Brina || Writer

I'm in the business of knitting dreams | Writer by day, reader by night | She/Her |  Gemini | Poet wannabe | Fireheart Masterlist

[knittingdreams]

This is the story of my life told in picrews n__n

I used this lovely one HERE

Damn, my hair’s been through so much xD

[leemartenspoetry]

[knittingdreams]

THIS <3

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 25

Sorry it took me so long to upload! I might have kind of forgotten my password and not logged in for weeks, oops! But I’m back! :D

Materlist / Ao3

Tiny tag list: @tillyrubes10 :) [Drop a comment if you want to be added]

I don't think any TW apply for this one, no more than my usual foul language that you should know by now!

New characters showing up!! This one was an exciting one to write! :D 

CHAPTER 25

Hacking triplets

“Sam, did you find what I asked for?”

“Well, hello, how are you doing? I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Sam’s witty reply came from the other side of the line.

“Cortland, come on, I have no time for your games, did you find me someone or not?”

Celaena typed on her laptop furiously while she listened to Sam on the cell, still trying to enter Dorian’s computer even if she knew all her attempts were futile.

“I did. I found a team. It’s all pretty secretive, I’m sending you a link, and you’ll just have to follow the instructions.”

“Thanks.”

Celaena hung up the phone and threw it onto the bed while she opened up her conversation with Sam on the computer screen. Right after returning from the masquerade with Dorian last weekend, she had tried to access his father’s computer to download the guest list, but to her surprise, she was out of the system.

She had gone into that computer so many times, that when she found herself out, she was confused at first. That confusion quickly turned into anger. Celaena attempted every trick she knew, and still, every time she tried to access the computer on the top floor, she was kicked out. It was as if someone was actively getting her out of it every single time. No matter how much Celaena knew about computers, she was no expert. She knew enough to get by, but there was nothing else she could do, and that infuriated her.

She hated to admit it, but she needed a real expert.

Not trusting Arobynn anymore after seeing him at the gala with whom she potentially thought could be her aunt, she was now on her own. She didn’t know any hackers in town that weren’t in some way tangled with Arobynn already, and that’s when she thought of asking Sam for help.

Adarlan Elite High was a big school, one full of rich people with lots of things to hide, lots of things to protect. She knew if Sam asked around, he’d be able to find someone. After all, Sam’s goal in the last two months had been getting to know everybody and making acquaintances. If he couldn’t be of help finding her a hacker, then what was the point of it all?

Finally opening up the link that Sam sent her, Celaena scratched her brow. The link seemed to download a ghost program onto her computer and then led her to a page with encrypted bank details. Sam had explained that the address of the place she had to go to wouldn’t be given to her until a deposit was made. Enough to cover a basic fee, and the rest of the payment would be done after the job was finished.

The prices were high, but Celaena couldn’t be worrying about money now, not if it meant she could get a real lead. For years, she had had the hunch that her aunt might have been involved with her parent’s accident somehow, but she had always tried to ignore those feelings, telling herself that Maeve had been the one to look after her every time her parents went over on business trips, the one to buy her presents for every birthday, and the one that had organized a beautiful ceremony after her parent’s death; one that she had only heard about from third parties and a lot of research.

She didn’t want to believe her own family would have betrayed her, but after looking into Dorian’s computer for weeks and weeks, she was almost certain his company had had nothing to do with the accident. And getting to know Dorian Jr. now, she had to admit he wasn’t half as bad as she had expected. 

Celaena got up from the bed and headed to her dresser after making the transfer. She pulled out her leather jacket, changed her shoes to her laced-up boots, and grabbed the bike’s helmet from the top of the night table.

It was time to go for a ride and find herself some hackers. 

Celaena rode the elevator to the basement and jumped on her bike, setting up the coordinates that were sent to her by transferring the link straight into her GPS system. The location seemed to be close to the docks, and not being overly surprised by it, she rode out. She left the crowded part of the city behind in no time, turning towards the cliffs on the outskirts. She was almost to the docks when the GPS made a beeping noise, and the coordinates changed all of a sudden, telling her to do a U-turn.

“Sweet trick,” she chuckled to herself.

She turned around at the end of the road, and followed back on her tracks, returning the way she came. Once she was almost into the city limits, she got this weird feeling in the back of her neck. Looking through the rearview mirror, she got a glimpse of a bike behind her, but when she looked back, it was gone. She drove fast for another five minutes, following the directions until she was about five blocks from her destination. She slowed down, and as soon she was two blocks away, the location changed again. She looked over her shoulder and got a glimpse of a shadow behind her.

It wasn’t too dark yet, the sun only just reaching the horizon, but the tall buildings on that side of the town made the roads dark enough for her to struggle to figure out if there was someone behind her, or if she was being overly paranoid.

The location changed place three more times before she finally got to the end of a quiet road, and the GPS signaled for her to go down an extremely narrow alley in between two buildings. She parked up on the street, jumped down, and put her helmet away in the compartment under the seat. Looking behind her once more, the road was deserted.

Maybe she was indeed paranoid, or maybe the hackers had someone trailing her to make sure she wasn’t being followed by anybody else. Every single hacker she knew was over-suspicious and certainly odd. 

Celaena walked all the way to the end of the alley, and a message arrived on her phone, indicating to knock three times on the metal door with a triangle drawn on it. There were three doors at the end, all the same except for the faint triangle scraped into the metal of the middle one. It was rough, and it could have been mistaken for senseless scrapings if she hadn’t been looking for the triangular shape. 

She knocked three times and waited.

The door creaked open an inch, and a pair of black eyes looked at her from the dim interior.

“Who’s this?”

“Deposit 45986, my reference is Fireheart,” Celaena replied, stating the number of her deposit and the name she chose to use as code. 

“Coded word?” The voice coming from inside was definitely female and sounded fairly young.

“Dolphin,” she replied, repeating the word that was texted to her only a few seconds ago.

“Come in.”

The door opened another few inches, and Celaena walked in, the door slamming shut behind her. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior, and when they did, she found herself in a long and narrow corridor, the woman already walking away in front of her. Adjusting her leather jacket, Celaena followed.

They looked to be almost the same height, and the lady was wearing all black clothes, barely visible in the darkness. They reached an elevator at the end of the hall, and the doors opened automatically to show a small round lift with mirrors all around.

As they stepped in, Celaena got a better look at her escort and was surprised to find she only looked a few years older than herself. Her hair was as dark as her eyes, and it was long and straight, getting almost to her waist. She smelled faintly of tobacco, and her face was set on a hard unmovable expression. She almost looked bored.

A sepulchral silence surrounded them as they went down, and down, and down. It took longer than expected till the doors finally opened up again to reveal a small room, illuminated by a single yellow-ish light. There was another girl there, sitting at a small desk with a computer, and Celaena had to look back and forth to make sure she wasn’t imagining things. The girl at the desk looked exactly the same as the one by her side, the only difference being that her hair was light-blond instead of midnight black.

“This is how things work around here,” the blond said, pointing to a little scanner on the table. “We trade in secrets. Before you can step into the den, you need to scan your fingerprint here.” She pointed at the small scanner, a humorless smile on her lips. “We will share all our secrets with you, in exchange for all of yours.”

Celaena doubted for a minute, her fingers tapping the side of her thigh furiously as she thought about what to do. She needed to find out what was going on with her aunt, and maybe these girls checking up on her would be an effective test to see how good they were at their job. There was no registry of Aelin after she was about 8 years old, and all her records as Celaena were fake and not linked to her digits whatsoever. She was a ghost, a dead girl, there was nothing for her to fear. 

She convinced herself that it was alright, that she could do this, and taking one step forward, she pressed her finger against the scanner.

A red light blinked under her finger, and then the blond indicated for her to do the index from her other hand too. The red light blinked again, and then Celaena looked into the blond girl’s eyes, her irises moving back and forth as she read information from the screen in front of her, her fingers flying over the keyboard at a speed Celaena had never seen before.

“Well, well,” the blond said after the longest minute in Celaena’s life. “Welcome to our den, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius,” she said, standing up and opening the metal door behind her.

Celaena’s shock from hearing someone other than Sam use her real name for so long was almost overrun by the sight of the room in front of her. She took a step in, following the blond, with the twin right behind her heels.

The room was huge, with high ceilings full of hanging light bulbs in all sizes and shapes. The walls had led lights on every side, making the room bright but pleasant to the eyes at the same time. Right in the middle, three huge desks were forming a triangle, one of the edges pointing to the door, so the desk on the back was mostly covered from sight from where Celaena was standing. The two desks she could see had the biggest screens Celaena had ever seen, and they were covered in all kinds of machines with lights blinking all over the place. 

Against the wall on the right, there were several pinball machines, and to the left, there was a set of couches with three flat-screen TVs attached to the wall, and massive shelves full of movies and books to each side of them. 

As Celaena took in the place with her jaw hanging a little open, a third figure stood up from the desk on the back, and the twins standing to each side of her smiled wickedly, nodding as a way of greeting.

“Sisters,” the new girl said, stepping from behind the desk and walking around until she was right in front of Celaena. “I see you’ve brought our newest client.” 

Blinking again and feeling dumbfounded, Celaena extended a hand toward her. She had been mistaken to think the girls were twins; even if the one standing now in front of her had golden eyes instead of black, and her hair was of the most radiant silver, there was no doubt to her that these girls were triplets. They looked like printed copies in different colors.

“I’m Manon,” the silver-haired one said, taking the hand Celaena was offering. “My sister here is Asterin,” she pointed to the blond girl, “and this is Sorrel,” she added as she pointed to the dark-haired one. “And we welcome you to the Blackbeak den,” she gestured theatrically to the room and then headed towards the couches, the other two girls following behind her.

Feeling a little out of place, Celaena grabbed a seat.

“What can we do for you, Aelin?”

She swallowed hard, her neck feeling clammy with sweat, her heartbeat going wild inside her chest. Hearing her name again after so long, was a strange feeling. She tried to picture Sam by the coast, telling her she could be whoever she wanted to be, telling her she was indeed all three. Celaena, Aelin, and Fireheart. She looked at each of the triplets, holding their gaze, reading their eyes. They all seemed composed, wickedly serious, but trustworthy, even if Celaena wasn’t one to trust anybody. But maybe… Maybe Aelin could trust. No one had known who she was before, and if these girls had found out in a matter of minutes, then she had to believe they could help her with her parents’ case. And if that trust was broken, well… Then Fireheart could always take matters into her own hands: literally.

She took one last deep breath, cracked her knuckles, and then proceeded to explain what she needed.

“Should be easy enough,” Asterin said after she had finished talking.

“We don’t jump to conclusions, Asterin,” Manon corrected. “When do you need this information?”

“As soon as possible. Once you have the list, and if I find what I’m looking for in it, I’d like to do a full investigation on the person we find.”

“Good. Let us work, we’ll contact you as soon as we have anything,” Sorrel explained.

“No questions asked,” Asterin added as if finishing her sister’s sentence. “That’s our policy.”

“Your secret is safe with us,” Mannon filled in, a stoic look on her face, “as long as you don’t cross us. A single word about who we are, and we’ll know. One word out of your mouth about this place, and your life will be turned upside down, your every secret spilled like blood draining from a freshly open wound. Understood?”

Standing up and squaring her shoulders, Celeana nodded. “I understand. I don’t go around spilling secrets, only blood,” she winked at the silver-haired girl, who snarled back at her.

“Let’s hope neither is spilled in here,” Asterin added, a sweet smile on her lips that made her look somehow lethal.

By the time Celaena jumped back into her bike, her heart was still racing. Having someone know about her identity was not on her plans, and she hoped it better be worth it.

Here’s Manon for you <3

[daylily-evans-deactivated202108]

picrew chain

i found this cute picrew and i thought heh why tf not

tagging: @theinfamousjack @upset-hufflepuff @enbysiriusblack @dontletthe-muggles-getyoudown @maraudermeryn @daydreaming-reader @salemcat09 @moonysimpp @wonder-womans-ex @kiwiwhorez and everyone else who wants to do it !!!!

[wonder-womans-ex]

oooh, I like this one

@im-oknutzy-trash @spookypotato @asunshinepuff @moonofthenight @peggyrose19 @peanut-the-goalie @flxss-bxbblxs

[asunshinepuff]

I love this one!

@whataboutmyfries @violetatapiamills @prohibitionincurls @abcjosiet @rainingarts @the-most-slytherin-hufflepuff @ttylfedora @clearsuitcasecookienerd @ithefriendlyneighborhoodasexual

[the-most-slytherin-hufflepuff]

Thanks for the tag 🥰

@heyitssmiller @violetatapiamills @blingywitch @abcjosiet @whataboutmyfries @clearsuitcasecookienerd @prohibitionincurls

[clearsuitcasecookienerd]

aahhh thanks friends!

anyone wanna? @fleetingpieces @heyitssmiller @peggyrose19 @violetatapiamills @achliegh and everyone else :))

[fleetingpieces]

This is so cuteeee thanks for the tag love!! @clearsuitcasecookienerd

don't really dress like this, but i loved the hat lmaoo

@im-lana @knittingdreams @heyitssmiller @donttouchmycarrots @justdyingontheinside @blueglowstick @potterlocked24-7 and whoever wants to!

[knittingdreams]

I can’t not do this!

[knittingdreams]

HEY! Missed me?? I cleared my cookies, forgot my password... and well, doesn’t matter now, I’m back! xD Will drop a new chapter of Fireheart in a minute <3

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 24

Sorry for the wait, I’m drowning in real life over here xD

Enjoy this new chapter! :D Huge plot twist in this one! Waaahhh, I loved writing this chapter so much and I hope you love it too! *-*

Masterlist // Ao3 // @tillyrubes10

CHAPTER 24

Surprises

By the time Rowan got to the Fossa, that night’s tournament was mostly over. He could have gone home, could have been lying on his couch drinking a cold beer and watching a game of whatever sport might have been on TV. But instead, Rowan decided to head to the fights. To see it with his own eyes, to make sure he didn’t make a mistake… Not like he could have mistaken her.

“Didn’t think you were rostered tonight,” Lorcan said as Rowan stepped through the main door, not wanting to use the back alley.

“I’m not,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Then why are you here?” 

“That is none of your concern, kid,” he almost spat the words, looking down at Lorcan and then walking away without a second look. 

He didn’t want to be rude, but he had an appearance to keep, and the kid had a lot of lessons to learn if he wanted to survive the Fossa. Lorcan was pushing his luck and stepping out of line, which was dangerous in their line of work. The place had no space for weakness, no room for doubt, and certainly no patience for curious people that got their noses where they shouldn’t. That’s how you could get yourself killed, or worse.

The gymnasium was loud, and it smelled of stale beer and sweat. The dampness of the room clung to his skin, and Rowan folded the cuffs of his black shirt up, his jacket already away in his motorbike’s storage compartment. Reaching the edge of the room, he found a spot where he could watch the whole comings and goings of the place. It was not one of the spots where security was normally posted, but one he had found after endless nights working there. 

Connal was stationed to one side of the made-up stage, minding the crowd, and Rowan could see Fenrys by the side, watching the fight closely. He didn’t recognize either of the fighters, but that was no surprise, he never paid much attention to them unless they were regulars. The fight finished up a few minutes later, and Fenrys escorted the winner to the backroom. The whole place roared with claps and cheers, and he saw a few bills slipping from hand to hand. 

Betting at the fights was allowed in any kind or form. Bigger bets were made with Maeve herself, as she was the one that organized the events, but she always said a little under-the-table betting helped to spice things up. Whoever had been working long enough for her knew the truth behind that statement. All of the bets were run by her. All of them. Nothing in the pits went unnoticed by Maeve, which was half the reason Rowan had gone to the Fossa that night.

There was no way Maeve didn’t know.

But even if she knew, what did it all mean?

As Fenrys walked the next fighter over to the stage, Rowan walked by his side, mostly unnoticed between the crowd, and gave him one quick nod. Immediately after, he darted to the back, but instead of heading into the fighter’s backroom, he went into the office next to it and waited.

“What are you doing here, mate?” Fenrys greeted him as he walked into the office and closed the door.

“Did you get someone to take your place?” 

“Yeah, I got Con, I have five minutes or so, what’s up?”

“Maybe nothing, maybe a lot,” Rowan replied thoughtfully.

“Cut it to the point mate,” Fenrys said, his expression going a little serious despite the grin.

“Is… Fireheart here tonight?” Rowan dropped his voice to a whisper, even if he knew no one could hear them there.

“Yeah, why?” Fenrys smirked.

“I was at the gala with Maeve tonight, as his escort,” Rowan started. “And I saw her there,” Rowan dropped his voice even more, just to be cautious. “I mean, it had to be her, she was even wearing the same mask.”

“Oh, wow, okay,” Fenrys scratched the back of his neck, and then his smile widened as he looked at Rowan again. “Did she look gorgeous in a ball gown?” He said in a dreamy and mocking tone.

“Fenrys! That’s not the fucking point!”

“Weird, she didn’t tell me she saw you there, I thought we were friends now… Thought she’d share something like that with me…” He put a hand over his heart in mock offense, his expression turning into one of fake utter-disbelief. 

“For fucks sake Fenrys, can you be serious for a second? She didn’t even see me.”

“Did you hide?” Fenrys’ eyebrow lifted playfully, and he punched Rowan on the shoulder.

“Fenrys, please. This is serious. She was there as Dorian Havilliard Jr.’s date. So, yeah, I might have made an effort to stay out of her sight.”

At the news, Fenry’s smile dropped and he looked down, scratching the back of his neck again. 

“And here I thought the kid she was with today was her boyfriend. I should have known better, he seems gay,” he said, speaking mostly to himself.

“What are you talking about?”

“She brought a companion today, a cute kid with gentle eyes hiding behind a black lace mask. I think he’s the one that was here with her the first night.”

“Can we go back to the point? Who cares if she’s here with someone?” But as he said the words, Rowan realized he was already planning on popping his head on the back to look at this kid. “So, I’m thinking, she either goes to school with Havilliard, or she’s from one of the wealthy families in town. Either way, she’s wealthy. She needs to be if she goes to school with him, so my question is… What is she doing here? She can’t be here for the prize. What if she’s one of Maeve’s spies? She was in our home, what if she was looking for something?”

“Maybe she enjoys the fighting too much, maybe she’s rebelling against her parents and just thinks having a double life is fun.”

“Do you even listen to yourself?”

“What?!” Fenrys lifts his arms in surrender, his confused expression getting on Rowan’s nerves. “She didn’t go to our home, I took her there because she was dying, do I need to remind you that?”

“I told you she was trouble, and this proves it,” Rowan replied, not even listening to Fenrys anymore. Maybe it had all been staged, all to set them up, to test their loyalties.

“This proves, what? That she goes to school? We already knew that! A lot of people around here do.”

A lot of people… like the Salvaterre kid. Could any of it be related? All of it?

“Doesn’t Lorcan go to school with Dorian?” Rowan asked, and Fenrys looked taken aback by the change of subject.

“Why would I know which school he goes to?”

“Because you hired him.”

“True that, let me think… I think it was something with… Adarlan…”

“Half the schools here are called something ‘Adarlan’, Fenrys!”

“You have no fucking patience, mate! I think it was something fancy… like…”

“Like Adarlan Elite High?” Rowan asked, squaring his shoulders while trying to find the connection.

“Yes! That one! How did you know?”

“Because that’s the school Havilliard goes to.”

“And you know that because…” 

“Because unlike you, I take this job seriously, and…” Rowan dropped his voice again, “and I keep a close eye on Maeve, and the Havilliards are important to her business.”

Fenrys looked at his watch, and then back up at Rowan, a worried expression on his face.

“I need to go back,” he said as the crowd’s cheers grew louder outside. “Please, don’t do anything stupid, this probably means nothing. I mean, she’s that rich kid’s girlfriend, so what? It doesn’t change a thing. Now, that girl we’re talking about is about to jump on stage, so I better go... Oh, by the way, do you need a lift home?”

“Nah, I’ve got my bike.”

With a simple nod, Fenrys walked out of the office and Rowan moved to stand by the door, watching him walk into the back room and come back out followed by the blond fighter. He told himself he should go, but he was rooted to the spot, watching Fireheart walk towards the stage, her chin held high as the crowd around her went wild. 

Everybody was on their feet, clapping, yelling, chanting.

“Fireheart, Fireheart, Fireheart.”

Rowan couldn’t say he was surprised, it was not common to see a girl on the Fossa, and Celaena was certainly putting up a show. She had been reckless the first night, ending her fights too fast, but since having an audience, her style had changed. At that moment, the way she walked, seeming so sure of herself, he could picture every man on her wake dropping to their feet, serving themselves up on silver platters. She had them all eating from her palm.

He turned to the side, and there he was. Tall, lean, and with a black lace mask over his face. The guy was smiling up at Celaena, his eyes following her every move with something that looked almost like devotion. He couldn’t say he remembered him from the first round of fights, even if he barely recalled Fireheart being there with someone, but he surely hadn’t had a mask on. 

Rowan turned back to the stage in time to see Celaena jumping up, her rival being one of the few regulars he recognized. His name was Zhek, and he had been one of the finalists the previous year. The girl moved along the stage with grace, her every movement feeling like a piece of a well-practiced dance. She ducked, twirled, rolled on the floor, and jumped to her feet with the grace of a ballerina. But she also punched, kicked, and struck Zhek over and over again, her every attack hitting its target with a precision that had Rowan mesmerized. 

She was no ballerina, she was a ruthless fighter. 

He had seen many fights in his life, but he had never seen anything like her. As Celaena ducked again, then threw a high kick and knocked her opponent, he understood the meaning of her fighting name.

Fireheart.

The girl’s heart burned bright with flames. She was not only fire, but ash, and smoke, and blazing light. He had never seen anybody fight with so much passion and determination.

Fireheart, who are you? And what do you want?

***

“Can I borrow your car for a little while?” Rowan asked on Monday morning.

“What’s wrong with your motorbike?” 

“Nothing, it’s just that… I’d rather use the car.”

Fenrys dropped his spoon on his cereal bowl loudly and looked up at Rowan, a cress between his brows.

“Mate, what are you up to? Don’t tell me you’re about to do something stupid?”

“I’m not telling you then,” he said nonchalantly. “Do you need the car or not?”

“No… I don’t.”

“Sweet,” Rowan grabbed the keys from the kitchen counter and strolled purposely towards the door.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Fenrys yelled after him.

Rowan drove slowly, trying not to draw attention. He had the tinted windows up, and he rolled into the parking lot casually, following the line of cars as if he was there every morning. He was early, so there weren’t a whole lot of people around. He parked around the back, as far away from the main doors as possible, and he waited while he sipped on a cup of coffee.

About five minutes later, the car he was waiting for drove in, and he leaned forward, his coffee forgotten for a moment. The car parked right in front of the main door, and the driver’s door opened up. A tall kid with dark raven hair that he recognized as Havillard Jr. stepped out, and then he circled the car, opening up the passenger door. He reached a hand down, and Rowan watched flabbergasted as a delicate hand clasped it and a long pale leg stretched out, heels too high to be school-appropriate hitting the floor. 

Celaena got out of the car like a celebrity, her long legs being followed by a pleated grey skirt that revealed a whole lot of skin, and then a white snug shirt and a curtain of perfect golden curls. She shook her head once, fanning her hair, and then the rich kid closed the door, leaning unnecessarily close, and laced an arm around Celaena’s waist as they walked together towards the school.

Rowan took the last sip of his coffee, scrunched the paper cup in his fist, and threw it over to the passenger seat. His eyes were still on the retreating couple, which is why he jumped up as a loud knock sounded on his window.

The girl standing by the car with her arms crossed over her chest had to be an illusion. 

Rowan cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes, looking over at the girl again, who, annoyed at the waiting, knocked on the window again and motioned for him to roll it down. He lowered it slowly as the darkest set of eyes he had ever seen stared back at him, making his heart race at the thousand suppressed memories.

“What are you doing here?” the girl asked, sounding more surprised than angry. 

Her hair had grown so long since the last time he had seen her, and instead of being a puffy mane, it was now tamed into long but uneven dreads, some of them with golden rings around them. But the rest of her... It was the same face he had seen so many times, even if mostly in pictures.

“Nehemia,” he let her name out in a single breath, almost like a curse, or like a plea. Like a forgotten and buried memory he never thought he’d had to deal with again.

“I knew it was you the second I saw you… It’s been a long time, Rowan.” There was sadness in her tone, her voice almost breaking as she said his name.

“Do you go to school here?” Rowan found himself asking, the thousand coincidences starting to prickle his skin and make his gut churn. Or maybe those were the memories, relighting the fire in his soul. 

“I do… And you don’t. As far as I remember, you finished school four years ago. What are you doing here? I thought you might have been looking for me, but you seem utterly surprised to find me here.”

“I was… No… I didn’t know you came here… I was… It’s work-related,” he managed to let out.

“Still in the same line of work?” Nehemia asked, her lips turning into an upside smile.

“I think you know the answer to that,” he replied, shrugging with one shoulder.

“I thought so…” Nehemia looked to both sides, and then rushed around the car.

She jumped into the passenger seat, knocking the discarded cup onto the floor of the car, and shut the door with a loud bang behind her.

“We need to talk, and it’s probably best if we don’t do it here,” she said, her words rushed in through harsh whispers.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

“Rowan,” Nehemia’s eyes were pleading, unshed tears lining up on her eyes. “Please, I need your help.”

Rowan swallowed hard, and before he could regret his decision, he stepped onto the gas and drove out of Adarlan Elite High’s parking lot.

[knittingdreams]

Hi :B if you get this, answer with three random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not. let’s get to know the person behind the blog :)

Hmmm, okay, 3 facts?

1- Corals are my favorite animals. 

2 - I’ve dyed my hair in more than 8 different colors.

3 - I’ve worked in more places than I could count. 

[knittingdreams]

Bunny picrew!

Omg, I found the most adorable PICREW!! So I reckon @fleetingpieces​ needs to start a tagging chain bc unlike me, she actually knows people in this platform xD

I mean, look at itttttt *-*

That’s me, I’m a motherf*cking fairy bunny and AAAHHHHHH I can’t deal with the cuteness *-*

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 23

Sorry for the wait! Here’s another chapter for y’all <3

If you’re following the story on Ao3, I uploaded the newest chapter there last night!! It’s a good oneee :D

If you’re not up to date, here’s the Masterlist

Tiny tag list: @tillyrubes10

CHAPTER 23

Owning the title

As Aelin got her gown out of the plastic bag from the dry cleaners, she found herself still thinking about the night before. She had stayed with Sam at the beach long into the night, and they had talked about the past few years, about everything they knew about Arobynn and their secret dreams of wishing he was out of the picture.

Sam explained he wasn’t scared about himself, but about her when he had made the deal with Arobynn; and after a lot of convincing, Sam had agreed to stop passing information to him, and only give him the information they would agree on. He also told her Arobynn had been oddly distant, traveling all the time and having secret meetings Sam wasn’t invited to. 

Aelin had even confided in Sam that she was gutted to have lost Nehemia and that it sucked not to be able to be herself with people. She was tired of lying and hiding all the time, and Sam was the only other person who could understand that. But what other option did she have? He had suggested for her to try again, to give Nehemia the chance to get closer, to get a glimpse of the real Aelin, and she had almost told him to fuck off for it. But she had promised herself to try and be the sister Sam had always seen her as, so she had just punched him in the shoulder for being obnoxious and unrealistic instead. 

She had woken up that morning feeling so much lighter, so relieved to have let such a huge weight off her shoulders. She might have fucked things up with Nehemia, but at least she had Sam back. 

A knock on the door startled her, and she went to open up.

“Since when do you knock?” She raised her brows at Sam and made sure her dressing gown was properly closed.

“Well, after our chat last night, I thought you’ve earned it.”

“You’re such a weirdo, Cortland. Come in before anybody sees you lurking around.”

She pushed Sam into the room and closed the door behind him.

“Everything good and ready for tonight?”

“Actually, I heard Arobynn talking on the phone today,” Sam said as he followed her into the bedroom. “And he’s going to that gala.”

Celaena turned around swiftly. “He, what?”

“I think he’s someone’s plus one, but I’m not sure I got that right. I just thought you ought to know.”

“Well, that sucks.”

She paced up and down the room, considering what she could do about it. Did it change anything?

“It’s a masquerade though, isn’t it? He might not even recognize you.”

“No chance of that,” she said, showing him the dress she was about to put on. “It’s one of the dresses he gifted me, and I was going to wear Fireheart’s mask because it matches it perfectly. He will know it’s me.”

The dress was a red long gown, with a low V neck that went down almost to her navel and a closed-back, all embroidered with silver and gold stones. It had short sleeves that hugged her shoulders nicely, a tight bodice that accentuated her curves, and a flowy skirt that seemed to dance around her every time she walked.

“Well, you have an excuse to be there, it’s not a big deal. I just wanted you to be mentally prepared to run into him.” Sam grabbed the dress off her hands and took it out of the hanger. He ran his fingers across the stones in the back and started opening up the hidden zip on the side. “What shoes are you wearing?”

Feeling a bit weirded out, Celaena grabbed the shoes off the side of the bed and lifted them for Sam to see them. They were high heels that wrapped up halfway through her calves.

“You’re going to give Dorian a heart attack,” Sam said laughingly. “Want a hand getting into it?” he asked as he passed her the gown.

“Oh, fuck off, Cortland, we’re not that kind of friends!” She set the gown down on the bed and started pushing Sam out of the room. “Now, come on, get out of here, I need to get ready.”

“We could be that kind of friends, you know.”

“Out, now!”

Sam laughed out loud as he was shoved all the way down the hall, and walked the rest of the way towards the front door. He grabbed the duffel bag by the entrance and turned around to smile at her before heading out the door.

“See you later!” he chanted as he closed the door between them.

“Fuck sakes, I give him a fingertip and he grabs my whole damn arm.” Celaena walked back to her room biting her lip, the laughter stuck on her chest as she tried too hard to keep it down.

An hour later, she walked down the hall, hit the call down button, and jumped into an empty elevator. When the doors opened up at the lobby, Dorian was already waiting for her, leaning against the front desk casually while talking with one of the receptionists. As she walked out, he straightened up and walked over, meeting her in the middle of the lobby.

“Wow,” he said as he offered her an arm. “You look stunning tonight, not like you don’t usually look stunning.”

“Thanks.” She hooked her elbow on his, and they turned towards the exit. “You look pretty okay yourself.”

“Okay? Wouldn’t you say… dazzling? Marvelous? Splendid?” He smiled broadly at her, and Celaena stifled a laugh.

“I’ll stick with okay.” 

It was a lie, Dorian was wearing a dark blue tuxedo with a red bowtie that matched her dress perfectly, and he did look indeed dazzling. He had a dark blue mask that covered only his eyes, making them seem a lighter shade of blue if that was even possible. They would have matched so much better if Celaena wasn’t wearing those damned contact lenses. His dark hair was the perfect contrast to her ash-blond curls, and as she caught a glimpse of themselves in the mirror by the entrance, she realized heads would be turning their way all night... And there was no way Arobynn wouldn’t notice her.

They rode alone in a limousine, Dorian trying to make small talk and convince her to stay till later the whole time. Walking into the venue, heads did turn their way, and Dorian greeted absolutely everybody, introducing her to other businessmen, female entrepreneurs, and even a few family members. He was polite and kind to everybody, and Celaena was surprised to see a side of him she hadn’t seen at school. 

The stuck-up guy was gone, and a more formal but caring Dorian was showing instead.

“Celaena, would you like a drink before we head towards the dining room?” he asked her once they had greeted everybody.

“Uhm, sure, just a glass of water would be fine.”

“Really?” He scowled.

“Yes, that’s all I want for now. Get them to pour it in a flute if it makes you happier. You can even make it sparkling water. Fancier, you know.”

Dorian shook his head before walking away and leaving her in the middle of the room by herself. She shouldn’t have been surprised that Arobynn found his way to her side as fast as he did once Dorian was gone.

“Funny to see you here,” he whispered into her ear, casually standing next to her with a drink in his hand. 

“I could say the same,” she replied politely.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for a fight? I have a lot of money on tonight,” he said as he looked to the front, pretending he wasn’t talking to her.

“Don’t worry, you won’t lose a dime.” She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, glancing at him sideways. 

Arobynn was wearing a black tuxedo with a black shirt and black bowtie. He was freshly shaved, and his hair was shorter than the last time she had seen him, which meant he was probably trying to impress someone; but who?

“Let’s just hope things don’t go sour like last time.”

Celaena turned to look at him nimbly, but Arobynn was already walking away, getting lost between the crowd.

“Are you okay?” Dorian asked, reaching her at that moment, and passing her a flute of sparkling water with a slice of lemon inside. “Looks like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Yes, fine. Let’s go find our table, my feet are sore already.”

“Sure thing, this way.”

Dorian guided her between the crowd, saying a few words here and there to people she didn’t pay any attention to. Plates came and went, and she cut food up and shoved it into her mouth without really tasting it. She said her piece when people talked to her, and stared at the stage as strangers gave out speeches. But the whole time, Arobynn’s words were playing back in her mind.

Sam couldn’t have told him anything; Sam hadn’t even known.

And Arobynn had acted like he didn’t know anything about it during the weekend, so what had changed? Had anything even changed, or was Arobynn playing with her? He was seated on a table towards the back, and she could barely see his figure from so far away. She had glanced his way a few times, but all she could see was his profile, and the long dark hair from the lady sitting next to him.

Once the time for her to leave came, she purposely walked past his table and caught the lady as she was standing up and walking out of the room. She was wearing a silver gown that hugged her curves nicely and watching her from behind, she could have been anywhere between 20 and 40 years old. Celaena tried to follow the woman but lost her in the lobby as she walked into the women's bathroom. She considered going into the bathroom for a fraction of a second, but she was running out of time and she couldn’t afford to be late. 

She walked out of the venue and found her motorbike parked at the back, where Sam had left it for her. She lifted the seat and pulled out her black leggings, then put them on under the dress, and folded the dress up as much as she could manage. She closed her jacket over the dress covering most of it and pulled her hair up in a low ponytail. She rode over to the fighting pit, where Sam would be waiting for her with the full change of clothes. At least, she already had her mask on and didn’t need to worry about makeup or hiding her identity any further. 

The Fossa was already packed when she arrived, and the crowd was going wild. Celaena nodded at Connall as she walked through the back door, who barely nodded back. She didn’t see either Rowan nor Fenrys as she made her way to the backroom; not like she was looking for them anyway.

Sam handed her the duffle bag as soon as she walked in and she sneaked into the changing rooms. Luckily, there was a women’s changing room that was always empty, where she got rid of the dress and put on a short-sleeved red top. She was done with black, she was out of the shadows, she was fire, and she would live up to the name.

“Ready?” Sam asked as she walked back into the room and scanned the small crowd. To her surprise -and delight- Cain was nowhere to be seen.

“Always.” 

“Good, because I think you’re up first.”

“Great. By the way, the mask suits you.” She laughed at Sam’s annoyed look; the black mask was similar to hers and looked hilarious on Sam. But it was a necessary measure now that they knew someone from school was lurking around the pits too. If Lorcan recognized either of them, they could potentially get into a lot of shit. It was better if neither of them could be traced back to the school and stayed anonymous. The masks didn’t conceal the whole of their faces, but it was enough to make them harder to recognize to strangers. Or so she hoped.

Fenrys poked into the back room as Celaena was still laughing at Sam’s expression, and looked straight at her with a serious look on his eyes. 

“Fireheart, you’re up.” He turned his gaze towards Sam for a moment, and then turned around and was out of the room. She followed him out, and they walked the short hall towards the stage.

“Missed me?” Fenrys whisper-yelled as they walked, the crowd roaring around them.

“Not at all.” She kept her eyes on the stage, her chin up, not looking at the crowd.

“Was that your mysterious boyfriend?”

“None of your business.”

“So sassy, I love it. Good luck, girl.”

They reached the stage, and she looked at him for a fraction of a second. “I’m not your girl, and I don’t need luck.” She finished with a wink and jumped onto the platform. 

While her rival jumped onto the stage too, she looked around the crowd quickly. No woman was lurking in the shadows, and there was no sign of Rowan anywhere around the venue either. She spotted Lorcan far away, minding the crowd close to the customer’s entrance; and then the fight started.

She was back to her usual self, and she felt fast and confident as she danced around the stage, giving the crowd the show they had paid for. After the suffering she had endured after the last fight, she wasn’t looking for a clean and quick fight, she was eager to get her hands dirty, to make someone suffer. She was merciless, she was ash, and smoke, and embers. She was blazing, and no one could beat her. Fireheart punched and kicked, sidestepped and twirled, blocked and jabbed. She was unstoppable, and by the time the fight was over, there wasn’t a single new bruise on her body.

“That was impressive,” Fenrys said as she jumped down, the crowd roaring so loud that she could barely hear him. She scoffed as she walked right past him, and kept walking towards the back room.

“I was just warming up.”

[vina-writes]

New picrew!! Everybody hop on this one for all the goddess/princess/adventurer/sorcerer/fantasy love!

Can you tell I channeled all my Russian Tsarevna energy into this? 

Tagging literally everyone @peachpety @ihavesomeideawhatimdoinghere @elvenwinters​ @dynazty​ @amortentiaboys​ @fw00shy​ @floydig​ @veelawings​ @onbeinganangel @teacup-tai @mystickitten42​ @proboscidea-althaeifolia​ ok I have to stop but you! You are tagged!!

[peachpety]

um. yeeeea. i spent like an hour going through this one and holy shitka. I AM A WOODLAND FAIRY, BOW DOWN. @dracothecupcake, bless for the tag i’m IN LOVE. ok i’m tagging @julcheninred, @the-starryknight, @the-sinking-ship, @xanthippe74, @gnarf (one word…pirate), @battleravyn, @glittering-git, @uphorie, @fangqueen, @samunderthelights, @curlyy-hair-dont-care, @sitp-recs, @mxmaneater, and @fictional​. and anyone else. DO IT!! TAG ME!!

[curlyy-hair-dont-care]

I had the best time doing this picrew!!! ✨💛

Thank you for tagging me @peachpety and @ihavesomeideawhatimdoinghere

Tagging: @april-thelightfury115 @starlightspark @heyitssmiller @bethansfandoms @whataboutmyfries @meandminniemcg @crimsonhead-ache @colormehazelnut @floydig @fae-vorite + anyone else who’d be interested (no pressure ✨)

I am in love with the loooong hair!!!

[whataboutmyfries]

ahhhhh thank you so much for the tag! this is adorable

tagging @asunshinepuff​ @heyitssmiller​ @onlydreamofmysoul​ @peanut-the-goalie​ @im-oknutzy-trash​ @wolfstarforeverandever​ @ninak803​ and anyone else who wants to!

[heyitssmiller]

This took me so long because options????

@prohibitionincurls @abcjosiet @bkfstclubmember @violetatapiamills @donttouchmycarrots @wonder-womans-ex @fleetingpieces

[fleetingpieces]

thank you so much for the tag @heyitssmiller @asunshinepuff this is so cool!! I wanted to use everything lmaooo

@knittingdreams @donttouchmycarrots @im-lana @clearsuitcasecookienerd​ @justdyingontheinside​ @wonder-womans-ex​ @blueglowstick​

[knittingdreams]

This one is sooo goooood *-* I’m afraid I might get lost creating characters with this now! 

[knittingdreams]

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 22

This chapter is super precious to me! I loved writing it and I love re reading it every once in a while! It’s probably because Sam is in it *-* You might have guessed by now, but I have a thing for Sam <3 haha

Masterlist: HERE

Ao3 and more chapters: HERE

Tiny tag list: @tillyrubes10 (just leave a comment if you wanna be added to it)

TW: loss

CHAPTER 22

Sinking

“That was not the deal!” Dorian crossed his arms over his chest, clearly annoyed.

“Well, I said I was going to the party with you, I never said anything about how long I was going to be there for.”

“You’ll miss out on the best part! After the boring but delicious dinner and speeches, that’s when the dancing and drinking starts. If you leave early, who am I to dance with?”

“Well, that is not my problem, is it? I will go to dinner this Saturday as promised, but after that, I will be gone.”

“And you won’t even tell me why or where you’re going.”

“Exactly. Now please, it’s Friday night, I have things to do and places to be, so if you may.” Celaena gestured with her hands for Dorian to move along, but he shook his head.

“You can’t just-” She slammed the door shut on his face, and walked towards her room as she heard Dorian cursing out loud in the hall.

Celaena slumped on the bed and covered her face with a pillow. She had 24 hours left until the next fight, and she knew she should head to the mansion for some training, but she couldn’t get herself to do it. After tossing and turning in bed for a while, she decided to go out. She put on a pair of jeans, her black leather jacket and headed out on her motorbike.

She drove around town for a while, not knowing where she was going, trying not to think about anything, but thinking too much about everything instead. When she turned towards the outskirts, she finally realized what she needed, where she was headed. 

It had been long since the last time she had visited.

Celaena parked her bike in an alley and walked a few meters towards the water. She sat down by the shore, the water getting so close that it was almost touching the tips of her boots. It was the spot where she had washed ashore; where Arobynn had found her. She couldn’t remember much about the moment, but she had made Arobynn take her there a few years after she was found, and had come back several times ever since.

There was no other way for her to be close to her parents. Their remains had been returned to Terrasen, and she hadn’t been back there; ever. And sometimes, she even wondered if she’d ever go back.

“Hey, mum,” she said quietly into the night. “Hi, dad. I’m sorry it’s been a while, life hasn’t been particularly easy.” She knew they couldn’t hear her, but she had spoken to them so many times as a child, it was almost like thinking out loud. “I promised you I’d find who did this to you, and I assure you I’m working on it… I’m going to avenge you. I just… I just don’t know if I know how to do this. I have a plan, I do. But I feel like I keep running into dead ends, and the lies keep piling up... I’m afraid I don’t know who I am anymore.”

She sat in silence for minutes, contemplating the water, listening to the soothing sound of the waves crashing, and watching as the stars started shining brighter in the sky and reflecting on the surface. She had lost the only friend she had ever had, she wasn’t speaking with Sam, and she was fake dating a guy she didn’t even trust.

“How am I supposed to run the business after all this is over if I don’t even know who I am?”

Celaena grabbed a rock from the shore and threw it into the water.

“How will I run it, when all I’ve ever done is fight?”

She grabbed another rock, spun it between her fingers, and threw it as hard as she could. She watched the water rippling for long, listening to the water, the wind, and the crickets chirping in the distance.

“I don’t even know who I am.” The words seem to be stuck in her head, consuming her with doubt.

She heard the steps behind her before the familiar voice replied.

“I know who you are, and I’d be happy to remind you if you let me.” Sam showed up by her side, extending a hand towards her to help her to her feet. She looked at it for a while before taking it begrudgingly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I come here sometimes,” Sam’s voice was soft but certain.

“What for?” She raised a single eyebrow at him.

“As a reminder… I have nothing left of my past, of my parents, or who I was. But I know who I am now, and a lot of it, a lot of me, began the day Arobynn brought you to the house. I come here to think, same as you do.”

Sam pointed with his head to the side and started walking slowly along the shore. Celaena followed him, letting the silence between them settle into a calm and pleasant feeling while she thought about Sam’s words.

“I’m not sure about anything anymore.” It was the biggest truth she had spoken in a while. “Who am I? I am not Celaena, I am not Aelin anymore, and I don’t think I can stand up to the Fireheart title either.” She paused for a second before dropping the second painful truth. “They beat me up, Sam.” Her voice almost cracked admitting it out loud, and she had to swallow hard. “I won the fight, but they came after me... I barely made it out. I feel like a fraud.”

Sam looked at her as he kept walking, his eyes traveling to her brow, which was now healed, and then back to her blue eyes. He had known something was wrong, but he couldn’t hide the surprise when hearing her words.

“I’ve missed those eyes, you know,” he said after a while, surprising her by the change of subject. “Not that brown doesn’t suit you, everything does, but the darkness in those eyes… Sometimes I forget about the light that shines within, and I think you do too.”

“What are you even talking about, Sam?” He wasn’t making sense, and she was already getting annoyed at him. She had laid out the biggest truth, had opened up in a way she hadn’t done in years, and Sam was talking nonsense instead of acknowledging what she had told him.

“I’m sorry you got beaten up, and I’m here to talk about it if you want. I can only imagine how frustrated you might feel. After all, you are a fighter, and losing is not something you’re used to. But you are still here, still showing up, still fighting. You might be hiding behind those dark eyes on the daily, but the light that shines within is still there.” Sam looked up to the sky and the almost full moon, lost in thought for a moment while she waited for him to finish talking. “You are Celaena, as much as you are Aelin, and you are also Fireheart. Names are not important, names do not define us. You are not the name, but the person that wields it. You are Celaena, because you are that girl that’s showing up at school and making friends, the girl that joined the cheerleader team and is kicking ass in practice. You are also Fireheart, I don’t doubt that for a second. You are fierce, and you have a passion inside of you that burns so bright, you could light up the whole world if you wanted to.” Sam stopped walking and turned around to look at her, the silver moon making his eyes look bright as he held her gaze.

“Sam, you don’t… you can’t-”

“Don’t you dare say I don’t know you. You can try and hate me all you want, but I can read you better than you can read yourself, Aelin. Because you are Aelin too. You are still that fragile girl that I met so many years ago, and that’s what terrifies you. You are scared of being vulnerable, and that’s why you keep pushing me away. But I won’t back down. I’m here for you, like it or not, and you need to eventually let someone in. I don’t care if that someone is me, or someone else.”

Sam’s hands had traveled to Celaena’s shoulders, and he was holding her at arm’s length, looking intently into her eyes. She looked down, thinking about the past. About how every time she had fought against Sam, he had still been there, silently by her side. How he had been there the first few nights when she woke up screaming, the nightmares haunting her. He had learned how to fight by her side, and always pushed her to be better, to fight as an equal, and not treated her differently for being a girl.

“What happened that night?” She hadn’t let him explain himself and had always believed he had betrayed her out of jealousy or mistrust. Celaena didn’t know if it was all she had lost in the last week, or the uncertainty after being so close to losing everything, but she was finally ready to listen to Sam, to hear his side of the story.

“I’ve been waiting for you to ask this for so long, to give me a chance to explain.” He let go of her shoulders, and ran a hand through his hair, looking up into the sky again. “I will never forgive myself for it. I didn’t know what you were up to… I knew you had been keeping a little extra money here and there, don’t look at me like that,” he said as Celaena raised a brow at him. “We worked closely, and you know I pay attention, I knew you’d been stealing from Arobynn for months.”

“Why didn’t you rat me out?”

“Because I didn’t know why you were stealing, and why would I, anyway?”

“You don’t want to know what I wanted the money for?” Celaena started walking again, and Sam followed her as they walked back along the shoreline.

“I do, and you know I won’t tell a soul if you decide to share it with me. I’m done being Arobynn’s spy, I mean it.”

She considered the answer for a long moment before replying. “I wanted to hire a private investigator.”

“To look for your parents,” Sam added.

“And to find whatever I could on Arobynn... To take him down.”

“What?” Sam stopped walking altogether and took a step back. “Are you crazy? Why? No, oh, no, no, why are you even telling me this?”

That was a good question, and one she didn’t think she was ready to answer just yet. “You know he owns us, and even if I get my family’s company back, Arobynn will still own my life, he will be able to get money out of me for the rest of my life with the secrets he knows. I will not be able to rest, even if I get my way. You know that. But that’s enough about my motives, I want yours.”

Sam was shaking his head, one hand furiously scratching the back of his head and messing his hair even more. Celaena kept walking, not waiting to see if he’d follow or not, she knew he would eventually.

“Okay, fuck,” he trotted over to catch up and walked by her side. “That night when you disappeared, I thought the worst. It was just after we had done that raid in the big mansion, and I thought security might have found a trail on us. I went around looking for you, and when I couldn’t find you anywhere, I panicked. Arobynn found me pacing around in your room, waiting to see if you’d show up. I had found your stash, and it was lying on top of your bed when Arobynn walked in.”

Celeana slowed down and headed towards the shore, stopping so close that the water was licking the soles of her boots. Sam stood by her side, his hands in his pockets as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“So he found you there, my stash on the bed… And you told him everything.”

Sam looked down, and kicked the rocks and the sand, making the water ripple around them and splash their boots.

“No,” his voice was almost a murmur, but they were standing so close together, she could hear him perfectly. “I… I told him the money was mine.”

Celaena looked up at him, his profile a perfect silhouette being drawn against the moon behind him. “You did what?” There was no way she had heard that right, why would’ve Sam defended her like that?

“I’ve known him for longer than you, Aelin, and I’ve seen the darkest sides of Arobynn. He will only show you what he wants you to see, and he has always wanted you to see the good parts of him. He wanted you to think he was caring, and that’s why he’s always giving you gifts. All he ever gave me was discipline and punishments, and I was scared of what he might do to you for stealing, so I lied.”

Silence took over as all Celaena could do was look at the man standing in front of her. The boy she had grown up with, the one she had always pushed away, and the same one that had tried to help her all along. She knew now that side of Arobynn Sam was talking about, she had suffered it that awful night, when everything for her had changed.

“Why? Why did you care? I tried so hard to push you, and you-”

“Aelin,” Sam turned around to face her and reached over to hold her hands. His hands were warm against her skin, and she almost pulled away, but Sam’s eyes were so intense, that she couldn’t do it. “We have grown up together, and it doesn’t matter how hard you try to push me away, I will always be there, because-”

“Sam, don’t-”

“No, you fucking listen to me, I’m done with pretending I don’t give a shit and letting you hurt my feelings over and over again. I love you, Aelin.”

Celaena stepped back, getting her hands off Sam’s as fast as she could. No, he didn’t, he couldn’t, she couldn’t deal with that.

Sam started laughing, a relaxed and genuine laugh that was so inappropriate for the situation, that it almost made Celaena laugh as well.

“For fucks sake,” he said when he finally stopped. “You are so scared of people caring about you, that it makes you so blind to so many things.” Sam was shaking his head, and Celaena was lost for words, not having any idea of what was going on anymore. “I love you like a sister, Aelin. You are the family I never had, the one I always wished I could have. And just like any brother would, I sometimes want to kill you and punch you in the gut for being so stubborn and a pain in my ass; but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you, or that I wouldn’t do anything for you. You are my only family.”

He had always been there, he had stood up for her, tried to defend her, to take the blame for her mistakes. Sam was like the brother she never had.

“Sam…” 

She had always known it, but had denied her feelings for so long, so scared that caring for him would mean losing him the same way she had lost her parents and everyone else she had ever cared for. But how could she keep running away from him, when he was opening up his heart right in front of her?

“You don’t need to say it back, I know you care for me in your own twisted and fucked up way. And I’ll say it one last time, I’m not going anywhere.”

Going against everything Celaena had ever trained for, every instinct she had learned to develop to survive, and every impulse of running away she felt, she closed the distance between them and laced her arms around Sam’s neck.

As Sam hugged her back, Celaena told herself she was Celaena, but also Aelin. That girl hadn’t completely died that night she washed ashore, and she could still be her when needed, she could still rely on her every once in a while.

“If you ever tell anyone about this, Cortland,” she said as she squeezed him hard and then let go of him altogether. “I will chop off your balls and serve them to Arobynn on a silver platter.”

Sam laughed out loud, a beautiful and heartfelt laugh that filled the space between them, making Aelin laugh with him.

“I wouldn’t doubt that for a second.”

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 21

New chapter of Fireheart is here!! YAY! :D 

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a couple of days, life’s been busy, but hey, let’s get back into this story and the drama! xD

If you’ve missed any chapter, go here: Masterlist

If you want to read more chapters than what I’ve got on Tumblr so far, go here: Ao3 

And otherwise, keep reading and have fun! :)

@tillyrubes10 n_n

TW: Pretty sure there’s none, let me know otherwise and I’ll edit this n_n

CHAPTER 21

Breaking bonds

“You look pissed off, what happened?” Nehemia asked as she sat next to Celaena in the cafeteria at lunchtime.

“I’m fine, girl.”

Nehemia looked at her, poker-faced, and waited.

“It’s… nothing, really, I’m just tired.”

“Let me guess, you didn’t sleep too well this weekend.” She winked, and Celaena covered her mouth with a hand as she swallowed her food.

“I will repeat this one more time, I’m not seeing anyone.”

“So you’re telling me I’m imagining the hickey on your neck that you tried to conceal with makeup?” Celaena’s food got stuck on her throat, and she coughed once as she swallowed. “You did a pretty good job, but darling, I’m an expert.”

She had spent a lot of time concealing the bruises from her face, but she hadn’t paid much attention to the ones from when Cain had strangled her. Looking around the cafeteria, she made a fast decision.

“Okay, there’s a chance I spent some time with a guy this weekend,” she said begrudgingly. That was not a lie, there had been several guys after all. As if on cue, her phone vibrated, and she looked at it quickly. It was a text message from Fenrys.

‘I know you miss us, come visit whenever you’re in the neighborhood. XO’

She dropped the phone back into her bag and found Nehemia looking at her intently.

“Stop it, I will tell you soon, okay?” She needed a little while to make sure her plan could work.

Nehemia crossed her arms over her chest as she pouted. “Friends tell each other shit, you know?”

There wasn’t a whole lot she could tell Nehemia, but there was a chance she could do something to get answers for some of the questions that were going to keep on raining on her.

“Give me one minute, okay?” Celaena smiled at her only friend and stood up. She might as well just get it done and over with.

She crossed the cafeteria towards the table where Dorian was sitting and pushed an empty chair next to him. He raised his eyebrows at her as she sat down, and smiled a wicked smile.

“Missing me already?” 

She was probably going to regret her decision, but it was a good bet, it could work in her favor in many ways.

“I know what I need from you, ready to pay me back?” she whispered into his ear, making sure no one else on the table could hear them. 

Dorian’s smile grew wider, and he leaned to whisper in her ear. “And what would that be?”

Damn, she was certainly going to regret this sooner or later, but if she had read Dorian right during the last couple of weeks, she knew she could handle it, and he would be up for it. She hooked an arm around his shoulder as she leaned into his neck, and whispered against his skin.

“I need the school to think we’re dating, just for a while.”

She pulled away slowly, biting her lip as she looked at him in the eyes. Those impossibly blue eyes traveled down to her lips, and he set one hand on her thigh as he leaned forward to whisper against her neck once more. 

“I knew you wanted me, babe.” His tone was mocking, and he laughed as he pulled away. He seemed to think it over for a moment as if evaluating the pros and cons of the arrangement. 

After a minute, he nodded almost imperceptibly and then lifted a hand, holding her chin softly with two fingers. He leaned forward slowly, his eyes glued to hers as if waiting for her approval. As she blinked once, slowly, he pressed his lips gently against hers, barely touching her. “You should go finish your lunch, babe, I will catch you later.” He said the words loud enough for the whole table to hear him, and then winked at her. Celaena got up slowly, her brain all fogged up.

As she walked back to her table, she could feel all eyes on her, and hear the whispers going around the whole room. This was not ideal, but she could work with it. She could make the best of the situation, and get closer to Dorian and his father; find something useful. She knew Dorian Sr.'s businesses had been closely related to her family’s ones, and the fact that she hadn’t found anything suspicious yet, didn’t mean there wasn’t anything to be found.

As she slipped back onto her seat, Nehemia glared at her.

“So you couldn’t tell me, but you could go and make a scene in front of the whole school? I guess I really did misjudge you.” She stood up, her chair dragging loudly behind her.

“Nehemia, wait-”

“Don’t. Just… don’t.”

Nehemia walked away, and Celaena was debating following her when a bunch of girls showed at the table and sat all around her.

“Oh my God! You and Dorian?” Briar asked excitedly.

“You had it well hidden.” Lysandra quipped.

“How? When? How long have you been together? Tell us everything!”

All the cheerleaders’ voices overlapped one on top of each other as questions and more questions were thrown her way, and Celaena replied quietly with a few yes, no, and maybe. She couldn’t stop thinking about what she had done so wrong to annoy Nehemia.

***

A whole week went by, and Nehemia kept ignoring her. Celaena had tried to talk to her, but she never seemed to be around. She didn’t show up to lunch at the cafeteria and was always late to the few classes they shared and left before Celaena could approach her. 

As Tuesday rolled over, Celaena had had enough. Her bruises were pretty much healed, and she had taken out the stitches the night before. She was going back to cheerleader training that week, after claiming a bad stomach the week before and ditching in the last minute. She had been training again at Arobynn’s basement all weekend and was tired and grumpy after Arobynn had asked her a thousand questions about the fights. He had seen her training and noticed she wasn’t performing up to her usual standards and had reproached her for slacking. Sam had been there and hadn’t said a single word. They hadn’t spoken since their argument on Monday either.

“Good morning, babe,” Dorian said as he found her by her locker. He had insisted on driving her to school, but she enjoyed riding her bike too much to give out that pleasure every day, so they only rode together occasionally.

“You know, you don’t have to call me fucking babe every time you talk to me, right?”

“What should I call you then, princess?”

“Agh, you’re such a pain in my ass. Why did I get myself into this?”

“I don’t know, babe,” he said the last word mockingly, “because you don’t tell me a thing, so I don’t know what you are up to.”

“Because it is none of your business.”

She finished gathering her things and closed her locker. 

“Do you ever open up to anybody?” Dorian asked, hooking his arm around her waist to walk her to class as he often did.

“Not you too,” Celaena whispered, and then pushed Dorian aside and power walked her way into her first class.

She mindlessly took notes, waiting eagerly for the lunch hour, so she could go find Nehemia. She hadn’t been at the cafeteria during lunches, but Celaena thought she knew where she could find her.

When the bell rang at midday, she diverted from the crowd and headed towards the library. It only took her a moment to find Nehemia in the back, at the same table they had sat together almost a month ago. Her back was turned as she was looking out of the window, her packed lunch sitting on top of the table.

Celaena cleared her throat and ran her hands down the front of her skirt. “Nehemia.”

The girl looked over her shoulder and sighed when she saw who was addressing her. She turned back towards the window, and Celaena closed the distance between them, sitting by her side.

“Look, you can’t ignore me forever.” 

“Maybe not forever, but I can ignore you until you learn how to be a friend.” 

Celaena didn’t know how to be a friend, and she knew it wasn’t fair that she was constantly lying to the only person that had stood by her side since the very beginning, but she had missed her this week, and she was selfish, she wanted her friend back.

“Look, I’m so sorry about what I did… Maybe you’re right, maybe I don’t know how to be a good friend.” She ran her hands through her hair, she didn’t know how to do this. “But that’s because I’ve never had a real friend before.” She blurted the words out, the truth almost not making it out of her mouth.

Nehemia was silent for a moment, and when she turned to look at Celaena, there were tears in her eyes. “You know, I had a best friend once. She was… she was a caring soul, taught me so much. But she gathered with the wrong crowds, went down a bad path. She was struggling, and she didn’t tell me about it.”

Celaena listened in silence, Nehemia’s eyes filled to the brim with unshed tears as she spoke softly. “I can’t do that again, I can’t live in the dark and then be the one to deal with the consequences, with the sorrow of loss. If you’re ready to be honest, I’m here, but if you’re gonna keep spinning lies, then, please... Just go.”

Nehemia turned back to the window as a lonely tear ran down her cheek and Celaena stood up slowly, her feet rooted to the floor while she debated what to say. But what was the point? She could never be truthful to her, she could never tell her the whole truth, she couldn’t even tell her her real name. Without saying a word, she turned around and walked out of the library.

 ***

While entering her last class of the day, Celaena was still thinking over what Nehemia had told her. But once she sat down on her usual spot to one side of the room for AP English, she knew there were two other things for her to worry about. 

After recognizing Elide in the library four weeks ago, she had noticed the girl was -not surprisingly- part of her advanced English class. She still didn’t know how she hadn’t realized how familiar the girl looked until she had run into her. The years had been kind on Elide, and even if she tried to hide her looks behind thick-rimmed reading glasses and baggy clothes, the girl resembled her mother in many ways; which included her beauty. She was a bit short compared to Aelin’s slender figure, and had a curvy body that would be the envy of many; if they’d notice. She hid her curves under long skirts and oversized sweaters that hung a little over her wrists, almost hiding her slender fingers. Her dark hair fell on waves to her waist, framing her triangular face where a pair of beautiful light brown eyes looked curiously at the world through long natural lashes.  

Elide was sitting in the front row as always, and she turned around to give Celaena a shy smile as she sat down. The junior student had tried to approach her and convince her to join the book club a few weeks ago, and after Celaena refused her politely, she had stuck to waving and giving her shy little smiles ever since. It had been painful to watch the girl and deal with the memories that emerged every time they were in the same room. She didn’t think she’d be able to sit through a whole hour of book club; not like she had the time for it anyway.

Her second worry was sitting at the back of the room; his grey eyes rarely leaving his notebook while he mindlessly drew doodles on the page; only looking to the front every once in a while. Lorcan always lounged on his chair sitting so low, that you wouldn’t have been able to tell how tall he was just by watching him there. He never participated in class, and Celaena always made a point to be in class before him, and leave early so he wouldn’t get to look at her straight. She didn’t know how involved he was in the fights, but she could never be careful enough, so avoiding the guy at all costs had turned into a time-consuming task. 

She wasn’t sure what made her change her strategy that particular day, but as the class ended, Celaena decided to stay behind. Maybe she could follow him for a while, from behind, and from afar; see who he talked to, where he headed after class. Her fight with Nehemia was still bugging her, and she needed something, any kind of information to make her feel like she was making progress, like this whole high school ordeal was worth it.

As Lorcan walked past her, she hid behind a curtain of hair, pretending to be slowly putting away her books. Lorcan walked slowly, his shoulders slouched and his hands twitching by his sides as he neared the front of her class.

“Hey,” his voice was so low as he spoke, that Celeana could barely hear him.

“Hi, Lorcan,” Elide’s sweet voice traveled to her with no issue, the girl smiling broadly as she looked up to the guy towering ridiculously over her. “Did you finish the book?”

“I did.” Lorcan’s right hand was playing with the strap of his backpack as he ran the other through his hair. Was he nervous?

“I loved the ending, did you?” Elide finished putting her books away in her bag as she spoke, and slung it over a shoulder.

“I thought it was… an interesting twist of events.” 

“I can’t wait to discuss it tomorrow.”

Lorcan nodded as a half-smile curved his lips up. “Yeah, same.”

As Elide rounded her desk and headed towards the door, Lorcan followed behind her, his slouched shoulders not helping in any way to the height difference. 

“See you tomorrow,” Elide smiled as she looked back at him, and Celaena could have sworn Lorcan was blushing lightly; but that was impossible. 

“See you, Elide.”

The way he said her name, made Celaena feel almost uncomfortable to be listening to their conversation. As Elide disappeared down the hall, and Lorcan headed the other way towards a nearby locker, Celaena tried to convince herself that this wasn’t her problem. It was not her place to protect Elide, she didn’t owe the girl anything.

Still, as she walked out of the school and towards her bike, she pulled out her phone and typed Lorcan’s name onto the school’s database.

[gaymieee]

✨hujhvdskuihbks i wanna start a challenge with the song some things abt me so here i am✨

my name- jamie

my age- 👀

my favorite color- crimson

my height- 5′3″

my sign- cancer

do I have a lover?- 👀

what’s my nationality?- romanian

here some things that inspire me- chu

my favorite food- my dad’s special french fries

my current mood- meh

and my shoe size- 37

this is my favorite tv show- friends

and my favorite animal- capybaras they’re cute

i’ve got this many tattoos- 0

my favorite song and my favorite movie- uhh i have a lot of fav songs let’s go for sweet dreams by marylin manson, movie bohemian rhapsody

my hair is this long- a bit longer than a pixie cut

what I wanna grow up to be- idk m8

here’s a nickname I go by- (im gonna give more) jamie, james, gayme, gaymes

and some things I never tried- hhh riding a giraffe

do I have a pet?- no

have I named it yet- no lol

what shade are my eyes?- dark brown

here’s my favorite cereal- idr their name

and a place I’d like to go- greece, again

here some habits that I do- ?? habits?? biting my nails ig

tagging! @chaosmarauders @wolfstarforeverandever @wolfstariscannon @flxss-bxbblxs @padfootalltheway @lloomy @enbysiriusblack @ithefriendlyneighborhoodasexual @raspberry-flower or @regalllove (whichever you want) @autumnwinter45 @anyone else who wants to

(it’s @siriiius from another, non-hp account)

[prentisspeach-deactivated202107]

Okay so i just found this and wanna do it so let’s go

My name: Emma

My age: 16

My favorite color: Uhhh scarlet?

My height: 5'4"

My sign: Taurus

Do I have a lover? Haha, nope

What’s my nationality? Irish

Here some things that inspire me: My dogs lmao

My favorite food: pasta

My current mood: Happy!

And my shoe size: 7

This is my favorite TV show: Grey’s Anatomy

And my favorite animal: Lions?

I’ve got this many tattoos: none

My favorite song and my favorite movie: my favorite song is praying by Kesha because of that one wolf star video, and my favorite movie is sleepless in Seattle 

My hair is this long: A bit past shoulder length

What I wanna grow up to be: basically everything, but I know I can’t do that so maybe a director or something to do with filmmaking? Or a surgeon lol

here’s a nickname I go by: literally just Em, my name is too short for nicknames

And some things I never tried: skydiving and bungee jumping, and on a more mild note, pulling an all nighter

Do I have a pet? two!

Have I name it yet? Yes Tiffany and Jazzie

What shade are my eyes? brown 

Here’s my favorite cereal: corn flakes I’m boring

And a place I’d like to go: France!

Here are some habits that I do: ummm, idk, maybe saying sorry??

um lets tag these people: @kielemarie @peanut-the-goalie @im-oknutzy-trash

@l0ttadreamz @honeynottgrass @wolfstarforeverandever @ anyone else who sees this or wants to do it

[peanut-the-goalie]

hey, hi

my name- Nico

my age- 13

my favorite color- black

my height- 5′7″

my sign- leo

do I have a lover?- nope

what’s my nationality?- american

here some things that inspire me-  friends

my favorite food- pork soup or chilli

my current mood- I have homework ack

and my shoe size- US 8.5 in mens

this is my favorite tv show- Bob’s Burgers

and my favorite animal- chinchilla

i’ve got this many tattoos- 0

my favorite song and my favorite movie- uH

my hair is this long- it’s like, to my chin

what I wanna grow up to be- author ?

here’s a nickname I go by- Nico peanut nut knutty

and some things I never tried- being a rolly poly 

do I have a pet?- yee

have I named it yet- yee

what shade are my eyes?- dark brown

here’s my favorite cereal- lucky charms

and a place I’d like to go- back to florida

here some habits that I do- I twitch my neck and fidget a lot

@heyitssmiller @closettedphantom @ghoulized @peggyrose19 @im-oknutzy-trash @wonder-womans-ex @i-know-im-chaotic  @whataboutmyfries @fleetingpieces

[peggyrose19]

oh jeez. alright i just got home so bare with me here

my name - audrey

my age - 17

my favorite color - periwinkle purple

my height - 5′3″

my sign - taurus

do I have a lover? - *laughs hysterically*

what’s my nationality? - american *sighs*

here some things that inspire me - um

my favorite food - i don’t like food

my current mood - easily irritable and tired

and my shoe size - 7? US

this is my favorite tv show - rn it’s criminal minds

and my favorite animal - bunnies!!!!

i’ve got this many tattoos - none but i want them once i turn 18

my favorite song and my favorite movie - heart by sleeping at last and uhhhh depends on my mood

my hair is this long - oh jeez it’s like close to 2ft at this point 

what I wanna grow up to be - if i knew that college apps would be so much easier

here’s a nickname I go by - uh rosie, audey, re

and some things I never tried - skydiving

do I have a pet? - no :(

have I named it yet - wh- my imaginary pet? no

what shade are my eyes? - blue

here’s my favorite cereal - fruit loops (damn i want some now)

and a place I’d like to go - at this point any place but here

here some habits that I do - uh i pick at my cuticles when i’m nervous

@im-oknutzy-trash @kielemarie @heyitssmiller @donttouchmycarrots @wonder-womans-ex 

[heyitssmiller]

Hello there!

my name - Miller

my age - 22 (a grandma on this site, I know)

my favorite color - it changes a lot… right now it’s lavender

my height - 5′5″

my sign - aries

do I have a lover? - noooope

what’s my nationality? - american

here some things that inspire me - other people

my favorite food - chocolate ice cream

my current mood - awed. I got into vet school??? whaaaat?? 

and my shoe size - 8.5

this is my favorite tv show - the musketeers at the moment

and my favorite animal - red pandas

i’ve got this many tattoos - none but i want one on the inside of my wrist

my favorite song and my favorite movie - favorite song is rush by the brook and the bluff and favorite movie is pride and prejudice

my hair is this long - ??? i don’t know? a little bit pasy chin-length

what I wanna grow up to be - less anxious

here’s a nickname I go by - mills, milo, mama mills

and some things I never tried - pineapple on pizza, fried green tomatoes

do I have a pet? - yes! my dog :)

have I named it yet - Amalia

what shade are my eyes? - blue

here’s my favorite cereal - cinnamon toast crunch

and a place I’d like to go - the grand canyon

here some habits that I do - bite my bottom lip, drum my fingers, hum whatever song is stuck in my head

tagging @fleetingpieces @abcjosiet @prohibitionincurls @violetatapiamills

[fleetingpieces]

Ok let’s do this! Thanks for the tag @heyitssmiller and @peanut-the-goalie​ <3

my name - Jesica

my age - 👀 Guys I’m so old 😂 (I’ll just say, I’m even more of a grandma than Miller is 😂)

my favorite color - Blue is kind of a constant, but it changes pretty often. Right now I think it’s black.

my height - 5′7″

my sign - libra

do I have a lover? - does books count?

what’s my nationality? - Argentinian 

here some things that inspire me - Nature, music, reading and people I look up to

my favorite food - gnocchi and asian food

my current mood - happy and sleepy

and my shoe size - UK 7

this is my favorite tv show - um I guess Friends or HIMYM

and my favorite animal - yes. All animals. If I had to choose probably wolf, tiger and horse.

i’ve got this many tattoos - 2 and hopefully going for a third soon :)))

my favorite song and my favorite movie - they change aallll the time (I’m realising I can’t choose a favourite anything) Right now I’d say Mother tongue by Bring me the Horizon, and Pride and Prejudice as well

my hair is this long - Long. Like down to my lower back long.

what I wanna grow up to be - happy :) and an author

here’s a nickname I go by - Jess, Jessy, Negra

and some things I never tried - bungee jumping, singing alone in front of a big audience

do I have a pet? - no :(

have I named it yet - Moony. Wait, what?

what shade are my eyes? - blue/grey

here’s my favorite cereal - fruit loops or honey nut clusters

and a place I’d like to go - Maldives, Iceland, Morocco, Japan (and everywhere)

here some habits that I do - tug my bottom lip, drum my fingers, sing constantly, bounce my leg, scratch my neck, sit in the weirdest positions

no pressure tags! @knittingdreams @clearsuitcasecookienerd @im-lana @justdyingontheinside @madsholland @asunshinepuff @whataboutmyfries 

[knittingdreams]

Okay, I think this is a good idea! Get to know me through stupid facts! :D (And know that I’m absolutely unable to pic favorites)

my name - Sabrina (Brina)

my age - 29 -  A crone and a sage among the tumblr people haha

my favorite color - Fire... Red-orange-yellow

my height - 5′3″

my sign - Gemini <3

do I have a lover? - Myself

what’s my nationality? - Argentinian

here some things that inspire me - nature, the sea, the sky, music, books, people

my favorite food - asian, indian, french, italian, all of the food!

my current mood - tired but happy

and my shoe size - UK 6 ? Maybe? I have no clue Brazilian 8, NZ 9, Argentinian 39 xD hahaha Take your pick!

this is my favorite tv show - ..........Lost? GoT? Right now, Julie and the phantoms xD hahaha

and my favorite animal - corals :) (yes, they’re animals) I love all animals thought! :D

i’ve got this many tattoos - 3 and hoping for more!

my favorite song and my favorite movie - Song for Viola by Peter Bradley Adams, and Spirited Away. 

my hair is this long - Not long at all. Shaved all around, just over shoulder length in the middle. 

what I wanna grow up to be - more caring, more present. 

here’s a nickname I go by - Sabri, Sab, Brina, Negra, Sabster

and some things I never tried - snails xD (got offered them a bunch of times, couldn’t do it, no thanks!)

do I have a pet? - yes, a cat and a dog n_n

have I named it yet - Obvs, cat is Mora, dog is Bronx. 

what shade are my eyes? - brown/hazel/a bit of green... they change with my mood and the weather. 

here’s my favorite cereal - oats? I don’t like cereal :)

and a place I’d like to go - Mexico, Italy, France, Australia, Vanuatu, USA, Canada, Panama, Ecuador, Cuba, Poland, Switzerland, Denmark, India, Sri Lanka, etc, etc, etc, etc. 

here’s some habits that I do - scratch the back of my neck  and side of my face, drum my fingers, pick at the skin on my lips, bounce my legs, braid and unbraid my hair, sit with the top part of my toes against the floor which gets sore within minutes and it’s really uncomfortable and weird xD

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 20

Short and sweet, enjoy this chapter my lovely peeps! <3 Masterlist and Ao3 link on previous chapter down below because I’m a lazzy bum (kidding, I have a lot of deadlines, sorry!).

@tillyrubes10 :)

CHAPTER 20

Burning hot

Celaena sped through the streets as fast as she could, the duffle bag hanging across her shoulder making the pain come back all over again. Her side was still aching, and she felt drained and tired due to the blood loss. The cold air hitting her face was a blessing, it was helping her keep her mind focused and alert. 

Once she got to the hotel, she parked in the underground parking lot, jumped on the elevator, and headed straight to her floor. Luckily, it was still early and she didn’t run into anybody on her way in, as she was sure she still looked sickish. 

When she was finally in the safety of her room, she turned on the shower and stood in front of the big mirror while undressed, waiting for the water to heat up. The scar over her hip bone was sealing nicely, and the red rim around it was mostly gone, just a faint pink remaining which meant the infection was under control. She grabbed some ointment from the cabinet and left it out so she could dab it around the wound once she was out of the shower. Her face was another deal altogether; she had big dark circles under her eyes, and the side of her face had turned all shades of green, yellow, and a little bit of purple. She could probably conceal most of it, but the cut on her brow would be visible no matter what she did to cover it.

Shaking her head, she jumped under the hot water and scrubbed her body, trying to get rid of any remnant of Cain’s disgusting scent that could be lingering on her skin. Once out, she dried and styled her hair as fast as she could, applied a ton of makeup, and then arranged her hair in curls so they would be covering the scar as best as possible. Hopefully, not many people would be paying enough attention to notice. She put on bright red lipstick to draw attention away from her eyes and added a nice big necklace over her uniform.

She looked at herself in the mirror one last time, and happy with the result, she headed out. If she rode fast, she’d make it just in time. She called the elevator button, and it showed up almost immediately. She looked at the going down arrow and smirked before the door was even fully opened.

“Good morning,” she said as she stepped in.

“Good morning to you, Celaena.” Dorian Jr. smiled broadly at her, while an older version of the lad smiled politely.

“Morning,” Dorian Sr. nodded once, and crossed his hands in front of his body.

“Dad, this is Celaena, the new exchange student I told you about.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” She stood to one side, Dorian Jr. in the middle as they rode the elevator down in silence until they reached the third floor.

“Celaena,” Dorian Jr. said then, turning to her and resting a casual hand on her shoulder. “Would you like a ride today? I’m coming back to the hotel after school, so I could give you a ride both ways.” His tone was too polite, and she had to school her face not to lift her brows at him.

Dorian Sr. glanced at them so quickly, that she almost missed it, but his lips were pursed into a straight line as he looked back towards the doors.

“Sure thing, I’d love a ride.” It wasn’t necessarily true, but riding her bike had been painful, and she was curious about the way his father had reacted to the question. Dorian Sr. tensed again, making Celaena’s curiosity peak. As the elevator reached the lobby, she wrapped an arm around Dorian’s shoulders. “Let’s go,” she said, stepping out. “Nice meeting you!” She yelled over the shoulder, smiling at Dorian Sr.

Dorian Jr. held her by the waist as they stepped out of the front doors, and she took a deep breath not to flinch away from the touch. Dorian’s car was already at the door, an usher holding the door open for him. They both jumped in, and as the car left the parking lot, Dorian raised a brow at her.

“What was that about?”

“What do you mean?” She faked innocence, making Dorian roll his eyes.

“I’m a little surprised you accepted the ride to start with, but showing yourself so friendly… I know my charms, and that’s precisely how I know you’re not affected by them.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about, prince charming, but if you don’t want my help, just say so and I’ll be back to ignoring you.” She smirked, and Dorian took a corner faster than needed, glancing at her and smiling back. With the way he was driving, she was sure they’d make it to school in time.

“So sassy, I love it. How did you know I wanted to piss off my dad?”

“I’m good at reading people.” She shrugged, trying not to give the matter too much importance. 

She knew what it was like to want to piss someone off just for the fun of it, and also to get attention. Dorian was desperate for it, desperate for any kind of attention he could get. It was so obvious, and so cliche: the boy trying to show his daddy he was good enough. Good enough to take over the business, good enough to not have to follow every step laid in front of him but to choose for himself instead. But that never worked, so they always rebelled and tried to get attention in other ways. She knew that was what she was for Dorian, even if he couldn’t see it himself. And she was going to use it to her own advantage.

“So, how about we make a deal?” Dorian asked after a moment.

“I’m listening.”

“There’s this event I need to go to next weekend, and I have a plus one. My father gave me a list of girls I should invite as good options, but I don’t like those options.”

“And you want me to be that plus one instead?” 

They reached the school’s parking lot, and Dorian killed the engine and twisted to face her. “Celaena, would you honor me with your company for the Havilliard’s annual masquerade?” he asked in a mocking tone, but she knew the proposal was real.

“What do I get in return?” she asked, crossing her arms as she faced him.

“Isn’t my amazing company enough?” Dorian took a hand to his chest dramatically, almost making her laugh.

“I wish I could say it is, but it is not.”

“I’m hurt,” Dorian said mockingly, and then jumped out of the car, and rushed to the other side. He opened the door for her and offered her a hand. Begrudgingly, she took it and stood up.

“This is still not cutting it,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “But don’t worry, I’ll think of a way for you to pay me back. Let’s just say you owe me one. Deal?”

One side of Dorian’s lips turned up in what most would have thought to be a flattering and sexy half-smile. “Deal.”

Celaena patted him twice on the shoulder as she walked past him, aware of the stares other students were giving them. “Pleasure to do business with you.”

As she walked towards the building, the eyes of the few students still outside traveled between her and Dorian, but she kept her chin high, her eyes on the door. So much for not getting people’s attention for a day. But it was worth it, getting closer to Dorian Sr.’s business could gain her the information she hadn’t found in his office, she wasn’t ready to give up on the search. She knew her parents and the Havilliards had had a lot of business together, and they hadn’t always seen eye to eye. Hell, Aedion and Dorian Jr. didn’t even speak to each other, so she guessed that showed things were still tense between the families.

Nehemia intercepted her as soon as she stepped through the doors, hugging her by the waist and leaning against her. Celaena flinched at the pain exploding on her side but composed herself fast enough for anybody to notice.

“What was that? You and Dorian? Tell me you spent the weekend together! I knew you were dating someone!” Nehemia was so excited, she was almost jumping as they walked.

“Chill down, everybody’s looking at us,” Celaena said in a hushed tone, and couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I ran into him at the hotel and he gave me a ride, that’s all. I haven’t seen him all weekend.”

“Then why did you ignore most of my texts? I missed you!”

The first bell rang, and Nehemia pouted as she let go of Celaena’s waist. “I told you I had family stuff on this weekend, I didn’t pay much attention to my phone, sorry.”

“Okay, let’s say I believe you. See you at lunchtime?”

“Of course.”

Nehemia marched down the hall as Celaena entered the room to her right, getting ready for a long day of school. Her ribs were still sore, and her head was starting to pound with a headache. She sat down slowly on her usual seat, the stitches on her hip pulling a bit, and looked for her phone as an alarm started blaring inside her bag.

Confused, she looked at the message popping on the screen. It wasn’t her everyday phone, but the one she used as a burner, which wasn’t password protected.

The name of the alarm read: ‘How’s our fire girl doing? Are the flames still burning up? XO Your sexy blond knight in shining armor. Text me to let me know.’ It was followed by a phone number that she didn’t recognize. Celaena covered her mouth with a hand, not knowing if she should laugh or be infuriated at the intrusion. She wasn’t sure when Fenrys could have gotten to her phone, but she guessed it was while she was in the kitchen with Connall. She knew he couldn’t have seen anything relevant, so there wasn’t a whole lot for her to worry about. 

She considered texting back for half a second, before throwing her phone back into her bag. It was better if she kept her distance, she could get whatever information she needed at the fights. She shouldn’t risk getting mixed up with the guards outside of work anymore. Especially not after knowing Lorcan Salvaterre was involved with them, that had hit too close for comfort. She didn’t have many classes with Lorcan but had seen the dark-haired guy at a few of them. He was always by himself, quietly sitting in the back of the room and not interacting with anybody. Another pair of eyes to be wary of.

The class went by painfully slow, and Celaena was relieved to stretch her muscles as the bell rang and she stood up with the rest of the class. Not even two steps towards the door, she felt her phone vibrating against her back as another alarm rang from within her bag.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

She pulled it out, and read the message on the screen. ‘I knew you wouldn’t text me. Come on, I just want to make sure you're alive. PS. I know you miss me.’

She shook her head as she deleted the alarm, and checked if he had set any more while she kept walking.

Sam found her at her locker, as usual, a big smile on his face. “Hey there, how is it going?”

“Not bad.”

She dug through her books, leaving some behind and pulling some more out.

“Look at me,” Sam’s tone was suddenly serious, and she turned around slowly, dreading the look she knew she was about to see on his eyes. “What are you hiding?” Sam leaned closer and looked around the hall to make sure there weren't many people around. 

“Nothing, Sam, this is not the place and you know it.”

He reached a hand towards her face, and lifted a strand of her hair, looking at her brow. She grabbed his hand and snapped it down, frowning without thinking, which made her head hurt again.

“That is not nothing.” Sam’s jaw was clenched as he spoke, and he had moved to a guarded stance on instinct.

“I was fighting, what did you expect?” She replied between clenched teeth.

“Celaena, I’m not stupid. You’re wearing a huge amount of makeup and I don’t want to know how many more bruises you’re hiding. This is not the result of just a fight, not your usual fight at least.”

She slammed her locker closed and started walking away, but Sam reached over and grabbed her from the shoulder, turning her around to face him. The pain that shot down her arm was so intense that she couldn’t help but flinch and step back. Sam’s eyes were full of worry as he looked her up and down, trying to assess the damage. But there was no way he could see the amount of damage; not the real one. Not the one that laid within.

“Sam, this is none of your business, just stay out of it.” She could deal with a lot of things, but she couldn’t deal with the pity in Sam’s eyes.

“Celaena, you need to let me in. You can’t do this alone.” The bell rang, and they were the only students left in the hall, only a few people lingering in the distance.

“And who says I can’t? I’ve been doing perfectly fine without you until now.”

“It can’t always be just you. One day, you’re going to have to let someone in.” Shaking his head, Sam turned around and walked towards his next class, leaving Celaena alone in the middle of the hall.  

She wanted to scream after him, or punch something. How did he dare talk to her like that? She could do it all alone, she didn’t need anybody. As she walked towards the classroom, she pulled her burner phone out and stared at the words written there. How’s our fire girl doing? Before she could think about it too much, she texted the number that had been given to her.

‘I’m still blazing.’ 

‘And I am not your fucking girl.’

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 19

I’m back with another chapter! YAY!

I know, I have no agenda to upload this whatsoever, I’m just trying to get it all up and I still have like 15 more chapters to catch up on D:

For more chapters, head to Ao3! I started updating there earlier on, so there’s way more chapters to indulge in!

For the Masterlist, click the word masterlist, no, no, not this one, the one at the start! Okay, just any Masterlist. All chapters up to this one are in there! n_n

New chapter alert & tiny one-human-tag-party: @tillyrubes10

(If you want to be added to the tag party whenever a new chapter is up, just sing along... I mean, let me know.) 

CHAPTER 19

Move On

Rowan didn’t understand why he had to be the one hiding with the girl. Fenrys had always been the one somehow in charge of the flat. As if being the oldest gave him an advantage in that sense. Not like you can be older than your twin, but Fenrys always prided himself in the fact that he was born two minutes before Connall. And Rowan didn’t have much discussion in the matter, he was three years younger than his flatmates after all. He didn’t normally mind it, he had always been mature for his age, and often thought he was even more mature than the twins combined. Even if Fenrys was 25 already, he still acted like he was 18 most of the time.

“A message for us?” His friend was saying in the lounge.

Rowan closed the door shut. He wanted to listen to the conversation, but he was also aware of the girl standing behind him, and the fact that she probably shouldn’t hear any kind of message coming from Maeve.

“You can have a seat if you want,” he told her as he pointed to the bed.

“Who’s that at the door?” The girl asked in a whisper and surprised him by actually taking a seat as he suggested. She left her duffel bag next to the bed, and sat down, crossing one leg on top of the other.

“Just someone from work.” 

“From the fights, you mean?” 

“Yes, from the fights. That’s not all we do, you know? We act as security in other venues as well.”

Why was he giving her that kind of information? He shook his head, feeling stupid for saying more than what has needed.

“But that guy at the door, he works at the fights, right?”

“So curious all of a sudden.” 

The girl bit her lip, and then shrugged theatrically.

“I’m stuck here, I thought I might as well just spark up some conversation.” She leaned against the headboard, looking bored.

“He works for our boss.” He explained against his better judgment. “Not necessarily at the fights, he’s more like… the kid that runs errands and delivers messages, the bottom of the chain if you know what I mean.” Damn, this girl was good at getting his tongue to loosen up.

“He sounds young,” she said, leaning sideways onto an elbow. She was wearing leather tights and a long-sleeved cream top with a low neckline, and Rowan got a glimpse of her flat stomach as she leaned farther back.

“He’s probably about your age,” he replied, knowing that the information was meaningless. Looking away towards the door, he peeked out again. He could still hear Fenrys talking in the lounge, so he closed the door and leaned against it. The atmosphere in the room was awkward. He had been so rude for no reason with the girl earlier and could feel how she was trying to analyze him now; which was annoying him.

“Can I ask you a question?” She shuffled back, sitting back against the headboard and resting a hand gently over her side. She looked a bit pale again, her lips faintly pink, and Rowan almost asked if she was feeling okay before deciding against it. The image of the girl sitting on his bed was unsettling him, no woman had been in that bed after… after.

“You can ask, I don’t guarantee I’ll reply.” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for whatever was about to come his way. Anything was better than the memories trying to creep upon him.

“Have you been working at the fights for long? I know this tournament has been popular for years, or so I’ve heard.”

Easy enough question. “Just for a few years.”

“And Fenrys and Connall?”

“About the same, but that’s not my question to answer.”

“And… How old are you? If that might be a question for you to answer. I mean, you look a bit old...” She shrugged, and he almost felt like punching her for it. Old? Please, he wasn’t that much older than her! Not like he would ever punch a woman anyway.

“I’ll answer your question if you answer one first, this is not a fair game otherwise.”

She seemed to think it over, playing with the edge of her top and pouting her lips before she looked back up at him.

“Okay, I’ll give you just one answer.” She smirked at him, and he realized he had so many questions he wanted to ask. 

But no, he did not care. It didn’t matter that she was the youngest female fighter he had seen at the tournament. Or that she was the best fighter he had watched in that place. Nor did it matter that she had survived being beaten up by those thugs and was now acting as if nothing had even happened. It didn’t matter that she was pretending she wasn’t in pain when Rowan could see how she kept clutching her side and clenching her teeth whenever she moved. How she couldn’t find a comfortable position and kept shuffling around on the bed.

“What’s your name?” He asked finally, the question slipping off his lips without his mind’s consent. “I can’t get myself to call you Fireheart, it sounds stupid,” he added when he saw her scowl.

She narrowed her eyes, and her lips pursed to one side. “You ask complicated questions.”

“It’s just a name, and you know ours. You know where we live, you know so much about us already. What are you so scared of? What are you hiding?” He regretted the questions as soon as he said them. He didn’t care, it didn’t matter. He could keep calling her girl, but for some reason, not even having a name was annoying him. After all, she did know who they all were and where they lived, they were at a clear disadvantage. They had all put themselves in danger to host her at their house, the least she could do, was give them a name. After a moment that was almost too long, the girl nodded and smiled up at him. It was a little twisted smile, and it kind of suited her.

“I guess you have a point.” She paused for a moment, and Rowan thought she wasn’t going to tell him after all. “You can call me Celaena.”

Celaena… It was a weird feeling, but he thought the name didn’t suit her, like it wasn’t what he was expecting. 

“Just so you know, I always keep my word... I’m 22.”

At that moment, a knock sounded on the door and Rowan turned around fast, opening the door only an inch and moving his body to occupy the gap so whoever was at the door couldn’t see inside the room.

“Just me,” Fenrys said from the other side, smirking from ear to ear.

Rowan stepped back and opened the door fully. “What did he want?” He asked cautiously.

“Nothing too important, he was just delivering a message. Connall has gone back to work with him, and I’ll have to pull an all-nighter, so I might head to bed and sleep for a few hours.” He leaned to the side, looking at Celaena now standing by the bed. “I guess I’ll see you at the next round of fights.”

“You will. I’m not on for another two weeks though, but I guess I’ll see you then. Thanks for everything Fenrys.”

“You’re welcome, Fireheart.”

Celaena chuckled, grabbed her duffel bag, and took a step towards the door. “You can call me Celaena today, or if we ever ran into each other outside of that dungeon.”

Rowan scoffed while Fenrys’ laughed brightly at the joke. It shouldn’t be funny, that place did feel like a dungeon to him. After all, he was a prisoner of his life choices and was trapped there until his sentence was over.

Celaena walked the few steps left towards the door and squeezed past Fenrys onto the hallway. “Don’t mind me, I’ll see myself out.”

“Your keys are on the little table by the front door,” Fenrys called after her, “and your bike is in the garage down on the lower level... Maybe Rowan could show you where it is.”

“I’m sure I can find it on my own.”

Rowan stepped into the hallway as he remembered how Fenrys had explained she had passed out right after leaving the alley. “Do you even know how to get back to your place from here?”

“How hard can it be? Rifthold is pretty easy to navigate. How far are we from the gymnasium where the fights take place?”

“Ten minutes from here to the Fossa.” He replied. “That’s what we call it.”

“Easy, thanks again.”

Celaena finished walking down the hall and into the lounge, and Rowan found himself taking another step forward.

“Thinking about following her?” Fenrys asked in a hushed tone as he watched her walk away.

“What?” 

“Come on mate, I’ve known you for years, and I can tell when something’s cooking in that brain of yours. You don’t trust her. You think she might bring us trouble somehow. Are you thinking about following her to see where she goes?”

“No, I…” Was he? He was puzzled, there was something about Celaena that just didn’t make sense to him. “No, I’m not. I’m done with this. She’s gone, and we can go back to our normal lives, move on. She can keep fighting, do her thing, and we’ll do our jobs. We will go to work, make money, pay back our debts, and be out as soon as we can. We’ll follow the plan.”

Fenrys nodded, but there was a twisted smirk on his face that wouldn’t leave him. “As you say.”

“Fenrys, tell me you haven’t fallen for the girl. Please, she’s like, 8 years younger than you!”

“What? No! Don’t be stupid, she seems more like... I don’t know… A little sister,” he said dreamily. “I always wanted a little sister.”

Rowan grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. “Listen to me, she is not your sister. She is not your problem to worry about, okay? We don’t need to get ourselves in deeper shit, let the girl be.” He shook Fenrys lightly, tightening his grip. “You are not her guardian, okay? You already did more than enough.”

Fenrys pushed Rowan with a palm against his chest, shaking his head as he turned around and started heading towards his bedroom. “Don’t you worry mate, everything will be alright.”

As Fenrys closed his bedroom door, Rowan ran a hand through his long hair and let out a loud sigh. He loved his mate like a brother, but sometimes he wished Fenrys would give fewer shits. His interest in Celaena was going to get them in trouble if he didn’t drop the subject. 

He couldn’t wait to be out of it all, for their debts to be paid so they could finally be out of the lifestyle they were living. 

Rowan walked towards the window in the back of his room and looked down to the street. Only a few seconds later, a black motorbike sped out of the garage, Celaena’s blond hair dancing in the wind behind her as she accelerated towards the city center. 

One less thing to worry about.

After talking with Fenrys earlier on, he was mostly convinced that Cain wasn’t going to be stupid enough to say or do anything at the fights; the matter was most likely resolved. Cain was a vengeful prick, but they didn’t think he would go after Celaena or any of them outside of the Fossa again, not if he knew what was best for him. Fenrys, Connall, and Rowan were known to be a tight team, and Cain had been around for long enough to know that if he messed with one of them, he’d be messing with all three.

Rowan slumped on his bed, looking up at the roof and trying to ease his mind, to convince himself that he was right. He was hoping that by the end of the tournament, he would have made enough money to pay most of his debt. Maybe one more tournament after that one, and he could finally be free of Lyria’s legacy.

[knittingdreams]

Fireheart - Chapter 18

Short and sweet today because I’m drowning in work! I will update the Masterlist later, I promise! But if you jump down like 2 posts, the link will be there (I know, I’m so lazy, it would have been faster to copy the link rather than type all of this, oops! xD) I’m a weirdo, I know!

Btw, if anyone wants to be tagged when I upload a new chapter, please just say so! I’d be more than happy too! And as promise, here’s my first tag: @tillyrubes10 I hope you love this new chapter! :D

CHAPTER 18

Sidetracking

Sunday was a blurred mix of images in Celaena’s mind, and she wasn’t sure what had been real, and what had been a dream. Waking up in a stranger’s room, she started piecing all the bits of information together, trying to collect as many facts as she could about her situation.

She got up from the bed and had a drink of water from the bedside table. There were a couple of blisters with painkillers, and she decided to take just one more to blur the pain and help her focus. She was done with feeling weak and useless. Her phone was also on the night table, connected to a charger on the wall that wasn’t her own; she was surprised to find it there as she couldn’t remember asking for one. 

Looking down at herself, she laughed; she was wearing a pair of male pajama pants with drawings of dinosaurs in all colors and shapes. After checking her phone, she started rushing around and picking up the few belongings that were scattered around the room, and throwing them back into her duffle bag. If she wanted to make it in time to go to school, she’d have to go back to the hotel to get her uniform, shower, get changed, and apply a ton of makeup. Probably too much makeup. Time was barely on her side. 

She looked around the room until she finally found a small mirror on the inside of the closet’s door. She looked pale, and the cut on her brow was still swollen, the skin around it was a mixture of green, yellow and purple. She rolled her sore shoulders and then lifted her top to look at the long cut on top of her hip bone; the skin around it felt a little tight, but the redness had almost disappeared and the stitches looked good.

As she heard voices outside the room, she hurried to her bag, grabbed her contacts, and put them on using the small mirror again. Her eyes were still sore from wearing the contacts for way longer than she was supposed to and sleeping with them the night before, but she added some eye drops and hoped it’d do for the moment. She barely remembered taking them off on Sunday and hoped she hadn’t been stupid enough to let any of the guys see her eyes. 

Not like they could make anything out of it anyway. 

A knock sounded at her door, and it slid open slowly almost as soon as she reached the handle.

“You’re up early,” Fenrys said, sounding surprised.

“Yes, I’m feeling way better.” 

“You’re leaving,” he said as his eyes darted around the room and focused on her bag. It wasn’t a question, but she answered anyway.

“I am, I need to head to school.” She bit her tongue as soon as the words were out of her mouth. The pain was certainly still messing with her mind, she normally wouldn’t have been so stupid to let such a big piece of information slip out of her mouth.

Fenrys’ eyes didn’t give much away, but his smirk did. “School, huh? Why don’t you join us for breakfast before you go? Connall’s making eggs, and he’s a fine cook.”

“I don’t really have time for-”

“I insist,” Fenrys hooked an arm around her and ushered her out of the room. “What kind of host would I be if I didn’t feed you, right? You haven’t eaten pretty much anything in two days, you need your strength back.” He might have noticed her body going tense at the contact because he let go of her almost as fast as he had grabbed her. “Please?” He added with pleading eyes.

Begrudgingly, she walked with him down the hall and towards the kitchen. It was probably a good idea to gather some information on these people before leaving anyway, and she was famished. 

The open plan lounge was small but practical. To her left, there was a couch in front of a small TV that had some blankets and a pillow on top, and two small armchairs. And to the right, a small kitchen and a table with four chairs around it. Connall was cooking on the stove, his back to them, and he barely looked over his shoulder as they walked into the room. 

“Morning, brother!” Fenrys chanted happily.

“Hm, morning,” Celaena said, feeling slightly uncomfortable but slowly slipping into the character she had to play. 

“Come on, let’s grab a seat,” Fenrys pointed to a chair, and she took a seat, looking around the room discreetly.

“So, it’s just the three of you living here?” She asked, pretending to make small talk.

“Yes, it is. So glad to see that you’re off your defensive horse.”

Celaena glared at him and then softened her look. “I apologize if I caused you any inconveniences or if I was rude. If I’m honest, my memories from what’s happened in the last day and a half are a bit hazy, but I know I owe you one; the stitches look great.”

Fenrys’ smile spread wide on his face as he looked at her up and down as if trying to check how well she was feeling. 

“You’re welcome, I’m glad you're feeling better. You have some color back on your cheeks... If you wanted to pay me back, you could always stay for a while longer, so I can make sure you’re properly healed.”

“I do feel almost back to my normal self,” Celaena shook her head, and Fenrys sighed as he smiled warmly at her.

“You are so much stronger than what meets the eyes, you know that, right? I think you might be the bravest teen I have ever encountered, you almost had those guys back at the alley.” He said encouragingly. 

Connall came over with two plates full of scrambled eggs and toast then, and put one in front of each of them, then returned to the stove and came back a moment later with his own plate, and a tray full of crispy bacon. Celaena was glad for the interruption as everybody looked at the food in awe.

“Bon appétit," Fenrys lifted a glass of orange juice as if doing a toast.

“Thanks, Connall, and thank you too, Fenrys.”

“Eat up,” Fenrys grabbed a forkful of eggs, and Celaena followed suit.

The eggs were delicious, and considering how hungry she was, she ate her whole plate without paying much attention to anything going on around her. Once she was done, she looked up, only to find both Fenrys and Connall staring at her.

“Do you want some more?” Connall asked jokingly, a half-smile showing on his face for the first time.

“Is there any more?” She asked softly, making both brothers laugh. Connall went over to the counter and returned with a new plate full of eggs and fresh bread.

“It was meant to be for Rowan, but he’s taking too long on the 24/7, so you can have it. I’ll make him more later.” He slid the plate in front of her, and Celaena grabbed a mouthful of egg, aware of Fenrys’ eyes still on her.

“So, school, huh?”

She looked up at him through her lashes and shook her head.

“I think you’re smart enough to know I won't tell you anything about it.”

Fenrys’ laughed out loud while Connall collected the empty plates and headed towards the sink. There were only a bunch of schools in the city, but they were enough for them to have to actively search if they wanted to find out which one she attended. 

“Girl, I don’t even know your name.”

“And that’s how it’s meant to remain. I need to leave, and you should forget any of this ever happened.”

“Are you sure you're feeling good enough to leave? I honestly don’t think you should be going to school, you need to rest and take care of those stitches. Do I need to remind you that you lost a lot of blood?”

“Trust me, I remember.”

Her eyes dropped back down to her plate as she ate slower now, the memories of everything that had happened catching back with her. She had been careless and stupid, she should have never allowed Cain to get so close to her, to make her so vulnerable. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was lucky Fenrys had seen them and stepped in; she didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if he didn’t.

When they heard the front door open, they both turned around and found Rowan standing under the threshold, his hands full of grocery bags.

“What the fuck is this?” He dropped the bags to the floor and slammed the door shut behind him.

Celaena jumped to her feet on instinct, and Fenrys walked forward, standing almost in front of her. “What’s wrong, Rowan?”

“What’s wrong?” Rowan yelled back. He stormed towards them and pushed Fenrys with a palm against his chest. “Couldn’t you have given her any other fucking seat?”

Celaena watched them confused as Fenrys’ expression changed, his eyes dropping and his palms raising. “I’m sorry mate, I didn’t… didn’t think about it.”

Rowan’s cheeks were bright red, one fist clenched by his side, and the other grabbing a fistful of Fenrys’ shirt. Celaena cleared her throat lightly, and Rowan turned to her as if remembering she was standing there. His eyes traveled down to the pajama pants she was wearing, and if she didn’t know the guy better, she would have thought his eyes were filling up with tears. He let go of Fenrys and, pushing him to the side, stormed towards the hallway.

“Fuck.” Fenrys ran after him, leaving Celaena standing on the spot, speechless and confused. He disappeared down the hall, and then she heard the knocking on a door, a door opening and closing, and muffled yelling as Fenrys and Rowan argued behind closed doors, possibly in Rowan’s bedroom. 

Connall showed up by her side, and she looked at him questioningly. “What was that about?” He shook his head and pointed to the bags by the door.

“Help me with the groceries.”

She followed him as they picked up the bags, took them to the kitchen counter, and started unpacking all the food. They worked in silence for a while, the muffled argument in the distance going quieter and quieter until Connall sighed and looked at her. 

“You were sitting on her seat,” he said, as if that explained everything.

“Who’s seat?”

“Rowan’s ex.”

“Oh, okay.” Confused, Celaena got a bunch of bananas out of a bag and passed them over to Connall, who set them on a fruit bowl and turned around to get some cans out of another bag. 

“So, what’s the deal? Is the seat sacred or something?” She grabbed the last of the apples from the bag and set them on the fruit bowl. Connall poked his head out of the pantry, looking at her with his characteristic nonchalant expression.

“She’s dead.”

Celaena’s jaw dropped, Connall’s head disappeared back behind the pantry’s door, and as if on queue, Rowan walked into the room. There was an awkward silence as Celaena held an empty bag in her hands, and Rowan just stood there in front of the hallway door, looking at her. As she opened her mouth to say something, anything, Fenrys showed up behind Rowan and set a hand hard on his shoulder.

“My mate here wanted to apologize for overreacting,” he said, a huge smile on his face. Rowan scoffed and rolled his eyes, but then looked at her, nodding lightly.

“I’m sorry for overreacting,” Rowan said, nonchalant.

“And… for being a moody prick?” Fenrys spur him on, making Rowan roll his eyes again.

“And for being a moody prick.” Rowan’s right corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly.

“Apology accepted.” Celaena had to admit, she almost liked Fenrys and his way of dealing with things. But her time was over, and she needed to hurry and head to the hotel if she wanted to have enough time to do her makeup. There was probably no useful information within the apartment, nothing worth her time. “Now, it’s my time to head out.”

“Don’t forget to return Rowan his pajamas before you go.” Fenrys winked at her, and Celaena darted out of the kitchen, pushing the guys to the side as she passed the door and headed back to the bedroom. Rowan’s pajamas? She remembered then, barely, how Rowan had given her some of his clothes the day before. Had he been in the bathroom with her? She shook her head dismissing the crazy memory of Rowan helping her, that part surely must have been a dream. 

Celaena got her bag, and as she was about to head out of the room, her phone rang. It was Sam’s name on the screen.

“Cortland.”

“Hey, you’ve been MIA this weekend, I expected to hear more about the fight. Should I pop into the hotel before school?”

“I don’t think so, I’m running late and will be just in time for class.”

“Oh, okay. Any new developments I should hear about? I’ve heard from Arobynn, he’ll be out of town all week again, I think he’s headed over to Terrasen.”

“Not much, really. Look, can’t talk right now, gotta go.” She hung up, fixed her bag over her shoulder, and walked towards the lounge. 

All three flatmates were sitting on the couches as she approached. “Okay, thanks for your hospitality, but I guess this is goodbye.”

As Fenrys stood up, a loud knock sounded on the front door. Fenrys’ eyes widened, Rowan jumped to his feet, and Connall raised his eyebrows.

“You,” Fenrys mouthed to Rowan as he pointed at her. 

Rowan walked quickly to her side and pushed her gently with a hand in the small of her back. He led her towards the room on the back of the hall as she heard Fenrys calling ‘coming’ while he walked loudly around the lounge.

Rowan left the door ajar as he leaned in, his ear against the gap. 

“Hey, how can I help you?” Fenrys’ voice reached them from the entrance.

“I have a message for you all,” an unknown male voice replied. It sounded deep but young.

“What is Lorcan Salvaterre doing here?” Rowan murmured to himself, and Celaena stepped back, the school database popping in her head as the name rang a bell.