An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
"It is 105 degrees outside and Ricky Bowen’s blood is boiling. Not literally. It would need to be at least 212 degrees for his blood to boil, and at that point his skin would have burned off already. He and Nini looked it up on a particularly slow (they both knew better than to say “quiet”) shift. No, Ricky’s blood is boiling because he’s barely even changed into his uniform and EJ Caswell is already preening. Like a rooster. Or a peacock."---Aka "the first responders au." Ricky's a paramedic. EJ's a firefighter, and even though they work in the same station, they can't stand each other. At least that's what EJ's telling himself.------GUYS @justowrites AND I DID A THING!!
After like a YEAR of planning, this passion project is finally live! It's a caswen first responders au and I CANNOT WAIT to hear what yall think - and just in time for the finale!
Nancy's been avoiding everyone and Bess and Ace have had enough. They try to figure out what's going on and to convince Nancy not to give up. (Post s3 finale)
wc: 3686
Read on AO3: [X]
--
Nancy Drew was avoiding Ace Hardy.
She had been avoiding him for the month following the events at the Veil, after the curse Temperance had put on him with her dying breath. Then they had a close call at his apartment, costing Ace his barometer and Nancy her heart, and so, Nancy had decided to double-down on her efforts to avoid him.
They needed space.
They needed distance.
Or else, she might end up being the death of him.
That was several weeks ago and Nancy was… well, not proud to say she hadn’t seen Ace since, but relieved he was still alive and her avoidance efforts seemed to be working.
The only reason Nancy was as good at avoiding Ace as she was was because she knew him so well. She knew his routines, his habits, his schedule. It had been a little tricky, learning his work schedule for his new job as assistant coroner, but she wasn’t a detective for nothing.
It helped that Nancy was spending nearly all of her time getting Icarus Hall habitable enough to be an office. It was on the outskirts of town, so it wasn’t like she was expecting a lot of foot traffic, but still. She wanted to make the place her own.
Horseshoe Bay was also a town small enough that if you didn’t see someone for an extended period of time, they were either out of town or avoiding you.
And however well Nancy thought she knew Ace, he always seemed to know her better, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Nancy walked into Nancy Drew Investigations one morning, exhausted after a night of hanging out in the cemetery looking for graverobbers (she refused to think it could be zombies. She wasn’t ready to live in a world where zombies were real), to find Ace and Bess sitting in her client chairs, clearly waiting for her.
“We’re closed,” Nancy said, tiredly, trying not to look at Ace. She wasn’t even sure who the ‘we’ referred to; it was very much a one-person business and they all knew it.
“How do you expect to get clients and stay in business if you’re closed during normal business hours?” Bess asked, looking far too awake for what was very much not normal business hours.
“Seems to work for the Claw,” Nancy snarked, setting her bag down on her desk.
“They’ve gotten a lot better at being open now that Jessie works there!” Bess shot back.
“More like now that we’ve stopped working there,” Ace muttered, speaking for the first time since Nancy had entered the room. Nancy caught herself about to look at him, wanting to catch his eye and exchange an amused look like they used to do, but stopped before she could really focus on him. Just having him in her field of vision hurt, so she refocused her attention on Bess.
“Regardless,” Bess pressed on, “we’re not here to talk to you about your business strategy.”
“Okay, then why are you here?” Nancy asked, dreading the answer. “If you need a third for some blood ritual, I’m gonna have to pass - my hand just healed and I’m really not in the mood to open old wounds.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Nancy could see Ace’s jaw clench and she could tell he picked up on her double meaning.
“We’re here because we’re worried about you, Nancy,” Bess told her, standing from her seat. “You’ve been avoiding all of us since the Veil. Since Temperance.”
“I haven’t been avoiding anyone,” Nancy lied, hating it. “We all just moved on to other jobs. It’s what people do. I’m sorry my new job has kept me from game night.” She scoffed, trying to keep her emotions in check.
“It’s not that,” Ace spoke up. He stood up too but didn’t move closer to her, which Nancy appreciated. “We know you. I know you. Ever since Temperance–”
“You mean ever since I killed someone?” Nancy cut him a glance. It was supposed to be a glance, but the moment her eyes locked onto him, she couldn’t look away.
“No. I mean ever since you hesitated.” His voice was firm but his expression was soft. Like it was when he said he would wait for her to find the words. Or after they had found out her true parentage. Or whenever he looked at her while they were driving to New York to fight the wraith. Or so many other times throughout the last few months when he was worried about her but still there, still by her side, making sure she knew she wasn’t going through any of it alone.
She didn’t deserve him.
And he didn’t deserve to have her sociopathic, evil, great-aunt put a curse on him just because he was unlucky enough to be loved by her.
“I didn’t think hesitating before killing someone was a bad thing,” she said, trying for defensive. She needed to keep them at arm's length and in the dark. Fortunately, she mused bitterly, pushing people away had become a particular talent of hers.
“It’s not, but it’s not like you to hesitate.” Ace gave her a little shrug.
Bess looked between them as if she was trying to put a puzzle together, knowing there were pieces missing. She stepped between them, facing Nancy.
“And Ace seems convinced that your hesitating gave Temperance an opportunity to do something to you?” she said gently.
Cold dread filled Nancy. Her stomach dropped to her feet and she could feel herself physically recoiling. She didn’t mean to have such a visceral reaction, but she hardly expected for Ace to come so close to the truth. Especially when she had been icing him out for weeks. How had he figured it out?
“Oh my god, is he right?” Bess gasped. “He is!”
Nancy swallowed hard, shaking her head. “No, no of course not!”
“Nancy, please, you have a terrible poker face!” Bess rolled her eyes. “So tell us what’s going on, and we’ll start researching to see what the Historical Society can do to help!”
“No. No, you can’t,” Nancy croaked out, desperately. “You have to leave this alone.”
“Is that a joke?” Ace huffed out a laugh, clearly frustrated. “Nancy, if you’re in trouble, we’re helping.”
Another bolt of panic shot through Nancy. “No, Ace, Bess, please, you need to leave and just let this go. There’s nothing you can do to help, okay?”
“If you just told us what was going on, we could!” Bess cried. “I don’t understand why you won’t–”
“Because I’m terrified, Bess!” Nancy exclaimed. “Temperance was inside my head. She made me watch Ryan die and live for a month carrying that. And then… and then, just when I was moving forward.. when I.. I acted on feelings..” It took everything in her to not look at Ace over Bess’s shoulder, who was staring at her intently. “She killed him too.”
“Nancy,” Bess said softly. “That wasn’t real.”
“The curse was—is.” Nancy told her, blinking back her tears. “And everything else felt real. He died in my arms. They both did. And there was nothing I could do.”
“But Ryan isn’t dead! Because you took that piece of ax out of his neck and saved him,” Bess insisted, taking Nancy by the shoulders. Nancy tried to turn away, to break the contact, but Bess stood firm. Nancy slumped against her desk in exhaustion and defeat.
“So if you could save Ryan then you can save…” Bess glanced at Ace. “You can save him too.”
“What if we can't?” Nancy took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I held him in my arms as he died. I can’t go through that again.”
“You won’t.” Ace stepped forward. He was looking at her, and Nancy was prepared to see anger and resentment in his eyes, but it wasn’t there. Instead, it was just determination and… and something softer that Nancy knew naming would likely make a barometer break.
“You’ve saved this town and all of us so many times. You can do this too.” Ace nodded, firm in his belief in his words. In her.
“You don’t know what it was like,” Nancy told him, terrified that a single word going over the line could make the last several weeks of an Ace-less life all for nothing. “How happy I was. How good it was. Only for her to kill…” She swallowed, refusing to say the word that would make it real. But she knew Ace understood. He always did. “And then she said it wasn’t real. None of it was real, the good or the bad. You don't know what it was like,” she ended, firmly.
“I’d like to,” Ace said softly, taking a step towards her. “It sounds like something worth fighting for.”
“It was,” Nancy admitted, thinking back to how incredibly, blissfully, deliriously happy she and Ace had been that morning. At the start of forever. “But… it made me realize…” She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to say. “I can’t lose anyone else that I love.”
Ace rocked backwards as her words hit him. His face cycled through several emotions and idly, Nancy thought she heard Bess gasp. Ace was staring at her and she could practically see his mind working.
“I get that.” Ace gave her a half smile, his gaze steady. “But the people who love you don’t want to lose you either.”
Nancy looked at him through her tears, only vaguely aware that Bess was even still present. She remembered how safe she felt in his arms, how loved. How she had briefly considered letting Horseshoe Bay fall to a series of apocalyptic disasters just for a chance at having that for real.
“We know it hurts, Nancy,” Bess said quietly. “But we’ve got to try to beat Temperance once more. We can’t just let her win. Not like this.”
Nancy knew it was Bess who spoke, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Ace. “How?”
Ace took a step closer to her. “You just gotta figure out how to turn that pain into love.”
Nancy’s breath caught, recognizing the words from a different dreamscape. Nancy had yet to tell Ace, or anyone, about that conversation. And Ace bringing it up now… well, Nancy was too much of a detective and far too reliant on fact and evidence to believe it was a coincidence.
Maybe she could take back her destiny and be in charge of her fate once more.
She thought back to her conversation with Carson a few weeks earlier, his insistence that while he believed soulmates exist, he also believed it was possible to find love after a soulmate.
Looking into Ace’s eyes, Nancy realized… she didn’t want an ‘after’. She wanted ‘right now’. She wanted ‘future’. She wanted Ace.
Nancy had had a taste of what it could be like, the two of them together, and she wanted it again. Again, but more. Without the threat of him dying.
“Okay,” Nancy breathed after a long moment.
“Okay?” Ace asked, hesitantly, leaning toward her slightly.
“Okay, we can try to break the curse.” Nancy nodded, smiling slightly. Bess squealed and Ace’s entire face lit up. He looked almost as happy as he had in the fake reality Temperance had shown her. She hated to continue her thought, knowing it would wipe the joy off of his face. “There’s one condition though.”
Ace tilted his head at her, which she knew meant “go on.”
“Ace, you have to go to work and let me and Bess handle this,” she told him. He frowned, clearly not happy with the condition. Nancy pressed on, trying to explain before he could argue. “I know you want to help, but… it’s tricky, and it’ll be more helpful if we’re not worried about you.”
She wanted to tell him everything, that he was in danger and a single misstep from her could bring her entire world crashing down. She wanted to have Bess cast as many protection spells as she could over Ace while they researched. She wanted to send him home to patch things up with his parents, just in case, and to make sure he was somewhere safe and cared for while she and Bess worked. But she knew just asking him to not be involved was already pushing it, so she held her tongue.
Ace glanced at Bess, seemingly hopeful she would argue on his behalf, but his platanchor gave him a small shake of the head, showing her agreement with Nancy.
“Okay,” he relented. “You know, this just means I’m going to worry about you, though, right?”
“Surely you’re used to that by now,” Nancy teased, relieved he had agreed so easily.
Ace rolled his eyes. He glanced at his watch and sighed. “I do need to go to work. Connor’s got me on a short leash right now.”
“We’ll let you know what we find!” Bess promised cheerfully. Ace smiled at her as he made his way toward the door, pulling the keys to Florence out of his pocket.
“And when we figure out how to undo this,” Nancy began, stomach filling with butterflies, “I have a lot I need to tell you.”
Ace paused, the hand that was playing with his car keys stilled. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Nancy repeated. “Took me a while, but I’m ready to not avoid… And I finally found the words, if you’re still interested.”
Ace broke out into a grin, shoulders dropping as tension was released. “I can’t wait,” he said, his dimples coming out strong with his smile. They held eye contact for another long moment before somewhere, off somewhere in the depths of Icarus Hall, came the sound of shattering glass, which snapped them back to reality.
Ace gave her a nod before ducking out the door, Nancy watching him the entire way.
“Ready to get to work?” Nancy asked Bess, dragging her gaze away from the closed door.
“Tell me everything.” Bess grabbed Nancy’s arm, pulling her into a chair and taking the one opposite her.
“About the curse?” Nancy asked absently, her mind still replaying Ace’s smile.
“About the curse, about Ace. All of it!” Bess practically squealed. “I need to know - both as the new keeper of the Historical Society and as the number one Nace shipper in all of Horseshoe Bay.”
“The what?” Nancy asked, amused. She should have known Bess would be the best person to go to for help with this curse, regardless of if there was anything to actually be done about it. If Ace was constant, unwavering support and steadfastness, Bess was more of a cheerleader, enthusiastic to the end and always looking for the bright side. Just knowing she had Bess on her side, and that Bess was about to share the burden of knowing about the curse with her, made Nancy feel lighter than she had in weeks.
“Don’t worry about it.” Bess waved her off. “Tell me how this all started!”
Despite herself, Nancy smiled. “You remember when I was fighting Temperance and I hesitated right before I told everyone to run?”
Bess nodded in confirmation. Ace had told Nancy weeks ago that she wasn’t alone, but it wasn’t until this moment that Nancy truly believed him. She had wanted to, but it had been hard. But now Nancy knew she wasn’t alone. Not in any of it - in her feelings, in trying to break this curse, in life. She had people she trusted and could rely on, no matter what. So Nancy found herself, sitting forward to tell Bess absolutely everything in the repurposed Hall, left to her by her homicidal great aunt, feeling truly hopeful for the first time in months that everything really would be alright. That she would be alright.
After all, it did seem to just be a matter of turning her pain into love for her town. Her friends. Her family.
—--—--
Nancy wasn’t sure how she would ever be able to repay Bess.
It had taken several days. Several, agonizingly long days of research and consulting with various other members of the ‘Societies Historical’ across the country that Bess had befriended in her new role as Keeper.
But the truly impressive network of Keepers had pooled resources and knowledge until, finally, they had a solution that they were sure would work.
The countercurse itself required an intense level of steps and ingredients that Nancy didn’t even pretend to keep track of, content to let Bess run this show.
But sure enough, finally, Bess turned to her and smiled. “It’s done.”
“You’re sure?” Nancy asked, unable to help herself.
Bess nodded, her smile growing. “It’s over.”
Nancy sank back in her chair, letting the news wash over her. She felt freer and more relieved than she had in forever. She took just a moment to be relieved before jumping up and beginning to gather her belongings from where they had been scattered around the Historical Society.
“I have to go find Ace.”
“He’s at his apartment,” Bess told her, looking up from her phone. “And I’m calling Conner - Ace is sick and not able to come into work tomorrow.”
Nancy paused putting on her scarf to look at her friend. “What?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Bess said, rolling her eyes. “Were you planning on letting him out of your sight in the next 24 hours? Or are you not about to go to his apartment to jump him?”
Nancy gaped a bit. “I–I hadn’t gotten that far? I figured we needed to talk, first.”
“Well, whatever ends up happening,” Bess said, tapping away on her phone, “now Ace won’t have to worry about work.”
“Thank you, Bess,” Nancy said sincerely. “I owe you big time.”
“We’ll add it to the list,” Bess waved her off. “Now, go get him!”
Not needing to be told twice, Nancy left as quickly as she could.
Getting from the Historical Society to Ace’s apartment was a total blur. Nancy wasn’t sure if she had driven or run, but the next thing she knew, she was standing outside of Ace’s door, knocking.
The door swung open to reveal Ace, looking unfairly good in jeans and his lucky blue pullover. Idly, Nancy noted the appropriateness of the item under the circumstances.
“Hi,” Nancy said, breathless and suddenly aware that she had no plan.
“Hi.” Ace gave her a small smile and a once-over, as if checking her for injuries. He opened the door wider and stood back to allow her inside.
She shed her coat, Ace taking it to hang up next to his. She liked the look of her winter coat on the wall next to his.
If time had been moving in fast-forward when Nancy left the Historical Society, then now it was like time was on half-speed. Everything was in slow motion except for her heart, which was still beating like it was in fast-forward.
She took a deep breath, trying to get her thoughts together. She faced him and found him already looking at her, waiting.
“It’s done,” she said, borrowing the words from Bess. “The curse is broken.” Saying the words, both out loud and to Ace, let a weight off her shoulders.
“You did it?” Ace broke into a proud smile.
“We did,” Nancy confirmed, taking a step closer to Ace.
“So… that means…?” Ace asked.
“We can talk? Or…” Nancy took another step. They had never been big on personal space, but after several weeks of putting as much space between them as possible, Nancy was acutely aware of exactly how close they were.
“Or…?” Ace breathed, looking down at her, eyes wide and hopeful.
Nancy grabbed Ace’s jacket and pulled him to her, kissing him with everything she had. Ace responded instantly, his hands coming to rest on her waist and her neck, pulling her closer. Nancy’s hands traveled upward, one going into Ace’s hair while the other stopped to rest over his heart.
Nancy had thought that, as far as first kisses went, the one in Temperance’s fake reality had been pretty damn good. As close to perfect as first kisses could be.
She should have known that a woman who never truly loved anything wouldn’t have been able to get it right. Because however great that first kiss with Ace was, this one was better. Better than all of her daydreams and fantasies, supernatural in origin or otherwise, had been. Not the least of which was because this one was, finally, real.
She had Ace—flesh, blood, and a beating heart, with no games or obstacles between them anymore. Just far too many layers of clothing.
They broke apart far too soon, gasping for air. Ace rested his forehead against Nancy’s, eyes half-lidded as he looked at her.
“I’m a pretty big fan of talking, but that was a good option B,” Ace said softly. His thumb was slowly stroking her cheek and she could feel the heat of his other hand on her waist through her shirt.
“You know the best part?” Nancy beamed, giving him another peck on the lips.
Ace shook his head, returning the peck with one of his own.
“No barometers broke!” Nancy felt giddy. Not only had she been able to finally kiss Ace again, but she had reclaimed her fate, her destiny, her soulmate.
“I think we need to work on your barometer for what qualifies as ‘the best part’,” Ace teased, squeezing her hip lightly.
“You’re welcome to add evidence, if you want to change my mind.” Nancy brushed her nose against his.
Ace let out a guttural groan, his eyes darkening. “Challenge accepted.”
Before Nancy got lost in him again, she cleared her throat. “There’s still a lot I have to tell you.” She needed to make sure he knew that she still wanted to tell him everything, still intended to.
“But we have time?” He looked at her, checking in.
Nancy smiled and nodded softly at him. “All the time in the world.”
Summary: Nancy has an idea for how to get Ace back from the shadow realm: make a deal with Temperance Hudson to help get him back. Bess isn't on board.
But it's Ace.
And Nancy would do anything to get him back.
Read on AO3: X
my first work for this fandom, so please give it a read and let me know what you think!!
--
“I think we need to ask Temperance for help.” Nancy announced, leaning back in her chair. They were in the Historical Society, as they had been for days, pouring over books, texts, websites, and anything they thought might help them figure out where Ace was, or what had happened to him. All they had to go on was security footage of Ace turning the key in the Copperhead’s lock before vanishing completely.
Bess’s head shot up from her own research. “Nancy, no! I told you: she can’t be trusted!”
Nancy sighed, turning away from Ace’s laptop, which she was using for research (she had told Bess it was faster than her laptop, but really, it just made her feel closer to Ace). “Bess, I believe you. And I don’t think she can be trusted either. But we’ve been trying to figure out a way to get Ace back on our own and we’ve got nothing.”
The duo had been attempting to piece together what had happened to Ace and how to get him back largely on their own. Nick and George had been helping where they could, around their packed schedules of managing the Claw, running the youth center, and taking care of George’s siblings, who were now out of school for winter break. Ryan had also stepped in when he could, but after being locked in the archives a week earlier, had declared he would be spending as little time in the Historical Society as possible. Which meant finding out what made Ace vanish was largely left to Nancy and Bess.
“It’s dangerous, Nancy.”
“It’s Ace.” Nancy said. “And we don’t know how much time he has left… wherever he is.”
Bess tried again: “Nancy, this is making a deal with the devil.”
“So was making a deal with Celia against Daniel West.”
“Which Ace was very upset with you for.” Bess pointed out, which Nancy had to acknowledge was fair.
“And he’ll probably be upset with me for this too. But at least he’ll be here and alive to be upset with me.” Nancy finally understood what Carson had meant when he told her she took a piece of everyone with her when she went running into danger. Ace hadn’t meant to leave or be put in danger, but he had taken a part of her with him when he did. And she wanted him back.
Bess was quiet for a moment. “She’s going to want something, Nancy. Favors from Temperance Hudson don’t come for free. And whatever it is, it’s likely going to be something bad. She’s already taken your blood without asking. What will she want when she can ask?”
“I know, Bess. I know!” Nancy ran a hand through her hair in frustration. “We don’t know what she wants, but our best bet at stopping her is with Ace. We need him.”
The I need him went unsaid, but Nancy could tell Bess knew.
Bess took a deep breath before standing up. “Then we better head to Icarus Hall.”
Nancy stood as well, grabbing her coat to follow Bess out of the archives room. Neither noticed Ace’s laptop snap shut as they turned out the lights behind them.
The ride to Icarus Hall was quiet and tense, neither passenger seeming to know what to say. The only sounds were the static of the radio and the car engine. As the car crested a hill, the radio suddenly picked up signal of an oldies station.
STOP! In the name of love! Came blaring through the speakers, causing Nancy and Bess to jump at the sudden noise.
Before you break my heart, think it over
“Sorry about that,” Nancy muttered, turning the radio off entirely. “That hasn’t happened before”
Bess chuckled weakly as they turned onto the drive of Icarus Hall. They parked right out front and stood at the front door for a moment.
“Do we knock?” Nancy asked, having rarely actually been invited to Icarus Hall, let alone showing up to ask for help, so Nancy doubted her usual method of breaking and entering (with more entering than breaking) would be appropriate.
“There’s a doorbell.” Bess reached out and pushed a button Nancy hadn’t noticed before as deep gothic-sounding bells rang out from within the Hall.
“Why.” Nancy said flatly. Bess just shrugged.
The doors swung open dramatically to reveal Temperance Hudson in her new face.
She gave them a once-over. “Nancy Drew. Bess Marvin. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“We need your help.” Nancy forced out. Temperance gave her a cool look, waiting for her to go on. “It’s about Ace. He—”
“I can’t make him fall in love with you.” Temperance shook her head, turning to walk into her home. Nancy and Bess hurried after her.
“That’s not—” Nancy took a deep breath. This was somehow more frustrating than she had imagined it being. “Ace is missing.”
“That sounds like a job for Agent Park.” Temperance went back to whatever she had been doing at her desk. “Sometimes people leave.”
Nancy grit her teeth in frustration. “Not Ace. He vanished. Supernaturally. And we can prove it.”
Temperance looked at Bess, who took her cue to elaborate, explaining about the lock of the Copperhead’s cage and how they had found both pieces of the key, which Ace had tried to repair... before quite literally vanishing off of the security cameras of the Historical Society.
“We’ve figured out he’s in some sort of… shadow realm?” Bess shrugged. “But we’re not sure how to get him back.”
“And what do I get out of it?” Temperance quirked an eyebrow.
“Other than foiling some plan of Beckett Dow’s?” Bess asked sarcastically. “Noth—”
“I would owe you a favor,” Nancy cut in. Temperance looked at her and Nancy could tell she had Temperance’s interest.
“Nancy—” Bess said, warningly but Nancy gave her a reassuring nod. Or, at least, Nancy had been going for reassuring, but doubted the gesture hit its mark, because Bess kept going, whispering frantically. “Nancy… Ace is my plantanchor, and I want him back just as badly as you do. But is it worth writing a blank check for a favor? You don’t know what she could want in return.” The “it will likely cost you your life” hung in the air unspoken, since outright saying it would tip their hand at knowing Temperance wasn’t to be trusted.
Nancy looked at Bess and saw the worry in her eyes. Nancy knew Ace would be livid with her for this deal, but she had told him once that she couldn’t lose him, and she meant it.
“It is to me,” Nancy said simply. Bess’s shoulders sagged, knowing there was no changing Nancy’s mind; they were too far in.
“And is it just him you want?” Temperance looked thoughtful.
“What do you mean?” Nancy asked, unsure.
“Well, if Ace vanished when he turned the key, then the person who let the Copperhead out is likely also in this… shadow realm, too.” Temperance explained. “Do you want them back too?”
“Hannah,” Bess whispered. Nancy was torn between being glad Ace wasn’t alone in the shadow realm and embarrassed that she hadn’t realized Hannah would also be there. Hannah, who Nancy wasn’t sure they could trust since she let the Copperhead out, but also was going to be an invaluable resource as they tried to stop Temperance from doing whatever she was trying to do.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
“We thought it’d be funny.” EJ shrugged, “You know, like a real date.”
“As opposed to this,” Gina gestured to the two of them, fighting a grin, “which is…?”
OR
Ricky Bowen and EJ Caswell were the only two members of their friend group who didn’t have a date for prom…so, they decide to go to prom together, as a joke. Things quickly get out of hand.
--
I expanded upon the drabble I wrote for a prompt a few weeks ago and finally finished it!
“wow... you look... you look amazing” + caswen, please! Your writing is fantastic 💕
Aww Anon, thank you!! I wrote this one in like an hour, and honestly, I might take it and expand on it into a full story because...well... it was just fun to write!! Anyway, I hope you like it!
--
Ricky was over Nini, he really was. They had broken up a few weeks ago, the stress of long distance becoming too much and both wanting to focus on enjoying the high school experiences, and not feeling like they had to be tied to their phone in case the other called. It had sucked, but in all honesty, it was the right call and Ricky knew it. He was happier now and he knew Nini was too because, despite it all, they were still friends.
So yeah, he was over her. But that didn’t mean there weren’t times he missed being in a relationship and nothing made that more apparent than prom. He had survived school with various promposals and the drama of who was asking who, what colors were being worn, and, of course, who was going to what florist for corsages (Ricky didn’t even know Salt Lake had that many florists and yet…).
The drama club had taken pity on the few members of the group that were single (which was really just Ricky and EJ) and decided to go as a group, meeting at Ashlyn’s to take a limo to the prom venue. And because Ricky and EJ were the only two members of the group who didn’t have a date for prom…they became defacto dates in all of the planning. Ricky was glad that he and EJ had become friends enough to lean into the joke of it, going far enough to color coordinate their tuxes and lapel flowers.
(“They’re called boutonnieres, Bowen.” EJ had told him when Ricky had asked about it. Specifically, Ricky had asked where to buy one because Google had overwhelmed him, and he figured EJ would know. “And don’t worry about it – I’ll take care of the boutonnieres. Just make sure your shoes are shined and ready for dancing.”
“You can’t shine Vans, EJ.” Ricky rolled his eyes.
“Ricky, I swear to God, if you wear Vans to prom—”)
So now, here Ricky was, walking up to Ashlyn’s door after his dad had dropped him off, suddenly nervous, feeling like he was about to pick up someone for an actual date, rather than meet up with EJ and their friends for a group thing.
He suddenly felt like he needed to have brought flowers or something. Showing up empty-handed felt...wrong somehow. Brushing that feeling off, he rang the doorbell and was almost immediately greeted by Kourtney.
“Ricky Bowen, did you comb your hair?” She looked shocked, but she was smiling, so Ricky took it to be a compliment.
“I always comb my hair,” Ricky groused, trying not to feel self-conscious. He had spent longer on his hair than he ever had before, styling it and combing it back so it was parted to the side and laid relatively neatly. “I just…didn’t use my fingers this time.”
“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” she told him, stepping aside to let him into the house.
“You look really great.” Ricky told at her, and she smiled at him. He was, unsurprisingly, the last one to arrive. Everyone was milling around Ashlyn’s living room, chatting and getting excited for the night ahead.
“Ricky’s here!” She yelled and the room cheered, clearly ready to take pictures and move along with the day.
“Finally, Bowen! You were supposed to be here—” EJ trailed off as he looked at Ricky, seemingly at a loss for words. Ricky understood the feeling. He had seen EJ dressed up before but… there was something different about this. “Wow... you look... you look amazing,” EJ told him, his voice suddenly soft.
“Yeah?” Ricky grinned, willing himself to not blush, then stuck his foot out. “Look, no Vans!”
“You’re wearing dress shoes.” EJ smiled at the brown shoes Ricky wore that the man at the store had assured him would match with his dark grey suit. Ricky was suddenly feeling quite proud of himself.
“Oh my God, you two MATCH!” Carlos’s voice broke through their little bubble, reminding them of their audience.
Ricky was feeling self-conscious again. “EJ insisted. We spent forever at the tailor’s,” Ricky shuddered at the memory of trying on suit after suit. In the end, they (EJ) decided it would be best if they matched, as inverses of each other. Ricky was in a dark grey suit with a navy vest and tie, while EJ was in a navy suit with a dark grey vest and tie. Both had white pocket squares.
“We thought it’d be funny.” EJ shrugged, “You know, like a real date.”
“As opposed to this,” Gina gestured to the two of them, “which is…?”
Ricky and EJ glanced at each other. The official line was they were going to wingman each other and buddy-up so they wouldn’t feel alone surrounded by all of their coupled friends. But there was a difference between partnering up and…whatever this was… friends didn’t go to this level of effort to coordinate, right?
“Fun?” Ricky offered, at a loss. EJ nodded, seemingly good with it.
There was an awkward pause before Ashlyn jumped in: “speaking of fun, let’s go ahead and take pictures! The limo will be here soon!”
That got everyone flurrying into action, talking over each other and making decisions about pictures. Ricky took a step forward to join in the chaos but stopped when EJ grabbed his wrist. He looked at EJ questioningly.
“Here’s your boutonniere,” EJ reached out and affixed the white flower, wrapped with green ribbon to Ricky’s lapel. EJ wore the same flower on his own jacket. They stood quietly for a moment before EJ spoke again, quiet enough for only Ricky to hear him. “And seriously, you look great.”
“My stylist deserves most of the credit.” Ricky quipped, giving EJ a pointed look. “But thanks. You look great too.”
hi cama!! the prompt “you... sorry, you just got a little something on your face... here, let me get it for you.” for caswen or gini?
I just did two caswen so I went with gini for this one and I hope you like it!
Gina loved being an unofficial Caswell. She really did, but there were times when being in one big happy family with Debbie, Dennis, Ashlyn, and (more often than not) EJ got to be a bit too much for the girl who spent most of her life as a lone wolf.
So, she took a page out of Troy Bolton’s book (because unlike Carlos, she had seen HSM 3) and would often spend a Saturday or Sunday in the deserted school, practicing her dancing. Was that allowed? Not really. Did anyone care? Also, not really. Since East High didn’t really have a dance studio, so Gina took to using the bomb shelter to dance her troubles away. Not that she really had troubles right now – things were about as great for Gina as they had ever been, but that was beside the point.
So here she was, on this Saturday afternoon, again running the choreography for Be Our Guest because she again had a solo dance break in it and wanted to make sure she nailed it. And after running it several times in the bomb shelter… she thought she might as well go into the theater and practice on the actual stage. Plus, if she was being honest, Gina just loved being on stage, even in a totally empty theater. There was a quiet power to it that made her feel alive.
She let herself into the theater through one of the stage side doors. The stage itself was mostly taken up by different set pieces from when the crew had been making them. Gina made her way to the center of the stage, prepped her music to start on the right beat, and then one of the set pieces moved.
Gina screamed.
The set piece screamed.
Except it wasn’t a set piece. It was Nini. Nini who should be in Denver at her fancy acting school and most definitely not in East High’s theater.
“What are you doing here?” Nini shrieked, pulling her earbuds out, and dropping the paint brush in her hand into a can of paint. Paint brush?
“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?” Gina shot back, pulling her headphones off.
“I’m painting sets!” Nini took a step toward Gina.
“What? Painting sets? At East High?” Gina was somehow more confused. “Shouldn’t you be in Denver?” She knew Nini came home for the occasional weekend but didn’t remember Nini mentioning it. Not that they talked regularly or anything but… they did talk. They were friends, after all.
“Oh…” Nini deflated a bit. “Yeah…I came home for a long weekend. Bought the plane ticket before…” she tailed off, looking at her feet.
“Before you and Ricky broke up.” Gina supplied. That had been a relatively new development, but not a surprising one. She knew Nini had initiated it and that Ricky seemed to be taking it well, but still, she couldn’t help but ask: “And how are you? After that?”
Nini shrugged. “I’m okay. Mostly it’s just weird trying to be friends again? Especially since I’m in Denver, it’s kind of like he got all the friends in the breakup?”
“Sounds brutal.” Gina said because she didn’t know what else to say.
Nini gave a dry laugh: “Yeah, that’s one word for it. I—It’s just he was the person I told all the random thoughts I had and now… I guess I just don’t know where to put them.”
“I’ll take them.” Gina blurted out before she could stop herself.
“What?” Nini took another few steps toward.
“I—I’ll take them,” Gina said because, honestly, she didn’t know why. It’s like she was watching someone else in her body. “You can send them to me. I’m not Ricky, but…I’ll listen and be that person. If you want.”
Nini was staring at her like she had three heads. Then, Nini gave her a smile, eyes softening. “I’d like that. For you…to be that person.”
They were standing right in front of each other now, face to face, and Gina noticed Nini had paint splatters on her face, presumably from Gina startling her. And because Gina apparently had lost all ability to control her words, she said, “you... sorry, you just got a little something on your face... here, let me get it for you.” She reached up and with her sleeve, gently wiped some of the paint from Nini’s face… only for it to smear and make things worse.
“Oh…” Gina grimaced.
They stared at each other for a moment before they both cracked up and started laughing.
“Sorry,” Gina apologized once they had caught their breath. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“Don’t apologize.” Nini beamed at her. “You’re my person, after all.”
!!! "i mean... i-i'm cool with sharing the bed if you are." for caswen !!!
Ok this was really fun to write so thank you, anon for sending it in!!
(This one is rated T because of one swear word and suggestive themes so just heads up!)
--
Ricky Bowen didn’t like making decisions. This was a well-known fact. He was a ‘go with the flow’ guy because the flow tended to mean someone else would make decisions for him. That being said, there were moments and situations in which he would steadfastly make a decision and stick to it.
One of those decisions was deciding to never share a room with Big Red. It wasn't anything personal against his best friend, but between the CPAP machine and the noise machine, and Red’s general snoring, Ricky refused. He wasn’t someone who needed a lot of sleep in general, but he did need some and that would be impossible if he shared with Big Red.
Which was normally not a problem, except for this… high school theater conference thing that the drama club had been invited to perform an abridged version of Beauty and the Beast at. Which meant they got to go on a (partly) school funded trip and stay for a long-weekend in a hotel and go to different workshops and exhibits to learn new things about theater and acting while surrounded by other drama dorks from across the state and Ricky had never been so overwhelmed in his life and that was saying something.
Miss Jenn had done the room assignments and, understandably, put Ricky and Big Red together. Which led to Ricky spending the entire bus ride begging her to switch him with anyone else (okay, it was really more like ten minutes before he got distracted by a game Hot Seat but still!) before Miss Jenn told him: “These are the room assignments that the school approved. If you end up sleeping somewhere else, I know nothing about that.” Which admittedly didn’t seem like something a teacher should be saying, but then, as they were getting off the bus at the hotel, she leveled a conspiratorial look at him. “EJ’s the only one without a roommate – I’d start there.”
EJ, as it turned out, was surprisingly easy to convince. All it took was Ricky explaining about the CPAP and jungle noise machine (that had wolves howling somehow? Ricky was still confused by that), and EJ agreed.
“Having my own room was supposed to be a senior privilege, but,” EJ sighed dramatically, “I suppose I’ll make the sacrifice for the good of the show.”
“Oh, thank God,” Ricky sighed in relief. “My next stop was getting Carlos and Seb to let me crash with them, but no one wants that.”
“No, they don’t.” EJ agreed, looking over to the couple in question. “Still not sure how Miss Jenn managed to let that one slide.”
Miss Jenn eventually gave everyone the keys to their rooms and sent them on their way. It took several cycles of waiting for the elevator before they managed to make it to their floor, but finally, Ricky let himself and EJ into their room. EJ switched the lights on and they both froze as the door swung shut behind them.
They were expecting two double beds, like Miss Jenn had assured them would be in every room, but instead they got a king-sized bed.
One bed meant he and EJ would be sharing more than just a room.
Probably.
“I mean…I-I’m cool with sharing the bed if you are,” Ricky stammered, unable to look away from the bed.
“Really?” EJ turned to look at him.
“I mean, it’s pretty big right?” Ricky offered, facing EJ, but still avoiding his eyes. “If you’re not cool with it, that’s fine. I’ll sleep on the floor. Or in that chair—” he pointed to an armchair in the corner.
“You’re not gonna sleep on the floor, Bowen,” EJ sighed, dropping his bag on the floor.
“Really?” Ricky asked, hopefully.
“The bed is plenty big.” EJ allowed slowly, and it was like Ricky could see the gears turning in his head. “And you’re our leading man. We can’t have you getting a shitty night’s sleep before we impress everyone in the state with our Beauty and the Beast.”
“How selfless,” Ricky joked, throwing his bag in the corner.
“I play for the team to win! But sometimes that means I, personally, have to lose,” EJ teased, grinning.
“Yeah, because having to share your enormous bed is a real hardship,” Ricky rolled his eyes and flopped into the armchair, not quite ready to get on the bed yet.
“Hey, it might be!” EJ leaned back against the pillows of the bed. “You might be a secret cuddler and I’ll wake up being spooned to death.”
“Please, if anyone’s being spooned, it’s me,” Ricky said before he could stop himself. “Being the little spoon is the best.”
EJ gave him a look Ricky couldn’t decipher and Ricky suddenly felt like the room was on fire. He was itching to move but he didn’t want to be the one to break eye contact with EJ. Because that would mean… something, right? Finally, EJ smirked a little and said: “Noted.”
Was it too late to go back to rooming with Big Red?
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hope you liked it!! Thanks again for sending in a prompt!
" i knew you wouldn't go to sleep willingly, so i brought you some chamomile tea and a blanket. twenty minutes of shut-eye, okay? " + caswen?
<33333 I love u cama.
To no ones surprise but my own, this got out of hand... but I like it and I'm happy with it so no regrets!
AP test season was stressful. Ricky knew that. He knew it because he watched his classmates freak out for weeks before the tests even happened, stressing over DBQs and 3s versus 4s and other things that Ricky, a proud member of the ‘on-level’ classes, didn’t understand. Ricky didn’t do advanced classes and he was never as grateful for that fact as he was when he witnessed several near tears because of the stress.
Junior year was shaping up to be even worse because there were more AP classes available for his friends to take and… well… thanks to theater, he now had more friends to watch suffer. When it was just him, Nini, and Big Red, it wasn’t fun, but they survived because Nini was the only one taking AP classes, so the secondhand stress was minimal. But now that he had to see more people go through it, it was worse.
So bad, in fact, that Miss Jenn ended rehearsal early because… well, honestly because Ashlyn was so stressed about her three AP tests the following week that she yelled at Seb, who burst into tears and there was no coming back from that. Not today, anyway. But she claimed it was a ‘mental health day’ and sent everyone home to relax.
EJ in particular was looking so dead on his feet that Miss Jenn made him sit down while everyone packed up their things and called Ricky over.
“Ricky, honey, is there any way you could take EJ home?” she asked him, looking concerned.
“…uh...” Ricky glanced at EJ, who had dark circles under his eyes and was slumped in his seat.
“Miss Jenn, I’m fine. I promise.” EJ assured her, looking slightly to the right of where Miss Jenn was standing. “I’m good to drive home.”
“Honey, I’m not sure you’re good to walk to the car, let alone operate it.” She told him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. Then she looked back at Ricky, expectantly.
“Sure?” Ricky shrugged. Big Red was taking Ashlyn home and it’d be easy enough to skate from wherever EJ lived to his apartment.
“Great.” Miss Jenn smiled at him before turning back to EJ, who’s eyes were half-closed. “EJ, sweetie, Ricky’s going to drive you home.”
EJ’s eyes flew open. “You want me to trust Bowen with my car?”
“I think right now, we all trust Ricky with your car more than you,” Miss Jenn said firmly, helping EJ stand. “Ricky, he’s all yours.”
Oh goody, Ricky thought idly, trying to guide the half-dead senior through the school. It was a little like herding a drunk cat. EJ was incapable of walking in straight line and somehow managed to bump into almost every person in the hall, despite it being after school hours and the hallways being mostly deserted. Finally, Ricky got him loaded into the passenger seat of EJ’s car, making sure his seatbelt was done correctly, before getting into the driver’s seat. EJ’s car was so fancy it had a GPS built in, so Ricky made it start directing him to the Caswell’s house.
They rode in almost silence until Ricky glanced over at EJ while stopped at a traffic light, expecting to see the senior passed out, but instead, found him furiously going through flashcards.
“EJ, what are you doing?” Ricky asked quietly.
“Studying.” He grunted back, not glancing away from his flashcards.
They drove in silence a bit more before turning onto the Caswell’s street.
“How much sleep did you get last night?” Ricky asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“I didn’t.” EJ said. “Too much material to go through.”
Ricky pulled into the driveway; a plan half-formed.
EJ was so out of it that he didn’t even notice when Ricky got out of the car and followed him into the house. EJ collapsed on a couch, still shuffling through his flashcards. Ricky wandered around the house till he found the kitchen and put his plan into motion. The Caswell kitchen was immaculate and Ricky almost felt bad going through it, but he was a man on a mission and would not be deterred. They had a fancy electric hot water kettle that Ricky got going before hunting down tea and a mug. It took a few tries to find, but he managed it. He put the teabag and hot water in the mug and made his way back to where EJ was going through flashcards so quickly, Ricky was sure he wasn’t even seeing them.
Ricky put the tea on the side table next to EJ before spotting a thick blanket across the room and went and grabbed it.
“Lie down.” Ricky commanded, walking back over to EJ.
“I beg your pardon?” EJ asked, finally looking up from his flashcards.
"You have to rest and I knew you wouldn't go to sleep willingly, so I brought you some chamomile tea and a blanket. Twenty minutes of shut-eye, okay?"
“Ricky – I can’t,” EJ tried to argue but Ricky wasn’t having it.
“You can. You look terrible and there’s no way you can do well on the test if you don’t sleep.”
“Is Ricky Bowen giving me studying advice?” EJ asked, incredulous.
“Yeah, we’ve hit rock-bottom,” Ricky laughed. “Now, sleep!”
“Yessir,” EJ said, keeling over onto the couch. He curled his legs up so he was basically in a ball, not even taking up the full couch, and closed his eyes. Ricky put the blanket over him and plopped down on the couch near EJ’s head. EJ burrowed into the blanket until all that was visible was his hair.
“You’re gonna stay till I wake up, right?” EJ asked, voice muffled by the blanket.
“Do you want me to?” Ricky asked, suddenly feeling uncertain. EJ nodded, slow and determinedly. “Then I will.”
“Thanks,” came EJ’s muffled reply.
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Thanks for the prompt, friend! I hope you liked it!
