Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For someone who has prided herself on her ability to play detective over the years, Lexi Howard is more than a little disappointed at how long it takes for her to put the clues together this time. In hindsight it really should have been more obvious as to what, or who , has been causing her sister's rapid cycling of emotions the last several weeks. The signs were all there, plain as day. It’s just that Cassie had been a Class I Disaster for weeks now and it was hard to tell if her constant up and down emotions were due to A) her break up with McKay (which they don’t talk about) or B) her abortion (which they also don’t talk about) or even maybe C) both. 

However, it would appear that the real answer is D) None of the Above. 

Honestly, she should have been clued in a lot faster than she was, it’s not like Cassie is exactly the Queen of Subtlety. The fact that Lexi wasn’t immediately calling bullshit as to why her sister was so upset about Nate being pummeled nearly to death on New Years Eve can only be chalked up to her own personal belief that the asshole deserved it. If anyone needed to be knocked down a peg around East Highland, it was Nate fucking Jacobs. 

Nate had been absolutely foul to anyone he didn’t deem worthy of his time for years, and that had often included Cassie. Lexi had done her best to make herself invisible to the jock, and usually that did the trick for her own self preservation, but both her sister and Rue were less capable. It’s not that she out right hated the guy either, at least not at first. He was a dick, but no worse than any other football player in her opinion.

But then she saw the bruises around Maddy’s neck, and she determined that Nate Jacobs had no redeeming qualities. 

Which is why she was absolutely appalled when she figured out what her sister had been doing. 

“Where have you been?” she hisses as Cassie shimmies through the window to their bedroom. 

Cassie gives her an annoyed look. “Out. I didn’t feel like letting mom know. 

“Since when does Mom care if you’re out on a Friday night?”

Cassie just huffs a petulant sigh, shoving the denim jacket down her shoulders. “You know how she is, Lex. I didn’t want the third degree from her, and I sure fucking don’t want it from you, either.” 

Lexi cringes, almost apologetically. She gets it, their mother swings so easily between being the nosiest parent alive and not giving a single solitary fuck, it’s hard to guess which one might be making an appearance on any given day. But still, Lexi can’t help but press on. She knows her sister better than anyone, or so she had thought up until Cassie started keeping secrets. Even so, Lexi can tell something is up. 

“I would have covered for you, you know,” she mumbles as she settles back into her bed. “If you’d just told me what you were doing with Maddy.”

“I wasn’t fucking with Maddy,” Cassie snaps instantly, harsh and angry. “Not everything I do is about Maddy; god, Lexi. I have other fucking friends.”

“Jesus,” she says as she pulls on a loose string on her bedding. “Sorry. It’s just that you two have been spending your Friday nights together since you’ve both been single, so I guess I just assumed tonight was no different. Don’t worry, I won’t be doing that any longer.” 

Her sister kicks off the short heels she wears and gives Lexi a withering look. “Good. I’m not a little fucking kid, Lexi. I don’t need you to babysit me.”

The blonde whirls out of their shared room and into the adjacent  bathroom immediately, Lexi sighing as she hears the lock click in place. Trying to reach out to Cassie feels beyond useless at this point, whatever the fuck is going on is just going to have to play out the way it’s going to. Picking her book back up, Lexi is reaching for the string on her lamp when Cassie’s phone starts buzzing somewhere in the room. As soon as it stops, it picks back up again, and by the third time Lexi is more than annoyed at the sound. Tossing her book aside, she flings off her covers as she hears the water running from their shared shower - and the poorly concealed sobs Cassie tries to hide behind the noise.

It’s easy to locate the phone, it’s still shoved in the pocket of the oversized denim jacket her sister had been wearing. Quickly Lexi silences the device, not even paying attention to the notifications on the lock screen.

Until something unexpected catches her eye.

Namely, the three missed calls coming from Nate Jacobs.

Once it becomes clear that the root of Cassie’s problems is none other than Nate Jacobs, Lexi is a little more than furious.              

The truth coming out would basically mean the end of Cassie’s life as she knows it. As much as Lexi knows her friends are really just Cassie’s friends, she doesn’t think her sister realizes that her friends are actually Maddy’s friends. If it came down to it, not a single one of the girls in their group would pick Cassie over Maddy if they knew that Cassie was fucking her ex. Even Lexi, who loves her sister to death, doesn’t think she’d be able to defend her in the end. 

So really, it’s not just Cassie’s life on the line here. It’s hers too. 

It’s not that Lexi can’t imagine what’s even tempting to the girls of East Highland in regards to Nate Jacobs. He’s tall, athletic, conventionally attractive. It’s just that she doesn’t see the appeal.

Now despite the popular opinion that Little Howard is a prude , Lexi has more experience under the belt than her peers realize. She’s just not out here bragging about it. There was an older girl at theater camp the summer between Freshman and Sophomore years that had taught Lexi all about the pleasure of giving and receiving oral sex, and then she’d lost her virginity to one of the sound tech guys at the cast party after last year's spring musical. 

Then of course there’s the long standing, complicated crush she has on everyone’s favorite plug. Every time she thinks she’s over her attraction to Fezco O’Neill, he drags her back in. 

Lexi hadn’t been there on New Year's Eve when Rue’s former dealer had nearly put Nate down for good, even though she was supposed to be. She wasn’t a huge partier if she was being honest, but Lexi had been hoping for a chance to reconnect with her sister after the mess that was the entire month of December. The house that had been shrouded in an unspeakable melancholy since right after the Winter Formal and Cassie’s abortion, so much so that even their traditional chuckling over Jews stealing Christmas from the Christians wasn’t as much of a highlight to the holiday season as it typically was.  

But all plans of attending the party went flying out the window when Cassie immediately started picking a fight as the sisters got ready. First about Lexi’s hair, then about her outfit choice, and lastly about her shoes. She’d tried to brush it off, reminded herself that Cassie was always making some light hearted jab at her expense, but these words were down right mean. So a mere ten minutes before they intended to leave, Lexi handed the car keys to Cassie and told her to go have fun herself because she wasn’t attending anymore.

Watching her mother’s taillights head down the street had given Lexi immediate regret, but after washing off the makeup and queuing up one of her many comfort movies, Stand By Me, she had felt a little better about the choice. She fucking hated the party scene anyway, it was always chasing her sister or friends around some strangers house, making sure they didn’t get too fucked up or do something stupid. It was exhausting.

And she was comfortable with that choice until the video clips of the absolute beating Fez put on Nate started popping up on her social media.

Most people would have felt bad for the high school senior, he hadn’t stood a chance from the sight of it all, but secretly Lexi thought the whole thing was pretty satisfying. Nate may have their classmates charmed, but Lexi knew he was a snake in the grass.

And then, of course, there was the… well, the Fezco of it all.

It’s not like Lexi had any kind of an intimate relationship with him or anything. They knew each other, a little. Honestly, they had hung out just the one time, when Lexi decided she wanted to try weed and Rue dragged her over to the outdated home of her dealer to smoke up. But Fezco had been nothing but nice to her, even if he did laugh at the beard Rue drew on her with that Sharpie, and teased her by waking her up and telling her there was a fire. Briefly, Lexi had felt like maybe she was finally going to find common ground with Rue again, a friendship that had been slipping through her fingers like sand from the beach, and that she was going to form a new, unexpected one with the boy with the pretty blue eyes. There was no denying Fezco was cute but that was probably an understatement really. Gorgeous more fit the bill, and she had been crushing hard by the end of that night.

But as the girls were gathering their shit up to head back home, Rue had handed her dealer a wad of cash in exchange for a baggie of pills and it was a brutal reminder that she was never going to fit in with them. It had hurt, just a touch, but it didn't extinguish the touch she was carrying for him.

All that besides, Lexi knew the guy was decent. She may not partake in his wares, but she knows well enough that he’s an honest, upfront salesman when it comes to his business. Or at least, she’s heard Maddy complain enough that all the flirting in the world won’t score her a discount with him.

So whatever his reasons were, they had to have been good ones to go after Nate in such a public way. Fezco was thorough and concise, and if had wanted the kid dead, Lexi’s certain he wouldn’t have let anyone pull him of the mangled, bloody body until he’d done exactly that. No, the dealer was sending a message, that much was clear.

It’s just too bad he hadn’t finished the job, because if Nate was out of the picture, Cassie wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.

“Why did he beat the shit out of Nate anyway?” Lexi asks as she chews on her pen cap.

Rue’s watching a compilation of the event that someone anonymously posted on YouTube while they are supposed to be studying for a Physics exam. Lexi’s been trying to pretend to ignore it, but there’s really only so much a girl can do. She already finds him aggressively attractive and watching the way his blows land with precision with just so fucking hot.

“He had his reasons,” her friend replies stonily.

Lexi sighs, putting her book down. “No, I’m not like. On Nate’s side or anything. He’s a complete tool, Rue.”

The other girl huffs in stony agreement. Lexi continues, watching her friend’s face closely. “I’m just… curious. Why would Fezco come at Nate?”

The other girl sighs dramatically before she sits back up and leans against the end of Lexi’s bed.

“Remember last semester when Nate was catfishing Jules by pretending to be some dude named Tyler?”

They hadn’t ever really been able to prove that hypothesis, despite the crack detective work she and Rue had done, but Lexi nods her head in understanding. Even without proof, they both know it was Nate that was fucking with Jules for whatever twisted reason. Thankfully it had stopped, but it was still beyond fucked up.

“So when we couldn’t prove it, I may have asked Fez to like… Threaten Nate a little? Tell him to stop fucking with Jules, ya know, maybe flash that gun he keeps in his waistband to make a point. Well, Nate didn’t like that, obviously, and called in a tip to the Feds. Fez and Ash had to dump their stash as the cops pounded on their front door right before Christmas. It was, like, super bad.”

“How’d he know it was Nate?”

Rue gives her an incredulous look. “Who the fuck else would it have been Lex? Be fucking for real.”

“Yeah, okay, that was dumb of me,” Lexi agrees, twisting her pen in her fingers. “So what, Fezco just like… decided Nate deserved to get his?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Rue agrees with a sigh. “Too bad he did it in such a public place though. If it had been in private, I’m pretty certain the whole of East Highland High School would be walking around in mourning garb right now. I fucking wish.”

Lexi hums her agreement, but doesn’t further the line of thought. Maybe, if they’re lucky, Rue will get her wish before the school years out.

“You’ll be stuck in this fucking arrangement forever, player,” Mouse says as he counts out the stack of bills Fezco had just handed over. “Ion know who the fuck you think you are trying to pull a fast one on me with that dirty fucking money, but you’ll be paying for it for a long time.”

The new parameters of his deal with Mouse and Custer was going to financially ruin them, but then again Fez was pretty sure he was fucked regardless. For a brief second he was certain the hardened supplier was about to take him out of the equation when Fez was late for their meeting and carrying a bag full of blood splattered bills he’d stolen from that crooked doctor, but the man had instead decided to show some mercy on him, claiming that Fez’s ability to tap into the best spending market in town - dumb as fuck rich kids -  was worth keeping him alive for now. But now Mouse was charging the O’Neill brothers double for their usual supply and collecting weekly instead of monthly.

It was fucked.

“Custer showed me some video of you pummeling that Jacobs kid,” the older man says in that way of his that Fez hates. He knows it means Mouse is about to make an offer he won’t be able to refuse at some point. “Could make a lot of fucking stacks in the underground fighting rings in LA.”

He could, he already knows this. Fez might be a little undersized compared to most of the dudes that get involved in those things, but he’s fucking scrappy. It’s just that he’s not quite that desperate.

Yet.

“I’ll think ‘bout it,” he offers his supplier, with no intention of doing anything of the sort.

Mouse pockets his money and tells Fez that Custer will be by in a few days with some more shit they wanna unload on them before heading out the back entrance of the Dairy. Fezco lets out an aggravated sigh before hopping off the counter, intent on walking outside to the breezeway and smoking no less than two cigarettes when the bell to the front entrance rings.

He recognizes the man immediately, even if they ain’t ever met before. Cal Jacobs is a noted and beloved figure of the community of East Highland, even if Fezco ain’t ever been able to figure out why. The houses he builds all look exactly the fuckin’ same and to be frank his chili tastes like ass as far as Fez is concerned.

“Can I help you with sumn?” he asks, keeping his voice as bored as possible. Fez is about 96% sure the man is here to stir the pot about Fez beatin’ the tar outta his bitch-ass son, but he could also just be a regular customer looking for a drink or sumn even if he’s never crossed this threshold before.

The older man lifts his eyebrows before pursing his lips and shaking his head slightly. “Browsing.”

“Lemme know if you need help,” Fezco offers, fingers itching to pull his phone out and text Ash. He don’t know what good that’ll do him, ‘cause the kid stayed home today in order to binge some Netflix show he’d been waiting for.

Cal makes a loop around the small storefront. “You own this place?”

“S’family business,” he offers politely. He holds up his pack of cigarettes and lighter, waving them in the air. “You gon’ buy sumn or nah? Was gettin’ ready to go take a lil break.”

Cal pulls a package of BBQ Lays off the shelf and snatches a thing of Juicy Fruit off the counter. “Just this.”

Fez rings the man up in silence, eyes catching to the way the dude shoves his fists into the pockets of his jacket. Now, despite popular belief, Fezco ain’t fuckin’ stupid. He can clearly make out the shape of the gun Cal is carrying in his pocket.

“That’ll be $6.78,” he says lowly, holding his breath as he waits for Cal’s next move.

He always kinda thought he’d go out this way, but fuck if he ever considered it would be done by some punk kid’s pops.

Surprisingly Cal only pulls out a wrinkled ten dollar bill and places it on the counter wordlessly, but the implications are there. He knows who the fuck Fezco is, and what he did, and he has no intention of letting this shit go.

“Keep the change,” the man offers as he grabs his chips and slips the gum into his pocket. “Have a nice night.”

“Shit’s hella fucked,” Ash mutters as the brothers discuss the evenings events over a frozen pizza. “First we got Mouse all up our asses, and now you got fuckin’ playboy’s daddy tryna play big and bad witchu.”

Fez tosses a piece of crust back onto the pizza tray, leaning back in his chair with a huff. “Cal Jacobs ain’t who I’m worried about, bruh. It’s that lil bitch-ass boy of his that’s got me up at night. Don’t trust the motherfucker.”

If it had been anyone else, Fezco would be pretty confident that the smack down he laid upon the boy would have been enough of a lesson, but he’s coming to realize that Nate Jacobs is the winning combo of stupid and vindictive. Too fuckin’ dim to take a hint, and riding’ too high on his own self-importance to let a slight go unanswered. Not for the first time, Fezco is regretting not putting the teenager down like the rabid fuckin’ dog he is. 

Course, he wouldn’t have done alla that in front of the whole fuckin’ high school in the middle of Virgil’s living room. Nah, if he’s gon’ kill someone it’s gonna be done on the low, easier to get away with that shit when there ain’t any evidence pointing the feds in his direction.

Ashtray bumps his fist in agreement before grabbing a third piece of pizza. “What Mouse have to say?”

“Same old same,” Fez replies, picking a burnt piece of pepperoni off his own pizza. “That he’s got our asses tied to him permanently and we’ll be paying off our debt forever. Nothing new there, bruh.”

Ash scoffs in anger. “He’s gon’ fuck us over, Fezco. Charging double for his shitty-ass product and making us sell more of that shit than we ever have? The books are aight right now…”

“I know what the books look like,” Fez replies. “We can afford to cover the remaining balance for now, but you right that he’s gonna drive us into the red. Gotta figure out how to cut our ties sooner than later.”

“Well… there was that one suggestion I had,” Ash responds, eyes lighting up at the thought.

It should prolly be a little alarming how ready his lil brother is to end the life of their supplier, but it also ain’t like the situation Mouse put them in gave ‘em a whole lotta options.

“You figure out how we can get away with murder, and I’ll pull the trigger,” Fezco says as he runs a hand across his scar, knowing that would quiet the subject for the moment but not the long term.  “Custer been showin’ him videos from New Years Eve, shoulda seen the dollar signs in his fuckin’ eyes thinkin’ he’d make some bands off me goin’ all Fight Club for him. Looked like a cartoon character forreal.”

“Bet.”

“Told ‘im I ain’t interested.”

“Why I feel a but coming on?”

“But the money would be fuckin’ dope. Could get us paid up with him real quick.”

Ash gives him a critical look before cracking a childlike grin. “An’ fuck up yo’ pretty boy face? How else you be bringin’ girls home, I know it ain’t yo’ personality that draws them in.”

Fez just rolls his eyes. “Shut the fuck up man.”

It’s been a long-ass time since Fezco has seen Lexi Howard at his store, and honestly this is prolly the first time ever where she hasn’t been flanked by Rue or trailing behind her sister and her friends. It’s unexpected, and not unwelcomed. She was cute at fourteen, with her braces and knobby knees and wide eyed innocence. Now though? A straight stunner. Subtle curves hidden under her cardigan and long, pale legs on display under the cute lil plaid skirt she wears. He knows everyone goes fuckin’ crazy over her sister Cassie, but her whole thing don’t do it for ‘im the same way Lexi’s sexy libarian look does.

“Lexi Howard,” he drawls, sticking the tip of his tongue out to swipe across his lips. “Whatchu doin’ here for?”

Bright red lips flash an anxious smile as she rubs her hands down the sides of her skirt. “Um. Is there somewhere we can like… talk? In private?”

Now in all the time they’ve been in each other's orbits, Fez has never sold any illicit drugs to the girl. There was that one time he got her high free of charge with Rue, but as far as he knows her experimentation with drugs began and ended with that single solitary smoke up.

“Like.. private private? Or do we need Ashtray?”

Lexi fidgets with the hem of her skirt, her knee bouncing as she decides. “ Private private. For now.”

Nodding, Fez opens the cooler door and hollers to his brother that they need to swap places. The teenager takes his time gettin’ his ass out the back, snickering when he sees who is standing beside Fezco. If his lil crush on Lexi Howard is obvious to anyone, it’s Ashtray.

“Just gotta talk some business,” he explains as Lexi tucks her arms around herself. “Letchu know if we need you.”

Wordlessly he leads the girl through the cooler door that leads to the small office space and larger back storage. Lexi takes the offered desk chair immediately and he can’t help but notice that the color has drained outta her face.

“You feelin’ alright there, shorty?” Fez asks as he perches on the arm of the couch.

The next thing Lexi says about knocks him on his ass.

“About as good as anyone soliciting murder can feel.”

“‘Scuse you?” he sputters, unsure if he heard what he thought he did. “You here doin’ what?”

Abruptly Lexi jumps to her feet, ready to make an escape. It’s instinctual for Fezco to reach out and wrap his hand around her wrist. “This was fucking stupid. I can’t believe I let Rue convince me you’d do something like this.”

“Rue said I’d be down for murder for hire?”

Lexi gives him a withering look. “In not so many words. More like implied. Heavily. Look — we happen to have a common denominator of people we want dead.”

There’s exactly two people whos deaths would make his life easier, and she for sure doesn’t know who the fuck Mouse is.

“What Jacobs do to you?”

Lexi looks pointedly at the hand still wrapped around her wrist, his thumb absentmindedly running along her pulse point in a soothing manner. He lets go immediately. “Not me. He’s uh. He’s been sleeping with my sister. For a while I think? And um. Well, she’s been through a lot recently and he’s not helping matters. Like, Cassie’s always been emotional, and impulsive and, well— never mind, let’s just say that this is on a different level.” She pauses, frowning. “And not for nothing, but he’s a total creep who puts his hands on women. I’m sure you know what he did to Maddy Perez last year.”

Fez lets out a long sigh. “Yeah girl, I know all about that shit. Rue told me. Now tell me more about what’s going on with yo’ sis.”

“What else do you need to know?”

“I ain’t about to just murk someone for the fuckin’ hell of it Lexi. Least lemme know why you’ve come to this conclusion, cause going from thinking yo sister’s boyfriend is a dick to wanting him dead is a hella big leap.”

“Nate Jacobs is the actual devil incarnate.”

Lexi resettles herself on the sofa, staring at him like she gonna be able to drag out what she needs to know jus’ by looking at him “I know you know this,” she pushes, and he can feel her watching his face carefully. “I know he called in that tip that got you raided, and that’s why you practically killed him a few weeks ago.”

“You was there?” he asks, earnestly. He doesn’t remember seeing Lexi around that night, and he always makes note of when he sees her at a party.

“No,” Lexi scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I saw the videos. And you’re about the only person in East Highland who’s not afraid of him.”

Of course he ain’t afraid of Nate Jacobs, he deals with real gangsters on the regular. “If I wanted him dead, I wouldn’t have been pullin’ my punches, Lexi.”

The girl lets out a deep, low sound of frustration and he can’t help but wonder briefly if he’d be able to get the same noise outta her with his dick buried deep inside. “Alright. Lets forget the whole thing and pretend I never came here to ask about how I could get you to commit a murder for me.”

“Nah, girl,” Fezco replies quickly, darting off the couch arm as she brushes past. “I ain’t said no yet. Just wanna know why I’d be doin’ this favor for you.”

“It’s not a favor,” Lexi insists, pulling her wallet out of her lil purse. “I’ll pay. In cash.”

There’s gotta be a couple of grand sitting there as she pulls out the bills.

“I don’t have a lot, just my Bat Mitzvah money and pretty much everything from the last few years' birthday cards. And like, most of my babysitting money. But it’s a start until I can figure out how to pay for the rest.”

Fez puts a hand over hers and pushes the money back towards her. It might be dumb as fuck what he’s ‘bout to say, but the way he sees it he’s getting rid of a big problem and also being able to shoot his shot with the girl in front of him. Yeah, he could use the money, but there ain’t no way Lexi Howard is gonna make enough to pay for what she’s requesting by fuckin’ babysitting. Besides, he’d probably be doing the universe a favor in getting rid of the clown. He wouldn’t go so far as to say that karma would take care of the rest, but…

 “You want me to get ridda playboy for you? Fuck, girl,” Fez says, unable to keep the grin off his face. “Ion want yo’ money, I’d do that shit for free.”

“I can’t let you do that for free,” Lexi responds despite the way she tucks the money back into her purse. “This could end poorly. You could get caught.”

“I won’t, trust me,” he replies smoothly, despite the fact that he can’t guarantee that shit. Fuck, he ain’t even sure how he’d do it in the first place. “But if yo’ ass so worried ‘bout me, I’m sure I can think of sumn to make it worth my while.”

He’s been checking her out since she walked into his store but he’s less subtle about it now. Lexi’s cheeks flame a bright pink and she takes an awkward step back, clearly flustered.

“I’m not going to fuck you so you’ll kill my sisters secret lover for me,” Lexi hisses under the breath, looking completely scandalized.

Letting out a laugh, Fezco flops himself down on the couch. She called him on that one, but he’s got another ace up his sleeve. “Getchu mind out the gutter, Howard. If you gonna end up in my bed, I want you wet and willin’, you feel me? Was just talkin’ ‘bout takin’ you out on a couple of dates, that’s all.”

“…Dates?”

“Three of them. Like ionno. Genie wishes or some shit.”

Lexi bites her lip, and fuck he wants to get to do that himself eventually. She’s clearly contemplating his request, so he takes the chance to get his fill in just lookin at her. Jesus, Lexi Howard don’t even know how fuckin’ gorgeous she is. And he ain’t lyin’, if she finds herself in his bed he only wants her there ‘cause she wants to be there.

“That’s it? Three dates? That’s all you want?”

“Ain’t all I want,” Fez says gruffly, giving her an obvious once over again. Lexi is cute as hell when she’s flustered. “We’ll have to figure out how Imma do the deed of course, but yeah Lexi. I’ll kill playboy for you after you give me three dates.”

The brunette thrusts a hand out in his direction suddenly, Fez laughing as he wraps his much larger hand around hers and gives it a firm shake. “Alright then, it’s a deal. Simple enough, sorry that I accused you of wanting to trade murder for sex. That was rude.”

Tugging her hand to bring her closer, Fezco looks deep into her dark brown eyes. “Like I already said, if you end up in my bed it’s gonna be ‘cause you want it, girl. An’ who knows? By the time we done here, you actually might be findin’ yo’self wanting to be there.”

The thing about soliciting someone for murder is that when it comes to the actual planning part of said murder, you can’t exactly do that over the phone. Well, you could, theoretically; but it seems dangerous and reckless and Fezco had been pretty adamant that they would be meeting in person for this.

He’d asked so casually over the phone if she remembered her way to his place or if she needed to be picked up, that Lexi had stumbled over the answer like a complete idiot. Of course they would be meeting up somewhere private, talking about the easiest way to kill Nate Jacobs in some back booth of the local diner was probably just as bad as trying to do it over the phone. It’s just that she hadn’t really considered their options of location in which they could talk about what they were going to do. Obviously her house was out, but she guesses she’d thought they would be making use of that back room at East Highland Certified Dairy.

“You want me to come to your house?” she echoes back, uncertain. “Like. The same place I went with Rue that one time?”

Fezco huffs a little laugh over the line. “Yeah shorty. My crib is secure, Ash runs a tight fuckin’ ship around here. It’ll be best if we do this shit somewhere we know we ain’t gon’ be overheard.”

Lexi feels herself blushing at the double entendre of it all, though she’s certain the man doesn’t mean anything by it at this moment. It’s just that he’d told her last week that he wanted her wet and willing and now that’s basically all she can think about. Of course there's the murder they are planning taking up room in her brain, but any and all leftover brainpower is being consumed by thoughts of what exactly it would feel like to let Fezco O’Neill fuck her six ways to Sunday.

“Good point,” she murmurs into the receiver. “I’m not trying to make this difficult, but like. I have school. And theater? Auditions for the musical are coming up and I need to prepare for that. It’s just. The timing sucks.”

Which is wild to say considering she’s the one that propositioned him into doing this.

“I hear you,” Fez replies quietly, his voice suddenly sounding so far away. “Guess it all depends on how quick you wanna make this happen?”

Lexi thinks about how Cassie’s alarm is going off at four in the fucking morning these days and how obsessive her beauty routine has become. The other day she had shown up to school practically dressed as a clone of Maddy. Things were getting real fucking weird.

“The sooner the better,” she relents. “How does Thursday afternoon look for you? I’m sure you gotta lot going on yourself. You know, with the store and everything else?”

“I’ll make it work,” Fez responds quietly. “Listen Lex, it’s been real nice chatting witchu, but I gotta go.”

“Is everything okay?”

There's a lot of noise in the background and she can hear Ashtray even if she can’t make out what the kid is saying. “Ain’t nothin’ for you to worry yo’ pretty lil head over, ma. We’ll talk soon.”

She doesn’t even have a chance to say goodbye before he ends the call. Lexi knows he’s probably right, that she shouldn’t be worrying about him, because he’s been doing this shit for years now. It’s not like they’ve had a ton of interactions over the years, but Fezco has always been in her peripherals, and she’s never seen him as anything but cool, calm and collected in all situations. Which was probably the reason she even went to him with this insane idea to rid the world of Nate Jacobs, because even if he’d laughed her off and told her he wasn’t interested, she knew he would be cool about it.

Lexi finds herself on the O’Neill’s doorstep on Thursday evening, later than she’d wanted to show up, but there was a dance call for Oklahoma! after school and if she wanted to get one of the leads, she needed to brush up on her skills. There’s still a thin layer of sweat clinging to her skin as she knocks on the front door, the dealer promising he’d be home no later than five o’clock that afternoon – it was already pushing seven.

“Lexi Howard,” Fez greets her, much like how he did when she showed up at his store. “C’mon in. Ash and I were just gettin’ ready to have dinner.”

Lexi slips in under his raised arm, noting the way he takes a good look around the neighborhood before shutting the door and securing a series of locks. Quickly she slips out of her sneakers, leaving them beside the row of shoes at the front door and taking an assessment of the house. Not much has changed in the two and a half years since she was last in this place, it’s still very much a shrine to the woman who raised the young dealers. Lexi’s not sure what happened to his grandma, but she knew from Rue that she was still there— bed bound in a room down the hall.

“I didn’t mean to impose,” she says once Fez turns back to her. “If I’d known I was interrupting dinner I would have picked a different day to drop by.”

Fezco just snorts an amused sound and cracks a smile in her direction before leading her to the dining room. “Don’chu worry ‘bout it Lexi. Hope you like chicken fajitas, ‘cause that’s what's on the menu tonight.”

“You made chicken fajitas?” she asks with a tone of surprise. It had never occurred to her that Fezco could actually like, properly cook.

He gestures to the younger teenage boy sitting at the table. “Someone gotta keep this motherfucker fed, you feel me? Besides, it’s just chopping up some vegetables and chicken and throwing that shit on a sheet pan.”

Sure enough there’s a giant sheet pan of peppers, onions and sliced chicken sitting on the table beside a bag of tortillas and a variety of toppings. Ashtray’s already busied himself with making his dinner plate, but Fez smacks him upside the back of the head and makes him properly introduce himself. 

“I cook for my family too,” Lexi offers as Fezco hands her a paper plate. “I told my mom my dance call was running late and I wouldn’t be home for dinner tonight, so I’m certain there will be some sort of take out in the fridge when I get home.”

After helping themselves to the food, Fez and Ash sit their plates on the table and reach across the table to hold hands, presumably to pray. Fez offers one to Lexi, and she stares at it for maybe a beat too long before he asks if she don’t pray before meals.

“Uh… actually. Um, I’m Jewish. Technically. So not normally, no?”

“Technically?” Fez replies with a raised eyebrow.

Lexi shrugs. “I don’t exactly subscribe to the whole… God Thing. But you do you.”

Across from her Ashtray lets out a low whistle. “No wonder you feel no qualms ‘bout havin’ playboy murked.”

The kid yelps as Fez kicks him from under the table, Lexi hiding her smile behind her hand as Ash starts a mumbled prayer. Both brothers cross themselves in tandem before digging into their meal, Lexi picking up her own fajita. Jesus, she really was famished after that dance class.

“So,” Fezco begins after eating nearly his whole meal. “Have you put any thought into how we’d do this shit?”

Lexi pauses, putting her tortilla back on her plate and grabbing the glass of water that was at her spot. “Not really? I kinda thought that’s where you two would come in?”

“Murder can be real messy, Lex,” Fez says slowly, looking over at his little brother. “We ain’t like, professional hit men or nothing. But we know some shit.”

“Have you ever… before?”

Ash grunts from his spot. “You’nt wanna real answer to that one, Howard.”

“Plausible deniability," Fezco cuts in. “It’s better if you know less.”

“How can it be better if I’m here asking you to kill someone for me?”

The teenage dealer’s hand finds her knee under the table and gives it a squeeze. Fezco doesn’t bother removing it, just lets it linger there as the heat of his palm seeps into her skin through her leggings.

“Just trust me, aight pretty girl?” he says after a moment, and all Lexi can do is nod, her face flushed from the moniker.

“Now, if we gon’ do this shit right, we needa figure out when we can get access to Jacobs alone,” Fezco says, pulling his hand away from her knee finally and Lexi can’t help but pout over it. “Easier to make it look self-inflicted if no one knows his whereabouts.”

“You wanna stage a suicide?” Lexi questions. “You don’t think that’s a little like… suspicious?”

Fez and Ash share a long look that Lexi can’t decipher. It’s like they are having a silent conversation, something that she once thought she had with her sister but feels further and further from her grasp these days.

“Lets just say, we gotta ‘nough dirt on Nate Jacobs that any police officers looking into his suicide would find plenty of reason to believe he killed himself,” Fez finally responds after Ash gives him a subtle nod.

Lexi frowns. “If it’s about all the dick pics Maddy saw on his phone last year, I already know about that. I’m like, ninety percent certain he’s in the closet, which is also why I don’t understand why he’s fucking around with my sister these days.”

If Fez and Ash are surprised about any of that information, they don’t show it on their faces. They eat the rest of dinner in near silence, Ashtray finishing up and excusing himself to his room as Fezco moves his chair to be facing Lexi a little more. He surprises her by grabbing the leg of her own chair and doing the same thing. Her cheeks flush at the action.

“You know if we get caught, we’re all goin’ down for this shit right?” he asks seriously, eyes trained to her face as she gulps.

“Yep,” Lexi responds, swallowing past the nerves. “That’s why we’re not gonna get caught.”

Bright blue eyes light up in amusement as a grin appears across full lips. She's starting to wonder what they taste like. “That’s my girl,” he replies in that easy way of his. “Now ‘bout this first date…”

Cassie is going to crack under the pressure. It’s all Lexi can think as she watches her sister frantically set up for Maddy’s 18th birthday party. Cassie is going to have a full on mental breakdown, and her secret is going to come out, and her and Fezco are going to have to push up the timeline of this whole murder thing.


Lexi: S he’s fucking losing it.

Fez: cant b that bad lex

Lexi: No, it really is.
Everyone is getting here though so I need to go.

Fez: text me later
wanna hear the deets

Lexi: I’ll call you.


That’s something they do now, talk on the phone. Texts are always flying back and forth between the two of them, but they’ve recently added nightly phone calls to the mix. It’s silly, because they can’t talk about the thing that made them become friends, so they’ve started talking about basically everything else.

“Lexi?” her mom calls from the kitchen. Lexi slips her phone into her pocket and heads that direction.

Suze is holding a White Claw as she peers into the living room where Cassie adjusts the streamers again. “Is she doing alright?”

Lexi just gives her mom a Are You Serious Look. “Really?”

“C’mon kiddo, I know she’s been a little… on edge since the abortion. But something feels really off about her today.”

Lexi wishes she could tell Suze what was going on, really she does, but she’s got a handle of the situation. Soon enough Nate Jacobs and his weird mind control will be a thing of the past.

“She just wants everything to be perfect,” Lexi replies, attempting to pacify her mothers curiosity. “Maddy’s her best friend.”

For the most part, the night goes off without a hitch. It’s just the girls minus Rue and Jules, who have both been weird and distant recently the more time they spend with that Elliot guy. They sing karaoke and drink White Claws and dance in the living room to Y2K Pop. It’s actually way more fun than Lexi expected, Cassie seeming to devote all her attention to Maddy, even if she’s going harder on the alcohol than normal. Maddy blows out the candles on her cake and opens gifts, delighting over the scrapbook Cassie put together. Lexi has to bite her tongue when it gets pulled out, smiling and ooh-ing and ahh-ing along at just the right times as the pit in her stomach grows. It’s so fuckin obvious, you can see how much her sister loves Maddy, and it’s really fuckin’ hard to understand why Cassie would do something that would hurt her friend so deeply.

They take group photos on the stairs and Lexi does her best to hide away behind her friends. She’s not embarrassed or anything about her dress with the frilly, elongated collar or the simple way she’s done her hair and makeup, it’s just that the rest of the girls are here dressed to the nines and Lexi knows she can’t compare.

Her phone buzzes in her pocket and she suppresses a grin, knowing its Fezco. No one else has been hitting her line up with any regularity these days.

Lexi sneaks out to the den, intent on filling in her… friend with the details of the party when the doorbell rings and Maddy opens it to reveal none other than Nate fucking Jacobs. Lexi sinks back behind the door frame, peaking around the edge to watch whatever shit is about to happen, because Cassie looks moments away from melting down as she stands frozen on her spot while the exes talk at the front door.


Lexi: shit shit shit hes fucking here

Fez: ???
playboy at yo house

Lexi: fuckk
He just showed up and
omg

Cassie looks like she’s ready to spill the whole sordid affair

What do i do?

Fez: u wanna get outta there

Lexi: fuck yeah kinda

Fez: gimme ten pretty girl

Lexi: Omgggg no fezco
I can’t leave
This is gonna be messy

Fez: aint yo mess 2 deal w shorty
not tonight neway

Lexi: Right.
Okay. I need fifteen.



She finishes changing her outfit to something more comfortable as Cassie drunk stumbles into the bedroom, her sister's eyes transfixed on Lexi’s attire as she comes to a stop.

“You can’t leave yet, the parties just get-getting started Lex,” her sister slurs as she rummages through a pile of swim suits. “We’re getting in the hot tub.”

Lexi stands her ground, crossing her arms over her chest. “There’s no way I’d get into a hot tub with Nate. Ew.”

Cassie just laughs, a little cruel. “Suit yourself, loser.”

Lexi’s phone buzzes in her hand and she knows it’s Fez letting her know he’s down the street. He doesn’t feel comfortable coming right up to her house, which is fair enough because everyone knows what car he drives and she’s not trying to answer prying questions right now. They are just friends and future accomplices in murder.

That’s all.

Even if that word is starting to feel like an incorrect description.

“So his pops has all these work sites right?” Fezco says as he leans over the coffee table beside Lexi. “Might be the easiest place to do it, you feel me? Sumn poetic and tragic ‘bout takin’ his own life on his dads development, easier to twist the narrative too.”

Lexi hums her agreement. “Jaded son kills himself on the legacy his father built for him because he fears he’ll never live up to expectations. I couldn’t write it better myself.”

“You write?” he asks, settling back into the couch with his blunt. “Like stories an’ shit?”

The girl beside him scoots back to lean against the old couch, her legs pulled tight to her chest as she rests her cheek on knees. “Sorta. I’m like, not very good yet. But I have lots of ideas running through my head and I need to get them out, you know?”

“Bet yo’ shit is amazing,” Fezco replies, enjoying the way Lexi’s cheek grow pink. “You like the smartest, coolest fuckin’ person I’ve ever met. No doubt yo’ writing isn’t straight fire, ma.”

“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that,” Lexi says quietly, twisting a ring around her finger. “You’re like, the only person who thinks that I’m cool or interesting these days. Can’t even get my best friend to hang out with me.”

Immediately Fezco feels his heart break for the girl beside him just a little. He knows Rue’s fuckin’ gone on some shit, not that he knows where she got it or even what it is, and that the worse she gets into whatever her current drug of choice is the worse of a friend she is to everyone. Including him.

“Fuck her then,” he offers genuinely. “If Rue can’t see yo’ the best person she’s ever gonna have in her corner, you don’t need her.”

“Thanks,” Lexi whispers, wiping a tear away from her eye. “That means a lot to me.”

He’d say he doesn’t know why he does it, but that would be a whole goddamn lie. Gently Fezco brushes the hair out of Lexi’s face, his hand softly cupping her chin and tugging her towards him, intent on kissing her for the first time when the walkie talkie on the coffee table blares to life.

“Code Red. Code Fucking Red. Get yo’ ass in gear motherfucker,” Ash says across the thing, snapping them both out of the trance they are in.

Shit. Fuckin’ shit.

“What does that mean?” Lexi asks, startled as Fez flings himself off the couch. He grabs her hand and drags up off the sofa, almost pulling her arm out of the socket as he rushes them back to his bedroom.

This was literally the last fuckin’ thing Fezco needed to deal with today. Mouse makin’ an unexpected house call was not a common occurrence, so of fuckin’ course it had to happen right when he’s got Lexi Howard here.

The girl looks genuinely terrified as he shoves her into the room, closing the door behind him as he scrambles over to his bed and pulls the hand gun he keeps there out from between the wall and the mattress. “Fezco, what the fuck?”

“Lex, listen,” he says, trying to stay calm as he checks the gun over. “Code Red means my fuckin’ guy is here, like right the fuck now. I gotta go.”

“Your guy?”

He sincerely does not have time for this. “Mouse. My supplier. Usually I have a heads up, but the guys a fuckin’ dick an’ just does this shit sometimes. Just drops by without warnin’. Ash is keepin’ him busy right now but if I don’t get out there he’s gonna come back here and…”

The rest of it goes unsaid. It’s bad enough that Mouse is aware of Rue, the last thing Fezco needs is for the guy to know about Lexi.

He presses the cold steel into the girls shaking hands. “Imma be aight pretty girl. Just stay back here, don’t make any noise, and I’ll come and getchu when he’s gone, aight?”

Lexi gulps and nods, eyes full of tears. He wishes he could do sumn about it.

“Baby, you gotta be quiet for me, please,” he repeats, almost begging. “Be right back.”

Without thinking much of it, he grabs the back of Lexi’s head and presses a quick kiss against her forehead. It’s sumn he does to Ashtray all the time, or at least he used to when the kid still let him.

The visit with Mouse is insufferable, maybe more than normal because he’s got a terrified seventeen year old girl hiding back in his bedroom. But also maybe because the guy’s gotten cockier since Fezco’s December fuck up, pushing more and more product on the brothers, expecting more money in return. Ideally they’d get out from under the man's thumb, but it’s easier said than done. That and Fezco knows Mouse is just a middle man, working for a drug lord and cutting a profit off of what he gets in return from Fez and Ash - he’d rather work for a middle man than deal with some asshole drug lord directly.

After nearly an hour of back and forth, the heavily tattooed man finally fuckin’ leaves, his pockets lined with extra stacks that Fezco absolutely did not have to pay him, but was willing to do in order to get him the fuck up out of his house. If he had been extra tense over this shit, he doubts Mouse picked up his terse speech and short answers. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, Fezco being off put by the guy these days. It’s not even like he was that annoyed about Mouse dropping in unexpectedly, it’s more that Lexi Howard is back in his bedroom and all he can think about is the fact that he hasn’t even properly kissed her yet.

“Shit, man,” Ash sighs, doubling over the couch once Mouse and Custer clear out.  “Thought we was gonna have a Rue Part Two situation on our hands when I saw ‘im pull up.”

Fez tucks the gun back into the couch and leans his head against the cushion for a brief second. “Ain’t gon’ lie, I did too.”

Usually the brothers have a debrief after Mouse and Custer show up, but Fezco is itching to get back to his bedroom and get to Lexi. Ash can see it in his eyes.

“Go get yo’ girl, damn.”

Usually he’d snark something at the punk ass kid about Lexi not being his girl but it’s all he needs to hear before he’s up and off the couch, practically running down the hallway to his bedroom. The door is still closed tight, and remembering that he handed the girl a loaded pistol before he left her there, he knocks twice before calling her name.

“Lexi, it’s me. I’m coming in,” he says into the wood as he turns the knob.

He’s not even pushed the door all the way open before Lexi launches herself at him, all arms and legs as she wraps herself around his sturdy frame and buries her head into his neck. Kicking the door closed behind him, Fezco tugs the girl closer, if that’s possible, finally breathing for the first time in a damn hour despite how tightly Lexi squeezes him. It’s relief having this girl in his arms right now, nothing went terribly fucking wrong today.

“Hey, look, I’m aight, see? I’m so fuckin’ sorry Lex,” he whispers into the girl's ear as he does his best to reassure her. “No big deal, promise. This some normal shit for me. Used to it.”

Lexi pulls away, but doesn’t completely untangle herself. “Well it’s not normal for me. I didn’t know I could be so scared for someone else. I thought… I thought you… I don’t know what I thought. I was just out of my mind with worry.”

“Ain’t nothin’ to be scared of baby,” Fezco replies, brushing long strands of brown hair out of her face.

There’s tear tracks on her cheeks and he hates that he’s the reason she was just crying. Fezco brushes them away with his thumbs, smiling softly at the girl in his arms as she sniffles a little more. God, she’s perfect. Tears and all. He really meant it when he said she was the coolest fuckin’ person he’d ever met.

“Can we plan that first date now?” Lexi asks, voice still a little watery even as she laughs. “It’s dumb but all I could think about was how we haven’t done that yet even though it’s part of our agreement.”

Fezco nods, brushing his nose against hers. “All I could think about was how I ain’t fuckin’ kissed you yet.”

He doesn’t give her a chance to respond, just slips his hands into the hair at the back of her skull and drags her mouth to his as he seals his lips over hers. Lexi hums into it immediately, surging forward to press her lips against his harder. There’s so much he wants to do to her, wants to do with her, but he meant it when he said he wanted her wet and willing. There's too much adrenaline surging between them in the fallout of Mouse’s surprise visit, and anything they would do right now could possibly be a mistake.

So he settles for kissing her. Prying her mouth open with his tongue, licking so sweetly into it to get a taste of her. It might be his new favorite drug.

“Mouse needs to fuckin’ go,” he says over breakfast a few days after the whole disaster that was the supplier showing up as Lexi was there. “I know I pumped the brakes on that shit earlier this year, but ionno— fuck it. If we gonna plan one murder, we might as well plan another, bruh.” 

Ash looks up from his bowl of Cheerios, seemingly unsurprised by Fezco’s declaration. He’s wanted to off Mouse for at least a year now. “How you thinkin’ we go ‘bout this? Cause we barely know how we’re offing Jacobs, and now you wanna add another one?” 

Fez shrugs aimlessly, because he don’t got a fuckin’ clue other than the fact that he can’t risk the man walkin’ into his crib with Lexi there again. They ain’t even anything more than literal partners in crime, even if they spent the better part of the evening after Mouse showed his ugly-ass mug making out in his bedroom.

“We’ll figure it out,” he replies with a sigh. “If we gettin’ rid of Mouse, we gonna have to figure out a new supplier, and having that decided before we take action seems smart.” 

Ash snorts in agreement. “Ion trust fuckin’ Custer to set us up with no one. Less you thinkin’ he needs to go too?” 

Custer is a lot of things, but ‘criminal mastermind’ is not one of them. The dude is nice enough, and Fez thinks they’d prolly be cool if he wasn’t Mouse’ right hand man and was just like a customer or homie or sumn. But he breaks the number one rule of dealing, and that’s dipping into his own supply. Mouse might not give a fuck if his partner has track marks on his arms but Fez is wary of getting into anything with a dude who is that deep into opioids. 

“Nah man, unless he starts acting sus, think Custer is fine to leave be, you feel me? We don’t need his contacts, just gotta work mine.” 

His little brother grunts in agreement around a mouthful of Cheerios, seemingly done with the conversation as he resumes shoveling the cereal into his mouth. Rolling his eyes, Fezco pulls his phone out of his pocket, opening his text thread with Lexi on habit. She’d sent him a message at some insane time in the morning, letting him know she’d started working on an idea for a play that she’d been rolling around in her head for the last year. 

Fez: yo lemme read that shit baby 

Lexi: It’s not ready! 

Not even close to ready.

I only have like three scenes written out.

Fez: ion care lemme see it lex 

He knows she’s already at school, so he’s not expecting a reply right now. She’ll hit him back soon enough, either between classes or in one that’s boring as fuck. It’s the surprise of his life when his email banner pops up with a new message from Lexi, a link to some fuckin’ Google doc with a simple :) as the subject. He’s gotta get himself going to the dairy for the day, but he’ll make the most of his downtime at the store reading it.



Fez: u a real one girl
gonna kill my time waiting 4 u w this

Lexi: Let me know if it’s boring.

Or like. Bad.



Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Fez gathers his breakfast dishes and gives them a good rinse before leaving them to wash later. Ash is off this morning, having his own school to do, so finishes getting himself ready in silence. He grabs his keys from their spot beside the door, yelling at Ashtray to lock back up as he leaves.

By the time Lexi’s done with school for the day, Fezco has been preparing his review of the couple of scenes worth of a play she sent him earlier. He read it no less than three times, completely taken by her ability to build worlds with words and makes sure she knows just how fuckin’ impressive he thinks the whole thing is.

If it happens to lead to her dropping by the Dairy on her way home just to kiss him senseless, he ain’t mad about it.

“No one’s ever taken me on a picnic before,” Lexi comments as she trails behind him through one of the local parks. “You’re going to set a gold standard for dates for me if you aren’t careful, O'Neill.”

Honestly he kinda figured this would be right up her alley. Lexi Howard just screams ‘Girl Who Loves A Picnic,’ ya know? Fezco looks over his shoulder and shoots her a grin, hefting the picnic basket from one hand to another so he can find her free hand with his own. Lexi smiles up brightly at him, adjusting her grip on the picnic blanket but not losing her grip on him at all. 

On god, does he want to kiss that smile off her face, but he’s sorta a man on a mission here alright? 

At this point you’d think they’d be willing to admit that they are in some sorta fucked up dating situation that’s gotten tangled up in the actual crime they are planning on committing within the next several weeks, but despite how easily she kisses him these days, Lexi’s still playing it coy on the relationship front.

“Maybe that’s my ultimate plan, Howard,” he responds, leading her down a short hill that flattens out into a secluded duck pond. “Date you so good that you’nt wanna date anyone else ever.”

Her cheeks beat red but Lexi rolls her eyes at him like he’s just sayin’ some cheesy-ass line, not actually being way more fuckin’ honest than he even cares to admit to himself.

“I don’t think I’d wish that on anyone,” Lexi replies, laying the old blanket out on the ground once Fez indicates they made it to the spot. “I’m way too neurotic and anxious to like, be someone that someone else would want to actually date long term.”

Fezco has busied himself with unpacking their lunch - simple sandwiches, grapes and chips - but he immediately stops what he’s doing to give the younger Howard sister a long look. Lexi squirms under the attention, fidgeting with the nameplate necklace she wears as she avoids eye contact.

“What?”

“Why you always doin’ that shit?” he questions sincerely, softly. “You always puttin’ yo’self down Lexi, like bein’ real fuckin’ mean to yo’self. Doubting’ yo’self an’ shit. Ion know, I guess I just don’t understand it.”

Lexi plucks a grape from the bunch and pops it into her mouth, chewing thoughtfully as she contemplates what he just said.

“I… I don’t know. I guess I didn’t realize I did that? Or well, didn’t realize I was doing it consciously. Because I’ve been doing it subconsciously for years…”

“Whatchu mean?”

Lexi fiddles with the grapes some more. Annoyed, Fezco snatches her hand and forces her to look up at him. “C’mon now, pretty girl. Talk to me. I wanna know why you so hard on yourself.”

Her brown eyes look so sad and fuck this is not the first date he was hoping to have. Putting her fingers to his lips, Fez brushes a kiss against them in hopes that she understands he’s just here to listen. That he'll always just want to listen to her.

“It’s just that. Cassie’s always been the perfect one, you know? Even when she fucks up, she’s never done anything wrong in the eyes of like… everyone. Including my parents when we were kids. You could say it gave me a complex, but it’s also like. A lot of stress? It’s really hard to keep up with someone who is seen as perfect, especially when their flaws feel so obvious.”

He knows she has more to say, so he just presses a second kiss to her hand in encouragement.

“I get anxious over just about everything. It's like… I’m under this bigger microscope than my sister is, because people expect her to fuck up right? But they still love her even when she does. But for me? I have even more pressure to do everything right, because there’s higher expectations on me to be like… actually perfect. I second guess everything because it doesn’t seem to matter what I do or don’t do, my choices are always being picked apart. So like, when you say I’m mean to myself, it’s probably because my brain is on a constant loop about not messing up, not wanting to be compared to my sister. I don’t know, it doesn’t make sense but like, it does make sense too?”

Fez nods his understanding, even if he doesn’t totally get it. No one expects nothin’ from him, and he doesn’t think anyone has in years.

Lexi shakes her head, disagreeing vehemently when he says as much. “That’s not true. You have like, so many more demands to fulfill for the people around you than I do. You take care of Ash, and your grandma and like… two fully operational businesses?”

“But that shit is different Lexi. That’s like, what I gotta do to survive, you know? Not like there’s an honor roll I’d be missing out on for ‘moved the most product’ or ‘balanced the books’ sumn. S’just life.”

The brunette lays back down on the blanket, patting the spot next to her. Joining her, Fez looks up at the tree they’ve lounged under - specks of blue sky appearing between the new growth of the leaves - and grabs Lexi’s hand in his own, twining their fingers together without much thought.

“It doesn’t make it any less of a high standard Fezco,” Lexi demures a few minutes later. “You have a lot on your plate. More than most nineteen year olds do. It can’t have been easy to live in survival mode all these years.”

His laugh is short and brittle, because what a fuckin’ understatement. “Nah baby, it sure ain’t been no walk in the park, you know what I’m sayin’? But like. It’s the fuckin’ cards I’ve been dealt, I can’t just ignore ‘em.”

“What if you had different cards?”

Turning his head to look at the girl beside him, Fezco sees that Lexi is already regarding him with such a serious look. Like he’s a knitting project she messed up and she’s trying to unravel him now in order to put him back together.

“Like. If I didn’t have to sell drugs to take care of me an’ my lil brother?”

Lexi nods. “Yeah, sure. What if you didn’t have to sell drugs anymore?”

“Am I still committin’ murders for pretty girls?” he flirts, trying his best to avoid the question. Also maybe just because he likes the way Lexi gets flustered when he calls her pretty.

“Fezco. Be serious,” Lexi huffs, pouting.

She giggles when he rolls over and plants himself above her, his elbows digging into the soft ground as he holds his weight up above her. Lexi parts her thighs, making room for him to settle between them and Jesus Christ; he can't really believe she’s letting him take up so much of her space right now. Fez picks up a loose curl that halos Lexi’s head, twirling it between his fingers before running his hand down the side of her face in order to cup her cheek and press a long, lingering kiss against her mouth.

“You can’t avoid the question by kissing me,” Lexi mumbles against his mouth, despite not doing anything to really stop him.

Fez sighs, dropping his forehead against Lexi’s before pressing another short kiss to her lips. “You said to be serious, baby.’

He loves the way her eyes sparkle when he calls her that.

“Yeah,” Lexi whispers, hands coming up to his shoulders. “About what you’d be doing if you didn’t have to sell drugs for a living, not about me.”

“Ye of little faith Lex. I’d be hella fuckin’ serious about you if I wasn’t slinging fucking dope all over this goddamn town. Might fuck around an’ make you my actual girl. Getchu in my bed, show you just how serious I can be,” he teases despite meaning every single word of it.

“Fezco.”

He laughs as he rolls off of her, laying back on the blanket and pillowing his head in his hands. Lexi scoots a lil closer, resting her cheek on his chest as her fingers find the cool metal of his chain and begin to play with it. It’s nice, laying here like this, getting to pretend they a real couple and not just two messed up kids plotting the murder of a classmate. Even if the murder is for the greater good, Fezco knows what they are doing is not Hallmark Movie shit.

“Shit, girl,” he replies eventually, after thinking about it for several minutes as they lay together. “I be thinkin’ ‘bout getting myself a lil farm. Like, doin’ it up Little House on the Prairie style, you feel me?”

“Like the books? With the girl in the wagon?”

Fez snorts. “Ain’t ever read no books, but I’ve watched the shit outta the old tv show. An’ I mean, we past the covered wagon Oregon Trail bullshit. But yeah. Get myself a plot of land, build a house and a barn, get a shit load of animals to look after. Have a lil’ family. I mean, I been lookin’ after everything for years now, so it don’t seem that different.”

“Not to like, be all Debby Downer here, because that’s such a great dream to have, really it is,” Lexi begins, sitting up a little so she can turn and look down at him. He can’t help but smile up at her. “But I need you to think critically here. Can you really see yourself being a farmer?”

Fez knows his eyes light up as he answers hell yeah baby.

She sits up more fully at that, gesturing broadly at his current fit. Not all of it is brand name, but most of it is ‘cause he wanted to look good for their first date.

“What ‘bout it?”

“Fezco, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but being a farmer is a really dirty job.”

He looks up at her through his lashes, trying to work out what she’s implying but coming up short. Dealin’ can be really dirty sometimes too. He’s lost too many shirts to bloodstains, his and others.

“Ain’t afraid of a lil mess Lex,” he says with a shrug. “Killin’ Jacobs is gon’ be a whole lot worse than anything I’d have to do on a farm.”

“Worse than delivering a calf?”

“Man, cows been giving birth by themselves for fuckin’ centuries. Ion gotta do nothin’ but be there for it.”

Lexi sighs, scrambling off him so quickly that she doesn’t realize she’s giving him a great view up the edge of her skirt. With miles of milky skin to check out, he a lil distracted when she shoves her phone in his face, a YouTube video ready to play.

“Please watch this. Then you can determine if you really want to be a farmer.”

By the time they’re walking back hand and hand to the Caddy, Fez has had a major change of heart.

“Ya know… I’m real fuckin’ good with numbers. Maybe I’d just become a CPA an’ like, have a greenhouse to grow some weed or sumn.”

Chapter Text

Lexi’s not stupid. Whatever this thing she currently has going on with Fezco is eventually going to come to a close after they meet their end goal, and she is risking her heart being broken when it does. Planning a murder is not a good basis for a relationship, and actually committing one seems worse. 

But she’s still just a teenage girl, and the very hot guy she’s crushed on forever is expressing a hella lot of interest in her right now. So it might be reckless of her, but for now she’s going to chase the feeling she gets when Fezco slips his tongue into her mouth or creeps his fingers along the edge of her shirt to touch her bare skin. 

“Jesus Christ, you fuckin’ stunnin’ baby,” he praises reverently as she pulls away from their kiss and settles her weight on his hips. She gives her own hips a roll against the tented denim, loving the groan the motion pulls from his lips.

Fez had spent the last couple of days tailing Nate at a distance after school. Football season has finished, so that was a non issue these days, but they were curious about what an afternoon in the life of Nate Jacobs looked like. As it turns out he spends a lot of time working out, which makes sense, but his social life isn’t nearly as thriving as most people would think. For a guy with a lot of friends, it would appear that Nate avoids spending time with them when it’s not an event he’s going to be seen at. 

They’d been talking about the teenage boy’s routine and how they could get him out to his dad’s worksite while lounging in Fez’s bedroom, gradually moving closer and closer to one another until they were practically whispering against each other's mouths. The look in his eyes was almost enough to make Lexi uncomfortable, full of emotions she has no desire to decipher because if she does this only ends in tragedy. 

So she’d done the thing that they were both like to do when they wanted to avoid dealing with whatever the fuck that was and kissed him, rolling him into the mattress as she climbed on top of him for the first time ever. 

“You’re just saying that because I’m letting you make out with me like, constantly,” Lexi replies, grinding her hips against him again. 

Fez’s head falls back into his pillows, his neck straining as his hands find her hip bones and squeeze when he jerks himself up in between her thighs. The sound that Lexi makes comes as a surprise, and so does the way Fezco flips their positions without her even blinking. 

“Nah girl, always thought you was pretty as fuck,” Fez replies as he leans in to nip at her neck. “That shit ain’t got nothin’ to do with this .”

He emphasizes his last word with a hard thrust, nearly making Lexi see stars. 

Sleeping with him would probably be the dumbest shit she could do, but there’s a lot of other fun activities they could partake in that’s not actual intercourse. Lexi’s making a grab for his belt buckle, fully intent on getting her hand around him immediately when there’s a thundering pounding at the door. 

“Yo Fezco, whatever the fuck yo’ ass is doin’ with Lexi in there needs to be wrapped up like, right fuckin’ now,” Ash booms on the other side of the door. They both freeze, afraid it’s going to be another Mouse House Call before the boy continues. “Fuckin’ Cal Jacobs is lurking outside.” 

Lexi catches Fezco’s wide eyed look, reluctantly letting go of his jeans as he collapses against her briefly, groaning a pained sound of annoyance before pressing a kiss on the side of her neck. 

“Some fuckin’ timing that guys got,” Fez says as he sits up, adjusting his polo and jeans to conceal the flagging erection. He offers Lexi a hand to pull her off the bed. “You wanna stay back here?” 

Biting her lip she shakes her head no. “Honestly? I kinda wanna see what this is all about. If you don’t mind.” 

“He gon’ recognize you. Could be telling your moms that you’ve been hanging out with the town drug dealer.” 

Lexi shrugs, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “We aren’t doing anything wrong, who fucking cares?” 

Fez wraps a strong hand around her waist and pulls her in, kissing her once before pulling back and giving a look that’s all sentiment. “Just plannin’ how we gonna kill his bitch-ass son.” 

“Like I said, nothing wrong.”

He smiles in a way that makes her want to drag him back to his bed and finish what they were trying to start  — and Jesus Christ, isn’t that a terrifying thought? To think a man could hold that much power over her just by his smile alone is absolutely world-shifting information. Lexi had always considered herself things like strong and independent and not boy crazy but by God, Fezco O’Neill was testing those perceptions to their breaking point.

“You a whole ass trip Howard,” Fezco mumbles, oblivious to her internal dialogue as he lets her go and reaches for the door.

He opens it to reveal Ashtray is sitting not so patiently against the hallway wall. The boy jumps right into it without so much as a hello, completely chasing whatever train of thought Lexi had been trying to board out of the station. “Dumb ass motherfucker been sittin’ in that flashy truck of his for over an hour now, caught him on the surveillance cameras. Think’s he outta frame but he don’t know ‘bout the whole set up, got him right in sight.”

Lexi knocks her head to the side, raising an eyebrow as she speaks. “How many cameras do you have?”

The teenager, who usually does his level best not to acknowledge Lexi’s ever growing presence in his home, cuts a look up in her direction. “Apparently enough, bitch.”

Lexi raises her hands at chest level and takes a step backwards, clocking that Fezco was scowling at his brother’s choice of words. Ashtray notes it too, rolling his eyes and mumbling an halfassed apology, Lexi nods her head thanks as Fez wraps an arm around her shoulders to tug her close. It feels protective, like he’s doing his best to keep her from harm's way, even if it’s just his little brother being a shitty kid.

“So whatchu wanna do ‘bout it?” Fez asks, free hand reaching into his pocket for the slightly crushed pack of cigarettes. Lexi helps him fish one out, placing it between his lips like it’s second nature. Fez gives her a wink that makes her knees weak. “‘Cause he can linger out there all he fuckin’ wants man, ain’t nothin’ for him to see goin’ on here.”

“I wanna bring him in,” Ashtray says contemplatively. “First he showed up at the dairy, and now he’s bringing his ass here? Man is being sus.” 

Lexi blinks hard at that information. Cal showed up at the Dairy? When? 

“Aight man, go an’ get him,” Fez says as he lights his cigarette, blowing the smoke out over his shoulder away from Lexi. “Seems we gotta interrogation to do. Fuck.” 

It's probably the most overjoyed she’s ever seen Ashtray look, except maybe when they were discussing all the possible ways they could fake a suicide by Nate a few weeks back. He scampers off to the laundry room, returning in an instant with a very large gun that makes Lexi cringe slightly. She hates guns, a fact she told Fezco in between the long kisses they shared after the time he shoved that pistol into her hands. The kid takes off down the hall and exits out the alley door that opens up into his bedroom. 

Once Ashtray clears the door, Lexi’s smacking Fezco’s stomach with the back of her hand, hissing up at him in an undertone even though there was no one to hear them. “Why didn’t you tell me Cal showed up to the Dairy?” 

Fezco exhales a drag and presses a kiss on the side of her head. “Ion know baby, happened before you came around. Didn’t think it was relevant to what we had goin’ on.” 

Lexi bites the end of her thumb nail. It’s all relevant, unfortunately, knowing Cal Jacobs. As soon as something happens to his son, he’s going to start pointing fingers in the direction of the O’Neills. And she promised Fezco if he goes down, she does too. 

This simply won’t do. 

She doesn’t respond, her brain already running through several scenarios, forming a plan. Fezco grabs her hand in his own, lacing their fingers together as he leads her out to the living room, instructing her to sit on the couch and try not to say anything too impulsive.

“I’m not going to like. Tell him I want to murder his son,” Lexi grumbles as she sits back on the couch. Fezco walks around the other side, leaning against the back and trying to obscure Lexi from view as much as he can as Ashtray drags a grown man in the house at gunpoint. 

The kid’s already shown some aggression, and there’s blood trickling down Cal’s temple. 

“So first you come to my fuckin’ job, bein’ all sus’ like you casing the joint, acting like you the Feds. Then I find you outside my house. The fuck are you doin’ man?” Fez questions, his hand reaching back behind him to snatch Lexi’s fingers in his own. 

“You’re free to call the cops,” Cal replies , unbothered despite the way Ashtray holds a rifle to his head. 

“Now why the fuck would I do that?” Fezco drawls, already exasperated by the whole thing. 

Lexi gives his fingers a squeeze but doesn’t dare to look over the edge of the couch at Cal yet. So far she doesn’t think he recognizes her. 

“Well, it’s either call the cops, let me go, or kill me,” the man says, turning his head slightly to give Ashtray a challenging look. 

Fezco lets out a long sigh. “What. The. Fuck. Man. What’s with yo’ family? Are you all just a buncha fuckin’ assholes?” 

“You beat up my son.” 

“Yeah; well,” Fez replies, squeezing Lexi’s hand once more. “He deserved it man. He’s a fuckin’ bitch.” 

“Oh, okay, tough guy,” Cal quips, mocking Fezco’s voice in the process. Ashtray whacks him with the butt of the rifle, and Lexi winces from her spot. “Ow! Fuck! Why did you do that?” 

“Because you’re in no position to talk shit,” the feisty teen replies gruffly. 

“I’m warning you, you hit me one mor—” the older man attempts to threaten before Ash cracks the rifle against his head again. Cal groans in pain, nearly falling out of his seat. 

“Why don’t you call the cops?” Ash taunts as he hits Cal again. 

“The chief of police, Will Greenwood-” Cal tries to make more threats but Ash just continues to slam the butt of the rifle against his head. 

Fezco lets him get a few good hits in before he tells his brother to stop, although it’s not enthusiastically done. There’s more blood spilling from the top of the man’s head and usually Lexi is pretty squeamish about that type of stuff but god, this man deserves it. 

“This guy don’t want the fuckin’ cops involved,” Ashtray says. “Watch.” 

The teen reaches into his pocket and pulls his phone out, leaving it on the table for Cal to grab. He taunts the older man, egging him on to make the call, asserting that he doesn’t want them involved in whatever the fuck is going on and that if he’s got nothing to hide it wouldn’t be a problem. All while continuing to beat the man with the gun. 

Cal, now a bloody mess, just asks him to stop but makes no effort to reach for the phone. Clearly the man does have something to hide.

“Aight man, I get it,” Fezco says with a tone of finality to his voice. Ashtray pulls back on the beating. 

“I know you and your drug addict friend, that girl— the one that’s friends with you too Miss Howard,” Cal says, wiping blood from his face and locking eyes with her over the edge of the couch. So much for hoping he hadn’t clocked her. “I know you tried to extort my son.” 

Fez’s nostrils flare at the mention of Lexi, and she can see how tense he gets over it. “What?” 

Cal shrugs, as if it were no matter at all. “Cause of what I did to their little friend.” 

Lexi’s sit bolt upright at that. He better not be talking about Cassie, because they’re already planning to kill his son but she doesn’t have a problem adding another body to the count. 

“The fuck are you talkin’ about man?” Fezco is on the backfoot and trying not to show it, looking from the ceiling back to Cal like he was spitting nonsense. 

“You know. The blonde,” Cal responds and Lexi gasps hard enough that the man turns to look at her. “Not your sister. The other one.” 

Other one?

Fez narrows his eyes. “Who? Jewel?”

Cal sighs and hangs his head low. “Look man, I didn’t know she was seventeen.” 

Lexi already hated the guy, thought he was a total creep, but in that moment she had a blood boiling rage. Cal Jacobs had hooked up with Jules? How? When? Why does he think Fezco even cares about that? 

“You tellin’ me you had sex with Jewel? What the fuck man?” Fezco asks again, clearly disgusted with the way this conversation has turned. “What the fuck are we even talkin’ about right now bro?”

“I just want the disc,” Cal replies calmly. 

Lexi is on her knees now, fully leaning over the back of the couch, furious. “What disc?” 

“The one of Jewel and I,” the man admits with a small amount of shame. 

She about flies over the couch but Fezco puts a hand out to stop her, squeezing her shoulder tight. “Yo, you recorded that shit?” 

“I didn’t know.”

“You didn’t know you were recording?” Lexi hurls at the man incredulously. 

“I didn’t know she was seventeen, I fucked up.” 

“ Obviously man,” Fez replies. “Now who the fuck even told you I gave a shit about this anyway?” 

“My son.” 

“Your son?” Lexi questions with a fickle laugh. “The one that’s in love with Jules? The one that catfished her last semester? That son?” 

“Man, what the fuck?” Fezco repeats for the third or fourth time since Cal opened his mouth. “What typa weird ass father and son shit is going on around here bro?” 

Cal stares blankly ahead like he’s trying to figure something out for himself. “I’m extremely confused.”

“You're confused?” Fez says with a huff. “I’m fuckin’ confused bro. I don’t even know what the fuck you’re doing here.”

Cal Jacobs lets out a sigh of defeat. “Do you mind if I just leave? I swear to god I’m not going to say a word to anyone, not even that one’s mom. Let’s just pretend like none of this ever happened.” 

Fez shares a look with Lexi, who is feeling murderous but shrugs her shoulders uselessly. This was not something either of them had on their Planning A Homicide Bingo Card.   Ash, who has been holding the rifle on the guys head since he and Fezco started their conversation is shaking his head no, but Fez just sighs and pushes himself off the back to the couch. 

“You good to stay here with him?” He questions down to Lexi as she nods up a yes. She gets the feeling she’s not Cal’s type to begin with. “Yo Ash, let me talk to you real quick.” 

As soon as Fezco is out of ear shot Cal turns and looks at her. “I thought you were much more careful than that sister of yours Miss Howard. Hanging around that one can only lead to trouble.” 

“At least he doesn’t choke out girls like your bitch son does,” Lexi snarks back, Cal opening his mouth to snap back when Fezco and Ashtray reappear. 

“Yo, check it out man. Imma letchu walk on up outta here on one condition.” 

“Anything.”

“You keep your bitch ass son outta my fuckin’ life. And Rue’s and Jules’ and Lexi’s, until the end of fuckin’ time. You understand?” 

“I promise.” 

“Now I know no shit ‘bout no fuckin’ disc man. That’s not my problem.” 

Cal Jacobs nods his head in understanding. 

“Now get this motherfucker up on outta here, Ash,” Fez says with a jerk of his chin. 

The beaten man stands with a grunt as Ashtray escorts him out of the house. Lexi’s up and off the couch immediately, wrapping her arms around Fezco’s middle as he finds her mouth with his own. 

“Thought you was gon’ stay outta it?” he teases gently as he pulls back. “Sorry ‘bout yo’ friend. That’s some fucked up shit.” 

“I knew Jules had a thing for older men, but oh my god this is… so gross.” 

Fez pops another kiss on the top of her head. “Wanna help me clean up this mess?” he asks, gesturing at the blood on the chair and floor. “If I leave it to Ash, shit’s gonna stain.” 

“Hey Cass?”

“Yeah?” her sister replies, walking into the pretty little trap Lexi is actively watching Rue set.

“I have a quick question for you.”

“What?”

She had no idea how the girl knows about Cassie and Nate, but she’s not entirely surprised. Lexi was able to figure it out herself and while Rue might be half out of her mind in withdrawal from whatever she’s been using, she’s still observant as hell. Even if she doesn’t realize what she’s seeing until much later.

“How long have you been fucking Nate Jacobs?” 

You could hear a pin drop at how immediately silent the room gets. If Cassie was smarter, she’d immediately deny the girl's claim, but instead she awkwardly laughs and fumbles her way to it. Suze turns and catches Lexi’s eye, and all she can do is cover her face with her hands in shock that the cat is finally out of the bag. Immediately Lexi can tell that the truth that she’s known has been a suspicion of her mothers and there is no way they aren’t going to talk about this later.

Cassie continues her denial as Rue presses her to answer again, and Maddy shares a look with Kat, who seems just as shocked by this bombshell.

“What are you talking about?” Maddy asks, her voice struggling to stay calm.

Rue’s crumbled to the landing floor on top of the stairs at this point, clearly in pain as she stutters her way through her explanation. “Oh I uh. I just saw her get in his truck and then kiss him and drive off. That was like uh... Like a month ago?”

Her sister flounders as Maddy replies, “Are you kidding me?”

All Lexi can do is sit back and watch as her whole world slowly implodes.

At least she still has Fezco.

For now.

“Cass… that’s like. Really bad,” Kat says, clearly hurt and confused by this betrayal of friendship.

“You’re fucking Nate? Are you kidding me?” Maddy finally directs her ire on Cassie.

Cassie continues to blunder her way through saving face. “No. I uh. I don’t even know why she would say that.”

“You’re lying.”

Suze finally seems to get her wits about her, remembering why they’re all gathered here in the entryway of their house. Rue is in a bad way with her addiction again, clearly using more than just the weed she’s admitted to smoking in recent weeks, and they need to convince her to leave with her mom to go get the help she so desperately needs. It’s a slapdash intervention and of fucking course the wiley girl has found a crack in the foundation to break the dam in her favor.

“Yeah, can we just table this conversation,” her mother says, pointing between the two most definitely former best friends.

“Let’s just go,” Lexi overhears Kat whispering to Maddy as Maddy raises her voice in anger. “No. No you just expect me to stand here next to my best friend who's been lying to me about fucking my ex-boyfriend? I’m literally going to get violent.”

“There is no need to get violent because we are having an intervention. Stop. It ,” Suze snaps, not unkindly, at the girl that’s practically been her third daughter the last several years.

All Cassie can do is stand there uselessly, breathing hard as she attempts to hold back tears. Lexi isn’t sure why her sister has the audacity to cry over this, it’s not like anyone forced her to stab Maddy in the back like this. Fuck, if it had happened the one time - Lexi assumes it started on New Years Eve prior to the Fezco Beatdown but can’t confirm it - and had owned up to Maddy about making such a grievous error under the influence, she imagines the Latina would have been willing to forgive and forget. But this situation has been going on for months now, and even Lexi, who would commit crimes for her sister (and is actively planning one), is having a difficult time feeling sorry for the mess she’s gotten herself into.

Leslie has made her way up the stairs in an attempt to speak directly to her daughter as the situation on the floor continues to devolve. Lexi’s frozen in place until Maddy moves to get into Cassie’s face, and suddenly she’s spurred into motion, the instinctual drive to protect her sister moving her forward.

“Oh you’re crying? You’re fucking crying? You fucking bitch, you’re the one who’s hurt?” Maddy hurls in Cassie’s face as Kat tries to pull her back. All Lexi can do is watch as she falls into place beside her mother. “You’re the most self centered fucking idiotic person I have ever fucking met. You fuck my ex and you’re fucking crying? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Leslie turns to the commotion on the floor, asking everyone to leave the room if it’s going to continue as Suze echos her agreement. It’s then that Lexi does the dumbest thing she could in that moment of chaos, one she’ll later regret, but she’s desperate for a resolution to the current dilemma.

“Cass, do you want to go for a walk?” she asks as she opens the front door, words lost amongst Maddy yelling and her mother repeatedly asking the girl to just go and deal with this later.

Of course in her hurt, Cassie retaliates in one of the cruelest ways Lexi has ever seen her react. “I don’t even know why you’re believing her. She’s a drug addict .”

It stuns Lexi into silence, because she’s watched her sister defend their father’s actions so often over the years. The same father who left them due to drug addiction.

Yet, Maddy is undeterred. “How long have you been fucking him? Be honest.”

Kat attempts to convince the girl to leave once again, but Maddy isn’t having it.

“How long have you been fucking him?” the girl asks once again, long nails pointed in Cassie’s face. “Rue? When was this?”

Leslie is pleading for her daughter to get in the car with her, but Rue diverts her attention once again to the drama she intentionally caused down below. In retrospect, Lexi knows Rue was scrambling, looking for a way out of the house and deciding if she wanted to pull that last trigger, but she still wishes she’d had the mind to close the goddamn door.

“Right after New Years.”

Everything explodes all at once. Maddy is screaming while Cassie bursts into full on tears, rushing up the stairs to hide as her best friend threatens to fuck her up, trailing close behind. Kat takes off after Maddy, intent on getting her out of the house while Lexi does the same, though she doesn’t know who exactly she’s trying to help. Of course she’s always going to want to protect her big sister, even if it’s from herself. It’s why she’s knee deep in a plot to murder the guy this fight is about right? But Jesus Christ, Cassie makes it so hard to defend her sometimes.

Of course Rue uses this moment to sneak out the front door that Lexi left open, but she doesn’t learn that until nearly thirty minutes later once she and Kat talk Maddy into leaving.

Lexi: Call me ASAP please.

It’s about Rue.

“Hello?” Lexi whispers into the phone, picking up the call from Fezco after the second ring.

She’d sent that text nearly three hours ago and had been waffling for at least the last hour about calling him herself once she saw him leave her on read. The only thing keeping her from making the call was the memory of his supplier showing up out of the blue and clutching the cool metal of a pistol between her hands while she hid out in his bedroom.

“Baby,” Fezco sighs into the line, sounding completely exhausted. “M’sorry I didn’t call you sooner. Shit went down.”

“Are you okay?” she asks, sitting up in her bed alarmed. “Was it Mouse?”

“I’m good Lex. Mostly anyway,” he murmurs quietly. “You think you can sneak out the house? I’d rather have this conversation in person.”

“You’re not, like, breaking up with me, are you?” she jokes weakly, not liking the serious tone the boy has. They aren’t a couple but they also aren’t not a couple. Things have gotten complicated with them quickly. “Because that would really suck for all the future plans we’ve made.”

Fezco laughs a little at that. “Nah girl. Might be a dumbass but I ain’t stupid. We ride or die, forreal.”

Her heart skips a beat at his sweet words.

“I can be there in fifteen,” she responds, slipping out of her bed. It took a while, but Cassie eventually fell asleep in their moms bed after crying herself out of tears. All Lexi needs to do is sneak the keys out of her moms purse downstairs and drive herself over to the O’Neill home.

“Actually,” Fezco drawls as Lexi picks up her shoes to carry down stairs. “I’m sorta waitin’ outside already? Needed to take a drive to clear my mind an’ ended up here.”

Peaking out her bedroom window Lexi notices the familiar gold Caddy parked across the street a few houses down. “I’ll be right out.”

Hastily Lexi makes the decision to pack a bag for the night - she’ll sleep on the couch if she has to but suddenly she realizes that the last thing she wants is to come back home tonight and it’s already nearing midnight. Scribbling a note to her mom about needing to get out of the house for the night and going to her theater friend Bobbi’s, Lexi exits the house and half runs across the deserted street to a waiting Fezco. He’s leaning against the hood of his car, finishing a cigarette as she closes in on him, flicking the thing into the street as he opens his arms for her to crash against him.

“I’m so happy to see you,” Lexi mumbles into the soft gray shirt he wears. “Tonights been fucking insane.”

Fezco squeezes her tight, kissing the crown of her head. “Fuckin’ tell me ‘bout it. Guessin’ you had a run in with Rue too?”

Lexi pulls back, looking up at the boy whose arms she's in. Fezco looks so fucking sad, like someone just forced him to watch them drown a boxful of puppies.

“Yeah,” she replies softly, lifting a hand to rub against his bearded cheek. Popping up on her tip toes, Lexi kisses him gently, just once, before falling back on her heels. “Let’s not talk about this here though?”

Fez hums his agreement, walking her over to the passenger side door and opening it for her, eyeing up her tote bag in the process. “Spendin’ the night?” he asks softly as she slides into the seat.

“If that’s alright with you.”

“More than.”

The drive to his place is quiet, Mac Miller’s Swimming album playing quietly in the background as Fezco’s right hand rests on Lexi’s lower thigh, his thumb rubbing circles above her knee. The walk into his place is unrushed, hands intertwined as Fez pulls her through the front door and locks back up, keys placed on the hook before he leads her back to the kitchen, pulling the electric kettle out that mysteriously appeared after she commented on liking tea at night. 

There’s an easy quiet surrounding them at this time, Fezco busying himself with preparing her tea as she watches with interest. It feels intense, like they are hurdling over some invisible barrier together. Rue has been a common thread in their connection and she’s hurt them both tonight. 

“What she do at yo’ place?” Fez finally asks, breaking the silence while handing over her steaming mug of tea.

What didn’t she do is more like it?  

Lexi takes a sip of her tea, smiling to herself that Fezco got the honey and milk ratio right, and leans back against the counter. “I answered the door when she got there. Jesus, she looked rough but she was so insistent that she was just coming down with something, so I let her in to use the bathroom.” 

Fez just hums, crossing his arms over his chest as he observes her. His stare has always been intense but it’s like he can see inside her soul that right now. It’s instinctual to shrink at the attention, but it’s just the two of them and there’s nowhere to hide. 

“I should have known better,” Lexi admits quietly, eyes trained to her shoes. “Rue’s been.. erratic? Recently. It just felt different from last summer. Like, she hasn’t knocked on my door asking me to piss in a Tylenol bottle for her in months. She’d said she was smoking a little weed for her panic attacks a while back and I guess I was naïve enough to believe it.”

“Ain’t yo’ fault Lex. Kids a good-ass liar.” 

“Yeah, well. Obviously she’s been doing more than weed. My mom called her mom and we did our best to keep her in the house until Leslie showed up. They were on the stairs, her mom trying to convince her to go with her and Rue’s telling her she can’t stay clean forever when Cassie decided to open her mouth.” 

Fezco snorts. “Just made it worse?” 

“You could say that,” Lexi muses with an unamused laugh. “Somehow Rue knew about Cassie and Nate and let the whole ugly truth out.” 

“ Shit .” 

“Did I mention that Maddy was there? Because she was.” 

“The fuck you doin’, Rue.” 

“Causing chaos, which was what she was looking for. I may have left the front door open in the middle of a disaster breaking out? She slipped out and ran off. I’m guessing she came here?” 

Fezco sighs roughly before rubbing his hand down his scar, his blue eyes stony with a deep hurt. Setting her tea down on the counter, Lexi crosses the small space in the kitchen in order to wrap her arms around the man, squeezing him tightly. She hasn’t even pulled away when he begins to talk. 

“Short version is I let her in, she told me she was in withdrawal and asked if I had anything I could give her. Ain’t been keepin’ shit here since the raid, so I had nothin’ for her but some Pepto ya know? Stomach was wrecked so I gave her some privacy in the bathroom but when I went to check on her, found her in my grandma's room.” 

Oh Rue . 

“Was tryna take some of her pills,” Fez says softly as he runs a hand down Lexi’s hair. “We fought over the bottle, she shoved me into the wall in the hallway.” 

“Oh my god, Fezco.” 

“Been in worse with an addict in withdrawal, baby,” he murmurs. “Had to pick her up and haul her ass outta here. Ion know where she went off to afterwards. M’sorry Lex.”  

“You did what you needed to, Fezco. There’s nothing to be sorry for.” 

“Didn’t mean to leave you on read either, shorty. I saw yo’ text and was tryna reply when it got outta hand here. Felt real bad ‘bout it a few minutes afterwards an’ went out lookin’ for her, hoping I’d be able to get her back to her moms. That’s why I was waitin’ outside yo’ crib.”

Lexi hums, lifting her face to look up at Fezco. “I’m glad you came. I needed to escape.” 

Fez looks down at her with hooded eyes, his long lashes brushing his cheeks as he blinks. They stare at each other in a long but comfortable silence, Lexi thinking he’s sure to let her go just as he moves his hands to clutch at her back and pull her forward, his mouth coming down hard on hers. It’s more desperate than Fezco has ever kissed her, his tongue pushing between her lips and stealing her breath away. It should scare her, how easily she’s willing to give him this thing he clearly needs right now, this comfort he’s taking from her body.

Fezco kisses her until she’s dizzy from it, her body leaning heavily on his while his back leans against the counter. After some time, it could have been minutes or hours or even several sunlit days frankly, Lexi really isn’t certain, they disentangle and Fezco slowly leads her back to his bedroom. They both change into pajamas and crawl under the covers together, and for the first time ever in her life, Lexi Howard sleeps with a boy. Fez buries his nose into her hair and tightens his arms around her waist, a whispered g’night baby the last thing she hears before sleep overtakes her.  

“First you take me on a secluded picnic to a park, and now you’re taking me to an indie book store? Mister O’Neill, you’ve done it again,” Lexi declares as Fez holds open the door for her.

How much of a weirdo creep does it make him to admit that he’s spent the last few weeks gathering all the information he could on Lexi Howard in order to plan the very best possible dates for her? At the very least it’s what the girl deserves, to be treated like she's the most precious thing, like she’s the most important to someone, ya know? 

Fezco tries hard not to think too much into all of this. He promised her a week ago that they were ride or die, and fuck, he meant that shit. But honestly he’s preparing himself for the worst, that once Nate Jacob’s body is six feet under that Lexi Howard won’t look in his direction ever again. He hopes not, it feels like they are on their way to something ; something good, something permanent, something life changing. 

They just need to get there before this all crashes to the ground. 

“Seemed yo’ vibe,” he answers, grinning as Lexi wraps her hands around his bicep and tugs him into the store. “Get anything you want.” 

Her eyes light up at the offer. “Are you serious? Anything?” 

Fezco spots a book that says First Edition behind some glass with multiple zeros at the end. He tugs at his collar as Lexi spots the same thing, looking up at him with those big doe eyes of hers. 

“Well, I mean…?” he says with a little cough. Lexi laughs, bright and endearing and he wants to bottle it up. 

They spend the next who knows how long strolling the over crowded shelves, Lexi occasionally pulling something out and scanning the pages. Fez ain’t much a reader himself, the small print makes his head hurt after too long, but he thinks he’d sit and listen to whatever Lexi wanted to read to him for hours. Eventually he offers to go grab her coffee from the lil cafe area tucked into the corner, her smile on her face as she realizes he knows her coffee order.

Fez knows everything about Lexi, her coffee order might be the least important part. 

“Your girlfriend is really lucky,” the barista notes as she squeezes a bottle of caramel around the inside of Fezco’s cup. “I’ve seen lots of book store dates working here, but you actually seem to be paying attention  as to what she’s interested in.” 

Fezco looks over his shoulder to where Lexi picks over a small stack of books that she was maybe interested in purchasing. They were going to find one of the loveseats tucked away in a corner somewhere so she could get a better idea of what was being purchased and what was staying there. He knows she’s fuckin’ perfect, that much is obvious, but watching her when she’s not paying attention to him at all leaves a funny feeling in his chest that he can’t quite put a name to. 

He should correct the older woman behind the counter over the whole girlfriend thing, but what’s he gonna do? Tell her that Lexi ain’t his girl, just a friend who he’s helping plan a murder with? 

“Ain’t that what you supposed to do for the person you’re seeing?” he muses as he takes the offered drinks from the woman’s hands. “Know each other?” 

The woman smiles, maybe a little sadly. “You just keep a hold on to that optimism, kid. You’re gonna be alright.”

Fezco nods his thanks as he tosses an extra couple of bucks into the tip jar. “Do my best.” 

“Enjoy being young and in love,” the lady says with a wink as she wipes down the counter. 

Instinctively Fezco wants to reply that he ain’t in love, because he’s not , but the moment he turns around and Lexi’s eyes look up from her pile to meet his across the room, he knows he’s well and truly fucked. That funny feeling that’s been ever present in his chest with more and more frequency can’t be nothin’ other than love. It comes to him with such a startling clarity that it stops him dead in his tracks. 

There’s no denying it anymore. He’s in love with Lexi Howard. 

And the expiration date on their arrangement is only clicking closer. 

“Hey, I decided what I want to look at better,” Lexi says as he finally walks up to her. His heart is beating so loud he wonders if she can hear it. 

“Yeah?” Fez replies, handing Lexi iced lavender matcha latte he picked up for her. “You wanna find a spot to check ‘em out?” 

Lexi nods eagerly, smile bright on her face. They trade tasks, Lexi handling his blended caramel espresso thing while he dutifully picks up the stack of books and follows her to a secluded spot in the back, placing the books on the coffee table as she does the same with the drinks. Usually kissing is kept behind closed doors, where they can ensure their privacy, but Fezco realized less than five minutes ago that he was head over heels in love with the girl, so he thinks it’s as good a reason as any to kiss her. 

He's slow about it, the way he steps into her space and cradles her cheek in his palm. Lexi’s blushing hard, unable to make eye contact until he tips her face upwards to him, a shy smile on her face. 

“What are you doing?” she asks quietly, eyes full of something he can’t describe. Selfishly he hopes she’s come to the same conclusion he has. 

“Oh, you know what I’m doin’, Lexi Howard,” he replies as he brings his mouth down on top of hers. 

It stays soft for a brief moment, but Lexi surges forward, her fingers grabbing his sweater collar and tangling in his chain as she pulls him down to her level. It’s all he can do to not haul her up and wrap her thighs around his waist, to not lay her out on this couch beside them and have his way with her, beggin’ her to keep quiet while he touches her back in their secluded corner. Lexi slips her tongue into his mouth and he can’t help but groan at the sensation, at the taste of her. 

He kisses her until his lungs are burning. 

Because he can. 

Because he’s in love with her. 

Eventually Lexi pulls away with a coy smile, dragging him down to sit on the couch beside her, allowing him to wrap her up in his arms as she starts telling him all about the books she picked out.

“What are the chances we’d have the same favorite movie?” Lexi asks as she settles back into the couch, pulling his grandma's old afghan tight around her. “No one ever wants to watch this with me.” 

“‘Cause they suck,” Fez replies, handing over the giant bowl of popcorn they plan on sharing. “ Stand By Me in an under-appreciated cinema classic.” 

“Very Film Bro of you, O’Neill.” 

He makes a face at the accusation. Yeah, he likes watching movies, especially older ones, but he ain’t no film critic. Lexi laughs brightly at his grimace and he teasingly flips her off. 

“Alright, alright. Not a Film Bro. I get it.” 

He throws himself down on the couch next to Lexi, propping his feet up on the coffee table as he picks up the remote and clicks through the menu page of the DVD. Lexi cuddles down deeper into the space beside him, easily resting her temple against his shoulder as he presses play. 

Yesterday he realized he was in love with her. The knowledge may have come to him suddenly, but as they sit in comfortable silence, the opening of their movie playing in the background, Fezco can recognize it’s been a long time coming. Maybe since he led her into the back room at the Dairy and she asked him to murder Playboy for her, but he can’t help but wonder if it’s been longer still. If he’d started falling for her way back the first time he’d laid eyes on her, if it’s something his heart has always known and the rest of him needed to catch up on. 

They watch their movie in a mostly comfortable silence. Every once in a while he or Lexi will have some commentary to add to what’s happening on screen, more her than him, but Lexi is always ready with a fun fact.  

By the time the credits roll, he’s latched his fingers through hers, both of them swiping uselessly at stray tears that roll down their faces with their free hands.

“Why is it so good but so fucking sad?” Lexi cries beside him, laughing through her tears.

“I think I got sumn in my fuckin’ eye,” Fez comments, not wanting to admit that he’s in the same boat as Lexi.

“Boo!” Lexi jeers at him, pushing herself up from her spot cuddled next to him in order to rest her forearms against  his chest so they are face to face. “Admit it O’Neill, you’re just as fucked up by this ending as I am.”

Logically he knows she’s talking about the film, but the immediate lump in his throat tells him his psyche has different opinions. He is, well and truly, fucked up at the thought of all of this ending. But he can’t say that now, because putting all his cards on the table right now feels like it’s too much and pressuring Lexi is the last thing he wants to fucking do. 

So he does the natural thing to do here and changes the subject. 

“Yo, this movie kinda reminds me of yo’ play a lil. Like, it got the same vibe, you feel me?” 

Lexi’s been really hard at work with her Oklahoma! rehearsals as of late, but she’s still working away on her writing when she has free time. Occasionally she posts up on his bed in the back while he’s out here sorting pills and stacking cash, typing away on her keyboard until he snatches the thing out from under her fingers and presses her deep into his mattress. He only feels a little bad about it, mostly when she’s calling him at two in the morning to talk over a scene she’s working on and sending him the updated document, ‘cause he knows she would have so much more completed if he wasn’t a distraction.

At the same time, he really likes being a distraction. 

“You really think so?” Lexi asks, genuinely curious. “I mean. I was kinda hoping that was obvious but I don’t know? I don’t want it to be too on the nose but also want people to understand it’s coming from a genuine place of like… friendship and growing up and apart.” 

“You afraid of what Rue might think?” Fezco asks, his palm finding its way to her thigh. He’s fighting the urge to pull her into his lap. 

Lexi shakes her head at that. “Not Rue so much? Like, yeah I have my worries of like, exploiting her addiction for the sake of art, but once it’s all finished and she gets to see it, I know she’s going to understand. The last few years have been bumpy for us, but Rue has always, you know… seen me?” 

Rue might be one of the most self aware addicts Fezco has ever known. That’s why he agreed to keep selling to her after she got out of rehab initially, at least a little. She didn’t seem content to raw dog life, and he’d hoped if she was going to continue down the path of self destruction he’d at least have some sense of control over what and how much he was giving her access to. It was a huge fuckin’ error on his part, looking back, cause he shoulda cut her off the minute she strolled back into the Dairy, but she’d weaseled her way into his heart against all odds. 

“That girl is dumb as fuck sometimes, but I hear whatchu sayin’,” he mumbles, squeezing Lexi’s upper thigh. 

As far as they know Rue’s been detoxing at her mom’s house. Lexi don’t got an idea where the girl ended up after Fezco kicked her outta here, hasn’t really heard much about what’s going on with her outside what her mom hears from Rue’s mom. It’s still a sore spot for both of them. 

“Yeah so like. Rue’s reaction is the least of my concerns? She knows my intentions. She sees me when no one else does.” 

Yeah, fuck it, he’s done fighting the urge to haul her into his lap. Lexi lets out a little yip of surprise as he yanks on her hips and settles her on his thighs, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders as he stares up at her. 

“I see you, Lexi Howard. See you better than I see anything else.” 

The girl blushes and ducks her chin into her chest, embarrassed by his honesty. But he means every word.

“I know,” she whispers, playing with his collar. “I’d like to think I see you too.” 

Jesus fuckin’ Christ , all Fez wants is to grab Lexi chin and kiss her, let her know how much she does see him, but the thing about knowing each other is knowing she still has more to say. That she hasn’t gotten all her worries off her chest. So instead of following that base need, Fez runs his hands up Lexi’s denim clad thighs and finds her hip bones, rubbing his thumbs in soothing circles. 

“So if it ain’t Rue that has you all twisted up, then who’s gotchu feeling this way?” 

Lexi runs her fingers over his collar and across his shoulders in a repetitive motion, leaving goosebumps in her wake as she chews on her lip in contemplation. 

“Cassie hasn’t been doing great recently,” she begins slowly. 

“Not yo’ fault Lex,” he reminds her gently. “She made her own fuckin’ bed. You ain’t gotta fix it.” 

The timid girl winces. “I know. I know . But that’s like, why we’re here right? Cassie fucking up her whole life, and me trying to fix it.” 

It’s definitely why it started, but some hopelessly delusional part of him has started to believe it’s more than Nate Jacobs that has brought them together. That whatever they’re doing here has transcended past their shared desire to see the teenage menace dead. 

“And maybe murdering her… well, whatever Nate fucking is to her is not exactly the right move, but—” 

“We don’t gotta,” he cuts her off immediately. If Lexi doesn’t want to go through with Nate’s murder, if she thinks they need to halt their plans for her sister's sake, he’ll do it. “If you ain’t all in on it anymore, I won’t pull the trigger.” 

He watches as Lexi experiences about thirty-seven different emotions in a span of five seconds before she finally settles on one. Fierce determination paints across her face as she shakes her head no. 

“No, absolutely not,” Lexi reassures him, her palm coming up to cup his cheek. “Nate Jacobs is a fucking cancer and I can’t think of anything that’ll be better for the whole world than his death. Nothing changed there.” 

Fez puts his hand over top of Lexi’s and turns his face to kiss the center of her palm. She gives him a reassuring smile before taking a big breath and continuing on. 

“I just think that maybe I’m being too critical of her in my play? Maybe she’ll take it badly, and I don’t want her feelings to get hurt,” she finishes quietly. 

“Lex, sometimes people need to get they feelings hurt,” he replies softly, his fingers inching up the bottom of her shirt, seeking out the warm skin there. “How many times has Cassie done shit to you without worrying ‘bout yo’ feelings?” 

She opens her mouth to answer but Fez gives her a little glare. 

“Nah baby, that shit was rhetorical. Cause we both know it’s a fuckin’ lot.” 

“…I don’t think she means it.” 

“Ion fuckin’ care if she means it,” he argues. “Just cause you two grew up in the same house don’t mean you experienced things the same. An’ I ain’t know Cassie like that or nothin’, but from all you’ve told me, it sounds like she thinks her perspective ‘bout shit is the only one that matters.” 

“Yeah but what abou—” Lexi tries to argue with him before he silences her by leaning up and pressing the quickest kiss to her mouth. She tries to chase his lips as he pulls away but he doesn’t allow it. 

“You allowed to feel yo’ feelings, Lex. Even if it makes yo’ sister upset.”

“So I should air her dirty laundry out in front of the whole school?” 

Fezco laughs at that. “One step at a time, baby. You gotta finish writing the damn thing first, ‘kay? An’ if you feel like you needa go back in an’ edit some of that shit to make it more palatable to yo’ sister, that’s yo choice.” 

Lexi makes a little hum of agreement. Or maybe it’s a noise of contentment, because the fingers that were creeping up the back of her shirt have found the lace of her bra and are busy skimming the band.

“But I think yo’ play is fire just the way it is,” he finishes, gulping past the lump in his throat. 

Who knew holding back from telling the girl he’s in love with that he’s in love with her would be so damn hard?

“Thank you,” Lexi says sincerely. “You’re like, way too nice to me.” 

“Honestly, don’t think I’m nice enough,” he replies, voice husky in his own ears. The moment’s charged, a current rising between them that’s bound to make waves. “Could be hella nicer Lexi. You gonna lemme?” 

“Let you what?”

“Lemme be nice to you, pretty girl.”

Lexi doesn’t give him an answer, just clutches at his neck to pull herself closer as their mouths find each other in the glow of the television light. Fezco slips his hands back down Lexi’s torso, wrapping them around the bottom of her shirt in order to tug the thing off her. He pulls his mouth away reluctantly, the whine Lexi gives him like music to his ears. Her shirt gets tossed to the side easily, and he’s just left there staring at the girl perched on his lap like an idiot. 

For all his hoping that he’d get to experience a shirtless Lexi Howard clad in just her bra someday, now that it’s finally happened, his brain seems to short circuiting. 

Lexi, however, takes it as a bad sign. “I know it’s not like… anything special. I’m sorry.” 

That's enough to snap him back to reality. “Aye, ain’t we already talked ‘bout you putting yo’self down?”

Lexi nods. 

“Cause you over here jumpin’ to conclusions thinkin’ my silence means anythin’ other than bein’ in complete fuckin’ awe of you, Lexi Howard.” 

“Really?” his girl squeaks out. 

As reverently as he can, Fezco runs his palms up her torso, his fingers finding the lace of her lime green bra as her breath hitches. It’s all the encouragement he needs to finish the motion, his hands coming up to cup her tits, and that’s when he knows she’s wrong about one thing. Lexi’s tits might be the most special ones he’s ever had his hands on. Their goddamn perfect, fit perfectly in his palms as he rubs his thumbs against her already pointed nipples and draws a low moan from the back of her throat. 

He wants to hear it again, but preferably louder and directly in his ear as he pounds into her.

“Can I take this shit off you?” he asks quietly, fingers already moving back to the clasp.

Lexi’s nodding her head quickly in agreement, even seemingly trying to help him out when they hear the back door slamming closed, both of them jumping at the sound. It’s a sobering reminder that they both aren't alone and in his living room. Lexi is scrambling off his lap to find her shirt as he starts thinkin’ ‘bout anything but the partially naked girl who just vacated his lap in order to get his raging hard on to calm the fuck down before Ashtray strolls into the room.

By the time the teen makes his entrance the two of them are sitting as far apart on the couch as humanly possible. All Ash does is raise an eyebrow at the two of them before he sits down in the armchair and clears his throat.

“I solved our problem,” Ash says in that no nonsense way of his. “I know just how we gonna take out Nate fuckin’ Jacobs.”

It’s nearing one in the morning and he finds himself wide awake, staring up at his ceiling, mind racing. It’s not an uncommon occurrence, it can’t be when your life is as fucked up as his is, but this time it feels different.

Honestly, it’s all because Fezco is afraid he royally fucked it all up with Lexi and pushed her too far today. The conversation with Ashtray had been productive, the kid really did come up with something good in their quest to rid East Highland and also the world at large of Nate Jacobs, but as soon as they ended that conversation, Lexi pretty much bolted off the couch and said she needed to get back home. Fez had wanted to talk about what had just happened between them, but couldn’t find the words to say as they drove back to Lexi’s neighborhood, so the ride was quiet and painfully awkward.

And for the first time since kissing had become something they did on the regular, Lexi slipped out of his car without kissing him goodnight.

Which is fine . Totally fine. They aren’t dating, not exactly anyway. Just you know, going on dates. And talking about life with each other. And planning a murder.

Nothing worth keepin’ him up all night.

He’s rolling around in his bed, tryna to get comfortable when his cell starts buzzing beside him. It’s been a long ass time since some fuckin’ crackhead has hit his line for product at this time of night - he might be selling drugs but he has business hours, thank you very much - and Rue has been radio silent since the night he tossed her outta here. Which pretty much leaves one person to be calling him at this time.

Fez swipes to accept the call before he even takes the time to read the screen.

“You alright, pretty girl?” he answers immediately, flopping back on his bed, a teasing tone in his voice. “It’s real fuckin’ late to be calling me Lex without texting first.”

He hears his girl sniff into the line and immediately he sits up in a panic.

“Lexi?” Fezco says, trying to keep the panic out of his voice but failing miserably. “Baby, what’s wrong?’

“Cassie left.”

Fez blinks hard, rubbing at his temple. “What you mean Cassie left ? Ain’t she like, sneaking out to Jacobs still? You sure that ain’t what happened?”

Lexi lets out a lil sob and his heart just breaks for her. “I got up to use the bathroom and like. Everything is gone? Okay, not everything but like… all the shit she uses regularly anyway. I checked her closet and about half her wardrobe has disappeared too.”

“Do yo’ mom know?” he asks quietly, knowing it’s nearing one in the morning and it seems unlikely.

“I don’t know when she left. She wasn’t in the mood to talk to me when I got back home and I pretty quickly got myself ready for bed and went to sleep. I have to be up for school soon. Jesus Christ, she’s going to be there dangling off of Nate’s arm like she didn’t just move out of our house in the middle of the night.”

“Nah. Fuck that,” he interjects. “I’ll come an’ get you an’ you can chill with me tomorrow. Youn’t gotta subject yo’self to yo’ sisters bullshit.”

Lexi laughs sadly. “I have practice for Oklahoma! tomorrow after school. I can’t miss. We open in two weeks.”

“Shit, Lexi,” Fez sighs roughly through his nose. “Not even one day? You tellin’ me you don’t want a mental health day after all this Cassie Drama. Even God took himself a day of rest, girl.”

“I don’t believe in God.”

“A rest day ain’t dependent on yo’ belief in a higher power.”

Lexi snorts out a reluctant laugh, and the corner of Fezco’s mouth tips up. “Could still just take a fuckin’ day to relax. Do yo’ homework in my room if you wanna?”

“Or we could do other things,” Lexi suggests softly.

Jesus Christ this girl is going to wreck him.

“We can do whatever you want, baby. You know that,” Fez says earnestly. He’ll let Lexi stay in the driver's seat for as long as she needs to when it comes to their physical relationship.

“I uh. I liked what we were doing today. You know, before we got interrupted?”

He liked it too. More than liked it even. There was a sense of relief in finding out that Lexi had been enjoying herself too and that whatever weird as fuck energy they had in the car was both of them being awkward about it.

“Could do more of that if you want. No pressure Lex.”

She hums into the phone.  “What would you have done if we hadn’t been walked in on?”

“Fuckin’ Christ, girl,” Fez groans, throwing his head back against his pillows. “You just was cryin’ ‘bout yo’ sister and now you tryna do alla this? You a fuckin’ trip, Lexi.”

“I really don’t want to talk about Cassie right now Fezco.”

“Good, cause I don’t wanna talk ‘bout her ass no more either,” he grunts into the line. It’s embarrassing how quickly he’s gotten hard over this. “But you sure you wanna do this? Cause, I ain’t gonna lie, did not imagine the first time I made you come for me would be over the fuckin’ phone.”

There’s a rustling on the line and he hears Lexi muttering some nonsense to herself before she responds.

“I want to feel good right now, Fezco,” Lexi says with a sigh. “And you’re just about the only person capable of making me feel that way these days. So yes, I’m very sure.”

Now, Fezco might not be a virgin, but he sure is a fuckin’ novice at phone sex. Not that it’ll stop him. If Lexi Howard wants him to be the reason she feels good right now, he’ll make sure she’s satisfied before they say goodnight.

“Whatchu wearin’?” It feels like a lame ass opening line, but he’s working with very little to go on right now. If he’s being honest, he don’t even think he’s ever jacked it to a video on the Hub involving phone sex.

(But makes a mental note to check it out.)

“Sleep shorts and a button down pajama top. Pink and white striped.”

He can see it in his head and means it when he tells her it sounds cute.

“I don’t want to be cute,” Lexi says and he can hear how she’s pouting. “We’re having phone sex. I’m supposed to be… Ion know. Hot. Sexy. Not cute.”

“Trust me baby, already think all that shit ‘bout you. But if you so eager to please, why don’t you tell me about what you got on under them clothes?”

“I don’t sleep with a bra on,” Lexi demures over the line. “But remember the lime green one I had on earlier?”

Fezco groans at the thought, it’s all he can do to not bite his knuckle. “You was too fine for that. The way it pushed yo’ rack up? Wanted my mouth on you so fuckin’ bad.”

“It has matching panties. Cheeky boy cuts.”

“You came to my crib in a matching set today?” he asks, astonished. “Was yo’ plan to like, watch Stand By Me and then seduce me or some shit?”

“It wasn’t the plan. Per se. But I wanted to be prepared, in case.”

In case.

In case all the flirting and touching and kissing had turned into something more. Back when they set up this little arrangement they agreed upon, Lexi had accused him of wanting to trade sex for murder and Fezco insisted that if Lexi was to ever find herself in his bed it would be wet and willin’. She’d seemed like that idea was unlikely to happen back when they shook on it, even after agreeing to three dates with him, so the fact that Lexi’s seemingly admitting to those two things right now would have him on his ass if he wasn’t already stretched across his bed with his hand down his pants.

“Take yo’ clothes off,” he practically demands, sitting up to rip his own tee off and shove his sweats to his ankles. “Imma tell you exactly what I woulda done to you today if I had the chance.”

If he doesn’t get his shit together, he’s gonna come embarrassingly fast. The grip he has around the base of his cock is actually painful, but he meant that shit when he said he was going to make Lexi come for him.

There’s a lot of background noise going on as he waits for Lexi to respond, but she surprises the shit outta him again when his phone buzzes with a notification in their text thread. He’s choking on air as he clicks open the message, curious as to what on Earth she would be sending when she’s got him chained to his phone like a fuckin’ dog right now. It’s a motherfuckin’ nude, her pretty mouth curved into a smirk as her night shirt lays open and the lace of her lime green panties stick out against the light pink of her bed sheets. He knew her tits were goddamn perfect when he saw them earlier, even if her bra was fully intact at that moment, but fuckin’ hell, seeing them in all their glory was life changing.

“Fuck baby,” he hears himself whine into the line. “Why you gotta do a man like that?”

“I thought the visual would help,” Lexi responds on a giggle.

“You tryna get a visual back?” he questions, staring down at his cock. He ain’t one to send unsolicited dick pics, not even to a girl that’s freely shared her goodies with him.

He can hear Lexi gulp anxiously. “Not to inflate your already massive ego, O’Neill, but I’ve felt what you're packing. Besides, I like the element of surprise.”

“Aight Howard, no dick pics tonight,” he replies as he squeezes his cock again. Fez doesn’t hold back the moan, letting Lexi hear it full throated. “You hearin’ what you doin’ to me over here, pretty girl?”

Lexi just whimpers in response.

“You wanna touch yo’ pussy for me, baby girl? Make sure it’s nice and wet?”

“Don’t have to touch it to know it’s wet.”

“Shit girl,” Fez laughs. “Why dontchu do it anyway?”

Fezco wishes he was brave enough to switch over to FaceTime, because he knows the sight of Lexi Howard touching her own pussy would be some renaissance type shit, but he ain’t tryna send her into a panic over it. He’s gonna put that titty pic in a password protected file on his phone, on fuckin’ God he’s treasuring it for life. The little moan that breaks over the line has him switching to speaker phone - if Ash over hears this shit it’s his own motherfuckin’ fault.

‘I’m so wet,” Lexi dutifully tells him. “I didn’t know I could get this turned on.”

“I promise you, once you lemme get you in a bed, this is gonna feel like the fuckin’ Mojave Desert, Lex,” Fez replies, risking a stroke to his cock to relieve some pressure. “If you so wet, I think you should rub at yo’ clit for me.”

“Is that what you would have done to me?” Lexi asks. He can tell she’s following directions by the little noises she makes. “Rubbed my clit?”

He would have, at least at first. But that’s not how he would have finished her.

“Prolly for a little. Gotta getchu worked up baby.”

“For your dick?”

Fez doesn’t think he’s laughed so much during sex ever, and they aren’t even in the same room.

“Yeah, that too. But nah baby, wanna getchu all nice and drippin’ for my mouth.”

“Oh,” she says, the noise elongating on a moan. “What else?”

Fezco has given up all pretense as to waiting to jerk himself off, not with Lexi’s sounds filling the air in his bedroom. He’s been able to admit to himself he’s in love with her, but god fuckin’ damn he’s going to have to let her know forreal like immediately. He’s practically biting through his lip holding it back.

“Fuck you with my tongue until you screamin’ from it,” he grits out between clenched teach. “Fuck Lex, tell me you close. Tryna hold it back for you.”

“Uh huh.”

“Whatchu need, baby girl? Whatchu wanna hear? How you the smartest chick I ever met and yo’ brain makes me so fuckin’ hard?”

“Oh god .”

“You wanna know how gone I am for you? How much I think about you? Never not got you on my mind baby, issa problem forreal.” 

“Fuck—”

“Or how you was the hottest thing ever, coming to my store an’ asking me to kill for you? That’s some twisted shit Lex, but I knew I would do it for you in a heartbeat. Would do anythin’ for you.”

She gasps and goes silent for half a second before he hears a long breathy moan.

“That’s it Lexi, come for me, lemme hear you,” Fez grunts as he frantically strokes himself, intending on meeting her at the precipice. She continues to make the sexiest little noises as he finally lets out a toe curling moan of his own, spilling over his fist and across his chest with just enough brain power to keep her name out of his mouth.

Several minutes later, after both of them return to normal breathing and his spend is sticky, drying on his chest, Lexi speaks up.

“Come get me tomorrow morning?”

It’s hopeful, but maybe also a bit more worried than he’d like to hear after they made each come over the phone. There’s a good chance they never should have crossed this line, that he’s a fuckin’ fool to think this girl wants anything more from him than his ability to shoot a gun without flinchin’, but he’s hopeful too. That Lexi is right here with him, scared of admitting how deep they’ve gotten with each other in this short amount of time. Scared of being in love.

“Anythin’ Lex.”

Chapter Text

She’s never been in love before, but if that’s what she’s feeling, she supposes there are worse options than Fezco O’Neill.

And this was before he made her see god with just the sound of his voice.

Lexi’s pretty sure she realized just how gone for the man she was when he took her to the bookstore on Saturday, but it’s been brewing longer than that. Maybe since the night he fed her dinner after her dance call ran late. She can’t decide if this is a good or bad thing yet though. Because the expiration date is looming and she didn’t mean for her feelings to get involved in this. 

Her alarm goes off all too early, and Lexi turns it off immediately, texting her mom to ask her to call the school and excuse her for the day. Suze doesn’t seem to want an explanation, just texts her back to let her know she’ll do it once she gets to the office.

There’s an unread message from last night, sent to her no less than an hour after she got off the phone with Fezco. 

fez: got some business 2 deal with this morning 

getchu by 9

go back to sleep baby 

Well that settles that, Lexi setting an alarm for two hours from now and rolling back over to attempt a fitful sleep. 

She’s dressed way more casual than she would be for school when Fezco pulls up to the curb. It’s nice outside, so she’d locked up a few minutes ago and waited on the stoop, scrolling through her phone and replying to a message from Bobbi, a little white lie about not feeling good and taking a day to rest before it gets worse sent the girls way. 

He meets her halfway down the sidewalk. 

“Hey,” Lexi greets, setting her backpack down carefully. She’s more anxious about this than she anticipated. 

Fezco, it seems, is also timid. His blue eyes search her face with a sense of trepidation, before a slight grin emerges and he’s running a hand over his scar in that nervous way of his. 

“Hey,” his cheeks flame up red, only making the freckles that cover his skin more pronounced. “You uh. Sleep good?” 

God she’s so in love with him it’s ridiculous. How did this even happen without her knowing? 

There’s only one response that makes sense. Lexi closes the distance between them and wraps her fingers in the front of his sweater, tugging Fezco down to her mouth as she rises on her toes. His response is instant, large hands wrapping around her back and holding her tightly as his tongue flicks against her lips before sliding into her mouth. It’s intense but quick, ending before Lexi would like it to, but Fez is quick to pull her to his car, snatching her backpack off the ground and placing it in the backseat. 

The drive to his place is quiet, but he’s got her fingers tangled in his when they aren’t needed. She can’t complain about that.

Fezco lets out a big yawn as they pull into his driveway and Lexi takes a moment to really study the man. He’d said he had business this morning, and their illicit phone call had happened closer to one in the morning than midnight. She already knows he runs on very little sleep most of the time, but she’s starting to wonder if he had any last night.

“How long did you sleep last night?” she asks as Fezco unlocks the front door. He grunts an irritated sound. “C’mon, you’re always on me about sleeping more.”

“Like. Ion know. Three hours or sumn?” he replies as he ushers her through the front door. Fezco takes the time to lock back up before continuing on. “Woulda had more but got interrupted last night.”

Lexi feels herself blush. “I’m not apologizing for that.”

Fez leans down and drops a quick kiss to her lips before pulling back and dragging her down the hall to his bedroom. “Didn’t say I was mad about it, baby. Slept through my alarm. I had to go collect this mornin’, Ash was all sorts of pissed when he had to wake me up for that shit.”

“Ah. Business.”

He pushes his bedroom door open, quickly slipping his sweater off and tossing it towards his dresser, not bothering with a hanger right now. His shoes are next, toed off in a way she’s never seen him do before he all but face plants onto his bed.

“C’mere,” he calls, voice muffled in sheets.

Lexi slips out of her clogs and pulls the extra large crewneck over her head before she crawls next to Fezco on his bed. He’s flipped around to starfish across the mattress, and it just makes the most sense that she fits herself into his side.

She wants to talk, about well, literally everything. But Fezco’s eyes are heavy and the lights are already off and the allure of sleeping next to him is too much. It’s not like she had a great night's sleep herself.

“Letchu do yo’ homework soon,” Fez slurs as he wraps his arms around her. “Promise Lex.”

Homework is the last thing on her mind.

“I got time,” she whispers back. “Go to sleep, Fezco.”

He hums a happy noise. “Two hours tops.”

“Alright.”

By the time they both claw their way back to the land of the living, it’s closer to three hours than two. Lexi’s pretty sure they would have spent the whole day curled up together in slumber if it hadn’t been for the rumbling in Fezco’s stomach waking him up. Lunch is ordered with a press of a few buttons on his phone and he excuses himself to go check on his grandma and the cameras while waiting for the delivery person. Lexi hauls her laptop out of her backpack, intent on working on her play over touching homework.

She’s deep into a new scene she’s been trying to figure out when Fez pushes the door open, letting her know lunch is waiting. 

It’s domestic and cozy and when this inevitably screeches to a halt after Nate’s gone, she’ll mourn these moments. 

Fezco, a gentleman in his own rough sort of way, waits patiently at the door, slinging an arm around her shoulders and tucking her in tight against him as they traverse the hallway, the scent of promised Chinese food wafting through the house. 

Lunch is a cozy affair, Fez dragging her chair closer to his and her feet finding their way in his lap as they share cartons of orange chicken and lo-mein noodles. 

“Gotta tell you sumn Lexi,” Fez finally says, leaning back in his chair. One hand has a cigarette while the other is wrapped around her ankle, thumbs smoothing over the fine bone there in a soothing manner. 

He’s going to tell her last night — this morning? — was a mistake, she just knows it. This whole thing has been too good to be true from the moment it started. That they both got too in their own heads and that they shouldn’t have ended up in the position they did. There really can’t be anything else, can there? Once again Lexi has ruined the one good thing she has going on.

God. The memory of this man telling her how gone he was for her will forever be burned in her head. She can’t believe she’s going to have to live with this forever.

“Ion know how it happened, but realized sumn this weekend,” he says, looking like he’s going to throw up. He’s in just as much agony as she is, which is the fucked up part of it all “An’ you can tell me to fuck off after this, aight? Just need to let you know.” 

Lexi feels her brows burrow together, because she already knows what he needs to say. “Know what?” 

“I’m in love witchu. And that complicates every fuckin’ thing ‘bout what we doin’ here.” 

She’s pretty sure her heart stops, at least momentarily, because what the fuck does he mean he’s in love with her? They weren’t supposed to fall in love. Their relationship has been complicated for sure, crossing boundaries left and right as of lately, but this wasn’t what was supposed to happen. They were supposed to go their separate ways after Nate dies. Even if she’s most definitely in love with him too. 

Fezco’s definitely rambling on about something nonsensical that Lexi is not paying attention to in the least as she shakes her head and holds her hands up for him to stop. 

“Stop. Stop stop. Wait, Fezco. Did you say you’re in love with me?” 

Fez gives her an almost pained expression. “ Lex. C’mon now, thought it was like, painfully obvious.” 

She blinks once, twice and then a third time before a huge smile breaks across her face. “You love me?” 

“Don’t think I had a say in it baby. Was already down bad before I realized I’d fallen, you feel me?” 

It takes her approximately .03 seconds to launch herself from her seat into his lap, her arms looping around his shoulders as she kisses him with everything she has in her. Fezco responds immediately, hands cradling her face gently as his tongue slides against her lips, licking softly into her mouth while she drags her fingernails across the back of his shorn skull. The sound she drags out of him is electric, sends her buzzing as their bodies move together in perfect sync. 

Lexi drags her teeth across Fez’s bottom lip as she pulls away, knocking their foreheads together. “For the record, I’m in love with you too. Pretty sure I figured it out the first time I came over here for dinner. Or maybe that's just when it happened, I don't know.”

Fez laughs, his warm breath spreading across her face. “Why didn’t you say nothin’?” 

“Fezco. You’ve been the like, one good, easy thing in my life this year. I didn’t want to ruin that. And like, we’re actively planning the murder of one of my classmates? Priorities.” 

He brushes a lock of her hair behind her ear and she about melts over it. “About that. Ash an’ I been talkin’ some more, and it’s only fair we letchu in on this.” 

Her fingers run over the cool metal links of his chain as she listens intently to what he has to say. 

They don’t have sex that Monday. 

In fact, it’s probably the most PG they’ve been with one another since the first time they kissed. For as flirty and forward as the man has been since they talked in his cooler, he’s surprisingly romantic about the way he wants to proceed once they’ve confirmed their feelings for each other. They had one more date in the agreed upon three in their deal and he more than intends on taking her on it – apparently he’s been planning for a while. Still, Lexi had hoped for maybe a little bit of action considering the fact they’d gotten down and dirty on the phone. 

“Gotta let the anticipation grow baby,” Fez murmurs into her ear that night as they kiss rather chastely in the Caddy across the street from her house. “Wanna make you want it bad.” 

“I already do want it bad,” she whines, scrunching her nose up. “Want it more than I’ve ever wanted anything.” 

He gives her a look, smirk placed on his perfect face before leaning back in the drivers seat. “Doubtful.” 

The rest of the week is nothing but a tease. Lexi goes to school and daydreams of Fezco and the things his hands and mouth could do to her while spacing out in class. Cassie and Nate are… hard to ignore. On Tuesday Maddy corners her in the girls room, way calmer than Lexi would have predicted, and just wants to talk. 

“Please tell me you didn’t know, that’s all I care about.” 

She’s never been a naturally great liar, but something about all the time she’s spent with Fezco these past few months has taught her that a little white lie isn’t the worst thing. 

“I didn’t know it was Nate,” she says quietly. “I figured it was someone , because she’s been weird as fuck recently. But I never would have guessed it was Nate.” 

The Latina sighs, throwing her arms around Lexi’s shoulders and giving her a tight squeeze. “I knew she had been cagey and there was something happening but like. I thought she was going through it? The break up with McKay was hard and it coming on the heels of her pregnancy scare.” 

A surprised little huh? slips out of Lexi’s mouth at the last sentence. 

“Oh my god, did you not know?” Maddy hisses under the breath despite the fact the washroom is completely empty. “Shit Lex, Cassie thought she was pregnant right around Thanksgiving last year. The test was negative and she started her period a week later after fucking crashing out over it. I had no idea you didn’t know.”

She did know. Except she knew that the test wasn’t negative and that Cassie’s period didn’t come a week later, that the misery her sister experienced was the result of an abortion. An abortion Lexi supported her through.

“No. No. I knew,” Lexi replies quickly. “I didn’t know you knew, that’s all. I thought I was the only one.” 

Of all the things to lie about to Maddy, Cassie getting an abortion seems like a big one. Maybe even bigger than Nate. Because if you can’t tell your best friend that, how are you ever going to be able to admit any of your other mistakes?

Not for the first time Lexi wishes she could peer inside her sister's head and see what the fuck she is thinking. 

Fezco finds it weird as fuck when she tells him while he’s driving her home from Oklahoma! practice. 

“Why wouldn’t she tell Maddy? Ain’t that her like, best fuckin’ friend?” 

Lexi shrugs, turning it over in her head. “Ion know. I’ve been thinking about it a lot actually and shit Fezco, I don’t think I would tell Rue if it was me.” 

The boy gives her a long side glance before refocusing on the road. He doesn’t say anything, just resumes his focus on the road. 

“What?” 

Fez sighs deeply, like he doesn’t want to get into this and frankly Lexi doesn’t blame him. Rue is a touchy subject for them both still. 

“Rue the last fuckin’ person you’d need to be tellin’ that shit ma. She stay being a whole ass mess, man.” 

Lexi frowns, even though she knows it’s true. She’s considered Rue to be her best friend for ages, but the truth of it is that the other girl probably hasn’t thought of Lexi as her best friend in a while. It’s like Fez can tell he’s hit upon a touchy subject, because he reaches across the center console and grabs her hand in his. 

“Don’t get in yo’ head ‘bout this shit baby. Swear to god you ain’t ever finding yo’self in the same spot as Cassie, aight?” 

“No potentially looming teenage motherhood for me?” she quips, a little snarky about it.

Fez barks a laugh at it. “Nah girl. We got plenty of time ahead of us for alla that shit, and I ain’t tryna be no baby daddy, you feel me? ‘Sides, you got it all planned out dontchu? You seventeen Lex, not thirty.” 

He’s so casual with the way he addresses the topic, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world that her future children will be his children too. It’s the baby daddy comment that does her in though, Fez telling he doesn’t plan on just being that, a thinly veiled implication that he wants to marry her first. 

They’ve only admitted to their feelings twenty-four hours ago and he’s telling her freely that they’re spending forever together. If it was anyone else, any other boy trying to sweet talk her, Lexi would think they are full of it. But it’s Fezco O’Neill and he never says things he doesn’t mean. 

“So uh…” she begins, pausing briefly. “If I wanted to call you my boyfriend, you wouldn’t argue with that?” 

It feels silly to ask considering the fact that Fezco went straight for the kill by telling her he was in love with her, but there were no definitive labels placed on their relationship and she doesn’t want to wonder. 

“You gon’ go around tellin’ everyone I’m yo’ man?” he says teasingly. “Letchu whole school know you’re with me?” 

“Not unless you don’t want me to,” she responds quickly, seriously. “If it’s not safe…”

“Don’t be worrying ‘bout what’s safe,” he says, cutting her off. “None of that is yo’ problem. Soon enough it won’t be mine either.”

As much as Lexi wants to believe him when he says that, she knows there’s a lot to worry about. The plan she, Fez and Ashtray have been orchestrating isn’t particularly elaborate, but the dominos do need to fall exactly in the right place. The look on her face must give her concern away. 

“Look at me Lexi,” he requests quietly. It’s not a demand, but the tone he uses makes it hard to not comply. “Don’t trip over none of this aight? You focus on school and yo’ musical for the next two weeks. You a damn high schooler, and don’t be thinkin’ I mean sumn by that ‘cause I’m just stating facts, kay? Lemme worry ‘bout the scary shit.”

They’ve pulled into a spot a few houses down from the Howard’s like always, the Caddy put into park but the engine still running. Fezco leans his head back against the headrest, his eyes closed as his fingers drum a beat on the steering wheel. Lexi knows he is anxious about next week, that this carefully constructed trap they’re leading Nate into needs time to work.

After Cal Jacobs had shown up at their place, they knew the idea of staging a suicide wasn’t going to work anymore. Cal was going to be too suspicious for that. It was Ashtray that came up with the idea to catfish the catfisher - she doesn’t know how he tracked down Nate’s profile on that app he used to talk to Jules last year and really she doesn’t want to find out - but the fact that the account was still active and they got an immediate response from the jock was like hitting the fucking jackpot.

All they need is to get him to agree to meeting up next Friday night. Specifically when the opening night performance of Oklahoma! is happening and all three of them have alibi’s for the evening in case the cops come sniffing around at the insistence of Cal. If it all goes according to plan, none of them will even have to do the dirty work, it’ll be handled for them.

“It’s going to work, Fezco,” she offers quietly, causing him to turn his head in her direction, his eyes half open as he gazes at her. “We’ve got this.”

The boy hums at her, reaching his hand over to cup her cheek, scooting close enough that his breath fans across her face. “Wanna take you out on our last date this weekend.”

“I think you mean first date,” she teases. “Our first official date as boyfriend and girlfriend.”

He laughs roughly at that and it’s warm on her cheeks. “Yeah Lex, our first official date as boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“So I’m your girlfriend?” Lexi questions, leaning in close enough that their noses brush.

Fezco closes the distance between them, meshing their mouths together almost harshly before pulling it back a little, placing small pecks on her lips before separating. “You my girl, Lexi.”

All Fezco gives her in way of what he’s planned for this date is that she needs to “dress up” which Lexi takes as meaning a step above her regular clothes. She goes all out, a crushed velvet dress with a lacy white collar, white thigh high stockings with a shiny pair of platform Mary Jane’s, dark red lipstick and her curls tamed with a wand. 

It’s giving vixen, specifically her own particular brand of it. Fezco eats it right up. 

“Can’t believe you made me sit through fuckin’ dinner witchu lookin’ this damn good,” he grumbles as he unlocks the backseat of the Caddy. 

They had dinner at some fancy Italian place with low lighting and a violinist waltzing through the crowd playing. It was the best date Lexi had ever had, they spent the whole night huddled together in the middle of their booth, talking and sharing their meals from their plates before splitting a dessert. It was romance straight out of one of her favorite novels, like she had stepped onto the screen of a movie set or into a fanfic she had read a dozen times. 

It was every fantasy about first love she’d ever had made true. 

Lexi slides into the seat with a wicked grin, crooking her finger up at the boy who looks at her like he’s never wanted anything or anyone more than he wants her. And Fezco follows her down eagerly, yanking the door closed behind him as he crowds her up into the opposite corner. Fezco has a perfectly good bed at his place, and unlimited privacy, but there’s something fun and illicit about finding an empty parking lot and making out in the backseat. 

In a week's time they are going to be responsible for the death of one of Lexi’s classmates, there’s only so many innocent teenage escapades they have left. 

“You told me to dress up,” she teasingly scolds as she wraps her hands around his neck and drags Fez in for a kiss. “Just following orders.”

Fezco nips at her bottom lip and she about melts over it. “Can’t say I expected the stockings. Thought I was gon’ have a fuckin’ coronary right then and there.” 

His hands have already found their way up her legs, his fingers teasing the stocking band where they sit. Every single touch leaves a promise for something more, burns a path of desire against her skin. There’s something almost reverent in the delicate way Fez brushes his fingers against her heated flesh. 

“I’m glad you liked them,” Lexi mumbles as she toys with the gold chain that hangs between them. “Thought you might.” 

Fezco leans in again to capture her mouth with his own, his fingers forgetting about the lace trim on her stockings in favor of pushing their way up her thighs, quickly finding the silk that covers her hips as his grip tightens. The kiss is slow, agonizingly so, every motion of their lips languid as Fez makes no rush to move them further. Lexi pushes her own hands up under his sweater, tucking them under his tee as she drags her nails over the warm skin she finds there. The man hovering above her breaks a groan against her mouth, letting his weight drop against her and causing her own moan to rumble out when their pelvis’s make contact. 

“You said you wanted me to want it,” Lexi says, pulling her mouth away from Fez’s, her hands still exploring his back. “Back in your store when this all started? You were teasing me, but you said if I was going to end up in your bed it was going to be because I wanted it to happen. And I do want it. I want you. So fucking bad Fezco.” 

Fezco must have some type of super human willpower, because Lexi is pretty sure most guys from her high school in the backseat with a girl telling them how bad they want to fuck wouldn’t have the ability to pull away. But Fez does. Immediately Lexi tucks herself into the corner, embarrassment flooding her cheeks as she pulls her knees in and wraps her arms around them. 

“Aye none of that,” Fez says gently, tugging at her wrist. “Think you know how bad I want you gorgeous.” 

“I just offered myself up on a silver platter and you couldn’t get yourself off of me fast enough,” Lexi scoffs. “Excuse me for thinking the worst.” 

Fez rolls his eyes with a bit of affection before pulling on her arm again, coercing her into his lap. He’s still hard in his jeans as he settles Lexi’s thighs on either side of his, something he makes known by the way he grinds himself up into her while his hands grip her hips. 

“Want you Lex. Want you so fuckin’ bad baby. But I meant it when I said I wanted you in my bed, not being hyperbolic there.”

“Big word there,” Lexi teases lightly. 

“Learned from the smartest fuckin’ girl I know,” he replies earnestly. There’s such fondness in his eyes and Lexi doesn’t know how to handle it. 

“So let’s go,” she replies laughing, trying to ease the tension. “You can have me in your bed, it’s that easy.” 

“Can’t you letta man be romantic, shit,” Fez laughs, leaning up and pressing a kiss on the hollow of her throat. “I like, gotta plan you know? Wanna watchu in yo’ musical next week, bring you flowers, meet yo’ moms.” 

“You wanna meet my mom ?” 

“Ain’t that what boyfriends do? Meet the parents?” 

Flustered, Lexi tucks her chin into her chest. “Well yeah. But like, don’t you think this is too soon?” 

“Ion know girl, ain’t ever done this shit before. But the way I see it, we been dating a while now Lexi,” he says, tipping her chin back up with his thumb and forefinger. “I’m already fuckin’ crazy for you, Ion wanna wait around on lettin’ yo’ mom get to know me. Plan on being around for a while, you feel me?” 

She wants to tell him he’ll be around forever if she has her way, but that’s a fucking lot to admit on a first official date. 

“Just ‘cause I wanna wait for a bed to be in you the first time don’t mean we can’t do other stuff,” Fez says, maybe a little hopeful as he looks up at her under sooty lashes. “Been thinkin’ ‘bout those noises you made on the phone, wanna hear ‘em again.” 

Lexi doesn’t need much more convincing than that, hurriedly sliding off Fez’s lap to trade places. He’s full of surprises though, taking his time to kiss her, touch her, get her so worked up for him that she’s certain she’s going to come from the feel of his lips on her throat and words in her ears. Dirty talk is a revelation, one she thought was going to be reserved for another one of those late night phone calls that turn x-rated. So listening to Fezco tell her, in explicit detail, all the things he’s thought about doing to her in that low, rough voice of his is driving her crazy. 

By the time his fingers have curled around her panties she’s nearly delirious. “Lift them hips for me baby girl,” Fez murmurs with a press of his mouth to her inner knee. “Gotta taste you.” 

She does as asked, spreading her thighs wide enough to make room for Fez at this angle. All her experience with this kind of sex involved other girls, so the scratch of Fezco’s beard on her inner thighs sends shudders down her spine. He spreads her lips with his thumbs, blowing warm air on over heated flesh as she whimpers at it. 

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he says gently, the heat gone from his voice but hiding in his blue eyes. “I’m serious Lex, you get uncomfortable an’ I’ll stop.”

“Don’t think it’ll be a problem,” she replies, urging him on as she rolls her hips up towards his mouth. “I want this. I want you.” 

It surprises her the way he doesn’t immediately swipe his tongue through her cunt but instead mouths at her inner thighs. Fezco takes his time making his way to where she wants him most, nipping and sucking on the soft skin he finds, bruises forming by the time his mouth finally makes contact with her pussy. 

He’s gentle, almost too much, at first. Exploratory kisses and avoiding her clit as his tongue passes through her wetness. Lexi is going slowly crazy with need and Fezco seems content to fully drive her there.  

“You’re a tease,” she whines as Fez ghosts over her clit again. “This is torture.” 

Fez looks up at her, her arousal apparent on his beard, grinning devilishly as he asks her if she wants him to stop. 

“Christ, no.” 

“Aight then, lemme do this my way.” 

By the time his lips make contact with her clit, Lexi is pretty sure she’s going to die. Or maybe have the best orgasm of her life. Probably both. 

“God,” she groans out, one of her hands coming to rest on the top of Fezco’s head as she urges him closer. 

Everything feels white hot. The way the dress she still wears clings to her over heated skin, the lace of her bra rubbing against her pointed nipples, the stockings Fezco can’t keep his hands off of every time he does something torturous like pulling his mouth off of the place she wants it the most. It’s too much and not enough all at once. 

“It’s Fezco, baby, but you know that,” her boyfriend teases with a laugh, pulling away enough that he can slide two fingers inside her. He curls them upwards and her eyes roll into the back of her head. 

“Like that,” she encourages, thrusting her hips forward. “Right there. Just like that. Oh my god.” 

The slow way in which Fezco started this endeavor has been abandoned, his fingers pumping in and out of her cunt with vigor as his tongue flicks against her clit. 

“Wanna see you come Lexi. Hearing you the other night? Fuckin’ hottest shit of my life. Now I wanna see you.” 

She can feel it coming, that cresting wave she wants to ride out forever. 

“So good for me baby. So perfect. Such a perfect girl. Such a good fuckin’ girl. Can you come for me gorgeous? Lemme see you come for me Lexi.” 

Really it’s all the encouragement she needs, his pretty words in her ear as right before his mouth covers her cunt. She cries out, the noise cut off in her throat as her orgasm leaves her breathless. Fezco is relentless, his tongue lapping at her clit while his fingers work her through it, only giving her a break when she pushes his head away weakly. 

“Holy shit,” Lexi laughs quietly. “Holy shit.”

Fez wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before popping his fingers into his mouth, sucking off her arousal before grabbing her chin and pulling her in for a kiss. Lexi can taste herself on his tongue, but he’s under there too, that thing she’s come to know as Fezco in all the weeks they’ve been kissing. 

“So you liked it?” Fez questions softly, suddenly unsure of himself. He has absolutely no reason to question his ability here, it was like a masterclass is giving head. 

“You can do that anytime you want to. Seriously. You’re like, really fucking good at that.” 

His cheeks pink up at her praise. “Lex.” 

“If the glamorous world of crime doesn’t work out for you, you should just start teaching clinics on how to go down on women. Men would pay well to learn your skills. Fuck, I’d even volunteer my time to be your personal assistant in the matter. For educational purposes.” 

 Fezco chuckles at that, ducking his head low. “Yeah shorty, for the educational purposes of it.” 

“Well if you want these guys to learn they are going to need a visual, and there’s no fucking way I’m going to let you do that to anyone else.” 

A little tiny part of her is jealous that there’s been enough other girls Fezco has slept with that his mouth is that talented, but in a way she’s grateful too. She’s just had the best orgasm of her life and it’s because her boyfriend has mastered the art of oral sex. 

“Yeah fuck that, Lexi,” Fezco replies immediately, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Maybe Imma lil possessive but Ion want no other fuckin’ dudes getting to see yo’ pussy aight? Far as I’m concerned, that’s all just for me now.” 

She likes the idea, being just for him. She likes the idea of him being hers even more though. 

“Are you going to let me take care of you?” she asks coyly, hand reaching for his belt. “I’m still kinda mad about Cal Jacobs interrupting us the first time I tried doing this.” 

“Fuck, I ain’t gonna lie girl, but I took yo’ ass home that night then went back to the crib and fucked my own fist just thinkin’ ‘bout what it would be like to have you doing it for me.” 

At the very least Fezco is as horny for her as she is for him. It makes her feel like they are on equal footing in terms of how invested in the fledgling relationship they both are. She’s never been this gone for anyone, ever, and it’s nice to know he feels the same. 

There’s a bit of maneuvering to get them both comfortable, Lexi undoing his belt while laying thick kisses against the side of his neck before Fez pushes the denim down and his boxers with it. His hands are around her waist and lifting her to sit on his thighs immediately, his angry, weeping red cock bobbing between them as Lexi can’t help but look at it wide eyed. 

“See sumn you like?” Fezco teases, catching the look on her face. He’s wearing a shit eating grin, eyes alight as the tip of his tongue peaks between the gap in his front teeth. 

“You’re just. It’s like. I could tell you had a lot going on down there,” she says, waving her hands in the general direction of his dick and making him laugh. “But I um. I think I underestimated just how much was going on, exactly?”

Fezco barks a laugh at that.

“I have no idea how it’s going to all fit,” Lexi comments idly as she reaches out and wraps a hand around him, enjoying the way Fezco shudders at her touch.

“Oh, it gonna fit baby, dontchu worry ‘bout that,” Fez says as he places his hand around hers, guiding her to the right grip and tempo as she strokes his cock. “Might be tight, but we’ll make it work.”

Lexi leans in to kiss him then, swiping her thumb over the head of his cock and smearing the pre-cum that leaks out down his shaft. Fezco moans into her mouth, urging her on as his hands clutch her thighs hard enough that she’s certain there’s going to be bruises there as well.

“Everything I dreamed of,” he grunts, pulling his mouth from hers to throw his head back into the rest. “Yo’ fuckin’ perfect for me Lex. You feel so damn good on me like this.”

The vein on his neck is straining and there’s nothing Lexi wants more than to sink her teeth into it. His skin is salty under the tongue, tinged with sweat as she nips and sucks a bruise there, not caring if it’s visible to anyone who is not them. He is hers now afterall, this is just a way to publicly claim him.

“Gonna cum Lexi,” Fezco whines as he flexes his hips upwards, chasing her hand. “Don’t wanna stain yo’ dress.”

She has the mind to pull it the rest of the way up her thighs, exposing her bare skin. Fezco shudders beneath her once before moaning loudly as he comes, cum shooting out and landing on her upper thighs, just barely missing the hem of her dress. It takes him a few moments to come back to himself, Fezco suddenly grabbing her by the base of her skull and crashing their mouths together in one long, languid kiss that's all teeth and tongue.

He doesn’t say it when he pulls back, planting his forehead against hers as they take each other in, but Lexi can feel the way he loves her in his eyes alone. They’ve only actually said it that one time so far, when they admitted how they felt about each other, something holding Fezco back from repeating it this past week. But it’s okay, Lexi is in no rush. A week from now it’ll all be different.

“Let’s getchu home before yo’ ass turns into a pumpkin.”

“All the cameras are working?” he asks for the twentieth time as he finishes getting ready to head out of the house. “You got every angle we need?” 

Ash just sighs, exasperated with the questions. “Yeah man. Made sure the whole thing was covered, no blind spots. All you gotta worry ‘bout is getting over to that goofy-ass musical.” 

Tonight’s the night. The night Nate Jacobs dies and Fez and Ashtray get what they need to end their business relationship with Mouse. Murder and blackmail all in one and he doesn’t have to lift a finger. 

Ashtray’s phone chimes, another message incoming from their intended victim. It’s a burner phone, that way they can toss it out the fuckin’ window on the highway and it won’t be tracked back to them. Crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s as Lexi would say, a neat little checklist of how to get away with murder. 

It turns out it’s easiest when you’re not committing the actual crime. 

“He ain’t tryna back out?” Fez questions as he checks his reflection in the hall mirror one last time. “Cause Mouse been blowing up my phone ‘bout this new seller we got for him.” 

It’s sneaky and underhanded and honestly Fezco is a little impressed with how easily it all came together in the end. For the last month or so Ashtray has been texting “Tyler” on that gay dating app Lexi remembered the name of from Rue’s manic episode in the fall, pretending to be a transgirl named Heather. They didn’t think he’d be open to meeting up with a dude, even if according to Lexi his phone was full of dick pics that didn’t belong to him, so it made sense to everyone involved to fake a girl that was reminiscent of Jewel. 

The kid had fallen for it hook line and sinker, and now he was going to meet up with this girl at one of his daddy’s worksites while a majority of his peers are attending the East Highland High School Theater Department’s spring musical, Oklahoma! , for it’s opening night. Including Fezco and Ashtray, because it’s the perfect alibi and they want to support Lexi. 

“Nah, he’s showing up. Tyler is real excited to meet Heather. I almost feel bad for the guy.” 

Fez snorts loudly. He’d feel worse for the closeted kid if he wasn’t such a raging fuckin’ asshole. It can’t be easy not being able to freely be yo’self, but there’s gotta be better ways to go about yo’ life than harassing fuckin’ everyone and they brother like a dick. 

“He ain’t gettin’ nothing he don’t deserve,” Fez mumbles as he pulls his phone out of his jeans pocket and clocks the time. The show starts in forty-five minutes and they still gotta find parking at the high school. “We gotta get headed out bruh.” 

Ash, who pulled out one of his designer tracksuits for the occasion, rolls his eyes but gets up off the couch regardless. “Lexi said she had our seats reserved already.” 

“Still gotta park the Caddy and find ‘em,” he says as he plucks the keys off their hook. “I ain’t tryna miss a second of this thing.”

Lexi’s in the lead role, some farm girl named Laurey stuck in a one sided love triangle that turns violent. He’s spent the last few months watching her learn lines and practice her songs and dancing. Fezco’s never been to a musical before, and he ain’t so sure this is one he’s gonna actually enjoy, but he’d do damn near anything for Lexi Howard - including being stuck in the East Highland auditorium for a couple of hours on a Friday night. 

“A whole ass simp,” Ash mutters, shaking his head lightly at his brother. “Course you agreed to murder playboy with no compensation, she got you wrapped around her finger the minute she walked into the fuckin’ Dairy, bro.” 

It's not an exaggeration. Lexi had him fucked up from the first time she strolled through the front door of the Dairy, all prim and proper in her cardigan and skirt, lookin’ like sin as she asked him to kill someone they mutually hated. 

Grabbing the bouquet of red roses he picked up from the florist earlier, Fez swats at the teenagers head as they head out the front door but doesn’t argue the fact. He’s head over heels for Lexi Howard and unashamed to admit it. 

The parking situation is as bad as he expected, it seems like the whole damn school came out for this musical tonight. Fezco is hella grateful Lexi came through with the reserved seats when he sees the crowd in the lobby. 

“Fez?” he hears from behind him. Rue’s voice is smaller and more timid than he thinks he’s ever heard it, except maybe that first time she came looking for shit at the Dairy. 

“Lookin’ good kid,” he says as he turns to the girl, meaning every word of it. “Heard you had come back to school this week.” 

Monday night he’d picked Lexi up way fuckin’ late from her first night of Hell Week and despite her being tired as fuck, she was really excited to let him know Rue had come back to school. The girl had a lot of apologizing to do, and Fez was certain that he was on the list, but he wanted Rue to get to him in her own time. Not be forced to do it in a crowded high school lobby. 

“Uh, yeah. Back to school,” she mumbles, eyes moving across his body, seemingly surprised and confused as to why exactly he’s here. Rue cocks her head to the side, lifting a finger as her brows weave together. “Um. I… what the fuck are you doing here? With flowers?” 

Fez shrugs a little, the collar of his sweater adjusting in the movement and it’s obvious the faded bruise Lexi left on him last week is visible by the way Rue’s eyes bulge from her head. Quickly he adjusts it, fixing his chain in the process as can’t help the smile that starts to pop onto his face. 

“Was invited, have reserved seats an’ everything,” he says, Rue nodding in understanding even though he knows she doesn’t understand any of it. “It’s my first musical.” 

Rue laughs a little. “Not mine. My friend - you remember Lexi Howard? - has been doing them since we were little kids, I’ve come to see all her shows forever.” 

“Oh yeah? S’real nice of you Rue.” 

The girl shrugs, shoving her hands into her pockets. “I’m not always the best friend, but if anyone makes me want to try harder, it’s Lexi.” 

Yeah, he gets that. 

“So, who invited you? Someone special? Like, a girlfriend?” Rue teases, eying up the roses. “I know you didn’t spend all that money on roses for someone casual.” 

He can’t help but fuck with the girl just a little. “Uh yeah. My girl’s the lead in this show, her first major role. All the prepping was no fuckin’ joke, so you know I had to do it up big for her.” 

Rue blinks, her brain trying to process what he just said. “Lexi is the lead in this. Lexi Howard. My Lexi.” 

He just nods, a little grin on his face as he points to the auditorium and gestures for Rue to follow. She does, however she looks incredibly confused.

“Are you dating Lexi Howard?” Rue hisses at him as they enter the auditorium. “How in the ever loving fuck did that happen?” 

Fez spots his seat, a white paper printed with big black letters Reserved for Fezco O’Neill taped on the front. Ashtray is already in his seat, phone out as he scrolls through video feeds, no doubt on the outlook for Playboy making his appearance. 

“Issa long story kid,” he says, noting the way the lights flicker for the five minute warning. They don’t have the time to get into any of it and honestly he ain’t tryna tell Rue any of the real story. “We ran into each other earlier this year and started talking. Asked her to be my girl two weeks ago.” 

The girl smiles slightly before her eyes narrow and she jabs a finger into his shoulder. “You hurt her and I will come for you O’Neill.” 

Rues about as menacing as a chihuahua, but he nods his head in agreement. Honestly, if he ever did anything to actually hurt Lexi, he’d be more than happy to let Rue come for him. 

“Good seeing you kid,” he says and genuinely means. The night she showed up at his place was still fucked, but he knows they’ll work it out. “Gotta get my seat.” 

Rue looks like she has more to say, which she probably does, but they don’t have the time. Instead she gives him a parting wave as she moves to find her own seat. 

“What the fuck she want?” Ash grumbles as he sits down next to the surly teen. He’s less inclined to make good with Rue after Fez had to kick her out of the house. 

“Wanted to know why I was here. ‘Bout shocked the shit outta her to hear I’m dating her best friend.” 

“She apologize?” 

“Nah, not yet. Tonight’s about Lexi, ain’t tryna get into all of that.” 

That’s the last thing that gets said before the house lights go down. 

Unsurprisingly, Lexi is phenomenal. But Fezco already knew that, he’s been watching her get ready for this show for months now. Still, he’s a little mesmerized through the first act, watching his girl sing and dance across the stage. She looks like she’s having the time of her life, which is all he really wanted for her tonight anyway - no worries about what could possibly go wrong with their master plan. 

Ash is up and outta his seat as soon as the lights go up, obviously to check the camera feed. Mouse was supposed to roll through the spot at 7pm, thirty minutes after the show started and ten minutes after Nate Jacobs was scheduled to show up and wait for his hook up. If they know the supplier as good as they think they do, Mouse is going to be trigger happy when Playboy starts getting defensive about his being there. The thing about the dealer is that he doesn’t let shit slide, not usually, and he really doesn’t like it when sumn happens that would risk his business. Some punk ass kid being in the wrong place at the wrong time ain’t gonna be enough of a reason for him just let Jacobs walk away. 

He doesn’t pull his phone out, fuck it ain’t even on because he knows Mouse is blowing up his line and he ain’t tryna deal with all of that right now. The man will have his undivided attention after Lexi Howard is back home, tucked safe in her bed tonight. 

“Everythin’ good?” he asks his brother several minutes later as Ash takes his seat next to him. There’s about seven minutes until act two starts. 

The kid holds out a fist to connect to his own. 

“Got it in the bag bro, Mouse ain’t gonna know what hit him.” 

The crowd at the edge of the stage is big and it seems like everyone is here to congratulate his girl, so Fez waits in the background, observing like he does. Lexi’s out of her costume and wig but her stage makeup is still intact as she hugs who can’t be anyone but her mother, the resemblance is uncanny. His girl catches his eyes from across the crowd and immediately lets go of her mom, pushing her way through all the folks waiting to congratulate her as she rushes towards him. 

“You came!” Lexi gasps as she launches herself into him, nearly knocking him back with the force of her hug. “Did you like it?” 

Fezco squeezes Lexi tight to him, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “Course I came baby, told you I’d be here,” he says as he lets her go and picks up the flowers he left on the stage. She blushes as he hands them to her. “You was fuckin’ amazin’ ma. Best musical I ever seen.” 

“Only musical you’ve ever seen.” 

“Don’t matter. You killed that shit.” 

They’re kinda lost in their own world when someone very loudly clears their throat. Lexi’s mom is standing a few feet in front of them, arms crossed and brows raised. 

“Is this him?” Suze Howard asks expectantly.

“You told yo’ moms about me?” he says in a mock whisper, earning an elbow to the ribs. He’d been to one to ask to meet her after all.

“Mom, this is my boyfriend, Fezco,” Lexi says in introduction, gesturing toward him. “Fezco, this is my mom, Suze Howard.” 

He goes to shake the woman’s hand but she surprises him with a hug instead. 

“Thrilled to meet you Fezco,” she whispers as she pulls him close. “You keep my girl as happy as she’s been, you hear?” 

“Yes, ma’am. I intend to.”

There’s nothing more that Fezco wants to do with his girl to celebrate her big night than to take her back to his crib, lay her out against his sheets, and show her all he’s made of. 

But unfortunately for them, it ain’t really an option right now. There ain’t no doubt that Mouse and Custer are waiting for ‘em to roll up to the house, prolly pissed as fuck that the wannabe dealer Fezco was setting them up with never showed up at the meeting spot on the Jacobs development. Which was all a part of the plan anyway. Once it became clear that working for Mouse was no longer working for them, they decided they needed to kill two birds with one stone. 

Except they weren’t doing any of the killing. Instead they was gonna have the first bird kill the second bird and keep the stone on the ground where it belongs. 

Or maybe the stone was the video evidence they have of Mouse murdering Nate Jacobs? In that case, the stone is being kept nice an’ secure in the big ol’ safe tucked back in his grandma's bedroom. 

Regardless, Fezco’s plans to finally fuck his girlfriend the way they both want is gonna have to wait til another night ‘cause he’s got business to take care of one last time. 

“So this is all over tonight?” Lexi asks between long kisses. 

They’ve snuck off to a dark corner on the outside of the school for a moment alone before they go their separate ways. Some of the theater kids were going to dinner at Denny’s but Lexi’s opting to head home, tomorrow is a two show day and she wants to rest her voice. 

“Yeah, baby,” he replies, his mouth working its way down the side of her jaw and to her neck. “Ash has all the evidence on video and we got back ups of the back ups already. Gon’ sneak over to the site right now to snatch our cameras ‘for sumn finds Playboy and the area is streamin’ with the feds.” 

He nips at her throat and Lexi lets out a moan — it’s a lil fucked up how hot talkin’ murder gets ‘em, but he ain’t that concerned over it. Not like they gonna have to arrange anyone else’s death in the future. 

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” Lexi says, gripping his shoulders as he sucks on her skin. “Out of our hair forever.” 

Nate Jacobs, gone forever has a nice as fuck ring to it. The asshole is no longer gonna be around to cause problems for no one Fezco cares about. And if his daddy thinks he’s gonna point fingers in the O’Neill’s general direction, Cal’s gotta ‘nother thing comin’ to him, cause as it would turn out that fuckin’ disc he was lookin’ for had ended up in the hands of Maddy Perez. And after some convincing by the girl he has pressed against the brick wall right now, that very disc was now sitting under the pillow on Lexi’s bed. 

That was the other reason she didn’t want to be out late tonight, she had a pitstop to make at East Highland PD before she performs in the matinee tomorrow.

“Yo’ sis gonna be okay?” Fez asks, pulling back from Lexi’s neck and brushing her bangs out of her face. “I know she like, blew up her whole fuckin’ life fo’ this dude, but do you reckon she’s gonna be aight when she finds out Nate’s dead?” 

Lexi sighs, long and frustrated. Clearly she’s been thinking about this.

“No. Not right away at least,” she whispers, fingers fiddling with his chain. “I think she needs like. Intense therapy. But she’ll be home and mom and I can encourage her to deal with her shit in a more productive way than she has the past few months. But she’s stronger than she realizes, so she’ll get there eventually.”

“If you needa escape, you know who to call,” he tells her sincerely. School is almost out for the summer and the idea of infinite Lexi Hours sounds fuckin’ phenomenal. “Seriously Lex, anytime you wanna spend the night, I gotchu.” 

His girl leans up to press her lips against his again, short and sweet this time. “I’ll be taking full advantage of sleepovers as soon as you let me.” 

“Tomorrow then?” He’s a little (read: a lot) hopeful that they’ll get to do the thing they’ve been itching to do for months now. With Mouse no longer a problem after tonight, Fezco wants to have Lexi in his bed immediately.

“You’ll pick me up after the show?” 

“Imma be sitting front row shorty, best believe that. But yeah, if you wanna come home with me after, I ain’t gonna be mad atchu.” 

Her only answer is a kiss so filthy Fezco has to physically pull himself away so he doesn’t get down and dirty against the outside of her high school. 

Ashtray confirms their supplier is waiting for them when he slides into the car, Mouses ride parked a few spots down from their own on the security cameras, but first they have a clean up job to handle before they go back to theirs. 

The new development Cal has been working on has crews on site seven days a week - gotta have manpower when you pumping out cookie cutter houses for the masses - so Nate’s body will be found sometime early tomorrow. By the time Lexi goes on for her matinee at least, Fezco suspects the whole auditorium will be whispering about poor Nate Jacobs. Initially they thought they’d be able to stage a suicide, Jacobs wouldn’t be the first kid to blow his brains out while having a crisis over their sexual orientation at least, but that all got tossed out the window when Mouse showed his ugly mug at they place and Lexi had to hide out in his bedroom. 

Now it’s as simple as the kid being murdered by some unknown assailant. Wrong place, wrong time. His phone obviously is going to come up with the text messages from their supposed Heather , but Ashtray breaks the burner phone in half on the drive over to the site. One piece out the window on the freeway, the other crossing a wash runoff full of water. Combine that with how carefully his little brother placed those fuckin’ cameras around the worksite, they gonna get away with this whole thing scotfree. 

Not that they pulled the trigger on any of it, something they have video proof of if they need it. 

“C’mon, gotta be quick about it,” Ash says as they pull on to a side road near the edge of the worksite. They don’t dare go all the way in, lest the Caddy be seen. 

Scaling the chain link fence is some work, Fezco is grateful he left his sweater in the car for this. The two are over the metal fence quick enough, treading down an embankment that’ll lead them to the half finished house that Nate Jacobs body rests in. They stop before they reach the open wall that should have the back door, Ashtray pulling out black latex gloves and shoe covers for both of them from the backpack he carries. 

“Safety first,” the kid jokes as he slips the covers on his feet and tugs the gloves on. 

Leave no evidence is the name of the game, make it impossible to track any of this back to them. 

Ash starts detaching the cameras one by one, running down the list he has on a folded piece of lined paper he’d torn out of one of Lexi’s notebooks. Fez snatches each device out of his brother's hand, tucking them into the bag as they carefully move from room to room in this unfinished house. 

They both grimace at the sight in front of them when they finally come across the teenage boy. Mouse was brutal in his execution, the pool of blood the young man lays down face first in already dark and congealing. Fez hasn’t seen the footage himself, but if he had to guess it was a single shot between the eyes, maybe a second to the chest for good measure. 

Either way, Nate Jacobs is as dead as a door nail and Fezco didn’t have to lift a finger in order to keep his word to Lexi Howard. It couldn’t have worked out better if they had tried. 

“Good fuckin’ riddance,” Ash grunts from his sit beside him, both of them staring down at the body. “What a waste of space.” 

Fezco hums his agreement, turning swiftly away from the body and moving to the next room. They don’t have time to linger and they gotta supplier to blackmail. 

They make easy work of the rest of the cameras, leaving the way they came in, gloves and shoe covers tucked away into their backpack before trekking back to the Caddy. The drive home is relatively quiet, just some hip hop playing in the background as Fezco chain smokes cigarettes to calm his nerves. It’s not that he doesn’t think this is going to work, ‘cause he knows it will, it’s just that he’s never done nothing like this before. Effectively taking himself out the drug game as soon as their dwindling supply sells out is an unforeseen consequence of the punches they’re pulling, but the time feels right. Things have gotten too serious recently, too life and death for not just him but Ash too. And now he’s gotta girl that he’s in love with, and he don’t wanna cause Lexi no unnecessary pain. 

It ain’t like he wanted to do this shit forever anyway. 

They manage to get inside the house for all of three fucking minutes before Mouse starts pounding at the door, hollering to be let in. Fez is prepared, gun drawn as he opens the inside the door, visible to both Mouse and Custer on the stoop between the heavy screen that separates them. 

“Imma letchu in, but I ain’t putting this shit away,” he says with confidence. “You gonna come in and sit down on my couch, and you gonna listen to what me an’ Ashtray have to say.” 

Mouse doesn’t like that, obviously. His own gun is in his fist and Fez is about certain if the metal grated screen wasn’t separating them, Mouse would have fired off a shot. 

“You don’t tell me what to do bitch,” his soon-to-be former supplier hisses angrily. 

Face set in stone, Fezco pushes the door open further to reveal Ashtray, who’s holding his phone up that plays the footage of Mouse shooting Jacobs on a loop. 

“Nah, think we do motherfucker.” 

Ashtray pulls the camera footage up on the tv, playing for the two in in high fuckin’ definition the multiple angles of Nate Jacobs murder they have on camera, the kid not so subtly informing the men in question that he already is in possession of multiple copies and there ain’t shit they can do about it. 

“You set me up,” Mouse says, his eyes flicking back and forth from the screen to the brothers. “There was never a dealer looking for a supply line that you knew. You just wanted me to kill that fucking kid, otherwise you wouldn’t have cameras all over.” 

“And so the fuck what if I did? I had a problem and you was the solution. All works out for me in the end.” 

The man seethes. “You seem to forget who’s working for who here. I own your ass, O’Neill.” 

Ashtray clears his throat, causing all eyes to turn on him. “Actually, we own yo’ ass, bitch. ‘Cause you might not be aware of just exactly who you killed tonight, but unfortunately for you, the feds are gonna be looking.” 

“For some dumbass kid fucking around at an empty worksite?” Custer speaks up, sighing as he leans back against the couch. “Doubt it, little man.” 

Fezco pulls out the article from an old newspaper Lexi had found and cut out for him a few weeks back that’s been tucked in his back pocket. It’s from late last year when East Highland Football was in the midst of their playoff run, Nate’s face and accolades plastered across the front. He tosses the article down on the coffee table. 

“Now iono if either of you motherfuckers know how to read, but that paper there is talking about Nate Jacobs. The quarterback for East Highland High School. And the lil bitch you put a bullet through tonight. His death is gonna be a big ass deal around here,” Fez states as Mouse reaches for the paper, the tattooed face of his supplier turning more and more gray.

“You say Jacobs ? That punk ass kid you beat half to death earlier this year?” the guy asks in a tone Fezco has never heard from him before. “As in the son of the real estate guy?” 

Fezco crosses his arms over his chest. “The very same one. That’s his daddy.” 

“Fuck,” Custer says as he smacks a palm across his forehead. “You gonna turn us in?” 

Fez shakes his head no much to the relief of both the men on his couch. “Ain’t got no need for that shit. Ash an’ I are gonna keep a hold of this video though, just in case.” 

“Whatchu gonna do? Turn the tables on us? Make me do the bitch work for you or something?” Mouse asks, both relieved and annoyed. 

“Nah man. I’m fuckin’ out. Out this lifestyle, out this business. I ain’t payin’ you nothin’, not a single fuckin’ cent more than I have. Whatever debt you thinkin’ we have is cleared as of right the fuck now.” 

Mouse looks like he wants to argue but just sets his lips in a hard, thin line as Ash points his gun at the screen that keeps playing their evidence. 

“Ion wanna hear from you two no more, I sure as fuck don’t wanna see yo’ asses either. Not here, not at my fuckin’ job. If you see us out in public you better pretend we don’t fuckin’ know each other. Don’t talk to us, don’t look at us.” 

“That’s it?” 

Fez shrugs his shoulders in agreement. “All you gotta do is stay the fuck outta my business and that video,” he says, pointing at the screen. “will stay between us. You so much as set a toe in the neighborhood of that line and I’ll send this shit to the Feds so fast you’ll be locked up before you even get a chance to blink, player.” 

Mouse shares a look with Custer, who seems eager to accept the deal if the look he wears says anything. The hardened criminal just sighs as he rolls his eyes at his partner's pathetic face. 

“Never thought you had it in you to blackmail someone O’Neill,” the man says as he rises from the couch and holds out a hand to shake their deal. “But respect.” 

In the end it’s easier than either Fez or Ash had anticipated, Mouse and Custer eagerly agreeing to the O’Neill brothers keeping the knowledge of who killed Nate Jacobs a closely guarded secret and allowing them out of their selling deal. The hardest part of this whole thing is going to be explaining to their regulars that they don’t do that shit no more once the dwindling supply they have is gone. Fez is a little more excited than he expected to never have to sit on some fuckin’ strangers couch again to sell weed and pills to teenagers at a party. 

Though, he’d be more than willing to hold down a couch with Lexi Howard at a party if she wanted him to. 

“You think he’s gonna come back?” Ash says as he peaks out the blinds. “Shit felt too easy.”

Fezco just runs a hand across his scar, shaking his head. “Ion think so man. Mouse is a fuckin’ dick but he knows what’s good for him, and having the Feds poking around his business ain’t it. Mans ain’t gonna be a bother no more.” 

His little brother nods in agreement, setting the alarms and telling Fez goodnight as he heads towards his bedroom. Fezco is about to the same, but he pulls his phone from his pocket and turns it back on, swiping away all the messages from the man that just left the premises and pulling up his text thread with Lexi. 

fez: hope you getting sleep pretty girl 

all taken care of here btw 

see you tomorrow night baby 

He’s settling into his bed after a quick shower when his phone buzzes on the pillow next to him. It’s well past midnight, but Lexi is a night owl and prolly had a gossip session about him with her moms tonight. Shit, maybe even Rue was involved. She’s liked his text about everything being okay and even sent a heart on the one for tomorrow night. 

lexi: see you tomorrow night fezco 

The thought of tomorrow night and what he’s gonna do to her keeps him up much later than anticipated. 

By the time the matinee performance of Oklahoma! lets out the news of Cal’s arrest and Nate Jacobs rumored death has started to spread like wildfire. Nothing has been confirmed about the crime scene but some fuckin’ kid who has a parent on the police force posted a since deleted Tweet that has been screenshot and passed around and ‘round. Unfortunately Cal ain’t so lucky, Ash gleefully showed off the footage of the older Jacobs being carted, handcuffed and all, outta his house with a squadron of police cars surrounding the place.

Marsha Jacobs is prolly havin’ the worst fuckin’ day of her goddamn life.

“Vice Principal Garcia wants to cancel tonight’s show,” Lexi murmurs into the phone. She’s still at the high school, her and the rest of the cast spending the downtime between shows hanging out and eating early dinner. “Mrs. Snyder is trying to convince him otherwise right now.”

“Baby, what? Cal ain’t all that important. And the feds haven’t even released the identity of the victim yet,” Fez groans, annoyed for Lexi and her friends. He’s watched first hand how hard they’ve worked on this production. “Just fuckin’ gossip right now.”

“Yeah well, there’s enough chatter going on about who it might be that they’re afraid of it being a distraction if anything comes out when they do announce something.”

Fezco snorts roughly. “That’s some bullshit baby. Just ‘cause some asshole went and got himself killed don’t mean you and yo’ cast shouldn’t get to do your last show.”

“Thank you!” Lexi exclaims. He can hear it echo in the wings of the stage where Lexi has hidden away. She lowers her voice. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you to say.”

He supposes for a moment there that both he and Lexi should maybe be feelin’ a little more remorse about their part in all of this, but he can’t find it in himself to really give a fuck about Nate’s death. Or the way Lexi manipulated Maddy into giving up the disc - insistin’ that Maddy wasn’t safe from Nate if she kept in her possession much longer, that the boy would do sumn drastic to get it back from her. He doubts the dark haired girl had anticipated Lexi turning it over, but he can’t imagine she’ll be all that mad at it in the long run. 

“Remember when I said I see you? Meant that shit girl, I see all yo’ effort, all the hard work you be putting in. Not just for yo’ show this week but for that play you be writin’,” he says quietly. He's back in his bedroom but he don’t want Ash overhearing him with Lexi. The kid’s already on him for being so soft. “You deserve to be recognized for that shit.” 

“Fezco.” It’s barely a whisper but he hears the way Lexi’s voice sounds like she’s tryna not to break. 

“Don’t be tryna argue with me Lex,” he jokes, easing the tension. 

In the background there’s a big commotion, people shouting in the theater and echoing through the empty space. Fez can’t make heads or tails about it but it settles down and Lexi is right back on the line.

“Shows still on! Garcia just agreed to let it go,” his girl says excitedly. “Oh shit. I gotta get going. I have to re-do my pincurls and wig prep. Shit. Shit shit shit.”

Fez just laughs at the high strung tone of Lexi’s voice, reminding her to breathe and not stress. “You’re gonna kill it tonight Lexi. Can’t wait to watch you shine up there again.”

“I’ll be looking for you,” she murmurs quietly. “I’m still coming home with you right?”

“Unless you changed yo’ mind?”

“No.” It’s simple and to the point.

Fezco gulps, suddenly nervous. “Aight. See you soon Lexi.”

Ashtray agrees to make himself scarce for the night. He’s talked Fezco into online school the last few years, but he does have a group of kids from his elementary school he still games with online that he’s pretty good buddies with. He’s off to one of their houses for the night, muttering sumn about not wanting to hear whatever the fuck might be going on later that night and Fez can’t really blame him. The anticipation of tonight’s action has been building for months now between him and Lexi and to be honest he’d rather not have his little brother around to hear him fucking.

“Call me if you need anythin’,” he offers as his brother heads out the door. “I’ll come an’ getchu if you need me to.”

Ash just rolls his eyes at him. “You gonna be a little preoccupied tonight. But don' t be thinkin’ this is gonna be sumn happening every weekend or nothin’, you an’ Lexi gonna have to get a hold of yo’ horny asses.”

“Can’t promise that.”

“Damn, don’t make me call CPS on myself motherfucker.”

Oklahoma! is just as fun on the second night as it was the first. Lexi has three shows again next weekend before the production closes, as long as the school lets it go on after the news breaks over the death of their Golden Boy. Fezco hears the whispers passing along the kids in the audience, everyone talking about the police presence at the Jacobs construction site, and the arrest of Mr. Jacobs that happened this morning. He’s settling into his seat when Maddy Perez stomps her way over to him, arms crossed over her chest as she glares down at him.

Fez raises an eyebrow in regard, but doesn’t rise up from his seat, just leans heavily into it. “‘Sup Maddy?”

“I heard you were here for Lexi Howard last night, but I had to see it with my own eyes,” she gives his easy demeanor a once over, like she’s deciding sumn right now. Her extra long nails click together before she speaks again. “She doesn’t need it, but I give my stamp of approval for this.”

“Glad to hear it, butchu right. Lex don’t need yo’ okay,” he says grinning. Maddy rolls her eyes. “Anythin’ else, Perez?”

“Do anything to hurt her and I’ll fuck you up, O’Neill. I don’t give a fuck that you run with gangsters.”

Fez puts his hands up in front of his chest wordlessly as the house lights flickers for the five minute warning. Maddy tips her chin in acknowledgment and chews on her bottom lip for a moment before speaking again, voice lowered enough that he’s the only one who can hear it.

“I know you had something to do with what's gone on today. Or last night. Whatever. I’m not fucking stupid,” the girl says with a meaningful look. Fez stays neutral at the accusation, because he’s got an airtight alibi for last night and Lexi turning in the disc was her idea. “Thank you. For all of it.”

“No idea whatchu talkin’ about Maddy,” he says, elbows on his knees as he leans in towards her. “I was here last night watching my girlfriend star in her high school musical.”

The Latina snorts. “Yeah yeah Fezco. We’re all in this together.”

Night two goes off without a hitch. No interruptions, no outbreaks of whispers by anyone confirming the gossip that’s been plaguing the student body of East Highland since someone caught wind of the police presence at that fuckin’ worksite. Lexi is luminous, light on her feet and getting big laughs and standing ovations. He’s so fuckin’ proud of her, seeing her in her element like this.

The audience is still crowding the stage when Fezco sneaks out the door at the end, making his way to the Caddy in order to wait for Lexi without leaving her pressured to wrap up with her friends.

Besides, they've got all night.

He’s leaning against the hood of his car, smoking a cigarette when he finally settles his eyes on Lexi. The parking lot has emptied out but not completely. His girl waves at him as he takes one last hit of his smoke, the red cherry flicked across the lot as he pushes his way off the hood and walks slowly towards his girl, meeting her halfway. It’s easy to thread his fingers through her hair, tugging her close as he drops a long kiss against her mouth right there in the damn parking lot for everyone to see.

“You have fun tonight?” he asks when they separate, his arm slinging across her shoulders as he leads them back to his car, hefting her bag onto his shoulder.

Lexi nods her head. “I had a blast. I love being on the stage.”

“Looked like you was feelin’ yo’self up there baby. Sumn light about you tonight,” Fez says as he opens the car door for Lexi, helping her into the front seat and dropping her bag in the back.

They’re down the road headed towards his house before Lexi speaks up again. “I do feel lighter, like I know I should feel guilty about what we did but I don’t. Not even a little bit. Nate Jacobs being gone is only going to make the world a better place. Like of course Cassie is going to need to snap out of it, but without him here influencing her decisions, she’s going to do that faster I think? Or like, hope really?”

“So no guilt then? ‘Bout havin’ Playboy killed?” 

Lexi shakes her head no firmly. “Guilt is reserved for you religious types. He was dragging Cassie into a ruin. Already fucked up a good portion of her life. I can’t feel bad about it. All I am is relieved I don’t have to see his smug face walking the halls of East Highland again.” 

He doesn’t wanna seem like he’s rushing them to the main event, but he’s eager to get Lexi back to his bedroom. Fuck, he’s been dreaming about this shit since before she showed up to the Dairy, but the way they’ve grown closer over the last couple months has only made him want it more. It’s more than just physical desire now, it’s grown deeper than that. Two weeks ago he’d told her he was in love with her, pouring his heart out in his dining room over cartons of Chinese takeout, but he hasn’t said it since. 

He’s locking back up as Lexi putzes around the living room, comfortable in his space in a way that makes his heart sing. Fez walks slowly over to where his girl stands, finding her hips with his hands and pulling her backwards into his chest, his cheek resting on the top of her head as she melts into him. 

“Can’t believe we fuckin’ did it,” Fez murmurs softly. “Got away with fuckin’ murder. Got my supplier off my back for good.” 

Lexi turns in his grip, her palms sliding up his chest and linking behind his neck. All he wants is to kiss her but it’s not the right moment yet, they need this chance to talk before they get too caught up in one another. 

“Thanks for not running for the hills screaming when I came to your store to ask you to help me commit a crime,” Lexi says, playing with his chain. “I know I came off as a little crazy.” 

“Nah girl, not crazy. Just like, desperate to help your sister,” Fez replies honestly. “Which okay, maybe a lil crazy? But it was hot. I fucked with it instantly.” 

He’d known immediately they were the same sort of crooked. S’why they fit together so well, yanno?

Lexi blushes. “You’re one to talk O’Neill. Telling me you wanted me wet and willing? We’re lucky my knees didn’t give out then and there.” 

“The fuckin’ truth ma,” he says with a shrug. “The truth now too.” 

“Think you’ll find it won’t be an issue.” 

“Oh yeah?” Fez replies with a raised eyebrow. “You willing right now?” 

Lexi pops up on her toes and covers his mouth with her own, squeezing her body close to his. The kiss goes from soft to sultry instantly, Lexi slipping her tongue into his mouth and sweeping it around, flicking it against his tongue before she sucks it into her own mouth. Her nails are clawing at the back of his head, running across his neck as he hikes her up the length of his body. Lexi wraps her legs around his waist, securing them tightly so he can walk them back to his bedroom. 

Fez drops Lexi on the middle of his bed unceremoniously, tugging his sweater off over his head and tossing it without hesitation to the side. Next comes his undershirt and belt, his jeans slipping down his thighs as he kicks off the Nikes he’d worn tonight. Lexi is a vision on his bed, her curls spread out around her in a halo as she’s looks up at him breathlessly, chest heaving as she smiles coyly. 

Lexi just crooks a finger up at him and they’re ain’t nothing he can do but heed her every command. Fez falls easily on to the bed, hovering just over his girl as she spreads her knees to make room for him. Immediately his fingers seek out the warmth between her thighs, his mouth attached to the side of her neck as his thumb makes contact with the front lace of her panties. Lexi hisses in pleasure as he rubs his thumb roughly against the soaked material. 

“You wet too,” Fez groans into the crook of Lexi’s neck.

“See, no issues.” 

He’s quick to get her off, his thumb moving roughly against the material that covers his girlfriend's soaked cunt in order to careen her over the edge. Lexi’s moaning and gasping his name, her nails clawing at his forearm as she chokes out a sob of pleasure.

“Dunno what the fuck I did to end up with you in my bed like this,” Fezco says reverently as he sits up on his knees, running a hand over his head while watching the way Lexi tries to catch her breath. “But I’m the luckiest motherfucker alive.”

“Help me out of this please,” Lexi says with a roll of her eyes, ignoring his praise in favor of gesturing at her post show dress. Issa cute lil sundress, pale green with pinstripes and bows holding the straps together. “It appears that I’m over dressed”

Fez laughs but gets to work, tugging loose the bows on Lexi’s shoulders and pulling the straps down her arms. Her bra is white and strapless, pushing her tits up and making his mouth water. A tiny waist flares into wide hips, white lace panties stretched across her ass as she shimmies out of the dress. 

“Fuckin’ Hell,” he groans when he gets the full picture. But the laugh peters off into a moan rather quickly because next thing he knows is that Lexi is pushing him into the bed and tugging his boxers down. 

Before he has a chance to blink or protest, Lexi has him down her throat, her fist working the part of his dick that she can’t fit. It’s the most perfect sight he’s ever seen, her long brown waves pushed over one shoulder as she bobs her head along his length. It’s better than he ever imagined the feel of her mouth around him cloud be, and he lets himself get lost in it for a few glorious minutes until he can feel his orgasm starting to build.

“ Fuck ,” Fezco moans out, fingers gathering the brown locks and holding them in a gentle knot at the back of Lexi’s head. He tugs, just a little, just experimenting, and she moans around him. 

It's nearly enough to make him undone. 

“Lex,” he pants. More like begs. “Lexi. Please. You gotta stop.” 

His girl pulls off his dick with a wet pop, a trail of saliva mixed with his precum hanging between her lips and the head of his cock. If there was even the slightest chance that she’d let him take a picture like this he would, but he don’t think they quite there yet. 

She pumps her fist over him one time. “Do you not like it?” 

“Nah girl. Love this shit forreal, but I’d rather fuck you.” 

Lexi blushes a bright pink. 

“Besides. We have all night.” 

It’s quick work from there, Fezco helping Lexi out of her bra and panties, his thumbs teasing her pert nipples lightly before she swats his hands away with a laugh. He knows she’s done this before, some dude after a cast party last year, but as he’s getting the condom on he still asks what way she wants it. 

“Can I go on top?” his girl asks meekly. “It’s supposed to like. Be better for me or something.” 

Honestly it’s straight out of his wildest fucking dreams watching Lexi climb on top of him, settling back on his thighs as his dick bobs between them. Her hand wraps around him as she rises to her knees and runs his latex covered cock between her soaking wet folds, pulling twin groans from both of them as his hands find her hips. 

“Hey,” Fezco says, stilling Lexi with a squeeze of his fingers. The head of his cock is right there, hovering at Lexi’s entrance and all it would take is a simple thrust of his hips upwards to be enveloped in her heat. “S’maybe a fuckin’ cliche to say this shit right now, but I shoulda been tellin’ you this every fuckin’ day since the first time. I love you Lexi Howard. All of you, the good, bad an’ fucked up parts of you.” 

Above him Lexi’s eyes soften, a wobbly smile appearing on her face. “I love you too, Fezco O’Neill. Every single part of you is something special to me.” 

He wants to kiss her so fuckin’ bad but the need to be inside her is more compelling. Lexi drops her weight at the same time he thrusts up. He knows they should take it slower, let Lexi’s body ease down on his cock but they are both impatient for this moment. Thankfully she’s plenty wet, the stretch made easier by how turned on she is. 

They both moan out loud when he bottoms out deep inside her. 

“Fuckin’ Jesus,” Fezco grunts between gritted teeth. “Holy shit Lex. You feel unreal. What the fuck.” 

She panting, eyes screwed together in exertion as she takes a moment to adjust. “You were right,” she says, flexing her hips in a way that makes his eyes cross. “We made it work. God. ”

He knows he shouldn’t laugh, not with his dick buried deep inside her, but he can’t fuckin’ help the way he chuckles at her joke. Lexi giggles too, just a little, but his movements make him hit a spot inside her that has her clenching tight around him and yeah, he’s not ready to cum yet. 

“You gonna ride me baby girl?” he asks once he’s got himself under control. “D’you need me to help or you got it?”

Lexi rolls her hips against his, hands braced on his chest as he just watches her move. “I got it. Jesus Christ this feels different.” 

“Hopefully good different.” 

“The best different,” Lexi responds, blindly reaching for his neck, urging him to lean up so they can kiss. “You feel so good inside of me. Want this all the time.”

Fezco moves to sit up, urging Lexi to wrap her legs around his waist as he fucks up into her. His hands are on her ass, gripping tightly as he lets her bounce on his dick. Even through the latex she’s hot and slick, making the change in position easy for him. He buries his face in her neck, teeth nipping at the sweat beaded skin as Lexi moves in perfect rhythm with him. Lexi's tits are rubbin' against his chest and the friction has him maneuvering their bodies in a way that allows him to drop his head and suck a nipple between his lips. Lexi squirms against him, moanin' loudly as his tongue flicks against her nipple, soakin' his cock even further. 

It's fuckin' heaven. 

“Give it to you all the damn time baby. As much as you want. Never felt no one as good as you.” 

He can feel how Lexi’s tightening around him, on the edge of coming around his cock for the first time, so one hand leaves her ass in order to slip between them and rub just above the spot they are joined. Lexi whimpers at the duel stimulation and it only takes a few more hard thrusts before she’s tipping over the edge. 

“Holy shit you fuckin’ perfect,” he grits out as Lexi clenches around him. “My fuckin’ dream girl, like you was made to take my cock. Ride it out baby, take what’s yours.” 

Lexi’s gasping into his ear and yeah, he was fuckin’ right about that shit. Listening to her noises while he’s pounding into her is so much fucking better than he’d even imagined.  

Once Lexi has her wits about her again, Fezco really lets go, fucking hard up into her to reach his peak. Lexi’s murmuring encouragement, telling him all sorts of things that would prolly make him blush if he wasn’t balls deep inside her cunt right now, but it does the trick. He empties himself inside the condom, buried so deep inside Lexi Howard that he rightly don’t know where he ends and she begins. 

It isn’t what he thought it would be all those months ago when he teased her in the dairy. 

Somehow it’s even better. 

-CODA-

Lexi smooths down the simple black frock she’d chosen this morning, hiking the matching cardigan up her shoulders as she fixes her appearance in the mirror, pulling her lipstick back out of her purse to touch it up. Just because she got railed in the bathroom at a funeral she may have been partially responsible for doesn’t mean she needs to look like it. Behind her she hears the toilet flush, Fezco disposing of the evidence of what went on here just now as he exits the stall. Their eyes meet in the mirror and they both share big smiles as they get themselves back in order. 

“Do you think anyone heard us?” Lexi asks as she fluffs her hair a little bit. She’s grateful she decided against flat ironing it today, the mused look hides the potential sex hair she’d have going on. 

Fezco turns the tap off from where he was washing his hands, drying them clean under the air dryer. “Think everyone is too preoccupied with the drama outside to pay attention to us sneaking off at the same time.” 

In typical Maddy fashion, the girl had shown up to the funeral home where Nate’s viewing was being held in full traditional mourning attire. She had gone the whole nine yards with the look - black lace veil and elbow length gloves to match the scandalously short mini dress she wore. Marsha had looked furious, her hatred of Nate’s ex girlfriend was common knowledge, but Lexi still can’t get the look on Cassie’s face out of her head even after her boyfriend fucked her over the bathroom sink. 

Honestly, she expected her sister to flip her shit after Maddy made her grand entrance, and maybe two weeks ago she would have, but it’s almost like the spell her sister was under with Nate has broken. Her spotting her ex-best friend from across the lobby hadn’t ended in rage, but just a quiet acceptance that even if she had been the one dating Nate at the time, Maddy will always be the one remembered as his girlfriend. 

Cassie moved back home a day after the news broke, though Lexi suspects her bags were being packed when Cal got arrested the day prior. There were tears of course, but Lexi’s pretty sure her sister is handling this better than she did her abortion and that’s a start. Things were still a little tense and awkward, especially in their shared bedroom, but they’ll work it out eventually.

When Suze had asked politely if Lexi would join them at the funeral, she didn’t have a reason not to. Only asked if it was okay if Fezco came with her. 

It was nice seeing their handiwork up close and personal, even if it was a closed casket. 

That, and she got to see Fezco dressed in a suit for the first time ever. He cleans up nicely, but of course he does, he’s fucking gorgeous. If he’s driving her this wild in the suit, she doesn’t know how she’s going to handle the tux at prom in a couple of weeks. 

“How much longer you think we need to stick this out?” Fez asks as he unlocks the bathroom, grabbing Lexi’s hand in his own as he does a quick glance to see if it’s safe to exit together. “I love you an all but it ain’t like he was your friend or nothing. This is the last fuckin’ place I wanna be.” 

Lexi hums an agreement as they walk out of the short hallway that leads to the restrooms and re-enter the main hall of the funeral home. “God you’re right. Um. Honestly? I think we’re good here. We can go find my mom and let her know we’re headed out, she’ll be here with Cassie the rest of the night.” 

“You don't wanna stay? Wait to see what happens with Maddy an’ yo’ sister?”

“I think I’m done fixing everyone’s messes for them,” she replies diplomatically. “And for the record, I love you too.”

Fezco tugs her close then, lifting her chin with his fingers to press a kiss on her lips. It’s soft and sweet considering the way he wasn’t those things with her a few minutes ago in the bathroom. 

“Aight, dope,” her boyfriend says in response as he pulls away from her. “Yo, you gonna lemme read the rest of yo’ play finally? Know you been on a creative roll with it recently.” 

It’s in a desperate need of an edit now that it’s done, but Lexi’s hoping if she spends all summer fine tuning they’ll be able to do it for the fall play next year. 

“Yeah Fezco, you can read it. I think you’ll like the changes I made. Grace gets a boyfriend, Conor, who like, changes her whole life. Really sees her as the both main character and attraction you know?” 

“Sounds like a good fuckin’ dude,” Fez says before dropping his voice for only her to hear. “Like he’d set up a murder for her, even.” 

With a laugh Lexi starts tugging Fezco to the exit instead, intent on texting her mom instead of seeking her out. They’d just fucked in the bathroom but they haven’t done it in the backseat of the Caddy yet. Suddenly, it’s immediately important to remedy this situation. 

Maybe more than once.