They were interrupted by the sound of screeching over their house. Something loud, shrill, almost like a human scream doubled over into something demonic. Following the screeching, was the sound of a rhythmic woosh, woosh, woosh, so intense it made the pictures on the walls shake and caused one to fall off, the glass shattering like the thunder that had been crashing across the skies for the last four days. Both Chris and Marissa jumped and looked at the photo on the floor. It had been a photo of the two of their family, looking happy on a bright summer's day, a stark contrast to skies now; dark, brooding, ready to let loose a storm.
Summary: When Bad Omens' first headline tour is abruptly cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Noah Sebastian reluctantly turns to therapy to navigate a future he never saw coming. Fallon Villa has dedicated her life to helping others, never expecting one client to challenge everything she believes about herself and the career she's worked so hard to build. Over the course of years, the two form a connection neither of them intended. One that forces them to confront impossible choices, blurred boundaries, and the painful truth that sometimes timing matters just as much as love.
The sun began to peek through the curtains. Passing birds cast shadows on the two inked figures tangled together in the bed. Fallon awoke to the typical subdued noise of her cat’s footsteps crossing the bed to ask her for breakfast. After one sleepy gaze at him as he meowed, she shut her eyes again and buried her head in the crook of Noah’s neck.
Noah.
Fallon shot up from where she laid, the sober morning clarity sinking in. This was not just a one night stand from the bar. Not a guy from a successful date. This was her client. Her client that she very much had feelings for. She rubbed her temples and turned her gaze to the impatient cat waiting at the end of the bed, as if waiting for him to tell her what to do.
Noah roused beside her. She kept her eyes fixed on the feline. Fallon stood up, pulling on a big T-shirt before slipping out of the room quietly. She followed her cat who excitedly galloped towards the food bowls on the kitchen floor, and Fallon got to work feeding him. Noah stepped from the hall into the kitchen, dressed in his jeans and T-shirt, his button down from the night before still abandoned in Fallon’s room.
"Morning," Noah mumbled, his voice rough with sleep.
"Good morning." She managed a small smile.
“Have you been up long?” he asked apologetically.
“No, no, Hercules is just very impatient. He woke me up to feed him a few minutes ago.” She laughed.
Noah crossed his arms and smiled down at the cat who mouthed ravenously at its food. “Hercules, huh. I don’t think you ever told me his name.”
“Oh. Well, yeah that's Hercules,” Fallon gestured towards him and giggled, “It was one of my favorite movies as a kid, plus he thinks he’s really tough so it fits him well.”
Noah stepped towards her where she leaned against the counter and pulled her into his arms. She melted into him and he planted a kiss on the top of her head.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
She knew exactly what he meant.
"Fine." She cleared her throat. "A little tired."
"Me too."
The simplicity of it almost made her laugh. He looked completely at ease, as though waking up beside her was the most natural thing in the world. Fallon looked at the clock as Noah’s chin rested on her head. Pulling back she met his brown eyes.
“Do you wanna go get coffee? Then I can bring you home.”
A soft smile spread across his face, “I’d like that.”
Fallon disappeared to her room to get dressed. She returned to find Noah’s tall frame crouched down petting Hercules, who rubbed against his legs affectionately. She beamed at the sight. They slipped out the front door and Noah followed her to the car. Fallon rummaged through her purse for her keys as Noah stood on the passenger side, hand braced on the handle. The lock clicked open and they settled in, buckling as she put the key in the ignition. As the car powered on, her phone connected to the radio, immediately resuming the last song she had played on spotify.
“Oh…my GOD that's embarrassing.” Fallon blurted, quickly tapping away at the screen to turn off The Death of Peace of Mind as it blasted through the speakers.
Noah threw his head back, laughing. “Wow. I'm flattered. I just spent the night with you and now I'm finding out you listen to my music in the car? I'm starting to feel pretty special ”
Fallon leaned her forehead against the steering wheel, hiding the smile on her face. “I hate you.”
“That's not what you were saying a few hours ago.”
She shook her head and handed him her phone before she shifted into drive. “Here. You play something.”
“I don’t know, I’m pretty partial to that song. Although I guess I could just sing and give you the real deal.” He cracked himself up.
Fallon shook her head, biting her bottom lip as he chuckled. “I am never going to live this down.”
Fallon instinctually drove to her favorite coffee shop. The one across the street from her office. They got their drinks and settled into a table by the front windows. Fallon picked apart the croissant in front of her.
Noah watched her for a moment, taking a slow sip of his coffee. “You’re quiet.”
“Just thinking.” She muttered and stared out the window at her office, Noah followed her gaze.
“Right.” He smiled, but it faded after a moment. “You're worried.”
Fallon looked down at her hands. “A little. Well, a lot, actually.”
“About last night?”
She hesitated, “About everything.”
Noah leaned back in his chair, giving her space. “Okay.”
Fallon took a breath. She'd spent the entire drive thinking about what she wanted to say, but none of it seemed adequate now that it was time.
“We need to talk about what happens now.”
Noah nodded slowly. “Yeah. I figured.”
“I can't keep seeing you.”
His expression shifted, just slightly, “Like...?”
“As your therapist.” She forced herself to meet his eyes. “I can't be your therapist anymore.”
The words hung between them. Noah looked down at his coffee, turning the cup slowly between his hands. “Because of last night?”
“Because of everything.” Fallon swallowed. “Last night made it impossible for me to pretend that this is still a professional relationship in any capacity. And honestly? The feelings were there before that anyway.”
He was quiet.
“Realistically I should have referred you the second I started noticing it, or talked about it in supervision and set some hard boundaries. I could lose my job, my license, everything I’ve worked for. I've been trying really hard to figure out where the line is,” she continued. “And I think the only responsible thing I can do is step away completely.”
Noah nodded, absorbing it. “So what does that mean?”
“It means we'll need to terminate. Immediately. But we can't make it obvious if I don't want to be in deep shit.”
He furrowed his brow, "How do we do that?"
Fallon thought for a minute. “You have a tour coming up. Setlist planning. Stage design. Rehearsals. You have no time for therapy.”
Noah nodded thoughtfully, “Okay, I'm following.”
"You come in this Tuesday and you...you tell me about it and I document it. Then it’s done, I won’t be your therapist."
Noah nodded slowly, but the relief on his face didn't quite match hers. "Okay," he said. "So after Tuesday..."
Fallon sighed, "That's the complicated part."
His eyebrows lifted. "There's a more complicated part?"
Fallon wrapped both hands around her coffee, staring down at the lid. "Terminating doesn't mean we're suddenly free to do whatever we want." His expression softened as he listened. "There's a waiting period," she continued. "And even after that, there are still ethical considerations. I can't just finish your treatment on Tuesday and start dating you on Wednesday."
"How long?"
She hesitated. "Five years."
Noah's eyes widened. "Five years?"
"I know."
"That's..." He shook his head, trying to process it. "That's insane."
"It's complicated." Fallon sighed. "And honestly, even if we decided we weren't going to wait, there's another problem."
"Me being me?"
A reluctant smile tugged at her mouth.
He leaned back, nodding. "I'm not exactly anonymous," he said.
"Exactly." Fallon glanced toward the window, painfully aware of the office building across the street. "If someone from work sees us together, or my supervisor sees a picture, or someone recognizes you and connects us..." She shook her head. "It wouldn't matter if we weren't doing anything wrong. It would look terrible."
Noah was quiet. "So we'd have to hide."
"For a while."
"From everyone?"
"Pretty much."
He let out a breath, running a hand through his hair. "So we can't date."
"Not officially."
"We can't tell anyone."
"Not anyone who could put my career at risk."
"Could I even call you? Text you?"
Fallon winced. "Not casually. You're still technically my client until we terminate, and part of the practice even after that. Anything related to you would have to be documented."
Noah stared at her. "So basically, we're screwed."
Fallon laughed despite herself, "That's one way of putting it."
He smiled, but it faded quickly. "Then what are we supposed to do?"
Fallon looked down at their hands on the table.
"I don't know."
For the first time that morning, neither of them had an answer.
________________________
Noah closed the front door behind him and stood there for a moment, staring at nothing.
The house was quiet. Most of the guys were either still asleep or scattered around the house, recovering from the night before. He slipped his shoes off and made his way toward the kitchen, his mind still somewhere several miles away.
Fallon.
He could still feel the warmth of her against him. Still hear her laugh in the car. Still see the look on her face when she'd told him that if they'd met under different circumstances, she would've fallen for him.
I think I already did.
The words replayed in his head.
He didn't know what they were now. He didn't know what the rules meant for them, or how long they'd have to wait, or whether waiting was even something either of them could realistically do. All he knew was that he didn't want last night to be something they looked back on as a mistake. He wanted Fallon. Not as his therapist, just Fallon. The sound of footsteps pulled him from his thoughts. Jolly wandered into the kitchen and stopped when he saw Noah.
"Look who finally decided to come home."
Noah laughed quietly. "Morning."
Jolly grabbed a drink from the fridge and leaned against the counter, studying him.
"So..."
Noah already knew where this was going.
Jolly paused, taking a sip. "How was your night?"
"It was good."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
Jolly nodded slowly. "And the girl?"
Noah tried to hide his smile and failed. "Her name's Fallon."
Noah laughed and looked down at the counter. "It's not just like that. She's different." Jolly waited. Noah thought about how to explain it. "She's funny. She's smart. She notices things other people don't. She remembers every little detail you mention to her. She's..." He shook his head with a small smile. "I don't know. I just really like being around her."
Jolly's expression shifted from teasing to more impressed. "Man," he said slowly, "you met her last night and you're already talking like that?"
Noah shrugged. “Well we didn’t just-” he caught himself “we just hit it off, I guess.”
Jolly smirked. "I'm just saying, that’s a lot of chemistry for someone you just met."
Noah hesitated for half a second. "Yeah," he said carefully. "I guess it is."
"You're serious about her." Jolly studied him for a moment.
Noah didn't answer immediately. His mind flashed back to Fallon curled against him in bed, her hair spread across his chest. The way she'd smiled when Hercules climbed into his lap. The way she'd held his hand across the coffee shop table. "Yeah," he admitted quietly. "I think I am."
Jolly nodded, the teasing smile returning to his face. "Well, shit."
Noah smiled at the ground, shaking his head. Jolly pushed away from the counter. "Good for you, man."
He smiled to himself as Jolly disappeared down the hallway. He stood alone in the kitchen for another moment. For the first time, saying it out loud made it feel real.
________________________
Monday morning rolled along, and the deep pit in Fallon’s stomach did not let up for a moment. She couldn’t even bring herself to eat. After dressing and pacing back and forth in her apartment, she got in the car and drove silently to the office for her supervision meeting with Talia.
Fallon sat across from Talia, her notebook balanced against her knee. She’d been trying to convince herself all morning that there was nothing to be nervous about. It wasn’t working. Talia flipped through a few pages of her notes. “Before we get into your caseload, I wanted to check in on a couple of your other clients. How’s the adolescent group going?”
Fallon let out a small breath. “Better. Actually. I think they’re starting to open up more with each other. There’s still a lot of resistance, but it’s less… defensive than it was a few weeks ago.”
Talia nodded. “That’s a good shift. Any particular moment that stood out?”
“There was one session where they actually challenged each other instead of shutting down.” Fallon hesitated, then added, “It felt like they were doing the work without me having to pull it out of them.”
Talia smiled faintly. “That’s always a good sign.”
She made a note, then glanced back up. “And your anxiety group?”
Fallon shifted slightly in her chair, some of the tension easing into something more familiar. “That’s been steadier. One of the newer members is still pretty guarded, but I think the group is starting to normalize it for him. He’s showing up consistently, which is more than I expected at the beginning.”
“Consistency is huge in that population,” Talia said. “You’re doing solid work there.”
Fallon nodded, a small flicker of relief settling in her chest. For a moment, it almost felt like a normal supervision session. Talia closed the file she’d been skimming. “Okay. Let’s talk about Noah.”
Fallon’s stomach tightened instantly. “Right,” she said, a little too quickly. Talia glanced up, waiting for her to continue. Fallon forced herself to breathe. “He’s been doing well. Really well, actually. He’s excited about going back on tour.”
“Good.” Talia’s expression softened slightly. “You two have been working towards that for a long time.”
“Yeah.” Fallon swallowed. “It’s… really important to him.”
Talia nodded and made a note. “How is he handling the transition?”
“Better than he expected.” Fallon stared down at her notebook, suddenly hyperaware of every word leaving her mouth. “There’s still some anxiety, obviously, but he’s been able to recognize it without letting it completely take over.”
“Sounds like he’s made a lot of progress.”
“He has.”
Talia smiled then looked up again. “How are you feeling about him going on tour?”
Fallon’s fingers tightened around her pen. “Me?”
“Yeah. You’ve worked with him for almost two years. It’s a pretty significant transition for both of you.”
Fallon forced a small laugh. “I think I’m excited for him. It’s what he’s been waiting for.”
“And you?”
“I’m happy he’s getting what he wants.”
Talia watched her for a moment. “It’s good to celebrate his progress, but let’s bring it back to you for a moment. How do you feel about the work you’ve done with him?”
Fallon’s heart began to pound. She looked down at the notebook in her lap. “I think I’ll miss having him as a client.” It was true. Just not in the way Talia thought.
Talia smiled softly. “That’s understandable. Long-term clients can become significant parts of our professional lives.”
Fallon nodded. She tried to appear unaffected.
“Have you noticed any changes in your own feelings toward the work?”
She froze for half a second, “What do you mean?”
“You’re approaching a major transition with one of your longest-standing clients. Sometimes that brings things up for us too.”
Fallon swallowed. “I’ve been thinking about it.”
“Anything in particular?”
A thousand thoughts collided at once. Last night. His hands on her. Waking up beside him. The conversation she’d have to have with him tomorrow. Instead, she gave the safest answer she could. “I think I’m realizing how attached I’ve gotten to the process…and the progress he’s making.”
“Anything else you wanted to bring to supervision today?”
Fallon hesitated. For one terrifying second, she considered telling her everything. Then she shook her head. “No. I think that’s it.”
“Okay.” Talia smiled warmly and stood.
Fallon gathered her things, her heart still pounding. She had gotten through it. Talia didn’t know, didn’t suspect anything, and somehow that made her feel even worse.
Author’s Note: Idk how I feel about this chapter but I hope you guys enjoy! I'm in the trenches trying to write this the way I want to 😭I will see y'all on Saturday with Boyfriend!Omens headcanons!! XOXO Lila
working on part 2 of Salt Bones, should I have a scene of Nick being sweet, or should we see dangerous Nick? this is going to be kinda paranormal/motor gang type shit.
