pairing: tara carpenter x reader

summary: after a violent night involving ghostface, feelings rise to the surface.

warnings: blood, descriptions of violence, knives, guns, character death, swearing, bad writing

words: 3542

a/n: this is my first fic for tara and the scream franchise so i hope its up to standards and that you'll like it :)

If somebody was to tell you a year a go this is where you would be, you would've laughed in their faces. Yet here you were, sitting in the back of a car with your best friend, Tara, beside you, frantically looking for her inhaler.

You had known the Carpenters for your whole life, living next door to them came with pros and cons but you couldn't have been more grateful for the friendship that had formed between you and Tara.

However, it was only as of lately, you had started to grow feelings for the younger Carpenter. Yet you decided it was best to bury those feelings, even if it hurt you in the process.

You were falling in love and you were falling fast. Whilst you were so caught up in your own thoughts you missed the way that Tara looked at you. Her inhaler was long forgotten, only the thought of you was on her mind.

Sam made Richie drive to Amber's house to see if she had Tara's spare inhaler and she noticed the two of you were very quiet in the back.

The both of you were pining over each other, however, the only thing stopping the two of you from telling your true feelings to each other was the fact that you were best friends. As well as a certain murderer trying to kill Tara and Sam.

You weren't actually sure when it all went wrong. How you went from getting Tara's spare inhaler to you being chased through Stu Macher's old house, trying to escape Ghostface.

Sprinting up the stairs, you found a room and made a beeline for it. After managing to close the door just in time you pushed a dresser in front of it, making sure that no one could get in.

You grunt as you let your back hit the wall, sliding down it until you come to a stop when you meet the floor. Your tense body goes limp as you sit there, heavy breaths falling from your lips.

Finally managing to catch your breath for only a second, when you heard grunting coming from a closet. Heart rate increasing at the possibilities, you cautiously got up from the ground and made your way towards the sound.

Hand resting on the handle, you contemplated whether you should open it or not. That little debate didn't go on for long and you swiftly opened the closet door.

To your surprise, Tara was sitting on the floor, bound and gagged, eyes wide with fear.

"Tara." You muttered quietly, shock written on your features.

You searched your pockets for anything sharp when you felt the knife you had tucked into the belt of your jeans. Carefully, you cut through the duct tape on Tara's wrists and she was quick to get rid of the tape around her mouth.

"W-what the hell is happening?" Tara rushed out. "And why do you have a knife?"

"Oh! I took it from the kitchen amongst others." You smiled, but soon realised that may not have been the best thing to do.

"Why do you need more than one? If you're going to kill me-"

"No! No, of course not." You cut Tara off. "Not you at least."

"What does that mean?" Tara questioned, a slight tremble was heard in her voice.

"What'd you say we kill these fuckers, huh?" You whispered, tilting your head a little.

"And how exactly is that going to work?" Tara wondered, gesturing to her broken leg.

"I have a plan, do you trust me?" You asked, holding your hand out.

'Do you trust me?' The question runs laps around in Tara's mind. Does she trust you? Of course she does, you're her best friend after all, but in this situation, she's not so sure. How can she trust you after everything she has been through? How did she know if you weren't the killer?

Hesitantly, she took your hand, letting you pull her up from the ground.

"One wrong move and you're dead." Tara mumbled, a stern look on her face.

"I wouldn't doubt it," you smiled, "if you don't kill me then your sister probably will."

"Okay, so how is this going to work?" Tara asked as she pointed between the two of you.

"You're going to play the helpless victim, whilst I play Ghostface." You smirked.

"This is how I die." Tara said quietly, which you didn't miss, but she nodded her head, agreeing to your plan.

"I'm going to need you to be really quiet. Can you do that for me?" You questioned, placing your knife under her chin, tilting her head to look up at you.

Tara wordlessly nodded, a slight flicker of fear behind her features as she looked into your eyes.

"Good girl."

Retracting your knife away from Tara, you frantically looked around the room for one specific thing. That of which you found in the same very closet Tara was in only moments ago.

You pulled out a Ghostface mask and costume, turning to Tara, you held up the item of clothing, the smile on your face only growing wider.

"Would you like to play a game, Tara?" You asked and what you said seemed to trigger something inside her.

"W-what did you just say?"

"Are you ready?"

"N-no y-you said-"

"I'm just messing with you."

"I don't- I-"

"I've got this handled, okay? Stop worrying so much"

"Yeah, okay." Tara breathed.

"I've got to make it a little believable, don't I?"

"Right," Tara trailed off, "so what do you want me to do?"

"Follow me." You smiled before pulling on the Ghostface mask.

"Thank God you're okay..." You heard Richie say, a trembling Tara rested in your arms. "Because I really wanted to be the one to kill you."

Richie stabbed Sam in her side and you had put a hand over Tara's mouth to stop the scream that threatened to fall from her lips.

Sam stared at her boyfriend in disbelief, sinking to her knees as the second ghostface revealed themselves as Amber.

Richie leaned down next to Sam, taking the gun from her, gently, before handing it to Amber.

"I know. It's a bummer, it's me." Richie said before he held up the Ghostface verbalizer, "But it's really the best twist for the movie."

"No..." Sam trailed off.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"This isn't... a fucking movie..."

"No. But it will be. And that's the point, right Amber?

"Right, hon." Amber agreed, looking around. "Third Act bloodbath, check. Killers revealed, check... Time for the big finale. Let's get 'em into the kitchen."

Amber forced Sidney to her feet, pushing her with the gun as Richie carried a bleeding Sam into the kitchen. All whilst you and Tara stood watching the whole thing.

Tara was desperately trying to get out of your arms but you held a tight grip on her. At one point she nearly escaped but you pushed her into a nearby wall.

"Stop." You said, placing a hand back over Tara's mouth. "We have to wait."

"Fuck you." Tara spat, pulling your hand from her face.

"I'm flattered, really, but not now, maybe later." You teased.

"You're a dick." tara mumbled, punching your arm, not having any malicious intent behind it.

"I'm trying to help you." You whisper-shouted.

"By making me watch my sister get stabbed? How is that helping me?"

"I'm your best friend! I'm always going to help you."

Those words, although they were reassuring, felt like a knife to the heart for the both of you. Best friends. Nothing more. Never.

"Enough with this secret shit! Tell me what you are going to do!"

You were about to reply when you heard Amber shout, 'she's not here' from upstairs.

"The fuck do you mean she's not there?" Richie yelled back, turning to face Sam.

"I guess you are finally going to see what I am going to do." You said, placing a knife in each of her pockets, one for her, the other for her sister.

You pulled Tara by the arm, dragging her into the kitchen with your own knife pressed against her neck.

"Of course she's not up there." You said, the Ghostface vocaliser changing the tone of your voice. "She's right here."

Richie turned around to face you and his eyes rose along with Sam's, Sidney's and Gale's, all in complete shock that there was another Ghostface.

"A third?" Gale questioned, hand tight against her side. "You've gotta be shitting me."

"Oh, I am going to enjoy this." You laughed tauntingly as you pressed the knife harder onto Tara's neck, but not enough to hurt her.

"Tara..." Sam gasped, her eyes darting between you and her sister.

"W-who are you?" Richie asked, pointing his knife towards you.

"What you can't be." You shrugged.

"And what's that?"

"I guess you'll have to find that one out, won't you?" You said, tilting your head.

"Is this some shitty little game you're trying to play?"

"Possibly."

"Right, and who dies first?"

"You."

"Amber?" Richie yelled, desperately trying to find the girl.

At that point, Amber returned and stopped in her tracks once she saw you. Confused as to how there was another Ghostface, she watched as you looked over your shoulder, slowly, as if you were teasing her.

"Hello, Amber." You said. "What a lovely surprise. I must say I expected more."

"I'm sorry?" Amber asked incredulously.

"Oh it's okay, you can still redeem yourself." You chuckled.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"Now, now, let's not get angsty here." You said, pushing Tara towards her sister carefully.

"Who the fuck are you?" Richie questioned again.

"If you don't tell us who the fuck you are we will slit your throat" Amber sneered.

"Oh, no." You said sarcastically. "I'm sooo scared."

"Tell us who you are!"

"Fine." You shouted, throwing your hands up in the air. "I'm a big fan."

"Of who? Us?" Richie asked.

"No, of course not," you chuckled, "of Sidney and Gale, duh."

"So why are you dressed as Ghostface?" Sidney questioned.

You turned to face the older woman, but you were actually looking at Tara. The younger Carpenter gave you a discrete nod which you returned.

"So we can kill them." You replied, turning back to face Amber whilst Tara placed the knife you gave her in her sister's hand as well as taking the other for her.

"We?" Richie wondered out loud and before he could even think, you had tackled Amber to the ground, Sam doing the same to Richie.

Sidney, Gale and Tara watched on as the four of you rolled around on the floor, trying to kill one another. Both Sidney and Gale, helped Tara get out of the kitchen and make their way out of the house.

You were straddling Amber, using some, but not all, of your strength to push the blade of your knife between her eyes. Behind you, you could hear Sam struggling to wrestle with Richie.

Grunting, you pushed the knife down onto Amber, however, it only went through her clavicle on her right. With one final punch to the face, Amber was knocked out unconscious which left just enough time for you to get to Sam.

You watched as Richie placed the barrel of his gun to Sam's forehead but before he could pull the trigger you tackled him to the ground. The sound of the gun went off and a searing pain was felt on your bicep.

"That actually hurt. Wow." You said, ripping off your mask, revealing your face.

"You?!" Richie exclaimed, standing back up.

"Yes, me. Don't seem so surprised." You replied, holding your hand over your fresh wound as you stood up too.

"Why?"

"For shits and giggles." You deadpanned as you slowly stalked towards Amber once again, but before you could get closer, Richie stepped in front of you. "Move."

Richie did and he circled around you, waiting for your next move. Once you took a step forward Richie attacked you from behind.

You had expected for Richie to try and hit you so you easily dodged his fist. You grabbed his arm and threw him over your shoulder trying to get him to fall to the floor but he just did a forward roll and got up again. This time you were face to face.

"Sam get out of here." You shouted over your shoulder, receiving a punch to the gut from Richie, causing you to stumble backwards.

Sam listened to you and she scrambled to her feet, she bolted out of the kitchen and made a run for the front door.

"Saaaaaaam! Where you going? Your big scene's coming up!" Richie yelled, forgetting about you and following the older Carpenter out of the kitchen.

"Looks like it's just you and me." You said, standing over Amber's body, watching as she came back into consciousness.

Before Amber could get up, you shot a hand out and wrapped it around her throat. The girl desperately clawed at your forearm, trying to get you to release your grip.

You pulled her up so she was standing on her feet and threw her over the kitchen counter. But before you knew it she had gotten up, taken a knife from the counter and charged towards you.

Before you could even comprehend what was going on, another gunshot was sounded throughout the house, then a thud. As Amber's body fell you saw Tara stand behind her, gun in hand as she leaned onto the door frame.

"Tara, what the hell?" You exclaimed, rushing over to her.

"Stop!" Tara shouted, holding the gun up to your head.

"Tara-" You said, voice a little quieter than it was before, holding your hands up in surrender.

"Stop." Tara said again, this time however her lip trembled as her voice broke.

"I have, I'm not moving until you want me to."

"Where's my sister?"

"She went off to find you, I presume, but other than that I don't know."

"Come with me." Tara said, walking off into another room but as soon as you were going to follow her, Amber came up behind you and stabbed you in the back.

You let out a low, pained yell. Hearing as Amber laughed behind you, you felt her push the knife in deeper.

Crumpling to your knees, you felt as if your senses had been dialled to a thousand. You could suddenly feel everything, from how fast your heart was beating to the bead of sweat falling down your temple.

"Shit." You heard someone whisper from behind you and then you felt the knife being pulled from your back.

Falling to your hands, you looked to the side and saw Sidney and Gale fight Amber. You watched as Sidney crashed a bottle over Amber's head, the girl losing her footing and hitting the floor.

Not wasting any more time, you stumbled to your feet and looked at the women in appreciation before stumbling as quickly as you could to find Tara.

"I'm introducing a new rule..." You heard Sam mutter.

You rounded a corner and saw Tara watching from afar, stuck in her spot as Sam crawled away from Richie.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Richie taunted, watching as Sam inched forward but not noticing her wrapping her fingers around a knife.

"Come here and I'll tell you..."

Richie kneeled, grabbing the hair on the back of Sam's head, wrenching her face to his.

"Well?"

"Never fuck with the daughter of a serial killer." Sam whispered as she stabbed Richie in the face. The blade went through his cheek into his mouth before coming out the other side.

She didn't stop there. She continued to stab his chest and stomach. Richie fell backwards, grouting blood, stunned. Sam straddled him and continued her onslaught.

"But... I can't die... Who's gonna be the villain in the sequel..?"

"That's the sequel's problem." Sam grunted before she slit his throat.

Sam rose unsteadily, dropping the knife to her side when Sidney and Gale appeared from the kitchen.

"Be careful, they always come back-" Sidney said as Sam took the gun from her hand and emptied the entire clip onto Richie's body, the last one going straight through his skull.

A beat goes past as Sidney and Gale exchange a look.

"Okay then." Gale uttered, in complete shock.

The silence is quickly interrupted by Amber screaming, a knife raised in her hand as she advanced on the three standing above Richie's body.

But before she could even get close, Tara had pulled the trigger of the gun she was holding, the bullet going through Amber's head as she fell to the floor for one last time.

You stood behind Tara, watching her in shock, not thinking she had it in her but soon noticed as her fake exterior broke down as she stumbled over to her older sister.

The two of them embraced in a long and much needed hug. You stepped closer, tripping over your own feet, mainly due to blood loss.

Tara sniffled, lifting her head from Sam's chest before turning to you. Tara didn't say anything as she walked towards you. She just put her hand around the base of your neck and brought your head towards hers so she could place her lips on yours.

The sudden action had stunned you, breath catching in your throat. You did not expect her to kiss you, especially in front of her sister. But as your brain started to register what was going on, you finally kissed back, putting your hands on her waist pulling her closer.

The kiss started out slow, almost hesitant, but quickly began to build. You grinned into the kiss, tightening your hands on Tara's waist. As the two of you were pressed against each other, Tara moved her hands and wrapped them around your shoulders.

You pulled away reluctantly, resting your forehead on Tara's. Letting out a small chuckle, you placed one last kiss to her lips before pulling her into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're safe." You whispered, feeling as Tara tightened her grip around you.

"All because of you." Tara replied, pressing a kiss to your cheek as she pulled back to look in your eyes. "Even if your plan was utterly stupid."

"It worked though, didn't it?" You grinned.

"Luckily." Tara scoffed, teasingly as she rolled her eyes.

"What'd you say we finally get out of here?" You questioned.

"I would love that." Tara smiled, leaning against your side as she turned to look at her sister.

"Let's go then." Sam said, replicating her sister's smile, opening the door for everyone.

The sun crests over the horizon as police cars and ambulances line the street. EMT's rushed each of you to an ambulance to get treated for your wounds.

You sat beside Tara, holding onto one of her hands as Sam held the other. An EMT stitched up the stab wound on your back having already treated the one on your bicep.

The whole time you didn't look away from Tara, exchanging smiles every now and then. Once you were fully patched up the EMT went off somewhere leaving you with the Carpenters.

"So.. are you two a thing now then?" Sam asked, a teasing smile plastered on her face.

"Sam!" Tara groaned, leaning into you, hiding her face in the crook of your neck.

"What? You did kiss them in front of me." Sam said, chuckling at her sister's reaction.

"That's up to y/n." Tara mumbled into your neck and Sam raised her eyes to you, eyebrow quirking in question.

"Well, Tara? Would you be my girlfriend?" You asked, smiling as you felt her cheeks get hotter due to your question.

"Yeah, I'd love to." Tara replied, removing her face from your neck to answer your question before pulling you into another quick kiss.

"You better treat her right, y/n." Sam said, her protective side coming out.

"I will." You said, smiling down at Tara in your arms.

"Good." Sam nodded.

"Do you want to come with us?" Tara asked, looking between you and her sister, silently asking if that was okay, getting a nod from Sam.

"Of course, I'd go anywhere with you." You said, squeezing Tara's hand.

"Can you take us to a different hospital this time?" Tara asked the EMT that walked up to you three.

The EMT nodded and walked to the front of the ambulance, Sam noticed Sidney and Gale sitting in the back of another ambulance and told the two of you she would be back in a second.

Whilst Sam went off to speak to Sidney and Gale, you helped Tara get onto a stretcher. Once she was lying comfortably you sat beside her, holding her hand once again.

Sam hobbled back to the ambulance where you and Tara were in a deep conversation, the two of you talking animatedly.

She smiled at the sight and climbed into the back, taking a seat beside you. The two of you quietened your conversation and started a new one with Sam.

An EMT shut the doors and started the ambulance, turning on its sirens before finally pulling away from the dreaded property of Stu Macher's old house.