HI

SO UM

I REREAD ROMEO AND JULIET

BUT KINDA FORGOT ABOUT SOMETHING

IT HIT ME PRETTY HARD

SOOOOOOO

HAVE SOME GOOD OL' ANGST

And it's the promised Mercutio x reader, so that's nice. I'll try my best to keep it gender neutral, because I know how annoying it is when they're not.

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Later edit: everything except the last paragraph is 100% anatomy neutral. I'm sorry the last one isn't, but I had a sudden idea that I just couldn't not do. I'm sorry.

~ Mercutio's PoV ~

Let me start by making it clear that Tybalt started it.

I didn't get out of bed that day wanting a fight. I didn't walk to the tavern hoping for a brawl. I didn't crave bloodshed.

Unfortunately for me, Tybalt did.

I'd maaaybe had one too many drinks, but my mind was still clear as always and sharp as a sword. Benvolio had only had water all evening. As per usual.

We were close to leaving when my least favorite Capulet and a few of his crew strode in. Tybalt's scarred face, as always, wore a scowl, as though he was disgusted by everything he set eyes on.

To be fair, I would do the same after looking in the mirror each morning if I was him.

As Benvolio and I got up to leave, the Capulet noticed us.

"Montagues!" he barked.

I sent a sly grin to my friend beside me, noting but not responding to the obvious "Just walk away!" look on his face.

Poor Benvolio. He was developing worry lines because of me.

"Yes, Tybs?" I responded sweetly, turning to face him while fluttering my eyelids.

"My name is Tybalt," he growled.

"Oh yes, I'm aware. I often hear it used in the place of various household vermin."

"How dare you!" he roared, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

"That's a difficult question to answer. You see, I know why I dare, but to explain how would be to comprehend the human mind, which is not complex enough to comprehend itself. If the mind were complex enough to do so, it would again be too complex to comprehend itself," I answered haughtily.

"Mercutio, this isn't a good idea," Benvolio muttered through clenched teeth.

"That's never stopped me before," I hummed back.

"That's true, but Y/N is usually here to stop you from doing anything too stupid. Maybe I've got better eyesight than you, but in case you didn't know, Y/N isn't here!" he hissed.

"God, Benvolio! I'm aware!"

Tybalt was ready to draw his sword, and he knew damn well that if he did, mine would follow.

Very well, I thought. He'll have his fight.

"Shall we take this conversation outside, my rageful comerad?" I suggested.

Tybalt rolled his eyes, stomping past me into the street. I gave Benvolio a pat on the cheek and started to follow, but he pulled me back.

"Mercutio, please don't do this," he begged.

"Relax, Benny. He started it, so I'll finish it and we'll be done. I'll be fine," I reassured him.

Finally abandoning my friend regardless of his current emotions, I swaggered out to where Tybalt was waiting with his sword drawn. His rapier was certainly that of a high-class swordsman, engraved with his initials and studded with various jewels, but I never envied it of him. My sword was far less glamorous, but it had been designed with my hand and style in mind. I'd practiced for years with this sword.

Most of said practice consisted of Y/N and myself in the courtyard doing anything but actually swordfighting (take it in what sense thou wilt), but the sentiment and the few actual hours of training were there.

"Now that you've taken a moment to catch your breath," Tybalt said angrily, as if he had a pressing engagement and he had just managed to squeeze a fencing match into his schedule.

"I may need a moment more, because I tend to waste terrible amounts of breath on you. Y/N always says you're not worth it, and I fully agree, but I figure someone's got to put you in your place."

Tybalt snarled, aiming the first jab at me. I blocked it easily.

"Oh, come now! Surely you don't take me for an amateur! Or do you always thrust weakly like that? No wonder your significant others don't last you a week," I laughed.

We slashed and parried back and forth for a while, exchanging insults. I would like to point out the fact that mine were much better than his petty name-calling.

After a solid fifteen minutes of nonstop fencing, my dominant arm was beginning to weaken. Tybalt had long ago switched between his hands. It had never occurred to me that I might train with more than one hand, assuming that I didn't immediately win the match and needed a fresh arm. I made a mental note to tell Y/N that I needed to do so the moment I returned home.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, a stray cat darted between my legs and across the street, throwing me off balance. My sword was up, my guard was down, and say what you like about Tybalt, but he was a damn good swordsman.

With no hesitation, he stabbed me.

~ Your PoV ~

I was putting new laces in a pair of boots, happily leaning against a tree and taking my sweet time. I tried to create different patterns by pulling the laces through different holes. I tried the many different knots I'd learned. Everything was peaceful.

"Y/N!" shouted the panicked voice of Benvolio from the house.

I sighed. I got up, dusted off my clothes, set the boots down for later, and trotted inside. My friend looked more horrified than I'd ever seen him, immediately sending me into a state of stress as well.

"What is it? What happened?"

"It's Mercutio! We were at the tavern, and Tybalt walked in, and you know how those two can't stand each oth-"

I didn't give him time to finish as I bolted down the street to the tavern. Going by the sound of footsteps crunching in the gravel behind me, I guessed he was following.

What I saw when I arrived at my destination caused my heart to stop, my brain to shriek, and my body to go numb.

Mercutio lay on the ground with a larger-by-the-second bloodstain on his shirt, and Tybalt stood several meters off holding a red-tipped sword.

I immediately fell to my knees next to Mercutio, pulling his torso up off the ground and resting it on my legs. He opened his eyes slowly as I ran my hands over him to check for more wounds.

"H-hey there," he stuttered, attempting a smile before wincing in pain.

"No, stop talking. Don't waste your energy on that right now. We need to stop your bleeding," I said shakily.

I bundled up part of his loose shirt in my hand, holding it against the wound as best I could.

"There, that should do it..." I was trying my best to think, but it was difficult while Mercutio was in obvious pain. "It's not stopping the bleeding. Why isn't it stopping the bleeding? It needs to stop the bleeding, dammit, we need to stop the bleeding or you're going to lose too much blood and-"

Mercutio cut me off by grabbing my wrist and removing the fabric from his torso, letting the blood flow much more quickly.

"Better not to have a prolonged death, right?" he laughed. The laugh soon turned into a cough, sending small droplets of blood out of his mouth.

"Fuck!" I muttered. "You punctured a lung, you idiot! Stop making your stupid jokes and just focus on breathing," I insisted, trying not to break into sobs.

"No can do, Y/N. You know I usually have no problem doing what you order me to, but I don't think I can do that one," he said, smiling weakly up at me.

I didn't know there were tears rolling down my face until Mercutio reached up and wiped one away, his smile dipping into a frown.

"No, love, please don't cry," he murmured. "You know that I start crying when I see you cry."

"I wouldn't be crying in the first place if you hadn't gotten yourself stabbed," I hissed through the tears.

He looked away for a moment, an expression of regret settling on his features.

"You're right... those tears are my fault, aren't they? Oh, honey, I'm so sorry," he said, beginning to cry with me.

"Don't apologize, just stay with me," I pleaded. He winced.

"Like I said, no can do. I wish I could, you know that, but I just can't this time..." he trailed off and let his eyes fall shut.

We both stayed silent for a moment. Just as I started panicking, Mercutio half-opened his eyes, looking sheepishly up at me.

"Can I have a kiss before I go?"

"You can have a kiss as a get well soon gift, because that's what you're going to fucking do!"

I leaned down to him so he could stay put, filling the desperate kiss with all the emotion I'd never be able to put into words in time. I told him he was an idiot, I told him I'd miss him too much, and, most importantly, that I loved him with my entire heart, soul, mind, and being.

"Wow," he breathed as I reluctantly pulled away. His eyes were wide with awe, and he managed a strong grin before wincing again.

"Please don't go."

"I kinda have to, baby. But remember that I love you more than anything else in the universe, okay? I'll always be with you." His voice got gradually weaker as he spoke, ending in a barely audible whisper.

He reached up and placed a weak hand on my jaw, running his thumb over my lips and cradling my face as best he could. I held his other hand with our fingers intertwined. My hand delivered a death grip while his was barely holding on.

As his arm fell and his chest stopped rising and falling, I paused, waiting for him to sit up and say it had all been a prank. One of his dumb jokes. Then I could kiss him hard and we could go home and eat dinner, and I could scold him all the while for scaring me like that.

But he stayed on the ground.

He stayed gone.

"Y/N-" Benvolio started, gently touching my shoulder. I slapped his hand away, scrambling into a standing position.

"What?! Are you going to tell me that it's too late? That he lived a good life? That we all die eventually?!"

Benvolio hung his head.

"That's what I thought," I snarled. I whipped around and glared at the small circle of people that had gathered around, fixating on one man in particular.

"You," I growled, stalking toward Tybalt. "You killed him. You fucking caused his heart to stop. You picked a fight that wasn't needed, you waited for him to mess up, and then you stabbed through his fucking lung!"

I snatched Mercutio's sword from the dirt, immediately lunging at his murderer. Tybalt was shocked but managed to not get hit.

I kept stabbing mindlessly, unable to get the image of my dying lover out of my head. Tybalt blocked my attacks, but he was tiring quickly, and very soon I gained the advantage.

I twirled Mercutio's sword around the handle of Tybalt's, catching the hilt and sending the blade flying somewhere behind me. I put the tip to his neck. His eyes held fear, knowing I was not in a state to show mercy.

Just as I was about to slash through his throat, I froze. I swore I could hear Mercutio's voice.

"Don't do it," he was saying. "We won't have anyone to mess with if he's dead."

"Shut up," I mumbled.

"Never," he laughed.

I looked back at the body in the center of the clearing, but he was still dead. He hadn't moved. He just lay on the street, lifeless.

But I couldn't kill Tybalt. Something in me just couldn't do it. I dropped the sword, stumbled back, and fell to my knees in front of Mercutio again. I pulled him into the same position as before, cradling his head and stroking his hair.

As everyone else cleared out, I stayed, whispering some sweet and some nonsensical phrases under my breath. I'd gotten out of my denial by the time just Benvolio and I were left.

"He used to talk to me about your future, you know," he said, crouching down beside me. I nodded for him to continue.

"I remember once he asked me what I thought of being called Uncle Benvolio," he laughed. I stifled a sob with a smile.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him absolutely."

"Good to know," I murmured, placing a hand on the tiny lump on my stomach.

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AAAAAAH I'M CRYING

On a different note: you guys should definitely check out the R&J musicals. I might put in an A/N for them at some point, because they're fucking amazing and I love them.

Farewell, my faeries. May you never be worse to your enemy than your enemy to you.