted back, and it was true. By the time the police and ambulance arrived, Louis pulse had nearly stopped and he had to be rushed straight into surgery to close the gapping wounds that had – luckily – avoided serious organs, but the amount of blood loss wasn’t good.
“I don’t fucking care! Harry is gone! Harry is… gone,” Louis whispered the last part. He honestly didn’t care – he would have gladly died as long as he knew that Harry was safe.
“Mate…” Zayn muttered. He didn’t know what to do – Louis was coming apart right in front of him and he had no idea what to do.
“Can you just… leave me for a bit,” Louis asked. Nodding, Zayn left the room quietly, shutting the door behind him just as he heard Louis let out another curse word. Zayn could only hope that he didn’t put too much strain on himself – as he had just gotten out of surgery after all.
Deciding it was time to let the nurses know Louis was awake, Zayn walked up to the nurses’ station. “Excuse me,” he interrupted the female nurse who was reading a chart quietly. “Louis Tomlinson is awake – room 237,” he said when he finally got the nurses’ attention.
Just as the nurse left the counter, Zayn looked up just in time to see Liam, Niall, and a brunette walk down the hallway. Meeting them halfway, Zayn enveloped Liam in a tight hug, pressing a quick kiss on the others lips. “Is he awake,” Liam asked with a slight smile.
“Yeah, but he didn’t take the situation lightly,” Zayn answered.
“Nonetheless, I need to question him,” the unknown brunette said. Zayn finally took a good glance at the male – average height, green eyes, wore an officers’ uniform. His name tag read, ‘Deputy Josh Devine.’
“Question him?” Zayn didn’t feel right about this at all. Louis just had to remember what had happened again – he wasn’t entirely thrilled with the idea of a stranger making him go into detail.
“Yes,” Niall answered this time, looking at the officer rather… fondly. Zayn decided he would push that topic away for another time, and let Niall continue. “However, we only agreed to this given the fact that we three are present during the questioning.”
“Smart idea,” Zayn complimented. Grasping Liam’s hand in his own, Zayn lead the way into Louis’ room, mentally preparing for what he was sure to be a gruesome story.
Summary: Year after year, Zayn Malik - the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown - did the exact same Halloween, and he was tired of it. After accidentally stumbling upon the door that lead him into Christmastown, can Liam - Doctor Simon Finklestein’s creation - help Zayn fix Christmas before it is destroyed for good?
Authors Note: I really could not resist making Louis the Mayor. Anyways, enjoy!
–––
“Woah,” Zayn felt himself falling fast into the blackness and he only had a moment to think ‘what is heck is going on’ before a white blinding light caused him to shield his eye sockets with his boney hand.
The world around him was spinning in circles, but finally, it all came to a stop – the light fading away – and he found himself in the strangest place he had ever seen.
“Where am I,” Zayn asked himself, rubbing his eye sockets gently to make sure all of this was not a dream due to the lack of sleep he had received the night prior.
Sure enough, it wasn’t. The Pumpkin King smiled widely at the sight below. It was all so colorful! Green trees were lit up by bulbs of bright reds, blues, yellows and greens. The few houses he saw were also brightly lit in yellow, puffs of smoke coming through the chimneys that were attached to roofs of the houses.
Wanting to get a closer look, Zayn leaned forward onto his palms, but his hand fell into the white fluff he was sitting on. ‘What is this,’ he asked to himself, picking up a pile of the white stuff and eating it. It was amazing! Not toxic or life-threatening like all the other foods and drinks in Halloweentown.
Feeling excited, Zayn looked over the hill until – “oof!” he came rolling down the hill on his back until he stopped by crashing into another pile of the white stuff.
“What is this,” he asked out loud, looking at all the colorful and new things in this world. The strange creatures skating around, the bright toy train that kept going around and around its track sets, there was another creature made out of the white fluff he had eaten earlier decorated with clothes and accessories, everyone was singing songs, riding white bears, and everyone was so happy!
What is this world – it was all so new, and so intriguing, and – and, Zayn could feel a warmth inside his chest that he had never felt before! Could it be this place, this new world with its new and amazing things that he had never seen before, what he had been looking and searching for all along?
Looking inside one of the houses, Zayn spotted one of the small creatures that were skating on frozen water earlier hanging a green leaf on an arc, and then… kissing another creature that looked just like him underneath it – that is so unique!
Looking through another window, he saw the inside of what looked to be a living room decorated with red socks with white lining, a burning fire, lights all around the room, and an old woman reading to two kids that were sitting on her lap. There was another green tree in the corner, and it was being decorated by the same small creatures Zayn had seen earlier – placing bright colored lights before turning it on – lighting up the entire room with a bright, yellow glow.
“Oh, could it be that I got my wish?” Opening the next window he saw, Zayn climbed inside quietly and noticed that there were children sound asleep in their beds. Looking underneath the beds, he saw that there was nothing to jump out and scare them – only cozy little things. How odd…
Leaving that house quickly, Zayn moved onto the next building – which seemed to be the biggest.
Where are all the monsters? Why aren’t the children screaming in fright from nightmares? In this place, there was only a good, warm feeling all around. Instead of screams, there was music in the air and the smell of cakes, pies, and cookies were everywhere!
Jumping from that building, Zayn landed on a carousel ride, and, in a moment of joy, he twirled around quickly and ran from the ride only to run straight into a pole, landing flat on his back.
Sitting up, Zayn took a moment to clutch his skull to steady his vision before he glanced at the large sign that was hanging above him. “Christmastown… hm…” Zayn thought to himself, tapping his chin with his boney fingers.
“Ho, ho, ho,” a voiced boomed throughout the town, startling Zayn enough to hide behind the pole he had just ran into. Peeking from where he hid, Zayn saw a large, old man exit one of the buildings.
“Hm…” Zayn said to himself again, the clockworks in his brain running a mile a minute as he plotted what could be the best Halloween ever.
–––
“This has never happened before.”
“It’s suspicious.”
“It’s peculiar.”
“It’s scary.”
Halloweentown was in a fret – Zayn had been gone for a full day, and Halloween was a whole year away! What are they supposed to do without someone to lead them through the holiday?
“Step aside, coming through,” the mayor demanded, pushing through the crowd, and raised an eyebrow when a werewolf growled at him, but immediately coward behind a vampire beside him when the mayor raised an eyebrow and growled back just as viciously.
“We’ve got to find Zayn,” the mayor continued, climbing on top of his car. “There is only three hundred sixty-five days until the next Halloween!”
“Three hundred sixty-four,” a vampire corrected.
“Is there anywhere we haven’t checked,” the mayor asked, choosing to ignore the fact that he had been corrected.
“I looked in every mausoleum,” a clown said.
“We opened the sarcophagi,” a couple of witches added.
Sighing, the mayor knew it was time for a drastic measure – “It’s time to sound the alarms!” Almost immediately, a wail pierced throughout all of Halloweentown.
–––
Looking out of his window, Liam had to force himself to push away from it to continue making the Doctor’s lunch – the sooner he finished it, the sooner Simon will pass out and he can escape.
Walking to the cabinet he had previously put the Deadly Nightshade in the night before, Liam opened the top and poured some into the cauldron. Immediately, a gas that almost duplicated the shape of a skull came up and then evaporated just as quickly.
‘Ugh, that smells’, Liam thought to himself. Looking at the other ingredients he had, Liam pulled a tub of Frog’s Breath. “Frogs Breath will overpower any odor,” he explained to himself quietly, opening the top and waited for the frog to come out before he leaned it toward the boiling pot for the frog to burp into.
“Ugh,” Liam coughed from the aroma. “Bitter. Worms Wart! Wh–where is that Worms Wart,” Liam said quickly, trying to get rid of the awful smell. Rummaging through the cabinet again, Liam pulled the bottle and poured some quickly into the cauldron, holding his nose as to not breathe in the awful stench.
“Liam! Is that soup ready yet,” the Doctor called from his laboratory.
Sighing in relief, Liam breathed the clean air. “Coming,” he answered. Pouring a bit of the soup into a bowl, Liam brought it to the Doctor who was working on a new experiment.
“Lunch,” Liam exclaimed entusiastically, bringing Simon out of his thoughts – and stopping him from scratching his brain.
“Ah, what’s that,” Simon asked. He closed the top of his head and looked at the bowl curiously, breathing some of it in. “Ah, Worms Wart, mm, and… Frogs’ Breath...” He looked at Liam accusingly.
“What’s wrong? I¬¬¬–I thought you liked Frogs' Breath," Liam asked, trying to act as innocent as possible.
“Nothing is more suspicious than Frogs’ Breath,” Simon pointed out, waving the spoon around in the air. “Until you taste it, I won’t swallow a spoonful,” the Doctor said, moving the bowl towards Liam and handing him a spoonful of the soup.
“I’m not hungry,” Liam tried, waving his arms in front of his face only to knock the spoon out of the Doctor’s hand. “Oops.”
“You want me, and old man who barely has strength as it is, to starve – someone you owe your entire life to,” Simon said, trying to guilt-trip Liam into eating the soup. He wasn’t going to fall for Liam’s tricks again.
Reaching down to pick up the spoon, Liam knocked it away carefully and pulled out a trick spoon from inside his sock.
“Oh, don’t be silly,” Liam waved the Doctor off, and, using the trick spoon, acted like he took a sip from the bowl. “Mm, see,” Liam smiled. “Scrumptious!”
With a grin, the Doctor picked up the bowl and swallowed it all whole.
–––
“Did anyone think to drudge the lake,” the mayor asked – he was running out of ideas as to where Zayn might be.
“Did it this morning,” the vampire answered with a sigh, when, all of the sudden, a low bark was heard.
“Shh, did you hear that,” the mayor asked, sitting up from where he was laying on his car.
“What,” one witch asked, looking around. “Shh,” the mayor ‘shh’ed, glaring at the witch who spoke.
“It’s Zero,” one of the vampires pointed out.
Indeed, coming through the city gates was Zero, barking enthusiastically and right behind him, Zayn came riding in a weird car-like contraption that was hauling large bags.
The town came back to life as Zayn entered, circling around him as he made his way to the town center where the mayor was waiting – he had to talk with him immediately. “Zayn, you’re back,” a kid shouted with joy.
“Where have you been,” the mayor chastised when Zayn finally came to a stop in front of the mayor’s own car.
“Call a town meeting and I will tell everyone about, Louis.”
Summary: Year after year, Zayn Malik - the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown - did the exact same Halloween, and he was tired of it. After accidentally stumbling upon the door that lead him into Christmastown, can Liam - Doctor Simon Finklestein’s creation - help Zayn fix Christmas before it is destroyed for good?
