Tangled Web [a short story] — Happy Birthday, L Corrales (Patreon)

Tangled Web [a short story] 2.1k words.

⇢ what starts off as a mission turns into something much more... oh, and there are cookies. 

Happy (almost!) birthday, L! L is very much an interesting and complex character with a whole load of layers to uncover, here you'll get to see their sweet, worried, confident and selfless side. They just need a little bit of love every now and then. 

I hope you enjoy this. Please tell me what you think. 

—

L huffs. “This feels like a stake out.”

“That’s because this is a stake out,” you murmur back, turning to L as your hand slips from the steering wheel.

Their lips purse together, a hand goes over their curls. They watch the rain droplets race each other on the car window before glancing back over at you.

“Is this a good time to mention that I find stake outs incredibly boring?” L drones when their eyes fixate to the large building complex in front of you.

You refrain from rolling your eyes. “Why? Did you think it’d be all guns, and tasers, and running for our lives?”

L goes serious for a moment. “We’re trying to take down the Order, we’re already doing the latter.” They’re right, you can’t deny it, and the fact that L’s admitted shows that this isn’t going to be an easy feat. “But I didn’t think we’d be hanging around a building all night waiting for…” L arches a brow. “What are we waiting for exactly?”

“Piper,” you answer.

“And we’ve been here how long?”

“A few hours.”

The sound of a seat belt unbuckling gets your attention. “Well, the stake out tactic clearly isn’t working.” L opens the car door after they say that.

“Wait! What are you doing?”

L slips out of the vehicle, places their hand on top of the car and crouches down a little to talk to you. “Being proactive,” they respond with ease.

You had known what you were getting with L, they’re confident, probably full of themselves, a bit of a nightmare at times — this being one of those nightmares — but them being proactive can also be seen as reckless. But it could be exactly what you need.

“We can’t just storm in there.”

L doesn’t even stop themselves rolling their eyes, they glance to the building before their eyes fall on you. “We’re the ones that found the Order’s second headquarters, and I’ll be damned if we have to spend another minute watching out for the people that are blackmailing us. I might as well just go in there and see what they’ve got on us, or what they’ve got to hide.”

They don’t bother closing the passenger door, they just leave and stride towards the back entrance. You groan, unbuckle your belt and open your own door.

“L, I’m not going in there just to save your ass.”

You hear them chuckle at that. They twist on their heels with ease and give you a nonchalant shrug. “I’m wounded, surely I’ll be the one saving you. I bet you’re glad I’m not your initiate anymore, huh?”

It’s not like L’s initiation was ever going to last long, a week tops just to show them the ropes. L’s an exceptional asset, there’s no denying that… but you also can’t leave them to wander in ‘enemy’ territory on their own — and considering they haven’t looked back once, you know that they have no thought than to head into a metaphorical burning building.

You leave the car and lock it behind you before jogging up to the entrance L went through. The building is far from being the headquarters you and the others first visited, this one is less grand, so much more industrial and silent, a little dimly lit too so when a flashlight immediately shines in your direction, you know there’s an issue.

Being skilled is one of the best attributes you have, but even so, you know you aren’t able to move your feet quickly enough to get out of the guard’s path. You’re sure he’s going to spot you, and you’re sure that you’ll either have to fight your way out or charm him into letting you go — neither will be easy.

As you try to plan your next move as the guard’s footsteps approach, you feel a hand grab yours and pull you in. You barely let out a gasp, and you’re ready to protect yourself until your eyes connect with L’s. Warmth and relief washes over you. Their hand stays over yours whilst their free one puts a finger to their lips to tell you to stay quiet.

You do.

The two of you are stuck in a tight, out of sight corner, listening for the guard’s footsteps to quieten before you proceed on.

All there is to look at is L. The most you can do is hold your breath, let your eyes flit over their features as you take in each one. The dust of freckles scattered over their face that they usually cover with make-up, if the situation you were in was any different, you’d probably question them on that insecurity. Their light brown eyes lock with yours, and knowing L, they’d usually come out with a fun remark — but the look on their face is as serious as ever.

Their eyes close for a brief moment as the guard’s footsteps get louder. They brace themselves for your hiding spot to be revealed, and L knows that if it was, they’d take the blame in an instant — but then the footsteps start to quieten. The guard is gone.

L opens their eyes, lets out a breath, and you watch as their gaze softens when they look at you. “Told you I’d be saving you,” they whisper teasingly.

•

You eventually find an office, and you know it’s the right one considering the plaque has Piper’s name written on it. You and L step in, you flick on the light switch and turn to them. “I guess we’ll see what we find.” L nods and approaches Piper’s desk first, you opt for the laptop on the side. You groan a little because of course it’s password protected, Piper’s not stupid enough to leave electronics hanging around with no protection.

You look around at the rest of the side table: the pen holder, a leather jacket on the hook above it, a picture of what looks like a young Piper and an older woman — from your first meeting with her, you’d think she didn’t have a heart, but from that picture alone, you could be swayed in a different direction.

“Hey,” L mutters out, “come look at this.”

You twist around and saunter over. “You find something?”

You notice that L has a stack of files in their hand, they place them on the desk and slide one over to you first. You lean your head down and see that it has your brother’s name written on the front. With pursed lips, you brush your index finger over it before glancing back up.

“What do you think is in it?” you ask, almost ready to flip the front cover.

“I’m not sure,” L answers, “but don’t open it here, it might trigger an alarm, an alert, anything. It’s better we take it with us.”

You give a nod and glance down at the other file that’s on the table. It reads L Corrales.

“Are you going to take yours too?”

L sniffs, drums their fingers on the file and shakes their head. There’s a small frown on their lips, as though they are deep in their own thoughts. “She’ll know we’ve been here if more than one is missing. Take your brother’s.”

It’s a selfless act from L. More than selfless. So much so that you almost reach out to them and ask them what’s wrong because the look on their face is far from their usual carefree attitude.

“It could be important, L.” You swallow hard glancing between them and the file. “Detrimental, even.”

L opens the drawer and drops their file back in there. They clear their throat. “I’ve buried my past a lot, the good parts, the bad ones, the really fucked up shit that I never want to remember. It’s all there, but buried.” They slide the draw closed. “I don’t tell people that. And I don’t know if I’m saying this because we’re friends, or we’re close, or because I trust you.”

L sucks in a breath before their ramble continues. “Or whether all of that is bullshit and I mean nothing to you, and it’s just because we’re deep in this situation. But whatever Piper thinks she has on me, she would’ve gone through a whole heap to get it. For now, I can live without knowing what she wants to blackmail me with.” They point to the file in my hand. “That’s your family, and family’s important.” The last of their words come out in a whisper, and they mask the pain in their voice with a soft smile. You’re almost unsure of what to say.

“That’s— I…” you begin, the words stuck in your throat.

L shakes their head. “It’s fine. Truly.” The witty remark, the sarcastic one, the confident one — it still hasn’t come from them. “We should get out of here.”

The two of you go towards the door, leave the office and close the door behind you.

“You two! Stop there!” a guard screams from across the corridor.

Your grip on the file tightens that bit more as you turn to L. “Run.”

•

You’re back at your apartment building, and to be specific, you’re at L’s place. They’re in the kitchen, you’re leaning on the kitchen island whilst they open the oven. “I’ve always been a fan of baked midnight snacks, well, early morning ones now considering the time.”

They transfer the fresh cookies onto a plate, it’s done with such grace that you realise tonight, you’ve discovered a whole other side of L. They place the plate of cookies in front of you.

“When they cool, I’ll be offended if you don’t try one,” they say.

You snort. “I can’t come to someone’s house and offend them.” Silence engulfs the two of you, the same way it did on the car ride home. L didn’t say a word, and you were too concentrated on getting out of there and making sure no one was following you. But you can feel something between you and L, something unsaid, something lingering in the air.

“L,” you murmur.

They swallow hard. “We don’t have to talk about what I said.”

“I feel like we should.” We’re friends, or we’re close, or because I trust you. Or whether all of that is bullshit and I mean nothing to you. “You don’t mean nothing to me.”

They scoff a little. “Anndd you don’t have to tell me that because you’re pitying me right now.”

“I’m not,” you whisper. “You’re—”

“I can’t do this tonight,” L interjects, “I can’t think about the fact that Piper has that heavy file on me, I can’t think about the past, I can’t think about letting people down.” They sigh. “And I can’t… wonder about how you feel about me, or how I feel about you because I don’t want to put you in a bad headspace, or ruin whatever small thing we’ve got.”

You swiftly move to stand across from them. “You’re not ruining anything.”

L instinctively goes to reach out for your hand, their fingers brush yours. “We’ve been through a lot. When we’ve eaten cookies, and slept, and all the adrenaline wears off we’ll… I don’t know, talk properly about whatever topic you want.”

“About us,” you whisper.

L smiles at that, one that dances over their lips and makes their face sparkle, makes their freckles look like sweet constellations. “Us.” They take a step back, as though they’re stopping themselves from indulging. “I mean it. I’m not going to kiss you and do something one of us might regret later on.”

“You’d regret kissing me?” you question with an arched brow.

L picks up one of the cookies and pops a piece in their mouth. “I’d regret kissing you if I knew it wasn’t going to lead to an us.” They slide the plate of cookies nearer to you before slipping past you to exit the kitchen. “So, like I said, sleep on it. There’s no pressure, or anything. I promise.”

L leaves after that. All you can do is sigh, pick up a cookie and take a bite of the delicious treat.

All in the span of a few hours you’ve gotten another piece of information about your brother. And after all of that, you almost sorted out the tangled web of feelings between you and L. Almost.