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Noah wandered aimlessly through the woods, shoving away every branch or bush that made its unfortunate way across his path. Quiet curses spouted from his lips as he stumbled over a root sticking out from a larger tree. He brushed off his shorts before continuing his venture through the forest.
Since season two of the god-awful reality show Noah had been a part of had ended, his life had slowly been headed in a downward spiral. Izzy and Eva had both been signed to studios, the former for acting and the latter as a stuntwoman. His best friend Owen had just gotten his acceptance letter into college, and the rest of the cast had been doing fine on their own.
Courtney was still set on her path of becoming a lawyer, Tyler and Lashawna had stayed working in reality TV, and even Geoff and Bridgette were busy getting their relationship back on track. Everyone had something else in their lives to move on with.
Noah had nothing.
Sure he could’ve gotten into a good college, if money wasn’t an issue. Sure he could’ve worked harder to stay class president after he’d won on a fluke, maybe apply for scholarships, but would any of it even matter?
Instead of staying home feeling shitty about how he seemed to be a failure of a person, Noah chose to head into the woods near his house. He’d never been much of an explorer, never going into the thick of the trees far enough to where he couldn’t see the entrance.
Today was different.
Today he walked and kept on walking, pushing himself to go as far as he could until his legs gave out. He’d left home early enough in the day that he had plenty of sunlight anyway, he was simply looking for an escape.
A few hours must have passed before he finally found an opening in the trees, a lovely clear space sitting quietly in the middle of the forest. Trees surrounded it in a round formation, a cute circle of mushrooms growing in the middle of the grass. It seemed too perfect and serene to be real.
“Hm,” Noah huffed after observing the area, pulling the bag he had slung across his shoulder off and over his head, dropping it to the ground below. His tired eyes scanned the place further, only the faint sound of animals scurrying about to be heard.
His gaze wandered back to the circle of mushrooms below him, stepping closer until he was right at the edge. Noah knelt down in front of them, reaching a hand out to gently brush against the stark white of one of the vegetables.
He’d seen circles of mushrooms before, they were usually created when extra nutrients were soaked up by the soil beneath the earth, so they weren’t too uncommon. But something about this place in particular had an eerie feeling about it.
It felt as though a faint calling was being shouted out at Noah, telling him to step inside of the circle, although there was a distinct lack of noise surrounding the boy at this point. Curiosity getting the better of the certified genius, he stood back up and took a small step inside of the ring.
A whistle of wind came quickly after, and Noah whipped around, nervously taking a few steps back—further into the circle he had just stepped into. A shiver ran down his spine, and he felt his blood run cold as a presence made itself known.
“Hello,” A deep voice said from Noah’s side, and he turned with a yelp to see a taller man standing next to him. Noah’s eyes darted around, trying to figure out where the man had been hiding before. Twinkling green eyes were locked onto the frightened boy as he looked back up.
“Way to sneak up on someone, you like scaring the shit out of strangers?” Noah snarked quickly, reaching a hand up to place over his racing heart. He sucked in a deep breath as the stranger in front of him chuckled, folding his arms behind his back with a polite smile.
“My apologies, I’m not used to people coming by this place.” The mysterious person explained, looking around the area fondly as he did. Noah narrowed his eyes in question, body language still on the defensive side.
He hummed in acknowledgment, sweeping his gaze over the man in front of him for any signs of danger first and foremost. He seemed relatively normal, discounting the fact he was model-level attractive. Noah felt heat rush to his face as he fully took in the sight of the person in front of him.
He was gorgeous, inhumanly so. Piercing green eyes that Noah swore were looking right through him, paired with long silky hair and a strong jawline. Noah swallowed hard as his eyes drifted lower, unable to stop his thoughts from wondering what was beneath the red shirt the man wore.
“Who are you?” Noah choked out before his mind went further, eyes snapping back up to meet the others. The man smiled almost knowingly, giving a slight bow as he held out his hand.
“You can call me Alejandro,” He stated smoothly, Noah instinctively reaching out to grasp Alejandro’s hand, a strong grip enclosing him quickly after.
“Would you be so kind as to give me your name in return?” Alejandro asked lowly, bringing Noah’s hand up to lay a soft kiss on the top of his hand, winking as he held onto it for a moment longer than he should.
Noah felt his brain go slightly haywire for reasons he couldn’t quite grasp, the slightest bit of fog covering the majority of his thoughts momentarily. His mouth prepared to speak his name before something in his gut forced it shut.
Alejandro’s face fell very subtly as Noah remained quiet, eyes crinkling in what appeared to be annoyance as Noah shook his head lightly. By the time he had steadied himself, Alejandro had already fixed his expression, now smiling even bigger at the shorter boy.
“Not much of a conversationalist, are we?” Alejandro mused teasingly, taking a step closer toward Noah, who couldn’t seem to force himself to move away. Strange electricity was beckoning him to stay put, and the same tingling wouldn’t allow him to think any harder about the newfound control issue he had over his limbs. A web of dread was slowly weaving its way through his brain as Alejandro began speaking again.
“This is my quiet place, you know. It’s almost in the exact center of this forest.” He drawled on, his voice soothing whatever concerns were previously on Noah’s mind. The brainiac himself wasn’t sure why he was so worried moments before, the dull buzzing under his skin reassuring him.
“It’s nice,” Noah finds himself replying, eyes falling down to the mushrooms still surrounding the two. The chitter of other life was void now, the only sounds heard simply being the soft bristle of wind and Noah’s own heartbeat in his ears.
Alejandro grinned at the compliment, nodding in agreement as he took another step closer, causing a sharp twinge of anxiety to flash through Noah. His body tensed automatically as Alejandro tucked some of his own hair behind his ear, either oblivious or ignorant to the other boy's discomfort.
“I’m glad you think so, I’ve always found a sort of comfort here. It feels almost magical, don’t you think?” The taller of the two practically purred out, a tanned hand reaching up to gently run a finger along Noah’s jawline. The pessimist took an abrupt inhale as contact was made, a spark of static shooting its way through him.
“It’s better than home,” Noah mumbled suddenly, unable to break the intense eye contact Alejandro had started. Everything else seemed a little less vivid now, the green of his eyes brighter than Noah remembered them being the first time.
Alejandro titled his head, moving his hand to instead gently cup the shorter boy's cheek, leaning in enough that Noah could also feel his warm breath across his face.
“Is that so?” He started with, watching his own hand as it slid down Noah’s face, tracing down his neck softly until it reached his shoulder, squeezing it lightly.
“What’s so wrong with home?” His second question came as he released Noah from his grip, standing up straight and opting to cross his arms over his chest. He stared down, demanding an answer as one of his eyebrows raised.
Noah reached across himself to hug his torso as his mind struggled to come up with a proper answer. There was nothing too awful about his current home life, nothing besides being alone, and not truly having a purpose for anything.
Owen would become a chef, Izzy and Eva had already jump-started their careers, and Noah couldn’t find it in himself to truly care about anyone else he had known before. No one had ever taken the chance to try and get to know him, and he had done the same. He was lucky the three friends he did have had taken interest in him at all, Noah had been prepared to spend his life alone until them.
“I don’t have a purpose, everyone I know has their own thing,” Noah sighed out in a rare moment of honesty, throat constricting as emotions he had buried deep attempted to resurface. He blinked a few times before clearing his throat to continue.
“I was ready to be alone, forever. Then I had people come and change that, which makes it hurt even more now that they're gone.” He gasped out before being able to restrain himself, an aura of truth causing the confession to spill from Noah quickly.
Alejandro’s eyes gleamed at the admission from the other boy, nodding slowly with faux understanding as Noah rambled quietly in front of him. He waited patiently for the other boy to relax, giving him the signal to speak before responding.
“It can be difficult when there’s no one at home who cares for you,” He said with sympathy, filling his expression with pity as Noah furrowed his eyebrows up at him.
“I didn’t say that. They do care for me, that’s why it’s so… complicated.” He shot back, his guard flying back up momentarily. As soon as Alejandro gauged the irritation, he rolled his eyes with a sigh. Noah stepped back at the change in behavior, to which Alejandro tsked with disappointment.
Noah’s fight or flight was finally ringing loud and clear in his brain, and he gave one solid glare before turning on his heel to bolt. A strong hand gripped his wrist instead, whirling the boy back around to face Alejandro, who soon moved his hold on the boy to around his waist.
“Such a shame, things were going so well,” He muttered, sighing with what Noah deemed as genuine regret, as his other hand found its way to the back of Noah’s neck, holding his head firmly in place. Noah snarled up at the taller boy, squirming around violently.
“Get off me! I have to be home soon, they’ll know I’m missing.” He spat out in quick retaliation, unable to wriggle his way out of Alejandro’s grip. He was in panic mode by now, desperately shoving against Alejandro’s chest as the grip around his waist tightened. A dangerous smile formed on Alejandro’s previously kind appearing face, the face of a predator with its prey in its hold.
“No, they won’t. They’ll move on, like you said everyone already was,” Alejandro laughed knowingly, reaching up to run a hand through Noah’s unruly hair. The smaller of the two bared his teeth menacingly up at Alejandro, who grinned in return.
A squeak of horror was pulled from Noah at the sight, razor-sharp teeth making themselves apparent as Alejandro ran his tongue along the edge of them, showing off how threatening they were.
“Interesting, I know, it’s a miracle I can hide them,” He said with a playful eye roll, yanking Noah closer to his body until they were chest to chest, hand finding its way under Noah’s chin, tilting his head up.
As the inconspicuous gentle touches of comfort continued, Noah forced his head to slow down and think. Razor-sharp teeth, a circle of mushrooms, weird moments of fog in my brain, what does it mean?
Taking note of the concentration contorting the human’s rather endearing features, Alejandro shushed him quietly, pulling the boy's attention back up to his eyes. The same predatory expression crossed the faeries face as his catch glared with fire up at him.
“I didn’t want to do this the hard way, but you’re definitely too interesting to let go now,” He mumbled with despondency, watching as the boy’s thoughts began dying down, the fae’s magic causing his thoughts to once again go haywire- much stronger than they had the first time.
Noah gasped out in both fear and terror as the eyes of the man towering over him refused to let his own gaze wander, his mind fogging over heavily from an unknown force. With great effort, he forced his eyes to dart around, desperately searching for a way out as an overwhelming sense of calm washed over his senses. The steady thrumming of his heartbeat was prominent in his chest as Alejandro smiled lovingly at him.
“You truly are such a pretty human,” He murmured to himself, thumb brushing along Noah’s cheekbone as the fight in the human died down along with his thoughts. It wasn’t too long before he was slumped over in Alejandro’s arms, unable to focus on anything other than his own breathing and the faerie’s voice.
“There we go,” Alejandro sighed with victory, releasing his death grip from Noah’s waist, instead maneuvering the boy in his hold until the human was resting properly against his chest. The even breathing of the boy signaled to Alejandro he was put properly into a beautiful trance.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He asked quietly, his own heart jumping as the dazed glassy eyes of the human trailed up his face to meet Alejandro’s own. He nodded once in forced agreement, and Alejandro almost cooed.
“I knew you’d understand,” He soothed, twirling a strand of messy brown locks around one of his fingers as Noah hummed absentmindedly, blinking slowly, not a thought to be seen behind those lidded eyes.
Alejandro ran a hand down Noah’s back, stopping once again at his waist to hold it gently, rubbing circles into the boy's hip. Noah sighed in contentment, allowing his head to fall back onto Alejandro’s chest, fingers clutching into the red shirt of the creature holding him closely.
There were no thoughts left in the human’s previously full mind. All worries and memories were currently on hold due to the wonderful magical ability Alejandro possessed, and he was almost done with taking exactly what he wanted.
“Now, would you be a dear, and give me your name?” Alejandro asked quietly, leaning down to whisper discreetly into the shorter boy's ear. It took a moment for the question to make its way through to the human, but he replied quietly before Alejandro had to press further.
“Noah,” He muttered, his muddled thoughts allowing him to grasp his name for only a moment, a moment long enough to hand his life over to the faerie whose clutches he had fallen into.
“Perfect,” Alejandro grinned, pulling himself away from the boy and lifting his head once more to examine his new pet properly. He was definitely the prettiest human he had come across, and certainly one of the hardest to obtain.
“Noah,” Alejandro said aloud, testing how the new name felt on his tongue, stroking the human’s hair as a shudder shot down his spine, demonstrating the newfound power the fae had over the poor boy. A whine found its way out of Noah, unable to deny the subconscious fear winding its way up in him.
He gave one last attempt to push away from Alejandro, turning around shakily to try and find an escape. Everything seemed blurry in his vision, dull even. The world itself was almost fading in front of his eyes, and further panic clawed its way from inside his chest.
“No,” He said weakly, feeling Alejandro’s arms wrap themselves around him from behind, resting his chin on Noah’s shoulder as his breathing quickened.
“Owen,” He called out suddenly, the singular name finding its way through the jumbled mess that was currently his brain. He wasn’t sure who he was yelling for now, only that the name brought a sense of familiarity, a sense of safety.
“Noah,” Alejandro said in a low tone, causing another shudder of control to go down the human's spine, the similar pop of electricity causing him to go weak in the knees, gasping for air as an uncontrollable wave of calm took over once again.
As draining as this stunt was for the fae, Alejandro couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride for his find. Not only was the human boy very pleasing to the eyes, but he was intelligent, and believed he had no one. Alejandro smiled at the possibilities such a wonderfully bright and vulnerable mind could offer.
“I’m going to take very good care of you,” Alejandro murmured quietly into his Noah’s ear, watching with glee as the boy's head fell down in defeat, compulsory acceptance flooding his body as Alejandro’s hold tightened around his waist.
Whenever someone new entered the open space in that forest, they would find nothing but an empty grassy clearing.