The Gamble (Alastor x Reader)

Chapter 23

Husk POV

What the fuck was I thinking? She made completely valid statements. She was completely right. Sure the way that she said it was kind of harsh, but in the end I'm the one she got that from. Y/N's always been my little girl, from the moment she was born and till the day I died. She was still so young then, maybe that's why I can't let go.

Alastor might own my soul, be a horrible person to almost everyone, and be a sneaky bastard. But I'm the one that wouldn't accept that I was loosing that gamble all of those years ago. I had him down at least a hundred souls by the time I started to get cocky. Way too cocky. The second I upped the ante, wagering both of our souls. He just so happened to win. She was right, I only thought about myself.

The comment she had made on her mother and I's divorce hurt. But what I did was wrong. So, so wrong. I hit my little girl, my little ace. The one person who stuck by me and took care of me in life and death, and I hurt her. I lost her, the rest of my friends, and Angel. All in one day. And it was all my fault.

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Alastor POV

In the days passing, Y/N hasn't said much. She would thank me for making meals, tell me when she would be taking a shower, and tell me goodnight. I missed hearing her voice more. I missed hearing her laugh and seeing her smile. I missed listening to her sing. But I understood why she couldn't bring herself to do it. I was happy she would come to me when she needed to cry or when she would wrap her arms around me for comfort.

I took to reading to her through the day. We were currently cuddled up on the couch, a small fire going in the fireplace as I read 'The Wizard of Oz' to her. She seemed to be enjoying it, from time to time I would look at her and catch the corners of her mouth turn up, but it wouldn't stay longer than a few minutes. The grandfather clock in the corner sung to inform us that it was 9:00. I finished reading the page and marked the spot in the book to return to at a later time. "Y/N, my flower, it's time for bed," I spoke softly.

She nodded and sat up, stretching her arms above her head. Just as I pushed myself off of the couch, I felt her hand grab mine. I turned to face her, checking to see if she was alright. "Alastor.." her voice was barely above a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear.

"Yes my flower?" She finally turned her head up, allowing me to perfectly see those e/c eyes of hers. No tears threatening to fall, causing a nice, genuine smile to form on my face. To my surprise, she returned that smile. It was big and bright, just like I remember, my heart immediately melting at the sight.

"Thank you, for all of this. It really means a lot that you haven't tried to push me to talk about what happened. I just.." she pushed her h/c hair from her eyes and took a deep breath. "I just needed a little time to process what happened. And I.. I think I want to let you know what happened." She seemed uncertain, but if it was what she wanted to do then I would listen. She could stop at any time. I nodded and took my seat back on the couch, looking at her to begin.

"I was always kind of a daddy's girl," she chuckled a bit clearly remembering the old memories. "My father was a big gambler, even when he was alive. He would bet more than we had, sell things to make back the money he needed, one time he even gambled our house away and we had to live with my aunt for a couple of years." I took her hand, understanding that this was going to be a lot for her to talk about. She smiled, locking our fingers together, appreciating the gesture. "Mama was, not happy to put it lightly. She didn't want to leave him cause she was happy, he would always make time for us and we lived fairly well, so she was grateful for what we had. But there's only so much a person can take. My sixth birthday came around and papa told me that we'd spend all day together. Being the daddy's girl I was. I was over the moon about it. So, we ate breakfast, I wore my best dress, and we went out."

"But," she continued, "we didn't go to a park or anything like that. Not out for ice cream or somewhere fun. Instead, he took me into the casino, of course it was the late fifties so people didn't really care about kids in places like that. But I sat with him there all day while he drank and gambled. He sobered up by the time we had to drive home, but he definitely smelled like alcohol when he stepped into the house. When mama smelled him, she asked me where papa took me for my birthday, and I was only six, I didn't understand why telling the truth would've been bad. So, that's what I did."

"Mama told me to go to my room and then we could have cake after they were done talking. But that was such a big mistake, I should have kept my mouth shut." Her eyes started to fill with tears, I hadn't said a word or made a noise while she spoke. This was her time to talk and my time to listen. It reminded me a bit of the first night we had gotten closer, up on the roof of that porn studio all that time ago. I wiped the stay tears that could fall from her eyes, thanking me softly before she felt composed enough to continue.

"They got into a big fight that night. Lots of screaming and name calling, nothing that I can specifically remember. All I remember after shutting the door to my room was muffled yelling and my mother saying she wanted a divorce. They weren't exactly common around the time, so you could imagine the bullying after. All of their things were split down the middle, but both of my parents wanted full custody of me and eventually I had to make a choice."

"And you chose your father," I said softly to which she nodded. I guided her head to my shoulder to give her comfort, to which she thankfully took. She nuzzled into my shoulder a bit, enjoying the warmth I provided.

"He cleaned up a bit after I decided to go with him. But as I got older, he started drinking a lot. It wasn't too bad at first, a couple of beers at dinner. Then it turned into a couple beers when he got home from work with a few glasses of whiskey. And eventually he just started drinking the whiskey from the bottle whenever he wanted, drinking the beer in the fridge when he'd run out. For the most part, he would just get drunk and pass out on the couch or in his room. But around a month after I turned thirteen, I came home from school and saw him passed out on the couch. I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't budge. A couple of hours went by and then it reached the point where it was time for bed, when he would usually be awake." Her head nuzzled deeper into my arm, clinging to any form of comfort she could drain from it. "Something felt wrong, so I ran over to the neighbor's house and she called 911, he was pronounced dead not long after and I watch them take his body away under a sheet." She took a few minutes to compose herself while I rubbed her back.

"Shh it's okay, it's all memories. You're doing well, my flower. I'm proud," I rubbed my head against hers, a small purr coming from her. "Would you like to continue?"

She nodded, took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and spoke up again. "After that, I went and lived with Mama and her new boyfriend till I turned 20. I went to college, but money wasn't good, so I did the stupidest thing I could've ever done and became an exotic dancer for some fancy casino." Her head shifted away from me, ashamed at admitting it. I will say, it shocked me that she had done such a thing. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. "When the guys would get handsy, I'd tell them off. And when they wouldn't listen, I kind of... killed them and took the money that they had won. But it didn't take long for me to try it with the wrong guy. Being strangled is a lot less fun than strangling someone else." She jested, chuckling at her own joke.

I stayed silent for a moment, just to make sure she had nothing else to say. "My dear, I assure you I'm not disgusted or disappointed that you did such a thing. I won't say I'm not shocked at what you did, but I understand hard times and doing what you have to in order to survive. In fact, if it makes you feel any better, a hard time was what led me to cannibalism."

She looked back at me with a smile, her adorable little giggle filling my ears and making my heart flutter in my chest. "Surprisingly, it does," we laughed a bit together before I swept her up into my arms. Carrying her bridal style into the bed room and plopping her down on the bed.

We both scurried under the covers and held each other. "Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all of that. It means a lot to me, Y/N."

"I love you Al," our lips met in a short kiss, though my heart still turned to ooze at the feeling of her lips against mine.

"I love you more, my flower."